Ruby busted through the door to the combat arena, unintentionally interrupting a spar between Daisy and Lord Shaxx, as she charged Daisy down. She yelped, cursing a bit before getting knocked unconscious by the impact.
"Huh never thought I'd see that." Lord Shaxx stated.
"Oops." Ruby started realizing what she did.
She then got up and tries to get Daisy to wake up. Lord Shaxx then walks up to her.
" , shouldn't you be at the weapons expo?" Shaxx asked.
"That's… kind of why I need Daisy." Ruby replied while nervously chuckling.
Lord Shaxx nodded, and fired a bullet right next to Daisy's ear, instantly getting her into a combat position, her eyes wildly scanning the area around her as she held her pistol and dagger. This caused Ruby to instinctively back up, and Lord Shaxx to let out a hearty laugh.
"It appears as if Ms. Rose has need of you." Lord Shaxx stated as he started walking away. "And if I know her mother, it's probably for something crazy."
Daisy sighs and gets up putting her dagger and pistol away. She then looks at Ruby.
"Something you need Ruby?" Daisy asked in curiosity.
"Well kind of. You see, there's this sword you guys are showing off, and I kinda wanna have it…" The red-caped girl replied, twirling her fingers a bit.
"And what makes you think that I'd simply give you one of my Grandfathers wares?" Daisy replied.
"I've got the glimmer. As well as a few other materials that my mom left me in my locker before she left to Earth."
Daisy looked at her for a moment, as if realizing something. She then shakes her head. "Just a scary coincidence… how much is the Vendor selling it for?"
"50000 glimmer, a hundred Legendary tokens, and one exotic Shard."
"How much of that DO you have?"
"100,000,000 glimmer, 500 Legendary Tokens, and about 5 Exotic shards." Ruby replied sheepishly.
Daisy pauses for a long moment, her mind racing to understand exactly how Summer managed to get that much… and then facepalmed once the obvious became even more obvious, sighing.
"I'll see what I can do. Maybe throw something else in with it."
Daisy started looking at her scroll to see who the Vendor for her family's wares were, unable to find them. She makes a mental note to talk to the two, before then following Ruby to the weapons expo that was surprisingly still going. Ruby gave Daisy the glimmer and materials. However when Daisy went up to the Vendor she couldn't believe her eyes. The Warlock manning the stand was someone she knew as from when she was very little.
"Uncle Edmund?" Daisy asked
The Warlock rose an eyebrow in surprise.
"Daisy?" The Warlock replied.
They both took off their helmets and where surprised to see each other. The man had black hair, brown eyes, (and to Ruby), cute freckles that came from his nose to both sides of his cheeks. He looked about in his very late teens early twenties
"My gush lassy, It's been too long, last I saw ya you were a wee fellow!" The Vendor now named Edmund stated.
"You can drop the fake Scottish accent uncle Edmund." Daisy smiled in reply crossing her arms
"Oh come on, must you ruin the fun?" Edmund now spoke with a British accent.
"Oh please you've only been doing that with children to get them to laugh as a joke." Daisy said.
"Well I was pretty good at it." Edmund said as he then looked at Ruby. "So you returned and I see where this is going."
Ruby smiled with glee as she handed the required materials to Daisy who then exchanged them for the sword. Daisy then held the sword with the blade pointing down. Handing Ruby the handle. Stars in her eyes she grabbed it and held it up with such strength, that Edmund couldn't help but look on with concern, before turning his gaze to Daisy.
"She's uhhh… different." Daisy replied with a nervous replied rubbing the back of her head.
"Ohh how am I going to test you out!" Ruby stated with glee.
"I see that." Edmund said.
"Well, you just make sure nothing explodes while using that, Ruby." Daisy idly warned Ruby in an almost joking manner, before looking to the Remnant Vanguard Headquarters. "I have an appointment to make."
00000
Barloc and Cayde looked out at the crowd before them, unsure as how to deal with the situation. The two had themselves hidden behind a tinted, plexiglass window, designed to ensure any would be assassins or spies couldn't see, much less attack. They looked to each other, as if expecting the other to deal with it.
"Well Omnipotent One?"
"What?"
"Isn't this the part where you show the crowd the truth, and they just happily accept the speech and move on?"
Barloc gave Cayde an irritated look, putting a hand on his hip. "Don't give me that Traveler-spouting nonsense! Since when has this ever been a problem for us dark age guardians?!"
"Well I don't know either, and nobody in the city complained about having a lack of ghosts!" Cayde shot back. "And you know how I am with this speech stuff, that's Zavala's thing! And he's not here right now!"
"Well you're the Hunter Vanguard!" Barloc fired back. "And I may have gotten some notoriety, but you're still considered the lead here! I can't just go out there and try to get them to understand, I lack the leverage!"
"Well somebody has to do something!"
"Wise words from the man that does nothing but shoot guns!"
"Yeah, well-" Cayde fumbles with the words for a moment "I don't see you fighting the baddies!"
"Why you-"
Barloc and Cayde stop arguing upon realizing the protesting crowd had become silent, someone speaking over them. The two looked to see Daisy, giving the crowd a speech, the crowd listening with their full attention. Slowly, but surely, Barloc and Cayde saw the crowd look downtrodden by the news, but otherwise accepting of it, and slowly began to break apart.
"Well color me impressed; that's-"
0000
Daisy looks on to the crowd. She was hoping to not have to get through a long line but after hearing what the people were demanding. She felt that she had to do something. Standing at the top of the steps. A Titan was kind enough to hand her a bull horn sense her helmet speakers won't be loud enough nor would shouting make anything better.
"Please quiet down and listen." She said into the microphone of the bullhorn.
The crowd of Faunus and humans finally quieted down from there sobbing and shouting. All eyes on her. In all honesty she hated talking to crowds. Or anything that had to do with a large group of people she didn't know. But she pressed on.
"I know you all have lost loved ones. Especially with what happened during the Vex invasion. But let me tell you. Ghosts don't just revive people out of pity. They choose who they choose." Daisy spoke.
Though that didn't sit well with some of the people.
"What gives you the right to say so!?" Said a random human.
"Because that's their nature. They choose whom they deem worthy. You can't force a Ghost who has free will to bring back a loved one. Not only that but said loved one won't even have memories of their past lives." Daisy replied
This proved to make the people even downtrodden. But understood what she was saying.
0000
"Mara Sov?" Barloc let out, for once unintentionally interrupting Cayde. "Since when did she decide to change her skin color? Why are the Awoken meddling in Tower territory?"
Cayde's eyes widened in response to it, and puts a hand on Barloc's shoulder, having him lean in.
"Hey, do me a favor real quick?" Cayde said, an unusual amount of seriousness to his tone. "Try to remember her name, of which is Daisy? That'd piss off the actual Mara Sov, since, y'know, it's probably just a fan of hers, or a distant relative."
Barloc scrutinized Daisy. "But she has the Awoken eyes, and physical looks… though then again, body modifications wouldn't be out of the question with guardian technology, since those are very much possible." With grump of annoyance, Barloc looked to Cayde. "Fine. I'll try to for the remainder of her visit."
And with that, the two decided to go downstairs to meet her.
The Vanguard lobby wasn't much, since the building only consisted of a hangar that barely fit Cayde and all his junk, a waiting room above, and of course the office. It still stood out amongst the rest of the place however, a few couches put up against the wall with a decent amount of lighting to the place, lamps at the corners of the room with a fan swinging above. A young, male receptionist warlock stood behind a desk, having looked away from his schedules to watch his bosses, as the two titans came in, grumbling as they walked by them, their armors having an assortment of stains, and in a few areas, cracks on the armor even.
"Yowch." Cayde couldn't help but let out, looking over his shoulder as they watched them leave.
"Eyes up." Barloc stated sharply, the message coming clearly to Cayde as they focused their attention on the door, waiting for Daisy to come through.
True enough, Daisy did enter, but not without a look of annoyance herself. She stared at the two, as if waiting for a response.
"We thank you for the assistance in the matter, but by all means that was Vanguard business." Barloc stated, continuing before Daisy could respond with a snarky remark. "This officially said, that was an issue which has never been on the record of problems before. So we're willing to overlook it, compensate for the inconvenience even should you wish Ms Daisy."
Daisy then raised an eyebrow. "Vanguard business…?" She then looked to Cayde.
Cayde then dramatically presented Barloc. "Yep! He's my secretary, my eBay Ikora, and devourer of work-!"
"I believe I am leading the conversation, Cayde." Barloc almost hissed at exo for presenting him in such a manner. He then clears his throat, giving Daisy a professional smile. "Allow me to make a proper introduction:I am Barloc." He then gives a curtsy bow.
The three shared an uncomfortable silence between them, the receptionist looking on curiously before Barloc motions for him to get back to work.
"That's it?" She asked, having expected a more… lengthy greeting.
"He's the no-funlock." Cayde responded, causing Barloc to grit his teeth in response. "Probably spammed nova bombs back in his day, anyways what brings you here?"
She was then supposed to introduce herself… Barloc thought to himself.
"Uh huh…" She looked at Barloc for a moment, before disregarding him for Cayde. "I was just wondering why my family's Vendor Uncle Edmund isn't officially part of the weapons expo."
"The Speaker hadn't yet passed along his request along to have his weapons be put on display, making me unable to reach for his forms." Barloc stated as a matter of fact, drawing the attention back to him as he straightened up. "Rest assured, I've been keeping an eye out for them in Cayde's absence, or rather absences. The only reason they're able to attend even then, is that the wares fill all the legal requirements needed, so we've turned a blind eye to it. I've also looked into the company history, and while I don't follow it, I do understand why there are complications here, due to the political system put alongside conflicting ideologies."
"In other words, Speaker is speaking again, so we're going out of our way." Cayde gave her the shortened version of Barloc's words.
"That's an uninformative, finger pointing statement, but yes, yes it is." Barloc said in agreement, before looking to Cayde. "Cayde, might I suggest that you be more in depth next time?"
"Oh no, she knows what I mean. We're buds after all." He waved off Barloc's reply.
"I see… and you've yet to rectify this anomaly in our contacts?" Barloc stated with a friendly, yet had a 'I'm about to strangle you' edge to his tone.
"Hey, just a simple mistake, no worries." Daisy said to him, breaking up the tension between the two as she exchanged numbers with Barloc. "I know my family has… history with this kind of crap from the Speaker."
"As have many, I'm quite aware of." Barloc nodded with affirmation. "Rest assured, were Cayde or I him, we would've gotten straight to it as soon as the issue was brought up. Unfortunately, we're not."
"Regardless, it was nice exchanging pleasantries Miss Daisy. If you have no other issues to be brought up to us, then you may leave now." Barloc said with a shooing motion.
"Aww, can't I just talk with her?" Cayde asked Barloc, while Daisy just casted Barloc a look of slight annoyance before leaving.
"Tell it to the paperwork Cayde." Barloc said in response, dragging along the exo as he did so. "We'll see if it'll give us a yes or no to that."
"Ooooooohhh f### me!" Cayde groaned in response, Barloc's censor module activating at Cayde's attempt to curse, static coming in the word's place.
"The government officials aren't going to do that, Cayde."
00000
The students had waited on with baited breath for Shaxx's class to start. A few were noticeably absent, no doubt immensely discouraged by the sudden spike in difficulty, for both school and the challenges after them. Others had remained, whether it was just trying to ensure their own survival for the future, trying to best the titan of titans, or to truly stay on path to their goals of being a hunter or huntress, was beyond anyone in the room. One thing was for certain, however.
The students were prepared for another day in hell.
Though some more than less, as Neptune stood stock still in his seat, his eyes wide with fear for what was to come. He knew that Shaxx was to round on him soon. And his teammates noticed this.
"Hey, you cool man?" Scarlet asked, his head turned to face him. "I get he's imposing and all, but you know why we're here."
"Yeah!" Sun said, doing some air jabs as a gesture. "We didn't get the chance to fight him last class since we had to do a mission down in Vacuo at the time, but he's never dealt with the likes of us!"
"Guys…" He sighed. He knew his teammates were just trying to hype him up for the battle ahead of them. "Just, look around us. Not even they're wanting to join up on this. And didn't you hear about Yang and Nora?"
"Its intimidating." Sage replied, ignoring the glaring from the two. "And there's no doubt about the rumors that even guardians fear him. But our abilities are versatile in use, not to mention we get a slight advantage from having heard about how he fights." He pointed out
"An excellent point there Sage Ayana."
The team, as well as everyone in the room jumped upon hearing Shaxx's voice. Shaxx had himself standing center of the combat arena. Almost immediately, the students began to murmur amongst themselves, no doubt asking how Shaxx even got there in the first place.
"However, do not let the notion cause recklessness. If you have time to understand the enemy's abilities, so does he." Shaxx finished addressing Sage, before turning his focus back to the crowd. "Regardless, I have been talking more with Ms. Goodwich in regards to some videos you've all been wanting to watch, mainly that of my Crucible. While I cannot say they're what I'd prefer to show you, I have instructed some of my best apprentices to show you how fireteams fight together."
The screen above the combat arena then lit up, showing paused video footage of Twilight Gap from two different angles that split the screen.
"On the left you have Fireteam Redeem and Fireteam Legend. Two of the most prevalent strike teams we have at the Tower, and whom have decided to assist in showing you how guardians fight. Zavala is the one you can thank for getting turning their guns away from there for the time being."
The video unpaused for a moment, and the guardians on the left showed their appreciation for the students having come today, waving or saluting at them, one of them doing some dancing.
"On the right you have Fireteam Baker and Fireteam Math."
Ruby, along with a few other students, couldn't help but giggle at the names.
"These were my apprentices, and are now some of the top players in the Crucible beside Fireteam Nero."
Shaxx chuckled at their sudden silence, accompanied with widened eyes. As he unpaused the video, they were all doing wildly different things, ranging from sprinkling salt, to jumping up in the air and kicking to the sides. One of them even did a twirling handstand, almost as if they knew they would laugh about their names.
"These four fireteams will show you how the average Control match goes under team banners Alpha and Bravo… although without many of the techniques I prefer to use in situations like these." Shaxx stated with a noticeable amount of remorse at the end. "Take note of how they fight nonetheless in our most sacred battlegrounds, Twilight Gap."
As soon as the video continued, the guardians were already off, the left side of the screen showing the Alpha team side, with the right showing Bravo. Bravo team went and captured the zone closest to them, with Alpha skipping ahead to capture the middle zone immediately as Bravo team only sent a couple guardians to the middle zone, having the rest capture the zone closest to them as quick as possible. The video footage showed that despite being closest to Alpha's starting point, nobody happened to be on the alpha zone.
One of the guardians on the assault noticed this, and broke off to sneak over to the zone while no one was looking. He got onto the zone, and skillfully held off a couple guardians with a No Land Beyond sniper rifle, dispatching them instantly with two well-placed headshots and capping the zone. The rest of the Alpha team attempted to gun him down, but his skill with a couple snipers was unparalleled, even sniping a hunter that was up close, cloaked, and about to shotgun him.
And then an Alpha team guardian spawned next to him, who then got shotgunned before they could even move.
Shaxx's smile threatened to split his face, the guardian reloading his No Land Beyond as he received a 7th column within the first few moments of the match, the students around him in complete awe of the skill displayed before them. He watched as the rest of the match went on, supers and heavy being thrown around occasionally, Alpha team struggling to bring itself back from the dirt, only to end up with only 2/3rds the score Bravo team gotten. An almost saddening defeat, if it weren't for the fact he didn't call it off in hopes they could come back from it.
Shaxx turned to look at his students, who were still slack-jawed at the sheer battle before them. Even if it wasn't as brutal as most matches they heard would be, the fast-paced action before them left them reeling, even for somebody like Ren, who had his mouth slightly ajar. "Now, what were the three key factors that decided that battle?"
All of the students raised their hands.
"Apart from the obvious that we all know."
And just like that, almost all of the hands fell, the ones left up being Weiss, Blake, and Ruby. Shaxx pointed to Blake first.
"They knew the enemy better than they knew them." Blake stated. "As you've stated before, the enemy had time to learn them, and they didn't have much time to learn about the enemy."
"Good to know you've been listening in, Blake. As I've stated before, if you have time to know your enemy, you must learn as much as you can, and being more well known makes it all the more harder to hide your weaknesses." Shaxx then turned to Weiss. "Yes Miss Schnee?"
"Playing around their strategy. They kept them stuck in the middle without much room to go, leaving them almost always in a 3v3 to 3v1 situation." Weiss stated with a smile, certain she was right. "It certainly didn't seem to help them much when the special ammo crates kept spawning near the vantage points. It gave them far too much control over the battlefield."
"That was their fatal flaw yes. But not quite what decided the battle." He then turned to Ruby. "And you, Miss Rose. What's your input on the matter?"
"An unusual choice of weapons on Baken's end. He had no mid-range weapons, and relied solely on long-range and short-range weapons." Ruby pointed out. "If the enemy tried to approach him a decent distance away, they would've been able to stop him. But they're too used to the ranges his weapons specialized in. It certainly didn't help much when almost the whole team of Bravo had the same equipment."
"That, is what even most guardians fail to realize." Shaxx chuckled, as Ruby smiled in response. "Almost every guardian is either up-close and personal, or far-ranged. They do not even begin to consider being able to be picked off where auto rifles reigned."
"With all that said and done, though, it is time to continue onto the next part of class." He looked to team SSSN, who now realized they were completely unprepared for what was ahead.
"I believe you four have volunteered already?"
00000
Raven looked on in shock. Her men were holding their hands up. And three individuals stood before them. Vernal took Ravens side but both wanted to vomit at the site before them. Many men and women laid dead in gut-wrenching ways, some looking as if they were played with before they died. One who looked liked a Hunter;a female, a male Hunter, and two were warlocks, one male and the leader a woman.
"So this was the infamous Branwen Tribe? How underwhelming." the lead female Hunter said.
Raven gritted her teeth, seeing her entire bandit tribe held hostage before her.
"What the hell do you want?" Raven growled.
Without a word, the hunter pulled out a glass and purple crystal like handgun from a thigh holster and shot a bandit in the face. She didn't stop there. She then proceeded to stomp on the body brutally, decimating it to the point where it resembled nothing more than a pile of blood and guts. Raven's hand gripped her sword and Vernal leveled her guns at the group in front of them, both glaring at the hunter. The scene made the rest of the captured members of the tribe to grow restless in fear.
"You. Raven. No amount of Darkness can make you hide behind your bodyguard." the lead Hunter said.
This caused Raven to visible get scared in her body language.
"What makes you think i'm going to follow you!?" Raven shouted.
The lead Hunter smirked and removed her helmet, a flowing head of black hair shaking loose, uncovering a pair of flame colored eyes. Raven snapped her fingers and the warlock and hunters killed half of the hostages, making sure to take their sweet time with it. Their dying shrieks could be heard for miles around. Vernal roared and tried to charge at Cinder, but was stopped by a red blade getting in the way.
"Raven! Why-" Raven glared at Vernal who took the hint and stepped back.
"Listen to your mommy, girl." Cinder chuckled, "She knows when she's been outmatched." Cinder sauntered over to the two bandits twirling her handgun about. "So what will it be Raven? You can either join us or the rest of them." Cinder gestured at the corpses on the ground. Raven looked around her at the mess carnage before finally coming to her choice. She nodded to Vernal before both of them sheathed their weapons.
The dark hunters and warlock smiled under their helmets.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Cinder said.
She then walked up to Raven. As if inspecting her. Body and soul. Cinder smiled as she looked to her group.
"How disappointing. A huntress turned her back to become a killer and a thief of the innocent." Cinder taunted. "Or was there only ever a murderer underneath that facade?"
"Mighty rich coming from you." Raven replied.
A sudden gunshot interrupted the moment and a head exploded near the male Hunter. His foot having been on one bandits face.
"Sorry foot slipped." The hunter gave a shrug.
Cinder just shook her head.
"My my, what temper you have. Maybe thats why your lover liked you. But such a shame you abandon him and that daughter of yours. Spending most of your time raising your bodyguard, you know nothing of your real little girl."
"Get to your point Cinder." Raven responded through gritted teeth.
Cinder gave a wicked smile.
"Oh Raven, you always say you care about your "family," and since you've been so cooperative, I'll make sure nothing bothers them ever again." Cinder said as she then snapped her fingers.
Merlot, Mercury, and Emerald then fired their weapons at the remaining tribe members. Bullets tore into body after body. Blood and guts splattered everywhere, painting the grass and trees red.
"You've always said the strong live and the weak die. How does that seem to you now?" Cinder asked mockingly. Raven just stared at the bullet riddled corpses of her men.
"...How did you find us?" Raven asked.
"Simple… a little birdy told the cowardly lion." Cinder replied. "Now come on, we don't want to keep the party waiting.
Raven narrowed her eyes as she and Vernal where led away.
"Qrow, the next time we meet, I'll kill you where you stand."
00000
Lord Saladin stood in his forges of the Iron temple. Using his Hammer of Sol. He repeatedly struck a blade causing the metal to heat and turn a brighter color of orange as he then used a rod to detail the sides of what he was crafting. He then lifted it up and put in water to cool down the molten metal. He then looked to his left and his old ears didn't fail him. He heard the familiar roar of a jumpship. He smiled as he looked upon the finished blade.
"The time is soon to come." Saladin said to himself, as he watched Summer her team enter the room.
A/N:
Animeak116: What's up everybody this is the Anime Guy here. And I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter. Anyways onto the reviews!
Guest:Who helped Ghira?!
Diluation:*looks to Animeak*
Animeak:¯\_(ツ)_/¯ hell if I know. I may need to ask around
Diluation:Ok.
Guest 2:And why are you not having them head to Earth?
Fireteam:Just wait.
Animeak116: we know you guys want them to head to Earth. It's just not the right time yet. Sorry.
Guest named Review:Out of curiosity? How do you guys feel about the future of destiny now? Given their recent announcements.
Fireteam:We're all extremely hyped for the future of Destiny.
Diluation:RWBY, not so much tbh… but we'll try with what we got.
Animeak116: I have to agree with Diluation. Especially since I've been following the Vic situation as well as Qrow's new Voice actor… it's been especially hard on me giving what happened. I've been struggling with any attention with RWBY content sense well nearly all my stories are RWBY crossovers as sad as it is. RT is just one big mess.
Doomforzombies16:Guardiancon?
Animeak116: Sadly I've been trying to find a new job, as well as help my family with unpacking after moving to Arizona. Finally out of California. (My family jokingly call it Comifornia). Sorry Diluation. But I know your pain in that dreaded state.
Diluation:Well I planned on saying it myself here, but I'd suppose it'd be better just to talk about it instead. California(not a lot of jobs here, as well as a lotta taxes), and am also 17. College, and family lacks the funds to go anywhere atm without having a permanent stay, and can't leave my eldest brother behind with nowhere to stay.
You'd probably expect this to be the part where we say the dreaded word '', but we don't plan on opening one up until at least this story is finished. We of FireteamNero do not wish to disrespect Ptabs0101 and his family in any manner whatsoever. Afterwards, or if there's high demand for us to head to guardiancon, we'll open one up, and see where it goes from there.
Guest 3:WHERE IS BAKENGANGSTA?! THE GOD OF CRUCIBLE!
Diluation: :3
Guest 4:To Diluation all destiny rwby crossovers consist of dimensional rift group of Guardians shenanigans happens etc the reason why I'm asking is that having team rwby go will open up possibilities that I haven't seen been explored.
Diluation:Errr… I don't follow? Do you know something, or are you Osiris? Wait do you-
Oh. OH! Now I see. Scared me there for a bit.
Yes, it does appear to be something that hasn't been done before. Unfortunately, we will not be disclosing when it'll happen. Rest assured though, they are heading there. Just not now.
Rebiele:I'm interested in the shadowkeep expansion if you guys are planning one. Hasn't come out yet, but I'm saying after a few months or 6 you guys can make it a stand-alone story like how it is a stand alone expansion. I know it's too early to tell.
Aside from that, you guys are doing an amazing job with this story, I'm glad you guys adopted it.
Animeak:Awww, thank you! We appreciate it!
Diluation:Thanks, it's really relieving to hear that... Tbh, I kept feeling like we aren't stacking up to Ptabs, considering the rating difference between his OG Iron Rose story and our blessed continuation of it. Especially troubling for me since I wish to be a fiction writer.
Shadowkeep is planned, but for later.
Guest: please write a chapter of Oblick going to Earth
Animeak116: Not yet. We still have to do the SIVA Crisis arc. Can't have too much heat in the landing zone.
But I believe that's it. Thanks guys for reading. Well see you Star side brother and sister Guardians. Gods Speed.