LotBK: Monsters Among Us
RWBY -X- Horizon: Zero Dawn -X- Monster Hunter
NOTICE: Author's note will be posted at the end of Chapter 2.
"Speach*
*Thoughts to Self*
*Thoughts to Others*
Introduction Part 1
Bruce Christians
"Sooo...what happened to the moon again?" A, seemingly, young man stood on one of the front-most observation decks aboard the Exodus. The massive starship had arrived via warp travel several hours ago in orbit over a previously unknown world with a, seemingly impossible, partially shattered moon and a large majority of the maintenance crews were hard at work repairing the ships various systems while the commanding crew was hard at work planning their next course of action.
"Massive energy output by the looks of it, drones picked up high intensity scorching on the fractured bits. Most likely some kind of heavy-duty weapons test but that's only if the local populace has achieved space-flight. If not...well, your guess would be as good as mine sir." The man nodded slightly in acknowledgment before dismissing the technician to her prior duties. Turning his gaze back to the planet below, it was smaller than Earth but slightly larger than Mars according to their shipboard AI. Roughly a 2,800-mile radius it was less than a tenth the size of Pandora, which its self was comparable to Jupiter.
"Satellite is ready to launch Commander, waiting on your orders." another technician spoke up from behind, busy cycling through the many systems undergoing maintenance on his terminal screen.
"Alice, if you'd be so kind? Let's see what we have to work with here."
"Of course Bruce. Satellite, designated Helios One, has begun its launch sequence with three personnel onboard. It will be into position shortly Commander." A voice from the ceiling spoke up, a soft hum following it immediately after. "Doctor Cross has reported that the North Star is ready to launch when ready, he would like to know if you'll be accompanying them?" No response for a moment, then abruptly Bruce turned on his heel making his way out of the primary observation deck.
"Let Isaac know that I'm retrieving the last of my gear and then I'll make my way there. Make sure Spectre knows to be there as well then upload yourself to my armor." He passed by several other crew members as he went, sparing them each a quick glance as he went. Some stopped to salute as he passed by them, others simply nodded to his presence while the rest simply continued with their various tasks. "Vera, has Makai fully recovered yet?" Several dimmed lights above him shone to life with a green light before the hologram of an older woman made itself visible walking side by side with him.
"Affirmative sir, excluding the broken arm he has fully recovered and is fit for light duty till the casts are removed. Would you like me to appoint him as temporary commander?" the woman, Vera, asked as Bruce looked over the holo-screen that had appeared before him as she spoke.
"Please do, he's to return the Exodus to Pandora to finish repairs and resupply."
"It will be done, sir." With that, both the woman and the holo-screen faded away as Bruce continued onwards alone. The trek from his own quarters to the North Star was rather lengthy, expedited dramatically by various smaller transportation vehicles. Boarding the North Star he briefly stopped by a lone transport shuttle, leaving his armor and other weaponry there before continuing to the command deck for the initial launch.
"Alice, have you merged with the North Star yet?" A dark red hologram of a young woman came to life by his side looking out over the command deck with him. "I'll take that as a yes, Sat in position yet?"
"Yes, Commander. I've logged several larger cities on the planet below as well as a plethora of small towns. I'll...huh, sir I'm reading a strange storm formation over one of the planets primary continents."
"Will it interfere with our current tasks?" the AI hummed in thought before shaking her head. "Continue to monitor it for now then and launch drone pods to the surface, see what you can learn about this world." he acknowledged before turning to the crew awaiting their next orders. "Launch when ready Captain, and send Sabre and Dr. Cross to docking bay 3." the Captain immediately went about launching them from the Exodus as Bruce turned on his heel leaving them to their work.
Six hours later the group of three were aboard the transport shuttle having just entered the planet's atmosphere. "Landfall in sixty Commander; the closest city is roughly ten miles due north-east, 'The City of Vale' according to miss Alice here. Local wildlife seems highly aggressive, a small pack of...something is keeping pace with us maybe fifteen yards back. Please advise, copy?" the pilot a young man in his mid-twenties was gliding the party just over the tree-tops. Luckily the local sentient race hadn't noticed their arrival yet, or they had and just hadn't responded. Either was fine, to be honest, he was paid to fly, not entertain foreign powers. Three men were stood in the shuttles cargo hold; High Commander Bruce Christians, Knight Sabre Lockehart, and Dr. Isaac Cross. Whatever banter they had been engaged in ceased as he spoke over the intercom.
"Find us a clearing Pilot, I'll clear out the pests before you set down." the Commander had immediately set about dawning his armor, with the aid of Sabre, upon boarding. The whole setup was beyond him to be honest, but he knew enough to know that the armor was one-of-a-kind. The armor alone was imposing enough he'd thought, jet black with many interconnecting plates and pieces while a whole slew of hidden tricks. His signature blade, however, was a marvel in its own right. Unique to him the story behind it was strange, to say the least, but when you make a living fighting creatures several hundred times stronger than you it pays to have powerful weapons and none were more powerful than the NightEdge. "Sabre, stay on board with Dr. Cross." the knight nodded to his superior before shaking his head towards the doctor, who seemed a bit distracted by the holo-pad in his hands.
"Ten seconds Commander; opening hatch, standby." Handing his cloak and cap off to Sabre, Bruce took his place before the opening. "Holding position, clear to drop in 3...2...1...drop." Immediately stepping forward he fell to the sea of angry red eyes and white masks.
Time seemed to slow before he reached the ground, giving adequate time for him to analyze the horde below. Large bi-pedal wolf creatures, not too dissimilar from lycanthropes save for white masks, glowing red eyes, pitch black fur, and bone protrusions. Okay, so they were pretty different but no matter. They were going to die regardless.
One of the wolfs seemed to grow too impatient for its own good, using its comrades as leverage to launch itself upwards. Turning his body as he fell Bruce avoided the beast before drawing his blade and separating head from body in a single fluid motion. Time resumed at its normal pace as Bruce rolled down the back of another creature, standing he spun the blade to a reverse grip before impaling the wolf that had broke his fall and swinging his blade outwards throwing the beast aside. The wolf was dead before it hit the ground as he turned in place to see another two leaping at him side by side. They were cut in two with little thought as he charged forward to meet the rest of the pack head-on.
The wolfs seemed more wary of him now, quickly diving out of his path after having watched him dispatch their packmates so easily. One had moved a second too late and was quickly rewarded with having its rear legs removed before the black blade was embedded in its skull. The remaining seven had encircled him, growling lowly and moving with more care in the presence of this new threat. But millennia of instinct ingrained into them demanded they draw blood and who were they to deny their purpose? Four of them rushed in at once, seemingly to overwhelm him from each side. They hadn't stood a chance. He leaned away from the first, grabbing its arm and cutting it off before using it to backhand the second wolf. The third was beheaded a second later as the fourth was caught by its throat mid jump before it promptly lost the lower half of its body. The body was quickly dropped as the second wolf, having recovered from being hit with an arm of all things, lunged at him again narrowly missing his side as Bruce stepped back. It darted out of range of his blade instantly before turning back to face him with his remaining packmates.
Neither party moved for a moment before the wolf, ever the impatient creature, charged forward as one. They hadn't gotten far before four shots rang out in the night, dropping each of the final wolfs one after the other. Turning back to the shuttle Spectre could just barely be seen knelt down holding a rifle. Twirling his blade he reconnected it to his back before pulling out a flare to signal the pilot.
"You're on your own from here sir!" Pilot spoke out as the craft slowly touched down, allowing the remaining two passengers to disembark with their minimal supplies. "Local time is slightly past 0200 hours, the city ahead should still be quiet when you arrive. I'll be briefly returning within the next few days to deliver the bonded! Good luck sir, the North Star will be awaiting your first transmission."
"Copy Pilot, return to orbit. Remain on-call until further notice."
"Understood sir, will remain on-call. Pilot over and out." the craft's engines quickly built power before its bulk slowly lifted up and over the treetops and took off into the atmosphere. The remaining three were silent as they watched the craft before absently returned Bruce his cloak and cap.
"I had that covered by the way." Bruce stated, off-handedly motioning to the corpses as he dawned his cloak.
"You were taking to long." Was the shrugged response he was given. Rolling his eyes he brought his arm up as the red hologram made itself known again.
"Any word on where we are yet Alice?"
The hologram nodded slightly with a small smile on her face. "Yes, actually Bruce. Welcome to the world of Remnant."