Following the magister down the bases winding corridors Alex couldn't help the feeling of foreboding welling up inside him, getting pulled aside by your C.O wasn't usually a good sign, but seeing as he hadn't even had the chance to screw up royal in the four hours he'd been out of the Capsule, that left the question behind why and the Magisters stern or at least sterner than usual attitude a little up in the air right now.
"Harry told me you were asking about Remnant a little before I arrived." Max began to explain, pausing in front of one of the elevators, he flashed his badge over the console the capsule shooting down from one of the upper floors to their level in a matter of seconds, the doors slid open and Max stepped inside gesturing to the spot beside him. "I tried my best to convince the High Constables to reconsider, but they were adamant about the decision to shut down the portal, I'm sorry."
Alex stepped in beside him. "I don't blame you for what happened Magister, Harry already told me the orders came from above, it was out of your control." He tried to assure him, even if he already planned to go ahead with his and Akira's plan, that didn't mean he wouldn't disregard other possibilities along the way. "...Is there any chance we could make an appeal to the Magistrata, if she knew what was happening on Remnant she might be willing to rescind the order."
Max sighed, he'd tried the same thing after the orders first came through "Pateliday and I already thought about that, a few of our friends in the upper ranks pulled a few strings and managed to get us a direct line to her" Max began to explain "But without anything solid to back up the risk of launching an operation into unknown space, she was forced to dismiss our appeal."
"And because of the High Constables orders, you weren't able to even send a probe through to assess the situation on the other side." Alex surmised much to his own displeasure.
He received a solemn nod in response "Given your findings on Remnant and the surge in activity from the Psycho Rangers before we were forced to withdraw they felt the threat of retaliation was too great." Which was a moot point given the fact the Psycho Rangers not only had access to a Null Void projector but had been actively doing business with Psiphon to supply their operations on Remnant.
And when he'd attempted to bring this to their attention, they'd almost immediately disregarded his concerns citing how their initial investigation into Psiphon's activities on earth had failed to turn up any evidence to support his 'theory' as they'd put it. They seemed to be doing everything they could to brush any matters involving the Psycho Rangers and Remnant under the rug, hoping that in time, people would either forget about the matter entirely or lose hope that that planet had even survived.
It had worked to a degree, after the first two months even he and Peteliday had begun to lose hope, the history of the Psycho Rangers and the Planets they'd visited in the past was one soaked with blood and conflict the likes of which the galaxy had not seen in millennia, and with no word from their agents still on Remnant or the Rangers who had apparently answered the call for aid, the fate of Remnant seemed like a forgone conclusion.
Then he'd overheard Alex and Akiras plans in the locker room, Paradox's assurance of Remnant survival had helped to rekindle the dying embers of hope inside of him. Remnant was still alive, its people were still alive, Koan and those girls were still alive and by the sound of it had been fighting on since the day's Beacon fell... While he and the rest of the Plumbers under him had been ordered to sit by and do nothing.
They'd been abandoned in all sense of the word, and why?
Because the people in high command were tired, run ragged... afraid, hell they were all afraid. The only difference between them and the High Constables was that they had the power and more than that the motive to act on that fear for better or worst, in this case, brick walling any efforts to purse them to this unsuspecting world and leaving its inhabitants to deal with the new threat.
"As a Plumber, my hands are tied, any action on my part could be seen as insubordination." The elevator doors slid open revealing Max's own personal office, like the rest of the base the room was a steel grey in colour barring the occasional flash of green across the walls, a set of glass display cases occupied the wall to the left holding a few mementoes from some of his old missions, suspended aloft in a white light was a fragment of the capsule that brought the Omnitrix to earth, besides it hung a Dream Catcher Wes had gifted him after the "Werewolf" incident and above that lay one of the DNA Repair Gun's used during the Highbreed invasion.
At the centre of the room sat an Oak desk with a holographic display and keyboard hovering at its centre, behind that was a green-tinted window granting him an unobstructed view down to the command centre below. "But you, aren't just a plumber." Max rounded the desk and taking a seat on the opposite side began typing away at the Keyboard "And while that grants you some freedom over the matter if you don't handle the prep for an Expedition like that properly, there are more ways than a person can count that it can go wrong, your lucky I caught you when I did."
Alex cocked an eyebrow at the magister, Max then reversed his screen showing him the recording he'd saved of the storage room where he and Akira had their little 'Talk' audio included, after a moment Alex glanced up over the monitor towards Max, taking a slow breath in and out through his nose he began to speak "I know how this looks, and that you're probably going to give me some speech about emotional attachments clouding my judgment or something." Alex grit hit his teeth, trying his best to push down the feeling of frustration burning up inside him, but if max was implying what he thought he was...
"With respect sir, the only reason they made it to remnant was because of our failure to stop them here, our failure put those people in danger, and I saw first hand the price of our failure." Not just the Fall of Beacon or the Breach, there was Peter Garnet, Yazmin Maze, Carol white, Oliver Coal students who'd been killed and impersonated just so the Psychos had a way into the tournament. Who knew how many more had been added to the list of Victims in the time they'd been allowed to run rampant across Remnant, he didn't want to even try to imagine, but what he did know was that it had to end... and if the highest authority in five galaxies was unwilling to do so, then it looked like that responsibility had fell to him.
"So after having lived beside those people for as long as I did, having seen them suffer from threats outside-" Yang flashed through his mind, laid out in that hospital bed her body scarred from both battle and the shock collar those bastards had clamped around her neck "-and within-" He remembered Blake weeping in his arms bloodied bandages wrapped tightly aroudn her waist to stem the blood seeping from her wounds "-did you honestly expect me to turn my back on them."
A tense moment of silence passed between the two of them, Max stared back at the young man in front of him, he was a reminder of what this job could do to you, the scars it left behind, both physical and psychological, some turned in their badges and left the life behind, others forged ahead, pushing past the pain and using those experiences, the lessons left behind in the wake of such heartache to grow not only as people but as Plumbers
"No" Max replied "And while that speaks highly of you, if someone other than me had overheard talk of a stunt like this you'd both be in hot water right now." Max replied evenly, uncrossing his arms he made an exaggerated gesture of pointing at his ear with a nod then to his eyes with a shake of the head. "We have our orders, we may not like them at times, but we have an obligation to see them through."
Alex cocked an eyebrow at the gesture before realisation slowly dawned on him "Given what happened to you I know you must feel it's your responsibility to see this through, but the fact of the matter is Remnant has been cut off for too long, we have no evidence to justify an operation of such calibre." He inputted a few commands on his desk, the video on the screen flicked out of existence and was replaced by an image of Mount Rushmore and a floor layout for a 'Sub-level 6.' Max tilted his head down towards the screen as if to say 'Take a Look'
Nodding slowly Alex began to read through the floor plans, to his knowledge the base inside Mount Rushmore had been all but decommissioned back in the early 2010s after one of Ben's worse run-ins with Vilgax, and while the facilities were still in operation as far as he was aware the base was mostly just serving as a fall-back position in the event their main base of operations in Bellwood was overrun, but if Max was showing him this then there was clearly something else there, something the Magister seemed eager for him to find.
There in the southeast wing of the complex was what appeared to be a large hanger bay with the letters 'HB425' flashed above it.
After memorising the position of the bay in the layout for the sub-level, he moved on to the section below containing a list of what he immediately recognised as security codes, door overrides, alarm shutdowns and camera access protocols all of which he immediately committed to memory. "I know that this is difficult for you Alex, but I have to strongly advise against following that course of action, as 'Plumbers' there is nothing we can do for Remnant, I'm sorry."
"I..." Alex glanced between Max and the screen once more, after a moment his lips twitched up into a small smile, Alex nodded back to him, forcing his voice down to hide his gratitude to the ageing plumber he added. "I understand that sir, but I'd also like to make it known I strongly disagree with this course of action." And if what he'd seen here was any indication so did Max.
"Which is why I am placing you on leave for the next month so you can get your head on straight, spend some time with your friends and put this mess behind you." Max seemed to encourage with a knowing tilt of his head. "As hard as it might be to accept, we have to think of the bigger picture here, and in that case more often than we'd like, not everyone can be saved."
Alex shifted his tone to one or forlorn acceptance "Maybe... but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try at all." Rising from the chair Alex gave a small grateful nod back to the magister, he owed him for this, heck he owed him a dozen times over for everything he'd done for him over the years, and he hoped to be able to repay him for that faith someday.
Turning he made his way out of the office and back into the hallway, coming to a halt outside just as the sleek metal doors slid shut behind him, Alex glanced down towards the bend in the corridor to his left, there just as the wall began to bend was a small metallic dome attached to the ceiling a single black lens resting at its centre, security cameras, they were new judging by the metallic sheen on the dome, and given how the Psycho Rangers had been able to breach the base the first time, it made sense they were upping security to counter any future threats.
The weird thing, however, was the placement of the camera, given how it seemed to be fixed in place you think they'd be positioned to have the widest views of the hallways as possible, but instead, they seemed to be aimed directly towards the door to the Magisters office, glancing down the other end of the hall, there was another camera mirroring the position of the first, he could tell by the tool marks left on the metal panels around them they were a rather recent addition to the base.
If the gestures back in his office weren't already enough this would have clinched it, the Magister was being watched, the why may have been up in the air right now, but the who seemed all too obvious.
Stepping into the elevator he swiped down on the controls, and with that, the lift shot off towards one of the civilian exits for the base. Throughout the journey, Alex couldn't help but think back to the cameras and the apparent listening devices that had been planted in Max's office and who knew where else, someone was clearly keeping an eye on the magister, and given what he'd been told about the Highconstables ruling he had a pretty good idea who, although they were doing a pretty piss poor job about hiding it, then again that might have been the point.
They wanted Max to know that they had him under a microscope, it was one of the oldest tricks in the book but one of the most effective, there were more than a few stories about the upper ranks cracking down on certain sub-commanders whether that was for insubordination or just a reminder of them to stay in line, it was a reminder of how petty some of the old-guard could be when they felt like they were being challenged, he doubted the same tactics would be as effective against the Magister, but it was just as much something for him to look out for in the future.
Alex sighed, it was also a wake-up call that they might start looking into him now that he was back on his feet again, he was lucky the magister had been the one to catch them in the locker room. If someone else had overheard that conversation and reported them, who knows what kind of hell might have been brought down on them, all because he'd been so reckless, so gung ho about running back into the fire without thinking things through, Max was right if he was serious about heading back to Remnant they had to be smart about this.
He instinctively reached for this badge to contact Akira... except he'd handed off his badge to Blake before heading off to Beacon tower.
Looks like he'd be making a detour to the quartermaster to requisition another one, god Fulkin was going to bite his head off for 'Losing it', that badge wasn't just a way to identify plumber officers it was a state-of-the-art piece of equipment, a universal translator, holographic projector, remote hacking device, chem and radiation detector all rolled into one... he hoped it was serving her well.
Leaning back against the wall, his mind drifted back to the raven-haired Cat Faunus who by now probably thought he was dead, the thought of her in tears and the fact that he was the cause of that pain left an almost unbearable ache in his chest, dragging his hand down his face he leaned his head back against the wall staring up at the ceiling above, he knew what it was like to lose someone, the pain, the anger, the guilt... the self-loathing wondering day by day that if you had done something differently, that if you'd taken a step back to assess the situation more at the time then maybe they'd still be alive.
He just hoped someone had been there to help her work through it all, he knew better than most what grief could do to a person. When he lost Kait he pushed a lot of the people who were just trying to help him away, thinking he had to work through it all himself, throwing himself into one mission after another to distract himself, to shove the pain so deep, deep down inside himself and forget about it, except that pain never really went away, it was still there burning away at him from the inside out.
It wasn't until Vanessa of all people managed to finally knock some sense into him that he actually decided to talk about it with the other, did the pain go away, no it was still there even now, but at least he'd had people who'd understood, who were going through the same thing he was, people that he could lean on that helped make it manageable, that made it feel like he wasn't alone through it all.
Rubbing at his eyes Alex glanced up to the display above the door as it counted down through the floors, whatever was going on over there he just hoped they were all doing okay, the cavalry was coming, they just had to hold out a little longer.
/
'This is such total... BULLSHIT!' Blake fumed as she marched her way up the path towards her family home, even though her anger had time to simmer and cool on their way back from the meeting with the Albion brothers earlier that day, she still couldn't believe what had happened, despite the evidence they'd managed to gather against the two brothers they still managed to walk free.
Though that wasn't to say they hadn't scored a victory today, thanks to the scroll they'd retrieved from Illia and the documents from their unseen allies a few nights ago, the port office had been raided by the Menagerie Guard with over a dozen arrests including several known White fang members, and a large shipment of weapons begins seized alongside evidence of those involved communicating with other Cells inside of Mistral further reinforcing their evidence towards Adams plans for Sienna and Haven academy, it was an open and shut case, the only problem being there was nothing at the office they could use to connect those involved to the Albion brothers or the larger White Fang Cell on the Island, and the prisoners so far had chosen to remain silent.
The Albion's had made their 'Disgust' toward their 'former' Brother and Sisters acts known earlier today, condemning them for "Trying to force Adam's 'misguided views' onto their island through acts of violence and terror". They even blamed Ilia as the one to incite these views and rally others to the cause of a quote on quote "Madman" before offering their full co-operation with the police in order to "root out any stragglers" among their own ranks.
Her feelings were mirrored by her family and Sun, her mother had remained stonefaced throughout most of the conversation with the Albions that morning, though she could tell by the coldness of her eyes she hadn't believed a word they said, and while the two of them had been willing to stew in their anger on their way back home, her father and Sun had been far more vocal, the two muttering curses and threats under there breath for a while now, all of which seemed to be coming to a head as arrived home.
Her father growled, shoving open the double doors into the entry hall, she and her mom watched from the porch as Sun stormed in after him, it was probably the first time she'd seen them actually on the same page since they'd got here, she just wished it would have been under better circumstances.
"Unbelievable"
"Total Garbage!"
Her father let out a low bestial growl, he and Sun turned towards one another simultaneous fists clenched in front of them and a mix of anger and determination burning in their eyes. "We can't let them get away with this!" They said as one
Her mother took the moment to try and inject a little levity into the situation "Well, at least you two can finally agree on something." They look at her, then back at each other. Sun gives an awkward chuckle while rubbing his head, and Ghira glares slightly and growls, fists clenched. the moment was nice while it lasted, no one could deny they both had a point, luckily they already had an answer to that.
"It's not over yet, we still have that press conference tomorrow." Blake piped up drawing their full attention towards her "Once the rest of the island knows what the White Fang has done, no one on the island is going to stand for it, they'll be finished." Their reputation would be in tatters no matter how they might try to spin it, and without the public support, recruitment would quickly dry up and if they would lucky, faced with public scorn more members would start to defect from their ranks.
Her father nodded in agreement, public opinion could mean the difference between life and death for a group like the White Fang but while they'd struck a heavy blow against their operations on Menagerie today, there was still much to be done "Though let's not get ahead of ourselves, the documents that friend of ours delivered might have helped hurry this along sooner then we'd expected, but there's little they could do for us with the public eye"
"How's your speech been coming along deer?" Kali inquired, he'd been locking himself away in the study the last few nights in preparation for tomorrow's announcement, she knew it was a necessary step moving forward but she hoped that he wasn't overworking himself too much.
"Fine, for the most part, there are a few more details I need to go over before tomorrow." Ghira replied
Blake, stepped towards her father gesturing towards herself "I'll help." she offered, her father shaking his head in response, resting a hand on his daughter's shoulder he looked down at her with a small smile.
"You and your friend have done more than enough over the last few days" As begrudgingly as he was to admit towards the latter, had the boy not been so eager as relentless as he was in trying to bring all this to their attention, they may never have uncovered this plot against the kingdoms. "Take tonight to rest and clear your heads, both of you." He said towards Sun "You've more than earned it."
Blake wanted to argue, she'd started all this by coming back home, it was only right she see it through to the end. "I-..." However, Sun halted her by throwing his arm over her shoulder and pulling her away towards the double doors leading into the living room "Sun!" She baulked and tried to pull away, Sun sidestepped her pulling open one of the doors with his tail and shoved her through.
Looking over his shoulder he gave Ghjira a quick salute "Don't worry sir, I'll make sure she takes it easy tonight." He called out to them before stepping through after Blake, the door slamming shut behind him, Ghira and Kali stared at the door for a few seconds, the latter sighed pinching the bridge of his nose
"I really don't like that boy." He was just... a bit much.
Kali tittered in response "Maybe, but he's been nothing but a good friend since she came back." She stepped closer to her husband resting a hand on his arm "She needs that right now more than anything."
Ghira sighed, his thoughts drifting back to the talk they'd had the Night Blake came home, knowing what he did now about the situation and what she'd been going through on the way here, he couldn't help but agree. Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Sun was busy dodging another of Blake's attempts at slapping some sense into him, it was all worth it in his opinion no matter what Blake might think.
"What was that?" She demanded
"Hey, I'm just trying to help." He replied flashing a small smile "Remember what happened last time you got too obsessed over the White Fang" Blake paused for a moment, her mind drifting back to the nights she'd spent in Beacon library looking over one news report after another in search of a lead or some kind of pattern to her attacks, shifting about through the days like a zombie exhausted by her nightly activity and barely keeping up in class, more so how it took Yang revealing something very personal to he to finally break her out of that funk.
A mistake she promised her team she would never make again, and something Sun was trying to remind her of. "Tell you what, I'll get some of that tea you like and we can just relax in the living room for a few hours, and maybe you can tell me more about growing up on Menagerie" Sun offered
Blake stared back at him for a few moments, as part of her wanted to go join her father in making the finishing touches for tomorrow, while another was quick to remind her of the importance of taking a break every once in a while "I'm not asking you to stop Just please... get some rest. Not just for you but for the people you care about." Yang's voice echoed through her mind
"Okay..." She replied
"Cool." Sun, shot her two-finger guns as he passed making his way down the hall towards the hallway towards the kitchen "I'll catch up in a bit." Blake sighed a small smile coming to rest on her features as she turned to make her way down the opposite way towards the living room, she might not say it enough around him but she was glad he was here, it made dealing with all the craziness, all the stress just that bit easier.
Her ears twitched as a low thump echoed from one of the floors above, she paused staring up towards the ceiling eyes narrowed, a part of her was quick to remind her it was probably just one of the guards doing their rounds on the upper floors, that thought went out the window a second latter as another chorus of thumps came from above and began moving further into the house and gaining speed.
Before she knew it she was already at the door leading into the stairwell.
Pushing open the door she started making her way up the stairs towards the upper floors, the higher she went the more the sounds of movement increased until Blake found herself standing before her bedroom door, seeing a shadow passing under the door on the other side she drew Gambol Shroud off her back shifting it into its pistol form she reached for the handle and slowly edged the door open, peering through the crack her eyes immediately landed on an all too familiar girl stood in front of her dresser staring down at one of the photos on top of it.
Pushing open the door Blake stepped into her room keeping her weapon trained on her old friend's back. "Ilia" she called out to her softly, the chameleon Faunus glanced back at her over her shoulder, her grey eyes hidden behind the ports of her White Fangs masks, Blake felt her grip tighten around gambol shroud "What are you doing here."
Ilia slowly drew Lightning Lash off of her hip, and Blake's finger rested on Gambol shrouds trigger ready to fire at a moment's notice, that is until Ilia set her weapon down on the dresser alongside her mask, she turned to face her fully arms raised in a sigh of peace "I didn't come to fight." Illia began "I just... I just need to talk to you, please."
Blake stared at her old friend for what felt like the longest time before slowly lowering her pistol, with a long frustrated sigh. "Why would you do it Ilia, why would you take the fall for them?"
Ilia glanced off to the side "Blake..." She tried to say
"They blamed you for everything Ilia." Blake pressed on disappointment clear in her tone, and somehow that stung more for the chameleon girl than any hate the cat Faunus could muster against her "We confronted them tonight, and they deny knowing anything to do with the shipment at the docks or anything we found on your Scroll." Blake listed off one after another "They talked about how disappointed they were to hear that you'd sided with Adam." Blake narrowed her eyes "But you and I both know they're guilty."
Ilia shook her head slightly "You're not going to be able to prove anything." Fennic and Corsac had already made sure to clean house when she'd lost the scroll, anything that might have been used to incriminate them had either been buried or transferred to one of their more secure safe houses around the island, their main base was clean, and any loose ends were already in the process of being tied... which is why she was here
"That Scroll might not have been enough to lock them up, but what we found combined with what happened to your friends at the port office will be more than enough to sway the people here." Blake objected narrowing her eyes at her old friend she pressed on "When we go public tomorrow, they're not going to stand for any of it." She looked at Ilia pleading "And neither should you."
Ilia sighed through her nose, picking up her weapon she slipped it back in place on her belt, retrieving her mask she stared down at the savage face of the Grimm before tilting her head back up towards Blake she began moving towards the window. "Your plan isn't going to work Blake." The Albion brothers had already requested aid from the main branch in Mistral, she knew what was coming and if she could... she wanted to save Blake from it.
Blake moved with Ilia keeping her weapon trained on her old friend, yet she couldn't bring herself to fire, pausing by the open window Ilia cast one last forlorn glance towards her old friend "Please... just leave Menagerie before it's too late." She wished things could have been different, who knows maybe if she'd had the courage to tell her the truth about how she felt all that time ago, then maybe now they wouldn't be parting as enemies.
"You're going to have to make me"
Ilia smiled sadly, knowing all too well once Blake set her mind to something it was nigh impossible to stop her "I Know" Donning her mask once more the chameleon Faunus leaned back out of the window, allowing gravity to do its work and fell out of sight. Blake lowered Gambol Shroud glaring at the open window her ears folding in slightly, after a moment her anger faded and a long exhausted sigh leaves her.
'Damn it Ilia' she glanced off to the side sadly
/
Their boat eased its way towards the harbour on the eastern Coast of Mistral, its form battered by the waves, the windows to the bridge cracked by a less chunk of debris picked up in the gale-force winds of the tropical storm she and her crew had braved crossing the open water between Vale and its neighbouring kingdom.
Yang stepped out onto the deck the fresh coastal air bombarding her senses, she swayed slightly her face flushed green for a moment, swallowing down the bile Yang stepped towards the railing looking out over their surroundings, unlike Vale the capital city was further inland meaning the only way to reach by sea was docking at one of the coastal towns and make the rest of the way there by foot, fortunately, her bike would help to speed up what would have been a few weeks of hoofing it across the wilderness to a few days drive.
From what the captain said it would be an easy trip since most anyone wanting to do business with the kingdom of Mistral used these routes, meaning they were well guarded and fairly safe for travellers... at least, that was how it's supposed to be.
The town or at least what was left of it was little more than a hollow husk of its former self, smoke billowed out of the burned homes motes of ash and embers dancing through the air, the half-sunk remnants of several fishing boats scattered the waters ahead, their own boat slowed as it passed by one of the derelict vessels just outside the harbour walls marooned atop a small patch of rocks its engine giving the faintest rumble of life.
The blond brawler caught sight of a figure slumped over the wheel inside the cabin, the window to their left shattered blood spattered across the glass in front of them, the long sombre toll of a bell echoing from the burned-out remnants of the town hall's steeple seemingly announcing their arrival to the hellish scene.
Yang stepped back from the railing her hands coming up to cover her mouth in shock. "What the hell?" She heard Koan whisper behind her as he stepped out onto the deck beside her, they were quickly joined by Lilly, the captain stepping out onto the deck behind her, he was a burly man standing a head taller than her father with tan skin and jade green eyes set of tusks curling up from the corner of his lips identifying him as a Faunus.
He wore a striped orange and yellow wool shirt beneath a set of pale blue overalls tucked into his dark brown boots, on top of that he wore a reflective orange coat and a thick wool hat and scarf, the former of which he removed holding it to his chest as he stared out over the hellish scene "Gods preserve us." He muttered
"Do you think anyone survived?" Koan asked
"We were in contact on the radio with 'em just a yesterday, so the attack couldn't have happened all that long ago." The captain spoke up with a thick accent, his eyes darting across the coastline in search of anything that might have been responsible for this horrid affair. "Peter" He called back over his shoulder into the cabin. "Bring 'er in easy lad, but stay on guard we daint know what's out 'ere."
"Aye, Bill." Peter called back as he took the helm
"I'm surprised you're not turning straight around and leaving." Lilly noted as she glanced back toward her friend.
The boar Faunus shrugged, his eyes never leaving the edge of the harbour wall as they passed beneath it "Me and mine aren't ones to leave good folk out to dry." Bill flicked his head back towards the cabin " Back inside now, best we're not caught out in the open we still dunno who did this or if they're still skulking about, and I'd rather keep we got huntsmen aboard secret, case they try something."
The three followed bill back into the somewhat cramped cabin of the trawler, the boar Faunus moved to a cabinet in the back right-hand corner, pausing by the stairs leading down into the ship he called down "Fillie, Cassandra, Brawn we got trouble up here, man yah posts and get ready in case we gotta fight on our hands." A chorus of Aye sir echoed up through the passage.
Yang glanced back out the window towards the decimated town "You really think whatever did this could still be around?"
Bill gave a low huff in response "Don't let the scenery fool yah lass, were right in the thick of bandit country this far outside the kingdom." Bill replied, pulling open the cabinet he retrieved a set of rifles and a small hand axe enough to defend the ship if need be in his opinion, but not enough to go poking about looking for trouble, at least not without a few huntsmen at his back.
Strapping the axe to his belt he gave the rifles a good once over, before setting one down on the console behind him beside Peter and resting the other against his shoulder "If it's not the Grimm knocking about out 'ere it's the scum of Remnant looking for the next town to pick clean, the mangy dobbers."
"You should stay here with your crew Bill." Lilly advised the grizzled fisherman, pushing the barrel of his rifle down towards the floor "If whatever did this is still around you'll all be safer on your boat than out there." The three of them were more than enough to deal with some Grimm or a group of thugs from out in the sticks, having bill out there might only complicate matters if they did get into a fight.
"Wasn't planning on rushing off and being a hero love, I'll leave that shite up to you lot." Bill replied waving towards the three of them, before turning to look out the window towards the town more importantly the buildings surrounding the jetty, it seemed like a prime spot for an ambush " But someone's gotta make sure no bugger sneaks up on us when you lot are out doing yah thing."
Lilly shook her head lightly, she liked Bill, but he could be stubborn at times and when he got like that arguing with him could be like talking to a brick wall. "Fair point, but I still think you should stay around the boat the last thing we need is our captain getting caught in the middle of the fray."
Bill gave a small snort, but couldn't exactly deny the reason behind her decisions, especially if they needed to make a quick getaway "Fine" He muttered, throwing his rifle over her shoulder he moved back towards the console, Peter stepping aside and back to his own position "Just be careful out there, the lot of yah."
Lilly flashed him a small smile "Just keep the engine running we'll be back soon." Pushing the side door open back out onto the deck Lilly stepped through and hopped the railing dropping down onto the jetty below she summoned her bow staff into her hands, her eyes scanning over the ruins ahead, Yng and Koan dropped down behind her a few moments later there weapons at the ready.
Taking the leed Lilly led them down the jetty towards the remains of the port office connected to a small storehouse by an overhead walkway, the blown-out windows scattering shards of grass and debris across the path leading further into the town, pausing just under the archway Lilly took a glance inside and grimaced, the interior office was trashed furniture had been tipped over, papers scattered across the floor, towards the back beside a toppled bookcase she spotted a body slumped against it, specks of blood spattered the wall above them.
Turning away from the gruesome scene and back towards Yang and Koan she shook her head solemnly, the blond shapeshifter cursed under his breath, the tri continued on under the arch and down the narrow alley between the buildings, emerging into what looked like the remnants of a market place on the other side, at least a dozen stalls of various sizes were lined up row after row in front of them, she spotted signs for food produce, jewellery, technology.
Yet despite the devastation surrounding them Lilly could help but feel like the market looked a little too... baren "Something isn't right here."
"What?" Yang cocked a golden eyebrow towards Lilly, the whole village looked like it had been wiped out, what was supposed to be right about this?
"Look at this place." Lilly cocking her head towards the stalls, from the look of it the market had been in full swing when the attack started, and from her experience when Dai Shi launched one of his attacks on civilians in the past people tended to drop what they were carrying and make a run for it, this market, on the other hand, looked like it had been stripped bare, apart from a few trays of dried out food and a large rug- something far too big for a person to carry while they fled- left hanging from one of the stalls. "If I was one of the people selling here when the attack happened, I'd have grabbed my earnings and made a rub for it, not the whole store." she gestured to empty shelves of one of the stands.
Koan's eyes widened as realization dawned on him "She's right." Koan said he felt the urge to hit himself for missing the signs, approaching one of the larger stalls he hoped the table between him and a stack of crates piled up on the other side, prying the lid off the closest one apart from a small layer of ash that had pooled at the bottom there was nothing of Value inside "Empty" He said, moving on to another crate to his left, opening the lid he found it was just like the first "The whole place has been picked clean."
"Bandits" Yang whispered finding herself on high alert once more, Bill had warned them about the various tribes that dotted Mistral's badlands her own Mothers having one of the most well-known reputations across the continent, it made her thankful her mother had chosen to leave her behind when she left, she didn't want to think about where she might be right now if Raven had decided to take her with her, probably threatening villagers to hand over whatever they had in their pockets at the time and burning down their homes if they refused... which raised a worrying thought "...You don't think my mom did this, do you?"
She'd asked uncle Qrow about his life back in the tribe, and after a lot of pestering he'd- if reluctantly -told her about a few of the raids he'd been a part of back in his younger years, and looking around now she couldn't help but draw similarities between those stories and what she was looking at now. Koan looked like he wanted to dispute her claim, but decided against it, he knew any assurance he gave would ring hollow until they knew for certain.
"We can't know for sure." Lilly replied, if Raven was involved she and her people were long gone by now and even if they had come across her out here she doubted she'd be in the mood to sit down for a chat...or willing to follow along with Yang's request even if it might take a few weeks of their journey. "Either way I'm not too eager to find out, let's head back to the boat, we can try another town a little further up the co-" A figure moved into the open behind Yang, there peeking out the edge of an alleyway across the other side of the market square, was a man judging by the build for their face was hidden behind a red bandanna clad in a scruffy looking black jacket with slips of metal sewn into the sleeves and upper chest as makeshift armor, a makeshift rifle slung over his back.
Their eyes met and the thug bolted "Hold it!"
Lilly shot off after him a firey yellow aura surrounding her body providing a sizable boost to her speed as the world around her slowed, he barely had time to pull his head back out o the lien of sight before she was upon him. With her speed, there was no time to defend a swift axe kick to his chest sent him back into the alley wall and his rifle cluttering to the ground beside him, it was a love tap compared to what she was really capable of yet still held more than enough force to knock the wind out of him, evident by how he fell to the floor clutching at his chest.
"You...Bitch" he wheezed sliding down the wall onto his ass, as he sucked in one breath after another, his eyes shifted rapidly towards his rife if he could just... Lilly stomped down on the barrel, shattering it. Kicking the lump of scrap away, she grabbed the thug by the collar of his jacket and dragged him back up onto his feet, he tried to pull away and Lilly pushed forward, pinning him to the wall with her elbow, she pressed down on his throat slightly and his attempt to fight back ceased "Don't even try it."
"Lilly!" Yang and Koan rounded the edge of the alleyway their weapons drawn and at the ready.
"Yang Keep your eyes peeled" She immediately called out to them, keeping her eyes focussed on the man in front of her "I doubt our friend here is alone, Koan run back to the boat tell Bill what we found, and see if they have any rope." she said, the shapeshifter complied jogging off back through the market in the direction of their ship, while they waited for his return Lilly made sure their 'Guest' didn't have any surprises on him, reaching around his waist she quickly checked his lower back and belt for any more weapons, the thug let out a low laugh, she could feel him smirking behind his bandana.
"If that's all you wanted sweetheart, you just had to ask" She felt his eyes roaming across her body, it made her skin crawl. "I definitely wouldn't say no." Lilly scowled and pushed him back against the wall "Okay, okay! I give! I give!." Dragging him back off the wall Lilly threw him down onto the ground between the two of them.
"Start talking, who are you and what the hell happened here!?" Lilly demanded, the thug stared back up at her incredulously for a moment before glancing towards her companions, they were huntsmen, well he was sure at least the chick in front of him was, the other two looked like students from one of the Academy, definitely not from Mistral though, heh, if they had been they'd have already known who they were messing with...guess he'd have to educate them.
Sitting up he cocked a brow at the Yellow Ranger. "You folks aren't from around here are you?" He received a scowl from the lovely lady he might not have been all too happy about his current, predicament. Not that it would matter once the boss found out about these guys sticking their noses in where it didn't belong, still, he planned on enjoying the view while he could, not too bulky, not too lean... yeah, they were definitely his type. "I'm guessing Vale or maybe Vacuo, it's the only way you'd have more balls than brains to pull something like this, then again you're all blonds so the bar wasn't that high anyway."
Yang rolled her eyes at that sad old dig, from what she could tell the guy had no active aura so he was basically at their mercy right now, and he probably knew it, so throwing around insults was all he was good for right now, still, if they could get any information out of him about where rest of his group were hold up or what roads they might be watching would be nice, the last thing they needed was to walk right into an ambush after ruffing up one of their people.
"You're lucky we were just here to scout out the ruins." He went on pulling down his bandanna he flashed Lilly a smirk that practically radiated doucheness. "If you three had gotten here a day sooner, you'd have to deal with Raven." Yang's head snapped towards the douchebag, then glanced up at Lilly, the Yellow ranger met her gaze with a frustrated glare, she'd made her stance on Raven all too clear and honestly, she'd totally agreed... at least, for the most part.
Dealing with her would be a pain in the neck, and she'd admit they were probably better off avoiding her altogether, even if they had to head a little further up the coast for a safer route, with her bike and Koans shapeshifting abilities they could still make it to the capital by road in under a few weeks, but the chance to cut that cross-continental journey down to a few days travel, yeah maybe it was a little risky, but if this guy was what they could expect from the rest of the tribe, the only person they'd really have to worry about was Raven herself.
Yang nudged her head back towards the guy and Lilly cocked a brow, Stepping back the blond Brawler held up two fingers an arm's length from one another 'Us, Mistral' she mouthed for the two respectively, before nudging her head back towards the douchebag 'Raven' she then brought her right hand over to her left hand before smirking.
Lilly turned away pinching the bridge of her nose a frustrated sigh leaving her. "Hey don't feel too worked up about it honey, tell ya what, you let me walk and we can forget all of this ever happened, sound fair?" Lilly glanced back over her shoulder towards him, then up at Yang the blond brawler he'd her hand out towards her as if to say 'The decisions up to you'.
Lilly sighed "I'm going to regret this." She whispered to herself before turning to face the bandit "Well I have good news and bad news for you, good news you get to go back to your tribe in one piece." She watched a victorious look flash across his face.
"Well glad to see we got all that cleared u-"
"The bad news, we'll be tagging along for the ride." The way that victorious look of his was replaced with sheer bafflement helped increase her mood if only a little.
"Come again?"
Lilly shrugged kneeling down to eye level with the guy she gave him a flat look "Let's just say I'm an old friend of the family, making sure her daughter gets home safe."
"Daughter?" He baulked
"Yep." Yang said popping the 'p' as she stepped into view from the side, pointing up at herself with her prosthetic she tilted her head to the side with an easy smile "Recognise the Family resemblance?" She blinked and her eyes shifted to a burning blood-red, the same eyes he'd seen time and time again behind the slits of his leader's Grimm Helmet, and the more he looked at her the more he began to see a younger version of his leaders face staring back at him.
Both blonds couldn't help but take a moment to enjoy just how pale the guy went at that second "S-sure" He stuttered bowing his head slightly towards Yang, and she was defiantly liking this side of the guy a lot more than that cocky overconfident ass they were dealing with only a few minutes ago. "w-Whatever you need...Ma'am?" Lilly and Yang shared a glance, the former narrowing her eyes at the latter who merely shrugged in response.
"Hey" Koan stood at the edge of the alleyway, a bundle of rope looped over his shoulder "What did I miss?"
/
Pyrrha shifted back into the soft leather couch Ren and Nora sat across from her red-haired bomber's head lolling over the back of the couch a long gentle snore echoing through the room, Ren glanced out of the corner of his eye towards his slumbering partner before taking a long slow sip of his tea, there meeting with Professor Lionheart hadn't exactly gone as they'd expected though she could hardly blame his reason for refusing Qrows request for supplies to track down the spring maiden.
In the weeks since the fall of Beacon Havens Huntsmen population had suffered catastrophic losses, the attack on amity and videos released of the fall of Beacon had created a surge of negativity throughout the kingdom, drawing in Grimm by the thousands, the academy and the council having thrown every available Huntsman into the fray to stem the tide while the kingdom recovered, sadly many of those brave souls had not returned, and those who remained were stretched far to thin at the moment, to be of any help to them.
So for the time being they were stuck in this townhouse, waiting while Headmaster lionheart pulled some strings to gather the able bodies and resources they'd need to carry out their mission, something she and her team were more than a little grateful for after the near year-long trek through the Valean countryside and jungles of Mistral.
Shaking her head lightly in mirth Pyrrha turned her attention back towards her book 'The Frailty Of Their Dawn' she'd always had a soft spot for the romance genre growing up, the story of a pair of young teens stumbling across one another by chance or tragedy, in this case, a terminally ill girl battling with the strain of her bodies dwindling health questioning if such a life was truly worth living only to find solace and the strength to press on in the arms of a charismatic young man she stumbled across in a local library.
It was a touching tale but like most in its genre was one laced with tragedy, then again that was how many of the greatest love stories tended to go, yet there was always that glimmer of hope that the two might just find their happy ending. Pyrrha sighed as she turned the next page though before she could continue with her story there was a knock at the front door, glancing to her left towards the front door, Pyrrha turned back towards her teammates sharing a cautious glance with Ren and a freshly roused Nora.
Adam had turned in early for the evening and Ruby was busy reading her comics in their shared room, the only person out of the house right now was Qrow and he had no reason to knock.
Standing Pyrrha edged towards the door and slowly opened it a crack, bracing herself against the door in the event someone tried to force themselves through she peeked through the crack... and came across a young boy stairing up at her awkwardly "Uhhh...Hi." The boy greeted, opening the door fully she glanced back towards her teammates for help, receiving a confused shrug from Nora and a blank look from ren in response.
"Good...Evening" Pyrrha replied slowly "Is there something you... need?"
The boy shuffled awkwardly in place for a moment, of all the things he expected to face when he finally got to Mistral this defiantly wasn't one of them. "Um... yeah." He leaned forward to glance past Pyrrha into the house "Is there a Ruby Rose here?" he asked, in that instant, he could sware the temperature of the room had dropped a few degrees.
"Why?" Nora demanded from her place beside Ren, they knew their enemy could shapeshift for all they knew this might have been another ploy to lower their guard and ambush them, Pyrrha maintained a calm and collected visage in front of the boy, while with a quick flick of her wrist and flash of polarity Milo flew from across the room and into her waiting hand hidden behind the door.
"Well..." He looked to his left and suddenly Qrow stumbled into view, the huntsmen giggling drunkenly as he grabbed Oscar by the shoulder pulling him in close.
"I found him" He slurred, Qrow snorted into his hand and presses forward stumbling past a surprised Pyrrha and into the house.
"I think her uncle could use some help" Oscar added more than a little embraced by the fiasco this was quickly turning into, this isn't how Ozpin said things would.
The emerald spartan glanced towards the boy and then quickly hid Milo behind her back laughing in a mix of awkwardness and embarrassment. "Thank you for bringing him back." Pyrrha replied, glancing towards the clearly intoxicated Huntsmen then back towards the young boy as Qrow continued to babble on about this 'Him' over and over again. "You are..." Pyrrha trailed off
Oscar blinked then looked towards the older girl, he flushed slightly "Uhh... Oscar and uhh sorry about... this, it's all... kinda because of me."
"Well, Oscar" Pyrrha nodded in greeting towards the young boy, glancing back towards Qrow she then asked "Would you like to come in... and maybe explain what he's talking about?"
"Right" Oscar replied quickly stepping through the doorway Pyrrha immediately moved to close the door behind him, granting them some much-needed privacy and a shield from the passers-by who'd stopped to watch the display, a flash of a scroll to her right made her jump slightly, she turned to find a young girl waving towards her from one of the first-floor windows, Pyrrha gave an awkward wave back in response before quickly using her semblance to unhook the latch on the blinds dropping them down between them.
"What is going on out there?!" Ruby called out from down the hall, the Red Reaper pushed open the door into the living room "Can't a girl read her comic books in peace!?" she cried out in frustration, one night to catch up with all the issues she'd missed while they were on the road to Mistral, one night of peace, was that too much to ask for!?
Qrow burped still lost in his drunken euphoria, Ruby took one glance at her Uncle and her head fell into her hands "Qrow, did you get drunk again?" It was more of a statement than a question, her response was another drunken chortle
"Maybe~"
'Is that her?' Oscar asked his... guest? Split personality? what exactly did you call the ghost of an ancient wizard trapped inside your head? "A friend I hope?" Ozpin replied good-naturedly, even after the weeks they'd spent together making their way to the city, he may have put on a brave face for the majority of their journey but Ozpin wasn't blind to the doubts swirling about his young hosts' mind. "Do you remember what I told you, this is going to be difficult for them to hear, but I ask you to press on" It always was when he found himself with a new host
"Oh..."Oscar swallowed and approached the admittedly, very pretty girl Ozpin had told him about. "You have... Silver eyes."
Ruby turned towards the new arrival in surprise, glancing over the younger boy's shoulder towards Ren and Nora hoping they might be able to tell her who this was and why he was here. Instead, all she received was a shrug from the red-haired bomber who was just as in the dark about their new arrival as she was Looking back towards Oscar she asked "Who are you?"
"This is Oscar" Pyrrha supplied as she moved aroudn the room shutting one set of blinds after the other, she'd managed to keep her presence in Mistral a secret, for the most part, the last time she'd set foot in the kingdom was for a meeting with one of her agents before she went off to Beacon, it hadn't been long before the hotel she'd been staying in had been swarmed by more than a few admittedly nosey reporters, something they really couldn't afford right now. "Qrow brought him back here for... some reason?"
"Yeah..." Oscar trailed off rubbing his arm nervously, silently preparing himself for the bombshell he was about to drop on them "But... you all probably know me as... Professor Ozpin"
The Members of RRVN all gasped, glancing at each other in clear confusion, Pyrrha being the first to break out of her shock took a few steps towards the young boy "I'm sorry, but... what are you talking about?"
"I did it!" Qrow cheered, slipping off the couch and crashing down onto the floor beside Nora, the red-haired bomber jumped in fright, as Qrow laughed into the wood floorboards.
Oscar sighed "It's a... It's a long story."
'To be Continued'