Here's a preview/prologue for a new story I am starting work on. To put it in the most convoluted way possible it's AU of one of my other RWBY AUs. You don't need to have read "Warriors in the Void" because some of the lore is the same, but there are significant differences. Now that I've cleared that up to the best of my ability, please let me know what you think. I'm open to making some changes, as long as they don't interfere with the central plot or change things too drastically from my original vision.
A lone Mistrali transport was traveling to the edge of the Mistral System. It was on a diplomatic mission, a mission to establish better relations with the infamous Branwen Tribe. The tribe had recently moved into the system, bringing their illicit activities with them. A government would usually never dream of engaging in diplomacy with criminal organizations, but the Branwens weren't your average crime syndicate. They were too big to be ignored or easily dealt with, there level of power and influence being on par with many nations. They weren't exactly a benevolent group, but they did use their military might to combated slavery and unfair business practices. They also possessed legendary combat abilities, making them also impossible to beat in space or ground combat. All of that meant that diplomacy was Mistral's best option for dealing with the new threat, so they sent their "best" negotiators.
"We're so screwed Pyrrha, they're just going to shoot us down as soon as they see us." said a distraught Jaune Arc, as he waited in the back of the transport. "Oh Jaune, we'll be fine. From what I've heard, they aren't complete savages. As long as we don't do anything to anger them, they will at least be willing to hear us out." a noticeably more relaxed Pyrrha Nikos, told him.
Jaune shook his head "How can you be so calm Pyrrha? Even if they don't shoot us down, I'll say the wrong thing and they'll kill us all." he retorted. Pyrrha sighed "Trust me Jaune, everything will be fine. You're a great negotiator, and I know you won't make any mistakes. You need to believe in yourself, believe in yourself like I believe in you." she responded, trying to encourage and comfort him.
Jaune gave an awkward smile "Thanks Pyrrha, you also know exactly what to say. I guess that's what makes you such a good negotiator." he said. Pyrrha smiled back at him, she was interrupted before she could reply. "That's the spirit Jaune, these guys are going to be pushovers." said Nora Valkyrie, who was sitting opposite him in the transport.
Jaune smiled at Nora "Thanks, but I don't think they'll be that easy." he said. Nora shrugged "They better listen to you, I'll break their legs if they don't" she said. Lie Ren, was sitting next to Nora. He shook his head "Nora, you can't just go around breaking the legs of people you don't like. We're meant to be negotiating with the tribe, not provoking a fight with them." he told Nora.
At that point, pilots voice came through the speakers. "I have a visual, preparing to hail the tribe." he said. The four passengers looked at each other with mixed emotions. "Well, they haven't shot us down yet. That's probably a good sign." said a more confident Jaune. "I hope I'm right about them being willing to listen." said a slightly worried Pyrrha. "This is going to be so much fun." said and excited Nora. "It's certainly going to be something" added a stoic Ren.
A few minutes later the transport landed, it was in a secure hangar onboard a gargantuan ship. The "Terror Bird" was Chief Branwen's flagship, its sheer size exemplified the wealth and power of the tribe. It was less of a ship, and more of spacefaring city. Unlike a city however, the "Terror Bird" had enough fire power to utterly annihilate as small moon. In other words, the ship definitely deserved to have "Terror" in its name. Just the sight of the ship in the distance, was enough to bring about a surrender. So of course, it was the most relaxing location for carrying out negotiations.
"Well, we made it inside. Let's hope our good luck continues." Jaune said, as he tried to maintain his composure. "Stay strong Jaune, they respect strength above all else." Pyrrha told the nervous blonde. Nora laughed "Oh these guys are going to love me, I hope they want to arm wrestle." she said. Ren sighed "Nora, please don't arm wrestle anyone. Now's not the time." he told her.
Nora crossed her arms "You say that now Ren, but when they ask to arm wrestle so I can prove my strength. Then you'll know that Nora is always right." she told him. Ren just sighed again "I really hope that doesn't happen. You're a bad loser, and a bad winner. Arm wrestling might just cause a diplomatic incident and get us all killed."
Jaune took a deep breath "Okay guys, let's do this. If we all keep are cool, and watch what we say and do. We'll nail this, and be home before we know it." he said to his three friends. Pyrrha smiled "That's it Jaune, that's why they made you our leader. Let's go out there and make Mistral proud." she responded. The others nodded and the got to their feet as the rear door opened.
None of them were expecting what they saw when the door was open. They had expected to be greeted by terrifying killers, but they didn't get that at all. There was a woman around their age with short brown hair, flanked by two men who were also about their age. The most intimidating fact about the trio was the enormity of one of the men. He must have been at least 7 feet tall.
The woman spoke "Hey there, welcome aboard. I'm Coco." she greeted. "It's a pleasure to meet you Coco. I'm Jaune, this is Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren." Jaune responded. Coco nodded and she changed her tone when she spoke "Great, now explain what you're doing here." it wasn't a request, it was an order.
Jaune maintained his composure, though he wanted to turn around and get out of there. "We are here on behalf of the Mistrali Government, they wish to establish diplomatic ties with you." he told Coco. She nodded again "Well, you don't look much like diplomats. But, I'll see if the chief is willing to talk to you." she told the. Coco walked away, speaking to her two accomplices as she walked past them. "Yatsu, Nep. Keep an eye on them while I make a call." the two men nodded.
It was at this point, that the diplomats got a good look at Coco's escorts. Other than his height, the most noticeable thing about the taller one. Was the over-sized shotgun that was slung across his chest. The most noticeable things about the other one, were his blue hair and the goggles that he had for some reason.
"I hope you guys are the real deal, it would be a shame if we had to kill you." the blue haired one said. Jaune nodded "Don't worry, we are the real deal. You don't have to kill anyone." he said. He received a shrug in response "You never know when you'll have to kill someone." the blue haired by said.
Jaune couldn't stop himself gulping at the relaxed approach to killing. Unfortunately, it was noticed. "What? You not used to killing. Well, I guess we have very different lines of work." the blue haired one said. Pyrrha spoke for Jaune "We just kill Grimm, not people." she said. the blue haired one smiled "That's pretty awesome. I'm Neptune by the way." he told her.
Pyrrha smiled back "Thank you Neptune, I don't know if you heard but my name's Pyrrha." she introduced herself. Neptune nodded "You know, if you ever want a career change. We can probably find a place here for you." he said. "I don't think I would be much use to you, I don't think I could kill a person." she responded. Neptune laughed "We hear that a lot, but it's pretty easy when you get used to it."
Pyrrha didn't like Neptune's disregard for human life, but she couldn't say anything about it. She couldn't jeopardize the mission, and clearly there was very little stopping Neptune from killing her. She just smiled and nodded at him. Thankfully, Coco returned before they had to continue their conversation. "Good news, the chief will see you. But I'm afraid you'll have to go though our security checks first."
As the quartet were allowed off the transport, they found that there were far more than three people watching them. The heavily armed terrifying killers had been there all along, they were just out of view. They may have disagreed with Neptune and attitude to killing. Be he was a godsend compared to the others they could have been faced with. Needless to say, they were more than happy when they were led out of the hangar.
As they entered the next room, they were met by another woman about their age. Though she was a lot more menacing than Coco. Her head was shaved, and she was covered in tattoos. She also lacked Coco's pleasant demeanor. "Coco may believe you, but you so called diplomats aren't going anywhere yet." she told them. They all nodded, they were scared of her and they didn't want to cause any issues.
"Lucky for you, you don't have to strip for me. Just walk through those scanners." she told the. Jaune nodded again, and went first. He walked through and was relieved when nothing happened. "Well done Blondie, you passed." she said unenthusiastically. The others followed Jaune through, none of them had any problems with the scanners.
"It seems you were telling the truth. Not that lying would have got you anywhere. Now, follow me and I'll take you to the chief." she told them, as she walked past the scanner and led them through another door. "Thank you, we appreciate this." Jaune said to her. She shrugged "Don't thank me, thank the chief. You'd be dead if she didn't want you here." she told him.
"We will be sure to thank her." Jaune said. The woman gave a slight nod, then she said "I should probably tell you that pissing her off is a bad idea. If she doesn't kill you, one of the "Birds" will." They were confused about what she had said. "Birds?" Jaune asked. "Don't worry about it Blondie, you'll meet them soon enough." she responded.
"Is there anything else we should know before we see the chief?" Pyrrha asked. The woman took a moment, the said "It's fairly simple. Do exactly what you're told, don't question her morals, and don't try to fight her. Do all that and you may just live through this." The response didn't exactly instill Pyrrha with confidence. "Thank you, we will heed your advice." she said.
After walking for a while, they came to a stop. They were at a doorway with armed guards standing at either side of it. The woman turned to them "If any of you are religious, say your final prayers now. You may not leave this room alive." she warned them. None of them were particularly religious, but they all felt the need to pray. They needed as much help as they could get.
The woman with the shaved head, led Jaune and the others into what was clearly a throne room. It was a lot darker than the rest of the ship, but it was also decorated more than the rest of the ship. There was a black thrown against the wall, on it sat a dark haired woman with menacing red irises. Under the gaze of the chief, they all felt terror beyond any they had ever experienced. The woman was more terrifying than any Grimm.
Once they got over the initial terror, they noticed something. For such an important figure, there were surprisingly few guards around. There was a graying man standing by the chiefs side, and there were six masked figures standing around the room. The masks and swords didn't do much to reassure the diplomats, they did quite the opposite in fact.
"Thank you for bringing them to me Vernal, you may go." the chief said to the woman who had led them there. Vernal bowed slightly "Thank you Chief." she said, before quickly making her exit. Once Vernal was gone, the Chief looked at Jaune and the others. "So, Mistral thinks they can bargain with us. What an interesting idea. Now, tell me your names." she said.
"Jaune Arc." Jaune said. "Pyrrha Nikos" Pyrrha added. "Nora Valkyrie" Nora followed up. "Lie Ren" Ren finished. The Chief nodded "Thank you. Now, as you should already know. I am Chief Raven Branwen, leader of the Branwen Tribe. This is my brother and consort Qrow, and these are my Birds of Prey." she said. Qrow nodded to them, and the six masked figures stepped forward.
The diplomats now knew what Vernal meant when she said "Birds" and the birds didn't seem too friendly. "Are you scared of them? Because you should be." Raven said. Taking Vernal's advice about doing what they were told, they nodded that they were scared. Though, it wasn't an act they were putting on. Raven laughed "Don't worry, they won't kill you unless you do something stupid. Isn't that right girls?" The birds all nodded, but remained silent.
"Hmm, I suppose I should properly introduce them before we get down to business. The blonde one is Eagle, it's not her sword you need to watch out for. She could punch a hole clean through you. The faunus is Hawk, I wouldn't worry about watching her. If you fuck up, she'll kill you before you know you fucked up. The one with the white hair is Falcon, you should watch out for her sword. She loves to run people through. The one with red tips, that's Owl. If you try to run, she'll make sure you don't reach the door. The One with the ponytail is Kite. You won't see her coming if she goes for you. The other one is Vulture. If she gets hold of you, your death is guaranteed but it won't be quick." Raven introduced the "Birds" and cemented the fear in the diplomats' hearts.
"Nice to meet you all." Jaune said, trying to be as civil as possible. Raven shook her head "Cut the crap Jaune, we know you don't mean that. It's just your diplomatic bullshit. Now, let's get down to business. What does Mistral want?" she asked. "We wish to protect our trade routes, and avoid conflict with you." Jaune said.
Raven thought for a moment, then looked to Pyrrha "Do you know who we are and what we do?" she asked. Pyrrha nodded "You are the Branwen Tribe. You raid ships, stations and settlements for resources and money. You also combat slavers, dust companies, and various other groups and organizations." she said. Raven laughed "That's not entirely accurate, and you put things much nicer than you should have. But close enough. Anyway, knowing that. Do you honestly think we could reach an agreement?" she asked.
Pyrrha nodded "I believe you are a reasonable person, and that we can reach an agreement." she said. Raven then looked to Nora "Tell me Nora, do you agree with Pyrrha?" she asked. Nora nodded "I agree with her. From everything I have seen, you are very reasonable." she said. "Alright then. I have an offer for you. We continue to operate as normal in this system, the government leaves us alone, and we leave them alone." Rave offered. She looked at Ren "Does that sound like a fair deal to you?" Ren nodded "That does sound like a fair deal." he said.
"Well, I assume you're government would like to hear our terms. Is that the case?" Raven asked. "I'm afraid so. We we're sent to establish diplomatic ties with you, and propose I deal. However, we were not give full authority." Jaune said. "Very well. You may leave to make our terms known. Then I want you to come back, with news for us. Nobody else will do, I want you four specifically." Raven told them.
They all bowed to her "As you wish, hopefully we will return with good news." Jaune said. Raven rose from her throne. "Tell your government, that if they don't agree to our terms. I will unleash my "Birds" on you, and then I will bring your puny nation to it's knees. The terms I offer are final, we do not bow down for anybody. We are the Branwen Tribe, and we do everything on our own terms."
As I said at the top, please let me know what you think. Also, I'm not sure when I'll be able to get this story fully underway. But as soon as I'm done with "Fear and Fury" I will be getting back to this, maybe before if I'm compelled to do so.