It seemed the battle was even worse down here: buildings were turned to rubble, towers were toppled, streets were cratered, and bodies were mutilated. Cabal troops marched down the streets, slaughtering everyone and showing mercy to no one. I even saw a colossus fred a fleeing car with its heavy slug thrower.     Not letting the Cabal get away with this without a fight, I snuck up on a legionnaire and thrust my knife into its throat. Once it died, three more soldiers turned to me. I pulled my knife free then threw it at one, it tried to catch the knife, but it was too slow and the blade slipped under the helmet; I double jumped into the air and shot three bullets into the second’s skull, causing it to explode; the third stabbed me in my abdomen.     I was pinned against a wall with a blade cutting my stomach open. I yelped in pain and gritted my teeth as the Cabal legionnaire yanked its wrist blade free. I slid down the wall, leaving a painting of blood while Colt tried to scan my wounds. Before I let my ghost finish, clearly frustrating him, I clambered back to my feet. The imperial took another swing at me, this time aiming straight for my heart as it lunged at me. I let it. Now blood was dripping from three wounds: my stomach, my chest, and its throat. I was certain it was dead, but my vision faded before I had confirmation.     I was brought back to life amidst the glow of a white flash of Light, and sure enough a dead Cabal was laying next to me. I gathered my several knives from the various corpses and cleaned them to the best of my ability. I made my way down the street, trying to avoid stepping on any of the corpses.     A harvester flew around a skyscraper and hit me with its search-light, forcing me to cover my eyes as I watched the ship hover in place. Just then, a huntress drew a Duskbow from the void and tethered it to the building. The ship’s thrusters fought the pull of the cold between stars, but eventually it collided with the building then crashed into the ground, creating a burning pile of debris.     The huntress inspected the wreckage, but was killed by a sniper bullet. I spun around to see a psion headhunter on a nearby roof; I shot at it a few times, but I only managed to frighten it off, then I revived the huntress. Once she was well and standing, I sprinted down the road again. A grenade was launched at my feet, but it did little to hinder me as I swiped it from the ground and quickly threw it back at the legionnaire that launched it.     “Mom! Dad!” I shouted to the titan and warlock warding off several squads of Cabal. They acknowledged it was me, but continued to fight; Conner was still inside, so defending that house was their first priority. I stood with them and fought off the Cabal as well. Even though we were stronger together, the Cabal were quickly outnumbering us, and our ammo reserves were running low.     As the onslaught continued, we were forced to retreat into the house; especially when interceptors began patrolling the streets. Dad created an impenetrable wall of Light to barricade the door, preventing any Cabal from forcing it open, then we all ran down to the basement where Conner was hiding. It quickly dawned on me that we were here before: Conner and I hiding in a basement while an invasion was in progress outside; the major difference, however, was I was terrified that we lost this time.     Even from down here, I could feel a difference in the air; the hairs on my arm stood on end from the presence of static electricity. I peered out of the window just in time to see a titan flatten an interceptor with a fist of havoc; beside the titan, a warlock electrocuted several psion soldiers while hovering off of the ground.     “Get to cover!” a voice yelled. We were on high alert at the order and I desperately tried to see what the emergency was. Suddenly, the ground shook violently and embers shot outward, and I began to hear our house groan in pain.     “I don't think we need to stay here…” I said somberly. It began to dawn on all of us--Conner most of all--that we were not invulnerable down here. I looked out of the basement window one last time and watched as anti-personnel turrets gunned down a warlock, then I saw the thrusters of a vehicle pass by--it was a Goliath tank. Thanks to Newton's third law of motion, the energy that kept the tank off the ground shook the house even more as it drove by. Our house collapsed.     “Hello?! Hello, is anyone in here?!” a voice screamed. Once again, I could see the angry glow of our burning City; the rubble that fell on us was being shifted around.     “Yes!” a voice cried back. “We got a civilian here!” It was Dad, and he was talking about Conner; they must have still been alive.     Another piece of rubble moved, then a couple of Guardians ran in. I slowly rolled my head over to see a hunter and warlock helping my dad and brother out of the wreckage. My vision was too blurry to tell, but I was certain it was ARC from their white and blue armor. Almost immediately, my nerves returned and my stomach burned with shearing pain. I yelled in agony, then looked down; a piece of rebar punched through my stomach. It was connected to the concrete slab that--thankfully--didn’t crush me, so I wasn't moving. “Help!” I yelled as my last ounce of courage and independence vanished.     Haxx-56 and Edward Hayes crawled under the concrete slab; Haxx pushed the rubble up while Edward cut the rebar and got me free. He and Gale helped me out--I was still too hurt to move by myself--while Haxx kept the house from falling on us. He began inching out of the crevice, then a bullet passed through him; a hard-hitting Cabal slug that punched straight through his plasteel armor, and his own exo frame.     Gale spun around and conjured an arc grenade and destroyed the pack of psions.     “Haxx!” Edward shouted. Haxx was rendered immobile as oil rapidly drained out of his body. C.P, his ghost, quickly flew clear of the building; by Haxx’s wish certainly. Then, the Guardian was crushed by the weight of the debris. “HAXX!!!” Edward screamed.     Despite not being strong enough, Edward ran over and desperately tried to raise up the debris; Gale and Mom and Dad helped as well but, even combined, they still couldn't move the slab. I was forced to watch as Colt removed the rebar from my body and healed up the wound. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/244661765/0/0]CONTINUE TO PART 3[/url]