Chapter VII: Preparing

Absolution Arc


00501 Hours, December 18, 2714

Dawn broke through the sky in the Shibuya district, revealing a snow-covered ruins of a district in Old Tokyo both mesmerizing and a pity that such a city fell from the Dark Age. Day started its siege on the night and fought for territory like Guardians fighting for zones in Control, slowly but surely winning the night's territory over. And unlike the Guardians' struggle with the Darkness to win back the Solar System, dawn was doing it efficiently and quickly. In this battle, dusk has fallen and retreated ready to fight again once its numbers were enough to smother the day.

Amongst the first to awaken from their rest, Cloud looked around at the camp he and the kazoku had set up in his shrine. The fireplace in the center of the shrine had lost its flames leaving behind cinders and ashes at the bottom of the firewood. Rays of the morning tore through some of the holes and cracks in the shrine's architecture as arrows of light, leaving their marks. There was even tiny piles of snow that formed around the bottom of the holes reminding him of how old this place was. A minor temptation to start boarding up the place nibbled in his head but he knew that there was a Crucible match going on right now.

I can deal with it once this is over with. Groggily, Cloud got up from his sleeping place and looked out towards the entrance towards the shrine. Aqua was still sleeping peacefully near the fireplace in spite of the wooden floor and Leon was still resting against the wall, occasionally muttering death threats in his sleep concerning the execution of his older sister.

However his only concern was the leader of the five-man team. Again, he glanced at the opened doors of the shrine. Sitting at the steps towards the shrine was Tohsaka, back against the wall and head tilted to the side. Cloud sighed and walked over to the Dark Knight on night watch duty. Her helmet was at her side directed towards the torii gate to which he saw a knife stuck to it.

Definitely asleep, that's for sure. Lightning appeared to be in a peaceful slumber against the wall, arm on her bent kneecap and her other hand holding her father's knife. Some of the snow from last night found their way on her hair and face making her look like a complete princess in the snow. Instead of staring in awe at the sleeping Dark Knight, Cloud's glance shifted to her knife-holding hand.

Instead of being black and red, her entire arm from the hand to the elbow was a different color. A faint aura of color ended at her elbow enveloping the region in a color he wouldn't expect at all. Silverish-white and gold. This wasn't the sun's doing. Of course, Cloud knew what the colors meant.

A Tenno.

Cloud crouched down and looked at her arm that had shifted colors from a Dark Knight's to a Tenno's. As he observed the bizarre phenomenon, the aura crawled further up her arm cleansing the oily black with white and eroding the red with gold. He dared to reach out to the arm and check if it was either a hallucinogenic effect or an actual thing.

Just when his armored fingers were inches away from the gauntlet, a hand reached for his wrist and held onto it. Hard.

Tohsaka slowly moved her head, eyes opening to the morning light and holding Cloud's wrist in an iron grip. "And just what do you think you're doing, Cloud?"

Cloud smiled faintly and moved his wrist out of her grip. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Raitoningu. Good morning, Lightning," out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the gauntlet revert back to black and red, the colors of the Tenno no more. "Yoku nemure mashitaka? Did you sleep well?"

"Standing watch outside a shrine for the last seven or so hours? No, no I didn't." Lightning swept the snow from her hair and fixed it as though she wasn't hell's angel. "Why are you up at this time?"

"Kochira ni ki te watashino tsuujou no ruuchin desu. Nanito omotta watashiha koko de subete meisou? It's my normal routine since I got here. What, you thought all I did here was meditate?"

"Good point."

Both Dark Knights sat side by side with each other on the entrance and watched the sunrise. Before their eyes, the once black sky started to turn into many shades of orange, gold and red and blue fading in like ink. As the phenomena went on before them, Lightning opened her package and popped another berry-sized chunk of bread, chewing it everso slowly like last night. 'Survival of the fittest must come from surviving with what you have and can get.', that was what one of her mentors back in the village told her. She lived off of rather small sustenance during her tests and missions, lasting longer than the rest in her subclass.

"Mada ta ni anata no isan no hanbun wo akusesu suru shiyo u to shite i masu ka? You're still trying to access the other half of your heritage?"

Tohsaka looked at her free hand, the colors of the Tenno returning to her hand instantly. "I suppose you could say that. Honestly, I don't care if I use the Light or Darkness to draw my abilities and powers from. A balance would work out for me; I can't just stick to one side of the spectrum for the rest of my life."

"Wakatte i masu. Vesupaa to Reon no nakade kika se watashitachi no chiisana 'kazoku' ano hi naze de ha nakatta ka? I know. Wasn't that why you let Vesper and Leon in our little 'family' that day?" Cloud continued to glance at the rising sun, occasionally looking at Lightning and the little secret that she and her brother shared. "Watashiha murazentai wo watashitachi to tamuro no nokemono wo sa seru tame no aidea de tokini sukoshifungai shimashita. I was a little outraged at the time at the idea of letting the outcasts of the entire village hang out with us."

"Judging based on character or history never gets people far. You know it, I know it, we all know that. I felt sorry for their situation and wanted to let them know that there are Dark Knights like us that aren't hostile towards ones born with Light and Darkness in their blood," mournfully she looked at her color-shifted hand and closed it into a fist, the energy of the Void emanating from within it. "Vesper and Leon weren't the only ones born with a parent full of Light and another of Darkness. Nero and I are too born with such parents. Besides, all of us were orphaned at such a young age; whether it be from the war or from being abandoned by our parents."

"Sono toori desu. Shoujikina tokoro ha, watashino ryoushinwo shira nakatta. Namato shi no gainen wo rikai suru mokoto ga dekiru maeni shin da. Watashiha anata to karera ga shin da maeni anata no ryoushinwo shitte iru anata no kyoudaino shitto. You're right. Honestly, I never knew my parents. Died before I could even comprehend the concept of life and death. I'm envious of you and your brother knowing your parents before they died."

"I only knew my mother, not my father. I know that my father was Trionus because of Nero," Tohsaka started fiddling around with her father's knife. "The Cyphers said that his familiar was the dragon during the Tenno-Dark Knight War. Truthfully, getting the dragon as your familiar was one in a million. You gotta be either really worthy or really lucky, because heritage never plays a role to our familiars. Yet, Nero's familiar was the dragon even though he never used the Darkness in his initiation."

"…doragon no namano chikarato sa re te i masu. Tennou to Kurai Kishi no tsuyosa no chouten. Namano chikaraha ryuuwo eru koto wo hoshou shite i nai ga, shinno Ankoku Kishi no pasu wo tadotte i ta. The dragon…a being of raw power and strength. The pinnacle of the strength of the Tenno and Dark Knights. But raw power didn't guarantee you getting the dragon; it was following the path of a true Dark Knight," Cloud recalled about the familiar type and had his own familiar, Fenrir, to manifest and be by his side. "Cyphers ha tsukai ma ga iru to ryouhoutousha no tsuyomito jakuten wo hanei suru iru to nobe ta. Inishieeshon de watashitachi ha rei to, Cyphers no ryouhouni jibun jishin wo shoumeishimatashi ta. Shikashi, rei ikutsu ka ha warewareno pafoomansu ni motodhui te sorera wo eran de watashitachi no kawari ni watashitachi wo pikkuappu shimasu. Anata to watashiwo e ta ookami, Reon no data Griever, Akua kanojo jishin toshite reivun, Vesupaa motte i ta koyoote to mochiron o niisan ha doragon. The Cyphers said that familiars reflect who we are and both our strengths and weaknesses. In the initiations, we proved ourselves to both the spirits and the Cyphers. But some of the spirits pick us instead of us picking them based on our performance. You and I got the wolf, Leon's was the Griever, Aqua had the raven as her own, Vesper got the coyote, and of course your brother has the dragon."

"Now you're starting to sound like my father."

"Hareha watashitachi no subete ni eikyou wo uke ta shinno Ankoku Kishi ga watashitachi kara keien, sa re te ichi tsu no Cyphers no shinnenni okikae de aru koto no kareno houhou, ichi tsu ha kesshite wasure nai baai demo hito ha sore wo subete hajime ta. Dakarakoso kono basho ha watashino seiiki. Shinno Ankoku Kishi de aru koto no anata no chichino oshie wo tsuikyuusuru koto ga deki masu. He influenced us all. Even if his method of being a true Dark Knight is shunned from us and replaced with the Cyphers' beliefs of being one, one never forgets who started it all. That's why this place is my sanctuary; so that I can pursue your father's teachings of being a true Dark Knight."

"Attention all Guardians in the Battle Royale," Lord Shaxx's voice broke through their trains of thought, appearing at the corner of their HUDs and through a hologram above the dropship. "Welcome to day two of the Battle Royale. From now to oh eight hundred hours, all Guardians are allowed to use supply and weapon drops to change equipment and gear from both your inventory and vault. Drop canisters will be dropped based on your inputted coordinates and contain either supplies or weapons depending on the drop canister you selected. Once you are done changing your weapons and armor, the canister will automatically return to the dropship; you have one chance to use them and cannot recall them until the designated times tonight and tomorrow morning. Medical supplies will be dropped in designated locations around the combat zone. Nineteen of you remain in this match, so remember that only one team can remain standing. Good luck to you all."


Excalibur stood at the rooftop he and Reaper had set up camp as Shaxx made his announcements. As the Crucible handler announced the authorization of drop canisters, the roster with all thirty combatants appeared by his side. The first five that have been eliminated from the match were all taken out by Adam—no doubt in blind anger—had their names erased from the roster while they were in the dropship waiting for the match to end. Fireteam Blood Gulch followed after the first five eliminated and flashed 'Eliminated by: Combatant 30' on both his HUD and holographic projection before the Fireteam's names were swept off.

Good. At least I got their attention now. The Hunter drew out a Golden Gun and aimed out into the horizon. After a while, he spun the weapon and holstered it the weapon fading into Solar embers and into nothing, revealing The Last Word under the Golden Gun. It won't be long until either one starts hunting us down. Thought the multi-kill would draw their attention enough to get them to notice, guess I acted as a threat to them. Might as well get my best gear and guns before it's off with my head.

Excalibur opened a device from his pack and tapped into the dropship's channels, marking the coordinates he wants his weapons drop to land. As much as he was a Guardian he had no obligation to summon his Ghost and tell him/her to mark the coordinates. Glancing over his shoulder and seeing the Bladedancer still asleep with the double layer cloak shielding her from the snowfall last night, he only grinned faintly. Next to her was her Tamar-D, barrel pointed towards the sky and stock just feet away from the ledge.

"Reaper, time to wake up," coaxed Excalibur, nudging her shoulder gently. "We've caused a bit of an attention grab on the other teams and I doubt this place will hide us for much longer."

Slowly but surely, Reaper came to and yawned stretching her arms towards the sky. By the way she yawned, the Gunslinger figured she had a good night's rest. Even if it was for four hours. Just as she lowered her arms, she accidentally knocked her hand into the sleeping creature next to her sniper rifle. It hit the infant dragon on the head and Nyx stirred awake, crying and squealing like a baby would before spewing a tiny ball of flame into the palm of her hand.

"Ow! What was that for, Nyx?!" Reaper jumped away from the tiny dragon and held her hand stinging from the flames, the cloaks still enveloping her like a robe. The infant dragon snarled at the Huntress with all the hostility it had for its age, tail raised and fire starting to form in its mouth. Reaper reached out towards her sniper rifle to get it away from the dragon, but it bit one of her gloved fingers in defense. "I only want to get my rifle!"

Nyx raised its head towards the heavens and trotted over to the rifle, knocking it over with its tail to the degree that it was lying on the roof and landing on the side of the magazine well. With its developing claws, Nyx scratched the side of the well as it kneaded its paws on the area. It yawned before curling up and falling back asleep on the rifle.

"Should've been more careful, then. Intimidating a dragon, be it accidental or on purpose, isn't a good idea at all," Excalibur clicked his tongue and catching the attention of the Huntress.

"How was I supposed to know that Nyx would be right there?!"

"You have to remember that Nyx grew fond of us when we found it at the Tower. Well, you found it hanging around on the balcony. Saw us as its parents maybe."

Reaper glanced back at her Tamar-D where the infant dragon was sleeping peacefully on it and rolling around adorably. She didn't stay mad at it for long and massaged the palm of her hand and her bitten finger. "I swear we're gonna have to get Nyx to Hiccup and Toothless so we can find out its gender and maybe even how to care for one. That and its acting pompous when it feels like it."

"Once this is over with. I doubt it wants to separate with us. Became too attached to us," cautiously, Excalibur reached out towards the black and gray dragon and stroked its head. Nyx stirred and nuzzled against his hand as it slept, purring. "You want to get your weapons from the weapon drop?"

"I know I'm going to need it," responded Reaper, handing back Excalibur's Neuroghast Cloak who clasped it back on and put on his hood, a Celestial Nighthawk materializing and hiding his face behind the visor.

"That's why I asked," the next thing the duo knew, two drop canisters landed on the roof like missiles raining down even though their landings were quiet. Good enough since Nyx was still asleep. The canisters opened at once, revealing the arsenal the two-man team had selected for the Battle Royale including a terminal to access their vaults' inventory.

Reaper's was full with a wide selection of Tamar-Ds—each one with different upgrades designed for high range and scopes to further compliment the high range—and magazines filled with skip, high caliber, and explosive rounds. Her Night Predator was in her inventory and had its fair share of malfunctions, prompting her to take a maintenance kit from the canister and allow Rex to store it in her inventory.

Excalibur's, on the other hand, was completely loaded to the brim with weapons never seen before by Guardians. Some of them looked like sidearms with their magazines styled like auto rifles, revolvers and handcannon-like guns, and weapons that appear to deal damage with energy rather than bullets. The Gunslinger pulled out his handheld rocket launcher that he used to eliminate Blood Gulch and toggled the safety, the weapon ejecting the loaded magazine and sealing the chamber. I won't be needing this. They might know the deal and take advantage of the charging time. Even if I fire the rockets one at a time, it won't be enough to take one down before they can eliminate me. He placed the weapon which he dubbed 'Angstrum' on a rack designed to hold it and reached for a pair of sidearms. After inspecting the pair of sidearms, Excalibur removed the magazines and checked them before loading them back in. Just as the magazines were reloaded the weapon automatically chambered the first round in unison for him.

His eyes then set itself on the middle of the canister and reached for the weapon. A weapon both elegant and extremely deadly by its looks alone rested on the rack, and its firepower alone screamed that it and its user should be feared for once its pointed at a victim. For what Excalibur had pulled out from its rack was a double-barrel shotgun, its name inscribed on the wooden-metallic hybrid stock dubbing it 'Tigris'. Breaking open the top of the shotgun, Excalibur saw that it was all loaded like his twin pistols and sealed it shut, a satisfying clicking emerging when the weapon was closed. Equipping Tigris in his primary slot, leaving his Last Word in his inventory, and his dual pistols in his special slot, he only had to deal with a heavy weapon.

Excalibur glanced over at a rectangular compartment hidden behind the energy weapons. He reached out for it but stopped himself, hand alternating between clenching into a fist and a reaching gesture. ...No. I don't need them. Not now. When the time comes for me to use them, then I will. He pulled back his hand and let the canister seal itself shut, punching in the command to send it back to the dropship. It fled without warning once the 'return' command was punched in, fleeing as fast as it arrived. Reaper's canister followed suit soon after Excalibur's, leaving the Hunter-Huntress duo with their new arsenal.

"So, who do we go after first?" asked Reaper, chambering a round into her other Tamar-D and hugging it close to her body.

The Gunslinger knelt on the ledge and looked downward, scanning the area below and listening for any sound cues since any Guardian can be hidden below the snow-covered vegetation. Under his helmet's visor, Excalibur focused and drowned out any noise around him from his mind. He finetuned his audio receptors to pick up any distant sounds and listened.

Cawing from local birds was the first thing he heard and he witnessed an entire flock of them leaving in a hurry. Their cawing didn't indicated a form of moving south. It was of an urgent panic to flee. A pained scream rang out at the same time, as well as the sound of a sniper rifle firing a round and a body dropping dead on the ground.

"Yes! Got one! Told you I can get a kill in the Crucible!"

"Keep it down, you peabrained idiot! You want us to get ourselves eliminated?!"

"Oh, look at me! I'm a Warlock and I'm soo smarter than a Titan or Hunter!"

Excalibur picked up a conversation between two Guardians following the sniper shot. Two guys, one's a Warlock. Partner could possibly be a Hunter given that a sniper was used. Intrigued, he continued to listen in.

"At least I didn't have my balls hit by a pole during a Grudge Match!"

"Says the one who got nearly decommissioned by a sample of a membrane from the new threat to the system!" countered the Hunter, followed by the sound of a handcannon loading and hammer cocked.

"Don't make me shoot you twice in the same place you got hit by a pole!"

"Okay, okay!" the Hunter conceded.

"And keep your voice down! Unless you want Adam to find us!"

Excalibur restored his audio receptors to its default state after having enough on the conversation, standing up from his crouch. You can't be serious. These two?! Well, I guess it made my job a little easier. He readied Tigris and rested the barrels on his shoulder, facing his female partner. "I think I have an idea of whom."

"Is it Silver and Rez?" asked Reaper, and her partner confirmed it. "What's the plan?"

"We get in as close as we can, try to challenge Rez to a one-on-one sniping match so I can deal with Silver."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"I know how good you are at sniping with both your rifle and bow, so show that you're better than him."

"Let's do it."


'They're making their move sooner than I expected, my child. We're running out of time.'

A spectral figure stood before the cocoon marked with the sigil of the Fourth Class, its approach of great urgency. The Light from within the cocoon still glowed hypnotically like a heartbeat, untouched from its formation.

From within the cocoon, the form raised its head to the shadow outside its cocoon. "But, my abilities and form aren't ready yet!" protested the form, their voice having matured from a young child's to one of a teenager's.

'I know. But your form has already matured enough. It'll be enough for joining the fight,' the spectral figure reassured the form in the cocoon with a maternal tone, hand brushing against the surface. 'You're faster than me or him. Use your speed to your advantage, because I know that is your greatest asset when you trained.'

"...You're right. I am faster than you and everyone that trained me. I can overwhelm my enemies with my speed."

The spectral figure, despite in a dark abyss, shone just like the cocoon before it. It was revealed to be a female in the light it shone. In her hand was a scout rifle in a pouch holster, the frame looking extremely similar to Jade Rabbit.

'I'm going to free you from your cocoon now. And after you're ready to cross, I want you to start back home. Test yourself. I don't want you to jump straight into helping them and getting yourself killed.'

After brushing her hand against the surface started whispering an incantation to the cocoon, the chant almost like a song. Cracks started to form all over the cocoon after she placed her hand on the cocoon, Light emerging from the cracks in a rapid stream and leaving the sigil untouched.

'Are you ready to help them, my child?'

Within the cocoon, the body broke free from the fetal position and put a hand over their mother's on the other side of the cocoon. They saw their reflection from the Light surging through the cracks and knew that they had gotten older during their time in the cocoon.

"Yes. I'm ready to help them, mother. I won't let the Taken lay their hands on them."


AN- I swear this one just ate up too much of my time in the drawing board. It was hard to piece together certain scenarios and make them work in junction with the previous chapter, but I think I made it work in this chapter. Looks like Nero Bianco is up next to be eliminated from the Battle Royale on Reaper and Excalibur's list, and we may have a darker power setting in motion and forcing another power to step up and stop them.

The Crimson Commando (II-VI): Yep, looks like its gonna be one of those days for the rest of Blood Gulch to hear Sarge try to convince them that they've been 'teleported' to the future. As for the meditative conversation between Lightning and Trionus, I found it appropriate considering that the kazoku is taking shelter in a shrine (May have also paid homage to Star Wars twice already: both with how Lightning used telekinesis to retrive her weapons package in II-V and Trionus having a ghostly form like Obi-Wan in II-VI). Also, the Darkness was difficult to use seeing as it was both manipulative and tempting to those that want to use it like the Guardians use their Light. That's why the Dark Knights see it as an ally; if they can't use it like the Guardians use the Light then it would be better to make a compromise to be able to use the power the Darkness offers.

Guest (I-V): Well then, if Reaper can use a smoke grenade even though she's a Bladedancer, then how come Spectre can use the plate on his Pandion Type 0 as a shield even though its not a mechanic in the game. 'Splain dat. Nah, just kidding. Reaper used a smoke grenade that used the same mechanics as the smoke pellets used by Batman, so the smoke grenade is a tactical gear of sorts just like how Spectre can create decoys of himself and use a kinetic pull grenade.

Zach rolstad (Guest, II-VI): Well, Sarge, Simmons, Caboose, Grif, Doc, and Washington didn't make an appearance from me directly. If you haven't read the summary (assuming you didn't), then The Crimson Commando and I have partnered with each other so that our stories can run at the same time. And with that allowed us to use characters (even guest characters from other franchises like Red vs Blue) from the other's story, so I practically brought Blood Gulch into mine thanks to him. And yes, it is Red vs Blue. (Side note, not sure if you're the same Zach that nailed the Final Fantasy reference...)

Supermario745 (Guest, I-V): Thanks! Support like that keeps me going (even if chapter writing takes too long than my average upload) and you just got me fired up! Also, I'm not sure whether you're referring to the character's faces or their weapons and armor that you would like reference to, so for the characters' armor and weapons I put them in the AN in chapters I-I, I-VI, and I-XI. I don't have a necessary reference for their faces (seeing as I sort of fiddled around with the character creator in the game) posted here yet, but I'll see what I can do to post it.

As always, stay strong and keep yourselves safe from the Darkness, Guardians!