Stood together on Fringe's courtyard, Roman could not have looked more different than his brother-in-law. He was from northern Mistral, where the spartan Nikos's and his own – the viking Valkyries – carved bandit lands into tamed cities. Their people had shocks of red hair and wide physiques. Whereas Ren was from southern Mistral, where the lands were decades conquered, people made soft and lithe from peace that, even now, seemed unending.
And yet the gentle smile on their faces were mirrored, like they'd always been kin. It made Nora wonder if Roman was really her brother if not Ren's.
"You two look excited," she said, beaming in that sunshine-off-the-hills sort of way she always did.
"I haven't seen them in a while," Ren said, eyes drifting from hers. He didn't often blush but breaking eye contact was a clear sign of embarrassment he couldn't normally contain. "It would be nice to have more family around."
Roman grinned from ear to ear. His cheek made him a Valkyrie if nothing else. "Getting tired of me already?" he asked.
"Hmph, maybe if you brought in a playmate for An."
"Well, I could! Just need to pry little Genee from…" Roman trailed off. He tried to maintain his smile but words failed him too.
Nora shuffled uncomfortably but bit down on her lip and took Roman's hand to squeeze it. "They don't blame you for what happened," she said. "They would never."
Ren stepped closer. "Mercury and Emerald miss–"
Roman put his hands on their shoulders. His smile was back. "C'mon! Let's not ruin the mood! I just have to get over myself first then I'll come see them."
"Roman, you–"
"It's okay, little brother. I'll go when I'm ready. Not if. When." His right eye flashed in a pale blue ring. "Perfect timing. Blondies are almost overhead." He pushed passed them.
Ren gave Nora a worried look. She shrugged it off, adopted a smile of her own, and kissed his cheek. "He's right. He has to set his own pace."
Roman stood in front of Fringe's mayoral house, a three-story brutalist building with cameras shifting out of its dark corners like myriad eyes. "Over here, flower boy," he pointed at a space by the large double door.
Ren dropped a triangular object onto the ground and tapped the top of it with his slip-on shoe. It projected his emblem – a sharp, three-leaf lotus within two concentric circles – over a wide surface.
Many of the camera's audibly moved, focusing on the emblem.
"Mr. Mayor's just gonna watch?" Nora asked, pointing a thumb at them.
"Something about waiting for the Schnees's little ploy." Roman said. They looked at him unsure why he, an outsider, knew what was going on with their mayor. "May told me," he confessed. They didn't believe him. "Okay, I overheard them talking through the door." They almost believed him, they held the look anyway. "Okay, fine! I bugged the hallway and the lockers."
"Not the office?" Ren asked.
"The man is upstate and single. I'd rather not listen in when he thinks an escort is worth the work out that night."
Nora pat his suit's long coat, giggling at the way the rigid folds waved like cardboard. "You look good, by the way," she said. "Almost makes you look like you're here on business."
"I certainly don't come here for pleasure."
"Please. You love us!"
He ruffled her hair. "That I do." He made to ruffle Ren's hair but Nora beat him to it. Then they both did it. Ren resigned to his fate.
The double doors behind them flung open and an entourage of armed guards stepped out. Their head of security, May Marigold, stepped out between them with a holo-pad hovering under her fingers. She looked at them. "I wasn't aware you'd be interested in the new hires. Are you all starved for fresh faces around here?"
The three of them exchanged looks between them then back at her. "May, honey," Nora began, taking in her motherly tone, "does Mr. Mayor not tell you anything?"
She glanced back at her guards. The tallest, Joanna Greenleaf, shrugged at her. "What? That you three are part of the welcoming committee for some reason?"
"Not officially," Ren replied dryly. He was always even toned with her. "But we're all friends of the Schnees."
She blinked. "You three? Even Torchwick?"
"Aw!" Roman cooed. "You remembered!"
He hugged her head.
"Get off me!"
Her guards only laughed along with them.
"I'll remind you that you're still a Valkyrie," Ren said. "You never even officially changed your last name to Torchwick anyhow."
Roman waved him off, now resting on May's head who deadpanned but let it be. "Not on my card it's not!" he said. "And that's how most of my clients know me."
Nora nudged him. "Yeah, but that's not what's on your papers."
Ren smirked. "And that's where it's legal."
"This mean I call you Valkyrie now?" May asked, loving the way he recoiled.
He pulled away and huffed. "Okay, you've all spent way too much time with Neo. You kids are starting to act like her."
Ren shrugged. "Messing with you is fun and we ought to have learned from the best."
While they continued to poke more fun at Roman (Joanna even joined in), May eyed the glowing sigil on the ground.
"Your new hires will be arriving on it," Ren said, noticing her staring. "Fringe doesn't have a landing pad."
She sighed. "You better clean this afterwards."
"It's holographic, Ms. Marigold."
The blare of an overhead spacecraft caught the wind. It might have been missed entirely were that part of the city not normally quiet at night. "That should be them," Roman said. His right eye twisted as his cybernetic lenses zoomed into it. "Yup. Schnee vessel. They should be down any minute now."
"They coming down in a raft or something?" May asked. "Cause I'm not hearing a hornet. And I sure as hell am not going to authorize a beluga on this tiny lot." She stepped forward and gestured ahead, standing a little too close to the emblem and pointed at the end of the courtyard. "It'll flatten the gate!"
Roman grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back in a yelp. She pulled herself off of him and dusted her sleeve. "I'm going to assume you had a good reason for that, Torchwick."
"Stay out of the circle, Blue. Wouldn't want to flatten you."
She hissed at the nickname but pushed passed it. "Flatten? Are you people dropping upstate silvers in drop ships now?"
"Silver?" Nora asked. "Your boss really didn't bother asking who he's hiring, didn't he?"
May was losing it. "We just assumed we were getting rich kids. What else could they be–?"
Something crashed into the emblem in a thunderous crash, kicking a wave of dirt over them.
"What the fuck…!"
The guards had their staffs pointed at the ready for a potential attack, but when the dust settled, all they saw was an old sword. The edge of the blade was a pulsing purple, and surrounding it was a purple energy moving around like shifting neon mist.
"Is that… gravity dust?" She turned to Roman. "What is happening?"
He chuckled. "A landing strategy."
"A landing strategy?" Her eyes widened. "Gods alive, we hired huntsmen…"
As if on cue, Yang whooped as she descended like a comet. Wind angled around her as the rush of air was sharp against her skin. She bore no fear as the ground rapidly approached. And like an invisible net, the gravity dust caught her and she slowed almost instantly. Whiplash buffeted against her aura. "Whoo!" she cheered as she righted herself and hovered an inch off the ground.
Jaune was screaming as he fell. Even if it was his trick, he hadn't quiet gotten the hang of freefalling. He dared himself not to shut his eyes as the asphalt approached him like the shadowed expanse of the void, but then, predictably, he slowed and hovered over his blade.
"Nice catch," Yang said.
"Yeah, I don't think I get to take credit for that."
They touched ground
He grabbed his blade and the gravity dust quickly filtered back into the edge which glowed an even brighter purple. Once funneled out of a cartridge, dust like that was raw and volatile especially when reabsorbed. So Jaune swung the blade over himself, expelling the energy harmlessly into the air in another thunderous crackle.
Roman pat May on the shoulder before he joined Ren and Nora to greet the new arrivals. May and the rest of her detail were hesitant.
She'd recognized them when the dust settled. Almost couldn't believe her own eyes, but their names and faces were plastered all over the news. They were expecting civies they'd have to babysit but these people didn't need minding.
Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long. These weren't just ordinary huntsmen. Like the Valkyries, they were descendants of conquerors, whose ancestors shaped Remnant under the scourge of the grimm. And someone kicked the hornet's nest by killing some of them. At a fucking wedding.
"Survived by their only son and eldest daughter," said the news. Jaune's eyes seemed less lively in person, even when he was smiling there was an edge to his features, a sharpness to his eyes. He felt and looked dangerous, his height sheering over her own.
Then there was Yang. They caught footage of her at the crime scene. Her eyes were hollow and angry, knuckles pulled tight till they were white. Her smile now was a juxtaposition to that. She had the look of a confident, excitable woman, but that made the buried fury she knew was hiding underneath far more terrifying.
She gulped. Steeled herself.
Putting up a strong front took priority. Because people like them did not hide away for a few months after a tragedy only to come back looking for jobs as security of all things. Especially not in the manifold cesspool that was Vale.
No. If they were here, then they were looking payback a murderer in kind. Being hired as personal bodyguards for a tiny district's mayor was just a cover.
And they were about to sit themselves in the middle of all that.
Cameras around them focused and unfocused like they were blinking at what just happened. May looked back at one of the cameras. Its wide lens seemed to apologize to her.
"What did you bring to our home, Henry?"
»»⋅.⋅««
Nora insisted on a group hug.
"I apologize in advance for all future torments," Roman said when they pulled away. "I'll do everything in my power to stop this city from swallowing you whole."
Yang sighed. "I wanna say we'll be here a year at most but even that sounds terribly naïve."
Jaune looked around. "Where's An?"
"With Neo on Roman's estate," Nora beamed proudly.
"It's an apartment," Ren and Roman corrected.
"It takes the whole floor!"
"It's a small building," they said.
"Boys!"
"What?"
Yang leaned into Jaune. "It's like the twins again," she whispered.
He chuckled.
It didn't take them long to notice the slowly approaching blue-haired woman and her retinue. Judging by their white and gold armor, they were likely the security team they were supposed to be working with.
"May Marigold, I'm head of security here in Fringe. I'm assuming you're the new hires?"
"I'm Jaune," Yang said, shaking her hand.
"Yang," Jaune mimicked.
May guffawed. "W-what?"
They laughed. "Easy," Yang said, "just lightening the mood. Jauney-boy here can read emotions like an empath. Noticed you were nervous."
"Is… is that so?" Roman and Nora snickered at her. She shot them a glare. "I saw you two on the news. My condolences."
"Don't worry about it," Jaune said quickly. "We're fine. Just here to do our jobs and leave it all in the past."
"Neither Vale nor the Fringe would have been my first choice, but if you're here, you're here."
Yang scratched her cheek. She was starting to see a pattern here. She hadn't seen a single person say that they actually liked living here. "Is it just a trend for everyone who lives in this city to also happen to hate it?"
"It's got lien and the newest everything – if you don't count Atlas." Which had androids currently getting their own rights. It was a different can of worms over there. "You won't learn to love it, but there's enough here to convince you that tolerating it for another day might be worth it."
"Like?"
"Botanical gardens," Ren said. "There's tea you'll actually like. Trust me."
"Cake shops!" Nora cheered. "There's like a new one every month."
"Burgers!" one of the guards blurted. "They're selling buy-one-take-threes now and I swear they're worth the grease."
"The parks are lovely," said another guard, barely able to contain herself. "They're always safe with the androids around and they're really quiet. There's always a getaway there."
"Ah, capitalism and commerce," Roman mused, "the beating heart of every city. But enough about the city! You two ought to meet your benefactor." He took them by the shoulders, and pushed them towards the mayoral house.
May led the way. Her guards didn't follow. "We'll get to know each other later. Roman's right. It's best not to keep him waiting."
"We'll be in my restaurant!" Ren shouted. "Just take a right when you get out! You can't miss it!" They waved back at them before the door shut.
The interior was nothing like the outside. Where out there was blocky concrete and tinted glass, the inside looked like an upstate home. Carpeted floors, chandeliers, blood red curtains, and the glass windows were all just displays featuring a dense forest and starry skies. It was like they'd walked into a different place entirely.
"I should also mention that the mayor is my cousin," May said, embarrassed. "He used to live upstate but he's here to make a name for himself outside our family's shadow. So please try not to hold anything against him. He's still in the process of unlearning sounding like a…" She tried to choose the word carefully.
"Like an upstate prick?" Roman offered.
She shot back at him. "Why are you still here!?"
"Oh! Right. Of course." He tapped a holographic panel on his wrist. There was a sound like a muffled and reverberated pop before he went completely invisible.
"No cloaking either!" She shouted to the space where he might have been. "Torchwick? Roman!" She groaned and stomped ahead.
Jaune and Yang shared a look before Yang spoke. "You two seem friendly."
May sighed. "He's mostly here for his siblings. But sometimes he brings good alcohol, so he's alright when you get him alone. A decent story teller too, but I'm sure you two know all about that."
"Aw," Roman cooed beside her. She kicked in his direction and they heard him oof. He forgot to fortify his aura below the waist.
His hand smacked the carpeted floor and May took that as her cue. "C'mon," she waved a hand and the three of them were in a translucent bubble. "He can't see or hear us as long as we're in here."
"You're a huntress?" Jaune asked, guessing. Nowadays it was getting hard to tell semblances from tech.
"It's not hereditary, if that's what you're asking. Was born with it among… other things. The rest of the Marigolds don't like anything that I am. That's why I'm here. My cousin is the only one in my family who's ever cared about what I thought."
Jaune scoffed. "Sounds like a bunch of upstate silvers sent their huntress daughter somewhere they couldn't see her."
"You're better off without them," Yang agreed.
May smiled. She might come to like them after all. "Almost true," she said conversationally. "They wanted to pump me full of Silver so I'd lose my aura and be like them. I told them to fuck off and went here." She glanced back at them. "I heard Lie used to have aura. Then they pumped him full of Silver. That true?"
"He hasn't told you?" Yang asked, "I mean, it's not exactly a secret."
"Too embarrassed to ask?" Jaune offered, guessing and – from the way she was looking at him – he guessed right."
"He's, uh… We don't talk much about that kind of stuff."
Yang crossed her arms. "Or at all, you mean."
Heat rushed to May's cheeks. "We do talk. Just not very often."
"You're blushing."
May's lip tilted. "Thank you, I hadn't noticed…" She didn't know why she was admitting to all of this but now that it was out in the open, she saw the chance to be honest. "Could you blame me? I heard he used to kill cryptids with his bare hands!"
"Nora kills them with her bare hands now."
"She has cybernetic arms that shoots lightning! That's basically cheating."
"To be fair," Jaune said, "she could do that before the implants. That's her semblance."
May shivered.
Yang pulled up beside her. "I'm sensing a story here. Care to share?"
She wanted to. With the way she was hesitating, it was clear, but now wasn't the time. They rounded a corner passed a marble pillar and some guards. The hallway they were in was largely empty and quiet. More reason to tell them now.
"May."
She paused and whirled around to find them stopping. "I…"
"I know that look," Jaune said, smiling down at her. Gods he was tall. "My youngest sister has it every time she wants something but doesn't expect anyone to take her seriously."
May warred with herself as they gave her encouraging looks and… Roman was nudging her back. He'd caught up but was lending her silent support. She sighed. "I need training, is all." They blinked at her. "I know, I know. Head of security needs help for some reason. But I learned most of my fighting on my own or from disparate azkalls." That was what they called huntsmen that mixed with regular people. Only half as likely to produce a child with aura.
"Must have been hard," Yang sympathized. "They don't exactly have centralized training."
"None, actually. As a Marigold I was born with a silver spoon and no teacher for miles." She scowled bitterly at herself. "No, it's okay. When we get better acquainted, we can talk. For now, my cousin will need to see you."
She turned and paused. Roman's hand squeezed on her shoulder. With a tiny smile, she sighed and let her cloaking sphere fall away.
"Are you sure?" Yang asked. "We'd like to help if we can."
May kept blushing. "Are you all like this? You huntsmen families? Just eager to help the helpless?"
Roman chuckled. "Blue, you are the furthest thing from helpless."
"Thank you, Roman," she said, completely ignoring how the nickname annoyed her.
She led them down more winding halls where guards saluted her. Jaune nearly saluted back once. They stopped at the end of a tucked away corridor with a single window that projected the moon with its golden cracks.
Pressing her fingers to the wall, low lights shined beneath her digits. They flashed green before the wall itself opened into a reception room. Beyond that was a glass door to the main office.
The reception hall seemed strangely like a living room. Sure there was a secretary's desk (empty for some reason) and a coffee table with magazines, but the rest of it was homey. Books with worn spines lined the shelves, a last-century fabric lamp stood in the corner with a chain that clicked it on, and a glass display with memorabilia like trophies, diplomas, and old toys. Over on one wall by the glass door were a collage of photos. Most of them were of two boys with blue hair. A host of girls were in some of them. One frame on a table was faced down.
C̴͟͞ ̷̨̢̛H̶̀ ̵̶Ȩ̕͞C̨͢͏͠ ̷͜͠͏K̸̶̶͟ ̵̵́͢͝ ̵ ̸̵ ̶̕ ̶͘I̛͜͠ ̴̛҉͟ ͏͘ ҉͠͏҉T̀͟͡
Jaune flipped it over. The boys were teenagers in this one but there was a third between them. A red-haired one.
May put the frame down again. She didn't look displeased with him, just sad.
"Oh, sorry."
"Don't be. I… I should be over it," she muttered.
The glass door slid open in a quiet hiss revealing an office and a tall screen with various sales figures and graphs. A wide, ornate desk stood at the end of the room with a tall-backed leather swivel chair that faced away from them.
They waited by the door as May stood by the chair. "Sir, they're here to see you." A slight nervousness snapped at her frown. "Sir?"
"We're alone, aren't we?" came a familiar voice. May panicked silently. "Call me by my name. And send them in in a minute. Look at this dress first. Do you like it?" He shoved a holo-pad her way.
"Uh… yes." She made every effort not to make eye contact with the bemused guests but her eyes were drawn to the dress as soon as she actually got a good look at it. It was silken yellow with a layer of something glimmering like tiny diamonds speckling it.
Jaune and Yang decided that her tiny smile suited her well.
"It'll match your eyes," the mayor said proudly. "Try it on when it arrives. I'm sure you'll look stunning."
"I… thank you, Henry."
Something clicked. "Henry?" Jaune asked quietly. They couldn't stop him when he stepped forward and asked, "Henry Marigold?"
A mop of blue hair peeked over the side of the chair. "Oh, how kind of you to remember my name." The chair spun around, revealing the very man who slapped Jaune at the wedding. He had a small bruise across the bridge of his nose. Yang felt a little sorry about that. "Arc. Xiao Long. Oh! And the elder Valkyrie."
Roman winced but didn't bother correcting him.
"What a pleasant surprise!"
Jaune couldn't correct him. According to his semblance, Henry was genuinely pleased to see them. He was bursting with yellow. For joy.
May beside him was growing a deeper pink.
Yang looked to Jaune nervously. "I'm mostly just surprised," Yang said. "Uh, sorry about the scar, by the way."
Henry laughed. "Ha! No. May happens to think it's quite fetching on me."
May was drowning in pink. "H-Henry, if we could discuss their contracts."
"Of course." He gestured to the space in front of his desk. Three seats came up from the floor. "Please. Sit."
"I didn't expect to see you so chipper after the last time we spoke," Jaune asked.
Henry shrugged. "I'd have otherwise been civil. No harm, really, but I'm in a good mood." He raised his holo-pad. "I was in a bit of financial trouble between some failing equipment in the Iron Crater and manufacturing slowing down with the Gold Standard – my brand, if you'd remember – but then the Schnees swooped in with a partnership and now the books are balanced!"
Jaune and Yang traded a look with Roman who only shrugged. When he showed up at the wedding, he seemed like an upstart silver (calluses or not), but here he was on an independent business with his cousin. Both of them likely exiled from their own rich family.
Henry pulled out a pair of digital glass panels with forms overlayed on them. "Now, the Schnees stipulated that you are to be as autonomous as can be allowed. So that means no patrols, and no guard duty. You are, however, to wear the uniform and accompany me to important venues."
Yang's eyes narrowed. "I'm not putting on a dress for you."
"I don't date the help, Ms. Xiao Long." He grinned and pressed on. "You'll both have private residency outside of the barracks – deductible from your pay. You are also employed by the Schnees themselves for whatever tasks they may need of you." They nodded, just a little surprised at that. Even Roman. "And I believe this was the most important bullet point," he splayed his fingers together, "we're not to ask any questions?" He spared a glance at May who was equally uncertain.
Yang nodded. "You've got your business and we've got ours. We're not gonna hand you over to the authorities if we see anything the police wouldn't like, but the same goes for us."
"Leaves me to wonder why you're really here."
Jaune crossed his arms. "That's dangerously close to a question, don't you think?"
Henry backed off immediately. "Of course." He played it cool enough to freeze the room but there was a swirling grey of concern pulsing in his chest. Jaune wanted to alleviate his fears since he was taking a risk by harboring them. He'd prove he could be trusted despite his secrets.
Henry slid the contracts across his desk to them. They wrote their signatures with a finger and the bio signature confirmed their identities.
"Oh! And before I forget," – Henry reached into his desk and then tossed a set of yellow keys at Jaune – "these came in the mail for you as per some inheritance. Had it hauled into your new garage. I'm assuming you know how to start those old cars?"
Most cars operated with bio signatures or digital tickets from scrolls and holo-pads. But keys? Those were old school. He only knew one person who could have driven them and these were likely hers. She'd even taught him how to drive them one summer.
"Yeah… I remember."
T͟͠ ̀e̴̴ņ͡ ҉ ̷̧ ̷an̡͢͠ ̧d͡҉ ̨͟ T W̵҉ ̴̷́ò̴̢ ͞,͡
l̵͜ i҉͠͡ T̛͞͞T̷ ̵́͞L̶ ̀̕͠e̵̢ ́ ̧͠ ́҉B͘r̨̡͠ ̵̨͞O̢͝ T̛͘͝h̢ ͜ę̵͝ ̀͟͡ r̷҉͞
»»⋅.⋅««
Roman and May had an understanding. Not about the alcohol – nothing need be said to have agreed on that. She knew he was bugging the hallways, had them lined up under every bedframe in the barracks, and strung along major patrols. They weren't worried about Henry, after all. (He'd bugged his office regardless but May proved adept at finding them every time. He'd given up).
He passed by a few guards while he was cozy under cloak, careful not to touch them but took every opportunity to subtly catch a glimpse of any stand-out features. Tattoos, cybernetics, accessories, anything that might have connected them to any gangs or syndicates. None of note on those two. They laughed and joked, talking animatedly about a theater show they could watch over the weekend.
"You see them?" Roman thought. "Cross them out."
"What?" May echoed in his head. "How the fuck did you check them off at a glance?"
"Name one gang that watches theater."
They were communicating via their neural implants. They were very weak psychics, the kind that can get a hint of how you felt if they touched your skin for long enough. Contact Empathy. It wasn't very useful and was often misinterpreted but it meant they were compatible for the implant.
It was coincidence that they both had it prior to meeting. Roman just called it fate. May called it dumb luck.
"The Evolved," May said. "A lot of them are upstate. Hell, I knew one of them. Flynt Coal."
"The musician? You get around, Marigold. You a groupie?"
She groaned and tried to ignore that last part. "I knew him before the gene-modding. Or the fame. Or the… never mind. You get the point. They're staying on the fucking list."
Roman disagreed but didn't say aloud. The Evolved weren't ones for espionage and Flynt, like most of his gang, was more or less clean. "If we keep running around the what-ifs, we're never going to narrow down the list."
"I'm not taking any chances, Torchwick. We only cross out when we land guarantees. I'm not arresting my people on guesswork."
"It's professional guesswork, Blue. It's really no different from most of your detectives."
"Stop calling me that!"
Roman uncloaked. He was at the front door.
"Where are you going?" May asked pointedly. "It's been minutes and we've still got a blind spot in the basement that needs bugging."
"I'm not missing out on breakfast pancakes for dinner."
"What?!"
"Ren and Nora have guests, i.e. dinner pancakes."
"We've got a job to do!"
"And it can wait while I reacquaint with some old friends." He cut off the feed before pushing open the front door.
He took a direct right towards a row of small houses clustered together. They weren't actually houses though, more like the facades of ones. Ren and Nora owned a quirky restaurant that served tables in minimalist living rooms. Like a bed and breakfast with none of the bed and too much of the breakfast.
They'd closed the place early it seemed, but he knew where to find them.
The furthest right 'house' was still lit and he opened it to find a faux living room with an actual working kitchen. As expected, there was pancakes.
"Roman!" they cheered. Even Ren. Kind of. He had difficulty raising his voice. Bless his heart, he was trying.
Jaune stood behind the sofa, combing through Ren's long hair. Ren winced at the split ends Jaune had to straighten out. By the dinner table, Yang was tweaking Nora's cybernetic arm which was normally had to see under her synthetic skin. Not so when they were laid out with their internals. Her digits twitched and tapped the marble table in erratic rhythms, her giggling along with it.
"Glad you didn't vomit on the way down," Roman said to Jaune.
"Rapid g-force tends to hold it all in," Jaune shrugged. "So, you've got intel for us?"
"My favorite kind, even," Roman grinned, pulling out a set of photos from his jacket. He threw at the table and they gathered around them. "Bloody and dangerous."
"Bloody?" Yang asked before returning to the photos. "Don't tell me your mole died getting these."
"No, no. Watts blew someone up. Popped 'em like a balloon. I don't know who but it had to have been someone important." He grabbed one of the photos. One of Watts walking out of a building with three people. A gator faunus, a woman in a red dress, and a man in a white skull mask. "These three with the man-of-the-hour are lieutenants for the biggest gang in the city: The Ghost Vipers."
"So is he in the gang or…?" Jaune rolled his hands.
"I can't confirm, but it's likely. So let's just assume that's the case and move on."
He pulled up another photo where Watts raised his hand while saying something. The others around him were captured mid-flinch. "He's got them cowed. All of them. These were some of the toughest sons-of-bitches in this whole damn city and he's got them scared day one."
"Considering what he can do, it's no wonder," Yang mumbled, resisting the urge to shudder.
He pulled up the final photo. Watts was stepping into a sleek black and dark green car. "This is a Traveler, Nebula series. And, pop quiz, kiddies, do you know who manufactures this line of ass-out-of-your-life-savings cars?"
"The Gold Standard," Yang answered. "Does May–?"
Roman raised his hands. "They're already on it. Henry's given us complete access to company records. We're sure to find which branch he got it from and we'll go from there."
Yang took the photo from him. "There's something else… Travelers don't have this color. This paintjob was personalized."
"So he's either wasting his time doing it himself…" Ren said.
"Or he got it done in a shop," Jaune finished.
Roman sighed dreamily, clapping his hands together as if swooning. "That is a lead I can get behind. Auto shops aren't exactly shady, but if Watts wanted it done quietly, he'd have to go underground. A butcher."
Nora quirked a brow. "Butcher?"
"They take apart stolen cars," Yang answered. "Sell off the parts at a premium and keep the rest for repairs or scrap."
"Brands tend to keep pulling their customers back for repairs," Roman mused, smiling like he was teaching a class. "Unique parts mean you'll only get replacements at the same place. A Butcher not only cuts out the corporate penny-pinching but also their monitoring. So I'll bet you he'll keep coming back to the same place for maintenance. They'll be discreet and won't have records of him, but what's better than the real thing if he shows up when we're paying a visit?"
"And if it's a lackey that comes in instead?"
"Well," Roman chuckled, "then I'll get Neo to talk to them."
Jaune winced. It was reflex. He knew he should have felt uncomfortable about Neo's particular brand of interrogation, but he felt nothing of it. Like it was normal. Maybe this is just what the new normal is?
An explosion rocked the building.
They didn't have time to guess. They sprinted out the door to find the gate to the district having been blown open in the distance. Smoke covered it but it was quickly parted on command by the same woman in red from the photos.
"Cinder Fall…" Roman whispered with a barely contained heat beneath his almost uncharacteristic glare.
The two other lieutenants emerged with her. The gator faunus had a mic in hand. Her voice boomed with the speakers off a truck behind them. "KNOCK KNOCK!" she called out. "Pay homage fuckers. The Vipers are in town!"
Fringe's security formed a semi-circle between the Vipers and the rest of the district, but they didn't move. Behind the lieutenants, more of their gang funneled through the ruined gate. They weren't kidding about lacking security… they were easily outmatched three-to-one if not demonstrably more.
»»⋅.⋅««
Tock amused herself with the abject fear of everyone around her. The security, the civilians, even that self-important little princess May Marigold cowering behind her retinue. If only her face had shown it. Oh well, maybe she could carve it in her cheeks later. "We heard you had some new friends here in these parts looking for the boss! Why don't you bring them out? Meet the inevitable." She emphasized with a grin of her steel teeth.
Cinder beside her laid out her cybernetic left hand. Tock was reluctant to give up the mic but gave it anyway.
"This is not a threat," Cinder said. "It is a guarantee. The Vipers do not take kindly to threats against their own."
The third among them, the man with the skull mask, didn't need a mic. The two half ends of his disjointed jaw moved as he spoke. His voice seemed connected to the speakers already. "Make no mistake, Fringe is still very much Viper territory," his low, but slightly garbled voice said, like he was talking through an old speaker. "It's just that up until now, this place wasn't worth the bother, but now you've painted a target on yourselves."
"Not worth the bother!?" May thought. "You just couldn't get through our walls and not get shafted with any of your raiding parties. Now you've brought an army. You're over committing. Scared."
"I wouldn't say scared, per se," Roman echoed in her head. "They're agitated. Think they can scare us into giving in or backing off. I don't think they share their boss's caution."
"Roman!?"
"You didn't cut the feed off on your end. Dangerous thing, that. But, look, I've got a plan."
May made a few more irritated faces before she breathed and spoke on her headset for her troops. "Hold the line. No matter what. Hold the line."
She turned to the Vipers up ahead. "You think your junkies and street thugs are going to put a dent on my security?" She challenged as she stepped passed the human barricade. She smacked a hand against the dense armor plating of one of her own. They didn't even flinch. "They won't even touch 'em!"
Tock growled, stomping forward herself as she snagged the mic from Cinder's hands. "Oh yeah!? I literally eat steel, Princess. You gonna put yourself between me and them?"
May scowled. "If I have to…!"
"Good!" Tock cheered tossing back the mic to draw her dual sabers. "I've been waiting for a chance to carve a smile on your rigid little face!"
Ren and Nora came out of the barricade and stood with May. Ren drew dual daggers whilst Nora's arms opened to reveal electric coils that surged with lightning. May drew courage from them and pulled out her crossbow staff. Its dust bolt shined a pale blue as she held it forward.
Tock nearly stopped before Cinder and Adder – the skull faced man – came up beside her. Their raiding party stomped in unison as they followed, the massive horde shook the tarmac and asphalt with every unified step. She nearly ran in excitement. "All this bravado for a pair of assholes?" she thought."You're gonna regret hiding them."
"Boss!" one of her own cried out behind her. She turned too late.
Jaune was in the air in a vortex of snow, blade swinging with ice dust. It struck her hand as it came down, freezing her saber entirely down to her forearm. He swung back around and struck her blade with so much force that it shattered out of her hands. Were it not for her other saber, he'd have struck her head. "Who the fuck!"
His blows were unrelenting as he stepped forward with every strike, forcing her retreat. They were heavy, her aura buckling against her arm. She couldn't keep fighting him one the backfoot.
She jumped back to give herself some space but he swung his sword into the ground. The edge of it was glowing white and it exploded like a flashbang, the light blinding her.
His rapidly approaching footfalls were heavy. She panicked.
She activated her semblance and made herself invincible for a time. Steel glanced off her neck and though she was blinded, she made a return slice that struck him anyway. Then, just as her eyes were recovering, he'd tackled her to the ground. She couldn't move.
She expected Cinder to come and help by now but then she heard the woman yelp passed a thunderous boom.
Yang struck into Cinder's guard but she'd blocked when she quickly coated her arms in molten steel. "A dust mage…" Yang thought. "No wonder's she's in a dress of all things."
She stepped back before she lunged with her fist again, creating a funneled shockwave that Cinder sidestepped just in time.
"May hid you two with her semblance," Cinder said. "Clever, but it looks like you're running out of tricks." She'd used the same shockwave move twice. Already she was unimpressed.
Yang grinned. Roman told her about Cinder. An arrogant woman who underestimated everyone. It was the reason she lost her left arm and it was clear she hadn't learned her lesson. "I heard you hurt a few of my friends," she said as they steadily clashed.
"Oh, Emerald and Mercury? The little traitors deserved worse. The Vipers would have stopped with them, but their mistake was double-crossing me. Once I'm done with this town, I'm coming after their little brat."
Yang scowled and charged with a raised fist. Cinder dodged back easily as Yang overcommitted and struck the ground, creating a massive ice shard between them. Before she could melt through the ice with a molten arrow, however, the entire ice shard was blasted towards her.
She was struck. Dragged along with it.
She encased herself in an aura of fire, super heating herself like charred steel.
The ice melted into a fine mist over and around her. Yang was a good few feet away but she needed to fight close quarters to be effective. Cinder didn't have that problem. She summoned a molten bow and–
–She was stabbed through her cybernetic arm! A long needle-like point pierced through her unfortified aura. She could barely register her aura before Roman emerged from the icy mist, wielding the needle point at the end of his cane.
"Cindy! I didn't think I'd see you so soon!" greeted Roman as he twisted his weapon and ripped her robotic arm off. She screamed. The sputtering static satisfyingly resembled torn sinew. "How about a welcome back gift, ah?" He leaned in, grinning darkly. "Like an eye for an eye?"
He brought the other end of his cane over where the jeweled top glinted with fire dust. Cinder blocked with a pillar of steel, giving herself time to replace the destroyed arm with more molten steel. Just then, Yang came barreling in but Cinder shifted the pillar to block her too.
Around her was chaos. May was holding the line and ordering her guards to fire on the other Vipers. Her own dust mages lobbed great fireballs at the barricade but the guards were projecting hard-light shields to protect themselves. Cinder was struck in the back by an energy bolt. She couldn't protect herself from every direction.
»»⋅.⋅««
Adder was doing no better.
His spear bounced off the ground and flew towards Nora but she blocked it with the side of her arm. The spear flew back magnetically but Ren kicked it out of the air, delaying its return long enough to slice up into Adder's arms with his daggers. Nora followed after and struck his arms with her fists. He blocked it but it did nothing against the lightning dust that combed over him as he was blasted back.
His spear finally returned to him and he held it pointed at them. "We need to retreat," he whispered. His eyes glanced at the Vipers as they charged still, their trucks coming in as battering rams for the barricade.
He swung wide as he retreated to his men, some of them noticing and firing at Ren and Nora.
One of the trucks were fasting approaching, whizzing past Cinder and a fleeing Tock in time to give them time to escape.
May braced with her team, prepared to hold it back with their shields.
They didn't need to.
It exploded when something impacted it. Smoke fanned out from the blast but it settled quickly. There nothing left of the truck.
In its place, a glowing red spear was expelling the last of its fire dust before Whitely Schnee floated down with his hover boots to collect it. His massive round shield shifted magnetically from his back to his left arm.
Among the crowd of still charging Vipers, a large bull faunus grunted as he revved his chainsaw. "A Schnee!" he roared. Two others joined him.
Whitley held up his shield, its size effectively hiding him. Behind it, the back of the shield projected what was in front as if it was transparent. With the superior length of his spear and a tilt of his shield, he swung twice. He struck one Viper in the neck then swung back around at another's knee – May's firing squad finished that one off.
He raised the shield to block the downward chainsaw. From his crouched position, he poked into the knees of the bull faunus. He buckled and fell onto the shield with a grunt.
Whitley hoisted and spun him around against the shield. With a crouch, his shield covered his silhouette entirely.
The bull faunus scraped his nails against the shield. He turned at the sound of readying bolts. His back was turned to the barricade and Whitley had just hunkered down. "Son of a–!" He was pin-cushioned with energy bolts.
He fell of the shield.
More Vipers came. Whitley hid behind his shield so they couldn't see his stoic expression devolve into bated breath.
"Are you alright?" Weiss asked through his earpiece.
"I was trained by the great Pyrrha Nikos herself." He struck his shield into an oncoming thug. "I've got this. Ha…!" He breathed. "Probably. How about those turrets?"
"Someone's jamming long range signals. It's probably why the police haven't arrived yet. Their patrols had to see it themselves and run back to the precinct for back up."
He stabbed one in the neck and threw his shield at another. "So how much longer?"
"We're still programming the turrets. I'm rushing them as much as I can but we need to time this right. You have to hold them off." She paused as he threw his shield at one of Cinder's distant dust mages, making him misfire his fire ball and exploding it into his own gang. "Please tell me you have more dust. They've got more trucks incoming."
He checked his waist. He hadn't packed any on his way down. "I'm out!"
Jaune and Yang, having lost their respective targets to the retreat, watched a truck barrel towards the left side of the barricade.
Yang punched into her right palm. Her left gauntlet then disassembled and shifted over to the right, doubling its size. "Jaune!" she shouted.
Jaune nodded. He spun tossed his blade as it spun horizontally in the air. "Nail!"
"Hammer!" She punched it, firing it like a high-speed bullet.
It cut the truck in two, its sides sliding against the floor in a thunderous screech of metal and concrete. One stopped harmlessly to the side of the courtyard and the other spun and struck the barricade but lost so much of its momentum that the guards hardly moved.
On the other side, Nora was thrown into the truck, her body shooting with lightning that blew up any flammable part of it, turning it into rubble around her as it toppled on its side and continued to explode.
By then, the Vipers were all on one side. Many of them fleeing but most rallying behind their lieutenants. More trucks were on the way, their noisy engines filling the air.
"This was a mistake," Adder spat quietly between Cinder and Tock. "We need to get out of here."
"Agreed," Cinder breathed.
"We can't," Tock said. Their gang was cheering behind them. Undeterred by their losses. "The drugged-up idiots still think we can win and the others are just getting off on their hype. We turn tail now, we'll look like cowards."
"You don't even have aura anymore!" Adder hissed.
"We have backup incoming," she reasoned. "If Cinder's mages keep them from firing, we can throw bodies at the huntsmen long enough for my aura to charge. Our mistake was coming here with so little." The trucks stopped at the ruined gate just then, more fanatical canon fodder flooded out into the courtyard. "We've got that problem rectified."
"We should have come with the other lieutenants," Adder said. "Adam would have been useful."
Tock scoffed. "He would have hogged all the glory. Wait, where's Cinder?"
She'd slipped away and fronted with the rest of the Vipers. Her dust mages winged her, molten shields holding a line while fireballs fell from the sky, crashing into May's guards and even the other Vipers who didn't retreat in time and were still fighting huntsmen.
She held out her hands as two of her cohorts placed pure earth and fire dust crystals in each hand. Slapping them together, the crystals melted in her palms and oozed raw dust. Then she pulled them apart, creating a massive dust spear that she floated into the air. "No more games!"
The spear hurtled like a rocket towards the barricade. The huntsmen dodged out of its way but it made a beeline for May. She pushed her people to the sides and tried to move but the spear broke through the hard-light shielding and crashed into her shoulder.
She was thrown back through the door.
May slumped on the ground inside the building. Her aura fizzled out as she pushed herself up. Her pauldron was ripped out and her shoulder was bruised, but she was alive.
"Blue!?" Roman called.
"I got grazed. I'll be fine. Just keep my people alive and I'll consider all this shit worth the trouble…"
Henry descended the steps to her side. "May?"
"Henry… Remember the first aid I taught you?"
He already had a cold compress pressed on her. "Yes, now lie down. Help is on the way."
"The police?"
"No. They're stuck fighting Vipers on the way here. The Schnee's beluga is within range. It's fine now. You're safe."
»»⋅.⋅««
Outside, Cinder fired off another spear.
Jaune slid into its path and crossed his arms. His forearms opened on their sides as two shields emerged and folded over each other. The spear struck true, and even though his cybernetics took the brunt of it, he felt his aura take a huge hit.
"I can tank another one, tops," he said to Yang behind him. "We need to put her down!"
She had her palm at his back. She'd felt the force of Cinder's spear too and it was fueling her semblance but there was so much force behind that spear throw. She breathed heavy as she felt her muscles constrict onto her bones as if they were trying to snap her.
"I can take one too," she said. "Ngh! I can hardly move. You gotta toss me."
He grabbed her by the arm, watching Cinder aim at the weakened left side of the barricade. They'd already blocked a truck. Their shields didn't matter but their people were exhausted from the blow. They grit their teeth as Jaune spun Yang and threw her in that direction.
The spear fired.
Yang slid into place and struck it at the tip. It collapsed into high-speed shrapnel that flew into the Vipers and even shattered some of their shields.
Cinder growled. Her people were undeterred, continuing their slow advance amidst the hail of energy bolts.
Whitley scrambled to the right side as he covered Ren and Nora with his shield. They couldn't do anything against the horde nor stop Cinder. If he was being honest, Whitley couldn't either. A spear that ripped through medium-grade aura like May's was certainly going to break his shield and his arm.
Cinder likely knew that as she aimed her spear at him next.
Roman uncloaked as he ran passed him. Cinder growled and pointed at him instead but the man was coming in and out of cloak every time he changed directions.
"Cinder!" Adder shouted. "He's not worth the trouble!"
"No!" she spat. "He took my arm! Again! Now I'm taking his!"
She fired, but Roman ducked at the last minute.
"Another!" she shouted. Another spear, and he was so close.
"Cinder!"
"I've got him!"
She fired.
Roman was struck square in the chest. Concrete shattered behind him, the sound somehow resembling glass.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
There was an inhale, audible and watery. Roman slowly limped as he puked blood. He choked as he struggled to stand with a hole in his chest.
He rose to stand, only to fall on his knee. Defiance burned in his eyes. Roman refused to die.
Cinder grinned. "See?" she said to Adder.
"You almost missed him. We still wasted time."
"What do you mean? It was a direct hit! I wasn't even close to missing him."
Adder squinted. "Something's not right…"
The Vipers collectively gasped and sputtered profanities.
Roman stood as his spewed blood boiled over the concrete. He stepped forward and slumped kneeling into the puddle. The boiling blood to raced over him and covered his body.
He swayed back then forward as he grew ten times his own size, his fingers as long as any man, his mouth like a gaping maw. Cinder realized that she never knew what his semblance was.
Roman rose high as his body morphed. And he laughed an otherworldly laugh that held in the night sky like the stars themselves laughed with him. The noise of it filled the spaces till he reached his tallest height, casting a shadow over the gang. Some of them even fled.
"Cinder!" Tock shouted.
She already had another spear ready. Roman was too slow to move out of the way this time.
The spear was hurled and struck him in the head. It shattered a glass illusion.
"What the fuck?!" Tock surmised succinctly.
There was still laughter.
Beside the horde was Roman laughing with his wife who, for all her silence, had a snicker that echoed enough in Cinder's growing madness to be loud.
"Neo!?"
She looked at Cinder in mock surprise. Then she did a little wave before pointing upwards at the sky.
Above them, the whir of powered-down cloaking tech revealed the Schnee beluga and its roaring twin engines. Escape pods fired from its hull and landed over choice spots on top of buildings and along the courtyard.
Cinder tried to put another spear together.
Roman tossed Neo into the air. She was wielding Roman's cane.
She blasted Cinder and sent her skidding along the floor.
The pods all split open, revealing an array of massive single-barrel turrets.
Weiss's voice boomed from the beluga. "Ghost Vipers, to any of you that survive tonight, let it be known that the Fringe is under the protection of the SDC." The turrets were armed audibly at once like a single metallic clap. "There will be no warning shots."
The turrets fired into the gang in unified bursts, quickly eliminating the dust mages at the fore. Their molten shields didn't even slow the shots.
The Vipers scattered as they congested towards the gate. The lieutenants were scrambling to the back, using their own as human shields but the bodies were thinning around them.
Tock leapt over the congesting crowd and escaped into the street.
Cinder and Adder found themselves exposed at the rear with fewer and fewer bodies to shield them.
Another volley fired.
There was a flash. Adam Taurus stood between them with a line of his own elite, dressed red, white, black. They had deflected the shots. Adam glanced back in the half second of before the next volley. He glared as Adder and Cinder scrambled out of the gate.
Another volley.
One of Adam's men grunted. Even with deflecting the shots, the impact chipped at their aura through force alone. "My arm feels like it's shattering," the hyena faunus hissed. "Those shots are no joke."
A blonde fox faunus spoke, his voice calm. "Cinder and Adder have escaped. The fodder are not worth losing any of our own, Adam."
Adam nodded then turned to the mouse faunus crouched behind them. She was shaking with her large ears pressed to the sides of her head. She squeaked whenever they deflect a volley.
"Get us out of here," he told her.
She nodded quickly, crossed her arms, then swung them aside. Another flash, a glowing circle appeared beneath them before they vanished along with it.
And the remaining Vipers either fled or died.
»»⋅.⋅««
Sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the middle of a field of bodies, Yang and Jaune stared at the carnage then up at the hovering beluga.
"You should all rest," Weiss said. Large drones attached four more turrets to the underside of the ship. It certainly wasn't a civilian transport anymore. "I'll go clean house." It flew off.
Yang sighed. Tension eased off her shoulders but wouldn't stop thrumming in her heart. "First day in Vale and we already have a massacre to our names."
Jaune shook his head as he leaned on his side and rested the back of his head on Yang's arm. "So much for being discreet…"
"At least we know what we're up against," Yang offered.
"More than that."
"Hm?"
"We know Watts isn't just another lieutenant. He's their boss. He came here and unseated their leader –whoever they were – and now it's him."
"You could kinda figure," she said. They were all afraid of him after all, "but now that we know for sure, that means finding out where they're all hiding."
Jaune eyed the corpses again. Flies were starting to gather.
Yang watched the hard lines of his glare. He hardly resembled the man he used to be. "Jaune?" she asked softly, so quietly that it was pleading, but it was like he didn't hear her.
"A whole lot more people are going to be dead before this is all over…" He stared into the eyes of a dead Viper, a bullet straight through the head. Jaune only felt contempt. The words he spoke didn't feel like his own. "…and they'll all deserve it."
His hand found hers and squeezed it desperately. He was shaking. Afraid.
Ţ̡̧́͡H̶҉̨ ̴̶̴È̶́Y̛ ͘͡͠'̴͜͠͏ ̸̸̶̨͢L̴ ̨ ̶̧̛͟͝ ҉̵L҉͟͢ ͏̸̷͢ ̴̢̡́̕ À͘͘͡Ļ̢̛͘ ̷͟͝L̛̀ ̸̢ ̛̕ ̷͠͞ ̴͡҉̶ ̴ ̸̧̕͝͏ ̴D͠ ̵̴̡̛͡É̛̕ ͏̷̧̀͝S̨̨̡͞͝ ̷̷ ̡͘͠Ȩ͏͝͡ ̶̧̛͟͞R̸̸̵̢̢ ̕͝V̷̴̨͟͜ ͏́ ͏ ̷̶̧̕͝È̶̛̕ ̶̡ ̀͡ ̀͡͏ ̴̵̴͝ ̡́͞ ̛̀̀́I̡̡̕͝ ̧̛͟͝҉ ͘T͢͡͠
Ţ͘͠H̨̕ ̶̀̀͟͠E͝͏̢Y̵̴̵ ̴̡̛͏̴'̛͢͠ ͘͜͝L̷̢͜͡ ́̕̕͏ ̴͜͞͠ ̸͡L̴͢ ̛̀ ̶͘͏̸͠À͢Ĺ̶̛͝͞ ̕͜L̢͝҉͟ ̴̵̡ ̵̴̴͠ ̧͠ ̵͏ ̴͢͞ ̸̸͞ ̶̸̡̛D̴̷̀͟͡ ̵͡͞E̸͟͞ ̴̀͘͡S͢͟ ̸̡͠ ̡̛͝͡E͘̕͞ ̶̧͜Ŗ̵͠ ̷̢̕V̡̢́̀̀ ̀̕͘͢͠ ̸̷̡͜͡ ͟͠E̴͞ ̸͝҉͠ ̶́ ̴҉ ̷ ̡ ͝I̧͘͠ ̨͘͜ ́͟T҉̴͟
T̢́H̨̡̨̕ ͢E̶̷͠Y̴̶̛ ̵̛̕͠'̛͢͝͝ ̴̧͝͏̴L͘͡ ̢̀͢ ̀ ͏̀͠Ĺ̵͘̕ ̷̵̷ ́͜A͞҉̶͢͞L̨̡̛͠͝ ̷̛͢͡Ĺ̶̢͘͟ ͢͏͠ ͢͏̷̷ ͢͞ ̨͘ ̀̀͘͟͡ ̢̨͏ ̵̴̡͞͞D̢̢́ ҉̷E̛͡͏̀ ̵̛S͘ ̸̢̢͟ ̧͞Ȩ͘͟͠ ̵̛͡R̵̡͢ ͠V̧̢͡ ͟͞͝ ͠͠͠ ̢̨̛̕͢E̵ ̨̧̀͜ ̢͞ ̴̴̛͞ ̷̛́̀͜ ̛̛̀͡ ̶̵̡̕͟Í̷̢̡͜ ̴͠ ͝͝͞T̨̛͏͘
T͏́́H̸́͘͝͝ ͠E̶͜Ý̨̡ ҉̨̧'̵̴̡͜ ̷̢̨̛L̴̨͘ ̨̡͘̕ ̴ ̡҉͢Ĺ̴͜͢ ̴͏̀ ͏̵̧͡A̶҉҉L̷̸̢ ̸̛́̕L̷̛͢͜ ́͢ ̶̴͜ ҉̀ ̵̵͘͡͡ ̴̸̶̛ ̧͢͡͞͝ ̵̸̧̕͝D̨̀͝ ͜҉̸̵E̵͘͞͏ ̶̕̕͠S̴͘ ̡̨͟ ̸͏̸̡͢E҉̴̵͝ ̨̛͟R̶͟ ̷͟͏̕V̵̧̢͞ ͟͢ ͏͞ ̴̶̕̕͡E̷͡ ̷̴͘ ̴̶̸͢ ̡͘͜͞ ́ ̵̡̢͜͠ ̶̡I̵̢ ́͜ ̸͟T̸́͘͝͠
Ţ̷̢́ ̸̵̵̧H̸͜E͏͝ ̶Y̸̨̡ ҉̵'̴̧̡̢͝ ̷̧̛L̴̨͢ ͜͞͏L̴̡҉͘ ͠͏̵ ̴̢͝ ̡̛A͏̀ ̵̡̕͠͠L̵͡ ̧͜L͢҉́ ͏ ̧̛ ̛́̀͜͡D́҉ ̸͞E̢͡ ̶͡S̨̢͝È̡̡͜͜R̷̢̛͟ ͡͠V͢͢͡E͠ ̶ ̧̨͏̴͘ ̵͏̵̶I͡ ́͢T͝͏̨͞
T͏̸H̴͟҉̀ ͏̸̸́͟Ȩ̴́̕Y҉͠͠ ̢̕'̧͠ ͞͠L̵̛̛͝ ̷̴̛ ̨́̕ ̧̧͡L̷͡ ҉̴̕ ͟A̶҉L̴͢ ̵̡͝͞L̛̀ ̶̶́ ͝͡͞ ̶̷̷́̕ ̡̨́̀ ͘͡ ̨̢̛͏͘ ҉̧Ḑ̨͡ ̶͠È̶͟͠͞ ̨̛Ś ͏͘ ̧͝͏҉͜E͠͡͏ ̸̢̧͟R̷̷͘҉ ̷̨͢͝͞V̡͢͟͞ ̵̀͘ ̴̀͘͡ ͡Ȩ̶̶̴͡ ̶̛͞͝ ̸͘͞ ͜͢͡ ̢͜͜ ͢͝ ̸̷̧̡͜I̕͠͞҉ ҉́̕͟͢ ͜҉T̶̨͏҉
D̸̛͘͟ ̷͟Ó̴̸ ̸͘҉̨͞Ņ̶̛͘͝ ͞͏̸'̕͟ ̷T̡ ̢͏ ̵͢͡ ̡́͞͠ ҉͏̛B҉͠ ̷̕E̡̧̕ ҉̷̛͝ ̶̕͜҉͟ A̷̡͡҉̸ ͢͞F̴́͟R̨͏͠A͏̸̧͟͡ ̷́͘͡ ͘͜Į̶͘͡ ́҉̡͘D̨͟
Ẃ̴̨͝ ̴̧͢E̶̴̛͜ ́͘͟͟͡'̵͢͠ ̸͢L̵ ̀̕͠͞͡L̷͘͢ ̵̵̡́ ̵̡͜ ͏̴ ҉̨͡͞ ̴̢͠͞ ̧̕P͘͜ ̸̷̧̛R͏̷̕͢ ̢̧ ̛́͟Ǫ̸̶ ̷҉̶͡T̵E̸͜ ̀҉̕͡Ç͘͏͜͞ ̵̶̧̕͜T͏̸̛ ̶̶̢͘ ̸͜͟ ̵̴̸͟͞ ̶̶̸͢ ̷̡͞͞ ̵̧̕͟Y̧̧ ̸̴͡ ̴̡̛́̕ ͞͏̧Ơ̧͠ ̵̧Ų͘͢
͟͢s̶͞͠t̵̡Á̡͟͡͡Ý̵̨̡͝ ̡͠A̵̡L̴̶̷í҉V́͘͝͡e̡͢͟
»»⋅.⋅««
Targeting…
Targeting…
Fire.
Bio signature: inactive.
...
Targeting…
Targeting…
Fire.
Bio signature: inactive.
...
Targeting…
Targeting…
Warning [!] SDC affiliate detected.
Requesting dossier…
…Name: Dearg Grear
…Designation: Former Atlesian shock trooper turned SDC informant within the Ghost Vipers.
…Discrepancy: Records show target should be deceased.
…
…********
…
…Safety protocols bypassed.
Fire.
Bio signature: inactive.
NOTES:
Captain, we've got a problem. Not only was Grear alive but if he was the traitor HIVE caught wind of, then he might have been feeding them info on your old man. I've already sent a detachment to keep him guarded but I'd advise seeing to him yourself.
~ Turret 15. Targeting Log. Reported directly to Whitley Schnee, Captain of the Guards.
Just as an FYI, the rest of the story will have shorter updates but will still attempt to be weekly. That said, I hope you enjoy! After this, the story should really kick off what with all the set up out of the way.