Chapter 19
The next several days went by quickly. Zillah's move went without a hitch. The Awoken were more than happy to see a Guardian leave and provided plenty of frames to help with the packing process. Frames handled most of it on the Tower side as well, though I did pitch in a little. There were no more immediate mentions of forming a permanent fireteam, but Zillah, Celeste, Scott-20, and I did decide to take on the Iron Banner together. After the week was up we could always deal with the other part of it if we wanted to.
The day arrived and we all set off to the Iron Temple. I had not been able to travel here often enough yet for the excitement of it to wear off. Dropping in and seeing the Temple, knowing its connection to history and the Iron Lords was still awe inspiring. Also impressive was the size of the crowd that had gathered. Clearly, we weren't the only Guardians looking forward to the start of the activities.
At the appointed time, the bells inside the Iron Temple began to sound, then a second sound drew our gaze to the neighboring peak. When we had visited before and met with Shiro-4, the massive doorway across the bridge had been closed. Now it slowly creaked open, allowing us to begin to cross over. Lord Saladin stood before the familiar flaming shield bearing the wolf and ironwood tree emblem of the Iron Banner, but this time he was not alone. He was flanked by Aasim-7 and a figure mostly clad in green and white. She wore a Hunter's cape, a crested helm similar to that of the legendary Saint-14, and had the Ironwood tree emblazoned on her tunic.
Lady Efrideet?
Gasps and murmurs rose up from the assembled Guardians. As far as everyone had known, Lord Saladin had been the last surviving Iron Lord. Between basic history, hearing about the legends of those figures each time Banner rolled around, and some of the more... romanticized tellings of Lord Saladin's lonely vigil that had been told, it was a known fact that he was the sole survivor. Yet here was proof that that had not been exactly true. Saladin raised his hands and the crowd quieted.
"Greetings, Guardians," he called out. "Welcome to the Iron Banner. For countless years now, we have held this tournament, allowing Guardians to test their full Light against each other, and I have overseen as you have proved yourselves worthy to carry that Light against the strongest foes. Each time I came back to the Tower, but now that is changing.
"A new generation of Iron Lords has begun with Lord Aasim. The Iron Temple is open and once again Felwinter's Peak rings with the voices of Guardians. As such, I felt it fitting to bring the Banner back here, back to the home of the Iron Lords. We will also be changing the match type. No longer will the Iron Banner exclusively feature Control matches. This week, the match type is Supremacy. The next change is that I will no longer handle the Iron Banner personally. I present, returned to us once more, Lady Efrideet."
A brief murmur rose again at the confirmation of the woman's identity. She stepped forward and placed her hands firmly on her hips, head tilting side-to-side as she looked over the crowd. Once the voices had settled once more, she spoke with a voice that sounded surprisingly young.
"Hello, Guardians. Light and peace to all of you. It is an honor to be here once more and see this many gathered in this place. I am sure that you have many questions for me, but right now is not the time to address them. As Lord Saladin said, there are many changes occurring. One thing that will not change is this: Strength in the Light is what matters most in the Iron Banner and yours will be tested. Make the Iron Lords proud. The Iron Banner is now officially open."
Lord Saladin and Lord Aasim descended from the platform, Guardians parting to allow them to pass. Ghosts emerged to pick up bounties and arena assignments. Soon, Guardians began disappearing one by one as they transmatted up to their ships. Elgan returned from getting our assignment with his shell spinning happily. That told me we at least were not assigned to Pantheon. He knew I hated having matches there.
"Caloris Basin," he chirped. "Mercury. I'll be sure to pack the sunscreen."
Vertigo. An interesting arena where the surroundings could potentially be as dangerous as the other Guardians if one was not careful where they put their feet. Some tight corridors, but areas that were prone to sniper fire as well. It was a good location.
"Did it tell us who we were paired up with yet?" Celeste asked.
"Not yet," Elgan replied. "That will be determined when we arrive."
"Let's get going then," I responded.
Celeste and Scott both nodded and their Ghosts materialized. They quickly transmatted out of the area. Zillah, however, had not responded. She was not even looking in our direction. Instead, her focus was directed toward Lady Efrideet.
"Where did you go?" Zillah whispered, taking a step toward the new Iron Banner handler. "And why does your Light feel like that?"
"Zillah?" I asked.
"Hmm?" she responded, turning to look at me.
"Everything alright?"
"Yeah, fine," she replied distractedly.
"You seem a little out of sorts."
"No, I just..." she stopped, glancing back toward Efrideet, then shook her head. "It's nothing."
"You heard the assignment, right? Mercury?"
"Right," she nodded. "Meet you there."
I gave her another look, trying to read her. Finally, I transmatted to my ship. The last thing I saw before my surroundings changed was Zillah taking another step toward Lady Efrideet.
…
By the time I made it to Mercury, several ships were already in orbit. A few more popped in after I arrived. I maneuvered in near Celeste and Scott's ships. Elgan materialized, his shell splitting open as the Ghost began receiving transmissions.
"Rosters and match order are in," he stated. "We go second and picked up a Titan and a Warlock. Eli-3 and Cheyah Palpatine. Looks like they are both fond of Solar Light."
"And who are we up against first?"
"Doesn't look like a regular team of six either. Elias Elder, Sunbreaker. A pair of brothers, Tristan and Theran, a Striker and a Defender. A group of three, Titan, Hunter, and Warlock. Hmm... Titan heavy lineup. I foresee much punching," he mused.
"Sounds like a good time to me," I quipped.
"Yes, I'm sure it does," he deadpanned.
"Zillah arrive yet?"
"Not as of yet," the Ghost replied.
"She seem like she was acting weird to you back at the mountain?"
"To determine weird you would have to have seen normal" he retorted. I chose not to dignify that with a response, so he continued talking, "She did seem to be affected by the appearance of Lady Efrideet for some reason. It wasn't familiarity though. Zillah's records indicate she was revived more recently than you, so there is no way she has any personal history with the Iron Lords."
"Well, let me know when she gets here," I told him. "For now, let's go ahead and open up a channel to the other members of the team."
Elgan reached out to the four other members of the team who were present. Along the bottom of my screen, small icons representing each appeared. Celeste and Scott responded right away. Eli-3 joined the conversation shortly after, with Cheyah chiming in last.
"Glad you managed to make it, old man," Celeste stated. "Where's our other friend?"
"She should be right behind me. Don't worry, she'll be here," I replied.
"It would seem that it is fortuitous that we go second," Scott-20 added.
"Scott. She'll be here."
"I take it the three of you are already acquainted," a new voice chimed in, masculine and holding the hint of the artificial that always carried under the surface with Exos. Must be Eli-3.
"Yes, sorry," I replied, "I suppose we should get introductions out of the way. I'm Claney Beamard, Defender Titan. The other two are Celeste Etain, a Nighstalker and my daughter, and Scott-20, Stormcaller, who we have worked with a few times recently. Another Warlock, a Voidwalker named Zillah Arvid, should be arriving any moment now."
"I'm Eli-3, Sunbreaker," the Exo Titan responded. "Hopefully your friend isn't late."
"Cheyah. Sunsinger," the fifth member of our team added curtly and then cut the signal.
"Well she sounds friendly," Celeste muttered.
"Celeste," I warned.
"What?" I could just imagine her batting her eyes innocently.
Twelve ships broke orbit and dropped down toward the surface to deposit their Guardians in the arena. The first match of the Iron Banner was underway. I checked over my gear with Elgan, making sure everything was in place. Given the CQB nature of the Supremacy match type, I opted to go with an auto rifle and shotgun combination. Even though the ammo count was a little low, the added kick of the Curtain Call would be better here than the Burden of Proof. That paired with my Haakon's Hatchet should work well. If not, I had him keep my Nirwen's Mercy prepped as a backup.
Two minutes into their match, Zillah finally arrived. Her shipped dropped from NLS and drifted in next to everyone else. I had Elgan mute the team line and open up a private channel to her.
"You were starting to worry us."
"You thought I wasn't coming?" she asked. "What have I ever done or said that would make you think I would just not show up?"
"I knew you'd be here. There was just a little concern that you were late," I replied, taken aback by the tone in her voice. "You sure everything is okay?"
"Yeah, fine," she stated, then closed the private channel and joined the team-wide communication. "Sorry I'm late. Something came up back at Felwinter's."
The first match ended on score rather than time limit. It looked like it had been a fairly one-sided affair. I wondered briefly if that meant that one team in our group was going to be very challenging or if it was a fluke. I did not have long to ponder that though, as the arena was prepped and it was our turn to head down. As a group, we dropped to a lower orbit, then transmatted down. We were designated as Alpha Squad.
As we found our footing, I looked around, taking in the strange Vex architecture. As far as I know, no one knows what this place is or what the Vex used it for. When it was discovered, there were also several abandoned Cabal ships slaved to its position, with no sign of the inhabitants of said ships. Some have questioned the wisdom of using this location because of that, though none are brave enough to do it within earshot of Lord Shaxx. I wonder what would happen if an army of Vex suddenly appeared in the middle of a Crucible match one day. That or twelve Guardians suddenly vanished never to be seen again.
I also got my first look at our two teammates for this round of the Iron Banner. Eli-3 was one of those people you would mark as a Titan even out of armor, large and imposing. He was also a walking advertisement for Dead Orbit, wearing their latest armor and mark and holding their newest auto rifle and shotgun. Must be a true believer in the cause. Cheyah was his physical opposite, though there was a confidence and strength to her stance that made me doubt that many people would give her trouble. She wore two hand-cannons and had a sniper rifle strapped to her back. She was still staying off of the team channel.
I took a second to open another private channel to Zillah. "I know you well enough now to recognize that something is bothering you. You've dropped your guard too much to go back to the way you were when I first met you without giving something away. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Just know that you can. Probably after we're done here, though."
She turned and gave me a look that was unreadable behind her helmet. I shrugged my shoulders, which resulted in her shaking her head then turning it in a way that probably meant she was rolling her eyes at me. Celeste gestured questioningly at me with her hands and I waved her off. Then the match began.
"I'm going to 'B'," Eli said, peeling off to the right.
It was a solid strategy and a pretty common point to try to hold, even if it was not a Control match. It was a central location, was one of the higher points of the arena, and gave a team control of the Vex gate which limited access to the floating platform. Sure, a Guardian could still jump out there, but it would be easier to respond to a sniper taking position out there if you could just appear behind them at any moment.
"That works," I said, following quickly. Celeste, Scott, and Zillah headed in that direction as well. I did not see which way Cheyah went.
Bravo had clearly had the same idea in mind, as multiple red dots appeared on my motion tracker on approach to the location. They were coming from two directions, up the outer stairs similar to us as well as through the middle of the arena. Eli had opened fire across the platform, so I turned my attention to the narrow corridor leaving up from the lower mid-section. A head in a copper-colored Warlock hood crept into view and I opened fire with the Hatchet. Several rounds found the mark, and I heard a shockingly high pitched scream as the figure dropped back out of view.
"Did... did that guy really just scream in terror?" Celeste asked with a disbelieving laugh that was cut short as she had to duck behind cover.
Three Titans came into view from the opposite side of the platform. One dropped under a barrage of bullets from Eli-3's Extremophile. His crest dropped, but was quickly picked up by one of his allies, denying us a point. His body disappeared in a flash, transmatted out. The motion had drawn my eyes in that direction, so I did not see the small object flying up from the side until it was almost too late.
"Grenade!" I called out as the object tumbled through the air. It anchored to a section of wall in front of me and erupted in a torrent of Arc energy. Lightning grenade.
The Light energy ripped in front of me harmlessly, but it tore into Eli, flinging him hard against the wall. He vanished in a flash of light, dropping a crest. Before I could react, one of the Titans had snatched it up, scoring the first points of the match. I opened fire with my auto rifle, dropping his shields and sending him scrambling. The other Titan provided covering fire with his pulse rifle, forcing me to move as my shields dropped.
I scrambled behind a low section of wall as if I was going to take cover. Zillah took a shot, drawing the Titan's attention. I quickly pulled the Curtain Call off my back with one hand and slapped the Hatchet on with the other. Shotgun at the ready, I jumped and pushed myself upward with lift. The arch of the boosted jump carried me right toward the other Titan, who had been caught off guard. I opened fire at close range as I fell toward him, dropping him and securing a crest. I had little time to enjoy it though, as his partner returned the favor, shooting me in the back before I had time to recover.
To avoid unnecessary risk to Ghosts, Guardians are transmatted out of Crucible arenas as soon as they are registered as being down. There are additional Ghosts on hand to help speed the revival process, getting the Guardians back into action as soon as possible and to help shrug off the lingering affects of being mostly dead. The Guardian is then returned to the arena, usually to an area that is either clear of bodies or close to their allies. Of course, it does not always quite work that way.
Several points were scored before I returned to the fray, with Bravo taking the lead. They had also managed to take control of the B location. Matches here often revolved around gaining and losing that spot, so I was not too concerned yet. I swapped back to my auto rifle and was checking my HUD for the location of my teammates when Zillah suddenly appeared beside me.
"Who got you?"
"That Hunter," she grumbled. "Managed to Blink around the outside ledges without falling and knifed me in the back."
"At least three of them are still on B," I heard Celeste calling out, "Not sure where the others are, though."
As if on cue, three red blips appeared on my tracker. They were scattered, all generally moving in the direction of the portal. I set off after the closest one at a sprint. I often found my best success in the Crucible if I just threw myself head first into things. Not that I had the best standing in the Crucible, but it worked better for me than trying to hang back and do things more strategically.
"I see them, they're heading that way," I announced.
I closed the gap and caught sight of the person I had been chasing. One of the other Titans. Carlton. I opened fire, bullets striking his kinetic shields and throwing him off balance. He staggered a moment and ducked behind a piece of the rubble left behind by the Cabal when they had found this site. He returned fire, but I had the advantage. He went down under a hail of bullets and disappeared. Once again, I had little time to do much though, as one of the others had converged on the gunfire and I went down without seeing who had shot me.
I dropped back into the match to the sound of a hammer striking a forge. I knew each team had a Sunbreaker, but was not sure who had called on their Hammer of Sol. I only had enough time to turn my head when a flaming hammer came streaking through the room and I died yet again. That was not the best way to get the question answered.
Once again, I transmatted in, gritting my teeth. This was getting annoying. I sprinted inside, heading toward the lower central platform leading up to the portal. I spotted Elias, the Sunbreaker that had killed me before and took him out, getting a measure of revenge and gathering his crest. Scott came up around the central column, apparently he had been following the Titan.
"How're you doing?" I asked, glancing at my motion tracker.
"Not well would be the understatement of the year," he complained.
Bravo's Hunter, Sierra, came around the left side. I reacted before Scott, opening fire with my Hatchet. She dodged to her right and vanished from sight, seemingly dropping through the gap in the floor. I was about to laugh when she suddenly reappeared, having grabbed the cable connecting the two platforms and flipped back up at an unexpected angle. She unloaded her hand-cannon, dropping poor Scott-20 before he had a chance to move. I opened fire, but she landed at a sprint and disappeared behind a column. My only consolation was that she had to flee quickly and was not able to collect Scott's crest. I picked it up, scoring a denial.
Cheyah came from the right side and blew past me, leaping up onto the platform and heading up to B without a word. I could not remember actually hearing anything from her the entire match, now that I thought about it. I jumped up behind her and followed her toward the upper platform. The sound of hammers rang our again.
Knowing that Elias could not possibly be charged again, I called out, "Get 'em, Eli!"
"That wasn't me," he replied.
"Then who...?"
Suddenly, lighting streaked across my field of view, cutting off my question and taking out Cheyah. I looked in that direction and saw Tristan, one of the brothers. He was holding a hammer made of Arc energy. That was new.
I flung myself backward with Lift, barely avoiding another hammer. I shook off my surprise enough to ready a suppressor grenade which I flung at the opening. He stepped around the corner, prepared to throw more Arc Light at me when the grenade went off and the hammer disappeared from his hands. A shot rang out from the platform and he dropped then disappeared. Celeste poked her head around the opening and waved. Tristan's crest rolled down the corridor and I scooped it up.
Things continued like that for most of the match. It was a very back-and-forth affair, with neither team able to gain a solid advantage over the other. I was transmatting back in after getting taken out by their Warlock when there was a loud burst of static in my ear.
I bent over, clamping my right hand over my ear. "What was that, Elgan?"
"Don't blame me," the Ghost protested. "It was a strong, directed signal coming from somewhere else."
"You still could have kept it from doing that to me ear, couldn't you?"
"Well, sure, if I'd known it was coming. I was a little busy watching you get killed over and over again."
He went silent for a moment, then came back on the line. "Signal incoming again. It is a recorded message, directed just to you. Seems to be on some sort of loop. Give me a second."
Another voice came over the line then, and I froze. Impossible.
"Claney," the voice rasped. "You left me for dead, Claney. I told you we were not yet finished. Meet me at the coordinates included in this message."
Jaeger-10.
"Check that for authenticity," I told Elgan.
"It checks out," he replied, "it's him. Somehow. And there are coordinates included with the message. Calculating... He's on... Venus?"
"We left him on Earth, buried in a cave in the Plaguelands. How and why is he on Venus?"
"I don't know," Elgan admitted. Normally I would mock him for that answer, but the situation didn't call for it.
I was so distracted by the unexpected turn of events that I didn't notice the red blip approaching me rapidly. My first indication that there was anyone near me was a sword made of Void energy entering my back and emerging from my chest. As I fell, I turned my head. It was the other Titan brother, Theran. He was carrying a sword and shield and his armor was covered by another protective layer, all made from Void Light. Who were these guys?
Unfortunately for my team, that was the Nail in the Coffin. My death gave Bravo the victory. Each of us was transmatted up and out of the arena.
"What was that, old man?" Celeste questioned. "Why did you freeze like that?"
I hesitated. "Just a surprising bit of news. There's something I need to go take care of."
"What about the Banner?" she asked.
"It will have to wait," I replied with a shrug. "I'm sure you will have no trouble picking up another Guardian to finish up here."
"Hold it right there," she responded with suspicion in her voice. "No way would you just walk away from the Iron Banner like that. What's going on?"
"Kiddo, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me, old man."
"No," I stated with finality. "I'll be back soon."
"Elgan," Celeste addressed my Ghost, a threatening tone in her voice.
"Don't say a word," I warned him.
"Well?"
"It was Jaeger-10," the little traitor squealed. "Jaeger called him from Venus."
"How is that even possible?" she questioned.
"No clue," I said, "but it's him."
"And you were just going to... what? Go see him and get yourself killed?" the Hunter demanded.
"What's going on?" Zillah joined in. Great.
Scott and Eli were added in as well. Celeste must be patching everyone in. Or maybe it was Elgan.
"Oh, not much," Celeste snarked, "other than the fact that the Hunter dad killed is apparently still alive, called him out, and he was about to ditch us and go see him?"
"What?" Zillah interjected with a mix of shock and annoyance. I could guess which was aimed at me.
""Wait," Eli-3 chimed in, "you did what? You killed a Guardian?"
"Oops," Celeste said sheepishly.
"Yeah, long story. War Cult Hunter. Tried to kill me. Exposed himself to SIVA."
A low whistle.
"So he survived being shot, being exposed to SIVA, and having a cave dropped on him, and you thought you would just go waltzing up to him?" Zillah asked. "You were really just going to go off on your own?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Oh you stupid, stupid Titan!" the Warlock fumed.
"What do you hope to gain by another confrontation?" Scott asked.
"To end this thing once and for all," I stated. "This needs to end. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like I could get in trouble for killing him a second time, could I?"
"That would be...," Scott mused, "unprecedented."
"What's the worst that could happen?" Celeste questioned in disbelief. "You die? You get infected with that stuff and then die?"
"So what should I do then? It's clear he isn't going to let this go until one of us is dead."
"Call the Vanguard?" Zillah suggested. "Let someone else handle it? What we've been telling you to do when it comes to this lunatic?"
"Let someone else handle it? I'm sorry, did I miss the part where I stopped being a Guardian?"
"No," she said frustrated, "but this is too personal for you. You haven't been making good decisions."
"I'm going."
"Then I'm going with you," the Awoken Warlock replied.
"Me too," Celeste added. "If you think we would actually let you go alone, Zillah was right and you are stupid."
"I have some unfinished business with this Hunter as well," Scott said. "Count me in."
"And I can't talk any of you out of it?" I asked with a sigh.
They all replied with variations of no.
"Sorry Eli, Cheyah," I addressed the two members of our Iron Banner team. "Looks like you are going to have to find another team."
Cheyah's ship broke orbit without a word. Eli, however, surprised me.
"I could come with you," the Exo Titan said. "I have no love for the War Cult, and you could probably use an extra gun."
"Sure thing," Celeste answered before I could turn him down. "The more the merrier, I say."
"Well, I guess we're all off to Venus," I said.
…
AN
Long author note here, so before we get started...
Thanks to modonn for the follow and Eli8300 for the story and author favorite!
Acknowledgements - Elias Elder is the property of a guest reviewer. Eli-3 belongs to Eli8300. Sierra, Alex, and Carlton came from Amberstar of Thunderclan. Cheyah, Tristan, and Theran belong to Order and Chaos - Qui Iudicant.
Edit notice - Uploaded a changed version of this chapter when I uploaded chapter 20. It is basically the same, but I reordered some dialogue and fixed some other lines that were bothering me.
This entry hit a big delay for a number of reasons. First, there were two entries for "Tales We'll Tell" that I wanted to get to. Then actual Iron Banner came back. It was even Supremacy, which would have been nice synergy, but it was not meant to be. The other big delay was brought about by the death of my dog. I'd had him for 14 ½ years, ever since he was 2 months old. I had little desire to write for about a week, then wrote up another "Tales" entry in his honor. Then I started working on this one and had so. Much. Trouble.
I was a little concerned about the last chapter. I've had a few "slow" chapters, but that was probably going to be the slowest. I probably could have/should have even let it breath a bit more, but worried about being dull. Glad it went over better than I had feared!
Now for what you just read... Iron Banner. The way Crucible and IB works in the game seems a little silly, blasting around the solar system between matches. Especially when it randomly assigns you to the same map. Trials makes much more sense, having multiple matches at the same location. Now, I get why it works the way it does in game... they don't want it to be too repetitive, covering up loading times, etc, but I decided to tweak it a bit. My take on it is that four teams go to each location and participate in a Round Robin style set up. Each of the teams plays the other, so each has three matches at each spot before moving to their next assignment.
Guest 1 – Done.
Guest 2 – Addicting? Thanks! A lot of spelling and grammar issues? Hrm... Well, what goes up is essentially a rough draft. I haven't had a beta reader look at any of it, I just write and post. The first several chapters were done while at work, the rest are usually done kind of late at night, so it wouldn't surprise me if some things slipped through. I do always run the spelling and grammar check, but we know how unreliable those can be at times. I'd be happy to fix specific examples, but I'm not asking you to go back through every chapter and tell me every single one. :)
Guest 3/Eli8300 – Yes, I realize my main cast is a little small. There are a few other OC's floating around in my collection of shorts, "Tales We'll Tell". In the first one, "Rebirth", there are two Guardians with Claney before he finds Celeste: Iniko Tosia and Jarus Corbin. Iniko was supposed to be in "Patrol", but never made it in. Corbin made another appearance in "Home Alone". In "My Buddy and Me", we see some members of Claney's old fireteam. They're mostly dead, but one or two are still kicking around somewhere, but, again, didn't work their way in here. Glad you're enjoying the story. Yes, I play Destiny on X-box One. GT is different than this screen name, though.
Amberstar of Thunderclan – You're not exactly innocent yourself. You've thrown Legion off a cliff not once, but twice now, and killed him off and left his poor kitty without robo-daddy. Clearly, they should just stick with me where it's safe.
Order and Chaos – Whobewhatnow? Oh, you're saying I wrote it wrong. Checked. Fixed. I had left out the word "by". Put in jeopardy by the action... Welcome back, by the way. Some hack named Ivan and Carl was parading around as you. It was weird.
Daydreamer B.A – I usually go with "Ironic Banter". Secondly, you probably just unfollowed me and didn't have the heart to tell me. Celeste's intentional vagueness got it's own "Tales" entry, which got even more people loving Astrid. You're welcome. Scott has kinda gotten the short end of the stick in the "characters having conversations" moments, so I wanted to get him in there a bit more. Not that my story has been big on taking time to just let people talk. Always worried readers will get bored if I don't keep things moving...
modonn – So long as I manage to keep your interest and you keep reading, don't worry about speed. Slow and steady wins the race, or so they say. I pretty much lost every race I ever ran, so I think that's a lie. Thanks for the review.
Guest 4 – Good to know. Always like when people enjoy my characters.
Guest 5 – lol "You kids get away from my whirlygig!"
Man, that was a lot of reviews! I love all the feedback. Let me know what you thought about this, what you think about my take on IB, any errors you caught, things that worked or didn't.
The end is near.