Chapter 4: An (Bounty) Hunter's Intro To Remnant, Part I
AN: A few quick notes. 1. Ike's gear is the Infamous Bounty Hunter armor, and he dual wields R-30017 Aikon Blaster Revolvers. Both can be found in SWTOR's Cartel Market
2. From this point on, I'll start introducing omakes. These'll be short segments that will explore the story from beyond the Empires Fury's perspective. They'll also have a small warning that'll declare whether it's canon to the story or not.
Cornel Faust sighed. Didn't seem like much business was coming in today, unfortunately. That marked the fourth time this week. If customers weren't coming in, his boss was gonna have to lay off more workers, or even downright close the shop. Then again, with all the junk that was here, maybe there was a reason people weren't coming in.
Just then, the door opened up, and a man in grey armor covered by a black jacket and small cloak came in. He was also wearing a visored helmet. Two revolvers were strapped to his side
Cornel stood up. This one looked like he meant business.
"Can we help you?" he asked. The stranger didn't respond, looking around the store. He moved up to one of the computers.
"Hey, what are you...doing?" Cornel asked, as the man took off his gauntlets and took some kind of cable from his arm. He connected the wire to the computer, and the computer fizzled for a few moments, sputtering and throwing up random screens.
"Hey! If you break that, you're paying for it!"
The computer stopped fizzling, the screens and tabs that had been opened up closed, and the man took the cable out of the computer before turning to him.
"Sorry about that. Just needed to check some stuff." the man said, his deep voice heavily distorted by the visor.
Cornel nodded slowly. "Umm….you gonna buy anything?"
The man shook his head. "Sorry, buddy, but I don't have anything on me. Maybe next time."
And with that, he walked out of the store.
Cornel had no idea what just happened.
P.O.V Switch - Ike Hunter
Ike sighed. Apparently his guess had been the correct one. He'd ended up somewhere where.
The Empire and Republic had never been heard of before
No space travel
The planet was constantly competing with creatures known as "Grimm"
They didn't accept credits
That last bit was the worst part! All those years bounty hunting, gone down the drain! And, now that he was stuck in a teenager's body again (somehow with all the cybernetics Samael had grafted on him, which was pretty weird), he had no money, and he had no idea where his buddies were.
At least he still had all his equipment, and his cyberware was strong enough to hack into this place's database and establish a fake identity.
As he looked around, he spotted a small notice board. Ike shrugged. Hey, he needed money, and there must be something a man with his skills could do.
He took the notice from the board.
Schnee Family Seeking Temporary Bodyguards
Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, is traveling to Beacon Academy. With the threats of the White Fang Terrorist Group being levelled towards her, Winter Schnee is looking for temporary bodyguards to defend Weiss Schnee in the midst of her journey
Hmm. Bodyguard? Well, he'd taken more embarrassing jobs in the past, and from what he'd learned from the Dustnet (What was with this world and slapping 'Dust' in front of everything?), the Schnee family was surely loaded with credits (Lien, his mind bought up. He needed to remember that). Plus, with the way the notice had been worded, it was clear that the contractor was pretty sure that whoever took the job most likely wouldn't come back from it.
Ah well. He'd always planned to live for a good time, not a long time. Might as well kick some ass doing it.
A Few Hours Later
Ike stood in front of his employer, who was staring at the group of ragtag mercenaries rather coldly.
"Standard fee is 500 lien each. You get paid when the job is done. If you die, your friends don't collect your share. You'll need your own weapons and armor, and no, this does not make you an official member of the SDC Security Force. Any questions?"
One merc raised his hand. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are we getting saddled with a job if your own Security Force could take care of it, or soldiers, or Huntsmen, or hell, literally anyone but us."
The silver haired woman sighed. "In the order, my father has taken a majority of his security with him to Vale, Atlesian soldiers are busy trying to track down the White Fang cell that has risen up recently, and the Huntsmen are too busy thinning the ranks of a recent Grimm incursion that popped up. Thus, this is my only option left. Believe me, if there was anything else, I'd have done it. Any other questions?"
No one raised their hands this time, eager to start the job. Ike could overhear some of the merc's whispering.
"This'll be the easiest Lien I've ever made."
"Maybe I outta thank the White Fang, for giving us opportunities like this."
"Finally, a job! Been waiting months to use this thing!"
"Then we are done. Sign these documents here. I'll see you when the job is done"
Ike cracked his neck, before getting up from his seat. He walked to the table, filling out his credentials. However, as he started walking away, he noticed a concerningly young merc heading to the documents.
"So, this is all I gotta do to sign up?" he said to himself, before stretching a hand towards the documents. Ike quickly grabbed the young merc's hand.
"You look a little young to be freelancing as a merc, buddy."
"I'm old enough!" the merc whined. "I grew up in Mantle, I know how to use a gun!"
"And you think the terrorists we'll go up against won't know how to use one?"
The merc snarled. "I can handle myself!" he took out a small, dinky pistol.
"Besides, I just spent 50 Lien on this pistol, and I wanna use it!"
Ike quickly grabbed the gun out of the merc's hands.
"Get your money back, kid."
And with that, he broke the pistol's firing chamber.
Ike walked away, heading to the exit of the room.
A Few Hours Later
Ike boarded the ship, his helmet intimidating anyone who wandered close to the Bounty Hunter. In the distance, he saw two silver haired women conversing, before hugging each other warmly. The shorter one walked up the ramp to the ship, before sitting down on a luxury seat that had been reserved for the VIP they were supposed to protect. She didn't speak to anyone, merely opening a book and reading a passage from it.
Ike shrugged. As long as the VIP wasn't bothering him, then it was fine. The ship lifted off the ground, going into the air.
Ike decided to use the time they were in the air to check everything he'd downloaded from the computer. His scanners browsed through dozens of historical texts, websites, pictures, etc. Apparently, this place was known as Remnant. It had been besieged by both the Grimm and constant war. The latest war had been the Faunus Revolution. Faunus were apparently half human half animal hybrids that, aside from carrying a few extra features unique to them, also had eyes that could see in the night and a past buried in racism. Even after they won the war, many Faunus still found themselves discriminated against, and some grew angry enough at this to join a terrorist organization known as the White Fang.
Ike smirked. If only Agetol was here. He always got a kick outta killing terrorists. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it was almost a fetish.
Suddenly, an alarm started ringing.
"Warning, warning, flight interrupted, foreign projectiles have hit the airship."
Ike chuckled, quickly bringing out both of his R-30017 Aikon Blaster Revolvers.
"My trigger fingers need some exercise." he stated darkly.
Omake (Canon)
Winter could only stare at the airship before it departed. She prayed that her fears were unfounded, and that Weiss would have a safe journey to Beacon.
At that moment, Winter heard footsteps. Her fists clenched.
"Mind explaining why you're here, Whitley?" she asked, turning around.
Whitley chuckled, his face obscured by a hood.
"All those mercenaries against the White Fang? How many people have you sent to their deaths?"
Winter scoffed. "I don't see why you would care."
"Hmm." Whitley said, unconcerned with his sister's verbal jab.
Winter turned to Whitley. "Tell me something."
Whitley turned his head sideways. "Depends on what it is, my dear sister."
"Why did you kill that guard? He served the SDC faithfully, for over two decades, and yet, in a fit of rage, you just went and beat him to death? Why?"
Whitley smirk slipped into a frown. "If you don't know the reason why, then you're even blinder than Weiss. Hmm. I'll answer your question, if you answer mine first." He straightened up from the wall. "Why did you try and have me killed?"
Winter's hands started to unconsciously drift towards her weapon. "Excuse me?"
Whitley snarled , his eyes flashing red for just a moment. "Don't lie to me, sister. Your co-conspirator was strong, but even the strongest among us have our limits. She confessed to everything, before I took the liberty of separating her head from her shoulders."
Her fists tightened over her weapon. "You bastard." she whispered, enraged.
He scoffed, continuing with his revelations. "Using one of your military's top secret liquid compounds to whisper into Willow's ears to try and murder me, and then plotting to rule my murder as a self-defense case? Clever, sister, very clever. Unfortunate for you then, that I cannot be killed. Now, answer my question, why did you want me dead?!"
Winter glared at Whitley, her gaze unflinching. "Because I know you, and I know that Weiss would never be safe as long as you lived."
Whitley chuckled. "And you did all this because I killed a guard?"
Winter didn't answer, her silence filling the air.
Whitley sighed. "Well, you answered mine, so I'll answer yours. I killed that bastard because he severely harmed a dear friend of mine. He had no reason to do so. He just did it because it was in his power to carry out. He was beyond reason, so I came into his quarters in the middle of the night and beat him the exact way he beat my friend. Not my fault that he didn't have the constitution to survive what he routinely dished out."
Winter still had her hand to her weapon, though now she was starting to lower it. "And why is it that you didn't come to me when you found out?" she asked, an unidentifiable feeling worming it's way into her chest.
Whitley scoffed. "Forgive me if I can't find myself able to trust the woman that abandoned me as a child, spent all her free time with her sister while ignoring me, and then trying to have me killed when she incorrectly believed I had gone mad."
Winter sighed. "Why are you here, Whitley?" she asked.
Whitley didn't answer for a few moments, taking the time to put a cigarette to his lips and lighting it.
"Those things will kill you." Winter stated, almost out of reflex.
Whitley laughed. "With a family like ours, I don't need to worry about that one bit. Besides, I told you, I cannot be killed."
He took a deep puff, before exhaling. He turned to Winter again.
"As you have left me with scars that can never be healed, so too will I return the favor. The difference is, I know that physical scars will not wound you, not in the same ways it did me, so I'll scar you in a different way."
He walked up to Winter.
"Everything you love, everything you hold dear? I'll take it all away, burn it all to the ground. And when you have truly understood the depths of your failures, when your life is nothing but ashes underneath my feet, then I will kill you, as horrifically as you tried to kill me."
Winter took out a pistol, holding it to her brother's head.
"And what if I killed you now, ended your mad schemes right here?!"
Whitley laughed, before grabbing the gun and pushing it to his forehead.
"DO IT THEN! KILL ME! PROVE THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR OWN HANDS DIRTY, SISTER!" he roared.
Winter didn't even blink, before pulling the trigger, a deafening BANG echoing throughout the station.
Whitley's head flew back, a bleeding hole appearing through it.
Despite the hole in his head, it didn't stop the teen from chuckling, A small chuckle that grew into a maniacal laugh.
"So, you can get your hands dirty after all!" he said, before turning to Winter. A dark red fire erupted from the hole in his head, closing the wound.
"Unfortunately, like I said, I cannot be killed."
And with that, Whitley broke the gun in half, before pushing Winter to the wall with some kind of telepathy. Her throat refused to respond to her.
Winter struggled, choking, trying to break free.
"H-h-how?" she whispered, in the midst of suffocating .
Whitley walked up to his sister. "With the Force as my ally, my will is made reality. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, sister. Without your little murder attempt, I would never have learned to wield this power."
Whitley waved his hand, allowing Winter to fall to the ground.
"I look forward to our family reunion in Vale, sister."
And with that, Whitley walked away, whistling a jaunty tune.
Winter immediately called for a lockdown on Atlas as soon as she got back to her airship. Unfortunately, by the time that her meager forces had placed it, her brother had disappeared.
AN: So yeah, Whitley's gonna become a prominent character later on. I'm also pairing him with Penny, so that'll be fun, XD. I took some elements from my other story, The Sith Schnee. However, that story and this one will be entirely independent of each other. It's just that I'm taking a few elements from it for Whitley's character.
Next Chapter: An Agent's Intro To Remnant, Part II