AN: Heya, Alpha here! So, I feel compelled to tell you a bit about this chapter, and (for those who have seen Gundam Build Fighters and everything that's spawned from it, including GM Counterattack, Try, and Island Wars, and Battlogue) I must let you all know that what you are about to read is going to require a bit of an open mind.

This chapter required me to make some pretty impressive and downright scary connections to fill in gaps in the lore of Build Fighters. So little is known about the broader world outside of Gunpla Battle that I had to basically create my own interpretation of the lore in order to make things make sense, both to the anime and manga AND to this fan fiction. As such, I ask that you keep in mind that much of what you are about to read is MY way of filling in the gaps, because there are monumental gaps to fill in.

More importantly, though, I ask that you stick around until the end, because this chapter is THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER IN THE STORY. Many of the concepts introduced here will be the baseline and foundation for the primary story of RWBY Build Fighters, and you will likely be seeing elements of this chapter being used later on in the story, so I don't recommend skipping it. I told you all I have a bigger narrative than just throwing random model kits into the ring to fight; this is what I mean. It started last chapter and is continuing here.

With that in mind, I hope you enjoy!


The brandy burned his throat as Qrow sipped it at the bar. He was never one to hold back on his liquor, and waiting around for contacts was mostly very boring.

The bar was pretty quiet. Many of the regulars were either actively working at the Gunpla tournaments in some way or were at the banquet for the fighters, which should be just about over by now.

He sighed. Part of him wished he had accepted Summer and Takeshi's offer to join the Gunpla Battle Referees, if only so that he could have had access to the party to see his nieces. He'd been running around on an assignment gathering information, and had only that same day gotten back to Tokyo. They'd been here a week now, and he still hadn't seen them at all.

'A P.I's work is never done', he thought to himself, swirling his glass around and listening to the ice clink inside the glass.

"You know, you're going to kill your liver with that."

Qrow perked up and turned on his bar stool, seeing a man approach. He smirked. "Mr. Ral. I didn't think you came to such fine establishments."

"I normally wouldn't on a night like this," Ral replied, taking a seat next to him and nodding up to the TV that was covering the preparations for the opening ceremony. "But I was asked to come."

Qrow gave him an odd look. "You too huh? Interesting."

Qrow looked up at the back of the bar thinking, staring at the bottles. So far he had been running around through several countries for weeks collecting evidence, but the case was far from clear cut. The purchase of Team Nemesis was one of the hottest topics in the Gunpla community as of late, and his investigations had not been easy.

His thoughts were interrupted once more when he heard the bar door open and several footsteps enter. Qrow turned his head around, glancing behind himself to see four newcomers approaching him. Two of them were Ozpin and Glynda, the younger blonde woman he vaguely remembered meeting the first time Ozpin had approached him. The other two however, he was intimately familiar with - Summer Rose and Takeshi Iori, two of his friends and also his contacts within the Gunpla Battle Official Referees.

"Well this is a surprise..." Qrow muttered, downing his drink and setting the glass down on the bar. "I thought I'd have a little more time."

"Qrow," Summer said disapprovingly. "Your family hasn't heard from you in a while, you know. I'm aware that you're busy, but you could at least let us know you're alive."

Qrow put his hands up defensively as she walked up to him, throwing a quick but soft punch at his shoulder.

"Hey there, Short Stack. Sorry about that."

Summer's fake anger cracked and she couldn't help but smile, pushing the hood out of her face and sighing. "Meh… it's fine, Stilts. Just promise you'll come by soon and see the girls? They miss you."

Qrow nodded and smirked. "I miss them too." He looked up to Ozpin. "So, what's all this about?"

Ozpin smiled and nodded to a booth to his left. "Why don't we take a seat. I've asked you all to be here for a good reason, and we have much to discuss."

Ral looked at him questioningly, but said nothing as he headed over to the large rounded booth in the corner and took a seat. Takeshi and Summer joined him, a mild look of concern as they sat down. Qrow stared at Ozpin for just a moment before joining them.

"So what's going on here?" Takeshi asked. "You know it's highly illegal to try and sway the officials of the Gunpla Battle Commission. It could potentially get all of your sponsored students disqualified."

Ozpin nodded in understanding as he and Glynda sat down. "I am definitely aware of that Mr. Iori, but this matter in fact has absolutely nothing to do with this year's Gunpla tournaments. I'm here to talk with you about the Seventh."

Takeshi and Ral exchanged wary looks. From the expressions on their faces, Ozpin knew that the Seventh Gunpla Battle Tournament still held a lot of mysteries surrounding it.

"I'm certain that much about what happened in the Seventh Gunpla Battle Tournament still confuses you to this day," Ozpin continued. "But seeing both Team Nemesis and Team Godslayer re-enter the competitive circuit after tonight's dinner, I fear something similar is going to happen, and it could be at either of the two tournaments this year." Takeshi sat up, now looking very startled. "But to understand why I think that, it's important to fill you in on some details..."

"But Team Godslayer was cleared by the Gunpla Battle Commission for entry," Summer exclaimed. "We specifically made sure that the purchase and reallocation of Salem Autry's new company division wouldn't interfere with regulations."

"Actually, Salem Autry is precisely the reason I think something will happen," Ozpin explained. He turned to the blonde woman beside him. "For those of you who haven't been properly introduced, this is Glynda Baker, the younger sister of the personal assistant to Hiruto Mashita, the former Gunpla Battle Commissions Chairman. Miss Baker and I have been working with Qrow Branwen here, our private investigator, to look into the acquisition of Team Godslayer. What he has found however has caused a deal cause of concern, as it links back to the Seventh Tournament.

"During that tournament, as you and Mr. Ral both know, several mysterious events occurred involving the Plavsky Particle crystal. During the finals, Meijin Kawaguchi was coerced by force to wear a modified version of the brainwave-altering Embody system by Chairman Mashita, which as you might remember was used by Team Nemesis' pilot Aila Jyrkiäinen during the tournament. This system was illegally amplified to keep Kawaguchi in a hypnotic state, and as a result of this the Plavsky Particle system went completely wild, causing the main crystal shattering and newer ones to reform from the massive amount of Plavsky particles released into the air when it did. This obviously caused both enormous structural damage to the original stadium, and for a projection of a 1/144 scale A Buoa Qu space fortress to tear open the ceiling."

He looked at Takeshi and Ral. "You two, along with many others including your son Sei Iori and his partner Reiji Asuna, flew into the fortress and destroyed the massive crystal inside that powered the fortress, causing the entire structure and everything inside to dematerialize. In doing so however, Chairman Mashita and his assistant Theresa Baker disappeared, followed quickly by Reiji and Aila."

Takeshi placed his thumb on his chin as he thought. "I remember. We never did figure out how it happened, though. Or why. Sei seemed to be the only one who had some kind of understanding of what was going on, but…"

"His explanation seemed far fetched, correct?" Ozpin interjected. "That Reiji was supposedly a prince from some mysterious place called Arian?"

Qrow blinked. "Wait, why does that name sound familiar?"

"It should," Glynda interjected, placing a folder down on the table in front of them. Qrow raised an eyebrow before gently opening the folder. Ral peered over his shoulder, and both of them stared, dumbfounded at the report and pictures inside.

Qrow spread the documents over the table. "This is…"

"The Arian, the ill-fated Mars colony ship! A part of the 'Ark of Humanity' project that was meant to colonise other planets" Summer confirmed. The pictures were upside down for her, but the ship had a very distinctive design. "But, the Arianwas lost over a hundred years ago!"

"It was presumed a lost cause," Ozpin corrected. "Allow me to explain. As you know, the project started shortly after the fears of a third World War had abated. Funded by several governments and backed by the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, Tomas Arian created the ambitious fifteen-year research project, a space mission that would see a colony ship capable of housing nearly fifty thousand people heading to Mars."

Glynda chimed in and continued "However 11 months into its journey, barely one month away from beginning descent procedures, the ship encountered a widespread debris field that wasn't dense enough for any sensory clusters to detect. The ship drifted into the field and was badly damaged. The ship was diverted from its intercept course with Mars, and was thought completely lost when all forms of communication were severed. After this event, the ship was observed slowly drifting what was thought to be hopelessly off course, and everyone on board was presumed dead."

"Except this was not the case, as NASA had expected. Instead of a titanic hull breach killing all hands, only five hundred and fourteen people died when the debris field destroyed the communications array." Ozpin nodded at the picture and pointed at the small satellite dish and large box connected to it on the top of the ship. "There was no repairing it, and the crew and passengers of the Arian simply had to assume that help was not coming. Instead, they installed a course correction to get back on course, the long way around. It took an additional two years of waiting for Mars to come back around the sun, and far more of their supplies than they anticipated, but they succeeded in eventually making it to Mars. They positioned themselves on the dark side of the planet to do repairs away from the harsh glare of the sun, and to avoid the prying eyes of Earth."

Ral and Qrow looked at each other in stunned silence as Glynda spoke, as did Summer and Takeshi. Once Glynda was finished, Ozpin let them process the information for a few moments before continuing. "In the meantime, the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex rallied the people onboard. Alongside the captain and the command crew and Tomas Arian's daughter Arista, they managed to create the working foundations for a more permanent governing system. Together they re-establish the mission, albeit a different version of it because the ship could no longer land on the planet."

"Wait." Qrow put his hand up and stopped Ozpin. "Two questions: First, how do you know all this? And second, how the hell does this relate to the things you think Salem Autry did to purchase Team Nemesis?"

"The first is very simple." Ozpin sat back against the booth and looked at all of them. "I am actually from the Arian colony. In fact I was sent here on Prince Reiji's orders to investigate a second theft of the Arista Crystal."

The group stared at Ozpin once again in disbelief, but after a moment Ozpin continued "The second answer requires a bit more information. Allow me to continue, and your questions should mostly be answered."

They all nodded slowly as Ozpin settled in his chair, recollecting his thoughts. "The Arianwas established as a space colony, which we simply began calling Arian, and with the help of scientists and engineers, hydrogen fuel was created using ice collected from the planet's icecaps. Over about the next decade, mineral deposits were also found on various expeditions. Shuttle craft ferried geologists and equipment to and from the surface, until one day a new mineral was discovered. This mineral is what you refer to as the Plavsky Particle crystal, but we simply called it the Arista crystal at the time."

"So Plavsky crystals come from Mars?" Summer asked, shocked. "Why wasn't this public knowledge?"

"Because it was brought to Earth accidentally." Ozpin pushed his glasses up. "Over the next several decades, we discovered a variety of unique properties in the Arista crystal.

"At first it was used both as a precious gem for jewelry and as a superconductor for electrical components. Then, quite by accident, we discovered that strange particles emanated from these crystals when a large enough charge was sent through them. These particles were beyond anything we had seen before, and were capable of producing new technologies we had thought fundamentally impossible. This first breakthrough was followed a year later by the development of quantum teleportation. Furthermore, the crystals had an interesting effect on brainwave patterns and behaviour. With some additional refining, gems could actually allow wearers to communicate telepathically, resonating and syncing up the brainwaves of two or more people to have a mental conversation over considerable distances. This became a common way of settling disputes, as points of view became easier to understand and made for a more peaceful outcome between involved parties."

"You sound like you're talking about the Newtype connection, from the Universal Century Gundam franchise." Ral noted. "Can such a thing be possible?"

Ozpin nodded in answer. "Prince Reiji told me about his first meeting with Sei Iori, how Sei paid for the sweet bread Reiji mistakenly stole, who in return gave Sei an Arista crystal as a thank you. Reiji told Sei that if ever he needed help, to hold the crystal and wish so, and Reiji would appear. Later the following day Sei did exactly that, and true to his word Reiji appeared to help Sei defeat a young Gunpla Battler using the Build Strike Gundam. And if you were more observant, do you recall what happened to Reiji?"

Ral crossed his arms and thought carefully. It was several years ago, but he couldn't remember anything of Reiji after the battle. He shook his head and frowned in confusion, "As a matter of fact not really, I don't even remember seeing Reiji after the battle at all. The boy could've up and vanished for all I can recall."

Ozpin raised his eyebrows in surprise as if expecting that answer. "Ironically, you're nothing short of correct. That was because the Plavsky Particles emitted from the Gunpla Battle table resonated with the Arista gem Reiji gave Sei, who heard his cry for assistance through the crystal itself and teleported in."

"In fact it is this teleporting property that I'm sure you will find most interesting. As I said before, the discovery of quantum teleportation was a huge breakthrough. A person merely needed to wish to be somewhere, and with a large enough charge the crystal they wore would instantly transport them there. Sei made a wish that linked him to Reiji, and in doing so, Reiji answered the wish and teleported to him."

He closed his eyes, as if the next part was troubling to him. "This particular idea leads me to my next point, how one of the largest Arista crystals was stolen. A mischievous duo, troublesome and rebellious, broke into the vault of the palace on Arian. The authorities closed in aggressively, and in their panic they wished to be taken to the furthest safe place. Without a clear indication given, the crystal transported them to Earth - Literally the furthest safe haven they could go. You might recognise these two fugitives today as the Mashita brothers."

Takeshi blinked. "Then… Gunpla Battle as a whole…"

"Was built upon an accident, and turned into a profit." Ozpin folded his hands in front of him. "In summary, twenty years ago the Mashita brothers wound up on Earth with a giant alien crystal that could do things nobody thought possible. Despite their success, the older brother Mikio founded and funded an underground network that eventually became known as the Gunpla Mafia, to sponsor his younger more inept brother Hiruto, who began selling Arista gems as precious gemstones. Between them they very quickly amassed a small fortune, which they then used to hire engineers, who used the Arista crystal's plastic manipulation effects to create the first Gunpla Battle system. Within a few years, the Gunpla Battle table was being deployed in arcades everywhere. As the sport gained popularity and notoriety, Hiruto's wealth grew, as did the influence of Mikio's network. Eventually, Gunpla Battlle was officially recognized as a new eSport, and soon after Gunpla saw global competitive participation."

"Everything was going smoothly, until Reiji arrived," Glynda continued. "When the Arian prince appeared, it sent everything into a tailspin. Although he didn't recognize the brothers, or catch on to the Arista gems they possessed at first, his passion ignited a fire in Nils Nielsen, who was searching for the secret behind the then-mysterious Plavsky Particle, to find out if it could be used for other things.

"Eventually, during the Seventh Tournament, three things happened: Nils Nielsen and Catherine Yajima were captured and tied up in the basement level of the Gunpla Battle Stadium, where they saw the Arista crystal the Mashitas had stolen, Reiji and Sei's Arista gems were fighting against the Chairman's and his control over the Embody System the Third Meijin was forced to wear, and ultimately that battle of wills disintegrated the massive Arista crystal and oversaturated the arena, which led to its ultimate destruction during the Mock Battle of A Boua Qu, and the disappearance of my sister, the Chairman, Reiji, and Aila."

Takeshi sighed. "That explains why when we arrested Mikio Mashita he was talking about needing his pocket watch. It must have had a gem inside of it - if we had given it to him at any point, he could have...wished himself away, I guess?"

"Precisely." Ozpin turned to the man and nodded. "You were wise to keep it as far away from him as possible. Although if you do still have it, that gem should be returned."

"What happened to Baker and Mashita?" Ral looked bothered; their actions had given rise to Gunpla Battle, a sport he had become heavily invested in, but it was starting to sound undeniable that it was born from the desperation and greed of a pair of selfish individuals.

"Prince Reiji happened," Glynda replied. "Upon returning to Arian, Reiji was exceptionally displeased with Mashita, to put it very lightly. However without these events, Reiji's interest wouldn't have been piqued, he would never have met Sei or any of the friends he made on Earth, and, most importantly, he would never have met his future bride."

"So, they came to a compromise. My sister was the mind behind the administration of PPSE, and on her personal data pad and phone, she had all the things required to begin manufacturing the Mocks used against you and everyone during that battle."

"From there they began making Sumos, Man Rodis, Gundam Gusions, and Grimoires, as they were easily modified with the Mock as a base, before gradually building up the equipment for other mobile suit models. With Mashita's experience - lacking in motivation as he was - and Baker's intelligence and data, they successfully brought Gunpla and Gunpla Battle to Arian, as per their agreement with Prince Reiji. It saved them from prison time and helped the populace find a cheap stress relief."

"While Gunpla Battle is not as popular on Aria as it is on Earth, it has proven to be a pastime that has reinvigorated both the franchise of Gundam and the interest in science and robotics in ways we hadn't even considered," Ozpin added. "In the end, everyone won - Hiruto Mashita resumed his original role as chairman of a new PPSE, under Reiji's administrator's watchful eye, and Reiji and Aila were able to continue practicing their hobby. Though the idea of battling with Gunpla is actually rather rare - people generally don't like fighting on Arian - the application of the Gunpla Battle system has actually been used more as a repair or even manual labour tool, to assist in everything from detailed electrical repairs to larger scale industrial tasks."

"What about the new Plavsky Particle Crystals?" Summer asked. "Are those Arista crystals too? Did Yajima Trading find a supply?"

"No." Ozpin indicated to one of the other reports in the folder, which displayed an article of Nils and Catherine rediscovering the Plavsky Particle. "The genius mind of Nils Nielson combined with the resources of Yajima Trading, as well as the PPSE releasing some of their research on the Plavsky Particle, allowed him to create a synthetic version. Natural crystals are capable of many widespread phenomena, including telepathy and teleportation as we've just discussed. These synthetic crystals lack this vast array of abilities, but they instead give far more control over its plastic manipulating properties, hence the new Gunpla Battle. Frankly this feature is for the best, as Earth might not be… Socially ready, I guess I could say."

His look darkened. "Unfortunately, the Arista gems are still quite capable of amplifying even the new synthetic Plavsky Crystals, in such a way that they can cause tremendous damage to the outlying area, much like what happened at the Seventh Tournament." He turned to Qrow. "I take it you were able to dig up the reports the Nielsen Labs techs tried to bury?"

Qrow blinked, before nodding. "Yeah. About eight months ago, there was an incident at their private resort island. They scrubbed who was involved, and most of the data was purposefully deleted, rather thoroughly too. They were working on the new enhanced Plavsky crystals that PPSE is using for this tournament season. But from what I was able to find several incidents occurred involving their prototype Gunpla, their Scramble Gundam. The prototype went haywire, causing a spike in Plavsky Particle emissions. According to one report, one such spike nearly destroyed the building and, from some of Niels's personal logs that didn't get scrubbed, almost killed Nils himself and several of his scientific team."

Ozpin sighed. "That was because of Prince Reiji and Aila's daughter, Minerva. She kept an Arista gem embroidered in her berret, and disappeared for nearly a week at one point. During this short time she learned quickly that if she thought hard enough, she could gain mental control over the Scramble Gundam. But the Gundam reacted strangely to her inexperienced commands, and in one attempt to force the Gundam to fly to her, it ended up nearly destroying the lab. She also told me personally she was able to bring the Gunpla that I know now is the Kamiki Burning Gundam to her through the Arista gem resonating with the Plavsky Particle parts in it, flying it through the air. Which is how I know Team Try Fighters, as well as Kaoruko Sazaki, Mirai Kamiki, Minato Sakai, and Shia Kijima were there-after the incident, Princess Minerva ended up building a Petit'gguy with them, before coming home to Arian."

The table fell silent. The dots all connected, even if it seemed completely unbelievable. But then again, with all the strange occurrences that had happened… and the fact that Ozpin knew of so many details that simply weren't public knowledge...it had to be true.

"So…" Takeshi began to ask, still mulling things over. "What does this have to do with Salem?"

"Salem is the reason the Mashita brothers got the Arista crystal in the first place," Ozpin replied. "At the time, she was an attendant to Prince Reiji's father. An investigation revealed that she had transported herself with the Mashitas down to Earth, and assisted in bringing the Gunpla Battle tables into existence. And I'm positive that she will do her best to do something involving the new Plavsky crystal. She has to be aware that the synthetic crystals can interact with the gems. And if she knows this, she could end up using them to influence the way the battles go."

"Her plan is to interfere with the tournament?" Ral asked, skeptical. "That seems rather short sighted."

"No, her plan is to gain access into the PPSE, where the facility to create the Plavsky Particle crystals is, and use the Arista gems there."

Takeshi's eyes widened. "Oh...the grand prize…."

"Indeed. The winners of either tournament are granted a full tour of the PPSE facility. Just by stepping foot inside, and with a little technological hijacking, Salem could use the Arista gems to activate every PPSE-owned Battle Table in the world, flooding the Earth with Plavsky Particles and shutting down all electronics using PVC plastic that the Gunpla kits use. The newer Plavsky Particle crystals can generate far more particles than Arista crystals can. And they would oversaturate everything, and cause cataclysmic damage to surrounding areas."

Everyone at the table was speechless. "Thats…" Ral couldn't even begin to fathom it. And by the looks on the people around him, neither could they.

"A technological apocalypse," Glynda finished. "Brought on by the spite of a woman who has grown to hate Earth for the death of her parent's."

"Salem's family twisted her mind, making her believe Earth abandoned Arian," Ozpin explained. "When she and I first met, Salem expressed extreme dissatisfaction for the way Earth simply didn't even try to help us. Not like they would-their great experiment failed in their eyes, and we were likely dead. They couldn't get to us, two and a half years away from home. They decided that we knew the risks, and they had to move on. But her family lost four people in the five hundred plus that died from the asteroid impact, and their hatred and resentment for their homeworld runs deep due to what they feel is unjustified abandonment."

"And with an Arista gem, she could escape literally anywhere she wished." Glynda glanced at the table. "But, unfortunately, this is all conjecture at this point. However, she has assembled a team diverse enough to potentially conquer either tournament, though even just winning one would be enough to grant her the tour. And if she does, who knows how much damage she could do?"

"Stock markets would crash, computers around the world would literally melt, businesses would go under practically overnight, and economies would tank. Global communication would be cut off, and basic technology would fail. Planes could very well fall out of the sky for all we can predict." Qrow shook his head and took a long sip of his drink. "This is a lot heavier than I bargained for."

"Even a fraction of the planet being affected would take down the rest." Takeshi shook his head and placed his face in his palms. "This is a nightmare. We can't let this happen!"

"I agree. However, we have no legal authority to do anything, at this time. Without concrete proof, she can easily get out of any charges we levy against her. So for now, all we can do is remain vigilant, and if she slips up, capitalize on it."

"I don't like this," Summer said. "This is...too much."

"Yeah," Qrow agreed. "But, what choice do we have? I mean, it's not like we can just ignore this."

Ral thought for a moment. "I can try and discreetly contact people to help us keep an eye on Salem and her team. Beyond that, I suppose we simply have to wait."

"And this is all true?" Takeshi asked. He seemed to still be having trouble processing all of this.

Ozpin pulled out a small blue gemstone, perfectly round in all ways, like a marble, from his pocket. "See for yourself."

The table stared in awe as a red aura enveloped him, and in a blink of an eye he simply vanished. After a moment they heard the door to the bar open, and none other than Ozpin strolled through, walking once again to the booth where they sat. He gave them an amused smile, holding up the orb, which glowed a brilliant orange before slowly disappearing into thin air. "I trust you have no further question?"

"Oh I have plenty," Qrow said, "but knowing you, you're not likely to answer them."

Ozpin chuckled and shook his head in response. Glynda raised an eyebrow at them all. "I trust that this information does not leave this table?"

Takeshi shook his head. "Who would believe us even if we told them? If anyone asks, I'll just tell them you're a magician or something."

Ozpin smiled. "Fair enough then. I suppose we should be leaving in that case." Glynda left the folder for Qrow and stood up, walking beside Ozpin, who stopped and turned. "Oh and by the way Qrow? Your nieces are doing spectacularly. When you get the chance, because I'm certain that you will sneak off to see them, make sure to give them some words of encouragement. I'm sure it would mean the world to them."

Qrow looked at Summer, who gave him a bright smile and nodded in agreement. "You got it, Oz. See you around."

Ozpin and Glynda walked to the door in silence and left the bar. The four still at the booth looked at eachother. Eventually, Takeshi broke the silence.

"So, real talk. Who thinks he's crazy?"

"No… ... I don't think he is," Qrow answered. "Arian seems pretty real, and I'll be honest - I've never seen anything like that. Ever."

"But we have," Ral admitted, looking at Takeshi. "And if what he said about Reiji is true, it would explain a great deal about that boy."

"Yeah…" Takeshi sighed heavily. "Well then, looks like we all have our work cut out for us, this time."


BIOS:

SPACE COLONY ARIAN

The orbiting space colony above Mars was once meant to be the first manned colonization of the red planet. Lost in space halfway through its five year journey, Earth all but gave up hope on the survival of the thousands of colonists aboard the vessel, but in truth the entire ship had mostly remained intact, but was cut off from the Earth due to a random debris strike that killed over five hundred colonists.

Since discovering the Arista Crystals under Mars' surface, Arian has since developed much faster technologically than Earth. The miracle crystals have proven to be a boon for the colonists, and for over a hundred years, the people have prospered under the leadership of the governing council and the descendants of former Prince Harry of England.

The current descendent of Harry, Prince Arian von Reiji Asuna, is a member of this ruling council. His wife, Aila Jyrkiäinen, comes from Earth, and they have one daughter together, Minerva. Thanks to Reiji and his parental line's leadership skills, the entire colony is essentially a prosperous utopia, and with the aid of the Arista gems, fundamentally a paradise that has yet to be realized on Earth.


QROW BRANWEN

Age: 38

Height: 5'10"

Hair: black

Eyes: red

Hometown: Kyoto, Japan

The younger of the two Branwen twins, Qrow, on the surface, appears to be lazy, dispassionate, and at times even aloof. He frequents bars, is often drunk or seen drinking, and tends to enjoy life as it comes at him.

However, this couldn't be further from the truth. As a private investigator hired by clients to look into things such as corporate sabotage, illegal material trafficking, and counterfeit or unauthorized commodity production, Qrow tends to just keep a more relaxed and enjoyable demeanour as a way to throw people off their game.

He is incredibly precise and dedicated to his work, despite appearances, and he truly loves what he does, exposing corruption and stopping illicit goods from reaching markets. His vices (almost) never get in the way of his work.

His most recent job working for Ozpin might just change the entire world, however, in ways that he could never comprehend…


GLYNDA BAKER

Age: 28

Height: 6'2"

Hair: blonde

Eyes: emerald green

Hometown: Malibu, California

The strict advisor and close confidant of Ozpin, Glynda Baker has a deep and personal connection with his mission. Her older sister Theresa Baker disappeared during the end of the Seventh Gunpla Battle Tournament, eight years ago. While she and her boss, Hiruto Mashita, were listed as missing and the world presumed they fled to avoid prosecution for rigging the finals against the Third Meijin and the team of Reiji and Sei Iori, Ozpin revealed that Theresa was actually transported to Reiji and Ozpin's home of Arian, where Hiruto Mashita and his brother had come from.

Since this, and since visiting Arian for herself, Glynda has dedicated herself to assisting Ozpin in trying to unravel the mystery and plot that he believes Salem Autry is planning to unleash using the new synthetic Plavsky Particle Crystals and the Arista gems from Arian. To this end, she has become a powerful and dedicated woman, focused exclusively on Ozpin's plan and investigation.