Salutations Guardians and Huntsmen, back here again with the second chapter of 'Guardians of the Hunt'. In this chapter, I hope to introduce you to the 'RWBY to Destiny' side of the crossover genre.
That's right, this story has both.
I always liked this approach and thought it would be fun to right both approaches with their own stories and twists. Fair word of warning, updates won't always come this fast. The next update I make will be for my other story, 'The Old Wolf's Sword'.
Not much else to say other than that though, so I'll leave you to it.
Chapter 2
To Rise And Fall
The Reborn
The golden sun rose above the barren wasteland that was London England, unrelenting as it sent waves of sunlight in every direction. Rusted, twisted metal refused to shine under the soft golden glow of the sun's rays, further giving the land a sense of dread if the hundreds of thousands of collapsed buildings did not already. Only a few, scattered buildings remained standing; thrift stores and restaurants made of stone surviving what apocalyptic event took place so many years ago.
Among the barely standing, however, was a marvel of architecture, a building considered high and mighty by those who lived before the golden age;
Big Ben.
The famous London landmark stood over 300 feet tall, and although it was dilapidated and breaking apart at the seams, it still stood strong against the wind and the enemies of humanity who dared to try and defile it.
Within this towering structure however, a new story was about to start. A story of valor and those that push to the front of the battle to protect what little humanity had left and to claim the rest back from the impending Darkness.
It was the story of a Guardian.
On the top floor of Big Ben, a small prism-like object was floating about, moving from pile to pile of wooden and steel debris. The prism was as generic as they came, a plain white shell with a yellow marking on its 'horn' of sorts, but so was every other guardian-less Ghost.
The Ghost hovered into the next room of the building, cautiously passing under a rotting door frame, only to be met with more piles of rubble. The construct floated over to a particular pile, seeing a skeleton trapped halfway underneath it.
The Ghost could feel no Light in the remains however, so it could only shake its head in disappointment.
"Poor soul." It muttered quietly in a seemingly shy, feminine voice, signifying its gender.
If Ghosts even had genders.
Nevertheless, the Ghost moved on, continuing her search as she had done many times before. Some would call a search lasting over a century fruitless at this point, but this is normal in terms of Ghosts. Born from the Traveler's dying breath, the Ghosts were created to seek out those who held the Light and help them shape it as a weapon against the Darkness.
Even with that in mind however, some Ghost decided to give up their search and stay in the Tower to help those there, but this Ghost was not one to give up on her task.
She had heard the stories of great Guardians rising in the last few decades, namely those of Fireteam Wild. Salazar Stone, Scarlet Pang and Logan Midnight were held in the ranks of legends. They had slayed Gods, stopped countless threats against humanity and they looked good while doing it.
This Ghost had high hopes that her Guardian would be one of those Guardians, a legend maker. However, she had to find a Guardian first.
The Ghost moved through the rubble, getting to an area where a wall was caved in, leaving barely a hole for the Ghost to squeeze through. At that point, she contemplated just moving on and going to the next building in her search.
That was until she felt a surge of power from beyond the wall.
It was like the Traveler itself was telling her to move beyond the wall and search further. She had never felt anything as powerful, pure Light seeming to wash over her and draw her in. It was all the Ghost needed to convince herself to fly through the cramped hole in the wall.
And she did just that, with a bit of effort on her part of course. After a few moments of pushing and shoving through rubble, the Ghost popped out on the other side of the wall. The disturbance in the structure however caused the hole she made to close, turning the small room she was now in pitch black.
The Ghost switched on her optic's light and peered around the dark room, noting quickly how there were no windows or doors in sight. That sadly meant that the only way out of the room was to break out.
The Ghost felt something in the room however, making her completely forget about the reality of her imprisonment; she felt a strong body of Light a few feet in front of her. She peered down to the source of the Light and found a skeleton leaning precariously against the far wall.
The only problem, the skeleton was so small it was if it belonged to a child no more than ten years old when they died.
The Ghost flew up to the body cautiously, as not to accidentally disturb it, and examined it closely.
"... Poor girl." She said after a moment. "Never got the chance to live a full life… She could make a difference now though if I can manage to age her in this revival."
The Ghost then stopped and thought for a moment, contemplating whether or not it was even possible to do such a thing.
"... It might take a while."
(Earth - Outskirts of The Last City - Early Morning)
The snow capped mountains glistened through the thick mist of Russian sky, giving the area a calming feel as the rest of the world rusted. It showed that some hope still remained in the dreary land.
As the sun continued to shine its rays over the mountains, the mist seemed to part as a ship flew past. The ship was mainly black with red highlights outlining the multitude of parts that made up the vessel. The body of the ship was in the shape of a pentagon before it extended at the front with a cylinder type chamber. There were cylinders in the body of the ship as well, one on each side that both had red cables coming out of them leading back into the armor of the ship, acting as the engines of the ship as it flew forward.
Inside the ship was, of course, its captain.
The man piloting the ship was outfitted in a mainly dark red set of robes that ran down to his ankles, opening more as they went. The robes also had white lines sewn into the cloth, lines that curved out of the way of the black, bone like material that started below the chest of the outfit and expanded as it went up and stopped at the neck only to move to the man's back where it rose to make a neck guard for the back half of his neck. The bone on the front of the robes closed with a set of jagged teeth like bone, the same color as the rest of it.
The man's arms had black bone pauldrons that spiked upwards, making three points on the edge that faced outwards before forming a deadly point at the top. The rest of his arms were covered in the same dark red cloth his robes were made of save for his gloves which were made of a black cloth instead and a small amount of black bone covering his wrists. His leggings were pretty much the same, except the cloth was black instead of red. A pad of black bone covered his right knee, forming upwards and dividing into a duo of deadly spikes. The leggings went into a set of dark red boots that had black toes.
Around the man's arm was a dark grey band of chitin topped with a rhombus shaped piece of black bone that was divided in half. In the center of the divide was a glowing mass of light blue energy with particles of energy radiating off of it with chips of bone as well, floating above the bond.
Finally, the man was void of a helmet, meaning that his face was visible to whoever was watching. He had shoulder length chocolate brown hair that was a few shades darker than his light brown skin and he had a set of golden, piercing eyes.
"How long until we hit The City, Mantis?" The man asked as he piloted the ship through the mist, glancing slightly to the side.
"We're getting close." A calm man's voice answered to the side. Instead of a man however, it was Ghost floating next to the control console. The Ghost shaped the same was as any other, but his whole body was covered in a black and white flame. The glowing white optic turned its attention to the Guardian before it continued.
"It's been awhile since we were here Yohan." Mantis commented with a remembering tone. "I sure have missed it."
"Me to buddy." Yohan told the Ghost with a smile. "With the deaths Logan and Sal, the six of us weren't happy to return, and I guess I never had a real connection to the city in the first place."
"Except for your promise to Salazar that is." The Ghost pointed out getting a sigh from the Guardian.
"There's that." He said, thinking back to said promise.
'Never hold back my daughter, but never allow her to die.' Salazar had told him 'I trust you to make sure my bird lives the life she deserves to live.'
"There hasn't been much to protect her from after he disappeared." Yohan noted with a slight chuckle. "Maybe he brought the fight with him when he was sent to hell."
"Not that I agree with your phrasing of it, but I can agree with that statement." Matis replied. "He was never one to go down with dragging everything else down with him."
The control console suddenly chimed, prompting the Ghost to fly over to it, ending the topic of the old Guardian.
"We're close." Mantis told the Guardian. "Making a transmission to the tower."
The Ghost stayed hovering in the same place for a moment before speaking once more.
"Tower, this is Guardian Walker's ship." The Ghost stated. "Were finally back and ready for duty."
There was a long silence after that with no reply, making the Ghost and Yohan glance at each other wearily.
"Tower, do you read me?" The Ghost chimed again, waiting a few more moments for a reply but not getting any. Mantis chose that moment to turn to his Guardian.
"You know how you fly faster than I like sometimes?" He asked, getting a simple nod from the Guardian in response. "Do that."
Yohan grinned lightly before slamming forward on the thruster, causing the ship to speed forward through the mist at breakneck speeds. It only took a few moments for the ship to break through the mist and reveal the horror they had unknowingly come to see.
The Last City on Earth was up in flames.
Violent flames burned throughout the city below, looking like embers in the early morning sun as sirens rang throughout the area, signalling evacuation. None of the ships would go very far however as the sky above the city was filled with firefights between Guardian ships and the enemy who had seemingly snuck past their defences;
The Cabal.
A race of 'space turtles' as many Guardians jokingly called them, aliens bred for war and conquest of the stars.
What worried Yohan the most however was the Cabal's command ship, a ship the towered in size compared to any other ship the Guardian had ever seen, minus the Dreadnaught of course. Said command ship seemed to be closing in on the Traveler, the enormous white orb in the sky above the city. As the Traveler slept, its protectors would no doubt push back the Cabal, but at the cost of casualties.
There was a bad feeling in the back of Yohan's mind however, something that he just couldn't place. There was no time for thinking though. It was time for action.
"We've got to get to the Tower!" Mantis exclaimed before disappearing in a light blue flash. 'There's no telling what's going here without getting access back to Tower's comms.'
"Already on it-" Yohan started to speak, speeding over the controls of the ship as he did so until his ship suddenly jolted to the side, spinning off course before quickly stabilizing again, lights blaring in the cockpit.
'We got Cabal on our tail!' Mantis informed Yohan from inside the Guardian's head. 'Weapons are out!' The ship jolted again and an explosion to his right rocked the ship even more. 'There goes an engine! We're going down!'
"Hold on to something!" The Guardian exclaimed, trying to keep the ship on a steady course as they crashed. He positioned the ship so that they headed straight towards the highest standing tower in the entire city, the tower that the city's wall seemed to grow out of.
'To what!?' The Ghost yelled back at him seconds before they collided with the center of the Tower.
(Earth - Big Ben, London - Morning)
At first, there was darkness.
Then, there was light.
A seemingly smothering light that blocked all vision as a new arrival fluttered their eyes, trying to get the tiredness out of them as they laid on the ground, groaning slightly. Then a beam of light filled the room and the newly risen Guardian hissed in pain, the light flooding their eyes momentarily.
"I-I can't believe it…" The source of the light muttered loud enough that the new Guardian could hear her. "It… it actually worked! Haha!" The Ghost then proceeded to jump for joy, or wobble in the air I guess, further confusing the Guardian if they hadn't been confused enough already.
Said Guardian had a set of… lack luster armor I guess you could say. It was a simple grey jumpsuit with a multitude of small steel plates adoring it for protection. What class of Guardian armor it was was a mystery, but the Guardian was obviously female, as the larger than average chest indicated.
"...Um, sorry to interrupt," The female Guardian started, the first words she had spoken since rebirth catching the Ghost's attention. "But what the hell is going on here?"
The Ghost seemed to think for a moment, clearly not as prepared for this as she thought she was. After a moment, the Ghost spoke up.
"Well, uh, that's kind of hard to explain you see." She started, trying to think of a way to explain the situation they were in. "You've been dead for a long time and I've just brought you back would be the short explanation."
"... What now?" The Guardian seemed to question, raising an eyebrow under her jumpsuit helmet.
"I, uh, well I'm a Ghost you see, your Ghost now actually, and I found you." The Ghost started again. "It may sound crazy, but you were dead when I did find you. I followed a large source of Light and found you. Now you're a Guardian… A warrior of the Light to best explain it." The Ghost finished, picking up a bit of speed as she went.
"...I-I don't completely get what's going on here." The Guardian confessed, still confused despite the bit of explanation she got.
Before the Ghost could respond any further, a roar rang throughout the building and through the walls blocking them in, causing both Guardian and Ghost to look around frantically.
"How did they find us?" The Ghost asked herself, slightly confused.
"Who are 'they'?" The Guardian asked, getting the Ghost to kick into action.
"The Fallen." She started "We need to find you a weapon before they find us."
"And just how do we do that?" The Guardian questioned, motioning around her and the walls surrounding them.
"I may not be able to break through them, but you just might as a Guardian." The floating prism informed her. "I just need to find you a weak point so that you ca-"
The guardian ignored the Ghost after the first sentence, rearing back her fist with practiced ease and slamming it into the wall with a cry of defiance. The strike easily broke through the wall and sent it crumbling to pieces, causing the Ghost to float up behind the Guardian with a bit of caution.
"... Good job, Guardian." The floating prism said with a nod, seemingly impressed. The Guardian puffed out her large chest and seemingly examined her nails.
"I have my moments."
Another roar resounded through the walls of the building seemingly closer this time.
"They're getting closer!" The Ghost exclaimed "Quick, I saw a cache nearby on my way to you. I'll mark it on your hud."
Just like that, the Guardian jumped a bit in surprise as a marker appeared in her vision. However, not wanting to die, again, the Guardian quickly recovered and sprinted towards the marker.
She quickly arrived at a chest that looked like it was made from a pile of scraps than anything else. She touched the chest after a moment of wondering what to do, and coming up with no other idea, and the chest slid open.
The Guardian looked in anticipation, chests equalling treasure in the little memory she seemed to be able to recall. She was however disappointed to see that the chest, instead of being filled with gold coins or something like that, had a lone and rusting shotgun laying at the bottom with several blue cubes surrounding it.
The Guardian picked up the shotgun and shifted it in her hands, testing the weight before pumping the gun. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it loaded smoothly, unlike what the rust had suggested.
And it had ammo, lucky for them.
"It'll do for now." The Ghost told her, a bit frantic as the roaring of the Fallen got closer. "We need to get moving towards the ground floor. Expect resistance."
"What the heck is this stuff?" The Guardian asked, holding up a blue cube.
Before the Ghost could answer, a large bang came from the far side of the room followed by a tremendous roar. The duo turned to the wall before turning to each other.
"No time," The Ghost told her. "We've got company. Get to cover!"
The Guardian, trusting the Ghost, ducked behind an overturned table just time for the far wall to get blown to smithereens.
(Earth - The Tower - Morning)
The twisted metal and wreckage of Yohan's ship burned, adding to the smoke that came from the Tower's lab from the assault. The smoldering of the flames was all that could be heard for a long moment.
Then, Yohan's gauntlet reached out from under the rubble and pushed away concrete that covered his form, allowing him to sit up with a groan and peer around the room with his now helmeted head.
His helmet was made completely out of black bone, like other parts of his armor, and came out into points to the sides before shooting up and growing smaller, ending in a set razor sharp horns, jagged on the edges. The face of the helmet however was a collection of bluish, blackish energy secured behind a layer of what seemed to be glass, but it was much stronger if it survived a crash such as the one Yohan caused.
Speaking of which…
"What was that!?" Mantis exclaimed from above Yohan, clearly annoyed with the condition of the ship. Or at least, what used to be a ship.
"I got us here, didn't I?" The Warlock questioned the Ghost, getting the floating prism grumble something about being a smart mouth before disappearing into Yohan's head.
'We'll get Amanda to fix this once we're done here.' Mantis started, setting a marker on his Guardian's hud. That prompted said Guardian to stand up and grab a weapon from his back that his Ghost suddenly summoned in a mist of small blue particles.
The stock and the barrel of the gun were both made of black bone, jagged edges sticking out in a random, yet uniform pattern. Instead of a fully formed barrel, the front of the gun was split horizontally into two halves that formed back together at the body of the gun. The two pieces of the barrel had jagged, teeth like objects sticking out from them, giving the gun an intimidating feeling. The main body of the gun made of a dark red, flesh like material. The tip of the handle, the trigger system and the magazine were made of black bone as well.
As Yohan tested the weight of his famed pulse rifle, the Harrowed Smite of Merain, he felt another weapon appear on his back and rest there.
The secondary weapon was a long, pitch black sniper rifle made of the charred bone that created his armor. Every part from the stock to the barrel was a slick, yet jagged piece of long range technology, including the magazine. The only parts of the rifle that were not made of bone were the handle and what you could see under the rifle body's parts, save for the tip of the handle. What really gave the rifle length however was the long, razor sharp blade that extended from the barrel and stopped a wicked point.
This was Yohan's famed sniper rifle; the Harrowed Defiance of Yasmin.
After making sure that both of his weapons were loaded, the Guardian dashed towards the far end of the large laboratory, weaving around overturned tables and desks before stopping at the door and kicking it down, sending it flying into a Cabal legionary that he had detected with his tracker.
The legionary was your basic ground, there nothing very noteworthy about their red and grey armor adored with their legion's symbol. What could be noted however was their particular ugly, turtle like faces and bodies, all cabal being particularly... large.
The Cabal got sent flying across the room with a cry of surprise, sending the multitude of other troops into motion. Slug rifle shots were sent flying by Legionaries towards Yohan, though most of them missed as he jumped to the side, landing in a crouch before firing three shot bursts into the heads of several of the troops, blowing said heads off in the process.
The Guardian then ducked out of the way as one other the troops extended a blade from its arm and pounced at him, using a booster built into their armor to propel them forwards. The Cabal landed behind him, stopping its booster and turning around, only to fall to disintegrate with a cry of pain as Yohan thrusted out his palm and hit the troop with a wave of Void energy.
The Warlock turned on his heel without a second thought and slammed the butt of his pulse rifle into the head of another pouncing Cabal, ending its life before reloading said rifle. After avoiding another few slug shots and popping the heads off another set of Legionaries, the hallway was clear and Yohan moved to his next marker, which was set at the nearest elevator.
'Unknown ID on laboratory floor' A deep, commanding voice echoed through Yohan's comms, a voice bothe Ghost and Guardian recognized. 'Identify yourself and standby for evac.'
"Zavala, it's Yohan." The Guardian replied as he fiddled with the elevator controls, giving up on them when they sparked and heading towards the stairs instead. "We finally decided to come back, and it's looks like our timing couldn't have been better."
'Yohan?' The Vanguard asked before sighing. 'Your timing is certainly impeccable as always. Make your way to the courtyard.' He then ordered, skipping formalities. 'We've got evac ships beyond this door and I'm the only one here to hold the Cabal back. I could use some backup.'
'Already on my way sir,' A new, deep and robotic voice piped up from the comms, also recognized by Yohan and Mantis. 'T-minus 6 minutes.'
'Thanks for the assistance Charlom.' Zavala said as Yohan dashed up the stairs, running up floor after floor with seemingly no fatigue. 'What about the rest of fireteam Foothold?'
'Exturn here with Charlie.' Another robotic, yet more chipper voice sounded off. 'Heading to you.'
'And I am helping triangulate the location of our Speaker as I have been instructed by Ikora.' A final voice responded, not so robotically but in a fast pace. 'He will no doubt be a target of the attack we are under.'
"I should feel hurt that you replaced me" The Warlock muttered as he reached a dead end, a collapsed ceiling having blocked off the stairwell. "Listen, the only way up to the courtyard has been blocked by a cave in." He then said, speaking to the group. "Any ideas on how to get past it?"
'Don't tell me that you've changed from your old ways, Yohan.' Exturn said with a hint of disappointment. 'Or will Cornelius continue to take that roll?'
Yohan's usual slight smile twitched into a frown, signalling that he was irritated by the jab.
Next thing anybody knew, before his Ghost could even try to stop him, the Warlock did a backflip, stopping in midair while facing the broken wall and filling his hand with Void energy and proceeded to hurl the energy at the dead end.
The ball of pure Void energy expanded until it was as large as his head and impacted the wall with a mighty boom, shaking the entire building and simply disintegrating the wall, all of the Cabal that happened to be standing behind it and part of the floor as well. Yohan then landed with practiced grace, smiling as he did so.
'Walker, I could feel that from here!' Charlom shouted through the comms, getting a chuckled from Exturn in return.
'There not just assaulting the city.' Charlie's Ghost, Catalyst, suddenly piped up. 'Look at the Traveler!'
'Ok.' A new robotic voice, similar to Exturn's, popped up. 'Nice reunion we're having here, nice to hear you by the way Yohan.'
"Cayde." The Warlock simply responded, running through empty hallways.
'Yeah, so anyway, my Ghost keeps tagging these things as 'Red Legion'.' The Hunter Vanguard continued. 'Ikora, whatcha got?'
'Rumors mostly.' The Warlock Vanguard responded, joining the conversation. 'An elite faction of Cabal, deathly loyal to their commander. Rumors also say that they've never known defeat.'
'Then they haven't faced Guardians.' Zavala simply countered.
'We have to stop them from getting to the Traveler!' Mantis interjected, only to be shot down by Zavala.
'Negative.' He stated 'The Traveler can wait. We must protect our people at any cost.'
"I saw a big ass command ship on my way here." Yohan started, speaking to everyone on comms. "If someone could pick me up, I'll make my way to ya. Get me to that ship and I'll show them why Guardians aren't to be messed with."
'On my way!' Yet another new voice said, joining the comms. 'Giving you coordinates!'
"On my way Amanda." Yohan told the Shipwright as he followed the new marker his Ghost had set for him.
The Warlock quickly found himself in a large room, glass covering one side of said room and giving a clear view to the city. There were overturned desks and tables all throughout the room as well, and there was one clear reason for that.
A whole room of them actually.
There was a large group of Legionaries along with a multitude of Phalanxes, Centurions, Psions and a single, yet enormous Colossus.
Phalanxes were simply Legionaries with tall, wide shields. Usually, they were made of a type of Cabal metal, but these seemed to be made of energy, being orange and translucent with a section of metal in the middle that Yohan guessed was the power module.
The Centurions were just a tad bit larger than the Legionaries with much larger thrusters on their backs. They also had a translucent orange bubble shield around them, protecting them from damage if the bulkier armor didn't already.
The Psions however didn't even look like Cabal, mainly because they weren't originally such. They were roughly half the size of a Legionary and were practically as thin as poles, long rifles in their hands instead of slug rifles.
Finally, the Colossus was at least twice the size of a Centurion, towering over everything else in the room and outgunning it with its enormous tri barrel minigun.
And that minigun was aimed right at Yohan.
"I… might need more ammo."
(Earth - Big Ben, London - Morning)
As the smoke gathered and the splinters of wood that used to be the wall hit the floor, the newly risen Guardian stayed absolutely silent, the Ghost having disappeared into her head to do the same. The room stayed silent for what seemed like hours before footsteps began to make their way through the room.
Through brief glances at shards of glass on the floor, the Guardian could see a squad of Vadels and Dregs followed up by a Captain, what she noted to just be a larger Vandel with a large shrapnel launcher, a blue cape with a strange symbol and a pulsing blue shield around itself.
As the Fallen moved closer to her position, her heart beat grew more rapid and her breath grew harder to control. It was probably the most intense moment of her new life as she feared that same life would end. After a few minutes however, just before the Fallen reached her, the Captain grunted, growing impatient.
The Captain then gave out a few more grunts, prompting its squad to move to the side of the room where she was first revived.
As the scavengers sniffed around, searching for… something, the Guardian slowly got up from her spot and made her way to the new 'door' the Fallen had entered through, surprisingly accurate with her steps as to not make any noise. She stepped over fallen planks and shards of broken glass with ease.
And she would have made it too, if it weren't sadly for…
'... What do you think they're looking for?' The Ghost suddenly asked from inside the Guardian's head, making said Guardian jump in surprise and shatter a piece of glass beneath her foot. She went completely still as the Fallen slowly turned their attention towards her, their guns now being pointed towards her, Arc energy charging.
The Guardian gave off a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of her neck with one hand while she held her shotgun tightly in the other.
"Um… sorry?" The Guardian offered hesitantly. Instead of returning words, the Fallen Captain simply roared and his squad advanced on her like a flock of ravens to a carcass.
The young Guardian was forced to dodge lasers as they were sent flying in her direction, threatening to tear her armor down if they were to hit her. The shotgun in her hands was suddenly slammed into the face of a dreg as it got too close for its own good with an Arc knife drawn.
The alien immediately had its jaw broken from the powerful blow, sending it tumbling into one of its kin and making them both get sent to the ground in a humbled heap. Before they could untangle themselves, an Arc infused shotgun round was sent through their heads, sending them both to oblivion.
The Guardian pumped her shotgun, readying a new shot, and immediately started unloading into the other Dregs and Vandals in the room. The Guardian didn't know much about her enemy, she didn't know why they were here, she didn't even know why SHE was here, but she did know one thing.
She wasn't going down without a fight.
The Captain noticed this as it rose from the ground with a rusted steel lockbox in hand, now observing the carnage taking place in front of it.
The Guardian blew off the head of a Vandel, barely letting it scream before it fell without a sound before immediately following up the shot by elbowing a Dreg that tried to grab her from behind in the face, knocking out several of its sharp teeth and making it scream out in half rage half pain.
The shotgun wielder then spun on her heel and let two Dregs shoot each other, damaging their respective armors before blowing the leg off of a Vandel and having it fall to the ground. The Guardian parried a strike from another Vandel while the first was down and slammed the butt of her rifle into its face, knocking it back before she shoved her shotgun into the stomach of the alien and fired a shot straight through it.
She suddenly jumped and rolled towards a Vandel that had tried to take a makeshift sniper position, a laser having burned the spot where she was only moments before, before popping to her feet and leveling her rifle with the sniper's head. As she pulled the trigger however, the rifle clicked empty giving the Vandel all the time it needed to grab her rifle and attempt to throw it out of her hands.
Instead of fighting back like the sniper had suspected however, the Guardian simply let go of the rifle and let the Vandel wobble to the side. Before the alien could balance out again, its head was slammed into the floor, sending it through the floor below with a crash where it then laid motionless.
The bad news; her shotgun went with the alien. The good news; she didn't need it.
The Guardian charged into the group of the remaining six squad members, surprised most of all at the Guardian's brash actions. Their surprise was quickly cut short when a Dreg was sent flying through the ceiling by a powerful strike from the Guardian, only made possible by the distraction that she had seemingly caused.
The five remaining combatants scattered, not wanting the same fate as their companion. It didn't matter however, as the Guardian threw her hands into the air, coating them with flames, and slammed them back down with a mighty roar.
The slam caused a flaming shockwave that knocked all of the remaining squad members off of their feet and roasted them to embers not even a moment later, the Guardian and the Captain now watching the squad burn to smoking embers that quickly spread to the rest of the building, causing smoke to get in the face of the two.
The Guardian was only slightly blinded by the smoke, her helmet acting as a barrier and protecting her face. The Captain wasn't so lucky however. While having a face mask, its eyes were completely exposed and the small squad's leader was blinded temporarily.
'We need to get out of here before the building comes down on us!' The Ghost exclaimed within the Guardian's head, panicking just a tad bit.
Said Guardian ignored her however, instead choosing to charge at the Captain, rearing back her fist before slamming it into its face.
The alien took the first hit before surprising the Guardian and catching the second. Before the Captain could press its advantage however, the female Guardian rammed her knee into the Captain's gut, forcing it to double over in pain and let go of her as its shield shattered.
The shattering of the shield surprised the Guardian for a second, but not long enough to be at a disadvantage.
The Guardian slammed her knee into the Captain's face with enough force that the mask it was wearing flew into the rising flames of the building around them. The alien tried to get up, its roar resounding through the room over the flames, only to get caught in a headlock by the Guardian it was facing.
The Captain let the steel box it was holding drop to the floor as it tried to over power the Guardian, a Guardian that could have only been a Titan from the sheer brutality she was showing. The struggle was no use though, as the Titan felt the struggle and tightened her grip.
A few moments later, the Guardian made a sharp motion and snapped the neck of the Captain, effectively making it go limp as she let go of the corpse. The Titan let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, dropping to her knees with sigh, letting herself rest.
That's until she remembered the flames burning around her.
The Guardian suddenly jumped up in a panic, looking around for an exit. She didn't see any immediate way out, causing her to panic even more.
"Uh, anyway out of here would be nice, voice in my head." The Titan said out loud, not even really believing that she just asked a voice in her head for help.
'Through there!' The Guardian got a response nonetheless, looking towards the marker that appeared in her vision. 'Just follow the marker!'
The Titan started for the marker before stopping, glancing at the rusted steel lockbox the Captain had dropped. It looked brown and rough, obviously hundreds of years old and worn down by the elements.
In a split second decision that she didn't even know the reason behind, the Guardian grabbed the box, tucking it under her arm before making a mad dash for the marker.
Just as she got to the destination, a doorway leading to a stairwell, the building groaned and the doorway collapsed and blocked off the only reasonable exit. The flames roared as they grew around the now trapped Titan.
'Calm down.' The Ghost said, though she was the one panicking. 'I'm trying to find another way out-'
"I've got one!" The Guardian exclaimed as she ran into the next room, grinning like a mad man under her helmet as she stared at a window, the glass having been blown out ages ago.
'That's not a good ideaaaa!' The Ghost tried to tell her Guardian, immediately seeing where this was going, but the cries were in vain as the Titan tumbled out of the window with an overly excited cheer.
'This was not what I had in mind when I wanted a Guardian!'
(Earth - The Tower - Morning)
The Warlock ran from desk to desk as the minigun tore through them all, barely missing the Guardian and certainly keeping busy. As he ran, he fired his rifle into the Legionaries and Psions, pulse after pulse meeting their marks and easily taking out the basic troops one by one.
After a few moments he ran out of ammo and room as a Centurion crashed down in front of him, giving out a roar of defiance.
"Who woke up big and ugly?" Yohan asked no one in particular, as he usually did in these situations.
'Zavala,' Ikora started, ignoring Yohan's comments. 'The last of the shuttles are away.'
"Always a good thing." The Warlock commented as he blasted the heads off of another set of Legionaries.
'But the Speaker,' The Vanguard continued. 'he never made it. I'm going to look for him.'
'I've been pinned down by a squadron of Red Legion in another area, but the Speaker's post is the only place of his I have yet to search through myself.' Cornelius told her, his words coming out at a rapid pace.
'Clear out those Cabal, I'll get there myself.'
'Affirmative.'
While that conversation was finishing, Yohan growled as his last barricade was being pelted with bullets, courtesy of the Colossus. When other shots from the Cabal started to join in, he rolled his eyes and concentrated Void energy into his hand again.
He waited a few moments, allowing the Void energy to charge, before jumping up and over his cover, spinning around to face Colossus and launch a ball of Void energy considerably smaller than the one he used to open the door earlier.
It wasn't any less destructive however.
The ball of pure, unrelenting Void energy flew at lightning speeds, stopping when it hit the Cabal. The Colossus looked down at it in confusion, stopping its attack as Yohan evacuated the room.
The next thing anybody knew, there was a brand new hole in the side of the Tower.
'I told you to stop tha-!' Cayde began to speak only to be cut off by Ikora.
'The Speaker is gone.' She stated, anger radiating from her voice like no one had ever heard before. 'Red Legion, you will take no more from us!' She then exclaimed 'And you will find no mercy in me!'
'Yohan,' Amanda then said from the comms, getting the Guardian's attention. 'It's about time we got you up there don't you think?' She then asked rhetorically, causing Yohan to smile at the thought of vengeance as he moved to the door of the room he'd just decimated. As he did, a standard city transport ship flew into the room, opening up its side door to let him inside.
It was time for the fun to begin.
(Earth - London - Morning)
The newly risen Guardian laid on the ground of the old London city streets, motionless and with a rusted steel box clutched in her grip. A few moments later, with wind silently rolling through the streets, the body disappeared in a cloud of blue prisms before reappearing in the air, standing upright.
The Guardian landed on her feet before collapsing to her knees with a surprised gasp, coughing before she reached for her helmet and fiddled with the straps. After a few moments, she was able to unsecure it and she yanked it off, throwing it to the ground and letting her long golden locks of hair flow down and out of her helmet. Her brilliant lilac eyes were closed as she took a deep breath of fresh air, glad to be out of the building.
"What the hell just happened?" The Guardian asked in a shuttering voice, shaken from the fight a few minutes before.
Her Ghost appeared in a flash of blue light, hovering down to eye level before stopping.
"I just revived you after you fell from the building." She responded, shocking the Guardian. "That wasn't really the best idea by the way."
"You revived me?" The Titan asked, unusually calm now.
"Yes." The Ghost responded, a bit nervous now from the change in demeanor.
"And that implies that I died, yes?" The Guardian continued, getting a nod from the Ghost. She was silent for a moment, contemplating what she was just told.
"... I refuse to believe that." The Guardian finally stated after a while causing the Ghost to blink.
"It's a common thing for Guardians, I assure you." The Ghost told her, glad that the Titan didn't suddenly explode. "It's a hard thing to get used to, but it becomes almost second nature after a while."
"You do realize it's not that simple, right?" The Guardian said to the Ghost, sitting up with the steel box. "You can't just bring things back to life, and if you could, no one would be willing to do so over and over again!" She then exclaimed, her eyes turning a slight shade of red that made the Ghost backup in surprise. "That's just insanity!"
"... I've brought you back twice now, you know." The Ghost pointed out after a second.
The Guardian was about to speak back about that, saying something along the lines of 'nu-uh', before she stopped herself, thinking about what had happened today already. She then looked up the side of the giant tower she had jumped out of not even moments earlier.
"... I-is it really possible that…" The Guardian started, suddenly realizing that the Ghost might just be telling the truth. She stayed silent for a long moment and the Ghost chose not to disturb her for that time.
After a few minutes of rethinking everything she knew, the Guardian took a deep breath.
"Let's just think about something else for now." She said quietly, still shell shocked. She then held up the rusted steel box and took a closer look at it.
In her opinion, there wasn't very much to look at; just a simple steel box rusted over and closed by what must have been ages erosion. Something about it drew her to open it however, which was why she took the miniature lock attached to the box in her hand and ripped it off, throwing the lock to the side as the Ghost hovered over to the Guardian's side.
Said Guardian gave a weary glance to the Ghost, not completely used to her yet, but she didn't do anything to drive the floating prism away. Instead, she slowly opened the box and found that the contents were not even close to closely preserved.
There were a few remnants of what she could only guess were photos, paper torn and bleeded out by water that managed to get into the container. Only two things in the box seemed to remain unnaturally untouched by the outside world, the first of which was a small red crystal, about the size of her index finger and twice as thick.
She picked up the crystal and rolled it around in her fingers, examining it. There was a small tug in the back of her mind, but she didn't know why as she set it down. As the crystal touched the ground, the Ghost shot out a blue beam and scanned it, confusing the Guardian.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"As a Ghost, I can scan things as well as revive you." The Ghost informed her as she finished her scan.
"Like a little helper or something?" The Guardian asked, getting a small giggle from the Ghost.
"Yes, like that." he Ghost responded. "The crystal seems to have elemental properties, Solar most of all. It's not like anything I've seen before. We should keep it just in case."
The Guardian nodded at that and went to pick it up only for it to disappear in a flash of blue prisms.
"... Another one of your helper things?" The Guardian asked, getting another giggle from the Ghost.
"I dematerialize matter and carry it for you, up to a point." The Ghost answered her question happily, spinning some of her prisms as she did so.
"That's… actually pretty cool." The Guardian said in response, grinning now at the Ghost's happiness. It seemed infectious.
The Titan then turned back to the box and pulled out the second item; a heart shaped locket on a string. The locket was surprisingly shiny, like it had just been polished.
The Guardian carefully opened the locket and peered at the interior. On one side of the locket was a picture of a young girl with bright yellow hair, reaching her shoulders, and lilac eyes that sparkles against the sun like the red trees in the background. The girl was wearing a yellow shirt and a pair of brown cargo shorts, but was otherwise barefoot. She smiled gleefully and the Guardian couldn't help but feel a tick in the back of her mind again. It was like a memory was there but it wasn't.
"... I-is there something wrong Guardian?" The ghost suddenly asked, hovering over to the locket and snapping the Titan out of her stare with the picture. "That girl looks like you." The Ghost then added, surprising the Guardian.
"It does?" The Titan asked, taking a closer look at the picture.
"If you were younger, yes." The Ghost then replied. "It's uncanny."
The Guardian nodded and kept that in mind when she looked at the other side of the locket. There was no other picture on the other side. Instead, there was only a word.
"Yang?" The Guardian asked rhetorically in confusion. The word felt familiar to her.
"Maybe it relates to your name." The Ghost suggested, before thinking of something else. "What is your name anyway, if you don't mind me asking." She asked the Titan.
Said Titan thought for a moment before shrugging.
"I… I don't remember."
"Most Guardians don't." The Ghost with a sigh, slightly disappointed. "The ones who don't remember usually just make up a name for themselves."
"I'll call myself Yang then." The Guardian now dubbed as Yang declared. She then turned to the Ghost. "What's your name?" Yang asked with a smile lightly gracing her face. "I can't just call you Ghost now can I?"
The Ghost perked up at this. Ghosts weren't usually given names, and they didn't start with one on their own. The ones who did have names got them from their Guardians, but only a few select Guardians cared about giving their Ghosts a name, recognising them as more than an object or a tool. The Vanguard were an example but a more commonly known set of examples was the legendary members of Fireteams Wild and Foothold. The Ghosts Specter and Catalyst were probably the most well known.
"I don't have a name." The Ghost responded in a slightly down tone. "Ghosts weren't born with one. Guardians can choose a name for their Ghost if they so choose however."
Yang hummed at that, making the Ghost feel hopeful and even slightly giddy. After a moment, the Guardian snapped.
"Yin." Was all the Guardian said, making the Ghost blink.
"Y-Yin?" The Ghost repeated hesitantly. "As in Yin-Yang?"
"That's the one Yang said with a proud smirk, standing up to her full height and sliding on her helmet, making sure not to damage her hair as she did so. The Ghost was silent for a moment, silently regretting all of the day's decisions so far.
Then again, this was also the approach of Fireteam Wild's leader, if not as direct.
"... I like it." Yin finally responded, warming up to it a bit. "Let's say we get moving then?" The Ghost then asked rhetorically. "We need to find a ship and get you to the Towe-"
Just as the Ghost was about to finish, she suddenly felt incredibly drained, her prisms drooping slightly as hovered in the air a bit weaker. Yang noticed this and held her hands out, catching the Ghost before she could fall.
"Whoa, you okay?" The Guardian asked, smile gone as she now worried for the small Ghost. Before she could get a response, the Titan felt a massive amount of energy leave her body as well and she fell to her knees with a grunt.
"What the hell's going on?" Yang managed to get out, suddenly feeling tired and weak. Yin hovered slightly above the Guardian's hands, looking up at Yang as she processed the horrifying truth of what just happened.
".. T-the Light…" Yin started "... We've been disconnected from it… Something's happened to the Traveler."
(Earth - The Tower - Late Morning)
Yohan ran through a corridor in the massive command ship, a door closing behind him just as the ship's massive shield generator he had just managed to take out exploded in a fiery inferno, no doubt killing any and all Cabal left in the room.
He didn't stop running to look back though. He had to worry about getting off the ship before the City completely obliterated it.
'Zavala!' Mantis exclaimed through the comms. 'We did it! The shields are down!'
As the two ran around a corner, meeting no opposition, all that could be heard through the comms was static.
'Zavala?' The Ghost repeated, confused at the static. As he was doing that, Yohan turned another corner and saw an exit door, no doubt leading to the outside world.
"Amanda!" Yohan started through the comms, reloading and readying his rifle for possible opposition. "We're heading topside!"
Again, all that was heard through the comms was static. The Ghost started to freak out now.
'Amanda!?' Mantis exclaimed, fearing the worst. 'Anyone!?"
Yohan feared the worst as well. There was no reasonable explanation for the radio silence they were experiencing, especially with Amanda on the job. That was what he though at least.
His thoughts changed when he finally ran on to the deck of the ship.
The Traveler, once flying mighty over the Last City giving hope to all that stood beneath it, was not trapped. A ship had managed to get past the city's defences and touch the Traveler, grabbing the giant orb with an enormous, six pronged claw.
The Guardian and the Ghost looked on in horror, the Ghost appearing in a blue flash of particles.
"... How do we come back from this?" Mantis asked after a moment of silence, shocked at what they were faced with now.
"You don't." A deep voice suddenly spoke from behind the duo, causing them both to spin around, Yohan raising his rifle up in preparation.
What they saw as they spun around was the source of the voice, and neither of them could believe their eyes, or optic in the Ghost's case. The being was only a bit larger than a Centurion, but it was outfitted in a set of pristine, brilliant white Cabal armor made only more pristine by the gold highlights that ran along it. The armor had a large thruster on its back as well, but it seemed to be shaped more like a set of wings. Instead of having a helmet like most Centurions however, the Cabal only had a triangular mask covering his mouth.
"Welcome to a world without Light." The Cabal said, speaking before the Guardian had a chance to.
The Cabal must have had that as a signal, because just as he said that, the claw around the Traveler suddenly pulsed and sent a wave of orange energy through and around the protector of the Last City, creating a cage around. Mantis's optic began to flicker and his prisms drooped down as he started to lose strength, Yohan stumbled with him as the same happened to the Guardian.
"Guardian," The Ghost began, his voice sounding drained as started hovering closer to the ground. "Something's wrong…"
The Ghost then lost the light in its optic and fell to the ground, causing Yohan to drop to his knees and grab him with both hands.
"Mantis!" The Guardian exclaimed, clutching the Ghost as if his life depended on it, which in aspects; it did. As he did this, the massive Cabal stepped forward.
"I was expecting more from a creature that was famed for killing gods." The Cabal started, making Yohan peer at him with a look of pure hatred under his helmet. "I'm disappointed to say the least," He continued as he stopped in front of the Guardian. "But, this should be expected from a race of creatures who would rather sit around and dance then fight to retake what you claim is yours."
The Cabal then kicked the Guardian, sending Yohan flying to the edge of the deck. As he flew, the Guardian lost his grip on his Ghost and his rifle. The Guardian screamed out as his Ghost and weapon soared over the edge of the deck and were sent tumbling to the city below.
"You are weak," The Cabal started again, getting Yohan to look at him once more, the Guardian unable to even stand at the moment. "Undisciplined. You cower behind walls and celebrate victories only a handful of you could ever hope to achieve."
The Cabal stepped towards the Guardian again, the warrior of the Light unable to do anything as the massive alien stepped forward.
"You are not brave." He stated, stopping in front of the Guardian once more. "You have merely forgotten the fear of death."
The Cabal raised his foot and rested it on the Guardians head, Yohan's eyes going wide as realized what was about to happen. He screamed for his body to move, but he was only met with silence.
"Allow me to reacquaint you."
WIth that final line, the Cabal shoved the Guardian off of the deck, sending Yohan silently tumbling to the city below.