An Axe to GRiND Trailer 2

Well this took forever and a half, but its finally done: the second Trailer for my RWBY fan-team is up!

About friggin time; its been months for Oum's sake; MONTHS.

I know I know but between my computer crashing and having to pay a bunch of money to have it fixed only to learn I lost a majority of my programs so then having to pay for a new Office subscription I wasn't exactly in a happy mindset to jump back into writing.

I… can't really argue with that…

Good now shut up and get in character, This Is 'An Axe to GRiND Trailer two: Rushuna

"Okay lower me down."

"I'm trying, the winch is jammed; how much do you weigh?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"Well it only seems to jam when you rappel down so logically speaking…"

"Look just get the thing working, and on a side note you of all people should know how much I weigh."

"Ooh good point, alright here we go."

Alright; since the writer is still terrible at starting a story allow me to catch you up to speed on the off chance you actually give a f**k.

(Cut it out Rush, were trying to be PG. Why do you think I censored it?)

My name is Rushuna Silverburg, and I'm part of the crime syndicate know as The Diamond Dames; yeah I know that sounds more like the name of a strip-club but I don't have any input with the PR director so I have to put up with it.

It didn't really matter that much though as my occupation within the company involved being subtle and not advertising one's self; I am a thief, and we aren't talking about bumping into people to steal wallets (though I will admit that's an easy way to earn a quick buck) I break into banks, jewelry stores, dust warehouses you name it, if it has anything of value I've probably broken in… so long as it's in Vacuo at least.

Well I know I say 'I' broke in to all those places but I suppose I should mention I wasn't alone; I have a partner named Rail who would always go with me, whether we were robbing an armored transport or shopping for swimwear we were inseparable, but I mean that's how partners act right?

Anyway that gets some exposition out of the way so how about some actual plot writer?

(I'm getting to it; keep your pants on, sheesh…)

It was another blistering hot day as per usual where Rail and I intended to just stay in bed all day as it was too friggin hot to do anything, but around quarter after eleven my scroll buzzed with a message and given there was only two people on Remnant who have my number and one of them was asleep in the bunk above mine it meant the boss needed us. I rolled out of bed and shook the support to wake up Rail, in response she rolls off her bunk and falls to the cushions laid out on the floor… I still don't know why she does or why she insists on being top; she's a fairly tall woman standing 6ft 6'' but so long as she doesn't hurt herself I guess its fine.

"Oum dammit what the hell does she want us for now?"

"I really don't know Rail, but frankly I think it would be better to see what she wants us to do and get it over with." I toss her one of her shirts as I grab my equipment and get ready to see the Dom, and before you ask: no I don't mean 'Don', another confusing choice of naming but again; I really don't care.

So I Grab my Tonfas, my green hoodie and camo pants with dust sewn in; it works like octocamo by matching the colours of whatever I'm pressed against, this shit was expensive but it was worth it and has gotten Rail and me through many stealth incursions.

Once Rail is awake enough to function properly she gets her outfit on; she wears some grey skinny jeans that really don't leave much to the imagination in the best ways, and a rust coloured Chinese styled dress shirt with a low cut v-neck that I won't begin to describe because I'd end up gushing about how beautiful she is for hours; I don't know how she doesn't have a boyfriend with a body like that… whoop losing focus here, uhh after getting our 'work clothes' on we work our way to the top floor where the Dom's office is, we have to take the stairs because the elevator is still shot and even though we could afford to hire somebody to fix it everybody seems to think it's a bad idea, why is it crime syndicates that have plenty of money can never afford to fix elevators or drills? My best guess is they keep it broken because it helps the illusion that this isn't the home of a successful crime syndicate but just another rundown apartment complex in the backwoods of this shitty desert.

By the time we get to the top floor I'm already sweating both from the effort of walking up thirteen floors and because as stated earlier: it's pretty friggin hot today, I wouldn't be so annoyed by it if not for the fact Rail always looked like she just walked out of a perfume commercial and was spotless; even if all she was wearing was some random shirt and the same pre-torn jeans she looked amazing…

I realise I probably look like I'm ogling her and quickly stop before something weird gets written and I knock on the door to the Dom's office and she tells us to step in; "Good morning Rushuna, Aralia."

I forgot to mention because it wasn't really important whatsoever but that's Rails actual name, it's just that the boss is the only one who uses our actual names and not the four letter versions we stick with.

"Good morning Ma'am; I assume whatever you want us to do is pretty important if it requires making us leave our air-conditioning."

I nudge Rail in the arm to try and get her to knock off the attitude before she gets us in trouble but the Dom seemed to dismiss it as soon as it was said.

"Actually Aralia it is quite important; we have been contracted by S once again and he wishes to employee your unique services in particular; he wants the two of you to run a 'virtuous mission" as he puts it."

A virtuous mission, I had heard the term before; it's been used to describe mission focused on a stealth insertion into enemy territory to extract information or persons of importance while doing as little damage as possible, this was right up our alley then.

"So wait does this mean we have to find a scientist and get him away from all the bees?"

As those words leave Rails lips I find the palm of my hand firmly connecting with my forehead as it so often does after one of her weird references, it's the only thing about her I can't stand because they range from last week's blockbuster to an obscure Japanese cartoon from the eighties and they're rarely, if ever, relevant.

Regardless the Dom taps a few buttons on her scroll and the lights dim while a small projector starts up; once its warmed up and focused it reveals an image of an armoured train bearing the Schnee Dust Company logo… umm, "W... wait; are you sending us to rob an armoured train loaded with robot guards, security lasers, and who knows what other deadly security measures?!" My concern must have been pretty obvious as Rail grabs my shoulder and puts my head to her chest to calm me down, I have no idea why she thinks this would help but it usually does, just something about being so close and the warmth of her chest and the soft beating of her heart… probably some kind of psychological thing.

"I think what Rush means is: are you asking the two of us to do an eight-man mission alone or do you have something else in mind boss lady?" One of these days I gotta ask her why the Dom is okay with the way she speaks to her, at this point I gently slip out of her grasp and try to look professional for the Dom… that ship has probably sailed long before today though.

After adjusting her glasses, the boss continues; "Actually Aralia you and Rushuna aren't going to be directly involved in attacking the train but you will play a part in it; you are going to the station it is set to arrive at and hacking into the servers and erasing the schedule so when the train fails to arrive it won't raise as much concern."

"I'm sorry ma'am; but did you say we won't be 'directly involved'? What's that supposed to mean if you don't mind my asking?"

"Your concern is noted Rushuna, while don't have every detail the gist is our benefactor 'S' is having us assist another group he funds in a job, the other team will attack the train and steal what they can and you two are meant to disable security and hide the attack so in the end both parties escape undetected." After that obvious exposition she brings up another image of a train map and schedule for… Forever fall?

"Whoa wait a second ma'am; that says forever fall, isn't that all the way over by Vale on the other side of the continent, and if I'm reading this schedule right the train shows up in less than ten hours; Vale is already a eight hour flight and then getting transport to this station could take anywhere from" Before I'm able to continue Rail grabs me and does that thing again apparently trying to shut me up.

"I'm with Rush on this on boss lady; this is going to be cutting it hella close; I mean we usually have at least a few hours to prepare for something like this."

The Dom shuts off the projector and brings the lights back on while I struggle to breath as Rail still hasn't let me go, "I'm aware this is sudden and quite a lot to ask of you two but this mission could be what this syndicate needs to move from petty thievery to real work."

After that I manage to finally wiggle out of Rails grasp and breath I quickly write down the details we got from the Dom on my scroll as she and Rail discuss the specifics of our transportation and how we'll be smuggled into the shipping yard, while I checked details I also manage to find something I haven't actually noticed before; the letter with the details of the heist actually had a return address, I never really put much thought into it but I never knew where it was the man who keeps sending us money and jobs to do actually lives… well whatever; I'm sure that won't be important to know.

Within the hour we get to the airport and board an airship heading for Vale… nothing much happens during this part other than this one incident where Rail got into a fight with some drunken jackass with some kinda gear-sword thing but that didn't really go anywhere because plot I guess.

After the flight finally ended we made our way to some run down looking warehouse on the outskirts of the city to meet our contact who was supposed to get us to forever fall, once we were inside I noted the warehouse was pretty much empty save for some rusted cargo containers and a few guys wearing black tuxedos and red ties, I guess this place doesn't believe in business casual.

"Well then you two young ladies must be the pawns she sent to clean up for the fleabags!"

At hearing this voice I whip around trying to figure out how he got behind me so quietly but get distracted by his attire; he wears some kinda white long coat and a black bowler hat, kinda like a Bond villain or something.

"Yeah that's us, and that would make you mister Delarge I assume?" I restrain myself from face-palming again as it would look unprofessional but gently elbow Rail in the ribs, odds are this guy isn't in the mood for her strange references.

"Finally someone who watches some classics, all these clowns like to watch are buddy cop movies,"

I stand corrected, the tow of them go at it for a couple of minutes about their favorite movies and symbolism and al that crap until I clear my throat and motion towards a clock hanging on a nearby support beam that shows us we've only got about an hour to get to Forever fall.

"Right right I suppose you two do need to go get ready to fix the furball's mess, alright I'll have one of the men fly you in with a VTOL and you can get your end tied up," He begins to walk away but stops after a few steps and looks over his shoulder; "Oh, and tell Suzy I said 'Hi'." And with that he moved behind some crates and that's the last we saw of him.

Once we climb in to the aforementioned VTOL I rerun that conversation through my head and I voice my concerns to Rail; "So when he was saying 'fleabags' do you think he was referring to the White Fang?"

"Probably but what of it? Don't tell me you hate Faunas now."

"Wh.. No! Of course not! I'm just concerned because I mean; we steal money and dust here and there but these guys are hardcore killers and thieves, I just don't want to get in too deep here I mean HMMPH" Before I keep going Rail does the thing again, granted it was a lot more gently this time and she seemed to be genuinely trying to console me this time.

"Look Rush I get it; this is quite possibly the most stupid thing we've ever been tasked with, and working with borderline terrorist would unnerve anybody but you know what?"

"Whuf?" My reply is muffled for two obvious reasons.

"You've got me; and so long as I got a heartbeat and a shotgun shell I won't let anything happen to you."

I couldn't say anything, I was at a loss for words; Rail had always been there for me but I never fully realised how much she care; she thought of us as more than comrades and so did I but I think this is the first time either of us have just come out and said it…

I find myself clinging tighter to her now as we continue the hug/smother we've done so many times before… I didn't want to ever let go.

After about half an hour we're dropped off at the perimeter of the facility, we synchronize our watches for thirty minutes: that was how long we had before the automated system would notice the train isn't arriving and something's up.

The area wasn't heavily guarded as this was a low priority station usually just used to move crates from one train to another but you'd think today they'd be taking more caution… well no use looking a gift horse in the mouth, after letting a guard pass we burn through the fence and reach the side of the building where Rail helps me up to a vent cover that I pull off and climb inside; the vent is thankfully large enough for me to turn and hoist Rail in too and close the grate before we're seen.

Twenty three minutes remain as we work our ways through the vent moving as quickly as we can without making too much noise, it takes a moment for us to actually figure out where we need to go to find the mainframe as the vents don't seem to come with a map but once we figure out the direction Rail sets off ahead of me and I follow behind… I'm starting to see why she likes wearing skinny jeans.

With eighteen minutes left we find the servers and Rail sets up the winch so I can rappel down and we get to the beginning of this chapter because the writer thinks starting in the middle and then flashing back is a good idea.

(Shut up Rush.)

(Never.)

After making my point that Rail would know I'm not that heavy given she's the one who lifted me up less than ten minutes ago she lowers me down about fifteen feet to the floor and I unhook and try to hack into the mainframe when I hit a snag; the system is looked with a fingerprint scanner… shit.

"Rail we got a problem,"

"Don't tell me; retinal scanner?"

"Fingerprint actually."

"Well f**k… how much time do we have?"

"Fifteen minutes, not enough time to hack around it… Oum dammit what are we going to do!?"

"Ffff uhh… wait I've got an idea!"

I hear Rail shuffle back around in the vents and move somewhere, I have no idea where the hell she was going but I hoped she knew what she was doing…

…

Five minutes later and she still hasn't responded to any of my attempt to raise her. While she was gone I tried to see if I could hack into the system anyway but fingerprint scanners are a huge pain in the ass… After six minutes and three attempts my scroll pings and I notice a message from Rail and quickly open it up; attached are two pictures: one of a man whose tag said he was the Foreman and the other image was his hand, we had access.

I quickly study the details of the hand to get a focus on the fingerprints and then I get to work; I focus as hard as I can and feel the subtle tingle of my semblance pulsing through my hand as it shifts to match the prints of the foreman, after it takes effect I press my hand onto the scanner on the console and after a few seconds it chimes indicating I've gained clearance and I get to work, I have about five minutes to re-write the data to cover up a missing high priority cargo train. I type as fast as I can move from file to file to cut any trace I can and with about a minute left I hit the ENTER key and the system accepts the new data, I feel a rush of relief as I had apparently been holding my breath for about three minutes without realizing and exhale nearly passing out, once my breathing has settled and I'm actually able to think straight which made me have a realization: in order to get the images Rail must have attacked and grabbed the foreman and people are probably going to notice as Rail isn't exactly subtle when it comes to fighting… oh f**k.

I try to raise Rail on by pinging her scroll but she doesn't ping back and I start to panic because well if you've actually been paying attention up to this point you know that there's a lot that can go wrong and terrible so I think my freak-out is justified. I grab onto the rope and pull myself up as quickly as possible to get into the vents and try to find Rail in any way I can; sounds of combat, alarms, stupid references, ANYTHING at this point!

After hauling ass through the vents I find a Rail-sized hole and assume this is where she dropped onto that poor foreman and I drop out, I roll when I land and pull my Tonfas when I land out of habit but quickly stow them and tuck myself into a dark corner and let the dust hewn into my hoodie adapt, I try to raise Rail again on the scroll in the hopes she actually replies, it feels like an eternity when I finally hear the return ping a few seconds later and I set to work on figuring out her position; I managed to download the buildings map and use it to figure out where Rail is…

Oh f**k me she's in the main f**king terminal and she's got security trying to find her.

I stuff my scroll back into my pocket and start running to the security station down the hall in hopes of calling off the hunt or at least distract them, once I actually find the room I find another fingerprint scanner but it was simple enough to get through this time now that I had a hand from the foreman… Ok making that joke physically hurt.

Once I was in I went to work finding the security console and seeing how deep in we were; luckily Rail hadn't actually triggered any alarms, it seems they were just being cautious because the foreman hasn't been responding to the radio… OH idea!

I begin sifting through some security records and recent files to see if I could find some footage of the foreman speaking, once I get a decent quality clip I study his voice for a moment and get to work; focusing my energies and after a few moments of an annoying tingling in the back of my neck I check my reflection on the computer screen to find myself the spitting image of the foreman, I take a quick test sentence to make sure got the voice right: "Attention workers attention; I am a tool, that is all." Perfect.

I boot up the intercom system and a projection of the foreman activates in all the main rooms, once I get the attention of the workers I begin the cover story; "would somebody mind telling me why you're all acting as though there's been an infestation of creeps." One of the workers in the loading area pressed a button by the intercom to respond: "We we're just worried sir; you weren't responding to the radio."

"What am I not allowed to turn that thing off for a minute while I'm in the bathroom? Look I'm fine so everybody just return to your business, we got work to do." The workers glance at each other but get back to work and I shut off the camera and quickly un-disguise; I really hate having to do that because it just feels friggin weird but I can say it doesn't get results.

I return my attention to trying to find my hidden partner and try to message her again; 'Got the heat off, where the hell are you?' It took her a moment to reply and anther three for me to figure out what she wrote, she uses numbers in place of letters sometimes for reasons I don't really care to figure out but it gets hard to understand since she uses the number eight in about six different ways somehow, once I figure out what she said I just tell her to make her way to the vent we entered and that I would meet her there.

Once that's all taken care of I pull up a filing cabinet and crawl into the vents and make my way to the edge of the facility, about halfway there my watch beeps; I ignore this as we already finished the job and keep crawling but after another few moments I can't help but feel as though the vents were shaking slightly… oh f**k.

"Rail pick up dammit: the train wasn't stopped, and a giant unregistered armored train is going to raise an alarm, what the hell did the white fang do!?"

"Shit I don't know, but you gotta get out of the vents: they have some kinda security lockout of the alarms are triggered, you'll have to hoof it."

"Are you insane they could see me if I tried that!"

"I know but if a giant armored train with a bunch of combat ready robots shows up a teenage girl is going to be the least conspicuous thing in here, and besides if you need to you could just hit 'em with your tonfas or something right?"

She had a point, I quickly agree with her and hang up as I drop out of the nearest opening and start running; by now the rumble of a train engine is easily audible and I can hear some of the workers asking about if anything was scheduled for arrival, turns out Rail was right as I was able to walk right past two deck-hands unnoticed while they tried to figure out what was going on. I kept making my way to the end of the facility occasionally diving behind a crate or under some pipe work to avoid some confused workers trying to figure out what was going on; I guess they really rely on digital schedules because it seems like no one had the idea to write down 'big Schnee train arriving today' somewhere, as I make it into the main loading area where we first entered I spot Rail waving me over to a door on the far side of the track, I try to get close but the train comes screeching into the station and grinds to a halt just barley avoiding an overhanging crane.

About now is when hell decides to break loose: before anyone can say anything the stations alarms set off and it alerts that security drones have been dispatched (on a side note: our intelligence said nothing about this place having bots so this is going to be a bit harder than anticipated) and a bunch of workers start to leave the room, probably hoping the automated security can clear things up until the foreman and conductor can settle this… oh boy.

Just to further complicate matters a bunch of robots start jumping off of the train too and end up in a South Vacuoian stand-off, it looks like a cheesy sci-fi movie trailer when I notice a black blur shoot past and something hits one of the robots causing both sides to open fire; bullets flying everywhere bouncing off this and that and just making this a damn nightmare; I hear somebody trying to shout over the gunfire and alarms on the intercom but I can't make out a damn word.

All these damned sounds together culminating in an orchestra of f**k, the ground shaking from all this shit I felt like I was going to die from the migraine alone, I had to get out of here but I had no idea how; I was pinned down and I couldn't hear myself think…

Wait how did I get to the other side of the room?

I honestly don't know what the hell just happened but I ended up on the other side of the track and now I'm behind a shipping crate, after I come to my senses I realize I'm not alone behind this crate; there was a young woman around my age wearing a bow in her long black hair… wait hold on (Are you serious?)

(What now?)

('What now' he asks; your saying I meet one of the MAIN F**KING CHARACTERS IN MY TRAILER!? That's bullcrap! I mean seriously? SERIOUSLY?)

(Oh come on its just some flavour text to spice things up and give some development; also all you do is meet her, it's not like I'm going to ship you with her or something; a lot of people do that with fanfictions but I'm not, even though some hot girl on girl would probably bring in some views…)

(You try it and I swear I will break the trans-dimensional barrier and shove a crowbar up your WHOA ok jeebus it was a joke…)

After yelling at the author for a moment I asked the girl 'who the hell are you' and 'why the hell are you here', after being taken aback by my blunt assertion she tells me her name is Blake (as though you didn't friggin guess) and she was on the train when things went to shit so she bailed off when it got to the station; for the sake of the plot I believe her and thank her for getting me to the other side of the track and closer to Rail.

"Alright Blake; there's still about twenty robots between us and the door so how do you think we should do this?"

She takes a quick look at our surroundings and replies quickly, "Your weapons there; contact shotgun tonfas right?" I pull them off my back and unfurl them as an answer, "Alright then; you'll notice most of the robots switched to blade mode, probably to avoid injuring the their owners; if I can get up above them and draw their attention they'd need a second to switch weapons; that should give you time to disable some of them with some well placed hits."

"Sounds insane but as long as you can keep yourself from getting shot long enough I think we can work with this." Blake nods and leaps on top of the crate we were using for cover, damn she's nimble, flexible too from the looks of it… gah no time to evaluate my temporary partner, got to be ready for this.

After pulling out her kusarigama-gun thing she used it like a grappling hook and swings to the ceiling and starts circling the drones which gets the attention of the darker models from the train right away but the factory drones take a bit longer to notice, they probably have different security settings or something, as the robots retract their blades I take the opportunity and leap out from behind cover and bring my blaster right into the nearest faceplate I can find and the oh so satisfying sound of the pressure pate clicks on the end of my weapon and the drones head is torn to shreds as the shrapnel tears through the metal and wiring with ease, I then move to the next drone in as quick a succession as I can blasting a hole through its stomach disabling it, I manage to destroy one more by hitting it in the back of the head before the other robots start to catch on, luckily Blake notices their waning attention and drops done onto one of them impaling it with her sword, I follow her example and switch to the secondary function of my weapons; katar gauntlets, I take the blade and plunge it into the chest of another robot and use it as a shield while firing a few shells into the last few robots, I lose myself for a few moments as the pure destruction and mayhem becomes almost overwhelming but I manage to regain some composure as the ground underneath the last five drones erupts from under them, after some dust settles all that's left is bits of scrap and a large hole with Rail standing in the center holding her shovel.

"If you two are done playing with these toys I really think we should get out of here."

"Right, we've done what we were paid to do, and I'm assuming Blake did too."

Blake doesn't seem to react to my comment by based on the twitchiness of her bow it got to her, it wasn't hard to put two and two together and figure out what she was doing here but honestly I had a hard time actually getting mad at her, I don't know if it's because she's a cute little kitty or because I watched her trailer and know what she just did.

(Cut that out!)

(Never.)

After we get far enough away from the facility we say goodbye to the cameo and catch a ride back home.

After another long flight back to Vacuo we make our way back home so I can finally get back to sleep, I tell you after all that shit we had to go through today from flying halfway across the continent to the f**king headache I'm going to have for the next week from all the damn noise… sigh at least all the shit is done and over why is the apartment building gone?

Oh f**K what is going on!? We just turned around the corner of the street and there's just a smoking pile of rubble where the building once stood. Before I even really had a chance to fully comprehend what was happening Rail bolts to what I now realise is a fire engine, I couldn't tell at first because I was kinda in shock but I now notice all the emergency vehicles around; one of them an ambulance where one of the other girls who we work with was sitting, I recognized her as Alina, she was another D.D like us but I didn't know much else about her.

Rail was already talking to her, well more shaking her brains out than talking but I manage age to stop her from before she liquefies the girl. Once she was able to draw breath again she explained what happened; around the time we finally got to Forever Fall and started the job some thugs broke in and started wrecking up the place Godfather style (oh god now I'm making references), at first it seemed like just a rival gang so the boss told them to fight back but these guys had some top frickin hardware; the Dom told them to evacuate while she held them back, I personally haven't ever seen her fight but I'm guessing that dust fused cat-of-nine isn't just a decoration…

It was around that point when Rail starts to tense up and franticly looking around for something Alina continues: "She fought them off as long as she could but they had destroyed so much of the structure the building just fell around them…" at this point she takes a pause to catch her breath and shudders, my guess is she was still inside when the building started to fall… oh no…

Before I have a chance to ask her about the Dom Rail punches the ambulance she's sitting on and nearly knocks it over, I have to dive and catch the poor girl; "Rail what the he-" Rail angrily cuts me off and grabs her; "What happened to her?! Where is she!?"

Rail was near seething at this point and I feared she was about to seriously hurt Alina and I had to act; I grab Rails arm and swing myself up onto her back and pull back on her arm so she has to drop Alina, my luck runs out at this point and Rail pulls me off and throws me to the ground, I feel my aura drain after the hit but I pull myself together before Rail keeps freaking out.

Once I actually right myself however Rail is gone, it takes me a minute to figure out where she went but then I notice her standing by another ambulance, I quickly make sure Alina isn't broken and make my way over to Rail.

I try to move closer carefully not knowing if Rail was still having a freak out or not, I mean I understand she's concerned about the Dom, we all are, but she's taking it really personally for some reason. Once I actually get close enough to see the inside of the ambulance I notice Rail sitting beside the bed/gurney thing trying not to cry but smiling, I climb in and confirm that it's the Dom laying in the bed, one hand on Rails and the other holding a small can of beer.

"Jeebuz, Dom are you alright?" is all I can manage to say, she looks like she just fought through a hundred Ursa and a concrete building…

"Please Rushuna; it will take a bit more than a squad of thugs collapsing a building on me to slow me down." She winces slightly when she sits up to take a drink but otherwise she does look relatively uninjured but Rail tries to stop her and get her to lie down again; "You say that when your leg is broken in three places, please stop trying to act like nothing can hurt you."

Rail is nearly in tears again as the Dom rubs her head trying to calm her down… hang on; "Dom, is Rail acting like this because your…" I find myself chocked on the last words as thought even thinking them would insult her but despite my weird pause the Dom nods and finishes for me: "Her mother,"

Plot twist.

"I never brought this up as I felt it was unnecessary, that and Aralia wanted to be seen as another one of the girls, not the all-important daughter of the boss so we never really discussed it; I always assumed I'd have to wait for Rail to propose to someone to need to reveal myself as her mother but I suppose it's quite obvious now."

"Just a bit." By this point Rail seemed to be pulling herself together but was obviously still shaken.

"Mom, you have to let me go after them; they need to pay for what they did to you and the Diamond Damsels."

The two begin to have a somewhat one-sided argument while I notice something on the table beside the Dom and I take a look; it a poker chip from a casino called Outside Heaven and on the back is says 'VIP lounge' so I guess it's an entrance token… the name of the casino sounds familiar, I grab my bag and rummage around until I find the envelope that came from S and check the net using my scroll; sure enough the addresses match and it seems he sent this from the casino, "Uhh I hate to interrupt this family moment but where did you find this poker chip?"

The Dom silences Rail with a gesture and turns to me like nothing was happening and answers: "It was in the coat of one of those bastards, I'm guessing you already have an idea of what that means?"

"The guy who set up the job that went south before we even showed up… S did this, he set up to make us leave and I'm guessing he had some other jobs set too, once everyone was gone he sent in those f**kers to try and kill you so he wouldn't have to pay the middle man."

"That sounds probable, I never thought that bastard would try something like this but I suppose that was the intention."

I realise what's about to happen and carefully pull the Dom aside as Rail nearly flips the ambulance with her seismic freakout, she runs around and hits some stuff for a few minutes before coming back over to us when she was calm… relatively speaking.

"I have to go and bash their f**king skulls in!"

I figured it was time I put forth my two cents and get this damn chapter closer to finished: "Wait, Rail you should stay with the Dom; you guys need to rally the other girls and figure out what to do next but if I go I can ride over there and sneak around and find something to get that jackass arrested or something."

It looked like Rail was going to protest but before she got a chance the Dom spoke up: "Rushuna; if you're serious about this then let me warn you; S is a man with many connections and his hold in the casino may be dangerous but if you're willing to do this for us all," she paused to reach for something and handed it to me "then you take the word of the Diamonds with you." It was her cat-of-nine whip, I had never actually seen her use it but based on the leather binding and faint pulse of dust I could feel the power it held.

I gave it a flick and coiled it and hooked onto my belt, "Ma'am, Rail; I won't let you down." After Rail gives me a near bone-crushing hug I set off to find a ride to patch, I had a long way to go to get to that damn island and an even longer way to figure out how I'm going to bring this f**ker down, but right now none of that mattered, all that mattered was vengeance; I wasn't going to let down the only family I ever knew.

I will fight.

Okay; that took WAY longer than expected, but I'm honestly glad I kept going at this despite losing like four drafts to either computer failures or just not liking the thing but I think this works, what about you Rush?

…

Rush?

Oh sorry I was just being dead, you know because it took so long I died of old age.

Oh shut up, you know all the shit that happened to the computer and the documents and I still worked to get this thing finished so deal.

Yeah yeah whatever, just try not to take a year to get the next chapter up again.

Hey nine months isn't a year!

Yes that three month difference makes you look much more competent.

Shut up Rush.

Anyway sorry it took so long for this chapter to go up but now that that development hell is done I can get to work on the next 'trailer' and hopefully it will be easier as I have a pretty good base set up for it, until next time.

Don't hold your breath kids.