New day, new chapter. Sorry this one took so long to publish, I got to 5k words and went "alright, I'll make it 10k words later on" and then retroactively went "fuck it, this is a good point to end it, I'll just finish it out and publish it because they're probably starving for a new chapter."
Just want to get a few things out of the way, though.
First up on the chopping block, the poll regarding the music. Nobody voted. I mean this. Literally nobody voted at all. I got one point of feedback from someone who was in favor of it, and basing the general consensus on music off of literally one guy is an awful idea, so I'm just gonna paste the link below and then you all can vote.
strawpoll .me/16148993 (delete the space between strawpoll and .me)
There. Go vote.
Next up: I'm proud to announce that Grimm Retreat's Rewrite has smashed the stats of the original Grimm Retreat in every category except for views, which the rewrite has only just over half of the original story's. The original story has 17k words that only barely drive the plot forward, 8 actual chapters (the ninth was me announcing the original version of the rewrite where Six was gonna cause trouble before I changed it into what it is now), 23 reviews, 19k views, 43 favs, and 61 follows.
For comparison, the rewrite has 30k words that I write with full intention on using to drive the plot forward instead of as brainless filler like in the original, 6 chapters at the time of writing, 7 when this goes live, 32 reviews, 10k views, 76 favs, and 131 follows. The fact that in just three months I have destroyed all of the original's stats and gotten the total views to just over half of what the original had in its entire lifetime is incredibly encouraging. Seriously, thank you all for the reception I've gotten. I genuinely mean this, I never expected to really take the story as far as I have, even after the rewrite, but purely by learning how to tell what shit storytelling was and what good storytelling was, I think I managed to salvage what I think was my worst story (Terrariabound doesn't count because I was just new to writing fanfiction, Grimm Retreat was just actual shit.), and make it into something I can genuinely look at with some sort of pride. Thanks for all the support, here's to many more chapters. Enough of my sappy bullshit, though.
Finally, reviews.
To Six, I can understand why you're bugging out after that bit, but you have to remember, Six isn't entirely human. He's a 100% completion Courier with tons of implants from Project Nevada and Old World Blues who has seen a lot of bad shit happen (courtesy of New Vegas Bounties for the most part), and isn't quite right in the head, but he's learned to cope with that to the point where you wouldn't even be able to tell that he got shot in the head, went on a hell march to kill the guy who shot him, took a shit on two armies and a pre-war business tycoon over Hoover Dam and came out on top, survived the Sierra Madre, the Big Empty, Zion, and the Divide, was the top bounty hunter in the Mojave, working under both Steven Randall and as an independent contractor for the NCR, and survived being captured, partially mutilated, and being buried alive, only to come out of the fucking grave and bury the guy who tried to kill him. What I'm trying to say is that maybe the scene in Heaven wasn't actually totally real, and the Blowout might have damaged Six's implants and mental state enough to have the hallucination happen, not that he wasn't already mentally fucked before. It did unlock his Aura, though, and nearly killed him. If you're worried about that scene turning the story into some form of Christian propaganda, don't be, I'm an agnostic atheist, and I prefer avoiding modern political issues for sanity's sake, including taking sides on religious issues. I just included it because I found it to be the most convenient way to get Six his Aura.
To caddy: By other antagonists, you mean Father Elijah, the Think Tank, and Ulysses? If so, yeah, I'm planning on mentioning them in detail at some point down the line. I'm actually having a second go through the DLCs, except for Dead Money, which I played for the first time. Dead Money is as shit as I was expecting, fuck the ghost people and their lack of damage modifiers. Honest Hearts has great story, trash gameplay because Zion's layout suuuuuuuuuuucks, and yao guai are cancer, Old World Blues is funny as hell and incredibly entertaining, and Lonesome Road has an awful story because LOL YOU DESTROYED THE DIVIDE XDDDDD FORCED PLOT THAT IS FORCED ON THE PLAYER THAT THEY NEVER GET TO SEE OR ACTUALLY TAKE PART IN, HAHA, AWESOME! THIS IS AN AWESOME THING WE STILL DO HAHA ITS NOT LIKE IT WAS A NECESSSARY EVIL IN DEUS EX OR SOMETHING
Actually, when I was writing this paragraph out, I had just finished both Lonesome Road and the main game on the character that Grimm Retreat's Courier 6 was based on, although their routes are different, with Grimm Retreat's Six going independent, and the save I was playing going House. Since this Six is based on my House character, I kind of grew attached to the Survivalists Rifle once I grabbed it. Seriously, I fucking loved that gun after I nabbed it in Honest Hearts, it was my most used weapon for the remainder of the game, and that kind of gave me an idea. Remember how I replaced Hanlon's Sequoia with Sweet Revenge almost immediately? Yeah, well, I'm doing it again, this time I'm replacing the AKM with the Survivalists Rifle. The AKM was kind of just, well, there. I didn't do anything with it, so I may as well swap it out for something I actually like, plus it lets me do some cooler shit with Six's semblance that I'm STILL NOT FUCKING SPOILING DON'T GODDAMN ASK.
To Golden Nova: I'd love to take your review into consideration mate, but I can barely read a fucking word of what you wrote, so I'm gonna address what little I could understand. No offense. I take creative liberties for a reason, that is literally the point of doing it, deviating partially from the source material for the sake of creativity. I know gunpowder, nuclear power, and solar aren't a thing in RWBY, but if RWBY's universe was an actual thing that existed, they WOULD have these things. You genuinely cannot tell me with a straight face that they would blindly believe Dust would never run out, because that line of thinking is the most naïve fucking thing. Yeah, it's a miracle material, but thinking it will never run out is a quick way to nuke yourself. I mean for fuck's sake, just look at Fallout's universe, which is the other half of this crossover. They were overly dependent on oil, which obviously ran dry because society's oil needs surpassed production, and then ended up destroying pretty much the entire planet over it, barring Africa and South America. I have no idea what the fuck you are on about with RWBY's ballistics though.
To Rio Skyron, I never considered that comparison, honestly. Maybe if they do cross paths at some point, I'll bring that up.
To NoahTheNerd, see my response to Six. I understand being wary as fuck about this kind of thing, and you're right to be cautious, but the implementation of a supposed divine quest for Six isn't gonna make him go DEUS VULT DEUS VULT DEUS VULT DEUS VULT all over the fucking place. He'll still be Six, but going forward with the idea that he is important to Remnant's future according to his perception of God.
Some utter mad lad reviewed the original Grimm Retreat while I was writing this chapter, allow me to enlighten you with his wisdom.
"LET THE COMMIES HIT THE FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR"
good meme
Also, I just remembered the name of one of the fanfictions I took some inspiration from for Grimm Retreat. It's called New World Blues. Specifically, what I took inspiration from it was the idea of Six being a cyborg (although all 100% completion Couriers are cyborgs in one way or another, some more than others), Six being an alcoholic (NWB's Courier is also a chem addict), and, unintentionally, the use of the Transportalponder to get to Remnant.
Anyways, on with the story.
THE EMERALD FOREST
IMMEDIATELY AFTER LAUNCH
(A/N: Listen to More Than His Share from Halo 3: ODST here)
"Got a landing plan?" Allie asked. Six didn't bother humoring her, and kept looking for a possible landing zone. "We're about 300 feet above the forest roof, impact in thirty seconds. If you've got a plan, Six, you better make it quick." She advised.
Six kept looking for an opening. "On my mark, activate GRX, I'll handle the rest." he said, continuing to scan for an opening.
"Gotcha, twenty seconds to impact."
Six saw his opening.
"Ten seconds."
Six was now plummeting to the ground, and he reached his arms out to grab a tree branch.
"Five seconds."
"Mark!" Six barked, and suddenly, time slowed down just as he was falling through an opening in the forest roof. Six latched on to a particularly large tree branch near the top of one of the trees, and managed to swing himself under it, and then over it, landing almost perfectly on the branch. Six stumbled, nearly falling off, but managed to regain his balance.
Allie appeared in front of him, holding a wooden sign that had a 9 on it. "Funny." Six remarked.
Allie smiled. "You don't get the full ten points because you stumbled." she said, before throwing the sign up in the air, where it quickly faded into the void. Six brushed her off, and looked down.
"Let's see, now… how am I gonna get down?" Six mumbled, looking for a clear path to the forest floor. He looked around a bit, and he saw a set of rather thin tree branches that looked barely strong enough to support his weight leading down. Six looked around for branches that might support his weight better than the set he just saw, but didn't find any. Six sighed, and started inching his way down to the ground.
Six jumped off the final branch and hit the dirt with an audible thud. He immediately got on one knee, drew Sweet Revenge, and started scanning the area for any possible contacts. He saw none, so he holstered the revolver, and stood back up, but his armor locked up, and Allie appeared in front of him, but instead of being a small hologram that would be able to sit in Six's palm, she was fully sized, about 5'6". "Just where exactly do you think you're going, Six? We're in private, and I'm not picking up any life signs on my scanners. We're gonna be alone for a good while, here, so you might as well tell me what happened this morning." She said sternly, staring at Six.
Six tried to move, grunting, but to no avail, and he gave up with a sigh. "Unlock my armor, and then we'll talk, Allie." he said, and he felt his armor loosen up almost immediately, so he sat down in the grass, and Allie sat directly across from him.
"Well?" She said, still eyeing him.
Six was hesitant. "Well, I wasn't lying about having an out of body experience. Remember how when Marko buried us alive, I started getting delusional and started talking to myself, thinking I was talking to Jesus, who was about to take me to Heaven, just before I passed out?" Six said, looking at Allie.
"Yeah, unfortunately. Why?"
"The reason I brought me talking to myself in the coffin up was because after I fell asleep last night, I woke up in some sort of dream. I'm still not entirely sure what happened, but I think I died and went to Heaven, at least for a little bit." Six said. "My scars were all healed, I had my original hands instead of the cybernetic ones that I needed after Frosthill, and my left eye was there, like Benny never shot it out." He said, touching his scars, hands, and eyepatch, respectively. "I haven't read scripture in twenty odd years, but I'm pretty sure that having all of your impurities and injuries removed and healed is a part of being in Heaven." Six said, eyeing the ground.
Allie sat up straight. "That's it? You nearly die on me, and think you went to Heaven, all because your scars were remo-" She said, but Six cut her off.
Six's sight quickly shot back up to Allie. "I'm not done." he said, holding his hand up to silence her. "After I noticed my scars and wounds were all healed, I heard someone talk behind me, like he snuck up on me, so I tried to draw Sweet Revenge and point it at him, but then I realized I didn't have any of my guns. The guy who was talking to me looked like Jesus. Simple robes, sandals, shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes. If that's not enough, I felt…calmer when he was around, it was like I couldn't bring myself to attack him if I wanted to."
"You couldn't bring yourself to attack him? Did it feel like the Pacification Field the Think Tank use?" Allie asked.
"It felt like the Pacification Field, yeah, but this guy was the source. He wanted me to follow him, and seeing no other option, I did. He took me to some sort of small golden gate being guarded by an older man, probably sixty or seventy, who, if I had to hazard a guess, would be Saint Peter. He bowed to the guy who looked like Jesus, and opened the gate, letting us through. I kept following the guy who looked like Jesus, we found a golden brick road, which we followed, and came to another, larger gate, with this one being made of iron, and he told me to shield my eyes. I didn't have much time to react before he opened that gate, and my eyes felt like they were being cooked in their sockets for about a minute, before the pain faded. I just kept my eyes shielded for the rest of the trip. Eventually we came to a crowd of people who crowded around the guy I was following, and they talked for a good while. Couldn't understand shit, though. Eventually they went back to their business and let us pass, although everyone was giving me a wide berth for some reason. Eventually we came to his….I dunno, his mansion, I guess." Six said.
"And?"
"When I stepped inside, he told me I could unshield my eyes, and when I did, I couldn't believe my eyes. His mansion was pristine, gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe it. The floors were all made of some sort of dark wood, with the walls being made of solid gold with a platinum trim, but it didn't feel tacky, not like at the Ultra-Luxe, it felt like was done with some taste and class. The main foyer kind of looked like the gambling floor at Gomorrah, minus the slot machines, card tables, and hookers. Instead, it had an artificial waterfall that lead to a pond, where the guy was sitting, so I went and sat next to him and asked what he wanted with me, and he feeds me something about knowing who I am, and that I apparently knew who he was, which I guess, means he was Jesus, but I still don't know. He then said that I didn't trust him, and then called Rex over, which is one way to gain my attention. Anyways, after that, he explained to me what was happening. Basically, some sort of 'Great Evil' threatens Remnant, and will strike within the next few months. I asked him for details, but he couldn't provide any, said something about his power being diminished over the past few millennia. After that, I asked him how to get back to Earth when I kill this 'Great Evil', and he only gave me a riddle."
"What was the riddle?"
"When the bear falls forever, the green man leaves the shining beacon for the sands of time. No idea what it means, but after that, he told me to keep you safe, because people working under the 'Great Evil' will want to steal you from me and use you to their own ends. Not that I was going to let that happen, anyways. After that, he told me to stand up, which I did, he put his hand on my chest, and I disappeared, and I woke up to Aqui in my face, and you crying on her shoulder thinking I was dying. When he touched my chest, I felt…invigorated, like I had been given a second lease on life, which must be that Aura thing Aqui and Julius were talking about." Six said, looking at Allie for a response.
Allie just looked at the ground, frowning, not sure if Six was lying to her or not. "Allie, look at me." Six said, and Allie did so. "Allie, you've been my friend for three years, we've been through a lot of shit together, and I don't think I've ever trusted someone with my life more than I do you. I trust Russell, Cass, and Veronica to watch my back in a fight, sure, but I don't trust them to keep me alive as much as I do you. Without you, I would probably be Tunneler shit in the Divide, or strung up on a cross over Hoover Dam, or have frozen to death out in Utah. You've kept me alive through the worst of what the Wasteland has to offer, and I've never had a reason to lie to you, especially now that we're on a foreign world, and getting back to Earth is our mutual goal, so why would I start lying to you now?" Six said, staring at her.
Allie just avoided eye contact. "I…suppose you have a point. I'm sorry, it's just so much to take in, what with us getting sent to Remnant, not knowing what's going on entirely, and you almost dying on me, plus the genuine possibility that we might not be able to go back to Earth, it's been a stressful few days." Allie said, ashamed that she stopped trusting Six, even for a little bit.
"It's fine. We better get moving, or we're not gonna make the cut for Initiation." Six said, trying to reassure Allie.
"Right." Allie said, disappearing, and Six got up and started heading to the temple.
FIVE MINUTES AFTER LANDING
(A/N: Listen to Peril from Halo 2 for this)
Julius stalked his way through the thick underbrush, clutching Thunderstick close to his chest. He came to a clearing, but was still hiding inside of a bush. In the clearing, he saw a small pack of Beowolves, about ten strong.
"Strange, packs this size usually have an Alpha." Julius said to himself, and he waited for an Alpha to show itself. After a few minutes, when no Alpha showed up, Julius decided to engage. He slowly poked Thunderstick out of the bush, took aim at the closest Beowolf, and fired a shot. The Beowolf instantly dropped dead, and the pack was confused for a minute. Three Beowolves sniffed the air, looked in Julius' direction, and started running towards him. Julius took aim at one of the Beowolves, and fired three shots, and it dropped dead. He took aim at the second, shot five rounds, and it too dropped dead. The third one was too close for Julius to properly aim at, so he just fired the rest of his magazine into it, and by the time Thunderstick ran dry, the Beowolf was barely recognizable anymore. Julius hit the magazine release, tossed the empty magazine into his pouch, grabbed a fresh mag from his plate carrier, put it into Thunderstick, and pulled the bolt back, keeping an eye on the rest of the pack the whole time. The remaining six Beowolves were keeping their distance, but were snarling at him.
Julius smirked. "Good, I wanted to brush up on my melee skills, anyways." he said, and quickly transformed Thunderstick into Bushwacker and Chopper, a pair of twin machetes with incredibly sharp, serrated blades, and he channeled his semblance to increase his speed, and he charged at the pack, machetes at the ready.
The Beowolves expected him, but they didn't expect him to be so fast, and were caught off guard, a mistake that cost two of them their lives when Julius ran them through. After those two, Julius turned around, and readied the machetes, waiting for the other four to make a move. The rightmost one tried to jump him and swipe him with his claws, but he parried the attack with Chopper, and stabbed the Beowolf through the head from under the jaw. The one next to that Beowolf tried to capitalize on Julius being distracted, but Julius had anticipated this, and put the body of the dead Beowolf between him and the live one, blocking an attack, before the body disappeared, and Chopper fell out from the now immaterial skull of the Beowolf. Julius caught Chopper by the handle, and leapt into the live one, ramming both Chopper and Bushwacker into the upper abdomen of the Beowolf. It howled in pain, and Julius drove both blades deeper into its torso, twisting them, before pulling them out and bisecting the Beowolf in two strikes, one with each machete, and Julius turned his attention to the other two. One of them turned tail and ran, leaving the last Beowolf to face Julius. It quickly leapt at Julius, knocking him off of his feet, and the Beowolf capitalized, getting on top of Julius to pin him down. The beast tried to grab Julius' head to slam it into the ground, but Julius kept dodging, before kneeing the Beowolf, stunning it. Julius then pulled his legs back and kicked the Beowolf off of him, picked up Bushwacker, and decapitated the Beowolf in one clean strike.
Julius flicked Bushwacker and Chopper to get the blood off of them. "Not bad, guess I retained more than I thought I did." he said, still flicking them. Julius heard stomping behind him, and turned around to see the Alpha Beowolf of the pack, snarling angrily at him. "Oh, fuck." was all Julius said, before the Alpha punched him in the chest, knocking him clean off of his feet and onto his side, and stunning him. The Alpha stomped over to where Julius was, put him on his back, and then howled in his face, making sure to pin Julius so he couldn't escape.
Julius was sure this was the end, and when he saw the Alpha raise its claw to crush his skull, he closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable. Only, instead of the inevitable, he heard a hail of gunfire coming his way. The Alpha let go of Julius and turned its attention to the gunfire, and Julius opened his eyes to see none other than Aqui distracting the Alpha with Horizon and Eclipse. It started running towards her, and Julius saw his chance, so he quickly got up, grabbed Chopper and Bushwacker, and dove into the Alpha, blades out, and drove them into its back. The Alpha yelled in pain and almost immediately kicked Julius off, turning its attention towards him. Barely five seconds passed after that when Aqui ran up behind the Alpha, and slashed at it with Riser, the katana form of Horizon and Eclipse, cutting its tail off at the base and cutting up its back, leaving a faint pink trail where the blade had travelled. The Alpha jumped back to gain distance between itself and the two initiates, weighed its options, and then ran for the forest.
Julius turned to Aqui. "Thanks for the assist, Aqui." he said. She gave him a friendly smile.
Suddenly, Julius yelled in pain, and fell over, and Aqui immediately rushed to his side, using her semblance to find out what was wrong with him. "That Alpha cracked your ribcage, Julius. Lay still, and I'll handle it." She said, worried, and she got to work healing him.
15 MINUTES AFTER LANDING
(A/N: Listen to Under Cover of Night from Halo CE for this bit, or Cloaked in Blackness if you prefer that version)
Marshall marched through the forest, Ripper at the ready. Ripper was around 100 pounds, but for someone like Marshall, lifting it felt like nothing, and the firepower she brought to the table was practically second to none. Three heavy machine guns in one steel wrapped package, chambered in 12.7x99mm that shot at 600 RPM each, all fed from their own individual belts, she was practically the definition of overkill.
Nothing had snuck up on Marshall, at least not yet, not even a potential partner, so he kept marching. At least, until he heard rustling in a bush to his right. Marshall stopped dead in his tracks, and cautiously watched the bush. It rustled again, and then he heard growling, and then saw a pair of red eyes. Almost instinctively, he pulled the trigger on Ripper, and let her loose onto the bush. Ripper firing was like a symphony of thunder, with each barrel letting off its own individual lightning strike, going down the row one after another in quick succession. Marshall kept the trigger depressed for about seven seconds, before letting go to examine the damage. The bush was no longer there, and all that was really left was part of a Grimm's skull mask, and a paw, which Marshall went to examine, setting Ripper down on the ground.
"Beowolf Alpha. Twenty odd years old, by the looks of the skull fragment. Pretty big paw, too. Surprised I didn't just tear his arm off outright." Marshall said, chuckling, before patting Ripper. He picked his gun back up, and continued marching.
Marshall heard a loud roar behind him, and quickly turned around, Ripper at the ready. He saw two Ursai charging directly at him, and without missing a beat, he pulled the trigger on Ripper, and tore into them. They both quickly met their ends at the hail of high caliber gunfire, and evaporated into nothingness. Unfortunately for Marshall, an Ursa Major happened upon the scene, saw the two evaporating Ursai, and then roared in a blood fueled rage, most likely, she was the mother of the Ursai Marshall just killed.
Marshall instantly pulled the trigger again, focusing as hard as he could to bring down the Major, but it just shrugged off Ripper's hail of bullets like it was nothing. The Ursa Major was about to pounce Marshall, when it just dropped dead, leaving Marshall confused, until it evaporated, and three arrows fell from the Major's neck. Marshall then heard a sound to his left, and turned to see a familiar figure drop down from a tree.
"Hey, Iz." Marshall said to the figure.
"G'day, Marshall." Izzy replied, shouldering Crescent Fang.
"How'd you find me, Iz?" Marshall asked, lowering Ripper so as to not point it at his friend.
"Gee, I dunno mate, it definitely wasn't you shooting that big bloody gun you carry around." She replied sarcastically, pointing at Ripper. "You know what, though? You're not even the one who's attracted the most attention around here. Saw someone fight a King Taijitu alone, and saw some unlucky sods walking into a Death Stalker cave." she said, looking off in the distance, before turning to Marshall. "So, I guess we're partners now, Marshall, like you couldn't get away from me enough already." she said sarcastically.
"Yeah, I guess so. Lucky me." he replied, and he continued marching towards the north.
ONE HOUR AFTER LANDING
Julius came out of a bush near a hill, and into a clearing, and saw a ruined circular stone structure, with what looked like pedestals inside. He turned back to the forest. "Found the temple!" he shouted, and Aqui came out behind him shortly after. They both headed up towards the ruins, with Julius having a light limp. The pair quickly realized that they weren't the first ones there, a black haired girl and a blonde girl had beaten them to it. "'Sup?" he said, announcing his presence. They both just looked at him before carrying on, and Julius examined the "relics", which were actually just chess pieces and playing cards. There were a couple other items that didn't fall into those two categories, though, like some sort of poker chip made out of a precious metal, a pair of fuzzy dice, an X-Ray and Vav comic, and an Achieve-Men album from before Rae left the band.
"So, what do we do? Like, do we take two relics, or…?" Aqui asked, confused.
"I think you're supposed to just take one back. All of my friends who've gone through Initiation here before said they just took one relic and they got assigned to a team based on that." the blonde said, examining a knight piece, before she turned to the black haired girl and asked "How about a cute little horsie?" to which the black haired girl just smirked at her and said "Sure." Aqui turned her attention back to the relics, and was about to grab the Achieve-Men album, but out of the corner of her eye, saw Julius pick up one of the Ace of Spades playing cards.
"Got it." he said, flipping the card around, and Aqui let go of the album in disappointment, and Julius tossed the card in the air. "That wasn't too hard. I expected more chaos, or man versus wild type shit, not what amounted to a rather pleasant walk in the woods." he said, catching the card.
Suddenly, a distant scream rang out, and caught everyone's attention, except for the black haired girl. "Did you guys hear that? A girl's in trouble!" the blonde said, pointing roughly where the scream came from. Julius heard something else getting close, though, and it sounded like someone saying "heads up" rather slowly. He looked around the clearing, and saw nothing. He was about to give up, but then he looked up, and felt something hit him like a freight train, and suddenly his world got very, very dark.
That's all for now. Just some things I want to clear up.
First, I know I'm gonna get shit for having Julius kick the shit out of ten Beowolves, but I would like to remind you that in the Red trailer, Ruby takes on a pack of 30 some Beowolves. Ruby is 15 years old at that time, as far as I'm aware, and had only gone to Signal at that point and wasn't even finished yet. Julius is 17, and HAD gone to combat school and fully completed it, unlike Ruby. Besides, he rightfully gets the shit kicked out of him by the Alpha Beowolf, so fair's fair. Julius getting the shit kicked out of him by the Alpha is actually a remnant from the original story of Grimm Retreat where Jimmy (the original incarnation of Julius if you haven't caught on yet) was supposed to get overly cocky and get either grievously wounded and nearly killed, or outright killed. This was going to be a big emotional moment between Aqui and Jimmy, but the story obviously never got that far, and I don't think at the point where this was gonna happen that my writing skill would have been up to snuff.
Someone will give me shit for the bit with Marshall killing the two Ursa Minors easily. I'd like to point out that Ripper is three Browning M2HBs in one weapon, and I genuinely doubt the Minors would be able to survive the pure fucking dakka of it.
Izzy, despite her last name being Ferizini, which sounds distinctly Italian, is actually based on the Inland Taipan, the most venomous snake in the world, which is only found in Australia (big surprise there), hence why she uses Aussie slang. She also sounds like an Australian. She was actually originally based on a Cobra, because both Izzy and Marshall were designed by a friend of mine back in 2013 when I was still drawing up the plans for what would become Grimm Retreat, but when writing this chapter I actually pretty much went "fuck it, what's the most venomous snake in the world that I can make Izzy into. oh, the inland taipan, an Australian snake? izzy will now say cunt every other sentence, hell yeah."
Conveniently, Izzy's personality traits of being shy and more or less withdrawn are traits the Inland Taipan has, as they are generally reclusive and not total assholes. Plus, having four characters on a team with American accents is kind of boring, so throwing an Aussie one in is good.
Thunderstick, Chopper, and Bushwacker are all names I came up with on the spot. Horizon and Riser are the names of songs from Dance with the Dead, while Eclipse is the name of a Perturbator song.
'Till next time.
-Tweak
