A/N~ And now we move to a super long chapter, continuing with Blake as she finds her place in the galaxy. But in this chapter, she will soon find that it won't be a good start XD
Just to warn you, esteemed readers, that this chapter has officially broken the record of the most words I've ever written~ So, hopefully, it won't be too long for you to read. But it will introduce to you a certain wise, old man that we all know and speculate about.
Rest assured that the next chapter will be shorter, working as filler for the one after that.
Reviews:
TaitanoRules555
Thanks a lot man!
CT7567Rules
Thanks to you as well. I am slowly forming up the story to fit newer characters in. Also, thanks for all the reviews of the past chapters as well
Guest#1
Glad to know my streak hasn't been broken for you Thank you XD
Guest#2
Oh, you were right! The title should tell you just as much of who shall join Blake in this chapter XD
ShadowMann
I have the setup ready for such an encounter between the sisters. Just stay tuned for more (y)
Guest#3
Ask and I shall deliver. No worries, bro/sis. Your praises are appreciated from the Remnant System side of the story
And as always, thanks to The Man of a Thousand Names, CScene56, Flaming Falcon936, Grimlock987, SirFab3, Antialpaka and Twilight81598, who have followed and liked the story so far.
Chapter 17: Ice and Blight
Anger and the actions one wields with it, does not equate to justice…
Senate in uproar!
As the Clone Wars kicks off, countless worlds within the Republic fear the possibility of attack from the traitorous Separatists!
To bolster its strength and enter themselves into the political game within the Senate, the government of Atlas sends its most trusted representative, Senator Weiss Schnee, to appease the masses and convince Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to approve of the creation of more powerful weapons to reinforce the Republic army.
But pressures mount as word goes out to the public over the contributions of the young Senator. Mixed reception hits the Senate over their first impressions with the heiress of the Schnee Mining Corporation, whose unjust laws and rumoured cruelty towards its workers.
As the Republic mobilizes more troops onto the field, the people now await the next course of action from the Senate and its new addition.
REPUBLIC NEWS BROADCAST, Channel RT-2001-MonOum
"This has been Kano Thomas, coming to you live from the Republic embassy here on Boz Pity. Back to you, Cyril and Lisa."
"Thank you, Kano. In other news, another cargo ship from the Schnee Mining Corporation has been raided, yet again, by the Faunus organization, known as the White Fang. The once peaceful organization has claimed its tenth victim, in a series of continuous violent incursions against the planet."
"It's truly painful to hear the news, Lisa. To think, that such a peace-loving group of people, willing to find equal ground with the rest of the galaxy, could become such monsters like these guys. It's truly a shame."
"The Duchess of the planet Mandalore, which happened to be near the site of the most frequent attacks, is continuing to find a resolve to apprehend the leaders of the White Fang and lock them up for good, as they appear to be victims in their attacks as well."
"Rumours are even spreading that the Faunus group is also in league with other criminal syndicates and groups across the galaxy, but with their only sightings being around Mandalorian and Remnant space, no one is certain how much more these thugs are willing to damage next."
"That's right. It is urgent that the people of Remnant remain calm in times of strife. We may be at war, but we must also be aware of what is happening around us. If you see anyone suspicious of conspiring against the good leaders of Remnant, or the Senate, then do not relent. Serve our worlds with pride and dignity."
"That's not on the script, Lisa…"
Coruscant,
Coruscant System,
Core Worlds,
The electronic store was buzzing with multiple holovid screens playing the live broadcast at the same time, bringing in a couple of bystanders to view from behind the glass window.
The first one, a Herglic hustler in the streets who had just lost his job as a bouncer from a nearby pub, whose body was almost four times larger than his counterpart, the Zabrak with a bandana tied around his head and a pair of biker goggles. Both of their faces were splashed with dirt stains, with their clothes torn in places. Both had their belt buckles equipped with little satchels hanging down to their thighs, each with a blaster slotted in them. The human had an eye patch covering his right eye, covering what appeared to be a long scar, only seen at the tips out of the patch.
The two of them were passing by when they caught the news on holovision, watching on as the two news reporters were broadcasting their reports live throughout the Republic. Both shared the same opinion towards the aforementioned perpetrators in the news, equally pitiful to the foolishness of such extremists. While the news was worth the watch to them, no one else around seemed to be any bit interested, the overcrowded alleys of the lower levels continued to pass on without stop. Heck with them; the Coruscanti way of life in the surface streets was always about moving on without care.
"Darn, Faunus…" growled the Herglic. "Those beasts are always causing trouble."
"Be careful what you say, Bred." warned the Zabrak. "Look at you. You remind people of them purgill's from those old children's stories. They'd call you a hypocrite for dissing them."
"I'm a pure Herglic. They are humans mutated with animal parts." explained Bred, defending his opinions with the usual excuse to justify insults towards the Faunus. "Thus, I'm the perfect one of my species and they're the freaks of the humans. Simple science, Krendo." Their faces hovered back to the screen, just as the news broadcast transitioned into a live feed on a conflict further away from the Republic. Ever since the White Fang started causing trouble in the Remnant System for more than a decade, they had been stirring up negative reception from citizens everywhere, convincing the galaxy that the Faunus were always scheming to usurp power for themselves. There was always something shifty about those half-breeds.
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they conspire with the Confederacy." commented Krendo.
"What makes you say that?"
"Look at 'em. They're clearly terrorists, trying to look badass in front of the whole galaxy. I'd tell ya', the Separatists will have a field day with them." Even as the Zabrak had things to say about the Faunus, there was a sour taste in his voice that did not limit his distaste to that particular group. There was one other group that he most certainly wasn't fond of either. "Not that I care for the Republic anyway." As they left the shop, they continued on for a walk, sinking into the everyday flood of Coruscanti folk.
"Peaceful organization? What a joke! If this keeps up, I'd call the exterminators to deal with those rats!" The Zabrak laughed as they both joined the crowd in the business of the streets.
Their conversation sheered by the noise of the bustling crowd, they were free to talk to their hearts' content, to scheme for what was to come for the galaxy. A season of changes was about to happen, and these two strangers from a faraway world were to ignite the inferno.
"As for that Senator from Vale, I've got news for him." he snarled with contempt, eager to move forward and begin his plans to take back what was lost.
But unknown to the two of them, someone else just happened to be in the area. Another stranger, hailing from a distant world, who was now in the heart of the Republic to carry out a mission of her own.
The mysterious figure happened to overhear the talk between the two men, disgusted by their words. She came here to find meaning to her mission, only to end up in the most important world in the Republic, further away than the wilder sides of the galaxy.
For now, however, she had to focus on other duties. There was a call from a nearby contact that requested the aid of people of her calibre. If she needed to fulfil some earnings, a fast job would have to do; something that didn't require much bloodshed, except only when necessary. The streets of Coruscant were sure to supply her with the opportunities she needed to carry out her goals, even if she would have to face the darkest elements of the underworld to do it.
Up above, however, was where the action would kick off, but as far as Blake was concerned, she had no time to deal with the upper class.
Atlas Senatorial Office,
Galactic Senate Building,
Coruscant,
Weiss sat herself down at her desk, reading through a projected image of a document in front of her. She scrolled through the contents with the swipe of her finger, putting it back to her chin to evaluate the next section. For the past hour, she had read the files as much as she could before she would put them to good use. The readouts for the new machines Atlas had for the Republic were constantly studied upon to further emphasize her understanding of how they should work on the battlefield.
Her advisor had suggested she just memorized the details, given the amount of time she had left before her upcoming session with the Senate. No, that was not enough. She had to understand exactly why these new weapons were important, how effective they would be when finally deployed and more importantly, how she was to convince the Supreme Chancellor of their power. This was to be her first official face-to-face meeting with him and she did not want to spoil any chance she had.
Days had passed since Weiss finally fulfilled her father's request to move to Coruscant, where she shall live for the rest of her senatorial days. After her unwelcomed assistance of the strike against the White Fang base at home, she would have been disciplined by him. Thankfully, with help from her sister, Winter, she was let go, finally given some praise for her efforts. Nevertheless, it didn't remove the sour feeling that she had tipped a nerve in Father. She wished he would understand how much her people meant to Atlas, then maybe he wouldn't be so hesitant to send her off.
Her apartment, not too far from her workplace, was a convenient start to her warm welcome to the planet-wide metropolis. The heart of the Republic had certainly amazed her when she first came her.
When not pushed to do her work, she would gaze at how complex and thriving the city was from the view of her new office, wondering of the day for Atlas to expand to such heights. The air in the certainly wasn't as pure as it was back home, due to the lack of the state-of-the-art air purifiers that the capital city of Solitas was famed for. And yet, with all the bustling messiness of the urban ecumenopolis, it still boasted a magnificent display that Atlas could only hope to accomplish.
But for now, her task was right here, in the Senate chamber where she shall shine to gain the respect and pride of the rest of the Republic. Her focus was on gaining the trust of the Chancellor to approve of Atlas' upcoming war machines.
Everything had to be perfectly done. Her advisors again advised against it, but they shouldn't fault for being a perfectionist. For a thousand years, the Republic knew nothing but peace. A war had shattered that peace from out of the blue, by ungrateful worlds who decided to secede from the larger organization. In this state and time, there was no room for error. Perfect results were needed.
So, Weiss was just content having to study the schematics before her upcoming meeting with Chancellor Palpatine, if she could succeed in getting his interest. She had to make sure her passion for Atlas' war effort gave her the advantage over the noisy clowns that were the other foolish Senators who dared to underestimate her on the first day as one of them.
Speaking of which, a thought began to swim in her head, distracting her from properly focusing on the presentation. A swirling vortex of caution that had surrounded her ever since she first became Senator. A series of events had transpired that had her cautiously watch out for her own well-being. Not just the war which would see her fullest potential, but the horrid thought of being targeted for assassination. The night she was attacked by that lone Mandalorian had her fired up to take action should she be threatened again. With the war about to fully begin, Weiss was far warier of her life than ever before. Even as she sat at her desk, she had both Myrtenaster and her revolver by her side, ready to strike back at a moment's notice. Not to mention; she also got word that the Senator of Naboo was also recently threatened… several times. In these times, it seemed no one was invulnerable, not even the most elegant of Senators.
Just then, Weiss heard the buzzer of her door ring, distracting her. Much to her annoyance, she sighed, letting the person come in. When the doors opened, it was no person. Rather, it was her droid assistant, P-3NY. The advanced servant droid had been asked to survey the area, in case anything was about to happen outside the room. Truthfully, Weiss just needed the droid out of her sight lest she'd be advised again and again.
"Miss Schnee." the droid called with a cheerful voice that Weiss didn't really find comforting at all.
"What is it, P-3NY?" groaned Weiss, moving her hand to feel her forehead. "Can't you see I'm practicing here?"
"The next Senate meeting is in ten minutes." informed P-3NY. "I just thought it would be a good idea to remind you of the event."
"I do not need you to inform me of the upcoming meeting." uttered Weiss. "Just get the schematics ready. The General is counting on me to convince the Chancellor himself to approve of Atlas' new war plans."
"Right away, Miss Schnee." P-3NY bowed, seemingly unaffected by Weiss' annoyed voice. The droid walked towards the table and tapped into the datapad to upload the files from Weiss' desk into her own data core within her head.
After coupling up all the info she needed, Weiss could finally stand up and take a deep breath before she would present herself to the Senate. She brushed her fingers into the fringes of her neatly tied hair, pulling down the left sleeve of her graceful ice-blue dress. The moment she had been building up to was about to come, and she was to shine against the odds to prove her place in that chamber.
Vale Senatorial Office,
Galactic Senate Building,
Coruscant,
The tip of his cane tapped onto the soft, red fabric of the carpet below him. His eyes, hidden behind a pair of antique square shades, eyeing the afternoon scene of the busy world of Coruscant, admiring the beauty of the blue blanket of sky behind the endless lanes of air traffic; the only natural form of beauty within this planet-wide ecumenopolis.
Senator Ozpin missed the natural wonders of his homeworld of Vale, wondering if he had the time to return home to enjoy the serene breeze of the high tides of the current season. Unfortunately, the pressures of being a member of the Galactic Senate were far too important to be side-lined for a simple vacation, even more so at this very moment.
He was among those who didn't wish to see the whole galaxy plunge into chaos and war, for fear that the Remnant System would also be involved in the quagmire of violence that once threatened to destroy its integrity long before its entry into the Republic. Alas, the day he dreaded the most had come, welcomed by the thunderous claps of joy and the cries for retribution against the seditionists who 'abandoned' the grand organization.
If only they would understand, if only they could just put themselves in the shoes of those who left the Republic and feel their needs to leave… How else would peace be achieved if everyone was going to grab their guns and start firing without a compromise? Ozpin certainly thought of the need for negotiations, not a declaration of war. Fellow Senators like Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Padme Amidala and a handful of others thought so too. Everyone tried to stop the violence from reaching the ears of the Senate before it would erupt into chaos.
In the end, however, the majority won; the people who cheered for the promise of war, the glory of their respective planets, and the prospect of the spoils of war. The blood and tears of the galaxy…
All Ozpin could do now was to focus on how to prepare Vale for war, speak to the other Senators of Remnant on how to prepare at their own ends, and formulate the plans to move further. While the military leaders took their own initiatives to chase the Separatists away from the borders of Remnant and the Outer Rim, it was up to the Senators to build up order and security to the chaos from the war's declaration.
Just then, the doors opened up, just as he turned around to sit back. Ozpin was met with a woman, who came in with a datapad kept into her arm and a sharp-tipped cane in her other hand. Wearing a long white coat that draped down to her knees, along with a pair of long black tight pants and a purple undershirt, she too wore a pair of spectacles that she pushed up as she talked to Ozpin.
"The Valesian Council is expecting a solid answer regarding their request on opening up the Home Fleet, Senator Ozpin." reported Glynda Goodwitch, who was Ozpin's most trusted secretary. The former school teacher had been elevated to such a position ever since the man before her was elected into the role of Senator, with Ozpin's own roots originating in education as well. Now, however, well acquainted in the troubles of galactic law, Glynda was now pressured with a myriad of difficult assessments and complaints from the Valesian High Council, the governing body of their home planet which was completely disorganized over the sudden declaration of war.
"Glynda." sighed Ozpin, with a voice so calm, everyone could tell he and Glynda were two completely different people by character. "Vale is deep within protected territory. I simply cannot foresee a Separatist invasion happening there. The only places we have to worry about are the worlds closest to the borders with the Outer Rim. A recent skirmish on Mad'kin Rian has just occurred, so it would be better if the Fleet reinforces that sector."
"So, what are you going to say to the Council?" asked Glynda, finger ready to fill in the response onto her records.
"Simple. Continue sending in troops and have them focus on sending them to the borders as planned. Any extra manpower can be distributed across the rest of the galaxy to assist the clone armies in the other fronts." explained Ozpin. "Besides, we need to conserve energy and fuel for that Fleet when we really need it."
The Council had the right to be concerned, Ozpin knew just as much. It was the same problem as most of the other worlds in the Republic were facing. The thousand years of peace had left the galaxy without a proper army, since most of the military power the Republic once held had been absorbed into more civil use for the individual protection of each of their worlds. The only solution to fill the void was a sudden deployment of new troopers from a world of cloners, far beyond the reaches of the known galaxy. No one knew fully well how these new soldiers would work. Everyone had their doubts about how effective they would be as opposed to real flesh and blood.
Then, the Chancellor showed just how massive the army was and everyone started to change their minds in an instant, more so when they were shown absolute proof from the battle on Geonosis. Soldiers clad in white armour, overpowering a colossal army of droids. It was enough to wow the masses and convince them to approve of the clone army.
However, Ozpin reserved his enthusiasm for the Remnant System's own contributions to the Republic. Unlike the other worlds of the Republic, the ones in Remnant retained their armies, with a special case approved by the Chancellor during the first years of peace. They still had soldiers trained constantly to maintain order and security within the system, the neighbouring systems and the colonies they had. Now that war was coming, the governments of the other planets were, unlike Vale, more eager to send their men and women to battle, especially Atlas, who had aspirations of being the army the Republic needed. Ozpin could imagine the sheer disappointment slapped onto them when Palpatine chose the clones over them, especially from Atlas since they were so determined to make themselves the main contributors of the war effort.
However, there was one planet that was his greatest concern yet…
"As of now, I am more worried about Vacuo." he sighed, his stance as straight as a pole. "These recent years, they are not really pleasant about how we're running Remnant. They're becoming more and more uncooperative than we can handle. If this keeps up, then we are in for a major crisis in our hands."
Ozpin couldn't fault the people of Vacuo for dissenting the Republic for the lack of action against their strife. Thousands of years of conflict and fractured relations, the planet had long suffered under over-industrialization and the impact of colonial influence by the other kingdoms. With all of the troubles and no solution in sight to end them, the people were up in open revolt. As he spoke, Ozpin was informed that the capital of Sunwell that riots were filling the shadier parts of the city, while in other smaller settlements and mining towns, the workers were going on strike, threatening to plummet the current government to the ground to join the growing opposition of the Separatist Alliance, to give Count Dooku of Serenno a larger sphere of influence in Remnant.
If Vacuo should fall, then the rest of Remnant was vulnerable to a Separatist invasion, as the planet's close proximity to the Outer Rim would open up a large gap big enough to allow a Separatist fleet to fly right through and attack everything else in sight.
All Ozpin and the rest of Remnant could do was negotiate peace and vow to help out anyway they could, but with war looming, their efforts had to be cautiously monitored to avoid losing both goals.
"They're just a bunch of delusional, laid-back delinquents, sir." sighed Glynda. "I would associate their unrest with their lack of commitment to proper duty for our system."
At that moment, Ozpin stood firm. Not crossed by Glynda's remark, but certainly not going to sit still and let silly misconceptions cloud the views of those who worked in the Senate. For far too long, he had heard the voices of those who would speak without thought, to hurl insults or proclaimed 'truths' without considering insight on the people they tend to target. In his mind, nothing could ever be solved with blind threats.
"Yet, they have survived all this time with some form of infrastructure." cleared Ozpin, reminding Glynda of the incredible persistence of the Vacuoan people throughout the centuries. "Laid-back or not, they are still a vital key to the defence of our system. One break could easily allow the Separatists into our system. I would advise you to not speak your opinions aloud in front of any Vacuoan."
"Apologies, Senator Ozpin." Glynda apologized, bowing down lightly. Sometimes, the stress of work had gotten the best of her discipline. With Vale constantly calling on Ozpin for a course of action, there was only so much she could take with a firm flick of the wrist.
"We must remind ourselves of how we choose to address people in the Senate in these desperate times, Glynda." Ozpin advised with a knowing smile. Glynda Goodwitch may be quite ill-tempered when push came to shove, but as long as he knew her, which was considerably long, she was someone who valued the integrity of Remnant's people as much as he did.
A red light soon beeped onto a control panel on Ozpin's desk. He pressed on the button to receive the call directed for his office. From the small projector, the holographic image of an elegant-looking man appeared. The Alderaanian garments and coat that the man wore had Ozpin smile at his recognizable image.
"Ah, Senator Organa." called Ozpin. "I trust that the Senate is ready."
"Ready for another mess of noise, old friend." the Senator of Alderaan, Bail Organa, laughed from the image. "I shall see you there." At once, Ozpin nodded and ended the call, the projection disappearing into the panel. At his signal, Glynda moved to the door as Ozpin rose from his seat to leave the room and join the Senate in another important meeting.
The two Valesian officials left the room and walked along the curved hallway, on their way to the wide-open room of the Senate chamber. Glynda sighed again; this time, anticipating another kerfuffle of shouts and cries of Senators desperate for action. She could remember how often the arguments would go left and right, almost for hours as they bickered about issues without end. All of that noise gave her migraines even as she tried to sleep in bed. Just how Senator Ozpin could last this long without a single disgruntled groan was beyond her…
"I just hope the Senate is in a listening mood." she said.
"They always are, Glynda." assured Ozpin before he let out that random, yet philosophical humour that he was so well-known for. "They're just not very good at listening, let alone talking."
"And what makes you different than them?" wondered Glynda.
"Everything, really." answered Ozpin again, causing Glynda to squint her eyes in perplexing silence. "We're all different, and unfortunately, those differences are rubbing off of each other the wrong way." Finally, the secretary nodded, understanding that in the eve of war, everyone can be drawn to an edge. Still, it wouldn't get rid of the feeling that if a normal peace-era session was annoying enough, then what would the room be like in the beginning of a war.
Surely enough, by the time they reached the final hallway next to the Senate chamber, the voices of hundreds of Senators could be heard like mere murmurs behind the wall separating them and those outside. Once they reached the entrance, they were soon graced with the thunderous roars echoing throughout the gigantic room. Ozpin and Glynda entered through the door, passing the pair of blue-robed Senate guards and stepped onto the repulsorpod platform. Throughout the rotund room, they could see the hundreds of other platforms being attended by the other political representatives of the Republic.
Small camera drones began to fly around the floating platforms, providing a constant feed of the session for broadcasting or recording. Other Senators began to pour in, joining in the conundrum of shouts towards one another in this tumultuous time. Ozpin remained quiet, taking in the loud, chaotic scene around him.
He hadn't seen this much turmoil in any political meeting before this. In fact, the Senate had never come to blows against each other this much since the aftermath of the Unification War that gave rise to the very Republic he was serving in. People were already throwing fits of disorderly emotions right before the arrival of the Chancellor. It was a stark contrast to the meetings before the war, when people were, at the very least, more civil and quieter.
Among the myriad of arguing Senators, Ozpin looked around the room, spotting some of his closest associates and his greatest opponents, all in attendance. At the other side, he could see Senator Organa on his platform, along with Senator Mon Mothma from Chandrilla and Onoconda Farr of Rodia; the latter of whom had his head down out of concern for a personal matter on his homeworld. Others in attendance included the newer arrivals in the Senate, such as the new representative from the world of Kamino, allowing Ozpin the first glimpse at the mysterious race of the cloners responsible for the birth of the new soldiers of the Republic.
Otherwise, the rest of the room was filled with the squabbling echoing throughout. Ozpin remained quiet as he saw the tower podium of the Supreme Chancellor rise from the floor. The hemispherical platform rose to reveal three figures who were none other than the Chancellor and his aides. The former Senator of Naboo clad in his red robes as he graced the stage, appearing before the still noisy masses.
"ORDER!" Mas Amedda yelled, an echoing wave of power resonated through the ears of all present. Immediately, the arguments ceased, the voices of hundreds of beleaguered Senators were silenced at the commanding shout of the aide. When the crowd went quiet, Amedda then continued on with the commencement of today's session. "The Chair shall now welcome the honourable Supreme Chancellor to the Chamber."
Palpatine moved forward, beginning with a speech to welcome everyone for their attendance. As any good Senator would, Ozpin kept his visage on the man, ready to assess the course of the debating.
"It is with great pride that I stand here before you all." welcomed the Chancellor with words with kind gusto. A man who had and was worth great respect, as far as Ozpin knew him. The two had exchanged many good talks together, specifically for the mutual aid between Remnant and Naboo prior to the Trade Federation's blockade. Unlike Valorum, Palpatine had a vision to This was a man he could value in the fields of political battles. However, as it would seem, not everyone was fond of his term as Chancellor…
"Something about the Chancellor really creeps me out." whispered Glynda. Thankfully, the loudspeakers weren't on for everyone to hear the comment. Ozpin turned his head slightly enough to sneak an eye on his assistant.
"Chancellor Palpatine is a respected man, Glynda. He knows what he's doing." whispered Ozpin. The people had called for his election with the utmost support after his handling of the post-crisis situation regarding the Trade Federation's invasion of his homeworld of Naboo.
However, Glynda's comment on the Chancellor still held some creepy truth. Ozpin was regarded as among the wisest men in the Senate by many of his peers. Even he couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Palpatine's campaign against the Separatists was. As noble as it sounded, he couldn't help but feel something… off.
Midway through his thoughts, however, he was interrupted when Mas Amedda brought in the first speaker of the meeting. And that was where Ozpin would finally have his chance to evaluate the newest addition to the Senate.
"The Chair recognizes the Senator from the planet Solitas." When the call was made, Ozpin eyed the platform on his right. It detached, allowing it to fly forward to bring its respective Senator's presence forward to be viewed and heard by all.
Atop the platform, Ozpin had the full view of the young Weiss Schnee, finally presenting herself in all of her visual glory, waiting for her inner pride to burst out.
"Ah, so that is Senator Schnee." whispered Ozpin. At the time of Weiss' first appearance a few days ago, he was in Vale, corresponding to the demands carried out by the Valesian High Council. Thus, he wasn't able to catch the Atlesian Senator's debut. But from what was told, there wasn't anything significant that proved her metal, so now that he was present, he could see what Weiss could do.
Standing perfectly firm on her platform, Weiss' blood boiled with anticipation and determination, willing to show the galaxy what she was capable of. For years, she trained tirelessly for this moment; to stand amongst the most important people in the Republic and against a threat looming over the horizon. Her people too had spent the many years within the Republic to prove their might.
She had the whole Senate's attention onto her. Eyes were open and ears were perked for what she had to say. The only question was; just how many would be enamoured by her voice, pulled in by her charm? The most important question of them all was, of course, whether the Chancellor would be willing to listen…
This was her chance to find out.
Her head held up high, her throat cleared before the platform's speakers were activated. Her fingers intertwined with each other, just as they would during her moist beautiful performances on the musical stage. Like an artist, she had her passion built into her heart, ready to let it out with the best she had ever spoken with.
"Fellow Senators." she began. "I, Weiss Schnee, Senator of our glorious Solitas, have come before you to deliver some grand plans for the war against the Separatists." Her voice sang through the room like a wildfire, powerful and fuelled with vigour. It was as if she was already at the chorus of her song performances, straight to the point from the beginning.
From that moment on, she then continued to pour in her effort to the speech, carrying on. All the while, the Senate seemed to be courteous enough to remain silent. But what made Weiss even more pleased, and nervous at the same time, was that the Chancellor, too, was paying attention. He was the man whose approval she needed to earn, not everyone else's. If she could appease him, the rest of the Senate shall follow as well; given the assumption that they, too, vie for Palpatine's support.
"As among the few worlds in the Republic to have the manpower needed to send able troops to the field of combat, the Remnant System will be sending in more reinforcements to assist the clone armies of the Republic.
As such, as the technological centre of Remnant, Atlas will be providing new plans to build new machines and weapons to better prepare the armies against the droids. From this, I wish to be granted an audience with none other than his Excellency, the Supreme Chancellor, to witness the full power of our newest weapons."
Ozpin carefully listened. So, that was what Atlas was planning, he thought. Not only was she trying to glorify the capabilities of the Remnant forces, but Weiss was also trying to help her planet gain the trust of the Chancellor. Now that the cat was out of the bag, Ozpin had to imagine what would it mean for the current crisis with Vacuo.
If Atlas was out to intensify the contribution efforts from Remnant, it could leave a very dangerous rift between the more belligerent worlds and Vacuo, who were bending towards separation from the Republic. Such an aggressive move would potentially be another blow to the negotiations, as Atlas would be sure to seek Vacuo's resources to fuel their construction of these weapons.
Not to mention; the way Weiss presented herself to the Chancellor had Ozpin guessing her motives. Her addressing specifically to him felt too much like a move to dissuade the other representatives from acting against her. It was a bold move, no doubt. Palpatine was not an easy man to please, so Weiss Schnee was clearly playing a risky gamble at this point.
Just like her father, it seemed…
"Hmph." Ozpin heard a small hum from Glynda, feeling her discomfort.
"Is something bothering you, Glynda?" asked Ozpin.
"Nothing, sir." said Glynda. "It's just that… I would rather prefer her sister to be in charge. Weiss Schnee is a bit too young to be given a seat in the Senate."
"As far as I've heard, so is the Senator of Naboo, and yet, she, too, is among us." cleared Ozpin.
Well, not technically, as he noticed the absence of the young lady at the platform for the representatives of Naboo. Rather, in her place, her trusted Gungan representative stood to take charge. Where was she at this time? He heard that she was abducted by the Separatists right before the war began, so perhaps, it must have been a traumatic experience for the young Senator. She probably was being held back to recover from her capture, resting elsewhere, while the rest of the Senate convened in another mess of uncoordinated discussions.
A pity, really. She was probably one of, if not, the most vocal opponent of the build-up of the Republic army, and for her to not be present, it sent a chilling void among the other opponents of the military bill, including Ozpin himself.
But back to the Senator of Atlas, Ozpin carefully evaluated her performance as she spoke, wishing to see more of what her stance was in the middle of the crisis. He took into account her attitude, her posture, her voice and, above all, her opinions when lined up with the rest of the Remnant senators, all of whom were also watching their newest colleague.
"I wish to present the new project that Atlas is currently planning to launch to assist the Republic in the war against the Separatists to all who wish to see it. Additional units are on the way, while more will be developed as we speak." announced Weiss. Her desire for recognition by the highest authority was hoped to encourage the Chancellor to take up her planet's ideas. With a hand to her chest, she finished it up with one final plea to Palpatine. "With all due respect, your Excellency, I hope you shall consider my offer."
Once Weiss ended her speech, Ozpin snuck gazes at the other Remnant Senators, who were all whispering to each of their advisors over the whole situation. Nothing seemed to be too threatening or the least bit malicious that affected them. At best, it was probably careful consideration.
Indeed, however, Ozpin knew who the young Senator was really aiming for. The Chancellor was then bending towards his aide, with Amedda whispering into Palpatine's ear over the offer Weiss had spoken about.
Unfortunately, while he discussed on, the biggest response Weiss was about to get was about to come down on her. As she anticipated, a chorus of loud rambling began as soon as she finished.
"What makes you think that the Republic needs Solitas' machines?" shouted the Senator from Taris. "We will do well enough with the clone armies! We do not need to sacrifice men and women to the war!" The rant was supported by multiple applauds by some of the other Senators, confirming just how crude they were when it came to defying her father's company and the Atlas government. Weiss saw it coming, and she had just the response to fight back.
"With our new technology, the tide of the war shall be in our favour. Atlas will contribute its resources to the development of weapons that shall put an end to this conflict." she told with calmness, added with seriousness to show how much Atlas' developments would mean for the war.
"Is it Atlas that shall contribute?" retorted another Senator, the one hailing from Trughan Prime, snarky as ever. "Or is it your father's puny company?"
"The Schnee Mining Corporation has done quite enough to benefit from the crisis that we face! Your father will grab the spoils while we lick our wounds!" added the Senator from Amdor.
On the other hand, there were a few Senators who gave their backing to the Schnee family, all of them whom Weiss knew since being first introduced into political training. These were the people who benefited from cooperation with the Schnee Mining Corporation for countless generations, and one of them, being the Senator from the mining world of Uefamia, was quick to point out a known fact of hypocrisy.
"Funny you should say that, Senator Rakeen." chuckled the Senator, taunting his counterpart with a finger to his chin. "Considering that you are still one of our benefactors of the tibanna trade between Uefamia and the Schnee."
"Who are you to decide who benefits from what?!" another Senator shouted.
Soon, the whole court became a festival of angry shouts and resonating taunts that sent the entire Senate into a quagmire. Insults were shot out like blaster bolts in war, fists were flying in the air instead of being thrown towards each other's faces. The chaos flew the Senate into disarray, forcing Weiss to remain silent as she pitifully watched everyone squabble like a bunch of children.
Meanwhile, Ozpin, too, quieted himself down to watch how Weiss was going to react. Seeing her in this state of silence, he wondered just what the outcome would be once Mas Amedda made the inevitable call to hush the arguments. From her speech, he felt a mixture of thoughts towards the young Senator.
At one side, he had the usual cautious side, viewing Schnee's support for Remnant's wartime development as an obstacle in the way of better peace with Vacuo. If Atlas was making an effort to enhance military might for the system, it could push the Vacuoans into full revolt until chaos would reign in the streets against their government.
On the other hand, he was yet to see just how far Weiss would go to improve her status amongst the other Senators. The true potential was yet to be seen, the spark of passion that determined her place in the Senate. What drove her to come here and represent Solitas as one of them? Just what was the deep cause of her joining them in this hollow room?
"ORDER!" On time, Mas Amedda yelled to sit the entire Senate down. When the voices were silenced, everyone paused their fury towards one another. With so much room to breathe now, Weiss finally calmed. Within the storm of cries, she maintained her posture, not once giving into the temptation of shouting out and defending herself and her people. These Senators, after all, clearly wanted to undermine her spirits, not just because of Atlas and her father's company.
It's because within this court of full-grown, experienced officials, she seemed like a little child compared to them. An inexperienced toddler amongst the more educated elementary students, hoping to receive the highest honour of a proper diploma. That much was true when she met Senator Deechi of Umbara the previous time, when he underestimated her.
Now, however, she was here to prove herself; to show the Senate and the Republic that Atlas had a proud and able representative to lead them forward against the Separatist threat. She had trained so much to get this far, and she wasn't about to lose it all because of the expectations of the Senate.
But as one of the Senate, Weiss needed to gain their trust, and to gain that trust, she needed to let them know whose side she was on. If she could convince the Chancellor of her loyalty, then she would place herself in a high position amongst his greatest allies.
"Regardless of what all of you might feel about me, or my family…" she began. "It will not deter me of my position as Senator of Solitas." Her mind took her back to the days when she began her training as Senator. Her father afforded all of the classes he could find for her to help her pursue her path to greatness, far more than what the Junior Legislative Program of the Republic would ever offer. Once she graduated from the highest of the academies, Weiss was thrown into the task of representing her world in the Senate and deepen itself within the greater forces of the Republic.
No one would tell her where her place was and who she needed to be. Weiss Schnee was the only one who could decide her fate.
"The fact remains that we are at war with ungrateful worlds that have left the Republic to follow that foolish Duke from Serenno." scoffed Weiss, remembering the old man who had betrayed the trust of the Republic as of late by becoming the leader of the Separatists. "We deserve to gain prominence within the galaxy. How can we gain that when several worlds are about to wage war on us all?"
This time, murmurs began to ring throughout, Senators exchanging silent whispers between themselves and the other occupants of each of their platforms. Weiss heard the whole Senate engage in a chorus of silent hissing and muttering, seeing that she got their attention. A grin formed, satisfied that she was getting results in her favour.
"If we are all willing to make ourselves greater than those who secede, then let us help you. Let Atlas and other developing worlds build the machines necessary to lessen the loss of lives. We will hold no quarry against those who oppose us either." Weiss spoke as if she sang her beautiful voice through a concert, coercing the Senators to listen to her without sparking a riot on her. True to her word, she would allow Atlas to provide technical support to the already gigantic clone army, while also giving out the manpower dedicated to reinforcing Remnant's borders with the Outer Rim. Whether they liked it or not, her planet was the best chance they had against a Separatist assault from her system.
"We will give you and the clone army the edge to combat the traitors of the Republic." she continued, voice getting higher with vigour. "With our weapons and resources, our armies shall prevail." The murmurs got louder, almost affected by her speech. If anyone had a mind to shut her down again, it would have been an instantaneous chain reaction. Before they could seize the chance to hammer in her place. With all her heart, Weiss gave one final bit of words with devotion and perseverance.
"As Senators of the greater Republic, we should be committed to giving the upper hand to our troops and our government. Therefore, I will not back down until these traitors are dealt with and the war finally over."
All at once, Weiss found an unexpected flurry of cheers that roared throughout the chamber. A slightly greater applause than earlier, but certainly one she could accept. Looks like there were some who could see to reason of her cause. With that, she couldn't be happier with the results. She had built a solid standing within the Senate, gaining the trust of those who were unsure of her, only to be rightfully drawn in to support her claims.
It wasn't the perfect results she wanted, but they were only a side goal. The main prize was right in front of her, in the middle of the room. All hopes were on the approval of the Chancellor to see through the plans Atlas had for the war.
"I have to admit; Miss Schnee has guts." commented Glynda, a finger around her chin. All the while, Ozpin had seen what Weiss Schnee was capable of doing. From what was heard, she had definitely exceeded the threshold of what he'd expect from someone of her family. The glory she sought was evident as she fuelled the support for her family's company. However, when it came to the crisis at hand, she seemed to have appealed to the need for worlds to cooperate in order to combat the enemy. Even if their trusts were still not guaranteed, they could at least praise Schnee for her efforts to rouse support.
There was the line that was drawn between Weiss and her father. What separated her from Jacques was how she was indeed putting the people's interests to heart. Though, Ozpin had the feeling her loyalty only laid to her people. The high-class society of the Atlas that had favourable status at the top, not the needy more down below. There was still that emphasis on the technologically superior power of her world instead of the entire people who need the resources.
Such cruel tragedy, then, that the family hadn't changed since the time of Nicholas Schnee. In this era of prosperity through conflict, the rich still favoured only the rich, while the poor and needy remained stranded in the shadows of greed…
Weiss Schnee had to do a little more to show for if she wanted to be on the good books of the other Senators of Remnant. Right now, however, there was only one man she needed to appease to move forward.
Palpatine and Amedda had been discussing about the offer before Weiss made that tremendous effort to give that speech. And when the older man listened, needless to say, there was a spark of power. Like a snap of a finger, she had sparked the cheers and applause of Senators in the chamber. That was something he was completely caught by surprise.
Once they were done whispering, Weiss watched the man face her, the feeling of pride and enlightenment in the eyes of the very leader of the Republic filling her with joy at the thought of being acknowledged.
When he opened his mouth to respond, her hands rubbed against each other. While she enjoyed the thrill of speaking out and the reward of being clapped at for it, there was the slightest doubt that Palpatine would even consider her, a young teenager amidst a crowd of fully experienced men and women from across the Republic, as anyone worth noting.
"I must say, Senator Schnee." he finally spoke with a smile. "Of all of my experience as a politician in the Republic, I have never seen such a brilliant performance. The ovation you receive is well earned."
Weiss' heart warmed, her body feeling almost numb with glee at the compliment Palpatine gave her. The doubts she had, gone. The man gave her well appreciated praise for her stance in the Senate. But all that remained next was whether he would approve of the ideas that Atlas presented.
"Very well." complied Palpatine with enthusiasm. Weiss' heart nearly skipped a beat when he accepted the offer. "I shall grant your request for me to view these new weapons. We shall see if this new war machine will be the technology we need to combat the threat of the Separatists." Her smile grew wider and prouder as the Senate soon clapped along for her. Finally, the chance of being in the gracious side of the Republic, to blend with the masses who wanted the war to be won.
Perhaps now, Atlas could finally see how capable she was, on and off from Senatorial duties. Maybe now, her father would realize her potential at last.
"Hmmm." hummed Glynda. "It seems our new Senator has managed to appease the Chancellor, after all."
"At the behest of her father, no less." sighed Ozpin. While Weiss did an impressive job so far, as long as Jacques was the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes, she needed a lot more to prove for Ozpin to see her as a worthy representative. Not as someone who clung to her father for approval, but a standout Senator on her own right.
Yet, the first impressions she made did earn her a good remark. With time and experience, Weiss Schnee would branch out as a figure of her own. "Still, not many her age could have ever hoped to lend his or her voice within the Senate Chamber. It is something worth giving credit to."
Hours later
Weiss' Apartment,
Coruscant,
The Senate meeting soon went on with more or less the same results. A mixed court of people unable to find common ground over how to pursue the war and what they should give to support the development of the military.
None of that really mattered for Weiss. If there was anyone who benefitted the most from that meeting, it was her. She won the trust of the Chancellor and in a few days, she will be sitting down with him, along with the other Atlas officials involved with the upcoming presentation.
After her first day of the job, Weiss returned to her apartment, leaving her office behind to take a day's rest. She'd probably stay a little longer, but she felt that she needed to take a small rest after the long trip from Solitas. Even during her awe-inspiring first day, she couldn't maintain a perfect focus from space lag.
Even so, she took it upon herself to start working on the next task of studying more diplomatic matters she was to prepare for the next session in the Senate.
With the afternoon brightening up the ecumenopolis, Weiss was seated at her desk, in her apartment room, reading through some more files with her datapad.
The room she was given was, like most Senators', befitted with the themes of her homeworld. The walls and floor were layered with a light blue coat of shining Atlesian marble, gleaming throughout with bright glamour, supported by cuboid pillars and frames that were etched with Solitian winter patterns. Her bed, queen-sized and built with a frame of ice-blue geomaxim crystals beneath the soft white mattress, laid above a stage-like podium, shrouded by a beautiful set of navy blue curtains that draped down to the floor. The windows and door that led to the balcony were patterned with checker bars of steel, matching the elegant structuring of her own room back home. Right above, at the ceiling, a golden chandelier hung with cylindrical energy bulbs on each arm.
Her desk, where she sat precariously at, was wooden, made of sleek Solitian cypress tree bark that gave the table its beautiful and durable form. Along with the holographic projector built within, a lone glacial night tulip grew on another glamourous pot, alongside a stack of holo-books of her notes and studies of all kinds, mostly about political and economic topics.
She had been offered to have her room fitted with air conditioners to mimic the atmosphere of her home, but Weiss refused, having to reduce her spending for the more needed essentials; rentals, supplies and what have you… Besides, the warmer feel of the Coruscanti sun wasn't so bad, having used to travelling to similar worlds before.
Weiss scanned through the notes in her datapad, checking through the plans for her future tasks like a librarian reading through all the available editions of novels and encyclopaedias into the right shelves. She tapped her finger onto her cheek, pondering over organizing between different fields of work, prioritizing the various issues and plans Atlas had for her to discuss with other Senators and her own government.
Just then, the holo-call panel beeped. Weiss put down her datapad and received the call, activating the holoprojector to phase the image of one of Atlas' official secretaries.
"Yes, Halren?" Weiss called, bringing her hands together while her chin sat gently onto her fingers.
"I received the documents from your droid." reported the secretary. "I shall relay the word to General Ironwood to present his project to the Chancellor, effective tomorrow. The Atlesian Knight prototypes shall begin rapid deployment in about a week, and the Paladin project will be shown to the Military Office as soon as possible."
Weiss smiled with hopeful pride. With the full production of Atlas' new weapons, things were coming together nicely for the build-up of Remnant's military might. Soon, new machines would take the fight and new technology would fuel the clone armies enough to gain an edge over the traitorous Separatists. If only the Republic didn't waste all that military power in the last thousand years…
"Good work, Halren." said Weiss. "I will contact you shortly." The secretary bowed in acknowledgement before the image faded off, ending the call.
With a few final touches to her schedule, Weiss laid down her datapad, sighing out a breath of relaxed calmness. She was finally free to rest and take it easy while everything was being processed for the next meeting.
So what was Weiss Schnee to do when she was finally free?
She eyed the trophy case stuck to the wall next to her. The glass box which held her prized weapon, Myrtenaster. The silver rapier she had used for a decade was attached to a clamp, strong enough to prevent quiet robberies. Only with the genetic scan of Weiss Schnee could it be unlocked. Weiss opened the case and waved her hand towards the little node below the rapier. When the node flashed green, the clamps around the hilt of the weapon released, freeing Myrtenaster for her to grab.
Feeling the smooth, inward-curved hilt in her palm, Weiss waved the rapier in front of her, graciously bringing the blade to her face in her steady stance. A pull on the trigger beneath the hilt and the chambers rotated, triggering the freeze mode onto the weapon.
The blade began to shine from the back, all the way to the tip with a crystal clean coat of reactive metal that made it much colder. It released a cloud of mist with each swing, just a taste of the raw power of this elegant yet deadly weapon.
Weiss then turned around and pointed the weapon towards the wall, legs crossed together. She then brought it around with a twirl of her boy with a sweep of Myrtenaster to the other side, legs released and the other arm bent upwards with the hand to the side of her head. Afterwards, she followed up with a swing upwards of the blade before another mighty spin to finish up the combo. Finally, she came back up to her idle stance before continuing on with another round of a different attack pattern.
Standing still, she flicked Myrtenaster downwards to the ground, body facing to the side as she faced the potted plant. She then pointed her blade at the plant and slashed in between the leaves three times before lunging her pointed tip onto the stalk, piercing through the plant like the heart of her opponent. She then brought herself back before moving forward with more tries with her fencing.
Like a ballerina, she danced across the room with the blade swinging and lunging back and forth, practicing her battling style. Through this exercise, she could release herself of the stresses that came her way, letting her body soar and glide throughout the floor with grace. She ensured that each swing and movement of her body did not damage a single object in the room, allowing her to improve on her precision on the imaginary target before her.
In the midst of her exercise, Weiss then went for something new. A few days ago, after her recent assault on the White Fang's base in Atlas, she decided to try a little more aggressive style of fighting to match any enemy that dared to attack her again.
She walked to the other end of the room to give herself more space to try out her new moves. Weiss went into her original stance, closing her eyes and breathed in. With her fingers lining down the surface of the blade, she then opened up her eyes and lunged forward, striking as hard as she could. Then, she coupled up with two slashes out front with much more speed than her usual style. With each thrust and swing of Myrtenaster, her fury grew, feeling the adrenaline of fighting her non-existent opponent mercilessly without stop. Every second she spent on attacking only added a fire in her heart, burning with anguish.
As time passed, after more attacks, she began to develop a vision of her target taking shape in her mind. Her eyes squinted after seeing the figure appear right in front of her. Slowly, the memories of her last brush with death built the image of the one person who dared to try and end her life.
The warrior stood there, blade out and ready to strike Weiss down, just as he had so long ago. She recognized the unmistakable image of the Mandalorian scum, with his armour and helmet, the latter of which sported that T-shaped visor that determined his identity. The blade he wielded was flat with a shining spot of light reflecting off of the black surface.
Upon seeing her assassin, Weiss' anger grew, her taste for justice fuelling her up with the will to inflict horrible pain upon her attacker. With the vividness inside her, she had no hesitation to strike her target, lunging forward. On instinct, the assassin backed away from the strike, sidestepping back before he would get stabbed. Weiss didn't let her opponent escape as she sped forward to continue assaulting her foe.
The vile nature of the armoured warrior aggravated Weiss, forcing her to not let him leave her sights. The mistake of slipping up wouldn't happen again; her drive to defeat her foe made her riled up with anger. If the assassin thought he would have another shot at ending her, he was about to find out how wrong he was.
However, instead of attacking back, the assassin simply dodged Weiss' attacks. The Senator kept striking at him, but not once did he try to fight back, as if to tire her out. Weiss didn't bother to care; she was too bent on bringing down the scum with every single strike of her weapon, to deal the same pain he did to her. Her teeth gritted with anger, her strikes getting more and more violent with every swing or lunge.
The assassin jumped up on the bed while Weiss looked up and saw the fiend land onto her soft blue bed. He then pointed his blade at her, threatening her to take action. Agitated, Weiss grabbed onto her weapon with greater force. She then prepared to jump up and attack her opponent, building up her energy by breathing in a good amount of air.
Finally, with all her might, she leapt over and thrust her weapon towards the assassin on her bed. The blade was quickly stabbed into the bed, shredding through the soft fabric as she landed right next to it. When she finished her strike, Weiss took a good look at the damage she caused.
After a few breaths, she finally found herself inflicting the unnecessary damage she committed. Right where the blade was poked into, the side of the bed was completely ripped with a gaping line of cotton wool puffing out of the opening. When she looked on top of the bed, there was no sign of her attacker, like he vanished without a trace. She looked around the room, trying to find out where he had run off to. After a brief search, she couldn't find a single trail that indicated the crook's escape, nor were there any sounds or noises that would give off any attempt to flee. It left her confused and slightly unhinged over her own safety, still trapped in that state of caution, just in case the attacker came back.
After finding nothing from the fiend, she immediately found herself regretting her actions. It would seem that her attempt to practice a more aggressive style of fighting had reduced her to a barbaric warrior than an elegant duellist. Her fencing and the usage of Myrtenaster was always meant for the purpose of defence, rather than offence. If she stoked way more power into her strikes, then she would be tampering with her own grace, turned into a vicious killer in the making. She had allowed her sense of justice to control her emotions into a frenzied brute.
Realizing what she had done, she sat herself down on her bed, despite its torn condition. Myrtenaster was dropped onto the ground in an audible clang as she slumped with shame. She panted with exhaustion, sweat beading down on her face. Her practicing had been heavier than she thought before, but more so, her emotions got the better of her posture as well.
Weiss remembered the lessons she gained back home in Atlas. It was there that she studied and learned to maintain the perfect figure. For one to be perfect, she must learn to take advantage of every opportunity she had. At the same time, however, one must still understand the limits to their agendas, never to overreach their control over the needs and wants of her own image. In Weiss' case, now that she was Senator of Solitas, she had to keep her graceful image intact, and while she had the right to defend herself, she still needed to control herself and not become a barbarian in the eyes of those around her.
The already shaky reputation of the Schnee family in the Senate and, thus, the glory of Atlas relied on Weiss to fix. She was the heiress of the Schnee Mining Corporation; she was chosen to fulfil the greatest moments in Solitas history as one of them.
This was her stage now, and she had to be strong and civil in the face of danger…
The next day…
It was only a few more moments before the next meeting in the Senate; something about concerns within the Mid Rim. And yet, at the very outdoors parking area, where Senators would arrive in droves before coming into the building, the representatives were not the only people with busy ambitions and intrepid plans.
Far off in the civilian parking area, where freighters were loading off supplies, two strangers were stalking about, waiting within the crates to sneak into the Senate premises. They eyed the security guards patrolling the area, studying their movements before they would move out. A lone blue security droid walked into the loading bay, almost passing the two men.
"Steady…" The Zabrak bent down further, doing his best to hide his large, bumbling mess of a friend from any sights. Having such a cetacean as a partner wasn't the best idea he had. His large body was the bane of any hunt he took part in, having to poke out at every attempt they had when sneaking about. What the Herglic lacked in incognito status, however, he did make up for in sheer brute force. If anything was to happen to the two of them, Bred's big body would make short work of any trouble they faced while Krendo would finish off the downed victims of his partner's strength.
When the coast was clear, the two finally popped out of their spot, sneaking towards the Senate building. They manoeuvred through more of the security personnel in the area until they reached the very parking range where the Senators would arrive via hoverbus.
From there, they found themselves behind a barrier, looking at a specific spot in the area. Hiding behind it, they ducked down and, again, awaited the arrival of a certain figure to approach. Quietly, they took out a blaster each from their pockets, just in case anything was about to happen that against their will and planning.
Krendo peeked above, searching for any signs of trouble. At any moment, their pprize was just around the corner, if their third accomplice was to be believed. While the two of them were down there, they had their human friend perched up at a nearby skyscraper to survey the area while keeping the men in touch. So far, they had only seconds until their target was in range.
"Kwazzi better be right about this." grumbled Krendo. "We've spent too many long months to let this moment be for naught."
Just when he was busy complaining, they were soon greeted by the sight of a lone hoverbus, marked with white paint and a blue zigzag line stretched from front to back of the walls. Krendo's smile cracked wider. At last, his quarry had arrived just in time for them to spring their trap. When the transport touched down, the two took a peek from behind their protection, viewing the descent of the boarding ramp. Soon, when the passengers all came out, one by one, they carefully searched for the one person they hoped to find.
People began exiting the transport in a single file, some being helped down with their baggage in tow by others. Some patrons down on the floor came over to greet the other passengers. One of them was a tall, blonde woman, dressed in a formal uniform. She adjusted her glasses as she approached one of the passengers. When they saw who that woman was accompanying, at last, a sense of purpose was invigorated within them.
There they saw, the target of their mission. Coming down the steps, with his cane beneath his palm, Senator Ozpin emerged, expecting to find himself to be present within this next hall meeting. The man walked down, smiling at Glynda as he descended down to greet her.
The feeling of accomplishment and the anticipation for a higher purpose were seeping into the two men. Finally, there he was. Senator Ozpin was right there for the taking. The sight of him gave the two a good a reason to be angry for what the man meant to them. Their hands gripped harder while they looked on, waiting for the right time to strike.
Because of men like Ozpin, their families were being left homeless without any hope of proper earnings. Their children were left hungry in the streets while their wives clung to desperate aid for the supplement of their lives. All because of one act that put them in this state in the first place; an act made by Ozpin himself.
They were ready to make him pay for what he had done to them prior. They were ready to make things right again, for the future of their families.
"That Senator will finally eat his words." growled Krendo, while Bred chuckled cruelly at the thought of dealing with the elderly man before them. The Zabrak then turned his head around to see that his partner was ready to subdue the Senator to their will. "You ready?"
"Right behind you, Krendo." At once, the two began to move forward without any secrecy. They knew that the moment they nabbed the Senator, they would be pursued upon, with multiple security forces right there to attack them once the action began.
From out of their cover, they rose to follow the Senator. Bred was ready to snatch him up and run with Krendo covering his back. Unknown to them, as they approached Senator Ozpin, they failed to see someone coming up to them. Unable to see the person, Bred accidentally bumped into the woman. With his big body, he caused the person to nearly fall off her feet, barely only catching herself from suffering a massive fall.
The young girl stumbled forward when she hit the Herglic. When she recovered, she felt the aching pain on her shoulder, straightening her long, white hair after the rough bump. With a glaring face, she told off the buffoon who dared to get in her way.
"Ergh! Watch where you're going, you riffraff!" yelled Weiss Schnee, shrewdly. But instead of Bred, it was Krendo who turned around and directed his own anger at the heiress.
"Excuse me!" he shouted, frightening Weiss a little. Just when he was about to retort again, the large Herglic pulled him away, patting his back as he assured Krendo of the real prize.
"Not now, Krendo." he hushed. 'We have bigger fish to fry." Still insulted, Krendo obliged. If anything, he hoped his rant hadn't attracted the attention of the Senator before any action was taken. He looked around, finding that no one had done as much as stare at the brief exchange between himself and the whiny girl. Relieved, he decided to let it go, continuing with the mission.
"Little brat."
Meanwhile, Weiss kept staring at the two in utter disbelief. She couldn't believe that those filthy runts dared to aggravate her the way they did. Disgruntled, she would have called the authorities to apprehend such uncouth rubbish off the Senate premises, not even looking decent enough to be fit within these grounds.
But she chose not to. After she nearly destroyed her bed the night before, she dared not to push herself further to the likes of lower folk like them. There were other matters to deal with anyway, so the less she cared, the better. The Senate was convening for another session and she needed to see what other opportunities she could score this time. Thus, she turned off for the entrance into the building, leaving the two strangers to seize their moment.
Fortunately for the two schemers, they were in the clear. Their target did not seem to notice the altercation between themselves and that bratty girl. The Senator and his aide were already walking for the building when the two snuck towards him. They had their hands out to prepare and snatch the Senator before anyone could react to the act.
The distance was closed; a few more steps and they would have the cursed man in their grasps. Once taken, they would use him to get what they wanted, for the sake of their livelihoods. Just a few seconds more and Ozpin was theirs for the taking.
Their arms thrust out and their hands ready to throttle at him…
WHACK!
All at once, just when they were about to catch their prize, a powerful strike at their heads threw them off their approach. They fell on their backs, down on the floor with a loud thud that alerted Ozpin and Glynda.
The Valesian officials turned around, shocked by the sudden occurrence of a fallen pair of strangers. What was even more uncalled for was what made the two tumble down in the first place. Fully crouched on the ground, a slim figure was bent down after emerging from out of nowhere like a shadow. The girl stood up, arming herself with her weapon; a single blade that was shaped like a machete with a long black ribbon dangling down. The newcomer stood with her back facing Ozpin and Glynda, who were still stunned at what had happened in the blink of an eye. The girl with long, curly black hair turned her face back just enough so that only her right cheek was facing the people she defended.
"Senator Ozpin. Are you alright?" Blake Belladonna asked. Glynda took Ozpin by the arm, stepping back with careful consideration over the arrival of this shadowy figure. Other than that, they eyed the other two unknowns amongst the situation. Ozpin assessed the sudden chaos that happened right behind him, wondering what was going on. Why was there a concern for his well-being, as addressed by the mysterious girl in front of him? If she was looking out for him, then the two random men on the ground must had been trying to attack them.
As the scene unfolded, the situation had indeed attracted the attention of the crowds throughout the area. Curious or frightened pedestrians were starting to gather around to witness it all. More alarming still, a few of the patrol droids were now triggered to respond to the crisis at hand.
While the action continued to build an audience, the two men were starting to rise up, witnessing the element of surprise slip from their hands. When they saw who had spoilt the plan for them, Krendo growled with vigour, frustrated that he was forced to drop their cover to do a hasty run.
"Who are you?" demanded Glynda to Blake. "What is going on here?!"
"It doesn't matter." answered Blake, turning around fully to address the danger to them. "You need to –"
BAMM!
Suddenly, Blake had been silenced by a loud bang beneath her feet. Between her and the officials, a cloud of smoke rose upwards and expanded into a blinding wall that forced Blake back from Ozpin and Glynda. The thick smoke blurred her sights, roughing up her eyes while she started to cough up as it entered her nose. Hindered, she couldn't see what was going on. However, her cat ears began to wobble, her nerves triggered by a sense of warning throughout her body.
When she turned around, she saw a fist, flying towards her. For a split second, she quickly ducked down and rolled to safety, away from the attack. When she recovered, she laid her eyes on the duo of troublemakers who charged at her. Unfortunately, she was too late to save Ozpin and Glynda as they charged and nabbed them both. Within their reach, the attackers held both of their hostages within each of their arms, held tightly by the neck as Ozpin and Glynda tried to hold onto the arms holding them. Screw the low profile, Krendo thought. If they were going to be caught, they might as well do it the hard way. To maximize their threat, Krendo and bred pulled out their blasters, now causing the patrons to gasp in a panic.
Blake held her ground, unable to move without provoking the hooligans into ending the lives of their hostages. She knew the heavy burden she was faced when being stuck in her position. The two people she tried to save were two of Vale's most important people; their losses would spell the tragic end of the planet's integrity in the political stage. Any wrong move would move the Remnant System closer to chaos.
"Back off, you nosy rat!" shouted Krendo, threatening Blake by pointing the barrel of his gun at Ozpin's head. "He's ours now!"
Blake only squinted her eyes with disgruntled frustration. With no other choice, she laid down her weapon on the ground, raising her hands up in defeat. Satisfied with her withdrawal, Krendo glanced towards his partner, who held the blonde-haired secretary in his oversized grasp.
"Lose the lady! Ozpin's who we want." he called. At once, Bred tossed Glynda to Blake, the Faunus barely catching her from being tripped up by the force of the toss. With one hostage secured, that left only one other person to worry about. Conversely, there were no more transfers to be made this time.
Happy with their prize, they quickly dragged Ozpin with then, still pointing their blasters at the crowd as they made their escape to a nearby speeder. Police droids honed in on the escapees, only to be forced back from firing their stunners for the risk of hurting the Senator being held hostage.
The two hooligans hopped aboard a parked speeder, shoving Ozpin into the front seat, next to the driver's. while they both simultaneously followed along. Bred, being the heavyweight, fit into the back, keeping an eye on the crowd while Krendo took to the speeder's controls. Hijacking the taxi, the latter managed to jumpstart the vehicle by rewiring the wires within the circuitry. Once unlocked, the taxi hovered above and turned around. With one push of the stick and thrust to the petal, the criminals zoomed away, taking with them their prize into the busy city below.
"They're getting away with the Senator!" Glynda yelled, following the panicked cries of the other pedestrians. The security droids soon refocused their programming to controlling the crowd while they herded everyone to safer grounds.
Meanwhile, as Glynda could only watch helplessly at her vanished colleague, Blake came up to the secretary, saying nothing more than a request to call the authorities. She could sense the distraught of the older woman, recognizing the sense of separation in terms of her duties for the Senator. Indeed, the loss of Ozpin would be a stake in the heart of Vale. If those two were allowed to take him to who knew where, there would be dire consequences.
Naturally, it was up to someone like Blake to take care of the situation. This was where she vowed to start her movement to making things better for people, and helping a Senator could be a brilliant start to her quest.
"Go get help." she told Glynda. The woman was about to ask her who she was, not convinced that she was someone worth trusting Ozpin's life with. She had questions as to how Blake knew about the attempt at kidnapping him, wondering how could she have reacted to the incident before anyone else was aware of it.
But looking at those eyes staring at her, Glynda knew that there was a pang of truth in her. If she was here to defend Ozpin, then perhaps she could try and trust this stranger, just this once…
Pinching her temples, she groaned. Of all the times to desperately trust an unknown, it had to be now… Giving Blake a nod, she ran off to get the help needed to locate and rescue Ozpin, leaving it to the mysterious girl to start her path to saving him.
With the scene being cleared, Blake went to work, finding her own way to wherever they would end up in. For a city so massive in scale, with thousands of levels to look in, one would think she would take forever to find Senator Ozpin in the millions of buildings throughout Coruscant.
Fortunately, Blake had an asset. They key that, instead of limiting her search, completely locked down the exact place where the criminals were about to hide their hostage. She reached for her belt and pulled out her beacon tracker, loaded with the coordinates she had taken from a direct source by the two hooligans themselves. Confident of her tracks, Blake made her move to find a transport to reach her destination.
Unbeknownst to her, someone within the crowd had come out to investigate the scene for herself.
That person was able to get a good view of the Faunus just as the patrons were being led back by the patrol droids. After hearing some panicked noises from fleeing folks, she quickly asked what was going on, with people then telling her that Senator Ozpin had been kidnapped. Rushed for action, the girl made her way outside to find the crime scene now being cleared.
However, the only one present in the area was the lone stranger who stood idly by, just enough for Weiss Schnee to find out what was happening. She had Blake within her sights, taking in the figure of this unknown hoodlum who happened to be at the scene of the crime. It was then that she began to scan her, watching the Faunus with her own two eyes from a distance.
After looking at Blake for a few good seconds, she spotted a rather incriminating feature. The girl Weiss spotted reached for the ground, picking up a very familiar item.
The flat-shaped blade that was removed from the ground and casually slid into the holster of this suspicious person. Weiss' eyes widened with recognition. The colour of the blade gave her the clues, the way its long edge shone with a silver glint across.
"That blade…" It didn't take her long to finally realize that the sword had something to do with her. Indeed, that weapon was something she had not only seen, but felt…
Her hand instinctively brushed the scar of her eye, remembering the excruciating cut she suffered at the hands of the very blade before her. She had spent a good amount of time that night exchanging blows with that weapon. The swings and lunges she made with Myrtenaster were also premonitions of the encounter that nearly costed Weiss her life.
When she properly surveyed the body shape of the girl before her, the final touches of her suspicions came to light. After years of perfecting her own body posture, Weiss had a habitual knack for remembering certain people just by watching the way they stand. When it came to the girl before her, it was a sight to dread. Just by looking at how Blake stood, Weiss felt like she had connected the dots to a criminal investigation.
Her heart fell deeply ill after recognizing Blake, before rising up in vile anger. That girl, Weiss thought, was definitely someone she knew. Someone she wanted to exact her justice upon.
That was her. That was the assassin that nearly killed her on that very night!
Unknown Location,
Level 1253,
Coruscant,
Coruscant System,
Core Worlds,
An hour had passed. Throughout that rather troubling period of time, Senator Ozpin found himself being abducted and kept under the watchful eyes of two uncouth crooks.
It led him to this abandoned building, somewhere deep within Coruscant's lower levels, sat at a chair while having his limbs all tied up without any chance of escaping. The room he was in, dusty and dilapidated in all corners, looked dim and dark, only illuminated by the colourful lights outside. Even then, the windows were covered by barred, gill-shaped grills that kept himself and the room completely sealed from the public eye.
Ozpin wasn't really in any pain. he hadn't been roughed up or subdued immensely by his captors, who shared the room with him. A few shoves, no less. Still, he wasn't terribly hurt by their abduction. If anything, the worst he felt in this situation was sheer disappointment. Disappointment not because he was kidnapped by these men, but rather the fact that he was about to miss a very important issue from the Senator of Taris at this hour. How the Senate itself would react to this kidnapping; he couldn't say. It was a public display, after all, so there was no point covering up this incident.
All that mattered was that he alone was being held prisoner, at the mercy of two thugs whom Ozpin had no idea of their motives for capturing him.
Supposedly, one would be in fear of being held at gunpoint by the lowest of the low, with the possibility of a cold death being very high. Perhaps one would be shaking tremendously over the claustrophobia that would come from such a narrow space of accommodation, coupled by the fear of death at the hands of the criminals.
Yet, being strapped like the way he was, Ozpin could only sigh. Otherwise, he would just remain silent, not faltering under the threats posed by the criminals. He had no reason to be afraid. If the criminals went through all this trouble to not inflict a single wound on him, then it was plausible that he was not to be harmed at all, the value of his capture assumed to be beyond any typical kidnappings'. Pushing his luck may still result in serious punishment, but while remaining at peace, he wouldn't be harmed.
Still, it would be nice if the two men allowed him to keep his treasured cane. That priceless heirloom had become such a comfort to wield throughout his elderly life.
This wasn't the first time he was put in tight corners like this, and it wouldn't be the last…
Meanwhile, the assailants were already getting to work on whatever plot they were cooking up. The Zabrak, laden with a sly grin on his face, was talking to a contact via his communicator, walking about in an excited pace. His partner stood on guard beside the hostage, watching Krendo move around with fidgeting glee.
"Yeah. We got the Senator." whispered Krendo to the third assailant elsewhere. "Now, secure the front entrance. Make sure the authorities don't get in." After tasking the accomplice with guard duty, he shut off his communicator, putting it down on the desk before tending to his 'guest'. As he stared into Ozpin's face, he produced a repugnant, foul stench of alcohol and sweat that the Senator could easily pick up. Other than the wretched smell, however, the older human only felt something viler. Before his eyes was the face of a man wasting away his life for something more malicious than he was being let on. There was a hint of anger; something about Ozpin himself that made this Zabrak resent him to some degree. This was mixed with a desire to commit harm and achieve ambition with this scheme.
He compared this disturbing expression to the otherwise less reactive but still malicious Herglic next to him. While Bred shared his intentions with Krendo, he seemed a lot calmer than the Zabrak. There wasn't much of the spite that his partner had, much less any desire to harm Ozpin. With that mind, there was something the Senator could use to his advantage.
Whatever they intend on doing with him, Ozpin had to find out sooner.
"May I be gracious to ask why are you attempting to kidnap me?" asked Ozpin, not faltering under the pressure.
"Remember that conference in Atriya? Seven years ago?" Krendo responded with a smug smile. "When you and your fellow Senators began snooping around our business for so long before shutting us down?"
"Ah. So the two of you were among the poachers in the thranta hunting games." mused Ozpin, in a fashion of enlightenment, rather than fear. Then, when he explained his justifications, the Senator continued to remain calm and collected, without giving in. "We were asked to take action to prevent illegal poachers such as yourselves from threatening an endangered species."
Suddenly, in an act of spite, Krendo swung his hand up and slapped Ozpin square in the cheek. The impact made Ozpin turn his head to the side, knocking off his glasses in the process. As he turned back, he was plastered with a red mark on his face. The force was strong, but it did little to nothing to break the Senator down.
"I had to feed my family!" argued Krendo.
"By killing off an exotic species? Protected by Republic law?" retorted Ozpin. "Let us forget the ethics for a moment then. Your actions were still deemed forbidden. Should you continue to act against the law, then perhaps the consequences would have not been pleasant." The Zabrak's teeth gritted together before exerting a scoff and turning around to use his datapad for the upcoming phase of their plan. Ozpin still exercised a steady stand against the man with poise an entire Senate can admire him for. He was known to be relentless in the face of corruption, which was what made him the prime candidate for Senator of Vale. "Though, considering now, with the lengths you two will go to seeing your horrid activities resumed, I would imagine a much higher price to pay."
"We don't care about the Republic or their petty laws." defended Bred.
"All that matters is that we take care of our families with the wealth to gain from such exquisite trophies." added Krendo. His views on what such incredible creatures meant to him only added disappointment to Ozpin's tastes, exposing him as a cruel monster.
"So, you choose to murder the innocent lives of harmless creatures as your only means of financial aid?"
"Guilty as charged, Senator." sneered Krendo. He was sick of settling on skinning kod'yoks from Vandor or hunting ursa bears for the Hutts. Money was never the issue; they could always score that from the lesser jobs. He wanted the real adventure; the taste of breaking regulations and securing one of the most valuable hides in the galaxy. Nowhere else could you find such prestigious creatures anywhere else other than Alderaan and the very world where Krendo and Bred could thrive for. Atriya was the world where protection laws were weaker than the former. It was the easiest and most profitable way to hunt, until Ozpin stepped in and ruined everything.
And now, the man they despised for it was tied up in their clutches.
"Bred. Make sure our guest's comfy." tasked Krendo. "I'm going to make the preparations for the Senate to heed our demands."
"Right, boss." Bred tapped his blaster onto his palm, keeping his eyes on the prisoner.
"We could have reached a compromise. We could have given you a better leash in life." assured Ozpin. Even if these poachers did a lot of horrible things to the creatures of Atriya, there was room for redemption. Ozpin was the type of person to find the best in people's morals, willing to forgive those who would give themselves the chance to find peace and cease committing their sins. All of that was wasted when these two chose to sink deeper to greater evil.
"But we had a good time hunting." Krendo snarled with glee. "You can have good money from doing them civil jobs. But the thrill of the hunt makes it all the worthier. That answers your little questions?"
Before he responded, Ozpin turned to look at the Herglic. At that moment, he could pick out a slight fidgeting on his blubbery skin. His lips squirmed once, the fringes of his eyes contorting with discomfort. A change of his usually long breathing pattern gave the Senator a clue as to how Bred was feeling about the motivations of his partner.
Perhaps he could use it to his advantage…
"Not quite." he finally answered. If there was a chance to further testify against them, he would need as much information from them as he could. That was when he would put his skills to work. "So, what will you do to me?"
"Simple. We hold you for ransom and force the Atriyans to lift the ban on our hunting grounds." explained Bred.
Ozpin knew the authorities would be launching an all-out search for him, demanding the criminals to free him, or suffer the consequences. But he knew that was not going to go down easily. There was nothing he could do but remain composed, hoping for the right people to finish the job at the best of their capabilities.
"Then that is all I need to hear." he ended with a smile. "Thank you."
Once again, Blake found herself using an owned speeder bike to pursue her targets, still too used to the idea of stealing assets to fulfill her mission. Within the lower traffic zone, she swerved from side to side, avoiding the passing vehicles on her way to the location where Senator Ozpin was being held in. There was no time to worry about the traffic police or any ramifications for defying the direction of the air lanes; these situations she was in were too important for answering to mere violations of the law.
She had been following the criminals responsible for his abduction for a few days now, silently blending in the shadows while they moved from planet to planet.
She received word of a scheme being openly revealed via the galactic bounty tally system of a scheme to abduct an important politician. According to the profile, the two scumbags opening up the application were requesting a third man for the job. It was one opportunity for Blake to gain some good out of her quest to help people in the galaxy, honing on her limits and capabilities in what she could do to stop violence from spreading.
At first, she planned to join in on the job, allowing her to get up close and personal with the target, so she could spring the trap. However, she then thought about how close she had to be with the accomplices before, increasing the odds of her being exposed of her true identity as a Faunus. She'd rather stay incognito as long as possible before she would act. So, Blake chose to let someone take the job and tail that person instead.
Eventually, she found the person who was willing to accept it. From there, she followed the assailant's transport in her new stealth ship until. by the time the contact met her clients, she followed them even closer from world to world, all the way to Coruscant, where their scheme would take place. During that time, Blake had her own plans to save the Senator from the abduction.
The only problem Blake had was that the hired gun she followed from Mos Kratos was a skilled hunter; any attempt to act earlier could risk her being exposed and hunted down much sooner than expected. If she chose to take the assassin, she would let the other two escape with the Senator, regardless of the lack of cover fire. The only way was to face them and hope the hunter wasn't a good shot.
Apparently, the hunter did not have any means to pin her down. No sniper rifle to strike her from a distance. It seemed she was the one who launched the smoke bomb that hindered Blake's vision while the two others recovered from their fall. If that was the case, Blake could have seen the assailant somewhere.
She had no time to wonder; what had happened had happened. There was only further action to take to free the Senator and bring those goons to justice. The ride to the lower streets of Coruscant lasted for the next ten minutes, taking her into the residential area close to a docking port. She cruised through the catwalks, passing through the colourful advertisement signs that lit up the darker streets. Her tracker kept her on point with the target's location, looking for a place to land and depart her bike.
When she touched down, Blake left the speeder at the alleyway and took to the right corner, right along a block of abandoned house lots; the perfect place to hide from the police. She kept her eyes open for any sign of the third accomplice, watching all floors from above and below, checking her back towards the shadows. With the coast clear, she slid next to the walls and headed to the coordinates of the right house.
She was about halfway through towards the location without any interference…
"HALT!"
Her feet dragged to a stop, alarmed by a loud cry for her to cease her movement. Looking up, she could see a lone speeder, hovering over her. The vehicle lowered down slowly, revealing the occupants looking down on her. To her surprise, one of them was easily recognizable to the Faunus. True to her shock, there were at least five men, dressed in military-themed uniforms with a distinct style that she remembered all too well.
They were Atlesian guards…
Standing amongst the other guards, however, was a much more alarming sight. It was a girl, dressed in what looked like an elegant white dress, putting her out of place within the presence of the guards. But Blake knew who this girl was, and she was anything but out of place.
Her memories jogged inside of her, filling her with worry when she laid her eyes on the white-haired woman. She could sense the anger flowing through the human with ice blue eyes ironically burning a powerful glare towards her. Blake understood what that girl was feeling, and she knew she herself was responsible for such disconcerting displeasure.
"Miss Schnee…" she mused with concern. Once the speeder reached the same level of the walkway, Weiss Schnee jumped off, followed by five of her men. Her arms crossed into one another, legs closed together as her body shifted to the side while still glaring at the scum before her. The five guards formed a line behind her, aiming their carbines on Blake, but holding their fire until she gave the word.
Blake stood firm, despite the threatening position she was in. She had a feeling Weiss was there to witness what had happened to Senator Ozpin and, due to the tragic circumstances of their previous encounter, she would accuse her for being part of the kidnapping.
She knew just as much of the anger Weiss had been keeping towards her. There was one very striking sign on her face that gave it away. The thin, long mark slashed across her left eye. Blake remembered how she swung her weapon at the Senator, recalling how vulnerable she was when her eye was slashed and bloodied. With a scar that deep, there was no doubt that the Schnee was holding a dangerous grudge against her.
"You're the Mandalorian assassin who tried to kill me days ago." she snarled.
"I'm not a Mandalorian." assured Blake, still keeping her form in check.
"Oh? So what masters do you serve then?" Weiss shot back. If not the Mandalorian people, then who else but another closely affiliated organization? "Let me guess. The White Fang?"
"What does it matter? I am no longer with them." Blake retorted. There was no point hiding her former allegiance with the White Fang. It was clear that Weiss was already aware of her identity as the assassin who tried to kill her before.
"Then what do you make of the encounter we had that time?" shouted Weiss, with building tension in her voice.
"It happened before I left." cleared Blake. "I am simply no longer affiliated with them after what I have done."
"Liar!" Weiss yelled. "I'll make you and your kind pay for your crime!" At once, her fury prompted her into drawing out her weapon, pulling the slim Myrtenaster from her belt. Her arm swung forward and pointed the blade towards Blake. Stunned by the vicious anger, Blake retreated back, nearly stumbling from the sudden sheer force.
"I was wrong." urged Blake. "I was blinded by anger for how we are treated across the galaxy."
"Oh, so you were?" argued Weiss. "If that's what you feel, then you should have no trouble trying to kill Senator Ozpin, wouldn't you?"
"Please, Miss Schnee." Blake added, this time, almost pleading. The longer she had to spend arguing with the Senator, the less time she had to save Ozpin. "I am not here to harm you nor Senator Ozpin. Those thugs are holding Senator Ozpin hostage, and I have to deal with them."
"Some ploy to deceive me." scoffed Weiss. At this point, she had had enough of her foe's attempts to throw her off her hunt. Furthermore, there had to be no coincidence that this White Fang assassin was in the scene of the crime, let alone being aware of where the captured Senator was. "I mean; how did you know where to look? How could you have come across the information to locate them? Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you are colluding with the vermin?"
"Just listen to me!" Finally, Blake too had lost the patience to talk. "What could be so hard for that thick skull of yours to not hear what I have to say?!" The shouts seemed to have done the trick in making Weiss feel disgusted, seen as her face glared with shock and offence. Despite this, Blake turned around and ignored her, not bothered to continue this pointless debacle. "I've got to find Senator Ozpin." She kept moving away from the company behind her and headed straight to locating the criminals and their hostage.
She kept her frustration down to a minimum. Blake was tempted to turn around and say more to one of many people who couldn't be of any help to the plight of her kind. Somewhere deep inside her, she could even feel hatred towards the daughter of the Schnee family. It was that same anger that prompted her to do all she could to kill the Senator days ago. Blake remembered the sense of vengeance and the dire need for justice when she had her pinned to the floor with Gambol Shroud almost close to giving Weiss a bloody end.
In the end, she refused. Blake said just as much to Weiss; she was blinded by anger. She could not hold in the rage she felt when she fought a member of the Schnee family; the one organization that was synonymous with the suffering of the Faunus and other unfortunate souls. Within the safety and protection of her brethren in the White Fang, Blake felt liberated to do anything they asked her to do, using her fear and paranoia to commit acts unspeakable to her now.
But when she had to face the Ithorian mother and child that distracted her, she saw the true nature of her cause. She was even tempted to erase them for the sake of the mission. At that point, the truth came forth. Under the manipulative hold of Adam Taurus, Blake nearly fell down a dark path. She finally realized just how lost she was in trusting someone so deceivingly charming, only to find out the real monster that laid within.
The vivid memories of her encounter with Weiss only reminded her of the mistakes she made and would have made, should she have slaughtered that mother and child…
Thus, Blake chose to not bother with the heiress. There could be nothing else she could do to stop her without having to draw her blade needlessly against her. Besides, she was completely outnumbered, so any action taken was not going to end well. There were much more important things to take care of than dealing with a stubborn little girl.
Blake kept walking towards the lot where Ozpin was being held in, expecting Weiss to stand down and let her deal with the crisis.
Just then, she was suddenly feeling a rush of freezing cold, blasting into her feet and squeezing the muscles in her legs. All around the feet, she could see what looked like an icy mound crystalizing around them, trapping her like a bear trap to a poor nerf. Frozen in place, Blake could only twist her torso behind to catch the one responsible for the attack.
She caught Weiss, pointing her rapier to the ground where her feet were. A misty aura faded away from the blade, just in time for Blake to confirm that she was responsible for the freezing projection. The same angered look on the Schnee's face remained, the usual grace that was seen when she wasn't being polite to other Senators and officials, gone, as her legs were spread out instead of being courteously closed together as her usual style of combat.
"You'll move no more." she growled. Weiss could not accept the Faunus leaving her sights to pursue the opportunity from doing wrong with the already captured Senator Ozpin. She couldn't let the rat escape to commit more murders for the sake of her deluded brothers and sisters. Her body began to build up heat with her desire to arrest this foolish worm for disgracing her by ignoring her.
She was to show Blake that she was not going to take her lightly. She was not going to stand idly by like she was nothing to her. Weiss was to be a threat to her, and she was not afraid to let her and all her kind know it.
With Blake trapped, Weiss steadied herself back to her combat style, turning her head to the guards before telling them to find the Senator.
"Guards, find Senator Ozpin." After giving them their orders, she turned back to the Faunus trapped within her grasp, eyes seeping with rage. "She's mine." The guards, regardless of how Weiss appeared to them, followed through and ran past Blake, heading over to brush through each block within the premises. At this point, they didn't even request to get the location from the Faunus; any order from the Schnee was to be carried out without question, based on how serious the situation was.
Blake, on the other hand, was now forced to pull out Gambol Shroud and break herself free from the ice, cracking it up by bashing the blade into it multiple times. Once she was free, she quickly spun around and pulled out her defences.
She had nothing else to do. With Weiss' guards searching for Ozpin, any attempt to break through would result in retaliation from them. The only thing that stood in her way, now, was a rage-induced Weiss. The heiress, in turn, saw Blake's stance as proof that the Faunus had intentions to attack her, revealing the true assassin in all of her form.
"I have no time for this!" shouted Blake. "Senator Ozpin is in danger and we are wasting our time with this scuffle!"
"I have my guards to pursue those crooks." assured Weiss with a smug smirk, before it transformed into a frown again. "Besides, it would be much better to be sure that you won't harm anyone else."
Blake closed her eyes, slowly breathing calmly. Having no other choice but to defend herself, she had to accept the challenge and fight Weiss once more.
The standoff between the two soon deepened. Blake moved her right arm back, bringing Gambol Shroud with it into a backhand stance. Her fierce yellow eyes concentrated on Weiss' form. The Senator, conversely, shifted her body so her left arm straightened to point Myrtenaster towards Blake, keeping her body straight and her legs stuck together with her fencing pose.
Locking on, Weiss charged first, right before Blake countered forward as well. Within striking distance, the two swung their blades forward and clashed, commencing the duel. As they locked their eyes onto each other, they quickly separated, jumping apart before engaging in combat.
Making the first move, Weiss blitzed towards Blake, thrusting her rapier at the Faunus. Blake, in turn, swung upwards, blocking and pushing the thinner blade upwards. The heiress' weapon soon came down in an overhead swing, which Blake then defended herself from, by pushing her own Gambol Shroud with both hands, the left palm supporting the back of the blade. She brushed the rapier away and went for an attempt to use the back of her weapon to butt Weiss down. The move was quickly dodged as Weiss arched her body back to avoid the attack, spinning back once to standing position.
Blake stood her ground, waiting for Weiss to make the next move. Despite the ferocity of the fight, the former maintained her stance, not faltering under the pressure of the aggressive blows of the Senator's own weapon. If she was the one to strike first, then she would be the aggressor, giving her opponent the added pleasure of labelling her the instigator of the conflict. Plus. she didn't really have a choice, considering that Weiss' guards were still out there, blocking her from saving Ozpin.
Weiss, meanwhile, stood just as still, also anticipating for Blake to strike first. Given enough time, the terrorist wouldn't hold in her barbaric hatred for her and try to kill her with all her animosity. She did not want to fail this time, refusing to give into the deadly glare of the monster who dared to try and assassinate her, nor did she allow the White Fang scum to make her move to threaten Ozpin either.
But the tension got the best of her, forcing Weiss to run first and try to end the threat with a well-placed stab to the leg, hoping to immobilize her foe. Blake quickly caught up and blocked the blade by striking it downwards. She then bumped Weiss at the back of her head with her weapon, again knocking her out of balance. When she aimed to butt her down again, Weiss quickly blocked the move with a rapid spin back and crash her rapier into the machete. The heiress kicked Blake straight into the stomach, quickly pursuing her and slashing Myrtenaster in a flurry of swishes. The Faunus moved her weapon left and right, clashing her blade with Weiss' with rapid succession. Every lunge Weiss made was repulsed by the thicker weapon, which was also wide enough to defend her from the thin, otherwise deadly weapon.
They danced back and forth, Weiss' faster strikes against Blake's stronger sweeps. All the while, the Atlesian guards were already honing in on the location where Ozpin was being held in. The stress of the duel made Blake even more anxious. In fact, to her discomfort, she was noticing her aggression build up, resulting in more offensive attacks. She did her best not to switch her blade around to the sharp edge of the weapon, whilst risk injuring the Senator again.
After a heavy thrust of her body that shot her right into Weiss' rapier, she flipped backwards, landing just in front of the Senator. Puffing and huffing in exhaustion, she was getting more restless, almost growing her anger over the mere distraction. Weiss was in just as much of a scuffle with her body as Blake was. Sweat began beading down her skin; a sign that she was losing her perfect stance. She hoped to finish the fight in the first few minutes of fighting. Instead, she found herself in the same gruelling duel she went through the last time. Even if Blake didn't have a jetpack to use to her advantage, the fight seemed to have only evened than become one-sided.
Once they were at peace, Weiss soon brushed the scar on her face with her finger while staring at Blake, as if wanting her to know what she had done to make her this devoted in the fight. She made it clear that the fight between them was not just a mission to detain a criminal, but to show that same assassin to never mess with her ever again.
"You see this?" she snarled. "This is the scar you gave me on that night. I'll make sure to deal you one myself before I turn you over to my troops."
"Just get out of my way, Miss Schnee." urged Blake. She, too, had lost the patience of dealing with this arrogant brat who decided to hold on to her grudge and not see the bigger picture. "You're just in the way."
"You accuse me of ruining the mission?" gasped Weiss mockingly. Her fury then took over as she was forced to remind Blake of the many atrocities of the White Fang committed on her people. "What about you? And your little gang of terrorists? You don't think your kind aren't righteous?"
Blake retreated back a step, disgusted from the threat Weiss posed on her people. The typical tactic of the Schnee to downplay their enemies with such vile discrimination, thrown at her like a politician addressing her speech to the masses. And yet, Blake could sense something deeper to this cheap tactic than she let on. No, the way Weiss angrily provoked the Faunus in such a manner gave her a bigger picture of how the Schnee viewed the species.
It wasn't just some move to spread Weiss' political influence. It was more of a personal trait. The hatred she felt for the White Fang was genuine, infused within her blood like it was a genetic holdover to each passing generation of the Schnee family. It made Blake even more at odds herself, only to be suppressed by her need to discourage any retaliation.
"Going around blowing up my family's prized possessions and murdering my friends and family? Are you really willing to justify those as righteous?!" But Weiss was not done with her words. She had spent too long watching her family suffer under the brutality of the White Fang. For far too long, she had to witness the destruction of valued property, snatched away without any compensation. She stood helpless as countless loved ones who meant so much to her, who helped her on her way to becoming who she was now, all wiped out in cold blood. She was even threatened herself, forcing her to defend herself and suffer a scar in the process.
If anyone was to pay for such heinous crimes, Weiss believed it was the rat before her who had to be punished for her crimes. All pests who dared to commit their sins on the people of Solitas would pay dearly.
"That doesn't make you any righter, does it?!"
BWUIM!
The fight was quickly interrupted when a random blaster bolt seared right in between them, forcing both to roll away from the sudden blast. At once, the guards, too, were alerted by the shot, quickly abandoning their search for Ozpin to see to their client's protection. Their royal staffs drawn out, they scurried to Weiss' aid.
Suddenly, by the time they came to her, another series of explosions rocked their feet, throwing them away from each other in a scattering mess. Blake and Weiss, ceasing their fight, looked above them, viewing the ledge up close to the roof. Sitting atop, they caught the culprit, holding up a sniper rifle in her arms. Blake identified the armed stranger by what species she was, recognizing the green skin with patches of blue pigments dabbed onto her hands and face. The assailant that she followed, the Frenk hunter whom she tailed throughout her trail, tapped her fingers onto the ledge below her feet, cracking a smirk as she looked down on the two targets below. With the platoon of guards scattered and stunned, she jumped down to greet her would-be obstacles.
The one they called Kwazzi made her threat known by taking out a sharp dagger from her belt, sneering right at the two enemies. Swaying the blade around her wrist, the blue-eyed hunter kept her trigger-happy stare on both combatants, seeing which one she would take out first. If anything, after witnessing the duel between them both, she would most rather take out the rest of the guards, who were still recovering. She would use Blake and Weiss' own fight as an advantage to subdue the Atlesian guards before she could deal with the other two.
Brushing her face with the back of her hand, Weiss wiped off the soot thrown at her face by the explosion, eyeing the second assailant involved in the crisis. The Frenk ran to finish off the guards and clear the grounds, causing the Senator to gasp as she witnessed her own people being threatened by a mere criminal.
As the Frenk threatened to hurt her men, she was faced with a haunting dilemma over what she would do next; continue to hunt down the Faunus terrorist, or save her men from the other hunter? Which was more important? The justice against Blake or her loyalty of the people of Solitas? If she pursued her target, then her guards would be done for, but if she went to save them, she would sacrifice the capture of Blake and be forced to gain nothing from her duel.
Weiss had just a split second to decide where her feelings laid; her justice or the people? What was more important to her as a Senator?
Finally, Weiss chose her path. Picking up Myrtenaster, she prepared to strike her enemy down, solidifying the course of duty, for the greater good.
Blake soon got up from the blast. Right then, she heard Weiss run towards her, blade up to her chest and ready to lunge. In immediate response, the Faunus grabbed her blade and bent down, keeping her blade up to defend herself from the incoming strike. When Weiss came into range, Blake prepared to fight again, filled with a mixture of alarm and disappointment; the latter of which came from Weiss' apparent lack of empathy towards her own guards. She couldn't help but wonder how much anger was mixing up inside of the Senator's heart of vengeance. Yet, she knew she had to hold her ground and let things run their course. Blake would do what she could to free herself from Weiss and find Senator Ozpin.
The rapier came surging forward, almost ready to stab Blake down as she wielded Gambol Shroud. Finally, the Faunus stiffened her body to block the incoming attack…
…only to suddenly lose sight of the heiress as she disappeared right past her. Unharmed, she didn't know what had happened. All she saw was the Schnee running past her, completely ignoring her, despite the initial hostility between each other. When she swivelled her head to look behind her, the Senator was still running, right towards the Frenk hunter.
Weiss kept her blade locked onto Kwazzi, palm pressed at the back of the hilt while the other hand held it close to her left cheek. With one lunge, she could end the threat quick enough, so she could return to the White Fang menace behind her. Her blade, already coated with the ice power,
Unfortunately, the attack did not do much as Kwazzi turned to face the charging Senator, swinging up her knife to throw her off. Clashing her rapier onto the smaller blade, Weiss twisted her body and shifted to the side, so she could stand in between the hunter and her guards. The heiress stood her ground, pointing her blade down to the ground in her usual stance. The hunter was clearly amused by the display of false courage, but didn't hesitate to accept the challenge.
From afar, Blake watched how Weiss stood to protect her guards, gobsmacked that she had chosen their safety over her vengeance against her. She would have never thought that a heart of anger and blind hatred could be cleared in an instant. All her life, Blake was always reminded of how revenge could plunge a soul to a pitch black path to darkness, with no instantaneous means of coming back to the light. Here, she was proven wrong when Weiss abandoned her quest for retribution to defend her guards from what Blake assumed was a lesser threat to her.
While she was certainly surprised, Blake realized that with Weiss' distraction from the fight with her, she was finally free to pursue Ozpin and save him from his abductors. Using this to her advantage, Blake got up and ran for the block where the Senator was being held in.
As she stared down the hunter, Weiss eyed Blake as the latter ran, causing the Senator to curse under her breath. It pained to see her enemy escape so easily, frustrated that she lost her chance to make that criminal pay for her crimes. Worse still, by choosing to fight the hunter, Weiss was ironically allowing Blake to secure her prize and nab Ozpin for herself, making things far more tragic in her pursuit for peace/
But even as the Faunus left her sights, Weiss turned back to the main threat at hand.
Yes, she had let a criminal run free and to do more harm, while she was down here, fending off a petty sharpshooter. It would most certainly be a painful, humiliating defeat that left her unsatisfied with the chance. Some part of her inside told her to abandon her guards to prevent the terrorist from taking Ozpin, sickened that she chose otherwise.
But when it came to being a citizen of Solitas, she was committed to a cause far greater than defeating her enemies; one that would distinguish her from her father. Reminding herself of the incident she had with her bed, Weiss remembered how much aggression she fired up when she fought the White Fang threat, almost blinding her to where her true loyalties laid as a Senator…
For the people of Solitas…
Her guards were part of her society, anything awful happening towards them would mean that she failed them as a whole. If the reputation of herself and her family was to be at its highest, she needed to avoid jeopardizing their safety, to make things better for them.
Even if, again, she had to put her own life on the line…
"So, you wish to suffer pain, too, eh?" Kwazzi cackled, rubbing the blunt back of her knife onto her scaly palm. Weiss huffed, letting go of her grudge on the Faunus girl to focus on the Frenk in front of her.
"You won't hurt my people." she declared. Her guards were still pinned after the blast Kwazzi made, lagging behind her as they stood back up. She, meanwhile, kept her focus onto the enemy, switching power from ice to blazing fire. A layer of flames covered Myrtenaster burned around the flame, heating up both the weapon and the battle.
If Weiss had to fight this fiend to protect her people, then she would give it her all. Hopefully, she would be done with the hunter, so she could take on Blake again before she would harm Senator Ozpin.
The sickly, angst-driven Zabrak peered through the blinds of the window, observing what had just occurred outside. From what he could see, there were two armed girls, standing off against each other, with blades clashing against one another. One of them, of whom he recognized, was the nosy brat who attempted to stall his first attempt at nabbing Ozpin without raising much alarm from everyone in the Senatorial grounds. The other girl present was, conversely, a surprise. Krendo knew that stench of perfume and glance of glorious, but spoiled beauty of the white-haired girl who he had the misfortune of bumping into back in the same area.
While the fight between them certainly interested him to stay and watch, the more alarming issue was right below him. Just from the very fringe of the window, Krendo could see a platoon of well-armed men, dressed in authorizing uniforms, searching the block for his location. Even if he was unaware who that rich-looking girl really was, the fact that these buff men accompanied her on the same speeder gave him the indication that she was someone of grand royalty who possessed great wealth and recognition to be guarded by such men.
Though he could salivate from the earnings from claiming another prisoner of such grandeur, the situation was already bearing down harder and faster on him and his Herglic partner than he initially let on. Pressured to hold off the inevitable raid into the room, Krendo reached for his blaster and began to walk out the room. Before he exited, he looked at his sidekick, who was stilling watching Senator Ozpin being tied up onto the chair.
"I'll hold them off." Krendo told. "You watch the Senator in case anyone tries to break in." Immediately, he left the room and went to attack the intruders, just before a loud explosion rocked from the outside, confirming to the two that their third accomplice was springing her trap.
While Krendo and Kwazzi were out to fight, Bred stayed behind, leaving the room in complete silence, except for the tough, coarse rumbling of Herglic rage metal playing from the nearby radio; the only source of comfort for the member of the species in which the music originated from.
In the meantime, Ozpin was still carefully watching his captors, judging how they behaved and what their patterns of habits were. Even while he was held hostage, the Senator wasn't entirely defenceless. Even with his hands tied, he had used his evaluation of the two abductors to work around a way to his advantage.
All the while, he had been formulating a way to counter the Herglic next to him, without having to jump up and take action (not that he could at the moment…). This was where Ozpin's greatest strength laid. Where simple negotiations have failed, more concentrated or detailed approaches are required. He had decades of experience to capitalize on his career as a politician. When it came to dealing with opponents or those with conflicting views, he knew to dig to the source; find what makes the individual tick and use it to soften his or her will. Only then will Ozpin know where to strike… with words alone.
If Bred could not see to reason, then he needed a little learning.
"Your friend seems determined." he began his move. "Going to lengths like this, even against armed men."
"Shut up and stay quiet." the Herglic groaned. Ozpin always had to deal with people who just couldn't find the time nor the effort to counter him. It was the typical response to not give any other. Silencing the individual before they can even speak was such an immature tactic; one that Ozpin, at this very moment, counted on.
"You say you have families." he continued, regardless of the threat. "What are they like?"
"What do you want to know?" countered Bred. "You're the one who made us live in poverty in the first place." Ozpin could fight back, arguing further about the plot he played against the cruel poaching of such beautiful creatures. Not this time; calm must be maintained if he wanted to get through to the criminal. A more civil approach was needed, to find sympathy and understanding of the plight of otherwise wrong men.
"Then, surely, you can be courteous enough to explain to me of your plight." Bred looked at Ozpin for the first time in a while. The light bulb went on in Ozpin's head. Finally, a response. The Herglic did seem interested to some extent. "Please. Do tell me. Why do you hate me?" This time, Bred came down to Ozpin's level, trying to act like he was the one in charge. An angry glare was met with the Senator's watchful eyes, demanding power within that stare.
"Didn't you hear me, pal? I said, be quiet." bumbled Bred. But still, Ozpin could sense that that level of authority was diminished by a certain hesitation in his movement, nervous wrinkling of his blubbery skin.
Ozpin knew that the Herglic was not entirely without heart in this kidnapping. When Krendo revealed his intentions and motives, Bred seemed to have the slightest hint of troubled discomfort in response.
"Don't you, at least, want to hear my side of the story?" Ozpin continued, met by the growling noise of the Herglic's threatening demeanour. "Don't you think there is a reason why I'm unable to give you a good reason to my actions? That I cannot have my say in the matter?"
Now, Bred remained quiet, unable to fight back. There, Ozpin figured out how his skin pulsed under the pressure of his words hammered down on the Herglic. The patterns of doubt that had been harboured before his current predicament. Knowing this, he knew there was a way into Bred's mind that could be tapped into.
"It would seem that your partner troubles you. I can see it in your face when he so deliberately smothered his filthy rants at my face. You're not like him, Mr. Bred. You most certainly don't have it in you to do the things he'd do to me."
"What's your point?" huffed Bred.
"I'm saying that you can be so much more than this." assured Ozpin sincerely. With all his heart, he truly believed that someone so hesitant to live up to his partner's word had room to turn around and find the new road to redemption.
Before he could continue, the Herglic took offense to the conversation and grabbed Ozpin by the neck, lifting him up from his chair and dangling him up in the air. Fortunately, the Senator was not muffled by the grip, despite the surprise move.
"We are trying to feed them all. If we ain't got the money to buy them their needs, then how the heck do you suppose we do?" roared Bred.
"Find other jobs not as dangerous and illegal as poaching?" Ozpin switched to a more down-to-earth approach. The longer Bred insisted that his actions were just, the more serious the man was. It was time to end this argument by getting straight to the point. "Your intentions are noble indeed, Mr. Bred. I'm sure your family is proud to have you.
"But if that's the case, then I wouldn't like to think of their reactions if they realize what despicable acts you both are doing now."
"What did you say?"
"If your family really loves you, Mr. Bred, then what should happen if they find out you have been committing these acts? Do you think they would like it if they find out their beloved father, kind and gentle, is killing innocent animals? That their father is holding an old man hostage?
"Is it right for a child to think of his or her father as a monster?"
Finally, the cracks had settled. Bred began to show definite signs of being struck with the truth. The light was beginning to show as he stopped to think about the words Ozpin blurted out to him. Somewhere deep inside of him, he truly felt there was something off about his partner than he refused to believe.
"I know you, Mr. Bred. You may have power over me now, but you don't know how to use it, even when threatening. I can only imagine how your partner thinks of you, compared to his real prizes."
SWISH!
Then, the doors opened, followed by the hurried arrival of Krendo, appearing panicked and in a rush from the outside. The Zabrak had attempted to assist Kwazzi at the battle, but with intervention of the white-haired girl outside, plans have changed. He would tell Bred to grab their hostage and bail out, taking their getaway vehicle off to the next rendezvous point, where they would stage a much more open scheme to get the Atriyans to lift the ban on their hunting grounds.
"Bred!" the Zabrak yelled. "Get the car! Kwazzi's buying us time to -!"
CRASH!
Before Krendo could give the word, the windows broke in, with the metal blinds cut loose as if a lightsaber seared right through the bars. Instead of a Jedi, a shadowy figure leapt right in the middle of the group before instantly reaching for the Zabrak, grabbing him by the throat within her arm. Krendo found himself being throttle into the intruder's grasp, but not before recognizing said attacker as the same wretch who got in their way before.
"Let go of me, you brat!" shouted Krendo. When he was about to struggle, he was suddenly silenced by a machete, slowly brushing against his throat as it threatened to wipe him out.
"Stand down, then." hissed Blake, dangerously inching her blade closer to the man's throat as she tightened her hold. After the opening she had from Weiss' distraction, she quickly sought the chance to break into the room, cutting up the metal bars with a slicer and crash in.
Now that she had the crook in her clutches, Blake could turn the tables and even the playing field. It all came down to the Herglic holding Ozpin to decide how the standoff was going to end.
"It's over. You're beaten." she threw her warning to Bred.
The Herglic held back, stunned from the sudden capture of his partner. Watching his friend trapped, he was at a momentary loss, unable to comprehend what his next action was. As Ozpin had predicted, he couldn't take action, for fear of hurting Krendo. Better yet, what was to come next was exactly what he was counting on.
Krendo bobbed his head down, nodding to his cohort to even the odds. At once, Bred took out his pistol and pointed the barrel towards Ozpin's head. With a sneaky grin, the Zabrak chortled in disgusting delight while Blake mentally cursed.
"I'm afraid you're the one who's out of options, sweetie."
"What do you hope to gain from taking Senator Ozpin?" demanded Blake, mystified by the apparent ignorance played by the two men. "What good will it do?"
"A good load of money. That's all you need to hear, babe." Krendo simply gloated, almost as if he won a game of sabacc. Blake was no stranger to such deplorable talk, but this was still enough to boil her blood, almost willing to hurt the man and end it with one slice. But she, again, stopped herself from doing something she would regret later on. Even if these crooks were tainted with greed, she had no reason to murder, especially in front of an esteemed Senator.
"So you'll hurt people just for your own personal gain. Without realizing the consequences of your actions?" argued Blake.
"Life sucks, dear. I know." Krendo shrugged his shoulders, still dismissive about his wrongdoings. "But if it gives us the cash and the thrill of the hunt, we'll be right on the money."
Now, Blake had to do something about the situation. The man she had in her arm was a sick being who needed to be dealt with. She was almost ready to do him in and knock him out, rather than result to a bloody murder.
She knew, however, that anything done wrong with the man would only cause the Herglic to retaliate and end the Senator's life. One wrong move and it was all over.
Ozpin, meanwhile, had a much more intriguing experience with the high stakes played in this exchange. If anything, the display of heartless talk should give Bred a sign that his supposedly family-loving partner was not as devoted to the greater good than he thought. Even when he was being pointed at by a blaster to his head, he was not going to be bent down to his will and break. Instead, he let a higher power guide him through this tumultuous time. By letting go of his fears, he learned to embrace his fate, whatever it may lay him. Putting his fate in the hands of a criminal, he was ready to accept what Bred would do in response, even death if need be…
The fight was over as soon as it started.
With the criminal down on her feet, Weiss was able to strike a few good blows before finally hindering the Frenk down to unconsciousness. As she eyed her fallen opponent, she breathed to relax her nerves, keeping Myrtenaster pointed at Kwazzi until her guards would recover and collect her. She had already been denied of the chance to serve justice to the terrorist who dared to endanger her life, delaying the time she had to save Senator Ozpin.
But she looked to her guards, seeing them all back up, still battered but well alive. While she grew tired of being delayed, Weiss could at least take comfort, knowing that they were safe.
As they came to pick up their prize, the Senator flicked her blade against her sleeve, smoothing it of the filth that was smudged on its thin surface. Looking at the crashed window where Blake ran into, she gave the word to her guards to follow the trouble to the source.
This time, the White Fang rat was not going to escape her this time. She was going to answer for her crimes against the Schnee family and the Republic as a result of her horrid intrusions.
"You let me go this instant, or my friend will kill the Senator!" threatened Krendo again, his voice growing more sadistic. The standoff lasted for a few more seconds until the room was silent, both sides unsure of what to do next. Blake kept Gambol Shroud well placed under Krendo's neck, while Bred had his blaster tucked onto Ozpin's greying side, with both prisoners willing to find out who shall act first.
In Bred's case, however, the situation had just reached a critical point. After what Ozpin had told him, the Herglic was sure that the Senator was trying to fool him into breaking down and betraying his faithful partner. As Krendo told him, he was among many people who refused to lend a hand for those in need, that this kidnapping would be the first step in reacquiring the source of their income.
And then, Krendo began to talk while under the grip of the girl in front of him. Taking Ozpin's words to mind, he began to feel… uncertain. Yes, Krendo did mention money as the motive to their schemes; money that would be used to feed their families again.
But… one question remained… Did Krendo even bother to mention them? Did he think about their own lives ahead of his 'thrill of the hunt'? Yes. Krendo was always known for being too enthusiastic about his job, hunting wild beasts to fuel his drive for more funds. If it meant securing those credits, then Bred would have no problem.
Now… Krendo was feeling very off. More than that, however, Bred himself was feeling something even more discerning.
"Think about your family, Mr. Bred." Ozpin managed to churn up the courage to speak, ever so calmly. "Do you really want to be known as a killer of innocent creatures? That he killed a good man?"
Stumbling in doubt again, Bred shivered, his tremors felt by the Senator. Remembering what Ozpin said to him again, he had begun to put the pieces together, mixing it with what Krendo had displayed so openly to him.
Could it really be that Krendo was fonder of his need to kill than the needs of his family? In truth, despite being convinced that it was a lie, Bred couldn't help but feel that Ozpin had been right. If you have any guilt in your heart, then you will do the right thing, won't you? It's not too late.
"Think of your children."
"Don't do it, Bred!" snapped Krendo. His body attempted to spring forward, but Blake kept him at bay. "Don't you dare let this old man fool you into giving up!"
If Ozpin would stoop any lower, there would have been a grin of his own. At last, the Zabrak was starting to show his true colours. Slowly, Krendo would become more and more agitated until he was forced to do something to tick his partner off into a reaction. Whatever reaction it would be, he couldn't tell.
Always in motion was the future…
As the argument heated, Bred slowly felt even more unsure of himself. Was he really going to just listen to Ozpin and let go, or was he to lose everything he had for him and his family? His friendship with Krendo was the only thing that kept him going to help them grow. He would depend on him like he was his brother, doing the things they'd do to help finance their family. As Krendo got angrier, Bred was struggling to cope under the pressure, possibly ready to listen to him and bring the Senator to him.
But again, Ozpin's words swam in his head, causing the Herglic to lower his guard. What if he was telling the truth? Could he be willing to go so low into killing an elderly human, let alone a well-known Senator, all for the apparent greed that he had allowed himself to be swallowed up in?
Again, just as Ozpin told him, he thought of his family…
His grip on Ozpin began to wither, his blaster slowly drooping down, but still aimed right for the human's head. From the other side, there were a couple of bewildered reactions from Krendo and Blake, who watched the Herglic tremble in doubt.
The Faunus girl was stupefied by how the Senator could remain so calm in such a dangerous matter. She had heard a lot about Senator Ozpin and his renowned sense of courage in the face of a political crisis, which had been his greatest asset in the Senate. Never would she think, however, that the older man would be relaxed, even as a blaster was being aimed at his head. What amazed her even more was how he was able to convince the Herglic to see his errors, almost to the point of lowering his guard. It was nothing like she had ever seen before when being involved in similar cases.
Just how could someone like Senator Ozpin possess such a powerful voice? Even the violent force of her former brothers of the White Fang could not achieve what this lone human could.
Unfortunately, her captive did not share her amazement…
"What the heck, Bred?!" he shouted, shocking Bred further. "Don't let your guard down!"
"Look at your partner." Ozpin talked again. This time, Blake listened in, curious of the apparent power of the man through his words alone. "So willing to commit murder for the sake of his own addiction. If he truly cared for his family, then he would at least consider the other options that would guarantee a much safer position for him and them. He would truly care about what his family would think of him when they find out he was involved in such an atrocious murder.
"Don't you feel the same, Mr. Bred?"
Bred could not take it in any longer. The more Krendo yelled and the more Ozpin spoke, his confusion grew even more. His mind was being more messed up, causing his hold on Ozpin to drop ever so much. When he loosened, the Zabrak seemed even more agitated.
"Don't you remember what he did? He made us jobless! He made them take our money away and punished us! Our families!"
Bred remained silent, but what Krendo finally said at the end would finally show him the whole truth…
"Think of my hunt, you dumb whale!"
His hunt…?
…
…
"AARGHH!"
BWARM!
Bred pulled the trigger. The blast soon zapped out of the barrel and hit his target, square in the chest. All in an instant, Krendo was shot down by the angered shot. Blake, being shocked by the sudden blast, let go of the Zabrak as he fell to the floor, face flat on the floor below her. With stunned shock, she looked down at the fallen body, bending down to check his condition.
Bred, overcome with anger and confusion, shook uncontrollably. After shooting his friend, it took a brief moment for him to finally realize what he had done. Seeing his friend on the ground, his grip on his blaster was gone, forcing him to drop the weapon as it clattered onto the concrete below. Tears began to flow down his blubbery cheeks, moaning with grief and sadness over the ordeal.
And, in the midst of it all, even in the chaotic scuffle, Ozpin just sighed, relieved that it was finally over. As the Herglic sobbed in sorrow, he felt the squeezing grip of his arm loosen, freeing the Senator from the tense hold. Dropping down onto the ground, Bred began to sob even more hectically, driven to intense guilt, both from his past deeds and the shot he made to his only companion.
Not even bothered to stretch his compressed muscles, Ozpin went down to the level of the crouched Bred. With great sympathy, he put a knowing arm on his back. Despite what he did, the Senator could not fully blame him for taking him hostage, even saddened by the fact that he could have been manipulated into committing these crimes by the one he claimed to be his friend.
With the softest of smiles, he patted the Herglic on the back, Bred looking up with his tears still falling. As he closed his eyes, Ozpin thanked the man for finally beginning his road to redemption.
"Thank you."
BRRZZTT!
At once, Bred fell to the ground, unconscious. From behind the fallen criminal, a lone blaster, the same one used by the Herglic, now in the hands of Ozpin, fired with blue energy waves that rushed through his body. While Bred had been crying, he managed to overcome his bound hands and pick up the blaster, barely able to set it to stun.
Finally freed from the crisis, Ozpin gently placed the blaster down in front of Bred, shaking his head at how easy it was for people to be coaxed into doing the worst of deeds, whether they be criminals or Separatists…
Meanwhile, Blake kept her hand onto the neck of the Zabrak, feeling for any signs of life left. The shot to his chest definitely felt strong, almost enough to pose serious injuries. She hoped for his survival, despite how sick she felt towards him, so that he would live long enough to serve a life in prison. Thankfully, there was a pulse. The Zabrak had survived his wounds, evidenced by said pulse and the slow motion of breathing on his body. Relieved, Blake then reached for a piece of cable left on the floor, tying up the fiend's hands and leaving him to his eventual fate in the hands of the authorities later on.
She then laid her eyes on the other criminal, only to find Senator Ozpin standing above him. Perplexed by his surprising show of force yet again, Blake stayed in place, unable to shake the amazement off her.
Noticing her surprise, Ozpin chuckled, showing his tied hands to Blake to snap her out of it.
"I see that you're in a shock, miss." he laughed. "But I seem to be tied up at the moment. Do you mind?"
"Oh…" Blake shook her head, apologizing to the Senator. "Forgive me." Taking her weapon with her, she took Ozpin's wrists and lunged her weapon straight through the cable. Ripping the bonds to smaller pieces, the man then wriggled his hands, letting his tensions off. Rubbing them into his palms, he then looked at Blake, somewhat intriguingly.
The girl couldn't tell why he was looking at her like so. He looked like he was assessing her, like she had put up a research test for him. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted when Ozpin spoke.
"My thanks, Miss…?" Taken aback by his request for her name, Blake quickly dismissed it, unable to answer to him.
"I have no name. I… don't remember." she lied. Ozpin, however, did not seem convinced…
"None of which to speak with, I assume?" The response was foreign to Blake. If she wasn't bewildered enough, how wrong she was… Not even her experience in literature could prepare her for whatever riddle he had for her. From his expression alone, she could tell that the man was hiding something of his own, being very tongue-and-cheek with her.
But before Ozpin could continue, the trouble was not over for Blake…
Beside them, the doors whooshed open again. From outside, the new crowd of people emerged in a rush, revealing themselves as Weiss and her company of guards crashed right in to catch the criminals in the scene.
Bewildered, Weiss found herself catching Blake right in front of Senator Ozpin, followed by the other two creeps, who were now down on the ground. With the White Fang terrorist alone, without the others, the heiress made the idea that she was there to steal the man from them, clearing out the competition to get the prize all to herself. Having this premonition in her head, she couldn't contain her shock, that she was nearly too late to save the man.
"I knew it!" she shouted, Myrtenaster struck out towards Blake, threatening to jump in and take her on again.
"It's not what you think!" In her desperate bid to stop the misunderstanding, Blake tried to reason with the heiress, almost forgetting about their earlier feud. It did nothing to stop the Atlesian from ordering her guards to subdue her.
"Guards! Seize her!" With a single cry, Weiss told them to rush in and capture the criminal. The men brushed past her, bent on taking the terrorist in for questioning.
Alarmed by the matter, Blake stepped back, quickly figuring out what to do in this situation. With no other options, she then saw the broken window behind Weiss, seeing it as her only chance to escape the kerfuffle. At once, without bidding farewell to Ozpin, she ran for the window, ducking underneath the guards and quickly pushing Weiss aside.
The heiress reacted too late to catch Blake as the Faunus ran right past her and jumped out the window, right through the opening she made earlier. Weiss went over to watch in disbelief, seeing Blake stick the landing outside and make a move for the speeder nearby.
In her desperation, Weiss took Myrtenaster and fired up her blade. With one swing, she fired a powerful burst of fire that was thrown onto the speeder. Upon contact, the vehicle was caught in a fiery inferno that quickly did away with its inside machinery.
Blake was thrown off and fell on her backside from the sudden thrust of flames, watching the speeder burst up in flames. As it continued to burn away, she quickly got up and made another run for it to avoid the impending explosion that was about to happen. Once the flames burnt through the next few seconds, the vehicle began to sizzle inside, eventually having its engine ruptured and busted open by the burnout.
Finally, after the fire settled in, just a few feet away from Blake, the speeder exploded, a booming explosion echoing throughout the streets. The force was powerful enough to knock the Faunus' feet off the ground, throwing her off the ledge. Flying in the air, she was eventually forced to watch helplessly as she was sent careening off the platform and into the bottomless pit of the urban underworld before her, thousands of feet before her eventual death…
Just like that, Weiss could also spectate from above, losing sight of the Faunus as she disappeared off the platform and into the world down below. She gasped in disbelief, feeling foolish to let her foe fall off to a clumsy fate. The burning wreckage of her speeder soon lit up the streets, the explosion sure to cause nearby patrons to panic. Surely, this would also cause a storm of news reporters to come forth and find out what happened.
While she certainly didn't worry about her image, as she would have Ozpin cover for her, Weiss was forced to let the sinking fact in that her most wanted criminal was allowed to slip away, no matter if she was to die or miraculously survive her fall. As much as she wanted the terrorist to pay, she needed her alive to answer for her crimes, especially for the attempt on her life, twice.
Knowing she had lost her chance to again, this time, due to her own desperation, Weiss grew direly angrier, punching the window in frustration. Her teeth rubbed against each other and her body shook with mixed guilt and failure in her heart. Guilt that she didn't bring her assassin to justice, failure that she let her emotions drive her into causing collateral damage to the streets below her.
She then turned around, watching her guards tend to Senator Ozpin, who was surprisingly not as distraught as she was. He was talking to the guards to let them know he wasn't harmed by the incident, all with a reassuring smile. Looking at this, Weiss' heart soon warmed with the knowledge that her colleague was safe, thanks to her intervention. Perhaps, now, she could think about the more important thing that came from this terrible day. She managed to protect a fellow Senator and her guards from four criminals, proving that she was capable of helping people through her expertise. Despite losing her chance to bring the White Fang to the bigger picture, Weiss could find the solace to know what's right, to move towards what was more important.
Blake could have been falling for a long while, feeling her body flying downwards as the pending impact of her body crashing down on the floor would immediately cut her life short, ending all existence in front of her. If she wasn't able to find a way to catch herself before falling, she would have been ready to brace herself for the fatal blow that could have splattered her body throughout the ground.
Instead, by the time she had fallen deep enough, when she was certain she was dead, she felt a strong pull of the back of her shirt, feeling a strong tug catch her. Blake had her eyes closed for the eventual death. By the time she opened them, she could see the dark, endless pit below her. And yet, when she was expected to still fall, she could see that she wasn't falling anymore. Her body was still, up in the air and dangling off of something. She could also feel her shirt being pulled still, causing her to look behind at what had happened.
To her utmost surprise, she had been saved from a painful death. But instead of complete relief that a miracle had happened, she laid her eyes on a rather disappointing sight. It wasn't an inanimate obstruction of the wall behind her that caught her fall, nor was it some protruding piece of equipment like an antenna.
In fact, the things that saved her wasn't an it. It was a he. And that person was someone she hoped she wouldn't see for a good long while.
His cocky smile radiated beneath the Coruscanti sun in a glow that annoyed her, instead of charming her. She could remember the pungent stench of garbage that came from his body. But most of all, it was his rough, carefree voice that reminded her the most of his less-than-stellar impression.
Just by looking at him, clearly responsible for saving her, she groaned in shame.
"Told 'ya it wouldn't be the last time you'd see me." Sun Wukong bellowed, hanging upside down with his tail wrapped around a beacon as he caught Blake by her shirt, letting her hang around in an embarrassing position.
All Blake could say to show her gratitude to the man was…
"Oh… great."
Senate Building,
Coruscant,
On the parking grounds, the same location where this all started, Glynda glanced towards the horizon, tapping her foot impatiently and her cane being wrapped with her palm harder than she could ever hold it. All around her, more people were waiting alongside her. Among them being the other Senators of Remnant, who were all equally worried for the safety of their esteemed colleagues. A company of Senate Guards, graced with their traditional blue robes and helmets stuck with feathered crests, stood on guard to bring in the criminals responsible for the whole crisis.
Thankfully, the rest of the Senate wasn't as attentive, assured by security that Ozpin and Weiss would be safe. Those who awaited them were worried enough to excuse themselves from their duties to greet them.
Soon, just as Glynda was about to get more impatient, she caught the sight of a lone airbus, coming in to land on the very platform before her. When it touched down, she could see through the windows, making out the identities of the passengers inside. To her greatest relief, she spotted the one man whom she was gladdest to see, alive and well.
As the boarding ramp descended, the passengers on board soon got up from their seats to depart. Among them, Weiss Schnee exited hers and walked to the front. Before she could consider leaving, she had to stop by to greet her colleague, who took the front seat behind the cockpit.
As Ozpin rose as well, he was soon met up with a glorified Schnee. True to his thoughts, Weiss came forth, the standard, proud Schnee grin that distinguished her and her family from other nobles in the galaxy.
"I saved your life, Senator Ozpin." greeted Weiss, full of pride in her voice. A little too much pride, that is… "Perhaps a proper 'thank you' is in order?" The man took a while before he gave her a response, as if assessing her from her speech. It was no far cry from how she was during the Senate meeting days before, but it was a glaring sign of her darker side. The negative side that Ozpin sought to realize before confirming his trust on her in the future.
"And that, you have my thanks, Miss Schnee." he finally said after a few seconds. Yet, Weiss could see that the gesture was half-hearted at worst. "Only for the effort of bringing your guard here and bringing down the criminals."
"What? But I saved you from that… those criminals!" exclaimed Weiss, baffled that Ozpin hadn't recognized her true potential. Her arm then went out for the three stunned accomplices of the abduction, who were being lined up behind her, flanked from front to back by her guards. But the majority of her vigour went for the lone criminal not present among them. "That White Fang runt was surely ready to hurt you!" Despite her sudden rudeness shown right in front of him, Ozpin refused to rebuke, remaining civil and calm.
"Not to worry; your contribution will help solve this crisis, all the same." After assuring Weiss that he was thankful, he then turned around to depart from the bus, leaving the disgruntled heiress behind to fume.
To let her guards through with the prisoners, Weiss had to leave, but her temper still flared at how dismissive Ozpin was towards her. Her frown was still plastered on her face, her fists clenched with fury at the lack of gratitude he gave her. She had gone through all this effort to bring her guards over and defuse the situation. She had risked her own life again to defend herself and save him from that White Fang assassin. She should have received a much more grateful expression from him. Who else wouldn't be thankful for being saved?
And yet, Ozpin chose to behave as if she didn't matter. Weiss continued to watch him from behind, still unable to fathom why he was being so ungrateful. She descended down to the floor, almost about to storm off back to her office to blow some steam. Before she left, she was quickly stopped by Ozpin. When she turned her head to face him, she could see a change of facial expression, one that signified seriousness.
"But I will leave you with one piece of advice." he cleared to her with his hands tied behind his back. "Do not simply pick fights with that blade of yours. Choose them with your mind, first. I believe you're going to need it if you wish to remain a strong individual in the Senate, and in our times of war." Again, Weiss could feel the ire grow within her, ashamed even further in the presence of the other Senators. The nerve of him to just blurt out some piece of advice in front of them like that. Feeling like she had wasted her time, she turned around and left, walking into the building without looking back.
Ozpin shook his head as he watched Weiss leave, disappointed that she had chosen to act like the spoiled brat he hoped she wouldn't turn out to be. Oh well, you can't expect people to live up to all of your expectations, anyways…
After Weiss left, he then turned to his other colleagues, assuring them all that he was fine. After a heartfelt few words, Ozpin then greeted his faithful secretary, who only showed disappointment of her own. She could only wish that he wouldn't get himself into such extreme crises like this, adding to her stress. The Senator smiled, knowing that her outward appearance only masked how much she was truly worried for him.
"Those hooligans tried to kidnap you, even having you at gunpoint. Yet, you're taking this rather well." she huffed, unable to understand how Ozpin couldn't feel the least bit frightened by the experience.
"I've lived long enough to be threatened by far worse than angry souls." explained Ozpin, putting an end to the worries. Sure, he was slightly messed up. He was indeed feeling distressed after being tied up and kept at gunpoint, but only because he had been denied the chance to hear the day's meeting at the Senate. After what he had been through, he had been asked to take a break back home to rest. As much as he would reject the offer, he knew not to make much of a show, at least for today.
Still, it did not rid him of the growing mystery he had ever since the end of the incident.
"Three of them have been apprehended." reported Glynda. "But the other one who got away…" Yes, the girl who tried to save him. She was what Ozpin was more intrigued of. From the incident, he was informed that she was, in fact, a member of the White Fang. Weiss Schnee, of all people, told him of the unfortunate attempt on the Senator's life prior to her first day in the Senate. As far as he understood, the details surrounding her connection to the White Fang only came during the second encounter between the two girls.
Ozpin couldn't be sure about the validity of Weiss' claims. However, judging by how the Faunus girl reacted to the heiress' aggressive entrance and the dastard escape attempt, it only seemed to make it more believable. After all, the former Faunus rights organization had always made the Schnee their number one enemy since the day of their inception. Since their growing terrorist attacks, however, they had put a dent in hopes of achieving peaceful relations between them and the Republic, particularly the Remnant side of the government.
That left Ozpin to question; if the girl he met was a member of the White Fang, why would she come to save him? If she was as dangerous as Weiss said she was, then where were the signs? From what he viewed, there were none of the deadly gazes, no show of aggression, other than towards the true criminals of the case. Above all, as Ozpin could sense, there was not a single speck of the intent on killing anyone.
When Weiss came to the fold, it would have incriminated any of the cruel things the former described him of the Faunus girl. Instead, she chose to run and not fight, not once showing signs of fear or anger. She sounded like she only wanted to clear a misunderstanding between them, to assure Schnee that she was only there to save him.
If this White Fang terrorist was so dangerous, then why didn't she try and hurt him, let alone kill him…?
Thus, the ending of this peculiar case only left the Senator with more questions than answers. Questions that may never be, considering that Weiss Schnee had caused the girl to fall to the underlevels of Coruscant.
Could he have told them to stop? Maybe. The girl did try to save him, that much was true. But somehow, admittedly out of habit, the Senator played the long game, wanting to see what she would do to when faced with adversity. He always had to assess people in the middle of a crisis, to see what made them tick and how they could handle themselves.
That left him with a disappeared Faunus and a clearer picture of who Weiss Schnee truly was at her worse side.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder if the girl survived. Only the Force could tell…
Amidst his time knowing the girl, however, there was something about her eyes that reminded Ozpin of someone. Someone he knew very well from Menagerie…
"Even her body will be a hassle to locate." sighed Glynda, troubled that she'd have to assign herself another miscellaneous task to her already full schedule.
"Quite the contrary, Glynda." murmured Ozpin, catching the secretary by surprise. "That one turned out to be far more interesting than I thought." In time, given that the girl did survive her fall, maybe a light would come to give him the answers he'd seek. Right now, however, there was much more at stake.
There were a whole lot more problems in the Senate, and he had missed an entire day's worth of it…
Kromsome Street,
Level 452,
Coruscant,
After her brush with death, Blake found herself leaving an air taxi, groaning with distress. Behind her, her saviour, Sun Wukong, of all people in the cursed galaxy, flipped a few credits into the palms of the taxi driver. He gave him one quick smile before turning back to the girl, catching up to her as she clearly didn't want to be disturbed.
"Hey! What gives? I just saved your life, didn't I?" he called out to her. Begrudgingly, Blake exhaled before turning to face the busybody.
"First of all, I had that under control." She exerted her voice as calmly as she could, but with enough spunk to let him know how fed up she was. "And second, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed to split paths."
"First of all, you totally had your skin ready to be hooked up by those guys." Sun then interjected. "And second, I was just… on my way here to Coruscant to do some shady business." The second sentence of his explanation didn't need to be analysed, because Blake could already see how unconvincing it was.
"You were following me again, weren't you?" she deadpanned. Sun just chuckled sheepishly. Nothing he did would ever make his haphazard attempt to get on her good side work. Truth be told, he did know what Blake said to him back then. But that didn't stop him from trying… The reason he defied her request, Blake could never know…
Yet again, she tried to brush him off as another nuisance, not worth her time. Predictably, Sun was stubborn enough to pursue her, still. Swinging through some awning, he caught up to her, standing in front to stop her.
"Hey, come on." Sun insisted, forcing Blake to use whatever little patience she had with him. "Can't you see I'm trying to talk here?"
"Can't you see that I don't want any of it?" Blake argued.
"Come on! Cut me some slack." Said Sun, pleading for her to listen. "You want to be a hero, right? Save lives?" Blake only perked her one eyebrow upwards, her frown adjusted to show her unamused demeanour. Regardless, it was a sign for him to just go on. Like what he was going to suggest wasn't going to do him any good... "Here's your chance. Just hear me out." Reluctantly, Blake decided to let him speak. The monkey Faunus gladly obliged and began to show her what he had in mind.
"You have only a few seconds, Wukong. Then, I'm out." reminded Blake.
"Okay! So, I was thinking. Since you clearly need to go around, saving people and what not, and I need the money, how about we do something with it?" For a split second, Sun took a brief pause, something Blake recognize as a delay before something he knew she didn't want to hear.
As far as Sun was concerned, however, this was the one thing he had to getting Blake to join him in his future endeavours. She was someone he could rely on to do tasks that he couldn't do. Best not to mention that, though...
"How about we work together?"
That's it, Blake thought. That was already going too far. Turning around, she walked away, leaving Sun baffled and scrambling again for her attention. She finally had had enough. It was bad enough to have him follow her around, but now, he wanted her to come with him? She resulted to stomping away, ignoring Sun's persistence.
"Hey!" he shouted, jumping right in front until he stood in front of her, arms stretched out. Rolling her eyes, Blake was forced to halt, crossing her arms together in annoyance. Her lips pursed, her patience running thin by the constant irritancy in front of her. "Just let me finish!" Not entirely sure if she should let him go on, she decided to stay put until Sun informed her of the full details.
"Look, the galaxy ain't going to let us through without a few credits to pay for the trips." explained Sun.
"I can find jobs." said Blake. "In fact, I just finished one."
"Yeah, but with the Atlesian Guard involved, I'm sure that money's going nowhere." added Sun. Blake hated to admit that he was right. The criminals were sure to be in Republic custody, and with Weiss Schnee involved, there was no way she could get any payment from the local justice office for taking part in the rescue of Senator Ozpin. Surely the man himself could vouch for her in defence against the Schnee's claims against her, but as it stood, she need not to avoid any attention from the Republic. "You need help. My help."
"Go on." she muttered.
"Okay. So, how do we get that money without raising alarms from almost every single organization in the galaxy?" Sun's enthusiasm continued to build up with each second he had talking, hoping to convince Blake that she would be willing to take interest. "Simple; I'll help you out with your jobs and you get me close enough to nab the rewards! Genius, right?"
"So, you want me to help you with your little quests to steal from the rich?" repeated Blake, just to make sure he had something else to offer for her services. "And in turn?"
"I'll give it to the needy. How does that sound?" It sounded like a good cause to Blake, of course. But coming from someone who specialized in mixing with the wrong crowd in the past, it might not be the best combination.
"I'm already not liking this." she sighed.
"Just trust me on this. I know I'm not the most reliable partner to have around, but you seem to be the one to take second chances. And… I wanna help out." After hearing Sun being insistent in making a meaningful cause work, only then she pondered on. She had to think about what a partnership with this street urchin would be like.
For one, Sun did prove that he had the heart to help her when she needed a way out of the station owned by Roman Torchwick a while back. While he was clumsy and reckless, he did show proficiency when it truly counted, also proving himself by complying to her strategies prior.
On the other hand, it still didn't do much to dispel her opinions on said recklessness. He was as cocky as the worst of initiates in the White Fang; full of excitement and thrill-seeking glory. With his rambunctious attitude and jumpy nature, he would be a liability at worst. Not to mention, she had no idea on how notorious he actually was, other than that bounty placed on his head for a previous theft.
"So, what do you think?" It came down to what she was willing to accept from him from such cooperation. Could she tolerate him, or was it not worth the effort to let him be in her way?
"I suppose working with you would… help." admitted Blake, painfully uttering it out. Eventually, however, when it came to venturing out in the galaxy to do her part, one thing was certain. In the end, despite her isolation from those she once knew, she had to learn to trust someone, and if that someone had to be some thief, then it might had been worth the risk.
"Fine. I'll accept." acknowledged Blake, but she was still not as amused as Sun was. "But I'm too far from being impressed, Wukong. So, don't get any ideas."
"Awesome!" cheered Sun. Finally, he had gotten Blake to join his side in his escapades. For sure, he would promise to do his best to not piss his new teammate off, but he wasn't going to let her bring him down either. This was to be a mutual partnership, working off of both their strengths and weaknesses. Blake, meanwhile, had to be cautious for now. Just this while, she would have to watch out for Sun's habits and put him in line if he went too far. "So we head to your ship!"
"Why not get your own? You stole an amethyst from Corellia, did you not?" Blake deadpanned. First, she had to force herself to accept Sun's aid, and now, he was trying to hitch a ride with her. Just what was he trying to do with this?
"Hey. I can't steal everything!" Not wanting to keep this half-hearted exchange go on, Blake finally gave up. She supposed she could extend her patience a little, just to allow him to follow her into her ship. Besides, perhaps she could keep a closer eye on him while he was being accustomed in it. Thank goodness the lounge had a couch for him to sleep in.
"Come on." Blake called, letting the man follow her to wherever they would start.
"First things first. If we want to do this little heroic mission of yours, then we need mullah. Lots and lots of mullah." suggested Sun.
"You just had to have reason to steal money, haven't you?" said Blake.
"Hey. We can always arrange a share in the deal, right?" joked Sun.
"We'll see."
"Come on! Maybe fifty, fifty? Seventy, thirty?"
"No promises, Sun Wukong. No promises."
Atlesian Senatorial Office,
Senate Building,
Coruscant,
She had better things to do. There was a presentation to attend with the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, accompanied by many of her esteemed colleagues from Atlas, to present new ideas for the war. Weiss had this great opportunity laid out for her people to prosper and reach higher places within the Republic.
Still, it didn't seem to complete her today.
Weiss paced around her room, still ventilating from the rejection she suffered earlier. Her datapad sat unused on her desk, ever since she returned from the hostage crisis, her chair unmoved for her to even sit. Instead of being shelved in its case, Myrtenaster was just left on top of the desk, Weiss being too frustrated to even take the box out to keep her treasured heirloom in much tidier condition.
When she achieved a grand success, she was soon met with two equally harsh failures to her career.
Just when she achieved the main goal, another grand chance showed up when Senator Ozpin, one of few Senators she ever idolized, was kidnapped by common criminals and, better yet, a member of the White Fang. By getting herself and her guards into the action, she hoped to build up her influence and power to convince all of Remnant that Atlas was well worth allying with. She would finally show Ozpin and, thus, the galaxy that the terrorists were not a threat to be taken lightly.
When she finally ended the crisis right there, all she had, instead of praises and promises for closer ties, was a slamming remark from Ozpin, belittling her abilities as a Senator, even when he was rescued from such dangerous eggs. Everything she did for him and his people felt wasted.
She could only hope that this underestimation wouldn't get the best of her, refusing to let this one Senator bring her down. Despite how she now felt of Ozpin, he was still someone she would try to cooperate with. Someone she could finally prove to of her valour and devotion to the bigger problems of the Republic.
Weiss only hoped that her 'ill-advised' attempt in heroics would be accepted, only because she was acting within the premises desired of her by her father. Yes, her attempt to rescue Ozpin should be seen as a chance to grow the influence of Atlas and especially the Schnee family. Going against this would be a waste of his expertise.
Finally done walking around, she returned to her desk, taking up her datapad to view her records. Apart from a few messages from Atlas, perhaps more from her father, she also viewed some of the news that was reported from the situation down below. From reading the news, she could see footage of her standoff between herself and the White Fang scum.
The journalists were at least kind enough to commend her performance in the face of danger, but when she looked at that picture, Weiss was reminded of the terrorist who tried to endanger the lives of everyone present. Fury drove into her as she kept her eyes towards the assassin, driven to wonder if she would ever have the chance to find her.
While she did hope that the assassin perished from the fall, Weiss had the gut feeling she survived, as most rats would. Only time would tell if she would ever find her, dead or alive…
Regardless, from this experience, Weiss had certainly chosen her fight. From now on, any Faunus she came across was to be monitored, carefully watched before she could make any move. She wasn't going to threaten every single Faunus; only be wary of their presence. There was no harm in watching out for herself and her people, after all.
Then, her hand reached for Myrtenaster, staring into the shiny chamber at the hilt. From there, Weiss could see the little bits of reflection of her face, just enough to see her vivid eyes glance back at her. From this moment forth, no matter what she did, she would ensure that her place in the Senate was not made out of a lack of foresight or foolish claims of bribery.
She earned that position and she was to remind everyone that she planned to use it to benefit the Republic…
"I am perfectly capable, Senator Ozpin… Just you wait…"
A/N~ There you have it. Two arch enemies coming together again, and the introduction of the Oz Man himself.
I wish I could have written the duel between Blake and Weiss to be longer, but having written so much, I had to compress my writing. However, as I've said before, it is up to you to imagine the fight the way you want it. I just focus on the more story-driven elements of the writing, so any action scenes, while I'll do my best to write them with sufficient length and excitement, will not be as complex as other stories.
All the same, thank you to all who have read thus far!