I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' Muhammad Ali
Overseer Ruby Rose woke up once again within the comfortably warm embrace of sheets she called her bed. It had been a month since the fateful day in which she saw possibly millions of Grimm mowed down by rifle fire during the test of whatever agent the Research Division had made. That was the day she had finally and truly regained hope, to see such a massive horde put down before her eyes proved that they could hold the line against the Grimm. 'And perhaps in the future we could expand' she thought as she brushed her teeth and drank a glass of clear water to alleviate the drought currently ongoing within her throat.
Putting on her uniform and eating breakfast as per usual she headed over to the area where Overseer Blair waited to commence her training. She had been studying sword technique from his since it was the only part where there was any real issue; of course she could handle Grimm, but any human opponent who had even a semblance of skill and she would be beaten in less than five minutes. "Hello Ruby" said Blair while lying on the ground and reading something on his phone "I've got a little something special planned today"
"What is it?" asked Ruby lying down beside him
"Well honestly I'm not exactly the best of the swordsmen we've got here, so I think I've hit the limit to what I can teach you" seeing the interest in her eyes he continued "I've asked one of my colleagues to teach you, they've only got so much time they're willing to give though, so I'll be teaching you all-round techniques which I've found useful during my time here. I man there isn't much else I can teach you anyway…"
Ruby put a hand on his shoulder and replied "Don't worry about it; your training was really useful. I mean I can hold against you for like half an hour now; and I even win sometimes!"
"Sometimes that just isn't good enough Ruby; you need to be improving yourself constantly. Drilling body and mind to become one with the sword… what am I saying, I sound like the generic Asian guy now…"
Understanding the reference and letting out a giggle Ruby composed herself and asked "so where is he then?"
"On a mission apparently, still he should be back by the weekend at the latest. For now though shall I show you some useful stuff which might just save your ass someday. I suppose today I could teach you how to make this rather useful substance called thermite…"
Hearing a basic description of how the thing worked she marveled at how such a simple mixture of Aluminum and Iron Oxide(Rust) could produce a reaction of around 2,000˚C and was intrigued at the story Overseer Blair told of his grandfather; Jordan 'Thermite' Blair.
"And there it was, a hot tub warmed by thermite! Although the water got too hot and we had to get out seeing our hot tub was now empty due to all the water evaporating… I've just gone on a rant haven't I?" receiving a knowing nod from Ruby he sighed and pulled out a satchel from his pack. Spreading out the contents on the forest floor she was met with two plastic bags of respectively silver and brownish powder. "Now then to begin with thermite the only real thing you need aside from the materials is the ratio, which would be about 27:80, this needs to be very precise but if you're making the stuff on-masse, you could take a mug or something to measure with, or a bottle cap as long as you don't mind the measuring process being very precise. Anyway, I've already measured these two so just tip one bag into the other and shake it"
After shaking the bag Ruby placed it on the ground and awaited further instruction, this came in the form of Blair carefully withdrawing what looked like a packet of gum before withdrawing one of the thin sheets and shoving it into the bag's side "This right here is our igniter; although thermite is near impossible to put out once going it's also really hard to light unless you've either got a blowtorch or this magnesium strip right here" Ruby watched closely as he took the bag and brought it over to a clear plane of grass, he then began to gather rocks and put them around the bag forming a cocoon of sorts
"Why are you doing that?" saked Ruby
"Well I don't want to set the whole forest alight do I?" with that dismissal he gestured for her to come over and handed her the standard flint and steel lighters issued to Overseers "Now light this strip here and run on back, hopefully it should work without spitting too much"
Ruby lit the strip and it began to burn with a bright white light. Heeding her mentor's warning she ran over to where he was crouched and watched the reaction unfold.
At first nothing happened, but as the bright sphere traveled further into the bag thick black smoke fumed out until the plastic bag was no more and the only remaining thing was the orange glow emanating from under the rocks which were glowing red-hot. To her surprise Blair stood up and withdrew a skillet and a few strips of Bacon and put the skillet onto the rocks which now formed a roughly flat surface due to the thermite spreading out from the bag.
She went over but halted as the Overseer pointed to his bag "Fetch me the gloves, packet of bread and the long spiked thing" Upon receiving the desired items he swiftly put on the gloves and began flipping the bacon as if it were pancakes while Ruby seeing what he implied took the metal stick and speared a few pieces of flat bread onto it and held it over the heat.
They ate the Bacon sandwiches in silence before Ruby asked "Did that really just happen?"
"Yep we just cooked with thermite, I suppose I showed you that to display the versatility of thermite as well as… I kinda skipped breakfast today"
"Well you've made your point, this shit's delicious! Any other unusual uses of thermite you haven't told me of yet?"
"Well you can use it to join metal if you do it right since thermite can melt steel and… actually I'll tell you a story instead. It's about how my grandfather earned his nickname."
Thermite(noun)
a mixture of finely divided metallic aluminium and ferric oxide that when ignited produces extremely high temperatures as the result of the union of the aluminium with the oxygen of the oxide: used in welding, incendiary bombs, etc.
Jordan Blair lay behind cover as the rebel tank chugged past his hiding place beneath a collapsed house, they dispatched the tank's unarmoured comrades with ease but not even the powerful 9.23 rounds from their Breaker Rifles could pierce its thick steel hide.
Officer Rodreich had already been gunned down when he got cocky and tried to throw a Molotov at the thing with his sword in hand and so Jordan didn't want any further casualties from the steel monstrosity as it drove throughout the ruined village. He was the demolitions expert within the group so only he could really deal with the threat circling them at the moment.
Taking his satchel in his hands and opening all the packets of two-part thermite component he closed the lid and inserted a magnesium fuse into the mixture. Shaking the bag he gestured to his comrades "Distract it, ill throw this on, big boom" they got the message.
As the tank drove close by he gestured for his men to open fire. As the tank's crew felt the pings of bullets on their hide the turret rotated to spot the source of this nuance leaving a blind spot behind it.
Jordan ran at the tank with the magnesium fuse already lit and satchel in hand placed it onto the vents just above the engine block before diving into a nearby ditch for cover.
For a few seconds time stood still as the crew within realised in horror what had just occurred and the on looking Overseers stopped wasting ammo on those who were already as good as dead.
The satchel itself burned away in seconds; its thick canvas only withholding the fiery mixture for a millisecond before it was burnt away and the metal below began to heat up. Slowly melting through the heat the lump of thermite eventually reached the engine below.
The first to detonate was the fuel which ripped through the tank as fuel lines set aflame due to the intense heat of the glowing compound, then the ammunition which was not too far from the fuel. The detonation of over forty rounds ricocheted trough the tank as the turret was blown off into the air from the mass pressure of the forty or so explosions within.
Of course nothing survived, as the terror which mowed down one of their brothers finally burned as Jordan walked over with a stick and some toast and began to toast the bread over the tank's shouldering wreck.
"And that is another use of thermite…and also kinda explains my family's tradition with toast" ended the Overseer and taking a deep breath.
"Could I perhaps learn about something else? No offence but you've literally ranted for the last hour on thermite, which I have no doubt is interesting but kinda gets boring after a while"
"Sorry" apologised he "but this is important stuff! You need to know this… actually no, you don't… I guess you're right. Perhaps tomorrow I could ask around for you to be taught how to parachute? Would that make it up?"
"I suppose" replied Ruby nonchalantly "It's getting kinda late, perhaps we should turn in?"
"Yeah, I have no issue with that"
They ended their overly long discussion by finishing off what food they brought with them and headed back into the bunker, showing the lone guard their ID they entered the hangar and soon split to their respective barracks.
Ruby walked along humming a tune, not a soul to be found since all the others were probably sleeping… Squeak! It was a rat, a real rat. She'd heard of them from lectures and documentaries but never seen one in person. And a white one at that; the little critter waved its little hand as if to gesture for her to follow and scurried off down the corridor.
Ruby ran after it for an almost supernaturally sudden innate curiosity about the furry creature. Passing by many doors she eventually suffered the consequences of looking down while running and rammed through a set of double doors and falling flat on her face in a manner beneath that expected of her.
Looking up she saw an unusual sight for the stone-grey walls of the place's rooms; they were shrouded in a rich, purple velvet so fine it looked like it belonged on a billionaire! In the middle stood a pedestal made of three crisscrossed burnt wooden poles held together by barbed wire.
On top lay a few rough planks of wood making a table of sorts; on this table lay a napkin of the same purple cloth around her with lanterns of mysterious blue tint scattered around the room and table.
On the table lay a strange contraption; made of white marble and metal fragments intertwined within it and arcane symbol carved into its very surface.
Bringing her hand up to the object she picked it up…. And was no more within the realm of comprehension.
Another one bites the dust! Soon I'll be at 30k words! Thanks for all your continued support!
