Prologue- Guardian Down
"We said that we'd always be true to ourselves, to our cause. I will remain so. I will strike them all down" -Unknown Female Hunter
The Last City, Earth
A light rain fell over the city as people lined the streets at the towers base. Looks of fear and sadness painted the millions of faces that stared at the massive elevator doors. This, was something that none of the people had ever witnessed, a guardian being transported from the tower to the graveyards.
A child looked up at her mother before noticing a hunter clad in black. She had never seen a hunter up close, let alone walking the city streets. The child noticed the hunters cloak and the fact that it bore the sigil of Dead Orbit.
The hunter looked over at the child and simply nodded. The child walked over to the hunter, against her mothers begging.
"Scuse me..." The child said softly as she tugged on the hunters cloak.
The hunter knelt down, it's head tilted towards the tower. The child touched the hunters faceplate.
"What is it little one..." The hunters female voice came from the voice channels within her helmet.
The child looked down before wrapping her tiny arms around the female hunters leg in a tight hug. The hunter blinked as she looked at the child.
"Tank you for protecting us..." The child said as she started to cry.
The female hunter couldn't speak. The child had instantly taken all the words from her mouth with that one statement. She unlatched her cloak, wrapping it around the child's small form.
"We guardians, will always protect you and this city" she said as she touched the child's head.
A Titan stepped up beside the female, nodding to the child. The Titan held out its hand, a vanguard sigil resting in its palm.
"Frankie is right" the Titans commanding male voice said as he knelt beside them, resting his left hand upon Frankie's shoulder.
"We as guardians will defend no matter the costs" he said as he looked to the casket that was now being carried through the streets.
Frankie closed her eyes, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. She bit her lip, trying to keep from full on crying. The guardian that was within the casket was none other than her former team Fireteam leader. The man she had looked up too and respected.
The Titan sighed and stood to his feet. At a full standing stature, the Titan stood at nearly seven foot tall. He looked down at Frankie who was now clutching the child in her arms. He felt bad for her, she had lost many friends in the short time he had been on her team.
"Frankie, we must go, the Speaker wishes to see us" the Titan said softly.
"I know Aster..." She whispered as she gave the child one last hug before standing to her feet.
She turned, allowing the child a look at the etching of her left shoulder plate. A single Latin phrase. Domini de Lumine. Lords of Light.
Speakers Hall, The Tower
"Francesca Valeri, I've been waiting for you to arrive" Jalaal said as he watched Frankie and Aster walk into the speakers meeting room.
Frankie shot him a glare. She hated being called by her full name. It was bad enough that she had a French heritage in these times.
"You know, Arach, if you value your life you would do well to address me by my chosen name of Frankie" she said as she wandered over to the table, Aster in tow.
Aster held back a snicker, pulling out a chair for both Frankie and himself. He removed his helmet, allowing his neck length black hair to fall. He looked over at Jalaal, smirking.
Frankie removed hers, allowing her deep Raven colored locks to fall around her shoulders while her ruby red optics simply gazed forward. She hated being around Jalaal as he had a thing for her and it creeped her out.
The speaker cleared his throat as he entered the room. He looked over both Frankie and Aster, the last two remaining members of Fireteam Lucis, for now.
"Frankie, I have four guardians that I would ask you to take under your wing.." The speaker said in a soft tone.
Of course though, he knew how she would feel, seeing as her team leader had was on his way to be buried. But this was not the time to become lax in their mission. The darkness was pushing towards them everyday.
"Tch, who are they?" She asked as she crossed her arms.
Four guardians walked into the room. A hunter, two warlocks and a titan. Frankie closed her eyes and took in a slow deep breath. She couldn't stand new people coming onto her team. No, it wasn't the fact they were new. She had every ounce of faith in their abilities. She just couldn't stand losing any more people.
"Christian Ryko at your service" the warlock clad in the iconic VoidFang Vestments said as he sat across from her.
"The hunter to my left is..."
"I quite frankly don't give a shit.. I don't have time for this" Frankie snapped as she slammed her hands on the table, "I'll be in my quarters when you need me.."
It was at this moment that the new guardians flinched. They hadn't seen such anger from anyone before. Christian raised an eyebrow as Frankie stormed out of the room.
Aster rubbed his face momentarily before resting his elbows on the table. He looked at Christian then the new guardians.
"The hunters name is Iris, the other warlock is Selene, and the Titan is Jace. I've read over your files." Aster said as he rested his chin against his hands.
"You'll have to forgive Frankie, she isn't in the best of moods today" he said as he glanced to where Jalaal had once been.
"We heard that Cyrus had died... I'm guessing that was the procession we saw on our way in" Iris said in a soft child like tone.
Aster nodded before leaning back in his chair. He hadn't anticipated that the speaker would seek to refill their team so quickly. But in doing so, gave him the feeling that something was coming that they needed a full team for.
"Frankie is trying to cope with the pain of losing her friends, so don't take it to heart if she isn't very friendly at first"
Everyone looked to the speaker. He had taken a seat at the head of the table, resting his head against his hands.
"She is a kind hearted person, just give her time"
Frankie's Quarters, The Tower
Frankie pressed her hands against the shower wall, allowing the hot water to was over her body. Tears streamed from her eyes. For the first time in years, she felt broken. She felt defeated.
She turned the water off, grabbing a towel to wrap around herself. She looked in the mirror, feeling disgusted with herself. She was barley holding herself together.
"Ma'am, are you ok.." Her ghost asked as it hovered over to her.
Frankie wiped her eyes, taking in a deep breath. To her it seemed that her ghost was the only one that truly cared for her and her current condition.
"What do you think, Fae..." Frankie had given her ghost the name of Fae, after the mythical fairies. Something she use to find fascinating.
"Scale of one to ten how would you rate your pain"
Frankie narrowed her eyes at Fae, giving her a death glare. She obviously wasn't in the mood.
"Ok never mind, have you read the dossier on the new members of Lucis?" Fae asked as she floated over to the bed.
Frankie sighed and laid on the bed, draping her arms over her eyes. She had and though she was impressed, she didn't want to work with anyone other than Aster as he and her were the official last remnants of something no one else had a clue about except for the last of the Iron Lords.
She turned over onto her side, staring blankly at the wall. She hated losing people, even though in these dark times it was a common thing.
"Message from Lucis member, Ryko" Fae said as she hovered over to the wall, "shall I play the message?"
Frankie closed her eyes as she took several slow and long breaths. This new warlock was going to test her patience and she knew it.
"Yes" Frankie replied.
"We are sorry for your loss, but we have a mission. Looks like we are going to Venus, something about the wolves?"
It was there that the message ended. The wolves? He certainly couldn't mean the Fallen House. Or could he. How did he even get this mission?
"Tell them to be ready in fifteen" Frankie said as she swung her legs over the bed, planting her feet onto the floor.
"Ma'am" Fae said with a hint of excitement.
It had been many a moon since she had seen her guardian ready to do battle at a moments notice. In fact it seemed that as of late, Frankie was rather disinterested in missions and the like. This was going to be a truly exciting experience.