*Legend 6*
South Moon Under
...
"Light be with you, Guardians." Cayde-6 dismissed the group of chaperons and recruits at large. The Vanguard hall was soon filled with the sounds of turning footfalls and nervous and excited voices. Yang made sure to stay as close as she could behind Blake as to not lose her in the rabble. Which wasn't all that difficult; she just kept her eyes on the girl's cat ears...those cute little fuzzy things on the top of her head.
In no time at all, they had reached the hangar bay. However, with the sudden crush of departing humanity that had suddenly filled it's confines, it was looking to be quite the wait until they could actually reach Blake's ship. In the time they spent waiting for the line to move, Yang's nerves, which were well hidden behind her mask of playful confidence up until now, were starting to catch up to her. She swung her long yellow-blonde hair around her shoulder and stroked it's length against her belly. Blake caught her partner's nervous reflex from the corner of her eye, having seen Yang take to the same action waiting for her name to be called during recruitment appraisal. "Nervous?" She asked her.
Yang immediately let go her hair, letting it cascade down her back again. "Me? Nervous? Ha! Yang Xiao Long doesn't do nervous."
Yang's attempt to save face fell flat to the keen Faunus. "Oh, you are definitely nervous," Blake said. "But there's no reason for you to be, you are partnered with me after all."
From all of her past interactions with Blake, which were very few, the Faunus had presented herself as nothing but mild-mannered and well-spoken. This declaration of confidence that Yang should clearly be having in her, took her aback a little at first. But if she were to have confidence in Blake, Yang would first need confidence in herself.
She stood up a little straighter.
The sounds of the hangar bay were everywhere around them now; the echo of voices; the clang of machinery; the roar of many jump ship engines. Blake flattened her sensitive cat ears against her head, as to shut out the extra noise. And then finally, they were next in line to retrieve their ship. With a loud whirring and clanking of cogs and gears, Blake's jump ship was presented. "Ooh," Yang said. "The Fangs of Nyx."
"The White Fang, that's her name," Blake confirmed. "Adam, the transmat please."
Transmatting. Yang was never comfortable with the whole process. Having her molecules scrambled up and fit together again. What if the Ghost got it wrong? Put her together upside down or something? In any case, if it messed up her hair somehow, she would be sure to make it the target of her next Fist of Havoc.
But before Yang could even prepare for the event, there was a flash of blue, and the blink of an eye later, she was in the passenger seat of the ship. It was actually quite spacious, more so than Yang would have thought. She crossed her legs right over left and stretched her arms on the headrest. "Roomy," she said.
Blake was busy with the pre-flight checklist. "The White Fang can accommodate up to three passengers at a time. This modification was necessary seeing as I used to ferry Guardian recruits back and forth on their early missions."
"So you had a whole 'Soccer Mom' thing going on?" Was Yang's response.
Blake scowled into the rear view mirror at the cheeky Titan. Just then, the flight hand spoke through Blake's Ghost, "White Fang registered to miss Blake Belladonna, you are clear for take off. Light be with you."
Blake brought the ship's engines up to power as their hum reverberated through the cockpit. They were soon at full capacity and the ship rocketed off into the stratosphere. Yang was sure to tighten up her posture in the back seat. The one thing jump ships didn't have equipped, were seat belts. The Ghost, Adam appeared by Blake's head. "Maximum escape velocity achieved. Breaking orbit in 5...4...3...2...1..." And with a lurch, the ship had entered open space.
Blake took over the controls as she set a course for The Moon. The coordinates set, the engines settled into a brisk propulsion that would see then to their destination quite comfortably. Blake leaned back in her seat. "We should reach The Moon in about thirty minutes," she said. Of course she could activate the warp drive and be there in thirty seconds, but she wanted to use this time wisely, to get to know her partner better. "Care to help me pass the time?"
"How?" Yang asked back.
"By telling me about yourself."
Yang chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. "Well, I was born on Earth, in North America to be exact. Life was pretty ordinary for a while, until The Traveler showed up that is. So dad and mom, who was pregnant with Ruby at the time, picked up stakes to go see where it landed over in the New UK. It was then that everything changed; when the Guardians were born. Dad discovered his Gunslinger semblance, and mom discovered her Blade Dancer's. Six months after that, I turned two and then Ruby was born.
"I was old enough by then to think for myself, and I of course loved my new sister dearly, but I also knew that she didn't look like me. That's when dad told me that the woman who had raised me wasn't my real mother..." There was a pause here, as Yang stared somberly through the window at open space for a bit.
"There wouldn't be time for questions though, because that's when The Fallen attacked. They started springing up all over Earth. And of course, the Guardians were called into action. Mom and dad were the first generation of Guardians to fight against The Fallen. They formed a fire team with dad's brother, Qrow.
"Then they left for a mission one day, We didn't see them again for another forty-eight hours. When they did come home...they were a member short. Ruby rushed right into dad's arms. We were both relived to see him and our uncle, but Ruby kept asking, 'Where's Mommy?' dad didn't have the answer. They just hugged each other and cried.
"That was when both Ruby and I decided to dedicate our lives to becoming Guardians, and why I'm here today."
A heavy and somber silence fell over the cabin then. Yang pausing to reflect on the memories of her inspiration for Guardianship, and Blake trying to absorb everything the girl just said. Just then, Blake leaned forward and plucked something that was tied around her rear view mirror. It was a pendant on a chain about six inches long. Blake held it close to her heart as she began to recite silent words to her self. Yang didn't have to ask what Blake was saying, she already knew just by looking at the pendant. "You're a Travelist?"
A Travelist was a member of a new neo religion that had sprung up recently based around The Traveler called, "Travelocity". As The Traveler had come to the Earth from parts unknown and bestowed upon humanity fantastic powers and knowledge, there was next to no hope of explaining what it did, or how it did it. Many believed it to be a divine being from some eternal cosmic plane, and hence, took to worshiping it as a god. And Blake was one of them.
"Yes, I am indeed a Travelist," Blake said. She let the sentence hang a moment before saying more quietly, "That doesn't bother you...does it?"
"Of course not!" Yang said honestly. Yang and Ruby were taught by their father to praise The Traveler, and know it to be responsible for the miracle of their Guardian abilities and the wonders of their Golden Age. However, as far as joining the religion... Yang took this moment to maybe turn the tables of this conversation. She leaned forward, peeking her head around the headrest of Blake's seat and said, "Your turn."
Blake looked confused for just a moment. "My turn to..."
"Tell me about you," Yang said. "What's your life story?"
Blake chuckled a bit. "Well, I was born on Venus, and-"
Blake was cut off by her Ghost, Adam. "We will be arriving at our destination in five minutes time. Please initiate landing procedures."
Yang braced herself against the back seat again as Blake took the controls. "I guess I'll have to get that story out of you another time, kitty kat."
"Bet on it," Was the response.
The White Fang shuddered a bit as it pierced through The Moon's atmosphere (yes, The Moon now had an atmosphere, thanks to The Traveler.) And in no time they were flying low over it's gray planes. "Find us a landing zone, Adam," Blake ordered her Ghost.
"Got one. Just thirty clicks north. We should be just outside the colony that The Fallen have raided."
Blake let the ship's subroutines handle the final approach as it settled to a level just above the ground beneath them. The two girls were transmatted to the ground, and the White Fang sped off into orbit.
Yang took a slow look around, although there wasn't really much to see. Golden Age or no, The Moon was still just a big gray rock.
Blake, having been to The Moon too many times for it to make an impression on her anymore, took to readying her weaponry, which Adam kindly transmatted into being. Her primary weapon, the Black Suros SWB-42 pulse rifle; her special weapon, the Suros MKB-51 shotgun (solar affinity); and the Deacon RS/3 rocket launcher (Arc Affinity).
"Nice load out," Yang said. "You and my sister are both about that pulse rifle life."
Blake stowed the pulse rifle in question on her back. "They say a Guardian's chosen weapon tells you a lot about them," She said. She looked over Yang's weapon of choice. "What about you, Yang, why the hand cannon?"
Yang looked to her weapon, the Duke MK.10. "I know all there is to know about fighting, so there's no sense in going down that same old road again," Blake waited for Yang to continue.
"But to beat your opponents, you need speed; hand cannons don't have it. And they don't have stability to take a pounding; so rapid firing is out. And with the weight of my armor, I can't really move quickly; so hard running is out.
"So what hand cannons call upon, is good old-fashioned blunt force trauma; horsepower. Heavy duty, cast-iron, pile drivin' bullets, that have to hurt so much they'll rattle your ancestors. Every time I hit you with a shot-" Yang let off a round from her weapon, it's blasting echo bouncing of the mounds around them- "It's gonna feel like you tried kissing the express train." Yang violently flicked her head one way, then the other, cracking the vertebra in her neck. "YEAH!" At this point, Blake was amply motivated, and just a little intimidated by Yangs' intensity. "Let's start throwin' some hurtin' bombs!" Yang finished.
Blake was silent for a time, in which a smile of disbelief and understanding crossed her face. 'Only a Titan could think like that' she thought to herself. But it was then that she wanted to make a speech herself. "Yang, before we begin the mission, do you think you could join me in a prayer?"
Admittedly, having been amped up by her own speech, Yang wanted to get to fighting right away, less her sudden spike of adrenaline wear off. But a prayer to The Traveler couldn't really hurt, and she wanted to respect Blake's religion. "Yeah, I can do that," she said.
Blake stepped up to Yang and took her hands in her own. Yang was familiar with this particular prayer and closed her eyes as Blake began. It was called "The Pact of Protection" a plea to The Traveler to keep it's ever watchful eyes over the Guardians about to plunge themselves into mortal conflict:
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality.
Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all
Infinite in distance, and unbound by death
I release your soul
And by my shoulder, protect thee."
Blake opened her eyes, to be met by Yang's beautiful lilac orbs. Just a small moment passed, the two girls with hands and eyes locked. "Traveler's Light," Blake said, in closing of the prayer.
"Traveler's Light," Yang echoed.
Blake let go Yang's hands and called to her Ghost. "Adam, My Sparrow." Blake's personal transport appeared before her.
It was just a little bit sleeker than other models Yang had seen in stores, and it was colored a glossy midnight black. As Blake mounted up, a problem had suddenly made itself apparent. "There's no way we're both fitting on that thing," Yang said.
Blake gave Yang a confident and knowing smile. "Adam, my spare, please." And the Ghost transmatted a second Sparrow into being, this one noticeably less glorious than Blake's sleek custom model; a old standard S-10. Blake gestured to the vehicle, inviting Yang to mount up. "Ever ride a Sparrow before?" Blake asked with a friendly challenge in her voice.
Yang slung her leg over the seat and expertly placed her feet in the boost stirrups. "Once or twice," was the confident answer.
"Alright," Blake said, suddenly all business."Our destination is actually very close; just over the ridge and two clicks from there. There's an outpost just under the orbital accelerator that was the first target of The Fallen, that's where we'll start."
"Roger that!" Yang said.
Blake smiled again. "Oh, Yang, try to do one thing for me," she said.
"What's that?"
"Try to keep up!"
Blake gunned the throttle on her Sparrow, leaving Yang behind in just a mildly stunned instant before she was hot on her trail. Yang was slightly surprised to find she caught up to Blake rather easily, Maybe she was just going easy on her. Yang pulled up right behind Blake, keeping her eyes locked on the girl's long, dark hair that billowed out behind her in the wind. But just when Yang had drawn even with her, was when Blake abruptly slammed on her brakes. Yang followed suit, disappointed with the sudden end to their little race. She kicked her Sparrow into reverse and joined up with Blake. "What happened?" She asked her.
Blake didn't answer at first, her eyes were locked on something that Yang could just barely make out over the crest of the mound she was staring at. "What is that...?" It was only then that she seemed to realize Yang was there. "Sorry, it's just that... thing..."
"Okay, you lost me at 'sorry'," Yang said. "Do you see the enemy?"
Blake dismounted her Sparrow and cautiously crept around the hill. Yang followed, wondering what had possibly gotten in to her partner. Blake stopped just at the edge of a valley that the mounds of this plain formed and gasped. Yang spoke the words that were lost to Blake at the moment. "What...the hell..is that?"
The answer to that question, eluded them both, and anyone else that happened to be seeing what they were at the moment.
The structure they stared at was immense. It was completely jet-black in color and pulsed with a multitude of seemingly bio-luminescent lights. The thing was widest at it's base and sharpened down to a thin point that was currently facing upwards into the sky. And strangest of all, this thing, this...machine...seemed to be breathing. It let out a rhythmic rushing hum that sounded eerily close to a creature of this size breathing in it's sleep. Needless to say, the girls had never see anything like this before.
Just then, there was the sound of movement. Blake pulled Yang down behind the mound for cover. "What's out there?" Yang said in a strained whisper.
Blake focused her extraordinary hearing as she wigged her cat ears about a bit to hone in on what could be the source of the disturbance. But what she heard didn't make sense."It sounds like...Fallen," she said with confusion.
"Fallen?" Yang echoed. "Do you think they could have built a new kind of machine?"
Blake shook her head. "That machine is definitely no technology of theirs...or ours."
The girls steeled their resolve and slowly raised themselves to peer over the mound they were behind. The Fallen that Blake had identified were busy chattering and poking about the mysterious machine. Apparently, they were as curious about it as Yang and Blake were. "Adam, can you get a good scan from here?" Blake asked her Ghost.
"No," The Ghost answered. "The object is just out of range. The Fallen aren't helping matters either."
"What do you think we should do?" Yang asked her partner. "Leave The Fallen to it?"
Blake was torn. Investigating this strange machine, and hence engaging The Fallen in the process, seriously deviated from their mission. On the other hand, this anomaly was too tempting to pass up looking into.
Unfortunately for Blake though, the decision was soon made for them.
Suddenly there were panicked screams of surprised aggression from The Fallen, mixed with a new sound. Rounds of alien weaponry sprayed in all directions during the violent and confused melee. And in no time at all, The Fallen were overwhelmed by the new and unfamiliar force. Blake gave into curiosity and poked her head over the mound. What she saw there froze her in place. Yang could sense her partner's apprehension and joined her overlooking the scene. What they both saw there, they couldn't explain.
Near the mouth of the huge device, was a creature unfamiliar to not only their own eyes, but possibly to this world as a whole. The creature glided through the air as easily as Blake could move across the ground; the thing seemed to resemble a rotting corpse; all dust bones and ragged robes. And stranger still, was the energy that surrounded it's body. Blake had seen similar energy shields used by The Fallen, but those were powered by arc energy; the red glow of this creature's shield told the use solar energy.
And just then, the creature gave a series of screams and guttural chants to what seemed like no one in particular, but not long after, came a flood of smaller creatures, clearly summoned by it's command. The new arrivals moved in a pack, their movements were jerky and haphazard, and each step brought the rattling of dry and empty bones.
After what seemed like forever, Yang was the first to speak. "What the hell are those things?" Blake only shook her head. "Should we engage?" Was Yang's next question.
"No," Blake said adamantly. "Whatever they are, they're stronger than The Fallen, which means they're stronger than just us alone. Adam, bring The White Fang from orbit, we're leaving."
"But my initiation!" Yang stressed in a whisper.
"I'm sorry, Yang," Blake said. "But this is an extraordinary circumstance beyond our control. We can't engage an unfamiliar enemy without Vanguard advisement."
Yang was righteously pissed, but could see Blake's reasoning. She begrudgingly nodded as Blake turned to her Ghost to finalize the ship's incoming procedures. Yang took one last look at the enemy before them...
Which was the worst thing she could have done.
The mass of creatures below finally caught on to her presence. With a collective scream, they bounded up the valley towards them. "Blake, incoming!"
Blake had heard the creature's war cry and immediately armed her pulse rifle. Yang primed her hand cannon and crouched back down below the mound. The two girls looked at one another for just a moment, knowing that escape at that point was impossible, even if Blake's ship had come in time. Despite the tension, Yang smiled, "So much for The Vanguard, eh?" She said.
Blake offered a small smile back, "Yeah, so much for The Vanguard."
And they sprung over the mound to engage their new enemy.
*End of Legend 6*
...
A/N:
Wow it's been a while. sorry for the major slack-a-tude but you know, once a Gemini, always a Gemini. Anyhow, super stoked that season 5 of My Little pony is underway. And of course RWBY VOL.3 is on the way, not to mention The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the Mayweather- Pacquiao fight next month. WOOOO! So much hypeness!
Sorry to get carried away there, (I really need to start saying something constructive during these A/N's) but I would like to thank all of the readers of my story, and an extra thanks for the faves and follows, and reviews. Sorry to end this chapter on a cliff-hangar, but more will be coming soon. So, until then.
B.D. Skunkworks