*Legend 12*

CCN

...

And there they stood. The assembles masses of Fireteams Cardinal, Celsius, Trinity, and Rosenkreuz; all in a horizontal line; their boot tips perfectly symmetrical. Ruby and Yang stood at the very end (the far right) of this formation. From this very book end position, Ruby could see and sense the looks and hushed whispers of her rank and file comrades; all of them no doubt in a very reserved and skeptical awe in the presence of the so called "Archon Slayer". Standing as they were, in the relative open space between the Crucible access kiosk and the Crucible handler, many a passer by, including a few Guardians, were able to get a good look at the new batch of trainees, ready to take their first foray into organized competitive combat. Yang in her usual and openly coquettish manor, met each of these passing evaluations with winks, smiles, and plenty of "How ya doin's?"

Ruby just stared at the floor.

As it has been told to each of the young Guardians here, Lord Shaxx was one who operated on his time, and at his pace alone. Which was probably why they had been standing here for well over twenty minutes. Yang heaved an impatient breath. With her hands clasped on top of her head, she wagged her hips to and fro on the spot (said sequence of motions serving to capture the attention of Cardin Winchester, who was directly to her left) "So boooored..." she sighed. "Wish Shaxx would hurry and get on with it while I'm still young."

And right just then, as though responding to Yang's statement, did Lord Shaxx appear.

His entrance was rather impressive, as he did not simply walk into the room, no, that would not have served. Shaxx was transmatted into being directly before the line of Guardians; the suddenness of his appearance startling quite the number of them.

Ruby knew of course, that Titans, especially male ones, were always big brawny, and heavily armored. But Lord Shaxx...good Traveler, he was enormous! Ruby's rather diminutive stature only served to exacerbate the size difference between the two them. Ruby could see Yang, as a Titan herself, had quickly corrected her posture, wanting to make a solid first impression on her superior.

Shaxx drew himself up, his spine strait as a sword, and said, "Good morning." Though his head was covered by his helmet, his voice rang strong and true, and carried with it an aura of utterly redoubtable battle prowess and experienced expertise. If at possible, Yang stood up even straighter. The militantly conditioned response from the line of recruits was, "Good morning Lord Shaxx," in unison.

Shaxx then, at his own measured pace, began a visual assessment of the Crucible combatants. Starting his way from the other end of the line, in front of the Blade Dancer, Rikku, did he stroll his way across the line, subjecting each of them to his own silent measure.

It was only when he finally crossed Yang's path, did he turn full to face her. His hands clasped behind his back, did he give her a silent stare. Yang met the man's gaze evenly, perhaps a little eagerly. She showed no signs of being intimated or daunted by this imposing figure, there was even a small smirk forming on her face. "Yang Xiao Long..." Shaxx somewhat whispered. "Never seen a Titan powered by Solar before. You're definitely unique, I'll give you that. But that quality alone won't see you to success in The Crucible. Or perhaps you'll prove me wrong? We'll see." Yang tossed her curtain of yellow hair in response, her Titan pride burning for the challenge.

Then Shaxx turned to Ruby. Most unlike Yang, Ruby shared absolutely none of her sister's waggish brand of confidence; Shaxx's stare over her person utterly terrified her. She did her best to avoid eye contact with him and tried not to let her knees knock together too loudly. After some time, Shaxx posed to her a question. "You'd be Rose, then?"

"Uh, y-yes sir..." Ruby was amazed her voice was even functioning at that point.

"The Archon Slayer then?"

"Yes sir." The acknowledgment of the feat gave Ruby a rush of confidence, which served to steady her voice. "With help of course. Weiss Schnee was a big part of that fight too."

Shaxx nodded slowly. It was then that he made an observation. "You've the air of Branwen about you."

Ruby smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Yes sir; he's my uncle."

Though Ruby could not see through the veil of Shaxx's helmet visor, she could almost hear the smile cross his face then. "Niece of The Red Death himself," he said. "Interesting..."

Shaxx then retook his original position in front of the lineup of Guardians, making himself clearly visible to each of them. "Alright. listen up," he said. "Here's how today's going to work. Our first sequence of matches are going to take place in the skirmish format; three on three. However, teams matched against Rosenkreuz must have a member sit out, as their third is unavailable. The first sequence will be a round robin; every team will have a chance to fight every other team. Then we move to the single elimination round. Whichever team triumphs in the skirmish format will win early permissions for special weapons, and receive a level white voucher for a special weapon of their choice."

"The second sequence of matches will be in the singles format; one on one. First will be the round robin, then single elimination."

The somewhat sizable crowd that had gathered in the Crucible at that point rumbled with surprise and anticipation as they chattered amongst themselves. "Shaxx layin' it on thick this year, ain't he?" Ruby heard the closest to her say.

"A very handsome reward awaits the winner of that particular tournament, whoever it may be," Shaxx continued. There was a pause here, for both breath and perhaps dramatic effect, as Shaxx had one last revelation to share with the young Guardians. "Also this year, I am proud to announce the introduction of a brand new enterprise of my own making." And on the enormous holographic screen behind him, did there suddenly appear a brazen and bold logo. It displayed a red coat of arms with two alabaster swords crossing over one another. In bold and cursive style lettering which overlapped said logo, were the letters 'CCN'.

Shaxx continued his speech. "Introducing, the Crucible Combat Network!" He said with fanfare. "A galaxy-spanning feed entirely dedicated to The Crucible and all its activities. Beginning today, every match, every kill, every triumph and every failure will be broadcast for all to see live! The Crucibles of Earth, The Moon, Mars, Venus, and Mercury will become one under this new regime!" There was applause and hoots from the gathered crowd.

"For those who want to follow the action on the go, there is a brand new companion application launching alongside the CCN; easily down-loadable from the net store. With it, you can track the stats of your favorite Guardian; kills, deaths, weapon usage, wins and loses, and watch hand-picked highlights of featured matches." More hoots and delighted screams from the audience. Shaxx chuckled, "Oh yes, it is an exciting day!" He intoned. "Guardian verse Guardian combat has been elevated to a whole new plane!" He then cast a look over the assembled combatants before him. "If case you lot haven't picked up on it yet, your exploits today are going to be seen all across the galaxy." And at that word, did several black Ghost cameras putter into the room, hovering over the line of Guardians, drinking in their images. "You all had better be performing at your best."

A Ghost cam fluttered right up to Yang's face. Knowing she was being watched by thousands across the galaxy didn't seem to ruffle her at all. She flashed a winning smile into it's lens, and then did she blow a kiss at it; to all her current and potential viewers.

"And now," said Shaxx, "The time for talk is over. Let us see who our first skirmish match-up will be." And on the screen did the headshots of each and every Guardian assembled there flash into being. They were at once shuffled about in a very RNG-like fashion. The first roulette stopped on..."Team Trinity!" Shaxx announced. Vashyron, Leanne, and Zephyr all stepped forward. The second spin stopped on..."Team Rosenkreuz!"

"We get first crack at it, eh?" Was Yang's response to this. She pounded her fist into her opposite hand a she stood before her competitors. Ruby sucked in a breath and tried not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Trinity, please elect a member to sit out,"was Shaxx's request.

Leanne immediately stepped forward at this. "I am so not missing a chance to fight the 'Archon Slayer'," she said. She was already twirling her hand cannon about her finger by it's trigger guard. Ruby recognized it as the Duke Mk.21, a step above Yang's own Mk.10. How had she managed that already?

Her comrade Zephyr also came forward. "Same." Was his simple exclamation.

Their leader, Vashyron, shrugged playfully at the apparent mutiny. "Wow, the leader doesn't get his say?" he said. "Well, you two have fun, guess I'll watch from the sidelines." He gave Yang a very up and down kind of look. Yang winked at him. "Shame though..."

"Very well then, the match is set," Shaxx said. "The battles will take place in the training annex here on Earth. And we'll get an excellent view from our monitor here." He turned back to the combatants currently locked in a stare down. "You may be here to claim glory at the expense of one another, but in my Crucible, Guardians will always show each other proper respect." There was a pause, and then he bellowed, "Guardians, salute!" And the four of them offered their opponents their respective salutes. This of course made sense for the three Hunters of the gathering, but Yang's own Titan salute looked just a little out of place. The four of them were then transmatted from the spot, to instantly appear in what was no doubt the training annex.

It was an open air courtyard, about one hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. And what looked like large boulders had been strewn all about the place, each one of them big enough to hide a person behind. They would provide more than adequate cover.

Yang cracked the vertebrae in her neck and primed her hand cannon. "You ready for this?" She asked Ruby with a grin.

Was Ruby ready? Pfft, of course she was. All of the nerves and stomach butterflies that she had felt on the lead up to this event were instantly gone. She not a singer, she was not a dancer. She was raised by her uncle Qrow to do one thing...

Fight.

Ruby windmilled her arms around to get the blood in them flowing. She then performed several vertical hops into the air, touching her knees to her chest. She flipped the hood of her cloak over her head and armed her pulse rifle. "Go time," she said.

The amplified voice of Lord Shaxx then reverberated throughout the arena as the Ghost cams fluttered into place, ready to capture the action. "May the match between Rosenkreuz and Trinity begin!" And the Guardians charged one another.

...

*End of Legend 12*

...

A/N:

"What! That's it!?" Is more than likely the immediate reaction readers of this chapter will have, and justly so. Yes, this is ridiculously short, but allow me to offer explanation. The most driving reason behind this chapter's brevity is simply the fact that I have been gone for far too long (as I always am). Followers of the story will no doubt be thinking the progress of this fic has indeed stagnated.

That is not so.

The purpose of this small outing is to simply reaffirm the story's existence, and to float it back to the top of the page for a while to potentially gain some new viewers and followers. The next chapter, I can safely promise, will not only be fairly lengthy, but one of the most poignant of the story thus far. But that's a ways away.

There will of course be the proverbial literary gap between chapter posts...I'll do my best to fill it with words.

-B.D. Skunkworks