Tuesday; four days until the Guardian Assault Victor and Laurel stood outside, waiting for the release of Matson. The door open, and two guards escorting the hunter stepped out. Matson, who was already dawning most of his armor, smiled sheepishly as Victor shoved the sniper rifle into his arms. "Hi..." Matson said weakly, before willing his helmet over his face. "Just stop," Victor ordered. "We're already losing time!" "Time for what?" Laurel asked as she looked up to the face of the behemoth of a titan. "Precious time," Victor replied as he turned to the warlock. "Now move. The Prison keeps a stash of Cabal, and I'd like for you two to get a taste before fighting the real thing." The Guardians entered into the Prison of Elders before the door to shut behind them. The lights flashed on, and a damaged servitor flew up to them. Matson clenched his shotgun, but resisted as he realized that was one of Variks' toys. "War-wracked Cabal await, Guardians. Kill them deeeaaad!" The servitor said, before transmatting out of the hallway. The gate opened, letting out a wall of heat from the arena. The Guardians walked in and were met with a disturbing display. Phalanx shields lined the walls, pillars of fire bellowed from flamethrowers, and a massive harvester was suspended in air by fraying cables. The gate shut behind them, locking the hunter, titan and warlock in the arena. "If you thought the Crucible was rough..." Matson said before following it up with a whistle. The ear-shattering scraping of the rusty doors filled the arena, but was replaced by the thundering claps of Cabal entering the arena. They had been closed in darkness for so long that the firelight hurt their eyes, but when the dishonored warriors saw the Guardians, their rage kicked in. They quickly adjusted to the light and engaged in the fight. Slug rounds flew through the air, exploding upon contact with the various pieces of debris scattered about. The Guardians jumped for cover and readied their weapons. "This isn't the simulator!" Victor yelled. "They will kill you if you give them the chance!" The titan ran around a wall and pulled back the trigger of his auto rifle, cutting through a legionare's armor. Matson and Laurel still hid behind the barricade. They were both breathing heavily, nervous. "We can do this! We can do this!" Matson yelled, trying to psych them up. Laurel looked to him and smiled briefly before letting fear wash over her again. Matson patted her shoulder before vaulting over the barricade and popping shells into the thick-bodied monsters. One. Two. Three. They fell easily with each slug of lead. Laurel still sat behind the wall, trying to hold back her tears. All the commotion terrified her. She held her golden hand cannon close to her and tried to force herself to run into the fight, however, she didn't need to. A psion jumped in front of the warlock, causing her to scream. Before the frail creature did anything, Laurel force pushed it into the wall. It fell to the ground and shook its head, but Laurel shot it in the head, letting blood and brain matter explode onto the wall where it lay. "Come on, Laurel!" Matson cheerfully yelled as he ripped his knife from the throat of a phalanx. Laurel ran towards the hunter, but stopped and screamed, "Matson!!" The hunter turned around to see another phalanx swinging its wall of a shield towards him. The room echoed with the sound of Matson's body hitting the wall on the far side of the arena! "Whoa, doggie! That had to hurt!" Panoptes declared. He peaked down to the dead hunter, who's bones were no longer facing the appropriate direction. "Oh, that's nasty!" The ghost said as he reeled back. Laurel quickly ran, and slid, to Matson and used what available Light she had to revive him. The hunter reappeared in a flash of light, gasping for air. He turned to the Awoken and laughed sheepishly. "Those hurt..." Laurel chuckled, then helped him to his feet. Victor grabbed a psion's head, and snapped it as he threw it to the ground. He tightly gripped his Fourth Horseman and fired five shells into one Cabal. The massive corpse was thrown back from the several impacts. The titan threw the gun to his back, then punched a centurion in the gut. The beast hunched over, but the shields did not break. It uppercutted the titan, sending him into a wall. The Cabal raised its projection rifle and lined up the shot. However, a bullet passed through the beast's skull, dropping it like a rock. Victor turned to his left to see Matson chambering a new bullet into his No Land Beyond. With the flick of the bolt, the hunter was ready to strike again. As the team fended off the Cabal, their unity grew. A Cabal legionare approached Matson from his side, but the hunter ducked down for Victor to get a clear cross into the beast. Laurel finished off the Cabal by force pushing it into three psions, crushing them all. Matson vaulted over Victor as the titan crouched down to reload. The hunter, then, jumped onto a centurion and jabbed his knife beneath the amor. Another Cabal grabbed the pest and threw him against a wall. Matson was stunned and could barely move, but dropped to the ground to dodge the fist flying towards him. An arc grenade rolled between the Cabal's legs. Matson, quickly noticing it, grabbed it and shoved it under the creature's helmet. Immediately, the hunter ran, then jumped and covered his head as guts, gore, and debris rained down on the team. Laurel conjured a massive orb of energy that ignited a phalanx on fire when she cast it upon the shielded demon. It reeled in pain, and when it moved the shield clear, Laurel fan fired her Last Word, killing the creature. Finally, the last prisoner was killed. It stumbled back on its feet, but at the end, it fell onto its face. The ground was covered in motor oil, blood and corpses, and various shells. Matson, who was exhausted, fell down to a sitting position as he slipped shells into his shotgun. A haunting laugh filled the PA system. "Destroy the mines, Guardians, or dieee... Your choice!" Variks said before cutting the microphone. The team looked around, confused. There was nothing in there but them! Suddenly, an Eliksni mine materialized on the far side of the room. It was clicking, like the ticks of a kitchen clock preparing to sound with the message that the meat was cooked. It was a time bomb!