First Entry - Awakening
Return to Start
I awaken and there’s a strange floating light above me. It greets me and says it’s glad to see me. It would love to chat but we aren’t safe here. Three Spaceships come into view, heading towards a tower.
There are several other figures also waking up with lights hovering over them. One runs off to find cover and my light suggests we follow. I suggest we introduce ourselves but I don’t remember my name. My light says it’s called Orion.
There’s something called The Fallen here and they’re going to attract something called Warlords of Earth which the lights say are even scarier. We exchange names, the Exo remember their names, and I remember that they’re Exos, but the Human needs to find his tags to remember his. I ask Orion what my name is.
The lights tell us that we’re in a destroyed city, London. We should get out of the city and then, when we’re safe we can sort things out.
We start following the tunnels. One of the lights, they call themselves Ghosts, manages to get a map. It’s from before “The Fall” which I think means the destruction of the city, so it might not be much help, but it’s better than nothing. It at least gives us a direction. First is North, following the yellow line until it connects with another line that takes us closer to the edge of the city.
In a side tunnel is an overturned crate, spilling Guns. We each instinctively know how to hold them. Orion says the guns may be a little weird, the company that made them worked on some experimental things.
Blue light ahead and strange voices. Orion says the Ghosts can’t fight. Najma (Amro’s Ghost) says they’re Fallen. I can just about make out the torchlight and the silhouettes of the fallen against it. Riddle-3 and Hazard-9 both try to move closer while I provide cover.
I missed with my first shot, alerting the Fallen to our presence. Amro’s first burst takes out two of the Fallen. Hazard-9 moves closer before opening fire, their first burst takes out another two. I also move closer before trying to shoot them again. I somehow miss again. Riddle-3 also opens fire, missing but at least shooting in the right direction.
The Fallen finally shake themselves ready and fire small balls of blue energy in Amro’s direction.
I finally succeed in hitting the enemy, taking two down.
Amro slowly approaches the Fallen bodies. They look very different to any of us, and Orion says this group are obviously mistreated by their own kind, these ones have removed a second set of arms from lower on their torsos. Apparently this is some kind of status thing among their race. These one are called Dregs, there are others that we are likely to encounter here. They also have two pairs of eyes.
Orion also explains that the blue light they fired was some kind of harnessed static electricity called Arc. Najma explains to Amro that Omolon was experimenting with similar technology.
Amro has collected some Weapons from the Fallen, they appear to be some kind of dagger but the anatomy of the hands that they are designed to fit are very different. He passes them out, keeping the extras for himself.
There is a loud screeching noise behind us, and we take off running down the tunnel. I keep pace with Amro while the Exo follow us. A blue oblong comes flying over our shoulders, landing just in front of us before detonating. I’m left blinded and disorientated.
Lyte (Hazard-9’s Ghost) shines their light on the enemies behind us. Hazard-9 acts quickly and manages to collapse the tunnel behind the Fallen. I turn and just hold the trigger down, hoping to do some damage even though I can’t see anything. I hear several bodies hit the floor. Next to me I hear Najma explain to Amro how to gather static energy in his hand and throw it at the Fallen, he still can’t see either, but Najma tells him he succeeds. Riddle-3 also opens fire, causing more Fallen to fall.
There’s a larger Fallen here, It fires something called a Shrapnel Launcher at Riddle-3, seems like a shotgun type weapon. Riddle-3 falls over but is still moving. Hazard tries to manifest a grenade but fails to hit with it. The Dregs open fire and Riddle-3 stops moving. Piskie (Riddle-3’s Ghost) screams their name before laughing and shooting off her shell, bathing Riddle-3 in light. Orion explains how important it is that Piskie is kept safe while she does what she needs to.
I try to manifest some Arc energy, it works, but I fail to land it where I need to. My eyes still don’t work right.
Hazard-9 runs closer, he tries to punch the large Fallen, but misses. The large Fallen punches Hazard-9 back but doesn’t seem to hurt him. Amro moves to stand in front of Piskie.
Riddle-3 takes a large gasp. Piskie tells them to stop napping and shoot the Fallen, who promptly fall under his bullets. There are no Dregs left.
Hazard-9 punches the Fallen again, connecting this time. I throw a grenade in, hoping to blind the enemy and disable it. It hits right in its face, causing it to stagger. Amro fires another burst into the fight, but is trying not to hit Hazard-9. Hazard-9 lands another blow before Riddle-3 runs in and takes a jumping punch into the face of the Fallen, throwing its no longer moving form to the floor.
We reach the next station in the tunnels. The other tunnels are all collapsed. There are scorch marks all round, showing that they were brought down on purpose. There is clearly no way to get through, but there is an exit back to the street level.
Najma points out that there is another station nearby, but we will need to get there over ground. It’s called Old Street. We climb the steps and find ourselves in the dusk of London.
Second Entry
Location: Between Stations, London, Earth, Sol System
Return to Start
We enter the main hall of the station, flooded with natural light and covered in broken glass. There is graffiti everywhere, particularly a large red star burst, I ask Orion to scan it, but Piskie zooms over and scans it first, telling us that it is the symbol of The Warlords, Hazard-9 asks if they’re bad news and the Ghosts tell us we need to steer as clear of them as we can.
Moving through the station, we see a couple of humans? In red robes carrying a crate between them. Hazard-9 asks his Ghost to identify them, Lyte isn’t able to identify them but flashes their torch at the symbol on the wall and speculates that the colour signifies a link with The Warlords. We find a burnt out office or shop to hide and wait until they are well past us.
The people in the robes go up one of the sets of stairs and we hear gunfire.
Unfortunately, that’s the way we need to go. I point out that really, we can’t die, so we might as well just go for it. At the bottom of the stairs there are several fallen surrounding the crate that The Warlord’s servants had been carrying. There is a large round shadow hovering over the fallen, Hazard-9 asks Lyte and they identify it as a Servitor. It’s an artificial construct of some kind that can release balls of purple energy and offer some kind of shielding to the other fallen. I suggest that I throw a grenade into the group before the others rush in.
My stun grenade lands neatly on top of the crate, disorienting the entire group. The Ghosts give us a quick explanation of how to do special melee attacks. Just as Hazard-9 runs in, I noticed a shimmer in the air.
Hazard-9 makes contact with the Servitor, creating a wave of fire that rolls out from the impact, incinerating the smaller fallen surrounding the crate, and setting fire to the creature in the shimmer. The air stops shimmering, revealing a creature that Lyte identifies as a Marauder.
Riddle-3 opens fire into the now visible Marauder, firing off two bursts with quick succession and accuracy. Amro follows suit, bringing the Marauder down.
The servitor flashes blue and disappears, reappearing higher up the stairs.
Piskie quickly rushes forwards and scans the crate, revealing it is full of guns, and we’re going to want to open it. The crate is full of Void shotguns, I don’t know what Void is but I do know what a shotgun is. I move forward, pick up a shotgun and fire it. I fall short of the target.
I’m close enough to feel the air concussion as the Servitor releases the energy it had been storing, straight into my face. It hurts.
Riddle-3 picks up a shotgun, moves closer and opens fire. It’s a solid hit.
Orion tells me that I am full of light and I can release it. I think about the fact that I’m hurt and the Servitor was able to create shields for its allies. I release my light and it spreads out around me, forming pools around my allies, I feel my pain lessen, and breathing gets easier.
Hazard-9 runs past me and slams his fist into the Servitor, I can feel the light rolling off him as the Servitor cracks open, spilling its own purple energy and the fire from Hazard-9's light.
Amro checks out the bodies of The Warlord’s Yeomen, they look emaciated and have clearly been killed by blades. Most likely the Marauder, as that is the only thing we’ve seen wielding blades.
Najma expresses compassion towards the Yeoman, and their treatment at the hands of The Warlords. Amro points out that at least they haven’t had bits cut off, unlike the poor Dregs.
Amro asks about Ether, the strange substance that the Ghosts told us that the Servitor ran off of. It would be fatal for us to consume but the fallen use it as food, practicing rationing and strictly controlling the substance.
We decide to carry on moving, but there is some disagreement between us as to the level of caution we need to exercise. Myself and Hazard-9 feel much less need for caution given our current record of not getting very hurt Vs the destruction we’ve left in our wake. Plus, if we do die, our Ghosts can just bring us back.
We walk into a group of hovering AI constructs that Orion identifies as Shanks. They are not too much trouble individually, but there are quite a few of them and they are usually sheparded by a bigger fallen. I straight away pull my shotgun and blast one of them out of the air. Hazard-9 starts forming something out of light, it looks like a hammer. He uses it to smash one of the Shanks straight out of the air.
Some of the Shanks open fire at me but all their shots go wide, the rest try to hit Hazard-9 but the falling debris block their shots.
Riddle-3 and Amro open fire from behind us, Riddle-3 misses but Amro takes out another Shank.
I shoot my shotgun again, taking out another Shank. Hazard-9 tries to punch another one but it darts just out of reach.
Another wave of Shanks appears from between the buildings. The original Shanks open fire at me, but their shots land wide. Some of the new ones open fire in Hazard-9’s direction, but nothing lands. The rest aim towards Riddle-3 but still cannot make their target.
Riddle-3 retaliates with his light, firing two shots infused with Arc, and taking out two more Shanks. Amro infuses his light into a grenade, a large fireball ignites in the middle of the remaining Shanks, and they disappear into ash.
The Ghosts seems agitated. One points out that we’re above ground now and making a lot of noise, not that Piskie cares, she agrees that we’re all super cool and what we’ve been doing is super cool.
A drop ship flies over. It drops something off and the ground shakes. Orion identifies it as a fallen drop ship and the thing that shook the ground as a Fallen Walker . It just so happens to be right in our path.
We run in that direction, myself and Riddle-3 slide into cover, and Hazard-9 and Amro run straight into the open area.
Third Entry
Location: Between Stations, London, Earth, Sol System
Return to Start
At the intersection in front of us we can see the thing our Ghosts told us is a spider tank. It’s a large tank held up on several jointed legs.
Quickest to act is Amro. He runs forwards and shoots at the tank, dealing no damage, before diving into cover. I jump on top of the bus and begin channelling my light, running forward and firing my rifle, hoping the electric force can stop the tank. My shot does nothing, but the light pouring through it makes it begin making a very unhappy sound. Riddle-3 moves closer to the tank, taking a more cautious path. Hazard-9 begins to channel his light as well, sprinting up and punching it in a protuberance at the front that resembles a head. Hazard-9 forms his light into flames as appears to be his preference, but when he pulls his fist back to examine the damage he wrought, there is only a small dent.
There are other enemies in the square, a servitor appears behind the tank, surrounded by the usual Dregs. A group of Shanks appears from the right, providing cover for a Vandal. The large turret on top of the tank seems to be charging and trying to pick a target, a laser scans across us before centring on me. The Vandal also chooses me as his target, luckily my light absorbs its shot.
Riddle-3 moves closer, attempting to pick off the Vandal, unfortunately he isn’t successful. I use my light to power my run forwards, swapping my damaged rifle for my shotgun. I try channelling my light through space and aiming for the leg to see if a different element and location may be of help. Something about it works, breaking off pieces of armour from the leg.
The Servitor begins shielding the Dregs as they move forward.
Amro throws a grenade into the Shanks. The blast is huge, blowing back over Amro and catching myself and Hazard-9. Luckily myself and Hazard-9 are still bathed in light, unfortunately Amro is not. But we are made of stronger stuff than anything else here, we can shake off a blast.
The Vandal is not happy, it blasts at Amro, dealing some small damage before fleeing.
I managed to make my way out of the target area of the main cannon. Riddle-3 was behind me and still stands in the direct line of fire. Riddle-3 is disintegrated by the beam. The missile launchers fire ineffectually at the spot where Riddle-3 stood. Piskie moves to hover over where Riddle-3’s corpse would have been if he’d been fortunate enough to leave one.
Some more Shanks hover in the distance behind the tank. A line of bright blue light stretches from the Shanks and straight through Amro’s shoulder, dropping him to the floor. Najma gives a sigh and moves to hover over him. Hazard-9 and I are both surprised, we take far more risks than either of the light bearers that have fallen.
A figure appears from the opposite side of the junction to the side that the Fallen approached from. She shoots at one of the legs on the opposite side of the tank to where I’m standing, causing the tank to start listing that way. She calls to us to target the red glowing parts, and her ghost shouts at us to cover the other Ghosts while they do what they need to do.
I run back and drop a smoke grenade over Najma as she brings Amro back.
Hazard-9 takes the newcomer’s advice and punches the tank in one of the highlighted weak spots. His light ran out but he still called forth flames to cover his fist as he struck a blow on the joint in the leg I had already weakened. The tank fell to one side and the head like protuberance shot out, smoke billowing from the neck joint.
A group of Shanks appears behind the newcomer, approaching and opening fire ineffectually.
One of the long firing shanks trains its sights on me and I see a beam of blue light before nothing.
I am bathed in light. I feel fresh and new, like I am made of solid light. I open my eyes and the scene at the junction is completely different. There is a pile of rubble where the tank was, it looks like it exploded. Now there’s a chest, with five rocket launchers and some kind of light filled purple shape. When I touch it, I receive an arc machine gun. The Ghosts explain to us that these are called Engrams, they are programmable matter that will create Weapons or armour.
I thank the newcomer and introduce us to them. Their name is Oksana and her Ghost is Marzanna. She points out that the Fallen know where we are and how powerful we are. We should get moving.
We continue on to Old Street Station.
Return to Start
We descend the stairs to Old Street Station. The walls are heavily grafitied, including the twelve pointed star symbol of The Warlords. After some discussion, I take the lead. The tunnel is calm, there’s no sign of anything to worry about.
Ahead is a lantern hanging off some kind of barricade. I ask Orion to scan it but we’re too far away at the moment, we approach in the shadow of the tunnel wall. Orion has nothing in their databanks meaning this is a new structure.
Riddle-3 and Hazard-9 hear something behind them, There are Shanks flying up the tunnel behind us. Some of them are glowing with a strange red light.
I recover my senses first, firing my new rocket launcher into the swarm. It doesn’t explode but it does take one Shank out very decisively. The Shanks split into two groups, one rushes closer while the other opens fire at Ocsana, injuring her slightly. Hazard-9 runs toward the closer swarm, made up of glowing Shanks, but misses his punch. Riddle-3 and Amro both open fire with their auto rifles and miss.
Hazard-9 misses his punch again, as the Shank he’s standing next to starts beeping faster and faster. The Shank explodes, turning Hazard-9 into a glowing outline and then a pile of ash. The other glowing Shank moves nearly to the back of our group.
I swap to my new machine gun and open fire at the glowing Shank, ripping through it and causing it unfortunately to explode, showering Oksana and Riddle-3 with debris.
Riddle-3 opens fire at the remaining Shanks, taking two of them out, leaving just one normal Shank hanging in the air. Oksana tries to throw a grenade but misses, followed by Amro trying with his auto rifles. I take out the last one with my machine gun.
Hazard-9 returns and we tease him a little for his first death as we climb the barricade. From the top we have an uninterrupted view of the tunnel behind us, including the fact that it was forked and the other branch is blocked off with a welded wall bearing the markings of The Warlords and a crudely drawn pig’s head. I ask Orion to mark the tunnel entrance on the map so we know to come back here later.
There are smaller barricades moving back the main barricade, we find a small purple brick made of light, almost like the Engrams, and my rocket launcher is back to having two lights.
Further down the tunnel there is music and lights. I start dancing as we approach, there is a settlement made of several stacked trains. Hazard-9 called out to ask if the people are friendly and everyone disappeared. A short moment later a woman shouts out to us that she asks the questions. She is standing on a balcony welded onto the top train carriage.
The woman in charge comes down to speak to us, bringing a couple of guards with her. They are better armed and armoured than anyone else we’ve seen so far, but also wear red to denote they are under the control or protection of at least one of The Warlords. I sit on the floor and convince Hazard-9 to join me, Riddle-3 raises his hands and Amro stands at ease. The woman has a hand cannon trained on us at all times. There is a tense conversation between us and this woman. This settlement is under the control of The Warlord with the pig head, she clarifies it’s a boar.
It is made very clear that we are not welcome here. We ask if they have a Cryptarch and Hazard-9 pulls out his exotic Engrams. The woman in charge attempts to shoot him in the face with her handcannon. She succeeds with her second shot. Amro and Riddle-3 attempt to make a swift exit but I take offence to Hazard-9 being shot. I sigh loudly and stand up, summoning my shot gun and returning her gesture. The shot is devastating and her guards begin to drag her away. I grab Hazard-9 by the arm and drag him to his feet, leading the way away and informing Hazard-9 he won’t be seeing the Cryptarch.
Najma flies over and has a whispered conversation with Amro, causing him to follow the blood trail into the building the guards disappeared into. After some time he returns, followed by one of the guards, I show him my empty hands and give him a courtesy nod before falling in line behind him. The guard leads us to the cryptarch, Hazard-9 and Riddle-3 go inside to get their Engrams decoded.
The guard sees we’re about to leave on foot, he stops us and explains to us about vehicles called Sparrows. The mechanic may have four spares, but the guard cannot speak for him, he can however lead us to the mechanic.
Fifth Entry
Return to Start
The mechanic has several Sparrow bikes we can have but currently they need repairs and replacement parts. He seems afraid of both us and whoever is in charge here, most likely the Boar Warlord.
Hazard-9 and Amro make a deal with the mechanic, we find the parts and the mechanic will fix the Sparrows and we can have them. The mechanic directs us to the airport where we should be able to find the parts.
The tunnel out of the settlement looks much like the tunnel we came in through, the same style of barricades, except this tunnel is manned by pairs of guards, each with a heavy weapon.
At the end of the tunnel is another train station.
Hazard-9 calls out to ask if there’s anyone there, we can hear some chittering in the distance. Hazard-9 moves up to the platform to get a better look. The platform is empty with a corridor coming off and a sign pointing to the airport.
Hazard-9 and I move into the corridor and the chittering gets louder. I suggest sneaking up to ambush the Fallen making the noise, but he runs off instead. As soon as Hazard-9 alerts the enemy to our position I run up to support him. The Dregs spot me and quickly surround me, stabbing me, luckily their blows glance off my armour.
Riddle-3 runs up next to Hazard-9. They summon their light and throw a grenade, instantly wiping out the Dregs around me. The three of us are also caught in the blast but it’s not enough damage to make any of use worry much. The arc energy loudly crackles up and down the corridor, alerting anyone nearby to our presence.
Amro moves up to join us, and begins investigating the shop the Dregs had been hiding in. He tries to use one of the vending machines but it gives him an error message, he pops the front off and out falls a pulse rifle. The other vending machines unfortunately aren’t hiding anything interesting, nor is the rest of the shop. We do find an old shopping trolley that we'd take the wheels from, and some other scraps that may come in handy, but nothing from the parts list that the mechanic gave us.
Around the bend is another shop, this one has nothing of any interest at all.
We exit the corridors on street level, opening up on a large pavement with a small road and then a barrier. Two footbridges leads from this pavement across a large sunken road to a huge building labelled as “Luton Airport”. All the roads are covered in abandoned cars and other debris.
We plan to search the cars for them parts we need, splitting into pairs of scavenger and lookout. Amro and Hazard-9 are chosen to be the scavengers and Riddle-3 and I will be lookouts. I follow Amro into the road as Riddle-3 follows Hazard-9 to investigate the vending machines out here.
I notice a yellow beam pass by and settle on Amro, I pull him back by the shoulder as a blue light flashes, narrowly missing him and leaving a gouge in the tarmac. I recognize the blue light, having died to it before. It’s the same weapon as the Tracer Shanks use. I hear Riddle-3 throw Hazard-9 to the ground at the same time.
We all look in the direction that the shot came from but due to the fences we can’t see anything. I take my role as guard seriously and move up to the end of the bridge to get a better look. All I can is a vague blue haze, just a bit taller that a person. I pull out my rocket launcher and whisper for Orion to send a picture to the other Ghosts.
My rocket goes wide, alerting whatever it is to my position. Everyone else moves into cover, getting positioned to support me.
There’s a roaring of engines from my right, coming out from the cover of the dropped road are three riders on some kind of hovering bikes.
I fire another rocket at the blue haze, the creature drops its camouflage upon impact, revealing a Fallen of some kind holding a rifle. There’s just one of them. It is obliterated on impact. My displays all start flashing red as my rocket launcher registers 0 ammunition.
Hazard-9 moves up and climbs the fence before raising his new exotic rocket launcher. It misses.
Riddle-3 moves up to a gap in the fence and pulls out his bow. They skewer the rider straight off the bike thing they’re riding. The bike’s momentum carries it forward a few feet.
Amro moves alongside Riddle-3, pulling out his new pulse rifle and scoring a solid hit on another rider.
The bikes move along the road, opening fire on Amro and Riddle-3. Their shots hit but don’t do much to Amro or Riddle-3.
I move up the bridge and stick the barrel of my machine gun through the chain links. I open fire and fill the bike with bullets but they don’t appear to hit anything important enough to cause any real damage.
Riddle-3 fires their bow again, landing a solid blow but no kill this time.
Now we can see the riders clearer, it’s revealed that they are Dregs.
Hazard-9 runs forward, jumping the median and reaching the first Pike. He grabs the handlebars and in one swift action punches the Dregs out of the seat and swings himself up. The Dreg lays on the floor unmoving.
Amro opens fire on the last Dreg, missing but causing it to leap from the saddle to avoid the shots.
The Dreg quickly recovers, jumping back on the bike, spinning it around and fleeing. It manages to hit something on the handlebars that makes the bike achieve incredible speed, taking it far out of range before we can even react.
I wonder how many Fallen have escaped from us, how many have seen us fighting. One of the Ghosts says that the dropship that brought the Spider tank definitely knows about us, and this Dregs will be taking back more detailed information. We’ll definitely be building a reputation with the local Fallen.
Sixth Entry
Return to Start
The party are still around the road outside Luton Airport. We still haven't fully checked the ruined vehicles or the area around here. I ask Orion if the Ghosts can scan and upload the Pikes we've captured, but they are not compatible with the Ghosts' systems. They're also too heavy to lift out of the roadway we're on, and too large for the tunnels we arrived by.
Amro tries to strip one of the bikes for parts but finds that he doesn't have the right kind of sockets, or enough arms, for the complex construct.
I jump down from the bridge and make my way to a wrecked car. Orion projects an image of the parts we need as I search through the car. I manage to find one of the components we need.
Riddle-3 jumps down to join us and helps Amro with the bike. They come to the conclusion that it's far too damaged to find anything of use.
I suggest that since there are side buildings behind us, we should probably check them out. This devolves into an argument between everyone while Hazard-9 stubbornly tries to find a way to get the bike out of the sunken road. Eventually Amro walks away from the group, forcing the rest of us to follow.
Hazard tries to boost the bike up a pile of rubble, but hits the wall hard and the pike explodes. Riddle and I are just about to jump up the far side of the road when we see Hazard's body fly over us.
The door Amro has chosen leads to conveyor belts, which he is stripping for wire and other parts. He says something offhand about big scanners which excites me so I run off to try to tear one apart. There are three scanners with computer desks beside each one. I ride a conveyor belt through a baggage scanner, then jump up and start ripping panels off the big scanners. I show parts to Orion as I pull them out and he flashes a res light. Behind him pops Piskie making a negative buzzer sound.
Everyone other than Amro comes into the security checkpoint to watch and help, just as the air crackles over my shoulder and a spear chops down on my should blade.
Riddle fires his bow over my should and I hear a loud thus behind me as whatever hit me falls to the floor.
Hazard moves through the scanner room, setting off one of the big scanners and causing an alarm to sound. Amro hits the reset button for the alarm as Hazard searches the body. He notices something strange about the lower arms, and picks up the spear. Amro and Hazard discuss what can be done with the spear, but I ask to have it intact.
Amro tries to find some useful parts in what's left of the scanners, but Orion confirms that I broke all the delicate electronic components.
Hazard is hit in the shoulder by a spiky stick which explodes with lightning, covering almost all of us. It looks like The Fallen have grenades too. There is a burst of Arc fire from the far side of the room that Hazard stands in the doorway of.
Hazard charges out into the next room in the direction of a glowing purple light. That glowing light usually means a Servitor. As Hazard runs in there is the sound of a Dreg squealing as it attempts to his Hazard running past, moving at the same time to block the door. Hazard makes contact with his fist, releasing his light as he does so, in the form of a fireball.
I move forwards and attempt to stab the Dreg with my new spear. The spear shatters, leaving the blade and half the haft sticking out of the Dreg as it keels over.
Riddle moves up behind me, bracing their bow on my shoulder and loosing an arrow at the next Dreg. They pull the string back again, another arrow forming out of light next to my eye, which they loose at the Servitor Hazard is fighting. Another arrow forms, quickly disappearing into the Servitor.
The purple flow around the Servitor condenses down to a single point, which flies straight at me. I feel extreme pain as my body experiences the cold, expansive void of space and my very atoms are pulled apart. The world turns black as I once again experience death.
Seventh Entry
Return to Start
I wake up. I am surrounded by warmth and light.
The Fallen have all gone, everyone seems fine. We begin to make our way through the next section.
The next area is reached by two sets of stairs. I take one set while Hazard-9 takes the other. The only thing of note here is a large oblong object around three feet long. Having seen some of the others get Some Pretty Cool Things, I call out that this one is mine. The object is hinged on one side and I open it to reveal piles of Glimmer and an Engram. When I touch it it decodes into a shape similar to a Ghost, but empty. I hold it out toward Orion and he opens his shell the same way he does when reviving me or interacting with a computer. The shell in my hands opens too, and begins to orbit Orion's core along with his old shell. When it closes, he is in the new shell.
I ask if he is comfy, and he tells me that he has access to a lot more information now, including some indication of where we should be going.
There is a tunnel leading to overlook the air field itself, it would have originally connected to a plane to load passengers. The field is full of downed planes in various states of disrepair, as well as what appears to be a few wrecked Jumpships. There's also lots of debris, scattered ruins, and hiding amongst them several more Fallen.
I suggest some going forwards with others acting as longer ranged support, but Amro points out that we need to stay close for some of our abilities to work.
Hazard runs off ahead as usual, before the rest of us casually move up and get ready. We approach one of the downed planes that's covered in Dregs. We approach around one of the ruined buildings.
Riddle gets into position first, firing their bow at the Vandal standing on top of the wreckage. The Vandal gets spun around by the force of the arrow hitting its shoulder.
Amro tries to jump onto the top of the rubble, it takes a couple of attempts but he gets into the right position. He readies his gun against the Vadal but the shot goes wide.
I summon my light and run towards the Dregs standing on the floor. I open fire with my shotgun, obliterating the closest one.
Hazard moves up nect to me. He opens fire at one of the Dregs, wounding it.
Oksana moves next to Riddle and raises her scout rifle at the Vandal, making a solid hit and killing it.
The Dregs around the plae scream and flee North-East. There is the sound of Pike engines coming from both East and West.
While still shrouded in light I run toward the nearest Pike in the Western group, jumping into the air, aiming to land on the nose of the Pike. I miss my jump but keep my footing in front of my target, blasting the rider with my shotgun. Shrapnel from the Pike blows back, ripping apart the other two riders.
Riddle moves under the tail of the plane, towards the Pikes coming from the East. They draw their bow, sending two quick arrows into the front Pike.
Oksana moves around to the left wing of the plane, opening fire and taking out one of the fleeing Dregs.
Hazard moves further ahead, pulling out his Exotic rocket launcher. The rocket misses but explodes as it hits the ground, taking out the other three Pike Dregs.
There is the sound of roaring engines and a Fallen Skiff appears to the West, directly in front of me. Out of the back drop four Vandals and Something Even Larger.
Eighth Entry
Return to Start
While still bathed in light I run straight at the largest Fallen, a Captain. I pull my arm back to punch it in the face as my light begins to fade. My fist connects with nothing and my light disappears, dealing no damage and leaving me without the extra defence.
Amro pulls out his Solar rocket launcher and opens fire at the nearest Vandal. The rocket explodes on impact, sending flaming shrapnel flying. There is intense pain as the four Vandals turn to ash. The Captain looks singed but still standing.
More to the point, the Captain with two crackling Arc swords is standing over me. The sabres crack with energy as the Captain raises them over its head and plunges them into me. I feel more pain, then nothing.
++Hazard-9 runs closer, finding cover behind the destroyed Pike.
The Captain standing over Ternua makes it too dangerous for Orion to risk opening his shell to revive her.
The first Fallen Skiff flies off and a second one flies in to the North. It drops ten Dregs and a pair of Servitors.
Amro moves back into cover to reload his rocket launcher.
Hazard moves forward and throws a conjured grenade into the middle of the pack of Dregs, killing one and throwing shrapnel at the others.
The Vandals move, most going after Hazard, but one closes on Amro. It opens fire, but misses.
Half the Dregs move toward Hazard as their Servitor begins to project its shield. The Dregs open fire, hitting Hazard.
The other half of the Dregs circle around the ruins their drop ship is hovering over, trying to circle behind Hazard.
The Captain swats ineffectually at Orion, trying in vain to catch and shatter the Ghost.
Hazard moves forward and punches a Dreg, killing it.
Amro summons his light, moves forward and opens fire with his rocket launcher at the closes Vadal within the Servitor's shield. The ensuing explosion kills two Vandals and a handful of Dregs, leaving just the Servitor damaged.
Three Vandals appear atop a building to the East. They fire at Armo, but fail to find their mark.
The two surviving Vandals on the ground fire at Amro, the first misses but the second lands a solid hit.
The Servitor whose Dregs were killed by Amro's rocket concentrates a ball of Void light which spears into Hazard, killing him.
Najma points out to Amro that if he doesn't put something in the way of the snipers, Lyte won't be able to revive Hazard. Amro strides forward, still surrounded by his light. He kicks one of the abandoned Pikes over to lay in front of Hazard's body, shoots and destroys the Servitor, then slides into cover beside Lyte.
The Vandal that had been pursuing Amro catches up, leaning from the cover of another Pike to open fire, finally bringing him down.
There is another roar of engines as a Jumpship flies low over the airfield. A figure - another lightbearer - transmats in close to Ternua and the Fallen Captain. He aims a Hand Cannon at the Captain, blowing a chunk out of its leg. The figure glares down at Orion as it closes the distance to the whimpering Captain, grabs it by the collar, and then transmats away again.
The Vandals on the ground flee while the Dregs behind the ruins and the Vandals on the rooftop cower in the shadows.
Finally, Orion is safe to revive Ternua.++
When I open my eyes I notice that the battlefield has changed much more than is normal. I ask Orion about it and he tells me about our rescuer and his supsicion that he was the local Warlord.
I walk over to where Amro and Hazard are being woken by their Ghosts. I explain about the Warlord and the current enemy locations. I suggest cleaning up before we go looking for the parts we need, but Orion counsels that we've only got however long the Fallen are cowed by the threat of the Warlord's Jumpship - eventually they will rally and return to the air field. He's entirely right of course, so we begin searching for the rest of the parts we need.
We search the nearby wrecks, finding the parts we need and a chest of Engrams. I get a new scout rifle.
As we make our way back toward The King's Way Amro realises he has completed a task from the Bounty from the board in the settlement, earning himself another Engram.
Ninth Entry
Return to Start
We entered the Crossway through the same tunnel we exited. The place is empty, there’s no-one around at all. We can hear a crowd in the distance, cheering for something.
I suggest approaching with caution, the Ghosts agree, pointing out that whatever is going on must be important since they’ve abandoned the defences.
We find the back of the crowd, and they’re all facing a makeshift stage. The Light Bearer that rescued us earlier is standing with the Fallen Captain, holding it by the spikes on its helmet. He makes a speech about protecting the people of Kingscrossway, and that The Fallen are just outside the gates. He puts his gun to the Captain’s head, calling for their support before pulling the trigger and kicking the body off the pile of boxes.
I suggest we stay quiet and hidden, we know that the people here didn’t want Bors to find out about us. We know that he knows about us so I want to wait and see if we get mentioned, just in case he puts a bounty on our heads. Nothing is said about us, but the crowd chant “Bors” as they strip the Captain of its gear.
We go to find Kris Davenport, the mechanic who sent us to the airport for the parts. Kris lets us know that Bors knows about us. I tell him that we know he knows, since he sort of rescued us. Kris says he’ll still fix the Sparrows but we should lay low while he does. I ask for recommendations for where to hide out but he doesn’t know of anywhere.
We start discussing options, including the idea that the Exos could hide under tarps as scrap metal, when there is a thumping at the door. Riddle and Hazard hit the deck and we hastily cover them before the door is kicked in. Sheriff Elouise Reeves is standing there with a squad of the settlement guards. She counts us before holding up two fingers to her squad, sending some left and some right. She personally spots where Riddle has his hand still exposed, telling them that they’ve been spotted. Bors wants a word with us. She warns us to behave.
Bors is sitting on an ornate chair at the end of the largest room we’ve seen here. The walls are lined with bits of weapons and armour, including some broken Ghost parts. We stride down the room and Sheriff Eloise introduces us.
I point out that we’ll be gone as soon as possible. Oksana tells him that we’re just trying to get transport then we’ll be gone.
Bors asks how we got in without anyone knowing about us, but I respond that we were definitely known about. I also thank him for helping us at the airport.
Bors sends for Kris and asks him if he’s been helping us behind his back. When Kris takes too long to answer, Bors punches him, sending him flying across the room. I speak up, cautioning him against breaking his only mechanic. When he looks at me thoughtfully, Piskie pops up from behind us and tells him that the Sheriff also saw us. Bors picks Sheriff Eloise up by her coat lapels, bringing her face right up to his. A shot rings out and one of the guards in the room with us drops down. Bors puts the Sheriff back down before turning to me and asking me to finish what I was saying.
I tell him that while expressing anger is all well and good, breaking limited resources has its downsides. He looks at me very confused. I quickly changed the subject, apologising for trespassing and offering to do a job for him as recompense.
Bors tell us that he could use us to clear one of the nearby tunnels that he doesn’t have the manpower to do himself. The tunnel is full of The Hive, which we have not encountered yet. Bors calls to Squire, his Ghost to gives us map markers and then dismisses us.
As we leave the settlement we hear Bors over the tannoy system, telling them that any settler caught helping light bearers will be severely punished.
Amro asks Najma about Hive. They’re like insects, burrowing underground and expanding upon any tunnel system they can find. They begin at a similar size to a human or Dreg, but they grow quickly and can grow to any size, limited only by the size of their tunnels. There are lots of stories concerning the Hive, many of which cannot be verified since the survival of the teller contradicts the story.
Orion has been quiet for this conversation, but he speaks up now, telling us that he has been examining his recording and measurements of the wound that Bors’ weapon caused the Yeoman. There is something special about it, the damage it does is different to the usual elements. It could fire through a Ghost shell. Oksana comes up with the phrase Paracausal Energy and the discussion turns to other things that can either damage Ghosts or can disrupt the connection between Ghosts and the Traveller, or even between light bearers and their inner light.
As we reach the blocked tunnel entrance, an out of breath soldier comes running up behind us. The soldier removes a sheet of metal from the entrance before unlocking a rolling door and opening the tunnel for us.
The tunnel walls look organic. Bits of chitin cover the walls in places, with pods and parts of possibly plant matter that bioluminesce. The air smells damp and stale, possibly like a swamp would smell. It smells sweaty.
I take first position since it’s my fault we’re down here. Hazard is next. Amro and Riddle take rear guard, you never know what could come out of the walls.
The door slams back into position behind us.
Huddled in front of us are three concentric circles of some kind of creature kneeling and looking almost like they’re praying. Orion confirmed that there’s no such thing as non-hostile Hive, these ones look like Thralls.
I suggest to Hazard that on the count of three, we fire rockets. He says one will do. I miss. Riddle calls out that obviously one won’t do.
The Hive all jump up and look at us.
Amro kicks an ammo box, finding a purple brick for his rocket launcher. I change to my machine gun, and Hazard throws a grenade but misses.
Amro fires a rocket into the group, obliterating one of the Thralls. I open fire with my machine gun, filling one poor Thrall with a hail of bullets. Hazard also opens fire with his rocket launcher, obliterating another Thrall.
The Thralls swarm at Hazard and I, they have no weapons, just clawing at us ineffectually.
Riddle fires their bow, missing, they fire again, missing, but their third arrow takes a Thrall out.
I quickly swap to my shotgun, blasting the Thrall climbing on me in their centre mass. The spray of ammo rips through the Thralls surrounding myself and Hazard, glancing off our armour and clearing all the Thralls.
Hazard strides over to the next group of Thralls, punching through the face of the closest one.
Riddle opens fire with their bow, missing again.
From further down the tunnel, there is a screeching noise as more Thralls run up the tunnel. These ones are holding their arms across themselves and glowing. I call out that the glowing ones are worth more points.
Amro fires a rocket into the group of glowing Thralls. The rocket explodes, taking out all of the glowing Thralls.
I throw a grenade at one of the groups of Thralls, it doesn’t explode but it does take out a Thrall.
Hazard summons a great-mace made of light. He swings it in a wide arc, turning the chitin of the nearest Thrall to dust.
Riddle pulls back on their bowstring again, the first arrow blasting straight through a Thrall, they pull back again, the second arrow does the same.
The Thralls all pile onto Hazard. Between the sheer weight of their claws, Hazard takes a small amount of damage.
Amro fires his pulse rifle, double tapping one poor Thrall into oblivion.
Hazard swings the mace again, but the Thralls stop him from moving.
I blast my shotgun again, the spray wipes out the rest of the Thralls. This section of the tunnel is now clear.
Tenth Entry
Return to Start
The tunnel forks in front of us. We decide not to split up, especially since the Ghosts just explained about The Darkness, and take the left path.
In front of us is a creature roughly our size, hunched over, with bits of chitin jutting out from its armour. I pull out my scout rifle and shoot it straight in the head, killing it instantly. Orion identifies the creature as an Acolyte. When it falls, screeches echo down the tunnel.
I find some cover and ready myself, telling the others to do the same.
Three more Acolytes appear in front of me down the tunnel, I can see clearly that they are purple, and sort of the colour of bone. They are brandishing some kind of weapon at me. They fire and miss. Behind me I hear more shots and Oksana make the sound of being hit.
I summon my light into a Rift, bathing my companions in void light and making them all stronger.
Amro opens fire behind me but I don’t see the outcome.
Riddle fires a rocket past me. The Acolyte in the middle becomes chitinous shrapnel, destroying its companions.
Hazard moves back through the rest of the group, summoning his light into a sword. I turn to watch as Hazard cuts straight through the first Acolyte, turning it into a mini-sun that explodes and kills its companions.
In the distance we can hear chanting. We follow the sound to where we can see three groups of praying Thralls with a floating figure with no legs in the middle. The figure also has no eyes. The floating figure seems to be the only one chanting.
Further back, on a raised area is a huge figure. The Ghosts identify it as a Knight, while Lyte identifies it as their Hazard.
As we cross the threshold of the cavern, the Ghosts all shudder. Najma tells us this is a Darkness Zone, cutting them off from the Traveller’s Light. Orion urges us to stop whatever they’re doing as quickly as possible.
Amro is the first to act, opening fire with his auto rifle at the floating figure. His shots all miss.
The floating figure takes notice of Amro, stretching and arm out towards him and firing pulses of lighting. Amro gets hit but doesn’t look too bad.
Hazard runs in with his shotgun raised, firing at the floating figure. An orange bubble appears around the floating figure, called a Hive Wizard, before popping. The shell hits the Wizard, causing it to wobble in the air.
Oksana runs forward and opens fire with her scout rifle, hitting the Wizard. The Wizard slumps forwards before turning into mist.
The Thralls all jump on Hazard, or as many as can fit. Hazard doesn’t take much damage from it but they seem to have managed to hurt him somewhere somewhat important.
Some of the Thralls haven’t managed to jump on Hazard, so they come towards the rest of us. Riddle takes one out with their bow quite easily.
I run over to Hazard and prepare to start pulling Thralls off his back. As I get ready, the Knight drops down and runs to us, smashing me with his massive sword. It hurts, a lot.
Hazard tries to throw off the Thralls, but fails.
Oksana fires her bow, taking out another of the unengaged Thralls.
I summon the Void to heal and empower myself. I feel instantly better.
The Thralls continue to scratch and claw at Hazard, pulling him down and disabling him with their weight.
Amro walks up, calling his light, and opening fire with his auto rifle. First he takes out the final unengaged Thrall, then he turns his gun on the Knight. The barrels are spinning at full speed as it moves across to train on the Knight, shredding chitin.
The Knight summons a pitch-black shield in between us. It feels uncomfortable and makes me nauseous.
Riddle summons their light, crossing the cavern and blasting the Knight in the face with their shotgun. The Knight crumples and the shield disappears.
There are sounds all around the cavern , and deep in the back, two beams of light appear.
Eleventh Entry
Return to Start
I try to pull one of the Thralls off of Hazard, but I can’t find a grip in the pile.
Oksana moves closer to support Hazard and I. She opens fire with her shotgun but it goes wide.
Riddle draws their bow, skewering one of the Thralls and creating an opening for Hazard.
Before Hazard can take advantage of the opening, the Thralls claw at him again. Luckily this time they don’t do any further damage.
Hazard slips out of the gap and moves behind Riddle.
Two more Knights move into view at the back of the cavern.
Amro levels his auto rifle at the Thralls, taking two out.
At the sides of the cavern, two groups of light move closer. The earie green glow is the same as the Thrallsthat exploded before.
I throw a Void grenade into the remaining Thralls that had been surrounding Hazard. The blast sucks them all in before throwing chitin in all directions.
Amro summons his light, running forward at one of the Knights. He summons what looks like a small sun, pouring all his light into the ground around his feet. Orion handily provides symbols on my H.U.D. when I look in that direction. The Rift has a Barricade, Healing, Empower and Radiance.
The Knight pulls his arm back, getting ready to swing.
Riddle summons their light, running to try and intercept the blow.
Riddle manages to get inside the Rift with Amro, but doesn’t get there in time to intervene before the Knight plunges its sword down, straight through Amro and into the rock floor of the cavern bellow. Amro’s body begins to glow slightly, and Najma hovers above it.
Riddle focuses their Light into their shotgun and raises it into the face of the Knight. The buckshot finds the gaps in the Knight’s helmet, pouring blood and causing the reflected light to go out. It staggers for a moment before falling to the floor.
The first of the Cursed Thralls reaches Oksana and its glow intensifies.
Oksana summons her Light and runs into Amro’s Rift, just escaping the Cursed Thralls.
I move around the pillar to get a clear line of sight at one of the summoning circles. I change to my rocket launcher and focus the small amount of light I’ve accumulated into it. I can’t get a clear line to one of the summoners so I aim at the floor and hope. I manage to thread the rocket between the pillar and Amro’s Rift, hitting the floor cleanly but the rocket fails to explode.
Hazard runs up to join the Rift.
Oksana opens fire with her shotgun at the Wizard at the centre of the summoning circle, the shot hits cleanly, spraying buckshot and chitin through the Acolytes powering the circle. With all the enemies clear, Oksana moves into the area of the summoning circle. There’s an energy around the outside that ripples as she enters.
The other Knight moves closer.
Riddle goes to one knee next to Amro, protecting Najma as she brings Amro back.
Another group of Acolytes appears at the back of the cavern.
Amro pulls himself to his feet, moving towards the remaining knight and opening fire with his auto rifle, it’s a solid hit but doesn’t seem to cause the Knight much distress.
The Wizard from the other summoning circle flies across the cavern, turning its sights on Amro. Blue energy pulses at Amro, stripping the Overshield granted by the Rift.
Hazard manages to shake off the effects of his injuries, he aims his rocket launcher at the Knight and opens fire. The rocket falls short but explodes, showering both Hazard and the Knight in shrapnel.
I manage to shake off my injury and move away from the Cursed Thralls behind me. I raise my rocket launcher again, this time at the Knight. The rocket tears into it, shredding it.
Oksana drops a Rift in the summoning circle, guaranteeing her safety until we can help her disable the circle.
The Wizard looks at Hazard, aiming something at him. Whatever power it was trying to summon fails.
Riddle runs into the other empty summoning circle. The energy around it ripples as they enter. Riddle then opens fire, blasting the Wizard with their shotgun. The hit lands solidly, throwing the Wizard back and causing some substance to begin dripping from it.
The Acolytes from the other summoning circle move closer. One is carrying a long triangular tube, possibly a rifle of some kind. It aims it at Riddle, firing a ball of arc energy, stripping off Riddle’s Oovershield.
I move forward to where the Knight fell, picking up the Heavy Ammo it dropped when it fell. I reload my rocket launcher and open fire at the Wizard, my shot goes wide, but I stay one step ahead of the Cursed Thralls.
Hazard summons his light and charges the Wizard, punching it with a Solar fist, and making it explode, sending embers onto all the Accolytes that had moved up in support. A sunspot appears. It looks like a mini sun, hanging in the middle of the air, radiating power.
Oksana readies herself and the summoning circle around her collapses. The cavern appears a little brighter, or possibly just less dim. Marzanna lets us know that she can feel the Traveller’s light again.
Oksana steps out of the Barricaded Rift, opens fire at the Acolytes that were trying to circle around her, and then steps back into her Rift.
The Acolytes that had been supporting the Wizard succumb to their burns. Except the Accolyte with the strange rifle, it aims at Riddle again. The ball of arc energy fails to connect but it explodes, catching myself and Hazard in the blast as well.
Riddle fires their bow at the Acolyte killing it.
The first Cursed Thralls reaches me. It wraps it’s arms around me and begins to glows more intensely.
Amro moves away from the range of the blast.
The world again goes black.
I open my eyes again. There are two more Cursed Thralls left, uncomfortably close.
The Acolytes that were circling around Oksana continue around, except two that break off to attack her.
Twelfth Entry
Return to Start
Oksana opens fire with her shotgun, the blast obliterates both Acolytes. Oksana then moves up to the Acolytes that are trying to circle around her, missing them with her shotgun.
I run forwards towards the last summoning circle. So far I’ve seen Oksana’s presence bring one down, and Riddle’s presence bring down another.
Amro shoots down one of the Cursed Thralls before moving into Hazard’s Sunspots.
The other Cursed Thrall shambles forwards into the Sunspots, exploding just as it reaches Hazard. Hazard is atomised and the blast catches Amro with a glancing blow. Hazard fell just outside of the safe zone provided by the destroyed summoning circle.
The three Acolytes by Oksana take a few steps back before opening fire with their weapons.
Enemy reinforcements appear from the walls of the cavern.
I run towards the last summoning circle and feel my Light start to push The Darkness away. I summon Void energy and prepare to plant it at my feet, forming a Barricade. The barricade fails but I feel Void energy playing over my armour, giving me a shield.
Amro steps over to Hazard and begins to resurrect him. It works quickly.
Oksana pulls out her pulse rifle and takes out another Acolyte.
The last regular Acolyte manages to hit Oksana, but doesn’t cause any real damage. The other Acolyte by her brings its grenade launcher to bear, blasting her.
Hazard moves towards the reinforcements and opens fire with his auto rifle, blasting straight through the chitin of an Acolyte.
The Acolytes advance on me, opening fire as they approach. It strips my shield and does enough to shake me.
Oksana takes out the last regularly armed Acolyte by her.
Hazard runs toward the group, moving so fast that he produces a wave of heat and Solar energy in front of himself. The heat blasts into the Acolytes as Hazard reaches their flank, cooking each Acolyte and turning them into Sunspots.
My Light overcomes the Darkness within the summoning circle and the Ghosts inform us that the cavern is cleared and we’re no longer in a Darkness Zone, allowing them to reconnect to The Traveller. At the same time, the purple haze over the door way at the back of the cavern falls, revealing another large cavern.
Oksana quickly dispatches her last enemy.
The cavern ahead is deep. At the same level as us is a bridge leading to a strange marble room. Below that is a massive cavern filled with glowing crystals and strange bioluminescent algae and mushrooms.
Orion helpfully provides a little name tag on my HUD when I look into the marble room. Floating above a massive crystal in the middle of the room is Zalka, Voice of Heresy. She appears to be some kind of Wizard.
In the corners of the marble room are smaller crystals, each set in a quarter circle with the same runes and symbols as the summoning circles we’ve just negated. We agree on the tactic of cleansing the crystals with our light before attacking.
Judging by sound, and my HUD, there are two groups of Thralls on the steps coming up towards the marble room.
Hazard runs across the bridge towards the marble room. Amro moves up and shoots at the Wizard, missing and hitting the crystal instead. The shot does nothing, careening off in the distance.
I run up alongside Hazard and pull out my shotgun, blasting away one of the Thralls to our left.
Zalka floats around her crystal, throwing arc energy at Hazard. Hazard looks shocked for a second before shaking it off.
Oksana steps forwards and opens fire with her rocket launcher, hitting Zalka solidly. Marzanna confirms that Zalka is immune to damage right now.
Another group of Thralls has appeared on the steps to our left, and a group has appeared on a rocky outcrop to our right.
I run the rest of the length of the bridge and power slide into the closest right corner of the marble room. I pull up some more Void energy and drop a Barricade. I instantly feel the benefits of Empower and the strength of the Overshield.
Oksana runs down the length of the bridge. Amro darts from cover to cover, taking out a Thrall as he goes.
Zalka looks at me with disdain, and a Knight appears out of nowhere and steps towards me.
Hazard runs up to cover me, standing alongside me and pulling Solar energy to his fist. Hazard punches the Knight and it rocks back on its feet, looking dazed.
The Thralls continue to move closer. Two of them managed to get close enough to start clawing at me. Luckily they don’t manage to do anything.
I hear thuds behind me as the Thralls on the outcropping jump down. The Thralls on the left manage to finish coming up the stairs and move around behind Amro.
Hazard starts venting steam, looking angrier and more violent than we’ve ever seen him looking before. He hits the Knight, knocking it cleanly onto its back.
I try and summon Void energy and punch the Knight. Somehow, between the energy and the armour I don’t manage to hit anywhere important, impotently smashing my fist into its pauldron.
Oksana moved into the marble room with us and clears out the Thralls that aren’t attacking me.
The Thralls behind us leap onto Amro, pulling him down with their weight and doing something to the soft tissue in his leg.
Amro summons his Light together to form a sword. He doesn’t manage to hit with it, but he does manage to stabilise the Light that makes it, moving himself into a defensive stance.
The Knight stands up. It begins to vent steam from its chitin just as Hazard did and looks murderously at Hazard. The Knight swings its massive sword, hitting Hazard in the side of the head, denting his head unit and shaking loose some components. Hazard looks dazed.
Zalka moves backwards away from us, and summons Darkness into her hands throwing it towards Hazard and I, luckily she hadn’t taken enough time to prepare it and it dissipated before it hit us.
Thirteenth Entry
Return to Start
Hazard begins summoning Solar energy around his fist, and pulls back for a punch, but the Knight manages to dodge at the last second.
Oksana moves up to the marble room with Hazard and I. She drops a Barricade at her feet.
Amro takes a mighty swing with his sword, taking out one of the Thralls. He takes a step back, dropping off the bridge and landing in the room below.
The Knight swings its bone sword at Hazard, sending up sparks and making Hazard lean back in pain.
I throw a grenade at the Knight, it fails to detonate but cracks its faceplate.
The Thralls surge forwards, surrounding Hazard and I. Below us I can hear Amro shouting as he is swarmed again.
Zalka throws arc bolts at Oksana, destroying her barricade.
Hazard summons the Solar energy again, pulls back and aims his fist for the crack in the Knight’s faceplate. Hazard’s fist goes straight through, pulping its skull in a blast of chitin and ichor.
Oksana bunkers down and shoots one of the Thralls with her scout rifle. The shot takes one straight out.
I swing my shotgun round, blasting to my right and taking out both Thralls on that side of me.
Down below I can hear the Thralls screeching but Orion lets me know that they haven’t managed to do any harm.
The closest Thralls swarm onto Hazard, pulling at his body panels.
Amro swings his sword, managing to keep the Thralls away but not to kill any.
Zalka throws more arc at Oksana, this time she doesn’t have a Barricade to hide behind and the energy hits her cleanly.
The crystal in the middle of the room fades to nothing and the purple glow around Zalka abruptly disappears. Reinforcing the theory that we had to depower it before we could hurt her.
Oksana summons her Light into a Void grenade, hitting Zalka and engulfing her in purple motes. At the centre is a Solar explosion as Zalka screeches. Orion points out it was a Solar shield that was destroyed.
I vault over the Thralls in front of me and summon my Light into a two handed axe of Void energy. I strike Zalka solidly, splitting her in half and causing any energy she had left to explode out. The strike removed Zalka’s head, and I pick it up to use as proof of our victory.
The Thralls flee and Orion lets me know that The Darkness has gone. A chest appears where Zalka’s body fell, containing Engrams for the group.
And so, we have finished the task set to us by Bors, and cleared the tunnel that needed clearing.
We make our way back to The King's Way while discussing Bors. We remind Hazard that he might be angry at Bors, but Bors can kill Lyte, which means any action he takes will be taken out on Lyte instead.
We reach the walls of the settlement and are met by Elouise Reeves who leads us back to Bors’ building where we can hear him arguing with someone. A woman. An Awoken. She’s wearing a badge with a sigil, much like I wear, but a different sigil.
I hold Zalka’s head out to Bors while going down to one knee to the strange woman.
Bors seems angry that we’ve survived, talking as if we are a problem that needs to be handled. The Awoken woman offers to take responsibility for us, or possibly to take the blame for us.
She leads us out of Bors’s building and takes us to get drinks. She introduces herself as "The Enchantress" and her Ghost as Manteau. I introduce myself and the rest of the group doesn’t seem very forthcoming, so I make a reason for us to be hesitant with names. Hazard also introduces himself and Lyte.
The Enchantress assures us that she has guaranteed our safety for now, for which we are very grateful. She suggests we walk and talk, and try to get ourselves out of danger of listening ears. She also gives us an account of what Bors had planned for when we arrived back at the Crossway.
We reach the Sparrow yard where Kris is making final adjustments to our Sparrows.
The Enchantress waits for Kris to go back inside the settlement before speaking. She talks about Bors’ hand cannon and about Darkness weapons as an abstract.
When Amro asks what she benefits from helping us, she expresses that she thinks differently to Bors. She would not wish for the country to be victim of the biggest, meanest and loudest bully, hoping for a regime change.
She seems to be speaking out against The Warlords of Earth, though she is being very subtle about it. She holds a position of a similar level to Bors, although it is clearly a very different position. The Enchantress offers us some kind of shadow patronage. She makes it clear that she cannot be seen to be helping us, but she is somewhat invested in seeing us succeed.
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