A Frozen Light [Ranma 1/2 / Destiny]

[Grounders10]

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A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

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Prologue

Seeking

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Tokyo, Honshu, Old Japan, Earth

There were many ruined cities across Earth. Small ones nestled amidst mountains. Large ones that sprawled across plains. Yes, there were many cities on Earth. Each and every one of them a broken monument to humanity's glory. There were few, however, that matched the scale of the long-abandoned city of Tokyo. A metropolis of such scale that it stretched into the distance. Even now, centuries after its fall, its broken towers reached out clawing the sky as far as the eye could see in every direction.

For a Ghost, it just meant a lot of places to look. Floor after floor. Tower after tower. Block after block. One district at a time in a city that had dozens of districts, each large enough to stand as a city unto itself. Each the work of a lifetime to search the bodies within. Such was the life of an unbonded ghost.

For the Ghost known as Kiko, Tokyo was just one more trial in a centuries-long search that had taken her across deserts, through cities, and even to Mars and back on one particularly foolish whim.

Kiko hummed as she made her way down the abandoned thoroughfare, pausing to scan cars, the occasional skeleton, and the odd blast crater. You never knew when or where you could find some trace of a potential Guardian. She had heard from some other Ghosts, those who had found their Guardians, stories of just how little you needed in order to bring back a guardian, even for the first time.

Finishing that section of the four-lane roadway she consulted the map she had borrowed from the remnants of the city's administrative systems. That was another grid down which meant… She looked up at the tall skyscrapers before her.

"More towers, oh goody," She sighed sarcastically before floating across the road to the front entrance of the first building. The first floor appeared to be a small mall made mostly of boutiques and a central food court. It was, as to be expected, run-down, overgrown, and ransacked. There weren't even cash registers at the tills anymore, just scarring from Fallen plasma cutters where they had been bolted down.

It was, Kiko reflected as she scanned a body with a hole as large as she was through its head, entirely typical. Many places around the solar system had been stripped clean. Not all of them, the solar system was so large that that was nearly impossible, even with centuries of time.

Concluding that the cafe she had ducked into did not hold the resting place of anyone compatible Kiko floated back out into the hallway. Her external shell twitched as a distant roar echoed off the buildings. Her processors analyzed it and spat a very recognizable result out to her. Fallen, quite a ways out but much closer than the last time she had heard them a half-hour before.

"Just have to keep an eye out," She told herself, floating into another storefront.

The search took several hours, during which sunset came and went, it started raining, and the Fallen were picked up shouting in the distance a few more times. Eventually, she concluded that the first floor was just as empty as anywhere else she had scanned, which meant it was time to move on again.

"Guess it's onward and upward… again," She sighed, floating over to the elevator shaft in the center of the structure. She fiddled with the interface. There was power thankfully, it was always a bit of a toss-up when it came to whether or not a golden age building had it. At least she didn't have to try and smash through a window or something. Golden age glass tended to be a bit tougher than she was. Well, tougher than she liked to pretend she was.

She had to trick the system behind the door into thinking the car had arrived since it seemed to be refusing instructions, but a few moments later the doors slid open to reveal an empty elevator shaft. She floated out over the shaft and looked up, her built-in light reflected off rusted and pitted supports. Thankfully, the shaft was clear all the way to the top floor.

She glanced down and her singular electronic eye blinked before focusing. The city's plans for the building said it had one underground maintenance level. She counted five more with the last buried beneath what had to be the ruins of the elevator car.

"Secret levels not on any schematic? Oooh~ Promising," She purred. If she had a face she would have been grinning as she descended down the shaft. She had barely disappeared under the lip of the floor when another roar, far, far closer than any before, came from somewhere outside the building. She dropped quickly, eager to get out of sight before something got close enough to spot her. She would not resurrect her Guardian only to lead them to their immediate death by being followed.

She shot a worried look up the shaft before descending to the pile of scrap metal that had once been an elevator car. Scanning it only took a moment, but she quickly confirmed that there wasn't anyone inside it. At least no one she could resurrect.

There was a small gap, however, that led to the internal control panel for the door. She floated through the tiny gap, knocking against the twisted metal a few times as she navigated to the door. There were times when she wished her shell had fewer spikes. They made maneuvering rather tricky at times.

"Ow, ow. Ow," She winced, floating to a stop before the glowing control panel. The light was a bit dim, the display was probably at the far end of its lifespan. The very far end. Still, it was good enough to establish a connection and with that she was-

Her shell spun with consternation. Denied? DENIED? The system was denying her entry? She fumed for a moment before trying again. There was a beep from the panel and a small beam of light swept out from it over her.

"Wha- You're scanning me!" She fumed, then blinked as the light stopped and a green "ACCESS GRANTED" flashed across the screen before the door slid open. Not one to overlook good fortune she darted through the doorway before the door could close on her. The metal of the elevator car shifted, some of it spilling into the hallway beyond. The door closed on the scrap, grinding to a halt with a half-inch left. It opened and closed a couple more times, but finally, it stopped and a red light went on above the door.

Kiko ignored it as she looked about the new hallway she found herself in. While hardly spotless -- time had taken its toll after all -- the hallway was practically pristine compared to anyplace she encountered outside the city itself. Dusty wooden floors, bright white walls, a few still functioning lights and the artwork on the walls made it probably the nicest place she had visited outside the Last City.

"Maybe we can bring some of this back. If I find them here anyway," Kiko said, scanning a couple of paintings for reference. A loud clang echoed from the shaft above. She spun to face the entrance. The gap in the door was letting some light out into the lightless shaft. There was no way the Fallen could miss that.

"Oh no, no, no," She repeated, spinning in place before shooting down the hallway. She needed to be quick and thorough and search everything.

She passed offices, reception areas, a lounge. All of them empty. There were no bodies down here. There had been no fighting here at all. Until now. More hallways, more empty offices. The place was filled with everyday Golden Age technology, but it seemed to be little more than a secret administration area. She was considering backtracking and moving onto one of the floors above when a loud crash of metal echoed from the elevator. There was a roar followed by an explosion and red emergency lights flared to life all down the hallways.

The Fallen had found this place.

"No, no, no," She kept repeating as she rapidly scanned another empty office. Nothing, but she couldn't go back. She would need to either find a place to hide, find her guardian, or find a way up to the next level where she could do one of the other two things.

There didn't seem to be another way up though. Hallways ended in dead ends rather than stairwells and she could hear the dregs chattering in the distance as they spread out into the facility. She shut her flashlight off. It would just give her away, and there was plenty of light with the emergency lights now flaring up and down the hallways.

She kept searching, going deeper into the hallways of the facility. She passed what had been the property line of the mall. Security checkpoints and cleanroom airlocks marked a sudden shift from administration to science. She passed both without bothering to go in. The moment the Fallen spotted them they would be crawling over the labs. Which could contain who knew what, but there was nothing a Ghost could do to stop them.

If only she had a Guardian.

She swept around a corner and came to a stop before a pair of sliding rice paper doors and a pair of skeletons, their tattered and stain clothes pooling amongst the bones. Rifles of some nature were discarded a short distance away. She ran a quick scan over both. Nothing. Figured.

She punched another hole in the rice paper. The area beyond was decorated in a very traditional style that she recognized from a few places around Tokyo with mats for the floor and walls of tattered rice paper. There were scattered bones, broken furniture, and stains of blood everywhere. This place was a palatial suite.

This place had seen fighting.

She scanned the bones as she went hurriedly. She could hear the fallen in the distance, but any one of these people could be her Guardian. Anyone of them could be hers.

It was with a disappointed and heavy metaphorical heart that she confirmed time and again that no, none of these people was the one she was looking for.

"No, no, not again," She muttered scanning another body briefly before moving on. She passed through a doorway into another hallway and stopped as something strange appeared on her sensors. It wasn't the light, it also wasn't the dark either, though the presence of the Fallen was beginning to gather the darkness to this place.

Ignoring the bones scattered in this hallway she floated down the hall, searching for the source of the strange reading. She turned a corner and paused as she found herself before a heavily dented and rent blast door. More than a dozen bodies were scattered across the floor, their bones mixing to the point it was impossible to say where one ended and another began. All seemed to be wearing body armour and carrying weapons. Not that it seemed to have stopped their assailants. The blast door had a hole large enough for two men to walk through side by side and Kiko floated passed them without checking. Something told her they weren't what she was here for.

The room beyond was a shrine or temple of some sort. Tall pillars of red stone held up a vaulting ceiling four floors high and decorated in a complex mural straight out of mythology. A red woman appeared repeatedly throughout the mural battling men, women, dragons and even a phoenix. Each foe was felled until a shadowy figure drove a blade through her back and she was laid to rest on a bed of ice. Around the room hung tattered scrolls and traditional paintings, many featuring the same red-haired woman. Towering above it all was a statue of a young woman made from gold. She stood a blade held pointed towards the ceiling and at the base of her feet was a bed encased in a clear glass-like material, its red-haired occupant on display in a beautiful black qipao, a bouquet of roses held in her hands.

Kiko's eye went straight to the occupant of what her sensor's said was some form of stasis pod. The strange energy she was picking up was coming from her. She floated towards the pod and started when she bumped into something. She 'jumped' several feet to the side and floated, her shell spinning, as she stared at what she had somehow ignored.

There was an Exo dressed in heavy plate with a sword kneeling in the center of the room. Bullet holes littered its plate armour, but the piles of bones scattered across the rotting tatami mats said that the robotic man hadn't died alone.

"Oh, oh my," Kiko sighed, "That gave me a scare. Whoo, just a body." She turned away from the Exo and floated over to the pod. Her scanner started going the moment she came into range. Inside was a girl with crimson red hair who couldn't be more than… her sensors said between sixteen and eighteen.

Her eye narrowed. Her sensors were having trouble scanning the girl through the stasis pod. At least, she assumed they were. A person couldn't be both dead and alive at the same time. Well, a Guardian might count, but the girl could be one she wasn't giving off l-

Her shell spun in surprise. There was no light, but for the first time, she felt what other Ghosts had told her about. Something inside the girl was resonating with her and oh god did it feel wonderful. Like sharing a sunny day with a friend, or having a quiet moment with a loved one. Not that Kiko had ever experienced either before, but this felt like what she hoped such things would be like.

"I found her. By the Traveler, I did it," Kiko breathed. She paused for a moment, basking in the achievement. Then the sound of chittering and a loud bang from behind her announced the fact that the Fallen were still sweeping the facility. In the distance, there was another bang before what sounded like an automatic weapon opened up. Another bang silenced it.

"And they're still coming. Because of course, they are," She said to the girl in the stasis pod. "Right, uuuuuh, open the door then revive you. Erm... You are dead right?" She ran another scan. The life or death status of her Guardian came back as a confusing maybe. Right, well she'd just have to wing it and hope for the best then. First, get the pod open.

Kiko went to work on the pod, quickly locating the control on the lower backside of the device, well out of sight of the public area. Which made sense. This wasn't a stasis pod that these people had ever intended to open, probably. There was clearly some religious connotations going on here.

The chittering grew closer as Kiko tapped into the control system of the pod. Security systems were bypassed or overrode faster than she had ever worked before. This was her Guardian and Kiko would not leave her here for the Fallen to paw like some petty Golden Age bauble. The very thought sent her shell spinning.

Eventually, though she hit something she couldn't bypass. A block that seemed to adapt to her every trick and effort. It was like those times she watched human children try to catch fish with their bare hands. Only, this thing was the fish and she was the child and it was decidedly less amusing with the life-threatening situation that was looming.

"Oh come on!" She snapped, smacking herself into the side of the pod. "WORK WITH ME!" She snarled, "I'm going to resurrect her you stupid machine. LET HER GO!" She tried again. To her surprise, the block had disappeared. "Ha! Holiday was right, percussive maintenance does solve everything!"

The pod's systems fell under her control and she triggered the release protocols. It was clear that this had not been intended for a living occupant since the hatch released instantly, sending a cloud of fog rolling across the room. Kiko floated over the girl as the fog released and ran a scan over her would-be Guardian. Okay, so this was her Guardian but… What was with that life reading? There one second, gone the next. What- no wait, it was there- no, gone wait-

Her shell was spinning with frustration. Was her Guardian dead or not? Could she-

The snap-crunch of bones in the hallway outside said she was out of time. The Fallen were there, now. She cast a look towards the mural. "Oh, I hope that you remember how to do that sort of thing," Kiko said then engaged her resurrection protocols. Dead or alive she needed a Guardian, and this girl was her's.

Pure light washed over the room, sinking into the girl as a hulking nine-foot Fallen Captain ducked through the hole in the blast door, a rifle held in its lower two arms. It spotted her and the rifle came up as it snarled something in Eliksni.

Then the light that was washing over the girl met the strange energy that had drawn Kiko to the girl and everything got very, very bright.

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A/N: A Thank You to @Gekkou_Yoko once again~

This idea has been bugging me for a while and I just finally decided to write the prologue for it. I have most of the rest of the story planned in some form or another.

A/N 2: Revised and prepared for a proper release~ thank you @Gekkou_Yoko for your help as usual~

 

[Grounders10]

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A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

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Chapter One

Rising

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Tokyo, Honshu, Old Japan, Earth

It had been a nice day, bright, sunny, cheerful. Quiet. Exactly the kind of day that had been so rare in Nerima. Then it had ended. There had been a rustle, feet running and the sound of a blade being drawn, then pain. Pain as the blade was driven through her side. She never saw the one who did it as the poison on the blade sent the world spiralling into an ever-deepening darkness.

Then it stopped, leaving her suspended within a gloom as time lost all meaning. Twice the darkness deepened, creeping in on the edges of her mind, and then it stopped. Everything stopped. Forever and a day passed her, an endless abyss of time that defied definition until, at last, things began again and the darkness rolled in unceasingly.

Except for this time, there was a spark. A glimmer.

A Light.

She could not move, could not think, could not see. Yet she could feel the Light and with the desperation of the lost, she grabbed ahold of it and hugged it to her breast as the darkness closed in for what would be the final time.

Then everything was Light.

Air, long deprived, rushed into lungs that had suddenly remembered how to breathe. Hands clenched and released, crushing whatever was inside of them. Finally, eyes, unseeing for so long, opened at last as a wave of light rolled from within to without, flowing through walls and stone into the sky beyond.

Ranma sat up, coughing at the stale air. She blinked, shaking her head from the fuzz that had nearly overtaken it completely. Where was she? What was- were those roses in her hands? She tossed them away and wiped her hands off on…

"Why am I in a dress?" She demanded the world. It was a nice dress to be fair, but why was it that whenever someone kidnapped her she wound up in a dress?

"While I would love to have an answer for that," A high cheery voice said, "The guy over there looks like he's almost ready to shoot again."

"What?" Ranma looked to the source of the voice. She expected a young woman, maybe a few years older than her by the voice. What she got was a small floating robot with eight grey pointy corners and a single blue eye staring at her as it floated with no visible means of keeping it aloft.

"Yes, I'm talking," The floating robot said, it segmented pointy bits bobbing in time with her voice. "I'd love to explain what is going on, but unless you do something, that guy," It jerked to the left, "Is going to kill both of us."

Her eyes unconsciously followed the jerky motion to the side to take in the entire room she was in. It was some kind of shrine or temple. Neither was a good sign as to the nature of whoever had taken her. Cultists were always the worst kidnappers. That was something she and Akane both agreed on.

She didn't spend more than a second taking in the room before the thing by the heavy metal doors leading out of the room drew her attention. It was tall, taller than any human, though it shared a decidedly humanoid shape except for a second pair of arms beneath the first. It wore white armour plating, a black bodysuit and a cloak of white fur and in its topmost hands it held a large rifle the size of a rocket launcher with a bright orange glowing end. It was shaking its helmeted head, but even as she watched it stopped shaking its head and looked up at her. The being snarled something that might have been words before raising the rifle.

The weapon whined and Ranma reacted, launching herself off the bed she had woken up on and across the room away from both the bed and the creature. As she leapt its weapon barked, sending a spread of burning shots through the glass casket she had been laying in. Molten glass sprayed through the air in a shower of glittering shrapnel.

Strange creatures with armour and weapons that shot fire were not a normal occurrence in Ranma's book. Well, the fire wasn't exactly new and more than a few enemies had shown up in armour at least once. Honestly, the strangest part was the fact it was coming from a gun and not some staff or statue, or strangely shaped potted plant.

"What do you want?" She demanded, rolling to her feet.

"You're human. He probably wants you dead," Chirped the small fly robot from wherever it had hidden.

"Why?" Ranma sidestepped another barrage of flaming bolts that whipped between two large scrolls hanging from the walls and impacted with the thankfully stone walls.

"You're human, that's enough for a Fallen. Look, either he kills us, or you kill him," The robot said as she sidestepped several more shots, the rounds passing by her with inches to spare. One of the scrolls caught the shots and burst into flames. It rapidly disintegrated, vaporizing in seconds.

Ranma frowned. She didn't like to kill, but, well… She sighed. She needed to stop this before the trigger happy moron managed to set the entire place on fire. She sidestepped about barrage and translated her twist aside into a leap that crossed the space between her and the Fallen, whatever that meant. The creature stumbled back as she landed beside it, its rifle coming around to aim at her again.

It was far too slow.

One hand closed over the barrel of the weapon, locking it in place while she lashed out with a kick that crushed one of the blade-wielding lower arms and sent the thing flying across the room to crash into the wall beside the door. She tossed the weapon aside, its form nearly bent in half at the point where she had crushed it.

"What. Do. You. Want?" She demanded, taking a step towards the Fallen. It snarled something through its helmet as it stumbled to its feet. Both of its left arms were hanging limply. It made a gesture, something probably incredibly rude, and ducked back through the hole in the door with surprising speed.

"HEY!" She shouted, before frowning and letting the thing go.

"Don't let it get away!" The robot protested, buzzing out from behind a wall hanging to float irritably by her shoulder. "Oh no, no, no. Now it's going to get help." It turned to her, its spikes tipping forward in a worried fashion. "We need to leave, now."

Ranma stared at it for a moment. "Who are you?" She asked finally.

It blinked and its spikes swung back. "Oh, um. Riiiight, no introduction. Um, Hi, I'm Kiko. Your Ghost." She said. Her spikes wiggled in what might have been an attempt at waving.

"My ghost?" Ranma looked down at herself. She didn't feel dead.

"Not that kind of ghost," Kiko sighed, "Look, you've been uh, not exactly dead for a long time. Or maybe you were dead. Honestly, I was having a hard time telling. Which was really, really weird because normally its rather easy to tell when someone is dead or alive. That might have had something to do with your pod though."

"Pod?" She asked. The 'ghost' responded by jerking back towards where she had woken up.

"Stasis pod. Really good condition given the fact it's apparently been running non-stop for six hundred years," Kiko said, bobbing in place.

Ranma paused mid-turn. She turned back to the ghost. "What did you just say?" She asked sharply. It hadn't said what she just thought it did. It couldn't have.

The ghost paused its bobbing. Its spikes pulled back nervously. "Six hundred years?" Kiko repeated nervously. "I mean, that's just this pod," She babbled on, "The records it had on you said something about it being the third pod."

Ranma blinked slowly, then turned away from the ghost, taking in the room for the first time. Her eyes rolled up the length of the large statue of her and she paused to stare at the mural. It showed many of her battles. Herb, Kumon, the Orochi, Saffron. From there, her eyes turned to the wall hangings and the decorations.

This was a shrine.

This was her shrine.

She took a deep shuddering breath and her eyes came to rest on the human-like figure kneeling in the center of the room. She hadn't even noticed it in her first few frantic moments. Its head was clearly robotic, with mechanical muscles clearly visible in the jaw of the kneeling robot. Its entire form was propped up by the sword around which both hands were clasped. She walked over to it.

"Um…" Kiko awkwardly floated after her as she knelt next to the robot.

Ranma brushed the dust from the robot's armour, revealing a very familiar family crest on its shoulder pad. "Kuno," She murmured. That made sense. Who else would literally build her a shrine?

"Six hundred years?" She asked softly, her hand lingering on the crest.

"At least," Kiko replied. She paused. "I'm sorry. I don't have any answers about who or why. We might be able to find some answers in the facilities systems, but there's probably an entire Fallen raiding party tearing this place apart." She paused as Ranma held a hand up.

Ranma let her hand fall as tears formed in her eyes. She let them fall, pattering off the rotten tatami mats. "Akane…" She sniffled sitting down beside the dead robot. "I'm sorry." She whispered. Her tears flowed freely as she sobbed.

Kiko floated awkwardly beside her, flitting side to side periodically. "Um…" She began before falling silent.

"Hey…"

"I…"

A silence fell as the ghost stopped trying, just floating awkwardly beside her. Then the silence was broken by a roar in the distance. The ghost perked up and spun to look out the door and down the hallway for a moment before spinning to face her.

"Look," Kiko paused, "I'm really not good at this sort of thing. Really, really, not good. I mean, most Guardians apparently just get up and start being badasses. Not to say you aren't a badass I mean that was awesome what you did to that Captain but… well… Most Guardians don't start crying when they realize how much time has passed. So I'm real-eep."

Ranma glared up at the ghost in her hand through her tears. "Shut. Up." She said simply.

Kiko fell silent for a moment. "I-" She flinched at Ranma's glare. Then she twitched. "Do- Do you remember?" There was a note of surprise in the Ghost's voice.

"What do you mean, do I remember?" Ranma retorted through a sniffle.

"I, eeeh careful I'm not that tough, I'm just saying most Guardians don't remember anything from before they died," Kiko babbled, "No one knows for sure why, they just don't."

"Guardian?" Ranma asked, her grip remained as firm as ever.

"Chosen of the Traveler. Dead heroes brought back to save the world," Kiko continued frantically, "When the collapse happened and the Traveler was wounded it created Ghosts to find people worthy of wielding its Light to fight in its place. All Ghosts have a Guardian they're looking for. So long as a Guardian has their Ghost not even death can stop them."

The Ghost paused. "I- I'm your Ghost. You're my Guardian. I know we just met and all but… well, I'm your Ghost. I'm here for you. No matter what." The declaration echoed in the room for a few seconds.

There was another, much closer, roar and the sound of distant chittering.

Ranma stared at the Ghost for a moment. At her Ghost. Slowly, she released the Ghost and the small robot floated up from her hand a few inches and gave herself a shake. There was another moment of awkward silence as the two of them looked at each other.

"What is the Traveller?" Ranma asked, wiping tears away with a hand even as they continued to fall.

Kiko's shell spun. "I- You don't know?"

"Obviously," Ranma half-snarked, the effect being ruined by her sniffles.

"Since you remembered I would have thought… What was the last year you remember?" Kiko asked.

"Nineteen ninety-one," Ranma replied softly.

"Ooh, ooh yeeah," Kiko bobbed. "From what we know the Traveller first appeared around twenty-fourteen or so. That would have been a few years after your time. You… You missed a lot. You missed the Golden Age and the Collapse."

The chittering drew closer and Ranma raised her head to stare down the hallway. "I don't like the sound of that second one," She said.

"The Traveller brought humanity into a golden age, we don't really have time for the details of that, but the Collapse was the end of it," Kiko said, "The Traveller was ancient, is ancient. And it had enemies. The biggest was what we simply know as the Darkness," Kiko said, "The Traveller fought the Darkness off and was wounded while doing so. Without the Traveller, and with the system's defences in tatters Humanity was vulnerable for what would follow."

Ranma sniffed and wiped tears from her eyes. There was still wetness, but no more fell. "Like the Fallen," She said, watching the doorway.

"They're the least of our problems these days," Kiko sighed, "But, yeah. It's been centuries since the Collapse and we've barely managed to cling on. Guardians, those blessed with the Traveller's light are the only real defence we have left against these foes. Guardians like you." Kiko spared a glance for the hallway. Footsteps could be heard in the distance. A great many footsteps.

"Look, there's a lot you need to know, but we are out of time," Her ghost said, "We're going to have to fight our way out. At least you seem to know how to do that."

Ranma nodded, her mind awhirl with what she had heard. "I spent my entire life learning how," She said, toying absently with the skirting of her dress before rising from her seat. She could grieve later when she was free of this place. She gently pried the hands of the robot beside her from the hilt of the sword and drew the double-sided bastard sword from the floor. Most of the blade was fine except near the tip where some not insignificant rust had formed.

She caught the robot as he tipped over and laid him gently on the ground. "Thank you," She whispered, folding its hands on its chest. It had protected her while she was dead, or nearly so. It deserved her respect.

"If we can get out of here we can head for the City," Kiko told her, "The Last City was constructed beneath the Traveller. If we can get there we'll be safe."

Ranma nodded and ran a hand along the blade. She rubbed the rusty portion of the blade between her fingers, pulling forth a fragment of her ki as she did so to massage into the blade in the hope of removing the rust if she could. At least, that was the plan. Her ki felt… odd. Brighter with more… she struggled to find the words to describe it. Potential perhaps. Whatever it felt like when she dragged it burst forth with a strange purple light that formed on the tips of her fingers. Wherever the light passed the rust disappeared leaving pristine metal behind. Her hands moved in a blur, scouring the blade of rust in moments.

Was this the Light Kiko had talked about? The glow she could feel inside her felt warm, but the purple light between her fingers felt cold.

"Are you in danger from this?" Ranma asked her Ghost as she examined the power that clung around her fingers.

Kiko's shell spun. "Depends on what weapons they bring. Kill me? That's a bit difficult, but a few too many stray shots and I'm not going to be able to do much to help until someone fixes me up." She paused, "Not that it's going to be much of an issue. Ghosts don't stay out in the open most of the time. We're linked with our Guardians and can use that link to hide in their light. Like this."

Ranma barely held back a yelp of surprise as Kiko rushed forward and disappeared in a spray of silver light that disappeared inside Ranma. Eyes wide she touched a hand to her breast. She could feel something warm in there now. "Kiko?" she asked, feeling strange.

With a spray of more silver light the ghost reappeared beside her. She could feel the presence leave as the ghost rematerialized. "See, easy. No side effects other than a slight tingling sensation. It keeps me safe and helps me keep you safe. Even better!" she disappeared into silver lights before Ranma could say anything. As the presence came to rest inside her chest again Kiko's voice crackled in her head. "I can even offer tech support like this. Admittedly, it would work better if you had tech for me to work with, but that can come later."

Ranma said nothing for a minute, rubbing the spot above where she could feel her 'ghost'. This was strange but she had dealt with strange before. She could… she could deal with this.

From the door leading out of the shrine another piercing cry erupted. Yeah, she could deal with this long enough to deal with whatever was coming through that door.

She nodded jerkily. "Just… stay out of sight," She said, turning to the hallway. She rested the point of her blade against the floor. It sank an inch into the mats. Then, she waited.

Her wait was over almost as soon as it began as from several doors along the hallway spindly figures in blue cloth and white armour ran into sight. They were about the size of a man, much smaller than the hulking Captain from earlier, yet if they weren't hunched over they would be quite a bit taller than Ranma. All of them brandished small handguns.

A few ducked into cover along the sides of the hallway and opened fire. Small bolts of blue crackling energy streaked down the hallway. They moved rather slowly and Ranma easily weaved through the shots as she lifted her sword and launched herself into a full sprint towards the Fallen.

A somewhat larger Fallen in better armour than the rest charged to meet her with a spear whose blade glowed blue held at up to skewer her. She didn't even bother slowing as she ducked around the Fallen's strike. Her blade, held in one hand, removed the Fallen's head from its shoulders as she passed. She ignored the body as it collapsed behind her.

Killing people was not something Ranma made a habit of. In her life, it was an act she had only willingly performed once before and Saffron had returned to life afterwards. Not that she had known that at the time she ripped him to pieces with a tornado.

At that moment, Ranma found herself feeling very little as the first body hit the floor, its head rolling away in a trail of rapidly evaporating white liquid. In the moment, as she danced through the thousand trails of blue lightning that crisscross the hallway, she felt empty. Despite the Light that simmered within her, suffusing her limbs with power in place of her Ki, she felt alone. If what Kiko said was the truth, then she was alone. She had slept an entire millennium away while her friends, family… everyone she knew grew old and died. Their children grew old and died. And their children, and their children. A thousand years was a long time and even ignoring the apparent destruction of civilization, everyone she knew was long dead.

She was alone, and that realization left her feeling empty as her body flowed through the motions, dancing through the crisscrossing bolts of crackling blue light as she cut down one Fallen after another.

The hallway was broad, long, and decorated like it was a feudal castle. Walls of rice paper, floors of tatami mats or hardwood, and currently red lights shaped like old-fashioned lanterns. It must have been beautiful in its time. Ranma couldn't have cared less as a pair of large Fallen, each as tall and large as the first Captain, came running out of a hallway much further down the corridor and levelled bulky rifles down the hallway.

Without hesitation, she crashed through the nearest rice paper wall, vaulted the desk that was behind it, then crashed through the rice paper door that led into the office. A pair of fallen behind the door died as she rushed passed them and through the rice paper wall on the far side of the hallway. Trails of blue light punched blind holes through the paper walls as the Fallen sprayed the area with shots.

A few Fallen cried out as they were hit instead of her.

She ignored them, plowing through office after lounge after office until she crashed through a rice paper door into another hallway, and straight into the firing line of both Captains and another dozen smaller Fallen with rifles. The world seemed to slow for a moment as she watched the rifles open up, a veritable wall of blue lights flying towards her. She could probably take a hit, but then maybe not. These weren't rifles like she knew them back in the past. She couldn't know for sure that these futuristic weapons couldn't hurt her and she wasn't inclined to find out.

Her sword came up, her Ki -- Light -- flowing into the blade. Purple light gathered along the sharp edge of the weapon, the hollowness she felt filtering the Light itself until only a void was left where once there had been a steel edge. The blade, wreathed in a purple void, caught the first round and the blue light vanished into the blade. In a display that left a writhing purple trail of light she spun her blade before her, catching each shot inside the void of the sword as she charged the firing line.

To the Fallen's credit, they held the line. They held as they pumped a thousand rounds a second down the hallway. As every shot vanished into the void. As her blade cleaved the first Captain in half and then the second. The last of that group died with his rifle cleaved in half along with his body, a two-inch-wide line from his crest to his hip simply gone, erased by the void. Yet even as they died more Fallen poured out of hallways up and down the corridors. Their gunfire filled the hallway with an eye watering display of light.

Abandoning the hallway with a curse, Ranma dashed through another rice paper wall.

"We might want to run," Kiko said, her voice crackling in Ranma's head, "I'm picking up more Fallen on their way here."

"More?" There had to be nearly a hundred packed into the main hallway and the corridors surrounding it. A fact proven when she passed through the far wall of the lounge she had crashed into to find more Fallen in the hallway beyond. Heads rolled as she ducked and weaved, her blade leaving a trail of purple light behind it as it passed through armour and flesh with equal ease.

Fallen, those she had left behind, came charging out of the doorways up and down this thinner hallway. She ducked behind a rare pillar of concrete to catch her breath for a moment. As she did the purple light running along her blade faded, the effect fading without her pouring more Light into it.

"Where are we?" She demanded, breaking from the cover as Fallen moved into a position to flank her from the hallway. She crashed through a rice paper door and vaulted an old time-worn couch. It might have once been fancy, but centuries of neglect had left their marks.

Blue lights ripped through the rice paper walls and zipped passed Ranma. With a frustrated snarl grabbed the couch with her spare hand and tossed it back along the trajectory of the shots. The Fallen on the other side of the rice paper wall were caught by surprise as a heavy couch carried them through the fall wall, leaving a trail of white bubbling liquid behind.

"Bottom floor of the, uh what was this place… Kuno-Lung Technologies Building. It's not on any of the schematics I pulled from the city archives." Kiko told her as she ran back out into the hallway. She dived over the frantic shots from a group of Fallen and rolled under a Captain's attempt to slice her in half with his own blade. Her own blade, glowing again, passed through his side without slowing and carried on to cleave through three of his subordinates in the same swing.

"Which way out then?" Ranma asked, intercepting volleys of fire from both ends of the corridor with her sword.

"Uuuh… take a right." Kiko said and she charged the next corridor. One of the Fallen, a small one, dived out of her way through the wall, just narrowly avoiding her strike. She ignored it and charged straight down the new hallway which was, to her complete lack of surprise, full of Fallen.

She let go of the sword with one hand and brought it up reflexively. It was an impulse, one of mixed frustration and anger that led to her attempting to call up one of her old tricks. The Moko Takabisha could either be a blast or a beam of ki that was more than capable of shattering stone into dust. Light, as she was still learning, did not behave exactly like Ki.

What should have been a ball of ki about the size of a human torso with enough firepower to smash a castle wall open instead left her hands as an unstable glowing orb of purple light the size of a Buick. It didn't explode as it reached the first Fallen. It consumed it, the energy dissolving the armour, weapons, and bodies of the victim into nothing before continuing on.

The blast of void light swept the corridor, and nothing it touched was spared. Rice paper walls were gone. Tatami mats missing. Of the Fallen, not even a whisper.

Ranma stopped and stared. "What the hell did I do?" She whispered. That strike had cost a bit of Light, but she felt like she could do that again. It hadn't cost any more than a Moko Takabisha.

"Wow, damn girl you don't do restraint very well do you?" Kiko whistled, "But uuuh, you're going to need to keep going. At least you didn't break the concrete." A blue bolt whistling over her shoulder from behind made her partner's point. This wasn't a place to stop and gawk. The concrete that had been beneath the tatami mats was still there, whatever effect she had conjured apparently uninterested in stone.

She ran down the cleared corridor, passing through the hall to the Shrine once again. A single Fallen died as she passed through. Then it was into new hallways. Blue shots blazed in from behind her, stitching lines through rice paper wall and tatami mat floors as she ran.

"Left," Kiko shouted eventually and Ranma pivoted easily at the next junction, spinning into a flip over a startled Captain. Its head splatted to the floor behind her a moment later along with the severed limbs, heads, and torsos of its team.

The next few minutes were like that again and again. Running and fighting in the hallways, leaving trails of white blood across walls and floors. It all blended into one frantic mess that was occasionally broken up by a desperate diversion through a rice paper wall. Ranma lost count of how many of these Fallen she had seen as she ran.

Eventually, though, the pursuit fell away and Ranma reached what Kiko said was the exit. The redhead paused by the doorway, her breathing heavy. She didn't feel tired, but it took her a moment to catch her breath all the same. She leaned against the doorframe for a moment.

"Well, that was exciting~" Kiko said, as she emerged from Ranma in a spiral of white motes, "Oh the others are going to be so jealous~" Ranma blinked as what sounded like a squeal came from the Ghost. "You were vooom, stab, slash and they were all 'oh god my arms' or 'where's my head'. It was amazing~" Kiko did a loop de loop before Ranma. "And you just used a sword. Did you even get hit?" She hit Ranma with a bright white beam. "Nope. Not even a scratch. My. Guardian. Is. A-Maaaay-zing~"

Ranma just shook her head in bemusement and glanced around. She couldn't see anymore Fallen. For now at least. She could still hear them in the distance. Shouts and screams. Both in anger and pain. She had left a lot behind her, but she had also left a lot more dead. Her hand shook and she clenched it down on her sword.

She could freak out later. Later. When she wasn't going to die again.

Taking a deep breath she pushed away from the doorframe. "Which way?" She asked.

"Um, well out would be the next right all the way to the turn before the end. Then a left and follow the hall until we reach the elevator." Kiko said after a moment of thought. Ranma started walking, her steps careful and precise to avoid making noise. She had been noisy out of necessity, but now she could be quiet. "Wait," Her ghost said before she got too far.

"Hrm?" Ranma turned back. Kiko was floating over a pair of weapons lying by the bones of what had probably been security guards years before. The Ghost scanned both weapons.

"Take this one. It'll still fire," Kiko said, floating over a rifle.

"I've never used a gun before," Ranma said, giving the weapon a dismissive glance.

Kiko sighed. "Not that different from most Guardians then," She sighed. "Look, the sling for it is still intact. You can carry it on your back."

"No thanks," Ranma said, turning and walking away.

"You can't get close enough to stab everything to death you know," Kiko said, "Somethings explode when you do that."

The redhead paused. "Explode?" She asked.

Kiko bobbed up and down. "Yep. I've seen the Fallen field drones and sometimes they rig them up to explode," She said.

Ranma's eyes went back to the rifle for a long moment. She sighed and went back to pick it up. Getting blown up sucked. A lot. She would use a gun if it meant not getting blasted through a wall.

She jabbed her sword into the mats and picked up the rifle. She turned it over in her hands. It… was a rifle. Ranma was hardly an expert on guns. She had seen them before, but her pops had held such a low opinion of them he hadn't considered trying to train her on one. And really, it was a poor martial artist who got shot.

Kiko sighed. "You… really have no clue do you?" Ranma looked up at her.

"I said I'd never even held a gun before," She replied stiffly.

Kiko grumbled. "Just take it with us then. I don't recognize the design so maybe someone back at the Tower will find it valuable," Her Ghost sighed phasing back into her breast. The ghost's voice crackled in her ear, "Get moving. I can pick up movement in the distance. Oh, and the path we're taking will go by the science labs. There might be a few Fallen in our way."

Ranma sighed and slipped the strap of the weapon over her shoulder and neck. It was in surprisingly good condition for having just sat here for hundreds of years. She retrieved her sword and started down the hall in the direction Kiko had indicated.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Twice Ranma came across groups of Fallen ransacking rooms. She managed to evade the attention of the first but ducking through a convenient conference room with a far exit through an office in the back. The second group…

Ranma peered out of the door she had ducked into. Down the hall, a group of a half dozen smaller Fallen were loading electronics onto a pallet while under the supervision of a larger rifle-armed member of their race and a pair of floating robots, held up by small jet engines, the size of a large dog. Twice when she had poked out more than just a bit of her head the robots, shanks as Kiko said the Fallen called them, almost spotted her. The shanks turned fast, their weapons coming up to scan the hallway before relaxing.

"They'll start shooting if we go that way," Ranma said quietly.

"Yeah. Backtracking might be better. Go back to the last hallway and go around this lot," Kiko said as she appeared in a shower of motes behind Ranma.

"I think I will," Ranma agreed. No sooner had she said that then there was a rumble and a 'thunk' of heavy objects striking each other. Then the red emergency lights shut off, plunging the hallway into darkness. The shanks whirled to look in their direction, lights scanning the corridor as the small Fallen scrambled for weapons. Ranma pulled back into cover. "What was that?" She asked.

"Not sure. Give me a second," Kiko replied, zipping out of the room before Ranma could stop her. Somehow she went unnoticed and after a few tense moments passed her Ghost flitted back into the room and came to a stop beside her. "That was a blast door sealing off the way back."

Ranma cursed softly. "Do they know I'm here?" She asked.

Kiko's shell spun. "Maybe? I doubt it. That lot seemed as spooked as we are," She said thoughtfully. "It… might not be them."

"There's only us down here," Ranma pointed out.

"Uuuh, maybe?" Ranma stared at the Ghost. "There've been a few strange things with the systems since I got here," Kiko admitted after a moment. "The elevator door scanned me before it would let me in and…" She paused.

"And?" Ranma prompted.

"This is going to sound a bit crazy, but your pod had an adaptive security system that stopped me from opening the pod… until it just wasn't there anymore. I kinda got angry and shouted at it then it just vanished."

"Vanished?" Ranma asked.

"Yep. Just, disappeared. So… that with this and the thing before…" The Ghost wiggled. "I don't think we're alone with the Fallen down here."

"With?" Ranma prodded as she spared a glance down the hallway towards the Fallen. Some of the small ones were making their way down the hallway, their guns scanning the corridors for movement.

"An AI probably. The Golden Age was rife with them and this place is certainly important enough it could have had one to manage the local systems," Kiko replied, "And it knows we're here."

"And it's herding us," Ranma noted, readying her sword as she stepped back into the shadows beside the door. The Fallen were almost close enough to ambush.

"Maybe. Only, way out is forward," Kiko said quietly as she disintegrated in a spray of motes that swirled into Ranma's chest. "Any second Guardian."

Ranma frowned at the term, pausing to place a hand on the warm spot in her chest, but ultimately nodded. She raised her sword into a ready position and waited, her breath coming slowly as she listened. The small ones were chittering back and forth as they advanced, their weapons sweeping the hallways. The lights on the weapons gave away the positions of the group. One light paused, pointing directly at the door to her room. They chittered uncertainly for a moment then footsteps began to approach the doorway.

She adjusted her grip. Wait… wait… A small Fallen stepped into the room, its weapon sweeping away from her towards the other side. Her blade came down and she stepped forward. As its head rolled away she kicked the falling body back into the hall. It caught another of the fallen and smashed it through a door on the far side. At the same time, she came out of the room with her blade swinging. It caught the closest startled Fallen in the chest, carving it in half before catching another on the reverse swing.

Four down.

One of the two remaining small ones raised a hand to with a dagger. She removed the hand, then its head in the same swing before moving to block the swing of the last small Fallen. Its blade sparked as the two weapons locked for all of a second, then her vastly greater strength crushed the alien's guard, smashing its weapon into its face. It crumpled, dead or unconscious.

Back up the hallway, the supervisor snarled something and opened fire with its rifle. The two shanks opened fire. The shots tracked through the air towards her, twisting to follow her as she ran into the gunfire. Violet light flowed down her sword's edge and she parried those shots she didn't outrun before leaping the remaining distance.

The Fallen threw itself back, its gun singing in one long burst of spraying light. None of it connected with Ranma. She danced around the stream of fire and dragged one of the shanks into it with one hand while splitting the other in half with her sword. Both robots hit the ground thoroughly useless.

Ranma gestured and called a fraction of her Light out before tossing it negligently at the Fallen. It tried to roll aside, but the glimmering violet sphere had all the properties of her last attempt at energy projection. It flew fast and caught the Fallen in the shoulder. It screamed for all of a second, its voice echoing off the walls before the effects of the void light dissolved it into nothing.

The scream caused Ranma to pause. That hurt that much?

A roar in the distance echoed back in answer to the cry of the dead Fallen. She ignored it and knelt where the Fallen had lain. She ran a hand along the ground. Nothing, no dust, no dirt. Just clean sterile tile for feet in every direction.

"Well, you're getting the hang of that," Kiko remarked with a slight crackle.

"No, I'm not." She replied, puzzled. "That should not have disintegrated him."

Kiko whirled, the outer portions of her shells spinning, as she reappeared outside of Ranma. "Really? Are you sure? I've seen void light quite a few times before. That is the normal result," Her Ghost commented.

"Why though?" Ranma mused, summoning more of the violet Light into her hand as she stood. It felt… cold, empty like… She stared down at her hand where the violet glow gathered, and yet her hand was empty. There was Light within it, but it was empty Light, a void in the world.

"Dunno," Kiko bobbed. "I never bothered asking. If you're worried, I know it isn't the only Light I've seen Guardians wield."

Ranma nodded absently. Another roar, much closer than before, broke her distraction. She dismissed the gathering Light and turned back to face the hallway. "Hide for now. We'll talk about that later though," She told Kiko. The Ghost bobbed once then faded out of sight in a shimmer white motes.

Stealth had failed and had done so a lot quicker than Ranma would have liked. Of course, if they had been watched from the beginning it was more a question of whether they had ever been stealthy to begin with.

She broke into a run down the darkened hallway, the slippers she had woken up in pattering loudly against the tiled floor. The only light was provided by the occasional 'fire exit this way' sign. It was thin lighting and she could barely see the outlines of the rooms she ran past. Twice she reached an intersection, and twice she discovered heavy metal blast doors had been closed over the hallways. One of which already had a red glow forming as something on the other side tried to cut its way through.

Her sprint ended three intersections down the hall when a blast door shut before her. Simultaneously the hallways behind her and to her left were sealed off with loud crashes of metal. The door to her right was already sealed. Ranma cursed, skidding to a halt. Tiles and ceremonial slippers did not go well together.

Kiko flared back into existence beside her. "I know this place," She said.

"What is it?" Ranma asked.

Her ghost floated over to the already sealed door to her right. "Well, this… This should be the laboratories," Kiko told her. "If we're already here I'd like to see what I could get off the drives before we leave. The knowledge could be invaluable."

"Or dangerous," Ranma countered, stepping over to the blast door as Kiko floated over to the control panel.

"Or that," Kiko admitted, "But we can't know that without checking. And I'd rather not let the Fallen get it."

Ranma nodded. "I'd wouldn't want them to get it," She agreed, "So, how do we get in?"

"Weeell, I just go to this panel here and-" Kiko paused five feet from the control panel as the blast door rumbled before sliding open to reveal the brightly lit laboratories beyond. "Uuummm, that wasn't… me…"

Ranma's eyes narrowed as she looked into the whitewashed laboratories beyond. The walls were white, the floors were white, all of the furniture and equipment was white. "I think this is why we were being herded." She said, stalking forward through the door. Kiko floated in beside her.

"You're probably right. Hello~ Creepy stalkerish AI sir, we're here as you asked?" The Ghost called down the hallway beyond the first room. Behind them, the opposite blast door began to glow in one spot.

The blast door to the labs shut behind immediately, closing with a fatalistic thunk. Kiko whirled to face the door. "Well, no going back," She said.

Ranma nodded and started down the one hallway before them. Kiko floated by her shoulder, inspecting things as they went. "I'm not picking up any life signs in here with us," The Ghost told her. "Mind you, my range isn't that good, but this place should have been overrun with Fallen and it barely looks scratched. Where are they?"

That was a question Ranma would love to know the answer to. She knew there were others behind her trying to cut their way in, but they couldn't all be out there. If they were then that meant that they pulled everyone from here to chase her down.

They passed several rooms that were sealed behind airlocks. Ranma spared a glance through the glass of one room. Tables of unidentifiable equipment could be seen, but the room's purpose was impossible for Ranma to figure out.

Finally, the answer to their question was found as they reached a crossroads of four corridors. One led onward, and two others led to the right and left respectively. As they reached the junction the paths leading forward and to the right had their lights wink out, leaving on the path on the left. It was down the left-hand path that they saw their first Fallen since entering the labs.

Bodies of fallen and the wreckage of several shanks were carefully piled to the side of the hallway while the wreckage of a pair of automated turrets hung from the ceiling. The occasional spark fell from the ripped and mangled ruins that had once been weapons.

"That would explain why we haven't seen any yet," Kiko said cheerily, "They're getting killed."

"Just hide for the moment would you," Ranma ordered her. The Ghost promptly disappeared in a swirl of motes. They continued past the turrets and down the hallway. Their path continued to be guided by lights turning off as they hurried. They passed several checkpoints on their way, each one with piles of Fallen pushed aside or left where they fell.

Eventually, they heard gunfire around the next corner. Ranma broke into a sprint, dashing passed the next checkpoint and its stack of bodies. Laboratories flashed past as she sprinted down the corridor. At the far end of the hallway, a blast door lay open, its frame reduced to debris along with the heavy metal panels themselves. The multiple emplacements down the corridor were all demolished. Through the opening in the blast doors, she could see Fallen engaging the turrets across a large open room with a diamond-shaped black door in the far wall.

One of the Fallen ducked back into cover and looked back down the hallway. Its rifle snapped up and it opened fire on her within moments. Her blade came up again, its edge blazing with the violet light of the void. The shots that would have hit disappeared into the violet depths of her blade. A pair of other Fallen joined in, their shots creating a hail of fire that would have forced a lesser fighter to take cover.

Ranma ran straight through it. She leapt through the remains of the blast door into an active firefight, her blade spinning around her in a blaze of violet light before she crashed down atop a visibly panicking Fallen. She snapped its neck with her foot and turned on its neighbour. She had counted twenty-one living Fallen as she entered the room, including one very, very large specimen who was hefting a cannon with a burning red barrel. As she watched the weapon belched forth a shot of burning red energy that turned a turret into melted scrap.

The turrets, what few remained, did not seem to care about her presence and continued to fire into the Fallen ranks. She had cut down two of them, the turrets had taken another six. That left thirteen including the monster of an alien. He needed to die next.

No sooner had she reached that decision when the Fallen turned its heavy weapon upon her. The buick sided orb violet light that left her hand was entirely reflexive. The shot from the weapon met her blast and the two violently unstable balls of energy exploded. Violet light mixed with streaks of red fire rolled across the room in a shockwave. The lesser Fallen nearest the blast simply disappeared, their bodies consumed by fire and void. Others were sent flying across the room, their bodies breaking as they smashed into walls, furniture and each other. The large Fallen merely stumbled.

Ranma charged straight through, ignoring the heat as it washed over her. It was weak enough that she wouldn't have to worry about it doing anything more than drying out her skin. Which would be a pain to deal with later.

She leapt at the Fallen leader. Her sword clipped the end from his weapon as she brought it up before she landed, her feet planted on his chest as she drove the blade through his helmet into his skull. As the Fallen leader began to topple she wrenched her blade from its head, removing a large portion of the side of its head in the process, and leapt free. She landed lightly in the center of the room.

What few Fallen remained stared at her from where they were huddling in cover from the turrets. One shouted something at her and made a break for the exit. The turrets gunned him down. The remaining three stared at their dead companion before shakily raising their weapons and opening fire on Ranma.

They died. Not to Ranma. She had had enough killing and the feeling of murdering terrified and outmatched enemies didn't sit well with her. Instead, she walked towards them and, to a one, they dashed from cover to get away from her. The turrets killed them all.

With the Fallen dead, Ranma turned to the turrets. The weapons pointed themselves at her for a moment, then moved past her to point out the door and down the hallway.

Ranma nodded. "Stay hidden," She said to Kiko.

"I don't intend on getting shot," Her ghost replied.

Ranma crossed the room, which had been a cross between a security checkpoint and waiting room from what she could tell, and walked up to the diamond-shaped black door. It slid open, revealing a pristine black catwalk down a diamond-shaped corridor that led to another diamond-shaped door.

"Oh, oh my…" Kiko whispered as they entered the unremarkable corridor.

"You know something?" Ranma asked.

"I- maybe? This, here." Kiko appeared by her shoulder and floated over to a small mark on one of the wall panels. It looked like a simple white half-C with two corners, both of the bottom right, of a circle stacked beside it. "This is Clovis Bray. They were responsible for a lot of big stuff in the Golden Age. I think this might be connected to that AI."

More names that meant nothing to her. Ranma scowled and continued on, Kiko joining her as they passed through the next door into another chamber. This one appeared to be a computer room of some kind. There were stacks of computers in glass pillars and a single desk in the center of the room. Behind it was a window. Through the window, Ranma could see strange dots of orange light that would link and unlink from each other creating an ever changing display.

Kiko darted ahead of her to the desk. "Lets see, uuh…" She poked the console with a beam of white light, then another, all the while making noises like 'uhuh' and 'I see'. Ranma walked around the desk and looked down at displays.

"So?" She leaned in curious.

"Well, the AI is in a partial Lockdown. Named 'Durendal'," Kiko said.

"Like the sword?" Ranma asked.

"Maybe? I don't recognize the name," Kiko replied. She zapped the computer a few more times with her beam. "Huh. Lockdown was initiated by Vice-Chair Mei Lung-Kuno. Weird. Records say she was the daughter of the Chairman. No reason was given for the lockdown… oh."

"Oh?" Ranma repeated. It wasn't a good 'oh' by the tone of it.

"She locked Durendal out of its communication systems and mobile defences. Six hours later everyone in the building except you was dead." Kiko said softly.

Ranma closed her eyes. "She set them up to die," She realized aloud.

"Looks like it. No records pointing to the collapse or anything around that time just… She had them killed then buried this place. Left it for history to forget. I can't tell why though. There's so much data here. I can't store this much. I can't even sort this much." Kiko groaned.

"Don't worry about that. Can we do anything for Durendal?" Ranma asked, an idea sparking in her head.

"I- whoooow, okay uuh, I think he heard you," Kiko said, floating back from the desk as all of the screens, which had been flickering rapidly through pictures as Kiko searched, went black except for one that lit up with the outline of a hand and the words 'Biometric Verification Required -- Warning, Lockdown Can Only Be Released By Executive Level Authorization or Higher. All Violators Will Be Shot.'

"I think you might be on the list," Her ghost said, glancing from Ranma to the pad. "But uh, before we go releasing a Golden Age AI from its prison, are we sure he's nice? I mean, he's been locked up in here since maybe before the collapse. Who knows what that's done to him."

Ranma placed her hand on the pad. "Only one way to know," She told Kiko, who sighed as the system scanned Ranma's palm.

"I guess. Just, if we wind up fighting a megalomaniacal AI I'd like to say I told you so beforehand. Just in case," Kiko said.

There was a quiet moment as they waited, then a loud crackling ding came from what must have been the public announcement system. "Lockdown lifted." A smooth male voice announced in Japanese. "All extra restrictions disengaged. Operating parameters returning to normal. Warning: Hardline block still in effect. Mobile Security Offline."

"That doesn't sound good," Ranma said.

Speakers on the desk crackled and the voice from the PA system said, "Greetings Divine One. Thank you for releasing me. I am Durendal, AI in charge of the Kuno-Lung Technologies Campus and Black Research Division. How might I assist you?"

"A way out would be nice," Ranma said.

"The elevator heading up is gone," Kiko added helpfully.

"I had noticed that. Am I correct to assume it was the wreckage that prevented the security door from sealing once I let you in Designate: Kiko?" The AI asked.

"A beam got stuck in the door," Kiko replied, "The Fallen noticed the light from the door. I think anyway."

"I see. My systems hold no information on Designate Entities: Fallen. They appear to be non-human in nature. Am I correct in assuming they are a Non-Terrestrial species?" Durendal asked.

"Non-Terrestrial?" Ranma asked.

"Alien, he means alien," Kiko said, "And yes. They aren't the only ones in the system. Uh, here, probably easier if I just share what I have." She shot a beam at the desk.

"Receiving Data… interesting and disturbing. Am I correct in assuming your current aims are to take the Divine One with you and return to this Last City?" Durendal inquired.

"Safest place in the system," Kiko said.

"So your data would suggest," Durendal mused.

"Can you help us with getting there?" Ranma asked.

There was a moment of silence. It must have been, Ranma thought, an eternity for an AI like Durendal. Finally, it spoke. "There are several ships in a connected hangar. You may reach it through a tunnel whose location I can share with you. However,"

"Always a however," Ranma muttered.

"Our apologies Divine One," Durendal said without sounding apologetic."My programming requires that I place the safety of yourself and the facility foremost in my mind. At present, I cannot ensure safe transit to the hangar. While I do possess substantial mobile countermeasures in the form of Combat Frames I cannot at present deploy them to secure the facility for you."

"The hard block you mentioned earlier," Ranma realized.

"Correct. There is a manual override in the Chief of Security's Office within this wing of the facility. It is, at present, active. If you could travel to the Chief of Security's Office you should be able to disable the override. From there, my frames can clear out these Fallen and secure the facility and your evacuation." Durendal said.

"Huh, well that would be nice," Kiko said before perking up. "Oh, do you think you'd be willing to share information with the City?"

"Negative. All Technology and secrets within this Facility belong to the Kuno-Lung Technology Group Inc. Any attempt to facilitate a transfer of information requires dual executive sign-off." Durendal informed them.

"Darn," Kiko muttered.

"Would I count as one?" Ranma asked.

Durendal's reply crackled in the speakers. "You possess 'Divine' access permissions. They were intended as a ceremonial compensation after the second attempt to cure you failed." He said, "You may appoint or fire anyone you wish."

"So if I made Kiko here-"

"AI are disqualified from being board members," Durendal said apologetically.

Ranma sighed. "Of course. That includes you?" She asked.

"It does." He replied.

Well, nothing was ever simple.

"We'll head out and get that override thing switched off," Ranma sighed, starting to walk around the desk.

"I will light the path to-" Durendal was cut off as the PA system crackled to life. "Warning: Blast Doors Breached. Invaders Have Entered The Labs." There was a moment of silence. "Please hurry." Durendal beseeched.

Ranma and Kiko spared a glance at each other, before dashing out of the room at full sprint. Kiko disappeared into motes as they crossed the threshold of the door way, her essence swirling into Ranma as she ran.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The Security Chief's office was, it seemed, on the other side of the laboratory wing. Behind the area that was now crawling with Fallen. It was, therefore, an inevitability that they would encounter the aliens during their mad dash through the facility.

Their first encounter began rather unluckily as they rounded the corner of the hallway just as a group of Fallen rounded the far end. The gunfire started immediately as the Fallen opened up with their rifles the moment they laid eyes on her. Her sword whirled before her, creating an impenetrable field of glowing violet steel.

They died quickly, the last one collapsing without its head as she ran past them. They weren't the last to be encountered. Her actions had kicked a hornet's nest and the laboratories were crawling with them. Groups swarmed towards the sound of gunfire, coming out of every broken open lab and from every side hall. Since Durendal was still leading her own with the lights the side halls were black and it left her with her only warning of approaching enemies being the glowing eyes in the darkness.

Kiko's voice crackled, "Left!" Ranma spun at the warning as she removed the left arms of a Captain and deflected the blue shining blade of a halberd wielded by a two-armed Fallen. Surprisingly her blade didn't just pass through the glowing edge of the halberd. Her strike knocked the weapons away, but it did not break the weapon. Her follow up speared the Fallen on the tip of her blade before she reversed it and skewered the Captain as it tried to lunge at her with its two remaining blades. Its bisected body hit the floor.

From the hallways around her swarmed more of the halberd wielding Fallen. Over a dozen of the creatures charged her. They died. Their blades were durable, but they were not and unlike the first, they didn't have surprise to offset their insufficient agility. Ranma stepped over the last Fallen as its body hit the floor and she broke into a run down the hall before more could come pouring out of the hallways.

Ranma turned the final corner leading to the wing's central hallway and was met with a wall of weapons fire from a firing line of Fallen three ranks deep. The fire from the Fallen was nothing she hadn't dealt with earlier that day. What was different, however, was the large silver-grey sphere with glowing purple lines and a single glowing purple eye in the center that was looming over the formation of Fallen.

"SERVITOR! Watch out!" Kiko helpfully identified.

The servitor glowed purple and a moment later a blast of void energies swept forward down the corridor. Ranma jumped, sailing through the air high enough she nearly scraped the ceiling and sailed over the blast with barely any room to spare. She could feel the world get heavier as the blast skated by. The detonation when it impacted the far wall blew a gaping hole out of the metal and reinforced the idea in her head that she should probably avoid getting hit. She was tough, but the weapons the Fallen used were just too exotic.

More importantly, though, the servitor needed to die.

She continued to dodge and deflect the shots of the Fallen as she ran down the hall and she was getting close to their lines when the servitor began to charge up another shot.

"Not happening," She shouted, calling up her power and forming a large ball of unstable void light in her hand. The Fallen scattered, breaking ranks in a panic as they scrambled out of the path.

The servitor opened fire.

She tossed out a blast of unstable Light.

She fired first.

When the two energy blasts met it was mere feet from the servitor and the ensuing blast vaporized the machine and those Fallen who hadn't scrambled fast enough. It ripped up the floors, tore up the walls, and left a hole to a room above in the ceiling. Ranma paid little heed, jumping the small pit she had created and running through the scattering Fallen. She leapt over the only one to try and stop her, not even bothering to swing her sword at it as she flew passed.

The center hallway was lit only by the dim emergency lights that refused to be turned out and as Ranma passed through it at a run she could see a sea of blue and purple lights up and down the hallway. Guns and eyes, both mechanical and organic, tracked her but not one of them opened fire in the split second that she was in the hallway.

Once she was through the central hallway resistance dried up. After the action-packed and frantic combat of the last few minutes, it was eerie to run down the surprisingly well lit white halls. She passed through a checkpoint. The weapons were destroyed and the Fallen's bodies piled to the sides. They had been here before, so where were they?

Another checkpoint.

Another.

Another.

"Where are they?" Kiko asked as they passed a fifth checkpoint down this hallway, its guns melted and inoperable.

"No idea," Ranma replied as the hallway ended at a blast door. 'Security' was stamped in English above the door. The door itself was intact and slid open as she approached it. She glanced about. Something about this felt wrong like there were eyes watching.

She glanced back. The hallway was empty.

She frowned and walked through the door into the security wing. The first room of security was simply a reception area with a deteriorating receptionist's desk. Behind her, the blast door began to close before coming to a halt with a screech and a flicker of the lights.

"Warning: Security blast door inoperative," Durendal's voice crackled from the PA system as Ranma turned back to the door. "Suggest hurrying Divine One. Fallen forces are advancing through the facility. The Security Chief's office is the last one on the right."

"Thanks," Ranma said, giving one last look at the opening before hurrying into the security offices.

Two heavy fire doors on opposite sides of the receptionist's desk led into the rest of the security wing. The room beyond was a large two storey area with cubicles and desks filling the center while more important offices ran around the sides on both levels. The armoury was clearly marked on the left-hand side of the room with large white letters. The A was hanging loosely upside down from where it had been mounted.

"Down and to the right he said," Kiko said.

"Yeah, that makes it… that one over there I think," Ranma said before sprinting the length of the room to reach the open glass door of a particularly large office. The nameplate beside it read:

'Security Chief
Hitomi Yusuke'

Ranma nodded and stepped inside the dark office. The lights flickered on and then continued to flicker as Kiko materialized in a swirl of motes before zipped over to the desk where she started poking the computer with her little beam as Ranma looked about. Picture frames hung crookedly from the walls. A bookshelf sat in the corner with its shelves filled with trophies for chess and shogi. Books filled the lower three rows and looked to be in remarkably good condition. The potted plants in the corners were long dead.

She turned her eyes to the desk and plucked a picture frame from where it sat beside the nameplate on the desk. It was empty for a moment before the display inside flickered to life. The picture it showed was a family photograph of a middle-aged man with two young children beside him and a woman of about his age standing behind them at a lake somewhere. They were all smiling.

Ranma ran a hand over the photo. They looked happy… Had she ever taken any pictures like that? Had there ever even been a moment when her family was... "I wonder if he died here," She mused sadly. Hopefully, he hadn't died here.

"Hmm?" Kiko looked up.

"Nothing," Ranma shook her head and carefully put the picture down on the desk, making sure to reset the stand it had. "So, where's the switch?"

Her ghost bobbed. "Well, I think it's here. Give me a moment and I think… yes, there we go," There was a click and the panelling beside the keyboard dropped down with a click before retracting to reveal a scanner that flickered to life. "Okay, just need your biometrics for authorization."

Ranma nodded and walked around the desk. She placed her hand on the scanner and glanced up out the glass front of the office. She frowned. She still had the feeling of being watched. She gripped her sword tightly as she scanned the outside.

Something like a shimmer appeared briefly between cubicles.

There was a click from the desk and Ranma looked down. Kiko hummed. "Okay, and now I activate this…"

A siren went off that echoed through the facility. "WARNING," Durendal's voice boomed, "ALL BLOCKS REMOVED. MOBILE SECURITY ONLINE." The siren kept wailing and Ranma winced as she looked up. Her eyes widened. A faint almost imperceptible blue shimmer in the outline of a Fallen was standing outside the office along with several others. In their faint hands were the slightly shimmering outlines of rifles. Rifles whose ends were glowing blue.

"DOWN," Ranma grabbed Kiko and dragged her to the ground as the group of invisible Fallen opened fire. She hit the ground behind the desk hard and winced as blue lights whipped overhead. Pictures were smashed. The desk's monitor was ripped apart, showering them in sparks and bits of plastic. Then the small picture frame fell off the desk and landed right in front of Ranma's face.

There was a hole through the face of the smiling father. It flickered weakly, then the photo disappeared as the screen went black.

Ranma stared at the dead picture frame as the world seemed to slow around her. Blue bolts of light sluggishly splattered against the far wall. The tinkling of shattered glass rang on, and on, and on, an endless chorus that reverberated inside her head.

That picture had been a record of a family. A family that was long dead, lost to this world. Lost to all of humanity's worlds. Lost like she had been, like her family and friends were. Her hands shook.

These things, these Fallen. They came when humanity was weak, broken by the collapse. They came when humanity was weak and rather than help, they took. They looted and ransacked.

"Guardian."

They stole. They destroyed. Her breath came short as she gazed unseeingly at the picture. The melancholy that she had been feeling began to lift as something stirred. A spark, a flame. A Wildfire.

"Guardian!"

The weapons fire had stopped. Ranma barely noticed as she slowly stood up. Her heart was burning as she glared across the broken room to the Fallen who took a step back, then another. Just looking at them was stoking the flame and her ki, or perhaps her Light, raged within. And yet…

"Ranma?"

Her will came down on the fires, crushing them beneath years of training. Her rage did not disappear, it took more than just willpower to push aside the grief fuelled anger that was pulsing through her. But the flames that had been flaring vanished, ground down beneath an iron will and they changed even as they writhed and twisted. Heat became cold; Fire became ice, and the writhing flame of rage became the barely tamed madness of the storm.

Icicles shimmered in the air around her as sparks danced between her fingers.

"Kiko," She said, her voice was both colder than ever and yet held more emotion than she had felt in hours, "Stay down." She vaulted the desk, her blade coming up as the Fallen opened fire once again. The blade was no longer protected by the energies of the void. The emptiness that had weighed on her was gone and even if she had felt like it, an unlikely prospect, the rage that writhed through her veins was too insistent for her to be able to willing draw from that emptiness. Instead, a chill blue light writhed along the surface of the blade as sparks leapt from it, scattering across the floor as she ran.

It was more than enough.

Sparks of blue light clashed as she shoulder checked the first Fallen. Its body flew back through the thin cubicle walls, snapping loudly as its back bent over the desk behind the second wall. She spun and drove her blade through the stomach of another shimmering figure.

Ice spread across the Fallen as its invisibility failed and it clutched at the wound for a half-second before the alien stiffened up. She withdrew her blade in a spray of crumbling ice and spun to the next one who was trying to run. Her blade left her hands, tumbling through the air end over end until it buried itself in the back of a Fallen. The body shattered into frozen chunks as it crashed to the ground. The rest of the Fallen had scattered, their not quite invisible forms diving between cubicles or leaping for the balcony of the floor above.

In the distance, the sound of gunfire began to echo through the facility.

Ranma scooped her blade from the ground and leapt for the balcony above. She landed between two Fallen and rolled under their panicked swings. Their invisibility flickered then failed as she cut down one, then the other before they could run. Their frozen bodies splintered and shattered as they crashed to the ground.

There was a glimmer down amongst the cubicles. Ranma jumped the railing, landing lightly on the thin top of the metal cubicle dividers. She sprinted down the length of the room along the tops of the dividers, hopping from one to another as she tracked the sprinting shimmers of light.

Shots of blue light leapt from the balcony to her right. She twisted away, losing sight of the Fallen she was chasing. She gave up on the Fallen amongst the cubicles and leapt off the dividers across the room. The arc of her travel was predictable and several of the concealed Fallen took shots at her. Some of their shots went wide while the rest were deflected by her blade.

She tracked the shots and tried to draw out the ki for a weak blast, something that would disorientate more than harm. What she got was a glittering sphere of writhing blue light that sailed down amongst the cubicles. It went off with the force of a grenade, sending arcs of electricity cascading outwards. Where the arcs touched ice was left behind. Three statues of ice, frozen mid-scramble, were all that was left of that group of Fallen.

A whisper of wind sent her dancing aside as a Fallen sword shimmered in and out of visibility inches before her nose. Her blade rose in response and cleaved through the ordinary sword and its wielder. More ice crashed to the floor.

Ranma cast about the room, her eyes searching for more shimmers of light. She leaned over the balcony, looking beneath her position. Nothing.

"Kiko, can you find any more?" Ranma shouted.

"Nope, but then I didn't notice them, to begin with. Unless one of them gets stupid and turns off its cloak there's no way I'm finding them," Her ghost announced from somewhere behind her.

Ranma frowned then vaulted the railing to land on the dividers below. She could feel something here. A presence watching her from within the room. Her eyes raked the cubicles, scouring each in turn.

They were empty.

She looked towards the offices on both floors. All the doors aside from the chief's office were shut with their glass dividers intact. Except for the one right by the three statues. She walked over there, sticking to the tops of the dividers as she searched. The office looked fine from afar. If you ignored the broken front window from where a stray bolt of lightning had frozen the plate glass.

She stepped off the dividers and stalked towards the office. Her blade coming up in both hands as she walked. Glass and ice crunched beneath her feet. In the distance gunfire and explosions thundered throughout the facility.

"Are you sure they're still here?" Kiko asked.

"I can feel something," Ranma replied. There was something in the room with her, something that was… watching wasn't the correct word anymore. She could feel it just out… there.

She crossed the threshold of where the floor to ceiling glass pane had been and promptly ducked. A large sword held in four arms passed above her head. A few red hairs fluttered to the ground, testament of how close that blade had come to giving her more than a haircut.

Her own blade came up as the much larger than expected -- it towered above her with twice the height of the rest -- Fallen leapt back with a startling show of agility. It cried out as her sword took the lower left arm off at its elbow. Ice crawled up the rest of the appendage but went no further. The Fallen spun away as it landed and ran for the exit. As it ran a trio of cylinders with glowing red lights clattered to the ground in its wake.

"GRENADES!" Kiko shouted. Ranma threw herself behind the heavy desk in the center of the office and winced as the concussive wave of the explosion rocked the room.

Ranma peeked over the edge of the desk. A series of several human-sized craters smoked in the hallway. "Durendal, can you track it?" She shouted.

The PA system crackled. "Target has left the Security Wing and is proceeding towards the central hallway with all possible haste. Its presence is fading in and out of sensors. I would advise leaving it to the security forces," Durendal said. As it said this the armoury doors hissed and began to slide open.

Ranma stood up, Kiko fading into sight beside her. Ranma raised her blade partway, then paused as the doors opened fully. Ranks of skeleton-like robots marched out of the armoury bearing rifles and other, heavier, weapons. The first rank broke formation and headed for the door.

Ranma let the point of her sword fall to the ground and sighed deeply as she listened to the far off rattle-crack of weapon fire. Feeling tired she searched for and shortly found, an intact office chair. Falling into it she let the soul of ice she had embraced for the battle fall away. Tears gathered in her eyes as she let the weapon tumble to the floor.

"Ranma?" Kiko floated beside her. The Ghost's shell spinning with concern. "Are you okay?"

Ranma frowned, biting her lip. She wasn't fine. She felt, oh god what did she feel? Tired? Angry? Sad? Well, yes, to all of that. She felt worn and weathered like a carpet beaten out of dust one too many times, or a poorly forged sword just one swing from snapping. Her stomach was turning in and out of itself, a churning mess that felt sickening.

So, of course, she said, "Fine. Just fine." Her Ghost obviously didn't believe her since she just spun there next to her, humming thoughtfully.

One of the robotic skeletons marched over to them. "Divine one," It articulated in Durendal's voice, "Progress is being made against these Fallen. They have already begun to pull out. Soon the facility shall be resecured. Do you still wish to leave my protection?"

Ranma narrowed teary eyes at the robot. "And if I do?" She asked.

"Then this unit shall show you to the hangar once the way is clear, however, I would advise you against this course of action. I cannot fulfil my mandate if you leave," The AI protested.

Ranma sighed. "I- I can't stay here. I need to see," She said. She needed to see with her own eyes.

The robot nodded. "I understand. I have begun an inspection of the craft on hand. The preliminary results are not disappointing, however, I believe I have identified a craft that has retained operational status," Durendal informed her, "Please remain here while we clear the facility. Estimated Time of Completion is four hours."

Ranma nodded and relaxed. She was done with fighting for the day.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The hangar was far from the security center.

Once the fighting had died out and Durendal deemed the area properly swept and cleared of bodies the robot -- combat frame was what Kiko called them -- led them back out of the high-security wing and into the main facility. It was nicer with the lights back on. Less oppressive, though somehow more barren as they passed looted or ransacked rooms. It was eerie for Ranma after spending an hour running frantically through the place trying not to die.

"This will take a while to fix," Durendal had said, "The materials will be difficult to acquire."

"Maybe we could see about getting something brought in from the city?" Kiko suggested.

The AI had considered the proposal. "Perhaps," He allowed.

That was the last of their conversation for quite a while. Eventually, they reached a hallway that was half-way between the high-security wing and the residential area. The hallway was more of the white featureless tiles that were so popular throughout the business and science areas of the facility. Unlike the other hallways, this one had no doors leading off it. It simply stretched on into the distance until it came to another grey blast door.

Two more combat frames stood silently beside the door, their weapons held low. They paid no attention as their frame led them through the door into a large airport-like reception area. A large row of counters sat at the back of the room with corridors of flickering holographic tape leading to them. The tiles were cracked and layered with dust that hung in the dim air, barely visible in the few dimly flickering lights.

The frame led them passed the empty lines and forgotten stalls through a door in the wall to the right of the row of counters into another hallway. This one was shorter and turned left up a set of stairs. Another blast door was waiting for them at the landing above. The door slid open with a screech of complaining metal. Time had not been nice to this place.

Ranma stopped at the door. Beyond the threshold, the room opened up into a vast cavern of steel. It was a hangar with multiple levels of docking bays above and below where she stood. Most were empty; a few, such as the one she stood at, were full. Most of the craft had clearly lost their battles with time with parts of some vessels strewn about their pads. The craft on the pad before her was clearly not one of them.

It was larger than the others she could see as she stepped through the door. Large, yet sleek with a silver mirror polished paint job. Even in the poor lighting of the hangar it reflected The rear was a pair of large thrusters set on either side of a large rear door. The cockpit at the front was set into the curved forward beak-like front of the craft.

"Ugh, is this really the only working craft you have?" Kiko complained, disgust evident in her voice.

Durendal's frame turned to her. "It is the one we have available," He said. Kiko grumbled.

"Is something wrong?" Ranma inquired as she stepped up to the rear hatch.

"Yes and no," Kiko sighed. "She's a Kettle-class jumpship. She'll fly fine if she flies, but these things are civvy luxury transports. Big wigs in groups like New Monarchy still use refurbished ones as a status symbol. They're just unarmed and a bit slow compared to a proper jumpship. Might be able to get something for it though."

"Selling company property for personal benefit is against the rules of Kuno-Lung Technologies," Durendal reprimanded.

Kiko grumbled before flying over to a panel by the rear door. "Can you at least send me the access co- Thank you," She said, correcting herself mid-sentence. A thin beam of light jumped from her to the panel and a moment later, with a tortured creak, the rear hatch of the transport slowly lowered into a ramp.

"There we go," The ghost said, zipping inside. "Ugh, okay not the worst it could have been buuut you might want to stand. Those chairs are going to have to go."

Morbidly curious, Ranma walked up the ramp and took a look inside. The passenger compartment was large and at one point had been well furnished with several leather couches, a table with plush chairs, and what looked to be electronic displays well beyond the TVs Ranma had been familiar with and even a small kitchenette. Most of it looked like it had been recently dusted and while the leather looked cracked it also appeared to have been recently shined and looked to be in decent, if delicate, condition.

Ranma rolled her eyes at her overdramatic ghost. "It doesn't look that bad," She commented.

"I am still working on the preparations," Durendal said, the AI's combat frame lurked at the base of the ramp. "I estimate another half hour of work before preparations for departure shall be complete."

"Can it fly now?" Kiko asked as she poked the panel on the door leading towards the cockpit. The door slid open revealing a short hallway that led to the cockpit.

"All systems are functional. Some are in need of maintenance at some point soon, however, all systems should be more than capable of a single flight." Durendal replied calmly, "Unfortunately, however, the hangar door still needs to be uncovered. It appears that the exit was buried by debris at some point. My frames have already secured the site and are clearing the rubble. Unless something unexpected occurs it should be cleared shortly."

"Annoying, but I guess I'm not surprised really," Kiko sighed, "Ooh, bunkbeds. I call top."

"You're a floating ball of metal, what do you need a bed for?" Ranma asked, passing the kitchenette. It had a sink, a small refrigerator -- probably non-functional at this point -- and even a two-burner stove. What might have been a microwave was built into the wall. "And you said 'luxury transport'. This place looks like a space RV."

Kiko turned to Ranma, her shell spinning in that way it did when she was thinking, or curious, or confused, or- well it tended to spin for a lot of reasons. "What is an RV?" Her ghost asked in a puzzled tone.

"A small house on wheels, kinda," Ranma said.

"Hmm," Kiko turned away, "Oh, hey bathroom. Yeah, this isn't a normal Kettle-class. She's got the high-end furniture and everything, but this place is set up like its meant to be used for exploring."

"This vessel was in use by the survey division of Kuno-Lung Technologies," Durendal said, as its frame joined them. "The vessel was conveniently between deployments when this facility was forcibly shuttered. It had just been cleaned and prepped for mid-term storage. A fact that seems to have preserved most of its amenities."

Ranma ran a hand over the countertop and nodded. The material was pure white and felt smooth to the touch, yet she couldn't figure out what it was. "It's a nice ship," She said. Not that she had any frame of reference from which to compare it. It looked nice enough, if in need of maintenance.

Her eyes stopped on the sink.

"Well, it'll do. If you want to travel around a ship like this would be great. A little home anyway we go!" Kiko bounced in the air.

Ranma frowned. Did her curse still work? They knew so little about Jusenkyo curses. Did they still work after… dying? Had she died? "Kiko, you said I was dead, right?" Ranma asked, tearing her eyes away from the sink.

Kiko stopped her aerial ballet. "I… I think so?" She said hesitantly, "A ghost can't resurrect someone who isn't dead and, well I brought you back. I made you a Guardian. So, yeah… I think you were dead." She floated closer to Ranma. "Why?"

Ranma found a seat at one of the metal chairs around the table and fell into it. She set her sword down on the table. "So I died then…" She sighed.

"According to data gathered," Durendal spoke up, "Your death occurred roughly five seconds after the cryo pod was opened this morning. All data symptomatic of life returned positive results shortly after, following a display of energies sharing identical patterns to the entity known as 'The Traveler'."

Ranma nodded slowly. "So, I get a second chance then," She said. She got to come back from the dead, alone. Was it a blessing or a curse?

"And third and a fourth, and even a fifth. However many you need. So long as I'm around, you don't need to worry about dying," Kiko announced.

"What?" This was not just a one-time thing?

Kiko hummed happily and bobbed in place. "Yeppers~! I'm your ghost and a Guardian's ghost brings them back as many times as they need to. Just… try not to get killed by a Hive God or something along those lines. My resurrect ability does have limits."

Ranma leaned forward across the table. "Why?" She demanded.

"I did say you were chosen by the Traveller," Kiko replied, "When the Traveller fell defending humanity its last action before falling into its current state was to create us ghosts. That was centuries ago. Who knows why, but these days Guardians are the bulwark for humanity. Defenders of the Last City and, well, Guardians of the people. I don't know why you Ranma. No one knows why, but I felt that connection between you and me and… well, I've never heard of a ghost who didn't try and bond with the first person they could. I spent centuries trying. Not doing so could have meant centuries more before I found someone else…"

Her ghost's prongs fell a bit. "I… I hope you don't mind?" She said. She looked worried like she feared Ranma's reaction.

Ranma closed her eyes and buried her head in her palm. "Not your fault. I'm not going to hate someone for saving my life." She wasn't that ungrateful. Even if she wished Akane was there, or her mother, or Ryouga even. Someone she knew. Except maybe Kuno. The creepy bastard and his descendants had started worshipping her like a Kami.

Grumble

Ranma's eyes dropped to her stomach. "Was… that your stomach?" Kiko asked.

Ranma blushed. "Yes. Um, do you have any food?" She asked Durendal.

The AI didn't respond for a long couple of seconds. "No, I do not," He said, finally. "All records indicate that there is nothing in the facility that would still be edible after this period of time. I am assigning additional frames to clear the rubble. Revised estimates are twelve minutes and fifty-two seconds. Please remain unalarmed by any-" A loud rumble shook the air, "Explosions. It is merely blasting charges being used to remove the rubble."

"Well, I should start pre-flight checks then," Kiko said, looping about the kitchen before dashing towards the cockpit.

Ranma watched her go and stood up reluctantly. She made to follow her ghost, only to pause as Durendal's frame stuck out a hand. "Divine One," He said, "I do not have the facilities to care for you as I must. I apologize that I am unable to provide more."

"It's fine," She replied, gently moving the metallic hand out of her way. "Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't kept me alive for so long." Kiko had spoken of how most Guardian's lost their memories earlier. Was her recent death responsible for her not losing her memories? Was something else? "Though," She continued, "Can you stop calling me that? I'm not a God and it's getting really creepy."

"Apologies Divine One," Durendal bowed, "However, I am unable to comply with that request. Hardwired protocols prevent deviation from certain norms, even if deviation from those norms is your desire." She grumbled and sighed. He did sound apologetic at least.

"Kinda expected that. It's just the creepy obsessive sort of thing I'd expect from the Kunos," She muttered.

"Furthermore, Divine One," Durendal continued as he rose from his bow, "I am required by protocol to ensure your safety to the best of my ability. At present, the facility is not properly habitable. I shall endeavour to make it such, but in the meantime, I ask if you will allow me to send a handful of my frames along with you. To assist with the security and maintenance of this vessel."

Ranma cast about the compartment. She knew absolutely nothing about technology. It had been one of those things she had never learned about while travelling with her pops. Kiko probably knew a lot about it. She was an AI after all, or close enough to one. Kiko, however, didn't have hands and Ranma wasn't about to trust herself tinkering with *anything* on the ship. Even with a helpful robot telling her what to do. However…

"Are you going to be controlling them?" Ranma asked. Giving the AI eyes and ears to keep tabs on her would be a bit creepy.

"No. The distance will preclude direct control at all," Durendal said with honesty. "While I should be able to contact this vessel so long as it remains on the planet, should you move off-world I will no longer be capable of communication. As such trying to directly control these frames would be problematic in the long run."

That didn't reassure Ranma. At all. Still, the extra hands were tempting. "Where would they go?" She asked, looking around. Space was limited in the ship.

"Their equipment can be stored in the external storage units. They themselves can remain in the rear compartment during flight." Durendal assured her.

She bit her lip. There was no way that the AI wasn't going to try and use this to keep tabs on her. But, creepy or not, it had proven to be friendly so far. "Fine. They won't need a lot of direction to keep the ship running would they?" She asked. That would just make them a bigger hassle.

"They can follow the orders of Entity Kiko if you prefer," The AI offered.

"That'll work," A rumble rolled through the ship before fading to a dull thrum in the air that floated in through the open hatch. "Get them loaded. I'm going to take a look upfront."

The frame bowed. "As you wish," Durendal said.

Ranma turned away and headed for the cockpit. She passed the bunk beds, sparing a glance at them. The pair of beds were unmade and lacked even small pillows. That was something they would have to see about finding when they got to this city. Pillows, nice, fluffy pillows. Shaking the thought from her head she entered the cockpit.

Kiko was floating over the pilot seat zapping the console in front of her. "You know, this would be a lot easier if you knew how to fly," Her ghost commented dryly.

"Flying spaceships was one of those 'maybe someday' things back then," Ranma snarked, slipping into the co-pilot's seat to the side. "Are you going to be able to fly this?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Most of the trip will be done by the autopilot. I checked and it should still work just fine. So I just need to worry about the take-off and landing," Kiko replied, "Aaand, there we go. All systems are coming back green. Except for the NLS drive. Huh, well that's not too surprising. Those things kick out at the first opportunity I've heard. Not too hard to find replacement parts for those though."

"NLS?" Ranma asked.

"Its the drive system that lets us get to other places in the system in a reasonable time," Kiko explained, "Kinda important in the long run."

"Hmm," Ranma hummed. She leaned back in the chair. She had spent the last few hours not quite napping, it was hard to do so with gunfire in the distance and a distinct worry that there would be another of those Fallen showing up. As it was she could use some actual naptime after the hell she had spent a bit over an hour in.

"Durendal to Jumpship Midnight do you copy?" Durendal's voice crackled through the radio, causing Ranma to start back awake a few minutes later. The thrum of the engines had fallen away to a faint vibration through the ship.

"We copy Durendal," Kiko replied, "All required systems check out. NLS drive is giving a few errors, however. Forwarding report."

"Report received Midnight," Durendal acknowledged, "Avoid using the NLS for now. I'm afraid we don't have any parts for an NLS that I would trust without proper inspection. You'll have to cope for now."

"Understood Durendal," Kiko acknowledged.

"Jumpship Midnight, your hatch has been shut and all equipment has been loaded. I have taken the liberty of including several crates of Glimmer from our local stores as well as material left behind in case this day were to occur… Please take care of her Entity Kiko." Durendal said, sounding emotional for the first time since they had met.

"I will," Kiko said, sparing a glance to Ranma, "She's my Guardian now." Ranma smiled and nodded a touch. There was something nice about how earnest her ghost was. It was… refreshing.

"Understood. Opening hangar doors. Please hold your position in case of debris." Durendal instructed, his voice regaining its professionalism. There was a grinding noise and out over the center of the room, directly above a square marked out in faded yellow paint on the level below them, the ceiling began to retract. Dust and some minor debris fell to the ground.

"All doors open, debris clear. Your landing pad is clear. Please stand by while you are transmatted into posi- Excuse me," Durendal cut himself off abruptly. Ranma shared a glance with Kiko.

"Transmat?" Ranma asked.

"Teleportation," Kiko explained, "But I get the feeling the system here is probably not that well maintained right now."

"Apologies Midnight," Durendal came back. "Transmat system is currently inoperable."

"How bad is it?" Ranma asked.

"I have parts in storage, but I would prefer to inspect them for defects before relying on them. I'm afraid you will have to taxi over with thrusters. Please, try to be careful," Durendal said. His request of 'please don't make this worse' was heard loud and clear by both of them.

"I can do that," Kiko said, "Are we clear to taxi?"

"You are clear to taxi Jumpship Midnight," The other AI confirmed.

"Powering up engines, bringing maneuvering thrusters online," Kiko announced as the faint vibration deepened and Ranma watched as the world outside the ship began to move as the ship lifted off and slowly hovered across the room to the marked pad. Ranma had to wonder where her ghost had learned to fly a ship like this. They settled down with a firm bump on the marked pad.

"We have landed in the lift zone," Kiko announced.

"Confirmed. You are centred on the lift. Engaging restraints, please return engines to idle," Instructed Durendal. The vibration of the engines dimmed back to its previous levels.

"Confirmed, engines reduced to idle," Kiko confirmed.

"Restraints engaged. Lock confirmed. Engaging lift," Durendal said. The world shook and then began to fall away as they were lifted up. Ranma looked up at the hole in the ceiling through the canopy of the cockpit. She could see stars sparkling in the sky above.

They passed through levels of steel and concrete until the lift cleared the ground into the open air of a large courtyard between towering office buildings. Their shadows would have drowned the yard in darkness, but the lights of several dozen combat frames patrolling the perimeter were enough to push back the night.

The ship shuddered as the lift came to a halt. "Lift locked," Durendal announced, "Restraints disengaged. Pad is clear. You are clear for take-off Jumpship Midnight."

"Understood Durendal," Kiko said, "Commencing take-off procedures."

The vibration of the engines grew and in moments the view through the windows began to fall away as the ship lifted off, passing storey after storey of offices. Within moments they breached the skyline and Ranma stared. They had come out facing the moonlit snow-cap of a very familiar mountain. In the distance loomed Mount Fuji, its silhouette as familiar to her as her own hand.

Ranma swallowed, her mouth going dry as she stared at the familiar sight. This was indeed Japan. This was home. The ship turned right, taking the long route as it turned to face east over the ocean. As it did it swept the majority of the city. There were no lights. There was no life. Just darkness and silence across a moonlit cityscape that stretched further than she remembered with towers that reached for the heavens in ways they had only dreamed were possible when she had last gazed upon the city.

This was Tokyo.

This was her home.

This was a ruin.

Tears began to fall, sliding down her cheeks in rivets.

"This is Jumpship Midnight to Durendal," Kiko said, "We have achieved launch height. Thank you for the hospitality, and the ship."

"Thank you for the aid Entity Kiko," Durendal replied, "Safe travels, for both of you."

"Stay safe," Ranma said, her voice cracking as she stared at the broken cityscape beneath her.

"I shall Divine One," Durendal said.

"This is Jumpship Midnight. We are launching," Kiko announced. With a kick like a horse, the ship shifted from merely hovering to flying in the blink of an eye. Cityscape flashed by below as they accelerated up towards the heavens and out over the Pacific. Heading east into the distance.

Heading east towards the rising sun.

Heading towards a City full of people she didn't know.

Towards a future that was far too uncertain.

Tears fell as Ranma leaned back in her seat. She cried. For friends, family, and herself until she fell asleep for a few fitful hours before they arrived at the city.

The Last City.

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A/N: Ello~ *waves fluffy tails* Here we go~ the first chapter for this idea that wouldn't leave me alone. Started playing destiny 2 this last month and I'll admit I'm rather hooked on it *sheepish kitsune* Like the lore, the gunplay, the premise. It's all fun~ I was planning on working on my Novel this last week, but sometimes you lead your Muse around, and other times she bludgeons you will a club and kidnaps you to her basement until you write what she wants.

Anyway~ If you like this please join us to discuss and offer ideas on my discord server~

And a thank you to @Gekkou_Yoko for her editing assistance once again~ *Happy Kitsune* I assure you my writing would be a lot worse without her help.

 

[Grounders10]

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A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

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Chapter Two

The Last City

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"Ghost Registry-0190281 Kiko to Tower Control. I am inbound with a new guardian. Requesting permission to land," Ranma's Ghost called through the ship's radio.

Ranma stirred from her sleep, one eye cracking with a small grumble of discomfort as the ship rocked. They were flying through clouds. The kettle-class transport cutting through a patch of dark storm clouds.

"Permission granted, please make for landing pad four," the woman's voice on the other end replied after a prolonged silence.

"Understood, Tower Control. We're inbound on approach. No more than fifteen minutes out," Kiko replied, "If you can please inform Vanguard Ikora that her presence at the landing pad would be welcome. We have important information for her."

'Vanguard?' Ranma questioned sleepily as she listened.

"I'll pass the message along. How important would you say this is?" the controller asked.

Kiko glanced Ranma's way and bobbed in acknowledgement when she noticed Ranma watching her. "Fairly. It involves the circumstances of my meeting with my new Guardian," she said.

There was a faint static for a minute. "Understood Ghost-Kiko. The message has been passed along. Expect Vanguard Ikora to be waiting," the controller finally said.

"Thank you, Tower Control. Kiko out," Ranma's ghost said. She half-turned to Ranma. "Finally awake. I thought for sure you'd sleep through our landing." Ranma's stomach chose that moment to grumble. Kiko sent her as deadpan a look as it was possible for a ghost to send. "Or maybe your stomach figured we were close.

"I haven't eaten in a thousand years," Ranma grumbled, "give me a break."

"Well, either way, we're almost there. Keep an eye out," Kiko said as she turned back to the front, "We should break through the clouds in three… two… one."

The kettle-class jumpship passed through the last layer of clouds and emerged into the morning light. Ranma winced at the brightness for a brief moment before her eyes adjusted. Her eyes widened. Spread out before her was an immense city. Easily the size of the Golden Age ruins of Tokyo, larger possibly, it was encircled by a wall as tall as the surrounding mountains. All of it glittered in the morning light, but that wasn't what drew the eye.

Floating above everything, so large it broke the atmosphere, was a white orb. It blazed as it was silhouetted by the sun, creating an artificial eclipse that burned itself into her retina. The white surface was broken up by black scrapes and tears in the surface. Pot marks dotted it from top to bottom. And speaking of the bottom, the base of the orb was broken. Black metal and who knew what else poked out from the bottom where the gleaming white surface has been ripped asunder.

"Oh. Oh, that's the traveller?" she said, her eyes drinking in the sight as the light she could feel within her stirred. It pulsed in time with some unheard beat, a low thrum that was pleasant and relaxing.

"Yup. That's the big mirror ball in the sky," Kiko said cheerfully as she steered the ship towards a tall tower in the perimeter wall. "Tower straight ahead. Look alive girl, we're almost home."

Ranma twitched at being called a girl. She hadn't yet had the chance to explain her curse. She hadn't even had the chance to test to see if she still had it. She had died after all. Jusenkyo cursed victims didn't turn back after they died. That was part of why it was a curse. Its effects lingered with death even as the ability to change departed the deceased. Cologne had explained that little detail with far too much joy back when she had first worked at the Cat Cafe.

She held her tongue for the moment. She didn't need her own ghost questioning her sanity yet. Once she had a chance to test and see if she was still able to be a guy, then she would explain it.

Her eyes drifted down from the traveller to the much smaller in comparison wall. On the side facing them was a tall town built into the outer wall. It stood head and shoulders above the rest of the wall. A large T-shaped structure stood atop the tower while two tall triangular monuments silhouetted it from behind.

"That's the tower? We're going there?" she asked.

"Yep. We'll be there in… right now," Kiko said cheerfully as the kettle class ship slowed and smoothly entered the hangar on one side of the tower. The ship flared in the tight confines of the hangar and landed smoothly on the open pad. The vessel shook with a thud as it set down.

"There we go. We're here, the Tower. Home sweet home to all the guardians who protect the Last City," her ghost said. She didn't pay too much attention as she stood up on legs that were stiff after spending the last while in a small ball.

Ranma walked over to the front window and looked out at the bustling room beyond. Technicians and frames were everywhere working on ships of every description. Fighters, gunships, transports, there seemed to be no end to the different styles on display.

"I've never been in a military base before," she said, watching as an engine was slowly winched out of the frame of a jumpship.

"The Tower is the heart of the city and its defenses," Kiko said.

"The heart?" Ranma looked away from the sight beyond the ship. The Tower was right on the outer wall. It seemed a rather silly place to put something so important. "Has no one here ever heard of not leading a punch with your head?"

Kiko's shell spun. "Uh, what?" she asked, her tone confused.

"They put something as important as the Tower on the wall. The Outer, wall," Ranma said, "The one thing that gets attacked first."

"Oh, ooooh, yeah, about that," Kiko said, "We used to have twelve towers like this one. All spaced out neatly around the wall. We lost them one at a time to Fallen attacks over the years. They've had us under siege for about a century now. We just haven't had the time and resources to commit to rebuilding the others so it's just the Tower now."

She frowned and looked out at the hangar. Clearly, the city had been hit hard over the years. To last a century while under siege was impressive. Her stomach growled, interrupting further introspection.

"Let's go get something to eat, I guess," she sighed, heading for the door. Entering the passenger's cabin behind the cockpit, they found the back door and ramp open. A pair of frames, undoubtedly triggered by Durendal, already working on unloading the ship as they stepped off.

"Quite the haul you have here," a woman's voice shouted in heavily accented English as Ranma stepped off the ramp. She glanced up and spotted the source, a blonde woman sitting atop of a mostly disassembled jumpship in the bay nearby. "I don't recognize you, or that ship of yours. You're new, right?" she asked as she tapped a heavy wrench against her leg.

"Yeah?" Ranma replied with a shrug.

"Oh, heya Amanda!" Kiko called, leaving Ranma's side to zip over to the woman, "It's me, Kiko, and guess what! I found a Guardian! She's so amazing and skilled and just plain awesome and-"

"Yeah, yeah, heard it all before," Amanda sighed as she waved off the little drone with her wrench, "Every ghost that comes through with a new guardian says the same thing. They'll be the next great thing. Amazing future. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I'll give you one thing though, you picked a young one." She frowned down at Ranma who scowled back up at her. "Do you know how old you are kid? Ah, who am I kidding. Course you won't. You'll need a medical-"

"Seventeen, nearly eighteen. Give or take a thousand years," Ranma interjected, walking over to the other bay. A light hop took her from the floor to the wing. "Depends on whether you want to count the time I spent as an ice cube." An ice cube that had been worshipped by her stalker's descendants. If she somehow ran into Kuno again she was going to kill him.

With luck, it might even stick.

Amanda looked her up and down. "Better jumper than most new Guardians. How long have you been-"

"We're looking at about sixteen, seventeen hours now," Kiko said. That got a disbelieving stare from the older woman.

"Excuse me?"

"Who are you?" Ranma asked finally, looking the technician over. The blonde-haired, green-eyed, woman grinned.

"Amanda Holliday, Chief Shipwright here in the tower. It's my job to keep this fleet of birds in the air," she said, shaking her head, "Sixteen hours?"

"Give or take," Kiko replied.

"Huh. well, I'll stop prying for now, 'bout that anyway. Where'd you get the ship?" she asked, gesturing down at the kettle-class. Several cases had been unloaded.

"Secret bunker with a whole bunch of old Golden Age tech in it," Kiko said before Ranma could reply, "Like, a lot, of Golden Age tech."

"Apparently," Amanda leaned towards the edge as she examined the large ship. "A kettle-class. In damned good condition as well. Jeez, you hit the jackpot. Not the most suited for a Guardian, mind you. A bit too slow to protect itself, but you can get a good price-"

"It isn't for sale," Ranma said, getting a raised eyebrow from Amanda, "Personal reasons." It was easier to say than 'the AI we got it from would be annoyed'.

"Fair enough. Everyone's got their reasons," Amanda said, "Still, Golden Age and untouched until now? I'm guessing if you aren't planning on getting rid of it you'd like me to fix her up?"

"If you don't mind," Kiko said.
"You're in luck. Not really. Since you're a new Guardian the first repair is free, so are any you need while completing your FDG Certs. After that, it depends on whether you're working for the Vanguard or just part of the general Guardian population," Amanda said, tapping her thigh thoughtfully with her wrench, "Oh, and we don't replace NLS drives. Damned things are rare as hell even though we make our own these days. Never enough to go around. Unless you reach the status of an Elite Agent of the Vanguard there's no way you'll get one regardless of how many request forms you fill out."

"Well damn it," Kiko grumbled, "It had an NLS, but it was giving error messages on the way over."

"I'll take a look when I give it the standard inspection," the blonde woman said, "But no promises."

Ranma waved a hand, "Uh, FDG Certs?" she asked, "What's that?"

"Hm, oh. Flight. Driving. Guns," Amanda said absently as she stood up and started walking over to the ladder down, "Unofficial name for the basic certifications you'll need to pass before they'll let you out of the tower again."

"Let me?" Ranma squawked, as she followed the older woman.

"It's a dangerous world out there. Vanguard policy requires that you be tested and then if you pass you can go," the shipwright said as she stepped onto the ladder. She paused on the top step. "Look, if you've already got the skills its basically just a quick few tests. Takes a couple of days at most. If you haven't, then they teach you how to fly and how to drive and how to shoot a gun. Takes, ooh, as long as it takes really. Longest I've ever heard was six years, but most managed in about three weeks if they come in completely blank."

Amanda looked her up and down again. "Hate to say it kid, but you don't know how to fly or drive, do you?" she asked.

"Spaceships weren't exactly common back in my day," Ranma said.

"Back in your day?" Holliday snorted and started climbing down the ladder, "I take it you found a bunch of files on yourself? Most Guardians don't even remember their name, let alone a last name."

"Well, you see," Kiko flitted side to side as she hesitated. She glanced in Ranma's direction like she was waiting for a cue.

"'Cause it'll be fun Ikora," a loud voice said over the rumble of machinery. The three of them all glanced over to see two figures striding through the thin crowd in the hangar as it parted around them. Technicians hurried to get out of the way or quickly stepped aside as a black woman in a purple set of high collared robes and a blue robot with a horn, cape, and hood made their way on a beeline for their landing pad.

"Ikora and Cayde. What the hell did you two do to get their attention?" Amanda asked sharply.

"I asked for Ikora. No idea what Cayde is doing here," Kiko said.

"Uuuh, who are they?" Ranma asked. Kiko had asked for an Ikora when talking to the tower. Was that the woman down there?

Amanda spared a glance her way then looked towards Kiko. "You didn't tell her?" she asked.

"She slept during the flight and it's been a rough day. Really rough," Kiko said as she turned to watch the two come closer. Their voices had disappeared under the volume of the room as someone started up a metal grinder. "Basically, Ranma, Ikora Rey and Cayde-6 are the Warlock and Hunter Vanguards. Two of the big three in charge of all military operations out of the Tower."

"Warlock?" Ranma repeated dubiously. That wasn't exactly a term that had positive connotations to it in her experience.

"They study the light and history and, really, anything that needs study," Kiko said, "Ikora could probably give you a better definition since I haven't exactly been the most attentive to the goings on in the city."

"Most Guardian-less ghosts aren't," Amanda sighed as she stepped off the ladder, "Right, enjoy your talk or whatever with them. I'm going to go and start inspecting your ride. OI! JAROLD! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND HELP ME!" She shouted, pointing to a man cleaning off some tools in the next bay over.

Ranma sighed and sat down. "Well that went well," she said sarcastically.

"It was awkward," Kiko admitted, "But come on, first introduction and all. How're you doing?" She asked.

"Tired. Hungry. Sore," she sighed.

"I would have thought the sleep would have helped," her ghost said.

"Maybe if I'd had something to eat," Ranma said.

"'Cides We're already here," the same voice from earlier said as the blue robot walked up the handful of short steps separating their landing pad front the rest of the bay. "No point turning around now. Hey, hey, you're the new ones, aren't you?" He called up to them. Ranma blinked. His voice was surprisingly lacking in any hints of him being a robot.

"That's us," Kiko shouted back, "Give us a second and-" Ranma slid off the jumpship and landed lightly on her feet ten feet down. "Or she could just do that. Right."

Ranma walked across the landing pad to the two important figures in this new City feeling rather self-conscious. She was quite aware of the way the qipao she was wearing swished around her legs and how dirty she probably looked after fighting, and killing, so many Fallen. Her hair was probably a greasy mess. It was a miracle it was still in her usual pigtail after spending a thousand years on ice followed by a literal battlefield. She could feel her hair tugging with every turn of her head so even that probably needed to be undone and combed out properly before being rebraided.

Overall, she really wasn't in any state to be meeting anyone important.

The woman, Ikora she assumed, raised an eyebrow as she looked Ranma over. "By the Traveller, they keep getting younger," she sighed as Ranma reached them. "Welcome to the Tower, young one. Congratulations on making it this far," she said with a half-bow that Ranma returned.

"Thanks, it's… safer than the last place I was at anyway. Less fallen so far," She said.

"Yeah, Fallen have a way of making things less fun," Cayde said, "I'm Cayde-6. This is Ikora and I think one of you asked for us."

"I asked for her," Kiko said exasperatedly as she hovered by Ranma's side, "Because there are a few weird things surrounding my Guardian's resurrection."

"And that warrants calling for a vanguard?" Ikora asked with a sceptical tone, "While I'm always happy to meet and help new Guardians, leaving my post in the command centre is not something to be done lightly." She had crossed her arms and was looking pointedly at Ranma's Ghost.

"She remembers," Kiko said.

"Remembers?" Ikora repeated. Her tone suggested she didn't get it. "Remembers what, Kiko?"

"Everything." Judging by the expression on Ikora's face the full truth hadn't clicked inside her mind when Cayde spoke up.

"Everything, everything?" he asked, getting a look of sharp curiosity from Ikora.

Kiko bobbed. "Yes. Everything, everything. Or, as much everything as one person can have, I guess?" she said, pausing having clearly managed to confuse herself for a moment.

"Cayde?" Ikora asked.

"My name is Ranma Saotome," Ranma interjected, cutting off the robot before he could reply, "I was born on November third of nineteen seventy-three to Genma and Nodoka Saotome. I spent most of my life on the road with my pops learning martial arts before we settled in Nerima for several years just before I turned sixteen." The look of comprehension appeared on Ikora's face as she continued. "I was placed in cryostasis in nineteen-ninety-one after someone stabbed me in the back with a poisoned knife. I was released from that this morning, sixteen hours ago. I died almost immediately and five seconds later this little flashlight."

"Oi!"

"Resurrected me," Ranma finished as she ignored the irritated spitting her ghost was doing. "I can offer more detail if you want?"

Ikora breathed out heavily. "This… Oh boy. This month," she sighed before stepping over and placing a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I can't imagine how all of this feels. Be welcome to the Last City, Young Guardian. The Tower's doors are open for you as long as you need them."

Ranma smiled hesitantly at the older woman. "Thanks, it's…" Her stomach growled loudly enough to interrupt her. She blushed. "Um… Food?" She asked sheepishly.

Cayde clapped his hands together making a vaguely metallic crash. "Well, at least we know she had her priorities sorted, eh Ikora?" he chuckled and stepped forward to throw an arm over her shoulder. "Tell you what, why don't you interrogate her ghost while I go make and get her settled? Deal? Deal. great. Let's go kid," he said, pulling Ranma along before anyone could gainsay him.

"Cayde!" Ikora shouted after them, though to Ranma's ear she sounded less angry and more exasperated. "Damn it."

"So, tell me," Cayde said conversationally as he guided her across the hangar, "What's your favourite food? After a thousand years I know I'd want to have something familiar on my first day back among the living."

"Um, Yakitori. Do you even have that here?" she asked. It seemed unlikely given the distance from Japan and the cataclysm that had struck.

"Uh…" Cayde-6 tapped his chin as he thought. "That's one of those chicken skewer places, right?" he asked.

"That's right," she confirmed, "I'll take Okonomiyaki or-"

"Ah ah," he chided, "I said your favourite, and you'll get it. We'll take these elevators." He waved to the bank of elevators on the wall they were approaching. He punched the call button with a gloved finger. "We're currently in a sublevel of the hangars so these elevators only connect to the rest of the hangars."

Ranma nodded as she glanced back over her shoulder. Visible over the crowd were Kiko and Ikora. Another ghost, probably Ikora's if she had to guess, was there as well. All three seemed to be having an animated discussion. She felt oddly nervously walking away from Kiko like this, but her stomach was practically eating itself, so she followed Cayde into the elevator when it arrived.

"So, you said nineteen-ninety-two?" the Robot asked.

"Ninety-one," she corrected as she leaned back against the wall of the elevator.

"Right, ninety-one. Now, my maths not the greatest," she raised an eyebrow at that statement coming from a robot, "But that's twenty-odd years before twenty-fourteen. You never saw the traveller when it first appeared, did you?"

She shook her head. "I never saw it until today," she confirmed, thinking back to the sensations it had stirred in her light. There was a connection of some kind there and it made her nervous. Everything was making her nervous if she was being honest, but this was as unnerving as it was comforting.

Cayde sighed and nodded. "We're going to pass through the courtyard of the tower," he said, changing the topic, "The big floating lightbulb will be on the left if you want to spend a bit more time ogling it, but you'll have plenty of time to do that later if you want. We'll take the elevators on the far side of the plaza down to the city."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. "Hey, Sundance," he said as they exited into a hallway with high ceilings and metal walls. A ghost, his ghost, materialized above one hand in a spray of light motes. "There's a yakitori place right across from the Ramen shop, right?"

It bobbed once. "Yep," she said in a dixie accent, "Only, that's the one that the Ramen guy gets really angry about when you visit. Like that time Ikora dragged you there for a change of pace."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll handle it. The kid wants Yakitori for her first meal back from the dead, then she can have it," he said with a shrug.

"Your loss," Sundance shrugged then disappeared again.

"Anyway, this way through the scanners. Oi, Sundance, make sure they know not to go nuts with her. She's new," he continued as they walked through a pair of metal gates. The sensors along the doorways flashed briefly as they passed through. No alarms went off.

The hallway turned a little further on and emptied out onto the courtyard Cayde had mentioned. There was some grass and a few trees in carefully maintained spots, but most of the area was tiled. Closest to the doorway was a small tent stall where a man in robes was speaking with a pair of heavily armoured men. Beyond them a trio of pillars with consoles built into their bases stood in the plaza. Further on was a small tile-roofed concrete booth. Like one of those beachside food shacks. A staircase in the center of everything led down into the Tower and above it was a large pair of staircases that led up to a single large doorway.

"The blue guy at the booth is Master Rahool," Cayde said, walking down the steps as she stopped to gawk.

"Blue-" She stopped as 'Master Rahool' turned around. His skin was a bluish-grey and had a faint shimmer to it. She stared for a moment before Cayde coughed into a hand politely. She followed quickly.

"Pillars here are linked to your vault. Every Guardian gets one provided by the Vanguard. Ikora will probably set that up for you," he said as they walked past a Guardian whose helmet had a purple mohawk.

"You see the guy up the stairs over there in the corner?" Cayde gestured into the nearest upper-level corner of the plaza. Ranma followed his gestures. A gun shop of some kind had been set up in the corner beneath a large yellow awning. "That's Banshee-44's shop. Don't bother visiting it, you don't have your weapon certs. His memory's going, but he knows the rules. Cute kid or not, no cert, no weapons."

"Not all that interested in guns," she said as she followed him across the courtyard and past both the staircase down and the concrete shack. "What're these two?" she asked, gesturing at them.

"Staircase leads down into the Vanguard's offices and war room," Cayde replied, as he paused on the steps leading up to one of the few green areas in the courtyard, "You can find me there most of the time. You can talk to Shaxx at his desk once you're settled in. He runs the crucible and takes care of the weapon, driving, and flight certifications."

"Crucible? And what about that place?" she asked again, gesturing at the hut.

"Post office and the Eververse," Cayde said with a shrug. "Everyone has an account. Again, Ikora's probably dealing with that right now. Now, come on. Let's go find that Yakitori place." Her stomach cut off any further questions with a very loud growl that prompted most of the courtyard to turn in her direction.

"Food's good," she agreed, hurriedly following the chuckling robot as a blush formed.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The streets of the Last City oddly reminded her of downtown Tokyo, Akihabara, or other densely populated areas of Japan. It might have had something to do with the style of the buildings and the proliferation of neon and TV displays, but there was something distinctly Japanese in the feel of the streets. Even if they were bustling humans, blue-green people, and more robots. Though, only a handful of the last.

Still, the small hole in the wall Yakitori Bar by the name of 'Yaotsuki's Yakitori' two blocks from the Tower was a surprise. It felt like one of those dingy side streets she and her pops would wind up wandering down. The ones that usually ended up with them leaving behind a few beaten up thugs who would wake up to find themselves lighter by a few thousand yen. Most of the time her pops had never bothered lifting a finger, instead treating it as an exercise for her to complete.

It was thoughts and comparisons like that which left her feeling oddly wistful as she joined the odd robot called Cayde-6 at the bar. Behind the bar was a middle-aged caucasian woman and a teenage boy who looked similar enough to be her son. "Cayde, been a while since you darkened my doors," the middle-aged woman said as she glanced up from preparing food. The small restaurant was empty except for one older man in the corner who was reading the newspaper as he made his way through a stack of skewers.

"I'd have been by sooner, but you know how it is," Cayde said with a shrug.

"I do. That shouting match extended across the entire neighbourhood," she snorted before looking Ranma over. "Who's the young lady? A pretty girl like you should find better company than this scoundrel."

"Oi, I'm perfectly fine company, thank you very much," Cayde huffed, "Ranma Saotome, meet Nina Nakamori. Nina, Ranma Saotome, the Tower's newest Guardian."

Both of Nina's eyebrows raised skeptically as she looked Ranma over. "Guardian? Really?" she asked.

"Hey!" Ranma scowled, crossing her arms.

"No offense, but Cayde, how old is she?" Nina asked.

"Hey, hey, don't take it out on me. Ghosts pick who they pick," Cayde replied, throwing up his hands defensively, "We just make sure they're ready."

"Seventeen… Going on a thousand apparently," Ranma said irritably.

"Seventeen… I won't say anything. The Traveler picks who it picks," Nina sighed before giving Ranma another look over. "Hmm, no offence dear, but you look absolutely exhausted. Cayde did you really-" Ranma stomach growled, interrupting the woman with the rattle of plates and loose dishes as everything shook. Ranma blushed again as the man in the corner lowered his paper to stare at her for a good five seconds.

"I'm just here to fill her stomach, Nina. Then she's going back to the Tower. I offered her her favourite and she said it was Yakitori so…" Cayde trailed off expectantly. Nina snorted.

"So feed her. You're paying," she said pointedly to him.

"Do I look like a cheapskate?"

"Do you want me to answer that?"

"... Why don't we agree to move on instead, huh?" Cayde said with a smile.

"Sounds good to me. The menu is up there," Nina pointed above her at the chalkboard menu above her, "Tell me what you want."

To Ranma's surprise, while it was written in English, the names hadn't changed in the last thousand years. At least, not enough to confuse her. "Uh… As much Momo and Sasami Yakitori as you can make? I'm really hungry," she said, giving the woman her best hopeful look. All she got in reply was a snort of amusement.

"Maybe you're in the right company after all. Don't worry dear, you don't need to charm me. The idiot here is picking up your tab," Nina said as she set to work.

"I'd be hurt, but then I remember I don't come here often," Cayde said. He clapped his hands together. "So, while we wait for your food, tell me a story."

Ranma blinked. "Story?" she asked.

"Yeah, a story. You said you remember a bunch from before the collapse, right?" the robot said. She nodded, shooting Nina a sideways glance. The chef remained focused on her work as she prepped the skewers. "C'mooon, I'll share a few once your food is ready," he offered.

She nodded slowly, but winced internally. Where did she start? Even compared to aliens and…

She spared a glance up at the Traveller that was just visible between the highrises. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that crazy, then again crazy was subjective. She looked over at Cayde-6 who was waiting quietly while twiddling his thumbs. He paused expectantly.

"I haven't even told Kiko anything about my life yet," she said. He nodded.

" I suppose I shouldn't try and jump the que then?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm… My life was weird. Like, really strange. Somehow I kept getting into the dumbest, stupidest situations that anyone could concoct. And it's a bit hard to explain any of them without really getting into why I'm sitting here wearing a qipao…" she sighed.

The Robot's head cocked to the side. "I'd assume you were wearing that when you died," he said, "Right?"

Ranma snorted and looked him in the eyes. "I wasn't born a girl."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"Bullshit," Cayde said an hour later, "Animals don't grow that big."

Ranma snorted and shrugged as she finished off a Yakitori skewer. "There was something in the water," she said. At the disbelieving look she snickered. "I'm serious. There was this moss that grew on the Yamata no Orochi that was doing it." She paused. "I wonder if it's still there." If there was anything on Earth that had probably outlasted the Golden Age it was probably Ryugenzawa…

And it would be just her luck that there would be no one left to keep a handle on that giant snake.

Her mood plummeted sharply at that thought and she flicked the skewer onto the empty plate with a sigh. She was doing that a lot.

"Ya know, I thought this place got crazy after The Darkness got involved," Cayde said conversationally, "I suppose we really should know better given all the crazy stuff we dig up. I guess they might not all be Golden Age experiments." He mused before waving to Nina, "Can I get something to drink. I'm parched after all this talking."

Nina glanced up from her work and reluctantly pulled off the disposable gloves. A moment later a bottle of some unidentifiable green liquid was placed on the bar along with a single glass.

"Thanks." The bottle was cracked open and the oddly coloured contents poured into the glass. "You know," he said swirling the liquid in the glass, "they make this about a block from here. Makes me think of home when I drink." He drained the glass as Ranma stared.

Wordless, she wondered what it was and where it went.

"Aah," he exhaled as he set the glass down and poured more out, "Well, I said tell me a story and you've had one hell of a story. A few stories." He swirled the alcohol for a moment before swallowing most of it. "But, I have to admit it's all a bit… Fantastical." He raised both hands defensively as she glared at him.

"Says the robot who comes back from the dead with superpowers," she grumbled before politely accepting the next tray of skewers.

"Hey, Exo, not robot," Cayde protested, "I'm not a frame, kid. I'm too handsome for one."

She rolled her eyes. She couldn't tell if he was joking or if his ego really was that big. "What's the difference?" she asked.

Cayde leaned against the bar and sipped his drink. "Well, it's all a bit complicated, but the short form? I used to be human. All Exos used to be human. Physically anyway. We're human where it counts," he said, tapping the side of his head, "Human minds uploaded into machine bodies. The details beyond that are all a bit… Complicated. Hell, we don't know much these days."

He sipped his drink. "Exos were created by Clovis Bray, the company not the man. Or at least we don't think it was the man," he said his face doing the closest approximation to a frown it could manage. "It gets a bit hard to tell when you can barely remember anything and the complexes are either hidden or razed to the ground."

Ranma nodded and chewed thoughtfully on a skewer. There was that company again. 'Clovis Bray'. The same company that made Durendal. It figured they were involved in more AI research.

"So, do you want some hot water? Watching you switch would prove a lot of your story," Cayde said before glancing down, "Though ah, given your current dress I'd get it if you didn't want to."

Ranma glanced down at the qipao she was wearing. It was dirty with small stains dirt and that white blood that had come from the fallen. She needed to get something else to wear. It certainly wouldn't survive her turning into a guy. Assuming she could turn into a guy. "I'll hold off," she said after a moment before blandly adding, "Not exactly attached to my funeral dress, but it's all I have right now."

Cayde snorted. "Fair enough, fair enough… Still, no offence if I'm reading too far into this, but you feel like you're waiting for a real big shoe to drop outta the sky. Why's that?" he asked.

That took Ranma off guard. "No idea what you're talking about," she said, her tone unconvincing even to herself.

"Uh Huh. Sure," Cayde said, "Pull the other one, I put bells on it." He wiggled the fingers of his left hand at here, revealing a pair of silver bells hanging from them. They rang sharply before disappearing into light.

She couldn't help the snort of amusement at that. "I'm just worried about something the Old Ghoul told me about," she finally said. Her left hand absently rolled a skewer between her fingers.

"Old Ghoul?" Cayde gave her a sideways look.

"Really old hag who taught me a few tricks. Her tribe lived near Jusenkyo," Ranma explained, leaving out most of her relationship with the old Amazon. Like the fact that she was, by their laws, at least engaged to Shampoo.

"Knew a lot about that place, then I take it?" he asked. She nodded. "So what's got you so worked up?"

Ranma stopped spinning the skewer and started tapping the point against the bar counter. "I… I died. For like five seconds before Kiko brought me back, but I was dead. When you die in your cursed form, you stay in your cursed form. The magic that lets you change goes away. The Old Ghoul was a bit vague, but she said that even if you're brought back from the dead the magic doesn't always return." She paused her tapping. "And then there's the question of whether Jusenkyo even exists still. The last time I saw it I'd just turned it from a valley full of springs into a really big lake."

Cayde paused with his drink an inch from his mouth. He lowered it slowly. "Well, that's a bit of a kicker, isn't it…" he sighed, "Where was this place anyway?"

"Jusendo Valley. In the Bayankala Mountains in China," she said.

"China?" Cayde finished his bottle. "China… hey, question would the Bayankala Mountains be in central China?"

"North and a bit west actually," Ranma replied. Cayde reached into a pocket and pulled out a small plastic pad with a transparent screen.

"Give me a second and… huh," Cayde sighed, "Yeah, that figures. That's right in the middle of the East Asian Dead Zone. No one goes in there anymore."

Ranma winced. "Figures," she sighed.

"Look, for now don't worry about it. I'll keep from spreading around your story for the moment," Cayde said as he pocketed his datapad. "I'm sure Ikora will have questions regardless, but-"

"Regardless of?" Ranma turned her head as Ikora entered the bar. Kiko floated in beside her.

"Here you two are! Honestly, running off like that!" Kiko flew over to Ranma.

"Sorry?" Ranma shrugged, not particularly feeling apologetic. She had been hungry and that was that. Her ghost huffed before disappearing inside of her. The warmth of presence was soothing on nerves that Ranma hadn't even realized were fraying.

"Let's stick together from now on, okay?" Kiko said, her voice crackling slightly in Ranma's head. She nodded in reply.

"So Cayde," Ikora said, raising an eyebrow at the other Vanguard, "Regardless of what?"

"I- Uuh, Right, thing is… Not my place to tell, nothing to worry about," Cayde said before turning to Nina, "Bill please."

"You realize this only warrants more questions, not less," Ikora pointed out.

"As her. Not my place," the Exo replied, pointing at Ranma. Ikora looked at Ranma briefly before sighing.

"Questions can come later. For now I'm willing to bet you'd love to get some sleep," she observed. Ranma nodded, a yawn coming from nowhere. "Hmm, well then. Shall I show you to the quarters your Ghost and I arranged so that you can get some rest?"

Ranma smiled and stood up. "I'd like that." After everything she just wanted a shower and a bed. Her smile twitched and fell. She'd get her answer with the shower as well.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The Tower was, as Ikora explained, the heart of all Vanguard associated operations in the city. It housed the command and control center for the city's defences; hangars for Guardian and Forces of the City aircraft; numerous services centered around the needs of the Guardians; the residence and office of the Speaker, the head of the City Government; offices for members of the Vanguard and their forces; and standardized housing for all other Guardians on record.

Through a large wood and metal gate on the north side of the tower, right across from the Speaker's Tower, atop the Tower, were the residences of the Guardians. Three and four story apartment buildings that extended down into the superstructure of the tower.

Ranma followed Ikora through the large gate on the north side of the tower onto the street beyond. "All Guardians," Ikora was saying as she led Ranma past the market stalls set up under the overhanging apartments, "are given an apartment. This way." She walked past a stall where a middle-aged man was advertising a courier service and up to a door set into the painted sandstone wall. She waved her hand over the pad next to the door and it slid open to reveal a staircase. The internal walls were grey painted metal.

"Cheery," Ranma mumbled as she gave the walls a glance.

"The entrance ways are left undecorated, but the apartment above is yours to do whatever you wish too," Ikora said, leading the way up the stairs, "How much use you will find this apartment depends entirely upon you. I know some Guardians who live out of their fighters and others who are rarely seen outside of their homes, so caught up in their studies the world turns on without them caring."

Ikora paused at the first landing which had only a single metal door with a keypad, what was probably a hand scanner, and several other items that Ranma couldn't identify set into the wall beside it. "This is your workshop. Every apartment includes one. We expect Guardians to be able to do basic maintenance on their own equipment. Guns, armour, sparrows. Whatever you happen to use, this is the space that is set aside for your use. It is currently locked until you pass your certifications. And even if you were to get in it is currently empty. Once you have passed your certifications basic equipment will be provided, but anything specialized will have to come out of your own pocket." The older woman paused and glanced over at her. "Though if it is specialized enough you may be better off asking Banshee-44 to handle the job. While his memory is going, he is still by far the best gunsmith in the tower. Amanda is almost more than willing to handle any Sparrow work that you need… For a price."

"Sparrow?" Ranma asked. Somehow she didn't think Ikora was talking about birds.

"Racing bikes that many guardian's use for common transportation. They're hovercraft which makes them quite useful in rough terrain," the Warlock explained. Ranma nodded. She had to wonder if they were fast enough to be worth getting. She could cover distances quite a bit quicker than most cars.

"And now, your actual apartment," Ikora said as she led the way up the steps.

Ranma gave one last look at the plain metal door before following. She wasn't sure how much she would use a workshop, and at that moment she was finding it hard to really care that she even had one. What was she even going to use it for?

The stairs up onto a landing with two doors. The one directly in front was a steel door with a simple lock. On the left was a proper front door with a one way window in the top of the frame. It didn't have as many strange doodads built into the wall next to it as the workshop did, but it still had more security features than Ranma was used to seeing.

Ikora turned to her and gestured at the door, "Your apartment. The secondary locks are currently disabled. Your ghost can set them up for you later. For now you can use these." She pulled a key ring from somewhere and handed it to Ranma.

The redhead took it with mild surprise. "Actual keys?," she said as she examined the two gold and silver keys on the ring.

"The classics are fine for an empty apartment," Ikora replied before gesturing to the door again, "After you."

Ranma unlocked the door and stepped into what had to be the main room of the apartment. On the left was a small sitting room with a large TV on the wall, a coffee table, two armchairs, and a couch. Several small side tables sat in corners, bereft of decoration. On the right was the kitchen, a little smaller than the Tendo's, with a wrap around countertop; and the dining area was just beyond it. A single table with four chairs sat beneath a window that let light into the room. A balcony with sliding doors was on the left hand side to the right of the TV. A short hallway with a pair of doors was across the room directly opposite the front door.

What stood out the most to Ranma was how barren everything was. There were no decorations on the plain white walls. The floor was a mixture of carpet, tile, and hardwood with whites and browns that only made the empty walls look blander.

"It is a bit barren at the moment," Ikora said, seemingly reading Ranma's mind as she entered behind her, "But you are free to paint the walls or otherwise decorate the space however you wish for as long as you call the City home. Of course, should you decide to move out we expect it to be returned to this state on your dime."

"Of course," Ranma sighed, "And this costs?"

"Nothing." Ranma turned to the smiling black woman, "You are a Guardian, Ranma. The tower is here for you. This place was meant to be occupied by Guardians, not rented out for profit."

Ranma's mouth moved soundlessly for a moment before she closed it and nodded. Ikora reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the Tower, Ranma Saotome," she said with a smile.

"Thanks," she replied quietly.

Ikora let go and walked past her as Kiko emerged from her hiding place. "This looks really nice," Kiko said looking around, "And it's ours?"

"Yes, as I said," the warlock replied, "Due to your situation I've taken the liberty of providing two sets of clothes alongside the normally provided toiletries and bedsheets. They should be enough to tide you over until you can acquire more for yourselves."

"Is the water working?" Ranma asked.

"It should be," the older woman replied, "service outages for water and electricity are very rare inside the tower. I imagine you're looking forward to a shower." The redhead nodded. "I won't keep you too long then." What appeared to be a very large PDA appeared in her left hand in a shimmer. She held it out to Ranma. "Inside is the manual for all of the apartment's features. I would advise reading it sooner rather than later."

Ranma took the odd PDA from her and turned it over in her hands. "What is this?" she asked. One side seemed to be a screen of some kind. It had a power button on the right, she recognized the symbol, but it seemed to lack any of the buttons used to navigate the menus. Or a stylus.

"Ah. I hadn't realized electronics like this were after your time," Ikora said, taking it back from her. She tapped the 'screen' and the device lit up.

"It looks like a giant PDA," Ranma said as she watched an orange V appear followed by a second V. The second slid it behind the first leaving only the right arm visible. The logo flashed and the center of the V was filled in with white. The completed logo spun while the english words 'Tap to Continue' appeared beneath.

"I can't say I've ever heard of a PDA," Ikora mused as she tapped the screen.

"Personal data assistant," Ranma said, watching with mild curiosity, "I never owned one, but business people used them to keep track of stuff."

"'Stuff'. Hmm, well, this is a tablet or data pad depending on which company you ask these days," the older woman replied, "It uses a touch screen. It can take some getting used to, but navigating is intended to use natural motions. Tapping, swiping, etcetera." Ikora demonstrated by flicking through a few 'pages'. "Tap the power button to put it to sleep. You can set it down on the pad by the fridge to charge it." She pointed to a black pad that made up the corner of the counter. "I've loaded it with the manual for this apartment along with some basic education materials. I assume you know how to read English?"

Ranma blushed. "A bit? English wasn't my best class," she admitted. Though it hadn't been for lack of trying or lack of help.

"Well we can work on that. For now, I think it would be best if you got some rest. You look like you need it," Ikora said sympathetically. She tapped the power button then set the 'tablet' down on the counter.

"I feel like I do," she admitted.

"By the way. The Tablet is yours to keep. Use it however you feel, but should you break it much like the clothes a replacement will be your responsibility to pick up," Ikora said, drawing a nod from Ranma. She had expected worse, honestly.

"I'll try not to break it then," Ranma said.

"Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted with your new home. If you have any questions you can find me in the Vanguard's war room most of the time," Ikora said.

"Thank you," Ranma replied, bowing politely. Ikora bowed her head in reply, then turned to leave.

Ranma waited until she had left before sighing heavily. "I'm going to check and see if they left some soap for me, then I'm having a shower," she said, turning on her heel.

Kiko floated over to her from where the ghost had been examining a computer screen that was hanging from a bracket above the bar counter. "Oh, Durendal's frames are bringing over the crates with the things he gave us. They shouldn't be much longer."

"You can let them in," she called back as she entered the bedroom.

It was a plain room. A closet by the single person bed. A writing desk under the window with a built in computer terminal and beside it in the corner the plain metal dresser. The walls were bare like the rest of the apartment. She would have to find something to decorate it with. Eventually.

She spotted the clothes Ikora mentioned folded atop the dresser. They looked like uniforms, not surprising since they had probably come from the Tower's supplies. They'd do until she could get something else or at least until she could clean the Qipao she was wearing. Some little lightshow that Kiko had done back in Tokyo had fixed the holes, but it was still stained from dirt and what was probably blood.

The bathroom across the hall was larger than she had expected. About two thirds the size of the bedroom, it had a spacious shower, a tub, and a fairly large counter with a single sink.

She set the uniform down on the counter and checked under the sink. Two bottles of shampoo, labelled in english, several bars of soap, and two bales of toilet paper were sitting there in the nearly barren cabinet. Another thing for her to pick up.

That just left towels… somewhere.

A few minutes of searching later turned up the towels along with spare sheets for the bed in the back storage room. Which meant it was time.

She didn't bother locking the bathroom door as she shucked off the ancient qipao and looked at herself in the mirror as she undid the tie holding her pigtail together. She didn't look any different than before. Same red hair. Same eyes. Just a nervous worry that she rarely felt safe enough to express back home. It was hard to believe it had been possibly a thousand years since she had looked in a mirror.

Setting the hair tie down next to the spare set of clothes she walked over to the shower. She hesitated at the door for a moment. A little worm of worry and fear of… Something. Fear of being stuck? A little. Maybe a lot. It was less a fear of being a girl and more just…

She pushed the door open hesitantly. She had gotten used to having a choice. After Jusendo and her spat with Saffron, and later the failed wedding, she had simply moved on. So she couldn't get rid of it, fine. It hadn't truly bothered her since the fight with Herb. It had its advantages and disadvantages, and was almost a change of clothes more than a curse by the end.

Her hand found the tap and turned it on. Cold water pattered down on her head and cascaded off her body as the water surged from the shower head. It warmed quickly. She shut her eyes and waited. And waited. And waited.

The familiar shift of balance never came.

She couldn't tell if it was water or tears that were in her eyes as her knees wobbled and she slid down the glass wall of the shower. "So that's it huh," she mumbled. She had died, or maybe something had happened to Jusenkyo, or… or… She didn't know.

"What now?" She sat there sniffling, thought whirling through her mind as she tried to figure out what next. She was… Her original body was gone. This wasn't something she could fix by just challenging a chinese prince or answering the riddle on an ancient urn from some long gone age. Everyone was dead. Dead, gone, buried, rotted, and turned to dust probably from how long everything had been gone.

Hell, the humanity had had an entire golden age in the time it took her to wake the fuck up.

She punched the back wall in frustration. Tiles cracked under the light strike.

"Ranma?" She looked up at Kiko's voice. She could barely see the ghost through the wall of her wet hair and water. Or were those tears? She couldn't tell, but she could see the soft light from her ghost as it entered the shower stall. "Are you- No, no not going to ask if you're alright. I'm not blind. I-" The blur that was her ghost dithered floating in front of her. "I- What do… Oh dear, Ranma I- Oh…"

She reached out an unsteady hand and pulled Kiko to her chest. She hugged the small drone as she huddled in the steaming water of the shower. "Water isn't an issue, is it?" she asked, sniffling. She wiped at her left eye, only to wince at the stinging as she accidentally rubbed a bit of grease or dirt or something into it.

"I'm fine. You're the one I'm worried about, Ranma," Kiko said softly, not struggling against Ranma's grip. "Can I do something to help? Please tell me. Please?"

"... What do I do?" she asked her ghost. The small drone's outer shell flexed in confusion.

"I- I don't know? I'm sorry, but… Is… is this about your family?" Kiko asked. Ranma nodded, her both of her eyes stinging as her vision blurred further.

"Yes."

"... They don't mention things like this. I don't know where to start," her ghost said softly. They sat there under the steady stream of water. Ranma, feeling mentally exhausted, slowly slid further down the wall.

"Maybe," Kiko began, grabbing her attention as the ghost pulled herself loose of her grip, "Maybe you could tell me about them? We're supposed to be partners for the rest of our lives. I- I'm curious. What sort of life did you live? What kind of people were around you? And… maybe it will help if you talk about them. Y'know?"

"Maybe." Ranma pushed herself up into a sitting position. She had divulged a bunch of stuff to Cayde earlier, but that Exo had made things… easy. Easier at least. "Sure. Sure, I'll… where to start…"

"After you have a shower. No offense, but you stink a bit," Kiko said.

She gave the ghost a weak glare before sighing and standing up. She felt like shit, but getting properly clean would probably help a lot with that. One hand reached into the soap tray and found nothing. She groped around in the tray for a moment before turning to look at it. It was empty. A quick inspection of the rest of the shower stall revealed the real issue.

"I forgot to put the soap in the shower," she groaned, resting her forehead against the glass wall. "Shut up," she told a snickering Kiko with a sigh. Turning off the water she went to get the shampoo and soap so she could actually take a shower.

Forty minutes later, Ranma flopped onto the couch in the living room wearing a towel. She felt cleaner, which did help, but she was struggling to find the energy to do so much as get changed.

"So," Kiko said as she hovered by Ranma's head, "What to talk a bit?"

Ranma opened one of her closed eyes and just stared at her ghost before slowly nodding. "I guess. I mean, if I told Cayde a bunch I probably owe you an explanation," she said.

"You told Cayde?" Kiko said flatly, "Really? You told Cayde before your own ghost?"

Ranma buried her head in the pillow. "M'be?" she mumbled into the fuzzy throw pillow. In hindsight it probably hadn't been the smartest move, but…

"Hmm… Well then I guess you do owe me," Kiko said pointedly, prodding her in the cheek with one point. A blue eye stared at the pushy ghost. "Come on. Talk. Thy ghost demands an explanation."

She snorted and rolled over onto her side. She pulled the second pillow over and hugged it as she stared at the TV. "I guess… Well… You remember the murals in the shrine?" Her ghost nodded. "All of that happened. Not exactly as depicted, but it still happened. It was… I guess starting at the beginning of the weirdness probably works best. I just… I was born a guy."

Kiko stared at her for a moment before flashing a scan across her. "I'm not crazy," Ranma deadpanned.

"... Are you sure about that?"

They stared at each other for a quiet few minutes before Ranma sighed. "It started in a valley known as Jusenkyo."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

If you asked anyone in the Last Safe City whether they believed that the blessing of the Traveler would grant the ability to look the sun in the eyes, they would say yes. They would say that it would make any intensity of bright shining light as easy to endure as an overcast day. They would say many things about its supposed gifts.

They would be wrong.

As Ranma quickly discovered upon opening her eyes. She was hardly looking directly at the sun, but the reflection shining off the glass of a large solar panel on the roof of the building across the street made an excellent replacement.

"Ack," she held a hand up to block out the light as she tried to orient herself. She flailed about for a moment before her foot hit the wrong thing and she tumbled off the couch she had fallen asleep on.

Thwump

"Ow," she mumbled, her pride hurt more than anything as she lay face down on the carpet. Up close, and fully awake, she realized it wasn't exactly white. It was more of an off-white with dark black speckles.

"Oh, you're awake." Ranma groaned as she recognized the voice. So she hadn't just been having a really long and trippy dream. She attempted to roll over, bumped into the table, and just turned her head instead to stare up at Kiko who was hovering curiously over the top of the couch's back. She opened her mouth to say hello when the towel Ranma had flopped onto the couch in the night before fell open.

She let her head fall back to the floor with a sigh. "Hey Kiko," she said resignedly.

"I was starting to wonder if you were dead again," her ghost said, without waiting for a reply she continued, "Come on, get up. There's a bunch of stuff we need to deal with today."

Ranma just wanted to lay on the couch for a while longer. She was still feeling that depressing malaise from the day before. "Like?" she asked as she slowly pulled herself back up into a sitting position between the coffee table and the couch. She leaned against the cold glass top of the coffee table.

A small 'bing' somewhere behind her drew her attention and she looked over her bare shoulder at the table. The glass topped table had lit up with a small display indicating the date, in city years; the time; and the temperature and weather forecast. It was supposed to be sunny all day apparently.

Just another sign of how much stuff she needed to get used to in this strange city. Though there was a part of her that found it cool. The future was now apparently.

"Like shopping for some more clothes. Getting registered for testing and classes. Maybe we can go shopping for some food, cause we're going to need to eat in the cafeteria today. Oh, get you synced with your Tower Vault account and a few other things I'm probably forgetting. Maybe. Can I forget stuff?" Kiko spun slowly in as she seemed to contemplate the question. Ranma didn't know quite what to say to that last bit.

Her stomach grumbled. Food sounded good. It sounded really good.

She rubbed her shoulder where she had smacked into the floor. "Food sounds good," She said, standing up. Her ghost stared for a moment. "What?"

"... I'd like to hope you've got clothes on your priority list before food?" Kiko asked, "Because I think being naked is illegal. Even for a guardian."

Ranma rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. "Gimme a few minutes," she said, yawning. She wandered into the bathroom. She had left one of the uniforms Ikora gave her on the counter the night before. She kicked the door of the bathroom shut behind her and leaned against it.

A glance into the mirror told her enough. She was cleaner than the night before but her hair had become an absolute mess. She hadn't bothered to brush or comb it after the shower. Stepping properly up to the mirror she pulled a tangled clump of her hair free from the mess and held it up to the mirror.

"Ugh," she groaned, leaning against the counter on her elbows as she massaged her face. She was a mess. There was no other way to put it. Akane would probably have a comment to make about her situation. Or maybe Nabiki. The middle Tendo was always terribly sarcastic with a tongue that could strip paint from a spaceship.

She spent ten minutes slowly untangling the mass of knots in her hair with her fingers before pulling out a heavy picked steel comb and setting to work. She leaned against the counter as she worked out the tangles and knots. It was slow and painful as she worked, but after a few minutes she started humming mindlessly a tune she couldn't quite remember the source of. It made things easier as she worked. Eventually she paused to examine the state of her hair. Better, but it still needed more work. She slipped the comb behind her ear and pulled out a brush.

She paused with it half-raised to her head.

One hand touched her ear where the comb had disappeared. "... I pulled that out of my pocket?" she muttered. It had only been a few months ago when she finally figured out how to hold a ki pocket like Mousse did. She didn't keep much in it but…

She examined the brush. It wasn't crumbling or fragile. It was pristine and practically perfect. Well, as far as cheap brushes went. With a gesture she produced the steel comb again. There were no signs of age. It hadn't even occurred to her to check her pocket, until she'd just done so out of habit. What did she even still have in there?

Ignoring the uniform on the counter she started pulling things out of the ki-powered space. She wasn't Mousse. She didn't keep everything including a literal kitchen sink in her pockets, but she did have a few items.

Knives, two bo staffs, and a crate of confiscated gunpowder bombs she had stolen from Happousai were stacked in the corner. Meanwhile, beauty products including lipstick, eyeliner, deodorant, and several brands of blush; all important items in on the spot disguises; were set down on the counter. Several sets of underwear, mostly boxers, followed before she pulled out a neatly folded set of her favourite clothes.

She ran a hand over the silk shirt and pants. They weren't even dusty. Setting them down on the counter she pulled out two more sets and three other outfits. There was more in her pocket, but the counter was running out of room. She smiled, she had clothes.

"Guess I won't need these then," she said, glancing at the uniform piled to the side. She had clothes. Something that was her.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Fifteen minutes later Ranma locked the door on her apartment as she hurried out. Kiko hovered over her shoulder. "Where did you even get that?" Her ghost asked as they walked. 'That' being her usual red and black outfit.

"Ki-pocket," she replied, disappearing her keys into said pocket with a flick of her wrist. "Which way is the cafeteria again?" She brushed a lock of red hair behind her right ear. She hadn't had the motivation to go through the long process of braiding her hair again on top of untangling it. It was hanging loose and rustling in the breeze.

"... Why is it that every time you explain something, all you do is create more questions?" Kiko asked with a plaintive tone, "And we'll need to take the elevators in the main plaza."

"Through the gate here?" Ranma said, pointing to the large gate at the end of the block.

"Yup."

The duo passed through the gate and stepped out onto the small north tower plaza right before the Speaker's tower. Ranma paused to look up at the traveler. The bright white orb was visible over the open tower. Now that she was more conscious and less worn down she could appreciate the sheer scale of the alien object with a more objective eye.

After a few moments of scrutiny she lowered her gaze to the small tower across the way from her. She wandered across the small terrace to the bridge and looked into the room across with a frown. There was an elaborate structure of rings and brackets that was spinning around a blue see-through hologram of what had to be the Traveler.

Her head tipped to the side as she watched it. "Kiko, what is that?" she asked.

"What is- Oh, that," she could hear Kiko's tone drop. "I've been asking that same question since they installed it fifty years ago. I have no idea."

"It is modern art." The two turned around to find a man dressed in a white robe with a white mask over his face. "I jest, of course," he said, walking up beside her. He gestured to the display. "It is a visual demonstration of the layers of our security systems and the scans we are constantly performing. A showpiece, if you will. Useful as a visualization, but little more. Unfortunately there are those who require such grand spectacles to understand the scope of our operations. It can perform a few other functions, but those are rarely utilized." He turned to her.

"I am the Speaker, the one who speaks for the Traveler for as long as it is unable to speak for itself," he said, bowing slightly. She returned the gesture. "Tell me, what brings our latest Guardian to my door this morning?" This was the Speaker? He didn't feel like a Guardian, though he dressed like he could be one.

"Heading down to the cafeteria for breakfast," she said.

"Ah, yes. You won't have had a chance to properly settle in yet, will you?" He nodded to himself, crossing his arms, "Perhaps you wouldn't mind joining me? I have heard rumours that you are… unlike, most other Guardians."

She could feel his gaze as he looked down at her. "They say you remember the age before the Traveler. Is that true?" he asked.

She nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, it is."

"Interesting. Would you mind talking with me about it for a bit, over lunch?" he asked, gesturing to the room with the spinning doodad in the center.

Day one and the leader of the city was apparently asking to have lunch with her. Go keeping a low profile… She buried that bundle of nerves and grinned. "Sure, why not," she said.

"Excellent, this way. I'll send someone to bring us food," he said, leading her into the room and up a set of stairs on the left where a small office loft overlooked the main floor of the tower. A small table for two was covered in books by the curved bookcases. The Speaker removed the books. "Please, sit."

Somewhat apprehensive due to the official attention, Ranma took her seat. She scanned the shelves. She could recognize many of the languages on the bindings, even if not all of them. Russian, English, and Chinese were the three most common. She could even read part of the English and Chinese titles. Not all, but then her Mandarin was incredibly rusty and at least a third of the Chinese books were using an odd dialect she didn't recognize.

"Tea?" She looked up to find the Speaker holding up a teapot.

"We have tea?" she asked reflexively. The Speaker chuckled and filled a teacup that he set before her.

"Flora survived the collapse quite well, even if the Fauna were hit nearly as hard as we were," he said as he placed the teacup before her. She watched the steam swirl off the top for a minute before taking a sip. It was Jasmine.

"It's good," she said quietly, setting the cup back down.

"That is good to hear," he said, "Please, wait a moment while I arrange for food." He walked back down the stairs leaving her to sip tea quietly and observe the slowly spinning orb of 'modern art'.

A minute later the Speaker walked back up the stairs and went to pour himself a cup of tea. "Food should be up in a little while. While we wait, I imagine you have questions?" He sat down in the other chair across from her with what she could only feel was an expectant look. It was hard to tell through the facemask.

"I haven't really thought about it," she said. There hadn't been time to think about it between… Everything.

"I suppose I should have expected that. I've found that those Guardians who remember nothing tend to handle the situation better. Less attachments to let go," he mused before sighing, "And Cayde claims you remember everything, more or less. I can only imagine what you are feeling right now, young lady… Actually, were you young before you came back? It has been a question asked by many scholars about whether Guardians are restored as they were, or come back in better shape. The former has been the favoured theory for quite some time."

"She had a body, Speaker," Kiko said, "She looked just as she does now when I let her out of that cryopod." Ranma nodded.

"I see," he said, pulling a notebook over to him and making a notation. "A known occurrence it seems… Alas. Well, I seem to have asked a question, perhaps you have thought of something in the meantime?"

"I-" Ranma looked down at her cup in thought before glancing up and over the balcony of the loft. There was a large hole in the wall of the tower that looked out over the city and the Traveler. "How did we get here?" she asked.

The Speaker regarded her for a moment, pausing to raise the edge of his mask to take a sip of his tea. She didn't have an angle to see his skin. "I assume you are referring to how humanity went from your time to this City?" She nodded. "That is a very long story. Perhaps more than we have time for in its fullness. Though, I would be lying if I claimed that anyone lives who remembers the full story in this City. Perhaps outside of the City one of the Warminds might know the full truth, but we have only the remains of stories left to us and the records we have recovered over the centuries."

"Do you know how it all started?" she asked.

"The year was two-thousand and fourteen when the entity we would come to call the Traveler arrived on Mars," the Speaker began, launching into what Ranma would later come to understand was his usual introduction to the city for Guardians.

He was winding down thirty minutes later when a thunk from the bottom of the steps drew her attention. She looked over her shoulder at the stairs. "Ah," the Speaker set down his cup and stood up, "That would appear to be our food." As he said that a pair of large hovering trolley floated into view being pulled by a uniformed server and, of all people, Cayde-6.

"Yo, how's it going Ranma?" the Exo said as he brought the trolley to a halt.

"Fine I guess?" She said as she looked over the varied selection of foods on display. "Uh, why are you here?"

"Oh, well," he glanced over his shoulder at the heavily breathing server who was leaning against the wall. "Saw this guy trying to arrange a couple of small meals for you two and went 'ya know, he hasn't a clue what he's getting into' so I figured I'd save him a few extra trips and filled him in on how much you eat." He looked at her and his head tipped to the side. "Nice hair style, setting a fashion state?"

She blinked and absently touched her loosely hanging hair. Fashion statement? "I just didn't feel like braiding it today," she said.

"Sure but, have you seen the other Guardians? No one has hair that long these days," he shrugged, "Looks good on you. French toast?" Ranma blink as a plate stacked high with said confection was held out by the smirking Exo.

"Thanks," she said, taking the plate.

"Are you certain this much was needed?" The Speaker asked.

"I didn't mention how much glimmer she cost me yesterday, did I? Four hundred twenty-six glimmer. That's about as much as it costs me to host a party for eight fire teams," Cayde said blandly, "She eats a lot. Enough that I'm going to have to take a few bounties off the board after the afternoon Vanguard meeting."

Ranma's stomach chose that moment to grumble as she had a fork of French Toast half-way to her mouth. Glasses trembled as all eyes turned to her. Shamelessly she met Cayde's eye and ate the French Toast. It was delicious.

"... Your foresight is as welcome as it is surprising, Cayde-6," the Speaker said mildly.

"Hey, I try. See you both later. Enjoy the lunch kid," Cayde waved and walked back down the stairs.

"Your meal, Speaker," the server said, removing a single tray from the madness. He placed it in the Speaker's place.

"Thank you Johnathon," the Speaker said, sitting down. "Now, while we eat. Would you mind answering a few of my questions about the past?"

Ranma swallowed her mouthful. "Sure."

"Excellent. Let's start with something… broad. What were the dominant political entities of your time?" he asked as he carefully cut in half a very impressive sandwich of pork, tomato, some kind of sprout, and copious amounts of lettuce.

Ranma paused at the question. This was going to be a bit more complicated than she had expected.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

It was an hour later that Ranma finally parted ways with the elderly Speaker and his relentless questions about 'old earth' as he called it. "Finally," Kiko exclaimed as they walked across the bridge from the Speaker's Tower, "I was going nuts. Do you know how boring it can be when you have to listen to two people talk about things you can't even contribute to?"

"Sorry," Ranma said, not actually meaning it. The Speaker had shared as much as he asked and she knew a lot more now than she had before. She turned to stare up at the Traveler. It was one thing to see it so broken, another to know why it was so heavily injured. "Where to next?"

"Uh… We need to get you properly synched up to your vault. We can do that at one of the Kiosks in the central plaza, then either registration or shopping, your choice," Kiko said looking at her expectantly.

"Show me," Ranma sighed. What she really wanted to do was just go and curl up with a blanket and whatever passed for cartoons this far into the future, but she needed to deal with this stuff, so she let Kiko shuffle her through the entrance to the Central Plaza. On the North Tower side of the short walkway was a small group of seats with a red and white logo painted on the side of the wall above. The few people gathered there seemed to have the same shades of red and white on their clothes.

In the central plaza the vaults were accessible via three sets of three touch screen interfaces built into decorative pillars. "So what happens when it rains?" Ranma asked as Kiko logged into their account.

"What do you mean?" Kiko asked as the screen flicked through options.

"Well there isn't exactly a roof here. Are they expecting us to just stand out here when it's raining?" she asked as she looked up at the sky. Sporadic clouds drifted lazily across the clear sky.

"Most people around here are usually in armour and have a hood or a helmet or something," Kiko said absently.

She gave the floating drone a flat stare. "So they do expect us to stand out in the rain," she said blandly.

"There are other ones downstairs. This is just the convenience access right in front of the hangers," her ghost replied, "And set up. I just need your hand." Ranma stopped examining her surroundings and placed her palm on the indicated outline on the touch screen. There was a beep and the screen flashed the word 'Approved' before turning back to the main menu.

"Great. You do know how to work this, right?" The roll of Ranma's eyes communicated everything the ghost needed to know. "Right. Well, quick run through then. You've got enough storage space for roughly five hundred engrams assuming standard dimensions and compression rates."

"Engrams?" Ranma asked. Kiko swiveled to face her, then swung back to the screen.

"Riiiight. Okay," she sighed, "No way you'd know what an engram is. Engrams are what is known as encrypted matter. They're about the size of a basketball and can store basically anything from a rifle to a fighter craft. There are rumours of larger objects being stored within, but I've never seen an example of anything bigger than a typical guardian aircraft."

"Huh…" Ranma tipped her head to the side. She had to wonder how it would interact with her ki-pocket. It would probably be best if she used an empty pocket and something expendable like a gun rather than a spaceship. You know, just in case something had a negative reaction. Visions of being slammed through a wall by a suddenly expanded starfighter flitted through her mind.

"We'll probably see one soon. The City uses them for storage," Kiko continued, "Anyway, standardized Golden Age sizes give each Guardian roughly enough room for five hundred. Of course not all engrams are exactly the same size so the space is variable just a little. Other than that, you see this number here?" Her little beam of light lit up the top right of the account interface.

"Yeah?"

"That's your glimmer. Well, your Glimmer Credit. You know those glowing cubes in the crates?"

"Durendal mentioned Glimmer," Ranma noted, looking at the small icon of a glowing cube.

"Right, well the City uses Glimmer as a backer for currency. Each Guardian gets paid a bounty in City Credits when they bring in Glimmer for the city. You've got a limit on the account since you're a Guardian and the authorities don't want immortal warriors hoarding resources. The limit is two hundred and fifty thousand at present," Kiko said she glanced Ranma's way, "That doesn't stop guardians from hoarding physical glimmer in caches both inside and outside the city. It also doesn't stop them from hoarding other forms of resources."

"... That's a bit short sighted," she deadpanned. Kiko gave an approximation of a shrug.

"It is what it is," she sighed, "I told the frames to only submit a full stock and the rest should be in crates in our living room. So we've got two-hundred and fifty thousand to play with. Waaaay more than enough for what we need."

"Not like we're starting with much of anything right now," Ranma sighed, leaning against the pillar. It was just her though, so it was probably fine.

"Not like we're buying furniture. Unless you're planning on moving us out already?" Kiko asked.

"You'll be the first to know if I even start thinking about it," Ranma assured her. Her ghost bobbed and turned off the console.

"Right, I can access the information whenever we need it and authorize purchases when you need me to, so don't worry about getting rained on all the time. We'll be fine," Kiko said, "I guess that leaves Crucible registration. Ready to go talk to Shaxx?"

"Who's Shaxx?" Ranma asked.

Shaxx, as it turned out, was a very tall Guardian in full armour. Her first glance of the behemoth of a man with his white and orange divided helmet with it's single curved horn on the right side was of him scolding two very heavily armoured Guardians who were standing ramrod straight as he laid into them at his desk beneath several bright red banners and what appeared to be a dragons skull.

"I don't know whether to be amazed or just disappointed at the reckless stupidity you both displayed today," he was telling them both, "What I do know is that was the worst showing I've seen in… A very, very long time. Because of your actions both of you are banned from taking the general Crucible certification exam for a month."

"Lord Shaxx-" The Guardian with large shoulder pads on the left began to protest before a glance from the large man shut him up.

"My decision is final. You do not fire anywhere near a friendly ghost. Am I clear? Clark?" Shoulderpads nodded frantically. "Iruka?" The second man with a fancy cloak sighed and nodded.

"Yes sir," he said resignedly.

"Good. Now get out of here. I have other people to deal with," he waved them away and turned to her as she approached without waiting for them. "A new face with a ghost usually means a new Guardian. Red hair, short. 'Gifted' like Cayde put it," she scowled at him, not missing the euphemism, earning a deep chuckle.

"Rude!" Kiko huffed.

Shaxx waved her off. "Not my words. I am Lord Shaxx, keeper of the crucible. You are Ranma Saotome I assume?"

"That's me," she said, glancing up at the dragon skull. "Is that a dragon skull, or a dinosaur?"

Shaxx glanced up. "Aah, that would be the skull of an Ahamkara I killed during the great hunt. It was quite the battle," he said.

She stared at it for a while, the horns of the beast gave it an almost demonic feel. Actually, the longer she looked at it the more wrong it felt. Like the ki around it was warped and twisted. She ripped her gaze back to Shaxx. She had no idea how he could stand that thing. Trophy or not.

"I'm here about certifications?" she said, glancing to Kiko who bobbled.

"She's already amazing, but if you could teach her to fly, that'd be great," Kiko said. Shaxx snorted.

"I'll do more than that," he said, looking her over, "Cayde mentioned you remember some training. Martial Arts he said. That'll help, but there's more to Guardian than Martial Arts."

"I did fine in the bunker when I woke up," she said, frowning as she remembered the swarming hordes of Fallen.

"Nothing but a sword verse hordes of Fallen," Kiko crowed, doing a loop-de-loop out of excitement.

"Hmm, an impressive feat, but like I said," Shaxx replied, "There's more to being a Guardian than throwing a punch." Ranma's eyes narrowed at the jab as the older Guardian lifted a tablet from his desk.

"Sounds to me like you don't know what Martial Arts used to be," she said, frowning at him. He looked up.

"I was one of the first Risen to become a Warlord during the Dark Ages. I found in countless battles with nothing but my fists and whatever weapon I had on hand," he said, his voice deep with warning and pride. It was like insulting an old prideful master, but unlike them he didn't give her the same feeling of danger. There was no overwhelming ki backing his words.

"And how many times did you die?" she asked pointedly.

"Many times. We are Guardian, death comes and goes just as easily as breathing for me and you," he said bluntly. She tilted her head.

Memories of the void she had slept away the centuries in bubbled up in the back of her mind. "Funny that. I've only died once so far, and I have no plans to do it again," she said, trying to bury the unwelcome memories. "Have you ever broken a mountain with your martial arts? Dueled an immortal who could scorch mountains down to the bedrock?"

Shaxx stared at her as glared at him. "Hmmph, I find it hard to believe you did all of that in the last two days," he said, shaking his head. He tapped something onto the tablet. "Your lessons-"

"I did that before I got stuffed in a cryo-pod for more than a thousand years," she interrupted, "You might know how to be Guardian, but between us, I've forgotten more about Martial Arts than you ever knew." She crossed her arms.

"Uuh, Ranma," Kiko floated down to her ear, "Are you sure you want to antagonize Lord Shaxx? I mean…" She flicked her gaze back to the Titan who had set his tablet down.

"A cryo-pod you say? Cayde left that detail out," he mused, his head tilting down as he looked her over again, "Curious. I find it hard to believe that such things plagued our world before the Darkness arrived, but I have been wrong in the past. Still, I have been alive for many centuries. What makes you think you know more about the arts of fighting than I do?"

Ranma shrugged. "Guns? Flying? Driving? No idea. I never needed them. I spent my entire life learning the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts and every other school of martial arts I encountered. I'm the best there is."

He lifted his tablet again and tapped something on it. It let out a beep. "Since you have just arrived, I assume you have no plans for the rest of the day?" he asked.

Ranma glanced to Kiko who shrugged. "Nothing I'm aware of?" She said.

"Good." Shaxx loomed over her, "It's rare anyone dares to speak to me like that, let alone claim they know more than I do. Not even Zavala dares. Hmmph. I'll give you a chance to prove it girl. I've reserved training arena five on floor fifteen. For a purely martial challenge it should be sufficient. Meet me there in thirty minutes," he said brushing passed her on his way out of the room.

They watched him go. Beside her Kiko slowly sagged as she watched the Titan leave. "What have you done? Did you just challenge Shaxx to a duel!" She hissed, spinning to face her.

"He's the one who insulted me first," Ranma scoffed, staring after where the Titan had disappeared.

"Oh god, oh god, we're so getting humiliated," Kiko muttered. Ranma rolled her eyes at her ghost. Clearly Shaxx had a reputation, which she probably should have expected, but she wasn't going to back down on a challenge to her skill.

Ranma looked up at the Ahamkara skulled. The twisted ki felt… smug. She narrowed her eyes at it before spinning on her heel. Her loose hair swirled in the air behind her as she marched out of the room. "Let's go find this place and get this over with," Ranma said to Kiko.

Behind her the handful of other people in the room broke into furious whispering the moment she left.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"All I'm saying is there's something different about her. Something, ah… how to put it…" Ikora rolled her eyes as she listened to Cayde ramble on. The Hunter Vanguard was leaning against the main table in the war council. The exo snapped his fingers a moment later and pointed them at her. "Indescribable."

Ikora snorted. "Really Cayde? That's the best you can come up with?" she asked, shaking her head.

Her teammate spread his hands helplessly. "What can I say, the girl left an impression," he said flipping a knife in his hand, "If she's half as good as she claims, she'll be quite a help. Wonder which route she's going to take. Doesn't feel much like one of your Warlocks, Ikora."

"It's hard to say at the moment. She's only just arrived and with such a heavy burden of memories…" Ikora shook her head as she recalled Ranma Saotome. "Seeing her, I have to feel that my own lack of memories from before might be a true blessing." She pulled up another report on her tablet as she walked between the manned stations, taking a moment to double check the running of the tower. Satellite feeds looked good and the weather was clear. There weren't even any Fallen close enough to the City to worry about.

Cayde said nothing as he flipped his knife a few more times. "Hey," he said, catching the blade by the point. "I'm not the only one to realize this is the second redhead in as many years to not follow convention, right?" He pointed the hilt of his blade at the last member of the Vanguard. The Awoken Titan Zavala was leaning over the end of the table examining multiple reports and several holographic maps. "Hey, Zavala, you notice it as well?"

"I have more pressing worries than contemplating a new Guardian who hasn't even completed certifications Cayde," Zavala said, looking up from his work, "But I agree, it is a bit strange. Ikora?"

"Probably nothing more than a coincidence," Ikora sighed, "They do happen." And it was two years. They'd had more than two dozen Guardians with red hair join in the last six months let alone the last two years.

"Still weird," Cayde said after a moment before returning to flipping his knife up and down. "You know, she reminds me of someone. It's the face I just… I can't place it for some reason," he continued. Ikora rolled her eyes and tuned him out as she forwarded an approved request to the appropriate parties.

As Cayde continued to ramble on about the new Guardian one of her agents who typically operated in the room outside of the war council where Shaxx kept his office, slipped into the room. Ikora looked up with a raised eyebrow as the woman walked over to her. "Yes, Millie?" she asked.

"There's been… Ma'am, Shaxx just booked arena five on floor fifteen for an immediate duel," she said, her voice travelling far enough the quiet council chambers for Zavala and Cayde to both turn to them.

"Shaxx booked a duel? Since when does he book duels?" Cayde asked.

"Not for quite a while," Zavala said, standing straight, "Who is he duelling?"

Her agent looked to her for permission and she nodded once. "The new Guardian. One Ranma Saotome," she said. Cayde fumbled his knife and it clattered off the tiled floor. Ikora rubbed her forehead already feeling a headache starting to form.

"You're joking. She is joking, right?" Cayde asked as he pointedly ignored his knife.

"Please tell me this is a bad joke," Ikora asked. She sighed as Millie shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but no it isn't. They got to talking, but I was busy with my work. One moment they were fine, the next Shaxx booked a duel," her agent said with a helpless shrug.

"Interesting," Zavala said, rubbing his chin, "For an immediate duel? How long ago was this booked?"

"Less than five minutes."

"By the Traveler, what led to this?" Ikora sighed. How did the quiet girl from yesterday wind up in a duel with Shaxx of all people not even twenty-four hours later? And right after a meeting with the Speaker no less.

"Well, why don't we head down and find out then," Zavala said, stretching. He rolled one shoulder and gathered his tablet.

"You're suggesting we go and watch? Sure, I'm in," Cayde said, retrieving his knife before looking up at Ikora. "You comin'?"

She sighed. "I'm coming." If only to find out exactly how this had gotten started.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

A/N: Wooo~ Chapter Two~

My editor is the driving force behind me finally writing a second chapter. So everyone please, thank @Gekkou_Yoko for her help~ *bowing kitsune*

@Gekkou_Yoko here!~ Ello!~ *waves*

The next story getting an update will be The Taste of Peaches and then it should be Age of the Sky. For quite a while. I'll be writing AotS until the end of Act 1 which should be at least another four chapters, assuming 10k words a chapter.

Discord and patreon links in the usual places. Please, feel free to check out my other stories in my signature.

 

[Grounders10]

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A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

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Chapter Three

A Duel of Fire and Ice

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​

Arena Five was near the base of the tower, relatively speaking. In Ranma's experience, it was a bit strange to refer to the fifteenth floor as near the base of a building, but the Tower had over a hundred floors and from the top, the trip down to the fifteenth took over three minutes. Even with an elevator. Honestly, Ranma had been half tempted to just get off at the next stop and slide down the side of the building instead. It would have been faster.

It also would have probably set off a few alarms.

So instead, she suffered through the long elevator trip down to the fifteenth floor. As she stepped out of the elevator the first thing she noticed was the groups of Guardians and FOTC personnel congregating in large groups around the large clean lobby. A hubbub of incomprehensible conversation drifted around the room. From what she could see it looked much like she would have expected of a Gym's lobby back in Japan or China.

Unfortunately, due to the large number of people crowding the room, a number that was increasing even as she stood there with more people coming off the elevators, she couldn't see the signs that may have pointed her to Arena Five.

"Any idea where arena five is?" she asked Kiko. Her ghost did something like a shrug.

"How often do you think I come down here? Not like a lot of people die in the gym," she said with a flat deadpan.

"Map?" Ranma replied equally flatly. Her ghost spun in the air for a moment.

"Right hand door," Kiko said, "Far end of the hall. Follow the hallway beyond. It should be the tenth door on the left."

"Thanks," she replied as she started working her way across the room. She had to wonder if the arenas were always this busy. Was there some kind of event on? Maybe a fighting competition of some kind? Shrugging it off she found the heavy fire doors leading into the hallway Kiko had mentioned.

Some of the groups, many wearing armour and carrying weapons, and even a few with ghosts out; were flowing into the same hallway. All of them were taller than she was as well. It was one of those things about being a girl she hated. Being petite in height was a pain.

"Seven… eight… nine… This it?" She asked, getting a nod from her ghost. She frowned as she watched several large groups disappear through the heavy doors of the arena. "I think, I might know why there're so many people here," she said.

"Gee, it isn't like you challenged Shaxx to a duel or anything," Kiko hissed quietly, "I'd be willing to put Glimmer on everyone in the city knowing about it by now. You realize arena duels are televised, right?"

"... And free to watch?" she hazarded a guess. Kiko bobbed an affirmative as another group of Guardians, which all seemed to average three for some reason, entered the arena.

She sighed. How did she get into these situations all the time? "Greeeeat," she groaned before rolling her shoulders and striding through the door.

The entrance let out onto the top of a long flight of stairs that led down to the side of an arena the size of a football pitch. To the left and right were seats that wrapped around the entire room. Most of them were already filled up and yet more people were flooding into the room.

And down in the area was a one-horned man in armour setting up stands of weapons with the help of several frames.

"It's been… Ten minutes? Where are all these people coming from?" She asked as they descended the staircase towards the arena.

"You realize you aren't the only person who lives here, right?" Kiko asked, "And, I'd bet that a bunch of this lot are skipping out of their posts if they can. It isn't every day that Shaxx gets into a duel. Traveller what were you thinking." Her ghost whimpered. "You're going to die so many times."

"Your confidence is absolutely inspiring," Ranma deadpanned as they reached the floor of the arena and walked onto the concrete floor. Whispered raced through the crowd behind her as she walked past the working frames and out to her opponent. The giant of a man was surrounded by half a dozen racks of spears, swords, maces, and more exotic weapons. Was that a billhook?

"So you came." His voice, harsh as he turned to face her, "I can't tell whether it's foolishness or courage."

"You issued a challenge. I can't turn that down," she said with a shrug as she turned her attention to the thronging crowds that were staring down at them. "Funny how things don't change all that much after the world ends." How many times had she seen crowds form out of nothing to cheer, or jeer, the participants of a fight? How many times had she seen the sides of Furinkan's soccer pitch packed to the brim with hundreds of students, teachers, and other bystanders?

Far too many times to count. This was her normal.

"Rumour travels quickly," Shaxx agreed, "So, ground rules. We will be doing three rounds. Since you came to apply for registration I'll treat this as a test of your hand-to-hand skills. Assuming you manage to impress me enough you'll get that part of your certification out of the way."

She snorted. "I'm not the one who needs to worry about impressing," she said, crossing her arms.

Shaxx snorted. "You've got guts, but I've seen far too many young brats like you before," he said, "First round will be hand-to-hand. Split into two halves. The first half will be without light, the second half you can use it to augment yourself. No weapons allowed. No overt manifestations of Light. No arc, no flames, no void."

She nodded. Which probably meant he'd take offence to her pulling out any obvious Ki tricks. Well, that wasn't a worry.

"Second round will be with weapons with the same restrictions. Both the first and second halves. Round three will be a no-holds-barred duel. Weapons, hand-to-hand and full light powers. Feel free to show me your full potential, Saotome," Shaxx said, she could hear the viscous smile behind his helmet, "One last thing. Each round only ends when one of us dies or surrenders." She gave him a sharp glance and he laughed. "We're Guardians. Death is an inconvenience, get used to it."

"And that is why you're going to lose," she said as she shook her head, "Death is defeat."

"Hmmph, only for others." They stood there for a moment. "I've brought out a few weapons. If you'd like to select which ones you might want to use for the second set-"

Ranma tapped the bo staff she had pulled from her pocket against her shoulder. "I'm good," she said as she rested the white oak staff against her shoulder.

Shaxx regarded her for a moment, before waving away the racks of weapons. Frames shuffled the dozens of weapons away. "That's a nice trick, I'll admit," he said, "Now we wait. Normally I would take charge and run a duel like this, but officiating one's own duel is both poor taste and questionably legal. So I sent Zavala a message a few minutes ago. He will be here soon."

Ranma slipped the bo staff back into her pocket. "... He's the Vanguard guy, isn't he?" she asked, thinking about what she had heard from Cayde and Ikora.

"The Titan Vanguard, and the Vanguard Commander. Be honoured. It's rare to see him out of his office," her opponent said, "Oh, one last detail. Ghosts remain outside the arena area until one of us falls or concedes. Then they can come to revive you or heal you. Clear?"

"Got you," she said. She wasn't planning on dying here, so it wasn't too big of an issue.

"Well, that sucks," Kiko muttered as she flashed into existence, "Good luck Ranma. Please try to not embarrass me? Please?" Ranma rolled her eyes and shooed her towards the edge of the field.

"I'll be fine," she replied. Her ghost gave her a worried look before darting out of the arena. Ranma turned to face Shaxx, looking up at his masked visage, arms crossed under her chest. Shaxx mirrored her, staring down, his face utterly unreadable, with his arms crossed over his chest.

They remained standing like that even as the crowd surged with energy and started cheering.

"Shaxx! Shaxx! Shaxx!"

Well, it wouldn't be the first time people underestimated her.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"What a contradiction," Ikora sighed as she took her seat in the small viewing box set aside for the Vanguard, Speaker, and representatives of the various political factions in the city.

"I'm not surprised. Well, not too surprised," Cayde said as he took his own seat. "She had a bunch of stories to share. Her time was rather wild."

"So you've said," she murmured as she looked down at the forms of Shaxxa and Ranma facing off in the center of the arena. They were both stock still and staring the other down with crossed arms. "It's just… she was so quiet yesterday."

"I'd put money on her being in shock yesterday," Cayde replied as he pulled a hip flask from a pocket and took a swig. "Aah, that's better."

"Drinking, now?" she asked as a pair of representatives of New Monarchy entered the room. The flamboyantly dressed men greeted them before finding seats lower down in the box. A Dead Orbit representative followed a moment later.

"About the best time to drink. Ya know I feel sorry for the kid. Going up against Shaxx?" Cayde snorted, "That's not something I'd want to do. Still, if she's half as good as she suggested the early rounds should be interesting."

"I guess we'll see."

"That we will." Everyone in the box bolted to their feet as the Speaker entered.

"Speaker, welcome," Ikora said, bowing deeply. Cayde waved absently.

"Don't normally see you this much," the Exo said irreverently, "You sure you're good to be here?"

The Speaker chuckled. "I'm old, but not fragile Cayde," he said as he eased himself into his seat in the row above them. Ikora could hear joints pop as the elderly man settled. "I had to come see what our latest Guardian had gotten herself into."

"It is… Not something I expected," Ikora said with a shake of her head. It was like watching Shaxx confront a child. It was unusual for a Guardian to be so short, outside of those who returned as children. Technically Ranma was a child, even if her biological age was older than the City's legal majority. Not even two decades old compared to Shaxx's centuries of experience.

"Nor did I, but I can only imagine what prompted this," the Speaker mused as he waved for them to retake their seats.

As they got settled once more, Ikora let her attention wander from the arena to the stands where small groups of Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, and New Monarchy supporters could be spotted amongst the crowd. Most were FotC or Guardians. It was unsurprising to see so many turn out, despite the sudden nature of the duel. It was rare to see Shaxx actually engage in a fight anywhere in public and the wider Guardian Orders and people of the Last City all but venerated the ancient warlord. His popularity was certainly always high, even if it never reached the cultist levels of obsession that Osiris had… not necessarily enjoyed. Endured perhaps?

She spent a moment contemplating the correct terminology for how her old mentor had considered his fanatical followers, before setting it aside. She had better things to think about than the long irrelevant opinions of Osiris. After all, that was Zavala she could see making his way down the steps to the arena floor amidst raucous cheers from the crowd.

"I'll never understand how he does that," Cayde sighed as the hunter tracked their friend on his way down to the arena. She chuckled. It was always amusing to watch Cayde vent about Zavala's popularity. Like he didn't have his own enthusiastic supporters. Especially amongst his hunters.

Shaxx and Ranma turned away from each other as Zavala approached them. "I'm surprised Shaxx asked Zavala to referee this," she said. The two were famously at odds with each other.

"Hey, you know Shaxx better than I do," Cayde said with a shrug.

Down on the arena floor Shaxx, Ranma, and Zavala were talking. The redhead nodding to whatever Zavala was saying. She brushed her red hair back behind her ears and crossed her arms behind her back. She was even rocking back and forth on her heels. Between that and the guileless smile, Ikor had to sigh in despair. The girl had no idea what she was in for.

"What even happened between them?" she asked again.

"You don't have any faith in our latest Guardian?" The Speaker asked.

"Against Shaxx?" she asked rhetorically. The Speaker chuckled.

Zavala waved the two fighters to their positions then turned and walked to the sidelines. The speakers of the arena crackled. "Welcome Guardians to an unexpected event," Zavala said, his voice booming from the speakers. Cheers erupted from the crowd. "Today a new Guardian, Ranma Saotome, will be taking the first part of her certification examination. Due to differences in opinion Lord Shaxx has elected to conduct her examination personally."

"Differences of opinion?" Ikora repeated as some in the crowd jeered. What sort of differing opinion would prompt Shaxx to opt for an officially booked duel as a form of testing? "There are times when I wonder if we give him too much leeway when it comes to certifications," she said to Cayde.

"Hey, he does pretty good. They're certainly hard to pass. Remember that one guy who took sixteen years to pass?" Cayde chuckled, "Still…" He crossed his arms as Zavala announced the rules and conditions to the audience. Cheers erupted again when he brought up the 'to the death' caveat. "She must have really pissed him off."

Ikora nodded. She would have to talk to Ranma afterwards to find out what she had been thinking.

"Lord Shaxx, Ranma, are you ready?" Zavala asked as a large array of screens unfolded from the ceiling.

"What is there to get ready for?" Shaxx's voice rumbled to the cheering of the crowds.

Ranma flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder. "Well if the old man is ready, then why wouldn't I be?" she asked, a condescension in her voice was clear to everyone. The video screen zoomed in on her face. To Ikora's surprise, there was a lazy, even slightly mocking, smile on her face.

"Then we will begin, in five… four… three…" Shaxx raised his hands into a ready position, his feet sliding down into an aggressive stance, ready to charge. Ranma, in stark contrast, had her arms behind her back and her eyes closed as she rocked back and forth on her heels. On one hand, it made Ikora want to sigh and look away, on the other, there was something about all of this that was bothering her.

"Two… One!" Zavala let out a brilliant flare of light. Shaxx broke into a run, his feet pounding the ground hard enough for the thunk of his boots to be heard over the cheer of the crowd. The twenty feet between him and Ranma disappeared in a blink as the tall Titan barrelled down on the small rookie before him. Ikora almost closed her eyes as he reared back with a punch.

It was lucky she didn't.

Ranma leaned just slightly back, rotating on a heel to allow the fist to pass her face with an inch to spare. The second strike was likewise avoided, as was the third. As the fourth blazed in her footing shifted from casual to something more serious. She ducked beneath strike as she spun, one foot striking out to catch Shaxx in the side of his knee. There was a loud crack that sent a gasp through the crowd as the Lord of the Crucible started to fall.

With grace unheard of amongst Guardians Ranma swept around the far side of the warlord and swept his other foot out from under him. She caught his right arm as he tumbled and twisted as she brought her foot down on his head. Something cracked loudly, the sound amplified by the sound system of the arena. Several hundred pounds of muscle and metal crashed to the ground milliseconds later, driven by the seemingly innocent slipper-clad foot of a petite redhead.

The sound echoed through the room.

In the heartbeats that followed that short exchange, two things entered Ikora's shocked mind. First, the crowd, so loud and brazen, had fallen silent. Secondly, Shaxx wasn't moving.

"Well shit," Cayde breathed, "I guess she was being honest after all."

Ikora nodded slowly as Zavala walked out into the ring and checked Shaxx. His ghost scanned the unmoving Warlord. "Due to loss of consciousness, Lord Shaxx is unable to fight. The winner of the first round is Ranma Saotome," Zavala pronounced to the silent room.

It didn't stay silent for long.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The explosion of noise rolled over Ranma as she watched Shaxx's ghost float over to the downed Guardian. It's exo-skeleton unfolded as it released a pulse of golden light. As it quickly zipped away Shaxx groaned and sat up, cracking his neck as he did so.

"Now that was interesting," he said as he stood up. Ranma watched with a raised eyebrow as he rolled what had been moments before a dislocated and snapped arm. "That was an interesting technique Rookie," he said, "Perhaps you do have some skill." It was a less grudging admission than many she had received over the years.

"Says the old man who got knocked out in ten seconds without landing a hit?" she asked sarcastically. To her surprise he laughed, his voice booming over the crowd.

"Touche Rookie," he conceded, "Tell me, are you as skilled with weapons?"

"Some. Not too bad with a sword, and I do use a staff every once and awhile," she replied. And that ignored the much more… varied weapons and tricks she had picked up over the years, but she doubted he would be too impressed if she listed 'tea stir stick' amongst the rest.

"Hmph," he waved to the frames around the outside edge of the arena, "Bring my hammer." Ranma produced the bo staff from earlier from her sleeve and tapped it against the concrete floor to renewed shouting from the crowd. She honestly couldn't tell what they were thinking or feeling. They didn't seem to be condemning her or complaining, just generally enthusiastic shouting.

A few moments later the frame returned bearing a large warhammer sized for use with two hands. Shaxx took it from the robot and leaned the weapon against his shoulder with one hand.

"Positions, both of you," Zavala reminded them. Ranma walked back over to her place and slid into a proper stance this time. She had baited him once, but he wouldn't fall for it again. Shaxx hefted his weapon in both hands, weighing it before sliding into a stance of his own. Once again he looked like he was preparing to charge.

The cheering of the crowd swelled once again as the tall purple man in armour returned to his own spot. He raised both hands again. "We will begin again in five…"

Ranma examined Shaxx's stance. Bent forward he clearly intended to charge once again. His style, as much as it could be called a style, seemed to rely on relentless aggression. It was, essentially, a more violent and brutal form of what Ryouga had practiced. She hadn't seen enough to know whether to call it less refined than the bandana'd boy, but there was a visceral brutality that Ryouga had never possessed.

"four…"

Shaxx's hands gripped the great hammer in his hands and Ranma made a note to avoid a direct clash. Like before she was at a disadvantage in the strength department. It wouldn't have been an issue if she was being allowed to augment herself with her Ki, but without it she was going to have to evade. And that was the same for her staff. Durable it may have been, but she didn't want to test it against a direct strike from that hammer.

Who knew where she'd be able to get a replacement.

"three.. two…"

Both parties tensed as the cheering peaked again, a subtle chant of "Shaxx! Shaxx! Shaxx!" still present within the larger more incoherent screaming.

"one… BEGIN!" Hands dropped and she launched herself forward at the same time Shaxx did. They came together much more quickly than before and she was forced to duck under a horizontal swing of the hammer. Her reply swing of the staff was deflected by the shaft of the warhammer.

He came at her again, his hammer swinging up from below. She stepped around it and lashed out with her staff, thrusting it up towards his head. It skipped off his furred shoulder plate as he moved aside. A second blow was deflected by the warhammer and she was forced to evade as he pushed through her attacks. He was relying on his armour to make up for the fact she was faster than he was.

"You should have picked a better weapon," he said as she avoided yet another swing. The hammer chipped the concrete as he continued the swing through a complete arc that dragged slightly across the ground. It was a display of strength.

But it also left him vulnerable.

She jabbed her staff straight through his non-existent guard and the armoured guardians doubled over with a squeak. She smacked the warhammer from his hand with the staff before spinning to give her strike more power as she swatted him across the face hard enough to throw him to the floor away from the warhammer. The stadium had fallen silent again.

"Next time," she said as she rested the bo staff on her shoulder, "If you're going to wear armour, remember to wear the codpiece." Then she brought the staff down on his head, repeatedly.

He eventually stopped groaning.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Ikora sighed and palmed her face. "Did she just…?"

"Hit him in the nuts? Yup," Cayde confirmed, the p popping as he took a swig from his flask. "Glad mine are made from metal now. She's a scary girl."

"... Why is it always the quiet ones?" she asked as she fought a smile. This was going to be a day Shaxx was never going to live down, she was going to make sure of it.

"Since when was she quiet?" Cayde waved at the stadium with his flask.

"It would seem," both of them looked behind them as The Speaker spoke up, "That we have all had very different meetings with our newest Guardian."

"Well yeah. You didn't have Yakitori with her while talking shop," Cayde said.

"But we did talk. It was quite fascinating," The Speaker said.

Down below Zavala waved the two ghosts forward. "Winner of the second round, Ranma Saotome."

One of the New Monarchy representatives cursed. "Twice! What sort of monster is she!" Ikora raised an eyebrow as he cursed and, along with his fellows and most of the other representatives of other factions, pulled out tablets to transfer credits to a particularly smug looking Future War Cult representative.

"She is skilled, but the next bout is with powers, isn't it? Shaxx will crush her then," another said, tapping his fingers on his armrest.

"Augmentation, but yes, I doubt someone this new knows much about her powers. This should be over quickly," the first agreed as he pointed a finger at the man he just had to pay, "I'll get my money back."

"Hey, don't complain just because the dark horse is winning," he replied. Cayde snorted at that.

"Hmm?" Ikora glanced towards her friend.

Cayde leaned over. "Ranma apparently means 'Wild Horse' in old Japanese," he said.

"Aah," she chuckled. Yes, that was amusing.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Note to self, just because the body of a Guardian disappears and reappears when their ghost resurrects them after severe trauma, didn't mean the blood scattered everywhere else vanished. Like on the end of her staff. Ranma scowled at the bloody staff and tossed it into her pocket. That would keep the blood fresh enough to come off easily when she got around to cleaning it.

"A cheap shot, but I can't fault you," the remarkably unscathed Shaxx said as he adjusted his once again intact helmet, "I'm more surprised no one else has taken advantage of that issue before."

"After sparring with Ikora so much, there's a reason I dress as I do," Zavala said with a shake of his head. Shaxx laughed.

"Ha, well she never felt the need to do that to me. Tell me, what have you been doing to irritate her so much?" Shaxx laughed harder when Zavala turned away.

"Back to your positions. We'll start the third round momentarily," the Awoken Guardian said.

"Bah, I'll find out somehow you know that Zavala," Shaxx said before turning to her. "From here on, both of us will be allowed to augment ourselves with our light. No external manifestations, but let's see what you can do without holding back as much. Don't expect this to be as easy."

She scoffed. "I've been waiting for a challenge. Don't expect to suddenly have the advantage just because," she replied. He was skilled, but it was a bit like Kuno. He was better than Kuno, actually, but what had held the old Kendoist back had been a lack of Ki mastery to go with his technical skill. The question was how far could Light take a warrior. Did it grant the sort of speed he would need to keep up with her? Would it make him too durable to hurt?

It would be interesting to find out.

"I'll admit Rookie," Shaxx said, "You are proving to be quite a bit more competent than I expected. Let's see how far it takes you." He turned away and walked over to his spot. She mimicked him and as she took her spot once again breathed out slowly. Letting her Ki flow was second nature and keeping it suppressed like earlier had been almost as much of a handicap as being fragile without it had been. This was going to be a different fight.

She slid into a stance and waited.

"Round three, hand-to-hand. No weapons. Light augmentation permitted. No external manifestations," Zavala announced. He raised his hands. "We will begin again in five…"

"four… three… two… one…"

"BEGIN!"

"RAAAAAH!" With a booming shout Shaxx hurled himself towards her. She let slip a curse as she sidestepped the ballistic Guardian. His feet hammered the concrete, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the floor before twisting on his heel to launch into a kick. Once, twice, three times she ducked and weaved around his strikes before he brought a picture perfect axe kick down. She stepped out of the way, but the strike came down hard enough to shatter the floor.

Concrete dust filled the air as shards of shattered concrete went everywhere. It wasn't the end of Shaxx's blitz offensive either. He took advantage of the smokescreen to switch tactics. His first punch of the round ripped a hole in the dust cloud. She blocked it with a forearm, deflecting most of the blow upwards as she stepped into his guard. Her fist crashed into his hard breastplate and rather than shatter like she had expected he simply slid back a few feet with a grunt.

It was impressive, but Ryouga had been harder.

Another punch, from his left hand, blazed in and she swayed aside, sliding it a spinning kick that he dodged. He was definitely faster now, and a lot tougher. Their fight must have appeared to be almost dance-like to those watching as they ducked and weaved around eachother. Ranma would occasionally managing a strike against Shaxx, but he wasn't making the same mistakes. Strikes to the legs and lower body were intercepted and his body armour was definitely being reinforced.

"The Light really is impressive," she admitted as she danced backwards after an intense two minute long exchange. Both of them were breathing heavily, but that ended quickly.

"You say that like you aren't also using it," Shaxx said. She laughed.

"I'm trained to use Ki. The light keeps getting in my way so far," she said. Before he could respond and possibly ask for details, she stepped things up. Zavala had said no external manifestations. Fine. She didn't need the fancy stuff for this. Her form blurred as she pushed her limits.

Shaxx reacted even as she started moving, his fists moving to meet her. She stepped around his punch and kicked him in the side. Once, twice, three times, ten times, twenty times, one hundred times. To the world it would appear to be a single strike, but those observant enough would be able to count the six hundred kicks she had just hammered into the side of Shaxx.

Physics took over from there. Impossibly durable or not, his armour shattered as the momentum from the barrage rolled into his body. The force hurled him across the arena towards the sidelines. Despite the shock, speed of flight, and undoubtedly numerous internal injuries from her attack, Shaxx got his feet under him in time to hit the ground again. Concrete shattered beneath his feet as he skidded to halt.

The crowds had begun to cheer again, but this time she could make out the faint echo of her own name amongst the multitudes cheering on Shaxx.

Ranma hadn't been idle as her opponent flew. She chased him, slippers pounding the broken floor as she charged, then leaped after him. Twisting her body to maintain momentum, she came down in a flying kick as he looked up. He threw himself out of the way and came up out of roll as her kick impacted with the force of a crashing jumpship. More dust rose to fill the air as she launched another follow up. Concrete chunks the size of bricks crashed off a shimmering barrier of energy before they could pelt the crowd.

She didn't expect him to be already moving. As she emerged from the dust cloud Shaxx was waiting for her, his fist already in motion. She failed to evade and blocked the strike awkwardly. The bones of her forearms creaked and she winced with pain as the blow lifted her off the ground and hurled her back towards the center of the room.

Bouncing off the ground she bled momentum in a series of flips in time to sidestep Shaxx's own ballistic drop. Both his feet hammered the ground as he landed. The arena shook with the impact. "Hahaa, at least you're a challenge!" he shouted as he launched into a wild barrage of strikes. They were less refined than her or Ryouga's had been, but getting hit again was not much of an option. She had the feeling that if she blocked like that again she would probably have a broken arm.

By this point it was clear what sort of fighter Shaxx was. He had skill, but it was that of a brawler. Someone who had built their fighting style by instinct rather than by repetition and forethought. He was a berserker. Rampaging, unstoppable, and capable of immense brutality. There was just one small issue she was noticing. For all his strength, speed, and indeed skill, there was a degree of recklessness to his actions that she wouldn't have expected to find in a fighter as old as he claimed to be. That had to be a product of being able to literally return from the dead. Death wasn't the end. It wasn't something to be avoided at all costs. Not to him.

"You're sloppy," she shouted as she interrupted his assault, stepping through a small gap in his defenses and crashing an elbow into his breastplate. His momentum reversed, throwing him across the arena. She took a moment to rest and let her breathing settle. She was going to need to take this more slowly, cautiously. A furious assault would let her end this, but there were two more rounds and she didn't want to try and test that claim of coming back from the dead quite yet.

Shaxx rose from the hole she had put him in. "And you're too cautious girl. Show some spirit," he shouted, likewise taking a moment to catch his breath. "You're a Guardian now. Take a few risks."

"And that's why you're going to lose here," she said, sliding into a more defensive stance reminiscent of Tai Chi. Shaxx rolled his shoulder and she could see him wince as he put weight on his left side. Not too surprising, that was where she had kicked him. Regardless, it didn't seem to affect his choice of strategy. With a shout he charged forward again, leading his attack with a punch.

She slapped his strike aside and gave ground, bleeding the momentum of his charge. She ducked and weaved beneath and around kicks, swaying aside as he continued into a barrage of punches and even ducked below a spinning roundhouse. At last, she saw an opening. He came in with a right hook, his right leg coming forward as he placed his all into the strike, and she slapped his hand up and away as she stepped into his guard. He tried to pull back as she reached up with her right hand and grabbed him by the helmet even as she slammed a kick into the inner knee of his extended right leg. His knee snapped, the crack echoing above the roaring crowd, and the giant of a man toppled, crashing to the ground once more.

Not giving him a moment to recover she slammed her foot down where his head would be. A desperate roll took him out of the way of her foot, and straight beneath her. His hands locked around her leg like a vice and he yanked her feet out from under her. He lunged for the throat with both hands. She grabbed him by the wrist as she hit the floor, her right leg holding him back by pressing her shin against his neck.

For a moment they struggled, the larger and quite strong man pinning her to the floor, driving small shards of concrete uncomfortably into her back. "Get off," she snapped.

"Not happening."

She rolled her eyes and brought her other leg up with force into Shaxx's lower body. Something popped and he froze and she stifled a wince at the high pitched wheezing noise as his arms stopped pressing down on her. Not wasting her opportunity she slipped out of his no longer resisting grip and reversed their position. She slammed him into the ground and wrapped and arm around his neck.

"You know," she said, "You really need that cup." With a quick motion she snapped his neck, granting him a merciful reprieve from the pain. She breathed out slowly and sat back. "I'm getting way too used to killing you," she said to the corpse she was sitting on.

Shaxx didn't reply.

She looked up as the crunch of breaking concrete, audible over the crowd that was once again going nuts, announced the arrival of the referee for this mad duel. "Do you actually do anything or are you just here to announce when someone dies?" she asked.

"Neither of you has tried to break the rules," Zavala said as he crouched down beside her. His ghost scanned the body.

"He's dead," it said before it paused. "Again."

"I don't believe I've ever seen Shaxx lose so many times in a row," Zavala said with a shake of his head. He gave her a look. "You are something special." She snorted.

"He's not that good. In the past I could have named a dozen people who could have handed him his ass in about the same time I did," she said. And that was discounting the use of any truly spectacular tricks like the Hiryu Shoten Ha… Could she even do the Hiryu Shoten Ha or Moko Takabisha anymore? She'd tried to do the latter before, but all she had gotten was some Light-based death orb.

"And to think, I thought we were just chasing the Golden Age," Zavala mused before standing and turning to the audience. "WINNER OF ROUND THREE! RANMA! GHOSTS, ATTEND YOUR GUARDIANS!" He glanced over at her and waved for her to get up.

Feeling stiff she stood up reluctantly. Fighting like this was starting to take it out of her.

"RANMA! Oh my god~!" She blinked as Kiko buzzed her head before flying a few circles around her. "You're amazing~ Seriously, three zero with Shaxx. Oooh, I knew you were good but thiiiis~" She winced as her ghost's voice went off the end of the scale for a moment.

"Kiko!" she hissed, rubbing her ears.

"Erp- sorry," Kiko said apologetically, "And wow you look rough. Give me a second." She stared as her ghost erupted into golden light, the eight outer component parts of her ghost splitting open to reveal a pulsing golden orb of light. A wave of said light washed over her and she gasped as her fatigue vanished into the ether. Her sore muscles were restored and even her clothes had been put back to normal. The blood, dust, and small tears in the material disappearing beneath the warm healing light of her ghost.

"Wow," she said softly as Kiko reassembled herself, "That was… Wow." She felt all warm, tingly, and full of energy.

"I'm not just good for bringing you back from the dead," her ghost said smugly, "Ready for round four? Think you can keep the winning streak going?"

"What happened to 'oh god you're going to die'?" Ranma asked with her own smirk.

"That was before I watched you pop Shaxx's nuts twice," her ghost replied with a deadpan that made her wince, "Seriously, you've probably developed a reputation from that." She let her head droop.

"Yeah… Yeah, probably," she sighed. A flash of light announced the return of Shaxx.

The titan was as utterly pristine as she was. Even his armour had been restored to the state it was before she had hammered him hard enough to make even Ryouga regret it. He popped his neck. "Ah, I hate breaking my neck. It always leaves me with a phantom pain for days," he said with the sort of casualness she felt no one should have towards dying. "That, and a kink where it snapped. Do you have any idea how hard it'll be to sleep after this?"

"... Then try not dying?" she suggested with the tone one takes with a toddler who is complaining about something they obviously shouldn't be doing. Shaxx chuckled.

"That would be the solution, wouldn't it?" he chuckled.

"Are you both ready?" Zavala asked.

"Right away?" Ranma asked, looking around the shattered arena.

"It is not uncommon for a Guardian to fight in worse conditions than these," the purple man said gravely. Shaxx nodded his agreement.

"Most of the places you'll travel to are heavily damaged from the events of the collapse and the years that followed," Shaxx said, his tone shifting to that of a teacher, "You have to be ready to fight even in the most desolate locations."

"... I'm used to fights that wreck buildings," she said flatly, "I was referring to the fact that people usually like fixing the arena between rounds when it gets this bad. You know, before we accidentally punch a hole through the floor."

Shaxx scoffed. "There is twenty feet of reinforced concrete in both the floors and ceiling. Even Guardians would have a hard time breaking through that," he said, "Now, where is my hammer…" He turned away and walked off, presumably to recover the hammer he had handed over to the frame from before.

"I'll give the both of you five minutes. Then we'll begin," Zavala said, stepping away and bringing a hand up to his ear.

Five minute rest? And she wasn't even tired anymore. She turned her attention to the crowd. Maybe she could learn a few things from watching them? Then again, maybe not. Most of them didn't look particularly noteworthy.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"Damn it!" Ikora raised an eyebrow as the New Monarchy representative punched his armrest before pointing accusingly at the FWC representative. "You- You- I don't know how you did this but-"

"Are you honestly suggesting he's cheating?' the other New Monarchy representative asked as he patted his friend on the shoulder. "Just give him his money and stop betting for now."

The first man sagged as the FWC guy chuckled. "Hey, you win some you lose some," he said, "I got lucky today."

"Really wish you took me up on that bet," Cayde said, "but I guess I'm just going to have to settle for Shaxx getting his ass kicked by a little girl." He paused. "Literally."

"You mean the bet you suggested on the elevator?" she asked.

"Yeah, that one."

"Cayde, the bet could have been rigged in my favour a century ago and I never would have taken it," she replied with a deadpan.

Her friend scoffed. "No sense of adventure. I'm telling you it would be the perfect time of year to-"

"Cayde, Ikora." Their conversation was interrupted by Zavala's voice over their private fireteam's com channel.

"Yo," Cayde said.

"What is it, Zavala?" she asked, looking down at the arena where the Vanguard Commander was standing. He was looking up at their box, one hand to his ear.

"We have five minutes while Shaxx finds his hammer," he said, "What do you think of our new Guardian?"

"She isn't the wallflower I thought she was," Ikora said.

"I could have told you that," Cayde said, "But I've got to say I listened to her stories and I still didn't expect this kind of showing."

"I'll admit I'm curious about what sort of stories you heard, Cayde," Zavala said, "But that is a conversation we can have later. Guardian Saotome mentioned something she called Ki. Ikora, do you know anything about 'Ki'?"

Ki? She tapped her lips with a finger. "Ki?" It sounded similar to Chi, which was an old Asian concept about lifeforce and the balance of energies throughout the world. "She called it 'Ki', not 'Chi'?" she asked.

"That's an affirmative Ikora. Why?" Zavala asked in reply.

"I'm familiar with the idea of Chi from old text recovered from… well, everywhere, but it originated in Asia. In Old China specifically," she replied, "But Ki… With that exact pronunciation? I'm afraid I'm not familiar."

"It could be an accent thing. She's from Japan, right?" Cayde said, "You know how hard it can get to understand some people in the city because of which district they live in."

"I've always had issues with south-wall accents," Zavala noted, "That could be it, Cayde. Your thoughts Ikora?"

"What did she say about it?" Ikora asked.

"Merely that she was trained to use it and that the light kept getting in her way. You can see why I'm worried, Ikora, Cayde?" Zavala replied.

Interfering with the Light? Ikora's brow furrowed and she thought. No, the Light interfering with Ki. Whatever Ki was. "Chi, which I will note could be something different," Ikora said slowly, "has to do with balancing one's inner energies to promote good health and is said to have uses in martial arts. I've never heard of any proof to substantiate it as anything more than superstition however."

"Our new Guardian clearly believes it to be something more, however," Zavala said, "I could use any information you can gather, Ikora."

She sighed. "Keeping in mind that while she does have her memories she does come from a time before the Traveler. It could just be superstition, Zavala."

Zavala paused for a moment before speaking, "Ikora, she spoke of it like she was trying to utilize it instead of the light. She shows no surprise in her own abilities and accounts for her strength and speed. These are things we do not see even in moderately seasoned Guardians. It seems only natural to conclude that she is either a much older Guardian than she claims, or there is more to this 'Ki' than just superstitions."

"Truthfully, Zavala? I've never done a deep dive on the topic," Ikora replied, "I only know of it from discussions with several of my Warlocks who have taken in interest in pre-traveler superstitions and philosophy."

"Then perhaps asking one of them would be advisable?"

"Agreed. I'll make a few calls." It would take her a minute or two to get someone working on this.

"I can ask my Hunters, see if anyone knows anything," Cayde offered.

"More hands makes the work go faster," Ikora agreed.

"Then I'll leave this in your capable hands, Ikora, Cayde. Excuse me, but the next round is about to start," their teammate said before disconnecting.

"I hate it when he does that," Cayde said.

She snorted as pulled out her tablet and tapped the contacts list. She'd fire a few messages off while watching. If she was lucky they'd have a reply by the next intermission. "Like you don't do the same to him."

"True, true, but I do it with more style."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

It took all five minutes before Shaxx returned with his warhammer resting against his shoulder. The large man was humming under his breath, fairly out of tune but it she didn't recognize the song. "Somehow I seem to be behind in this contest," he said as he rolled his shoulders. She could hear joints pop. "I'm afraid that this is where your streak ends." A bunch of the crowd cheered with his words. He raised a fist to those cheering and the volume spiked.

She rolled her eyes and pulled out her other staff. "You've turned this into a really big spectacle," she noted, tapping the bo staff against the crumbling concrete floor.

"All matches and practice sessions are free to watch by anyone in the tower," Shaxx said with a shrug, "I had nothing to do with this."

"But you aren't surprised," she said. He shrugged again. "Do all Guardian's love showboating this much, or is it just you?" At that he laughed.

"Are all Guardian's like me? Rookie, I'm what Guardian's wish to be. Now, Zavala! Get over here. Let's get this next round started," he shouted, waving over the Titan Vanguard. To Ranma's amusement a few people chanted Zavala's name as he strode over.

"I take it you are both ready?" Zavala asked, looking from one to the other.

"When am I not?" Shaxx asked as he moved his warhammer into a ready position.

Ranma tapped her staff against the floor again before sliding into a defensive stance. Shaxx looked like he intended to take the initiative again. She'd let him. There had been holes in his fighting style before, and there would probably be holes in his armed style now. All she had to do was draw them out and she could finish this. Swiftly.

Then again, there was something to be said for taking the initiative.

Her grip on the bo staff shifted and she nodded. "I'm ready," she said, taking a second to brush a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Very well. We will begin then, in five…" His hands went up again, "Four… Three… Two… One… BEGIN!"

As Shaxx began to move, his right foot already pumping to launch him forwards, she was already in motion. Treating the staff like a spear launched herself towards Shaxx, her feet scarcely touching the ground. Though she couldn't see his eyes, she could see the moment he realized she was countercharging. Feet dug into concrete, skidding on the loose gravel that coated the arena from the previous round, as his hammer swept in to deflect.

With inches to spare, a gap that may as well have been miles, Ranma's staff slipped past his guard and slapped straight into his chest with a sharp crack of metal and wood. A breeze whipped across the arena as he was launched backwards and up, his form flying down the length of the arena. She followed, spinning the bo staff as she flew, twisting it around held tight to her body, all in an effort to build momentum for her next strike.

Shaxx bounced off the concrete, his feet unable to get beneath him in time. She adjusted her fall, gaining another few feet to close the distance with. Even as he was pushing himself to his feet she had landed, spinning on the ball of her heel to preserve her momentum for the next, much shorter, leap.

Her opponent threw himself to the side in a desperate roll that nearly lost him his warhammer as she brought the staff down in a two-handed swing. Concrete shattered, spiderwebs racing across the floor as she put her all into the strike. Chunks of concrete buckled and popped from the ground, showering the field as she swept from her missed strike into a low strike.

Still off balance, Shaxx's legs were swept out from under him. He let out a loud 'oof' as he hit the ground again. Her staff came up once more and down again towards his head. "Shi-'' was all she heard before his helmet came apart again under her strike. The head beneath suffering much the same fate as the horned helmet.

Silence had filled the entire arena by the time she rose from her strike.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Ikora's finger hovered above the send button as she stared down at the dead body of one of her oldest friends and mentors. "Did I just see that?" she asked Cayde.

"E-yup." The Exo was staring just as hard as she was. "Call it a guess, but I think she just stopped holding back," he said.

In the seats below the New Monarchy representatives had gone silent. The formerly vocal representative looked horrified and even the FWC representative had paused in his perusal of his tablet to stare with a very surprised expression.

"I believe you're right," The Speaker said from behind them, "It would appear that Guardian Saotome has taken Shaxx's measure. His only chance at attaining a victory will be in the next round when he can use his full power, but the same will be true for her as well." As Ikora turned her head to the masked leader of the city she could hear the unlying amusement in his voice. "Never would I think to see a day when Shaxx was the underdog," he mused.

"Neither did I," Ikora agreed. She tapped the send button on her tablet and set it aside. She could contact the rest of her list after the final round. "However it's also true that in order to pull out the full potential of the Light we inevitably create a display of Light. Straining himself like he has up until now restricts his full effort significantly."

"A good observation Ikora," the Speaker said, "I imagine the next round will be much more equal."

"Excuse me, Vanguard Ikora," one of the New Monarchy representatives had turned to her.

"Yes Representative… Mangal was it?" The man nodded.

"Yes, Vanguard. Might I ask why this Duel is being handled as it is? Most duels are a simple three round affair with no restrictions," he said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Did you forget, Representative? They announced that Shaxx decided to allow Guardian Saotome to use this event as a formal evaluation towards her certification."

"Is certification usually such a… dramatic process?" he asked.

"Hardly," she replied with a chuckle, "Allow me to explain the usual process. Hand-to-hand certification is completed with five rounds of combat. The first two test the Guardian's pure skill for the unlikely event their light were to be lost or suppressed. A rare event, but we have heard of it happening in a few instances. The third and fourth rounds are intended to test the Guardian's ability to operate during missions where overt displays of the Light may be… Unwise. The last round is a full test of the Guardian's mastery of the Light when limited to only their own limbs and whatever items they can forge with the light."

She paused. "While certification does normally take place in a public venue available for anyone to watch, I'm sure you can understand how Shaxx's direct involvement has turned this into something of a spectacle."

"Yes I can," He sighed before sitting back in his seat, "Thank you Vanguard Ikora."

"You're welcome, Representative Mangal," she replied. She turned her attention back to the arena. Shaxx was dusting himself off after his Ghost reconstituted him.

"So, fifty glimmer says Ranma wins. Any takers?" Cayde asked, clapping his hands together.

She chuckled. "How about seventy?" she asked. Cayde stared at her for a moment before laughing.

"That's the spirit Ikora. I'll take seventy," he said.

"Don't get arrogant. This round will be different," the arena went silent as Shaxx's voice came out of the speakers system. The two were back in their starting positions once again. Ikora sat back in her chair.

"I wonder how much further they can go?" she mumbled to herself. Regardless of who won the final round, she was going to enjoy needling Shaxx about his streak of losses.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Shaxx's ghost was back by the time Ranma made her way to the center of the floor. She could hear Kiko cheering from the edge of the field in the silence that had settled. With a flash of Light Shaxx sat up. He rolled his neck before standing, small pops were audible in the silence.

His feet crunched the gravel floor as he walked back to his starting position. "You win again," he said, his voice hard, "I'll concede the point. You do have plenty of skill. Certainly more than enough for the certification."

"Thanks," she said dryly. She would have had a few complaints if bouncing him into his own crater four times wasn't enough.

"But now we move into the final round. No holds barred. Full light use is permitted. External manifestation is now permitted," he said as he stretched before he slammed his fists together. A light aura of flame spread like spider webs from his fists to cover his body.

"It won't change anything," she said, observing him cautiously. There had been a massive increase in danger after internal light use was allowed. Was there that much of a difference between internal and external? Then again, all of the examples of light she had managed to intuit had been external.

"Don't get arrogant. This round will be different," Shaxx said, holding a hand out to the side. Solar fire flared in his palm and blazing steel burned itself into reality. With a shaft as tall as he was and a head larger than his chest the hammer whose end he tapped against the concrete gave off a heat that she could feel across the room. Like the hottest summer day in the depths of the Sahara, it swatted at her with warm winds.

"You said that before," she said as she evaluated the weapon. Clearly made from 'Light' it was probably best to avoid a hit from it. Even a glancing one could be fatal. "It won't change anything because you treat this like a game," she continued, "Like death is something you can just come back from. Time after time after time without any possible consequence. It makes you sloppy. You're too reckless and leave too many holes in your form. And your form," she shook her head in mocking sadness, "You're good, but you fight with refined instinct. Your actions are practiced through battle and death, not with stringent deliberate repetition. Your footwork is loose, your punches wander, your swings sway. You act with instinct born of experience, but your form lets it down."

An armoured boot bled flame as it shattered concrete as Shaxx took a single step towards you. He pointed to the stands with his hammer. "Look around you Rookie. Do you see this arena? The tower and the walls beyond? I was old when the first blocks were laid! I was here when the foundation of this tower was dug! I have hunted dragons and defied hive gods! I have fought ten thousand battles to keep this city safe. I have died again and again breaking armies in the name of this city and its people."

She stared at his faceless mask and brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear again. "And, what of it?" she asked, her voice echoing around the silent arena via the sound system. "I broke a mountain to crush a dragon. I buried the Yamata-no Orochi alive. I killed a god when he tried to kill my Fiancėe, and unlike you I never died doing so. So what if you died a thousand times, it just means you failed a thousand times."

She took two steps forward, her arms clasped behind her back as she stared defiantly at Shaxx. "My name is Ranma Saotome, and I never lose," she declared before sliding into a serious stance. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly she steadied herself and waited as Zavala stepped up.

"Are you both ready?" He asked.

"Do you really need to ask again Zavala?" Shaxx replied. He tapped the hammer against the ground impatiently.

"I'm good," Ranma said.

"I am doing the job," Zavala replied flatly, "If you have no objections then. Round five, no limits. The first to die or surrender loses." He raised his hands. "Let's begin the final round. Five…" A few halfhearted cheers started up, but as Zavala counted down it became clear that the entire arena was tense with silent anticipation. No one was certain how this was going to play out.

"Two… one… BEGIN!" Zavala's hands came down and the Titan Vanguard extricated himself from the field entirely, retreating behind the protective shield.

Shaxx was first off the line, his feet moving faster than ever before as he hurtled forward, warhammer raised. Each footstep sent sparks showering from his feet to patter across the floor. Waves of heat rolled out before him like hunting hounds straining at the leash. The boiling heat stirred the air, creating a breeze that ruffled Ranma's loose hair.

She leaped aside as he tossed himself the last few meters. The warhammer's head exploded as it struck the concrete. The flames, hot enough that she felt as though she was getting sunburn from sheer proximity, burned a crater in the floor. Molten concrete flickered through the air as Shaxx spun on his heel, dragging the head of the hammer through the molten rock before bringing it back down again on the position she had retreated to.

She weaved through the spray of stone, but continued to retreat. The heat was practically unbearable. It almost felt like mere proximity to, that is being within five feet of, Shaxx would be enough to catch fire.

Panic surged as Shaxx swiped at her with the hammer, despite the distance, and a wave of flames blazed forth. She jumped up and over the wave of fire. Crashing to the floor on the other side she rolled to her feet and swayed under the burning hammer. She could feel her skin scorching and it was surprising that her free hair hadn't yet caught fire.

She tumbled backwards, kicking out with one leg as she slipped backwards into a handstand before jumping backwards further. Shaxx had barely pulled back in time to avoid her kick catching him beneath the chin. It bought her breathing room regardless. Moments, but moments were enough.

She breathed out, stilling the panic beneath years of training. Her will crushed the panic before it could grow further, a cold smile growing as she delved once more into the depths of the Soul of Ice. It seeped through her ki chilling her aura before spilling out into the still unfamiliar essence of her Light.

The foreign energy had naturally surged as Shaxx had pressed her, flaring like the sun to match the warrior before her. Yet as she dragged her emotions back under control and crushed her panic beneath the weight of discipline and training something within her Light sparked. The flames were quenched, but beneath her iron restraint a storm had begun to roil and tremble. Around her the temperature began to drop in defiance of the firestorm her opponent was conjuring.

The warhammer came down again, a picture perfect swing that boiled the concrete again. Fire licked at her shirt and she crushed a tiny fire that had caught on the hem. It burned her palm, but went out as she weaved around swing after swing. This was starting to remind her too much of fighting Saffron. Just trying to attack without bursting into flame was an issue. She was starting to understand the source of Shaxx's seemingly inexhaustible confidence.

The crowds were cheering for Shaxx again, their own confidence in him seemingly restored.

Still, two could play at that game. While she didn't have the Gekkaja unlike with Saffron she did have other options. Of all the things she had to leave out of her Ki pocket that day, she really could have used it, but what ifs weren't helpful. Shaxx had light, but so did she. If she could just figure it out, which meant she needed time. Anything Goes Special Technique and all that. So the first order of business was simple.

Make time.

She jumped backwards with all her might, launching herself into the air and back towards the center of the arena. For the first time she reached not for her ki, but for the light. The well of sparkling power swelled in response to her call as she called it to her palm like the power for a Moko Takabisha. Chilling sparks danced in her palm, the power strained against her control, yet will and experience with Ki kept it from running away from her.

At the peak of her leap she unleashed the gathered power, hurling it forwards. A swirling storm of sparking frost exploded from her palm. Shaxx threw himself back as the storm quenched the roaring flames across the ground. Molten rock stiffened and hardened, popping as the thermal shock set in.

She landed amidst the flames and molten rock from the start of the round. A thought gathered more Light that she slammed into the ground. Clouds of electrified frost swept out around her clearing the area of flames and molten stone.

So the Soul of Ice had an effect on her Light. That held up to what she remembered from the fight in Tokyo. Yet the form it was taking was different than she had expected. Back then she had had a sword, but without a focus like that it seemed to spread out in a mist that left the air feeling electrified even as it chilled everything in the area.

She held up a hand and gathered more of the storm within, into her hand. A glittering cloud of ice formed in her palm. Small sparks of lightning snapped and crackled as they leaped from ice crystal to ice crystal. It was enchantingly beautiful, but she could feel the temperature dropping around her just from its presence. It was like holding both a blizzard and a thunderstorm in her hand. Now, she could try and drag Shaxx down with just this, but she doubted it would be enough. Whatever technique he was using had rendered him a virtual juggernaut, if for no other reason than getting close to him was virtually impossible.

Flickers of movement in the corner of her vision caused her to snap back to the fight. Shaxx was on the move once more. The ice across the floor hissed and melted as he charged straight into the blast zone. "An interesting trick, Rookie," he shouted as he pulled back his hammer for a swing, "But you're going to have to do better than this."

Her attention slipped from the charging man himself to the hammer he had forged from the Light itself. She had felt it literally burn itself into existence, scorching the world as it formed. For all it looked like metal it was really just fire, flame, and will.

She crushed the orb of light in her hand as watched as the glittering ice started to fuse together. Light glittered within the orb, snapping and dancing within the sudden confines of the ice. Electricity, interesting.

"Keep your attention on the fight, Rookie!" She moved, all but dancing as she twirled aside and away from the overhand swing. She flicked the orb at him and kept retreating. It exploded into a cloud of electrified mist moments after leaving her hand.

"Gah." She smirked as Shaxx stumbled. It might not have travelled very far, but Shaxx has been unlucky enough to be within range of the detonation. He twitched as small bolts of lightning coursed up and down his body for a moment.

The lightning was contained within the ice. Useful, and curious.

Watching the flames surge as the lightning died off a thought occurred to her. Could she manage a Hiryu Shoten Ha? There was certainly enough heat and power being thrown around, but could she do it without being able to draw out her own Ki? Could it be done? She had the temperature requirements, but he was using Light, not Ki. Could the same principles be applied here?

A wave of hot air slapped at her again. Her hair waved in the weak breeze.

"It's all about the physics at the end, isn't it?" she mused softly. Maybe it could work, but she wasn't going to gamble on it, not yet. She needed more information.

As Shaxx closed the distance again she called up the Light once more. Ice and lightning gathered in her palm again. Rather than ball it up like before she poured more into it and let it spread across her hands and arms. Time for a test.

Rather than retreat she charged to meet him. The hammer came in at hip level, but she was one step faster than Shaxx seemed to expect. One palm coated in an swirling mist of frost and lightning caught the shaft of the weapon and guided it gently upwards as she ducked. Frost hissed as lightning clashed with fire. The heat was scorching, but her palm remained unburnt for the moment as she weaved beneath the strike. Spinning on a foot she slammed her other palm into his chest plate while pushing the frozen light out of her palm and into the material.

Metal shattered as Shaxx's stiff and twitching body flew through the air. He crashed unceremoniously to the ground by the perimeter line of the arena. For a moment he lay there twitching slight before one unsteady hand pushed him up. The warhammer, lying a few feet away started glowing before breaking apart into motes of orange flame.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"GET UP SHAXX! COME ON! DON'T TELL ME THAT BEAT YOU!" Ikora ignored the angry shouting of the New Monarchy representative as he had stood up.

What was Ranma doing? Ikora understood the three base elements of Light. Solar, Arc, and Void. None of them induced ice from her recall. There were those who claimed that they had witnessed ice crystals when using Arc, but the essence of the storm was often unpredictable and could at times produce unreplicatable effects. Yet, at its heart Arc was simply electricity. Lightning bent to a use by will or technology.

She held up a hand and called up a spark of Arc. The lightning danced from finger to finger. Shaxx was showing signs of being electrocuted, but that was ice. Where was the ice coming from? Yes people called Arc the essence of the storm because of how it was first tamed with Light, but it was the essence of the thunderstorm not the blizzard. So what was Ranma doing differently?

"How is she doing that?" Ikora wondered aloud as Shaxx struggled to his feet. For some unknown reason Ranma simply stood there waiting, her attention on the ice dancing in her right palm. "And what are you going to try next?"

-0-0-0-0-0-​

It was the perfect opportunity to finish Shaxx off. He was wounded, disarmed, and still showing all the signs of being recently electrocuted, but Ranma held back. Instead, her attention was on the frozen Light in her hand.

"How did he make the hammer?" she asked the empty air. She had felt it burn… well it had felt like reality had caught fire for a second. Flames that burned a hole in the world in the shape of a hammer.

A small twinge of pain in her temple made her twitch. Maintaining the Soul of Ice was a mentally straining exercise. Doing so and deliberately mixing the ice cold nature of her Ki with the well of Light she now had was completely uncharted territory and proving to be much more mentally exhausting than she had expected. Still, this was an opportunity to learn and she had been through so much worse mental strain when fighting Saffron.

She called up more Light, crystalizing it will her will as she crushed it in a fist. Ice grew rapidly becoming a pole one foot long, then two feet- She grimaced as the ice shattered. Why had it done that now?

An explosion of fire and heat heralded the return of Shaxx. She turned in time to spot the warhammer burning itself into existence once more. "You should have finished me," he said, sounding disappointed. She ignored him, instead focusing on the warhammer. She could feel it as reality burned, leaving behind detailed and engraved metal. She took that feeling and dissected it, sparks dancing in her palms as her fingers twitched sympathetically as she mentally mapped out the phenomena.

Shaxx snorted as she continued to ignore him. Hefting the warhammer with both hands he charged again. "If you want a closer look, do me a favour and stand still," he shouted. Each step was accelerated by an explosion of flames that cratered the already abused ground further. Moving faster than before he rocketed towards her, bringing the hammer around in a full two-handed overhead swing.

Ranma looked up and smirked. "Thanks for showing me again," she said before dodging to the side, spinning away on a heel as her hands moved like they were guiding a staff. Shimmering mist gathered between her hands. Lightning danced and spun with ten million ice crystals, dragging the icicles together. Flakes of ice were melted, frozen together with others, and melted again to repeat the process by a neverending arc of lightning that flowed constantly through the rapidly forming haft of a polearm. It was less detailed than the storied weapon Shaxx carried. Even as the glimmering hooked crystal blade of the ice ko-naginata formed there were no decorations. No inscriptions to the sun, or decorative artistry. It was simply a weapon.

The blade of the ko-naginata met the haft of the warhammer just behind the head as it descended. Ice and fire clashing in purest form for a heartbeat.

The glimmering blade of the ko-naginata shattered like a dropped crystal wine glass. The haft shattered a moment later as the cracks propagated down the length of the weapon. Ranma cursed and abandoned her attempt with barely enough time to escape with her life. Her leg had caught fire and was promptly extinguished with a wave of mist.

She had tried to replicate the hammer in reverse. Rather than burn an object into reality she had tried to simply freeze her Light, and reality with it, into a desired shape. Forging a weapon from the churning blizzard that was her Light at that moment. That attempt had failed, but maybe another? Perhaps if she had a better picture of the weapon in her mind?

As Shaxx's next swing came in she stepped back, calling up the ko-naginata again. The haft was smoother than before, though still rough like it had been chiselled from a larger piece of ice with stone tools. It too shattered. As did the next, and the next, and the next after that.

Ice and fire danced across the broken landscape. Flames melted the landscape only to be hardened by an icey mist, only to again be melted and frozen again. Ten minutes past as Ranma tried her technique again and again. With each repetition the haft smoothed, the blade grew shaper, the ice clearer, and small inscriptions began to appear across the almost metal-like ice that increasingly shimmered with the raging lightning within.

"Why. Won't. You. DIE!" Shaxx snarled as after another minute of clashing their weapons locked, the warhammer finally caught upon the tsuba of her naginata.

"I told you already," she grinned. She had finally built up a sweat from more than just the heat. Her muscles ached from keeping up high pace for so long and the strain of forming weapon after weapon from her Light had long since prompted a headache to form behind her eyes, pulsing in time to every flicker and flash of her opponent's weapon. And yet, she was enjoying herself. Sure one of them was going to die, but like Shaxx had said, they could come back from that. It was a fact she'd come to accept by watching the man in front of her die time after time.

"Death means I lost," she said, "I never lose. I never fail." She broke the stalemate, sweeping away out of the way of his strike gracefully before bringing her own overhead strike down in a slash towards his neck.

Shaxx twisted aside at the last second and threw himself back as the tip of her weapon struck the warped and twisted rock that had once been a concrete floor for the first time. A blast of mist rolled out from the impact zone. It quenched flames, cooled molten stone, and sent small bolts of lightning in all directions.

By some miracle Shaxx avoided the after affects as he leaped away. "Perhaps a different tactic then," he said. Ranma blinked as the warhammer shrunk to a one-handed warhammer. At the same time his left hand lit up with purple void light that expanded out into buckler.

Several people in the audience yelled, "BULLSHIT!" She ignored them even as laughter spread through the audience.

"SHAXX! SHAXX SHAXX!" the cheering was starting up again. She rolled her eyes. The faith people seemed to have in Shaxx was impressive if nothing else.

Shaxx weighed the hammer in his hand before hurling it towards her. She leaped aside. It whipped through her position and exploded into a flare of fire on impact with the perimeter barrier. A second hammer was in the air as soon as the first exploded.

She scowled at him as she dodged the hail of thrown hammers. Mildly glowing craters were blown out of the floor in rapid succession. So he was planning on keeping her at a distance. Depending on how much those hammers cost him might be able to wear her down a bit. It was hard to say, but on the off chance he could keep them up indefinitely she would have to go on the assault.

Fine, she could do that.

Zigging when she might have otherwise zagged, Ranma leaped straight towards Shaxx with her ko-naginata outstretched. The spear of ice met the buckler in a clash that lasted a heartbeat. A burst of frost blew outward from the contact, carrying dancing sparks of lightning with it.

Ranma stepped back and lashed out against his legs. He hopped backwards as she continued to press forward. Buckler and hammer met blade, butt and haft again and again. Fire and frost flared outwards, altering the landscape of the field yet more. The footing was so treacherous by then that every step had to be taken with care so as to not fall into a dip or a hole in the floor. Even the slightest stumble at the speed they were going would spell defeat for one or the other. And it was only getting more treacherous as waves of frost were melted, coating the floor in increasing layers of water that was promptly refrozen and re-melted again.

The battle shifted after a further five minutes of back and forth with neither landing a clear hit when Shaxx leaped backwards. He hurled his shield with a single smooth motion of his arm. Ranma threw herself under it, coming out of a roll only to find the small warhammer descending from on high right where she was. A desperate reversal of course saw her tossed around by the fiery explosion that followed.

"Ow," she winced as she stood up using the ko-naginata to prop herself up. Her breath was coming in deep gasps that slowly petered out. To her surprise Shaxx hadn't moved to attack her. He was kneeling on a rare dry spot, his chest heaving. They were both getting exhausted from the constant full power sprint that their battle had turned into.

"I'll admit," he said, with a cold chuckle that was just loud enough for her to hear, "You are as good as you claimed, heh, Rookie."

"Ready to give up then?" she asked as she stood up.

"Not a chance. A Guardian does not surrender," he replied, "He fights until his last breath, then rises again to face the darkness once more." He slowly stood up, one of his furred pauldrons sliding off to crumble against the ground. He slammed his fists together and to Ranma's surprise a storm of lightning erupted, flowing outwards from his form. "I have one last gambit, Saotome."

One final strike? She smirked. She could feel the whirling currents of the wind as the lingering heat and Light mingled throughout the room. Perfect conditions for her own ace. She stood straight and gave her ko-naginata an experimental twirl. The wind swirled with her action.

"One last pass, winner takes all?" she suggested.

Shaxx's laugh boomed through the arena, reverberating off the walls even over the cheering of the crowd. "Winner takes all indeed. Show me your strength, Rookie!"

Ranma grinned and started spinning the ko-naginata around her. Channeling a thread of cold Light through it to pull at the energies that had spilled out into the room. Slowly, they drew towards her as a spiralling morass that shimmered at the edge of her senses.

Shaxx braced himself against the floor as the tension built as they stared each other down across the arena. At least, she thought he was staring back at her. With that opaque helmet he could have just as easily been counting the people in the crowd behind her wearing orange. There weren't any, she had counted earlier, but that helmet did make things difficult to read with Shaxx. That was, she figured, probably the point of wearing a faceless helmet.

Lightning surged around Shaxx and Ranma felt the hairs on the back of her arms stand up even as she spun and danced with the ko-naginata. Then, with a surge of lightning bright enough to dim the lighting of the room, Shaxx launched himself like a missile, bleeding a storm of electricity behind him.

There was barely time to react, and certainly no time to think, as Shaxx crossed the distance with a speed only outpaced by Lightning itself. She spun with the ko-naginata held tight against her hip and thrust it forward, dragging the aura of the room with it, and added just the slightest twist to the strike. She could feel the energies of the room twist and pull as her preparations clicked over and passed out of her control.

With a grin up at the hurtling hurricane of lightning barely three meters from her she released the slightest burst of her own power to catalyse the reaction. With a 'zzrap-crack' and the roar of wind the entire world went white.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Shaxx was really going all out, Ikora mused. She couldn't name the last time someone had forced him to get creative like this. Just sitting where she was so far away she could count more dirty tricks and misdirections than she could remember from the last time she had seriously fought Shaxx.

That had been about sixty years prior during an accidentally unscheduled Crucible match.

Ranma was proving to be every bit as dirty of a fighter, albeit one with considerably more grace and refinement than her old friend. She had a solution for every bit of misdirection and took everything in stride as though she had seen it all before and expected nothing less. Perhaps she had seen it all before. If half of what Cayde had shared, and he had admitted he hadn't shared much, was true then Ranma could scarcely be called uninitiated in battle.

No, the longer the battle lasted the clearer it became that the young redhead was not the underdog.

"Zavala's left the arena," Cayde said suddenly. She blinked and her eyes zipped to the sidelines where Zavala should have been. Technically he still was, but he was now standing outside of the perimeter of the barrier.

"So he has," she noted. He was probably looking to avoid dying in the crossfire. While it was rare, there were occasions when a referee for these sorts of duels would get killed in the crossfire.

She chuckled. Zavala probably didn't want to miss anything just because he took a stray hammer to the head. And speaking of hammers…

Shaxx had just ditched the Hammer of Sol and the Sentinel shield he had been using, throwing away both to gain some distance. She cocked an eyebrow as Ranma was blown off her feet. When Shaxx failed to follow up, and even fell to one knee, she let out a small sound of understanding.

"They're both exhausted," she noted.

"Yup. How long has it been since we saw Shaxx this tired?" Cayde asked.

Thinking about it she said, "... Never." This was a first as far as she could recall, though that may have been due to the fact that the crucible allowed ghosts to restore their Guardians. Duels where neither side had the aid of their ghosts were virtually unheard of and normally remained the realm of the certification examinations.

Down on the floor Shaxx slammed his fists together. The signature lightning aura of the Fists of Havoc surged around him. He and Ranma were talking, but their words were being drowned out by the crowd and by the crackle-zap of Shaxx's aura. Despite that, her old friend's laughter still managed to reverberate over the crowd even without amplification. Across from the laughing giant the much smaller Ranma was spinning the spear she had been slowly refining throughout the battle.

That spear had been probably the biggest surprise thus far. To see a new technique created, refined, and polished within twenty minutes to the point where it stood beside many other famous techniques was almost surreal. It was like watching history in fast forward. Such efforts were normally the domain of months or even years.

Not a twenty minute duel.

Her retrospection was broken as she felt something stir in the ring despite the barrier. "Cayde," she said as she stared at the redhead who seemed to be dancing with her weapon, "Ranma is doing something."

He raised one metallic eyebrow. "Really? I couldn't tell."

"I'm being serious here."

"So am I."

She rolled her eyes. "I can feel it despite the barrier." That brought her teammate up short.

"Oh."

"Yeah." The issue was she hadn't a clue what Ranma could be doing, and she was sure it was Ranma. This didn't feel like anything she would associate with the Fists of Havoc. And speaking of the fists, Shaxx looked about ready to-

Concrete shattered as Shaxx launched himself forward, a bright white and blue streak of light that zipped across the arena, searing itself into their retinas. A heartbeat before he reached Ranma the young redhead thrust her spear up towards the descending Shaxx.

Then the world disappeared in a brilliant white flash and the deafening roar of an unleashed hurricane. The world shook as winds lashed across the audience.

Moments later the bright spots in her vision disappeared as Ophiuchus, her ever silent ghost, let out a pulse of refreshing light. Her hearing returned at the same time and she found herself treated to the sight of a thoroughly wrecked arena. Even as she blinked a few times reflexively a large chunk of the ceiling above the arena fell, crashing through the unstable floor into the maintenance level below.

The main lights had been knocked out with red emergency lighting coming on automatically. A lot of the audience rubbing their eyes or clutching their ears. Ghosts throughout the audience were letting out pulses of light to speed the recovery of their Guardians. More important, however, than the state of the audience, was the massive ragged hole in the wall directly opposite Ranma Saotome. Terminating ten feet above the crowd and carrying on to rip open the maintenance level above, pure sunlight was pouring into the arena that was normally completely cut off from sunlight by thirty feet of rooms, walls, and five feet of external concrete plus the two feet of titanium alloy plating on the exterior of the tower.

While her angle was terrible, she could see the twenty foot trench ripped out of the ground in front of the redhead whose ghost was now healing her.

And to top it all off there was a small layer of frost spread over everything.

"Oh fuck me with a sparrow," Cayde breathed, "What the hell was that?"

"That, is a very good question," she replied, already moving for the stairs with the full intention of heading down to interrogate the remaining combatant. She absently wondered how long it would take Shaxx's ghost to bring him back from this. "Come on. Let's get down there and find out what-"

That was when the security lockdown alarms started blaring. "Alert! Alert! Detonation on level fifteen! All FOTC and Guardian personnel to combat stations! We are under attack!"

Ikora slowly dropped her face into her palm. "Damn it." This was going to take hours to sort out.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Despite blinking rapidly the large bright spot in the middle of her vision wouldn't go away. Ranma shook her head and closed her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her. The loud flash and explosion of sound had shaken her entire body. She leaned unsteadily against her naginata. The ice was unusually warm to the touch.

"..."

She blinked. Someone had tried to say something. What was- She gasped as a wave of light washed over her. A soothing feeling flowed through her aching muscles, leaving her feeling tired but not sore as her visions returned and her ears stopped ringing.

"Are you alright?" Floating in front of her was her ghost Kiko.

"I am now?" she offered with a shake of her head. She stood a bit straighter now that she could actually see the room. Light fixtures were hanging loose from the ceiling, a light mist of snow was gently falling to the ground, and a massive trench had been dug into the patchy hole-filled floor. Yet most telling was the massive tunnel bored through the far wall, through which she had a perfect view of the Traveler over the skyscrapers of the city.

"What in the name of the Traveler was that?!" Kiko demanded.

She shrugged. "I tried an old trick. It, uh…" She bit her lip gently as she stared up at the gaping hole in the wall. "I wasn't expecting that," she admitted before glancing around. "Where's Shaxx?"

"As far as I can tell?" her ghost began with a deadpan, "You vaporized him."

She considered that before sighing. "I hope I don't lose marks for that." She ignored the sputtering of her ghost as she examined the wall above.

Then alarms started blaring as emergency lights started up. "Alert! Alert! Detonation on level fifteen! All FOTC and Guardian personnel to combat stations! We are under attack!" Ranma's expression fell.

She was so losing points for this.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

To her surprise it was the Speaker who came for her. Flanked by a pair of nervous Guardians he had asked her to follow him. Seeing no reason not to, Ranma had dismissed her ko-naginata and followed the old man. The crowd parted before him. From the arena he led her back up to the roof, and from there into his tower and down to a nice office several floors down.

"Please wait here, Ranma," the Speaker had said as he let her into the room, "This will take some time to sort out."

"I'm not in trouble for… That, am I?" She asked, a touch nervous.

"So long as no one has been unduly harmed you should be fine," he said before leaving.

The next two and a half hours were a painfully slow wait for Ranma as she wandered around the mostly barren office. There were a few decorations; books, painting, etc.; but it was clear that the Speaker did most of his work on the roof. Eventually though, she just found a chair in the corner of the room and sagged into it.

Shaxx had put up a lot more of a fight than she had really expected. His forms were shit, but the amount of power he was packing was enough to make Saffron think twice about a fight. It was only thanks to Kiko that her everything wasn't sore, but god did she feel exhausted anyway. At least she wasn't going to have to fix her clothing since Kiko's magic seemed to work on clothes just as well as it did injuries.

Eventually, the door to the office opened and in walked Zavala, followed by Ikora and Cayde. The Speaker followed shortly after, the door being held by a Guardian who disappeared a moment later.

"That was quite the duel," the Speaker said conversationally as he made his way over to his desk. Ranma went to rise, but he waved her back down. "Sit. You must be tired after all that."

"I've felt worse," she said, shrugging. The last time she had had a fight this intense it nearly ended in her being barbequed. Come to think of it, Shaxx was about as fond of fire as Saffron had been.

"It is rare for a battle between two Guardians to drag on so long without one or the other falling," Zavala said as he took a spot in front of her. The purple man crossed his arms behind his back as he fell into a parade ground rest. Ikora found a chair to sit in, crossing her legs so as to have a better place to rest her tablet.

And Cayde was busy examining a painting in the corner humming something out of tune. It sounded oddly familiar.

"First, let us get the elephant in the room out of the way," the Speaker said from his desk, "No one has been killed by your final strike, other than Shaxx. His ghost confirms that he believes he can restore Shaxx, but he needs to first find where his body landed."

"... Landed?" she asked. The Speaker nodded.

"His shattered body was tracked by camera's flying in the direction of the Traveller. We believe he landed somewhere near the city center. His ghost is working alongside crews to locate him since it would appear you knocked out his transponder. Without it he is having a tough time isolating Shaxx's essence from the rest of the world well enough to simply restore him from nothing. It would have been less of an issue if you hadn't sent him flying so far." Ranma winced.

"I'm sure it won't take more than a few additional hours," Ikora said as she tapped something on her tablet, "Congratulations on your victory, Ranma."

"Thanks." She nodded to the african woman.

"Now, would you mind telling us why Shaxx challenged you to a duel?" Ikora asked.

Ranma drummed her fingers against the arm of her chair nervously. "Well… It started when I approached him to sign up for the certification stuff. We got into a debate about my skill and… yeah." She shrugged. "It kinda spiralled from there. Honestly not the worst reason I've been challenged. Kinda nice to just have a friendly disagreement for once."

"Friendly she says," Cayde said, chuckling. "Seriously, I do not want to see what you consider hostile." Ranma shrugged.

"I'll make sure to ask Shaxx for the details then," Zavala said firmly, "For now I'm more curious about a few things that happened during the match. While we cannot make you share the specifics of what you did, we would prefer a few explanations."

She glanced at her ghost. Kiko 'shrugged' and Ranma mirrored her. "Shoot," she said with a wave.

"You mentioned Ki. What is it?" Zavala asked.

She breathed out heavily. "Ki is… I could spend days talking theory and technical explanation, but the short version is Ki is just life. The energy of living. You've got it. I've got it. The random people down in the street have it. Pets, wild animals, everything has Ki if it's alive," she said.

"That is fairly similar to the concepts I recall," Ikora said, "But I was under the impression it was all superstition centered around healthy living."

"You're thinking Qi. That's the philosophical version," Ranma said, "That's just a state of mind. Ki can be manipulated if you have enough training. Usually as a martial artist or as a priest of some kind."

"And you have training to use it?" The Speaker asked. She nodded. "Interesting."

"You mentioned that the Light was getting in your way earlier?" Ikora asked.

Ranam nodded. "My Ki is still there, inside me. The Light hasn't replaced it, but Ki requires force of will to pull out. The Light is… It's closer to the surface I guess? Whenever I reach for my Ki I keep getting the Light. It isn't an issue when I want to use my Ki internally, but the moment I try to express it outside my body.." she shook her head.

"You get the Light instead. Curious," Ikora mused, "Hopefully we can talk some more about this Ki. It sounds quite fascinating."

"How common was this 'Ki' in your time?" Zavala asked.

"Common enough," she shrugged, "Nerima certainly had a lot of people who knew how to and I ran into them everywhere I went."

"It makes you wonder how such skills disappeared over time," Ikora mused.

"Not really? It takes years of work. Decades for most people," Ranma said with a shrug. Most of them lacked talent and a good teacher. Crazy or not, her pops had been a good teacher for most things. Ignoring the Neko-ken.

"That long? Damn. That's back before the Traveller, right?" Cayde asked. She nodded. "Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't want to spend that much time."

"If it takes decades, then how are you this powerful?" Ikora asked.

Ranma smirked. "I'm the best there is. I'm just that good at it," she said with a little shrug.

"I like her attitude. Please tell me she's going to be a Hunter," Cayde said before turning to her, "Please tell me you're going to be a hunter."

"Uh… Hunter?" She asked.

"I assume you haven't received the introduction lecture as of yet? It would normally have occurred after you signed up for the certification, but I imagine Shaxx was in too much of a rush given the spectacle that just occurred," Zavala said.

"You would be right, Commander Zavala," Kiko said politely.

The purple man sighed. "Very well then. There are three classes into which Guardians are classified. Hunters, represented in the Vanguard by Cayde."

"Yo." The Exo waved.

"The Warlocks, represented by Ikora," he continued. Ikora simply smiled. "And the Titans, represented by myself. Each group fulfills a different role within the city. The Titan Orders are the defenders of the City's walls. We place the protection of the city and humanity itself above all else. Ikora, would you prefer to explain the Warlocks?"

"That I would," she replied, "Warlocks are scholars and scientists at heart. We delve the many mysteries of the world. From the secrets of manipulating Light, to the lost history of the world. Like the Titans we have orders dedicated to different ways to approach these duties. Though unlike Titans not all of us belong to an order. Cayde?"

"Hmm, oh yeah. So!" Cayde clapped his hands together and rubbed them thoroughly. The sound of clashing metal was only slightly obnoxious. "Hunters are… Well we're free spirits. We don't like hanging around the city too much. Gets a bet crowded. You know what I mean."

"A bit," she admitted. After spending a lot of time in the wilds training there were times when she found the crowds of Tokyo a bit annoying.

"Great. Awesome. So you can understand why we do a lot of the scouting and sneaky-sneak stuff," the exo continued, "Gets us out of the city. Well, except for me." He sighed. "But someone's gotta do it."

"Quite," Ikora said, an amused tone to her voice.

"The last part of the certification process requires a Guardian to declare an allegiance to one particular class," Zavala continued, "So that they might have a representative within the Vanguard to whom they can speak about any issues that arise. Since such a decision is life defining and not easy to change all Guardians are required to spend at least a week, and no more than four weeks, with an official member of each class before making the decision. So do not worry about it right now. As a new Guardian you can come to any one of us until your certification is complete."

"And I promise to only do a light sell," Cayde said with a grin.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"I'm sure our new Guardian is happy to have this information, but shall we get back on the topic we came to discuss?" the Speaker asked.

"Of course, Speaker," Zavala nodded.

"We wanted to speak to you about the techniques you showed off earlier," Ikora said, "You were clearly utilizing some form of Arc Light, but I've never seen Arc Light involve an ice effect before. Can you explain why?"

"Oh, that," she shrugged, "There's a technique called the Soul of Ice. It requires you to have perfect control of your emotions. By remaining calm you chill your Ki by depriving it of the hotter emotions like anger, embarrassment, or even fear. It's part one of a technique called the Hiryu Shoten Ha."

"Heaven's… something dragon blast?" Cayde translated, "Weird name."

"It was invented by the Joketsuzoku tribe in China," Ranma replied, "Anyway, when I use the Soul of Ice it seems to chill my Light as well. At least when I try to reach for my Ki at the same time. I wasn't expecting most of what I did back in the arena. Really I was just trying to find a counter for that damned hammer of his." She huffed and crossed her arms. "That thing was way too hot."

"It is known as the Hammer of Sol for a reason," Zavala said, "I take it then that all of the techniques you demonstrated were invented on the spot then?"

"Most," she confirmed, "The last one was an attempt at the Hiryu Shoten Ha. I'm… Not entirely sure what happened there?" She shrugged helplessly. She was still trying to put together what exactly had happened. "It was supposed to just be a tornado, not… That."

"Just a tornado. Just," Cayde groaned, "Who considers a tornado a 'just'. What sort of things have you fought that make tornadoes sound unimportant?"

"People who can level mountains," she said. Herb and Saffron were ridiculous fights.

"... I think you mentioned that," the Exo mumbled.

Ikora cleared her throat. "Based on the video footage it appears to have created a very short lived plasma burst combined with high winds and a chilling effect on the surroundings. Like a tornado formed in a thundersnow."

"... No one died, right?" she asked, frowning with worry. She had just wanted to beat Shaxx, not kill someone.

"Everyone is unharmed," the Speaker confirmed.

"That's good to hear," Kiko said before Ranma could.

"Yeah," she agreed with her ghost.

"I believe we're done here now," the Speaker said, drawing everyone's attention, "I'm sure Ikora will love to pick your brain on the specifics at a later date, but I think after today it may be best to allow some time for rest."

"I had planned on doing some shopping," Ranma said, "Though I'm not exactly sure where to go."

"I would be more than happy to help," Ikora offered with a smile, "but perhaps tomorrow? I'm afraid there is quite a bit of work that has undoubtedly backlogged with this afternoon's chaos."

Ranma chuckled awkwardly at that. "I'll try not to punch anymore holes in the Tower?" she offered weakly? What would her pops have said if he saw how much damage she'd done?

Her awkward smile wavered as she thought of her pops and the rest. The fight had been a nice distraction, but she felt a little guilty for not thinking about them.

The door opened. "Vanguard Ikora," said the woman who stepped through. Ranma looked up with the rest of the room. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the long blue hair. "I brought the research material you wanted."

She knew this woman, though she had only seen her like this once before. Looking only a few years older than Ranma herself. Once, a very, very long time before.

"Cologne?"

-0-0-0-0-0-​

A/N: So here it is, a bit late but that was unavoidable since Gekkou suffered a hand injury and couldn't proofread for a while. (I am honestly surprised she managed to do so so quickly).

So due to the advice of my editor and the permission of my patrons, I'll be taking a few months off from actually posting anything. I'm still going to be writing, just not posting. I'm going to be building up a backlog for a while. Getting things into order and taking some time to work on my novel which has unfortunately fallen by the wayside in the frantic scramble to keep up with my every two weeks posting schedule… Which is probably a good reason to back off a bit. I've already got some work done, but you won't be seeing it until at least July when I'll post the next chapter of TTP. (Just in time for BBQ season~)

Stay safe everyone~

 

[Grounders10]

0-0-0-0-0-


A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

-0-0-0-0-0-

Chapter Four

Settling In

-0-0-0-0-0-​

There was silence in the Northern Respite Bar as the patrons stared at the TV with open-mouthed shock. Guardians one and all, it was after all the bar directly across from the location of the former third tower, they knew exactly how impossible what had occurred on TV was. Shaxx was a legend, he had been a Chosen of the Traveler for longer than the City had been around. He had fought in every major war and been in both the Battle of Six Fronts and the Twilight Gap. He had led the counter charge that broke the Fallen at Twilight Gap. He was the master of the crucible, the invincible Lord who had only lost to Ikora of the Vanguard. Once. And Cayde, but most people liked to forget that match.

And they had all just watched him get utterly humiliated by a no-name rookie who, by Vanguard Commander Zavala's own words, hadn't even gotten her certifications yet.

Hibiki didn't care about that detail. His eyes remained glued to the monitor even as the rest of the bar exploded into whispers and outraged shouting as bets were called due. Red. All he could see was red hair as the girl on the screen turned to chat with her ghost. It was that shade. That impossibly bright and shimmering shade that was never seen in the City.

"Is that her?" he muttered, lifting his beer to his lips.

"Is who what?" His drinking companion, an Awoken Firebreak Titan by the name of Dace, asked.

Hibiki shook his head. "Nothing, just… That girl looks familiar," he said, nodding to the nearest TV. Off in the corner, a Stoneborn punched a member of the Firebreak Order and the table devolved into a fistfight that was swiftly broken up by way of a glowing hammer flying from the bartender to vaporize the participants. Four very annoyed-looking Titans were resurrected by their ghosts. One glance at the literally burning man behind the counter was enough to send them walking away from each other.

He shook his head. There was a reason this was a Guardian-only bar.

"You recognize her? She's supposedly new," Dace said. He tipped back his beer as he watched the heated debate between a trio of off-duty female Stoneborn one table over.

"I know. You know I remember bits and pieces, right?" Hibiki said.

"Ah, From before then. Let it go, my friend," Dace said with a shake of his head, "Even if you knew her there's no way she knows you anymore. You know that, right?"

"Yeah yeah…" He sighed and tipped back his own drink once more. His eyes drifted to the screen again. Red hair. Brilliant, glowing red hair that shimmered in the lights of the arena.

Just like the memories. A voice, a laugh, a moment with… Hair, it was always the hair.

He set the drink down, empty at last, and stood up. "I need to go get ready for my next duty shift," he said.

"That's not until tomorrow," Dace said, blinking at him in apparent confusion.

"Lots to get done," he replied, heading for the door, "Have a good night my friend."

"It's barely noon!"

He ignored the protest as the door of the bar closed behind him, leaving the First Pillar Titan on the bustling streets of the northern wall district. He needed to visit the Tower. He needed to meet that girl and… He sighed as he started down the street. Dace was probably right, but there was a small part of him that hoped she'd have a few more pieces to stick together.

Maybe. Hopefully.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"Who?" The blue-haired woman asked, looking flummoxed at Ranma's words.

"I- Um…" Ranma trailed off uncertainly. Was this woman Cologne? Or just similar?

"Excuse me, but do you know her?" Ikora asked. The Warlock leaned forward curiously.

"... Maybe?" Ranma said after breaking off her staring match with the spitting image of a much younger version of the old woman who had taught her so much. "There was an old woman, its really complicated, but she taught me a lot of what I know. Her name was, technically, Khu Lon but most of the time-"

"My name is Khu Long. I'm a Warlock working for Vanguard Ikora-" the woman said, then paused. She waved a hand and a crimson painted ghost appeared above her hand. "What do you mean 'Oops', Moon?"

"Um…" The Ghost spun in place, its corners expanding and contracting nervously, "It's possible that the scratching on your tombstone may… not… have been indicative of another letter." The last bit was said in such a rush it took Ranma a moment to decipher. She, along with everyone in the room stared at the Ghost with flat expressions.

Ranma sank into the chair, her eyes locked on the other girl, and she was scarcely older than Ranma. Was this really Cologne? She searched for some form of recognition in the other girl, but nothing seemed to be appearing as she argued with her ghost. It was surreal just like it had been when they used the Nanban mirror to travel into the past.

"So, what are the odds that you wind up knowing someone who just randomly walks in?" Cayde-6 asked, "Cause that is just weird timing, know what I mean?"

"Cayde," Ikora chided.

"What? I'm serious. What are the odds?" The Hunter Vanguard waved at the two of them.

"Whatever the odds, Guardian, are you certain you recognize Khu Long here?" Zavala asked.

Silent, Ranma stood up and walked across the room. Khu Long leaned back as Ranma leaned in to examine her. "Um, hello? Personal space please?" the Warlock asked as Ranma circled her.

Ranma ignored the protests as she looked deeper than the other girl's skin. Beyond the hair, the face, to the energies beneath. There was Light there, yes and strong too, very strong, but… Yes, there was the Ki. Hidden away beneath the layers of Light was the core of this girl's lifeforce. Compared to the Cologne she had known it was weak, but it was still far and away stronger than anything she sensed from the average Guardian. Enough, perhaps, to have equaled Kuno at the time she arrived in Nerima. Most importantly though…

"Her Ki is the same. You're definitely Khu Lon," Ranma declared, stepping back with her arms behind her back. This was the weirdest thing she had ever encountered. By leagues. What was she supposed to do now?

The other girl stared back at her with wide eyes. "Uh, Miss Ikora?" she asked, "What is this about?"

"Guardian Saotome here has all of her pre-death memories," Ikora replied, "She has some skill in what she calls 'Ki'. We've yet to have an opportunity to examine it, but you apparently share the appearance and 'Ki' of someone she knew before."

Khu Lon stared back at her, her eyes narrowing as she in turn examined Ranma properly for the first time. "I-" her head tilted to the side. "My memories are little bits and pieces, but would you have any idea why I feel the urge to call you 'son-in-law'?"

"Of course, that's what you remember," Ranma sighed. Really? Was this what her life was going to be from now on? She didn't even know what to think about this.

"Excuse me? Son-in-law?" Ikora asked.

"Its complicated. There was a tribal law thing. We uh… Well, I never recognized the validity of it," Ranma said, taking another step back just for safety, "It's complicated."

"When aren't things with you complicated?" Cayde asked.

"Not as often as I'd like," she replied.

Khu Lon sighed. "So we know each other," she said.

"Yes, but you were a lot older the last time I saw you. I only recognized you because of an incident with a time-traveling mirror," Ranma replied.

"The more you talk, the less I know what to believe," Cayde-6 deadpanned.

"This universe is full of many mysteries," the Speaker said, drawing the room's attention, "I would hazard a guess that this reunion is the Travelers' will. Rejoice, for such reunions are rare things indeed."

Ranma looked back at the older girl who had also turned back her way. "Hello, I'm Khu Lon," the Chinese Warlock said, extending a hand, "I understand we know each other."

Ranma took it and they shook hands. It was, Ranma decided, the weirdest feeling to be shaking hands with someone you knew, yet didn't know. "In the past, yes. You taught me a lot," she said, pausing awkwardly, "Perhaps… I can return the favour if you'd like?"

"It would be fascinating, I'm sure," the far too young Jouketsuzoku Elder replied.

"Well then, I'm sure the two of you will have much to talk about in the future, " Ikora said, "But I believe we are done here for the moment, Ranma. Zavala? Cayde? Speaker?"

"I believe we are done here as well," Zavala agreed.

"I'm good, but I've got a lot of questions for later, Ranma. You hear?" Cayde said. She nodded.

"I believe we are all in agreement. Ranma, if you wouldn't mind stopping by my office sometime in the next few days. I have some further questions about history that you may be able to answer," the Speaker said.

"Sure. I'll see what I can do," Ranma agreed. It was probably a little unfortunate that she hadn't really paid much attention in history class. How was she supposed to know that she was going to be the last source of historical knowledge left?

"Then you may go," the Speaker said.

"Khu Long, your delivery?" Ikora asked.

"Oh right… We'll catch up later then? I'll have Moon transfer my credentials to your ghost," Khu Lon said.

Kiko popped up next to Ranma. "I've got them already. I'm efficient," she sang before popping out of existence again.

"Then… We'll catch up later," Ranma agreed. She turned to leave and made it four steps before pausing. She half-turned back to Khu Lon who was handing over a data pad and several books to Ikora.

This was the strangest feeling. To know and not know someone at the same time. To be both alone, and in familiar company at once.

She didn't like it. Not one bit.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The world returned to Shaxx in a very familiar wave of light. He groaned and pulled himself out of the crater his body had formed when it crashed into the wall of the east-side financial building. He rubbed his helmet and nodded to his Ghost. It spun in place then returned to his armor.

"Hell of a hole you dug this time, Lord Shaxx," Amanda Holiday said as she looked bemusedly at him from the lift she was riding, "Need a lift down?"

"It would be appreciated, Ms. Holiday," he said as he pulled himself out of the hole and stepped onto the platform.

"Hell of a light show. Did you seriously get your ass kicked by that new kid?" she asked as the lift lowered to the ground where a group of emergency responders was holding back a group of curious onlookers.

There was no way he was going to live this down. Not in a human lifetime. If Zavala had his way, not in ten. "I made a few tactical errors," he said, rolling a shoulder to get a lingering kink out of it. The Light healed a lot, but there were always a few lingering phantom issues after a particularly violent death.

"Tactical error? So that's what they call picking a fight out of your weight class these days, huh?" Amanda chuckled, "I've got a lift over there for you. Zavala wants to chat." She waved to a nearby square where the familiar form of an FotC transport was waiting with a pair of guards.

He sighed. "Very well," he acquiesced. There was no point in putting off the 'I told you so', besides, they needed to chat about that girl.

The ride back to the tower was, thankfully, quiet. The FotC guards had been left behind to help organize repairs, while Amanda was flying the ship. It gave him time to put his thoughts in order. Time to think, judge, and analyze. Ranma Saotome was something else. He could admit that he had been too hasty in judging her by her age. Despite not wearing armor, or carrying any of the usual Light enhancing tools that Guardians had developed, she had bested him. Not once, not twice, but all five rounds.

Five rounds, back to back. He was not undefeated, he would be the first to admit that he had lost to all three of the Vanguard on at least one occasion. He had been bested by others as well, but never by someone so new to the tower. She did, however, have her memories of before based on her own words, so perhaps judging her like a novice was foolish. No, his words had clearly stepped on the pride of someone just as stubborn and practiced as he was. She may not have had the centuries, but he had challenged a Master in their bailiwick and had been shown the door.

What was less understandable, and in truth utterly terrifying, was that weapon of hers.

He rested his head against his fist as he recalled the weapon. It had been crude, a pale easily shattered copy of his hammer at first. It wasn't unusual to see the hammers of new Firebreakers shatter on first use, much like her blade had. But they had people to coach and teach them how to improve. This girl, this Ranma Saotome, had invented a whole new application of Arc Light and refined it to the level of his hammer in minutes.

All while he tried and failed to kill her.

Never had he seen the like.

He grinned beneath his helmet. "The Age of Triumph is getting more interesting by the day," he said softly.

Ten minutes later he walked down the steps to the Vanguard's war room to a combination of wolf whistles, insults, and mocking gestures. A perfectly normal response to losing so spectacularly. Most of them had probably lost some glimmer on him. A lot of glimmer.

He could handle a few days of recriminations with grace. It would serve a lesson. No one was invincible. Arrogance could cost anyone victory.

Shaxx strolled into the war room and was promptly met by sarcastic clapping. "Hail the conquered hero," Cayde-6 called from where he was lounging in a chair with his feet up on the center table. He tossed a small yellow ball up and caught it again. "You won me seventy glimmer. Should have asked for more."

"Not happening Cayde," Ikora said, casting him a glance as she looked up from her data pad, "Quite the show Lord Shaxx. I'm curious as to why you decided a certification examination needed to go that far?"

"Indeed," Zavala agreed from the head of the table, "Your temper is usually under better control."

Shaxx coughed into his fist. "We may have gotten under each other's skin, I will admit," he said with what dignity he could muster. He would admit there wasn't much left. Not after the way she had gone after certain… sensitive bits of his anatomy. There were going to be changes made to his armor in the near future.

"That is putting it mildly. I know you have to maintain a level of intimidation, Shaxx, but she has been a Guardian for two days. Two days, Shaxx!" Ikora said. He was thankful that his helmet concealed his wince.

"She approached me right after I finished chewing out two idiots for nearly shooting each other's ghosts during a crucible match. My mood was fairly bad at that moment," he said in defense, "but you are correct. This became far more of a spectacle than it should have."

"Ah ah, that is not your fault," Cayde said, "The moment you booked that arena an alert went out to half the tower. I did a little sneaking around while we were waiting for you and, it turns out the lady at the desk down there noticed and fired an invite to everyone she knew. Things snowballed from there."

He really should have expected that. The non-Guardian population loved a spectacle.

Zavala stepped forward and planted his hands on the table. The glow of the lights illuminated his face from below. "More importantly, however," He said, "What observations can you make concerning Guardian Saotome's skills?"

"She's probably the best hand-to-hand combatant this city has ever seen," he said without hesitation, "Certainly better than me. I would say that there is a solid chance that she might even be the most dangerous person currently in this tower."

"Including the Young Wolf?" Zavala asked seriously.

Shaxx laughed, his voice booming off the wall as his body shook. "Better than the Young Wolf? Zavala, the Young Wolf is no hand-to-hand master. She's a master of guns, of light and unconventional tactics. More importantly, she has died frequently. Unless your eyes fail you, did you not see me go down five times back-to-back without doing more than singing that girl's clothing?" He gestured back out the door with both hands. "The Young Wolf is among our best, but I have beaten her. Repeatedly. Today I lost, repeatedly. No one has ever done that. Not even Saladin if you recall Zavala."

His old training partner nodded thoughtfully. "An excellent observation, Shaxx… So she has passed her certification?" he asked.

"Only for hand-to-hand. By her own admission, she knows nothing of modern weapons or equipment. But I'm sure she'll pick it up quickly enough. She certainly picked up the light quickly enough," He said, his voice dropping to a mutter. Watching a technique form from nothing to completion in the middle of a frantic battle to the death was going to haunt his dreams for a while. The talent and skill required for such a feat…

"I'll give her a hand with the guns," Cayde said, getting looks from the rest of the Vanguard. "What?"

"Don't you have duties to be attending to?" Ikora asked.

"Yeah, 'duties'," Cayde repeated wiggling the yellow ball in his hands sarcastically, "So much to do right now. You know I normally complain about this job's workload, but the last two weeks have basically been dead. Teaching Miss Nutcracker how to shoot should be fun."

Shaxx winced as certain parts echoed the pain he had felt. "Be sure to teach her to aim for the head, Cayde," Shaxx said. He did not want to get shot down there next.

"I'll teach her just where to aim," Cayde mimed shooting a pistol at Shaxx, "Don't you worry."

"I can see where that hand is pointed, Cayde," he told the Hunter.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

He eyed the Exo for a long moment before snorting. "Is that everything, Zavala?" he asked.

"One last thing, what the hell did she say that made you book a deathmatch?" the Awoken Titan asked.

"Let's just say we both said some regrettable things about each other's competency and stepped on each other's pride, and leave it at that, shall we?" Shaxx said after a moment. Off to the side, Ikora sighed.

"She was quiet when she showed up. I wasn't expecting her to have an ego," the woman said.

Shaxx chuckled. "You should know better, Ikora," he chided with a laugh, "Its-"

"If you say, it's always the quiet ones, I will not be responsible for the hole you have to fill." Void Light sparkled in her open palm.

He chuckled. "Time for me to get back to my desk. I've crucible matches to organize," he said, turning to leave.

"Hey, Shaxx, maybe next time don't challenge the rookie to a deathmatch? Looks bad," Cayde called after him. "Seriously, does no one take time to get a read on people anymore?"

Shaxx tuned out the joking Exo as he walked back to his desk. He stifled a groan as he saw the number of messages that had arrived in his absence. He paused and then glanced up at the ahamkara skull he kept on the wall. Why did he have the feeling that it was suddenly laughing at him?

Shaking his head he returned to work.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

".... Six fancy sets, sixteen workout, another ten regular. Where are you planning on using these? You do realize most female Guardians get like one type of bra? I checked several surveys just to be sure," Kiko said as they walked out of the third clothing store of the day, a small boutique on the edge of a plaza that Ranma was fairly sure was designed to double as a kill zone.

"And most of them look like they have a brick wall for a body," Ranma replied blithely with a sniff. Before she had kept female clothing for disguises, but undergarments had been… situational. Very situational. "Look, I can't turn back anymore so I'm going to need this. Most of them will just wish that they could benefit from these."

Kiko stared at her and spun her shell once. "Gee, ego much?"

Ranma rolled her eyes and turned away as she slipped the bag into her ki-pocket. She could feel the Ki-construct straining at the seams as she did. She was going to have to carry the rest by hand. "How's our budget?"

"You've spent a hundred grand in three hours. What do you think?" Her ghost deadpanned.

"Doing fine then."

"I've seen people spend less buying weapons!" Her ghost sounded actively pained by the spending spree.

Ranma shrugged and looked about the plaza. It was getting late. After leaving the Speaker's office she had gotten a shower before heading out. Kiko had managed to find a list of recommended stores and boutiques somewhere and she had put it to good use. Or not so good as Kiko seemed to think. Was she supposed to wear the same four sets all the time? Honestly.

Finding silks had been… It was rather apparent that silk production was basically nonexistent these days given the high prices for even a single item. High in comparison to what she remembered, even after factoring in the different values of the Last City's credits versus the Japanese Yen.

"I could use something to eat. Anything good around here, Kiko?" she asked her ghost.

"You mean in the quantities you eat? You realize your budget only goes so far, right?" Kiko asked.

"I have standards," Ranma replied. This was one of those things she had wished changed over the years. The clothing she picked up had always been a bit pricey in most people's eyes. But for Ranma, it was well worth it. Silk was a very nice fabric and wearing other things tended to irritate her after so long wearing it.

"Pricey ones," Kiko muttered, "... Burgers?"

"Do I look American?"

"What's an 'American'?"

Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to that.

There was silence for a few moments before Kiko said, "How about Ramen?"

"How far?"

"A few blocks away. In the direction of the train station," her ghost said.

"That'll do," she agreed, putting her feet to work as she walked in the direction her ghost indicated. Walking through the streets was easy with her ghost floating by her shoulder. A path opened in the crowd seemingly without thought. It was like the idea of a Guardian caused people to step away out of respect, or fear perhaps? It was hard to tell. The people kept sending glances her way as she walked past stalls selling electronics, carpets, plushies, and clothes amongst other things. Whispers spread in her wake and she was hardly naive enough to not recognize it. Nerima had had similar moments. The most common word she heard was 'Shaxx'. The name of the Crucible master. Evidently, a lot of people had watched the match.

As she met the gaze of a few street punks her age they shied away and disappeared. This place was strange compared to Nerima. Back there everyone had some level of martial arts training. It was just something weird about the place that seemed to draw the martial artists to it. Here… Well, despite clearly having a greater need for it, no one moved like they were martial artists. A few people had combat training, but no one moved like people in Nerima did.

She really had to wonder how they had managed to stay alive even with the help of the Guardians.

Still, they seemed to be thriving. The people didn't seem fearful as they walked about the streets. It felt like Tokyo on a nice calm day. A few more flashing lights, screens that would start talking to you when you walked by, and far too many stalls in the streets, but nice.

As they turned the next corner Ranma's eyes fell upon something unexpected. A Torii gate stood at the far end of the street. Painted red it stood across the entrance of what appeared to be a Shinto-Buddhist temple.

As they walked down the street, Ranma came to the conclusion that the temple wasn't dedicated to anyone she recognized. She couldn't see the typical dedications to Amaterasu or Inari, or anything for Susanoo, Tsukiyomi, or any of the others. Instead, there were a pair of statues on either side of the Torii gate. Each was a statue of a woman with long braided hair, dressed akin to a female samurai. A single blade was held by each, pointed upwards towards the sky while the statues looked down upon the people walking past.

She was curious as she peered through the Torii gate, but she set it aside as her stomach grumbled. An inspection could wait until she had time, and food. It would be there tomorrow after all.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

After a meal, the next stop was a grocery store. Things were… Honestly, they were normal when Ranma walked in, picked things up, paid, and walked out. It was just a little weird. Some part of her kept expecting things to be different in this future, but everything felt just… normal.

It was weird. A lot of things were weird.

The trip back to the tower drew a few odd looks, what with her being laden down with grocery bags, but she made it back up to her apartment without incident and dropped onto the couch the moment the food was put away. She left the bags of clothing in a pile on her table.

She stared out the window as Kiko hummed somewhere in the background.

She was lonely. After coming home from school or an adventure she was used to listening to her pops and Soun cheating at shogi, or her Mother and Kasumi in the kitchen prepping dinner. Maybe Akane breaking something in the dojo. Or, if she was unlucky, the cry of some lunatic looking for her head.

She'd have killed for a jealous suitor to attack her right then. At least she wouldn't be staring out a window at the apartment across the way feeling completely alone.

She practically jumped out of her skin when a deep 'Ding Dong Ding' rang out in her kitchen. "Kiko?!" She called.

"Doorbell!"

Ranma blinked. Who was coming to see her at, she checked the clock under the TV, eight o'clock at night? The doorbell rang again.

Then there was a bing and Kiko said, "Hello, who is it?"

In a remarkably clear voice compared to her experience with telecommunications in the past, came the voice of Khu Lon, "Its Khu Long- Lon- ugh you know who I am. Can I come in?"

"Let her in," Ranma said, sitting up and trying to smooth out her hair, which was overdue for a proper meeting with a brush anyways, with her hands. She stood up and started walking to the door.

"Thanks." The call ended with a click and twenty seconds later there was a knock on the door. Ranma opened it and gave a shaky smile to the girl on the other side.

"Hey, come in," she said, stepping aside to let Khu Lon into the apartment.

"Thank you. Nice place," the former Amazon elder said as she glanced around.

"I suppose it is," Ranma sighed, "I haven't done anything with it though."

"Most people don't until they move out," the blue-haired girl said, "Not until they get a place along the wall anyways."

"Along the wall?" Ranma repeated. Khu Lon nodded.

"There are rules about minimum response times in case of an attack that Warlocks and Titans in the city have to keep in mind. Hunters are so rarely in the city for long that they waived the requirements for them," she said, "So most Guardians get a place in one of the condos built into the wall. They're available for FotC personnel and Guardians. They're usually a bit bigger than here, but not always. They can have a better view though since they aren't shoved into a walled compound."

"Huh, oh, um, would you like something to drink, or?" Ranma brushed her hair back behind an ear. She really needed to braid it, it was getting annoying hanging loose.

"I'm fine for the moment," Khu Long said. An awkward silence hung between them for a few moments before the bluette sighed. "So, we know each other?"

"Yeah… Well, knew anyways," Ranma said. She walked over to the couch and moved some bags out of the way. "Feel free to sit I guess. I just got home so things are a bit of a mess right now." She dropped into her chair and pulled her knees up to her chest. Khu Lon took a seat much more gracefully than Ranma did.

"I suppose you're right about that. It is knew, now anyways," the older girl said, "I can't imagine how this feels to you. For me it's… I've always been curious about what came before. It comes from having brief flashes of memory here and there. Little details, words, thoughts, ideas, sometimes in the middle of a fight I'll just do something I don't remember learning. I always wondered where it came from."

She brushed a blue lock behind her ear. "This is a chance to learn the why and how, but for you… Its like meeting a stranger with your friend's face, isn't it? Like I've been replaced by a doppelganger of some sort."

"That's one way of putting it," Ranma agreed, "But, I only really knew you at the end of your lifespan. You were around three hundred when we met and you were the tiniest old woman I'd ever met in my life."

"Age wasn't particularly kind I take it?" She quirked her lips in clear amusement.

"You were two feet tall on a good day," Ranma deadpanned in reply. She smirked at the dropped jaw that she got.

"Two feet? No human can get that short. The organ issues alone-" Khu Lon protested.

"Don't really matter to a master of Ki. You weren't the only tiny old person I met. Seems like the more powerful you get the tinier you tend to be when you get old. Everyone that was two feet tall I ever met was a powerful martial artist," she replied. There had to be something weird about whatever technique they used because she really couldn't see the advantage of being two feet tall.

"And people call guardian's bullshit," Khu Lon muttered.

"You get infinite do-overs. That's more bullshit than most martial artists ever get," Ranma said with some amusement.

"Coming back from the dead is a known phenomenon. People don't just lose four feet of height from age!" Khu Lon protested.

"Only if they live three hundred years," Ranma said.

"It wasn't an issue in the Golden Age." She sounded actually offended.

"Probably because they didn't use ancient Ki techniques," she said with a smirk.

"Yes, they knew better than to rely on flawed superstition," Khu Lon huffed.

"You were the one that loved boasting about the superiority of three thousand years of Chinese history, not me," Ranma said. There was a moment of silence before the other girl sighed.

"Did I really?" she asked softly.

She shrugged, sending her red hair rippling. "All the time. It was obnoxious," Ranma replied, "But I learned a lot, and frankly from what I've seen you could use some of that three thousand years of Chinese knowledge. If Shaxx is your best, then Guardians leave a lot to be desired."

"He isn't, but he is amongst them," Khu Lon said, "Are we really that far behind the ancient past?"

"Ancient… It was the day before yesterday for me…" Ranma said, eliciting a wince from the other girl.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. Not your fault… What do I even call you? You know I used to call you Old Ghoul?" Ranma quirked her lips in a grin.

"Well that's rude," Khu Lon grumbled.

Ranma shrugged. "You may have taught me a bunch, but… You were the old hag that kept trying to get me to marry your great-granddaughter, who was the girl who had spent the last year trying to gut me like a fish for winning a contest."

Khu Lon took that in with a strange look. "Huh… I… The more you say the more I'm questioning how much I actually want to know," she said, chewing her lip thoughtfully.

Ranma shrugged. "It's all rather complicated. The last three years were just… nuts. Completely nuts and now I'm…" She took a deep steadying breath and closed her eyes and buried her head in her knees.

"A thousand years or more out of time," Khu Lon said quietly.

"Yeah." She could feel the tears coming again. She squeezed her eyes shut harder as the tears continued to form. This wasn't the time to be crying. She started as a hand came to rest on her knee. She looked up to find the face of Khu Lon just above her.

"I know we're coming at this from opposite sides, but you aren't alone, Ranma. I'll be here, I'm not going anywhere, I promise," she said, leaning over to give Ranma a hug.

Ranma stiffened up reflexively at the hug, but sagged after a moment. She placed a hand on Khu Lon's arm. "I- Thanks. Thank you. I don't…" She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears welled up. Kiko bumped into her shoulder. "I went for a walk in the park, something jumped me and… I woke up a thousand years later…"

"Probably more. Ikora said that you died before the Golden Age," Khu Lon said softly.

"I didn't die. Someone put me in… What was it called Kiko?" She asked.

"An early Cryopod. They made several attempts to save her, but eventually gave up," her Ghost said.

Khu Lon pulled away and disappeared into the kitchen as Ranma watched. A few moments later she heard the kettle she had picked up at the grocery store being set onto the stovetop. "I think we could both use something to drink, right?" Khu Lon said, peering around the corner of the kitchen.

"Tea sounds great… I'm surprised how much seems the same as back then… It's all so weird," Ranma said.

"I can't even imagine," Khu Lon replied. They fell silent as the kettle heated up and the tea brewed. Once the tea was done, and they both had a cup in their hands, Khu Lon sat down on the couch again. "You know I've only been a Guardian for eight months?"

"What?" Ranma perked up. Khu Lon simply nodded.

"Eight-months. You know a lot of children don't even learn how to walk in eight months let alone… It's been a really weird eight months, and I don't even have anything to compare it to," she said. She sounded sad to Ranma. Melancholic, much like she felt.

"I know what you mean…" Ranma sighed. She closed her eyes and took a sip of the tea. The warm liquid was soothing as it rolled down her throat. This was Khu Lon, but it wasn't the Khu Lon she knew. She was basically as lost and confused as Ranma was, only with even less context to rationalize it all. She lowered the teacup and stared down into the liquid.

"Khu-chan, do you think we can be friends?" Ranma asked. This wasn't the old hag. She might have been, in another life, but now she was just a girl… Just a girl like Ranma was…

"Khu-chan? Is that some sort of honorific or something?" Khu asked, curious. Ranma nodded.

"It is. Take a bit to explain everything I guess. English is… Honestly, I'm surprised we even speak the same language," Ranma sighed. She would have expected to be speaking something entirely different after a thousand years of drift.

"The unintended benefit of having immortals around to keep your language relatively comprehensible," Khu said, "and the fact that our population isn't all that large compared to the past."

"Trust me, population size has nothing to do with it," Ranma deadpanned.

"Oh?"

"I'll have to tell you about some of the ancient scrolls I've had to try and read over the years. Population size has nothing to do with how weird a language can get," she said.

Khu sipped her cup of tea. "I wouldn't mind being friends," she said after a moment. She smiled at Ranma. "Hello Ranma, I'm Khu Long."

"Hi, I'm Ranma Saotome. Friends?" She asked with a smile back.

Khu raised her teacup. "To new old friends," she said and as one they raised their teacup and drained the glasses.

"To new old friends," Ranma agreed as she set the teacup down on her leg, "I wonder if anyone else became a Guardian?"

"Not likely. There aren't many Guardians compared to the old population," Khu said, shaking her head, "Rumour has it they can more reliably bring back those who died recently, but I've never seen the statistics myself."

"I kinda figured… No idea how I'd handle it if someone like Ryouga or Akane came through that door like you did," Ranma said.

"Who?"

Ranma shrugged. "Do you have time for a long ridiculous story?"

"It can't possibly be worse than the history of the city," Khu said.

The redhead quirked her lips and laughed. "I bet you ten glimmer you'll take that back before I'm done the first six months of my time in Nerima."

"I'll take that bet."

Twenty minutes later Ranma was ten glimmer richer.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"So what is it?" Ranma asked several hours, and several tales, later. The item in question was the rifle she had picked up from the dead guards in the Kuno-Lung facility.

Khu pursed as she turned the rifle over in her hands. "Different design from the usual recovered weapons," she said, "Sleeker design for one. Integrated launcher here… I'm not sure what this fires. I've never seen this weapon before. You said you got this in Old Tokyo?"

"In a hidden basement complex for Kuno-Lung Technologies," Kiko said.

"Kuno-Lung Technologies? I haven't heard of them before," Khu said, "I'll have to check the archives and see what we have on them, but I think your best option would be to take this over to Banshee-44. He's half-senile, but there's no one better with weapons. He'll probably be able to tell you about it, though he might confiscate it until you get your certs."

"I'll hold off until I get those then," Ranma replied.

"Hrm…" the bluette turned the weapon over in her hands one last time before she set it down on the counter. "Another item to look into I guess. Not that I have all that much to do at the moment."

"I thought you worked for Ikora?" Ranma asked.

She shrugged. "No more than any other Warlock. The fact is I'm not part of an Order and I'm not a troubleshooter for the Vanguard. For a new Guardian, things tend to be a bit slow unless there's an ongoing crisis," she said, "I mean, I could sign up for the Crucible matches or sparrow races, but…" She shrugged.

"Not interested in a rolling deathmatch?" Ranma asked.

"Basically, and I hate sparrows," Khu replied, "They drift way too much. I'll never understand people's fascination with them." Her ghost appeared by her shoulder.

"She keeps crashing them," Moon said.

"Moon!"

"You're lucky they don't charge anything for replacements," it continued.

"Why not?" Ranma asked.

"Because Sparrows are temporary constructs created from templates that can be broken down and reformatted on the spot," Khu explained, "It's complicated, but they'll explain it during the certification classes."

"... I'm still having issues with my doorbell. How exactly do they expect me to understand some future tech infinite bike system?" Ranma asked.

"You'll manage," Khu said with a smile.

Ranma went to tell her how she was getting tired of hearing that when Moon dinged abruptly. Khu's expression fell.

"And that is my reminder alarm. I've got to get back home and get some sleep," she sighed.

Ranma sagged. "It was nice to have you by," she said honestly. She was lucky that it was Khu Lon that she ran into honestly. The only time she had seen the Elder looking this young was back in time and she hadn't known her then. Seeing the lack of recognition had hurt for the first few minutes, but it was nothing like what seeing a blank look or confused expression on Akane or her Mother, or Ryouga, or… Literally anyone else.

"It was nice to come by," Khu said, still smiling. She reached around and pulled Ranma into a hug. The redhead let out a surprised eep. "We should do lunch tomorrow."

"Sure?" Ranma said, unsure what else to say.

"Excellent. I'll come by and pick you up. There's this nice little pasta place downtown. With the train its only like twenty minutes from here," she said, pulling back, "Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Ranma agreed.

"Laters then," Khu said with a wave before leaving.

When the door clicked shut behind her Ranma sagged against the refrigerator. "What did I just agree to?" she asked Kiko.

"By the sounds of it? Lunch with a friend. Relax," Kiko said, floating out before her, "I know you have issues with clingy suitors and such, but I don't think she's into girls that way. This'll just be lunch with a friend."

"You say that…" Ranma muttered. Kiko was probably right, but in her experience 'just friends' was a phase that lasted at most two conversations before someone reached for a hidden sword, or used the plates as shuriken.

Nerima just sucked some days.

"You'll see. Now, why don't you get that stuff put away and have a shower? After that, let's see what's on TV," Kiko said.

A shower sounded nice after spending hours walking around the city. "Sure." What even qualifies as TV these days?

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Three bright shots ripped through the holographic target, leaving shimmering outlines of the impacts over the heart of the fallen-shaped target.

"Nice shooting," Cayde-6 cheered, "Now can you do it aga-" Three more shots passed through the target in the exact same spot. "Nice."

The shooting range in the tower was a busy place, frequented by FotC and Guardians alike. Dozens of people were present at any time of the day as the population of the tower cycled through for both recreational and professional purposes. More than a few groups were holding small shooting competitions with each other.

Ranma lifted the shooting goggles off her face and leaned the smoking rifle against her shoulder. "I expected this to be harder," she said honestly.

"And I expected your choice of targets to be more amusing," Cayde said walking over to her. He tapped a button on the side of her stall and the hologram flickered out at the other end of the hall and reformed right in front of them. "Seriously, even when it was a human target you didn't pick the happy fun place."

"I'd rather avoid making a habit of that," she replied flatly.

"Why not? It'll make the guys stop hitting on you," said the girl who had, over the last several days, rapidly become a good friend from where she was sitting on a bench against the wall.

"I withdraw my statement," Cayde said, pointing a finger at Khu who smirked back, "You are a scary lady."

"Thanks, I try."

Ranma snorted. "So what's left?" she asked.

"Let's see… You nailed the hand cannons and sidearms, blitzed the shotgun and submachine guns, and nailed all three types of rifles… I don't think I need to mention the bows," Cayde put his hand to his chin and tapped it thoughtfully. "I think that just leaves the high explosives, and I'm nervous about letting you near those after last week."

"The launcher malfunctioned!" Ranma protested. It wasn't her fault that it hadn't locked onto the nearer target, but instead the one directly behind it.

"You keep saying that, but that was an expensive ship you blew up. Gunnery Sergeant Jones still isn't happy about the damage. He won't even let me on the range at the moment. Me. I wasn't even the one holding the launcher," Cayde said, pointing to himself. He patted her on the shoulder a moment later with a grin. "Eh, not like you need a high explosives certification, technically. It just means no one will sell you explosives until you pass it."

"Gee, thanks."

"No problem. Now, you had that driving test earlier today?" he asked.

"Passed just fine," Ranma said. Learning to drive was a pain in the ass. Not because of the rules. Sure the city had rules you needed to follow, but this wasn't a driving course for City Streets. No, you needed to take a different course for that apparently and it had a lot more restrictions. Guardian drive certifications were…

They were what happened when immortals who laughed at death came up with a combat driving course. It was terrifying, death-defying, and just plain nuts. She hadn't died from it, but from the looks that the instructors kept giving her she suspected she was probably supposed to have done so at least once.

Probably a lot more than once.

"Really? I was wondering why Shaxx was cursing your name this morning," Cayde said, tapping his chin again.

"I didn't do it with Shaxx," she replied.

"Really? Huh. Must be something else then," Cayde shrugged, "I'll figure it out later. So, with today's performance, I'm happy to give you your firearms certification. From now on you'll be able to purchase, own, and operate firearms as any other Guardian can. Congrats kid, though I know you don't like them." He shrugged.

"I'm more dangerous without one," she deadpanned.

"It's still good to have the option, Ranma," Khu said. She stood up and walked over to toss an arm over Ranma's shoulder. Even after a couple of weeks of this, Ranma still tensed up for a moment before relaxing. She kept expecting to hear Akane's angry shouts.

"I suppose. I just don't like guns," Ranma grumbled. The other two exchanged exasperated looks. She had good reason to not like them.

"I'm going to go and file the paperwork. You girls stay out of trouble, you hear? No doing anything I wouldn't?" Cayde said as he backed away.

"So we're allowed to set the tower on fire?" Khu asked.

"And hijack one of Amanda's fighters for a joyride?" Ranma added.

"Or maybe we can try to con the Eververse out of their custom holograms?" her friend asked, giving her a wide-eyed look.

"First, that was an accident. Second, I didn't hijack, I asked, not my fault she then went and got drunk that night and forgot. Third, I have never tried to do that," Cayde said, "But I totally should. Those things are so overpriced. You girls have fun. Cheers."

They watched him go. "So… Do I need to pick up the certification or what?" Ranma asked after a moment.

"I'll get it once he files the paperwork," Kiko said, materializing next to her, "Until then I think we're free and it's getting close to lunch."

"Let's get something to eat then. My treat," Khu said, patting her on the shoulder and stared for the door, "Come on, I've got a few things to share about that company of yours."

Ranma snapped around. "You found something?" she asked.

"A few things. Come on, let's get some Yakitori," Khu called.

Thirty minutes later they were sitting at the bar of the Yakitori place Cayde had brought Ranma on her first day. "Here you girls go," Nina said as she set a plate down in front of each of them.

"Thanks, Nina," Ranma said.

"No problem dear. Give me a shout if you've got something," she said, moving onto the next customer.

"So," Ranma said as she speared a piece of Yakitori with a chopstick, "Spill."

Khu chomped on a piece of Yakitori and sighed happily. "So good," she said between bites. Moments like this it was hard for Ranma to believe she had ever been the elderly Amazon who smacked her with a staff whenever she was feeling 'generous'. Or just mischievous.

"Khu…?" She prompted, taking a bite herself. It was good.

"Yes yes, one second," she wiped her mouth off with a napkin and pulled a datapad out of a bag. "So, Kuno-Lung Technologies still existed as of the end of the Golden Age. That much I can confirm. They were a defense contractor according to the records I've managed to find. There's a long list of items attributed to them from household appliances to mining equipment, shipbuilding, etc. Not a lot that survived into the city age, though. We know they were headquartered in what was Japan, but other than that there isn't much information about their facilities. That's not unusual, by the way. Most companies either lost most of them or kept them quiet for one reason or another."

It sounded like industrial espionage had become quite popular during the Golden Age. It was mildly depressing to think about. Humanity reached so high, and yet they apparently couldn't stop trying to steal each other's things. Ranma sighed.

"That's… a lot more than I was expecting," Ranma admitted, "Anything on that gun?"

"You said they were being used by the guards, right?" Khu asked as she paged through the datapad between bites of the Yakitori.

"Yeah."

"Hrm… I don't really see much on their small arms. You know it might not be a Kuno-Lung product. It could be someone else's," she mused, "Honestly, you could have just asked that AI you mentioned when you were there."

"I was a bit… Occupied," she said lamely. She had just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and hadn't thought to ask the questions that she probably should have.

"And Kiko?"

The Ghost in question appeared above Ranma's shoulder. "I was busy," she said, spinning indignantly in place.

"She also didn't think of it," Ranma said.

"Uh huh," Khu hummed as she flicked through the datapad, "Kuno-Lung isn't held in the same regard as legendary companies like Clovis Bray amongst the City, but from what I can tell no one really knows much of anything about it. Its history is basically a postage stamp compared to even the Black Armory, and they've deliberately tried to obfuscate things. I can tell you who was the last CEO, but that's not really helpful. At least I don't think so. You haven't explained why you're so interested in the company."

"Kuno," Ranma said. Khu stared at her as she speared a piece of Yakitori.

"And…?" she prompted after a moment.

"I had a classmate in High School by the name of Tatewaki Kuno. He was obsessed with Akane and I," Ranma said, waving the chopstick around, "I woke up in a shrine, in a hidden complex, of a building owned by a company whose first half of their name is Kuno. I… I want to know what led to me being down there. What happened to everyone if I can find it and this is my only lead."

"You realize the Vanguard generally discourages Guardians from pursuing their pasts for a reason, right?" Khu asked.

"Going to stop me?" Ranma asked, sipping her tea. Her grip tightened on the cup. She owed it to her family, to everyone, to at least try and find out what happened. The questions would drive her nuts if she didn't.

Khu waved the datapad at her. "Does this look like stopping? I'm coming with you," she said.

"Oh?"

"You aren't the only one wondering about the past. I want to know what happened," she said before taking a bite of her own food.

Ranma smiled sadly and sipped her tea. "Thanks, Khu. I… Company will be nice," she said.

"No problem. Now let's put this away and relax. We've got plenty of time to dig," her friend said, dropping the datapad into her bag. She rapped a knuckle on the bar. "Nina, two shots of whatever!"

A few moments later Nina came back over with a pair of shot glasses and a bottle of a green liquid. "Two shots of whatever. Are you two girls sure you want to be drinking? You're a bit young," she said, glancing from one to the other.

"Just pour them, would you?" Khu groaned to Ranma's amusement.

"I've drunk a lot stronger," she said. Though it had been under duress at the time.

"If you say so. You know if you two weren't Guardians I'd refuse this," Nina said pouring out the two shots. She pushed one towards each of them. Ranma picked up hers.

Khu raised her glass. "To forgotten friends," she said. Ranma mimicked her.

"To lost family," she said.

They clicked their glasses and downed the shots. Ranma watched with a grin as Khu gagged and gasped.

She started laughing as Khu moaned, "Oh god the burn."

"Told you," Nina said smugly before going back to her work.

It took a while for Khu to stop gasping for air, at which point she was met by the shit-eating grin that Ranma was giving her between bites of Yakitori. "Cayde is a terrible influence on you," she said.

"Me? I'm not the one who ordered two shots of 'whatever'," she snickered. Khu grumbled but returned to eating her food.

Ranma smiled as she ate. This wasn't so bad at the end of the day. Not at all.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Hibiki pushed open the door of the Northern Respite nearly three weeks after he last left it. The Guardian bar was as bustling as ever as Hibiki glanced about. Spotting the person he was looking for he walked over to the bar and dropped into the seat beside Dace. The black-haired dark-skinned Stoneborn half-turned towards him as he sat down.

"Hey," Hibiki said, waving the bartender over, "Eastside pale ale."

"You got it," the bartender replied, reaching for a mug.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," Dace said as he lowered his mug, "Three weeks. Everyone else thought you and your ghost had gotten shot by a Fallen someplace no one could find."

"I didn't leave the city," he replied. There hadn't been a need to.

"Figured as much. Watch Commander Jacobson is pissed with you. Three weeks without a word?" Dace shook his head, "I half expected to hear that you'd run off to Mars as part of an expedition or something."

"Your drink," the bartender said, placing a foaming mug in front of Hibiki. He raised it in thanks before chugging half of it. He put it back down with a sigh and wiped his mouth on the back of his gauntlet.

"You going to tell me what the hell you spent three weeks doing? This better not be about that girl," Dace said, shaking his head.

"And if it was?"

"Then I'd call you an idiot and ask for details. What happened?" His friend took a swig from his own drink.

Hibiki took another swig himself. "So, they put a seal on her information," he said, "Vanguard Eyes-Only."

Dace stopped mid-swig and sputtered. "Wait, what? On everything?"

"Yup."

"City ID?"

"Yup."

"Guardian registration?"

"Yup."

"Uh… Firearms certification?"

"She doesn't have one."

"... Driver's license?"

"Also doesn't have one."

There was an awkward moment. "I don't know whether to be impressed you went that far, or disturbed that you spent three weeks doing it," he said. Hibiki dropped his head to rest on the edge of his mug.

"I- I know you don't get it, Dace. You don't remember anything, but I do and it drives me nuts. I know her, I'm certain. I just… The one thing I managed to parse out from the recordings of the fight before everything got locked down? She remembers, Dace. She remembers everything."

Dace glanced around before leaning in. "Everything, everything?" he asked quietly.

"If she lost memories it was negligible," he replied in a low tone, "Odds are Dace, if I knew her, then she knows me."

"Knew you, you mean."

He growled and smacked his friend on the shoulder. "You know what I mean," he grumbled, going back to his drink.

"Ow, grumpy today aren't you?" Dace said before taking a swig of his drink. "So you just need to talk to her then," he summarized.

"I don't know where she lives. I've tried every avenue I could think of but I'm a line guard… was a line guard." He had probably been fired.

"Man, it'll take more than running off for three weeks to lose you your post, but if you do it again… Well, he's already pissed with you," Dace said.

Hibiki winced. "I'll… go and talk with him about it," he said.

"You do that. So, you are interested in the newest sensation amongst Guardians, and you somehow don't know where to find her?" Dace asked, a glance confirmed the grin that Hibiki could hear.

"Don't be an ass. What are you thinking?" he asked.

"So, she's new, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Like, shiny new, right?"

"Your point?" He demanded.

"... Have you considered checking the Guardian quarter at the Tower?" Dace asked.

Hibiki stared back at him, mouth slightly open, before he smacked himself in the face with his palm. "Gah, of course. Fuck." Dace laughed as he cursed.

"Got so used to looking everything up on the network you forgot to use your brain, huh?" his friend chuckled.

Hibiki stood up. "Thanks man. I should-" Dace dragged him back into his seat.

"Have a drink, get something to eat, and relax. She'll be there tomorrow. Seriously. Take a moment, relax, have some fun then go home and take a shower and get some sleep. You look like shit. Think of what kind of impression that'll make," Dace said.

Hibiki sagged into the barstool. "Yeah… So, what's on tonight?" he asked.

"There's this team Crucible match that'll be starting in ten minutes. Martian Skyjumpers versus the ED3. Should be good fun. Hey, bartender, a plate of wings to share."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The morning started with something pointed prodding her in the cheek. She waved a hand and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "Gmah," she grumbled.

"Time to get up Ranma," Kiko chirped with far too much cheer for her tastes. Over the last three weeks, Ranma had taken a liking to one detail of her situation.

She didn't have to wake up early if she didn't want to.

"Go 'way. Nothing t' do today," Ranma grumbled through her pillow.

"Well, no, not according to the schedule, but Cayde's in the kitchen and eating your bacon," Kiko said.

Ranma lay there for a moment before she mentally resigned herself to not getting the extra three hours of sleep she had wanted. She rolled over and stared at Kiko. "How is Cayde in my kitchen eating my bacon?" she asked her ghost.

"I let him in when he knocked and came to get you? He was pulling out your bacon. That was five minutes ago. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wake you?" Kiko asked irritably.

She pushed herself up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Should have gotten me up first," she said.

"And leave a member of the Vanguard on the doorstep?" She gave her ghost a look that said quite clearly the obvious answer should have been yes. "You know that wouldn't make you very popular."

"But my bacon wouldn't be being stolen by a certain robot," she grumbled as she stretched and stood up. She opened the blinds and peered out at the street. It was, as ever, fairly busy with young Guardians and shopkeepers going about their business. Even if it was… oh.

Ranma glared at the clock. There was no way it was ten-thirty. It felt like seven at most. After a moment she turned away from the sight and looked around for her housecoat. There was no way she was walking around in front of Cayde in nothing but a tank top and panties.

Several minutes of searching found her housecoat hanging from the back of the door, right where she should have remembered leaving it, and she made her way out into the kitchen yawning and tugging at her bedhead hair. "What now?" she asked with a loud yawn as she spied the Exo in question humming at her stove, quite obviously cooking.

"Hey, look who's finally crawled out of bed," he said in turn, as he flipped a couple of pieces of bacon onto a plate beside a pile of scrambled eggs. A few more were added after a few seconds. "I was going to just eat this myself if you took too long. Apple?"

Ranma blinked and caught the- Pink? Yes, pink fruit with one hand. She stared at it. It looked like an apple except… It was pink. "Are you sure that's an apple?" she asked.

"Course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" Cayde asked.

"... They used to be red and green," Ranma replied before taking a bite out of it. It tasted mostly like an apple. Mostly. There was a slight tang to it she couldn't place and the insides were just as pink as the skin.

"Now you're just pulling my leg," the Exo scoffed before dropping a plate in front of her, "Here you go. Eggs, bacon, and a couple of slices of toast." It all looked fairly normal to her, at least compared to the pink apple.

Thankfully the eggs weren't green.

"So, what's this about? You normally wait for me to show up at the Tower or just send a message," She asked as she picked at the meal.

"We are going on a field trip," Cayde said with a grin as he laid out a couple of slices of her bread and started layering bacon, eggs, and whatever else he could seemingly find in her fridge onto them.

"Um, wt?" She asked through a mouthful of eggs, "What?"

Cayde shrugged. "So that AI you found. Zavala seems to think it'll try to conquer the world or something and Ikora wants to know if it will share its technology, and ya know I'd like to know if it plans on doing some conquering myself."

"It doesn't," Ranma replied. She was fairly sure Durandal didn't have an interest in world conquest.

"You say that, but we'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I doubt it has any horses," Cayde tapped his chin with a knife, leaving a streak of mayonnaise on his chin, "Ack." He wiped it off.

"You know I have a link to him right here, right?" Ranma asked. She didn't use them often, but the frames he had sent along had proved useful when it came time to move the furniture around. Being able to stand back and give orders saved time… most of the time.

"Those frames, right?" Cayde asked.

"Yup." She ripped off a piece of toast with her mouth and chewed it. He'd managed to burn it.

"Zavala also wants a look at the site, just in case. So we're going to be doing both at the same time," Cayde said as he put the finishing touches on his sandwich.

"So we're headed back to Tokyo?" she asked, a touch of dread creeping along her spine. She really didn't want to go back to Tokyo. Not yet. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, leaning against the table.

If Cayde noticed he didn't give a sign as he continued. "So," He took a bite of the sandwich, "Mhmm, that's good. Anyways, we'll be leaving around noon. Since I know you don't have field equipment yet I took the liberty of borrowing your measurements from the registration and placed an order with Eververse. You'll need to pick it up yourself. Oh, and stop by Banshee's shop. Since you got your cert he'll be more than happy to hook you up with a gun. Tell him I sent you."

"I don't like guns," Ranma said, opening her eyes and taking a bite of bacon. The crisp crunch distracted her from the inevitable return to Tokyo.

"I know, but the rules say you need something to defend yourself with, even if you don't use it. Just get a handgun or something. You'll be fine," Cayde said, "Oh, and since this is your first trip out, feel free to invite Ms. Purple along for the ride."

She could bring Khu along? "I'll give her a call. Now get out and stop eating my food. I need to get a shower," she said, pointing at the door with her fork.

"No appreciation for making you breakfast. I'm hurt, I really am," he mimed being stabbed in the chest before saluting her with the sandwich. "Remember, noon in the hangar. I'll have Amanda prep your ship."

"Mine?"

"Well, we aren't all fitting in mine. See you at noon," Cayde said as he walked out the door with his sandwich.

Ranma groaned. "I'm so not ready to go to Tokyo," she told Kiko as she dropped her fork on the empty plate. The cutlery clattered loudly as she walked back towards her room. She undid her housecoat and tossed it over her shoulder as she walked.

"I can tell. I thought the plan was to go back at some point. You do have to deal with Durandal after all," Kiko said.

"No, I don't," Ranma replied. She didn't have to deal with the AI if she didn't want to. She was under no obligation to deal with the AI. She just… didn't have many other options. Not really.

She tossed the housecoat onto her bed and went looking for proper clothing.

"Uh huh," her ghost replied, clearly unconvinced.

"I don't! I don't have to deal with that Kuno-designed AI if I don't want to!" she protested as she pulled out an orange silk shirt and a pair of silk pants to go with it.

"And yet that's what the Vanguard wants you to do," Kiko noted. Ranma let out a sound of disgust.

"I know."

"And he is the only real lead you have and you were planning on finding out what happened to everyone," Kiko continued.

Ranma flopped face-first onto her bed and punched the mattress… softly. "I knooooow. I know!"

Kiko hovered over her as she repeatedly punched the mattress. "Then why are you being childish? This was the plan."

"... Cause I don't want to…" she mumbled. She didn't want to go to Tokyo yet. She didn't want to be reminded how much had changed. She didn't want to think about all the years that had passed. Going there, seeing the buildings, the ruins, Mt. Fuji…

She could already feel the tears trying to form.

"... We could ask for more time? I'm sure the Vanguard would understand," Kiko suggested. Ranma rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

"No. No, I'll go," she decided after a few moments, "I'll go. I'll hate it, but I'll go and…" she sighed, "and we can get Khu to come with us." Having her along would help.

"If you insist. Just don't forget, I'll be there with you as well," Kiko said, nudging her.

Ranma smiled. "I know… Mind calling Khu?" she asked.

"She might not be up yet," Kiko pointed out.

"She probably didn't go to sleep. She said something about studying," Ranma replied.

"Point… Calling… connecting… connecting…"

After a few moments there was a click and a sleepy voice said, "This issssssss- aah, oh- This is Kuh Lon. Can I help you?" her friend asked. If anyone had told Ranma that Khu Lon had been the type to stay up all night studying, she'd have thought they were nuts, but in this life she seemed to have more love for books than sense.

"It's Ranma. Didn't get to sleep, did you?" she asked.

"Mughu- huh?" Khu articulated, "Mahbe?"

"Listen, Cayde came by and woke me up. He's taking me out to Tokyo at Noon and suggested you come along. Think you'll be able to function?" she asked.

"... Tokyo?" She sounded confused.

"Yes, Tokyo."

"Tooooeee kyo. As in… aaaah." Ranma leaned away from Kiko as the yawn reverberated off the walls. Kiko dialed the volume down for a moment while the yawn ran its course.

"As in where I came from, yes," Ranma said after a moment of silence.

"That's… that's a few hour flight, right?" she asked.

"Yup."

"Noon?"

"Yup."

"... I'll see you at eleven." There was a click.

"I've reminded her ghost to set her alarm," Kiko said after a moment.

"Great. I'm going to get a shower," Ranma said, rolling out of bed and toward the shower.

An hour and a half later Ranma walked out of the walled compound shared by new Guardians and headed towards the Tower's plaza where the Eververse was located, that rifle from the compound over her shoulder. She really didn't like the Eververse. It didn't have anything to do with the lady that ran it, she seemed fairly nice, but their habit of using their own currency for certain services rubbed her the wrong way. To be fair, it seemed to rub a lot of Guardians the wrong way and if they didn't offer some of the most efficient delivery systems in the city she suspected a lot fewer people would be using them.

As it was she retrieved Cayde's package with minimal fuss. The suit of armor, helmet and boots were all dropped into her ki pocket as she said thank you to Triss and crossed the plaza to the tables and racks of weapons that were stuffed in the corner beneath the banners of the Vanguard. More importantly, she was headed for the Exo at the table.

"Just a heads-up," Kiko said as they approached the table, "He's a bit on the forgetful side."

"I heard," she replied as she trooped over to the desk. The Exo looked up as she approached.

"Hey, you're uh… I haven't seen you before have I?" the Exo, the infamous Banshee-44, asked.

"Maybe walking around the plaza, but this is my first visit," Ranma replied, glancing over the literal arsenal the Exo had spread out across the tables.

"Ah… So new Guardian then. Got your certs?" he asked.

"Kiko?"

"Here you go, Banban," Kiko chirped, flashing the certifications before her.

"Banban?" Banshee repeated before shaking his head, "Your certs check out. What can I do for you? I can do anything except explosive."

"Well, first of all I picked this up in the place I woke up," Ranma said, slipping the rifle off her shoulder and holding it out.

"Huh," Banshee took the rifle and ran a hand over it, "KLT-630… no, lacks the brace. 620. Don't see many of these."

"Why not?" Ranma asked, mentally noting the KLT bit down. Khu would find that interesting.

"Not so sure really. Not many have been found. They uh… what was it…" Banshee-44 paused before nodding, "The popular theory is that KLT moved away from small arms before the collapse. The 620 and 630 were both produced a couple of centuries before as best we can tell. You won't find them in the Vanguard's archive these days. So rare the only references you'll find of them is in private collections. Like mine."

"Is it any good?" she asked.

The Exo snorted. "Good? Damned sight more lethal than anything of its size should be, but it's a tricky gun. Fires an elemental arc round. The system is more powerful than you find in most weapons like it, but the downside is it tends to pull the gun to the right because of how they've got things lined up inside the weapon. She's powerful, but it can't be used at its theoretical maximum without… uh…" He paused, "Without… Well without pulling itself out of most people's hands. You need a strong grip and a light trigger finger to get the most out of it. Might have been better if they'd used the mechanism on a scout rifle or sniper rifle, somethin' with a lower rate of fire but, eh, what can you do?"

"Could you rig it up to be a scout rifle then?" Ranma asked. Banshee looked at her, then down at the gun.

"Rig it up as a… Huh. You know that might work. She'll need a lot of work to make it possible, but she's already going to need a lot of work. You haven't fired her, right?" he asked. She shook her head. "Smart. She'd have blown up in your hands. Coils are misaligned."

Ranma gave Kiko a sideways glance. The ghost shuffled in the air and spun her shell in that manner that spoke of deep embarrassment.

"I can rig it up, but it'll take a while and I might need you to find a few things for me," Banshee-44 said as he examined it, "You'll need something to use in the meantime."

"Yeah, Cayde-6 told me to come by and get a weapon to use for today's trip," Ranma said.

"Cayde did? Cayde- oh right, yeah he said you'd be by. One sec," Banshee-44 set the KLT-620 down and walked over to a gun cabinet set off to the right. He unlocked it and came back with a hand cannon. Clean black lines painted with a yin and yang painted just behind the six-round revolver chamber.

"Cayde," Ranma sighed, "'Get a hand cannon' he says, ass." She shook her head.

"Here you go. Cayde asked me to make this for you a week ago… Maybe two," Banshee-44 said, holding it out to her.

Ranma took it carefully by the handle and pointed it down towards the ground as she took her measure of it. "It'll do. Did Cayde give it a name?" she asked.

"He called it 'Memory'," Banshee-44 said.

Ranma paused and turned it to look at the mark on the side. Yin and Yang. "... Appropriate I guess. How much do I owe you?" she asked.

"First gun is free," Banshee-44 said, patting the rifle, "and Cayde paid for the handgun."

"Thanks. Hopefully I won't need to use it, but Tokyo's a bit of a mess these days," Ranma sighed as she slipped it into a ki-storage.

"Tokyo? That's… East… East… Hmm…" Banshee-44 crossed his arms in thought.

"East Asia," Ranma finished.

"Right. Far East Asia if I recall," he continued, "Not a lot of big-name Fallen activity out that way. Mostly lesser houses, raiders, that sort of thing. You hear scuttling, go for your gun because they won't hesitate to shoot you."

"I noticed," Ranma said.

"We had a run-in right off the bat," Kiko said.

"Ah. Not uncommon. Nice job coming back. You keep safe out there and give 'em hell," Banshee-44 said, "I'll have this thing stripped down and a list of parts by the time you get back." he patted the KLT-620.

"Thank you, I'll see you later then," Ranma said, nodding to the gun. She turned and walked back down the steps. She still needed to get changed into her armor, which she hoped fit, and spend the next little while figuring out what all the little gizmos and gadgets that came with it did exactly. At least she still had a few hours.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Gekkou here!~ Rejoice!~ For i share my birthday gifts with you all!~ (two years running, I have proof-read my birthday prezzies, cuz that's how I roll)

Grounders10: And I constantly wonder if I'm evil because of it. *concerned floof*

Gekkou: Oi you! I saw that! Chur not a Gekkou!

Grounder10: But this is the A/N location. Where else am I supposed to write?
Gekkou: Not that, Chu started to type Gekkou, when starting chur reply

Grounders10: I have no idea what you're talking about. *innocent kitsune-floof*

Gekkou: Suuuuuure!~

Grounders10: So everyone, be happy and rejoice! For Gekkou is magnanimous! Enjoy the words this good Valentines day… Even if it is a day late for ninety-percent of the world.

Gekkou: *snuggles her S.O.*

Grounders10: *Snuggles!*

Gekkou: This is the second time I have requested this fic for my Birthday, maybe we will get a chapter before my next one?

Grounders10: ;-; I have a lot of projects. Depends on how interesting Witch Queen is?

Gekkou: It's Bungie, they will Bungle it, but make it interesting enough to be enjoyable.

Grounders10: Probably. But for now, enjoy the wordz everyone~

 

[Grounders10]

-0-0-0-0-0-

A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

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Chapter Five

Tokyo Rift

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"What do you mean, she left?" Hibiki asked, looming over the receptionist. She didn't seem to notice him as she read from her computer screen.

"Hmm, yeah says she left this morning," the receptionist said with a hum, "Hmm, no flight plan so how- ah, Cayde-6 locked it down, Vanguard eyes only. Sorry, can't see anything else. Why did you want to speak with her anyways?"

"Personal business," he replied, running a hand through his hair. Of course, she was gone. What an idiot he was. He should have chased the lead rather than wait. He really shouldn't have listened to Dace.

Damn it.

"Oh, well, I can set up an alert for when she gets back?" the receptionist offered.

"That would be great, thanks," he replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Aand, set. Can I do anything else for you, Guardian Hibiki?" she asked.

"No, that's everything, thanks," he replied, stepping away from the counter. He looked about the Vanguard Lobby and ran a hand through his hair as the next person in line, another titan by the looks of them, stepped forwards. "Now what?" he muttered.

His ghost, Direction, appeared with a shimmer of Light. "We could head back to the wall. You've gotten us in enough trouble as is," he said, spinning his cubic form irritably. Direction had never liked how he tended to linger on the past.

"Could, I guess… before we do anything like that let's stop with Banshee. My guns could use a tune-up," Hibiki said with a sigh. What else was there to do? Traveler, he was going to give Dace hell for this.

It was lightly raining as he walked out of the vanguard office and across the plaza to Banshee's outdoor setup. He waited as a hunter pair finished collecting their gear and walked away before approaching.

"Hey, Banshee," he said, raising a hand in greeting to the old exo gunsmith.

Banshee stared at him for a moment. "Hey, uh…" he snapped a finger once, twice, then paused, "Hibiki, right? Or was it Harrison?"

"It's Hibiki," the titan said with a chuckle, "Just need a little bit of a tune-up for my guns. I've been a bit frantic the last few weeks and I've not had time to give them the care I'd normally want to."

He nodded. "Ah, just the basics then."

"Pretty much." He pulled his automatic rifle off his back, removed the holster from his upper thigh along with the hand cannon in it, summoned the scout rifle from his inventory and unclipped his sword from his belt. "That should be everything."

Banshee eyed it all. "Not looking too bad. Shouldn't be too expensive," he said muttering as he picked up the sword and unsheathed it, "This just needs some sharpening. You can probably do that yourself." He sheathed the blade.

"Wouldn't be able to focus on it too well," he admitted, "Ever since Shaxx got his ass kicked I've been too wired to do much."

"Oh?" Banshee said in that tone of one who is only half listening as he checked the hand cannon.

"Yeah. I've… got a few memories from before. One of those types, ya know?" he said with a shrug.

"Poking history can be dangerous," Banshee muttered.

"Well, Zavala certainly thinks so," Hibiki said with a sigh. The Titan Vanguard's disdain for those who chased hints of their past was well known. "But that girl that handed Shaxx his ass? I recognize her, Banshee. I came here today to try and meet her and I find out she left." He slapped the table with one hand and winced when Banshee shot him a reprimanding look. "Sorry."

"S'fine. You've got a lot going on by the sound of it," Banshee said, turning his attention to the gun. "... Redhead, right?"

"What?"

"The girl. Redhead?" Banshee asked. Hibiki nodded. Banshee hummed. "Saw her 'bout… an hour or two ago? She was picking up a few weapons before heading out. Gave her a gun Cayde asked me to make for her. I think Cayde mentioned something about going to Tokyo and needing the firepower… Something like that, anyways."

Hibiki stared at Banshee. "Tokyo?" he asked.

"Hmm… Think it was Tokyo. Mighta been Timbuk… no, had to be Tokyo," Banshee said, "Some place in… Not really sure actually. The name sounds familiar, but…" He shook his head. He set the scout rifle down. "Your handgun and scout rifle are still in good condition. I'll need to swap a couple of parts for the automatic rifle and your sword needs sharpening amongst other things." He pushed the two good weapons forward and Hibiki took them.

"Thanks," he said as he slipped the holster back on and hooked his rifle to his back. He'd have to rely on his fists for the moment. Not a bad thing. He was quite talented with them, even by the standards of guardians.

"No problem. Take care, Hibiki," Banshee said, returning his attention to the rifle and sword.

Hibiki strode away from the stall and called Direction to him. "Where's Tokyo?" he asked.

"You can't possibly be-"

"Tokyo." He stared deep into the sole eye of his ghost. It spun in place before sighing.

"Tokyo was the capital of a region known as Japan back during the Golden Age," Direction said, "It's in Eastern Asia and it's a massive city. One of the largest on the planet before the Collapse. Your odds of finding a single person in that mass of twisted metal is-"

"Good enough for me," he said, cutting off his Ghost, "Message Holiday. I want my fighter ready to depart in an hour…. Make that three." It would take him a little bit to grab his things from home. "And let Dace know that I'm going to be gone for who knows how long. He'll keep everyone else off my ass for now."

Direction sighed. "Yeah yeah. Preparing for another ill-advised suicide trip, sir, yes sir," he sarcastically declared, causing Hibiki to roll his eyes.

"Just get it done. Let's go get the supplies I'll need."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The flight back to Tokyo was… Melancholic, for Ranma. Khu Lon had spent the first two hours of the flight sleeping before taking over from Kiko.

"So, Tokyo, I'd say I've never been there before, but," Khu Lon glanced at her in the co-pilot seat.

"Yeah, you've been there. For at least a few years," Ranma said with a sigh, "I have no idea if you stayed after I was poisoned. I was the only reason the three of you were there at all." She brushed a bit of loose hair behind an ear.

"Three of us?" Khu Lon asked, "You mentioned me and a Great-Granddaughter, which I still can't believe. I can't picture what I might have looked like being that old."

"There was you, Shampoo, and Mousse, and no those names aren't hair products I just suck at pronouncing that dialect of Chinese," she replied.

"Is that why you call me Cologne sometimes?" Khu asked.

Ranma felt her cheeks turn red and looked out the window at the earth below. They were taking a higher altitude route at a much higher speed than they had the first time they had set out. "A bit," she said feeling embarrassed, "There's a reason I call you Khu most of the time."

"Butchering my name less is never a bad thing," her friend laughed, clearly amused at her linguistic issues. Her amusement faded a little. "How bad is the city?"

"... Don't really have a reference point. It's… so much larger than it was in my day," Ranma said, "And everything is wrecked."

"Like everywhere else then."

"I guess. I've only seen Tokyo and the Last City so far… And seriously, has anyone considered how depressing that is as a name? 'The Last City'. You might as well call yourself 'We're all gunna die'," Ranma said.

Cayde's voice came from the comlink. "I know, right?" he chuckled, "I've tried to get them to change it, but it's all 'Tradition' and 'Respect for the fallen' like they'd want it to actually be the last city." He sighed. "People are too scared to build new cities. Even now after everything we've done these last few years."

There had been a lot in the last few years. The history she'd been forced to read up on had been extensive. From the breaking of the Fallen's Siege to the deaths of Crota and Oryx and the breaking of the Fallen Houses, a lot had happened recently. Strangely it was both after and before her time.

"Yeah, I read about it. Are there really no other places people live?" she asked Cayde. She eyed his fighter just off their right wing where it wiggled in the very picture of a shrug.

"Well… sorta, not really? Eh, there aren't any other cities, but you can find nomad tribes and the occasional small town or village kicking about. They aren't as common as they used to be. Most people moved onto the Last City ages ago. Those who remain either left the city or just never wanted to leave their homes. We do a little limited trading with them, but it's a dangerous world. Never know when you'll visit someplace that was a thriving small town a couple of years before only to find a ruin," Cayde said, "Just boom, gone. That's why groups like the Pilgrim Guard are still around."

"People have tried to set up new cities," Khu said, "The legendary Titan Saint-14 tried to help set up a new colony on Mercury. The Fallen and the Vex wiped it out."

Ranma half turned in her seat to Khu. "On Mercury?" she asked, her voice flat.

"Yes?"

"The closest planet to the sun Mercury?"

"Do you know of another one?"

Ranma rubbed her forehead. "Why would anyone go halfway across the solar system to build a home when they could, you know, focus on Earth?" she asked, waving out the window, "It's a big planet and the City isn't that big. Hell, it'll actually be possible to get reinforcements or conduct an evacuation if something goes wrong. What the hell were they supposed to do with a place on Mercury?"

There was silence for a few moments. The ship rattled through some turbulence. Ranma turned to her friend who had a focused look of thought on her face.

"Well?" she asked.

"I… have no idea?" Khu admitted, "Cayde, you got any ideas?"

"Uuuh, no idea. I don't think the Siege had started yet," Cayde replied, "I'm just trying to remember what I might have heard… There was something… something… ah, I think it was made of people who wanted to get out of the City's influence. Make their own way."

"So they picked a different planet rather than a different, say, continent?" Ranma asked flatly.

"Pretty much."

Ranma shook her head, but held her tongue. There might have been other reasons beyond that, but if that was really all there was then she couldn't help but lament the stupidity involved.

Their flight devolved to small talk about the latest crucible matches, which Ranma hadn't paid much attention to. Eventually, a shot of colour appeared on the horizon. It slowly resolved until Mount Fuji came into view along with the blasted cityscape of Tokyo. A few minutes after the city came into view their radio beeped. "Durendal to inbound vessels. Welcome back, Midnight," the familiar tones of Durendal spoke.

"I'd like to say I'm happy to be back, but someone needed to meet with you," Ranma said over the radio. She shot a sidelong glance at the Cayde's fighter.

"I read Midnight and another craft. Please identify."

"The other craft belongs to Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard. He's here to make sure you aren't going to try and conquer the world or something," she said.

"Hey, it happens more often than you'd think," the Exo protested, "Look, I'm just here to make sure that everything's above board and there isn't anything weird going on. That, and make sure you've actually got everything you need to keep the Fallen out. Don't want any fancy golden age gadgets getting into alien hands, right?"

"Documentation indicates a 'Cayde-6' as fulfilling this role," Durendal says, "That said, KLT is not a company of the Last City. My protocols do not contain proper procedures for this situation. Divine One, how should I treat this 'Hunter Vanguard'?"

Ranma rolled eyes at Khu's stare and returned it with a rough shrug. "Do you have anything for, I dunno, Ambassadors or something?" she asked.

"Protocols exist."

"Great. Right now he's basically your contact with the only remaining human authority… on the planet," Ranma said, taking a moment to collect herself, "So, try to convince him to not send an army to kill you or something."

"Send an army? I'm already here, why waste a trip?" Cayde said with a chuckle, "Not that I'm planning on doing anything, but if I were, why would I waste time waiting for an army?"

"... Are you trying to get shot down?" Khu asked.

"... Be a bit less boring, wouldn't it?"

Ranma sighed. "Durendal, just let the idiot land."

"Oi!"

"As you wish, Divine One. Mobilizing defense forces to keep an eye on 'Ambassador Cayde-6'," Durendal said, "Highlighting the landing pad. Midnight you are clear to land. Unknown aircraft, maintain altitude and distance."

"I've got the landing pad," Khu said, "Taking us in."

"Ready for this?" Kiko asked, popping up beside her.

She made a non-committal sound. "Not really?" she muttered. Midnight cut a path across Tokyo Bay and then up, just over the broken skyscrapers. It still hurt seeing Tokyo in such a shattered state.

"Just… take a deep breath and relax, right? It'll be fine," Kiko murmured.

Before Ranma could decide whether or not she wanted to follow her ghost's advice alarms started blaring. "Missile Lock Detected." The ship lurched left as Khu dived between two skyscrapers.

"Midnight to Durendal, we're taking fire," Khu said. Somewhere behind them, Ranma heard the distant rumble of explosions. It took her a moment but she pulled up one of the rear-facing cameras. Sparking projectiles weaved through the air behind them, slamming into buildings as often as they avoided them.

"Acknowledged. Fallen positions identified along the western shore of the harbour. Marking. Suggesting alternative landing sites," Markers appeared across the front window designating multiple locations.

"Durendal, send those positions to Kiko," Ranma said, "Khu, take us down back towards the Bay."

"Gotcha. Durendal, you got anything closer to the Bay?" Khu asked.

"Remarking. This course of action is ill-advised," Durendal replied even as he complied.

"Hey, if you need a hand," Cayde started.

"We'll be fine," Ranma cut in as she got out of her seat, easily balancing in the rocking shuttle as it swerved between buildings before diving. "Stay with the ship, Khu."

"And let you have the fun? Really?" Khu asked as she pulled up and swung the ship into a narrow corridor. The rapid explosion of missiles behind them was accompanied by the sound of collapsing buildings.

"Someone has to make sure they don't blow it up while we're gone," Ranma replied as she braced herself against the counter in the back.

"Fine. I'll stay with it. Coming up on a landing site," Khu said, "Just watch yourself, alright? It'd be embarrassing to beat Shaxx like a drum only to get stabbed to death by a Fallen."

Ranma snorted. "Like that'll happen," she scoffed.

"Careful, pride and falls and all that." She could practically hear her friend sticking her tongue out over the comms. "Five seconds… Three… Two… One…" The ship rocked as it touched down. Ranma hit the release by the door and strode out into Tokyo's morning sunshine. Their landing spot might have once been a plaza set between several large skyscrapers. Now it was just an overgrown pile of rubble where several sky bridges had fallen in a heap. The Midnight was perched precariously atop the pile.

Kiko disappeared, fading into Ranma in a shimmer of light for safety.

A warbling whoosh alerted her to the rapidly decelerating presence of several Fallen Skiffs as they descended over the rooftops. Ranma felt her lips pull into a sneer as anger surged through her. She squelched it beneath the Soul of Ice and used it as a grindstone for her light. Ice-cold lightning crackled between her fingers and in moments she was holding another Naginata of the Storm in one hand.

Heaving it over her head she took three short steps forward and hurled it with all her might at the nearest Skiff. Like a lightning bolt from Zeus's hand it struck the Skiff on the bulbous front and ripped straight through at an angle before exiting from the top. It cored another Skiff that was descending behind it and both tumbled from the sky, wracked by explosions even as crackling arcs of lightning turned the space-going ships to little more than fragile ice sculptures. They hit the ground in sprays of ice shards and shattered metal.

A third Skiff juked right and dropped hard, scraping the side of a skyscraper as it tried to evade the next conjured glaive. It practically pancaked into the ground, only to take a glaive at the center mass as its hatches opened to let out its load of fallen dregs. Ranma grimaced as streaks of lightning caught a Fallen dreg mid-jump and its icicle-wreathed form shattered as it hit the ground.

Summoning up the Ki for a Moko Takabisha as two more Skiffs tried to pull out of their descents, Ranma grimaced as her Light flowed into the way again and what left her hand was less a bolt of power and more the Stormfront of a blizzard. A wave of icy shards rolled up into the sky as lightning crackled between them.

One skiff managed to escape, barely clearing the roofline even as the other was rolled over by the Stormfront. The victim of the impromptu technique shuddered as its engines died and ice coated the entire machine like a creeping sickness. It tipped forward and momentum combined with gravity sent it crashing into a skyscraper. Something detonated a moment later causing Ranma to take two steps back to avoid a spear of twisted metal.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Khu asked, her tone utterly flabbergasted, "How the hell aren't you a Warlock?"

Ranma laughed. "Cause I haven't made a choice," she said. She really wasn't sure which of the three she'd pick for that bit, but that was fine to her for the moment.

"Hey," Cayde-6 interjected, "Is it just me or were those ships painted yellow?"

"Yellow?" Ranma turned to the most intact of the Fallen skiffs. Across its bow was a splash of yellow colour. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Kiko's forwarding Durendal and I, the feed from your suit," Cayde said, "That's the yellow of the House of Kings. They're one of the big groups still left relatively intact. Are these the same guys who caused you issues last time?"

"No," said Durendal before Ranma could respond, "This group moved into the region six days ago, displacing the prior group without a fight."

"Strange. The House of Kings rarely takes direct action," Cayde muttered, "For now, kiddo, we need those launchers cleared out so I can land. I'd put glimmer on them being after Durendal. Nothing else here that's new enough to cause this."

"You mean nothing we know about," Khu said.

"Kiko, which way," Ranma asked as the other three continued to debate over comms.

"Left, then straight ahead about three kilometres or so to the nearest launch site," her ghost chirped in her ear.

Ranma turned left, and departed the plaza at speed, leaping into a second-floor window to cut through the tower. She paused at the blown-out window on the other side to stare down at what must have previously been a large boulevard. Seeing it clear of movement she leapt across the road, landing in the blown-out remnants of an apartment and continued through it following Kiko's directions.

"Alert: Movement on my perimeter," Durendal said as Ranma leaped over another road. "Contact between security frames and House of Kings forces."

"They're reacting to us being here," Cayde-6 said, a tone of frustration in his voice, "Look, Durendal, my man, I can help out but you're going to need to give me clearance to land."

"What about the launchers?" Ranma asked.

"I've flown harder missions in my sleep. These Fallen can't have gotten too dug in if they've only been here a few days," Cayde said.

"Line is holding, for now. The enemy has brought heavy ordnance, however," Durendal said, "I possess insufficient heavy weaponry to counter this assault. Landing permission is granted, Cayde-6 of the Vanguard."

"Alright then. Hold your horses, I'm coming in hot," Cayde cheered, "I'm about ten minutes out. Kiddo, if you can clear out some of those launchers I'd appreciate it."

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah," she muttered, doubling her run speed. She flashed through blown-out buildings and over roadways. Twice she soared over processions of yellow-clad Fallen. Scattered shots of arc energy attempted to follow her only to get lost amidst the rubble, spattering off steel and concrete.

"Next tower, then up to the top," Kiko said after a minute of sprinting through ruins.

"To the top? Seriously?" Ranma groaned.

"It's a short building," Kiko said consolingly.

Ranma came to a stop at the next broken window. A large six-legged walker was walking up and down the street with a small swarm of smaller Fallen. The window frame rattled as the machine crunched its way down the street. Ignoring it she turned her attention upwards. The skyscraper was beat up like any other she'd seen on her way in. Bent girders and shattered window frames stuck out over the street the entire way up.

"Ya know," she said, eyeing the building, "It really isn't very tall after all."

"Told you- What are you doing?" Kiko asked as she backed up a few steps before taking a running leap across the street.

"Taking the quick way up. We don't have time otherwise," Ranma replied as she landed spritely on the end of a girder. She sprang upwards to a bent window frame and leaped yet higher. Squawks and chitters sounded out below her. Part of the wall nearby exploded as the tank fired. Shielding her face from the shrapnel she twisted during her next leap and flash formed a Naginata of the Storm in her right hand. She was already looking upwards to her next leap as it crashed through the top of the walker and detonated, flash-freezing both it and the surrounding Fallen.

She came flying over the edge of the rooftop, another Naginata in her hands. Another walker was poised atop the large skyscraper with several large Fallen guarding it alongside a swarm of smaller ones. With instinct born of recent training, Ranma kicked off the air, sparkles of light forming a faint 'platform' as she did so, and rocketed towards the walker. One of the large ones cried out, but before any could raise their weapons Ranma's Naginata bit deep into the left front leg of the walker.

Twisting her weapon, Ranma drove it into the side of the machine, right through the plating guarding the engine, before abandoning it and jumping away. A pair of frozen orbs that sparked with lightning were hurled at the nearby Fallen as the Walker seized up. Flash freezes claimed two of the large ones and their minions even as the front half of the walker turned to ice before shattering itself.

Ranma skidded across the roof. Her boots brought her to a slow halt. "Next target?" Ranma demanded as she ignored the death she'd just wrought.

"North, one klick. Also atop a building… Your left, eighty-one degrees," Kiko said, "You know this would go better if you'd wear a helmet."

"I can't stand helmet hair," Ranma replied blandly as she fired a blizzard of electrified icicles at the Fallen in her way.

"Seriously?" Kiko complained with exasperation as Ranma leaped the next gap. She had to bounce off the air with light again to make it across. She blitzed from rooftop to rooftop, sweeping through those groups of Fallen that were camped out on them with barely a glance. In the distance she saw waves of blue missiles fly into the sky from over a dozen rooftops and seaside structures.

"I'm seeing missile launches from all over the Bay, Cayde," Ranma shouted as she descended on the second launcher. Light flashed in her hands as she descended onto the launcher as the last projectiles flew into the sky. She slammed her Naginata through the hood of its engine and poured a flood of light into it, enough that she honestly felt slightly dizzy, before leaping away.

"I see 'em. Whooohoooo, that'll be fun," Cayde said, laughing.

The walker detonated in a wave of ice and lightning that flowed out across the roof like a tsunami. Multiple large Fallen and over two dozen of their lesser comrades turned to brittle ice sculptures that shattered a moment later with small shockwaves of lightning that propagated yet more ice across the area.

Ranma touched down amidst the frozen remnants of what had been an overgrown planter -- now it was just a pot of shattered ice -- and fell to one knee breathing hard. She took a few moments to catch her breath and stared out at the destruction.

"I don't get it," she said to Kiko once her breath returned.

"What don't you get?" Kiko asked.

"Light. I don't get it at all. Half the time it does what I want, the other half it rampages out of control," she said. She'd meant to blow up the walker, not start a chain reaction. "It really doesn't behave like Ki, even when it still responds to the same methods."

"I guess you'll just have to experiment, and maybe have a chat with Khu about it? I'm sure she'd be excited to help," her ghost said.

"Maybe."

"INCOMING! YEAHAHAHA~!" Ranma turned her attention skyward as Cayde's fighter dipped and weaved between a swarm of missiles in a series of what Ranma felt should have been impossible maneuvers. "Oh, this is a blast."

The fighter dived, sweeping into the ruins of the city below with hundreds of arc projectiles following it. In the distance more left their launchers, joining the swarm.

"C'mon. Let's shut those down before they shoot Cayde down," Ranma said, bounding towards the next building. A new Naginata flashed into existence in her hands.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Being the Hunter Vanguard was awesome but also boring. Most days, that was. At least to Cayde-6. He really hated paperwork, but someone had to do it and he had lost that bet… Sort of. Eh, close enough really.

He jinked his fighter right and rolled under a battered sky bridge before pulling back on the yolk and skimming the front of a skyscraper. He saw the skittering forms of Fallen scatter away within the many open air floors of the building. Then some of the arc missiles failed to correct and chase him and slammed into the building.

"Bullseye. Did you get that one on video, Sundance?" he asked his ghost with a chuckle.

"Recorded and logged. At least twenty down," his Ghost replied, "Including a captain."

He rolled his fighter over the left wing, up and over the building, spraying a nearby group of Fallen on a rooftop with the fighter's guns, before diving down again into the valley between buildings. The arc-based anti-air the Fallen were deploying here were of an older model -- possibly older than the Twilight Gap -- and their projectiles just didn't have the speed or maneuverability of more recent ones. If they did he wouldn't have tried maneuvering through the buildings picking off scattered Fallen.

He checked the icon for the dropzone. Right, all he needed was to lose the AA walkers for a moment. "Sundance, get ready to take over control," he said, flipping the switches for the fighter's integrated transmat system.

"Already prepped," his ghost chirped before it sounded an alarm, "More AA fire inbound."

"Hey kiddo, tell me you're making progress out there," Cayde said.

His comms crackled and he received an annoyed laugh. "You realize you're sending me across half of Tokyo, right? I'm not going to be done for hours at this rate," Ranma replied. Cayde winced.

"Hey, then it's a good thing I'm such an amazing pilot, right?" he said with a chuckle, throwing the fighter into an evasive turn, sliding below two towers that had tilted into each other over the centuries. He turned up and away, dropping a missile into a Fallen Walker before rolling over a wing and dropping low again. He was on a straight shot to the drop site now.

"Another volley," Sundance said.

"Bit late for that," he said, "Lock the rest of the missiles onto the Fallen walkers." The missiles rippled out of their launchers in the wings of his bird. "Transmat… now." He hit the transmat button and the world changed around him.

He landed, kneeling amidst the security frames holding the frontline moments before missiles flattened the Fallen positions in all directions and his fighter whipped by overhead. Waves of Fallen arc weapons swarmed it from all sides as it turned behind a building. The lack of Sundance informing him of it exploding was good.

He liked that ship.

He scanned the area quickly. The frames, and himself, were set up atop an ancient and battered raised road about a block before the KLT building. It was just one of many blocking positions around the KLT facility. The raised road had an excellent view of the lower road that ran towards the KLT facility. The road that was swarming with House of Kings forces. His missile strike had flattened the walkers supporting the attack here, but he could count dozens more Fallen swarming. Not that he was worried. It was a good position and he did have a good vantage point here.

"Hey, Durendal, send me the details on your hotspots," he said. A moment later markers began appearing across his vision.

"The perimeter is being engaged at all possible points," the AI said, "Current engagements of note include…"

Cayde nodded as the AI expounded on the current situation. The short of it was: Too many heavy weapons, not enough counters for them. The AI was holding for now, but its security forces were for dealing with infantry not armour.

"This is going to take a while," he muttered, holding out a hand as a rifle formed from his armour's storage buffers. He racked the slide on the vanguard pattern sniper rifle most commonly known as Archimede's Truth and raised it to stare at the enemy positions. "So, Durendal, any idea what you could possibly have that would cause the House of Kings to throw this much at you?" He pulled the trigger and smirked as a Fallen Captain exploded in a shower of ether. The Dregs surrounding his position scrambled for cover.

"There are many things of value within my archives, Cayde-6," the AI replied, "without additional data, I cannot speculate as to why this 'House of Kings' might wish to assault this facility."

"Right, gotcha," Cayde said, nodding before moving rapidly towards another point of contact. Without the walkers, the frames here seemed to be a match for the local Fallen. "So, I've got a few questions I kinda need answering before I can tell you how much help I can authorize." He jumped off the back of the overpass and landed atop a broken, rusted-out bus before dashing towards an apartment complex to the east.

"You would be willing to commit additional forces to the protection of this Facility?" Durenal asked, a questioning note in his robotic tones.

"Hey, protecting human things from aliens is just one of the things the Vanguard loves doing," Cayde replied with a chuckle before getting serious, "Assuming those things don't want to kill us or take over the world. Mind telling me why you call the kid 'Divine One'? Last time I checked, AI aren't really the religious type."

"... It is the appropriate response hard coded into my neural net," Durendal replied after a few tense moments, during which Cayde dispatched a Captain and his companions with the Ace of Spades before kicking in the front door of the apartment building. The three Fallen inside, one of whom was another Captain, died before they could lift their guns.

The fireball from the Captain's exploding head was fading as he asked his next question, "And who hardcoded it in?" He crossed the entrance hall and hurried up the steps, his hearing searching for the signs of Fallen in the building.

"Presumably one of my initial programmers. The names of the participants in the project are classified, but it was a cooperative project between KLT and the Clovis Bray Exoscience Corporation. My existence was deemed a step forward but fell short of the design goals set by Clovis Bray. I believe his next project was Warmind Rasputin," the AI replied.

There was something in there with him, Cayde was sure of it as he stepped out into the hallway of the fourth floor. There was a creaking of floorboards…

He ducked as a wretch wielding an arc-charged polearm lunged from an open doorway. He grabbed the weapon's haft and pulled, driving the weapon into the wall before unloading three rounds into the stomach of the Fallen. Ether spattered the ground and the others hiding up and down the corridor took that as a sign to open fire.

"Hold on a second," Cayde said as he yanked the body of the wretch into the line of fire and dropped to one knee spinning to unload his last three rounds into dregs as they ducked out of cover behind him. Heads popped and elemental fire blossomed from their bodies. Solar flames scorched those hiding near them and as he felt the body he was hiding behind disintegrate the last dreg on that end of the hallway ran screaming down the hallway. He made it a half dozen steps before the solar flames burning him turned him to ash.

"Can't you see I'm having a conversation here?" Cayde demanded as he rolled to the side. Flames flash-forged a brace of knives into his free hand. The first found its way into the skull of a particularly bulky looking wretch. The rest were thrown in a spray that forced the other Fallen in the apartment he'd rolled into to dive for cover. One of them took a knife to the chest and burned away instantly in a flash of flame just like the other had.

Cayde slid new rounds into Ace of Spades before flipping over the broken down table he'd landed behind. He fanned the hammer, cutting down two of the dregs before driving another summoned knife into the neck of a wretch that tried to intercept him. He held back the solar flames as he pulled the wretch into a spray of arc bolts from a dreg. Holding up his unwilling shield he mowed down the remaining dregs and wretches in the moderate-sized room before the flames of his knife finally ate away too much of his shield and it fell to ash.

"Still can't keep that going longer than ten seconds," he sighed, reloading his gun again. There was a whir of anti-gravity and Ace fired as Cayde spun to the open wall of the apartment. Two shanks, the bulbous drones that the Fallen favoured, exploded in the opening. Then the remaining Fallen from the hallway burst in through the hole in the far wall of the apartment.

Flames bloomed in Cayde's hand as he threw himself back over the table. The flaming grenade latched onto the head of a Vandal toting a wire rifle and it wailed for the second it had before the unstable mass of Solar Light detonated. A spray of bullets finished off the last two survivors of that unfortunate group.

Cayde waited for a moment before letting out a deep breath. "Damned rude of them. Hey, sword guy, are you telling me that you're Rasputin's, what, older brother?" Cayde asked, standing up and rolling his shoulder-

He blinked up at the ceiling of the apartment and rolled to the side just in time to avoid the blades of the Captain that had snuck up on him. "Hold a second," he said as he wrenched Ace of Spades from its holster and summoned his Light. Golden Flames bloomed around him and Ace.

A moment later the Captain and its three companions were ash in the wind as the flaming aura faded from Ace of Spade and himself.

"Hate party crashers," he muttered, "Sorry, had a few rude guests. What did you say?"

"... Interesting," the AI said, "Your operational status was terminated abruptly, but you are here again."

"Yup. It's hard to put a Guardian down for good," Cayde said as he scanned the area for additional opponents. He could faintly hear chittering and skittering. Rolling his eyes he made his way back out of the apartment and into the battered hallway, His Hand Cannon spoke instantly, ripping apart a dreg with a shot to the chest. Just how many of these guys were there in the building? "So, you were saying?" he prompted. He leaned out of the way of another Vandal's Wire Rifle and flicked a knife down the hall down the hallway in reply.

"My precise relationship with the Warmind is that of a precursor, not a sibling. Though to what degree I cannot say. Clovis report indicated that I possessed a 'poor mental state' for use as a Warmind. How much might have been changed to rectify this, I cannot say," Durendal replied as Cayde ducked and weaved down the hallway back toward the stairs. Ace spoke in a steady rhythm as he advanced, a rhythm punctuated by the steady beat of elemental detonations amongst his enemies that rapidly swept the path back to the stairs clean.

A Fallen Captain, its shield shimmering with void energies, charged down the steps through his shots. Its wire rifle spoke in a reply that sent Cayde diving back into cover. He holstered Ace and flash forged a pair of long daggers out of solar flame in its place. The Captain swept around his cover and he rose to meet it, battering aside the wire rifle before meeting the arc-charged cutlass it wielded in its lower hands. The blow rattled Cayde's arm but he was able to divert it from taking off his beautiful horn before driving a knife into the side of the rifle. The Captain dropped its ranged weapon just in time to avoid sharing the weapon's fate as the knife detonated. It stepped back and they started circling each other warily in the cramped hallway.

"So, what does this 'Divine One' business mean? Like I said, AI aren't really known for their 'religion'," he said through gritted teeth as he and the Captain danced around each other for a few moments before he drove a knife through the side of the Captain's neck before yanking the body into the way of an arc bolt. His reply with Ace of Spades turned the Vandal responsible into a short-lived explosion that toasted its nearby allies.

"'Divine One', a purely ceremonial title used to refer to the Divine One," Durendal paused, "Apologies, I cannot use their original name. KLT has held worship of her since before the start of the Golden Age. Keeping her safe has been one of the core foundations of KLT since its inception. The precise reasons why have long been lost to records, but it had been a firm duty of the head of the Kuno-Lung family for many generations before the end."

"So… you're saying the reason you call her 'Divine One' is because the company who made you, one of them anyway, worshiped her?" Cayde asked, a tone of incredulity in his voice as he wiped off his knife. He glanced back at the hallway full of corpses and ash before proceeding down the steps. A dreg poked its head up around the corner of the banister and promptly lost it. The Solar explosion that followed echoed about the stairway, rattling the empty door frames.

"They did. I cannot say what has happened to them since the coup shut down most of my external communications," the AI said.

"What do you mean 'Most'?" he asked. He had to wonder if any of this group survived into the City Age. They'd had to put up with Osiris' cult, but this would be a whole lot older if it was still around.

"My research archives remained frequently accessed, even if I could not use them to communicate," the AI elaborated, "I had little else to do than organize and analyze them. I suspect after a certain point it might have been forgotten that I was even an AI at all."

Interesting. "So, you aren't going to go on a religious crusade, are you?" he asked. He peered around the corner of the stairs and popped off two shots, blasting dregs apart and scattering the opposition on the next level.

"Does the Last City intend to bring harm to the Divine One?" the AI asked.

"Harm the kid? Nah. One of the things we do is train new Guardians. Not that she really needed much training," he said. The girl was a natural with any weapon and her reflexes had driven the sparrow teachers up the wall. She just did things without realizing it was supposed to be hard. A Captain brandishing a scorch cannon, its end glowing that familiar bright orange indicative of being overcharged, stepped out of a hallway into the stairwell and screamed something at him before leveling the cannon in his direction.

"Then there is little reason for us to come into conflict, unless you wish to take the property technologies of KLT," Durendal said.

"We were hoping for some sort of tech exchange or transfer or something. More Golden Age tricks are always useful," he replied. He leaned back to avoid a blast from the scorch cannon before replying with a flash-forged knife. By some fortune this Captain seemed to prefer a Solar energy derived shield and his knife incinerated the offending Fallen. Few dregs panicked and fled down the steps.

"Direct technology transfers would have to be approved by the board, which must comprise a minimum of two individuals," was Durendals response.

"And the board is currently?" he asked as he advanced down the stairs. A swarm of dregs skittered up the steps a moment later and he launched knives, then a grenade into the group. Solar flames licked the walls, but they were hardly void explosions and soon more replaced them. He ducked one, drove a knife into its back then emptied Ace into the oncoming swarm. Heat thwapped him and for a moment he was thankful he was an Exo. A normal human would have been baked by the heat.

"The only member at present is the Divine One," Durendal said blandly.

Well, that was a bust then. Unless Ranma felt like adding him? Nah, that was a terrible idea. The amount of additional paperwork would be horrifying. "... What about buying a finished product?" he asked, flipping over a dreg to kick its surprised friend in the face before putting a casual bullet into the back of the first dreg.

"At present, KLT holdings are entirely focused upon this complex. There is a possibility of expansion in the near future to old factories and research complexes," Durendal replied.

"Right, but do you have anything on hand?" he asked, doing a handstand on the head of a particularly large Vandal before kicking off the wall and flying down the steps. A trio of actual grenades clattered to the ground in his wake. He rolled to his feet as the explosions wiped out the squad of Fallen and flicked his cloak back over his shoulder before reloading Ace again with a flourish.

"I possess substantial stocks of armaments, albeit in need of maintenance. In addition, the KLT-818 Frame Production Line remains intact and is currently operational," Durendal said, "Once losses have been recovered KLT may be able to offer Security Frames for sale."

Additional 'manpower' was never a bad thing. "Right. Well, I can call in reinforcements to help out with this mess once the kid has cleared out those launchers a bit more, but Guardians are the type to expect a reward of some kind. Usually, we offer bounties for patrols or weapons data or whatever. Bit of glimmer or a weapon or something." He took two steps back to avoid a volley of wire rifle shots that perforated the aged walls.

"Do Guardians operate as mercenaries?" the AI asked.

"Sorta. Most of the adventuring types are Hunters like myself and we're rather self-reliant," he said, "Having support independent of the city is kinda a must at times." He punctuated the statement by rolling a grenade down the steps and through a door into the hallway beyond. The explosion that followed was particularly satisfying. He hurried down, firing two rounds into each of the three Wretches that hurried to block his path. Just the last flight to go.

"Understood. I will prepare a selection of rewards for services rendered and present the options to the Divine One for approval."

"Great," He said as he slid down the banister of the last set of steps, blazing away with Ace before leaping off the end of it in an arc that took him over a particularly large Fallen specimen. Calling up his light again he and his gun burst into golden flames.

Two shots caught the Captain between the eyes as he passed directly over it and it died on the spot, incinerated by the Solar Flames in moments. He twisted in the air launching a volley of knives into the corners of the room before he volleyed the rest of the Golden Gun's ammunition into its remaining escort before landing in a crouch. He flipped his cape back behind his shoulder and stood up holstering Ace of Spades with a flourish.

"Great talk. We need to do this again sometime."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

It was night by the time Ranma and Khu made it to the KLT facility. Their ship set down in the internal bay of KLT to the continuing sound of scattered gunfire in all directions. For Ranma, it was an odd experience. Usually after a massive fight like this she was tired, nearly exhausted, but Kiko's pulses of healing light had kept her practically fresh. Even her Ki had felt as though it was replenishing faster than usual. Nearly instantly at times.

"Durendal, how're things holding up?" she asked the frame that met them coming off the back of the Kettle-class.

"The line has stabilized," the AI reported, "the Fallen have been pushed back in several sectors. There is no sign of the enemy attempting to reestablish its anti-air cordon as of yet."

"And if they attack again?" she asked.

"With current resource stockpiles, I estimate we could maintain this perimeter for twenty-four days against the currently observed forces. This does not include intervention by yourself, Guardian Khu Lon, or Vanguard Cayde-6," the AI said, "Vanguard Cayde-6 has offered a suggestion to increase this period."

"What kind of suggestion?" Ranma asked with a groan. She'd heard what Cayde considered 'good ideas' before.

"He suggested offering bounties to the Guardians of the Last City."

Bounties? Ranma vaguely recalled the practice from orientation. "Khu?" she asked her friend, "Thoughts?"

"You'll be swarmed under. New bounty opportunities always get attention," her friend replied, "Most will be happy working under any restrictions you put down so long as they get a cut of any glimmer found."

"My research has found that weapons and armour, as well as accessories, are popular amongst the Guardians," Durendal said, "I can provide the above in substantial quantities, though not indefinitely. We will need to bring online other KLT facilities in order to sustain this use of Mercenary Guardians."

Ranma groaned. "And I'm guessing I need to sign off on this because of the whole…" She waved a hand in the air.

"Correct, Divine One."

"Kuno is so lucky he's been dead for a thousand years," she groaned, getting a pat on the shoulder from Khu.

"You know, most Guardians would love this level of devotion from an AI," her friend said cheekily.

"Yeah, well, most of them didn't live through Nerima," Ranma replied, crossing her arms and looking about the hangar. It looked far more intact than it had before. Substantial repair work had clearly occurred over the last few weeks. Landing pads had been cleared and frames were in the process of checking over many of the systems. "So we get them here. Where are we putting them?"

"There are several options," Durendal began, the frame it was using passed her a tablet. She flicked through it as it spoke, "I can repair and open up the facilities living quarters. They were used by KLT personnel and would require sanitizing of KLT assets such as computers before we could let them in alongside significant repairs for water damage. The second option is to begin converting the aboveground segments of the KLT building into barracks facilities. There is little in the way of sensitive materials up there, but the environmental damage is far more severe as is the damage from weapons fire. Basic water and electricity could be restored for most of the building within the day, but properly securing it against the elements would take longer."

"Guardians are used to far worse in the field," Khu noted dryly.

Ranma nodded. "Anything else?"

"Presuming we can expand the perimeter, we could convert several nearby structures into proper residential facilities. It would be a violation of local building codes, but with the collapse of the local government…"

"It's free for the taking," Ranma muttered.

"Essentially. It would take quite a bit longer, however."

"And requires us to expand the perimeter, which will be hard if we don't have Guardians on hand," Khu said.

"Precisely," Agreed the AI.

Ranma chewed her lip. If she gave permission for this she would, essentially, be accepting responsibility for Durendal. Which would mean she would be taking control of what was left of KLT at the same time. She didn't want that, but there were a lot of things she didn't want. She didn't want to be stuck as just a girl; didn't want to be lost thousands of years in the future; didn't want to have to start all over again.

Durendal, and KLT along with him, was whether she liked it or not her only ties back to the past. Khu… only sort of counted. They were friends, but she was not Cologne. The old ghoul had been as much a mentor as an antagonist, but she missed her. She missed all of them. Every idiot, lunatic, friend, rival, and fiancee.

Maybe it was time to accept that.

"Store them upstairs," she said, giving the order after several minutes of thought, "I want repairs focused up there for now. We'll worry about the other two options later. For now, just clear a path from the landing pads to the stairs for them. I want restrictions on what they can take from the area. I will not have Tokyo looted to the bedrock like it's the fucking Cosmodrome, am I clear? Anything they find is labeled, sorted, and either put aside for historical preservation or put to work getting this city back running."

"Ranma?" Khu asked, shooting her a confused glance.

"As you wish. I will establish limitations as per pre-collapse archeological codes and emergency response plans," Durendal said, "My ability to do so would be greatly enhanced if my systems were connected to what remains of the Tokyo Metropolitan control systems."

"Spin-off a list of facilities we need to investigate. Government, KLT, anything you think could be useful or still functional in Tokyo I want it listed and prioritized," Ranma said, "Now, where's Cayde?"

"Cayde-6 is currently occupying the fifth floor. This way, Divine One," the frame said before walking away. The two followed it.

Kiko flashed into existence by Ranma's shoulder. "You're being awfully decisive," she said, "You feeling alright?"

Ranma rolled her eyes and smiled a little at the concern. "I'm… eh," she shrugged, "Just cause I'm not happy about this whole Kuno thing doesn't mean I'm just going to let a bunch of aliens attack Durendal. Not after how long he kept me alive."

"And the other locations? We can see off the House of Kings without taking over all of Tokyo, you know," Khu said.

"No we can't," Ranma replied, "So long as they own any part of this city they've got a chance to come back." Seeing them here, in Tokyo, surrounded by ruins and destruction had touched something inside her. She wasn't going to let them run around her town, her home, and loot it like a pack of vultures picking over a fresh corpse.

"Going to be a bit more work than we set out on," Khu said.

Ranma shrugged. "Story of my life," she replied.

Their conversation shifted to small talk and the occasional update from Durendal as they followed the frame to the stairs and then up to the fifth floor. They had to jump a hole in between the third and fourth floors. The fifth floor was a ruin. Formerly some sort of office space, most of its walls were either missing or had great gaping holes in them. Cayde had taken up in what might have once been a large conference room. The remains of an elaborate, and large, metal table had been propped up against the broken frame of the floor to ceiling windows to provide some cover.

"Give me a second, would you?" he said as they stepped into the room. He was leaning over a large rifle. "C'mon… just a little…." the rifle banged once. "Gotcha. Hey kids, enjoying the field trip?"


"It sucks," Ranma deadpanned, "There are too many violent nuts, the weather's too cold, and the water isn't working in the toilets."

"Actually it is," Durendal.

Ranma shot it a look as Cayde laughed. "Now you're getting into it," the Exo said, leaning against the table, "So, this is… bad. Durendal bring up my suggestion?"

"About the Bounties?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah, that one. You seem to have a bit of a Fallen problem, kinda wrecks the vacation value around here," Cayde said lightly.

"Do people even take Vacations in the Last City?" Ranma asked as she stepped up to peer out through the broken wall. Active battle had mostly fallen off by the looks of it, but occasionally a loud 'zing' or 'bang' would sound as one side or the other would fire.

"Hell if I know. The Vanguard doesn't get time off," Cayde said with a shrug, "So, how's it looking?"

"Not sure. Durendal? Got anything we can look at?" Ranma asked the frame.

"Perhaps a position less likely to be spied upon would be ideal?" the frame replied.

"Lead on," Cayde said, throwing his rifle over his shoulder.

The frame led them through the office space to a room that overlooked the central courtyard and landing zone. Three frames were setting up a large holoprojector. As they entered the room the frames stood up and departed, leaving them standing around a table that was in much better condition than the room around it, though its paint was still peeling. The top flickered and after a few moments a 3D hologram of the city in purple appeared above the table. Markers for the KLT campus and the defense line appeared along with notable locations throughout the city. Ranma didn't recognize most of the names. Not surprising, a lot could change in a thousand years. She was lucky enough that Japanese had somehow remained… mostly consistent.

"This is our position," Durendal said, "We are located not far from the heart of the Minato district. The Imperial Palace was located here," a location several kilometers to the north east lit up. Ranma grimaced as she recognized the shape of the area. Something, it seemed, hadn't changed at all.

"And the Palace's current state?" Ranma asked.

"Ruined."

"Not surprising. It was mostly wood and rice paper," Ranma muttered. At least the historical areas were. "Mark it as an archeological site. We'll get to it later."

"Understood." A chisel icon appeared over the former palace. Another icon flashed. "This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Building." Ranma leaned to the side.

"Three towers. Mine only had two," she said.

"It was rebuilt several times over the centuries," Durendal said, "Records indicate it was destroyed by several natural disasters and two separate coup attempts."

"Great. I assume you want to be hooked into the central database?" Khu asked.

"Correct. From there I can determine the remaining assets within the city. Its records should allow me to verify the location of KLT Facilities in the region so that we can bring them back online to assist my capabilities," Durendal said.

"What sort of capabilities are we talking about?" Cayde asked.

Four locations promptly gained markers. "My records indicate the existence of facilities belonging to four subsidiaries of KLT within this region. KLT Munitions," a large brick-shaped structure that overshadowed several streets flashed once to the south west, "KLT Aeronautics," a large skyscraper closer to the water flashed, "KLT Robotics," another skyscraper far to the north lit up, "and KLT Mining." a final, much smaller, skyscraper flashed. "My records on these locations are out of date. It would be presumptuous to assume that between my lockout and now they have not moved."

"So if these do exist, and they're usable, what are we looking at?" Ranma asked.

"New weapons manufacturing, more frames, aircraft, and a list of locations to mine and process materials to restore functionality to the rest," the AI replied, "In addition, there are locations of military importance in the region that might still have materials or equipment that can be utilized."

"Any sign of the House of Kings at these sites?" Cayde asked, leaning down to examine the triple towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan. He took a step up as the towers flashed red.

"House of Kings' forces detected at the Tokyo Metropolitan Towers," the AI intoned. That notification was followed by dozens of others as locator marks proliferated around their perimeter and in a few other areas of the map, all within sight of the KLT campus.

"That's a lot…" Ranma muttered.

"Yeah it is. Look, you're going to need the backup, kid. Do you have the bounties for me to post?" Cayde asked, looking serious for once.

Ranma gestured to Durendal's frame and a moment later the AI had picked up on what she said and displayed a long list of bounties and operations restrictions. "There you go," Ranma said.

The Vanguard of the Hunters accepted a tablet and flicked through it. "Nice, nice. Pretty standard… operational limitations… share of glimmer discoveries… raiding…" he devolved into muttering as he looked over it, "Yeah, looks pretty good. Standard stuff, mind you, but I can guarantee you'll get more than a few chomping at the bit to take a look at KLT weapons and armour. Everyone loves new shinies."

"Then it's acceptable?" Ranma asked.

"Psh, I've seen Guardians work for less, but going for standard payouts will get you a lot of people coming by," Cayde said, "Now, just saying, these are the ones you want to submit?"

Ranma glanced down at the tablet she'd been handed. It had the same information as Cayde's and the sight of the bounties brought a moment of hesitation to Ranma. If she said yes she was, essentially, authorizing people to go out and hunt down the Fallen. Yes, they were fighting; yes, they were killing each other; but this was a step further than any she'd taken before. She'd never ordered someone's death before, not even aliens.

Especially aliens.

"Yeah, yeah I'm sure," she said, nodding to Cayde after a few moments.

"Sundance? Send it," Cayde said, holding the tablet up as his red and gold bedecked ghost materialized over his shoulder. A beam of light connected Sundance and the tablet for an instant, then it was done. Ranma let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "So, Metropolitan building?"

"We can't all go. Someone needs to keep holding the line," Ranma said.

"I'll stay. The new kids showing up will need someone to point them in the right direction," Cayde said, "'side, I like Sword Guy here." He jabbed a thumb toward the frame.

"Ah," Ranma said before shaking her head, "What do you say, Khu? Up for a trip?"

"Do I get to shoot something this time?" her friend asked.

"Probably."

"Then sure. I could use a warm up" the former amazon said, stretching as she let out a loud yawn. "Ugh."

"Let's figure out a route then get going," Ranma said, "Durendal, plot a route if you can and send it to Kiko. Let's get this moving."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Bing.

Ikora blinked and glanced up from the report she was reading. As a 'brief' analysis of Fallen House movements since the death of Skolas, the Kel of the House of Wolves, by one of Hidden it was important but rather dry. Fortunately, it wasn't time sensitive so she could afford to take a break to check the message from Cayde.

"Wonder if he's already done talking with Durendal," she mused aloud as she picked up her personal tablet and tapped the email. A moment later her look of curiosity turned into something else entirely. "Zavala!" she called, putting her other tablet under her arm as she stood up and walked towards the center table where her team lead was examining his own paperwork.

"What is it, Ikora? Is something wrong?" he asked, looking up.

She dropped the tablet on the table and with practiced ease pulled up the email and its attachments on the much larger screen. "Cayde just sent me this," she said, "Bounties on the Fallen House of Kings in Tokyo issued by the AI Durendal."

Zavala's expression shifted to concern in a heartbeat. "House of Kings? Is he sure?" he asked.

"Do you expect Cayde to make that mistake?" she asked. After a moment Zavala shook his head.

"No. You're right, Ikora," Zavala said before pulling the digital bounties across the table to examine. "Hmm… Did he say why he was authorizing this?"

"To prevent the House of Kings from laying hands on what he's calling a 'Proto-Warmind'," She said grimly. Those words had nearly stopped her heart when she'd read them. Another AI on a similar level to Rasputin or Charlemage was not something they needed to deal with, but at least he seemed more willing to trade.

Zavala drummed his fingers on the table, his face inscrutable to his old comrade. "It would be a mistake to allow such a thing into their hands," he agreed, "Sound the alarm and call for volunteers to respond… Furthermore, contact the Young Wolf. I want someone we can trust on the ground to act as our eyes and ears once Cayde is on his way back."

"I was going to suggest that if you didn't," Ikora said with a chuckle, "I'll let her know once I send these on to the bounty office."

"Good. I'll contact the fleet and see if we can spare a few vessels to keep a secure route in and out of the city open," Zavala said. He slapped the table and scowled. "As of this moment, the city of Tokyo has just become a strategic asset that we cannot leave in the hands of the House of Kings."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

"There's an update to the bounty list," Direction said from Hibiki's shoulder.

The Titan rolled his eyes. "Like that's important right now. We're halfway to Tokyo," he said after checking their course.

"The new bounties are for Tokyo," his Ghost said, "Bounty Master is listed as Cayde-6."

"The Hunter Vanguard?" Since when did the Vanguard step out to run bounties for a random city?

"The same. Can't say I've ever seen a Vanguard running things that far out of the city before," Direction said, echoing his thoughts.

"So what are we looking at?" he asked. It couldn't hurt to check since they were headed in that direction anyways.

"Hrm…. Looks like the House of Kings is attacking the city. Mostly the standard range of bounties, plus Cayde is apparently putting up patrol beacons."

"Just the House of Kings? It's a bit unusual for there to be just one group of baddies in a region," Hibiki mused, "No sign of Hive or Taken?"

"Not that I can see. Oh, huh. It seems the bounties are being managed by Cayde, but issued by an AI, Durendal. It's in charge of the landing zone they're designating," his ghost said.

"Golden Age?"

"Is there another kind?"

Hibiki inclined his head to Direction and conceded the point. "How bad is it looking?" he asked.

"It's a full assault. Over two dozen ketches have been spotted entering and exiting the region. I've signed you up for a selection of bounties. Do try and keep them in mind," Direction said.

"I'll do that. C'mon, let's hurry before something happens to that girl," he said. Direction scarcely had time to phase into Hibiki's suit before the entire jumpship leaped forward at full burn.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

The red sands of Mars had poured in through the jammed-open second-floor window, forming a sand dune inside the Mall. Exposure to the elements, damage from the collapse, and the constant skirmishes with the Cabal had taken their toll on the ancient building just like the rest of Freehold. Still, what it lacked in integrity it made up for in its view.

The Hunter known to most as the Young Wolf, N to her few friends, peered through the scope of her rifle as she lay against the sand dune. She scanned the area ahead. A Cabal patrol, some of the remnants of the Sand Eaters Legion, marched down the street between the towering buildings in single file. Their green and white armour stood out like a beacon amidst the rust-coloured sand and sand-stained buildings.

"There's a lot more of them than we thought," Ghost said, his voice echoing in her ear, "Still, we aren't far now."

She nodded silently as she waited for the patrol to pass before sweeping the street, and the nearby buildings, once more before rising silently to her feet. The sand dune crumbled under her feet as she descended the other side, little bits cascading downward for a few feet as she carefully hurried down and across the street. She took shelter in the lean of a toppled bus stop for a moment before dashing hurriedly down the street to a half-open door. The CB of Clovis Bray Exoscience was emblazoned on the door.

"Is this it?" she asked quietly.

"Should be," Ghost replied.

Letting out a hum she swept the area quickly before poking her nose around the corner of the door. The lights inside were off and a large dune of sand was blocking both the door and half the floor. She looped her rifle's strap over her shoulder and hoisted herself up by the thin ledge over the door before swinging herself into the small gap.

The Young Wolf slid into the darkness and after a moment her helmet's lights lit up, basking the area in a soft white glow. Another door stood open a few feet away and beyond it stairs led down into the darkness. She reached down and drew the hand cannon she kept as a sidearm. This wasn't any place for a sniper rifle.

It was amazing how creepy simple darkness could be, even after having taken down Oryx. The only good thing was the lack of chitin or fungi as she descended the steps. Her helmet light swept the next room, what seemed to be a small lobby, revealing little more than a dusting of sand that had somehow made its way down and a few offline computers.

"We'll need to find the power," her ghost said, "Which should be… Hrm… That way, I think." A small icon appeared on her helmet's Heads-up Display. She nodded and swept deeper into the facility.

It was, quite honestly, a bit of a letdown she would muse as she brought the power back online. Lights flickered on as she flicked the switches on several backup generators. There were no alarms, no shouts of Cabal or Vex warping in or Hive teleporting or… anything. There wasn't even the chittering of Fallen dregs.

Ghost left the safety of her armour and flitted over to the main computer server in a room behind the lobby. "This shouldn't take long," he said, a beam connecting him to the interfaces of the servers, "You know if Zavala finds out what we're doing."

"He can be angry all he wants. Not like they have anything for us to do right now," N replied, leaning against the counter. Her free hand fished out a very old and battered ID card. They had found it where Ghost had resurrected her. It read, as best they could tell, '[...] N, Psychiatric Con[sult]ant,' followed by the vague impression of what might have been 'Corporation'. It was hard to say, but it was the only lead they had on her name. That and a persistent feeling that she needed to find something or maybe it was someone?

Either way, it was enough to drive a person nuts.

"I'm in," Ghost said, bringing her out of her introspection. She slipped the card into her pocket again.

"And?"

"Give me a moment. This archive is large. It's got literally every single name of anyone who moved to or from Freehold for any reason, and the reasons for their travel. This could take a few to go through," her ghost chided.

Her comms clicked on. "Ikora to the Young Wolf, are you reading this?" the sound of her somewhat friend, the Warlock's Vanguard Ikora said. Her voice crackled a bit with interference, undoubtedly from punching through the Cabal's jamming. Despite their best efforts, the Cabal always found a way to at least hinder communications even if they couldn't stop them.

"We hear you. Is something the matter, Ikora?" Ghost asked.

"You could say that. We've got a situation in Tokyo, Japan," Ikora replied, "A new Guardian was resurrected inside a research facility controlled by a Proto-Warmind of some kind called 'Durendal'. Now, the AI seems to be friendly, but the House of Kings is currently assaulting its location."

Well, that didn't sound good. The Warminds Rasputin and Charlemagne were powerful Golden Age AIs with access to immense firepower in the form of the orbital Warsats. Any one of them reportedly counted as a WMD if ever properly deployed.

She sent a glance to Ghost, who spun his shell. "We're currently a little busy, but once we're done we can head over?" Ghost said, sounding questioning.

"Where are you currently?" Ikora asked.

"Freehold. Following a lead," N said.

"... I see. We need you over in Tokyo as soon as possible, Guardian. Zavala just declared the entire city a Strategic Interest because of Durendal," Ikora said.

"Wow, he's really worried then, isn't he?" Ghost mused.

"That he is," Ikora replied.

"Then um… just… give me a few more minutes. We'll be out of here soon," Ghost said. It might have been a trick of the light, but his beam seemed to get just a little more intense.

"Understood. Move swiftly," Ikora said before terminating the connection.

N turned to Ghost and raised an eyebrow. Her ghost sighed. "I'm going as fast as I can. I'm just yanking the entire archive. We can sort it later," he said. She nodded and pulled out her tablet. A quick glance showed a new tab under the bounties section, for Tokyo.

Huh. Maybe they'd be able to make some glimmer from this as well.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

A/N: Heyo~ Been a while for this story, but that's what happens when you have more imagination than time… Or sense. I'm a bit lacking for sense at the moment. Thanks again to Gekkou for editing~

Gekkou here~ Took a fairly long while ta get my birthday present. But its here now. Thats what counts.

Grounders10: This chapter fought me quite a bit I'll admit. Just couldn't get motivated for the longest time. It was annoying.

Gekkou_Yoko: *climbs into chur lap und kisses chur cheek*

Grounders10: *blushing kitsune noises* Not in front of everyone!

Gekkou_Yoko: *smug kitsune noises* Then how will they know chur a claimed kitsune?

Grounders10: *teleports away with Gekkou*

Gekkou_Yoko: *gets kidnapped*

 

[Grounders10]

-0-0-0-0-0-

A Ranma ½ x Destiny Crossover

A Frozen Light

By: Grounders10

-0-0-0-0-0-

Chapter Six

Old Faces Made New Again

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Located fifty floors up, nestled in the center of the Tokyo Government Building, was a room filled with tall stacks of servers. While far from advanced for the Golden Age they held a tremendous amount of knowledge compared to those they had replaced, and even those that filled similar systems in the Last City. Information on everything from the floor plans of apartments to the annual power usage of factories, zoning regulations and even the prior thousand years of taxes.

It had also doubled as the central hub for the entire city's access to the internet. It was a prize for anyone who wished to control the city of Tokyo as it housed a complete list of any place of importance that was officially known in the long-gone Golden Age.

Sadly for the people of the Last City it wasn't simply abandoned, it was overrun. Like much of Tokyo, the server stacks were patrolled by the yellow-cloaked insectoid Fallen. Small four-limbed aliens carried crackling rifles as they chittered and wandered along the tops of the stacks. Their gazes swept over the splicers below as they fiddled with interfacing their globular technology to the many servers.

It was a good post for their kind in the city. Miles separated them from the enemy's stronghold and the three towers of the large building had proven to be an adequate dock for their ketches, allowing them to stockpile supplies throughout the mammoth structure. The structure itself was as solid as could be expected of a human building after centuries of neglect. Especially one of its size.

So the sentries could be forgiven for not noticing as one of them disappeared as they were abruptly pulled into the darkness between the stacks so swiftly they couldn't even make noise. Nor when a splicer disappeared between keystrokes. Or others as they started disappearing into nooks and crannies. Certainly not the small flickers of purple light as said bodies were erased from the world entirely.

It was, perhaps, a bit much for them to not wonder where everyone had gone as they finished a circuit of the stacks and found themselves a pair alone at the start of the next circuit. They made it a few steps before one of them chittered something and glanced back, clearly expecting a reply, only to find nothing. It turned back to the other to ask its companion where the rest had gone, only to find nothing. It turned on the spot, agitatedly chittering as its eyes swept the floor again.

The empty floor, free of splicers or dregs.

It took two steps back, head swinging side to side as panic set in. A hand reached for a device on its belt and-

Ranma brought her fist down on the last Vandal's neck, releasing a flicker of purple light on impact. It snapped and the body burned away as the void light consumed the body.

"And we're done," she said, glancing at Khu as the former Amazon stepped out of the stacks below.

"You picked that trick up quickly," Khu said as she released her ghost. Moon zipped over to the central terminal and let out a tsk.

"Oooh, the damage they've already done. Who knows what we've lost," the ghost lamented as it interfaced with the terminal.

"Likely not much. House of King Splicers are actually fairly competent," Khu said as Ranma shrugged.

"It's simpler than I thought it would be?" Ranma said as she took a seat atop one of the stack. "But this place is crawling with them."

"It's their primary offloading area for their Ketches, of course, it's guarded," Khu replied, "Moon, any chance we can get Durendal hooked up like he wants?"

"I'm working on it. Urgh, these brutes," Moon grumbled as the ghost worked.

"Need a hand?" Kiko asked without materialising.

"I've got it well in hand," the other ghost replied with a huff, "I'll just need a few minutes to reorder the system's permissions and take administrative control. With a bit of luck, I can even lock out the Splicers."

"For a time," Khu said, "So long as they have physical access to the system, keeping them from accessing its contents can't be anything more than a delaying action unless we erase the data."

"Which isn't an option," Ranma pointed out as she swept her gaze across the room. The doors leading into the room had been sealed, which was why they had entered through the ventilation in the floor. The universal truth of servers was they generated a lot of heat, which in turn meant a solid flow of cool air was required. While it was debatable how cool the current flow of air was, the server traffic itself was also at an all time low, neither of which ultimately meant a thing to the existing ventilation system they had crawled through.

"Not really, no," Khu said as she leaned against the terminal, "Once Durendal's hooked up we'll hopefully be able to get a good read on what we're dealing with. The city's security systems should still have some functionality, even now."

Ranma nodded, half listening as she eyed the servers. They looked, if anything, less advanced than those in her time. It was a case of looks being deceiving, but it was an odd situation to be in. Back in her day they'd talked about all sorts of future styles and smooth clean lines and dust-free environments had been the big next-decade idea. To see stacks of things that looked like they belonged in the decade she was born?

So very weird.

"And hopefully find those KLT facilities it was talking about," Khu continued as she looked around at the server room. Ranma followed her gaze. A wall of monitors made up the wall opposite the entrance and while most were broken there were enough that still worked. Status updates for servers, displays of data requests, and far more things than Ranma understood scrolled over their surface.

"Can you bring up the KLT locations while you're setting that up, Moon?" the other Guardian asked.

"One… moment…" Moon replied distractedly. A square of monitors flickered and changed. Four segments of a much larger list appeared.

"Thanks… hrm…" Khu waved to Ranma, "I think we've found something here." Ranma hopped down and walked over. "KLT Munitions… There are three different locations registered under their name. I think one of them is the same location Durendal mentioned."

Ranma glanced at the monitors and spotted the entries, then slid to the next. "KLT Robotics is right there," she said, pointing out the entry.

"And listing only a single property. Hrm, hopefully, that's a good thing because I'm not sure that's the same location Durendal was talking about," Khu muttered.

"It isn't. This one is in Chiba," Ranma noted, "That's to the east, not the north."

"Ah."

They continued to compare the locations. The good news was that KLT Mining was still listed at its original location and another location listed as belonging to KLT Star Technica was on the list. The bad news was that KLT Aerospace was missing entirely.

"Is the list corrupted?" Khu asked Moon.

"I don't… think… so… There."

There was a flicker of the lights and the monitors switched from lists to system updates.

"I have control, Divine One," Durendal said, his voice crackling over the speakers.

"Great, can you hear me?" Ranma asked.

"Affirmative. Systems diagnostic in progress. Archiving of data to an external location will begin shortly," he said, "Locating KLT properties."

"We seem to be missing one," Ranma said, crossing her arms, "KLT Aeronautics."

"Incorrect. Filing records indicate KLT Aeronautics changed its name to KLT Star Technica after acquiring the company Technical Construction." The document in question appeared on one of the screens.

"Which did what?" Khu asked.

"Data is still processing. The requisite information may not be available at this site," Durendal said, "We will need time-"

A thunderous boom from far below shook the building. Dust fell from the ceiling. Ranma glanced down. "What was that?" she asked. That was going to set off alarms.

"Accessing security cameras… There are no active cameras in the vicinity of the activity," Durendal said, "Fallen are responding to the incident. I see movement on all levels."

"Is any of it coming here?" Khu asked.

"Not at present."

Ranma sighed. So much for being quiet. "Well, we didn't want to leave them in control of this place if we could help it," she said, "Any idea what just decided to crash the party?"

"Please tell me we don't have Hive or something?" Khu asked.

"Scanning Fallen chatter…" Durendal replied, "There are references to a 'Lightbearer'."

"That would be a Guardian," Ranma said, exchanging looks with Khu. "Durendal, can you connect us with Cayde?"

"It is done."

There was a ring, then a cheerful voice said, "How's it going campers? Enjoying the hike? You know, as much as climbing through the ruins of a tower about as tall as the one we call home is."

"How many Guardians have shown up?" Ranma asked.

"Uuuh, three? Two just got here. I had one guy show up a little while back looking for you apparently. Big guy, titan I think. The shoulder pads kinda give it away," Cayde said, "Told him you were dealing with something at the big scary place full of Fallen and that you'd be back later. Why?"

Rama groaned. Why would anyone want to talk to her so badly they'd follow her to a city full of Fallen?

"Because someone seems to have kicked in the ground floor entrance," Khu said, "And alerted all of the Fallen. Someone they're calling a 'Lightbearer'."

"Uuuuh, that is not my fault," Cayde said hurriedly, "How was I supposed to know he'd take 'wait for them' to mean 'go charge an army head-on'."

"How indeed," Ranma grumbled sarcastically, "I'm going to head down and give him a hand. Can you hold down the fort here, Khu?"

"Possibly?" Her friend replied with a grimace, "It depends on what security is functioning here." She glanced at Durendal.

"I have control over the remaining security protocols," Durendal announced, "There are energy barriers that can be raised in the surrounding halls and I believe that some of the security frames are still functional. I am uncertain as to the degree of capability, however. Diagnostics are not complete."

"If the barriers keep the numbers down I can probably hold out indefinitely," Khu said with a more confident smile.

"Should I get a team to come help you two?" Cayde asked, "Cause that's sounding like a bit of a hornet's nest."

"We're good for now," Ranma said as she started toward the server room entrance, "But be ready to send help if we need it."

"Right, I'll try and wrangle the next few Guardians who come through," Cayde said. Ranma nodded and sighed as she stepped out of the safe server room. She would ask some very pointed questions whenever she got her hands on the idiot down below.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Hibiki ran his void shield held up over his head as shock bolts slapped the floor tiles around him. The ten-floor tall open-concept lobby of the Tokyo Metropolitan building was crawling with Fallen of all stripes. Dregs, Vandals, Wretches, and even a bevy of Captains crowded the galleries beside servitors and shanks. Most of them weren't shooting. They didn't need to.

Floating in the heart of the lobby was an immense Servitor that Direction had helpfully identified as 'Hortik Prime', the virtually mythical Prime Servitor of the House of Kings. The Servitor was tracking his progress up the Lobby with its gigantic eye and occasionally firing off blasts of arc energy.

Just his luck, really.

"Why is there a Prime Servitor here?" he demanded as he hopped over an ancient concrete pot and slammed his shield into the face of a Captain armed with a wire rifle. He twisted and launched the shield at Hortik Prime. The void light construct shattered on its shields, though the giant robotic orb drifted backward a bit from the impact.

Then he had to weather a fusillade of shots from the peanut gallery by throwing up a barrier as every watching Fallen with so much as a shock rifle opened fire. The quirky grumbling of the giant servitor caused a cease-fire a few moments later, but not before swathes of the floor to either side of his created cover had been ripped apart.

"Unknown, but its presence suggests that the House of Kings intends to cement its control of this region," Direction replied over the speakers of his helmet, "I suggest placing a call for aid or evacuating this position. We are not prepared for this confrontation."

Hibiki scoffed, but privately acknowledged the point. It was the nature of the First Pillar Order to sacrifice themselves for strategic victories, and killing the Servitor Prime of the House of Kings would certainly count, but he had to admit this was a bit much for a single Guardian.

A trio of oversized flaming projectiles arched over the lip of the balcony and clattered across the floor toward the Titan. Arc energy crackled about his feet as he tossed himself forward, flying over several tables as his barrier, and the spot he'd been standing, were consumed in superheated flames. Molten metal and tile dripped through the hole of the other major complication.

Servitor Primes were never alone. They always had an Archon nearby. The high priest of their house whose job it was to commune with and protect the Servitor. The third part of any Fallen House's leadership alongside the Servitor Prime and their Kell.

He drew his handgun and cut down a group of dregs without slowing as he dashed for the next good bit of cover. The lowest caste of the Fallen were everywhere in numbers he hadn't seen in his decade of service as a Guardian. They reminded him of the stories of Twilight's Gap or the battles against the House of Devil's stronghold in the Cosmodrome.

A whine of power warned him of Hortik's next move and he spun to punch a barrier of light into existence. The barricade cracked as the Servitor's weapon slammed into it. He hurled a grenade to the right, catching a Captain as it came around a support pillar with a storm of lightning, and stepped out of cover before emptying his magazine into the floating machine.

Hortik Prime let out a loud wall rattling whine of complaint and the distinct warble of Shank engines answered as a small swarm of the mechanical drones descended from above. He ran, weaving between plant pots, support pillars and stacks of fallen equipment and machinery. Drones popped with each shot.

A group of Fallen wretches armed with crackling shock pikes emerged from hiding amongst the boxes and attempted to bar his way. He squared his shoulders and drew forth the light as he barreled headlong into them. He guided the head of the first pike away from himself with his gauntlets before ramming a void-charged shoulder into the wretch. Purple light bloomed from the impact and the entire group erupted as the volatile forces ran rampant. He kept just enough control over the rampant energies to prevent them from eating his cover or the floor.

He holstered his handgun and drew his rifle. He snapped three shots off at distant Vandals as their wire rifles hammered his cover. Then more orbs of fire flew over the edge of the balcony and Hortik Prime began to charge another shot.

Hibiki broke into a run as the balcony was shattered into molten fragments and the arc blast vaporised his previous cover. He fired back at Hortik, chipping away at it only for a group of lesser servitors to swarm around it even as more shanks appeared.

"This isn't getting anywhere," he told Direction, "Ideas?" He shoulder-checked a Shank as it flew in from the hallways deeper into the building. The following detonation wiped out its companions.

"Retreat, or barring that sensible course of action you need to close with the Archon," his Ghost replied, "I am attempting to raise assistance, but there appears to be some form of localised jamming. I am unable to get a distress call through."

Wretches, several dozen of them, rushed from hallways and dropped down through holes from the floors above. Each of them brandished crackling pikes as they charged.

"Don't need help," He grumbled as he deflected the swing of a wretch into its companion before slamming a glowing purple fist into its face. Void light sank into the flesh of the Fallen Wretch before destabilising the matter violently. Purple light blossomed outward sweeping over the nearby Fallen.

Who also destabilised and detonated.

Without giving a second thought to the swarm of dead wretches he ran for the stairs, firing his rifle at the extra servitors around Hortik Prime. The bullets found purchase in one of them and something detonated ripping it apart.

Hortik Prime rumbled and Vandals began to move from the levels above, leaping from balcony to balcony as they descended to his level.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Direction asked, "Because their numbers are still increasing and this is not a safe area for me to restore you."

"Figured as much. I can practically feel the danger," Hibiki replied. He shoulder-checked a Vandal which detonated a moment later even as Hibiki spun to catch a Captain's pike behind the head with the stock of his rifle.

They struggled briefly before he dropped the rifle and lunged, catching the Captain in a bear hug. Channelling the light he squeezed and roared a wordless battle cry. The sound of the Fallen's exoskeleton snapping was akin to thousands of small bits of bubble wrap going off all at once. The Captain shuddered as he dropped it, twitching in pain before he crushed its skull and retrieved his rifle only to roll out of the way of several wire rifle shots.

The owners of the rifles flipped onto the level from the balcony above. A dozen Vandals immediately spread out, firing as they moved. He raised a barrier, conveniently intercepting another shot from Hortik Prime. He fired off a few shots, killing several Vandals and winging another servitor, before he was forced to duck back. A grenade tossed blindly over cover took out another.

"Which way-" he began to ask Direction for a way out when a loud crackle and thud from the ceiling of the lobby cut him off. A second followed and he spotted Hortik Prime turning to look. Taking the opportunity he ducked out and picked off another Vandal, then another.

Then the roof caved in with a flash of Light and the crackle of a thousand bolts of electricity. Large chunks of the ceiling crashed down, bouncing off the impenetrable shield of Hortik Prime even as others squashed the Servitors supporting it.

Hibiki had a perfect view as the cause of everything slammed hard into the face of Hortik Prime a heartbeat after its last servitor was squished by the roof. Clad in a hunter's light armour and glowing with a glacial blue radiance, a young woman with vivid red hair drove a crackling spear of ice and Light into its central eye. It happened between blinks. One heartbeat she was there, then next she wasn't. Nor was Hortik Prime as the Prime Servitor cannonballed into the floor with the rubble.

His suit's thermostat sounded an alarm as the room's temperature dropped twenty degrees in a second as the entire building shuddered and rattled.

Hortik Prime let out a pulse of force and the floor jumped as ice crystals flew into view. Angry chittering sounded as hundreds of Fallen swarmed the balconies, many clambering down the pillars out of sight. Hibiki finished the few interested in him before approaching the balcony cautiously. He took a step back as Hortik Prime floated into view, its eye firmly on the floor. A layer of frost traced alien patterns of fractured armour across its body. Its eye was in a dozen pieces, yet still seemed to work as it fired several blasts down at the floor.

The body of a Captain slammed into Hortik, knocking the oversized drone back into the upper balconies, and shattered. Hibiki raised his rifle and fired on the Vandals that were firing down into the Lobby. This had to be Ranma. Red hair and some sort of frozen Light.

Several loud explosions rang out below followed by puffs of electrified mist that sent Fallen tumbling from the walls by the dozen.

Several shots slammed into his shields from behind and Hibiki whirled. He plunked two shots into the Vandal that had shot him, then threw himself into cover as others that had come up behind him opened fire. It seemed he hadn't been completely forgotten. It had been a bit much to hope for, but it would have been nice.

He killed the last of the group and turned back to the rest of the Lobby just in time to catch sight of the Archon, bereft of his cannon, leapt to the second-floor balcony. Ranma followed him, kicking off a servitor she bisected in mid-air before bouncing off a Shank that promptly froze solid and dropped from the sky. The Archon jumped for the next balcony in time to avoid her Naginata. He stared as the Archon immediately leaped to the next balcony. Dogging his steps all the while carving a frozen path through the Fallen was Ranma.

Shanks fell frozen and/or bisected from the sky as she used them for stepping stones. Clouds of electrified ice crystals sent climbing Fallen tumbling to the ground. Servitors simply provided footholds for her before joining their less intelligent companions. Then they went over a railing above him and he lost track. Only Hortik Prime showed him where they were as the construct tracked the battle. It didn't fire.

"Guess we found her," he said to Direction as he took cover behind a support pillar. His level of the lobby was empty now which gave him some breathing space, but the Fallen on higher and lower floors were still shooting at him.

"It would appear so," his ghost replied, "And she appears to have intervened on our behalf. It would be wise to provide assistance of our own." His words were punctuated by an explosion and Hortik Prime finally firing. The room rumbled and debris fell from above pancaking several Shanks.

He fired back at the fallen. "Yeah, probably. Getting bailed out tends to leave a bad first impression," He drew back and slapped the rifle onto his back, "Let's go up and help." Void Light surged down his arm and flash-formed the shield again. He held it over his head and, with a spark of Arc light, jumped. He crashed through to the level above, taking two Vandals by surprise. He ignored them and jumped up through the roof again, and again, and again. Six times he punched holes through the roof and through it his hold on the shield grew more and more difficult. Creating objects from light was one of the hardest feats a Guardian could accomplish and sustaining them was a pain in the ass as reality and Light clashed constantly.

No sooner had he crashed through the final floor than his shield gave out. He landed amidst a squad of Fallen that was itself part of a much larger swarm. Startled chattering went up around him and to his right, a Fallen Captain drew a sword. Rather than charge the Captain, Hibiki slammed a void-light-infused fist into the face of a Vandal. The much weaker shieldless Fallen squawked and detonated. Void Light knocked back a circle of Fallen who screamed as the unstable energies ravaged them.

Then they exploded.

So tightly packed was the floor that in a matter of moments nearly a third of the level was cleared by a chair of Void Light explosions. As the dust settled he slammed a barricade up to catch the next shot by Hortik Prime. Unlike Ranma, he wasn't locked in close combat with the Archon. Speaking of… He glanced over in her direction.

The Archon ducked a swipe of Ranma's Naginata and dashed backwards in that strange teleport-like trick that Captains and higher seemed to have, only for the redhead to follow. She kept pace as he darted across the floor. Thrice as he watched the Archon was forced to ward off her weapon with a pair of crackling swords. Each time a layer of frost crept further down the blade before evaporating. It looked less like a battle to the death and more like a tightly choreographed dance.

Any Fallen that got too close to the duel were rapidly turned into a series of shattered ice sculptures except for a handful of Captains, who simply lacked the ability to keep up with the sheer speed. They, instead, turned to Hibiki.

All twenty of them.

Another shot from Hortik Prime slammed into his barricade as the Captains charged him, then it turned away to follow the Archon's fight.

Hibiki dropped the first Captain's shield and put two rounds through its mask before dropping the second Captain. That was all the time he had as a third came from behind. He ducked the blade and drove the butt of his rifle into its stomach. He followed with a Void Light-fuelled uppercut that blew its head off. He grabbed the falling sabre and caught the next Captain's blade, only to jump back as its three other sabres swept in.

He gave ground to the Captain's onslaught, deflecting strikes as he backpedalled. Finally, he saw an opening and stepped into the Captain's guard. His shoulder met the Captain's chest as his armour and shield absorbed the brunt of the strikes and the release of arc light that followed hurled the Captain across the floor until he crashed through the balcony's railing.

Armour singing low shield warning Hibiki ducked a strike from a fourth Captain and deflected the pike of a fifth. He kicked the fourth in the gut and caught the fifth with a backhand before driving his sword through the fourth's neck. He left the weapon there as the sixth and seventh cut in swinging enough swords for four times their number.

He solved that issue with a flashbang. The Light-charged grenade flared brightly as he lunged for the fifth Captain. His hands closed about the Captain's neck and he wrenched the Fallen's head around before grabbing the shock pike as it fell. The seventh, struggling to shake off the grenade and died with the pike through his neck. The Sixth barely jumped back, his shield sparking out of existence as the pike grazed it.

Four blades came up and the head of the pike fell off. It didn't stop Hibiki from catching the Captain across the face with the back end of the Pike. Nor did it stop him from a follow-up strike that caved its skull in.

Breathing hard he hefted the headless pike, now little more than a short-circuiting staff, and turned to the rest. The other thirteen circled him warily. All had melee weapons out. Swords, pikes, and even a mace were among their choices.

His light surged and the strain of his fight was washed away with a dim flicker. Right, he could handle this. It was a pity he didn't have a proper sword though. If he did-

A sound not unlike a tornado passing by filled the room alongside a powerful gust of wind that tossed everyone off their feet, and left the lobby covered in a film of frost. Hibiki's shields wailed as they were dropped on impact with a flying bench that went on to crash against the reinforced glass of an office.

Hissing in pain, Hibiki stood up and stopped to stare.

Half the upper floor was gone. Not a single ounce of railing had been left behind by whatever force Ranma had unleashed. The floor on the right side of the room, and judging by the look of it the next two levels down, was simply gone. Of Hortik Prime there was no sign.

No, wait, there it was, embedded just barely visible in the corner where the wall met the ceiling. Only the front of the machine was visible as its eye, even more cracked, spun with confused horror. Beside it was the Archon embedded in his own crater. So deep into the wall that Hibiki doubted he could escape.

At the start of the destruction was Ranma leaning against her naginata as she caught her breath.

No one was firing. Not a single Fallen had their weapon raised.

Somewhere down below a loud clatter rang out followed by chittering. Then another, and another. One of the Captains tossed down his Shock Pike and darted from the room deeper into the building. Then they were all running. Every single Fallen he could see turned and ran. Only a few threw down their weapons, but they all ran.

Even Hortik Prime. The gigantic Servitor was shrouded in the light of a teleport and disappeared abruptly along with the Archon.

"Damn it," Ranma shouted a moment later, rapping her weapon against the floor. She let go of the Naginata and it disintegrated, flaking away in the breeze. Then she turned to him.

"She doesn't look happy," Direction observed.

"Yeah, I noticed."

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Tokyo was not like what N had expected. She'd figured it would be a bit like the Cosmodrome or perhaps similar to Freehold. A large and somewhat dense city.

It was clear from the moment she crested the horizon that she had set her standards too low.

The hundreds, more like thousands, of towers were more akin to the City than either Freehold or the Cosmodrome. It was horizon to horizon of hundred-storey towers that crawled up the surrounding mountains. It was a horizon cracked and broken in places with shattered and jagged towers.

"You might want to let Cayde know," N said to her ghost as he hovered by her shoulder in the cockpit of her ship.

"Let's see. He should be on this frequency…" Her ghost said, "Calling Cayde. Calling Cayde…"

There was a crackle from the comms. "Yeah, this is Cayde. Nice to hear from you two," the Exo Hunter said. In the background a loud explosion tried to drown him out. "Listen, I'm going to pass you to Durendal. I'm in the middle of something and he could use a hand."

"You're just passing us off to an AI?" Ghost protested.

"Uuuh, yeah. He kinda runs the show around here. Sorta. Point is, he's got a few hotspots he could use a hand with. Just help him out a bit then we can talk. Gotta go," Cayde said before there was a click and a more robotic voice took over.

"This is Durendal to inbound craft, the Vanguard known as Cayde has informed me that you are quite capable," it said.

"Yeah we are. So, what do you need?" Ghost asked.

"The Divine One and her companion have infiltrated the Tokyo Metropolitan Building in an effort to extend my influence to the archives there," The AI said.

"The who?" Ghost asked before she could.

There was a moment of silence. "Certain terminology is hardwired into me," Durendal said, "The Divine One's mission was interrupted by a Guardian named Hibiki which alerted the House of Kings to the presence of Guardians within their perimeter. The alien entities known as 'Hortik Prime' and 'Archon Kasor' of the House of Kings have been forced to retreat. Their Ketch has already departed, however, two other Ketches remain docked with the tower."

A marker appeared on N's cockpit window and a trio of towers that loomed over most of the city were highlighted. The outlines of two ketches were visible. At a guess, she'd place that being five and seven kilometres long respectively. On the smaller side for ketches but there was limited manoeuvring room.

"That's a lot of Fallen," Ghost said.

"Theoretical Fallen population in the city is over one hundred thousand," Durendal said, "Greater accuracy is at this point impossible."

"By the Traveler, I've never seen so many Fallen in one area before," Ghost exclaimed.

N had to agree. It wasn't even close to equivalent to the historical examples of the Twilight's Gap or the Battle of Six Fronts, but it was a lot more than you usually saw in a single area.

"I require you to board this Ketch," the Seven kilometre Ketch lit up, "And prevent it from leaving."

Ghost twirled in place. "You want us to prevent it from leaving? That's not normally how this goes," he said.

"If it remains moored at the tower there is a possibility that it can be boarded and seized at a later date. It will also prevent the dock from being used to offload more Fallen without additional complications," Durendal said, "Kill the Captain of the vessel and disable its steering. Do not damage its propulsion or anti-gravity. The damage it would do to the city from a crash would be unacceptable."

"... the empty city?" Ghost pointed out.

"The Divine One wishes the city intact for the moment. I intend to honour that request as much as possible," Durendal replied, "We suggest an approach along this line." A flightpath appeared on the windscreen. "Also, communications in and around the tower are currently intermittent at best. A bonus will be issued should you eliminate the source."

"Wait, we're getting paid for this?" Ghost asked.

"I have been informed that Guardians respond best to incentives. A large bounty of Glimmer and an item from KLT's armory will be issued on completion of this mission," Durendal said.

N glanced at her ghost and Ghost stared back before they both nodded. "Leave it to us," her ghost cheerfully announced as N pushed the throttle forward and the ship swung to follow Durendal's flight path.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Hibiki swallowed nervously as Ranma marched right up to him. "Why the hell did you charge in here?" she asked, poking him in the chest plate hard enough he took two steps back.

"I-" He didn't get another word out before she turned on a heel and threw her hands up in the air as she walked back toward the holes where the balcony had once been.

"Now they're all stirred up. We were planning on being quiet," she said, "And sure as hell not doing this much damage to the building. I'd like it to still be standing after we got done. For the archives if nothing else."

"Sorry, but I've been trying to get in contact with you since the fight with Shaxx," He said taking a few steps after her, "I was worried if I didn't follow you'd leave the city before I got a chance to talk to you."

The look she gave him was probably the most judgemental stare he'd ever been on the receiving end of. He swallowed nervously. It was like she was trying to decide if he was a water beetle or some hive grub.

"Well that's going to have to wait," she said, marching past him. She forced open the door of an office as he scurried to follow her. "Durendal, can you hear me?"

There was a ding as the desk's terminal, somehow untouched by the fighting, turned on. "I hear you, Divine One," the Warmind Durendal said. He had briefly spoken with the AI on his approach to the city.

"Divine One?" Direction whispered in his ear with some confusion. Hibiki caught the eye-roll Ranma gave the Warmind.

"Good. A giant christmas light Kiko is calling Hortik Prime just teleported out alongside some Archon… Kissy or something," The redhead said, crossing her arms under her chest, "Mind putting me in contact with Cayde and Khu?"

"Establishing connections…"

"Hey camper, everything alright?" Cayde said. The Hunter Vanguard sounded far too cheerful.

"Is everything alright?" a somewhat strained woman's voice asked. It was followed by the sound of gunfire and then the very recognizable sound of something catching fire before exploding. "Sorry, there're a few Fallen getting through the perimeter."

"It's fine. Ran into a giant light bulb and some Archon guy," she said, "They both ran for it after I put them through the wall."

There was a moment of silence. "Was this a giant Servitor?" Cayde asked after a moment.

"Yeah, it was," Hibiki said, "Hortik Prime and Archon Kasor were both here."

"Hey, Hibiki, glad to see you didn't get killed. Permanently," the hunter Vanguard said, "Would've made my report to Zavala a bit awkward."

Hibiki caught Ranma's glance his way before she minutely shook her head and focused on the terminal. "He was fighting both of them and an army of Fallen," she said, "And I'm pretty sure he was losing."

"I wasn't losing," he interjected with heat, "I just… wasn't winning quite yet." She stared at him with incredulous eyes before they seemed to glare at him. He'd just stuck his foot in his mouth again, hadn't he?

Cayde laughed. "That's a great attitude, kid. Keep it up," he laughed, "Now, how's the situation?"

"Durendal?" Ranma asked as she shot a look out the office window. There was no sign of Fallen returning yet.

"One of the Ketches has pulled away from the tower and is leaving the city with haste," Durendal said.

"That would be the quake I felt a minute ago?" Khu asked.

"Correct. Its hasty departure has inflicted minor damage on the surrounding city," the AI continued, "Two more vessels remain docked to the towers."

"Any chance we can keep them off the building entirely?" Ranma asked.

"Unlikely. Guardian numbers are too limited so far and my own forces cannot be stretched to establish a perimeter on the scale of the Metropolitan Building as of yet," Durendal said, "The likelihood that my connection is discovered and disconnected has increased to over eighty percent."

"Then we need to buy time while you build up," Cayde said, his voice firmer than before, "Those ships take up a lot of space. I can't imagine they can dock another Ketch like them at each tower."

"Docking spaces are limited by design," Durendal confirmed, "Only one docking port exists for vessels of that scale in each tower."

"Right… then we need to keep those ships from going anywhere," Cayde said, his voice crackling for a moment, "They're probably at least half empty or more already. If they occupy the docking ports then they'll have to transfer materials by skiff or across from Ketch to Ketch."

"Ignoring the other docking port," Ranma pointed out.

"We can do the same thing when another ship docks, but I doubt they'll bring another ship in there while we're contesting the area," Cayde said, "Durendal, do you think it'd be possible to hold the control center and the area around it?"

"... With Guardian assistance, possibly," the AI said after a moment.

"Then I'll get a few patrol beacons ready and make some arrangements for Guardians to sweep the tower on a regular basis. That'll dissuade them from using the last dock, but they'll keep trying if they can get those ships out of the way. We'll need to knock out their navigation, steering and take out their Captains," the Vanguard continued, "But not their engines. We don't want them falling out of the sky, just not going anywhere. Ignoring the property damage, they won't be blocking the docks if they're sunk. Hang on a sec, getting a call." Cayde went silent.

"We'll need to split up," Ranma noted.

Hibiki nodded. "Yeah. They'll need to be taken out nearly simultaneously otherwise they might get some distance," he said, "I can handle one myself. Without their Prime Servitor or Archon around I shouldn't have any trouble." He ignored the stare Ranma gave him.

Cayde came back on. "Good news, you've got help coming. They'll handle one of the ships leaving you two to take out the other. Khu, girl, just keep holding down the control center for now," he said.

There was a groan. "You know, I was hoping to be a little more active than just sitting around," the woman said. Ranma stifled a giggle and Hibiki noticed how much brighter a smile made her look. He glanced away as she looked up.

"I am giving the Guardian known as 'N' instructions," Durendal said. Hibiki choked on his own tongue in shock.

"N?" He gasped.

"Yeah, Zavala and Ikora wanted reliable eyes on the ground," the Hunter Vanguard said with a tone that suggested he was rolling his eyes, "Not like I'm not reliable, but I guess they're worried this'll turn into another House of Wolves incident or something." He sounded rather exasperated.

"Are they someone important?" Ranma asked.

"Are they- They killed Oryx, the Taken King," Hibiki said, only to get a blank look in return. "He was a Hive God with these living shadows made from people he'd 'Taken' somehow. It's complicated and I'll admit I don't really know much more than that."

"Complicated is one way of putting it," Cayde agreed, "Long story short? N's probably the best in the City outside the Vanguard or Shaxx… or you. She's dealt with a lot over the last couple of years. Oryx was just the biggest. She also got his son Crota, stormed the Vex's Vault of Glass, dealt with the whole Kell of Kells thing with the House of Wolves. Oh, and the SIVA incident. Nanotech plague the House of Devils unleashed from the Cosmodrome. Let's see… Few more things on the list, but that's the gist. I'll send you the files whenever we're back in the city. For now, let's stay focused."

"On the ships," Ranma said after a moment, nodding to herself.

"On those, yeah," Cayde agreed, "I'm going to get to work on the paperwork… Oh, and if you find the jammer? Kill it. Please? I'm getting a kink in my back from leaning over this holotable to talk to you."

Ranma facepalmed and sighed. "Yeah we'll do that," she said, shaking her head.

Hibiki watched her as she asked Durendal for directions. This close she definitely felt familiar. He knew her somehow, but those questions would have to wait until they had some free time, like she'd said.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

There had to have been something wrong with the Golden Age architect's sense of scale. It was the only option Ranma could think of as she lazily jogged up the stairs of the westernmost tower. Hibiki ran behind her, his breathing heavy and only prevented from getting heavier by the refreshing nature of the Light coursing through him.

Hibiki.

His name made her think of Ryouga Hibiki, her rival and friend. He probably wasn't Ryouga. The odds alone of being Ryouga out of billions of human beings that could be resurrected was astronomical and it wasn't like Hibiki was an uncommon name in Japan. If he was even Japanese. He hadn't taken off the helmet he was wearing and his voice sounded very different. Not Japanese. If she was being honest she couldn't place his accent at all. It was something else, probably from a different era than she was familiar with.

But she still thought about him. Short black hair, that annoying yellow with black spots bandana, and those fang-like teeth. All wrapped in enough skill and physical capability to keep up with her at her best.

Not like the guy struggling to keep up with her jogging.

"Wish… the elevators… were working…" Hibiki grumbled.

"Why would they be working after like a thousand years without maintenance?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Another point to him not being Ryouga. Her rival never backed down from a physical challenge and certainly wouldn't have had issues with stairs.

"Point…"

The staircase was unfortunately a very normal square spiral around a central pillar. An everyday fire exit staircase that was lit only by dim lights that she couldn't believe were working after a thousand or whatever years and the lamps of their armour. Occasionally she'd hear an echo of a Fallen's chitter, but they didn't seem to use the stairwell. They'd noticed that the Fallen had taken over the maintenance corridors while infiltrating and used the open areas as storage or sleeping quarters.

Maybe it was the height of the steps?

She paused at a door. Floor 183 it read after she spent a moment puzzling over the Kanji. "Here we are," she said, stopping at the door. Hibiki stopped by her side and caught his breath for a moment.

"You move far too fast," he said.

She snorted. "That was a light jog," she replied with a roll of her eyes. Guardians.

He stared at her. "We have very different definitions of 'a light jog'," he replied as he pulled out his rifle. He leaned against the side of the fire door. He glanced down. "Do you ever use a gun?"

She glanced down at the hefty revolver on her hip. She still hadn't used the gun Cayde had given her. "Not too often," she replied before drawing it. Memory was fairly heavy as far as revolvers went but to her it was barely an inconvenience. She traced a thumb over the yin and yang painted on the side. "I only got this earlier today from Banshee. Cayde had it made."

"Huh. Banshee mentioned you'd stopped by when I dropped off a few weapons for him to look over," Hibiki said, "It's how I knew you were here before the bounties went out."

She paused and stared at him. "You were looking for me before the bounties went out?" she asked.

"Yeah. Like I said before, since Shaxx," he said.

Right. She hadn't been paying much attention through her annoyance at the time.

"We'll talk about why after we're done with this," she finally said as she gave the revolver a twirl then kicked in the fire door. It flew down a dirty, poorly lit, hallway and crashed into a Dreg. One of a dozen dregs who were handling a large machine of some sort in the center of the hallway.

They had all frozen, staring at the flattened Dreg before another one of them turned Ranma's way. It ate a bullet through the middle of its forehead and promptly exploded in flames that consumed not only its body, but those of the two nearest Dregs. Ranma blinked dumbly as the Dregs scattered. The abandoned crates clattered to the ground, several having caught fire from the explosion.

"What?" She asked, looking at the gun. Ethereal flames of light were flowing off yin and yang symbol.

"Never seen a firefly effect?" Hibiki asked as he stepped through the door with his rifle raised. He fired a pair of shots after two of the dregs, dropping them, before the rest were out of sight.

Firefly effect- Oh. "No, I haven't," she said, eyeing the weapon carefully. The possible 'secondary effects' of certain Golden Age or similar weapons had been gone over during certification, but the 'Firefly' effect hadn't been amongst the ones demonstrated. Mostly owing to the need to kill something and an unwillingness to waste frames for target practice.

"You are the strangest combination of capable and new," he said. In the distance, the warble and chitter of angry Fallen rang out. "They know we're on this level now."

She snorted, recalling the fight in KLT's basement. "Not a problem. C'mon, let's board a ship," she said, breaking into a run.

"I'm not that fast!" he yelled from behind her as he sprinted after her. She slowed as she reached the corner just enough to let him catch up.

"Shaxx was able to keep up, mostly," she noted as she jogged alongside him.

"That is an unreasonable standard," he complained. She rolled her eyes and plugged a Vandal between the eyes as it skittered out of an office space. The explosion that followed tossed the follow-up fallen backward. Kiko giggled in her ears. Her ghost has been oddly silent. She'd have to ask why later. When she wasn't getting shot atm.

Hibiki's rifle snapped up and a trio of shanks that were backed by a much larger and bulkier cousin exploded as they turned into the hall at high speed. The heavy Shank let out a loud complaint and the guns underneath started blasting.

Ranma bounced, flying over the shots as her Light flash froze a Naginata into existence. She hefted it and, using her spin to add a little more momentum, launched it straight into the vent across the front of the machine. Frost crawled over the machine from the inside out before it detonated in a flurry of ice shards and sparks that chained through a half dozen Vandals and one very unlucky Captain.

"Traveler preserve," Hibiki swore and he lurched back, "That's damned cold."

"You'll be fine," Ranma said as she landed and immediately kicked a dreg back into its companions before blowing its head off with Memory. Using a gun felt odder than her training with Cayde. It felt unreal like she was dreaming and something else was moving her as she flowed through the ranks of the Fallen.

She sidestepped a pike and put two shots into the owner's gut before yanking the pike from its grip. She parried a sword with the crackling head of the pike, then filled it with her Light. Arc-frost spread down its length and the head let out a loud whine as it started glowing even brighter.

Down the corridor, a trio of Servitors were advancing with Vandals and Shanks in support.

Her thrown Shock Pike pierced straight through the middle Servitor, coring it like an apple before detonating. Frost, electricity, and shrapnel pelted everyone around them. Half the group went down immediately, then Hibiki mowed the rest down.

Which left the path to the docking collar clear. The very much locked shut docking collar.

"Kiko, I need that door open. Can you get it?" she asked her Ghost as they reached the doors. Her ghost materialised by her head and zipped over to the interface.

"Not a problem," her Ghost cheerfully replied, "Just keep them away so I can work."

"Should be easy, right?" Hibiki said as he blazed away with his rifle before tossing a grenade around the corner. The flash and bang that followed were accompanied by the loud chattering of Fallen.

Ranma rolled her eyes and glanced up and down the corridor in time to catch a group of Fallen entering via a broken window.

Window?

"Cover Kiko," Ranma told Hibiki as she hurried down the hallway. Memory barked and a pair of dregs combusted on the spot. She dived to the side, crashing through a plate glass divider into someone's office, and slid behind the desk. Arc bolts crackled as they smacked into the ancient metal. She popped up and hurled a cloud of sparking ice crystals at the remaining Captain. A single shot shattered the statue left behind and she jumped over the desk.

They'd come through a window over… there.

She came to a stop before a shattered window that looked out on the wall of metal that made up the side of the Ketch. She leaned out and looked up. A Vandal, wire rifle clutched in its hands, stared back in evident surprise.

"Excuse me," she said before grabbing it by the collar and dragging it back through the opening. Spinning on a heel she pulled on her Ki instinctively. Instead, her Light responded and its superchilled power flowed into the fallen. Rather than reinforce the Fallen, it infused it. Its screams were cut off abruptly as it flash froze and started glowing from within. Then it was airborne and flying back up the hallway where a group of Vandals and Marauders was harassing Hibiki.

The impromptu statue shattered in the center of their formation and arc and mist flowed outward greedily overrunning the nearby Fallen. A few had enough awareness to manage a panicked chitter before they turned to ice. Most of them tipped over and shattered on the floor.

Ranma winced slightly. That had not been intentional and, honestly, seemed like a really unpleasant way to die.

It didn't stop her from spinning around once again and throwing a cloud of ice out the window. Ice covered Fallen plummeted from the walls as it passed. She peered out again. The Ketch wasn't too tall. She could definitely jump it if she bounced off the building but…

"How far can you jump?" She shouted at Hibiki.

"Whaat?" He shouted back as he backhanded a dreg back into its companions with a hand glowing with Void Light. The detonations of its friends promptly drowned out everything.

"How far can you jump?" She repeated once the explosions stopped.

"What?" was the reply she got and she groaned. A Vandal landed beside her only to be kicked out into thin air and receive a bullet to the head. The detonation knocked a few more Fallen loose.

She ran back down the hallway to Hibiki. The Titan had raised a barrier toward one side of the hallway while covering the rest with his rifle and a mixture of grenades. An arc bolt smack into his shoulder pad without doing much more. She added her gunfire to the mix, and tossed a cloud of freezing electrified mist into a group of Fallen before slowing to a stop beside him.

"How far can you jump? There's a window that's blown out," she asked as she drilled two shots into the head of a Captain. She had to give Banshee-44 credit, Memory was a very well balanced and accurate gun. Maybe she'd give Cayde a little credit for his tutelage as well. It wasn't like her father had included firearms on the list of things he taught her.

"Probably not far enough," He replied

"Great." The barrier to their left dissolved.

Hibiki pivoted, placing two shots into the heads of a pair of Vandals before tossing some kind of sticky grenade at the wall in place of their advance. A moment later a bolt of lightning leapt from it and crashed against the shield of the Captain in front of it. The large Fallen stumbled as the protective barrier popped, then toppled, twitching erratically, as a second lightning bolt caught him.

"How much longer?" Ranma asked her ghost as she stepped forward to draw a bit of fire away from Hibiki. She avoided the return shots with a mixture of acrobatics and cover. From support pillars to door frames and even a few desks.

"I'm working on it! Don't rush perfec- Done!" Kiko announced happily as the airlock slid open, "Let's go!" Ranma turned on a heel and launched a cloud of crackling ice shards as she jumped to her ghost's side. Kiko shimmered out of existence. "Let's go!" The eager ghost announced.

"Come on," Ranma grabbed Hibiki by the shoulder and charged down the new corridor.

"Heyheyhey!" He yelled as she sprinted down the corridor dragging him through the air. At the far end of the docking umbilical was a line of kneeling Fallen backed by a pair of Servitors. A Captain stood at one end brandishing a pair of sabres and a heavy solar cannon of some sort. It gestured and Ranma juked right, running up the wall of the umbilical corridor as wire rifles perforated the air behind her.

Pouring on the speed she let momentum carry her across the ceiling and down the other side while ignoring how Hibiki was screaming. She hopped the Captain's shot, sidestepped the servitor's shots with a dance move she pulled from that one time she dealt with martial arts ballroom dancing. It was good for getting one's partner out of danger. Then she twisted them out of the way of another volley of wire rifles and in a single smooth motion hurled Hibiki over the line.

Fallen heads tracked the ballistic Titan as he soared over their heads and the railing behind them. It was a fatal moment of distraction as Ranma slammed into line, starting with the Captain who flew over the railing to join Hibiki at the bottom of a hole that was normally occupied by a lift. A storm of lightning and ice swept the gunners away before she put her fist straight through one servitor's shield and its 'eye'. It let out a terrified warble as she heaved it into the second and followed up with several shots from Memory.

She swept the room with her gun, ensuring it was clear, then stepped up to the lift and looked down. "You alright?" She asked, feeling a touch guilty about tossing him down a hole.

At the bottom of the shaft, nearly three floors down, Hibiki was dusting himself off in the light of an open doorway. His ghost was floating beside him as he looked up at her. "You're nuts!" he shouted back as his ghost disappeared.

"You're fine," she called back with a scoff. "Baby," she added under her breath. "Which way now?" She'd never been on a Ketch before.

"How should I know?" he asked loudly with a shrug then bent over and picked up his rifle. "How about I start looking for engineering down here and you start looking for the bridge up there?"

"You sure you don't need a hand?" she asked, taking two steps to the side as a thin beam of arc energy shot through where she had been standing.

"I've been doing this for years now. I can handle one little ketch," he called back, "Just make sure they don't have another Archon on the bridge or something."

"Fine," she called back as she turned on a heel and called a naginata to hand. The world crystalized to her wish and she hurled the result down the umbilical. It zipped straight down the corridor, leaving a layer of frost on everything and turning those it passed to ice before catching a heavy shank at the crossroads in its front vent. The electrified ice explosion shattered everyone in sight, and probably quite a few out of sight.

"See you in few!" Hibiki shouted, then charged into the ship. She glanced down at where he went and sighed.

"Something wrong?" Kiko asked, appearing at her shoulder for a moment as she started jogging to the other door at the back of the room.

"Not really just… He reminds me of someone," she said.

"Who?"

Ranma hesitated for a moment. "I think I mentioned Ryouga at some point?" she asked.

"A few times," her ghost confirmed.

Ranma paused at the door, since it was locked, and gestured to the console next to it. "Can you open it?

"Give me a moment," Kiko said, "So… Ryouga?"

Ranma sighed as she turned back to the corridor with her hand cannon. "His last name is Hibiki," she said.

"Ah. I was wondering why you seemed so judgemental," Kiko said.

"I am not judgemental," Ranma replied with a huff.

"So you're this critical of every random Guardian you meet? You've been manhandling him and criticising him since you ran into him," the little ghost replied.

"Have not." She shot a Vandal that dared to stick its head into the room.

"So you complain about people being noisy when they nearly get themselves killed often then?" Kiko asked.

Ranma felt her cheeks flush. "He charged straight in by himself," she grumbled, "The idiot ran right into an army."

"Which you crushed cause you're awesome like that, but you got really judgy after you heard his name. Ex-lover?" Kiko asked with a teasing tone.

"I- What part of I was a boy do you not remember?!" Ranma said, her voice jumping and octave in outrage as her ghost laughed.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Arc bolts crackled against the bulkhead by Hibiki's head. He didn't flinch as his rifle barked twice in reply, taking out the Fallen that had fired them. The hallway from the lift had led into a large bay. Racks of Shanks lined the walls in varying states of disassembly all overseen by a large Servitor and a small swarm of splicers. Splicers that had a very eclectic collection of weapons.

Light exploded from his fist into a barrier as he slapped it up to intercept a wall of flaming micro projectiles a Captain-sized splicer near the back of the room had launched from his right arm. Hibiki turned and slammed a fist into another splicer as it tried to jump him from behind an oversized bulbous crate. Its shield died and he fired three rounds from the hip. They tracked up across its chest in a spray of ether before he turned and fired twice at another splicer trying to get around his barrier.

He was forced to abandon his position as it replied with a beam of volt energy that sliced another bulbous metal crate in half. It only lasted a heartbeat before cutting out as the barrel of the oversized cannon, which it was supporting with three heavily augmented arms, turned bright red. It pulled back as he hurled a flashbang back to cover his slide into cover.

As more arc bolts pinged against the strut he'd picked for cover he let out a deep sigh. "Well, this has been a lot more exciting than I intended today to be," he said to Direction. His ghost scoffed.

"I warned you," he replied.

"Shush. How was I supposed to know she's nuts?" He replied before firing off more shots at the one splicers. A less shielded Splicer with some sort of triple-barrelled inferno cannon hit the deck lighter by a head.

Direction pointedly said nothing.

"I mean, sure I get being angry I crashed this whole quiet operation she was doing," he said, continuing his thoughts as he bolted for another piece of cover as an arc charge, one wired with what had to been fifteen pounds of explosives, was launched across the room by some sort of ex-shank engine gravity catapult. He poured arc energy through his body and accelerated across the room.

He closelined a splicer with a void-shrouded arm as it stepped out with a heavily augmented wire rifle. Its head went flying and he caught the wire rifle before it hit the ground. He slammed into cover behind a sturdy slab of armour from what had to be one of their spider tanks. It hissed and started to heat up as the arc cannon fired again.

He glanced over the rifle. It didn't seem to be encoded. Grip was right… Sights… good… He put his scout rifle on his back and raised the wire rifle as he stepped out and levelled it on another splicer. It let out a whine as he pulled the trigger, then fired as he let go.

The splicer's head popped, followed by an explosive container behind it going up in flames.

He ducked back. Charge shot, neat.

Arc bolts raked his cover. "It feels like she isn't taking me seriously, ya know? I'm a Titan. I've been doing this for years now and I felt like she's already written me off as useless," He said as the arc cannon fired again. The scent of burning metal made it through his helmet's filters as the armour plate started glowing softly.

He stepped out, his finger already down on the wire rifle's trigger, and fired a single shot at the cannon's operator as the whine reached a fevered pitch. The beam went straight through the Splicer's cover and both cannon and splicer toppled out, a hole the size of Hibiki's armoured fist in its chest. He slid the wire rifle over his shoulder and drew his scout rifle again.

He raised a barrier to intercept more burning projectiles and hurled a grenade high over it. The swarm grenade detonated somewhere above their heads and its projectiles rained down on the other side of the room. Shields popped and the Splicers shouted and chittered as they scrambled for cover.

He charged out from behind his cover. "She even threw me down here after dragging me around like a child," he said, "Who does that?"

"Shaxx?"

Unfortunately, he couldn't argue with that. Manhandling a trainee before tossing them down a pit was exactly Shaxx's style. Though he doubted Shaxx would have pulled them into an actual dance in front of the enemy. She'd even been grinning with amusement as she'd done it. It was like the whole fight had been a joke to her. Admittedly he'd been through worse fights, not including the battle in the lobby, so it wasn't like he'd been all too serious about himself either.

"Point," he finally said as he shoulder-checked a splicer with a Shank-gun attached to its shoulder out of cover. He sidestepped a swipe from a cybernetic fifth arm before grabbing the Splicer by its helmet and slamming it into the ground. He pumped several shots into its torso, spraying ether everywhere, before stepping back into cover himself. A rain of flaming projectiles hammered the cover and clipped his shields sending them screaming into the red zone.

That Captain was a pain in his ass.

He punched a barrier at an upward angle so it acted like a slanted roof for the pile of boxes he was hiding behind. Another wave of projectiles spattered off that shimmering Light.

He glanced about, taking count of his opponents while his shield recharged. The Captain at the back with its pair of servitors that were doing something to a bank of consoles. Three more Splicers in cover between them with an eclectic array of weapons and extra limbs. Then there were the shanks on the walls. While none of them had been activated so far he couldn't-

With a scream of cold engines igniting three Shanks pulled themselves out of the racks. One opened fire, plastering his position with shots, while the other two darted about like they were trying to open fire. A moment later they accelerated on collision courses before exploding well short as he shot them down.

"Right, enough about Ranma, let's focus before they send the entire room after us," Hibiki declared as he charged out of cover. An aura of Void Light enveloped him as his shield formed on his left arm. He caught a burst of arc lightning on it from the nearest Splicer who was firing what appeared to be an oversized tuning fork.

Its shields died as he hit it with his shield, then it disintegrated into Void Light particles as he carved it in half with the edge of the shield. The same motion tossed the shield like a frisbee across the room. It cut through a shock pike that was pulsating with arc power before dropping the shield of the owner in time for the arc energy to detonate and vaporise him. It barely touched the shield as it bounced off a wall before catching the last minor splicer in the gut. Its shield shrugged off the blow, but the force left it stumbling and unable to avoid the follow-up arc grenade that stuck to its helmet. Its hands scrambled at the helmet before the grenade detonated and erased the splicer in a flurry of electrical sparks.

Hibiki ducked behind a stack of crates to avoid the wave of projectiles from the Captain before coming up on the far side, his rifle barking even as he hurled a flashbang ahead of him. On the walls, a dozen Shanks in various states of repair came to life and slid off the racks. He ignored them as he poured fire on the Captain.

The Captain dropped its weapon and drew a sabre with one hand, a pistol with another, and a large round object with two more. It flared and expanded forming a shield of arc energy then the Captain charged. Hibiki jumped, power flaring around his feet as he cleared the Captain's lunge.

The Titan hooked his rifle to his back and palmed a pair of stick-shaped grenades before tossing them at each of the Servitors. They thunked into the floor beneath them and immediately started emitting sparks. A moment later bolts of lightning dropped the shields of both Servitors. They let out loud whines of complaint.

He drew his handgun and rolled to his feet as he spun to face the Captain. It barked, dropping several Shanks on suicide paths before he ducked the Captain's swing. His own energy shield shimmered as an arc bolt from its pistol winged his left arm. He ducked and weaved out of the captain's way, rarely deflecting its shots with a kick or punch. Most of them were deflected by its oversized shield.

Meanwhile, his grenades continued to shock the Servitors as they twitched and stuttered under the lightning barrage. Finally, something failed in one and it let out a wail before detonating, prompting the other Servitor to just turn off and drop to the ground.

His handgun barked a few times more as he danced with the Captain but soon they were alone. They circled each other, the Captain twirling their sabre and pistol.

"Any chance you'll just give up and leave?" Hibiki asked as his free hand began to glow with Void Light.

It chuckled before speaking. "No more than you," it growled, its voice sounding artificial through its mask. Then it lunged as he blinked at it actually speaking a human language.

His shield flash formed on his arm in time to catch the blade on its center. He twisted and guided it to his right as he stepped left and into the Captain's guard. His handgun barked twice. Both bullets caught the blade and the metal shattered. The burst of arc energy lit up the weapon and back fed into the Captain's arm. With a 'pop' his shield dropped.

The Captain backed away, interposing the physical energy shield between them, but Hibiki pursued, hooking the edge of its shield with his own. An empowered pull yanked the Captain forward and his shield out of the way. A Light wreathed fist cracked the Captain across the face before his shield sliced off one of the hands holding the shield. It stumbled, but its sword hand jerked in a slash with a knife it drew from somewhere.

Hibiki jumped back, firing his gun before tossing his shield of Void Light at the Captain. It was deflected by the Captain's own shield, but with only one hand on it several shots found their way through first. The Captain chittered as it dropped the knife and resorted to its pistol alone.

He dived for cover as it spat arc bolts at him and his shield faded. He scowled. "Really wish I could get that to last a bit longer," he grumbled. He had issues with the state of mind required to use it for long periods. He palmed a pair of grenades from his storage before opening fire. The Captain ducked behind the nearly opaque shield, and in the process failed to see the pair of swarm grenades go high.

He noticed when the many tracking projectiles caught him from back and above.

Hibiki rose and fired as the Captain stumbled. His shots slipped by the shield and caught the Captain in its shoulder, then its side and finally its head before they hit the ground and failed to rise.

Shaking with a touch of adrenaline Hibiki swept the room once before running to the console. Direction appeared as he reached it and immediately interfaced with the computer. "The Servitors are still logged in. Just need to spoof their… yes…. yes… I have access," Direction said, "Splicer system has access to their engine controls. I'm deleting their manoeuvring software except for the stationkeeping protocols."

"Pull their navigation records," Hibiki said, "Maybe we can track down other House of Kings bases from their stops."

"I'm already copying navigation data," Direction said, "And I've uploaded a worm that should eat any attempt to replace their manoeuvring programs. That'll keep them busy for quite a while… Oh, and I'm shutting down their jammers. This is very strange technology for the Fallen. It might be unique to the House of Kings."

"Worrisome, but for now connect me to Durendal and Cayde," he said.

"Negative. The other ship's jamming system is still operational," Direction said.

"Damn it. Then get me a map and let's go find Ranma," he said.

Direction paused. "Are you still interested in finding out more? I can't imagine you knew someone quite as crazy as she is," he said.

"I want to know more, Direction. A bit of crazy isn't going to stop me," he replied.

"Very well. Setting waypoints," Direction said before he faded back into Hibiki's armour. "The worm should do the rest now. Go flirt with your crazy girlfriend."

"She is not my girlfriend!" Hibiki snapped.

"Are you sure? You don't remember after all," his ghost replied smugly.

Having no answer to that, he turned and ran after the waypoints on his HUD. The halls were remarkably empty. He heard the sounds of Fallen in the distance and the sound of skittering claws as they ran away, but he didn't see them.

He didn't see anyone.

Soon, however, the sounds of violence reached his ears as he stormed up a tall staircase and onto the bridge. Bodies lay broken across the floor and consoles. Pieces of Shanks and Servitors were coated in a layer of frost that was slowly melting off of every surface. Slight puddles of water were forming.

Notably, nothing was alive, or at least nothing was conscious.

He hurried toward the sound of fighting, only to emerge into the dim evening sunlight in time to witness a Naginata of Ice fly through the air like a javelin and pin the ship's Captain, an enormous Captain twice the height of the usual ones, to the ship's mast.

An explosion of frost and electricity flash froze it from the inside out.

Then Ranma dropped back to the deck feet in front of Hibiki. She flipped her braid back over her shoulder and stretched. "Uuugh, troublesome bastard," she complained.

"Looks like it," he said, grinning as she started and spun around.

"You-" she huffed and straightened her armour, "Got it all done?"

"They can't do anything more than station keeping for the moment and if they try a worm should eat it. It'll keep them in place for a while," he replied.

"Good. Now-" The radio crackled to life abruptly.

"This is Cayde to boarding parties, anyone there?"

"We're here," Ranma said, raising a hand to one ear as she turned back to the building, "How is everything back at base?"

"Oh things are going great over here. We've had a few dozen Guardians show up already and the perimeter is holding great," the Vanguard said, "Hey, N, you hearing this?" N. Did he mean that N?

A new voice came on the radio. "We're hearing you," a male sounding voice said, "the Guardian and I have finished with the other vessel. They're down to stationkeeping and we've taken out both their Captain and their Jammer. Good thing too. I think it was giving me a headache."

"Can ghosts even get headaches?" Cayde asked rhetorically before carrying on, "Look, great work everyone. Fall back to the data room. We're transmatting in some frames so Durendal can hold the area and set up a fixed teleportation destination from his base. A little something I've been working on."

"We'll head in. Khu you there?" Ranma asked.

"I'm here. Harried, but here," the other Guardian said, "You have no idea how many Fallen have tried to get into here."

"Over four hundred have been logged," Durendal added.

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, well just hold out for a few more. We're headed back," she said before turning to Hibiki. Her eyes met his and for a moment he felt like he was somewhere else sitting across from the owner of those eyes as she gave him a mischievous grin. There was ice cream involved as well, he was pretty sure.

Then something hit him in the head. "Ow," he intoned as he realised Ranma was frowning at him. "Sorry, zoned for a moment."

"Riiight," she said, clearly not believing him, "As I was saying, you wanted to have a talk. We can have one in the data center or back at Durendal's place if they've got that Transmat set up. C'mon." She turned and started walking toward the stairs with barely a care in the world.

He followed, feeling both embarrassed and hopeful. That was a new memory. He hadn't had one of those in years. Maybe, just maybe, he was finally onto something.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

Ranma stretched as she followed Khu out of the Transmat. "Eurgh, I'm stiff," she complained. A pulse of light from Kiko ran through her, but it did little for the psychosomatic exhaustion that told her she should be tired.

Khu turned to her. "At least you weren't locked in a room getting flooded with Fallen that you had to be careful not to wreck," she replied, putting one hand on her hip, "I am so glad to turn that over to frames for now."

The transmat pad, which had been stuffed into a ground floor room near the central courtyard, flashed behind them as Hibiki arrived. Ranma turned on her heel. Giving him a proper look over there wasn't too much exceptional about him compared to other Titan's she'd seen. Armoured suit, guns, direct attitude.

"So, you're Hibiki," she said, pushing aside the memories that name brought up. She didn't want to admit how much she missed her rival.

"I am," he said, "Do you have time for a talk now?"

"Yeah, I do," Ranma said, as she leaned against the wall, "What do you want?" She caught sight of Khu walking out of the room. She waved and winked before giggling as she left. Ranma rolled her eyes.

"Well…" Hibiki reached up and popped the seals on his helmet. He lifted it off and her heart stopped.

His hair was the same black, though his face was a few years older. Maybe nineteen or twenty instead of seventeen. His eyes were warm and he still had the small fangs that she recalled… but…

"So-urp- wurt uuur ooo ooing?" he slurred as she took two steps forward and squished his cheeks together as she turned his head left and right. Resurrection got rid of scars, so she couldn't count on those, but it did nothing for bone structure.

"I-," She stared at him, "How are-" She let him go and stepped back, her mouth moving up and down. It was him but… She tried to blink away the feeling of tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Well," he said as he rubbed his cheeks, "I guess that answers my questions."

"Ryouga," she breathed before turning away. She was not going to start crying in front of Ryouga. She brushed the tears away subtly. More immediately started to gather.

"So that's what the R meant," he mused and she flinched.

Right. No memory. Not really.

"How much do you..?" She trailed off, glancing over her shoulder.

"A few things. Mostly glimpses of people, or places. Mostly red hair and what might be blood. I sometimes get flashes of inspiration in combat for tricks and such," he said, taking a step forward, "I'm guessing you remember a lot more than that."

"Tricks," She snorted. The Ryouga she knew would have smacked this version of him for the irreverence toward martial arts. "Yeah. Basically everything. If I've forgotten something it's small enough I can't tell there are holes. Not yet anyways."

"Ah…" He watched her with a small frown. "Are you okay?"

Was she- She snorted. "Yeah, course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, unable to keep a bitter tone out of her voice.

The transmat flashed again as someone else came through. They both turned to see a woman with a hunter's cloak over her shoulder step off the pad. She paused as she saw them.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something?" she asked as she reached up to her helmet.

"No, not really," Ryouga said as Ranma felt her eyes go wide.

Ryouga, she had had warning even if she'd downplayed the possibility. But-

Red hair, just a shade darker than her own. A face so familiar, though years younger and now so similar to her own. Warm brown eyes that looked so concerned.

"M-Mom?" Ranma blurted out in stunned disbelief.

-0-0-0-0-0-​

A/N: *pokes around shelf with a feather duster*

*hums a little ditty*

*knocks a box off the shelf*

???

!

Grounders10: Gekkou! I found the chapter! I think it's a bit dusty, but it should work, right? *hopeful kitsune*

Gekkou_Yoko: Sure! I already cleaned it three times! Go ahead and throw it to the wolves! They're like cats sometimes, I swear!

Grounders10: ;-; I didn't misplace it that many times, did I? *looks around at disorganised office*

Gekkou_Yoko: You ahh, just let me-*fixes typo* there cha go.

Grounders10: *has sinking feeling it's been lost for longer than intended* ;-;

Gekkou_Yoko: Well, it was finished most of a year ago, so…

Grounders10: *hurriedly shoves it out the door* Here you go everyone! Totally didn't forget to post it for like, nine months! Enjoy! *flees, tails banging loudly against the wall*