-Prologue Synopsis-
Gryphon Light, a Veteran Titan and known hive scholar in similar fashion to Eris Morn, kills a traitorous Guardian that was planning to sell the Tower's defense plans to remnants of the Red Legion. When Gryphon reports this, he is put to trial for killing another guardian permanently and sentenced to exile. His final act before his exile was challenging and defeating Rhulk, The First Disciple, and teleporting the Darkness Ship out of the solar system with Vex technology.
|>—>—>—>-<—<—<—<|
Riven illuminated the wreck with her eye, searching for Gryphon's body. Passing around a pile of rubble, she stopped and scanned for a moment before an armored hand burst out of the pile.
Riven: Ah, there you are!
She channeled Light into his body to heal his wounds as he rose from the rubble.
Riven: Here, that armor is seriously damaged so I'll change you into your Warlock gear for now.
In a blue shimmer, the crimson red of the Titan armor was changed for black robes bearing the Trials of the Nine emblem.
Gryphon: Do you know where we ended up?
Riven: No. According to the ship, we're somewhere on the very edge of the Milky Way.
He moved around the Raid room and noticed the corpse of the Disciple, Rhulk, crushed under large debris. His glaive was out on the open and as Gryphon picked it up, the shifting metal made it shrank to his size.
The Guardian let off a smile of delight. The other Guardians were definitely pissed they wouldn't be getting this loot.
Gryphon: First off, we need to find out what the planet is like. Let's go outside.
Riven appeared in front of her Guardian, causing him to stop.
Riven: Actually, there's something else we need to look at first.
Gryphon: Like what?
Riven: I detected a large living creature under the ship when we crashed. It's dormant in a cavern deep down and I could transmat us there.
Gryphon stared for a moment before nodding.
Gryphon: We'll do that then.
Riven nodded back and the two disappeared in a shimmer of blue particles.
After a moment they reappeared in a dark cave with no obvious exits. The first noise the heard was the rumble of a giant creature breathing. Riven's light shined on the beast to reveal a colossal dragon-like creature.
Gryphon could feel the negative energy radiating from the monster in front of them. Hive Magic had made him more sensitive to the way energy and magic permeated everything and was just as common as air, just unused.
Gryphon: What the hell are we looking at, Riven? Is this some kind of god? I wonder what kind of gun it would make...
Riven: No, it's not a god...I think. It's...made entirely of negative emotions. The entire mountain is inhabited by smaller signatures of negative emotion just like this. This entire mountain and the surrounding area must be hostile territory.
Gryphon got closer to the sleeping beast as a dark thought entered his mind. He looked at his open hand and focused hard on it until it became encompassed Taken energy.
This was a risk for sure. This monster was at least six Golgoroths in length and two in height. He had never Taken something of this size before so there was no telling what could happen, but this place was entirely foreign and he needed an assurance right now.
Riven watched with worry as her Guardian placed his Taken hand on the dragon. Slowly, the monster's body begins to darken until it becomes completely Taken. Gryphon pulls his hand back with a relieved sigh.
[Loading File: Taken King's Grasp].....
[Requesting Access]........Extreme restrictions.
[Opening File].....Granted.
By ——————— Oryx's ——————, I was given the ability to ———— enemies as he could. Perhaps it works like ————————— a crown. In any case, — —— ——— The Taken King.
—Regent
[Locking File].......
Gryphon turned to Riven.
Gryphon: Crisis averted. Now, let's scope out the perimeter.
The ghost nodded and they were transported to a desolate city that sat at the bottom of the mountain where the Constellation Tracer had landed. Observing the area, it was painfully obvious how empty the area was but he could faintly see a civilization on the horizon and that was enough to make Gryphon's guard raise to one hundred.
Gryphon: Riven.
Riven: I see it. This planet is inhabited by intelligent creatures, meaning they saw the Pyramid crash and are no doubt i their way to investigate. How are we handling this.
Gryphon went quiet, searching his mind for a viable solution that would keep intruders out. It was then that he recalled an old hive tablet detailing a ritual that could give him the power he needed to conjure a defense for them.
Gryphon: I'm going to need to transmute every living creature in the surrounding area in order to energy to cast a defensive 'Array' over the mountain and the city.
Riven: An excellent plan, there are thousands of those creatures here above and below ground.
Gryphon's body became enveloped in Soulfire once more as he unleashed another Corruption subclass. Hive magic sigils appear in his hands as he levitates above the asphalt.
He drops to the ground and buries his fist into the street, causing the lines of a flaming transmutation circle to spread throughout the streets and underground of Mountain Glenn before the entire mountain is illuminated by the green glow of Soulfire that can be seen from miles away.
The creatures caught in the circle are suddenly drained of all of their life force and turned into black crystalline statues. The flames around Gryphon funnel into his arm as hi raises his other arm into the sky and fires an emerald green beam up into the air that strikes the clouds.
Those clouds darken instantly and began to rumble as emerald green lightning streamed through them. The Hive Storm formed a canopy above Mountain Glenn.
Gryphon then used the excess energy to switch to Tormentor. He created chains and hive seals to act as a wall/snare, with the living chains capturing anything that got past the seals.
The emerald glow around the mountain went away and Gryphon fell onto his back, breathing heavily as if he had fought Rhulk once more.
Gryphon: Haah...haah. Riven....could you transmat the stuff....off of the ship...and have it do a sweep of the whole...area?
Riven: Of course, O Guardian Mine. Just a moment.
The crates of items appear outside of the Constellation Tracer as it lifts off and begins flying above the city.
|>—>—>—>2 hours later<—<—<—<|
|Beacon Academy: Cafeteria|
The students of Beacon Academy were stirring wildly. News of the strange light and storm that came from the mysterious spacecraft were causing a lot of chatter. Even some of the teachers were curious or excited about it.
At one table sits three teams, RWBY (Ruby) , JNPR (Juniper), CBSS (Cloudburst).
Of Team RWBY is, Ruby Rose as leader, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long.
Of Team JNPR is, Jaune Arc as leader, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren.
And of Team CBSS is—
Nix Carmen as leader.
Imperia Byzantium.
Skylar Aquamarine.
And Shae Amethyst.
They were, of course, talking about Mountain Glenn.
Imperia: So! Who's got bets on what teams get sent to Mountain Glenn?
Nora: Oh! Oh! It's definitely gonna be us! We have a Pyrrha!
Blake: Yes, but Cloudburst and Coffee are upperclassmen. They're the best and most likely.
Nix remained silent, looking through her scroll and occasionally gazing at Mountain Glenn. Skylar spoke up, letting her English accent be heard.
Skylar: Sure. It doesn't matter to me either way.
Ruby: Come on! You have to admit the idea of aliens sounds AWESOME!
Skylar: Maybe, but that's not any of my concern. I'm more concerned with the issues our planet already has.
Shae: Agreed. The White Fang and Grimm are what we as students and future Huntsmen and Huntresses should focus on for now.
Blake tensed at how venomously 'White Fang' came out as Shae said it.
Pyrrha: Regardless of who gets sent, how will they get through that storm?
Weiss: I was thinking the same thing. No Bullhead could make it through that. All it would take is one lightning strike and they'd come crashing down.
Imperia: They could go on foot.
Jaune: On foot? To the 'Mountain of Darkness'?! Woman are you insane?!
Skylar: Jeez, what's got him so spooked?
Ren: He thinks this is a children's story come to life.
Blake: 'Mountain of Darkness'... Oh, I've heard that one. Bad children as sent to the mountain to be judged by a monster and the ones that get judged poorly get eaten.
Jaune shrieked in fear and hid under the table, causing the group to laugh.
Yang: Oh come on, Jaune! There's no such thing as child-eating monsters hiding at Mountain Glenn.
Imperia's laughter began to disappear until she became completely silent as she thought about Yang's comment and remembered something. Nix looked over at her with an eyebrow raised.
???: Exactly!
Everyone's mood dropped as the voice of Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL (Cardinal), interrupted their conversation. He stood behind where Jaune was hiding with a smirk on his face.
Cardin: Me and my team are gonna get a bullhead and go to Mountain Glenn at midnight. We're gonna prove that there's nothing going on there, so cowards like Jauney boy here aren't scared anymore.
Jaune rose from his hiding spot quickly when his name was mentioned.
Jaune: I-I'm not scared! Just cautious!
Cardin: Oh yeah? Prove it. Landing pad in Vale at midnight. Be there!
Cardin walks over to his team with a laugh while everyone glares at his back. Jaune slumps down into his seat.
Jaune: What did I just do?
Ruby: Well, looks like JNPR is going to Mountain Glenn tonight. Don't worry, we'll go to!
Weiss and Blake: We will?
Yang: We will! We're not going to let you guys see aliens on your own!
Imperia's smile returned as she heard the topic and returned to the conversation as Nix was about to call out to her. Nix closes her scroll and pays attention to the conversation.
Imperia: You guys don't seriously think you're going without us, do you! Nikky! Can we go too? Please!
Nix:....We have to make sure they don't die.
Imperia: Yeah! Aw thanks, Nik! You're the best!
Imperia pulls Nix into a bear hug that she wasn't expecting as Skylar and Shae laugh.
Nix: G-Get off of me you brute!
Skylar: Well, you heard the boss. We'll make sure you don't get eaten.
Shae: Still, this is worrisome. No one on Remnant has seen anything like that before...
|>—>—>—>Sunset<—<—<—<|
|Mountain Glenn|
Gryphon had created a base of operations out of one of the homes built underground. He had set up the Black Armory Foundry that was in the middle of creating an excavator along with a powerful long range scanner that could detect transmissions to and from earth. He was in the middle of constructing a Throne World Gate with the black crystal statues as material while his head bobbed to 'Solar Skies' by Star-Lord.
(It may not be a real band, but it might as well be.)
As he was humming along, the scanner came on which caused him to stop and listen.
???: General, we are prepped to investigate the storm.
????: This is General Ironwood, you are cleared to begin the operation.
Gryphon: That sounds like trouble...