When one said patrol, a guardian often thought of riding around on their sparrow and seeing nothing. One the very off chance, one might run into some temporally displaced Vex.
When one says patrol, one should not think several dropships of Cabal landing in the outskirts of the Great City. but here we are.
"Fuuuuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." Jaune said as he dove for cover, loading another shotgun shell. "Is this supposed to be normal?" Jaune turned, yelling to Astra and B0lt, who were huddled behind a large abandoned crate.
"NO!" Astra returned, firing off shots with her favorite scout rifle, the Polaris Lance. A Cabal exploded into solar energy. Jaune just rattled off bullets in the general direction, his aim still rather crap.
"Uhh, what do we do?" Jaune yelled, prepping some solar energy in his hand. It shaped and shifted into a cylindrical device. He tossed the Thermite grenade, watching it burn the brutes in a repeating line of fire.
B0lt looked over at Astra. "How does he do that?"
"Do what?" the warlock asked, not even bothering to look out of her scope.
"He's using Solar grenades without passing that particular titan trial." B0lt huffed, reloading her Better Devils. Jaune was a confusing Titan. He seemed to have a knack for manipulating light. He would have made a good warlock if he wasn't so damn headstrong.
"Could be worse. His name is Arc, afterall." Astra said, taking out another cabal member.
B0lt shuttered. "Don't joke. He will pop a thundercrash at any moment now thanks to you." she said sarcastically, leaping into the air. A bow of void energy sprung to her hands as three anchors of void power flew to the ground. The great lines from the tether connected to so many of the Cabal grunts. They fell even faster, the negative effect of the void weighing heavily on them.
"Thank you!" Jaune called, sliding over to them. Several more rounds of ammo and a rally barricade later, the three guardians had eliminated the cabal dropships. They only had to revive Jaune twice.
"What in the world are Cabal doing so close to the City? And in such great numbers?" Jaune asked, being a little new to the whole patrol thing.
Astra shook her head, looking at B0lt. the hunter had started looking around at the landing zone. "Hey, Jaune, Night, I think I found what the Cabal were here for!" B0lt yelled, grabbing the two guardians attention. A chest laid behind a crevice, un touched by the fight.
"Cool. not often you see a chest this far out." Astra said, inspecting the unharmed box.
Jaune stumbled, catching up with the two. "Well, rule of Huevos, Jaune you get first crack."
He nodded, putting a hand on the box. "Uhh..ok?" he said, wondering how to open the box. He opted to slam his fist into the lid of the box, popping it open. He could feel what items he got, a prime engram, some glimmer, and a Cobalt Token.
His fellow guardians gave him a look.
"What? Titan Smash." Jaune said, just barely smirking. Astra just sighed,
"Oh no, you're becoming one of them." she sighed, thinking about the Titan stereotype: They like to punch things. Big, bolsterious brutes with no sense of subtlety. But, their capacity in battle could not be understated.
B0lt just laughed. "Soo, what did you get?" she asked, curious.
"A prime engram, some glimmer, and a thing. What are tokens used for?" Jaune asked, rolling the coin in his hands.
Astra shrugged. "You trade them with vendors for things." she explained to the new guardian as they gathered their own rewards from the chest. He nodded, looking around the battlefield. "Soo, we're done here? Is the patrol over?" B0lt nodded, hopping on her sparrow.
"Let's go home, Jaune." Astra said, summoning her own sparrow. Jaune nodded, hopping on.
The three of them headed home, to the Great City.
B0lt and Alphanafa were currently sitting in the cafeteria, grinning smugly at Astra Night.
"What?" The female Warlock asked the two smirking guardians.
"We were just wondering how life is going, Night." B0lt said with a grin.
Astra Night gave a confused look. "It's going… ok? Why do you ask." she questioned, not sure where this was going.
Alphanafa could only smile, digging the gossip. "It's been almost two months since you shacked up with Jaune, so, how's that going?"
Astra Night did a spit take, looking at the two incredulously.
"He's my roommate! I have not shacked up with him!" the warlock defended herself, beet red.
"Not yet you mean." the Exo hunter smiled, eating her food in a sensual manner.
Astra sighed, hiding her face in her hands. "Please, Bolt. Stop." She pleaded, hoping the spunk exo would stop her teasing.
B0lt made a small knowing face, but stopped her teasing for a moment. "So, what is rooming with Arc like? You get a good eye full of that Titan beef?" she smiled, being completely serious.
Astra sputtered. "Please… get-get your mind out of the gutter. And Jaune is a fine room mate. Very respectful. He cooks and cleans the room, is super nice, not to mention that chest… wait, we're getting off topic." Astra Night tried to divert the conversation from her now very muscular roommate.
Alpha just chuckled. "What does Jaune do every day? I mean, he's been here two months and the dude looks like Star or Shaxx. What have you been feeding him, girl?" he asked.
"I don't feed him anything. He gets up, does his calisthenics, showers, cooks breakfast, and then goes out into the world and does things. I don't see him until lunch, where the fireteam does it's team exercises." Astra said, looking around for the blond dork. But he was elsewhere.
To be more precise, he was currently wandering the garden. Rose hovered next to him as they looked at the various flowering wilds patches.
"They really are beautiful." Jaune said, running his fingers past the clusters. His attention turned to the actual park space that it seemed most of the paths lined with plants led to. A group of children ran around a field, passing a ball. Jaune took a seat at one of the game tables, a checkerboard imprinted on the surface.
"Ahhhh, Jaune. Care for a game?" an old, wispy voice came from beside him. Jaune turned to see an old man with a box in hand. His frizzled balding head was covered by a baker boy hat. Jaune smiled a kind smile, the kind he would give to young children and hopeful men back on Remnant.
"Of course Charles. I would love to." the guardian said as the two set up the board.
Jaune moved his pawn forward. Charles wheezed a chuckle, moving his own knight. "So, tell me guardian, how have you been? Well, i hope." he whispered with his aging voice. More pieces moved in the gaps between words.
Jaune moved his own piece. "Not bad. The training is rough, but it's worth it."
"Ohh? And why is that, Jaune?" the old man asked, already knowing the answer. He knew Jaune too well to not know. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and you could see the answer by the way he looked so lovingly at the children, at the families that wandered, at the very landscape of the tower.
He trained so that he could defend and protect these people.
"Because… because these are my people. I've only spent two months with them, but I feel that.. It is my duty to do so, you know?" Jaune tried to explain. Charles nodded, knowing what Jaune meant. He had been part of the emergency responders during the Fall a couple years back. Charles guessed that they were both men of war, but that mattered not. They were in peace times now.
They played in silence for a couple more minutes. The only sound between the two was the moving the chess pieces. "Check mate." Jaune finally said with a smile.
"Damn." Charles laughed, picking up the pieces. They nodded and thanked each other for the game. Jaune got up and left, giving one more prideful and soft smile to the civilians there. He turned to walk down the paths once more. And he walked until he found a rather peculiar shop. It was a two story building with vines growing up on one side. The browning outer plaster was just starting to flake, and the wooden lower half of the first floor was littered with gear and cog motifs. A wooden sign hung from the door. "Cortez Creations: Gear and Metal works."
Jaune really only entered the older building on a whim. The bell dinged as he walked in. The room was a plain floor with rustic display cases holding various items. Clocks, toys, various widgets and gadgets. But what was most surprising to the young guardian was the amount of guns there were here. A rack behind the island had a collection of hand cannons, rifles and other kinds of firearms. Jaune looked around for a proprietor or something in the shop. He dinged the desk bell, and continued to look around. A pulse rifle did catch his eye. A dark blue and grey color scheme drew in the angled and military style of the gun.
"Can I help you?" a voice came, jolting the blonde guardian. He turned to see a brown haired man on the thinner side of the spectrum, dressed in a yellowing off white shirt and a brown vest, thin gold colored pinstripes running down it. His chin had a well kept but wiry goatee and mustache upon it.
Jaune stood there for a moment, and blinked.
The soot covered man repeated the question, a little more confused. Jaune shook his head.
"Yes, I think you can. I was interested in buying a gun from you." Jaune said, welling up some glimmer.
"Oh? Which one of my fine firearms are you interested in?" the smith asked with a smile. Jaune walked over to the pulse rifle, pulling it off the rack. The three others behind it slid forward just a little from the rack.
The smith nodded. "Ahh, a Warden's Oath? Take a look guardian. Feel free to scan it, if you wish."
Jaune nodded, Rose hovering around the gun. A white blue glow emitted from the robot, scanning the item.
Wardens Oath, Rare
"An Oath all defenders take" - Lord Saladin
IS1 scope, composite stock, hammer forged rifling.
Jaune nodded with a hrmph. It was not a great roll for him, but it could work. "I'll take it."
The brown haired man nodded. "Would you like it Custom made?"
Jaune blinked. "Custom made?"
The smith nodded. "Yes. it would come with a hand picked roll, and masterworked."
Jaunes eyes light up at this. "You have my interest, mr…?"
"Cortez. And welcome to the business." Cortez smiled, reaching his hand out for a shake.
"So, there are three tiers to custom creations. Tier one is the custom roll and first level masterwork, the second has a full masterwork, and the third has a unique trait with the weapon." Cortez explained, pulling out a paper chart with various expenses. Jaune whistled.
"Tier three is rather expensive…" Jaune said, looking at the cost. Cortez nodded glumly. "Yeah, a lot of that is caught up in buying parts and supplies." the smith signed dejectedly, obviously dismayed at the limits to his creations. His face lit up though, apparently having an epiphany. "There is some way that we can reduce the cost though. Ghosts can synthesize items from slain enemies matter, right?"
Jaune looked at the man blankly. "Uhh?" the blonde turned to his ghost, who thought about if for a moment.
"Yes." Rose said finally, not sure where this gunsmith was going.
The smith nodded. "Of course. Well, I could make a ghost shell that would produce the parts needed, much like a ghost could produce Glimmer or tokens or something." Cortez explained.
Jaune nodded. "You can do that?" the smith nodded.
"Could you come back in a couple hours? The shell will be done by then."
Jaune nodded and left to wander the flowered and floraited paths once more. "Rose, keep track of this location, ok?"
Rose nodded, bobbing in the air. "Sure thing Jaune. Were you going next?"
Jaune shrugged. "No idea, You?"
Jaune returned to the gun shop later that day. Fortunately for him, it was a weekend, so his entire day was free.
"Ahh, Mr. Arc! Welcome back!" Sebastian Cortez beamed at the bell, seeing the blonde guardian return.
"Mr. Cortez, good to see you. Is the ghost done?" Jaune asked hopefully.
Sebastian nodded. "It is. Come, please. Take a look. I myself am rather pleased with the result myself." the smith said, pulling out a small wooden box. He pushed the box to the Titan, who opened it. Inside were eight metal petals, carefully crafted out of copper and bronze gears and wires. Red paint adored the sides and accents, reminiscent of asian calligraphy almost.
"It's beautiful." Rose said, hovering over the box. The smith smiled.
"It is yours then."
Jaune nodded, welling up some glimmer. "Soo, how much do I owe you?" The blonde said, ready to hand over the currency.
"This? This is free."
Jaune blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
The smith smiled again. "The shell is free. It is not every day that I get the honor of creating something so amazing, or so connected with the light. Besides, it was fun." Sebastian explained, already pushing the box into Jaunes hands. "And besides, if you do get that Warden's oath, I will recoup my losses with this gift."
Jaune tried to protest, but was quickly shut up by the smith. He left with a new ghost shell a few minutes later.
"What just happened?" Rose asked, shimmering light cascading over him until he emerged from the light, the Clockwork shell ticking quietly in the park ambiance. "What's next Rose?" Jaune asked the ghost. It thought for a moment.
"Oh yeah! We were supposed to meet the fireteam for lunch, and then spend the rest of the day with our friends!"
Jaune smiled. "Good. That is good." the blonde began his stroll once more. The thought of the time came to him.
"Wait… lunch already passed, hasn't it?" the blonde suspiciously.
Astra was angry. No, in fact she was fuming. Jaune was late, and that was unforgivable. She stared down the blonde titan as they geared up for game night.
"Where were you?" she said accusingly as the two walked down the hall to their dorm. Jaune made a small smile, shaking his head. He was truly glad that Astra cared enough about him to be angry that he did not show up for lunch with her.
"I was out in the gardens, Astra." Jaune said, his face soft.
Astra thought that Jaune always looked a little sad with that smile. She knew that Jaune struggled with his dreams sometimes. That his memories of life seemed to plague him just a little. That he had something to prove, it was what drove him to work so hard. He did almost double the crucible matches that the rest of them, and he still found time to do Star's training regiment and spend time in the tower.
Astra Night just sighed. "How do you do it Jaune?" she asked, looking at the Titan.
He looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"How do you work so hard? You do about four crucible matches a day, train with Star, and spend time in the park?" she asked, moving in front of the titan. He shrugged, still wearing that soft smile. It was so different from the grim stone hard face of determination that he wore in the crucible.
"I don't really know. I get up early?" he offered awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
Astra just sighed, shaking her head.
"You're something else, you know that?" Astra sighed, shaking her head at her blonde friend.
"Not really." The blonde said, opening the door to their dorm. "I'm nothing special. Really."
Astra shook her head once more. Jaune being nothing special? Pffft. She knew that Jaune was humble, but hot damn he was dense. He had, over the course of two months, passed all of the Titan trials and had gotten himself up to just 50 light levels below her and B0lt and Alpha. The three of them had been guardians and slowly finding higher light levels though general guardian stuff. Jaune had completed that in the span of two months. He had made it up to 950 in his light level in two months with the help of the fireteam taking him on raids and stuff. It had taken Astra almost a year to get there
"Hey, we have that excursion into the Breach tomorrow, right?" Jaune said, flopping down on their mutual sofa. Astra hummed in confirmation, changing into some comfortable houseware clothes instead of her normal tunic and armor. Jaune smiled, summoning his ghost up.
"You want to watch pre calamity cooking shows?" he asked, already pulling up the Japanese iron chef that Stryder gave him as a welcome gift.
Astra made a love sick sigh of relief. "I would love to."
Arsgoda's Breach, or better known as the Breach, was a crack in Vex spacetime that was ripped open by the Hive about a year ago, maybe a little more. But it was isolated and contained by the guardians. It was still dangerous, and Guardians were often sent in to "clean up" or fight back the encroaching Hive and temporarily shut down the Breach. Jaune ran over every bit of information he could remember about them. Croata, Thrull, Weapon types and damage, etc. etc.
It helped him get his mind off his stomach, which churned against its fleshy prison. Jaune let out a pained grumble, taking apart and putting back together his new CM Magnus. The submachine gun was his go to for missions like these nowadays. Jaune hummed to the song that played on the speakers as Stryder drove the craft. His own ship was non-existent at the moment, the rust bucket being sold for scrap. He was saving up the glimmer for A new one, but it was slow going. He often hitched a ride with Astra or Stryder for these kinds of things now.
"You doing ok, Kid?" Stryder called back to him over the ABBA song.
"As best I can…" Jaune moaned, trying to keep his lunch down.
Stryder shook his head. "Well, keep it up. We're almost at LZ."
Jaune nodded, checking his arsenal one more time. CM Magnus? Check.
Badlander? The one with snapshot and Kill clip? Check.
Caroca Mors? He summoned the trusty sword into his hands. His hand traced the scabbard that transformed into the shield that had saved his immortal life several times. His fingers dipping into the various scratches and dents in the shield.
Rose hovered next to his shoulder. "You ok, Buddy?" he asked, knowing that Jaune traced his shield when he was nervous about combat.
Jaune nodded. "Yeah, i'm fine." he said. 'I'm fine. It's going to be ok' the blonde thought to himself.
"We're here. Get ready Jaune. This will be your greatest test." Arwen said, on edge and ready for trouble.
"This should be a standard in and out. Overload the Gate Portals, and get out of dodge. Got it?" Star said over the comms.
"Hear you loud and clear, Commander." Alpha's voice came through. There was some more speculation about how the fireteam would take out the Breach.
Jaune was dropped just outside of the Breach. It was a strange thing, the Breach. It was a giant crack in the middle of space, green light pouring from it. No matter the angle one looked at it, it looked almost the same. A giant crack, 60 to 70 meters in length. A hazy sickly green mist poured from the crack, evilly beaconing all those who were foolish.
Alpha gulped. "we're going in there?" he pointed at the ominous crack in space time. Bits of debris and old satellites circles slowly around it, some even falling in and out.
"Yup." Jaune said, shouldering his shotgun. "So, who's ready to go into the crack of doom?"
Star groaned. "Why, of all people, did I agree to do this with you?"
B0lt just laughed. "Because you love us, big guy. Now come on! Last one into the dangerous crack is a rotten egg!"
Star just face palmed as the excited hunter lept from platform to platform of space junk. Jaune gave a chuckle, following the Exo. "alright then, let's mosey." Star said, his southern accent coming out sharply. The lot of them, all six of the Fireteam Huevos leap headfirst into the Breach, unknowing of what darkness was on the other side.