Before I could warn them, the three members of Alpha had reached the stockpile of resources, which included everything from food and water, to canisters of rocket fuel. I watched the twin Tanks simultaneously take a step forward, an action that both revealed them and gave the perfect sightline to unleash havoc. I remember hearing a scream over the Comms, in the single moment before the world exploded. My body tumbled down a small hill as my head went into a state of shock. The momentum only stopped when my back slammed against a bolder, the force of which dislocated the braces around my spine. Aydin moved protectively, using what little Light he could draw from the land to mend my wounds. Still groggy from the blast, I went to check the operation’s active roster. One of the names from Alpha was gone. The explosion turned out to be the least fatal danger that day, for its existence had failed to go unnoticed. In seemingly every patch of soft earth, the waking claws of the disturbed Hive broke free. It only took about four seconds for the world to be consumed in a hungry sea of Thrall. There was hardly enough space left to move, let alone fight. I couldn't even transmat because the horde was so dense that it confused the vital matter-displacement algorithms. Even Aydin was struggling to comprehend the difference between me and the waves of ravenous mouths that threatened to devour everything. My only hope of survival was to regroup with the others. Kicking and shooting and screaming like a deranged madman, I did all I could to make some progress within the impossible lake of sorrows. In the corner of my eye, I briefly caught a glimpse of Welden just before he vanished under a writhing mass of claws and teeth, his yells prematurely cut off before I had the chance to help him. Another name went missing from Alpha’s roster shortly after. I was able to spot Brendal on my radar, and we struggled to make contact as the endless Hive slowly tried to tear us down. A small part of me was vaguely aware that I had stopped feeling the grip of a few fingers, and the heavy plates of my armor felt lighter as chunks of it became undone. Brendal wasn’t faring much better, and his gun expended its final few rounds. The unprotected Titan moved to reload, and a cunning Thrall used the opportunity to strike the exposed area at the back of his neck. I prepared to watch the giant fall, but that was not his fate. His Ghost had seen the danger coming and used its own body as a shield. The other half had known there would’ve been no chance for a revive, and opted to sacrifice itself in order to preserve the life of his ward. I saw it disappear under the sea, leaving behind only a faint trail of Light to prove it had even existed. Brendal collapsed just as I reached him, and I felt the collective breaths of the vile wave that pounced to steal our lives. My eyes closed as I prepared for a night that never came. There was the crackle of a stormfront and the light from the touch of weather’s wrath. The last survivor of Alpha had cast an electric weave that enwrapped their robed body and spread chains of lightning from Hive to Hive. The trance alone could not calm the dreaded ocean of green eyes, but it was enough to burn a path straight through all that dared stand in the way. In the wake of the roaming storm, I lifted Brenal to my shoulders and began to carry him towards the only hope of escape. We had to rise above the deadly torrent to buy enough room for a transmat., so the Warlock made a path for us to climb one of the outcroppings. I managed to just barely pull the unconscious Titan to the peak of our salvation when the arc Super ran out. The distinct shapes of Knights and Wizards had joined with the seething horde as I felt myself pulled into my ship, knowing full well that any delay would have cost more lives. My knees became loose, and I fell to the floor, being brought down by more than just exhaustion. The flight back to the Tower was held in silence, yet my ears still heard the war. Endera had claimed three immortal lives, along with an additional casualty in the form of Brendal. The loss of a Guardian’s Light is considered a permanent incapacitation by the Vanguard. It was a waste of a good man, to deny him the right to live as he wanted. I kept thinking about Enedra, about the death, the missing silence, our survival, all of it. I’d had my close encounters, but I’d never seen a Guardian killed before. Now I had been present for the snuffing out of three bright souls at once, and I lived to remember. I didn’t believe Guardians were enough anymore, not when we alone were seemingly positioned to oppose the entire malice of the universe. The doubt pulled at me, caused a struggle between what was right and what was true. We were not enough. Having drowned in the afterthoughts of exposure to mortality, I left the tower in hopes of finding a silence where I could think. The sounds of regret followed me to where my journey began, all the way towards the chance encounter with a dead machine awoken anew. In many ways I also died that day, this body being left behind just to tell the tale. [i][In the dunes of Mars, near the Freehold of the Buried City.][/i] [b]Next Fragment:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/252927091?sort=0&page=0 [b]Book:[/b] https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/251789024?sort=0&page=0