Chapter 4: Welcome to beacon (Pt 2)
Gaige was the last off the airship, and felt a bit of pity for the blonde hair knight-looking kid that was puking his guts out. She knew that motion sickness was a bitch, but damn, this kid was puking worse than she had when she learn what went into Moxxi's pizza. She walked past him, leaving him to his misfortune, determined to find the auditorium where the new hunters were supposed to go.
She walked along the paved path, following a group of newcomers and examined their weapons. She wasn't impressed, as most were melee based combat weapons. Maces, swords, halberds, and even pole staffs were common place on the students. She knew that on Remnant they had combination weapons, but c'mon, where were the tried and tested firearms that offered death from afar?
Gaige became a bit too lost in her thoughts, as she ended up bumping into someone. Gaige fell flat on her ass, causing her to wince in pain as her tailbone had taken the brunt of the fall. The other person fell on their knees, who turned to Gaige.
"Are you alright, are you hurt, did you break anything?" asked the person, who Gaige identified as a white female having orange hair, wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a pink skirt. Gaige was impressed that the girl recovered fast, and could talk fast, but before Gaige could speak, the energetic girl commenced her verbal onslaught.
"No, you're alright," she said after seeing that Gaige in too much pain. "So how are you doing? What's your name, where'd you come from, what's your weapon? I bet you have an awesome chainsaw shotgun, no, a gun that shots swords that explodes! That would be totally badass and awesome, but I wouldn't give up Magnhild, for I would be nothing without my hammer of boom, and my hammer nothing without me!"
"Wow chill out," Gaige said, putting a hand on the enthusiastic girl. "First, the name is Gaige Asimov, I'm fine, and I grew up on the outskirts of the kingdom of Vale. As my weapon, well I have a couple I use, but my most awesome and my baby would be Deathtrap."
The girl helped Gaige up, and began to jump around Gaige like a hyper active child.
"What is Deathtrap?" the girl said. "What does it do? Is it a bear-trap that has a flame grenade that detonates and engulfs Grimm in a fiery explosion? Oh, by the way, my name is Nora, Nora Valkyrie, and I will be the most awesomeist huntress that Beacon has ever seen!"
Gaige was briefly reminded of Tiny Tina in Nora, but there were vast differences. While both were energetic, Tiny Tina was violently eccentric, with an obsession with explosions that rival Mr. Torgue. Nora meanwhile was slightly childish in her demeanor, but was as active as a pyscho after getting high on meth.
"Well Nora, Deathtrap is a combat robot I built," Gaige explained. "It has half an inch of armor, is capable of cutting through brick walls with its blades, and also totes around a laser that can set enemies on fire."
Nora's jaws dropped before she grabbed Gaige in a bear hug that forced all the air out of Gaige's lungs.
"That sounds awesome!" Nora squealed. "Can I see it, can I see Deathtrap?!"
"Not right now," Gaige said. "I have to make a few modifications tonight on him, to make sure he is up and running at peak efficiency, but if you want to see him tonight, I guess it wouldn't do too much harm."
"Yes, that sounds great!" Nora exclaimed. "Will you be my best-buddy; well after Ren, but Ren has always been my bestest best-buddy ever. Oh my gosh, you need to see Ren!"
Before Gaige had a chance to utter anything, Nora grabbed Gaige's hand and ran off at high speed. Gaige felt as though her arm was going to be ripped from its socket, and soon she was at the mercy of becoming motion sickness. How the hell can Nora run this fast without getting sick herself?
Before Gaige could lose the contents of her stomach however, she felt Nora twirl her around her, while yelling at someone.
"Hey Ren, best buddy, guess what?! I found someone I want you to meet; her name is Gaige Asimov, and she has a killer robot of awesome!" Gaige felt her hand was released from the iron grip of Nora, and she stumbled, her eyes readjusting to not moving like she was in a washing machine.
"Nora, you do know that if you asked, she probably would've followed you without having you to drag them off, right?" asked a Asian male with black hair that had a pink highlight, in traditional green clothes.
"But Ren, you are so awesome that I couldn't wait for Gaige to meet you!" Nora whined, balling her fist at the hem of her skirt. "So I had to drag her over!" Ren shook his head slowly before turning to Gaige.
"Hello Gaige, it is a pleasure to meet you," Ren said, extending his hand for a shake. Gaige shook it, glad that Ren wasn't as active as Nora.
"Likewise Ren," Gaige replied. She saw that Ren had a pair of pistols that had a long blade that she figured could double as a guard. "So Ren, I see you use dual pistols. Finally, someone with the decency to use a practical weapon."
Ren chuckled, pulling the two weapons from their holsters.
"Well, Storm-Flower is actually a machine pistol, but I can see why you would assume there a pistol," Ren remarked. "They are based on a pair of pistols my grandfather used, but I preferred to have a faster rate of fire over damage per shot. The blades are there so I have something already in my hand when I run low on ammo."
"That makes sense," Gaige said. Ren reminded her in a way like Zero; calm and collected. However Ren was clearly more likeable, and definitely didn't speak in haikus.
"Well I have Magnhild!" Nora interjected. "It is my awesome boom hammer that can fire grenades! I remember one time during training when I put my grenades on bounce instead of impact, it was hilarious! People were running all over, trying to avoid my grenades. Hehe!"
"Right," Gaige said, knowing the chaos a bunch of bouncing grenades could cause. She and Axton were giving the worst torture the other Vault Hunters had imagined; collecting the brown rocks Claptrap wanted. Who needs over two hundred thousand brown rocks?! "So Ren, how long have you and Nora known each other?"
"Since childhood," Ren said. "We always stuck together, mainly because I didn't have many friends and Nora, well Nora can be a bit much at times. So what weapon do you use?"
"She has the robot of Death!" Nora said. "At least, that is what she said." Ren raised an eyebrow.
"Really, you have a robot of death?" Ren asked. Gaige sighed; she might as well show the excited Nora and the calm Ren Deathtrap.
Lifting her left hand, she deployed Deathtrap, glad that while Port and Oobleck had worked on tinkering her weapons, she was allowed to upgrade Deathtrap. She removed that skull that came with her 'With claws' skill, going back to the box head design. She also improved the IFF, fire control, and shielding programs, gave Deathtrap the physical maintenance he needed, and improved the laser's range and damage.
Nora's and Ren's reaction to deathtrap were much like how they acted as Gaige saw. Nora jumped all around Deathtrap, looking over him with the fascination a five year old had when they go to the zoo. She tried to give Deathtrap a high five, but sadly Deathtrap didn't return the gesture. Ren meanwhile looked calmly at Deathtrap, taking in its appearance and various weapons like a man calculating its performance would.
"So what is its designation?" Ren asked. Gaige shrugged.
"I call him Deathtrap, though its official designation would be D374-TP. I made him for a science fair project." Ren nodded.
"Well, do you have any other weapons?" Ren asked. Gaige nodded.
"Yeah, I have a shotgun, revolver, assault rifle, sniper rifle, and a couple of grenades," Gaige said. "I could go more in-depth with the weapons, but I believe we have an introduction we need to get to."
"That we do," Ren said. "Nora, c'mon, we have to get to the auditorium."
"Aye!" Nora replied, snapping a cheery salute, causing Gaige to smile. Perhaps Beacon won't be so bad.
Walking after Ren and Nora into the auditorium, Gaige was surprised by the number of people that were in. There were a couple dozen people in the auditorium. Granted, she knew most young adults wouldn't want to go off and get jobs that could result in death, but given what she knew about military enlistment on Eden-5, she was expecting more people.
She turned her attention back to Ren and Nora, with Nora excitedly recounting stories of their childhood, with Ren making numerous corrections (actually Gaige was certain that if Ren didn't make his adjustments, Nora could've been mistaken for someone living on Pandora).
"And then me and Ren joined up and took down the Great Sinning Mantis, with Ren cutting its head off and me shoving grenades down its gullet!" Nora said, bouncing in place. Ren shook his head.
"Actually, it was just a baby Grim Mantis, I didn't cut its head off, and Nora, you simple blew it up with a smash from your hammer," Ren corrected. "Granted, you left a crater in its wake, but I also fondly remember the talking to you got from your mother."
Gaige saw the bubbly girl almost sag to the ground in depression. She wondered what Nora's mother was like to get the cheerful bubble to be popped.
"Don't remind me," Nora whined. "I still remember all rocks I had to move, by hand, without using Magnhild. Then she made me return the rocks to once they came! Why must you wound me?"
"Well, enough about our stories, what about you Gaige?" Ren asked. "I'm sure you probably have some interesting stories from your times on the frontier."
"Not really," Gaige said, slightly depressed that she was instructed by Oobleck, Ozpin, and even Port not to mention Pandora in any way, shape, or form, if it couldn't be translated to something on Remnant. Thus, as much as she wanted to tell Nora and Ren of the time she, Maya, Axton, and Krieg decided to face down Terramorphus the Invincible, she couldn't.
"What?" Nora asked. "But there are so many Grimm on the frontier and you have Deathtrap, which by the way what are you going to do with him tonight? You should have plenty of tales worthy of being made into a series of one-shot stories."
"Well, sad to say, but most of the time on the frontier for me was spent scavenging for food, water, and shelter," Gaige replied, thoroughly getting annoyed that she could tell Ren or Nora anything about Pandora. She paused; perhaps if she manipulated some details, omitted some facts, she could come up with a decent tale. But before she could proceed with telling a slightly modified tale of dealing with a Rak Hive, she saw Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch come onto the stage. The moment he entered the room became quiet, and Gaige could tell that Ozpin, despite his aged looks, could probably drop kick anyone in this room without letting go of his coffee cup. He approached the microphone.
"I'll keep this brief," Ozpin started, adjusting his glasses as he spoke. "You have traveled today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft, and acquire new skill. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."
Gaige nodded, remembering why she fought on Pandora. She fought to keep the citizens of Sanctuary safe, to end Handsome Jack's tyranny. She knew the other Vault Hunters had come to Pandora for a challenge, for glory, for the money, but Gaige truly thought she could do some good on Pandora. Why not do some good on the hell that was Pandora if it kept you from getting imprisoned/killed by the corrupt police on Eden-5?
"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume that knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step," Ozpin finished, his speech leaving several of the students scratching the back of their heads in slight confusion. Gaige knew it was better to have people with some doubt leave before they got to in over their head, so perhaps Ozpin was trying to weed out those who couldn't make it leave of their own will before they got hurt themselves.
Glynda Goodwitch then walked up to the speaker. Gaige was disliked Glynda; neither really liked each other, as both were different in their manner of combat. Glynda preferred having control over her battles, while Gaige allowed chaos and destruction to ensue to win her battles. Glynda didn't see the point to having a literal storm of bullets ricocheting around, doing damage to whatever they hit, but to Gaige it was a perfectly sound (and proven) method of battle.
In addition, when Glynda came the day before to unlock Gaige's aura, Glynda was annoyed that Gaige didn't seem to appreciate having her aura unlocked. Gaige hated it when the blonde professor said it was vital for any successful hunter to combat the Grimm; she fought on Pandora, where she faced creatures that while not as fast as the Grimm were certainly as dangerous if not more so. Granted, she liked the idea of aura healing her minor wounds, but after making modifications to her shields (improving their performance against melee combatants), Gaige was expecting to rely on aura to keep her alive; that would be her shield's duty.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," Glynda instructed the first years. "Tomorrow, your initiation will begin; be ready. You're dismissed."
"He was odd," Nora said finally. "But oh well, we have a bit before we have to sleep, so Gaige, would you like to show me and Ren more of Deathtrap and your other weapons? Oh, what are those on your skirt; they look bulky." Gaige saw Nora pointing at her shield, relic piece, and class mod
"Oh, they are combat tools I use to improve my performance in battle," Gaige said, simplifying it as they walked to the ballroom. "They handle a number of functions, such as providing shielding, improve the handling of my weapons, and improve functions on Deathtrap."
"Okay," Ren said. "But how? I get the shield, it probably uses a kinetic barrier to dampen the incoming impact of objects, and a mobile CPU could improve your robot, but how can anything improve your weapon performance?"
Gaige cursed herself for not remembering that unlike her and the other Vault Hunters, the people of Remnant don't use the Dahl , a program which translate experience earned in battle into manipulative skills. It took her over two hours to explain to Oobleck and Port, finally resorting to shooting her shotgun with and then without Anarchy, so the effect of the program when she translated her experience into her anarchy tree.
"Well, let just say the program has monitored my style of combat and provides buffers to improve it further," Gaige replied. "It isn't complicated, kind of, and that said, you reminded me that I need to install a new module to Deathtrap."
"Oh, what will it do?" Nora asked, jumping in front of Gaige and walking backwards, facing the mechromancer. "Will it add a missile launcher, or maybe a massive railgun?"
"No Nora, it won't add those," Gaige said. "Rather, the module I plan on installing is called ' .exe'. Its purpose will be to convert all of codes I call anarchy stacks into a new code that is called Tyrant. Its purpose will be to increase the damage output of Deathtrap by overclocking his systems, increasing his onboard computer's processing speed of target acquisition, rate of fire, accuracy, and finally cool down of his more powerful hardware."
"Wouldn't that cause damage to his computer in the long run?" Ren asked. "I mean, overclocking tends to cause heating issues, damage to the circuits, and could cause a meltdown."
Gaige shrugged, kind of surprised that Ren knew a thing about computer programming. Overclocking a powerful computer would indeed do the things that Ren said, amongst several more evil things. However, Gaige was confident with her skills, as she had a newly rewritten code for Claptrap's , and she built Deathtrap from the ground up.
"I got the cooling situation under control," Gaige said. "When I activate the tyrant program, my cybernetic arm will open up and the liquid nitrogen pumps will kick in, allowing venting of excess heat and cooling the CPU. Also, my circuit board was rugged enough to handle outdoor conditions, so I don't think a meltdown will occur with the cooling systems I have onboard."
"Alright then, then I hope it works," Ren said. "I hope it doesn't do anything negative to you. I mean, doesn't your arm hurt when you are running Deathtrap?"
"Not really," Gaige said. "I mean, my arm hurt the first week I had it on, but the pain eased away." As Ren shrugged and began talking to Nora, Gaige looked at her left hand. She remembered Jack's enforcer Wilhelm, and how he augmented his body to the point where he was mostly machine and was a walking weapon. She wondered if he choose it himself or if the constant augmentation affected his mind in some way, as any augmentation program relied on an AI connected to the brain to work properly, even her arm.
Shrugging the thought aside, she followed Rena and Nora into the ballroom, hoping to get the tyrant module installed before tomorrow's initiation.
Author's Note: Wow, so many people are following, favoriting, and viewing the story, so thank you guys. I just want to respond to a review I got and then I will be on my way.
-Guest: I don't always 'talk' to the readers. And I agree, responding to every review does cause unsightly A/Ns. I am beginning to respond only to reviews that ask a question, but I do acknowledge every review I get. So if you have questions about the story or elements in the story, if you leave a question in the review I will either respond in the A/N if multiple people asked about it, or give a PM to the sender.
Alright, that is it, next chapter will be the start before the initiation, so until next time, please follow, favorite, and review!