Thanks for the support! Especially since I was just planning in using this as an archive. Sorry for the shorter chapter, but they do get a bit longer. PM/DM/whatever-they-call-it criticism, ideas, and general feedback if you can. But I'll box the jabber and waddle on.

Chapter 2:

Goliath

In Earth's history, 'tanks', as they are know now, have always been one of the few true points of power on a battlefield. In the second 'World War', the countries of Germany and the United States both developed their own interpretations of power. The largest one ever planned was designed by the German army, and would take a crew of more than fifteen men to control.

Now imagine a tank with automated defense systems.

A turret with the power to destroy any fortified building in a single shot.

Four vertical thrusters instead of treads.

Double the size, and you've got yourself a Cabal Goliath Tank.

And it's their smallest tank.

It's a beautiful light-show. A smoky trail follows the rocket as it roars towards the tank. The Legionaries see it coming too late. It detonates after directly hitting the engine, the wolfpack rounds flung outward from the rocket seeking the nearest heat source. I launch a second at one of the rear engines, switching to my Arminius-D, flipping the select-fire toggle to its slower fire rate. Lines of deep orange solar energy blast past me with the telltale sound of the Icebreaker's shot behind me. Both port-side engines fail simultaneously, causing it to fall on the ground, dragging itself over three Legionaries before the engine goes critical, detonating the vehicle. I've already moved my aim to the last tank in the line-up. Phalanxes are deploying their barricade shields around the remaining tanks, protecting the engines as the Interceptors turn and blast towards my location.

"Brad…"

"I know, I see them." I empty a mag into the Phalanx shield before sprinting to the side, lowering into a slide as the Interceptor blasts past me, cleaving trees from the ground. The second turns to face me, and the Psion's head blows off, a trail of arc blowing through it.

"You're welcome" Shi's mechanical voice crackles in my ear.

I lower my rifle towards the remaining Interceptor pilot, flipping the fire selector back to 'bullet hose mode'. I shoot. My strength, compliments of being a Titan, keeping the recoil under control. The protective screen in front of the Psion quickly shatters, and the Psion falls off, dead, leaving the Interceptor relatively undamaged. The loud clicking sound of the Goliath firing is followed by a missile flying overhead, destroying a tower that Kyle had climbed into. Running over to the interceptor, I shout to him over the com.

"I'm all right!" He yells back, a little panicked. "I'm in a different tower."

I pull myself onto the Interceptor, throttling straight towards the remaining Goliaths.

I swear, if you pull a- Box starts.

"I'm doing it." I pull out my shotgun with one hand, blasting the control console, followed by the front armor. It buckles, causing smoke, sparks and flames billow out. I stash Immobius, forming a voidwall grenade in the palm of my now unoccupied hand. I can almost hear Box's complaints through his silence, and then we're within twenty meters. I roll off, sliding under the Goliath as the Interceptor plows into it, detonating as I drop my voidwall. Dark energy burns from both sides of the grenade, causing a long line of purple fire. As I slide out through the other side, the Goliath Collapses, four thrusters crumpling under the sudden load of heat and external damage.

"Did you see that!?" I yell. First time doing it without being blown up-

I hear a deep clicking sound as the final Goliath, ruined tanks blocking any forward movements, shoots me with its main turret at close to point-blank range.

Death is not painless. Though I can't remember the first, every resurrection since then was because I died. Simple as that. You feel everything. So just now, when I was hit with a piece of artillery meant to take down ships from less than a hundred feet? I felt my entire body vaporize. The pain makes it seem to take longer, the burn of solar energy as my remaining chunks fly backwards, on fire.

But death is not the end. Nothing from it. The Ghosts allow us to harness light. While everyone has their own element (literally), you can, through training, and a lot of discipline, extend your reach towards the other elements. In my encounters as a Defender Titan, I have the ability to wield the weapons of a Sentinel, albeit less powerful. I even went as far as studying under the watchful eye of Ikora Rey, my mentor for self-resurrection post-mortem. Took seventeen years, and I remember every detail of it now. My essence being pulled together in a matter of seconds as I rise from the ground, running towards the last tank, throwing myself on top of it.

I have to be a bit careful. If I die before my Ghost has the ability to gather its own light back to empower me, I'll be dead. Very, very dead. But in the moment, I feel invincible, void light enveloping me now, giving me strength. Giving me speed. So as the turret rotates towards me, I crouch between it and the rest of the tank, pushing upward with everything I have. The metal groans; both from the turret and the tank's body underneath me. The combined force of me and the resistance of the turret bend it's barrel, the thick metal body armor beginning to fold underneath me. The last tank is defenseless as Shi and Kyle unload their snipers on the thrusters and the exposed, unprotected material underneath the turret. The tank falls to the ground, engine screaming as it goes critical. I walk off, walking back to the clearing that was the evac point.

The ships are all gone, almost out of sight. Shi's sitting there, Kyle sitting on the windowsill of another tower, dangling his legs out.

"Well, that was exciting" He notes, using the com. "Show-off."

"Well, it worked."

Shi looks at me. "How the h*ll do you self-rez with void light?"

I laugh. "What, you mean Ikora won't mentor you?"

"She's tried." Kyle laughs. "Says that she 'doesn't have enough discipline'"

"What, and he has some!?"

"Of course!" I say. "Seventeen years of study! And besides, a Titan without discipline is like a computer without programs. It's in here somewhere."

"I just think she's jealous that the first person to self-rez without solar light is a Titan, not a Warlock. Especially when it shouldn't be possible."

Void light swarms around her hand.

Ghost, I tell 'myself', standby for fireteam resurrection.

"And Ikora's busy and all, what with the war and everything..."

Shi pulls her arm back like she's going to throw a shot-puck, her body rising off of the ground as she hurls a Nova Bomb at the building window.

"Oh, for goodness sak-" Kyle starts.

The bomb slams into him, destroying everything in a ten-foot radius.

"You should have shut up, m*****f*****." Shi mutters to herself. I whistle.

"Overkill much?" I ask, walking over towards Kyle's annoyed ghost. It's appeared at the base of the collapsing building. "An axion bolt would have worked well enough." I reach it, and the Ghost syphons some of my light to rebuild Kyle's body.

"Well," He says when he's finally 'alive' again, brushing imaginary dust off of his shoulder, "I can't say I didn't deserve that."

"You two can finish this in the crucible later." I note "Let's get back to the tower. I'm sure Commander Zavala won't mind having a few more hands."

"Who else can teach Brad to knit?" Shi says, bitterness still evident.

"Shut up! It's manly." I say. "Takes patience, you know."

Our three ships fly together, heading straight for the tower. Surprisingly, they aren't much faster than the transports, and our ghosts all advised us that jumping while in the atmosphere wasn't a good idea. So we're flying straight towards the Last City, twenty-two minutes away.

"Shi?"

"Nothing yet." She says. We've been patched in to all of the tower com frequencies, and all we get is static and your regularly scheduled advertisements on the public station, and the constant drone of the evacuation alarm from the alert system. "Maybe it's the clouds?"

"Or they're jamming the city. Coms quality was questionable before we left."

"Just keep trying. The last thing we want is-"

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