Raven smiles as she watches Sarah type on a virtual keyboard, a steaming cup of coffee next to her and her face scrunched up in concentration. The veteran huntress has to admit, the ten year old impresses her. She's as brave as a lion, as smart as any adult she's ever met, and so sweet she's taken to joking that she could sweeten her coffee with just her pinky alone.
She and Summer are growing to love her already, as well as the girls, who are treating her as an older sister and not a friend. And her semblance is as unique as she is, giving her the ability to speak and commune with any kind of device put into her hands. She had spent almost an hour solid simply touching the giant device she has made her own, tears streaming down her face as she cried silently before activating the amazing headache of a machine.
"Okie…" She mutters as she takes one of those core things out of a cabinet set next to her keyboard and looks up at the Titan still standing silently in the construction bay of the TMM. "Mrs. Raven?"
"Yeah Monkey?" She's taken to calling her that as well, she finds it suits her perfectly as normally Summer has to scrub her clean every single night after she has managed to crawl into something else to explore it thoroughly to see how it works.
"I'm scared." The little Titan pilot admits quietly. "What if she's mad cause she died? Or if something happened to her while we were running and she forgot us all?"
The older woman kneels next to her and smiles. "Hey, you gotta have faith kiddo. You kept her safe all these years, and she's gonna see that." She reassures her as she rubs her back.
She nods as she moves forward and holds the core up, a mechanical arm moving down to take it and bring it to its proper position. They watch as the arm locks the control device for the Titan into place, Sarah walking back over to her console once it's done. "Okie, here we go!" She declares as she pushes the activate button on the screen…
*System startup sequence initialized. Testing boot systems…*
"Hello? Heeeeelllllloooooo!" Ruby calls out as she slides to a stop. "I didn't miss it did I?!"
"You gotta wait a sec, Ruby!" The little blonde giggles.
"She is so awesome looking!" The little rabbit faunus girl declares.
*Starting up root drive Scorch.exe…Initializing Scorch.exe.…Successful!...Booting up personality profile "Embers"...*
"Oh big sister! Wakey wakey! I know you're working!"
*Personality profile "Embers" loaded…...Booting up primary core…Secondary core found……Initiating data back ups…*
"Are you sure she's gonna wake up?" Raven asks curiously as she stares at the computer screen.
"Uh huh, lookit! She's using the backup core I made for her! She's backing herself up to the TMM!" The little pilot declares in excitement.
*Loading protocols….Protocol One: Link to PilotProtocol Two: Uphold the MissionProtocol Three: Protect the Pilot……. Pilot helmet signal not found……Pilot confirmed KIA during action on Harmony. Preparing for autonomous actions…*
"Hey Sarah, what do these mean?" Raven points at the three protocols still on the screen.
"Oh, those are a Titan's protocols, Mrs. Raven. It's rules they gotta follow during missions." She explains.
"Oh. Makes sense."
"Oh look at that, Birdie! Even a multiton combat robot has rules it has to follow!" Summer teases her as she walks up with Yang, the blonde yawning sleepily.
"Shut up, Sum." The other woman grumbles as she pouts.
*Protocol Four: Protect Pilot Designated "Sarah Bogard" at all costs. Full DNA profiles are now loaded for fast identification. All threats to Designator "Sarah Bogard" are to be neutralized at any cost...Protocol Five: Protect object "Titan Mobile Maintenance" at all costs…
Protocols four and five are tantamount to all other protocols by order of Captain Jack Cooper, Colonial SRS. If protocols four and five become compromised, use of lethal force is authorized. Designator "Sarah Bogard" is to be neutralized quickly, and as painlessly as possible. Object "Titan Mobile Maintenance" is to be fully destroyed…*
"Sarah, are you ok?" Summer catches the sudden scent of fear coming from the little blonde girl she's come to adore in such a short time.
"Uncle Coop ordered them to kill me?!" She shrieks in growing terror.
"Monkey! No, you ignore those last two! We swore to protect you no matter what!" Mama yells as she storms up, looking worriedly at the Scorch Prime. "I swore to keep you alive no matter what it took." She adds reassuringly.
*DNA profile confirmed as Pilot Sarah Bogard…….Confirming IFF signals from BLP-1124 and JEC-9718...….Warning! Unknown DNA profiles are present and surrounding Pilot Bogard! Protocol Four is now active! Entering combat mode!...Light 'em up, pyro!*
"Ok, now what's happening?!" Raven cries out as the arms and equipment surrounding the rebuilt Titan begin to move back as the core lights up a bright red.
"She's waking up! Move!" Sarah calls out.
"NO! RUN SARAH!" The Scorch Prime screams as she moves free of the TMM, grabbing at an odd looking weapon on her back.
Mama is in front of her in an instant, the now awakened Titan's weapon pushed upwards and away from hitting any structures. "Embers! Calm down! We're safe! We made it!"
The giant red, orange and white Titan stops struggling against the Legion and stares. "Mom? Why did I just reboot?"
The larger Titan chuckles as she leans over to touch cores gently with her. "It's a long story, firebug. You've kinda been nothing but a core for the last four years."
"Oh. Makes sense." The Scorch Prime admits quietly. "I guess I just scared the hell out of everyone?"
"Just a little."
Sarah's head pops around the side of the TMM, her eyes as wide as plates. "You guys were supposed to kill me?!"
"No!" Mama and Jenna, who finally arrives from her own patrol, both roar in unison.
"Monkey, Coop gave me the override codes to change your designation before all hell broke loose during the evac of Harmony." Mama explains as she kneels down to look closer at the young girl. "He and I both agreed that protocols four and five were too much, but command didn't leave him a choice."
Jenna nods her core. "But Mom didn't have time to get Embers' changed over, cause she and her pilot both went down. I barely grabbed her core before I got forced back to the ship."
"Oh." The blonde haired girl nods. "I guess it was that important, huh?"
"Wait, you mean to tell me if you had to die, you accept it?!" Raven asks in shock as he stares at the young pilot, while Summer growls angrily.
"I'm gonna kill him the next time I see him." The rabbit faunus mutters too low to be overheard.
"You saw what I just did, Mrs. Raven." She replies quietly. "I just rebuilt a Titan from scratch in little over two weeks. And that was with the TMM's reactor failing twice and having to use all those scrapped vehicles the village elder said we could have! I didn't even know it could do that until my semblance thingy showed me!"
"The TMM is keyed only to Monkey now too. Only she can use it." Mama adds as she watches Embers look around, the Scorch Prime's core as wide as a proverbial eye as it takes in the scenery. "All the tech built into it is as unique as my monkey, too."
"I honestly have no fucking idea where I am right now." Embers mutters as she turns to look back at the others. "Anyone wanna explain things to me?!"
"Are all of you potty mouths?" Ruby asks with a giggle, her foot long ears wiggling in amusement.
"It comes with the territory of being soldiers, Ruby." Summer replies with a soft sigh as she pinches the bridge of her nose.
"I'm sorry, Ruby was it?" Embers asks as she kneels down. "I'll go ahead and put a check on my vocabulary processes to keep it to a minimum around you, ok?"
"Okie!" The little rabbit girl squeals in delight as she hops around. "You're just as cool as Mama and Jenna!"
"Nah, I'm way hotter than my Mom and my sister!" She declares with a wink of her core. "I'm a Scorch Prime. Fighting fire with fire is my specialty."
"That's so awesome…" Yang breathes out as she stares at the Titan.
"So who should I rebuild next?" Sarah asks Mama and Summer both as she digs in her satchel. "I could do Ranger? We could use a Northstar to help hunt down that other Wyvern! Oooo, or Frost! She and Shadow both are awesome with all the close range stuff you guys have been having to do!"
"Hold your horses a sec, Monkey." Mama replies with a chuckle as she pats the top of her head gently with one padded finger. "Summer, Raven, and I have been talking, and we've been giving a lot of thought as to your future as well as Ruby and Yang's."
The young blonde tilts her head at her Titan. "Ok? What do you mean?" She asks curiously as she closes the canvas bag she carries at all times.
"Yeah, Auntie and Mommy! What do you guys mean?" Ruby echoes as she dashes over, Yang too busy talking excitedly with the Scorch to pay attention to anything else.
Raven chuckles as she scoops her younger daughter up into her arms. "We may be heading back to Vale, kiddo. Your mom's been negotiating a new long term contract for the four of us adults."
"Speak for yourself, Raven. I'm technically only seven." Jenna informs her with a giggle.
"You almost don't count either, Birdie." Summer adds teasingly. "But you get a pass physically."
Raven huffs as she looks away poutingly. "Why, Sum? Why do you gotta hurt a girl like that?"
"Yeah Mama! Leave my Mommy alone!" Ruby huffs as she hugs the woman, who hugs her back chuckling.
"Anywho, Monkey. Sum got the letters with some contract for her and Raven this morning. Once we finally track down the other Wyvern they were contracted to kill in the area and didn't know about until the elder asked about it, we're all out of here." The Legion informs her young pilot. "And Miss Summer and Mrs. Raven are gonna adopt you too."
"No! I don't want them as my Mama and Mommy! I want you!" The little girl screams at the Titan, who sighs.
"Sarah." Summer calls out as she kneels down to look her in the eyes, her hands gently taking Sarah's. "Mama will always be your Mama, I promise. But from a legal standpoint, Raven and I have to be your mothers on paper until the Valian Council sees that Mama and the others actually can think for themselves and everything."
"Those things take time, Monkey." Mama adds quietly. "And you need to go to school and try to go back to being a kid and all, at least for a little longer. But me? I'm not going anywhere, ok?"
Sarah stays silent as she mulls everything over, her hands still in the older faunus woman's. "I guess it's ok." She finally whispers. "Just…"
"Just what, sweetie?" Raven asks as she kneels next to Summer while setting Ruby down gently.
"Jenna's old pilot always said ohana. It meant family where he was from." She replies quietly as she looks at her hands in Summer's. "My family is broken. My daddy died to protect me, my mama died trying to stop Marder, and all my brothers died from the plague he used to kill everyone I knew on my own homeworld, then he destroyed Harmony too and killed Uncle Coop. All I got left is Mama, Jenna, and now Embers, and I'm scared of losing anyone else again." She looks up at Raven and Summer with tears in her eyes. "I don't wanna get used to you guys just to lose you too. I don't wanna love you guys like I wanna start doing just to have some other stupid head like Gabriel or his dummy head sister just rip it all away like his dad did to me once already."
Ruby suddenly wiggles her way in and looks up at the taller girl. "No! We're gonna be your family now too! My Mama and Mommy are the best, and no stupid Grimm is gonna take them away from any of us!" She declares as she puts her hands on top of Sarah's and Summer's.
Raven nods. "That's right, Kiddo. Sum and I? We don't make promises we can't keep, ok? And as long as we have a single breath left in both our bodies, we always come back to all our girls, isn't that right Sum?" She directs the conversation back to her as she too sets her own hands on Ruby's.
Summer smiles as she squeezes the girl's hands gently. "Sarah, don't be afraid, ok? Once we finally track down the other Wyvern, our hunt here in Mistral is finished, and then it looks like we're all going to Vale to live and work. Raven, Mama and I are gonna work really hard to give you three a strong, stable home to live in."
"Hey! Us too you know!" Jenna protests as Embers joins them.
"You can count me in, too." The Scorch declares as Yang wiggles into the middle and sets her own hands on Raven's.
"Mommy's right! Her and Mama never make promises they can't keep, Sarah!" The lilac eyed girl declares with a grin.
Ruby nods. "You got a bigger family now!" She adds firmly, a look of happiness in her bright quicksilver eyes.
The too young pilot looks at her Titan, who nods her core. "This is home now, Monkey. And they just want a chance to be a major part of our family."
Taking a deep breath, she gives the four people who have started to change her life for the better a wide, gapped toothed smile. "Okie dokie then!" She declares happily.
Ruby and Yang both squeal in delight as they rush over and hug the older girl, while Jenna suddenly straightens up. "Sarah, get inside Mama, now!" She declares as her tracker cannon rises up. "Ruby, you're with me!"
"What?! What's going on?!" Ruby looks around, her long ears wiggling until they suddenly stop and rise straight up. "It's big…"
Summer nods as she takes Retribution off her own back, her face pale. "Really big…"
"Embers! Take Yang! Monkey, come on!" Mama orders as the Scorch and Tone Primes both open their pilot's compartments while scooping up the two little girls to deposit them safely inside. "Summer, Raven, get people to shelter! Something really big is coming!"
"It has to be that Wyvern!" The seasoned huntress calls out as her wife starts to bark orders to the civilians who had gathered around them. "But most Grimm won't follow anything unless it's older!"
"I guess it hated all the happy feelings and decided to come personally to squash 'em." Mama replies as her predator cannon swings slowly in the direction of the noise that is growing louder. "And it decided to bring some friends too."
"Yang, don't touch anything, ok?" Embers calls out as she loads a thermite shell into her T-203 and snaps the breech closed. "By the Creator, are my power levels correct?" She suddenly asks in surprise.
"Dust is some amazing stuff, sis." Jenna giggles. "Hell, I only need one battery now myself!"
"We still pack three." Mama adds firmly over a private comm channel. "Don't want to risk some asshat getting a rodeo on us and shutting us down."
"Copy that!" Embers replies as she salutes.
"Sure is! And Mama helped Jenna make gravity rounds for her tracker cannon! It's gonna hurt!" Ruby singsongs as she stares at the displays in fascination, not having heard the private conversation between Mama and Embers.
"Cores up! Weapons hot!" Mama calls out as she begins to advance slowly. "Monkey, you got anything?"
Sarah finished putting her child sized helmet on and takes control of the Legion Prime. "Yeah, movement three klicks out." She replies calmly. "Coming in hot!"
"Embers, you deal with any ground bound small fries that pop up. If you need it, there's an XO-16 hanging on the back of the TMM." Mama orders.
"Over there!" Yang points to the chaingun, which is hanging by an enormous strap. "See it Embers?"
"Sure do, thanks Blondie." The Scorch replies as she levels her thermite launcher. "Mama, picking up multiple targets. Permission to fire?"
"Wait until you see them, Embers." Summer calls out as she and Raven move through the village, getting the civilians towards an underground shelter. "Some of them are too fast for you to try to bullseye with grenades."
"Heh heh heh." The Titan chuckles as odd canisters begin to launch from shoulder mounted ejectors. "I got this, Mrs. Branwen. Mama, Sarah! Gonna funnel them all towards you!"
"Copy that!"
"Solid copy! Try to keep the forest fires to a minimum please?" The girl asks. "It's really pretty."
"Here they come!" Jenna declares. "I got solid contacts on radar!"
"Light em up, Firebug!" Mama orders as she herself opens fire, her gatling cannon chewing through an entire pack of beowolves easily.
"Launching thermite! Stay clear!" Her T-203 makes an odd whump sound as a thermite grenade is sent sailing towards the first batch of canisters she launched. To the surprise of the two huntresses, the second the grenade touches down and explodes, the entire area she seeded with the canisters goes up in superheated flames, catching a mixed group of Grimm attracted by the Wyvern and instantly burning them to ashes. "Moving to the next position!" She calls out as she gets on the move, canisters already launching as she reloads her main gun.
"That was so awesome!" Yang cried out from inside the cockpit. "You just went whump, and then everything went boom!"
"That's how I work, Blondie." The Titan chuckles as she snaps the breech of her weapon closed. "Scorchs are made for battlefield control. I close off the ways we don't want them to come, so that the big dps dealers like Jenna and Mama can mow em down!"
Yang just nods as she watches a second grenade launch and explode with identical results. "So cool!"
Meanwhile, Jenna and Ruby stay on the move, the Titan's tracker cannon and missiles making quick work of anything trying to sneak past Ember's growing amount of choke points. Stopping from a dash to reload, the Titan raises her free hand to point at a massive shadow still hiding amongst the trees. "Hey Ruby? What's that?"
Looking away from studying Jenna's controls, the young rabbit faunus girl turns as pale as a ghost. "That's the Wyvern!" She shrieks as the gigantic Grimm, feeding off her sudden fear, roars in challenge as it rises to its full ground height, wings extending to almost block all the light from the coming sunset. "That's a Greater Wyvern!"
"It's a what?!" Raven yells as she finishes herding the villagers into the shelter.
"It's a Greater Wyvern! I recognize it from Willow's Grimm books!" Ruby screams as she trembles in terror.
"Fall back!" Summer roars. "That thing can rip you to shreds!"
"Oh shit." Jenna mutters as she looks up with her core, surprised at how much bigger the winged Grimm is compared to her. "Mama! I have contact with primary target, and it's almost three times bigger than the one we killed before!" She roars over comms as she raises her weapon and fires three rounds rapidly, the gravity dust infused rounds barely penetrating the beast's tough bone armor and hide despite the addition of the dust to the rounds. "Oh double shit…"
"Those barely went in!" Ruby screams as Jenna fires a salvo of missiles at the Grimm, all of them finding their overly large target easily, the older beast all but shrugging them off as it begins to flap its wings, rising slowly into the air.
"I noticed!" The Tone replies calmly as she boosts backwards, alternating her fire between her cannon and missile salvos.
"Mama! Target is airborne! Gonna try to lead this thing to you and Embers!"
"Be careful! You got precious cargo on board!" The Legion replies over the sound of her predator cannon and thermite grenades exploding. "Missiles having any effect?"
"Honestly? I'm just pissing this thing off!" The Titan squeals as she dodges a swipe from the Grimm's wickedly barbed tail spikes. "Permission to clip its wings?"
"Denied! Get it closer!"
"Fuck! Ok!" The Tone grumbles as she keeps moving back towards the other two Titans while acting as bait, a screaming Ruby curled into a tight ball in her pilot's seat, her fear overwhelming her and enticing the creature with a particularly tasty meal if it can catch them.
"Mama!" Summer calls out as she runs up, scythe in hand and an odd glow in her eyes. "I have an idea, but I need you and Embers to pull it off!"
"Talk to me!" The Legion replies calmly as she reloads, the corridor she's been guarding empty for a moment.
"Listen, it sounds like that Wyvern is an ancient class. Those are the absolute toughest to beat because of all the armor and thick hide. If you can bring it down to the ground, Embers can light that sucker on fire and I can finish it off!" She informs the Titan, who shakes her core.
"No way, Sum. Thermite is a controlled form of napalm. It burns superhot, especially when Embers uses her incendiary traps with it." The Titan explains.
Summer grimaces as they all hear the roar of the Wyvern approaching. "What does that mean?!"
"It means once Embers hits that Wyvern, you'll melt before you even get close to it." Sarah informs the older woman. "And you made me a promise." She adds.
Summer nods as she looks at the looming darkness getting closer. "I know, sweetie." She replies quietly before looking up at Mama. "Then what's the plan? Cause I won't lie, Raven and I would never have been able to deal with it by ourselves."
"Yeah! Ozpin never said anything about a fucking Greater Wyvern!" The red eyed woman adds as she joins them.
Embers storms up, her T-203 in hand. "Bring it down, both of you. Mrs. Raven too if she can manage it. I'll handle the rest."
"You sure?" Mama asks.
"I got a flame core ready. To paraphrase Jenna, pew pew pew, BOOM!" The Scorch replies calmly.
Summer nods as her scythe folds back, the muzzle of a rifle of some kind extending outward. "Birdie and I'll aim for the membranes on the right wing." She declares before vanishing in a burst of rose petals with her wife, the two of them darting into the small two story house they have been staying in.
"Guess that leaves me the left wing." Mama adds as she looks fondly at the Scorch. "This is your game now, Firebug. But we definitely got your back." She adds before she and Sarah move to a better firing position.
The Scorch positions herself firmly between the two columns of fire she created, the flames still burning almost white hot as she keeps the barrel of her thermite launcher steadily aimed in between the two columns.
"Embers, you ok?" Yang asks quietly.
"Just getting ready, Blondie. Listen, when I say now, I want you to hit both those big red triggers on the ends of my controls. Can you do that?" The Titan asks the eight year old, who nods.
"What do they do?" She asks as she timidly takes them both in hand.
"They let me use my core ability, Flame Core. I'm gonna be busy hitting that thing with every kitchen sink and stove I can find." She replies to the human girl fondly as a rapidly firing Jenna and screaming Ruby appear. They both watch as the Tone Prime abandons her cover fire, opting to finally turn to retreat fully now that she's in the corridor of flames. "Ready?"
Yang nods as she gulps nervously. "Uh huh. Just say when."
"Keep your cool, Yang. It won't reach us, I promise." The Scorch Prime reassures her as the Wyvern continues to chase both their sisters.
"Now!" Mama roars over comms as the distinct sound of her predator cannon is suddenly heard, along with the sounds of an automatic rifle and high caliber pistol from the top of the building Summer and Raven vanished into. The Titan and her passenger watch as the ancient Grimm shrieks in pain, its wings getting shredded by the combined fire. Surprisingly, the blonde girl can still hear Jenna's swearing as she darts past them both, while Ruby's screaming finally stops.
"Target is down!" Summer calls out as the Greater Wyvern hits the ground with a scream of pain, sliding for a short distance before stopping.
"Hit it now, firebug!" Mama roars as she keeps pouring a murderous amount of bullets into the downed Grimm, while missiles launch from her shoulder racks with deadly accuracy.
"Launching Incendiary traps and Thermite!" Embers roars as she suddenly starts to move, casting her launcher away once the grenade is clear of the muzzle. "Preparing for Flame Core deployment!"
"Go get em! Kick his big scaley ass!" Jenna roars as she turns and levels her tracker cannon at it, firing another salvo of missiles at the Greater Wyvern to help keep it down.
"That's it! Language!" Summer roars.
"I gotta agree! That's enough, Jenna!"
Embers ignores all the chatter as she watches the massive Grimm struggle to rise, all while she continues to pelt it with every trap she has left in her internal racks. Once the Grimm itself is screaming in pain as it struggles to free itself from the now white hot flames, she positions herself to face it fully, her arms already rising into the air.
"Yang! Now!"
The girl nods as she pushes both triggers simultaneously. "Go Embers go!"
"Feed on this!" The Scorch Prime roars as both fists slam into the earth, a massive wave of flames heading straight for the shrieking Grimm, which feeds from the already existing fires to turn just as white hot as it travels rapidly towards it's target with murderous intent. They all watch as the creature of darkness is struck dead on, it's shrieks of pain growing louder as it gets engulfed in the Titan's flames. Soon, bone armor simply melts away as the thick, hardened hide remains ablaze, and the Grimm finally stops its screaming to fall back dead.
"Target neutralized." Embers declares firmly as she straightens back up.
"Yeah!" Yang cheers from inside the compartment. "We did it!"
"We did it?!" Ruby calls out next as she finally peeks from behind her ears, which she's been using to cover her eyes. "Ohmygoshwereallydiditandwedidn'tdie!"
Jenna chuckles as she walks back up. "Oh I bet that thing stinks!"
"Cores up!" Mama barks out as she punts a squealing Boarbatusk into the flames. "We still got a lot of stragglers!"
"Copy that. Ruby, you ok for now? Don't wanna let you out while we mop things up." Jenna asks as she raises and fires her tracker cannon, turning another boarbatusk into a black mist.
"Just no more big Greater Wyverns please?" She begs quietly. "That one was enough!"
"No more Wyverns period, Ruby. We all promise." Mama chuckles. "Don't think we can handle another one ourselves right now. I'm bingo on ammo and missiles."
"I think we all are." Embers adds as she punches a particularly brave Alpha Beowolf that gets too close to her.
"Whatever it takes." Mama orders firmly. "Let's get these bastards out of town."
"Copy that Mama!" Sarah replies chipperly as she attaches a tablet to her comm. "Already got the TMM working on fresh ammo."
"Awesome!" Jenna cheers as she uses her tracker cannon as a golf club to smack another beowolf into a tree. The three Titans, one child pilot, and two passengers busy themselves with mop up operations, while the villagers as well as a pair of huntresses watch on...
Summer Rose can't help but stare at the burning beast, which is melting away from the intense heat created by the newest Titan. Even with her own hidden gifts, she would have been hard pressed to even be able to slow the creature down, or even defeat it. She would have…
"Sum." Raven shakes her gently, breaking her free of her musings. "You ok, babe?"
"That thing would have killed me if I had gone alone as we originally planned, Birdie." She admits out loud as she keeps staring at the slowly dying pyre. "I never would have stood even a fighting chance."
"Yeah, kinda noticed that too." She agrees as she wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer. "I think we need to stay the hell outta Vale at this point, Sum. I'm starting to think this whole job was a set up."
She nods in agreement as she nestles closer to her. "The village elder did keep saying that we wouldn't have been enough. Goddess, Raven, who would want to kill us?!"
The woman sighs as she looks at the flames, then the Titans who are busy mopping up any remaining Grimm brave enough or stupid enough to try to keep fighting. "I got a few ideas, Sum. And old Ozpin's at the top of that list."
"It… makes sense, doesn't it?" She admits quietly as she watches Mama angrily stomp a King Taijitu's white head into the ground, while Embers simply twists the black head savagely to rip it off. "He's been angry at the both of us since I chose to help you raise Yang after Tai vanished instead of keeping on with his weird missions. Yet all of a sudden, he offers us a too good to be true contract in the middle of nowhere in Mistral?"
"Sum, we really shouldn't go back to Vale. You and I both already thought it was weird how the guild denied all our contract offers, even the ones where we lowballed ourselves." Raven points out. "Then all of a sudden they agree on the condition we make one hundred percent sure to bring Sarah and the TMM. Seems too convenient."
She nods in her agreement. "Not any of the Titans, just Sarah and her gizmo." She sighs as she looks back at the blonde haired girl who is now standing on Mama's wide shoulders, using a small SMG to help bring more Grimm down. "I won't do it. I have a horribly bad feeling about it."
"Me too." Raven agrees quietly. "She's just a kid. She definitely needs to be doing kid stuff, not all this. But if not Vale, where?"
"Lionheart's been offering us both jobs to teach at Haven." She reminds the taller woman. "I bet he would help fast track Sarah's adoption if I at least accept."
"Hey, I'd be a great teacher you know!" The other woman mock protests as she smiles down at her faunus wife, both of them taking note that the last of the Grimm have either fled or been defeated.
"Uh huh. Half your students would be dead in a week. The rest would be too traumatized to continue." She teases her wife as she smiles up at her. "But you're definitely better at negotiating then me."
Raven nods. "Then I'll head to Mistral first thing in the morning." She declares. "I'll take all three of the girls with me, along with one of them." She adds as she motions to the Titans, who are now talking quietly while ensuring the fires from the defeated Wyvern don't spread while the other fires burn themselves out.
"Leave me Mama and Embers." Summer asks. "Once you find us a place and get us set up, we'll follow you with that TMM thingamabob. Just make sure Sarah locks that thing down before you guys leave."
"Sum?"
"Yes Birdie?"
"Thank all three of the Goddesses for those Titans." She declares as she pulls her tighter into her side. "I don't think either of us would have survived fighting that damned thing. And the thought of leaving Ruby and Yang alone in the world scares the hell outta me." The dark haired woman admits quietly as they both watch all three of the girls talk excitedly in the middle of the war machines.
She nods as she tightens her own grip around her wife's sides. "I'd almost say go to Atlas. Stay with Gabbie and Jacques until we figure things out, but I know how much you and Jimmy hate each other."
"Still better than Ozpin." Raven replies bluntly. "Anything is better than that manipulative bastard right now."
"I know Birdie." She replies heavily. "Mom always told me not to trust him when I was at Beacon and after. That he always has mysterious reasons for doing things the way he does. And now seeing this? Realizing we were tricked into taking a job that required multiple teams as well as heavy fire support to complete? I just can't trust him anymore."
"Then yeah, it's definitely settled. We're staying put here. Nothing really for us back in Vale or Patch anyway, except pain." She adds the last in a sad mumble.
Summer nods as she rises up onto her toes to kiss her cheek. "Come on. I need to make dinner and you need to go ahead and call Lionheart. Maybe even that one councilor?"
"Who? Augustus Nikos?" She asks as the two of them begin to walk away from the edge of the roof and towards a small access door set into the tiles. "What for?"
"For the Titans, silly." She smiles impishly at her. "He's the commanding officer for all of Mistral's armies. That's something I'm pretty sure they would definitely understand, and maybe Jenna and Embers both can find new pilots. I doubt Mama would accept anyone but Sarah."
"Huh, didn't even think about that." The dark haired woman admits quietly. "This would definitely put Mistral back on the right track with them working as the heavies for bringing down the really big, tough to handle Grimm that have been moving out of the wild lands."
She nods as she stoops down and opens the hatch. "Exactly. Since Ozpin just burned us for the last time, let's see what Mistral has to offer a silver eyed warrior, a reformed bandit, and three heavy war machines."
"Yup!" Raven chuckles in agreement as she follows her beloved wife while they continue to discuss their possible new future in Mistral, all thoughts of returning to Vale vanishing without a trace…
Qrow Branwen grimaces as he lowers his binoculars. He can't risk getting too close to the village, or else his sister's semblance will ping her. And considering the two of them don't get along? And Summer's still pissed with him over Tai? That would be bad.
He fears his former team leader just that little bit more than his current one. Ozpin is patient, Summer will follow him to the ends of Remnant just to claim his skull as a trophy, then send the rest to Oz in small, easily boxed pieces.
Of course, Ozpin's brilliant plan to have the Greater Wyvern destroy the village as well as the two Titans went up in flames, literally. But he had warned the Headmaster of Beacon that they were building a new one of the combat machines, and it was as big as that Legion Prime their ally warned them about. He needs to call this in to his boss, and hope the man starts yelling. He much prefers Ozpin yelling to the long silences.
Those mean he's plotting someone's eminent demise.
Picking up his scroll, he blinks as he sees the message waiting. Opening it, he sighs as he reads the single sentence: Return at once. Good, he hates Mistral anyway. Too many bad memories, too many ghosts, and his sister and former crush are all here to torment him. Closing his eyes, a black feathered crow launches from the tree, arrowing in the direction of the coast.
He doesn't see the scope following him, a hate filled pair of silver eyes following him to make sure he is going as far away from her growing family as possible...