Skanis, the new Kell of House Exile, looked out upon the Forgotten Shore from the safety of his Ketch. He could have started marching on the ground already, but there wasn't any point in losing soldiers to the Scorn before even getting there. He noticed the obvious footsteps of a Captain coming towards him, to wich he turned around.

''Greetings, Captain. I assume you have come here to give me another report, again?''

His heavy voice booming across the room they currently found themselves in.

''No, my Kell. We received a message from the Spider telling us that Uldren has an outpost not too far from here.''

Her feminine voice radiating authority and pride, along with excitement for a possible upcoming battle. Skanis felt it too, he could not wait to get his hands on that betrayer, Uldren. To strangle the life out of him while looking that bastard directly in the eyes. But he had to stay focused, those thoughts are for when they eventually get to the supposed outpost.

''Tell the pilot to head straight towards it, i do not want Uldren getting away''

That name alone made his blood boil

''And do not forget to inform the crew and Skiffs that we are to expect medium to heavy resistance and for them to arm themselves accordingly. Also, just this once, let them go all out with their loadouts. Let them take as many Launchers and Mines as they please. Because the pain in the betrayer getting away, will be greater than the pain of losing some spare weaponry from the armory. Besides, i do not wish for the unnecessary death of my Dregs due to them being unprepared.''

''Understood, my Kell.''

As she turned around and left the room, Skanis' mandibles shaped themselves into what you could call a smile, by Eliksni standards. He turned back around, looking towards the Forgotten Shore again as the voice from one of the higher ranking Vandals spread throughout the Ketch, telling the crew to head towards the armory and gear up.

That coward will face his end soon enough, and i curse all i hold dear if it isn't by my own very hands.

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Meanwhile, uncountable lightyears away from the Reef, on a planet that looks quite familiar to Eliksnios, a proud race of equine creatures are preparing for a grand wedding. Not worrying about ''Darkness'', but about what dress they'd wear, or what tie fits them best. Life there has been peaceful for many years, little did they know that that peace will be shattered soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

''Remember, stay undetected until we have a clear sight of Uldren or any remaining troops he might have.''

Skell-Rook, a lower ranking Captain, informed his squad.

''The Kell wants him alive, so do not shoot him directly. I have heard the legs or arms are fine, but nowhere else, understood?''

The 3 Vandals, 4 Dregs and 2 Shanks all nodded in understanding. The walk there was suspiciously uneventful. There would have been at least a small squad of Scorn creeping around the place or causing a ruckus.

''300 meters from the outpost, keep your heads up.''

A voice informed them over the radio. They all checked their Launchers, Rifles and Pistols for the final time before heading to their designated attack point. Everything had to happen fast and efficient, if they were to ever catch the Queen's brother. Luckily his squad was comprised of some of the finest he could find, they were deadly and ruthless, and that's all he ever had to know. He didn't really hate his previous squad, they just weren't as good as these guys. His older squad was just Exile and himself, a Devil, but now he had Exile, Devils and Kings in his squad as a result of an alliance between the 3 Houses. Well, technically 4, since the Kings had control over Dusk. These houses had all gotten a new Kell, who all relished the idea of being a single, stronger house. They had gotten an alliance, but haven't yet chosen a new House name or Kell.

''Captain, get down!''

As he was pulled from his thoughts he noticed a Scorn Walker tank in the distance, it's cannon, now smoking, aimed at him and his squad. He barely made it to the ground before all hell broke loose and he felt a strong force impact mere meters away from him. Plasma bolts, flaming schrapnel, tank shots and screaming soon filled the battlefield as Skell got back up to check on his squad. All but 2 made it out unscathed, the rest were in some way wounded or unable to fight. He couldn't believe it, they were getting ambushed, instead of leading an ambush! The Dreg and Vandal that were untouched by the Scorn's tank soon joined his side, hoping for some kind of amazing plan Skell was known for. Sadly, they didn't get an answer as Skell just looked at them in silence and disbelief. The moment was broken by the horrifying shrieks of Scorn Ravagers that now flooded the battlefield, one such squad headed straight towards them. Outnumbered but not outgunned, the Captain and Vandal soon began opening fire on the Scorn, the Dreg pulled out 2 shock sabre's and 2 shock daggers to hold off any that got too close to her Captain.

With a warcry, Skell equipped his own sabre's and charged head first into the remaining 8 that were attacking them, the Dreg followed soon after, wich left only the Vandal to pick off targets from range with his trusty Wire Rifle.

Skell soon reached the Scorn and with an ear-piercing shriek, the first Ravager received Skell's blade to it's skull. He just now noticed that the Dreg had joined in and was struggling against the flaming, metal cauldron of her enemy. Her struggle was cut short by a blue beam that blasted the Ravager's skull open, spraying blood and grey matter on her armor. Skell, however, had no trouble slicing and dicing the Scorn to pieces, just now having killed his third. The Dreg soon claimed her first kill as well, by slashing a Ravager almost completely in half, it's insides visible to everyone present. The Vandal claimed another kill on a Ravager that was sneaking up on his Captain. The Dreg claimed her second kill by decapitation, followed by the Captain finishing the last two Ravagers at the same time.

With this small victory he and the Dreg quickly made their way back to the Vandal, and back to their wounded squadmates. They had to get them out of here before more and stronger Scorn arrive. Skell reached for the radio on his helmet only to find that all he could hear was static.

''I request a Skiff and reinforcements here immediately, i've got wounded and two destroyed shanks! I repeat, multiple wounded and two destroyed shanks!''

STATIC

''Can anyone even fucking hear me?! Anyone at all?!''

STATIC

''Just my luck isn't it.'' he muttered to himself. He turned to his team

''You two try to get the wounded as far away from battle as possible, ans you are to stay there until i personally come back to tell you otherwise, understood?''

The Dreg and Vandal nodded.

''I, in the meantime, will try to look for our Kell. He'll probably need assistance in keeping the Scorn off of Rakis Prime. If we lose another Prime servitor we can say goodbye to any other important missions that we have planned. Now leave before more of those crearures co-''

That was all he could say before hearing the dying roars of a Prime servitor and being blasted to the ground by a bright flash of light that engulged the battlefield.

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Elsewhere on the battlefield

Sikres could only hope she was back on the ship bringing reports to her Kell, and not be fighting in an unexpected death trap. Don't get the wrong idea here, she loved battle, just not when an overwhelming amount of Scorn are flooding the battlefield, tearing your comrades limb from limb as they scream for help, only for it to be drowned out by the hundreds of other screams of agony.

She had tried to ask for reinforcements, only to find her radio jammed and filled with static. She looked at the Ketch hovering above them, in the hopes of someone coming to help. But at last, it was all for nothing, they had prepared for the worst, only to find it not enough. Now they were being shred apart by hundreds, if not thousands of Scorn that had ambushed them. She was pinned behind a rock, return fire was impossible, unless she wanted her head taken clean off. She froze in terror as she heard the chains of Ravagers and the stomps of Abominations rapidly closing in on her. This is it then? After all i've done and accomplished, my death will be caused by these cursed Scorn? It seems my luck has ran out, hasn't it...

The growls and stomps were quickly replaced by loud explosions, and the occasional flying limb. Or has it?

As she dared peek around the rock, she saw that the Pilot Servitor had exited the Ketch and joined the battlefield and apparently, saved her life. She gave it a silent thank you before grabbing her Schrapnel Launcher and for the first time in this battle, she could return fire accurately instead of pointing her gun around the corner and spraying. She had finally found some hope that she'd make it, that the battle would turn in their favor, but that hope too was quickly shattered by the sound of a dying Servitor, a dying Prime Servitor at that. She had but a splitsecond to gaze in shock as a bright blast of light knocked her down and engulfed all in her sight, including herself.

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In the middle of the battlefield

''You cursed creatures, LEAVE MY PEOPLE ALONE! RETURN TO THE HELLHOLE YOU CRAWLED OUT OF!''

Skanis was angry to say the very least. Not only was he ambushed by Scorn, was he and Rakis Prime struggling, was his entire army dying and was he getting low on ammo. No, fate had decided to throw in a fireteam of Awoken Gaurdians in the mix. Skanis hated the awoken with a burning passion, their ignorant and annoying attitude made them just as hated as Hive Thrall in his book. These Gaurdians had been harrassing him, Rakis, his Eliksni and Scorn alike.

He fired another Scorch round at the Hunter, who in turn jumped away and fired at him with it's explosive round scout rifle. Skanis staggered backwards as a Nova bomb hit him full force from the Warlock he didn't even see coming. Followed by the Titan's Hammers of Sol hitting him on the right side of his body, wich made him nearly fall to the ground. If it weren't for Skanis' remarkable height of 5.2m, wich was pretty much unheard of in the Eliksnian ranks, he would've surely collapsed already. As he lifted his Scorch Cannon again, he heard the roars of pain from the Prime Servitor Rakis, wich in turn made him turn around to see two scorching holes in Rakis' armor before a third one hit, right in between armor pieces. Rakis roared in pain as the Golden Gun projectile penetrated his inner workings, scorching them to dust.
There was but a moment for him to breathe before he felt a searing pain and was sent flying, just as Rakis detonated.

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There was a spectacle in the woods not too far from the castle, a real lightshow with strange, seemingly machine-like noises and a large object with several smaller objects that appeared but a kilometer from the ancient ruins that lie deep in the forest.

Author's Note

I feel like i should clarify a few things before i end the chapter.
1. I know that the Scorn contain a large amount of Exiles and even some Kings, the characters you see here are the remnants of all 3 houses.

1. Skanis is an obvious Exile, Sikres is a King, Skell-Rook is a Devil and there will be a Dusk character coming soon.

2. The other 2 Kells were elsewhere on the battlefield, leading their own squads.

3. The Dreg's of all Houses have had their arms undocked for better performance and survival chance. Only those who commit treason or other crimes will have their lower arms docked.

4. This story takes place during the Forsaken campaign.

5. This is my first ever story, so don't expect amazing detail or character portrayal. I try my best and that's important. Don't expect frequent updates either, i have other things to do.

6. This alliance of Houses still doesn't like Gaurdians, but have already made the agreement to not shoot on sight. Skanis also hates the Awoken the most for several reasons wich i will eventually tell you. The Gaurdians were wearing armor and shaders you receive from Petra, wich makes them look like Awoken soldiers, while in reality, they were the well known squad of Human, Awoken and Exo.

Otherwise, enjoy! Please leave any critiscism or questions you have down below, and i will answer them to the best of my capabilities.