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I am making no money from this.

Chapter 17: Questioning

It was Wednesday and classes at Halo Academy had resumed, bringing the week of relaxation following their first official mission that Team FADE had been enjoying to a close. It was currently lunch break and being Wednesday the final two lessons on the first years' schedule were a double combat training class with Professor Nora, which was part of the reason Felix Xiao Long was currently spending his lunch period away from the cafeteria; he was not getting dragged up for a sparring match when he'd just eaten. The other reason was that Iris Ramal of Team CLIR had called him over as his team had been leaving their previous lesson, informing them that Corvid wanted to talk and where to meet her, the Lion Faunus was curious what it was that couldn't be said in a text message or a Scroll call.
He made his way through the corridors of the academy until he eventually found his destination, the workshop Corvid's team-mate had said she'd be using identifiable by the sound of power tools in use muffled but still clearly audible from the hallway. Opening the door Felix found his sister at one of the many workbenches, the blazer and shirt of her uniform removed and placed over the back of a nearby chair while she worked in a tank top, choosing to use her Aura to protect herself from mishaps rather than the safety gear provided. Felix suspected the gloves she was currently wearing were more to do with not wanting to leave fingerprints on the Omega Wing than any concerns about injuring her hands

"Hey, how's it going?" he announced his presence.

"Riveting" Corvid answered with a smirk as she briefly looked over her shoulder. Felix saw that she was indeed working with a drill and riveter and inwardly groaned at the obvious pun.

"That looks like it's gonna take some time" Felix noted as he approached and examined the detached thruster of his sisters' drone

"Yeah" Corvid agreed "I told you it got crushed, I've been working on some designs for upgrades anyway. May as well do both at the same time now….Means I'll probably have to use a backup weapon for at least the next mission Team CLIR go on"

"Back up….Holy Oum you've still got that?" Felix laughed

"Yes I've still got it, it's practically a classic" she hissed back, adding "Unappreciative little jackass" under her breath. Felix chose to ignore the jibe

"So what did you need me for? It can't take too long, I've got combat class next and you know what she does to people who're late" Corvid shuddered, the way only someone who'd been subjected to one of the handicap matches that the diminutive professor punished unpunctual students with could.

"Yeah you don't wanna be late for Professor Nora's lessons" She nodded "I got a message from Mousey, the Guild want to talk to us tonight" Felix's eyes widened a little

"When and where? What's the job?"

"I don't know what the job is, they didn't even specifically say there is one. Mousey gets paranoid, he won't say anything definite over the Scroll. The meeting's at The Bear at midnight"

"That's a little late Corey" Felix noted, clearly less concerned about entering a known den of criminals than being able to get home afterwards

"Aww, is Fluffy worried about not getting to bed early enough of a school night" Corvid teased in a singsong voice as she reached over and ruffled her brothers' hair, much to his irritation

"One day you'll touch the hair and I'll cut yours off"

"You will die in the attempt" Corvid's tone was instantly icy, if there was one thing that the Xiao Long children had both inherited from Yang it was that their hair was almost sacred to them. Felix merely rolled his eyes at the threat, he'd heard it countless times before

"I'm just saying there won't be any airships so I'm not driving us there. And if we miss the last Bull-head we're gonna be out in the rain and then probably be late for class tomorrow. Asking us when we were free instead of just calling us in would have been nice"

"Fluffy, in the nicest way possible you're not that important" Corvid pointed out "Hell I'm not that important to the Scavenger Guild. We're students, they'll send us for bag and tags or milk runs that aren't important enough to pay fully qualified hunters or mercenaries for. Are you coming or not?" for Felix it was an easy enough decision to make, it might inconvenience him in the short run but it was paid work that he could add to his resume afterwards; and it meant hanging out with his sister which he always enjoyed

"Of course I'm coming"

Felix had just made it to class on time, managing to be one of the last people to slink through the door to the still somewhat unsettling hybrid of lecture hall and colosseum before it closed. Currently he was sat between Eagle and Diamond, the silver haired Mistrali having recently returned to her seat after her sparring match with one of the members of Team PSTL

"What did he say?" Felix nudged Diamond gently "Come on he must have said something to get that kind of reaction" he nodded to her right hand, the knuckles of which were still bleeding slightly from the brutal and almost comically unfair bout which Diamond had won convincingly. Felix knew that his team-mate tended to favour an approach that could be considered fighting dirty when forced to fight at close range, but today had seemed unnecessarily so

"He tried to flirt to throw me off my game. I didn't appreciate it" she huffed, blowing strands of hair that had come loose in the scuffle away from her eyes and turning her attention back to sparring match taking place below

"Is Arctus gonna be okay?" Eagle asked nervously "I mean Helios does tend to go all out, like all the time" Felix suppressed an annoyed growl, Arctus had been offered the opportunity to be exempted from sparring matches for the week but had declined. Though it seemed Helios had seen that his opponent wasn't at full strength and had chosen to be sporting, the crimson haired warrior didn't appear to be using his gravity warping Semblance to pin Arctus in place but it was still proving to be a predictably unchallenging bout for Helios, who had yet to be beaten in a one on one match

"The big guy can handle himself" Diamond murmured, a cheer from the crowd seemingly punctuating her statement when Arctus dropped to one knee and raised a Glyph above himself, imbibing it with Gravity Dust as Helios leapt into the air and launched a downward strike; the result was the golden armoured fighter being hurled backwards across the arena. Helios rose to his feet wearing an impressed smile and charged into the fray once more, his attacks seemingly increasing in speed and ferocity

"I know he can" Eagle nodded "But Helios is really good" the blonde couldn't help but lean forwards and watch a little more intently as the fight went on, Arctus's height, larger sword and the mobility of his Glyphs compared to Helios's shield were helping but it was clear that he wouldn't be able to outfight his opponent. As someone who'd been taught to wield a sword since childhood Eagle could see that Helios Nikos was a natural.

"Why doesn't he just shoot him for Oum's sake!" Diamond snapped as Helios sent her partner staggering back with a strike to the face with the edge of his shield

"Because it's a plasma weapon in an enclosed area" Felix noted, Diamond winced as she remembered exactly what kind of gun Arctus used and why plasma weapons existed in a legal and moral grey area. Plasma splashed and stuck, using it Grimm was one thing but if he were to use it on Helios and his Aura were to fail the results would be catastrophic.

"Hey Felix, are you still serious about going after those guys?" Eagle asked, seemingly a little nervous for reasons that Felix couldn't comprehend

"Yeah" he nodded grimly "In fact I'm heading out tonight. Corey said the Guild want to talk to the two of us, we're meeting at a pretty shady bar that I kinda know the owner of. I'm gonna ask around, if whoever it was that hit those trucks is selling whatever it was they stole then somebody there will have heard something"

"Oh okay" Eagle glanced down at the sparring match that, against all odds Arctus was still managing to continue "It's just that I actually might know someone who might know something. Might be a long shot but I can still check it out if you want?"

"That's a lot of might bes" Felix noted with a chuckle "But yeah do it, the more we can find out the better" Eagle gave him a cheery smile and playful salute right as Nora announced that Arctus's Aura had been knocked into the red and that Helios had won the sparring match, a quick glance at the overhead display showed the rest of Team FADE that their friend had taken over a third of his opponents' Aura in return, not a bad showing all things considered

"You did well dude" Diamond smiled as the Bear Faunus limped back towards them and collapsed into his seat, still coated with sweat and struggling to catch his breath

"That guy" he gasped out, placing his sword into an empty seat next to him "Is an Oum-damned beast"

"I'm guessing he'd actually fought a lot of Grimm before he came here?" Eagle directed the question at Diamond who shrugged

"I mean I guess so, I only knew him for one summer. But his tribe roam out in the wilderness between cities so probably"

"Have you seen his scars?" Felix breathed out "That guy has definitely fought some Grimm before coming here"

"That's why he beat Arctus" Eagle surmised, turning to the Faunus in question "You're used to being able to use your size and reach to hold people back. Most Grimm are bigger than us, even Beowolves when they rear up; he knows how to work around the thing you're relying on"

"Oh" Arctus seemed to fold in on himself under the evaluation "Well that makes me sound like an utter amateur"

"No!" Eagle quickly assured him "It just means you need to adapt a little. Hey we're almost the same height so if you're feeling up to it we can practice together tonight?"

"That'd be cool….Unless we were doing anything tonight?" he asked Diamond who shook her head

"Awesome" Eagle beamed, only to be cut off from a voice below. Apparently Team FADE hadn't been paying enough attention to the lesson

"Eagle Arc!" Nora called out, an amused edge to her voice "You're up" Eagle's cheeks coloured at both the attention of the class suddenly on her and the sight of her opponent, the rather pretty Frog Faunus Aqua Tsuyu, leader of Team AQUA

"Hey" Diamond nudged Eagle as the blonde rose and fitted Sentinel onto her arm in shield form "I heard that her and her partner aren't dating any more, ask for her number" she added a wink that only made Eagle blush deeper and caused a sound like a terrified squeak to escape her

"Go get 'em" Felix added, the well meaning teasing drawing a low groan from the blonde as she made her way into the arena desperately hoping she didn't trip over her own feet or otherwise embarrass herself.

Night had fallen, as it seemed to be doing earlier and earlier every evening, though the rain had mercifully abated. After their final lesson of the concluded Team FADE had taken a few hours to decompress, eating, showering and making some headway on written assignments for their various classes before heading their separate ways for the evening. Eagle, for reasons that Arctus couldn't comprehend had decided that their training session would be happening in the outdoor arena rather than a combat classroom; the Bear Faunus wasn't complaining, as an Atlesian the cold was home to him and the blurry line between autumn and winter in New Vale wasn't even worth buying a jacket with long sleeves for.

"You're too stationary, being defensive doesn't mean standing there and taking it!" Eagle admonished as she forced Arctus back another step, their swords meeting between them with a screeching crash

"Noted" Arctus grinned before pivoting sideways, the momentum Eagle had put into her attack being turned against her as she staggered forwards. Eagle had left Sentinel in droid form outside the arena, cheering her on with a series of bleeps while Arctus had agreed not to use his Glyphs. His follow up swing, aimed under her guard was easily parried when she simply flipped her blade upside down in her hand and forced Gefroren-Erbe over her head, pivoting in the same motion and delivering a punch to Arctus's wrist with her free hand that sent his sword clattering to the floor.

"Okay what the hell?" The Bear Faunus sounded affronted

"Sorry!" Eagle gasped "Did I hit too hard?"

"Nah, not that" Arctus laughed, shaking his head "Where did you learn to use a gladius with a reverse grip? I've never seen someone do that before"

"Oh that" Eagle positively beamed at the praise, inwardly loving how cool she felt around her team-mates "Uncle Xiangya, him and Uncle Flax are married to my Aunts that are twins, anyway he uses a pair of reverse grip knives and he showed me….The balance is different and the blade's long enough to catch on the ground sometimes but it's still kinda cool"

"Very impressive" a new voice complemented "Now I think about it we've never sparred have we? Hopefully that changes soon" Arctus and Eagle turned to see Helios sauntering into the training area, his expression more peaceful than either of them were used to seeing and both of them felt slightly guilty for wondering if it could be attributed to the absence of his partner

"Looking forward to it" Eagle smiled back, unusually confidently "I'll be interested in seeing the Anima Nomad Tribes techniques first hand" Helios cocked his head and raised an eyebrow and Arctus did a double take 'She knew Helios would be training out here' he realised 'She set this up'

"And why is that?" Helios asked, posture suddenly stiffening as if preparing to go on the offensive at a moments' notice

"Just wanted to compare it against someone Team FADE met after our mission" the blonde shrugged casually "Some two bit thieves that like stealing from trucks. Apparently they like stealing people's techniques as well. I wanna compare it against the real thing" the crimson haired Mistrali smirked slightly

"Now I know less than most people than about popular culture….But even I'm fairly sure nobody uses the phrase 'two bit' any more" Eagle's face coloured slightly, distinguishable from her somewhat regular flustered state by the frown she wore. Helios stepped a little close "So why don't you tell me what it is you really want?" Arctus retrieved his sword as surreptitiously as it was possible to lift a broadsword single handed, he didn't think Helios was about to start something but with the armoured fighters' temper it seemed wise to be prepared. Sentinel seemed to share the sentiment, the droids' shoulder mounted compact mini-gun being aimed squarely between Helios's shoulder-blades.

"I mean it was kinda the truth" Eagle mumbled "After our mission Team FADE answered a distress signal from a pair of trucks taking some goods out of the city. We tried to stop the group that was robbing them but they got away; one of my aunts that studied at Haven said that their tactics sounded like a street gang trying to use nomad tribe tactics; I was just wondering if you'd heard anything like that?" the sound that escaped Helios could best be described as a hiss, an angry release of air as his fists clenched that never quite reached becoming a growl. Vibrant green eyes pierced Eagle's crimson ones

"If I'd heard of any Sapisma choiros pretending to be one of my people I would have already been looking for them" neither Arctus or Eagle knew exactly what Helios had just called the group however the acidic tone left no doubt in their minds that it was highly offensive.

"Um, well can you let us know if you do hear anything?" Eagle was always a little unsure of how to act around Helios. He clearly held Pyrrha Nikos in high esteem just as she did her late Uncle Jaune and though their forebears stood side by side at Halo Academies' entrance, Eagle couldn't but feel a little unnerved around Helios's almost constant anger that seemingly lurked just below the surface

"I will" Helios murmured, nodding as he forced his expression into one of composed neutrality "As long as you extend the same courtesy. Was there anything else?"

"Nah, I don't think so" Arctus shrugged

"Actually, there's one other thing" Eagle contradicted him, taking a breath to prepare herself "Uncle Lie and Aunt Nora were some of Pyrrha Nikos's best friends. How come you haven't visited them?"

Felix was somewhat surprised that the doorman at Melanie Malachite's establishment, The Bear made no effort to search him; simply allowing him and Corvid inside after they produced proof of their age. He was unarmed however, as he'd decided that bringing a pair of chainsaw bladed swords to a bar was probably unwise. The bar was on the ground level of New Vale, much like the Atlesian Hive Cities that its' design was based the higher up one lived the more affluent they tended to be; as such a ground level bar built into the foundations of a tower complex attracted a certain kind of clientele.

"You see 'em?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard over music loud enough to already be giving him the early telltale signs of a migraine. He privately wondered why the place was so busy on a weekday before Corvid answered

"Not yet, we're a little early though….I'd ask if you wanna get drinks but it always feels like a job interview talking to Mousey. Last time was different, we'd just made him some money"

"We've got classes tomorrow anyway" Felix shrugged, Corvid gave him a playful nudge

"I've noticed you've been keeping out of trouble mostly. I'm proud of ya Fluffy, both of our Mums are as well" the Lion Faunus tried to shrug the compliment off, his tail swishing slowly behind him ruining the feigned nonchalance. Before the conversation Corvid's attention was caught by something at the other end of the bar, following her line of sight Felix saw a young woman motioning for them to follow her into a private room

"One of the Guild" Corvid stated, affirming her brothers' suspicions. The pair made their way through the bar, weaving through the crowd with minimal difficulty; entering the room revealed the unremarkable form of Mousey Clip sat alone at a table smoking a cigar, a pair of empty seats clearly intended for Corvid and Felix opposite him. A small group of the kind of morally ambiguous individuals that the Scavenger Guild tended to employ were milling about. Were Mousey Clip a more impressive figure it would have made for an intimidating scene, as it was Corvid couldn't help giving him a derisive snort

"Well this looks like a parody of every classic gangster film ever….First one of you guys to tell me to say hello to your 'little friend' gets castrated"

"Sit down" Mousey sighed, Corvid and Felix sat; the older of the Xiao Long siblings leaning back in her chair and making herself comfortable

"Okay, we're here. We're sat. Come on what's up, why does everyone here seem tense?" Corvid's bored tone earned her a withering glare

"Having someone selling us out tends to do that" Felix saw Mousey nod slightly a fraction too late; feeling the barrel of a handgun pressed against the back of his neck as he made to rise from his seat. As he lowered himself back into the chair and raised his hands to show they were empty, trying to keep the fact his heart was racing from showing on his face he looked over at Corvid to find that another member of the Scavenger Guild had a weapon trained on her. Corvid however continued to calmly rock her chair slightly on its' back legs, merely raising an eyebrow in response to the turn of events

"I'm gonna count to three and you and your dumb-ass friends are gonna drop the weapons. We're gonna walk out of here and that'll be the end of it" Corvid asserted calmly, stormy grey eyes narrowing as she spoke, hands resting on her waist just above her belt buckle

"I don't want to hurt you, you were a good worker. But you've given me no choice Corey" Mousey lamented, the tension evidently beginning to affect him

"One"

"I try and run a legitimate business but when someone pulls a hit on my people I have to get to the bottom of it. you're a leader, you understand"

"Two" Felix braced himself, clearly this mob-boss turned antique salesman didn't realise that Corvid Xiao Long did not make idle threats and that this situation was about to turn volatile

"Corey don't be stupid, you're outnumbered five to one. This'll go easier for you if you just tell us who you're working with" Mousey's voice had started to take on a desperate note. Corvid merely sighed

"Three" she was in motion the moment the word left her lips. Leaning back in her chair she placed her feet on the edge of the table and kicked back, throwing herself free of her seat and into the member of the Guild currently pointing a shotgun at her, rising to her feet and bringing the butt of the weapon down on the mans' face faster than he could react. Felix lunged sideways out of his own seat, kicking the knee of the person whose weapon had been trained on him with bone breaking force before hurling the chair into another assailant. Then the gunshots started and Felix, with his superior senses, could hear panicked screaming from outside. Bullets pattered against the Xiao Long's Auras and Corvid pulled a secondary weapon that Felix hadn't seen her use in over a year from her waistband. The weapon folded out into a short sword, the blade promptly being forced through the hand of an attacker, the taser that hand had been holding falling to the ground; Corvid pinned her opponent against the nearest wall by the neck and shifted the sword into its' alternate form, its' transformation similar to that of Felix's own weapons though the overall look of the thing had been said to resemble Blake's old weapon Gambol Shroud

"Okay Mousey" Corvid spat "If you think I'm the kind of ass-hole that stabs people in the back then you must know I'll pull this fucking trigger" Felix realised that her eyes were wide as she pressed the weapon against the temple of her struggling victim, her voice was shaking and Felix realised, dread seeping into his bones as he did so, that the older sister that he'd looked up to for as long as he could remember was not in control of the situation

"Drop him or I waste the Faunus!" Felix turned to see the young woman who'd shown them into the room pointing a shotgun directly at his chest. Felix braced himself, he had Aura left but this was going to hurt. When Corvid made no effort to move the remaining members of the Scavenger Guild began cautiously moving to surround them while Mousey Clip hid behind them and the shotgun wielding woman spoke again "I'm not playing I'll do it. The explosive shells in this baby will chew right through his Aura" hearing those words seemed to illuminate the way forward for Felix and he let out a sigh of relief as he activated his Semblance, faint golden light begin to envelop him, the shooter noticed this

"What are you doing?"

BOOM

The shotgun went off and to the young woman's horror Felix merely staggered back and coughed as the concussive blast winded him and buckshot was blocked by his Aura, the heat and light from the explosion being drawn into him. The Lion Faunus's fists and eyes glowed brighter as he stepped forwards.

"YOU!" one of the other Scavenger Guild members exclaimed, lowering his weapon and pointing at Felix in abject shock

"Boss, this don't make sense" he stammered to Mousey "I've seen this guy before. When the truck got hit this guy was one of the Hunters that showed up, I've seen his Semblance before. The guys we're looking for knocked him out, stabbed one of his team and ran" there was a heavy silence in the room for a moment that seemed to stretch for an eternity before Mousey spoke

"Everyone puts your guns down"

"I'm not putting shit down" Corvid snarled

"Corey" Mousey implored "We'll talk, this has clearly been a misunderstanding" seeing Felix release his Semblance, the golden light fading from his body Corvid released the man she was still holding at gunpoint and returned to the table which members of the Scavenger Guild had returned to an upright position; though she refused to relinquish her weapon and sat with it pointed directly at Mousey's chest. The gangster tried to ignore the gesture as he addressed his underlings, singling out the man who'd alerted him to Felix's identity

"You, stay. The rest of you wait outside" when the bodyguards had limped and shuffled into the, now likely deserted, public area of the bar he turned his attention to the Xiao Long's

"Okay, so we'll try this whole conversation again"

"Talk fast or I'm gonna brain you, you son of a bitch" Corvid's temper was, if anything, worsened by the attempt to sweep what had just happened under the rug.

"The job you two and your teams did for us in the exclusion zone. We sent some of our guys to pick the laser batteries up, a few regulars, a few broke hunters and a new guy from out of town. Faunus, big guy with toe-beans. He blew up the cab of the truck that Ginger over here was driving" he indicated to the man he'd kept behind "They had a truck waiting to offload the goods, that was planned Corey. I'll be honest, you bring a new guy in who's a big cat Faunus and we get fucked by a big cat Faunus you look like prime suspects"

"Fuck you man" Felix growled

"Hey, I only run things on this side of the water….the big bosses want a head on a pike and if I don't deliver someone's it's gonna be mine. Spare me the shit about racial profiling and tell me what you know"

"Not much" Felix admitted with a frustrated sigh "I don't know who they are or how they knew about your shipment. There's a group of at least four, the one giving the orders is a guy who can melt into the walls and floor and there's a small guy with them, some kind of amphibian Faunus….do not try and fight that guy if you catch them, nothing works on him. I don't think they're from New Vale, they were on Patch before they came here. What do you know?"

"What do we know?" Mousey gestured incredulously at Felix while looking at his underling "You hear this guy? What do we know? Well, I know that this travelling carnival of fucks put some of our best subcontractors in hospital. Fuck, Snow lost an arm to the Grimm in the exclusion zone….All I know kid, is that I'm lucky that the buyers for those guns is a museum and I don't sell to the mob any more or I'd already be in the bottom of the docks wearing concrete boots. The buyer is happy to take the half of the goods we still have. But I'm telling you now, the bosses want these guys caught and turned over"

"Not happening" Corvid snarled

"Excuse me?"

"You heard her" Felix chimed in "We're hunters. We're not your enforcers. We're gonna catch these guys and we're gonna turn them over to the authorities. They get jail time like any other criminal, not found dead at the side of a road somewhere" there were a few moments of tense silence, Felix dared to take his eyes off of Mousey for a moment and saw that Corvid's expression was still one of deep malice and her weapon was still at the ready. The Scavenger Guild's representative in New Vale finally sighed

"Fine. I'll let you kids be naive and be the heroes. You can put 'em in prison. If the bosses want 'em touched it'll still happen….One condition, you catch 'em the Guild gets its' goods back. We paid you for eight laser batteries Corey, we want we paid for"

"Fine" Corvid spat the single syllable out as if it left a foul taste in her mouth "Beyond that we're done. I signed up for recovery jobs and guard duty, not whatever this is"

"I take it you feel the same" Mousey asked Felix, the Lion Faunus simply nodded

"Fine, we're done here. Bring us those guns and you can turn the crew that hit us in; I'll give you a courtesy call if I hear anything. If anyone else catches 'em first though, well that's their business" Corvid and Felix both gave the man identical glowers as they rose from their seats, Felix on unsteady legs and Corvid with trembling hands. Before they made it to the door it was thrown open. The Xiao Longs and Mousey Clip alike recoiled at the sight of the raven haired woman with jade eyes narrowed in rage as she took in the bullet riddled room. Melanie Malachite caught sight of the pair of teenagers and her eye visibly twitched

"You two. Blondie's kids?"

"Um, yeah, yeah we're Yang's kids" Corvid stammered, her usual bravado crumpling under the presence of a woman whose influence in the Kingdom's underworld could not be overstated. Melanie gestured to the door

"Get out, I swear if I didn't know your family I'd have you taken to the top of the tower and thrown over" barging between them she advanced on Mousey who seemed to be rooted to the spot "Now as for you, you rented out a private room and left it looking like this; because, and stop me if I'm wrong, you had a shoot-out with the kids of an old friend of mine, the one with the hair and tail is good friends with my niece. Mousey I'm gonna give you one chance to explain why I shouldn't give you a permanent ear to ear smile" Corvid and Felix shared a look, both deciding that whatever Mousey's explanation was, they didn't want to be around if it proved unsatisfactory.

"Are you sure about this Eagle? I don't want to intrude" Helios sounded more nervous and hesitant than Eagle had ever heard him in their limited interactions as the pair of them made their way through corridors of Halo Academy rarely seen by students, those leading to the teachers' residences. Upon hearing the redheads' explanation that he'd been keeping his relationship with Lie and Nora Ren as sterile and detached as possible due to fears that he'd be nothing but an unwelcome reminder of their loss, the blonde had physically dragged him into the academy and insisted that he was coming to visit.

"Trust me" the blonde smiled brightly "It'll be great" her steps became an energetic skip as she neared the destination. Eventually stopping at one of the doors, which Helios noted were set further apart than those of the student dorms, most likely owing to the professors rooms being much larger, Eagle rapped on the door gently and waited; face becoming somewhat concerned when there was no answer. She knocked again, this time louder and was rewarded by the sound of someone approaching the door from the other side and unlocking it. Eagle was greeted by a Nora Ren with dishevelled hair clad in a baggy t-shirt

"Oh I'm sorry" Eagle gasped "I didn't realise it was that late, were you sleeping?"

"Well I was in bed" Nora grumbled "What's up? And what's Helios doing here?" she seemed to notice the redhead for the first time. Helios stepped forward

"I'm sorry for the intrusion" he bowed his head, his body language completely different to when he was dealing with his peers "It's just that, well, I've grown up hearing about Pyrrha Nikos the warrior and Pyrrha Nikos the hero. She was my mothers' cousin but due to the Nikos tribe being constantly on the move and Pyrrha being raised outside of the tribe they weren't close. Eagle told me that you considered her a friend, I wanted to know about Pyrrha Nikos the person…..I'm sorry, I know you probably get students asking you about war stories too often; I'll go"

"He doesn't really have many friends Aunt Nora" Eagle added delicately.

"Don't go" before Helios could turn to leave Nora had placed a hand on her student, who like most of her students was taller than her; any attempt at professionalism collapsed when she pulled both Helios and her niece into an impossibly tight hug. Her voice sounded close to cracking when she spoke

"Don't even think about going. If you don't feel at home here then I wish you'd spoken to me sooner, Pyrrha's family is my family the same way Jaune's family is. You can ask me about Pyrrha or anything else" she released her grip in the teens and called back into her apartment "Ren put some clothes on! We've got guests!"

At a dimly lit workbench sequestered near the Dust powered engine room of the stolen ship that he and the rest of the cadre were slowly coming to consider their home Onyx Ursabane let loose a slew of grunted curses as he peered intently at the inner workings of one of the four laser batteries that they had managed to steal from the Scavenger Guild. In truth it was the last of the four, the Puma Faunus's attempts to make the weapons of operational had damaged the others to such an extent that he felt it unwise to continue tinkering.

"Anything?" he looked up at the sound of Hellion's voice, the Dragonfly Faunus's wings lay flat against her back, a sign of exhaustion as she stroked Marauder; the bird of prey perched in its' usual place on her forearm. She'd been working alongside Onyx forging new throwing knives to replace the ones she'd used and working various additions into the blades.

"This would be going faster if Raffia was helping" the larger Faunus grumbled, the Axolotl Faunus's healing abilities had been stretched to their limits following the battle with the student Hunters, his teeth were still regrowing from the gunshot wound courtesy of the silver haired one; as such he'd outright refused to be used as Onyx's hands after the first laser battery exploded and burned the flesh from his arms.

"But can you make them work?" Hellion pressed him for a definitive answer

"With more time and more tools I could" Onyx rubbed his eyes with the back of a grease stained hand and stroked the scraggly whiskers he insisted were a beard before reaching for the soldering iron "Wish me luck" Hellion didn't see exactly what Onyx touched, only that the Puma Faunus was launched backwards with a bang, colliding with the wall as smoke issued from the weapon. After a few seconds of coughing and cursing he pulled himself to his feet, at the same moment the door opened and Carcharodon strode into the small room, Raffia following close behind

"So it was for nothing then? We came to Vale for nothing because you can't get these weapons to work?" the Shark Faunus's rasping voice shook and he was taking deep slow breaths, a sign to his comrades that his strained patience was at breaking point. Onyx lowered his head

"I'm sorry Car. This is Atlesian technology, it's meant to be used whole. Repurposing or reverse engineering it is….tricky" the Puma Faunus sighed "I wish Atlas had been different. I wish my father was still alive; he would have been able to fix this" Carcharodon's fury was peaked and snuffed out within seconds as Onyx mentioned their ill-fated voyage to the frozen Kingdom and the late blacksmith of their people respectively.

"So what do we do now?" Raffia asked as he hauled himself onto the workbench and regarded the remains of the fourth and final laser battery "There must be other places with weapons, do we set sail?"

"No" Carcharodon snarled "Not one step backwards. These weapons are Atlesian but New Vale has weapons of equal power. If they have them then they must have people who can build and maintain them. We just need one of those people" the room was silent for a few moments before Hellion spoke

"We don't take prisoners Carcharodon. It's not our way, it has never been our way"

"She's right" Onyx added "I want vengeance as much as you do. This….this makes us little better than the monsters we were told stories about as children, you're not the Warlord Tyrian" the Shark Faunus gave a low sibilant hiss in response

"I know, we're not savages but we need these weapons to reunite our people, we need the weapons and our people to take our vengeance. I'm not suggesting we sink to the level of slavers and flesh-traders. I'm suggesting that we compel someone who can fix these weapons to do so and if it requires force then so be it" Onyx, Hellion and Raffia all visibly relaxed; stealing people's belongings was fair, it was trial by conquest and a well established part of their lives.

"I'll follow your plan Car….just be careful you don't lose your way" Hellion murmured, the shark Faunus smiled, displaying countless sharp teeth

"With the best tracker on Anima beside me how could I?" his liquid black eyes took in his crew, the four of them the remains of a far greater fleet. Hellion rolled her eyes at the praise

"It's settled then?" Carcharodon asked "We take what we need from this Kingdom, even its' people"

Authors Notes:

Okay, sorry for being absent for a bit yet again. The last month or so has been hectic. Rare Pair Week took my attention, I needed to actually plan a few chapters ahead and honestly work ran me into the floor and I was a bit sick.
All excuses aside, I'm back now and the almost-weekly pseudo schedule should be back in place.

Now let's summarise:
"Riveting" You have no idea how bad I wanted to make that pun. Literally since I decided that the Omega Wing was getting an upgrade.
Turn up late to Nora's class and she drags you up for a handicap match….repeat offenders have to face Nora herself.
Never threaten Yang, Corvid or Felix's hair.
Diamond Sustrai-Black is the daughter of Merc and Em, so the first person to make any inappropriate comments during a sparring match would undoubtedly also be the last person.
Eagle can go from expert sword-fighter, analysing peoples' styles and pointing out their flaws to utterly flustered mess in less than a second.
The other Mistrali Eagle realised she knew last chapter, it was Helios. She offered to train with Arctus specifically to use the same training area that Helios would most likely be using.
Sapisma choiros = Rotting Swine, Helios is very proud of his heritage and Team FADE are working on the (Incorrect assumption) that the Shadow Cadre are copycat group. So now Helios is involved
Eagle wants to be friends with everyone, but I imagine even she's a little wary of Helios. The guy's a bad-ass but in some ways he'd probably be hard to like if you met him in person.
The Scarface pun, peak Corvid.
The Scavenger Guilds' operations (Retrieving and selling on anything that can be salvaged) is morally ambiguous but usually just manages to stay on the right side of the law. That being said anyone in that line of work will also be involved in the criminal underworld and in the criminal underworld selling people out only has one response.
Before building the Omega Wing Corvid had a mini Gambol Shroud, however if you've read the Downward Spiral then you know that Blake doesn't have that weapon any more, Corvid must have used photos and video footage of the Vytal Tournament for the design.
Explosive or incendiary rounds don't really work on Felix.
I think Corvid and Felix point blank refusing to hand over the Shadow Cadre is the clear proof, that may have been needed that even though they bend/break laws sometimes their hearts are in the right place, these are the good guys.
One does not simply fuck up Melanie Malachite's bar. Miltia may be married to a Hunter and running a bar that is a legit business, Melanie on the other hand is at least as ruthless a gangster as Junior was.
Yeah not even going to be subtle here….there was some Booping going on and Eagle interrupted it.
The Arc family pretty much adopted Ren and Nora, who in turn just pretty much adopted Helios.
Atlesian technology is like Apple, they make it hard for anyone other than them to repair it so they can sell you the latest model instead.
I already said that Team FADE actually have the wrong idea about the Shadow Cadre's identity (They actually haven't heard the name Shadow Cadre yet) I'm giving little hints right now but rest assured I know what I'm doing.
Also they're looking to kidnap a tech genius…..now which member of Team FADE is the daughter of the biggest robotics company on Remnant.

Thank you to ShadowWolf, FleetOfWarships, Ferrous, ShadowAlex2000 and FluffyFirefly for their reviews on the last chapter.
Gripe away my friend.
Well I hope I continue to write Arctus and Diamond in a way that reminds you of your girlfriend and gives you all the feels then.
Find Eagle a Girlfriend effort is already underway my friend.
Battle Cat (Felix x Helios) is going to be slow burn. Really slow. Expect things to go beyond friendship in second year.
Nyanza's over reliance on his Semblance will cost him eventually.
Corvid puns are great, I've noticed she tends to be a little meaner with them than Yang.
I might write more Psychologist Neptune but I'll need to actually take a day out and research for that because I haven't seen a mental health worker in over a decade and my memories are hazy at best,

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.