For probably the first time since I started my current job, I was able to get a full chapter out in one week! The fact I was on vacation with no duties other than ziplining and watching an amazing stage show probably had something to do with it. Probably won't happen again for a while, but I'll do my best.
Onward to the reason you're here.
Ruby stared at one of the new magazines Shen gave her before the launch of the mission. It still carried the normal six shots, still a downgrade from her fifteen back home. The improvement came from a blue and black strip about an inch thick. This strip gave the laser shots what Shen called a Bluescreen effect. They'd had the kinetic version for a while now, but this was the first field deployment of the Bluescreen Rounds on a laser weapon.
How XCOM did it, Ruby didn't know. She'd experimented with Dust effects on laser weapons for years. Nothing ever came of it. The energy just burned up all the Dust in the barrel, if it didn't just detonate in the receiver. She didn't think it was possible. Shen managed to do it in a matter of months, if it took her that long. If it worked as well as advertised, it would make short work of any mechanical enemies they may face.
Or, in this case, a potential rogue SPARK. Ruby eyed the mechanized giant sitting in one of the seats closest to the cockpit. The murderous AI Julian was in control, the one that almost killed Shen and her squad in an old abandoned factory. Shen assured everyone that the AI was completely under her control, but Ruby wasn't sure. Some of the things the thing said set her on edge. She wouldn't hesitate to put a round through the thing's head. If Halcyon was in the driver's seat, like everyone from Remnant campaigned for every time the SPARK was deployed, there wouldn't be a problem. Ruby shook her head and reinserted the mag into Crescent Rose. She and Yang could handle it.
"Menace, listen up," Central's voice came over the Skyranger's speakers. "You are dropping into highly populated Seoul for this operation. Our contacts in the Resistance have spotted an ADVENT VIP associated with the AVATAR project. We need to grab her and bring her back to the Avenger for interrogation. If not, she is not to return to the job,"
"Do we have a description of the VIP?" Sall asked, leaning forward in his seat.
"At this point, just platinum blonde hair, approximately one and a half meters tall, and wearing an AVATAR Project black and red jumpsuit."
"Civies?"
"There shouldn't be many. The facility is in the warehouse district. As for the opposition, the numbers aren't the highest, but those that are present are a lot tougher. Don't expect many one shot kills."
"We'll see about that." The SPARK's railgun spun up and electricity crackled, but fell silent again a second later. The three other normal members of Alpha squad didn't react, like the SPARK was not about to blow a hole through their transport a large distance above the ground.
Ruby stared at the weapon, then straight across at her sister. Yang had a similar look of disbelief. Sure, Ruby wasn't in the best mental state, and had thought about killing several members of XCOM before, but she was far above blowing a hole in the Skyranger. She and Yang weren't even supposed to be on this mission. Rick Thompson, Alpha's sniper, had the flu and Jane Kelly was out with Coulson on some kind of covert operation. So it was the sisters, the robot, Sall, their medic Natalie Peters, and their hacker Henry Anderson. Worse yet, Ruby got distrusting stares from the others, and not one was aimed at the dang robot.
The lights in the crew compartment turned red. "We're almost at the drop point," Firebrand called back. "I'll stay in the AO for as long as I can. When I have to bug out, I have to bug out."
"Appreciate it, Firebrand." Sall stood up and grabbed a rail on the ceiling. "Standard drop, everyone. Shadeslayer, find cover up high, Goldmane, you're our advance scout."
"Will do." Yang stood up and grabbed Dawnbreaker. She chambered a shell then grabbed the rail above her. "I'll make sure nothing sneaks up on us."
"You and stealth?" Ruby remained sitting while she gave Crescent Rose one more visual inspection. "Are you turning invisible for this?"
"I wish. Still don't have the strength to hold that long."
"Just don't get your head shot off," Anderson said.
"Or do." The robot sounded almost happy. Ruby glared at the SPARK. She shook her head, stood up, and waited for the drop. It wouldn't take much for her to blow a hole in that thing's head.
A few minutes later, the lights in the crew compartment turned green and the ramp lowered. Ruby and Yang jumped out, grabbing the cables as they lowered. Ruby searched the area as she descended. A black and red office building stood among the warehouses. ADVENT had no subtlety. Then again, the Riders' construction was probably worse than that.
The sisters touched down on a roof and Ruby ran to a raised ledge. A few vehicles idled on the street as they waited for ADVENT to inspect their vehicles. Unless those vehicles were automated, going in on the ground would get them spotted right away.
Sall appeared by Ruby's side and growled. "Goldmane, find us a way."
"Will do. Eye in the sky?" Yang left Ruby's side and jogged down the roof's edge.
"We're not seeing any contacts on roofs until the facility itself," the Commander said. "I'm sure you know how reliable our drone is by now."
Ruby walked to the corner of the roof and aimed down the street at the facility. Two regular Mutons and a Berserker stood at the gate. As she watched, some heavily armored Biotroopers with shields walked into the building itself. "No joke on the heavy forces. These things look tough." Some flashing light caught her eye, and she moved her scope to look. "Has anyone seen a Codex in the field with normal forces yet?"
"Bravo has," Sall said behind Ruby. "Hasn't happened on an Alpha op until now."
"We have a bigger problem than those things," Yang said over comms. "The path is clear across the roof, but I'm seeing the damn Berserker Queen again."
Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose. She wasn't on that mission to rescue Thorn. If she and Yang were full strength, they wouldn't have a problem taking that thing down. With this being in a city, bringing in Thorn here for some close air support wouldn't be an option, unless a possessed dragon turned up.
"Is there any chance of sneaking around it?" The Commander asked.
"If the plan is to get out quickly after the pickup, not a chance. That thing and a couple of its Berserker buddies are patrolling the back of the facility. "
"You're not getting out of this one quiet, Menace. Take out the forces up front to draw that thing into you. If it doesn't cooperate, get inside the facility and grab the VIP, then Firebrand will come around and use her gun to spray it down."
"Menace copies, Commander." Sall clapped a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Let's move." Ruby pulled her weapon back and followed her squad lead. Natalie and Henry brought up the rear. As Yang promised, they attracted no attention as they ran across three rooftops. Ruby setup on a ledge and aimed down at the entry to the facility. The three Mutons were still there, their eyes aimed at the traffic backup leading away from them. Yang was down on the ground pressed up against one of the holographic wall projectors.
"Do they never learn?" The hacker setup beside Ruby, his GREMLIN hovering just above the roof. "Julian, I think it's time for some fireworks."
"About time I can open things up." The SPARK stepped forward. A small, almost GREMLIN like drone flew off its back. Ruby blinked. She hadn't seen that thing before.
"Hold your fire," Sall ordered. "Shadeslayer, Google, stay up here. Everyone else, let's get close." He jumped off the side of the building with the SPARK and Natalie following right behind him. How normal people dropped off two story roofs without breaking legs, Ruby had no idea. She needed to put her weight on her bionic leg so she didn't break something, and even then, she still occasionally felt the landing in her teeth.
"I don't like leaving those grunts behind us," Henry said while grimacing at the checkpoint.
"Just keep an eye on them. If they move toward us, we'll move."
"Ground team," Sall spoke over comms, "once Julian's rocket hits, clean up what's left on the ground. Sniper team, pin down any reinforcements they send from the facility. Julian, my mark. One, two, three, m-"
The drone with the SPARK shot off its back, floated over its head, and shot a rocket out of it. The explosive smashed directly into the Berserker's face. In a flash of fire and shrapnel, the Mutons disappeared. When the smoke cleared though, all three targets stood. They bled all over and their armor looked shattered, but they roared back angry. Before any could lift their weapons or fists, a hail of laser and magnetic fire from the ground team leveled them.
Alarms blared in the facility and back toward the checkpoint. A green MEC and the Codex accompanied by the armored troopers Ruby saw before ran out the front of the facility. Ruby lined up Crescent Rose with the MEC's head and fired. Her red laser shot crackled with blue and yellow energy and plunged into the robot's head. The shot staggered the machine and left a black mark on its faceplate, but it still stood. Before Ruby could shoot the Codex, it disappeared in a flash.
"Thanks for the layup," Henry said. His GREMLIN then shot forward and toward the MEC. It reached the robot and hovered right behind it. The Specialist grimaced at his tablet as his thumbs went to work. "Damn. Not this time. MEC shutdown in three, two, one." As he said one, the MEC shuttered. It pulled its weapon and head in, then it leaned forward and slumped into itself."
"Nice work, you two," Natalie called over comms. "Gave us some time for these others."
The Bio Assault Troopers, for lack of a better identifier, stepped up side by side, their shields leading the way. They leveled their shotguns at the attackers and fired. Their shots slammed into XCOM's metal cover, shattering it. "Son of a…" Yang's voice carried over comms and the air. She ran forward, drew back a fist, and slammed it into the shield of the Trooper on the right. The metal caved in and deformed but didn't break. The Trooper staggered back and leveled its shotgun again.
Ruby aimed at the trooper's face and fired. This time, the shot burned through the helmet. The Bio Assault Trooper fell back in a heap, its weapon and shotgun falling away. Before she could aim at the other one, Sall and Natalie peppered it with LMG and AR fire respectively. The Trooper never got its shotgun around for another blast. Sall's rounds shredded the shield and continued on while it looked like a burst from Natalie's laser rifle hit the spine. The Trooper crumpled and didn't move.
"Good opening salvo," Sall called. "Sniper team, you see anything going on out back?"
Ruby swung her scope that way. "I'm seeing giant footprints, but no movement. They might be planning- Codex!" She ducked as a green beam burned through the air right where her head was a second before. Henry yelped beside her. The sniper popped back up and fired a single round into the Codex' head. The thing dropped its gun. It lean forward, grabbed it's head, screamed, and disappeared. The Bluescreen rounds saved the day, there. "Anyway, the checkpoint hostiles might be planning something."
Sall sighed. "They've been doing that lately. Sniper team, get down here. We're going to breach the building."
"That thing got me," Henry said. Ruby faced the hacker. He had a long black mark on his left arm, but it didn't look too back. In fact, the man was hardly wincing.
"I'll patch you up down here," Natalie said. "Damn... I never like using these in the opening rounds."
"Hurry up, Menace," Firebrand called. "I'm picking up ADVENT fighters on radar. We've got maybe five minutes before we need to bug out."
Somehow this smash and grab just turned even more into a smash and grab. Ruby dropped off the side of the building, landing on her bionic leg. As she jogged to join the rest of the squad, Natalie put a long burst of fire into the shutdown MEC and only stopped when it fell. With the robot down, she grabbed one of her medikits and sprayed it on Henry's plasma burn.
With that taken care of, the squad formed up on one of the doors. up against the side of the facility. Judging by the positioning, Yang was going in first. Sall looked around the squad and nodded. "Check your fire inside. We're looking for a platinum blonde woman in an ADVENT jumpsuit. Knock her out if you must, but don't shoot her." He nodded at Yang. "Take us in."
"Can do." Yang stepped in front of the door, reeled a fist back, and launched it at the metal. This time something gave and the door flew inward, plowing over someone in a white suit. Not their person. "Knock, knock!" Yang rushed inside and shot at something Ruby couldn't see.
Since neither a scythe or a sniper rifle were great in close quarters, Ruby compacted Crescent Rose and waited until the rest of the squad entered. She was a much better fist fighter than she used to be, and she still had the gun in her bionic arm.
Still, while the rest of the squad exchanged fire with a couple Mutons, Ruby kept her head down and searched what looked like an office block. Scientists cowered behind their desks or in their offices. They were men and women, but none matched the description. She reached the last office that looked like it took up the entire wall of the building. That just screamed 'big wigs in here.'
Ruby shifted her bionic arm into its gun mode. She kicked the door open and stepped inside. Someone pointed a gun at her, and she barely registered that it wasn't the VIP before she fired a shot. The magnetic round slammed into the unarmored target's chest, dropping him to the ground and the pistol out of reach.
The Huntress aimed her arm at the other person in the room then let her arm drop, along with her jaw. Her back straightened at the same time. Platinum blonde hair and on the shorter side. The description was just missing blue eyes, a slender figure, and the hair in a ponytail. All those combined would have been a dead giveaway. "Weiss?"
Recognition flashed in her partner's eyes. But instead of the excited near squeal and hug, Weiss' face contorted with rage. "You!" she jabbed a finger in Ruby's direction. "Why is it when one of your kind shows up, it's always you?"
"My kind?" Ruby blinked and stared at Weiss. How undercover was she? She never referred to Faunus as 'your kind' in their first year at Beacon. How could she ever… Weiss didn't have a scar over her eye. She would never get rid of that. As good of a singer as she was, she was never that good of an actor. So… not her Weiss. From the sound of it, not any Weiss she'd like to know.
Ruby glared and scowled at the ADVENT collaborator. "You know me. I'm a woman of the people." She marched forward as the ADVENT goon reached for something on her desk. Before anything happened, Ruby punched the one that looked like her partner in the face. The fake Weiss fell like a wingless dragon, out cold.
She ticked on her comms. "I've got the VIP." Ruby heaved the unconscious form over her shoulder. "Now let's take out or avoid that Queen."
A deep, unfriendly roar shook the building. "Yeah, about that avoiding," Natalie replied.
Ruby turned around and walked as fast as she could toward the sounds of combat. "Firebrand, can you get there in time to provide fire support?"
"Working on it." Firebrand's voice sounded like her teeth were clenched. "Warming up the gun now."
Ruby reentered the main part of the facility. A good chunk of the far wall no longer existed. Her squad was spread out behind desks, or in Yang's case, behind a normal Berserker corpse outside. The Berserker Queen stood in the center of them all, taking bullets from all sides. The thing roared at the ceiling and charged Natalie. She tried to back out of the way, but the Queen was faster. The thing reached out with one of its giant meat tenderizers and connected. The medic flew back and into a solid pillar that didn't break. She slumped to the ground and didn't move.
"Keep up the fire!" Sall yelled. Ruby took cover behind a different pillar and aimed her bionic arm to take potshots at the Queen. She fired three times, but as she expected, had little effect. She might as well be shooting peas.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yang charging with Dawnbreaker in its sword form. Her sister jumped onto the Berserker Queen's back and hung onto one of the hoses coming from its torso. All incoming fire stopped as the Queen thrashed around, trying to end the piggy back ride it didn't want to give. With a primal yell, Yang drew Dawnbreaker back, then plunged it into the creature's back.
An unearthly shriek burst from the Berserker Queen's mouth. Its arms flailed wildly, one of them hit Yang's left arm as she tried to jump away. Green fluid spilled all over, and it probably wasn't all blood. As it ran outside, its arms hung limp. Its legs gave out and it started spasming on the ground.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Central said. "I'd love to ask Vahlen what exactly she planned on doing with this thing."
"I'd be curious to hear her reasoning," Tygan offered, "although I would question whether reason was ever involved in this decision."
As the squad approached the downed and dying Berserker Queen, Ruby jogged to her sister's side. Yang breathed through clenched eyes and teeth. Her left arm was bent where human arms should not bend. "That was a nice rodeo trick. Halcyon teach you?"
"Yeah… sure… let's go with that…" Yang opened her eyes and tears streamed out. "Orchid can take care of me. Let's get out of here."
"Can do." Ruby brought her bionic hand back and offered it to Yang. Her sister took it, and Ruby hauled her to her feet. "I don't suppose you could carry Bones out of here?"
"I've done more while worse off." With her mangled arm hanging at her side, Yang walked to the unconscious medic's side. Ruby joined the rest of the squad at the Berserker Queen's corpse.
"Nasty bugger, isn't it?" Sall said.
"You must recover the corpse," Tygan insisted. "I may be able to gain more intelligence on the genetic makeup of the Berserker."
"If not that," Shen chipped in, "I should be able to do something similar to the Serpent Suit with the Queen's natural armor." Ruby shivered. She was offered the special suit before the mission, but considering it was a sentient being only a few weeks ago, she wasn't sure she could do it. To Nalia, it might as well have been a leather jacket, but she couldn't wear the thing.
"We'll hook it to the Skyranger before we leave," Sall said. "Firebrand?"
"I'm coming in hot," Firebrand said, "but there are a couple of ADVENT transports right behind me. I'm peppering them but it's hard to aim back and fly at the same time."
"I can shoot," Ruby offered. "I'll get rid of this dead weight too."
"Copy that, Shadeslayer. One cable coming down." The Skyranger slowed to a stop a few dozen feet above the squad. A cable came down, Ruby grabbed it, and it hauled her up. One on the lowered ramp, Ruby threw the fake Weiss onto the floor and pulled the laser machinegun into firing position. While she preferred precision weapons, there was something immensely satisfying about sending hundreds of Dust rounds downrange, or in this case, lasers.
Ruby aimed at the closest incoming transport and held down the trigger. Three shots a second burst from the barrel. While not the highest firing rate, each heavy laser shot did much more damage than even Crescent Rose could do. The first shots impacted on the glass of the first transport's cockpit and eventually burned through. A few seconds later, something inside exploded and the transport fell out of the sky. It hit the ground on the other side of the facility. The second transport peeled off and flew back over the checkpoint. Its doors opened and its troops dropped right there.
"Sky is clear." Ruby slid the gun back into its resting slot. Cables for the rest of the squad dropped from the Skyranger. "ETA on those fighters?"
"We need to be gone in ninety seconds," Firebrand called back.
"Plenty of time," Sall said. "The Ruler's hooked up. Everyone else up first."
Ruby backed away from the entryway and shoved the fake Weiss into an open seat. She grabbed a zip tie and bound the woman's hands together. They'd figure out what was up with her sooner rather than later.
The medic's motionless body plopped down next to the VIP, a lot more gentle than fake Weiss was set up. "What the…" Yang breathed. "Is that…"
Ruby shook her head. "Not either of ours." She glared at Yang, but it wasn't for her sister. "She didn't say much, but it sounds like this one is more like Whitley than the Ice Princess we know and love."
"Whitley?" Yang glared at the unconscious collaborator. "That's a name I haven't thought about in years."
"Not that I've wanted to." Ruby glanced at the ramp just as the corpse of the Berserker Queen locked into place just outside. "That's not morbid at all." The ramp closed, blocking the sight from view.
"All XCOM operatives are onboard," Firebrand announced. "Returning to base."
"Take a seat, Yang." Ruby gently guided her sister to a seat, then grabbed one of the Skyranger's medikits. She first used it on the squad's unconscious medic, then used the one spritz left on Yang's arm. Her sister sighed and slumped further into her seat.
"You said you might know that woman?" Henry asked while pointing at the fake Weiss.
Ruby shook her head. "Not this one. The Weiss I know has a scar over her left eye and is a lot nicer."
"Think you can get anything out of her?"
"Maybe. If I'm right, she's barely…" Ruby trailed off as she saw a piece of paper in fake Weiss' sleeve. She stepped forward and pulled it out. It looked like it was a part of a shredded piece of paper. It said 'keeper locali' and nothing else legible. Maybe someone could get something from the letter parts above the words. "Actually, I might not be the best person to ask. Maybe Shen or Tygan."
"You have something?" Sall asked. Ruby nodded and handed over the piece of paper. "So that's why we want this wanker. Good work finding her, Shadeslayer." He nodded at Yang. "And damn fine work on ending that Ruler."
"Yeah, yeah," Yang groaned. "Wake me when I get to Orchid."
"Will do." Ruby sat down next to her sister and sighed. Well, her first mission back went well. Hopefully she could keep it up.
Cerise glared at the no-leg-snake-head that slithered into the abandoned thing-nest she and Rafye had been staying in. This one, and at least two others, had been following them for thousands of miles. Neither she nor the two-leg-pointed-ears knew why. They could be ADVENT assassins. If they were, they likely would have caught Cerise long ago. Rafye knew what she was doing and discovered their night-stalkers less than a week after the two met.
The yellow snake-head slithered to the corner of the nest where Cerise and Rafye made their own nests for the night. Cerise reached her mind out toward the intruder. It felt… different. She heard bits of human-Vytalian, but most of it was growls, roars, and hums of varying intensity. Nothing like any of the snake-head's she'd killed before.
Are there still no telepaths in the area? Cerise asked Rafye. The two-leg-pointed ears perched atop the thing-nest, out of sight, but close enough to come if needed.
None, Rafye said in her musical voice. There are no ADVENT within several blocks. This one came alone.
Can you get anything out of its mind?
Not without alerting it to my presence. The human words are buried too deep
Cerise stopped herself from growling. She didn't feel any hostile intentions from the snake-head, but there were two-legs out there who could kill without feeling anything. Was this snake-head one of them? Cerise looked through the scope of her weapon. Her target had no visible weapon, but with that species, it didn't mean much. Their too-long-tongues could reach out and pull their victims into their crushing tail-grip. They could spit fire, poison, and acid. Cerise had used her borrowed flame and tongue-tail-grip many times.
As she watched, the intruder laid a piece of paper on Cerise' nest. Cerise cocked her head. A messenger.
Interesting. But is it a threat, or something else?
There's only one way to find out. Cerise hooked an arm through her weapon's strap and slithered down a pole. She didn't make a sound as she flanked the intruder. When she was behind the snake head, she drew her weapon and hissed.
The snake-head stiffened and her arms raised slowly. "Firefang, I assume?"
Cerise blinked. It spoke human-Vytalian? Cerise hardly tried with Rafye since they could speak with their minds. Instead of answering in the same way, she hissed again and racked the bolt.
The snake-head turned around slowly… with an almost two-leg like smile on its face. "Hello, Firefang. My name is Sunny. It's nice to meet you."
The stolen-dragon almost let her weapon sag. That voice as too Nora-happy This snake-head acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary. Cerise hadn't seen this, but she'd heard of it. She narrowed her eyes and pointed her weapon at the paper, then back at the snake-head.
"I'm sorry." 'Sunny' blinked while backing up toward the paper. "I don't speak the same as the other Vipers here, but I do speak… English I hear it's called here. I thought you spoke it as well. Do you understand me?" Cerise blinked and nodded. The sides of the snake-head's head rose. "Good to hear. Can you read it?" Cerise nodded again.
Sunny's smile returned in full force. She bent down, picked up the paper, and held it out to Cerise as she approached. "I represent a group called the Liberated. We're members of species ADVENT usees to fight their wars. As someone who has done exceptionally well in that area, we would like it if you joined us." Sunny rested the paper on the fake-rock-ground.
Cerise leaned down, never taking her eyes or weapon off Sunny, and picked up the paper. The message was crudely written in human-Vytalian, but her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind had written worse. It said much of what Sunny said, only using more words than needed. There was also something about something called XCOM. She had heard ADVENT lies that XCOM was being defeated, nothing more than a winged-blood-drinker. Things Rafye had uncovered in her entrance into several two-leg villages told a different story, that XCOM was hitting hard and falling away, like a grace-filled-elf against a bone-breaker-Kull. She glared back at Sunny and hissed again.
"I also speak on behalf of XCOM. While they don't have as many with them, they are able to reach most of the planet, and they are much better equipped. They also have a few aliens working with them too, including us... Vipers." Sunny shrugged. "If you ask me, they're leading the fight against ADVENT."
Cerise narrowed her eyes. She was in Sunny's head the whole time. While she didn't have the same wards as her Gem, she didn't feel any lies. But that hesitation... Rafye?
I am feeling no reason not to trust her, Rafye said cautiously. She seems earnest, but she is also holding something back.
That also sounded like something she rehearsed. Cerise mentally paused. I'm still committed to our next attack. If she's telling us the truth, it would be nice to have backup.
And if she's an ADVENT spy, she'll have ADVENT ready for us.
If that happens, I trust you to kill them all. Cerise stared at Sunny. Despite holding her hands above her snake-head, she looked at Cerise like she was a long-friend. She was relaxed. There weren't many who could fake that ease. Of those she knew, they were all dangerous, whether friendly or not. With your permission, I will tell them to find us after our next mission.
I trust your judgment. I made many of the same assessments as you.
Cerise lowered her weapon and held up a single finger. "O… One… wwwwweeeeeekk.' Sunny blinked and lowered her arms. "Tttttooookkyyyyyyyoo. XXXXXXCCCCCOOOMMMMM." Cerise hoped she said it right.
"Oh. Of course." Sunny nodded and her smile somehow grew. "We'll have them meet you there."
Cerise pointed at the closest door. "Gggggggggoooooo."
"I will. It was nice meeting you." Sunny the snake-head slithered out of the thing-nest without another word. Cerise stared after her. She did not expect her first conversation with a not-worlder to go that way.
A few minutes later, Rafye descended from the nest roof. "That was… strange."
I was thinking the same thing. Cerise shook her head. Where did she go?
"She grabbed onto the back of a truck moving through and slithered underneath. There is much more to that one than initially seen."
Agreed. I don't know what to make of it. Cerise paused. We need to move. Friend or not, I don't trust them to not bring attention our way.
Rafye nodded. "I found a place when I scouted the docks earlier today. We will be safe there until our ship leaves tomorrow." She paused. "I have… refrained from asking since you had this idea. Why in one week? We could have done it much earlier."
Cerise turned her head away and let not-her-body slump. "The thirty first day of the tenth month… My Ruby's birthday. If I counted the days right, it's the same on Remnant."
"Ah." Rafye gave a sad smile. "Your birthday gift to her?"
"And maybe a beacon." Cerise clenched not-her-fists. "Just a big sign saying 'come find me.'" She shrugged. "Who knows, if I work with them, they may lead me right to Ruby."
"Maybe." Rafye put her hands on Cerise' borrowed shoulders and looked deep into not-her-eyes. "I have said it before and I'll say it again. I will see your back with your Rider. If it means using these people to do so, so be it."
Cerise nodded. Thank you. She attempted a two-leg smirk. I'm starting to understand why you and Aaron got along.
Rafye's face glowed as she smiled. "I still have more stories if you want to hear."
I'd like that.
I think we all see where this is going. People have wanted it for a while. Gonna try to get it done by the in-chapter deadline. I swear, it just happened time-wise. Didn't plan it at all.