AN:
Not counting Summer Rose, who is your favorite member of Fireteam Nero? Lux Sylphid or Prometheus-23?
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Chapter 26
Summer Rose was in so much trouble.
Not the kind where she was caught doing something that she wasn't supposed to nor the kind where she was in a fight for her life but the emotional kind that she had little to no experience in dealing with.
Like dealing with boys.
The young Guardian didn't really spend that much time with the opposite sex or more like she wasn't close to anyone male. The only exceptions were Cayde-6, Prometheus-23 and Variks but the two Exos were more like family to her while the Eliksni was just a friend.
And who in their right mind would see the eccentric Summer Rose as a prospective love interest?
No one or at least none that Summer was aware of but she was pretty sure that she would notice if someone was romantically interested in her.
If her Ghost had bothered to read her thoughts, then he would have scoffed cynically. His Guardian could be quite dense at times.
In spite of her quirky and immature behavior, the young Hunter was still a beauty in her own right with (as quoted by several perverted Guardians) amazing legs that held the same magnificence as the Traveler. She actually had a handful of admirers that she didn't even know existed. But of course all of her would-be suitors were all scared off by Fireteam Nero (mostly Lux Sylphid) and Cayde-6 before they could attempt to court her since she was less than eight years old.
Guardians didn't count the age that they had in their previous life due to no one really remembering it. They also didn't count the years that they had been dead because of the same reason so Guardians determined their age by counting the number of years that they have survived as a Guardian.
Because of this, Summer was considered to be less than a decade years old. A mere child in the eyes of immortals.
Of course, age restriction didn't apply to Guardians so they could still drink alcohol or gamble if they wanted to but if a Guardian who was many decades older wanted to date a Guardian who was only seven and a half years old, then the latter's friend and surrogate family would be obligated to beat the ever living shit out of the former and they would not get into much trouble for it.
So for most of her career as a Guardian, Lux and Cayde had given any older Guardian that wanted to deflower the White Rose a good beating before threatening to cut off their manhood everytime they revive if they continue to pursue the significantly younger Hunter.
Not like Summer knew that it was happening behind her back. In fact, she was the only one in the Tower that was not aware of those incidents and there was a running bet on when she would finally notice it occurring or be as ignorant as ever.
Either way, Summer had no idea how to interact with people that had an obvious attraction towards her since she hadn't had a single date in her whole second life.
If it was possible for Guardians to sweat, she would have been sweating profusely as the old Summer Rose's lover, Taiyang Xiao Long stared at her expectantly and approached her in such a way that she felt like an animal being stalked by the predator.
She had said this before but she felt no romantic attachment to the blonde man standing before her and she had made this clear to him already. Well, not really but pushing aside one's advances and teleporting away could be considered a rejection in anyone's books. Although, it looked like he wasn't going to give up just yet.
Summer was already going through an emotional turmoil with the revelation of her daughters. She didn't need her previous life's lover trying to hook up with her again to give her even more emotional burdens so she would rather tackle an easier problem before moving on to the harder ones like eliminating the Vex presence here on Remnant.
It said much about Summer's mindset when she considered reconnecting with lost family more of a challenge than repelling a full scale invasion of murderous cyborgs from space but in her defense, she had previously done the latter numerous times.
With Taiyang looking like an eager young puppy despite him being a middle-aged man, the young Hunter decided to pull a tactical retreat.
"Smoke bomb!" Summer yelled out as she hurled a smoke grenade at the floor between her and the elder yellow dragon, engulfing the hallway with smoke and obscuring Ruby, Zwei and Taiyang's vision.
The smoke eventually cleared out as the young girl with her pet and her father were in a coughing fit while her mother was nowhere to be seen and in the White Rose's place was the flower shaped artificial intelligience, Drei.
Summer may be a master of stealth but there were times that she was as subtle as a bull in a china shop.
"I do apologize for my Guardian, Mr. Xiao Long but I think it's best if you give her some space to reacquaint herself with you before you make any moves upon her," the Ghost suggested gently, calmly gazing at the befuddled blonde man with his one eye, "She has only just begun accepting the reality that she is a mother so please do not add anymore pressure towards her."
"I-uhh, what?" Taiyang eloquently said with a slackjaw expression as he stared at the sentient being barely the size of his palm.
"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Xiao Long," Drei sarcastically remarked at the man's dumbfounded expression as he rolled his single eye before he dispersed into light blue particles, transporting himself back to his Guardian's side.
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"So when exactly are you going to stop running away from Mr. Xiao Long?" Drei asked curiously as hovered beside his Guardian.
"I'm sorry. He's just so…" Summer wracked her brain for the right word, "Forward. It was freaking me out and I just…panicked."
"Obviously," he replied, clearly amused by her discomfort towards Taiyang Xiao Long.
He could tell that his Guardian did not hold any romantic feelings towards the man but his presence was making her uncomfortable, which made him feel protective over her. He bore the man no ill will but if Mr. Xiao Long were to persist with his advances when Summer didn't want him to, then the Ghost would gladly sell the elder Xiao Long out to Fireteam Nero and Cayde-6 and let them deal with him as they wished.
The Ghost could see that his Guardian didn't want to talk about Taiyang Xiao Long so he wisely chose to change the subject.
"So did you think of a proper lesson plan?" he inquired. He figured if Summer wanted to avoid the subject of Mr. Xiao Long for now, then they might as well discuss about something productive.
"Lesson - what now?" Summer arched her brow in confusion.
"You know, passing on your knowledge of the Vex to the less informed?"
"I thought we agreed that you were gonna do it?"
"No, it was just you. I said nothing of the sort."
"Oh, come on! It's your thing to be the exposition guy."
"But you're the one that unknowingly agreed to teach them in the first place so you have to at least do something to contribute."
"Alright fine!" the Guardian threw her hands up in exasperation and she began to browse through her Scroll, "Let's see… 'strict school teacher'. Huh, that could work."
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"I can't believe this," Blake Belladonna huffed in disbelief as she and the rest of Team RWBY gathered in the auditorium with all the other students, "We just learned that aliens are real and that they're out to kill us and yet we still have to take classes."
"We know next to nothing about these 'Vex'," Weiss Schnee admonished the Faunus girl, "It's crucial for our survival to learn as much as these things as possible."
"I just hope it isn't like Professor Port's class or we're all dead, "Yang Xiao Long grumbled in annoyance as everyone within earshot groaned as well at the Grimm Studies instructor.
All the students who had made a complete recovery were here and for the ones who still required bed rest, they were being shown a live broadcast of the special class in question through their Scrolls.
It also wasn't just the students in Beacon but the rest of Remnant. There were several cameras streaming this event to every corner of the world so that everyone, be they soldiers, students or professional Huntsmen, would know more of their newest enemy, the Vex.
As the students started to whisper among each other over what this assembly was for, a blonde woman with glasses walked onto the stage.
This woman was their combat instructor, Glynda Goodwitch.
"Settle down, students," Glynda Goodwitch said through the microphone, making the noisy students immediately quiet down, "You are no doubt wondering why you are gathered here today but as you have already known, the councils of the four Kingdoms have declared that we are in a state of war with a new threat."
"At the moment, we have no information of this new threat but we have someone who has much experience fighting the Vex," the professor continued before gesturing to the side, "She is someone who most of you students have already heard but may I introduce to you Ms. Summer Ro-"
The blonde woman stopped herself in mid-sentence and gawked along with everyone else at the very person that she was about to introduce.
"Well, this is definitely awkward," Summer Rose noted as she adjusted her eyeglasses.
The Guardian wasn't wearing her usual armour but a different outfit entirely.
She had dangling teal earrings that matched the hanging pendant on her collar. She wore a white long-sleeved, pleated top that had a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flared in pleats at the wrist. A black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings covered her lower body. She wore black boots with brown heels, and a cape that was purple inside and black on the outside. The cut of the cape was stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back. Above this line of beads appeared an emblem of a tiara.
Instead of her armor, Summer Rose wore the exact same clothing as Glynda Goodwitch except it was scaled down to fit her smaller frame.
The young Guardian had accomplished a lot over the years. She had destroyed the Black Heart thus restoring Light to the Traveler. She had slain two gods from the Hive pantheon. She had bested so many elite Fallen that many Fallen Houses had a flee-on-sight order, concerning her and the rest of Fireteam Nero.
But never had she managed to make an entire civilization of Remnant become so speechless at the mere sight of her until now.
Professor Goodwitch took a really deep breath to calm herself and turned to scathingly glare at the Guardian as the blonde woman's left eye began to twitch aggressively, "Ms. Rose, why did you choose to wear that outfit?"
"I was going for a more respectable look so I searched for 'strict school teacher' on the internet and wouldn't you know it, your picture was top on the list," Summer answered before she motioned at herself to show off her new appearance, "And I thought it would be the perfect look to teach stuff to people but it looks like one of us is gonna have to change."
The combat instructor gave the shorter woman a withering glare as the blonde Huntress clenched her riding crop so tightly that everyone could hear the leather straining itself under her iron grip but the female Hunter simply stared at her back with no concern.
Summer had to admit that this woman was good but it was nothing compared to Commander Zavala's berserker rampage.
The two women stood like that for quite some time as they waited for one of them to give in but the one who broke off the standoff wasn't any of the participants. It was the Ghost, Drei.
"Guardian, this is not the time for that," he sternly scolded as he materialized between the two, "We have other more important things to discuss."
"Fine," the Guardian relented as she carelessly tossed aside the glasses. As she walked past Glynda Goodwitch, her clothes broke apart into blue particles and reformed back into her Hunter armor.
The White Rose was only naked for barely a fraction of a second so not many could catch a glimpse of her bare skin while the bright light also covered up anything that someone with quick perception would see.
"Alrighty then," Summer cleared her throat and then spoke into the microphone, "I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions for me but let me say this first."
"If any of you throw salt at me in an attempt to exorcise me even as a joke, then I will break your fingers."
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Many years ago
A Major Ursa reared up on its hind legs as it roared menacingly before it was suddenly silenced by a loud swish of air. Its large paws fell limp as the Alpha-classed Grimm split into two before dissolving into ash to reveal the critically injured Summer Rose standing before it with her sword raised high.
The sword was then brought down and cleaved a Creep's head off. The Huntress' leg whipped out and caught the decapitated head, sending it flying into a Beowolf's face. The wolf shaped Grimm was briefly stunned as its fellow Grimm's head hit it in the face before a blade pierced through the disembodied head and impaled the Beowolf in the throat.
Extricating the sword from the Beowolf, Summer spun on her heel and sliced another Beowolf in half. Suddenly, a Gryphon dived down towards her and briefly covered her bloodied form with its own. The avian Grimm flailed around for a bit before becoming still because of the sword that the Huntress managed to plunge into its heart. With groans of exertion, the White Rose pushed the dead creature off of her before facing the remaining Grimm.
What was a massive and overwhelming horde of Grimm was now reduced to a barely decently sized pack because of her.
Let it not be said that Summer Rose of Team STRQ was no longer a threat even though she was at death's door.
But the Huntress had finally reached the end of her rope as her body abruptly shut down and she collapsed face first to the ground, mixing the snow with her blood. Seeing the prone warrior's form encouraged the Grimm to converge upon her to end her dwindling life force.
As the creatures of Darkness was about to feast on Summer's broken body, a stream of gunfire slammed into the Grimm and rendered them into fine black and red mist.
The remaining Grimm turned their attention to the perpetrator of their kin's deaths and saw a feminine figure garbed light armor and a worn cloak as mechanical glowing eyes stared at them from under the hood. The stranger wielded an advanced-looking rifle with smoke emanating from the muzzle.
The Grimm snarled and growled at the stranger before they decided to rush at her. The stranger merely regarded the monstrosities with a clinical air as she calmly detached the spent magazine and replaced it with a fresh one. She then took aim and squeezed the trigger.
Each three shot bursts that came out from the rifle never failed to hit a Grimm in their tribal designed masks. One by one, the creatures of the Grimm fell as the stranger killed them with pinpoint accuracy.
Only one Creep was able to reach the stranger but the stranger's left hand whipped out and the unfortunate Grimm found a knife wedged into its brain as the stranger continued to exterminate the rest of the Grimm.
It wasn't long until the clearing was finally devoid of the Darkspawns and the stranger deemed it safe enough to slung the rifle on her back. She raised her head to reveal the face underneath the hood. The face didn't resemble what a human face would look like and instead was a sleek and shiny material like the person was wearing a mask.
But in reality, it was the stranger's face for she was a machine that had gained sentience and thus a soul of her own. An Exo to be exact.
She pressed her index finger and her middle finger to her ear to activate the radio earset to contact her associate.
"I've located the last of the Roseus lineage," the stranger spoke into the communicator as she knelt next to the prone form of the Huntress. Her voice was slightly synthesized but it still managed to sound natural. If one didn't know that she was a machine in the first place, then they would simply assume that she was using a voice synthesizer.
She placed two fingers on the side of the White Rose's neck to check for the pulse, barely feeling a beat, "But we're too late. The wounds inflicted upon her by the Darkspawns and their mother, are too severe. She won't last long at this rate."
"We do not require for this survivor of the Roseus lineage to survive," her associate told her as the Exo Stranger vigilantly surveyed the area around her for more Grimm, "There is still another one to continue the lineage but she is but a mere child at the moment so this one will do for now."
"You wish for this woman to be reforged in the Light and become a Guardian," the stranger effortlessly guessed what her associate wanted to do with the Huntress, "While the other one would leave behind descendants to carry on the inheritance of their Mark before her time comes to join her mother."
"Exactly. Now bring the woman through the Gateway. It won't stay open for long," her associate said before cutting off the transmission.
The stranger let off a sigh and she stared down at the dying Huntress with sympathy in her blue optics, "I apologize but it appears that your destiny does not end here."
"Ru…by…" Summer Rose weakly rasped as the stranger gently rolled her over and proceeded to lift her up bridal style, "Yang…"
"Shh, rest now," the stranger softly whispered as the woman's vision began to be consumed by darkness, "You still have a long journey ahead of you before you could see your daughters again."
The Exo Stranger started the long trek back to the Gateway as she carried the limp Huntress in her arms. By the time that they had reached their destination, the last breath of Summer Rose had already expired.
It didn't matter though since the White Rose would awaken once more but not as a Huntress of Remnant. But as a Guardian of the Last City.
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AN:
To those wondering if I would include the Exo Stranger to the story: Does this satisfy your curiosity?