“Okay, keep leading them this way and I’ll…” a sniper round caught Sierra through the head and I faltered as she fell, “Crap…” However, a moment later I felt my Light surge within me. A red glow sprang into existence around my body and I felt rejuvenated. “Whoa,” I breathed in surprise. Our assailants came around to where I could see them just then; one a Titan and the other a Hunter. Spotting me quickly with my bright glow, the Hunter, who was the owner of the sniper rifle, shot a single round at my head. Reflex took over and I twisted back to get my head out of the way. To my surprise, I moved more than quickly enough to dodge the anticipated shot. “That…was fast,” Rush gawked as I straightened back up. “I like it,” I clenched my fists, feeling strength course through them. Another round came at me, which I again predicted well enough to side step, and then I sent a spray of fire back at them while I rushed to cover. Return fire followed me as I reached my goal more quickly than expected and slammed into the wall, but I was fine and switched to my own sniper rifle. Taking a calming breath, I stepped out and fired, taking out the Hunter before he could adjust his aim, then shifted my aim and shot the charging Titan in the stomach just as she came within a few meters of me. She flopped to the ground clutching her stomach, but began pushing herself up again right away as the red glow came over her, too. Not giving her time, I closed the distance with a quick stride and finished her with a kick to the head that sent her body tumbling away, dead. “Oh, gosh, tell her I said sorry!” I called to her Ghost, surprised by how hard I had kicked her. “Since when were you able to dodge bullets, Will?!” Josh exclaimed over the comms. “Never! It’s this red stuff, it feels great!” I explained, then grew worried as I started thinking. “By the Traveler, this isn’t a Hive rage spell, is it?” I recalled how angered Hive Knights and Ogres would cast themselves in a strengthening red light. “No no, it’s definitely Light,” Rush assured me. “I think it’s one of those different rules,” John pondered, “Maybe Shaxx somehow got some Warlocks to lay some strengthening Light over the arena for when a team is down to one member?” “Just like how when someone enters a Pool of Light or someone else’s Ward of Dawn they’re strengthened by the creator’s Light!” I finished, “Ingenious!” “You mean like how you use your Light to enhance your strength, William?” Rush was having trouble following. “Exactly,” I answered, “Wait, why hasn’t Sierra revived yet?” “Didn’t you check out the rules?” John chided, “Teammate revives only; I’m not allowed without you next to us. Your team loses when both of you are dead, so you guys have one point now.” “Elimination style? Heck, I thought this would be more like Clash with score victories,” I jogged over to where John floated over Sierra’s corpse. “I don’t know why you Guardians came up with so many different styles and rules, it’s like you’re trying to make it be like some kind of video game,” John went on. “What took so long?!” Sierra grumbled as she pushed herself up, then noticed me and her surroundings, “Good, you beat them.” “You should’ve seen it!” John cheered. “There was this weird red glow that covered him and-“ Rush began. “To sum it up,” I interrupted what was bound to be a time-wasting description, “When only one person is left on a team they get a Light boost.” “Thanks for the simple answer,” Sierra picked her rifle up off the ground, “They’ll be coming back, let’s go.” Together we dashed to the tunnel I had been at and then down the left passage, which led out into a large open space with a shallow pool in its center and a couple large boulders providing cover. Nothing stirred as we looked over the area for our opponents. “They’re around here somewhere,” I whispered to Sierra so as not to give away our position, “Either in the cave up ahead or around to our sides. Couldn’t have gotten behind us.” “You wanna be the bait?” Sierra stated more than asked. Simply nodding in response, I leapt out into the middle of the area and turned to the right, facing several huge boulders in the next area which were the most likely spot our opponents would have concealed themselves. A flicker of reflected light let me know the Hunter was watching down his sniper rifle, so I bounded away just in time to get away with only a wound to my side. Before the sniper could move to seek another shot on me, Sierra followed me out and starting firing at him, pinning him behind one of the boulders. My motion tracker went off and I turned to face a small tunnel that led to a drop into the cave. Out from it came the Titan, shotgun leveled as she jumped high into the air. Luckily for me, I was closer than she had expected and her first shot only scraped at my right shoulder as I ducked. Catching her foot, I slammed her down onto the ground only to be kicked off a second later. I heard Sierra fire again and the red glow suddenly bursted out around the Titan. “Jerks!” she seethed as she stumbled back from one of my quick jabs, “Only I’m allowed to shoot that scumbag!” With a furiously quick spin she shoved her heel into my still-bleeding ribs, knocking me to the ground. Unable to push myself up from my collective wounds or raise my weapon in time, I fell to the woman’s shotgun. My senses returned and I sprang to my feet, ready to fight in case Sierra had revived me in the middle of the match. I spotted her several meters away and realized the round had already ended, so I lowered my fists and strolled over. The Titan’s body was next to where Sierra stood, and as I got close her Ghost restored her body and she punched the ground angrily. “Matthew!” she roared as she stood up, “Are you going to mess up every shot today?!” Her teammate approached from where he had died amongst the boulders, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “Well, I do think you’re cute when you’re angry!” he called back. “Traitor,” she grumbled, then turned to Sierra, “Mind switching partners? Mine’s broken, and yours works fine.” “I heard that!” her teammate protested. “We’d probably be better off with us against the two of them,” Sierra chortled. “Hehe yeah, you’re definitely a better shot than my date,” the Titan elbowed the Hunter as he came up to her side. “Don’t listen to Marissa, she’s all bark no bite, as you can tell by her kill streak,” the Hunter, Matthew, elbowed Marissa in return. “Better than yours, doofus,” Marissa shoved Matthew away playfully. “Pleasure to meet you both,” I bowed slightly at the waist, “I’m William, and this is Sierra.” “Ease up buddy, there’s no royalty around here,” Matthew clapped my shoulder. “Formal, too. Don’t think that makes up for earlier,” Marissa poked my chest. “Sorry about that,” I rubbed the back of my helmet sheepishly. “Stop apologizing,” she responded, poking me again, “You’re lucky you’re cute.” “C-cute?” I stepped back nervously. “Oh don’t worry,” Marissa giggled, then pulled Matthew close to her, “I prefer trouble makers.” “Guardians,” the voice of Arcite, Shaxx’s Crucible assistant, broke in on our comms, “This is the Crucible, not a picnic. Other Guardians are awaiting this arena.” “Amazing how much like Shaxx that bucket of bolts sounds,” Matthew grumbled as the Frame left the channel, “Back to it then.” “Nice meeting you!” I waved as we all began heading back towards our starting points for the next bout. “No hard feelings when we crush you!” Marissa called back. “Oh, I’m gonna love shooting them again,” Sierra told me loud enough for them to hear. “Dare you!” Matthew waved a hand in the air, a single finger raised offensively. We soon reached our starting point and prepped our weapons. “Finally,” Arcite’s voice somehow managed to drip with ire, “Begin next round!” Sierra and I went straight to a part of the Vex structure that held an inactive Vex portal frame and jutted out above a river below. There we waited to be challenged. A couple flickers of movement let us know they were in the area screened with large boulders again, preparing to rush us. They weren’t the best strategists; it didn’t take a genius to know you can’t just openly approach a sniper position. “You know what,” Sierra was fingering the trigger on her rifle, “I can take them. I love how that boost felt…” “What do you mea-?!” I began to ask suspiciously, but was cut off by the bang of Sierra’s rifle going off at my head. Pt2: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/243102694/0/0 Pt4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/243103109/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0