A/N: Back with a new chapter! Before we begin, I would like to clarify a few things. I'm not doing every single Season, Expansion and Exotic Mission of Destiny 2. Some Seasons like, Season of Dawn will be combined with other expansions like I did in this story. I combined Curse of Osiris, Warmind, Season of Undying and Season of Dawn into one story. Season of Dawn centered on Osiris using the Sundial to bring back Saint-14 and stop the Psion triplets from creating new realities where they are in charge. In my story, The Sundial was used in a simulation that Osiris used previously prior to the events of curse of Osiris, but proved to be unstable. It was the Undying Mind under orders of Nezarec that allowed Lux syphoid, Jaune and Pyrrha to travel to the past and prevent Saint-14's death, thus allowing Nezarec's plans to proceed. Nezarec then gave the Undying mind a nightmare so horrifying, said Vex Mind killed itself along with every variant of itself throughout time to escape it. As for the Psion triplets, they and the Cabal under their command now work for Salem. As to one reviewer saying about the Whisper of the Worm Quest, just wait and see.
As to other Seasons of Destiny, some will be mentioned in story, but not seen. Others will have a chapter in my Remnant of an Iron Rose Shorts. And a few will have a solo one-shot story of their own. Now onto the story.
He was standing amongst two dozen other Exos. All of them different colors, male and female, and physical attributes that differed from one another. A group of scientists were nearby. Some going through boxes, others near scientific equipment. An elderly man in a business suit walked down the line inspecting him and those around him.
"So, these are our newest security team?" The elderly man asked one of the scientists.
"Indeed Mr. Howards, recently returned from the Deep Stone Crypt and battle tested with compliments from Clovis Bray himself." Said one of the scientists.
"A rarity, I'm sure." Said Mr. Howards. "What we got on the sensors?"
"Some small vibrations in the outer regions. It's only a matter of time before it reaches Rasputin's Core area."
"Damn." He turned to the Exos. "Alright listen up! You are now part of Aries Munitions Security Forces. Your mission is to not only test out our newest batch of weapons, but to seek out the source of these seismic anomalies. Now, our scientists, have determined that they are not natural. Suspected to be Vex. You are to go there, find the source and deal with it.
"Affirmative sir!" An Exo with yellow and green armor color. Antenna poked up where the ears would be. Blue eyes blinking. He remembers his name being Dale-2 "What kind of armaments will we be using?"
Mr. Howards smiled. "Glad you asked." He snapped his fingers and one of the scientists wheeled in one of the crates. The Exos looked down and marveled at the weapons, newly made.
"Behold the IKELOS 1.0.0 series weaponry."
00000
The memory ended and he was back with the three Ace-Ops.
"You alright, Prometheus? You kind of spaced out for a minute there." Elm said taking several breaths.
Prometheus-23 shook his head and looked around him. Turned out during his brief lase down memory lane, the three Ace-Ops dragged him inside of the building. Gone was the pristine lobby where he stood long ago, time and the Collapse had eroded this place. "I…experienced a memory of my past. I was part of a security team stationed here." He spoke.
"A fellow soldier, eh? You're in good company." Elm said. Part of her and her team always had a sort of camaraderie and respect with and to fellow soldiers, no matter the type. Mostly because of their vast military. She and her team already respect Guardians, but they had more of a fondness with Titans. Knowing that the Titan that they were partnered with was a soldier of a sort raised their respect for him even more.
"Will these memories hamper the mission?" Vine said concerned.
"I don't think so." Prometheus-23 said a bit hesitantly. He wasn't prepared for the flash of memory from coming here, and hopefully no more showed up.
Readying himself, the four went through the rest of the building. The interior of the building was decrepit and filled with sand. They went past cubicles where designers would draw weapons or fill out orders for distributions. Desks now either buried in sand, crushed by falling ceiling tiles or fallen in disrepair.
They followed the footprints left by the Red Legion Cabal deeper into the building until they split into two directions. One led towards the back where a sign said Target Range. The other towards the offices above marked Research and Development.
"Which way do we go?" Clover asked.
Prometheus was the one to decide. "I'll take Elm towards the Target range, you two go to RnD. We'll catch up with you guys."
"You think that the ones in charge left a few weapons lying around?" Elm asked as she made sure her weapon had ammo to spare. "Golden Age weapons are built to last. Can't leave anything to chance." Prometheus said as he got out his new IKELOS Shotgun.
Splitting up, Prometheus-23 and Elm went towards the firing range while Vine and Clover went upstairs to the RnD section.
Going down several hallways and rooms in states of decay, the Titan and the heavy weapons expert of the Ace-Ops finally made it to a pair of heavy duty garage doors that have been blown up. Stepping through the hole, they found themselves on a target range right next to a caved-in bunker.
On the left was a large field dotted with target dummies at least fifty feet away from a series of booths lined up in a row. Those catered to small, mid-range weaponry. To the right was a much larger field dotted with target dummies, dilapidated vehicles, drums and large cargo containers spread all around. This one catered to long-range, heavy weapons and large ordinance weapons.
On both of these ranges were a dozen Cabal and Psions. Some of the Cabal were at the booths testing out their weapons on the target dummies there with a Psion overseeing them. At the ordinance one, several Psions were tinkering around with one of their Scorpion Turrets.
"Not very perceptive for a race dedicated to military." Elm said disapprovingly. In the Atlas Military, even in a region devoid of Grimm or other threats, soldiers should be aware of their surroundings at all times.
"This place has been abandoned for so long, doubt these Cabal even think that Guardians or in your case, Ace-Ops would show up here. You take the turrets, I'll take the others." He said readying his shotgun. Elm nodded and at the count of three, they went their ways. Elm remained where she was and aimed down the sights directly at the Scorpion Turret. Pulling the trigger, the rocket sailed over and hit directly at the scorpion Turret, blowing it up and killing the Psions working on it. Getting up from behind cover, she went to assist Prometheus-23 who slid right behind one of the Cabal at the shooting range and shot him in the back with his shotgun.
That was, until she got tackled from behind.
Falling backwards and getting back on her feet, she saw her assailant. It was a Cabal Legionnaire who had different colored armor. He had the standard Red Legion colors, but he added a bit more to it. On his chest was a crude emblem of a red eye surrounded by red dots and lines. Not knowing the meaning of the sigil, Elm converted her weapon into its hammer form and charged at the Cabal. Said Cabal was dodging her swings and produced a clever from behind his back and swung at her, forcing her to dodge.
After dealing with the last of the cabal and Psions with a punch in the face and a shotgun to the face, Prometheus-23 saw Elm in her fight and was going to join her. But curse his luck that was the moment another memory flashed before him!
00000
He was standing shoulder to shoulder with other Exos firing their IKELOS weapons at the targets. Some had submachine guns, others shotguns or hand cannons.
"Cease fire!"
Following the orders, the group ceased and awaited their next orders. One of the scientists approached and inspected their results.
"All shots hit their target. No jamming. Successful test. I think they are ready for their assignment."
00000
"Prometheus! Stop what you're doing and assist!" Elm shouted as the Titan shook the vestiges of the memory from his head. Elm was currently dodging swing after swing from the Cabal. The warrior brought his blade down and it was stuck in the handle of her hammer, forcing her backwards. Even with her using her Aura Roots Semblance, she was losing ground due to the fact her semblance required a stationary flat surface. With sand beneath her, she was just slipping. Finally shaking his head, he charged at the cabal and shoved him back before he killed it with a punch to the gut. Removing his arm from the wound, he shook the blood off it.
"Sorry I spaced out." He said apologetically.
"Another memory?" She asked.
"Me on the firing range back…there." He stopped when he saw the sigil on the Cabal's body, the red eye starring up at him.
"Don't tell me you're experiencing another memory." Elm said annoyed.
"No. Just something Headmaster Ozpin told us to be on the look out for." He said. He bid Pan to come out and take several scans and pictures of the Cabal.
"Headmaster Ozpin?" She asked. She wondered what would have the headmaster of Beacon Academy and one of the Councilmen of Vale wish for him to be on the lookout for.
"I can't say anything more. In the words of your military, Classified. You'll have to ask General Winter Schnee about it. Or Ironwood about it." He said finishing up.
Elm wanted to protest, but decided to wait till Ironwood woke up from his coma and ask. Loyalty and all that. She was interrupted by a communication from Vine and Clover.
"What you got?" She asked.
"Got a bunch of files here. And one unencrypted one called the MIDA Mini-Tool Submachine gun." Vine said. He and Clover were in what was left of the Research and Development section of the complex. While a majority of the computers were destroyed, a few still functioned. The two caught a few Psions by surprise while said Psions were working on the computers. Clover currently had dealt with the last one, while Vine got to work on the computer. After some failed attempts to access them, Clover simply tapped it and it was soon up and running.
Clover's Good Fortune saves the day again. He thought to himself as he went through the files.
"I've heard of a MIDA Multi-Tool Scout Rifle, but never a Mini-Tool." Prometheus-23 said over the radio.
"From what files I'm reading, said Scout Rifle was a precursor to another such device called the Mini-Tool. Built in navigation, water filtration, radio, flotation device, flare gun, encyclopedia and a whole bunch of other stuff. Basically, anything a military man would need in the field, this gun provides via a digital storage system. Atlas would sell half the Kingdom to get something like this." Vine said as he went through the files. Noticing some of the files were copied over he went back onto the comms.
"Looks like the Cabal wanted the schematics for both the Multi and Mini-Tools along with a bunch of other files extremely encrypted. I couldn't tell you what any of it was. The only thing that wasn't encrypted was a symbol. I'm sending it to you now."
Down below back on the firing range, Prometheus had his Ghost project the image while Elm looked at her scroll. The image showed an arc doorway bordered by three symbols. An upright fish-hook, a butterfly and a handprint.
"Does the symbol mean anything to you?" Vine asked.
"No, it doesn't. And no memory flashes tied to it either." The Titan replied. "Anything else?"
Clover replied joining in. "Checked the rest of the place. No other Cabal…" He was cut off from a rumbling high above.
Outside, Prometheus-23 and Elm watched as a large Cabal troop transport took off from the roof and flew away. But not before the Titan saw the same symbol that was on the Legionnaire's armor on the side of the ship. The red eye watching him as he watched it vanish into the sky.
Prometheus-23 returned to the comms. "Whatever the Cabal wanted here, they just left. Let's regroup."
"Got something here that you and Ana will really want to see!" Clover said excitingly.
See ya next time!