Quick question: How do you feel about the One-Eyed Mask after its nerf and the Crucible pinnacle weapons?
Trying some new formatting.
Amity Coliseum, Atlas
The ground shakes underneath General Ironwood's feet as he looks down through windowed balcony the on-going tests of what his scientific staff has dubbed the "Mind's Weapons." The floor shifts in orientation, slanting ever so slightly. The teams in charge of the Undying Mind's propulsions abilities still haven't figured out a way to stop this wobbling effect, it seems.
A door slides open behind him and soles clack against the floor. Ironwood turns, giving a short nod to the lead scientist in charge of the trials.
The man is a short, stubby type, only reaching up to his chest, his hair compressed into a white, military-issued helmet. A few tips manage to be seen but are inconsequential in the grand schemes of things.
"General Ironwood, sir," the scientist stands stock-still, his back arced and his shoulders forced back. "We've compiled the results of the new batch of weaponry and armor that the Mind has dropped, sir." He offers a flat and wide Scroll with a spreadsheet displayed on the screen.
Ironwood takes the device in his hands and squints as he tries to read the impossibly tiny character size the research department of the Atlas military so loves to use.
"The long-rifle, that the team has designated the term 'Retractor' displays paracausal tendencies in the targets its projectile doesn't strike, so far displaying…" Ironwood grumbles and looks back at the scientist. "Burns, in English, please?"
"Well…uh, sir, the 'Retractor' is very forgiving in its user's accuracy…" Burns mumbles, readjusting his thick-rim glasses.
"Which means?"
"The bullet that gets fired will return to the chamber if the user misses their target." His feet tap at an irregular rhythm. "Paracausal means that there is no logical explanation for this. We…don't know how this is possible."
Ironwood raises an eyebrow and Burns flinches, as if by instinct.
"Do more research on this. In the meantime, tell me about the…erm." The general zooms in on the image of a bullpup design weapon. "Tell me about the…'fast-shooter-upon-headshot.'"
"This one is more explainable." Burns pushes his glasses to his eyes and a glint shines from one lens. "This weapon, normally, is a slow-firing but high-impact burst rifle that usually fires at an RPM of three-hundred-and-forty. When the user lands a kill with a shot to the head, the reload speed of the weapon—no matter the skill of the user—increases exponentially while its rate of fire increases to a whopping six-hundred RPM."
"Interesting…is there a special module inside the weapon that makes this possible?" Ironwood strokes his short beard and hums once. "This seems to be a perfect replacement for our standard rifles."
"Unlike the other weapons we've found, these look like they are made for some type of scrimmage arena involving the use of deadly weaponry," Burns says, smiling tensely. The general sees a small bead of sweat run down the side of his head.
"Odd…I'll ask a few more questions before allowing you to return to your work." Ironwood scrolls down the list of weapons and crosses into the territory of armor pieces. He stops at a pair of green gauntlets. "These green gauntlets, what do they do?"
"They increase the user's effective melee distance with their fists, disregarding their actual capabilities. We've had a few injuries with them, sir. It appears that there is also something alive inside that 'bonds' with the user and creates an organic shell in order to protect them."
"On the way out, make sure you call Harriet down for me," Ironwood mumbles. "Final inquiry for you: This mask with the single eye, does it work?"
"Oh…this, this was a source of terror for many of the units that were pit against it," Burn says, chuckling after.
"Really? What about them makes it so terrifying?" Ironwood looks at the funny-looking casque that looks like a combination of a clown and a skull missing one eye.
"As soon as the receiver takes even a negligible amount of damage, we've even heard reports of being looked at in a rude manner, a module activates that tracks the offender for approximately ten seconds, revealing their position as a crosshair through walls," Burns says, laughing nervously.
"Is that it? That doesn't sound too bad."
"That isn't the end of it, sir. When the opponent is defeated, the user's Aura begins to replenish immediately and their abilities gain a type of boost in damage for about ten seconds. The tracking ability can be re-provoked in this time period too. We've noticed a broken part on the back of it and the team is led to believe that it could do even more, given that part be repaired."
"Interesting…make sure to file your report in by tomorrow." Ironwood hands the tablet back to Burns, who takes it and silently retreats back to the elevator.
/
The Tower, Earth.
"Where did my Revoker go? I swear I put it in here…" The Guardian mutters as she flicks through her Vault's impressive catalog of weaponry. "I don't think I have enough Cores to ask Shaxx for another one…"
"You have four-hundred," Ghost says. "On top of your abundance of legendary shards."
"Whatever, I'll just use Redrix's…hey, where is that too!?" The Guardian smacks the Vault's computer screen and groans in exasperation. "I swear I'm losing so much stuff right now, it's just disappearing from my Vault!"
"Here, let me check, you have a tendency to be scatter-brained." Ghost disappears.
"Gee, thanks for the vouch, Ghost," she grumbles then pouts.
"It's not there. You probably left it with-"
Two massive arms wrap around The Guardian's waist as she's teetered side-to-side.
"Ela, please…the Crucible match is in twenty minutes and I'm kind of stressed right now!" She exclaims, trying to shrug off her girlfriend's insanely tough grip. "I'm a win away from getting top seed next season and if I don't find my Revoker I won't do good!"
"I was wondering if you might know where you put my One-Eyed Mask," Ela mumbles into her ear, holding her tighter. "I'm not letting you go 'till you tell me."
"You think I know where you put your helmets? Please, it would be better for me if I didn't tell you, if I did know," The Guardian says, gently slapping Ela's forearms to get her to let go.
"So, do you know or not?"
"I don't!"
Ela grumbles and releases her, humming. "I guess I'll just use my Synthoceps for this match…"
A pause.
The Guardian goes through her Vault once more and settles for a Spare Rations hand cannon, Mindbender's Ambition shotgun and One-Thousand Voices for her loadout. She grumbles to herself about big monkeys and stuffing barrels into people's mouths.
/
Argus, Remnant
Osiris stands in the backyard of Saphron's house, his hands locked behind his back and his gaze towards the multitude of flowers in the garden. A colorful butterfly flaps its wings and takes refuge on a leaf, resting for a moment before it's chased away by a pigeon that seems to be passing by.
Sagira appears at his shoulder and scans the flowers. "Gardens really do have a bad connotation, with the Black Garden and all. I feel like a Vex is going to just climb out of the ground."
"You aren't wrong, it's unusual to see beauty without danger," Osiris says, nodding once. "It's a nice feeling."
"I do agree, it's just nice being able to take a break from fighting, even if it's just a minute-"
"Hey Osiris, we're going to check out the military base at the edge of Argus, you want to come along?" Jaune peeks his head out from the patio door.
Osiris sighs. "You all go ahead, I will be there soon."
"Sounds good, see ya then!"
"Ooh, breaking and entering?" Sagira asks, with a suspicious about of hopefulness in her voice.
"No."
. . .
The walk down the bridge to the base is long and quiet. Osiris can sense the tracking of what feels like every security camera on Remnant. The poles are placed in irregular intervals, sometimes having as many as five stuck in a row to one every meter or so.
The rolling gate is closed, with two orange bars of light mounted vertically on the sides. There is a yellow stripe on the asphalt road. A cyan-blue screen flickers on the side of the gate.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone here," Osiris mumbles as he leans side-to-side in order to find any personnel that could be patrolling. He doesn't see anyone.
Sagira appears and flies over to the screen. "If that's the case, then no one would know-"
"Please turn around and return to Argus! The Atlas border is closed!" Two voices of uncanny similarity speak in exact timing.
Sagira screams and almost jumps out of her shell. Osiris is even startled by their very sudden appearance.
"We are aware of that…gentlemen." Osiris looks in somewhat disdain at the two pointy-capped and broad-shouldered Atlas employees that stand stock still side-by-side. "But we were hoping we could speak to a…commanding officer."
"Unless you bear-" The one on the left begins.
"Important news!" The one on the right continues.
"Then you all have to return home!" They both say in unison, before bringing one leg out wide in opposite directions and slamming the sides of their respective boots together.
Osiris has to blink a few times at the show of impressive but eerie coordination between the two bootlickers. He opens his mouth to speak but Nora steps in front.
"Look here you big dumb idiots, we're carrying a super important cargo that Ironwood-"
"General Ironwood!" They both exclaim at once.
"General Ironwood would want to see! Now let us through before I break down this STUPID GATE!" Nora raises her fist and shakes it at them.
The two soldiers take a step back.
"Please, return to Argus!"
"Oh, that's it!" Nora draws her two-handed war-hammer and prepares to charge at the closed gate.
"Nora…" Ren puts a hand on her shoulder.
"We won't leave until you let us through!" The orange-haired girl yells as she's dragged away, her heels grinding into the ground.
"What's the meaning of all this!?" A posh, snotty voice demands. Osiris has to look down to regard the woman. She wears a white, officer's uniform with a thick belt at her stomach and small decorations on the top left side of her chest, just under the collar.
"Her name is Caroline Cordovin…you'll want to refer her as Special Operative," Sagira informs.
"Yes…special operative-"
"Miss is fine," Cordovin says.
"Miss Cordovin, we're part of a group that is looking to enter Atlas and speak with the general," Osiris begins, crossing his arms and making the Monte Carlo disappear from his back. "The second half of our fireteam are…delayed, but they are carrying a relic of great-"
"The general's orders were clear, there is no one to be entering the great kingdom of Atlas!" She sticks a finger in the air and then puts her arms at sides of her hips. "Despite what you all seem to think, Atlas does not accept just anyone-"
"So there's still a chance?" Sagira asks, tilting her shell and furrowing her single eye.
"That's not what I was saying! With all the ruckus you Argus ingrates have caused I was forced to personally come down here and deal with the situation myself!" Cordovin sounds and acts like she's been personally attacked. "You all don't know all the effort Atlas does to protect you all and now everyone wants to destroy us!"
"That wasn't even related-" Sagira tries to speak but she's cut off again.
"No more comments, you will all leave and never come back!" Cordovin takes two steps back, behind the gate and it rolls shut, the extra locking bars slamming in front of them.
Osiris scoffs and turns around, shrugging to his temporary fireteam. Nora still looks rabid and is barely held back by Ren who keeps pulling her away.
"Oh yeah, well your base is just a giant dumb rock!" She yells, all the way from the other side of the bridge. It's a surprise her voice even reaches that far.
"Definitely showed her," Sagira mutters. "Come on, let's go, we'll figure something out, even if it involves breaking into that base."
The next day…
Osiris walks the streets of Argus, tracing his finger alongside a brick wall of someone's home. Navigating the border-side city feels like going through the Infinite Forest. Perhaps he stayed a bit too long in Mercury. It probably would have done some good if he took a break once in a while.
Sagira swoops down and floats in front of his face, her eye cheery. He knows that look: She's eager about something. Osiris doesn't like it when she's eager about something.
"What did you do?" He asks, stopping in his tracks and turning to lean his back against a wall. She follows his field of vision.
"So I did a fly-by of the base and I managed to break a hole in Atlas' network," Sagira says, her tone with an unusual upbeat kick to it. "And I connected to a communications tower nearby, which I then used to locate Saint-Fourteen by using it as an ad hoc radar and guess what I found."
"Another Ghost signal? You stream your entire point of view whenever you go anywhere out of my sight," Osiris says, smirking. He shrugs his shoulders. "That's good. Lisbon-Thirteen, if I remember correctly?"
"Yep! And he's a Hunter, too! So now we have a full fireteam to work with!" Sagira says, her shell bounding with apparent joy. "What are we gonna name ourselves? Ooh I know-"
"Would it not be better if the team decided its superficial name?" Osiris raises a brow.
Sagira hums and tilts her body before nodding. "Mm, yeah you're right, let's get home…where are we?"
"By the looks of it, we are near a park." Osiris nods to a walled plot of land across the street. Frozen trees are planted in a neat and consistently dotted manner, supported by concrete pillars and a net. This allows the leaves—looking more like vines—to grow horizontally and create a natural, forest-green roof that blocks the light of whatever celestial body is in the sky. Due to the winter, there is a coat of ice over the growths.
The cool air pricks his nostrils when he breathes. It's a refreshing change from the constant heat that entailed being around Vex machinery without breaks. He turns his head to Sagira, shrugs, and Blinks across the street, into the entrance of the park.
It's darker in here, with shadows covering the ground every other step. They shift ever so slightly as a small breeze blows the trees back-and-forth. It smells of distinct greenery, like the Black Garden. Too pure, too perfect. It sends a small chill down his spine.
The natural blockade above gives way for an empty circle, where a statue depicting a woman holding a Spartan's shield from the top, placing it under her waist stands. Pot lights in the ground surrounding the statue, and there is a plaque in front. There are two benches to the sides of the pathway, thin sleet covering them.
It reads:
IN HONOR OF PYRRHA NIKOS
ONE OF THE MANY STUDENTS WHO FOUGHT VALIANTLY AT THE FALL OF BEACON
"Sagira, any info on who this 'Pyrrha Nikos' is?" Osiris mumbles, looking down at the plate, then tilting his head up to the statue. It towers over him, the woman's face looking down on him.
Sagira appears and scans the construct, humming to herself. "From what I'm getting…she used to be a student at another kingdom's Huntsman Academy."
"A student defending her school…courageous. Did it fall to Grimm?" Osiris readjusts his scarf, covering more of his nose.
"The entire Kingdom of Vale fell because of the combined efforts of the White Fang and a shady underground group that's related to Salem. Grimm was released inside the borders, thousands died," Sagira says, emphasizing the final part. A light jingle from the Ghost. "Oop! We got a call! It's from Saint!"
"Patch me in," Osiris mumbles, turning around and heading towards the exit of the park. His shoulders bump with someone else's. A woman with antler ears walks past him. "Saint, what is it?" He says.
He feels the woman's gaze linger on him while he distances himself away from her.
"Osiris! We have arrived at Argus, we are at the border! This city looks nice, doesn't it?" Saint's boisterous voice nearly shatters his eardrums. "Osiris, are you there-"
"Yes, I am here, Saint. Are Jaune and his group with you?" Osiris waits at a side-walk. A map of the city with directions on where to go appears in the corner of his vision.
"You mean the blonde boy and his friends? They are. I also brought extra reinforcements, you could say, hehe," Saint says.
"Lisbon-Thirteen? Yes, I am aware," Osiris says. "A Hunter? He rounds out the fireteam."
"Wha-how did you know?"
"Lisbon-Thirteen, reporting in. My Ghost received Sagira's ping a few hours ago," Lisbon-13's voice comes in.
"It's good to have you, Lisbon. Is Rekkana doing well?" Osiris asks. He hasn't spoken to the Cryptochron in quite a while. He wonders if the new Vanguard has dismantled that order yet; it didn't mesh well with the Speaker's egotistical leadership.
"She's…away, right now. We split paths." Lisbon's voice is regretful like he's holding something back.
"I see…I will meet you all at the house."
"…House? When did you get a house?" Saint asks, his tone is very confused.
"It's not mine, Saint."
"I suppose that's true…"
/
The reunion of team RWBY and Jaune, Nora and Ren is a heartfelt and joyful one. Everyone takes turns to give each other hugs while Qrow sulks about somewhere. The old woman is practically ignored, only getting a single mention from Nora, who asked a question that fell on deaf ears.
Saint-14 takes a moment to look around, take in the sights of Argus' walls. There are plenty of people milling about, doing their business. A few armed guards stand, far apart from each other and watching with vigilance for any potential threat.
Saint scans the crowds, searching for Osiris. He doesn't notice anything just yet. The Warlock is probably waiting for him at his supposed house.
"Come on, the group is leaving," Lisbon's Ghost says as he flies away. Saint snaps out of his little trance and follows it.
He isn't led to the rest of the group, instead, it's just Lisbon-13 standing underneath a tree.
"I pulled you out of the crowds for a reason. Ruby can wield the Light," the Hunter says, his eyes glowing a light pink in the darkness. "She's a Guardian when there aren't Guardians here."
"Is it true? Now that you have my memory working…she does look familiar." Saint hums and shoots a glance to Ruby, who's walking away with Jaune. "She has the same incredible speed…if only Tallulah was here, she would be able to name her the moment she saw her."
"I kinda miss Tallulah, but that's beside the point," Lisbon mumbles. "Look, the important thing is: She used to be a Guardian at the Tower."
"Would the Traveler revive someone as young as her?" Saint questions.
"I dunno, it wouldn't be right." Lisbon turns to his Ghost, nodding once. "Try and get me a cross-reference with whatever database you have."
Ghost nods. "You got it." It disappears, then reappears after five seconds. "I have the closest match. These remnants of the Tower's database I downloaded before the Red Legion attacked."
"I…think I know who it is." Lisbon's voice dries. "She taught me how to shoot a sniper rifle."
Lisbon pauses.
"Well?" Saint asks.
A single word rolls out of his metal lips.
"Summer."
Season 6 honestly doesn't have a lot of stuff to work with so that's why these chapters are a bit short. I hope I'm keeping it interesting, though.