AN: This chapter (the part I wrote) is mostly exposition for the base of operations for the Rogues for the rest of the story. The Trial of Skolas was written by my collaborator and that section provides the action and the majority of this chapter. There is more to be explained at the end of the chapter so enjoy the chapter!
Island of Misfit Toys
Wolfe and Baldr both disembarked down the cruiser ramp onto the courtyard of the enormous Tower. Both vaguely remembered the old home of the Guardians, referred to as simply "The Tower" as being stark white and silver with banners emblazoned with the devices of all Guardian classes. Here, the color scheme consisted mostly of dark orange and midnight black with splashes of white and red in the black. The banners consisted of many various emblems and devices, most of them unknown to the newcomers. Occasionally they recognized an old emblem, such as the flaming hammer of the Sunbreakers or the white and black pattern emblazoned with the red falcon of the old Cloud Walkers.
"What is this place?" Wolfe inquired as he cast a curious eye over the gathering crowd of onlookers.
"This is a safe refuge for all those deemed unwanted." Cinder walked forward and gestured to the surrounding crowd. "These are victims of crimes perpetrated by people lesser than scum, for either personal pleasure or sick greed. Rape victims, people with unstable personalities deemed unsafe for a functioning society, or people simply down on their luck looking for a place to live and work in peace." Cinder led the newcomers through the crowd as the other Rogues dispersed talking with the crowd and sharing new battle stories. As the reborns walked through the crowd, they noticed helmets and armor and robes of Guardians intermixed with the group and stationed around the edge of the courtyard. "These are Guardians considered rogue, renegade, or damaging to the fabric of the Vanguard or Speaker's politics. Whether they harbor dark natures of death and hatred or merely posing a threat of dissension among the ranks of Guardians following the Vanguard and Speaker."
"So we do not consort with the Vanguard or the Speaker?" Baldr queried as the reached the edge of the courtyard and descended a flight of steps hidden to the right.
"I talked with your Ghosts. I do recall that neither of you were on particularly good terms with your Vanguard mentors while you were still young." Cinder stated plainly to which Wolfe shrugged. "Don't worry, I am sure your memories will return with due time. But in the meantime, I will show you our home and tell you how you will add to our collective society here." The group emerged from the staircase in a great Observatory, not unlike the Speaker's in the Tower far to their left. In the middle of the plaza was a great crater with a gyroscopic mechanism encompassing a small, blurry, hologram of a planet or moon or even the Traveler before them. "This is my Observatory, Wolfe I do expect you to come here and help me with my research and experimentation, Baldr you are more than welcome to assist if you wish."
"Egghead stuff isn't my strong suit." Baldr shrugged himself and the group continued through the plaza toward a small open air corridor.
"I figured as much." Cinder led the group into a much larger open air courtyard that was littered with bones of animals and skeletons Wolfe could only assume were Fallen and human both. Before them was a large collective of Grimm of various sizes and breed: King Taijitu were curled together in one corner, a pack of Beowolves closer on their right, Ursas fighting over the corpse before them, a pride of Nemeaus of varying sizes from house cat to a head shorter than Aslan. Behind the group, Aslan was leading the companion of Baldr into the living area and at the far end Daemon landed heavily just inside the railing. "This is the home of our Grimm companions. While they are not as hunted as they were before the Golden Age, many Guardians and remnants of our old civilization still kill them in sport. We as do a good many of the regular Guardians recognize these creatures as equals on the plains of battle and accept a mutually beneficial alliance against the invading hordes." Both nodded in awe of the collection of seemingly friendly Grimm before Cinder spoke up again. "Baldr I would require you to embark on regular patrols of the Southern Shore and out across the bay. These Grimm will be your primary companions however civilians and other Guardians will occasionally accompany you for various reasons." Baldr nodded.
Behind the group an enormous screen glowed with rich purple and a Golden logo of a sun with lines supposedly representing a crown of sorts. A familiar voice came over the sound system in the courtyard.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Reef, The Last City, and The Towers. I do bid you all good day and wish to inform you that shortly we will provide coverage for the Trial of the Traitor Kell Skolas of the House of Wolves. As you know Skolas escaped captivity some months ago and sought to combine the powers of Houses Winter, Devils, and Kings, under the Wolf Banner with the remnants of his own house to seek revenge on both the Reef and the City. Many Guardians answered our call of support to which we owe many thanks and one in particular for the capture of Skolas atop the Vex Citadel in the Ishtar Sink on Venus. We take you now to the holding cell of the Prison of Elders where Fireteam Coalition of the North Tower of the City awaits the trail." Petra's voice cut off as the screen shifted to a security cam footage showing the Fireteam from earlier sitting in a circle in the middle of the room checking their weaponry. Petra came back on to announce the Fireteam members before they entered the arena. "Leader of Fireteam Coalition, Diana of the Firebreak Order!" Diana stood up and waved to the camera and gave a long, deep bow. "Next, Hailing from the Order of Praxic Fire, Phoenix-7!" Phoenix gave a flourish of robes as she leapt to her feet and waved at the camera. "And of course, the ever mysteriously Junko, daughter of great Vanguard Mentor Commander Zavala!" Junko gave a small nod and wave from where she was seated. From here, Variks's sly hissing voice came over the speakers.
"Thank you Petra. Assss mentioned, thisss isss the Trail of Skolassss Kell of Kellssss. Let out combatantssss have a moment to prepare and we ssssshall sssend them to face him." Variks's voice drew out the "s" sound of every word he spoke and was accompanied by several clicks. Within the holding cell, the Fireteam had grouped together to prepare for their deathmatch.
"This should be fun." Cinder commented to Baldr and Wolfe as their Grimm companions drew up behind them, their blood red eyes affixed to the screen as well. "Bets from anyone?" Cinder called to the small crowd entering the courtyard to watch the bloodsport on the screen. Immediately Glimmer started changing hands as the spectators began placing bets on the outcome, the Trial's length, and the number of deaths the Guardians would suffer. Emerald, Mercury and Neo all entered the plaza and strode over to the other Rogues.
"My Hawkmoon on Skolas winning the Trial." Emerald stated plainly to Wolfe who considered his options. "And if I win, I get the first two exotic pieces of armor you find in your expeditions."
"Deal." Wolfe shook her hand. "I have a pretty good feeling that I will have a nice new gun of my own within the hour." Emerald smirked.
"Those Guardians may be powerful, but they don't stand a chance against any true threat to the Light. Did you know that Cinder was the one to destroy the Heart of the Black Garden and Mercury and I were with her when we destroyed Crota, Hive God?" Wolfe shook his head and Emerald smirked again. "Let this be a lesson, any Guardians who blindly follow the Vanguard and the Speaker are weak. We, who stand against the will of the few, are strong."
"Point taken." Wolfe acknowledged.
"Chest of gems that there are at least two Guardian deaths." Baldr leaned over to Cinder and Mercury, both of whom laughed. "If I win, I get a shotgun and a scout rifle. Of my choice." Mercury and Cinder exchanged amused looks.
"Both the chest and the crown you picked up to us that says there are no deaths on that Fireteam." Cinder stated. Baldr accepted and shook hands with both gamblers.
"You should know that that team is a powerhouse." Mercury stated with a smile on his face. "They spearheaded that hunt across three worlds, don't discount them so easily as Emerald does." Mercury smirked and sat in a seat pushed behind him by some of the surrounding civilians. Everyone in the plaza was focused on the screen now: Human, Faunus, Awoken, Exo, Guardian, and Grimm alike. Wolfe jumped up and glided to a seat between the shoulder blades of Daemon behind him to give him an elevated view of the screen and the fight that was about to ensue.
The three Guardians of Fireteam Coalition rested easy within the safe confines of the airlock that led into the Prison of Elders. It has been two weeks since their last arena match against the Cabal. As what Diana and many Titans call Space Turtles because of their faint resemblance as turtles and their slow but persistent advance towards their opposing front.
Junko had her helmet removed and placed beside her as she was sharpening her knife along a blade stone she acquired back from the perimeter of her prowling grounds of the Cosmodrome. Even though she was part of a fireteam, she would sometimes wander around the ruins of the old cosmodrome to think or take her mind off of things.
Phoenix meanwhile was looking at a small orb of Void Light floating in her right hand, her blue recitals staring right into the abyss of destruction while seated on the floor of the airlock. "Last fight in the prison seemed to be alright," She brought up to her team clenching her open palm into a fist, the Void Light surrounding her fist.
Diana laughed at her fellow Guardian and patted her on the back. "Val Aru'un wasn't that bad. He got what was coming to him. A Titan knuckle sandwich to the face," The Titan replied positively.
"That was after you got stomped to death from the Val himself," Junko quietly added in with her knife now being spun around between her fingers. "After I got your ass up, you got so pissed that you tackled him to the ground and started pummeling him in the face before the helmet was dented enough to almost show his face."
Diana chuckled nervously at the Hunter and sighed smiling. "Hey, he got what was coming to him. That was after you gave him a solar slug to the face with your Golden Gun."
Junko smiled at her leader continuing to sharpen her knife. "Hoshi and I estimated that he still had at least a quarter of his life left. Your pummelling did the rest."
Diana couldn't help but beam at the recognition she was given. "Aww thanks. But we all did well."
The Titan then grabbed her helmet from the ground and placed it over her head. "C'mon, you guys. Variks should be calling us to get ready soon. Ready up guys." Reaching behind her, Diana pulled up her Suros Regime and hefted it over her shoulder.
The Awoken Hunter sheathed her knife away and placed her Celestial Nighthawk helmet back on. She grasped her MIDA Multi-Tool and stood up pulling her hood over. "Rog."
The Exo hefted the Bad Juju in both hands. If anyone could see the look behind her helmet, she was grinning with glee. "Gladly."
The intercom soon rang out in the airlock catching the attention of Coalition. "Guardians, it is time. Be ready. This will be most eventful, yes?"
They all nodded and walked towards the door leading towards the Fallen Arena. "Be ready. Fallen of the Wolf Banner prepare for battle. They will try to kill you before you slay their Kell. Kill them back, Guardians," Variks told them with the door opening for them.
The Guardians nodded as they slowly strode through the corridor. Pieces of Fallen objects were scattered everywhere on the floor. "I guess this is the moment of truth then." Diana placed her hand on Junko's shoulder making the Hunter glance at her. "Make your old man proud, alright?"
"There's no doubt dad'll be overjoyed to hear the news of us," Junko replied, softly pulling the bolt of her rifle.
The Titan could feel the excitement literally radiating from the Voidwalker, shaking with glee. "A Kell... No one will believe us back home."
Their leader laughed, hefting the Suros into both hands. "Well, let's make this happen then."
The door before them soon opened to the Fallen Arena. It was fairly similar to the layout of the Cosmodrome with pieces of ruined ships buried in the sand. The faint purple hue of the Reef shone in giving an eerie look to it. And in front of them was a large dome with the House of Judgement's sigil adorned on it.
"The big guy is in there," Junko whispered softly, muscle instinct already tuning in with, MIDA already raised up to fire first.
"Then let's start this party. Variks? We're ready," Diana replied back, raising a hand into the air to hold her teammates back. Junko and Phoenix nodded and got ready to engage once she would give the order.
A deep sigh was heard through the intercom with hissing coming from dome. "You face Skolas, the Traitor Kell of the Wolves," Variks announced with spite in his voice.
The Guardians crouched slightly and prepared to move as the dome went down. Before them was the Fallen Kell they captured back on Venus. That was when he declared that his House would stand forever. After all, he did steal Vex technology from the machines themselves. Sadly for him, it wasn't enough.
Diana gritted her teeth seeing Skolas roaring at them with a Scorch Cannon hefted over his shoulders. "I agree with Petra. We should've ended him back on Venus. He was seconds away from getting my fist in his face," The Titan thought darkly.
Skolas began chittering and snarling in the Fallen language, pointing at the Fireateam before pointing up in rage. Phoenix herself began her own series of chittering at Skolas while he snarled back with a curt nod at them. Every sound that left the Voidwalker's mouth had her movement become slightly feral, almost to that of the Fallen themselves. "Phoenix? Translate," Junko asked the Warlock, already aiming at the Wolf Kell.
Phoenix scoffed with her gaze glaring at Skolas. "He called us Filth of the Traveler, and that we aren't worthy to be called Guardians of the City. Once he has dealt with us, he will personally rip the Queen in half."
"And you?" The Titan asked.
"I told him that he is not worthy to be Kell of Wolves, and that he is nothing but a worthless insect."
"Ouch."
Diana then clenched her hand into a fist and nodded. "Engage!" She shouted as they began to fire upon the Wolf Kell. But much to their dismay, only small dings, dents, and scratches peppered his armor and skin with each bullet landing on him. "Fucker! He's probably made outta plasteel platting anyway!"
Skolas began to laugh manically, firing shots of solar energy directly at them, hoping to land some hits on the Guardians.
"Move it!" Diana ordered and started running to the left. Her team obeyed her command and they ran together, Scorch Cannon rockets impacting near them as they sprinted to the left side of the arena. "Come one! We have to-Oh Shit!"
What surprised Junko and Phoenix was that Diana fell onto her back after what seems to be a faint glowing purple light floating in front of them. " What the hell is that?" Junko muttered aiming her gun at it.
"Must be a Stealth Servitor. To give ether to wounded Fallen," Phoenix answered her friend, looking in awe at the invisible machine. "Oh my gosh, I've never seen such a thing before!"
"Phoenix! Now's not the time to fangirl on me!" Diana shouted, snapping the Exo out of her state. The Titan pulled her Secret Handshake Shotgun from her back and shoved the barrel into the Servitor before squeezing the trigger. Pellets started flying within the machine in seconds, one shell after the other destroying the insides. The Servitor let out a loud shriek before exploding with ether escaping.
The Fireateam heard a loud yell from Skolas with some words appearing on the lower left of their vision. "Servitor bonds weakened?" Junko questioned "Hoshi can you explain this?".
They then heard a whoosh from behind them and turned around and shouted in shock. Phoenix jumped into Junko's arms with a startled squeak. "Traveler's mercy!" She shouted. The Wolf Kell was right there roaring.
Junko dropped Phoenix without a care and quickly went down on her knee and drew her Efridet's Spear sniper aiming square onto his head. The scope already had a fix on his head and she didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. The loud familiar crack filled Junko's ears with the round landing on his head.
Skolas shrieked in pain with his left arms reaching upwards and held his head where the bullet impacted. He snarled at them while aiming his Scorch Cannon at them. Junko's eyes closed and she raised her left arm up bracing herself for the explosion while Phoenix got up in front of her to shield her comrade, her own eyes closed.
But all they heard was a muffled sound and Skolas snarling in protest. They opened their eyes and they relaxed themselves. Diana was in front of them in a crouched position, hands outstretched to the side. Around them was a dome of Void Light as Scorch Cannon rods tried to penetrate through the barrier. Diana looked behind and nodded. "You guys alright?"
Phoenix stood up with a hand on her butt rubbing it. "Fine. But she dropped me right on my ass," She complained, grabbing Bad Juju from the ground.
"Sorry. But I saved both of our hides from being fried from the bastard!" Junko retorted, resuming her sights on the Wolf Kell's head.
Diana shook her head laughing. "Even when we're in the field, you guys always seem to argue," She mumbled, not in annoyance, but in humour. "But guys, I think of whatever we did, we managed to put a dent in Skolas. Phoenix? Can you provide insight?" The Titan asked whilst the Wolf Kell growled before he teleported away from them.
"Very well. Judging from that Servitor, it seemed to have some sort of bond with the Wolf Kell. Before it was destroyed, our weapons barely even damaged him. But the damage right now had impact," Phoenix explained keeping an eye on Skolas who just stood not far away with Wolves rallying beside him. "I suspect that he has more of those Servitors nearby."
"So if we break them."
"We break him."
Diana nodded and heard the whining of her shield indicating it would be going down soon. "Alright. Let's move it guys. Phoenix? You're on Servitor duty. Me and Junko will keep Skolas's attention on us."
"We will?" Junko mumbled with an eyebrow raised.
Before Diana could answer, the Ward of Dawn soon went down and shouts were heard with a blue line zipping past her face. "Yes! Now move!"
Phoenix was already on the move as she blinked off of the ledge they were on to search for any other Servitors in the area. Diana and Junko ran towards available cover and started to blind fire at the Wolves. "You know this is a pretty stupid idea, right?!" Junko shouted at the Titan, peering out from cover, blowing a head off a Vandal trying to pick them off.
"Better then no plan at all!" Diana shouted back. Standing up, she fired at the approaching Dregs who were charging right for them with Shock Knives and Pistols. Diana felt the recoil from each bullet fired from the Suros Regime fly out nailing their marks with ease. "How I love you, Suros."
"Guys! I got another one of those Servitors! Hit the traitor Kell!" Phoenix shouted in their connected comms as they heard a small explosion.
The Titan and Hunter nodded together and unloaded what they had on Skolas. Junko was firing as fast as her Efrideet's could fire, every three bullets hitting the Wolf Kell right in the face. Diana suppressed both Wolves and Kell alike. She concentrated her energy into her left hand. "Grenade out!" She relayed before throwing her hand forward. A small ball of Void Light came out of her hand and hurled itself towards Skolas. A grin formed behind her face when it landed on the Kell and stuck. "Three, two, one." The grenade exploded with a small vortex coming out and compressed upon Skolas.
"Heads up!" The two looked up to see the Voidwalker blinking upwards.
"She's insane," Junko commented as they saw Void Light glowing around the Exo's figure.
"She's our insane Warlock," Diana corrected for her.
Phoenix gather as much Light as she could into her right arm staring down at Skolas. "You will fall, Wolf Kell!" She screamed catching the attention of the Wolves. They all looked up to see her. Phoenix thrusted her arm forward. Void Light shone bright in her palm before it launched heading towards them. The orb soon impacted on Skolas making him recoil back. Some Wolves around their Kell were caught in the explosion and were disintegrated, fading away into the ether.
Skolas growled proceeding to slam his foot on the ground with a low sounding roar. He begun chanting in Eliksni with laughing accompanying him. "Phoenix? What is he doing?" Diana questioned still firing at the Wolves advancing on her and Junko's position.
"Give me a second... I shall taint your Light, Guardians. And you will choke on your precious Light- AHHHHHHH!" Phoenix screamed in pain.
Diana saw from her spot that she collapsed onto her hands and knees. A myriad of green lights started emitting from her. "Phoenix! Status, Phoenix!"
"It hurts... S-Skolas... Help..." Phoenix managed to whimper out trying her best to crawl towards cover from the Wolves she now attracted.
"Motherfucker," Diana growled herself before she vaulted over her cover rushing towards her teammate. "Stay where you are, Phoenix! I'm coming!" She shouted, tackling through the Wolves that tried to stop her.
"You're gonna get yourself killed, Diana," Junko whispered to herself before popping a Captain's head off.
Diana managed to get over to her suppressed teammate and created a new Ward of Dawn around them. "Phoenix! Phoenix look at me!"
Phoenix coughed loudly as she struggled to stand up, only able to get to her knees. "I'm... I'm fine... I can still fight, Diana. Skolas won't get away with it." She gripped on Bad Juju as tightly as she could.
"Get on your feet, Phoenix. I need you." Diana made to grab her hand to lift her up. But Phoenix waved her off shaking her head.
Phoenix noticed that the pain in her body rapidly growing and she knew she couldn't let Diana take this curse just yet. "Diana...not yet…" Phoenix's eyes shut off and she slumped to the ground, the tainting of her Light sapping the last of her energy.
"FUCK!" Diana started off swearing before groaning. Skolas, now that he had taken his first victim, recited the chant and it was Diana's turn to have her Light twisted. "Now I can see why it was a bitch to carry..."
Phoenix's Ghost, Wheatley appeared and began weaving her Light back together, although it was a very slow process. "I shall mend her soon enough, you must defeat the Kell before you are subjected to this horrible fate." Diana nodded and prepared to hunker down to provide her own Light for the resurrection process. Within a few seconds Phoenix stood back up resurrected like an phoenix from fire like her namesake.
"What did I miss?" Phoenix almost dropped the Titan and turned around to see Junko behind them. She now had her MIDA in hand ready to fire once the Ward goes down.
"Not important right now. Jun... How's Skolas doing?" Diana asked, panting hard from the poison coursing through her.
Junko took a quick look at the Wolf Kell who was only staring right at them. "He's not doing so hot either, Diana."
"Then... Fuck... Let's end him now..." Diana told them.
"How? You're in no condition to fight," Phoenix told her.
"Don't you guys remember? I'm a damn Titan... And we don't stop doing our job no matter what happens to us. We fight... And I'm a Guardian... And Guardians don't run..." Diana panted. She then grinned from behind her helmet and laughed softly. "Hey? You guys got your Supers again?"
"Had my shot for a long time. Been waiting for you to tell me when to use it," Junko replied.
"Nova Bomb is almost ready. My Light should hold."
Diana nodded as she stared at the Kell before them. "Junko? Hold my hand once you fire."
"What? And why would I do that here in all of the other places?" The Hunter questioned.
"Just do it once you do. I have a vague understanding of the stuff that was hurting Phoenix," The Titan told her.
"Whatever. Phoenix? Bomb?"
"In about twenty seconds."
"Shield's down in ten."
"Ready. My mark, you guys will fire," Diana muttered to them. Her chest began to feel heavy as the seconds passed on by.
"Shield down in five."
"Mark!"
Junko closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Her body soon started radiating heat from her and glowed a bright orange. She brought her hand up snapping her eyes widen open. A flaming sniper rifle appeared in her right hand and supported in her left. and she aimed it at Skolas. "Eat Solar, kuso yarō." She squeezed the trigger of the Golden Gun and a bullet, ripe with Solar Energy, flew out and impacted Skolas on the right arm. He screamed in pain while the Wolves started charging right for them now.
"Junko! Give me your hand!" Diana shouted at her as the Ward went down.
The Hunter groaned and ran over reaching her hand out. "I hope you know what you're doing- SHIT!"
Diana had an apologetic smile hidden behind her helm as she ran forward. "I'll explain later! I owe you one!" She kept her arms tight to her body tackling through the ranks of the Wolves once again. "Phoenix! Mark!"
"With pleasure!" The Exo gripped her right palm into a fist, allowing a whole lot more Void Light forming within. "Skolas... You shall be judged now!" Phoenix proclaimed and hurled her Nova Bomb. Unlike the last one, this one had a higher velocity, and made contact with him. Skolas growled from this and came back with a vengeance firing his Scorch Cannon at her. Phoenix took the full brunt of the rod and shouted as her body was disintegrated in the Solar Energy.
Diana felt her rage take over her going out into a full sprint to the Wolf Kell. "Fucker! I'm gonna kill you!" The Titan jumped into the air and used her Lift to propel herself up above him. She collected as much Void Energy as she could into her fist as she used the remainder of her Lift to rocket towards the Kell. "Eat this!"
Diana threw her fist forward when she neared Skolas. A deafening crack was heard through the Fallen Arena when the fist collided with Skolas's skull. The momentum behind her descent allowed her fist to created a large dent in his skull. When she landed on the ground, Diana rolled forward into a crouched position. A loud groan came from the Wolf Kell before he fell backwards beside the Titan. Ether smoked out from his eyes, leaking at a rapid rate. Diana stood up and walked over to him nodding. "I'll see you in hell." She then smashed her fist into his head again.
Skolas's roar echoed among the walls of the arena as his final lament. The blue light in his eyes faded away with the ether within escaping his body. Diana was panting heavily and fell backwards staring at the ceiling. "You have done it, Guardians. The Traitor Kell has been slain by your efforts."
With the death of Skolas, his remaining forces fled for the cells on the edge of the arena disappearing behind locked doors. The Light was corrected and Junko pushed herself off the floor and over to where Wheatley was diligently repairing Phoenix again. Without the dark power of Skolas hanging over the arena, the Light was powerful enough to allow Phoenix to stand once again in the land of the living. Brushing herself off she started to laugh at the body of Skolas and Diana coated in the purple sheen of the Eliksni blood.
Both Wolfe and Baldr were screaming their approval with the rest of the crowd except for Emerald who merely had a scowl. Mercury cat called at the monitor and Cinder clapped calmly but happily at the triumph that had been won in the blood bath. After the initial jubilation, some onlookers' smiles twisted as they remembered the bets they had unfortunately made. Wolfe held out a hand to Emerald while his other was curled into a fist and he coughed to announce that he was ready for his spoils. Emerald pulled two identical guns from thin air and tossed one to Wolfe.
"Don't let this win get to your head. I will win many many more times and you will owe me quite a bit." Emerald stalked from the courtyard down a new set of stairs undoubtedly to the quarters.
"Yeah! Two weapons of my choice!" Baldr's face held an ear-to-ear smile as he danced in front of the two elder Rogues. "I would like to examine the catalogue please." Cinder and Mercury both sighed heavily and produced their stores of shotguns and scout rifles. Selecting a solid and sturdy silver, yellow, and blue scout rifle from Cinder and a purple and gold accented shotgun from Mercury, he began to test the weights.
"The Boolean Gemini is a prototype weapon from the Queen's personal stores that allows you do empower yourself in one of two different ways and is customizable to your choosing." Cinder explained as Baldr started feeding the information to his Ghost, Freyja, so she may store it for him.
"That is the Queen's Benevolence. Outfitted with a fully automatic toggle switch, Arc Light pellet modifier, and unique Fallen ability suppression systems." Mercury explained somewhat sourly to his comrade. "Great for use against Fallen Captains and Vandals especially." Baldr nodded to both Rogues and thanked them for the bet. Both smirked as Emerald had done and waved him off.
"Sir, our scouts have reported that the Rogues have two new reborn Guardians accompany them into Grimm Tower shortly before the Trial of Skolas. It is unclear as to who they are yet as reports are still unconfirmed as to any new Ghosts discovering Light laden bodies." The man in armor reported to another who bent over the desk before him. The bent man simply nodded and waved the man away. A fist clenched on the schematic of the Traveler before him.
AN: There we have it. The new chapter that took way too long to write. The Yuma Tower, or Grimm Tower, was a concept dreamt up by the inclusion of the Bannerfall map in Taken King and the realization that I would need a base close to the Traveler for the Ghosts' sake. Much more of the Tower will be explored in the upcoming chapters as more of the usefulness is discovered. The Tower itself sits in the bay of Vale (which is the site of the Last City with The Tower being built atop Beacon) and served as port to fishing ships and refugees from across the seas.
The Grimm serve as tentative allies to all within the Last City and the Guardians (except for a small group called Traditionalists) against the invading hordes to their homeworld. This alliance stems from the idea that Grimm are born from Shadows, where the Light is unable to illuminate, rather than Darkness, where no Light can ever hope to reach. The Grimm can form a mental link with their allied Guardians through telepathy within the Ghosts, although some Grimm have evolved to learn the ability to speak with humans and Faunus. This is a concept I thought of while browsing through concept art with Guardians accompanied by tigers. These tigers eventually became the designs of the mask, emblems, Crucible accolades, and Old Guard armor. However I do hope they add the animal companions within the game when the game is able to allow it, could be a lot of fun and will open up ideas that will be shown here.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed and want updates on new chapters, please fave and follow. If you have any questions, concern, ideas, or similar please leave a review or PM me.
...God I sound like a YouTube channel...