[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/258065362/0/0]Link to Chapter 8 Part 1: The Concordat[/url] [spoiler]All chapters can be found in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/253302742/0/0]OoT table of contents[/url][/spoiler] Sorry for infrequent posting everyone, I’ve been busy. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to post every week but I will still only post on Mondays so u know when to look. If u want me to message u anytime a new chapter is posted, let me know [spoiler]This chapter uses concepts and characters from [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/228498532/0/0]Timelines[/url], a story by Lord Feldspar115[/spoiler] Air hissed and my descent slowed as I pushed Light from my feet and tried to orient myself, but I still landed flat on my back hard enough to make my head ring. The glass clattered down onto me and the ground. Before I dared get up to run, I tightened my grip on my hand cannon to make sure it was still there, then snapped it up to point at the window I had fallen from. A form vaulted out of the broken window: the Hunter. My barrel followed him as he bounded through the air on his Light, twisting when he saw me lying below him to get an angle on me. I pulled the trigger, and his head snapped back. His body tumbled out of the sky and crashed down into a pile of crates. “Shanks,” I groaned on the ground, my arm dropping down and the ache in my back finally registering as the immediate danger passed. But I didn’t stay down there in the street behind the Concordat building; gunfire was still ringing out from the other side of the building and it wouldn’t be long before both the Hunter and Titan were after me again. The question was, where would I go? If I fled now, I might not be immediately pursued because of the firefight, but I would be alone in a City I didn’t know and surrounded by enemies. Whoever was fighting could help me, and I couldn’t shake the worry that they might need my help right this moment. “You should work on your getaways,” Rush critiqued, healing my wounds. “There was a wall in the way,” I jested with a pained chuckle as I sat up. “Didn’t stop you,” my Ghost sighed. Already back on my feet, I started jogging around the building, slipping through an alley at its side to get to the other street. No one was around to see my previous scuffle or watch me move to the next. The civilians had fled and the combatants were already where I was heading. I emerged into chaos. Bodies were in the street; some wore Concordat robes, a couple were in Concordat armor, more were in dirty scrapped together armor, and more still appeared to be civilians caught in the crossfire. More people in sparse armor were positioned in side streets, alleys, and windows across from the Concordat-owned building I had just escaped, firing at the Concordat Guardians who had taken defensive positions behind barricades and supply crates. The rebel group was clearly losing, and not a single one of them rose again after being shot. None were Guardians. As I watched a man tumbled out of a window, already dead, and another on the street fell clutching his leg and screaming. Any Concordat Guardian that fell was up again in moments. The attackers wouldn’t hold out much longer, and it was unclear if they even had an objective. I hadn’t expected non-Guardians but, unfortunately, I had already made my mind up not to abandon them. My sniper rifle formed in my waiting arms this time as I picked my first target, someone sitting in a window with their own sniper. I took a long, slow breath, then pulled the trigger. Hardly pausing to make sure the Guardian went down, I switched to another window and shot again. Their limp body tumbled out of the window, but I was drawing attention now. The next target in a window was already looking at me by the time I found her in my sights. A bullet whizzed by my head and cracked against the concrete behind me, then my bullet answered and the woman’s head snapped back before she fell back from view. Now everyone knew I was there, and a couple of Concordat loyalists marked me as a target. The rifle in my arms vanished as I dove to the side in time to dodge a spray of bullets, replaced by an auto rifle when I came up from my roll over the pavement. I winced when a bullet pierced my pauldron and dug into my left shoulder, but kept steady and swept my weapon’s gaze across the enemy position. One Guardian ducked behind a crate, the second fell clutching at his chest where a few of my bullets found their mark, and the third dropped when someone else took a shot from their exposed side while they were distracted with me. Not waiting for someone else to fire at me, I dashed down the street towards the crossroads where most of the attacking force was positioned, bullets flying at me from the Concordat’s side and spraying debris into the air from the building walls I was keeping alongside. “Get down!” I didn’t have time to see who shouted at me before they lunged out of an open doorway and dragged me to the ground with them. A grenade launcher volley made the doorway above us significantly bigger, sending a sprinkle of rubble and dust down on us after the loud burst of its detonation. Both of us stayed prone and motionless only a moment longer before recalling our situation and scrambling into the building before the smokescreen cleared. We sat on either side of the door with our backs to the wall, breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush that we surely shared. There was a window on the opposite side of me as the door, a dead body lying under it just inches from me. One of the attacking force. I looked to my rescuer, taking in his shoddy chest plate and helmet, which was the only armor he had on. He wasn’t a very big or strong looking guy and seemed young. A hand cannon that had seen better days was clutched to his chest. These people weren’t well-equipped. “You okay?” He asked between heavy breaths, bringing his gaze up from his feet to look at me. “Yeah, thanks,” I nodded gratefully, then shrugged my injured shoulder and decided it wasn’t worth asking Rush to come out and fix it up. “Who are you?” The man asked, “I saw you come out of the alley, and you sure didn’t arrive with us.” “I’m William,” I introduced myself with a lazy salute, “I was uh…I was nearby.” “Willard,” the man took his turn to give his name, “Did Galon send you? Are you an elite?” “Who and what now?” I figured it was safe to tell this man I had no idea what was going on. “You’re…you’re not resistance?” Willard was no doubt gaping under his helmet. “So that’s what you people call yourselves,” I tilted my head to peek out out at the Concordat forces for just a moment before pulling back and starting to reload my auto rifle, “You’ve gotta be crazy to fight Guardians by yourselves though. Why aren’t there any on your side?“ “Our side?” Willard’s voice was filled with confusion, “They’re all Concordat. All monsters.” “What?” Now I was the confused one, “All of them?” “People with power like that always abuse it,” Willard squeezed the grip of his firearm. “Now that just isn’t fair,” I sighed, taking another glance out the doorway, “I only just got to this City and it’s pretty clear they’re forcing some of these Guardians to stay in line. Most of the others probably only obey Lysander because they care more about outside threats.” “And what would you know?” Willard’s glare was obvious even hidden by a helmet, “You’re not from here. You haven’t seen what they do to us.” “I didn’t say they weren’t all bad,” I admitted sadly, “My point is, don’t turn down help when it’s offered. And don’t go charging to your death. What in the Traveler’s name were you all thinking attacking this place?” “It’s a raid,” Willard explained, “This is how we steal supplies and weapons and try to get rid of as many loyalists as we can. There aren’t usually so many around…” “But they’re Guardians,” I emphasized. “Yeah…well, at least each one killed is a blow,” his voice grew sadder, “Their ranks don’t replenish with time like ours do. We must do what we can for the future…” I had no more words for him. Until I had come here I couldn’t have imagined a world where humanity fought itself instead of the Darkness. Even the Faction Wars of my world had ended under the threat of the Fallen. “Come on,” I pushed myself up to my feet, keeping my back against the wall and readying my rifle, “We’re getting out of here.” [i]Chapter 8 Part 3: PND[/i]