After this chapter I think it's time to speed up the passage of time, I don't want to waste your time with numerous chapters of set up.
A few days after their escape, the Huntresses were well on their way to establishing their operations. As it transpired, many of the gang members had secret stashes of weapons, drugs and various other things. Unfortunately, these assets were spread out across the city, so they were hard to get to with the gang's lack of transportation. But that issue was soon to be solved, as they now had Weiss' money and could buy pretty much whatever they wanted.
While it was still too risky for them to venture out, they could rely on Pyrrha, Ren and Nora to acquire the things they needed. With the prison still in chaos, the trio had nowhere to be and could dedicate all of their time to aiding the gang. So after the Ruby and the others had found what they wanted on the internet, they were dispatched to purchase and acquire them. Pyrrha was tasked with acquiring the bigger things like buildings, Nora was tasked with acquiring transportation and Ren had to buy everything else.
With the embarking on the mother of all shopping sprees, the Huntresses and Winter relaxed and took full advantage of the apartment. Of course, that mainly meant sitting in front of the TV and watching live news coverage of the riot which was still raging. Due to the scale the riot and the high profile inmates housed in Beacon, it was making headlines across the whole of Remnant. But the police and the press really didn't understand what was going on, and the gang had fun correcting them.
"It is not yet know how the riot started, but it's believed to have broken out in the asylum section of the prison." the reporter explained, as the news helicopter hovered over Beacon. From above, the only noticeable differences from when they escaped was that there was an even greater police presence and the police had moved in closer.
The girls couldn't help laughing at how wrong the reporter was. "They're never going to work out where it started," Ruby commented. It was far too chaotic for anyone who wasn't there to understand, they would never know it started in the canteen. In all honesty, the police would probably give up trying to work out where and why the riot started, they would be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the riot.
"According to the police, the death toll is likely to be in the hundreds." the reporter then said. Again the police didn't understand the situation, their estimate was proof that they weren't close to dealing with the situation. If they were really making progress, they would be aware of the true extent of the slaughter.
"I'm pretty sure we killed that many ourselves. The real number will be over a thousand, I doubt there will be many survivors when it finally ends." Blake said, getting nods of agreement from everyone else. The prison was carpeted with corpses, so the police estimates weren't even close to accurate. The Beacon riot would probably be the deadliest prison riot in history by a long way when it finally came to an end.
"The police say their primary concern is containing the most dangerous inmates. Beacon houses many of Vale's worst offenders, and they would pose a real threat to the public if they were to escape." the reporter said, as pictures of several inmates appeared on the screen.
Among the inmates on the screen were Yang, Arslan, and Neon. Needless to say, they found it hilarious that the police thought they were still inside and they were proud to be considered so dangerous. "Well, it looks like we gave them the slip. That should keep them off our backs for a while." Yang commented. It would take a long time for the police to get the situation under control and establish what happened to each inmate, so it would be a long time before they realized the Huntresses were unaccounted for.
"With any luck, they'll think we're among the dead. That way they won't come looking for us until we choose to reveal ourselves." Blake added. With so many dead inmates, it would be an easy mistake for the police to make. The Huntresses could fake their own deaths without even trying, that would give them a big advantage over the competition and the authorities.
The riot showed no signs of coming to an end, and neither did the news coverage. So they were content to keep watching and pointing out the flaws in the reporting until Pyrrha called. "Ah Pyrrha, it's good news I hope," Winter said as she picked up the phone. The last thing they wanted was to run into a problem so early on, so they were all hopeful that Pyrrha didn't have bad news.
"Hello Winter, yes it's very good news. We have acquired everything we needed and the three of us are now on the way to pick you up and bring you all to our new base of operation." Pyrrha explained. The news was very good as it meant the Huntresses could now move out of the apartment and were pretty much ready to get to work, all that was left was for the gang and their stashed assets to move to the new base.
"Wonderful, we'll be ready to go as soon as you get here. I just hope you're bringing something big enough to carry us all." Winter responded. It would be a grave understatement to say she was pleased with the new development. In the space of a few days, the gang was already a lot closer to bringing down Jacques and all their other enemies.
"Don't worry Winter, there's more than enough room for everyone. Anyway, we'll be there in five. So see you soon." Pyrrha said before hanging up. Winter couldn't help but wonder what exactly Pyrrha and the others would be turning up in, fortunately, she would soon find out what it was. After putting the phone down, she grabbed the few possessions she had lying around ready to go.
Having overheard the phone call, the Huntresses were all ready to go in an instant. They had nothing to pack since they arrived with nothing, so they just waited for Pyrrha and the others to arrive. They were all looking to leaving the cramped apartment, and moving into a place of their own. Their eagerness to get going, made the five-minute wait seem so much longer than it actually was.
Eventually, the sound of a vehicle outside alerted the gang to Pyrrha's arrival. To ensure it was actually her, Winter looked outside. It was definitely them, and Pyrrha definitely hadn't been lying when she said there would be more than enough room. Parked in front of the apartment complex with Nora sitting in the driver's seat, was a bright yellow school bus.
After a short drive through the streets of Vale, Nora brought the bus to a stop outside a big drab office building that had clearly been standing empty for some time. It was four floors, had underground parking, and a lot of floor space. It may have been far from aesthetically pleasing, but it was ideal for the gang's purposes. There was plenty of space for them to live and conduct their operations, and nobody would really expect a gang to be based there.
After giving everyone a chance to see the building from the outside, Nora squeezed the bus through the narrow entrance to the underground parking. With the bus now hidden from view, the gang dismounted and started to look around the building. "You did a great job, guys, this is already much better than I expected. Oh, and thank you so much for funding this Weiss." Ruby said as she took in everything they now owned.
Weiss sighed "You really don't need to thank me. All the credit should go to Pyrrha, Nora and Ren, they're the ones who did the hard work for us." she told Ruby. She didn't want to make a big deal of the contribution she made to the gang, and she was extremely impressed with everything the three officers had done while they were laying low.
Pyrrha smiled "No need to thank us either, this is the least we could do after everything you've done for me." she responded. The gang had done a lot for her and they were going to do a lot more for her, so she considered all the effort she and the other officers went through to be an attempt at repaying them. She also felt that as one of the Huntresses, it was her duty to do things for the gang.
"Don't be so damn humble Pyrrha, this is fucking awesome and we haven't even seen it all yet," Yang told her girlfriend. She would definitely be repaying her for all her hard work, but not in front of everyone. She needed to get Pyrrha alone, in order to repay her the way she wanted to. She'd been waiting far too long, and she had a lot of repaying to do.
"Thanks, Yang I'm glad you like it so much, now please allow me to give you a tour," Pyrrha said, as she headed off in the direction of the elevator. She was happy to have impressed Yang so much, and now she wanted to show her everything. Yang quickly joined her, eager to see the rest of the building and to spend more time with her.
With Yang and Pyrrha gone, the rest of the gang stayed in the parking area looking at the impressive array of vehicles Nora had acquired for them. There were several cars of various ages and sizes, ranging from two-seater sports cars to SUVs with a seemingly unending number of seats crammed into them. There were a couple of vans, a selection of bikes and ATVs, and of course the bus they had arrived on.
"I knew you Schnees were loaded, but I didn't realize you were this loaded," Ilia said to Weiss and Winter. It was no secret that Weiss was from a rich family, but just how rich they were wasn't clear to most of the Huntresses until they were looking at what she could afford. She single-handedly paid for an office building, an excessive number of vehicles, plus equipment, furniture and clothing for the whole gang. And she still had money left over.
"I don't consider that money as mine anymore, it's the gang's money now and as such it's only to be used for things that benefit the gang," Weiss responded. She had already made that point clear to Ruby, now she wanted to make sure everyone knew that. She wanted them to understand that their success meant more to her than her own wealth, she didn't want to be as greedy and selfish as her father was.
"I think I owe you an apology, I completely misjudged you when we first met. I thought money was all that mattered to you, and I couldn't have been more wrong." Blake said apologetically. They had both changed a lot since they first met, and in the beginning, Weiss probably did care more about money than anything else. But given what she was like now, she felt bad for ever thinking so little of her.
"You don't owe me anything Blake, I was too much like Jacques when we first met. You were right to judge me like that back then. Anyway enough of that, we should head upstairs and see what the rest of this place is like." Weiss told her. Things were going so well, she didn't want to ruin it by talking about her father or how foolish she used to be.
"Yeah come on guys, this is our new home after all," Ruby added, as she grabbed Weiss by the hand and started pulling her towards the elevator. She was eager and so was everyone else, so the rest of the gang soon followed. It was important that they got to know the place, as they would be spending most of their time there. As she mentioned, it was their new home.
The tour started on the bottom floor of the building. There was a large armoury that which was yet to be filled with the gang's weaponry and ammunition, then there was the workshop with all the tools that the gang could ever possibly need. The only other room on the floor was the gym, which had all the exercise equipment and machines the gang would need to stay in peak physical condition. Those three rooms took up a large portion of the floor, but there was plenty of unused space for future expansion.
On the next floor, there was the meeting room which had a huge table and all the amenities of a modern boardroom. Other than that, the floor housed various storage rooms which currently stood empty, waiting for the gang to start their operations. As with the floor below, there was a lot of unused space for future expansion.
The floor above that was where the laundry room was located, it was packed with all the appliances and products needed to deal with the whole gang's laundry. Next to the laundry room was the kitchen, which would have made some professional chefs jealous. The only other notable room on the floor was the office which had every bit of stationery and electrical equipment the gang would ever need. It was perfect for managing their operations and carrying out their white-collar crimes.
Finally on the top floor were the bedrooms. There were enough rooms to sleep everyone, plus a number of other people, and each room was fully furnished. They took up most of the floor, but there was also a larger bathroom than the ones on each floor, and the rest of the space was dedicated to leisure activities. The top floor made the building a home, rather than just a base for the gang.
So, the scene is pretty much set for the next stage of the story. I think for the next chapter the gang can get to work. Anyway, please feel free to leave reviews, I always appreciate them.