XxX-XxX-XxX Official Supporters:
Fanatical Fucking Reader, ScrubLord Yoda
Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin
Adeptus Militaris, Wilger
Commissioner, Gib, Espa Cole If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen :
Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i) (slash)kfhkfUb
I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.
Beta(s) :
XxX-XxX-XxX
Requested by:
Gib
XxX-XxX-XxX
So, I meant to post this two days ago, but forgot.
Sorry.
.
XxX-XxX-XxX
As they had gone out, the storm had swept in. And now, as they returned to harbor, the last dregs of the storm were withdrawing. If she'd been the superstitious type she'd have said it was like the sea had timed the storm to when she had to be out on it, hunting down the men and women that had fed it so many ships and people. It wouldn't have been the first time the universe saw fit to screw with her.
Hell, it wouldn't be the first time even just on this planet…
Light steps drew her attention away from her musings and she pushed off the ship's railing as she turned to pay Sienna a nod, "Miss Khan."
"Captain." The other woman sighed, taking Rion's spot at the railing and watching Menagerie get ever closer. "He died."
"The wounded pirate?"
"Mhm."
"I figured he probably would, yeah." It was unfortunate, but they had plenty of hands to pull what they needed out of. She was kind of surprised he'd lasted as long as he had, in all honesty. Shrugging, she asked, "Why are you coming out here to tell me?"
"I figured you'd want to know." Sienna answered, turning a narrow eye on her, "Or was I wrong?"
"No." But that hadn't been what Rion was asking about. Shrugging, she turned to leave and called back, "We'll be home in half an hour. Could you make sure your people are ready to disembark?"
"You did pretty well on the boarding." Sienna said, making Rion pause and, after a second to sigh, turn back to her with a raised brow. "You done it before?"
"More or less." Deck hopping, she'd done plenty of. Combat boarding, much less so. "I'm just happy to have survived honestly. In that smoke, I couldn't see a damn thing…"
"Faunus don't need to rely just on our sight, even if it is better than a normal Human's, often enough." Sienna snorted derisively as Rion came back to the railing and shot her a look, head cocked playfully to one side. "Blind old Legume learned that first hand, but I guess Humans don't learn very well. Do they?"
"Not normally, no." History on Earth and in the space age bore that out, and from what she'd learned about Remnant, that wasn't any different here. "We can be a… Pretty damn stubborn race, I guess."
"Mhm." Sienna nodded, sending a knowing look her way. "You can say that again."
"Your men?" Rion asked again, rolling her eyes and opting for a change in subject. When Sienna didn't answer, she explained, "Just wanna make sure we're ready to off-load the prisoners before we get there. I love my ship, but I'd like some time on land, after that storm…"
"We won't keep you." Sienna waved her off, "Wanted you to know I'm taking the first mate straight to the Chieftain."
"Why?"
"Am I doing that?" She asked, smirking, "Or why am I telling you."
"Yes."
"Hah." Sienna shook her head and straightened, turning and leaning back against the railing while she watched her men mill about the deck a few feet away. "First and then last, then. I promised to let him and Kali try their gentler touch before the knives come out, and I… Happen to respect you, and might need your ship."
"Well, uh…" She shrugged, "Thanks?"
"Mhm." Sienna nodded and pushed off the railing, stalking away with a snapped, "Don't spread it around, Human."
"I, uh, I won't?" She answered unsurely, watching the woman stalk off to talk to her men for a moment and then shrugging as they approached the docks. Shrugging, she took in a long breath of the sea air and moved on.
It was time to get something fresh in her stomach.
And do a little bit of a war, too, she supposed.
XxX-XxX-XxX
She and Spark were left to their own devices until almost noon the next day, when a knock sounded at her door. Flipping the folder on her desk closed, she sighed and paced over to the door to tug it open. Smiling, she nodded, "Blake. How are you?"
"I'm fine." She said, crossing her arms and bobbing her head up the hall, "Father sent me to get you."
"Oh, the horror."
"I was trying to train with Sun, but Mother stole him away and Father sent me to get you." She sighed, waving for Rion to follow her. "Come on. Father made it sound important, and I want to get back to training."
"Worried about something?" Rion asked, kicking on her boots and slipping out to follow the woman.
"After Beacon?" Blake snorted and then sighed, shoulders drooping, and shook her head. "I'm always expecting the worst. Mother hates it, but… I mean, Menagerie was attacked only a short time ago too. So it's not paranoia, not really."
"That's the trouble with paranoia." Rion sighed, "If they're right, it gets kind of hard to convince them it is paranoia."
"Because it isn't?"
"Because they won't buy it." Rion corrected her, "They'll bias to whatever they think proves their side. It's… Pretty much how everyone acts, really. But for the record, I don't think you are being paranoid."
"Tell that to my mother…"
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Rion shook her head. She knew better than to get in between a parent and their child, whether they were in the wrong or not. Changing the subject, "Do you know what your father actually needs?"
"I haven't the faintest, but he wanted you there, so…" Blake shrugged, waving her hand at the man's office door as she brushed by. "I'm off to find somewhere to get back to my training."
"Break a leg." Rion offered to her retreating back. Raising her voice, she added, "Preferably one of theirs!"
Blake seemed to flinch for that, stumbling a single step before she straightened. Then she took a breath, shook her head, and left.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Unlike their meeting from before their little fishing trip, the front end of Ghira's office had been emptied out. In place of the couch, coffee table and chairs, a large, round table had been moved in and surrounded by enough chairs for the lot of them. A thick and yellowed map had been unfurled on top of it, held down by an eclectic smattering of books, plates and paper weights. The Chieftain was leaned over it, studying the map while Kali and Spark spoke on the balcony just through the other door.
Whatever they were talking about, she couldn't hear and they came to a stop when Ghira laughed, "Rion! I trust you slept well?"
"I did, yeah. Better than in the storm at least." She nodded, pulling the door shut behind her and turning a raised eyebrow on Spark.
He didn't respond, really, unsubtly turning a look towards Sienna where she was sitting across from the Chieftain's chosen spot. The woman was glaring at a spot on the map with crossed arms and more heat in her eyes than he'd seen ever since she'd metthe Faunus. Even after the battle, and the coup that had caused it, Sienna hadn't looked quite this angry. Which kind of said something.
"We found their base, thanks to one of the prisoners." Ghira explained when he followed Rion's eyes. Sighing, he waved a hand towards the other Faunus and explained, "The Old Brass-wave Fort, just about a half day's sail from the northern edge of our continent."
"And it's getting the death glare because…?"
"Because it was supposed to have been razed, at the end of the Revolution." Sienna growled, "But Mistral never did it. And Ghira's father never pushed the matter."
"It would have meant another war…"
"Good." Sienna snapped hotly, meeting the man's gaze with a glare and then turning back to the map. "We'd have won that one, too. Now, Atlas would back them with enough drones to drown in and their damn air-fleet. And now it's being used to stage raids on us."
"Menagerie didn't want another war."
"Menagerie, or your father and his spineless council?"
""My father-"
"Okay, that's enough, both of you." Kali cut in, stepping up to the table and staring each down until they met her gaze. Once she had them both, she sat down and waved for them to do the same. Sighing, she said, "Hindsight being what it is, it should have been an issue that was pushed. But our people were tired after the war. That's why Ghira made the Fang in the first place."
"Still, his father-"
"Isn't Ghira." Kali said, smiling when Sienna frowned. "Litigating the sins of the father isn't going to do anything in the here and now. Is it?"
"I suppose not." Sienna sighed, shaking her head and waving the matter off. "Fine then. What sort of plan do we have for dealing with the fortress? Given what they've been up to, they should have a solid number of ships in harbor no matter when we get there."
"So a naval attack is…" Kali frowned, "Probably inadvisable."
"Unless you have an armada hidden in your trousers, yeah." Sienna nodded, reaching out to tap a finger against the expanse of land up the coast from the fortress. The map was an old one, but the topographical notes said that it was a low laying forest of some kind. "It is. My advice would be to draft some civilian ships for transport and stage a land assault. It'll take longer, between building the camp and besieging the fortress, but it might actually be feasible."
"Until Mistral comes to annihilate us."
"That'd show their hand, Chieftain." Sienna argued while Spark paced around the table to stand behind Rion. "I don't think they could get to us before we spotted them, and if they tried, then every Kingdom would have proof of their crimes."
"Would they, though?" Rion asked, drawing attention onto her for the first time since she'd sat down. "I mean, without the CCT, would Vacuo and Vale even know? And would Atlas care if they did?"
"I doubt it." Sienna snorted, "They see Faunus come limping out of their mines sans limbs often enough and don't care."
"That is ignorance." Ghira argued, "Accidents happen in mines. Most Atlesians blame the loss of limb and life on the nature of the work. Not negligence."
"Whatever the case, proving it might not matter." Rion went on, "We'd need some way to get the message out in time for people to care."
"Or we could just win." Sienna suggested coyly, tapping a long finger on the table in front of them and turning a slow look on Rion. And then, after a moment, on Spark behind her. "But then again, we have something a bit special on our side. Don't we?"
"Spark isn't that special-"
"Lie as much as you like, Human, but don't insult me by thinking I'll actually believe you." sienna growled, reaching into her top and fishing her Scroll out. Flicking it open, she hit a button and smiled. "And if you want to argue, do so with yourself."
A heartbeat passed, and then Rion felt hers leap into her throat as a very familiar woman's voice crackled out into the room, "Placing bets?"
"Only one of them was ever a Fang." Spark's voice answered, echoing out from the little Scroll and into a room that was otherwise so silent Rion was sure even she could hear a pin drop. "Well, recently at least."
Sienna hit a button to pause the recording and smiled, all tooth and mockery, "There's a good ten minutes and change of it. I could play it all, if you want, but I think we all get the gist. And even better, we can all stop playing me for the fool, and actually give me all my Grimm damned information about what I have to work with here."
For a moment, no one said anything, and Rion weighed whether or not she should just leave. Would Khan even let her? If she did, would she let Rion leave Menagerie too, or stop her there to keep Spark around?
THen, finally, Spark chuckled and said, "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now."
Everyone blinked, and then Ghira's palm struck his forehead while Kali shook her head, "Spark… Cat puns? Really?"
"What?" He asked innocently, cocking his head to the side and flashing a vibrant, jovial kind of pink. "I thought that it relieved the tension quite nicely. No?"
"I'm going to scrap you…"
"Not a chance." Spark countered, "I hid all your tools."
"I will just buy new ones, you know."
"I hid your money?"
"Then I will buy new ones for her." Ghira cut in, growling lowly and speaking to Sienna, "I apologize for the deception, but… Well, it wasn't our secret to hand out."
"It was Spark's." Kali offered as well, turning to the machine and smirking. "And we had just been talking about telling you, too. But, well..."
"Just get on with it." Sienna snapped, "I have Faunus to protect. To avenge. I can be pissed off at you four later. After I kill a bunch of dumbass pirates, preferably. So, the plan?"
That was… Well, fair enough, Rion supposed. And useful, at least, for now.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Once everything was said and done, Ilia had expected a lot of changes to come on very quickly. Preferably immediately, in fact. And some of them had actually come, too! More Faunus were attending the Chieftain's new self defense courses than anyone had expected, enough that the Fang had been asked to volunteer instructors to bolster the Chieftain's staff, and repairs were almost all done. The local shipwrights were designing and retrofitting ships to be more defensible, too, and rumor had it that a handful of old Hunters in the town were talking about opening up a combat school!
It was a far cry from the likes of Sanctum, Pharos or Oscuro, it was still a lot more than Menagerie had ever really had. And who knew, maybe one day students from Menagerie would be able to go to the likes of Beacon or Haven?
There was so much to look forward to…
One thing that hadn't changed was her shift, though… Which she supposed was her fault for using her real name on the application. And out of everyone, it had been her manager that had taken the 'reformed' part of 'reformed spy' and decided to give her a chance. That had been nice, too, at first! Until Ilia realized that meant that she still had to clean the offices and bathrooms.
Feet aching and smelling of bleach and lemons up to her elbows, she finally pushed out into the garden behind Manor, her lunch bag tucked under her arm. Or, well, dinner bag, she supposed, since it was after her shift but-
Whatever! It was food, and there was a nice bench over by the flowers where she could tuck into it before running down to one of the combat courses to lend a hand. She wasn't the best fighter around, more inclined to sneaking and spying than actual fighting, but she was still better than most of the civilians living on Menagerie. And more than a few of the younger, fresher grunts of the Fang, too.
Not that most would ever accept that.
She was a fifth of the way through her dried fish and sweet-bread when a shadow fell over her and, a second later, something cold pressed against the back of her neck. She squeaked her surprise and flailed, nearly falling and dropping her food, while her frosty assailant laughed quietly behind her.
"Damn it, Blake!" She laughed, shaking her head and rubbing the cold out of her neck. "That was cold!"
"I'm aware, Il, that was kind of the point." The other woman laughed, stepping around her bench and sitting down beside her, and just close enough to make Ilia's scales flicker pink. Blake noticed it and rolled her eyes, "You're too easy, Il."
"D-Don't tease me now that…" Now that she knew how Ilia felt, she didn't finish, flushing a bright crimson for a moment before she caught herself. Blake only smiled softly, offering the cold bottle of water to her. Ilia took it and enjoyed the drink, grumbling, "You can be a real bully, you know that?"
"You enjoy it."
"You don't know that…"
"Don't I?" Blake asked, turning to her with one of those knowing smiles, one brow raised and head cocked playfully enough Ilia felt her heart skip another beat. When Ilia hid her reaction in a bite of her fish, Blake laughed, "See? You enjoy it."
"Whatever you say." Ilia couldn't lie to Blake now, after everything. She couldn't stomach it. Instead, to save herself, she asked, "thinking about coming to one of the training halls with me?"
"Not if the Fang will be there."
"They won't." Ilia didn't risk pointing out she was White Fang still. That… Wouldn't go well. Instead, she explained, "Some Guards are hosting it. Mostly training militia, but a couple Hunters will be on, too, to look for people that might be a good fit."
"Trying to draw me out into town with you?"
"N-No!" Ilia blinked, flushing, "I-I mean, it would be nice, spending time with you. But it isn't- I mean, it doesn't have to be anything but hanging out. Like we, you know, used to do? Tides, I suck at this…"
"You do, yeah." Blake chuckled, shaking her head. "I'll come with you, though. If I'm going to… Well, I need work. Does it pay at all?"
"Mhm." The Chieftain had arranged rations and a bit of Lien to the instructors working in the courses. She didn't tell Blake that, though. Ilia got the feeling that Blake wanted work not related to her father's finances and status. "I can get you signed up, if you, you know, decide you want to stay on."
"I'll think about it." Blake sighed, leaning to the side to press their shoulders together. Ilia stiffened and the woman smiled warmly, chuckling as she pulled away. "Sorry, Il. Just… Looking for a distraction, I guess."
"W-Well, I'm happy to distract you." Ilia's heart fluttered at the thought. Everyone on the island, and Blake came to her?
If she hadn't known it was eighty degrees outside, she'd have wondered why she felt so warm…
"How was work, by the way?"
"Don't ask." Ilia groaned, ripping off a bite of her food and pointing at the manor like it was, in and of itself, somehow to blame for it all. "I swear to the Tides that none of these people would act the way they do now if their parents were cleaning behind them!"
"Oh, it can't be that bad…"
"One cubicle insists I dust under their computer," Ilia groused, "without moving it."
"But, how are you-"
"I don't know!" Ilia exclaimed, "So I don't bother. I just dust up under the front edge and move on. And then there's this other absolute toss that never finishes his drink and just… Dumps it in the trash!"
For a while, Ilia just ranted like that. But Blake's smile and laugh told her she didn't mind, so she went on. Venting made her feel better about it all, and Blake seemed to relax a bit as they spent the time too. So Ilia figured she was doing something right and let go, for a bit, before they both had to return to the real world.
XxX-XxX-XxX
KPMH 2001 :
I'm glad you enjoy them. I've worked rather hard on making sure all the characters are fun and real, and do justice to their already excellent canon characterizations.
Cooldude 101011 :
One, a Monitor is not constantly controlling the entirety of their installation. Most of it is automated, handed down to thousands of various drones. They simply, well, monitor it and when needed deploy it.
Secondly, Spark did process at that advanced speed. However, physically moving his body is different to processing what is happening at a given moment. If they could process and move at sheer light speed at all times, then Prometheans would obliterate everyone they came against since those are AI too. The way you beat these Forerunner machines is thanks to the limitations of their frames.
Gameplay mechanic to make them easy enough to kill or not, that's still canon. Hell, basic Marines held their ground against them on Onyx. Don't even have to be a Spartan to fight 'em.
Where are you sourcing your judgement on RWBY's ballistics?