Reckless Endangerment.

The hot sun beats down as Klutz escorts the last group of worried villagers. One holdout took some convincing to follow along, but eventually he listened to reason and joined his peers to seek shelter. They pass by a small house near the center of town and face the large building the others have gathered at.

Eyran stands at the entrance, reassuring his distressed people that things will be alright, and counting heads to make sure no one is left behind.

As the group quickly walks toward the community hall, Klutz notices the Fallen Ketchs parked near the City's walls above the horizon. He wonders if they are testing the Vanguard's defenses before they plunge into the assault. While he looks into the distance, a noise catches his attention from behind. He turns around to see a Skiff flying fast and low toward the village. "Everyone hurry!" he yells.

Some of the villagers look to see what the cause for concern is. Others pick up the pace without investigating, trusting that the Guardian's warning is evidence enough of the danger.

The Skiff arrives quickly and readies its weapons on the fleeing villagers. Its first shoots are impatient and inaccurate. Missing the mark wide as the people hurry inside.

One of the villagers, a woman with a small child held tightly in her arms, trips over her own panicked feet, and crashes into the ground as the large plasma cannons blast holes around her. The child rolls across the dirt path, screaming and crying as its mother struggles to get back to her feet.

"No!" Klutz cries and draws his weapon with lightning speed. He fires off a flurry of bullets at the hovering ship. The shots are almost totally ineffective against the large vehicle, but Klutz hopes they are at least distracting. His gamble pays off as he watches the cannons turn to change targets. He cants his head to check on the young family.

The woman picks up her child with maternal determination and rushes to meet Eyran at the front door.

The Awoken guides her through the door with a comforting touch on her shoulder. With everyone accounted for, he looks out toward the Skiff and shouts, "Look out, Guardian!"

Klutz sees the Skiff's guns charge bright with blue energy. He hears the swelling sound of power about to peak. He dives to the side in an inhuman display of agility, narrowly avoiding the impact of the gun's blast. He charges up a power of his own in his off hand. A chaotic collection of swelling wisps of Void Light. The Guardian throws the Light, hard and fast. The wisps split apart, multiple small seekers headed toward their target with destructive intent. When they collide with the Skiff's cannons, they warp and eat through the metal before exploding in a dazzling display of purple fireworks.

"Good work, Guardian! The Skiff's cannons are no longer functional," Spark says in his helmet.

With its weapons disabled, the Skiff flies lower and extends a number of slender spring boards from its underside. A squad of armed Fallen descend from the ship and perch themselves on the boards. Their Arc weapons and matching red armor show they are prepared for battle. Before they leap toward the ground, one of the creatures falls forward dramatically. Its head explodes into a cloud of Ether when the Guardian's shot hits its target. The other Fallen jump quickly and face off with the Lightbearer while their ship retreats.

Outnumbered by the small squad of attackers, Klutz rolls behind a modest wooden home and reloads his weapon. One of the aliens ducks down and charges his position, armed with a pair of Shock Blades. Another leaps on top of the building to flank his cover. When the sword wielding Fallen lunges with its blade, Klutz catches it by its outstretched wrist and delivers a devastating kick to its body. The creature drops its swords and collapses to the ground, gasping for breath. Klutz takes the opportunity to finish off the foe with a meaty stomp to the back of its head. Ether sprays out wide as the body goes limp. Immediately after, Klutz feels a pain in his back and has the wind knocked out of him by the powerful shot of a Wire Rifle, aimed from the roof of the building he is hiding behind. The shot knocks him back out of cover and he is quickly hit with another Wire Rifle shot from a sniper in front of the community hall. The sniper hits him square in the shoulder and sends him on his back. He hears the roof bound shooter charge up another shot and quickly readies his own rifle. With only a fraction of a second to spare, Klutz shoots first. Two shots land in the center of the Vandals chest and a third rips through its neck, sending it tumbling off the roof.

"The sniper, Klutz!" Spark warns.

Pushing himself to his limit, Klutz leaps from the earth with a burst of Light. Barely avoiding a headshot and landing on the roof of the nearby building. He charges forward in a full sprint across the roof to meet his opponent. Panting breaths and the taste of blood with every step. When he reaches the end of the roof he pounces forward and dropkicks the sniper in the head and upper chest. Both opponents hit the ground hard, but the sniper loses hold of its weapon upon impact. The Vandal sniper shakes off its injuries with admirable focus and reaches for its sidearm. In a quick draw it is able to land a pair of shots dead on the center of the Guardian's dark helmet. Klutz recoils from the hits and replies with a palm strike of powerful Light. The strike cripples the Vandal's firing hand and knocks the gun away. Klutz gets up with some difficulty, and points his rifle at the marksman. The crippled creature stares at the Guardian with hateful eyes and lets out a defiant cry. Klutz finds himself once again as the unhappy triggerman in a battlefield execution. He hears the sound of someone moving behind the building's old door. He pulls the trigger.

Spark appears and scans over the man as he breathes heavily. "Heads up, Klutz. I noted at least one more hostile drop down from that Skiff." She begins to heal his wounds while staying observant and cautious. "I don't know if it ran off or is hiding from my scanner. Whatever the case, it may show up at any time, so stay alert."

Just as the words leave Spark's vocal synthesizer, Marin steps through the creaky door.

The Guardian and the Ghost both turn to look at her with deep concern.

"Get back inside, Marin! It's not safe yet!" the man warns with fear in his voice. As if on cue, Klutz hears the bone chilling sound of footsteps making quick strides and a Shock Blade powering on. He spins around to meet the hooded Marauder as it appears out of cloaking to strike. He hits a swinging blade away with the end of his gun, but the second sword lunges up from one of its other hands and slides under his ribs. A wet cough and a spittle of blood are all that escape his mouth as his vision begins to fade. Everything goes numb and quiet as he slips away. An ear ringing bang is the last thing he knows before it all turns to black.