CHAPTER 5

SORIK'S CUT

TANGLED SHORE, THE REEF

THE REEF WARS

Kira and her Corsairs rushed out of the transport only to be met by a massive explosion. A shock round from a Fallen ship had slammed into the ground just next to her landing zone, and she was flung back through the door and into the ship. Luckily for her, she wasn't wounded. And none of her Corsairs had been caught in the blast.

"Damnit…" Kira cursed to herself and looked around. She saw a Fallen skiff hovering in the air above, shooting at the other Awoken transports.

"Kira! Get up!" Tania rushed over to Kira and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to her feet, "our shields will hold up for now, but that skiff is going to tear us apart if we go outside."

Kira loaded her assault rifle and waited by the door, looking up at the skiff. She heard two loud booms and more skiffs appeared behind it, flying to the purple ground of the Shore to land reinforcements.

"Come on…" Kira said quietly, squinting as she watched the skiffs lower, "where is she?"

"Where is who?" asked Tania, waiting on the other side of the door.

Suddenly, a Ceres Galliot flew through the sky. The unique black markings on its sides stood out to Kira. The ship belonged to Sedra. Sedra's ship soared through the sky and brought down a hail of shock rounds on the unshielded skiffs, completely blowing two of them apart and tearing the third in half.

"Yes!" Kira smiled, raising a fist into the air, the other Corsairs around her cheered.

"Was that her?" Tania turned to Kira.

"Yes it was, now let's go," Kira stood up and turned the safety off her rifle, "sky is clear! Everyone out!"

Kira was the first out of the transport, and she was followed by the rest of the Corsairs. She aimed her rifle at the head of a Fallen sniper and fired, blowing its head clean off. The Wolves had begun setting up bases across the Tangled Shore, and this one was the first of many that needed to be destroyed.

Fallen dregs rushed out from behind a set of prefabricated walls and returned fire on the attackers. A Corsair next to Kira took a shock round to the chest and fell, another was shot through the head by a second sniper.

Kira cursed and fired her Tigerspite at the dregs, coating the walls behind them with white blood as the bullets slammed into their flimsy armour. She reloaded and took cover behind a rock, looking back at the Corsairs that had been killed. As much as she hated to see her people die, she knew the price of war. And as much as she hated war, she knew she had to fight.

Tania moved into cover next to Kira, carrying a Supremacy sniper rifle. She aimed down the scope and shot the Fallen sniper through the head before it could kill another Corsair. Kira glanced back at the sky, and smiled as she saw Sedra's ship flying alongside the rest of the Awoken's air forces. As long as Sedra was in the fight, she knew they would win.

Kira knew the smallest boost of morale from seeing Sedra destroy the Fallen would carry her to victory.

SPIDER'S PALACE

TANGLED SHORE, THE REEF

PRESENT

Seja flopped down on her bed and looked out the window at the sky of the Tangled Shore. Spider's people had given her her own room, as well as a new set of armour and new clothing. Kevak had even stopped by earlier to give her some weapons she could use to fight when the need would arise.

Green stared outside along with Seja, taking some time to collect his thoughts. These Fallen had given her so much, and it wasn't even the end of her second day as a Guardian.

"Don't you think this is a little weird?" Green said after a few minutes of silence, and turned to Seja.

"What do you mean?" Seja said, not taking her gaze away from the outside.

"I just… I think these Fallen are being way too nice," Green floated around the room, "they give you your own room even though most of the other Fallen here don't have their own rooms."

Seja looked at him to see him frantically floating around and just sighed, turning back to the view of the Reef.

"A-a-and they somehow have clothes and armour in your exact size? I just… I don't get it," Green floated around the room. It was quite small, and was mostly empty aside from a bed, a locker to keep armour and weapons in, and a table with a chair and a lamp in one corner of the room.

"Not all of the Fallen are mean, Green," Seja sighed again and laid back on her bed, "and these ones in particular are just… really nice."

"But why?" Green floated to her, "you're not the first Awoken to come here, and I doubt you're the first Guardian to either. They have to be manipulating you."

"Listen, Green. We don't have to stay here forever, all we need is enough fuel to get to Earth. And this is definitely better than the chair in that skiff."

"Look, I trust your judgement. But don't expect me to like it," Green sighed and floated over to the table in the corner of the room, slowly setting down on top of it.

Seja rolled around on her bed. It was the most comfortable thing she's felt since waking up in that graveyard of ships. She had to admit that these Fallen were unusually nice, at least from what she knew from her Ghost, but as she looked down at her purple t-shirt and the bed underneath her, she knew she couldn't complain.

She rested her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, but before she could fall asleep she heard a knocking on the door. She sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Who is it?" she called.

"It is Kevak. Thought I should visit," Kevak's muffled voice came from behind the door. Even though Kevak had given her the room and everything else she owned, he didn't know she was a Guardian last time they spoke.

"Green, hide. Quickly," Seja whispered before standing up. Green nodded and floated under the bed where he wouldn't be seen.

Once Green had hidden, Seja opened the door for Kevak, who had his helmet removed and was carrying a cardboard box. He smiled down at Seja when he saw her, and she let him in.

"I brought you some more stuff," he said, moving Seja's chair out with his lower hands and sitting down. He set the box down on the floor and watched Seja as she sat down on her bed. "Spider didn't order it this time."

"What is it?" Seja asked, looking down at the box and rubbing her eyes.

"Books, and a tablet," Kevak opened the box and pulled out a tablet, handing it to her. "Do not worry. Spider told me everything. I do not mind working with a Guardian."

"Oh… good," Seja let out a sigh of relief. She liked Kevak, and it was a massive weight off her shoulders not having to hide that she is a Guardian. "You can come out Green."

Green floated out from under the bed and looked at the books Kevak had brought.

"Books aren't really a Hunter's thing, but, you never know," Green commented as he scanned through them. Most of them were old human fiction books that Spider's people had recovered, as well as a few Eliksni books.

"I'm sorry. I do not know what that means. But I brought them mostly so you wouldn't be bored" Kevak said to Green before turning back to Seja. "I am aware you are only a little more than a day old."

"Yeah…" Seja sighed, looking at the tablet that she had no idea how to use, "adjusting to everything is… really hard."

"But you are good at it," Kevak gave her a friendly smile, "you can walk, you can talk. It took me years to do those things. Even longer to learn your language," Kevak leaned back in the chair and pulled out one of the Eliksni books, "speaking of learning language. I thought it best you learned Eliksni. Not all of Spider's forces speak your language."

Kevak's words made Seja feel better about herself, and she was able to return the smile.

"I can try… but I think you should give me more time first," Seja sighed.

"Of course, I will not rush you. Spider might, but I won't," Kevak scooted closer and held the tablet with her, "here. I will show you how to use it. It is really simple."

Seja and Kevak both looked down at the tablet as he showed her how it worked. He showed her the functions of the buttons on the bottom and sides, and how the touch screen worked. After that he stood up and put the chair back.

"Good luck adjusting. I will be down the hall if you need anything," Kevak smiled as he walked to the door.

"Thank you, Kevak," Seja said before he could leave.

"You are welcome," Kevak gave her a nod and left the room.

Green watched Kevak leave and looked down at Seja. No… don't tell me… he thought to himself as he floated closer to her face to see her blushing.

"Seja?" Green asked quietly.

"H-huh? What?" she looked up from the tablet, and at Green for a few seconds before turning away.

"Do you like him? Be honest with me."

"He's nice okay? What do you want from me?"

"Okay, okay," Green floated back, "I'm not judging you, it's just… a little odd."

"You're judging me," Seja sighed and looked back down at the tablet.

"Listen, after seeing the things the Fallen have done, anyone else would be more shocked than I am that you actually like one of them."

"Green. It isn't important," Seja sounded annoyed. She wanted to keep her personal feelings to herself, and also read whatever she could on the tablet Kevak had given her.

Seja had just been resurrected over a day ago, and Kevak and Green had been the nicest people to her so far. The difference between Kevak and Green was that Green was a tiny drone that didn't even have hands. But she needed Green, and she liked him too.

Seja threw her bed's covers over herself and read information about the Tangled Shore on the tablet. If she was going to be spending more time here she might as well get to know it.

"How's she doing?" Spider asked as Kevak approached his throne.

"She is settling in well," Kevak reported, kneeling before the Spider, "I am aware you are attempting to manipulate her as his her Ghost. But you may not need to worry about that."

"And why is that?" Spider tilted his head, pulling a dead Ghost's shell out from behind him and fidgeting with it using his lower hands.

Kevak looked down. He could tell Seja liked him, and he liked Seja too. He also didn't feel good about manipulating her, but that was something he was going to keep to himself.

"I believe that the longer she stays with us, the less she'll want to leave," Kevak said after looking up.

"Yeah?" Spider spread his arms out, "that's why we're manipulating her. That's the point of all of this. Get it through your tiny skull. We want this place to feel like home for her, so much to the point that she won't be able to adjust to anywhere else. And when she realizes that, she'll come running back to me."

"Hm…" Kevak sighed. Spider was right, it wouldn't be easy for someone as young as Seja to adjust to anything new.

"Don't 'hm' at me!" Spider shouted, "there's more to this, isn't there?"

"No… no, of course not," Kevak stood up, "that is all."

"Hmph. We'll see. Go, you're dismissed."

Kevak nodded and turned around. He felt like he should warn Seja, but Spider would find out. And Spider didn't like it when his people went against his orders. Kevak stepped onto the elevator and went down to the living quarters.

Spider growled as Kevak left, and he called one of his more trustworthy associates.

"Veskras, I'm going to need you to keep an eye on Kevak," Spider leaned back, resting his head on top of a hand, "I believe he's getting a bit too close to our little miss scavenger."

"I'll make sure they don't get too close," Veskras responded.

"Good, good," Spider grinned behind his helmet, "I know I can count on you."

Seja awoke the next morning to a knocking on her door. She had fallen asleep clutching the tablet in her arms and looked around. She groaned and set the tablet down on her nightstand and sat up.

"Come in!" she shouted, rubbing her eyes as she woke up.

Kevak opened the door and greeted Seja with a smile.

"Hello, Seja. It is good to see you again," Kevak said. He was suited up in all of his armour aside from his helmet.

"Yeah, good to see you too," Seja returned the smile, "what's going on?"

"The Shore is quiet for now, but I thought maybe you would enjoy some target practice?" Kevak tilted his head.

"Uh… sure. Just give me a bit to wake up."

"Of course. I will be outside," Kevak nodded and walked back out of the room.

"So, off on another adventure already?" Green asked as he floated up from the table.

"I guess so," Seja stood up from her bed and walked over to her locker.

The suit of armour Spider had given her was unique, but it looked like the kind of armour Fallen would wear. It was made with the same tan metal as well as a grey undersuit that showed on the insides of the arms and in between the thigh and shin armour. The long spikes protruded from the elbow of the right arm, and a cape sat around the shoulders of the suit. The helmet had six glowing lights on the front that looked like eyes.

Seja chuckled, rubbing the sturdy material that the helmet was made out of with her thumb. She wasn't sure how she was going to see out of six eye holes when she only had two.

"I'll be out with Kevak," Green said before floating out of the room to give her some privacy.

Seja waited for the door to close before undressing and slipping into the suit of armour. After a few minutes she had got it on herself, and she tied her hair back before sliding the helmet over head. She reached back and took hold of the hood attached to the cape, and threw it over her head. Once she was suited up, she opened the door and walked out to see Kevak and Green waiting for her.

"How do I look?" Seja looked up at Kevak, her expression hidden behind the faceplate of her helmet.

"Scary," Kevak chuckled and gestured down the hall, "follow me."

Seja nodded and followed Kevak down the halls of Spider's palace. As they made their way outside to a landing pad, there was a vehicle waiting for them. It looked like a skiff with its troop bay removed, and the majority of its hull shaved down to show whoever was inside. There was another one of Spider's guards in the driver's seat, one Seja recognized from when she first arrived at Spider's palace.

"Veskras? What are you doing here?" Kevak asked, making his way over.

"Spider's orders," Veskras said calmly, leaning back in his seat with an upper arm resting on the top of a seat next to him. "I'm taking you to your destination."

"I wasn't told of this," Kevak stopped outside of the vehicle and crossed his arms.

"Spider's orders," Veskras said more firmly leaning forward, "if you're not getting in then you can spend all day doing nothing."

"Fine," Kevak sighed. Veskras ranked higher than him, so he wasn't supposed to argue. He beckoned Seja over to them and sat down next to Veskras before putting on his helmet.

Seja had no idea what was going on, so she just walked over once Kevak waved to her and sat down behind the two Fallen. The stripped down skiff then lifted up from the landing pad and flew down the Shore.

HIGH PLAINS

TANGLED SHORE, THE REEF

PRESENT

The skiff set down in a large open plain covered in debris from long lost ships. There was a massive spire in the distance that Seja didn't recognize as Fallen architecture.

"What is that?" Seja asked Kevak as she leaned forward in her seat and pointed at the spire.

"That is an Awoken building," Kevak turned around to face her, "constructed by your people. Those on the Shore refer to it as 'the Watchtower'. No one is allowed inside, Spider makes sure of that."

Seja slowly nodded. She only saw a few other Awoken in Spider's Palace, but none of them had seemed nice enough to talk to. Once the skiff had landed Seja and Kevak got up from their seats and walked away from it, towards the direction of the Watchtower.

"So what kind of target practice is this?" Seja looked up at Kevak as he walked next to her.

"Houseless Eliksni mostly," Kevak explained, resting a lower hand on a holster where he kept a shock pistol, "I would have chosen Awoken raiders too, but I am not sure how you feel about killing your people."

Seja looked down, thinking about it. She already had a hard time thinking about the repercussions of killing her first Fallen, she didn't know how killing another Awoken would go. "Yeah, I don't want to kill Awoken."

"Then Eliksni it is."

The two walked for a few minutes before Kevak suddenly broke into a sprint and rushed into the cover of a crashed jumpship that had been torn in half. He looked over to Seja and gestured to the other half of the ship across from him. Seja nodded and got into cover, looking over at him.

"There," Kevak whispered, gesturing between the two halves of the ship while pulling a large rifle off his back.

Seja peeked to where Kevak and pointed. In the centre of a large crater was a group of Fallen. One really large Fallen surrounded by dregs and a vandal who was carrying the same type of rifle as Kevak.

"Can you handle the captain?" Kevak asked quietly, gesturing to the large one.

"Uh… yeah. I think," Seja nervously nodded.

"Remember to not use your light powers," Kevak warned, charging his rifle, "if any other Eliksni know a Lightbearer is working for the Spider they will go against him."

"Right… I'll try," Seja slowly nodded again and waited for Kevak's move.

Kevak turned and exposed himself from his cover, aiming down the scope of his rifle and firing into the head of a dreg. Seja climbed on top of the ship's debris and aimed her pistol at the captain, squeezing off five shots that ruptured the large Fallen's shields.

The dregs screeched and scattered, running away from the crater. The vandal spotted Seja and shot her in the shoulder with its heavy rifle before scrambling away from the area. Seja stumbled back, her shields absorbing the shock round before it could actually damage her. Kevak shot the Vandal in the back as it retreated, causing it to fall forward onto the ground.

Once Seja had recovered from getting shot, she jumped down. The captain still held its ground, swearing in its own language that Seja hadn't had the chance to learn yet. It fired its gun at her once she landed, the burning pieces of shrapnel that came out of it bounced off her shields. Seja grunted. Though the shots simply bounced off of her, she could still feel the force of their impact.

Seja unloaded the rest of her pistol's magazine into the unshielded captain and killed it. Kevak ran out of his cover and past Seja, pulling a Fallen pistol out of his holster with a lower hand. He executed the vandal on the ground and gunned down the fleeing dregs.

"Easy enough," Kevak chuckled and turned around to Seja, "good work."

"Thanks," Seja nodded to Kevak.

Kevak walked over to the dead captain and turned it onto its back. He reached down and grabbed a chain around its neck, slowly lifting it up.

"What is it?" Seja walked over and looked down at the symbol on the chain. She reloaded her sidearm and slid it into her holster.

"As I suspected," Kevak snorted, forcefully ripping the chain off the captain's neck, "these Eliksni work for a rival of Spider's. A crime lord known as Ketstar."

"I take it there's more to this than target practice?" Seja asked, sighing.

"No… not now at least," Kevak assured Seja, "we have been unable to find Ketstar, he remains hidden. But his forces are weak, good for target practice."

"I see…" Seja looked down. She didn't know how Spider himself looked at her, but if she was able to find and kill this Ketstar then maybe Spider would give her anything she wanted.

"Shall we continue?" Kevak looked down at Seja, tilting his head.

"Yeah… let's continue," Seja nodded.

Kevak nodded and began walking again, towards the direction the dregs had attempted to run to. Seja kept a hand rested on her holster and followed him through the High Plains.

From a distance, Veskras watched the two fight Ketstar's men. He leaned back in his seat and continued to follow them slowly.

"Veskras, report," Spider's voice sounded from the stripped down skiff's dashboard.

"Kevak and Seja killed a squad of Ketstar's men," Veskras reported, "unexpected, but sure to get Ketstar's attention."

"What about our little Lightbearer friend?"

"Kevak is keeping her abilities in check. Our enemies do not know we have a Lightbearer serving us."

"Good. Make sure it stays that way. Spider out."

The connection to the palace dropped and Veskras continued to follow them and slowly watch from a distance.