AN:
Should Summer get back together with Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby's father or should they just stay friends? I can't decide.
Warning: I'll be introducing some recurring OCs. Don't like, don't read.
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Chapter 9
"Whu-," Qrow slurred as he felt a splitting migraine tearing apart the inside of his brain but since hangovers were an everyday thing for him, the Huntsman wasn't as deterred by it as most people would be, "Where am I?"
"Qrow, you're at the hospital," the familiar voice of Ozpin informed him, "The authorities found you unconscious when they went to investigate a disturbance."
A cursory glance showed the scythe master the sterile white walls and the screen that was monitoring his heartbeat. With a grumble, he pulled off the wires attached to him, making the monitor flatline.
"You had multiple slashes on your body, your hands had minor burns and the doctors think you might have a concussion as well," the Headmaster of Beacon listed down the injuries that Qrow had sustained from the rogue Huntress.
"Shit," the former member of Team STRQ cursed as he sat up, paying no heed to his wounds and possible concussion. He shrugged off way worse in the past, "How long was I out?"
"As far as we know, a few hours. The doctors weren't sure how long you were out before they arrived."
"What about the rogue Huntress?" Qrow jerked his head up when he remembered who left him in such a state.
"I'm afraid your quarry was long gone."
"Did she leave any traces at least?"
"Yes and no."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"I'll give you the full briefing after we checked you out of the hospital. I had to pull some strings so your family wouldn't be notified by your injuries. It's better that they don't know who inflicted them upon you. Not yet."
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The Tower was abuzz with activity. Jumpships were going back and forth in the shipyard and many Guardians moved with a sense of urgency in their step. Weapons were either being bought from the markets or going through maintenance so that their wielders would be prepared for battle.
Every Guardian had heard of the news by now. A few weeks ago, the Tower had received a transmission from Guardian Summer Rose concerning the Vex Gateway. They could only guess why the Vex would require such a gateway and how it would affect the Guardians.
It didn't help that Summer Rose had not returned to the Tower after sending that transmission. The other Guardians had feared the worst had befallen her but the Speaker assured them that her Light was still shining brightly and had yet to be extinguished. She was most likely fighting behind enemy line on her own.
The Guardians that fought beside her in the past almost felt sorry for the Vex. If pushed to the very edge, Summer would become an almost literal storm of fury. A storm that killed the Black Heart, slew Crota, shattered Atheon and broke Oryx. Being head deep in Vex would just inspire her to be more resourceful and be an all around pain in the ass to the Vex.
Vanguard, especially Cayde-6, were doing their best to find out more about the Gateway and Summer Rose's fate but the Vex had established a massive blockade, preventing anymore scouts from infiltrating their territory without being shot down.
Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey had orchestrated several hit and run operations in an attempt to break through the barricade and rescue Guardian Rose. However, the Vex were stalwart in their defense so not a single Guardian had successfully managed to make it through.
They were getting desperate to learn what the Vex were up to and rescue one of their best Guardians so the Vanguard Hunter, Cayde-6 came up with a cunning yet definitely insane solution to their problem.
The Dreadnaught.
The Guardians could use the Hive Dreadnaught to blast a hole through the Vex barricade and then transfer their own fleets into Vex space with the Dreadnaught as their impromptu flagship.
Even after Oryx's defeat, the massive ship was still operational and just needed its weapons to be repaired with Eris Morn's knowledge of all things Hive. There were still some Taken on the ship but not as much as when the Taken King was still a threat so a well-armed Fireteam could exterminate all of the Darkness corrupted pests.
Unfortunately, the Exo couldn't pull it off without permission from the other Vanguards and they would never sanction such an operation. But being the crafty Hunter that he was, Cayde decided to do it anyway. Like he had said before, everyone loved a bad idea when it worked.
Cayde just needed a Guardian crazy enough to do it but with Summer missing in action, he settled for the next best thing. He was going to enlist the only Fireteam willing enough to have Summer Rose as an official member to take up this ludicrous task.
Fireteam Nero.
The Fireteam was composed of the younger generation of Guardians with Summer being the youngest while the other members were at least half a century old. Including Summer, they had only three members; one Hunter, one Titan and one Warlock. For most of the young Hunter's career, they stood by her steadfastly no matter what crazy situation that she got them into.
"I know you're wondering why I called for you when you're supposed to be performing the ultimately futile hit-and-run operations," Cayde-6 said to the other members of Fireteam Nero, "But what I have to say would greatly benefit the Guardians as long as you don't rat me out."
"Question," a female Awoken raised her hand, "If you wanted to keep this a secret from the other Vanguards, then why did you tell us to meet you right outside the Vanguard's meeting room?"
Her name was Lux Sylphid, the Warlock of Fireteam Nero. The Awoken had silvery skin like many of her kind and light purple hair that was styled in a pixie cut. She had a face that many would deemed attractive and her eyes were a shade darker than her skin. She would have had many admirers if it wasn't for the ever present scowl on her face.
For a Warlock, Lux had quite the temper and would tend to go on rampages in battle to let off her increasing aggression. She was also too impatient, foul-mouthed and abrasive to everyone else outside of battle. As Cayde had remarked, if Lux wasn't totally pissed, she was extremely annoyed.
It was a wonder how an easily irked woman like her could be best friends with someone like Summer. Although, it was not uncommon to see the Awoken chasing the Hunter around the Tower while hurling Nova Bomb after Nova Bomb at her.
"They'll see you're planning to move behind their backs again if they step out of that room right now," she continued.
"Don't worry," Cayde assured her, waving dismissively, "I left while they're in the middle of deliberation. We got a couple of hours at least before they find out."
Sadly, he was telling the truth. During the war against the Taken, Cayde devised a plan to infiltrate the Dreadnaught and had it enacted by Summer without the other Vanguards noticing what he did until it had already been done.
"What is it that you don't want them to find out if you don't mind me asking, sir?" the Titan of Fireteam Nero asked politely. His tone was not what you would expect from someone with his large and heavily armoured frame.
The Titan was named Prometheus-23, an Exo like Cayde. He was colored a steel grey with red decals on his cheeks and forehead. Like pretty much every powerful Titan, he had a tall and bulky frame and was strong enough benchpress things that were ten times Cayde's weight and then some.
Prometheus more than made up for the manners and tact that his other teammates sorely lack. Being the only level-headed member of Fireteam Nero, he was responsible for reigning in Summer's unruliness and Lux's anger. He wasn't always successful but he did manage to stop Summer from drawing a giant smiley face on the Traveler.
"I'll keep this brief and blunt as possible," Cayde announced before taking a deep breath for emphasis, "I need you two to clear out the Dreadnaught, fix its weapons and then use it to blast a hole in the Vex barricade."
…
…
"Are you for fucking real?" Lux inquired, the first to break the silence.
"Lux, language!" Prometheus reprimanded before turning to stare at his fellow Exo in disbelief, "But do you really think using the Hive Dreadnaught is the best course of action, sir?"
"Yes, I am," the Vanguard Hunter answered, all playfulness replaced with deadly seriousness, "As long as we can bring Summer back alive, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
The remaining members of Fireteam Nero exchange concern glances with each other. It was no secret that Cayde-6 was extremely fond of Summer Rose. Some would go as far as to say that the Exo considered Summer to be the daughter that he never had, physically or otherwise.
Lux and Prometheus also held the young Hunter in high regard despite the Warlock's constant denial of it so they were just as eager to get her back as Cayde-6 was.
"Fine, we'll get this shit done," Guardian Sylphid conceded, her scowl deepening.
"We'll finish our mission as soon as possible, sir," the Titan stood at attention, "We don't want to keep Summer waiting."
"Good," Cayde nodded, "I know without a doubt that Summer is giving it her all to be a major thorn in the Vex's side."
"Or she can be sitting on her ass without a care in the world," Lux suggested sardonically.
"That too," the horned Exo acknowledged, pointing a finger at the Awoken, "But either way, she's gonna need our help."
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"These are the best noodles I ever had!" Summer happily declared before slurping more of the delectable noodles. She was most fortunate to have discovered this street-side noodle bar called A Simple Wok while touring the city of Vale.
It had been weeks since her last meal and the Guardian was ready to make up for lost time. She already had her fourth bowl yet she wasn't even close to done. The money that Junior and his men had given to her on their own free will (that's her story and she's sticking with it) sure came in handy in this case.
"Guardian, is it wise to be out in the open like this?" Drei asked from where he floated unseen as she got started on her fifth bowl, "The man from last night might not be the only one that's after you."
"Don't worry. I heard this place got good reviews," she assured him, taking out her new Scroll to make it look like she was talking to someone on it, "And it's also a great place to watch the birds."
I already searched the area and I'm keeping watch for the man from that night. That was what Summer really meant. The Guardian would have made an excellent spy if she chose to be subtle all the time.
After the encounter with the man with the scythe, Summer immediately headed for the abandoned office building and stored the Cloud Errant there. She stayed in her new hideout for a few days while setting up additional security.
She set up cameras, that she salvaged from the space probes of the Cloud Errant, around the possible entrances of the building. These probes were adavnced enough to spot an invisible Hunter so she doubted that there was anything on Remnant that could sneak past them without alerting her. She also made sure that these cameras were carefully concealed. People would find it strange to find working cameras in a supposedly rundowned building after all.
As an extra precaution, she placed tripmine grenades that she rigged to remove the timer on key structural weakpoints of the building. If a small army were to lay siege on her, she could just detonate the bombs and bring the whole building down on top of them while she remained in the safety of the basement parking lot. The basement parking lot's exit also wouldn't be affected much by the destruction of the building and she could just blast her way out with the Cloud Errant's cannons.
The last one was a bit excessive but it was only paranoia if no one was out to get her. Even in a different solar system altogether, she still had enemies besides the Vex hunting for her.
Like the Atlesian military, that man, and the White Fang.
This White Fang that she heard so much about was a cause for concern. They were a terrorist group full of Faunus. They were causing much tension within the Kingdoms through theft, vandalism and murder. The fears of the people then attracted the creatures of Grimm, sowing more discord.
Summer hadn't encountered any members of the White Fang yet but she won't hesitate in putting a bullet between their eyes if they gave her a good reason to.
Speaking of potential enemies…
"On your six, Guardian," Drei spoke up as she ordered for another bowl.
The Hunter would have glanced on her radar but she wasn't wearing her helmet since it would've gotten in the way of her meal. So she had Drei patrol the area while invisible. She also couldn't look behind her because it might tip off her newest stalker. She'd have to improvise.
She was very good at improvising though.
Summer swiftly finished the bowl of noodles and raised it her face to drink the soup. The bottom of the bowl had a reflective surface, which she used to take a quick look of the surroundings behind her.
She spotted a group of three teenaged girls gossiping and giggling in the café across the street. She focused in on the one in the middle while ignoring the other two.
The girl had short black hair, magenta eyes and a pale complexion like Summer. She wore a kakhi jacket with a black interior, blue pants and white shoes. The girl looked like an average highschool student spending the weekend off with her friends.
"Gotcha," the Guardian thought as she finished drinking the soup. She wasn't close to done but she paid the shopkeep the exact cost of the noodles that she ate and stood up to leave.
The reason why Summer singled the girl out from everyone behind her was because according to Drei, she was the only one sitting in that table. The other two girls were just illusions. The Ghost had seen through enough illusions to be able to identify when one was being used on them.
The Hunter nonchalantly walked down the street and hoped that the illusionist would take the bait. She was rewarded with a suitable answer.
The girl was at a considerable distance behind her so it wouldn't look like she was following the Guardian but Summer knew what she was doing. After turning a corner, she Blinked up and latched onto the side of a building. Materializing her helmet, she waited a bit for her stalker to turn the corner and then immediately dropped down behind the girl as soon as she saw her.
Before the girl could react, Summer put a hand over her mouth and Blinked both of them to the closest rooftop.
Once they made it to the rooftop, the girl smacked her hand away as her appearance of a typical teenager literally shattered.
The girl's hair was half pink and half brown, with white streaks in the pink half. She had heterochromia, where one eye was brown and the other was pale pink. She wore a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, and gray boots with very high heels. Under her jacket was a black corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, exposing her hips. She wore a multitude of necklaces, which hang haphazardly around her neck. She also had an umbrella that Summer guessed to be a concealed weapon.
The girl whipped her leg out to hit the Guardian in the head but her limb was caught before it could. She then lost her balance when the Guardian pulled her trapped leg and threw her across the rooftop.
The illusionist twisted her body in midair so she would land on her feet but Summer didn't give her the chance to recover properly as she quickly caught up to her. The Guardian's hand wrapped around the girl's neck as she slammed her to the floor, making cracks spread in a web-like pattern on the concrete.
Straddling the illusionist, Summer pulled out Thorn and placed the tip of the hand cannon right on the girl's forehead.
Aura or no, a bullet at point blank range would smear the girl's brain over the floor. Then there were Thorn's special penetrating bullets, which would leave a dark curse on its victims if they do survive. If the first shot didn't kill her, the Hive curse would.
The girl may not know about Thorn's curse but no one wanted to get shot in the head. Not even Guardians.
"Tell me why you're following me," Summer demanded before she channeled her Light into her eyes, making them glow disconcertingly through her visor, "Or you're gonna have a bad time."
She didn't know why but for some reason, her eyes would begin to glow whenever she used her Super abilities. Cayde told her that it might be the result of her resurrection into a Guardian since she had a pretty large Light reserve, which was unusual for a recently reborn Guardian. With some practice, she could make her silver eyes glow creepily, which was great for intimidation.
The illusionist trembled at the sight (heh) of her glowing eyes and broke out into cold sweat. The girl's eyes then flashed to white as if to reflect her fear. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out.
"Well," she said as she pushed Thorn harder against the girl's forehead, "I'm waiting."
"Guardian," the Ghost called out to her through the internal comms, "There's something you need to see."
"What?" she asked as she tilted her head a bit. The illusionist saw this as a chance to break free but the loud click of Thorn's hammer being pulled back dissuaded her of that notion.
"I just intercepted a distress signal. Here, listen."
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"Mayday, Mayday, SOS, whatever! This is Coco Adel of Team CFVY and we need an evac outta here! There's too many of them! We don't know how much longer we could hold out so send some us damn backup already!"
"Acknowledged, we're sending in some air support to your location now. ETA: twenty minutes. Just hold out till then."
"We don't have twenty minutes! We're up to our asses with-I don't even know what the hell they are!"
"Miss Adel, please verify."
"They look like robots or something and- Yatsu, Look out!"
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"When did you get this?" Summer questioned, pushing herself up and away from the girl. She idly noticed the illusionist wasted no time to disappear in a white flash. If the multi-colored girl was smart, she wouldn't cross paths with the Guardian again.
"Just a minute ago," Drei answered before her jumpship shimmered into visibility on the same rooftop that she was on, "The Cloud Errant is already here before you ask. We can get to their location faster than their bullheads."
"Good," she teleported to the inside of the ship, which then reengaged the stealth drive. The ship then quickly took off, easily breaking the sound barrier and nearby windows.
The Guardian hoped that Remnant had more time before the Vex arrive but it looked like she was wrong.
It was going to take a few minutes to get there. It had also been weeks since the last time she slept so Summer figured a short nap wouldn't hurt. The Guardian closed her eyes and almost instantly drifted off into slumber land.
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There was a cliff, overlooking a luscious green forest. Summer and many others stood at its edge in preparation.
Preparation for what? She didn't know.
She looked around her to see the features of the others but everyone appeared to be covered in shadows except for her. It was kind of weird but she decided to leave them alone for now since none of them were actually doing anything.
"For years, you young men and women have trained to become the guardians of this world," a voice that she couldn't pinpoint called out, "And we shall put what you have learned to the test in the Emerald Forest."
Guardians? She was already a Guardian so why does she need to take a lousy test in a fancy sounding forest? And what does that voice mean that she had trained to be a Guardian for years? She just suddenly woke up one day with no memories, alien pirates trying to kill her again and Drei calling her a Guardian.
"I'm certain you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams," that disembodied voice said, "Each of you will be given teammates today."
They were assigning Fireteams today? But she already had a Fireteam. Even though Lux tried to kill her on multiple occasions and Prometheus wouldn't let her give him upgrades, she wouldn't trade them for a world. Although, she wouldn't mind if her Exo Titan friend had a rocket fist because that would be awesome.
"These teammates will be with you for the next four years so it would be better if you paired with someone who complements your fighting style and personality."
There was that one time Summer accidently disintergrated herself and Lux when the latter threw a Nova Bomb her, which she tried to shoot down with a Shadowshot. That sort of counted as complementing each other, right?
"With that said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner."
Summer hoped her partner won't try to kill her on a regular basis like Lux. Death may not be permanent for Guardians but it still sucked.
After you find your partner, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet enemies along the way. Do not hesitate to eliminate those who stand before your goal or you will die."
"Again," Summer added in her head.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item as well as your standing and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
She tried to open her mouth to ask a question like why she was here and why everyone except for her was covered in shadows but her mouth refused to open.
"Good, now take your positions."
The next thing that she knew, she was suddenly launched high into the air and into the forest below.
In spite of how sudden it was, she wasn't concerned in the least. She drew her sword and stabbed it into a tree to halt her momentum. She pushed herself off the tree and landed on the forest floor in a crouch. She stood up from her crouch and came face to face with a gilrl that wasn't covered in shadows.
The girl wore a shallow cut black dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets. An object that looked to be made from feathers hung from the right side of her skirt. She also wore black, thigh-length boots with a red splatter pattern.
She had red eyes and her black hair flowed in a loose and messy manner with a few locks sticking out and a small cowlick on top of her head. She also had a small portion of her hair tied back.
"I guess we're partners," Summer said, holding her hand out for a handshake, "I'm Summer Rose. What's your name?"
The other girl regarded her hand for a moment before tentatively taking it, "My name is_"
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"Guardian, we're here," the Ghost woke Summer up from her dream.
The Guardian was instantly on high alert and pulled up a screen to survey the situation.
She didn't know the name of the village but she figured it doesn't matter now with how most of it was reduced to rubble and on fire. She then spotted a large horde of Vex converging on the only somewhat intact buildings.
It must be where the survivors were holding out as proven when a brown haired girl and what appeared to be a gatling popped out from one of the windows to mow down some of the alien cyborgs. The girl could only let off a brief hail of bullets before she had to duck back into cover to avoid the plasma bolts heading her way.
"Drei, take the wheel and drop me down there," the Guardian ordered before pointing to the building where the gatling gun girl came from, "It's time to turn the tables on the Vex."
"Do you want some music to go with that?" the Ghost asked as he complied and shot off a salvo from the Cloud Errant's cannons into the Vex below to clear a landing zone for her.
"Something classical."
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AN:
For the next chapter, I want you to play good music that's appropriate for battling a horde of enemies.
