The third of the first person entries in Tales of a Mars Sentry, this time from the perspective of Uxar, Zahir’s mentor. Tales of a Mars Sentry: https://docs.google.com/document/d/144IRfDG9AviY3S_e_URepsj3FbaLAzJpj_SnYMs1qaI A rookie stumbled in, his armor ravaged by arc. His scout rifle clattered to the floor, nearly cut in half by a shock blade. As his ghost healed him and repaired his armor, he spoke, leaning against the door that lead to the hellstorm outside. “They’re gonna break through the wall. It’s your turn.” He uttered, his heavy breathing covered by the thundering echoes of battle. We knew exactly what to do. I nodded to my comrades. We were made for this. Chatter filled the room once more as we started betting on how many Fallen we’d kill. “You ready to pop skulls?” Yllur asked, the massive, blue clad titan punching my arm. “Aye, never been more.” I punched the titan I admired back. I slung my auto rifle over my shoulder and made my way to the door. We stepped out of the wall to see the mess the Fallen had made of our city. Walkers slowly lurched their way toward the wall as hundreds of Fallen charged. Guardians backpedaled by the masses. Protecting those guardians and building a new front was our job. “Let’s go! Remember the line order!” Yllur yelled. Our team cheered, sprinting along the length of the wall. Flashes of purple light filled the battlefield as we ran to reinforce the city. I made my way to my own position, leaping into the air. I willed void energy into my arms, expanding it from my chest to my fingertips. I felt the calming of the void begin to wrap itself around me. I descended, thrusting my arms out. The void left me as soon as it came, creating a swirling barrier. My ward of dawn. Two guardians rush in. A hunter, in obvious need of time to heal, and another titan. The Fallen are about a hundred meters out. I take a peek outside, aiming down my auto rifle. I drop back in after a mag. A couple of vandals and a dreg. Not bad. The Fallen are approaching fast. We brace ourselves, ready for the onslaught. A vandal leaps into me, waiting to plunge his shock blade into my armor. I sidestep it, cracking his skull with an empowered punch. A couple of dregs are up next. I mow them down with my auto rifle, taking a few scratches to my arm. I hear the guardians to my sides fighting. The hunter, fully healed, is expertly fending off shock weaponry with his knife, while the titan to my right takes out Fallen after Fallen with a shotgun. Yep, they had no idea what they were walking into. I look down to my right. As expected, a long line of bubbles dots our front, stopping the Fallen in their tracks. As I take out another Vandal, a shadow looms over the ground. I look up. God damn it, those crazy pirates have really done it now. A walker hangs above from a skiff, its legs splay out menacingly. Turret fire peppers the helm of the skiff as the walker prepares to drop. “Run! I tell the titan and hunter, but they’re already gone. They’ve been calling after me. I guess I got too wrapped up in the heat of battle. That walker’s already coming down. Oh well. “-you… have any idea… how stupid that was?” Illyn’s standing over me, a fresh ward of dawn covering us. He’s got me by the chestplate, shaking me as I feel my body re-enter the world. I don’t know what happened, but we’re several meters from the walker. He notices my confusion. “You dumbass, you let that walker crush you! You had no idea what was going on!” “So? I can come back as many times as I need. Ye don’t need to act like I’m some mortal-“ “We’re in a dangerous place, Uxar. Your ghost could be shot, in the hands of some grubby Captain, or in your case,” he pointed to a Vandal laying next to the walker, its own shock blade plunged into its chest. “Snuck up on by a walker’s crew.” I stand up, contemplating my now realized near death experience. A shot from the walker’s main cannon rattles our dome. Illyn hauls his rifle up, slamming its stock into the head of a charging Dreg. “We have to move. This ward of dawn’s not going to last much longer.” He was right. The fortress of void energy was beginning to rip, providing a window to the unshrouded, non-purple view outside. I look out. We’re being pushed back further, and the Fallen don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, dotting the surface of the battlefield like ants. Gunfire crackles through the air where ships soar, muffled by the Ward of Dawn’s presence. My view is interuppted by a Vandal, screeching as it grabs me by the shoulders. I get the thing out of my face with a punch, finishing it with my auto rifle. Illyn and I jump out, but it seems that walker had its eye on us for a while. It had gotten dangerously close, looming right next to our bubble. I hear its main cannon groaning. It launches, vaporizing Illyn in an instant. I’m hit by the shrapnel and flung to the side by the explosion, which rattles my ears. I land on my side, giving me a blackened view of Illyn’s ghost being shredded to pieces by the walker’s Captain, cackling as it launches volley after volley from its shrapnel launcher. In stunned silence, I stagger up. My hand moves on its own, crawling up over my shoulder, and gripping my sniper rifle tight. I take aim at the Captain. It’s stepping on the shattered shell of Illyn’s ghost. Absolutely disgusting. A round from my rifle rips through the air, zipping clean through the Captain’s helmet. The walker begins shuffling toward me, spinning up its arc cannons. The motoric dissonance pierces my ears. I tell my ghost to get my machine gun. He responds, letting it into my hands. I pull the belt over, loading it. I face the walker. I imagine every Vandal, every Dreg in there, staring at me from behind the multiple sensors on its face. Jeering at me for killing their putrid Captain. Aye, I wish I could tell Yllur to forgive me, that trying to impress him was probably the worst idea to cross my mind, but it’s much too late for that. I’ve got a disgusting metal spider to focus on. It’s either me or them, and I don’t intend to lose.