Diluation:While we wouldn't normally answer a review up here, I believe it is necessary to get some confusion over with the previous chapter. It was a short chapter for two reasons:One being that this one is going to be twice as long compared to the other chapters, and we didn't wanna post a 30-page long chapter from gdocs by the time we got to it. We would've posted this immediately, but we're trying to use all the time we can so we can go over the notes. You might ask what's keeping us from just outright focusing on the plot. Well, it's a pretty penny for our thoughts, but we can't tell. All major stuff.
In writing the previous chapter, I came to the realization that Ptabs never written how the Destiny missions would actually go. They were implied to have already been done in typical Summer Rose fashion, yes, but had never written the bits themselves and only stuck to Remnant. This raised an issue, as we never got to the actual 'Iron' part of the story before he passed(contrary to what"yes" said, as there was no Iron being shown before-hand.).
With little idea as to what to do, we decided that perhaps we would write it through the perspective of how we think guardians usually run the missions in the game. And I think we can all agree that we more than likely just blew through the missions when we first did them, and that guardians in the game are probably not even paying that much attention to detail, since it's just in their line of everyday duty.
For those of you that may be curious, the Shadows will have their own arc in the sequel to this story. We just can't fit it here since it is not 'Thorns Of A Rose' or something of the sort, and we need to complete this before we can continue with that arc.
With that said, it's time for a boss battle!
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There was no way to know who exactly they were before conversion. From what Drei's memory bank was able to scramble for in the heat of the moment, the abomination was one of Saladin's teammates, and the remnants of the DNA on the body closely matched Felwinter. Nanites swirled around it, a red hue on its eight foot tall body. Tendrils danced wildly from its back, exuding nanites that powered up the shield. Iron armor covered with black soot and SIVA tendrils keeping it ingrained into the body was visible, the only normal looking part being the ruined leggings. In its right hand it held the ax, which had an orange hue to it, and on its left a gatling gun for an arm, which had a RPG compartment..
The revenant slammed the axe towards Summer's location almost immediately as she and her teammates dived out of the way in separate directions, a column of fire speeding past their original position. They in turn fired at the revenant, their attacks making no notable dent in it no matter what they did as the revenant fired its gatling-gun without even flinching, occasionally attempting to pounce on one of them. Shotgun blasts to the face, making it stumble into the environment, even the mighty Gjallarhorn did nothing to it. It continued its rampage, as if unaffected.
"We've got to find a way to bring that shield down, or we're dead!" Tai shouted out amidst the sounds of bullets flying past him while he reloaded.
"Nice observation blondie!" Qrow shouted at him, causing the revenant to turn its attention to him and pounce, barely missing him as he morphed away, returning to normal behind a pillar of SIVA. "Maybe you should also point out the fact that WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF AMMO!"
"You two, calm down!" Summer shouted out, as she dodged a rocket from the monster.
As she said that, the shank from earlier appeared in some glass windows that were in the room. "Yes, please do not begin screaming. I'm trying to eat here!" The shank them made the sounds of chips being eaten, before abruptly pausing upon watching Summer fire another Gjallarhorn at the revenant, watching as the weapon did nothing to break its shields. "Actually, do go and do so. It makes it even better to watch in retrospect."
The revenant screamed bloody murder as it leapt once more, pouncing on top of Summer. It made to try and cut her in half with the ax, but it abruptly paused and began twitching, moaning and groaning as it did so as the light from the ax left it.
Summer feebly tried to heft it off with her knife so she could move. She stopped upon hearing its voice speak to her.
"Kill… kill me." Felwinter croaked out.
It then released a scream so loud that it turned Omnigul's own to shame, and made the group's blood turn cold at the sound of it. It then raised the ax in position to strike, causing Tai to panic.
"NO!" Tai said as he rushed forth, punching it so hard that it stumbled, freeing Summer from its grasp and allowing Qrow to swoop in and grab Summer, Tai quickly retreating with him. But that didn't stop what was about to come.
The revenant raised the ax, ready to strike…
And bashed its head into it.
It hit itself with the ax over and over, with a cry of pain sounding out each time it hit itself, each gruesome sound of flesh splitting open making itself known, as the shield began to falter in order to heal it. Blood and nanites spurted from the wound, growing bigger and bigger until the revenant stopped what it was doing in exhaustion.
They were wordless. Shocked to a standstill, as they watched it attack itself, the swarm getting bigger by the moment.
Then the swarm starting moving to them, like a hive of angry hornets.
In response, Summer pulled out Boltcaster and cast a couple discs of arc energy at the swarm, creating an arc storm that decimated the swarm. The axe then lit on fire and the monster screamed again, turning to them with the shield down.
"He's… he's still alive!" Saladin suddenly spoke in the comms, sudden horror and panic gripping his voice, as he then called out in desperation. "Summer; please! Try to bring him to reason if you can!"
The words fell on deaf ears however, as Summer was more focused on taking it down to prevent Tai and Qrow from getting infected. The three rushed forth, Summer and Qrow with their swords in hand, Tai blasting the shotgun into its face as they neared. It roared in pain, and slammed the ground, pushing them back with the exception of Summer, who had dug Boltcaster into its knees and held on, while Qrow just morphed back over and continued his assault. As Qrow unleashed a series of rapid slashes at the revenant, Summer pulled out a flux grenade and stuck it to its face. She pulled out Boltcaster and began to climb over it.
"Don't get blinded," She started, as she climbed up to its shoulder and leapt off, doing a 180 mid-air. "By the light!"
As the grenade exploded, she cast two more discs of arc while Qrow kept the frontal assault up. Tai had made his way back to the revenant, trying to pull the axe off of its fused body. That was, until its shield came back and they backed off, the revenant now severely damaged, its back now opened up to reveal SIVA tendrils wildly thrashing at the air.
"Hmph. Well that was an interesting development..." The shank then raised the alarm, causing splicers to drop from above. "Keep them occupied! I shall remove this anomaly myself with the remaining test subjects. This one was a lost cause to begin with anyhow."
The revenant cried out in a pained rage as it barreled through some of the splicers, ax raised to slam on Summer. The other cocoons then took on an eerie red glow, as fallen soldiers fired from underneath them.
"I got them!" Qrow called out, as ran to the right, morphing and flying around to strike them from behind. The fallen took note of this, and turned their attention to the bird.
And much to their misfortune, the revenant did the same.
It chased it with reckless abandon, breaking down the environment around the place as it did so. Qrow took note of it following him, and looked to the windows the shank was at for a moment as if considering something. He then continued flying, deciding that it would be better to take the ax from it first.
Qrow dodged and weaved through the bullets with his small form, as Tai and Summer then stepped in to start slicing and punching the fallen vandals and dregs to save their teammate. The fallen found themselves ill-prepared, as their numbers were thinned out aggressively, fallen chopped in half or knocked out from Boltcaster's sharp edge, and Tai's fists.
Meanwhile, the revenant was slamming the axe into everything that was in its way as it aggressively fired at Qrow. Small metal walls crumpled like paper, braziers knocked over that spilled the fiery remains of its dead brethren that made the ax brighter, even the very foundation of the replication chamber was getting dents in the floor. A few windows were broken from rockets that have been fired at him, much to his dismay.
Summer couldn't help but be flabbergasted at the sight of the broken windows, having never seen such a thing happen in all her missions and strikes. The damn things had always stayed up despite everything that happened in the other missions from back then, and to see one them break now left her speechless.
Qrow squawked at Summer. "Do something!"
"Summer, I get that the windows are broken, but we should probably do something for Qrow there!" Tai suggested, as he tried to look around for anything that could disable the shield. He yelped as he narrowly avoided a wave of embers that nearly grazed him, the light from the braziers powering up the ax even further.
Summer shook her head, and narrowed her silver eyes in thought. "When it hit itself, the ax was able to disable the shield and damage it. So what could…"
Her silver eyes then sparked with an idea. "Drei, what's my light reserves?"
"Are you crazy!? If Gjallarhorn doesn't do it, what would your super do to it?!"
The revenant roared, and slammed the ax into the ground, a hellish pillar of flame traveling towards Summer as she blinked away from it, the flames bringing up splicer corpses and metal up as it went. It then pulled up the axe, which was now at full power. "What the axe does."
"Tai, Qrow! Just hold out a little longer! I got a plan!" She said, as she began to watch the super bar on her HUD.
"I'd very much like to hear it then!" Tai called out as he backflipped away from an incoming swing, Qrow standing behind the revenant.
"You noticed how that thing has solar light on it?" Summer pointed out, as it slammed the ground with the top of the ax, releasing a wave of fire that spread throughout the room. "It was hitting itself with that earlier!"
"And what's the big plan to make it hit itself again?!" Qrow quickly morphed out to say, as he morphed back to try and shake off the rocket coming at him.
The shank remained silent, as it came to the realization of what Summer was about to do. And it made perfect sense.
"It won't be hitting itself. I'll be hitting it!"
"With what?!" Tai and Qrow shouted out.
"Just a little longer!" She called out, as her super was only mere slivers away. The alarm sounded again, catching everyone's attention as more splicers fell down from the ceiling.
"Hus e ze! Dres sha ha! Do sha ra de!"
The splicers then rushed at Summer with a cry of rage, shock blades and guns blazing with full knowledge of what she was about to try… but much to their bad luck, or the revenant taking control, ended up right into the path of the rampaging revenant's axe, getting turned to ashes as a result of their efforts. The revenant then began to stand still and twitch violently, moaning and groaning and giving Summer the time she needs to strike.
And so did the rose show her thorns.
Arc light covered her form as she used Boltcaster as a catalyst, creating an arc explosion on her that dropped her shields to half. She blinked forth, and striking like a bolt of lightning, broke the SIVA shield in a single hit. She slashed and slashed again at it, it flinching every single time until it finally had enough.
It raised its ax with a roar of rage, and with one final effort while still being attacked, slammed the ax down straight on top of Boltcaster. Boltcaster exploded violently as it was snapped in half, sending Summer flying back into the door. It stumbled onto its knees before falling flat on its face, the SIVA melting from it and freeing the ax from its grasp. Tai walked up to the axe and attempted to pick it up. He found that it was quite heavy, but was still able to hold it.
"Sheesh! And you guys lift this much on a regular basis or something?" Tai let out, as he held the ax in a combat ready stance, grouping up with Summer.
Summer groaned in pain as she stood up, a few cracks from her recovering back making itself audible. "You ask that, yet our daughter can lift and move Crescent Rose with no trouble?" Sheesh, I need to remind someone not to step on my back…" She then looked mournfully at her ruined Boltcaster. Only the willbreaker shard was all that remained.
"BA! Er sloat, hus! Win!"
The alarm sounded once more as the two cocoons finished glowing, and went up into the ceiling. Mere moments later, two more revenants fell down, both with drills instead of axes as more splicers followed shortly after with a scorch captain fell, who lead the charge as it fell alongside an elite servitor. The revenants released an animalistic cry of rage as Drei marked them as Gheleon and Radegast, who then jumped over the fallen, intent on either infecting or outright killing them. But even with Summer's super gone, now it was they that were at a disadvantage. A huge one.
Flames still burning hot, Tai decoded to slam the axe down and send a pillar of fire rushing to one of the revenants as they landed, causing it to fly above them and out a window from the sheer force and momentum the revenant of Gheleon carried.
Tai couldn't help but chuckle with a grin on his face, as Summer blinked past him to deal with the splicers with her. "Well if it can do that, I don't mind lugging this thing around all day! This is hotter than the sun in the middle of July!"
The other revenant however didn't take kindly to his ally being thrown out like that, and would've pounced on Tai were it not for Qrow knocking him out of the way and taking the hit. It roared in fury at Qrow, and raised its drill arm to smash his face in, but Tai smacked it in the midriff of its chest with the ax, making it stumble off him from the sheer force that the ax had on it. It then unleashed its gatling gun at Tai, taking down his shields and forcing him to take a burning hot bullet, causing him to cry out in pain as Qrow took the opportunity to morph again.
Summer meanwhile was making do with her other weapons. She had swapped Thorn out for her broken Boltcaster and gotten a few of her legendaries, deciding to engage in a shootout with the splicers as she blinked past Tai and Qrow, confident they could handle it. She pulled out Party Crasher +1 and rushed down the captain first, taking him by surprise and downing his shields with a couple of shots and she rushed him down, aftly dodging the fire from the other splicers.
She jumped up on his shoulders, grabbing the scorch cannon as she did so, and leap doing a frontflip mid-air, and turning herself around to finish the captain off with his own weapon by blasting him with it, taking out a couple of dregs with him. Knowing it only ever carried ten, she blinked away to one of the SIVA pillars and pulled out Thorn, whittling the many splicers down who dove in and out of cover, getting healed by the servitor all the while.
She looked to her teammates. Tai and Qrow were having a rough time fighting the revenant, it smacking them away with ease whenever they got too close, and gunning them down at a distance, as if it knew close quarter combat would be its end.
She waved to them. "A little help over here?!"
Tai took note of the situation, and looked to Qrow who nodded in response. Tai went off to the left, while Qrow went to the right, thinking that the revenant would be as dumb as the first and chase Qrow in his bird form. They were wrong.
The revenant took advantage of Tai's lack of attention and made to pounce, drill raised to smash him into the ground. The only thing that saved him was a loud squawk from Qrow, causing him to turn around and widen his eyes in panic. Adrenaline rushing sky high in him, he slammed the axe down in a panic, sending a pillar of fire that knocked it back. Qrow flew over to him and changed back, swiftly taking the ax out of his grasp.
"JUST GO! I got him!" Qrow said as he held the ax. Even though he knew this was not his style of play, there wasn't much time. At this point, it was obvious that this thing was as adaptive as the SIVA on it.
Tai nodded, and after entering a combat stance, rushed forth to help Summer by clubbing a few unsuspecting dregs in the face with a couple uppercuts and kicks, who assumed the revenant was taking care of it. This immediately caused their attention to shift to him, of which Summer took advantage of, and blinked on top of the servitor, which turned up to face her at the very last second, before she fired the shotgun at point blank range into its eye. It exploded from the sheer blunt force it received, causing the splicers to lose the only way to mend their wounds. From there, the splicers could do little but fall under the combined might of Huntsman and Guardian, their shields taking all the damage as they ruthlessly slaughtered them.
Qrow meanwhile was trying to avoid the revenant as much as he could. It changed tactics almost instantly when it sensed his apprehension, deciding to change from staying far away, to killing him at any cost. It rushed at him relentlessly, firing its gatling gun all the while as he looped around a SIVA pillar. Qrow was only able to get a couple potshots in by abruptly turning around and slamming the ax, before the revenant caught him off guard by taking a couple steps back, before rushing forth again and taking him by surprise. It grabbed him and held him up in the air, dropping the ax and catching the attention of his teammates.
The revenant growled at him, before it raised its drill, and shoved it into its stomach, blood and SIVA pouring out into the open as it pulled out. The SIVA had detected its new host, and made its way to Qrow. The nanites dug into the flesh and skin on his chest, causing Qrow to cry out in pain as the infection took place.
Before it could go any further, Summer had blinked over to the ax, and with a furious swing, sent the revenant flying back, releasing its grasp on Qrow as it flew with a cry of rage. Qrow fell to the ground crying out in pain, his chest now a blackened red mess of SIVA tendrils and active nanites. He gritted his teeth as he clutched the wound.
Drei then materialized. "I'm going to work on slowing the infection process down, Tai cover me, Summer go fight Radegast!"
The alarm sounded as Summer made way to the revenant to engage it in a battle to the death, a bunch of captains and vandal splicers falling down around it with swords at the ready. The revenant in turn released a roar that accepted the challenge, while the splicers did the same, rushing forth with the revenant.
Summer cut through the lines like Dreadfang through a horde of Taken with the iron axe, the flames proving to be too unbearable for the splicers to handle, as they burnt to a crisp whenever she struck them. But their attempts at attacking her was little more than just being in vain.
The revenant, instead of rushing in with them, had jumped up in the air and readied its SIVA rocket. It fired, Summer getting hit by it and nearly losing her shields from the impact, barely getting out of the nano swarm left behind before her shields then dropped.
She attacked with a sweeping strike, but the revenant merely jumped over it, and landed a heavy uppercut into her, scratching her armor and knocking her back. She did a kip to quickly get back up, slamming the ax down as she did so. The revenant took it head on, not bothering for the fact that its shields dropped from it too. Summer rushed back to it and continued trying to chop it to death, it expertly deflecting each blow with its gatling gun and drill. It was as if the body was giving its all to stay alive.
A war cry from Tai was heard in the background, and she saw Tai jump over, landing a hangover punch into its face, causing it to stumble in surprise and finally give her a chance to finish it off. She jumped and raised the ax high in the air, the revenant feebly trying to gather its bearings and block, but it was fruitless.
She slammed the ax into its head with a sickening crack that resounded throughout the chamber. All grew silent as they watched the second death of the once mighty undead play, Summer hanging on the ax while it stood still.
There was now a more normal look to the revenant's face, even as it was being charred by the fire burning in its skull. A more humane look in its eyes, instead of the once unholy blue hue that once emanated from it. It looked to Summer, unable to do anything but mouth the words 'thank you', before it fell on its knees and collapsed, Summer landed safely on the ground as a result.
She pulled the axe out. Gone was its holy flames, but had an orange hue on the ornaments at the blades of the ax, indicating that it still had some fight in it.
"Young wolf…" Saladin started over the comms. "While I wish we could've tried, you did your best in the face of keeping your team alive… now finish it."
"Qrow is in a stable condition for now, but his lungs got pierced. He won't be able to move quickly." Drei said in the comms. "During the battle, I detected a dormant SIVA cluster. We should go pick it up." Was all he said, before Drei marked it on their HUDs.
Tai went over to Qrow and helped him onto his feet. He stumbled a bit, but was otherwise able to walk.
"Y'know, I don't think it's a good idea to go ahead and fly into the baddies. That kinda defeats the whole purpose of being a crow." Tai pointed out with a small grin.
"Oh fuck right off Tai." Qrow muttered out, as he looked over Tai. "You're in no better shape than I am. You've been hit."
"And you're infected now." Tai fired back. "We both kinda got screwed here, but you're worse off."
"Don't get close if you find it too hot." Summer idly jokes, causing Tai to chuckle.
A sudden hiss from behind them catches their attention. The shank then came in through the now open door, playing a slow clap sound effect through its speakers.
"Well done Rose. You've killed his friends. Teammates of his that we held hostage. How does make you feel, undead-!"
The sound of Thorn cut the shank off, as it fell to the ground, exploding as it did so. Summer glared at the shank with hatred for what he done. She then decided that Aksis was next on her kill list, as she put Thorn away, heading to the fragment for Drei to collect.
As Drei collected the fragment, the audio message plays.
"I stood at the edge of Lords' Watch, and watched the enemy-" It broke into static for a few seconds, before resuming. "-SIVA curled and thrashed, creating tendrils that lashed out at us. It formed shapes that could grapple us, and angry swarms that buzzed around us before breaking apart to worm their way into every chink of our armor.
Warlords I know how to fight. This is-" The audio file cut abruptly, signifying the end of the message.
The three looked between each other.
"Well," Qrow said, as he made his way to the door. "I suppose this is the part where you run through the place, and we stand outside watching you?"
She nodded. "Back down the hallway you two. If anyone is going down this hallway at the moment, it oughta be me."
"Summer-" Tai made to interject, only to be cut off by a look that clearly stated she wasn't budging from this. As he turned around to leave with Qrow, he tripped over something and fell to the ground with him. The offending object then rolled over to Summer.
Summer raised an eyebrow as she picked it up, finding out it was an old, broken helmet. Drei materialized again and scanned it.
"Jolder's helmet." Drei said, having just detected fragments of her DNA on it. "Saladin would want to see it."
Qrow, and a slightly reluctant Tai made their way down the hallway back outside, as Summer approached the console. Upon being given the all clear from the two, she pressed the self-destruct button on it.
The console made a series of beeps, and flashed with Rasputin's symbol, before the SIVA pillars and tendrils exploded outwards, thrashing wildly and releasing SIVA into the air. The outside was much of the same too, with the hallway now having tendrils and swarms everywhere.
The message at that point didn't need to be said by Drei. They needed to go. They needed to go very fast. And Summer did not waste time, having already blinked away into the hallway. She was surprised to see a few dregs, shanks and vandals trying to block her inevitable escape, but she cut them down as if they were nothing to her, still moving quickly through the room, only stopping at the sound of a familiar roar.
She turned around to see the revenant that fell, and apparently wasn't done with her. It had jumped back up into the hallway, and was chasing her to the door. Not wasting anymore time, she continued chopping through the fallen, and was about to make it before the revenant jumped in front of the exit before her, blocking her path.
She slammed the ax into the ground, and the revenant was hit with a pillar of fire, losing its shields as a result. It in turn slammed the floor beneath it, causing Summer to fly back and waste time getting back to it by blinking. It fired its gatling gun at her, but with a swing so heavy and fast, it almost looked like a small meteor was coming forth into the knee, she caused it to stumble, allowing her the chance to get past it. The doors closed abruptly, leaving the revenant to pound on the door.
Tai released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "As awesome as you've always been Sum."
A rope then descended to where they fell from the hatch. Frederick's voice called out to them. "Summer! Saladin sent me back on short notice, the self-destruct is going to be bigger than we thought! Get you and your team to the rope!"
Summer then grabbed the two in a hurry, blinking across and to the rope. Qrow stumbled onto the ground as Summer leapt up, but Tai quickly hoisted him up. They grabbed the rope, Summer being high up while Tai climbed a little higher for Qrow to take the bottom part of the rope. She tugged on the rope, letting Frederick know it was ok to pull them up.
A loud screeching sound made itself known behind them, and they turned to see that the revenant from earlier was prying the door wide open, a scream of desperation and fear ringing out from it. It shimmied through the hole it had, and ran towards them. It tried to leap, but the platform it was on was too heavy and aged for it, and when it tried, it fell once more into the abyss below. Had it been another time or reinforced, it would've caught them and taken it with them. But it simply had some very bad luck for a day like this to come.
Frederick quickly pulled them up as the earth beneath them rumbled, the three practically flying up as they hung on for their lives. They flew out the hatch, and the explosion finally went off. Frederick only caught a mere glimpse of the sheer size, before it started rushing up to the hatch. He closed it before it could get any further.
Tai and Qrow tried to catch their breath as they heaved themselves off the floor, Summer quickly getting up and helping Qrow up first things first. Frederick went over to Tai.
"On your feet soldier." He then grabbed his hand and pulled him up with little trouble. "You did good today." He said, giving the man a couple pats on the back, though they unintentionally felt like a couple weak, yet strong shoves from the Titan.
Tai grunted in response, as he leaned on Frederick, his strength leaving him. "A little easy please. I got shot in the chest after all, and things are calming down now."
"I can still feel these fuckers moving around." Qrow said, as he clenched his chest with an open fist. "Let's get the hell back home. I think I had enough messing around over here for the time being."
"Aye. I got people to attend to as well." Frederick said with a smile.
The four then began making their way back to the surface to get into Frederick's ship, triumphant from the sheer chaos that was that battle. Nothing could ruin the moment.
"Thanks for the rope to heaven, Freddie." Summer said gratefully. "You really brought some hope to our futures!"
Well, almost nothing. Actually, wait, Qrow and Frederick were now seriously considering the benefits of opening the hatch again, and jumping in it.
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Summer sighs as she rests her head against Tai's shoulder only for him to perk up a bit. Looking to his left he smiled seeing her resting. However he felt a deathly stare from the cockpit. Tai looked up and saw a very… perturbed looking Frederick would be the best way to put it.
"Sheesh it's like the whole world doesn't want you to rebang her." Qrow stated lowly for Tai to hear.
He only sighs
"I think all the men in her life want my head for doing it to her in her first life." Tai stated.
Qrow only laughed
"Oh. Come on Qrow!"
Qrow only laughed harder and even Frederick joined in. All to Tai's expense. Though Qrow coughed a bit due to his injuries. Frederick then accelerated his ship's speed to Felwinter Peak.
Saladin saw Frederick's ship reach the courtyard and the hangar door opened up. Much to Saladin's shock, Qrow had a small SIVA infection, and thus he called for Tyra's help. Tyra and Frederick then immediately put him on a stretcher to her quarters, and requested assistance from the local warlocks to get him better medical attention, while his few small bandages that air sealed his armor, and weakened aura fought back the infection and prevented it from infecting other guardians in the vicinity. Tai was beginning to follow suit, but had put a hand on Summer's shoulder, waking her up as a result.
"We're here now." Tai said, as he clutched his bandaged wound. "As much as I hate to leave you behind, you need to go on ahead with Frederick. I need to go with Qrow, get patched up as well as keep tabs on him. After that, we go home to the girls."
Summer nodded. "Anymore dangerous stuff like this, and yeah, I'd be with Ruby and Yang here. I think it's best if you helped with stuff over at Remnant instead Tai."
Tai showed some hesitance at those words, but otherwise nodded. Summer didn't miss it in the slightest, and sighed.
"Look, I'm certain Saladin has some other trustworthy guardians he can put me up with. And if not, I bet can convince the Vanguard to let Cayde join in, Traveler knows how much he'd like it." She said with an assuring smile. "So I'll be fine here, trust me. Now that I'm here, I could probably catch a few other friends around and get their help."
"Just take care, ok?" Tai said softly. "It doesn't sit right with me knowing I have to sit back and watch just because you can come back from anything."
"Sir, unless you like bleeding your guts onto the floor," One of the arriving medical warlocks said, as she neared the ship's hangar slightly irritated. "I'd very much recommend getting to the emergency room."
Tai gave her a nod and a smile, before turning back to Summer. "I'll see you soon, ok?" He said almost as a promise, before he limped out of the hangar, leaving Summer alone in her thoughts.
She sighed, now alone once more."'Other friends' I said. I don't even know anyone beyond Cayde, good ol' Saladbutt, and Nero, what was I saying?" She then stood up after a moment, getting out of the hangar and making her way to the temple itself.
"You do have his assistant you know." Drei pointed out as he materialized in front of her. "You left quite an impression on him when he first encountered you. I don't think he'd miss the chance to try and prove himself still stronger than you, even without a ghost."
"I don't want to endanger him. Like you said, he doesn't have a ghost, and that makes it harder for him to recover."
"I'm just pointing out, you have more friends than you think." Drei said with a little worry in his voice, as he got in her face. Normally, he'd be brushing it off, but considering everything that has been happening in the last half a dozen or so months, he was starting to worry everything was beginning to crash down on Summer.
After a bit of walking, accepting bounties and checking her postmaster, she made her way into the temple, coming into the Iron Honorhall. She saw that Frederick was a little ahead of her, and stood off to the side.
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Frederick's footsteps echoed through the Iron Temple as he approached the altar. Before him, Saladin stood stoic and proud. Summer and her friends off to the side, watching without a word. He stopped at the front of Saladin and dropped to one knee.
"Guardian Frederick." Saladin began, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. "You have demonstrated time and time again your courage, your will, and your resolve. You have stood for the merits and ideals that the Iron Lords have built themselves upon. And you have faced down adversity from without, and within, with unshaking conviction. Therefore here, in the hall of my brothers and sisters, in the hall of the first protectors of humanity, I Lord Saladin, beneath their eternal vigil, hereby recognize you, as an Iron Lord." The last words spoken by Saladin echoed around the chamber, as if being repeated by the statues themselves. "Do you accept this honor?" Frederick raised his head and gazed at Saladin. He slowly got up.
"I thank you for this honor Lord Saladin. And I thank you for your belief that I may be worthy. However, this is a gift I cannot accept." Shock crossed Summer's face as she gave a small gasp. To turn down an offer to become an Iron Lord was unthinkable, it was a title any guardian coveted and would risk life and limb to obtain.
"Might I ask why?" Saladin's face betrayed no emotion, and there was no sign of offense on noticable on him. Frederick's eyes swept to Summer and then back to Saladin.
"The Speaker has made it clear that I would not be accepted no matter what. So long as I exist, I am marked, and therefore a danger to those I know and care about. If I were to accept this title, it would only escalate the conflict." He looked back at Summer again. "And I cannot in good faith, willingly put my friends at risk." He turned back to Saladin. "So once again, I thank you for this honor, but I must decline, for the safety of those I care about." Saladin was silent for a moment.
"You are a good man Frederick." The Iron Lord began. "You have once again proved your will of iron is unshakable." He stepped forward and reached to his side. "Then, if you cannot be recognized in title, know that you are recognized by deeds." Saladin reaches out towards Frederick with a gold medallion, etched with the tree sigil of the Iron Lords. "Take this, as a symbol of my trust and your merit. If there comes a time where you need to call upon the aid of others, show them this medallion, and help will find you."
Frederick looks at the medallion for a moment, before taking a deep breath. "Thank you… Lord Saladin." He manages to say stoically, though his composure told a different story. In truth, he had been overjoyed to know he could be considered an Iron Lord. And while he knows he can't, the iron medallion before him was good enough from the old titan to be seen as proof.
Saladin turns to face Summer. "Step forth guardian. It's time."
Summer looked to Drei, who bobbed in acknowledgement. Without a word, Jolder's helmet materialized in her hands, and she approached Saladin while she held it in her grasp. "Drei found this after my teammates stumbled on it. We got it and left after destroying the replicator."
Saladin walked up and took the helmet out of her hands, gazing at it like a long lost friend as he did so.
"Thank you." The man said with a smile on his face that seemed to tear the years away from him. "She would be honored." He then turned back to the statues, holding the helmet as he did so. "My brothers and sisters… I will see you again. Someday." He then put the helmet aside next to one of the statues, and picked up a sword he had at the ready.
"Approach." Saladin said, not as an order, but as a request. Summer complied, walking up to Saladin.
"There was a time where only Iron Lords carried these blades. This freshly forged may not compare to your Boltcaster, but it was made in your honor. Take your place as an Iron Lady."
"I thank you, Lord Saladin." Summer said, as she took the sword out of his hands. "And I thank you for this title that you bestow upon me."
She then turned around, and placed the tip of the sword on the ground, not helping but standing heroically ahead of her, and enjoying the moment she had before her, while Frederick stood off to the side with a smile. For today marked the return of the Iron Lords.
00000
Night had fallen over Felwinter peak once the celebrations had ended. Outside on the landing pad, Frederick was carrying the last of his supplies onto his jumpship. He was occupied enough that he didn't hear Summer approach. "Do you really have to go?" Frederick jumped a bit before turning around.
"Geez you scared me." The Titan put down the box he was carrying and walked over to Summer. "Unfortunately I have to. You know the situation by now. The Speaker's efforts are just going to escalate, and sooner or later innocent people will get hurt." Summer's face fell at that.
"I wish there was another way." Summer muttered sadly. "So what if the Speaker has an issue, you're more of a Guardian than anyone else I know!" Frederick put his hand on Summer's shoulder.
"I'm happy you think that but that won't change the situation. This is another part of my duty as a Guardian, to protect, and I'm fulfilling that right now." Out of nowhere, Frederick felt himself stumbling backwards as Summer threw herself into him for a hug.
"Take care of yourself ok?" Summer said as she broke off the hug.
"I will I promise." Frederick replied. Then another voice came over the landing pad.
"Frederick."
Frederick looked up to see Lord Saladin behind Summer.
"Lord Saladin-" Frederick began but he was cut off by a wave of Saladin's hand.
"No need for that title anymore, you are my brother now. You stand by me." The Iron Lord approached Frederick, with a rare smile.
"I came to see you off. It's the least I should be able to do." He held out his hand towards Frederick.
"Be brave, Frederick."
"I shall, Saladin." The Titan responded, grasping Saladin's hand. "We'll meet again, I know it."
"Make us proud." The two Titans shook on it as Naomi materialized from the ramp of the ship.
"Sorry to break this up, but we have a long trip to make." Frederick looked towards Naomi and back to Saladin and Summer.
"Looks like it's time." Frderick turned and walked up the ramp of his ship, while Saladin and Summer watched. "Farewell, for now I guess." Frederick waved to the pair on the pad one last time before the ramp closed and the ship took off into the night sky.
"Good luck Iron Lord." Saladin whispered one last time before returning to the Iron Temple.
00000
"So the situation has been concluded." A hologram of the Speaker spoke to Saladin.
"That is correct." Saladin replied. "For now the SIVA threat is contained, and the splicers have all been dealt with. Aksis eludes us still but we'll find him soon."
"And what of that Titan?" The Speaker demanded.
"I have done what I saw fit." Saladin replied. "That is all."
"Lord Saladin…" the Speaker began.
"Spare me." Saladin raised his hand silencing the Speaker. "I have made a choice and I will stand by it. Farewell Speaker." With that he terminated the connection. The Iron Lord exited the Iron Temple and was greeted by his wolves that were waiting for him. He knelt down and patted one on the head. "Come now." Saladin stood, as he put on his helmet.
"Duty beckons."
00000
Diluation:And now, you see why we cut it off then and there. This whole chapter was roughly 20 pages on Google Docs, meaning that if we posted it with the previous one(10), we would've had a VERY long chapter. I do hope that things were cleared up.
But for the obvious elephant in the room now:Why didn't you just double publish?
Well, we were still working on Ptabs' notes(now almost finished). What you saw in this chapter was one of the major things in it taking another step, that of which was the breaking of Boltcaster. We'll let you figure where things will go in regards to Summer getting a replacement for it. ;)
Now onto the reviews.
Yes:idk man this chapter was kinda boring to read. what happened to the awesome storyline with the Shadows of Yor ptabs was doing?
Diluation:That is going to be made into its own story. This is Iron Rose, not Shadows Of A Rose. And yes, I did just confirm a sequel. This one is already well in the works with an intro chapter readied at the moment, and is being worked on by Aquilos, who has mainly just edited and worked on that(He wasn't around for Destiny 1 Rise of Iron). It is planned to be released shortly after this one is finished, for the sake of keeping a good storyline.
You might be tempted to ask again if we're doing Red War. Let it be known we've already worked up some of our own notes going all the way up to Forsaken, should we get there.
Iron Lord gore:*sees the speaker pestering Saladin* oi! Shove off speaker we have said it once and well say it again iron lords are not guardians yes we help the people but we do it separate from ye ya little twat! Why do you think we only go to the tower once a month? Fredrick is one of ours now it his call where he lives but your not gonna do anything here as long as we live you hear? So shove off!
Diluation:Why am I pointing out your review in particular? Well you see, Ptabs made a mistake with the Destiny canon, so-
Rest Of Nero:SPOILERS DILUATION.
Animeak:We're building this dude!
Diluation:*Clears throat*. Right. But let it be known, that guardians have no legitimate reason to not be fertile. And that Shaxx has canonically done the naughty with Mara Sov, meaning that not all guardians are gay(though they are a thing).
This is not to say that the series of stories ahead will have any sexual content whatsoever, and any story connected to this series containing it will be automatically de-canonized. We're planning on keeping it T-rated at all times. There will be no changing that.
Thank you for the read, and I hope you all have a great Friday!
~ In memory of Ptabs0101 ~