"They don't make Dark Age tech like this anymore. Lucky for you I kept all mine." –The Drifter

- Flavor text for the Pinnacle Gambit Auto Rifle, "Breakneck".

INFAMY FOR THE TAKIN'

The Hunter fireteam leader read the message he received over once, twice, and then a third. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the context of the words in front of him, it was that he was trying to piece together a solution to the problem it presented.

…

Within the sunrise shine of the morning, the Tower's courtyard was steadily coming to life with the hustle of Guardians and citizens alike. The Cryptarch representative Rahool stood about his tent, moving various materials around to prepare for the entourage of Lightbearers, with various engrams they would demand he decrypt.

The Crucible handler began to plan out matches for today, laying out Guardians by their skill level best he could. His Ghost was floating over the massive Titan's shoulder, and watched as Shaxx struggled to find Guardians who he felt would be equal in skill, so with a disgruntled sigh he started inputting names at random.

The Vanguard Commander rode the small elevator out from his office, which resided lower in the Tower's structure. He walked alongside the hall leading up across the Gunsmith's shop, the two greeting each other with a nod. The Gunsmith had multiple weapon parts strewn about his worktable, and began tinkering with a Pulse Rifle he had on a rack beside him.

Zavala continued his walk across the Courtyard, many of the civilians looking up to the Titan in awe. Before approaching his usual spot on the outreaching balcony, facing the Traveler, he spotted the lone Hunter, sitting at the edge of the railing, reading over a message his Ghost was projecting to him.

"Dimitri, you're here early. Something troubling you?" The Commander approached the Hunter, as said Guardian looked up away from the message he was reading.

"Not really, just… thinking about what I should do about this request…" humming over these thoughts, as he stared back down at his tablet. "Athena… is getting a gift for Mukuro. A fresh set of armor, and she's working with Ada-1 to make it. My job?" He sighed, and finally put the tablet away. "I need to keep Mukuro busy… but I have no clue what to do to distract her."

The Commander held his hand up to his chin, stroking it gently. "Why not take her through your weapon collection? Something tells me she appreciates firearms much like yourself." Zavala finished his thought by nodding, and lowering his hand. "Perhaps you will find a weapon that she wants for herself."

Dimitri turned his head to the side, and nodded in agreement. "That's… not a bad idea. Thanks, Zavala."

The Commander walked over to stand against the railing near the edge of the balcony, and set his gaze upon the Traveler. "Anything I can do to ease your troubles Hunter. Good luck on your mission."

As Zavala listened to the sound of Dimitri walking down to the Guardian apartment rooms, the Awoken Titan looked up towards the massive sphere hanging above the city he has dedicated his near-immortal life protecting.

"What secrets do you hold, Titan… maybe it will come to us soon."

Dimitri walked down the halls of the various apartment rooms, some walking down the halls to meet up at the courtyard, others just now getting out of their rooms. Upon reaching his destination, that being in front of his fireteam member's door, he reached out to knock on the door.

After hearing a shout from inside, it took a few moments before the door opened, and he was greeted by the sight of the Titan, dressed in grey shorts and a black crop top, seemingly doing stretches.

"O-oh, Dimitri, I didn't know you were coming to get me this early…" she flushed lightly, and let the Hunter in her apartment. Her room had various weapons in states of disassembly, while a few remained fully intact and ready.

"Give me a few to get my armor on…" she instinctively walked into the bathroom, only to step out a moment later, after her Ghost transmatted her gear to her body. With her helmet in hand, she reached to grab her Sweet Business chaingun and Punching Out sidearm, both weapons settling in their respective holsters within her armor. "So… what did you have in mind today? Any news from the Commander?"

Dimitri strolled over to the counter that had multiple weapon parts spread across the table, and picked up one of the miscellaneous parts, twirling it within his fingers. "Not… today. Athena is busy today, which leaves us to do some… busy work." He looked at the part he grabbed intensely, before setting it down in the exact location he found it in. "You seem to like the weapons you've been amassing, am I right?"

"Having the proper weaponry for the mission at task is imperative to success." The now armor-clad Titan spoke with a near authoritative tone, standing straight at attention to her fireteam leader.

"At ease… C'mon, we're in your room, don't gotta be like that." The Hunter waved his hand out to Mukuro, and gestured to her to follow him out of the apartment room. "Well, I figured since we don't have Athena to go on patrols or missions, instead you.. can come look through my weapon collection, see if there's one you like."

She gave her fireteam leader a shocked glance, before readjusting herself as they walked down the hallway, heading off to a section much lower in the Tower.

"I-I would… appreciate the opportunity to admire such an arsenal." She then quickened her pace, as the two Guardians made their way to the lower rooms, before stopping at an inconspicuous door, without any labels or marking.

"Well, here we are, guess I should have cleaned up more but…" Dimitri spoke, before opening the door that led to his room, both Guardians now standing in what one would call a room.

A better way to describe the room was a one-man armory, with weapons stacked up at every angle of the apartment.

"T-t-this is… wha…?" Mukuro was speechless, as her eyes darted to every corner of the room, the vast array of weaponry seemingly startling her vision. She reached for the first weapon closest to the door as it shut, it was a classic bullpup rifle, a wood stock and grip that finished the matte black metal frame. She readied the rifle, testing it's weight, before looking towards Dimitri with a questioning glance.

"That's an old one of mine, Bygones. Don't use it much anymore, but still fires true. Can't say it's around anymore sadly, so you can't get one yourself." The Hunter reached for the rifle, Mukuro looking a bit sad at this statement, and dejectedly handed the rifle over to their fireteam leader.

A moment later, a new weapon had found its way in the Titan's grasp, a bright red sniper rifle, a long, heavy frame with a small bi-pod in front of the foregrip. She looked through the scope of the rifle, and made to walk around with the rifle in hand.

Once more, Dimitri spoke up about his vast weapon arsenal. "Right, that one is the Frozen Orbit. Shaxx hands them out from time to time, I bet you can get your hands on one of your own pretty quick." Mukuro nodded, standing the rifle back to where she located it. Before moving onto the next pile of firearms, her eyes caught sight of a new weapon.

It was a slim, bullpup marksman rifle, tipped with a sizable suppressor. A brown plasteel frame encased the outside of the gun, topped with an adjustable scope. On the outside, it seemed like an ordinary rifle, designed for fast-paced, long-range operations.

And she needed one for herself.

"What of this weapon?" She bluntly asks her fireteam leader, turning around with the rifle in hand.

"That one… Servant Leader. I… I'm not sure if you really want to get one, maybe-"

"Where. Do I. Get One." She demanded, showing that she was not going to step down on the weapon she had chosen. With a heavy sigh, the Hunter turned and looked away, before addressing the Titan that was demanding an answer from him.

"You're… not going to like where we need to go."

If this is where Dimitri had acquired some of the weaponry he had amassed, Mukuro questioned the legitimacy of the occupants that dwelled within the walls of the Last City.

They had traveled to a location deep within the Tower, down in an Annex beneath the Courtyard. The further down they traveled, the worse for wear the citizens seemed to be, as well as the state of disrepair and unorganized clutter this part of the Tower seemed to be. As they approached one of the nearby alcoves, the smell of burnt oils and dust began to permeate the air around them. Dimitri led her down through one of the alcoves, which opened up to a singular room at the end.

What it appeared to be to her was that this location was a hideout of sorts, or something equivalent to a tinker's workshop. Multiple shelves containing various bit of machinery and gadgets lined the back walls of the room, and in the center of the room stood a large, cylindrical device that stood up towards the ceiling. The main cylinder of the device was a clear tube, filled to the brim with a peculiar energy, morphing between white and black particles. Encased around the tube were four triangular openings, seemingly connected to the inside of the tube.

As her eyes were stuck, entranced with the effect of the particles within the tubing in front of her, a rugged voice emanated from behind the device.

"Seems my bank 'ere caught your eye, Sister. What brings you down here to see ol' Drifter?"

The man that stepped out from behind the contraption addressed her with a friendly tone, but even with the few words the man spoke her instincts flared to life, her mind giving her multiple warnings as the figure stepped out into the light.

A black haired, middle-aged man with a hefty amount of facial hair was the first feature that became noticed to her. A brown headband wrapped around his forehead, followed by a wicked smirk. A dark green duster with red decals, with multiple ropes and belts connecting around his wrists and waists. In the belt on his waist, the handle of a revolver poked out from within the belt. His shoulders held up two large pauldrons, covered with fur and a few spiky protrusions were spaced out between them. Around his neck, hung by a bright red string, was a jade figure of two snakes, each reptile entwined with each other.

To say she was feeling her instincts warn her so intensely, even after just meeting them, was…

Troublesome.

It didn't take long for the man, Drifter, to catch his eyes on her fireteam leader beside her. Upon seeing Dimitri, the grin he wore broke out into a deep chuckle.

"Well, if it isn't the chosen one. Ain't you a sight for sore eyes, Hero."

Dimitri scoffed, and folded his arms. "Drifter. You… seem to be doing fine."

"Hah! Such a stickler, you should give me a bit more humor, Brotha." The Drifter walked past them, up a small set of stairs, where the two followed him. A table with an assortment of cards were scattered about, and a bag of jade coin sat at the far end of the table. The Drifter grabbed three folding chairs, and set up the table for three people. Dimitri gestured Mukuro to sit down next to him, where she felt uneased by her instincts flaring more and more.

The Drifter sat at the opposite end of the table, and started scooping up the cards that was littered about. "Glad you still remember how I do business. You down for a round o' cards?"

The Hunter raised their hand up in defiance, and shook his head. "Not today. You know why I would come back down in your rat hole, Drifter." His voice spoke out in bitterness, as if the presence of the Drifter seemed to irk his very being.

The man across from them let out a low whistle, before addressing him right back. "Daww, C'mon now! What happened to the Hero I used to know!" He chuckled, then pulled two jade coins out from inside his coat, before flicking them across the table at the two of them.

Both Mukuro and Dimitri caught the coins with one hand, and when she turned to look at her coin, the same symbol of twin snakes were engraved into it.

"Had a feeling you and your protégé would be down here soon, where's the prepy one head off too?" Under his breath, she caught him mumble, "...Usually never see you two apart."

"She's busy with something else today, and after some circumstances, Mukuro here wants something from you." Pushing her to speak, she brought her request to bear.

"Drifter. I… I would like a Servant Leader rifle. How much would you need from me to acquire one?"

One.

Two.

Then the Drifter snorted, slamming her hand on the table, and letting loose a hearty laugh.

"Ah hahhah… Sister, is that what all this setup is for? You coulda' just walked in and asked!" He held a jade coin out, and began to do small tricks with the coin between his hands, before holding it again. "My wares are available, but you don't pay me in Glimmer…"

He made to stand up, and the other two followed his motions. "...Your leader there knows what I want."

She looked up to Dimitri, and even through his helmet, she could see his grimace. "When's the next match you're hosting?"

The Drifter smirked, and went to pick up his bag of jade coins. "I'll start it up in the next hour. Meet up is at the Arcadian Valley on Nessus." He looked towards Mukuro, and winked.

"I'm sure you'll like Gambit."

As the duo walked their way out of his hideout, The Drifter began playing with one of his coins again. He watched the two leave, and when he was sure they were out of the area, he walked up to a messaging terminal in the back of the room, behind the bank.

He began sending messages out, inviting other Lightbearers out to participate in this next Gambit match. After getting appropriate responses, he switched accounts over, and began to type out a message to a certain individual.

After sending a message out, the Drifter nodded to himself, looking down at the coin in his hand.

"Heh, Moondust… maybe I'll get some more info for ya after this."

Two groups of four Guardians stood apart from one another, a hardlight box keeping them from leaving the 'stage' they found themselves standing on. The Guardians sent intense glances at both the ones in their own box, and most defiantly at those across from them.

One Hunter stood defiantly, his arms crossed, glaring at those in the box across from him. His glowing yellow eyes pierced through the other Guardians, and sent uneasy feelings to them.

Beside him, a Titan wearing nearly fresh, beginning armor was standing at attention. While they might have been curious as to what will happen next, she still waited patiently for what was to come.

The other Guardians were wearing wide assortments of gear, some with glowing effects, others with intense amounts of flair. The gauntlets of one Warlock glowed with bright, orange Solar energy, engulfing their arm from their elbow to their wrists in the flaming energy. Another Hunter had a helmet with a blue, ornate pattern that draped in similar shape to a cloth, but instead of fabric it glowed with light.

Before long, the sounds of someone walking up a set of stairs was audible, and when looking at the podium above them, the sight of the Drifter was visible to the two groups. He held a jade coin out for the crowd to see, and turned it over in his hand to show the twin snakes on both sides of the coin. The Drifter then flicked the coin into the air, the coin spinning rapidly.

"All right, all right, all right. Let's see what we've got."

The Rogue Lightbearer caught the coin in his right hand, before flipping the coin over by slapping his left wrist with the coin on it. He then slid his hand down, and pulled the coin down to hold it up with his right hand, revealing the coin again, but this time instead of the twin snakes, the symbol now changed.

Three vertical lines now covered the coin, with the outermost left and right line having three horizontal prongs sticking out to the edge of the coin.

"Scorn approaching!"

He waited a moment to get their attention, as both began to load their weapons with fresh ammunition.

"Welcome, to Gambit. I gotta say, something about this system makes crazies crazier, the Scorn, for example!"

He paused again, waiting for the Guardians to finish getting their weapons ready, before flashing his hands down as if he were to signal a ship to take off down a runway.

"Hold on to your Ghosts!"

"Alright Sister, here's how Gambit works. You kill the hostiles, grab the Motes of Dark energy they drop and get em' to my bank. Then, fill the bank enough to summon a hefty bad guy. Kill it, and the game's yours." The voice of the Drifter rang through her comms systems, seemingly to explain how this 'game' he's hosting works.

They landed in the back of some cavern, where large, obtuse stalagmites stuck out from beneath the ground. The sky of the planetoid of Nessus was that of a bright cyan, almost turquoise in hue. The vegetation that grew outside of the cavern was that of a vibrant red, a bright crimson that complemented the sky above.

She followed the Guardians outside the cave, being sure to stick close to Dimitri. After seeing his interactions with the Drifter, she was sure he has done this activity multiple times.

"Incoming at the Base!"

She noticed a beacon off in the far distance begin to pulsate a bright red light, and she watched as the others raced their way down to the structure ahead of them, or as Drifter put it, the 'Base'.

Before long, they made their way to the base, and she noticed it was swarmed with hostiles. Her instincts sharpened, and she began to hyper focus her mind to examine her enemies with intense detail.

Their appearance took on that of the Eliksni that she had seen before, but their bodies seemed distorted, warped even. Instead of the smooth skin of the Fallen, the skin was infected with boils and warts, a festering rot had grown its way across their bodies. Their helmets were that of a gladiatorial influence, resembling that of the symbol on the jade coin.

With their weapons raised, the two forces began their clash, gunfire and grenades flying all over the place. Mukuro's chaingun was fully spun, and the hail of bullets rained down upon the Scorn, causing their rotting and boil-covered bodies to be torn apart.

As the Scorn fell, she watched as a pyramid-shaped prisms drop to the floor, followed shortly by her teammates running past them, their Ghosts having transmatted them as to not have to pick them up manually.

"Ghost, can you do what the other-"

She heard a quick chirp, followed by the motes that were near her vanish. "Don't worry Guardian, I'll… gather these things for you…"

It seems her Ghost was not a fan of what she was participating in.

That made the two of them.

Drifter sat back, watching the two teams competing against one another, and using his kitbashed gadgets to lure the Scorn into the arena remotely.

Looking at one of the arenas in particular, the rogue Lightbearer watched as a particular Titan stormed through the Scorn as if they were nothing more than paper, with the combination of her weapons and Light being enough to obliterate the resurrected Eliksni completely. She was ruthless, dominating the battlefield as her teammates either ran to collect the Motes they dropped, or watching her back, and offering long-ranged fire in the case of Dimitri.

Looking at the Hunter in question, the Drifter thought back to a time long past, before that Guardian found a fireteam. When things were simpler, no massive Pyramid ships encroaching at your doorstep, not having to kitbash tech together just to try and understand whatever message these entities wished to give them.

He missed his lil' Reckoner, used to be a regular in his games. Now, he barely gets to see him.

Looking back at the terminal he had aboard his ship, he noticed he had an incoming message to his personal account. Knowing exactly who would be trying to get a hold of him at this moment, he glanced back over at the current match, and noticed that the Titan was depositing her Motes, right in time to open the Invasion portal.

The Drifter smirked, and readied the comms message, along with the activator of the portal.

As soon as she deposited her motes, he activated the comms, and when he pressed the button to activate the portal, the exotic energies that were present in both the Motes and his bank danced along the ring of the makeshift portal.

All he needed now was to announce it.

"Portal's up, go look em' in the eyes."

He watched as the Titan was encouraged by the other two Guardians to go through the portal, as her fireteam leader was busy engaging with a high-value target. After moments of convincing, she stepped through the portal, the energies engulfing her completely, and warping her to the other arena.

Let's see what she's made of.

"This is what the Taken feel, revel in it."

She had stepped through the portal, not fully aware of the consequences of doing such. Her teammates, besides her leader, had encouraged her to invade, saying that she should go and slow them down, and that they can handle the next wave.

The portal itself was raising red flags in her mind, as the pulsating energy within did not seem inviting. However, if Dimitri was confident that this was safe enough to participate, she can be just as strong as him.

This was a grave mistake.

As soon as she stepped through, her body was sent into a spasm frenzy. Her arms felt as if they were being shocked by electrical currents, and her mind was jumping between perceiving the world in a regular time frame, and slowing down to that of a stand-still. It was as if someone was fast-forwarding and rewinding her perception at the same time.

She fell to her knees, clutching her head in agony. Before long, she let out an agonizing scream, as she continued to stay collapsed on the ground of whatever part of the arena. She could hear her own Ghost trying to comfort her, and begging to get back up and that they'll be okay.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, whether it was a few seconds, a minute or ten, but before long, the feeling started to fade, as she opened her eyes to find herself back at where her team had originally begun this match, inside of the cavern. Before long, she saw the form of a caped Hunter rapidly approaching her, and after the dizziness had faded, she recognized the figure was that of Dimitri, quickly helping her to her feet.

"C'mon get up, you'll be ok." She heard some worry in his voice, as he stood her up straight, and after assuring him she wouldn't fall, began to lead them out from the cave. "What happened in there Mukuro? Drifter told me to come back here for you… he's never done that."

"I… I went through the portal… as soon as I did… my body seemingly collapsed. Something about this… 'Taken' energy, doesn't agree with my body…" she was disheartened, as in her eyes, she failed.

Her team counted on her to invade the other team, and slow them down enough so that they could get an upper hand. Instead, all she did was curl up in a ball and-

"Hey, take it easy, you did fine." Her leader spoke, as the two made it back to the bank, seeing what appeared to be a Hive Knight, but covered in the same substance that engulfed her in the portal. It roared at them, and from it's mouth unleashed a wave of molten energy. It took little time for the two Guardians to eviscerate the Taken Knight, and opening the bank for their teammates.

"You did fine Mukuro, even while you were in there, the other team took positions and hid, even sending an invader over themselves." Dimitri transmatted a pile of motes into his hand, and shoved them into the bank, which caused it to close down into the ground, and the pitch black Taken energy began to spawn in, sounding like it was vacuuming the very space around it onto itself.

"Primeval's here! Kill the Envoys, then burn that Primeval to the ground!"

From the rips in space, the center-most energy tear came forth a massive Taken Ogre, The gelatinous tissue that had once been its head now sported a singular, bright eye. Its back now had black spinal bones pointing out the backside. Finally, a clear white energy surrounded the Orge, and if her eyesight did not deceive her, she spotted two Taken Wizards in the far distance, seemingly tethered to the Primeval before them. A voracious roar emanating from the beast, and now it was the moment to finish this 'Gambit'.

"Mukuro, they're going to kill the Envoys first. Keep it's attention on us!" Dimitri shouted, before engaging against the large Ogre. From what she could tell, his weapons did next to nothing against the shielding the Ogre possessed, but it did keep its attention away from the other two members of the team. She joined the fray, using a large tree as cover against the beast, and the two Guardians took turns peeking out from behind cover to pester the large creature.

Before long, the shielding on the Ogre vanished, and it let out a bone-chilling roar.

"Envoys ate it, now take the house down!"

Now rejoined by their teammates, Mukuro got her Sweet Business to spin up completely, a hail of bullets befalling upon the beast. It's body was not as frail as the smaller compatriots, as it took the gunfire from four Guardians relatively well. It slammed the ground, causing one of the Guardians to go flying to a nearby boulder, when their Ghost had appeared before the crumpled body.

She was sure she heard his bones crunch beneath that armor.

As this occurred, the shielding returned, followed by the tears in space from the Base in the far backside of the arena.

"Dimitri, the Base! More Envoys!" Instead of waiting, she charged into the fray, and felt the Light burning from inside her. She felt the Maul come forth, the fiery sledgehammer appearing at full length. With a heavy overhead slam, a trail of flames blasted forth from the impact, and incinerated the first Envoy before it could react.

The second Envoy raised its arms in defiance, and began to fire energy projectiles at her. Before they could impact, her Light burned away whatever came close, as she began to rapidly spin the Maul against her foe, and did not relent until it was nothing more than ash.

Before she could rejoin the group in taking out the Primeval, her senses sharpened, as Driver announced one more objective to them.

"Invader's here! Find them before they find you!"

Even while her flames dissipated, she felt a smaller Hammer of Sol form to her, throwing the hammer behind her, right as a Guardian surrounded by the Taken energy peeked their way from behind the base. Even after taking a hammer to the face, they raised their weapon in defiance, ready to try and gun down the Titan.

She, however, had other ideas.

She charged full-speed at the Guardian, and with them not expecting to be suddenly assaulted, fumbled to correct their position in time. This was in vain, as the Titan sent her fist to strike against the opposing Guardian's helmet, and with the sheer momentum of the fist carrying through to their head, sent them flying towards the metal wall of a large turbine, causing their body to crumple to the floor, and their Ghost appearing before her.

"Invader down. Hey, you can't blame em' for tryin'"

After the quick incursion ended by one member of the other team, she picked up her hammer, and watched as the three Guardians lash out against the Primeval with their Light, leaving the beast severely wounded. She paused for a moment, calculating the distance between the two locations.

When she was satisfied, she tested the weight of her hammer, and with a hefty throw, sent her hammer flying as a sort of 'Hail Mary' to the Ogre. It sailed, sailed, sailed, then…

The impact the Solar hammer left on the Ogre caused it to spasm out, as its limbs collapsed upon itself, and all at once its entire body collapsed on a singularity, whisking away the massive beast into nothingness.

"And that's the match. Your team smashed that Primeval."

.

..

…

"Let's get you paid"

The three sat at the table once more, this time the Drifter offered two cases out to each of them, and when opened, contained a weapon for each of them. In one case, the Servant Leader sat, waiting for Mukuro to claim. In the other, a submachine gun sat, kitted out with a folding stock, extended barrel and a holo sight on top.

"See, that's what I call 'Gettin' Paid'. You ever need some more guns, just talk to Ol' Drifter. I'll make sure to give you what you need."

.

..

…

"Trust."

Author's Note - Hello all, and thank you for waiting on me for this chapter! Between work getting busier, my best friend's wedding, and some rewrites to this chapter, I apologize for the long wait. This extended time did give me a more relaxed timeframe to complete my chapters, so perhaps a two week cycle may be in order.

For now, I shall get on with the reviews!

From Lautaro - Indeed she did retain her first life's training, that's simply an aspect that I needed to include.

As for the foreshadowing, Witch Queen will provide answers, at least some. Which we're getting there soon.

Saint is a great character, and I will try to get a few more in the next chapter!

Shame that something went wrong when she invaded… hm, probably nothing…

To caroccio66 - That's an interesting question, but from what we've seen with similar Guardians, here's hoping for the best!

On that note, I'll see you all in the next chapter!

Next Chapter - Free Time Event with Ghost