Word count without A/N: 3,442
A/N: Well hello everyone, late Merry Christmas to you all. I thought that as a special gift to all of you, I'd release a new story that I've been cooking up for the past little while now. And I know, I have my other stories to do like Becoming Human and Renewed, but it wouldn't serve me well if I just worked on those two alone and risk getting too burned out on them. So a little variety wouldn't hurt, no?
I know I already have another Destiny x RWBY story but this one I think will do pretty good as I have a much more fleshed out plan and all for this story.
So all I can say is that I hope you'll enjoy this story, everyone. If not, that's okay, we all have our different tastes and such. Any and all criticism is welcomed, just not bashing. And I do hope my writing is still alright, lemme know how it is.
Anyhow, let's get this going.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Destiny, they belong to their respective owners.
"Our lives are no longer our own. We have sworn them in service to the Traveler, and to humanity." —Lord Radegast
Hubris was their enemy. The pride of the Iron Lords clouded them to the consequences that could be possible to happen. The promises and hopes of a new Golden Age of humanity was their drive to set out in the first place and to return victories with spoils to reclaim Earth from the wretched hands of the alien races that now dot the cradle of mankind. A relic of the previous Golden Age of Humanity that only needed commands and would see them through. The nanotechnology known as SIVA, located deep within an old Warmind vault.
It would be their greatest triumph yet. When Lord Radegast first formed the Iron Lords as the official protectors of humanity to combat the Warlords and the Fallen. When Lord Felwinter allowed their growing numbers to have a official base of operations on the mountain he conquered in his Warlord days. The infamous Battle of the Six Fronts when they drove out the Fallen alongside the Titan orders that defended the still fledgling last safe city. The Great Ahamkara Hunt where they slew the dangerous wish dragons with their cryptic promises and wishes at the cost of something to the bearer.
But the reclamation of SIVA? This would be a deed that would be continued to be told for centuries to come as humanity would no longer cower under The Traveler no longer and once again strike out towards the stars.
If only that were the case.
The Iron Lords, numbering over a hundred, entered a dark area outside of an old Russian cosmodrome to enter the Warmind vault that housed SIVA. But to their shock, an old Warmind, Rasputin, responded with fury. Unknown constructs arrived and attacked without thought. The earth was scorched in flames. Iron Lords fell, never to rise up again like they would at their first resurrection, their Light snuffed out for good.
Still they persisted and marched onwards through the ruined land despite what Rasputin threw at them, their resolve wouldn't break. It was their key defining feature that they had, marking their very identity as Iron Lords to never give up no matter what stood before them as shown by Lord Silimar being the Iron Wall against all odds.
Yet this feature of theirs would be their downfall. More and more of them fell the deeper they went. They didn't stop. Constructs of immense power stood in their path with the snow painted red with their blood. They endured and pushed forward. Fellow comrades shielding weakened brothers and sisters from incoming fire. Their spirits kept burning.
It was a miracle that nine Iron Lords made it to the SIVA replication chamber at all. Even with the horrors they have witnessed, the loss of many comrades-in-arms, they pushed onwards into the chamber. They were chosen by The Traveler, bestowed with unimaginable power and the will to fight on. Their cause was just for the future of humanity. They won't fall yet.
Then SIVA took control. To the unknown horror of the Iron Lords, Rasputin gave SIVA a simple yet horrifying set of commands.
Consume. Enhance. Replicate.
And those directives it followed without hesitation.
The moment the Iron Lords entered the chamber, they were beset upon by SIVA. At first it merely infected their weapons, to have occasional jams only to be rendered useless in seconds. Then their armor, eaten away at it to make them exposed and to be nothing but dead weight on them. And as if a mockery to their bond they have grown over the years fighting together, it soon corrupted their very souls. It pitted comrade against comrade, Light now tainted with the vile directives given to SIVA. And it soon had the notion to escape from the replication chamber, in order to spread and continue it's directives.
In the end, during the chaotic fighting, Lady Jolder was the one who sealed off the chamber with an explosion. Fighting off the instinct of self-preservation, she sacrificed herself and her fellow comrades within to keep SIVA from escaping to prevent the corruption from spreading. And in the end, what was thought to be a great deed done became a Pyrrhic victory. The battle was won, but at the cost of heroes that couldn't be replaced save for Lord Saladin, the lone surviving Iron Lord who wasn't in the chamber itself.
The Iron Lords. once the greatest defenders of mankind amongst the slowly growing number of new Guardians, had vanished. Their great fortress, the Iron Temple, fell silent, their once bright brazers that crackled with flames were put out. The SIVA replication chamber itself becoming the very Iron Tomb for the Iron Lords trapped within.
Lord Saladin became the lone sentry, having fear what he and his comrades had discovered would resurface and rear it's ugly head, a scourge of the past threatening humanity.
Centuries soon passed and what he feared came to pass. The Fallen House of Devils had come in force to the very area the Iron Lords went through, now known as The Plaguelands, and had discovered SIVA. They broke into the replication chamber which was still intact despite the explosion Lady Jolder set off. And thus began the new production of SIVA, the Devil Splicers utilizing it to not just enhance their weapons and vehicles, but their very bodies to be a force to reckon with.
The Devil Splicers would've invaded the Last City from their beachhead in The Plaguelands with their newly augmented force of Fallen that would surely destroy the Last City with ease unlike the previous attempts.
But a certain young Guardian had made their presence known after slaying many major threats to The Last City with many other Guardians to combat these very threats.
The Black Garden, trying to consume the Light of the Traveler, was snuffed out itself in it's attempts to do so.
Atheon, Time's Conflux, the Vex's secret in the Vault of Glass on Venus was utterly destroyed with fate rewritten.
Crota, Son of Oyrx, the Hive Prince who as slain many Guardians on a disastrous battle on the moon, was to be slain with his own sword.
Skolas, the so-called Kell of the House of Wolves, broken out from his imprisonment, only to be put back in his cell once more and died through trial by combat.
And Oyrx, The Taken King, came in revenge for his son, only to be killed in his very own vessel and world even with an army at his beck and call.
Together with Lord Saladin, a certain Guardian assaulted the Devil Splicers at the very heart of their operations. Soon enough, more and more Guardians joined in on the fray, pushing the Fallen back with their Light unbridled. And eventually, the past would haunt them no more.
The SIVA replication chamber was truly destroyed once and for all, setting the souls of the fallen Iron Lords to rest. Not even the Splicers ambitious priest, Aksis, augmented with the technology itself would dare threaten the city after being destroyed by a team of Guardians in the Perfection Chamber he resided in.
And thus, a new generation of Iron Lords rose from the ashes of the old. The memory of the old would never be forgotten now and the eternal watch of Saladin finally came to a close. An Age of Triumph has finally come after through so much pain and sorrow, the last remnants of humanity can hold their heads up high with pride. And the Iron Lords of old, for while their story was over, would never be forgotten.
But their story wasn't done yet. For their may have ended in their world, but it would start anew in another world. Because that's the thing about Light. You never know where it will shine.
Lord Radegast felt himself slipping away as SIVA had nearly consumed all of him and his Light. Then the explosion happened. tearing his body asunder. It should've been the end for him. To his surprise, he found himself being awakened by his Ghost like any other time when he would fall.
His eyes shot open as he sat up instantly with a startled gasp. He peered through his helmet, looking around and soon saw his floating companion who blinked his blue optic at him in worry. "Lord Radegast, am I glad to see you're alright!" His Ghost exclaimed in relief.
Radegast could only place a hand on his face and groan with his head shaking. He felt nauseous with a massive headache eating away at him. Well after fighting for hours on end against the mysterious constructs sent by Rasputin and SIVA attacking him, it was granted to feel like this.
"It's... It's good to see you as well, Arthur..." Radegast muttered softly with a brief pause trying to regain his bearings. He looked around again and was surprised to see that they were no longer in the replication chamber. Instead he observed the lush green trees of a vibrant forest with a dimming blue sky hanging over him. "Where... Where are we?"
Arthur looked around, floating away from him for a moment before coming back to him. "I wish I could tell you, Lord Radegast. But even I'm unsure on where we are." He was silent for a moment before adding in "I cant even contact the Speaker. Not even the city or the other Iron Lords."
"Nothing at all?"
"No... Not even The Traveler... But strange enough, I can still sense some vestiges of Light here," Arthur summarized up being just so stumped. "The Traveler... Not here..."
This only brought confusion to the pair as Radegast slowly pushed himself up to his feet, his armor thankfully mended up by his Ghost with some nearby material. And to his luck, his trusty auto rifle was laying on the ground to which he picked up and checked on it. No traces of SIVA on it which gave him a reason to relax. "If only Lord Timur was here, he could find out where we are. But we will need to make due."
But before he could even begin his journey to find out where he is, a scream echoed through the air catching Radegast's attention. Without second thought, he began to sprint towards the location of the scream with steadfast resolve.
A lone man hissed through his teeth in pain as he backed himself up towards a tree as he held his arm. Blood seeped through his hand in his vain attempts to stop the bleeding. Looking up, his eyes narrowed seeing the band of men surrounding him with grins on their faces. "C-Cowards! Ambushing a lone man as a group!" He shouted at them.
One of the men who appeared to be the leader of the group just laughed as his sword dripped with blood. "No, no. We're just collectors. And we want whatever your're carrying on your person right now," He said all nonchalantly.
The man gritted his teeth looking at the leader and shook his head. "O-Over my dead body!" He responded to him.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Wrong answer, fella. I might've let you run off after you gave us your things. But looks like we're gonna have to teach you a proper lesson in manners on who you're fucking speaking to," The leader said with a sadistic grin. He then pointed to two of his men and motioned his head to the wounded man. "Lift him up, boys," He said as he stabbed his sword into the ground and cracked his knuckles. "Let's see if I can beat some sense into this old fart!"
The man shook his head and begged to be let go. But they ignored his pleas as he was grabbed by the arms and lifted up. The leader walked over with his grin still ever present and walked over. "P-Please... let me go.." All he got in response was a fist to the face as his head snapped to the side.
"Too late, old fart. Once we're done with you, your town is next!" The leader declared and drove his fist into the man's gut winding him as he hunched over, only staying up because of the two holding him. For a long, agonizing minute, the leader treated the poor man as his personal punching bag with punch after punch. Cuts and bruises slowly appearing on the poor man's face. "Ya should've handed over the Dust in the first place. Buuut you had to be all stubborn like."
But just before he could throw another punch at the man, there was a loud snapping sound of a tree branch echoing out from behind them. The leader and his men looked in the direction it came from and soon saw who made the disturbance as well the beaten man.
Before them stood a strange armored person with a white, gold and silver color scheme to him. The armor did look a little worse for wear, dents, scratches and all, but it seemed to be a testament for its durability while a dark green sash fluttered in the breeze with what appeared to be two armored gauntlets holding onto an axe in golden coloring. And the weapon he carried seemed to be of a strange make that they haven't seen before. "What are you doing to this man?" The mysterious figure questioned to the bandit group in a stern voice that demanded respect and fear.
"Who's askin'?" The leader said bluntly to him.
"I am Lord Radegast, leader of the Iron Lords," The man responded back without hesitation.
Some of the men visibly took a couple steps back as the armored man slowly approached him. Though the leader sneered and spat on the ground as he turned his back to the man he was just beating up. "Well, your majesty, this bastard is refusing to share his goods with us! So piss off and maybe we won't kill ya!" He stated boldly in a teasing tone.
The statement itself grinded the gears of Radegast, though he remained calm as his eyes bore into the leader of the bandits. "So you think yourselves strong? Armed men beating up and wounded person?" He said in disgust as he stepped forward. "No. No, you are nothing but cowards in doing so."
The leader gritted his teeth hearing the mysterious man say this which bruised his ego. "Well what're you gonna do about it then? There's seven of us and only one of you!"
The Titan merely scoffed at the leader's bravado and sighed. "I will give you this one chance to surrender and retreat now. Otherwise, I won't show mercy to those who remain," He offered bluntly to the band of misfits.
This was the last straw for the bandit leader as he glared at Radegast before he drew his sword and pointed it at him. "Kill that bastard!" He shouted to his men. Many seemed hesitant at first as they looked at each other before one drew his own blade and charged right for the armored man with a war cry, inciting the rest to follow after his example.
Radegast just watched the six of the seven running towards him, the leader hanging back. He raised his weapon up and soon surprised them as with what looked liked no effort, killing one of them as a loud crack in the air went off. A hole was in the head of one of the bandits with blood oozing out as he fell onto the ground with a heavy thud with smoke rising from the front of the strange weapon. They all stopped in their tracks seeing how one of them had just been killed like that in a blink of an eye.
"H-He killed Sean!"
"W-What sorcery is this?!"
But in their moment of hesitation, Radegast shot forward with shocking speed. Sparks of what seemed to be lightning itself appeared to dance along his body as he closed in on another bandit and soon collided with him. His shoulder made contact with the poor bandit sending electricity into him. A near hundreds of thousands of volts danced through his body as he was sent flying off and right into a tree, his spine breaking upon impact.
For the poor man who was being beaten up could only watch in both shock and awe seeing this strange warrior fighting off the bandits like it was nothing at all. Another had been killed with the strange weapon while another perished as he was given a rather forceful punch to the face, easily breaking his skull.
Two more remained of the six that went to charge at Radegast shook in their boots seeing how he had easily decimated them in less than a minute. The Titan glanced at them as he marched forward without second thought. They were looking death right in the eyes as their very souls trembled. Fear soon ruled them and they ran off into the wounds, leaving behind their leader. "H-Hey! Come back!" He shouted but in vain. None of them would come back for him.
Radegast had a scowl behind his helmet as he approached the lone leader now. "Surrender," He bluntly told him as he continued to walk over. And that's all what was left to say. The leader backed away as he shook his head seeing his futile position he was in before he ran off into the woods as well.
Silence fell upon the skirmish area quickly as the only ones left was Radegast and the man who was attacked in the first place. The Titan then glanced at him making the man tense up. But as Radegast walked over to him, he said in a gentle tone, "Are you alright?"
He merely nodded at him as he held his arm once again due to the wound he sustained from earlier. "A-A little broken up... But I'll live..."
Radegast nodded as well and knelt down in front of him. "Your arm," He asked keeping to his soft tone. The man hesitated for a second before he slowly showed his arm to him. The Titan leaned down a little as he inspected his arm for a moment. "It is not as serious as I assumed. But you'll need proper treatment so you may recover quickly," He stated. "Do you live anywhere near here?"
"Y-Yes... I live in a small village not too far from here," The man responded as he looked up at him. "You... You saved me," He added in.
"Well I couldn't let a man like you be left to the hands of such wretched people. It is my duty to help and defend those who can't do so themselves," Radegast explained quickly yet with clarity.
"You're not like those bandits are you, Mister... Radegast?" The man asked him, trying to remember his name properly.
"Radegast. And no, I am not nor will I ever be. I made an oath long ago to never be like those men or worse," The Titan responded in the same manner like his last answer.
The man just nodded at him. "Then... Come to my village. Let me thank you properly in my home."
Radegast was just about to decline such a gesture before his Ghost chimed in his head. "Lord Radegast, this may be of value to us. A place to shelter ourselves for now while we figure out where we are. And better yet, try to see if we can return home and find the others, that is if they're here at all in this strange world," Arthur suggested to him. The Titan pondered on this for a few seconds before nodding, seeing this as a the best option for now.
"Very well. I accept your offer," Radegast told the man who nodded in appreciation. Helping the man up, Radegast was given directions by him as they began their journey towards the village the man belonged to. Though Radegast was interested in the name of this man which didn't ask for yet. "Tell me, what is your name?" He asked.
"O-Oh, my name? My name is Johnathan Arc," The man replied to him.
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Johnathan. Now let us be off."
And thus the new story of the Lords of Iron have begun in the world of Remnant. Who shall the next Iron Lord shall be featured in the next chapter? Vote now!
I hope you enjoyed and all of you take care now. May you all stay safe