Chp 3
Iron Strength
Sunset had learned a great deal about the world with Saladin and Ikora teaching her. After her little tag game with Cayde, the old Titan and Warlock Vanguard had felt it best to have her study and learn more about the workings of the City and more about how Guardians as a whole operated. To that end, Ikora had her meditating every once in a while with her studies of Vanguard policies, while basic physical training was done with Saladin. Her father also had started her off learning how to use and maintain weaponry.
Saladin brought her over to the Tower to visit Banshee-44, the old Exo arms master for Guardians both old and new alike to see what he had on hand to better train Sunset with.
“Saladin,” Banshee said as the two approached, “Figured you’d have all the weapons you need from your own forges.”
“I do, but my daughter doesn’t,” the Iron Lord replied as Sunset flapped her wings and put her forehooves over the edge of Banshee’s table, “I need a weapon for her. Something that will be easy enough to train her with and teach her the basics.”
Sunset looked up at Banshee in a bit of curiosity while the Exo blinked, his optics a little dim for a moment before they came back to full brightness and clarity.
“Sure, I have just the thing for Twilight,” he said as he turned and walked away from the desk, “Follow me. I left it in a store room in the Hangar.”
“Twilight….?” Sunset asked softly as she and Saladin followed the Exo. Every time she had seen the old man, Banshee had looked a bit out of it, almost like he was constantly walking into a room and forgetting why he had done so in the first place. Sunset had asked the Vanguard leaders about it one time when Saladin had been officiating an Iron Banner match and they had all said that Banshee was old.
“Do you know why Exos have a number after their name?” Cayde had asked. Sunset shook her head and the Hunter Vanguard continued, “That’s how many times they’ve been reset. Basically, when an Exo was first made, it takes a little bit for the Human mind to get used to being in a robot body. It’s also why we can eat and sleep even though technically we don’t really need to. The closer to being a natural flesh and blood body we are, the easier it is to get used to the body.”
“So… Banshee has been reset forty-four times?” Sunset asked, a bit of awe in her voice.
“Yep, so his memory gets all kinds of fuzzy. Even if you’d been standing there talking to him for a whole hour, he’ll occasionally ask how you’re doing and strike up a whole new conversation,” Cayde said.
“Indeed,” Zavala said as he looked down at the young mare, “However, there has been no better Gunsmith in the tower than Banshee. The weapons he provides and maintains for our Guardians are some of the best, outside of Exotic weaponry.”
`~`~`~`~`~`~
Shaking off the memory of that conversation, Sunset trotted a little faster to keep up with Saladin’s stride, the Titan looking down at the pony and marveling at how quickly she had grown in the months that had passed since he’d found her on the mountain. At first, she had only come up to his shins, the size making her both easy to carry and easy prey for anything that had a mind for it. Thankfully the wolves of the Iron Temple had taken a liking to the pony and kept an ever watchful eye on their new packmate. Now, however, she had grown to the point that she was at his knee. Her wings, which had seemed comically oversized for her smaller frame held a sort or regality that was more akin to a hawk. She still held the almost Super Charged levels of adorable that she had quickly become known for, but now it was only shown when something new had crossed her path. Or when she was playing with the wolves and their pups.
“Here we are,” Banshee said as he stopped at what seemed to be just a blank wall in the Hangar. The Iron Lord and pony had followed the old Exo into a fairly out of the way area near where Dead Orbit and Future War Cult had set up shop. A few Guardians were milling about and watching the trio with a bit of curiosity, but didn’t say anything.
“This is where I put it,” Banshee said to himself as he poked about a little bit before nodding and pulling out a small box from a room hidden behind the wall.
“What is it?” Saladin asked, the Titan eyeing the box with interest, Sunset trying to peer up at it from his side.
“A custom built sidearm,” Banshee responded, “Had it set aside for Twilight the next time I saw her. Said her abilities needed a faster charge time so I came up with this.”
And then he opened the box. True to his word was a sidearm, the paint scuffed a bit in places and what seemed to be Light filled cracks along its small frame. Above the trigger guard was a crest of two lions lunging at each other, a circle with the Titan, Warlock, and Hunter symbols between them.
“This feels…. Different,” Sunset murmured, “Like it’s not supposed to be from here….”
“… I see,” Saladin says as he looks over the weapon, “What is it called?”
“Traveler’s Chosen,” Banshee responded with certainty in his voice, “Been working on making sidearms like it for new Guardians when they land at the tower, but not much progress. Something about this one makes it Exotic. Dropping the power to something more common is an issue.”
“...daddy,” Sunset whispered, “It feels familiar. I need to take it with me.”
Looking down at sunset again, Saladin watched her face carefully. She truly believed that the sidearm was important, and so, he nodded.
“Thank you for this,” Saladin says firmly, “We’ll put it to good use.”
“Anything for Twilight,” Banshee replied with a slight shrug of his frame, “Anyway, I gotta get back to it. Almost Armsday, you know.”
`~`~`~`~`~
Several hours later, Sunset and Saladin had made their way to a New Monarchy firing range. Executor Hideo had given the old Iron Lord leave to use it as he saw fit in the hopes that Saladin would support him in any power grab. Too bad for Hideo that Saladin only cared for the protection of the City and his daughter.
“Alright,” Saladin said as they got set up, “Do you remember what I said about weapon safety?”
“Keep it pointed away from people and things I’m not gonna destroy, always treat the weapon as if it’s loaded even if you know it’s not, and…. Ugh, do I have to say the last bit?” Sunset said, a slight frown on her face at the last bit.
“Yes,” Saladin replied with a chuckle.
“...keep your booger hook off the bang switch til you’re ready to fire… but I don’t have fingers!!” The young mare complained, “How can I keep a finger I don’t have off the trigger?”
“It isn’t the biology that matters, in that case, more the idea behind it,” a Titan said from next to Sunset, startling the little one, “You hold it the same way a Warlock Glides, right?”
“Y-yeah…” the pony said, Saladin watching from her side.
“Well, it still applies,” the Titan said from beneath her helmet, “Keep your thoughts off the trigger until you want to fire the gun. Here in the City, safety is up to all of us, but you don’t have to be anywhere near as mindful out in the wilds on patrol. Just about anything that moves out beyond the walls is out to kill you, so you need to be aware.”
“I see…” Sunset said softly, “Has anyone tried to be friends with anything out there, though?”
“Maybe,” the Titan shrugged, “I hear stories that the Reef has a Fallen house allied with them, but I don’t put too much stock into what I can’t see or feel for myself. Been like that since I got rezzed.”
“Oh,” the pony said, “I’m Sunset, by the way.”
“Mina,” the Titan said, offering up a fist. Sunset took the meaning right away and tapped her hoof against the imposing fist and nodded happily, “If I ever see you out in the wilds, I’ll keep an eye on you. Even with our Ghosts, you can never be to careful.”
And with that, Mina walked off.
“Back to our lesson then,” Saladin rumbled, a happy feeling in his chest that his daughter had made a friend.