AU: Well whaddaya' know . . . turns out I made a good decision after all. I mean technically it's just a few people, but I got some ideas from TheWubbzler (this mad lad right here . . . some of these action scenes are suggested by him . . . technically, I couldn't have made this better without him. Oh and he has made quite the dialogue for the next chapter, so it's gonna be a bit quicker to release the next one, well - depends if I'm lazy. O-O ) and Dustiniz117. (Also thanks for pointing out that minor flaw Dustiniz XD I knew it wasn't gonna fit, but I don't trust myself that much - good thing I made the right call with you. Following two stories at the same time is hella hard, and that's an understatement.)
Anyways here's another chapter for y'all - not as a long as the previous chapter . . . 11K words are kinda hard to beat, since I'm not a hardcore writer. Enjoy, I guess XD
CHAPTER 8: TO KINGDOM COME
Zane perched behind the fuel tanks behind him, he takes out his ECHO-3 device and sees the layout map of the entire compound. He can see the different icons of his teammates moving forward slowly as they take out guards on the outer end.
He then issues a group call, "Oi fellas, is the outer compound clear?".
Flak radios in, "The guards have all been killed on my end."
"All guards are down, I also used their own walkie-talkies against them, tricking them into speaking each other.", Amara also chimes in.
"How the hell did you do tha - you know what nevermind. The guards are dead here, but I think the chatter inside is getting louder. I think we need a distraction, lure them out Pandoran style.", Moze starts hearing some shouting coming out of the two warehouses.
He smiles as he sees the giant volatile tanks behind him, "Oh I got an idea, but you fellas better be ready, 'cause this is gonna be a BIG one.", he then ends the call.
She sighs as she tucks her ECHO device on her pants, and sees a guard, already pissed off as he is looking for the rest of his friends, not knowing that the bodies are already gathered in one place.
As Moze about to slice the guard's throat unnoticed, she suddenly hears an explosion coming from the south followed by a familiar crazy laughter, alerting all of the guards in the vicinity. "What the - ", she immediately sees the large fuel tanks explode into a fiery blaze and smirks at it. "Guess that's the signal."
One of the goons pop out of nowhere, "HEY! - WE GOT COMPANY ON THE SOUTH!".
"OH HELL YEAH! - HEY ASSHOLES!", Moze pops out of cover, revealing herself. Then the enemy guards snaps their attention at her.
She immediately uses her Shredifier assault rifle and open fires at the guards leaving Warehouse 1 but not on the inside, breaking the stealth section of the mission.
She starts murdering the thugs before they could get a chance of fighting back, hell, she almost felt bad for these guys, spending their time in the life of crime just to die at the hands on a badass chick with a minigun-assault rifle hybrid made by a dieselpunk looking megacorporation.
And to seal off any exit, besides the main entrance, she tosses her favorite grenade mod, which is made again by her former military: the Storm Front. She tosses two grenades just outside the entrance.
One of the goons try to escape only to be instantly electrocuted to death by Moze's lethal electric field. The Gunner bursts into laughter as she continues to murder more and more of them, hosing them down with lead.
"Ooooo ~ looks like Amara's having the time of her life!", She then hears the sound of Amara fighting the grunts and eager to go for some action, not knowing she left the Warehouse 1 uncleared.
Hearing the massive explosion nearby, Flak merely shakes his head and chuckles while standing atop the Watchtower, and extends his arms forward, summoning legions of fiery Rakks on both of his arms, providing Air Superiority on his teammates.
The Rakks use their sharp incendiary talons and beaks to slice them apart, and if they survive that, they still have that painful burning sensation lingers in their body. They all scream in agony in the middle of the night.
"FRIENDS! IT'S TIME TO HUNT!", he then commands his pets to jump off the Watchtower, one by one, raining down upon the poor criminals on Warehouse 2, tearing them into shreds. Mr. Chew uses his long whip-like tongue to choke the guards and devour their heads each, happily munching their entire faces with his face-mouth, good thing the skag's physiology is made to hunt prey that are slightly larger
"WHAT THE . . . IS THAT A MONKEY HOLDING A ROCKET LAUNCHER?! Meat-Thief is currently shooting rockets from it's trusty rocket launcher, from long range - preventing them from escaping.
"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! - THERE ARE TOO MANY OF THESE CRITTERS! SOMEBODY HELP ME - AAAHHHHHH!", one of the goons cry for help as his stomach is bursting from the inside out as Broodless uses her claws and her handy drill forearm to easily penetrate their light armor, if they are wearing any in the first place.
Flak snipes a few guards that are running away from the scene, making sure that there are no survivors. While in his scope, he squints his eye and sees Amara punching her way to Warehouse 1, when someone is ready to ambush behind her.
"SHOOT THAT TATTOO CHICK!", A group of goons open fire at the Siren using their Dust rounds, but Amara smirks as she lets her shield run down to zero, because as soon as it has depleted, all of a sudden a singularity pulls them all towards her.
Amara smugly grins before leaping in the air and casts a Phaseslam straight down just as the bandits are in perfect proximity, turning them into thick red paste.
Several guards came charging at her, but Amara beats them all down with one hard punch and another stomping on their heads, squashing their head on the ground until their skull cracks open like an egg and even better; more brain matter all over the ground.
Fight. Fight. She needs to fight. "Yes . . . YEESS! ~ MORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! ~ ", Amara laughs maniacally as she casts a Phasegrasp on the big guy towering over her and summons a massive red-orange fist from the ground, right next to the bubble and slams it right back down, burning him alive and killing him.
She then notices the guards take several steps back from her, however this further pissed her off. "NO! DON'T YOU ALL FUCKING LEAVE! - FACE ME, COWARDS! ALL OF YOU COME AT ME!", Amara yells in the middle of the fight, grabbing a skinny man, crawling away for dear life before she grabs his shirt and lifts him up. slowly ripping him into two horizontally starting from the waist the large amount of warm blood poured over her, bathing herself in front of her adversaries, barely felt the dead man's bones dropping on her head.
She then drops the skinny man's body down, but a stray shot nearly killed her, she looks to where the shooter is, only to see Flak, raising a hand.
The Siren nods at the Beastmaster, thanking him before charging at the guards, running away from her. She then casts Phasegrasp again, this time, the Skill Augment: TIES THAT BIND, which enemies near the target are linked. When a linked target takes damage, a portion of that damage is inflicted on other linked targets.
She then leaps in the air again and does a Phaseslam, killing the one being Phaseslammed, but the huge shockwave, is enough to send the other flying upwards like little ragdolls. Afterwards she sees Moze running at her, "MOZE, IRON - "
" - WAAAY AHEAD OF YOU!", Moze digistructs out Iron Bear now fully loaded with dual homing rocket launchers. She uses the split-second tracking, and locks on the flying goons in mid-air. Then fires all of it's high explosive, painting the warehouses with fountains of blood and limbs, finally finishing their combo. "WOOOOOOHOOOOO! - THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!". Moze cheers inside Iron Bear's cockpit.
Meanwhile, Zane is standing around, disappointed that he had to use the last of his grenades in his SDU - such a big shame he never got to buy more Grenade SDUs from Marcus back in Sanctuary, = probably because he kept spending the rest of his hard-earned cash, into gambling. And buying guns that have the best Anointments for him (WHICH IS ENTIRELY ANNOYING IN THE LATE-GAME - FUCKING FIX IT GEARBOX!)
"Ah ta' hell with this shite - ", Zane is about to call his team again, but he hears the sounds of guns cocking behind him, assuming they are all ready to fire at him. But what they didn't expect is for Zane to casually smile at them. "Nothin' personal, boyos! Just business! ~ ".
He brings out his Digi-Clone remote and swaps places with his digital self before the grunts could even open fire at the real Zane. Unfortunately, the Digi-Clone dies, acting like a drama king and not even the clone isn't taking this seriously. Though before the clone dies he smirks as he points at the giant burning fuel tanks.
The real Zane moves away from the volatile tanks, and uses the detonator, "Welp, TO KINGDOM COME!", he then presses the button which causes a massive explosion behind him, blowing up the large fuel tanks from the base, and letting the explosion radius kill them all in the vicinity. Those who tried to escape are hunted down by Zane's SNTL drone, patrolling the outer boundaries of the area.
However, his plan goes on without a hitch , as the large fuel tanks falls down on the outer compound, setting a large portion in flames, but at least the warehouses nearby aren't affected at all.
"Oh crap . . . ", He then hears gunshots in the distance and rushes to help his team, hastily sprinting towards them.
"Moze, Amara - there are still enemy signatures inside Warehouse 1 - we need to clear that place out before the enemies have a chance to retaliate.", Flak calls them via ECHO.
"Don't worry! They won't stand a chance against us!", But Amara rushes to the Warehouse 1 hoofing to kill more of the guards.
Moze tries to catch up to her with a worried, something doesn't feel right. Why would the enemy hole up in the Warehouse when the other guards are getting massacred by them. "AMARA - WAIT UP!"
Amara stops at the large front gate of Warehouse 1, and turns to Moze as soon as she was being called. But what turned to be a one-sided massacre has become a turn for the worse. An obstacle that the Vault Hunters will have to face together.
A giant metal hand bursts from the metal door and grabs Amara, raising her up and then slamming her down on the ground. Afterwards, the threat begins to reveal itself to the Vault Hunters, prying the large door open out of it's way to face them all.
And of course . . . the title card appears.
ATLESIAN PALADIN-290 PROTOTYPE - COMMENCING OBLIGATORY ROBOT FIGHT SCENE . . .
"AMARA!", Moze yells as the giant mech then grabs Amara and throws her out of the way, slamming her against a concrete wall, and falls down on the ground, unconscious.
"SONNUVA BITCH! - FLAK, WHAT IS THIS THING?!", Moze retaliates by firing all of Iron Bear's homing rockets at the mech's overall structure, which it was a successful knockback, however the thick plating of the mech, proves to be quite challenging,
Flak uses his the scope of his sniper rifle to identify the mech from afar, keeping the ECHO device near him. "The Atlesian Paladin boasts a tough armor that makes it very strong and resistant to attacks. However, the mech itself cannot take repeated blows and is susceptible to being destroyed if hit by a much stronger attack."
"In addition, the mech is armed with multiple laser sights: one is mounted under the cockpit, two are mounted on the upper corners of the cockpit and at least two, one on each side, more laser sights are mounted on the back shoulders of the mech. They are accurate enough to detect extremely quick movement, but they do not offer pinpoint accuracy."
"Then that's more than enough!", Moze replies and dodges the mech's machine gun barrage and the full brunt of the mech's firepower. Even though Iron Bear is smaller in comparison to the Atlesian Paladin, the Vladof Iron Bear is more agile and mobile in the battlefield, which is essential to every warfare; Mobility and Maneuverability.
But the pilot is smart just like Moze, even this mech doesn't belong to Atlas or any robotics facility, a mech is still a mech. The Paladin mech stomps down on the ground, causing a massive earthquake around the compound, thus losing balance on Iron Bear.
Moze tries to regain Iron Bear's footing, "SHIT!", The Paladin mech then takes the opportunity to shoot down Iron Bear's shield and knocks the mech away, but the Vladof mech still remains durable, but dented.
Sparks fly inside the cockpit, which is Moze is already used to situations like this, though she needs to get her bearings fast as the mech is approaching and about to fire its massive weapons. "Argggh - Come on, come on, Iron Bear. Don't you give up on me, baby!",
Moze groans in pain inside the cockpit, and tries to move Iron Bear's leg, of which is it is stuck under heavy pile of debris from the fuel tanks. She shifts her glance at the Paladin mech, seeing it's already charging its guns and ready to finish her off. "No, no, no, no, NO! - "
Yet the Paladin doesn't deserve it's victory kill, as a giant irradiated Mr. Chew pops out of nowhere, ripping its guns main guns off, while the giant Meat-Thief doesn't use it's gun but using its massive hands, both of them are in some sort of trance of rage.
"Not on my watch! - ", Flak appears out of nowhere in front of of the debris, thanks to his Fade Away ability and starts digging out the debris to free Iron Bear. Broodless, also pops out of the ground and drills the debris out.
Meanwhile the Paladin mech grabs Meat-Thief and Mr. Chew then kicks both animals away, crashing against the large trees outside the compound, with Mr. Chew letting out a loud whimper, calling out for his master.
Flak immediately stands up, "MY BEASTS ARE DOWN! - ", he then runs away from the Paladin and Iron Bear, prioritizing his beasts before they die.
"Ohohohoho - you done fucked up now, asshole! I wonder if this new upgrade works ~ ", Moze then gets herself up and digistructs Iron Bear's Vanquisher Rocket Pods away, replacing it to Miniguns. "Time to pepper you up!".
The 4 miniguns on the mech spin-up together and lets loose the true Vladof fire rate, using armor penetrating bullets to tear the vulnerable parts of the Paladin mech that was exposed thanks to Mr. Chew and Meat-Thief, damaging it even further.
But the central armor of the Paladin mech is still tough as nails, not even the armor-piercing bullets from Iron Bear can tear it up so easily. And to this advantage, the Paladin pilot has a last ditch resort - using the entire Paladin mech to destroy Iron Bear up close and personal, taking advantage of it's sheer size instead of it's weapons, all of it are focused on Flak's pets. The Paladin bipedal mech, readies itself for a moment, kneeling down on one knee, before boosting itself straight towards Iron Bear.
"SORRY FOR BEIN' LATE! ~ GO GET 'EM ZOOMER!", Zane arrives just in time to summon SNTL drone and orders the SNTL drone to fire a burst of missiles to halt it's aggressive charge at Iron Bear. He takes out his Nemesis pistol and an improvised bomb on his hand, by the handiwork - clearly this is made on his way here. "MOZE! - SWITCH TO YAR RAILGUNS ON MY SIGNAL! I GOT A PLAN! - KEEP THAT PEPPERIN!".
Zane dodges a semi-collapsible fist, barely missing it, he then turns to the Beastmaster. "FLAK, KEEP THAT BIG BOYO BUSY! - USE YER RAKKS OR WHATEVER YA GOT IN YER POCKETS!"
Flak helps up his beasts, and turns to the Paladin mech, "Very well! - ", he extends his hand towards the Paladin mech, trying to aim it's weapons at Zane, but the old is too unpredictable, the enemy pilot needs a guaranteed shot, and that's a flaw from the Paladin has. "BEASTS, ATTACK ONCE MORE!", he channels his energy from his core, and summons all three beasts raining down upon the mech, all in their gigantic forms.
The mech is being destroyed as it is being distracted by the large pets, trying to rip the mech into shreds from all sides, but that wasn't the finishing move yet. Zane runs around the back of the Paladin mech and climbs onto it, using his Digi-Claw to pry open the machine.
Once he rips the cover panel, he sees a big ass core that is powering the Paladin mech and smirks. "Jackpot! ~ ", he then sets up the improvised bomb right beside the core and gives it a gentle pat, like patting a little baby's head.
He peers behind the Paladin mech, looking at Moze and Iron Bear. "NOW, MOZE!", he then hops off the Paladin mech and runs off to safety, but taking out his remote detonator again and presses the switch, it explodes, the mech glitches and reveals the last goon in the cockpit, trying to fight for his life.
But Moze digi-structs her Iron Bear's weapons again, this time with Dual Shock Railguns. The railguns charge up rather quickly and Moze wastes no time on firing the shot.
The blast disintegrated the last goon, and even piercing through the mech, showing that not even Remnant's Atlas, the power house of all 4 kingdoms, has the protection nor the fire power to withstand Vladof and presumably, the other megacorporation's might.
Moze finally exits Iron Bear, while her face sweating bullets and breathing heavily. "Goddamn, that was a bitch to take down.", but then her face fell to see Amara being carried by Zane and Flak, Amara's head is bleeding, but the Siren wakes up and just frowns at them. "Oh god, Amara - are you alright?!", Moze quickly takes out a Med Hypo from her SDU an injects her Amara's neck carefully.
Amara winces at the needle being inserted in her neck, but then lets out a breath of relief as she feels the warm liquid that's healing her cells inside her body. "Arggh - sorry, guys. I got carried away back there."
Zane shakes his head and chuckles. "Nah, lass - ya' did good. Getting carried away is part of the damn job! HAHAHA! I mean all of this fer 5,000,000 Lien each. What a deal."
Flak nods as he gathers his beasts around, feeding them with the limbs of the goons. "Indeed. 'Twas a violent mission, but honestly, it was quite thrilling and fun. I say this is a success."
However, whilst the Vault Hunters are celebrating a bit, what they don't know - is the Auto-pilot function from the Paladin mech, without the pilot, the mech aims it's last weapon at Zane, before Roman and Neo arrives, with Roman using his Melodic Cudgel to shoot the A.I dead, saving the Vault Hunters. He then sees the Vault Hunters staring at him.
Roman just smirks at them smugly, "What? - You guys didn't know it had an autopilot?"
SEVERAL MINUTES LATER . . .
Outside of the compound, Roman and the Vault Hunters watch as his men clean the place up, bringing in huge cargo trucks to dispose the dead bodies and debris, and the delivery trucks, which carries his 'products' which is just Dust. Roman takes out a cigar and lights it with his zip-lighter, puffing another burst of smoke underneath the moonlight.
Roman observes the entire thing, while Neo approaches the Vault Hunters, now delivering 4 large suitcases. Despite the large size of it, Neo doesn't feel anything taxing to her and just feels like she's carried heavier things than these. Roman smiles at the briefcases and at the Vault Hunters. "Well, everyone, you all have done a great work tonight ~ I mean, I was expecting the warehouses to be much in better shape . . . but then again . . . the part where you blew up the large fuel tanks fought an Atlesian Paladin, that was quite the show ~ "
Zane opens one of the briefcases, and lets Flak calculate the amount. But the robot Beastmaster looks to Roman and Neo, squinting his eye at him. "Hmmmm . . . I have calculated the amount of these briefcases is 5,500,000. Why the sudden generosity, Mr. Torchwick?", Moze and Amara glance at the two criminals.
Roman just smirks confidently at them. "Well, my robot friend. That is called 'business' - you see, a Paladin is quite the workhorse in the Atlesian military, I know it because let's say I have my own knowledge about these machines. And I KNOW for a fact, that a large amount of skilled people can take down a Paladin. But just with you four? I . . . I didn't believe what I was seeing: Giant Irradiated Monsters? Weird looking fists popping out of nowhere? A mech that can switch guns on the fly? Hell, I EVEN SAW THE OLD MAN WAS FASTER THAN ANY GRIMM I'VE SEEN ON MATING SEASON! - AND THAT DIDN'T MADE ANY SINGLE SENSE!", Roman jerks his cane at Zane.
Roman breathes a long sigh to compose himself. " - And that's the reason why you four earned this bonus ~ ".
Zane smiles widely as he takes his briefcase. "Thank ya kindly, boyo. And thanks fer savin' me arse on that auto-pilot. What're ya gonna do with the mech?"
"Oh, I have a great idea about that mech . . . I know an asset when I see one ~ ", he smirks devilishly at the destroyed Atlas Paladin mech being pieced together by his men in the distance.
Moze checks the time on her Scroll, then looks at everyone. "Welp, looks like we're outta here - time to get some shut eye. See you 'round, you two.", the Gunner then leaves the scene, along with the Operative, the Siren, and the Beastmaster.
"Wait - "
The Vault Hunters stopped and turn to Roman, who looks down with a stern face. "Is there by any chance you'll come by for the next job? Who knows, it might be interesting than this ~ ", he widens his arms behind the captured compound, with the sound of bustling forklifts carrying Roman's shipments.
Zane looks over at the compound and just smirks at him, "Don't worry, boyo - we'll keep in touch. Gonna use these Lien to some goodies fer our meals.", the old man and his group are now heading back to Beacon for dinner.
Roman and Neo both look at each other and shrug their shoulders and turn their backs on the Vault Hunters, the rest is up to the two of them.
BEACON ACADEMY
Meanwhile in Beacon's faculty room, in the middle of the night, Tannis is currently wandering around the large empty room and sees Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck having a chat while drinking their favorite drinks, Oobleck with coffee and Port with his tea.
"I'm with Glynda here, Port. This time will just be the same! - The students here are just as rowdy and disobedient. We need to discipline them more if they need to be proper Huntresses and Huntsmen.", Oobleck speaks to Port, convincing to change some things around the school, such as increasing with their strict policies.
"Ahh - don't worry about them. As much as I know about the history of Remnant, what good does it do when you are pressured so much by so many mundane things! - It'll kill them far earlier than the Grimm do!", the veteran Huntsman lets out a laugh, somehow not taking his friend seriously.
Oobleck lets out a groan, and sees Tannis walking around. He waves his hand quickly, "Ahh, Doctor Tannis - good to see you again. Is there something you need?", Doctor Oobleck turns to her and sips on his evening coffee.
The former DAHL scientist immediately takes a few steps back, triggering a "O-Oh! Don't mind me, I was just exploring this Academy to surely explore every nook and cranny - and I assure you that I have no malicious intent to sabotage this prestige school. In fact, I was thinking of making a secondary lab here: preferably in the vents, it's so cozy there for some reason.", she wraps her arms around herself.
Port raises an eyebrow at Oobleck, "Doctor Tannis? Oobleck, is this one that you have taken intere - OOF!"
Oobleck then gives him a pat on the back, albeit a bit rough, Port letting out a cough. " - LET'S not get into that into that, Professor Port. We don't want to embarrass ourselves to one of our fellow intellectuals hat is happen to be . . . extraterrestrial."
"Hmm, 'extraterrestrial' is more of a less specific term, but I don't care about that - and care to introduce me to your fellow professor?", Tannis turns to Port, as she takes a seat in front of them.
The Huntsman stands straight and proud of his occupation. "I am Professor Peter Port, former Huntsman and a big game hunter, I teach the students about Grimm Studies. Because how can they be Huntsmen and Huntresses without ever knowing what are they facing?"
Tannis merely nods at Port and smiles at the two, "Well, the Grimm is certainly quite the species, I've managed to kill a few in my spare time, they are plentiful, but they seem to vanish shortly as I was about to get some samples of them. Of course I try mitigate this by doing a dancing ritual that was taught to me by Maurice - and to no avail, it still remained the same."
"Uhh, who is this Maurice?", Oobleck tilts his head while taking out a spoon and stirs his coffee while looking at her.
"Oh, Maurice is an intellectual, but he's not human, he's a Saurian. Saurians are large, dinosaur like-creatures, easily identified by their two hind legs and violent behavior. Saurians are native to the harsh, swampy climate of the planet Eden-6. They live in both the open swamp land as well as closed off cave systems. Smaller species tend to hunt in packs, while the larger specimens prefer a more solitary life. I just happen to see Maurice on-board as a stowaway and made him a translation collar that lets him speak to us humans. But if you want further information about the Saurians, you can ask our own big game hunter - "
Port perks up with a smile, "You have a fellow big game hunter as well?! - How wonderful!"
Tannis clears her throat, " - Yes, Sir Alistair Hammerlock. He is one of the famed Big Game Hunters across the 6 galaxies, along with Xylourgos' another hunter Eista. Sir Hammerlock and I are quite the pair when it comes to discussing, discovering and debating the flora, fauna, or even anything that relates to the scientific studies of each planet. Although, he has his own time with the Jakobs Corporation, he has recently been wedded to the CEO of that company: Wainwright Jakobs. As for me . . . well, I just do what I do best, be a researcher, a leader and the one and only Eridian expert."
"Hoohohohoho - it seems I'd like to meet this 'Hammerlock' fellow one day. Perhaps I would like to hunt creatures beyond Remnant! Because . . . to be honest, hunting Grimm is slowly getting stale. But doctor, what are these, 'Eridians'? They sound elegant, but inscrutable.", Port leans on the table, eager to learn what are these mysterious creatures.
"Because they are! Little is known about the Eridians, although their importance as an ancient alien race is unquestionable. What is known is that they were first discovered on the planet Eridanus through their technology, had advanced to a technological state far superior to that of present humanity, and had maintained at least part of their society on Pandora. Not only did they create the Vaults, but they are also believed to be responsible for leaving the Guardians behind to protect them. The entire population of their homeworld, Nekrotafeyo, willingly acted as bait to lure the Destroyer into the Great Vault - Pandora itself. "
Oobleck cups his chin into thought, "Pandora, sounds like a dangerous planet."
"Oh it's more than just 'dangerous' - it's simply a death trap where anything is out to kill you anywhere at anytime - if you managed to crash land and still survive, there's a 100% guaranteed chance you will die by skags, spiderants, half-naked bandits and psychos, or even the plant life. The Eridians were smart, because they chose the one planet that will eat anyone and anything before their secrets are revealed. Besides, I can count the 1,000,000 ways to die in Pandora.", she raises her index finger in the air, but her smile is a bit unhinged, considering she has gone psychologically insane in Pandora after refusing to leave with her former company and left all on her own to find the legend of the Vault.
"Anyway, the Eridians maintained a "class-based society which is capable of both leadership and organized warfare". I managed to determine this by translating Eridian writings found in Eridian ruins using my translation program as can be heard in one of my data recorders in Rust Commons West. It does seem that they were well versed in weapons technology and design, capable of not only creating powerful weapons and systems but near invincible bioweapons as well . . ."
She then looks down, sitting properly somehow she shifts to a more stern voice. " . . . And these weapons can't destroy entire cities, but they are used to wipe out solar systems and Remnant is no exception. That is why I invest my entire life in researching Eridians, because one day the universe will cease to exist."
Both of the professors are suddenly speechless as they couldn't even think of any threat that is capable of creating bioweapons that can destroy the entire universe, and they have to admit, not even themselves or Ozpin can handle the sheer power of these Eridians for only an unhinged person can take on such a suicidal task.
Oobleck glances at Tannis, only to see an wide insane grin in front of him, Tannis' eyes are open wide and glowing. This is Tannis' other side, the Tannis that was formed by pure insanity and madness within Pandora. This is a woman that is eager to see results, even if it means losing her friends or herself in the process.
"We-Well that is . . . quite the information, Doctor Tannis. But, since you shared much about your . . . field, we'd like to share ours too.", Oobleck smiles at her, sipping on his coffee again.
Tannis snaps from her insane trance, and shakes her head quickly to shrug it off. "Oh my apologies there . . . I tend to be a bit loose when I love talking about my field of study. But yes, I am quite interested in Remnant, specifically the four kingdoms. One of the Vault Hunters, Flak, has talked to me about these kingdoms, however I cannot find the time to ask, so I'll take this as an opportunity to learn from the experts."
Oobleck clears his throat and adjusts his necktie, sitting properly. "Well, I've been through all of the four kingdoms and of course, did spent years of research in each kingdom. Where do you want to start?"
Tannis clasps her hands together, "Ah - let's start here, in Vale. Before we decided to make our presence known around here, Hammerlock and I saw the largest land mass in this planet."
"It's true. Vale is located on the northeastern end of Remnant's largest continent, Sanus. It is bordered to the northwest by shallow waters and to the southeast by steep mountains. These geographic features make Vale a place of relative safety. The Vale region is known to contain the City of Vale and several coastal cities, as well as Patch, a small island to the west. Here in Beacon Academy, is one of the four main Huntsman Academies of Remnant, located in the City of Vale, while Signal Academy is located on the island of Patch. Although it's been a long time since I've visited Patch."
"Hmmm - well it's a good thing that we chose to land on Vale and not on the other three kingdoms. In the other planets, the biggest area is always the dangerous or the most barren one, but Vale is a nice change for us.", Tannis smiles at him.
But Oobleck sighs, "Well, you are all lucky you never landed on Mistral. Mistral is located on the continent of Anima, the second-largest landmass in Remnant. Mistral controls the most territory of all four Kingdoms, encompassing a wide range of ecosystems and many diverse cultures. Some of the terrain includes steep wind-carved cliffs, where the region was first settled. The area to the west of Mistral is stated by . . . our friend away from Beacon . . . to be filled with swamps where small human villages are known to exist, though it can be difficult to traverse due to the presence of Grimm. So much like your Pandora, the swamps of Mistral is enough to hinder anyone and the chances of being killed by a Grimm is high."
"AND - most of my rarest kills of Grimm are found in Mistral! ~ Since the Grimm love the wilderness and their perfect hunting grounds, using the environment against us, although . . . they are not the only ones with that kind of intelligence ~ ", Port smirks at her, taking pride in his achievements.
"Well your least kills were the ones on Vacuo - that place is a desert wasteland. YOU almost got yourself killed by a giant worm-like Grimm!" Oobleck scowls at him.
"Yes I almost died . . . but the scars and the sheer long battle was blissful, just thinking about it right now makes me want to hunt down ANOTHER SAND WORM GRIMM! - HAHA! ~ "
" - Vacuo? A desert wasteland? Sounds like my kind of environment. Pandora is a barren wasteland too - a minor portion of the planet is diverse climate, but Pandora has always been famed for it's deserted and abandoned corporate ruins buried beneath the deserts. Perhaps you can tell me a thing or two about that certain kingdom."
"Uggh . . .Vacuo . . . It's located in the center of the vast and harsh desert on the western end of the continent of Sanus. Although once at the site of a hospitable oasis, many years of unchecked Human activity have changed its climate into a barren wasteland indistinguishable from the desert surrounding it. Vacuo has very few permanent settlements. Most villages are nomadic and are named after the tribe that originally settled them. When the tribe moves out, they take the settlement's name with them to reuse at their new location."
"Ahhh yes ~ if I were to pick a destination - Vacuo is the perfect place for me! Maybe I can recreate how my friends at the DAHL Corporation left me OH THE NOSTALGIA! - wait, no, I don't have any friends there - they were just hungry and greedy bastards. BUT, the Vacuo Kingdom is pretty interesting. Wait - if there is a kingdom that looks like Pandora - I wonder if there is a kingdom that resembles Promethea?"
"Promethea? Is that another wasteland planet?"
"Ahh Promethea, megapolitan city-planet, glimmering with new technology and an unsustainable amount of noodle shops. When Atlas first discovered a Vault on Promethea, it triggered a new golden age of expansion, research, and profit margins. Promethea is an urbanized planet and the headquarters of the ATLAS corporation. ATLAS claimed Promethea shortly after Eridian technology was found there, and reverse-engineered the tech for use in starships and weaponry. The planet fell on hard times after ATLAS stopped investing in its infrastructure due to declining profitability, and the situation worsened after ATLAS was defeated on Pandora and collapsed, with some claiming that life on Promethea was even harsher than on the notoriously anarchic Pandora. Recently, with ATLAS revitalized under the leadership of CEO Rhys Strongfork, the planet began to recover until the Maliwan Corporation launched an invasion. Thankfully, we were there to - "
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm sorry for cutting you off but what did you mean, ATLAS Corporation? Are you saying there is another Atlas out there? And more militaristic and serious compared to ours?!", Oobleck asks her, confusion wrapped around his face.
Tannis nods, "Yes, unlike the Kingdom of Atlas or the Atlesian military. Our ATLAS, the ATLAS Corporation, is a massive interplanetary megacorporation involved in the development and manufacture of everything from spaceships and stardrives to small arms. And yes, they have far more tech than the military around here, but surprisngly enough, the ATLAS military, not to be confused with the Atlesian military, are far more noble and kind compared to their old and merciless counterparts several years ago, and it's all thanks to Rhys Strongfork, his soldiers are given proper breaks, his staff are weekly invited to their favorite theme parks, and he is loved by his people all over Promethea, I assume your Atlas cannot do this. Speaking about ATLAS, why don't we go to the last kingdom?"
"Oh right. Atlas is a large metropolitan city in the Kingdom of Atlas, sitting atop a floating island above the city of Mantle. The city is extremely advanced, with towers and skyscrapers of all sizes being visible at a distance, all seemingly with a blue color scheme to them. Atlas is seen as having platforms on the underside of the floating island and Atlas Academy is situated at the center of the city. There is a massive hill to one side of the city, atop of which is the Schnee Manor. To the bottom of the floating city, the district of Old Mantle is seen above a massive airport. Farmlands are seen to either side of Old Mantle. The entire city appears to be surrounded by a Hard-Light barrier that is being projected by forked spires stationed around the perimeter of the floating island. However, if one of the towers is disabled then the whole barrier would be disabled. Additionally, large train rails in the form of rings circling around allow for mass public transportation. The tracks are projected by large towers, using Hard-Light Dust. The Atlas Broadcast Network serves as a major news service for the Kingdom, frequently used in both Atlas itself and in Mantle. The Lance of Liberty, which uses the Lancer Grimm as their company's emblem, along with the Atlas Eye are two additional news services."
Tannis smiles as she stands up, "Oh, I can't wait to visit those cities, especially Mistral - perhaps I can collect a lot of plant samples there, or even better - the Faunus can give me a little bit of their DNA to - uhh - make some of my own research, maybe it will yield some results I can create to make Remnant even better, of course there is ethics - eugh - but I think there's always an agreement to that."
" - Ahh Doctor Tannis - ", she immediately turns to Oobleck. "Well, Ozpin and the staff have been talking about veteran Huntsmen helping the students of Beacon on field trips. I was hoping you'd participate with me to Mountain Glenn, although it'll be soon."
The scientist makes a confused expression, before shifting to a more realized expression. "Ooohhh - I get it, I get it. Sure thing, Doctor Oobleck. However I must console the Vault Hunters, and Sammy the Scroll, and ECHO-1 . . . and Greb the Toothbrush. Well then, until next time!", the scientist then dashes away.
Oobleck was about to say goodbye only for her to leave suddenly, he then hears a mocking chuckle from Port. "Smooth."
CRIMSON RAIDER BASE - BEACON ACADEMY
As Tannis arrives she then sees Flak cooking marinated chicken and making a delicious salad. She also glances at the living room to see Amara, Moze and Zane, watching the news.
But the robot sees the scientist and nods at her. "Ahh, Tannis - you've arrived . . . and just in time for dinner as well. Everyone, gather around for dinner has been served.".
Tannis and the Vault Hunters gather around the table, with Flak already prepared the plates and utensils for them. Tannis then starts eating her delicious dinner. "So - I take you little gig has been wrought with fruitful socialization?", but then she sees the money on the couch, some of it has spread on the floor but not too messy. "Hmmm . . . and you all have the time to get a small job too. Where did you get that kind of money?", she turns to the Vault Hunters.
The four of them look at each other, unsure of what to say before Zane places down his spoon and fork, "Eh, we got a good friend and his little mute assistant, that paid them after doing a simple job. Turns out he was a good boyo." he lies about having ties with Roman Torchwick.
"Yes, it is quite beneficial to all of us - considering we're short on Lien, we thought we'd get some on our own.", he takes his plate and puts down on the floor, watching as his three beasts gather around and share their food. Mr. Chew grabs a decent portion of it and jumps on Flak's lap, purring as Mr. Chew eats the chicken.
Moze lazily chops her chicken. "But uhh - to be honest, this planet's kinda dull. The mission was just hunting some Grimm, they just poofed into smoke and not even one of them can make a fucking dent on Iron Bear. I'd rather take on those Maliwan Reaper and Arbalests instead of those things."
Amara smiles, but her eyes avoid Tannis. "Well, I had some fun, and a lot of cash rewarded - It's a win either way."
"Okay then . . . Oh and I have something I'd like to as - ", suddenly her ECHO device rings as she takes it out from her coat pocket. She then answers it to reveal a voice of a familiar friend.
"Hey, amigos!", the sound of a drunk Truxican sniper echoes inside the device.
"MORDY!" the Vault Hunters say his name altogether in shock, except for Flak, but the robot is still glad that Mordecai is here with them despite in an ECHO.
The sniper lets out a laugh, it's been a while since they saw one of the first members of the first group that also formed the Crimson Raiders. "Hehehe, didn't expect me to call you guys from here, huh? Hammylock told me about you all holed up in that Remnant thing. How's it like there?"
Zane drinks his glass of water then places it on the ground, "Oh we're doin' just grand here, boyo! - As for this place? Eh, it's the uhze, the environment is like Eden-6 and Promethea had a baby, which is diverse. They got these creatures called 'Grimm' except they all have the exact color: black and with a skull mask."
"Hot damn, can't wait to hunt some of them down. Moxxi says it's gonna be good for my system, ever since Lilith well . . . died, things have been hard for everyone and especially the B-Team - "
Suddenly they heard a slam on the table, they all look at Tannis who frowns while looking down at her dinner. "For the last time, Lilith. Is. Not. Dead. She's out there. Somewhere. Trapped in some sort of stasis or some unexplainable force. It's not like her to disappear and die like that. At least Roland and Scooter died honorably. But I don't understand Lilith's . . . "
The Vault Hunters and Mordecai goes silent, and the entire dinner has a moment of silence before the ECHO device acts up.
Mordecai sighs and feeds Talon in the process with her favorite food. "Wish I had your attitude, Tannis. You've been there for us, even though you're batshit crazy. First was Roland, next was Scooter, and now it's Lilith and Maya - goddamn all those casualties took a toll on Brick and Tina as well, but they've already went through that cycle you told me about - uhh - what was that? Kuger's Robe? Kooler-Rob?"
Tannis massages her temples with both of her hands, "It's called the Kübler-Ross model - also known as the Five Stages of Grief."
"Yeaaaaah - that one, I say I'm currently on the . . . fourth stage, but . . . Tina and Brick always kept bringing me in their little games. Heh, it kinda helps.", Mordy takes another swig of his mild alcohol, at least not as strong as he drank before he had his previous bird, Bloodwing.
"So what's going on, Mordy? Why're you calling us?", Moze chews her gum casually while playing video games on her Scroll.
"I'm just here to give you an update - and it's a big one: Ellie and Hammerlock made use of the bio-fuel thing Ellie made and we had to run down almost an entire city worth of bandits on Pandora. At least it was easier since those Cringe Twins putas are both dead as hell, and the bandits are still cooped up in their shrine bases. Heh, fucking pendejos. But the good news is, the batteries are good enough for several back-and-forth trips between the six galaxies and Remnant. Also Hammerlock told me and Brick to come help you guys out, though Tina, she . . . she has her own ways of finding out the truth, it's best not to talk about it.", he winces.
"ROLL! FOR! INITIATIVE!", just then, the Vault Hunters heard the rolling of the dice.
Followed by Brick's jovial laughter, " THIS TAKES ME BACK! HAHAHAHAAAAA! TWEEEEEENTY! ~ I PUNCH THE DWARF KING AGAIN! - "
" - SERIOUSLY? YOU ALREADY PUNCHED THE DWARF KING SEVERAL TIMES NOW, WHAT IS YOUR BEEF WITH THE GODDAMN DWARF KING!? AND DON'T ANSWER JUST BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE SALVADOR!", they can hear Mordecai yelling in the distance, then comes back. "Sorry about that, heh."
Amara lets out a chuckle as she hears her friends having fun, "D'awww ~ I already miss you guys ~ And I miss my room too . . . By the way, where is Sir Hammerlock?",
The drunken sniper just shrugs his shoulders, "Eh he's currently in a meeting with Wainright Jakobs . . . and that new Atlas guy, Rhys Strongfork, both of them are interested ever since Hammerlock told them about Remnant and how it is unaffected by the other corporations. Fortunately Brick, Tina and I were playing hide-and-seek around the ship, and it just so happens that I heard a little bit of the meeting."
"Hmmm, and what were they talking about, friend?", the Flak gently rubs Mr. Chew's face as the skag is sleeping on his lap.
"Rhys is rather nervous about the other serious Atlas counterpart there in Remnant and that he needs to make preparations for a 'serious' entrance, although I doubt it. Plus having 2 Atlases . . . Atlasi? Whatever, both of those Atlas in the same place and the same time is gonna be confusing. Least they don't share the same color palettes, that's a nightmare. - Oh! And I also heard Hammerlock and Wainwright that the Jakobs Corporation is - uhh - retiring? I don't know the word."
All five of them are confused by Mordecai's statement. "Retirement? There ain't no company that can retire - I worked for every bloke in all the six galaxies fer a long time and NONE of them decided to call it quits after they got everythin! - ", Zane crosses his arms while looking at the device.
" - No, I didn't mean that kind of thing, Wainwright said that he's tired of the 'Corporate Life' and just bring Jakobs Corporation on a more peaceful company, just selling other stuff besides ornate and intricate weapons. And that's the main reason why he's expanding the Jakobs Corporation in Remnant."
"So both Jakobs and ATLAS are planning to arrive in Remnant. To be frank, we don't need to remain suspicious at them, it's clear that Wainwright and Rhys are both on our side. The only problem we need to look at is how Remnant will accept both of the corporations. "
"I think so, but don't worry, amigos. But we'll head there once we're done packing our things here in Pandora, and maybe we can see what that planet has in store for - "
However his voice is cut off by a yelling Tina. "MORDY-MOM! - IT'S YOUR TURN! ROLL FOR INITIATIVE, DAMN IT! YOU'VE BEEN THAT THING EVER SINCE WE GOT HERE!"
"Tina! Sit cho' lil ass down, and how many times do I have to say it; Don't talk to your mother like that!"
"WHAT THE HELL, TINA!? - Sorry guys, gotta go. 'Til next time.", Mordecai ends the call.
Moze snickers as she finishes her dinner. "Ahhh, those guys never change ~ It's gonna be amazing to have them here. Remnant could use more . . . Je ne sais quoi - Heeeeey ~ I got that word, right! - HAH! Anyways, uhh, what were you going to ask Tannis?"
Tannis stares at her dinner a bit, before snapping back into reality and gets up from her seat. "Oh - uhm - I have lost my appetite, I need to go and educate myself about the four kingdoms, uhm, Flak, you can let your beasts eat the leftovers. - ", she then makes a dash to her room upstairs, but not before turning back to them one last time "Oh, and a word from Ozpin, it seems you four have been requested to be at the Courtyard tomorrow morning - and need to be early as possible. You are all going to train Team RWBY - soooo, good luck!", then finally heads in her room.
The four Vault Hunters glance at each other and they both had no reactions to it, maybe because they are too happy about their big-ass reward from Roman.
AU: Okay, I know ALL of my readers are gonna be slightly pissed off about this - but . . . I'm really sorry that the training between the Vault Hunters and Team RWBY will be on the other chapter, it's just that cramming a lot of stuff into one chapter is gonna take maybe one or two weeks, considering I still have to think of fight scenes for the Training Sessions. Anyways, you can either let this slide, or just rant how much of a douche I am, either way, I'm fine with it ^_^ Now, onto the reviews.
qazse: Good to see one of the vault hunters actually help out Velvet, instead of just sitting there watching her suffer. I mean, how does Ruby and they others expect to protect people if they won't even defend a student from a high school bully!
Looking forward to when Ruby and Pyhhra have to abandon that stupid "never kill" morality crap. They seem like the types that believe "it's wrong to take a life", and "killing makes us no better then the bad guys". Well news flash, Remnant ain't no children's fairytale. It's a cruel merciless death world just like Pandora, and the world and its people aren't as black and white as they want to believe. When it comes to saving lives, and survival, you need to make hard choices and spill more then a little blood.
[TO qazse: THIS LAD RIGHT HERE! - Everyone from Team RWBY, JNPR, CVFY, Ozpin, and whoever else is on the RWBY series, will know the Borderlands characters don't care about the "never kill" and "goody-two-shoes" crap - In the end, it's kill or be killed. And the fact that Remnant is no exception is completely true, there are things in Remnant out to kill you such as the Grimm, but the Borderlands' planets ARE WAAAAAY WORSE than Remnant and Teams RWBY and JNPR better get used to killing humans or else they'll never survive a single night away from Remnant.]
Dustiniz117: From what I read in the previous chapter, your in the "Volume 1 Jaundice" part. Or does this chapter and the previous one take place after a short timeskip?
Also, when did Flak or the other Vault Hunters discover that Blake is a Faunus?
The talk between tannis and Oobleck and Port can stay, but have tannis mention Hammerlock to Port since they are both big game hunters, and Port wishes to meet with him to share stories. Instead of Rhys coming to Remnant, have him first communicate via hologram.
As for the training with Team RWBY, probubly best that they train in seperate locations.
And in the event that the vault Hunters take teams RWBY and JNPR into Space, here are the planets in order to visit: Gehenna, Eden-6, Promethea, Athenas, Xylourgos, Handsome Jackpot, Pandora
[TO Dustiniz117: Well Cardin won't exact revenge or bully anyone soon since he almost died by Zane and even threatens him to do so. But yeah sorry, I'm just skipping chapter after chapter and scene after scene. As for your question, it takes place after a short timeskip.
Flak knows Blake is a Faunus because obviously, Flak sees through Blake's physiology with their enhanced optics (X-Ray, Thermal, Infrared, even Night Vision), but they know how to keep a secret.
Yes, I took note of that for the training part, many thanks for that XD
And yes, I'll be sure to follow that order of planets if Team RWBY and JNPR (I still don't know if I'll let Pyrrha live) escape from Remnant after the Fall of Beacon.]
TheWubbzler: I legit did not expect to see my own comment in the Q&A section, Nice. I still feel like the Vault Hunters would be OP even for an Army (Maliwan, Atlas, Dahl and Hyperion all know that Vault Hunters are like a reaper through a field of old people. Especially since they mastered Pocket Dimensional tech, Space Travel and even cheating Death with those New-U stations (Canon depending)) and even that aside they have Eridian tech Digistructing so the Grimm would probably be near extinction, Hell the Brother Gods would probably be just another raid boss to the Vault Hunters.
Another thing I wanna point out, a head won't be capable of screaming when it's lopped off a body, it's vocal cords would be severed and lungs wouldn't be connected to exhale, in fact Zane probably jeopardized his position by shooting the severed head.
I also just realized another missed opportunity when Yang told Amara about the fall, she could've retorted with "That's ok, I don't take Fall damage. Though the climb back up would be a bitch and a half."
[TO TheWubbzler: The Vault Hunters have always been overpowered bruh XD Overpowered equipment, Overpowered abilities, and especially Overpowered weapons, at least Amara knows when to use her weapons, but for now she'll have to use her fists as a fair weapon.
Yeah, Zane wants to be found by the enemy, because he already has a plan (LMAO)
Hmmm, I'm thinking about No Fall Damage in this fanfic - maybe it's unrealistic, but then again - this is RWBY and Borderlands we're talking about, so I'll have to think about that too.]
Welp, that was all for now - the next chapter will surely be the Vault Hunters training each member of Team RWBY, anyways see you around. DEUCES!