[i]This particular story is about the Guardian known as Saint-14 and how he came to be the legendary Titan we all know and love. I have taken some creative liberties with this story, being that he has an Exo special force at his back that have been renamed after him in his honor. I realize what Exo numbers mean, which is why there's a disclaimer. Please read, bump, and enjoy this short series![/i] [b]Episode One[/b] "We plead for membership into the Consensus, Speaker," said Father Ulrich. Saint-14 stood behind the small man, silent and cautious, examining the other factions in attendance. This freshly birthed unity was fragile at best. It hadn’t even been a year since the Faction Wars ended, so the Exo would watch those who would do harm to his master—intimidate even, if it was so necessary. Saint-13, his second in command, stood on his other side, and directly behind them was the rest of the Exo special force, garbed in white and gold. However, they were outnumbered. A scarlet-robed group known as New Monarchy, one of the first factions that emerged in the dawn of the City, were scattered among them, packing the atrial chambers full to bursting. Dead Orbit faced left, grim-faced and cold, while an even smaller band who called themselves Concordat, faced right. Their Guardians eyed him. Oh, how he wished to hold his rifle, but this space would not sanction such a thing. Truly a pity, it was. He would have shattered the beast'’s claws that caged him and ripped out the pads from its paws. “Membership, Father?” asked the Speaker, stock-still behind his pedestal. Ulrich bowed his head. “Yes.” “You do realize there is a minimum amount of two-hundred Guardians needed to qualify for a seat on this forum?” The Speaker cocked his head. “You have barely a hundred.” “I realize this,” said Ulrich, “but Great Absolution deserves a place here.” “And why is that?!” cried a voice. Nam Ra, leader of New Monarchy, rose from her seat. She jut out her bronze chin and laughed. “You sully the good name of Guardians by wandering out of our walls to conspire with the wilderness tribes, the ones who attack our patrols and rob us of our goods. You [i]threaten[/i] this city, Ulrich.” A grumble of agreement filled the forum. “I do no such thing, Nam,” he replied. “I confer with the outer settlements to bring them into the light of the Traveler. More so, to bring them into the light of the Father above. We mustn’t keep out fellow mankind. The more citizens in faith we have, God will further protect us from the Darkness. Which is why I have named my faction Great Absolution—to absolve the tribes of their lawlessness, and forgive them their sins. Your sins.” Murdock, leader of Dead Orbit rose next. “I will hear no more of your god,” he said, eyes cool. “There is a reason religion has all but died out, for where were your gods when humanity was crushed and wiped out by the Darkness?” “He’s right!” screamed another man with a crazed face, who Fourteen identified as Lysander, leader of Concordant. “What we don’t need is more mouths to feed and more lives to protect!” Fourteen suppressed a bristling rage. The other Saints shuffled, uncomfortable. “Now, there is no reason to insult the man,” said the Speaker, lifting a hand. Murdock sat without another word and looked away from the priest like he had just scolded a small, unimportant child. “Now, Father, I do suspect that you are a force to be reckoned with. You hold in the palm of your hands the so-called Machine Saints, who are without a doubt, one of the strongest Exo Guardians the Traveler has to offer.” Even with the mask placed upon the man’s face, Fourteen felt his glance. “You have power, but your goals are quite too…radical for this Consensus to agree upon. I’m afraid I must decline your entreatment into this council.” Father Ulrich bowed. “Very well,” he said. “I thank you for your time.” The priest turned around and made his retreat out of the forum, with sneers and slurs at his back. Fourteen couldn’t believe his master would leave with nothing as so little as a fight. He frowned and followed. “Return with enough members,” said the Speaker. “Then we’ll talk.” *** Thirteen kicked a pebble down the empty road. “You didn’t even argue, Father.” The short priest kept walking down the Inner City streets, a place of abject poverty, as well as a place ignored by the Tower. He rubbed his bald scalp and fingered his crucifix, a symbolic thing no one knew all that much about, for the origins of Father Ulrich’s religion were lost to time. “I did not see the point in arguing,” he replied. “We will come back, do not fret.” Fourteen’s Ghost chirped. [i]Behind you! [/i] Bullets whizzed past his head. The Exo spun around and seized an invisible wrist that had been aimed for Ulrich’s neck, crushing bones like dry twigs. A hand cannon dropped into the dirt. Fourteen ran his boot into the assassin’s thigh and snapped more bones, but with a snarl, the cloudy form twisted and brought its knife around to hit Fourteen’s amorphous-metallic skull. It broke in half. The Exo struck him back in the same place and he felt something cave in. The form dropped to the ground and flickered, gradually revealing a Hunter. A Ghost rose out of the lifeless body. Fourteen snatched the little machine, ready to mold the damn thing into a marble the size of a pea. Father Ulrich put a hand on his wrist. He was bleeding from a grazed shoulder. Saint-14, with rage-trembling hands, relented. “Which faction do you belong to?” “I cannot say,” it replied, voice even and quiet. “You can do nothing to me to make me betray my guardian, Saint. I was prepared to perish the moment he let his bullets fl.y.” Fourteen knew what it said was true, then shrugged. “Listen here, my friend,” he said bringing the Ghost to his face. “You revive your Guardian, but let him know that he’s a suckling babe no more worthy to face my little [i]finger[/i] than he is to face me.” The Exo flicked the Ghost away. “And tell him to bring more next time if he’s to win.” [b][url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/90406891]EPISODE TWO[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/90776215/0/0/1]EPISODE THREE[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/91176944/0/0/1]EPISODE FOUR[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/91747434?lc=1033]EPISODE FIVE[/url][/b] [b][url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/93735794]EPILOGUE[/url][/b] [b][i]DISCLAIMER: ALTHOUGH THIS STORY HAS BASIS IN LORE, MOST OF WHAT TRANSPIRES AS THIS SERIES GOES ALONG IS PURE FAN FICTION. TAKE THIS STORY WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. THE EXOS HAVE BEEN RENAMED INTO "SAINTS" BUT HAVE DIFFERENT NUMBERS (AMOUNT OF TIMES THEYVE BEEN SYSTEM WIPED) CONCORDANT AND LYSANDER ARE CANON, FATHER ULRICH AND THE MACHINE SAINTS ARE NOT. NEITHER ARE THE FACTION LEADERS.[/i] [/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/100362914]DESTINY FAN FICTION ARCHIVE[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/823422]JOIN CLAN FOR FAN FICTION UPDATES[/url][/b]