"Okay, so… let me see if I've got this straight. You, with the assistance of the Atlesian Military's R&D branch, created what pretty much amounts to a turbolaser cannon that runs on human soul power. But the amount of soul power the cannon needs to fire even just one shot is almost disproportionately large, and you believe that the potential loss of life is in no way worth it. Yet the higher-ups in the military believe otherwise, and they're telling you to use it under threat of death to yourself and your family members. So, accordingly, you put the cannon on a pretty much unhackable lockdown protocol, which can only be removed using the codes you have kept away in your memory, and you ran off. The bigots found out, and sent those Smiths after you, and now they're pretty much hell-bent on getting those codes to fire that cannon without any regards to all the people that they'll drain to death in order to do that. Do I have all that right?"
The dear professor sighed from the driver's seat of our vehicle.
Gewehr
"Yes, I… believe that covers all the basics. So I trust you understand the stakes here?"
I suppose I should explain how we got into this situation.
After the Eisenbergs finished their tearful reunion, the father ordered everyone to the garage, where we piled inside a nondescript four-seater hidden below the floor.
He explained that it was his "stealth car," for explicit usage whenever he was being tracked down by any hostile force. It was kitted out with a bunch of tech that allowed it to pass completely under every known form of radar, save for direct eyesight. It also automatically broadcast a signal that somehow set every camera within a fifty-foot radius on a footage loop that lasted until the camera left the signal's area of effect. I wouldn't understand how that worked until much later.
"Well, sure, but I just can't get over the fact that this seems like the plot of a bargain bin action movie. Like, seriously, how much were you paid to do this? Did you eventually end up seeing TV cameras in your lab or something?"
I had to admit, this could make a passable setup. We had a MacGuffin, a protagonist, some supporting characters, an evil faction, and lots and lots of high-tech weaponry. The setting was ripe for explosions of all kinds - hell, we'd just seen a huge one a short while ago. All it needed now was for the actors to do their scenes and a good title, and it would pull in revenue like nobody's business.
Gewehr
"Er, yes, in… retrospect, it does seem very silly. But I cannot stress the reality of our situation enough."
"Yeah, yeah. Say… have they actually tried firing it yet?"
By this point, we had driven into a hidden tunnel leading into the underground of the floating city. I suspected that we were headed for some kind of safe house.
Gewehr
"No. The instant I received the news of what their decision of the cannon's power source was, I initiated the lockdown. They never got the chance to test it."
What.
"...wait, wait, wait. You're saying that they sent all those men at you, contracted elite spies to interrogate you, not to mention attempted to capture your wife and daughter, all to get the release codes for a highly technological and expensive superweapon… and they don't even know if it works?!"
Gewehr
"Now do you understand why I emphasized that the heads don't care? All they want to know is whether or not the weapon works, and works well - to them, ending the lives of who knows how many civilians just to kill a single large Grimm is an acceptable sacrifice. And may I remind you: even if the cannon ends up as a failed experiment, it will still use up a lot of power. Either way, a lot of people will die."
He had a point.
"Dear god… well, if I had any doubts that the dullards in charge of the army weren't completely corrupt, they're completely gone by now."
Gewehr
"Actually, believe it or not, only a select few of them are bad apples. I'm sure if General Ironwood heard about this, he'd personally throw everyone responsible right off the edge of the city. But trust me - immoral monsters they may be, but if there's one thing they're not, it's stupid. Most of the trustworthy members of the army are all away on their own business, and the officials themselves have become swamped with paperwork for some inexplicable reason, so much so that any reports of this would likely slip right by. Information on the cannon itself is buried under a pile of secrecy the size of Mt. Glenn. Not even any of the other researchers who worked on the project were allowed to know its specifications."
Ironwood, eh…? I wonder...
"Well, that seems a little counterproductive. Then again, I'm not a scientist, so what would I know about constructing doomsday lasers?"
The man was silent for a moment.
Gewehr
"...in hindsight, the situation was very suspect. All the secrecy on what seemed like a standard assignment should have been a massive red flag, especially considering the nature of the weapon itself."
"How did you find out about the whole 'it runs on life energy' thing, anyway? I'd assume they'd also try and hide that from you."
Gewehr
"One of the newer lab assistants was carrying around a stack of papers. One of them fell, and I picked it up before anyone else. It was a schematic for the team of builders that constructed the cannon, and it contained within it the information I needed to deduce its power source."
We stopped in front of a large metal garage door, with a panel next to it. The scientist got out, and performed a few scans, along with entering in a code. Upon the completion of this task, the door began to slide upwards. I voiced another question that had been bugging me once he got back in.
"Hey… why aren't they just using Dust to power this thing? It kinda seems like it would be a much better alternative."
Gewehr
"Well, that was my original intention, but the higher-ups overrode that decision without my knowledge and had the cannon built with the aura source instead for experimental purposes. I knew that Atlas as a whole was beginning to become more interested in technology related to Aura in some way, but I never thought it had gone to this extent."
Huh… so I guess this plays a part in paving the way for the Aura transfusion machine displayed in Volume 3.
That also reminds me… has Penny been built yet? I'd assume so, but there's no way she could go two years without picking up at least some social experience. With the way she was when she was first introduced, you'd think she was freaking born yesterday or something. But if she has already been constructed… oh, man. I don't know if I want to think about the implications of that. There's sheltered, and then there's… whatever that is.
"Well, if nothing else, I'd say the mad scientist stereotype exists for a reason."
Gewehr
"I suppose it does."
Silence settled back in for a moment… before I turned to the car's other two occupants.
"...I'm can't be the only one feeling creeped out by the total lack of words from you girls, right?"
Petra
"Well, I'm not sure about Mom, but you seemed like you had a good exposition dump going. I didn't want to ruin the moment."
Why do I feel like I just got dumped on?
Titania
"You just happened to ask all of the important questions that we were thinking of. Thus, we didn't really have much of a reason to speak."
"...well, I find that just a little hard to swallow, but whatever, it's not that important."
Right at that moment, the driver stopped the car.
Gewehr
"Alright, everyone. Here we are."
We all climbed out and made our way to an EXTRA THICC-looking door. Another sequence of scans and a code later, and we walked through. After navigating through a hallway or two, we made it to a sort of lobby area.
A few doorways later, and we came to what looked like an underground war room. The professor motioned for us to take seats at the four corners of an oval-shaped table.
Once we did, he laid down the facts.
Gewehr
"Okay. I'd say that we have about… four days at most before the pencil-pushers find out where I've disappeared to, likely less. Thanks to a certain big boom, all travel in and out of the island has been completely cut off for safety reasons. They won't reopen for at least a week, and forgive me if I'm not optimistic about our chances of surviving being hunted for three days straight at minimum. So… simply waiting it out and trying to escape are off the table."
Admittedly, the situation did look very grim from my perspective.
Petra
"So, then what can we do? ...wait, Dad, you're not seriously suggesting that we actually try to stop them, are you? All on our own?"
Poor girl looked an evil laugh away from straight-up calling her old man insane.
Gewehr
"I'm afraid it might be our only option, sweetie. Running is impossible, and hiding won't work forever. So the one thing we can try to do… is take the fight to them."
He made a good point. Unless we tried to steal an airship or bullhead (which would be completely ridiculous and not at all practical), we were, for all intents and purposes, stuck in the city of Atlas. It would only make sense that the government would know exactly where every single molecule of dirt was on here, so it likely wouldn't take very long for them to piece together where our little hidey-hole was.
The only problem with that logic was...
Titania
"And how exactly do you think we'll go about that? Sure, you're one of the premier weapon designers of your generation, I'm the best software engineer this side of Vytal, our daughter is a prodigy with both and has enough combat training to hold her own fairly well, and Zeiss is powerful enough to beat three Smiths at once, but you're talking about going up against the pride and joy of Atlas itself. If we're caught, the last thing that'll be in their minds is letting us walk away with a slap on the wrist. We take even just one wrong step, and we'll all be sentenced for treason."
Yeah. It may have been a minority of the government that we had issues with, but until proven otherwise, the moment we revealed ourselves and our intentions, the entirety of the government would treat us as an enemy. After all, why would they believe otherwise? If the evil heads were smart like the old man said, they'd know the value of reputation and build good ones for themselves, so they could just sell the others a few lies like "they went rogue" and they'd be golden. The only way that wouldn't work would be if a good egg in a position with enough influence knew Gewehr personally and believed he wouldn't do something like this without provocation, causing him or her to order an investigation into his reasoning. And even then that wasn't a guarantee, since the investigation could be stealth-blocked by the evil heads or forced to turn up with nothing without causing anyone else to bat an eye.
Sheesh. The system's outdoing itself in trying to force this outcome. What are you going to have me do next, Gaia…?
Gewehr
"Well, my dear, I've actually got the beginnings of a plan in this little noggin of mine. It's just a rough outline at the moment, but the basic idea is that we find a way to break into the facility, destroy the cannon, then expose the whole thing to General Ironwood and the media to ensure that nothing of its kind can ever be built again."
...oh.
Oh.
Ohhhh… Gaia, you absolute madwoman. It's Framing Frame Day 3 on Loud all over again, only this time it's for a benevolent cause.
Wait a second… OH.
Is… is this your way of giving me my alternate solution to the Ares 90? All I have to do is finish this with a little extra loot, and I'll get my materials and my manufacturer in one fell swoop?!
I had very good reason to believe that what happened next said everything for her.
Quest Alert!
Atlas Mugged
Professor Gewehr von Eisenberg has assisted in constructing a large cannon that has the potential to decimate kaiju-class Grimm, but he isn't too pleased with its Aura power source consumption, and has decided to destroy it. Problem is, he's on the run from the people who commissioned him to do it, and he's not exactly secret agent material. As such, he's turned to you for assistance. He's got a plan, and you're going to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Luckily for you, this also gives you the chance to acquire some of the materials you've desperately been needing for your own doomsday weapon. All you have to do is break into a facility guarded by legions of robot soldiers, equipped with the most advanced security system on the planet, while being almost completely inexperienced in the ways of heisting. But don't worry, just remember the fundamentals: stay off the dance floor, always get the thermal drill, and above all else, DON'T ACT DUMB.
Objectives:
-Wait for Gewehr to finish Pre-Planning
-Enter the R&D facility
-Render the cannon inoperable
-Send proof of treachery to Ironwood or the media
-Escape
Bonus Objectives:
-Steal all available resources for Ares 90 construction
-Complete the heist in stealth
Rewards:
-Ares 90 manufacturer
-2,500 EXP
-5,000 Lien
-Selected heist loadout
I almost missed some of the conversation while I was wrapped up in the new quest. But I've said it once, and I'll say it again: hail the almighty power of subtitles.
Gewehr
"Now, I'm sure this is obvious, but we need to be very thorough here. Which means a few things. Whoever goes in there will also need to delete every single file on it, as well as every single piece of paper with information or references to it. Fortunately, the employees who oversee the physical file rooms are very organized, and likely have all the papers concerning the project in a single spot. Once we find that spot, it should be easy to get rid of them quickly. The problem is wiping its digital footprint off the net. Titania, honey, can I trust you to deal with that?"
If I didn't know better, I'd say she looked excited at the prospect.
Titania
"Give me some time, and I should have a complete program ready to search out and delete everything related to the cannon."
Gewehr
"Great. So, all that's left is to devise an entry plan, and… figure out who's going to be the one to actually execute it."
The daughter finally spoke up.
Petra
"Let's get the obvious out of the way first - it's not going to be either of you. You don't have any combat training, nor are your auras unlocked. In the event that you're caught, you wouldn't be able to escape, and you're too high value of targets anyway. So that leaves either me, or Zeiss. And honestly, I think Zeiss might be the better candidate. I'm not the best at being stealthy, and while my weapon of choice is concealable, I'll still likely stick out."
I took this and ran with it.
"I can get behind that, actually. I may not have gone to any acting classes, but I can put on a pretty good mask, if I do say so myself. I can also be quiet when I desire to be. The weapon issue's also not much of a problem, due to my unique circumstances. But I should probably pick something other than my signature rifle-sword. I don't want anyone drawing conclusions. In any case, though, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the best at this kind of thing, but considering our other options, I do seem to be the person that's the least ill-suited for something of this nature. Unless you have a contact that specializes in infiltration?"
Gewehr
"No. I do get to meet military types, but not that many. And besides, by this point I've probably already been branded a traitor. They wouldn't listen to me."
"Then yeah. Alright, is that everything?"
Gewehr
"Yes. The only thing left to do is come up with how exactly you're going to pull all this off. That said, to start off…"
[Chat Logs - Session 21]
[All] Captain Dragon: So how was practice today, sis?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Oh, man, it was amazing! I won all my matches!
[All] Captain Dragon: Really, now? Who were you up against this time?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Lupin, Blaize, and Cherren.
[All] Captain Dragon: The thief, hothead, and sweet girl?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Yeah. Really felt the burn!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: What's all this, then?
[All] Captain Dragon: Oh, nothing much. Just discussing how awesome my little baby sister is.
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Yaaaaang, noooooo!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: So you've been doing some PvP?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: What's PvP?
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Right, forgot you don't play MMOs. It's an acronym for "Player versus Player." Basically, it's a catch-all term for everything in RPG-type games and a few other genres that involves playing against other people instead of the computer. When it's just you vs. mobs or raid bosses and the like, it's PvE, or "Player versus Environment."
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Ohhhh, that makes sense. In that case, yeah. I'm doing pretty well, too! Last I checked, my win-loss ratio was 9 to 1.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Holy WOW. And how many matches have you had so far?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Exactly thirty, if I don't count the introductory fight against Uncle Qrow.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Right, he did say he was a teacher. But still, my GOD are you broken. Seriously, only three losses out of thirty? What, are they just throwing faceless mooks at you?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Zeiss, cut it out! You're starting to sound like Yang!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: S***, did I go too far with the compliments? Sorry. Should've remembered you hate that.
[All] Captain Dragon: No, no, keep going! With everything she does, I can guarantee you she deserves it!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Fine line between praise and a pedestal, Yang. If anything, you should be bragging about your superiority, since, y'know, you're the higher level.
[All] Captain Dragon: Yeah, but that's ordinary because I'm the older sister. Sure, I was top tier back in my first-year days, but I wasn't SS-tier. I lost a fair few of my matches. But Ruby? She might as well be untouchable.
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: What do you call my three losses, then?
[All] Captain Dragon: Luck.
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: ...okay, that's fair. Anyway, what's been going on with you, Zeiss?
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Weeeeellllll… that's a bit of a long story.
[All] Captain Dragon: So? We have time. Let's hear it.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: All right then. So you know how I was talking about going to Atlas a while ago?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Oh, yeah, you were saying something about gathering materials for some kinda huge quest?
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Yeah. So I got here yesterday, found a hotel quick and decided to take a snooze. I woke up, went for a walk, and… something big happened.
[All] Captain Dragon: ...wait a minute. Does this have anything to do with the huge explosion that went off in Atlas's Old Money district a few hours ago? The news was all over that.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Uh… maybe?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Zeiiiiiiss… what did you do?
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Well, I… kinda-sorta rescued the head of an Atlesian military project that was being developed by a corrupt portion of the government from a trio of corporate spies, then headed to his home to save his family from being taken hostage by corrupt employees while fighting off other corrupt employees on a motorcycle, who we took with us to a hidden underground bunker to get away from the corrupt government, and now we're devising a plan to stop the project from being completed before the corrupt government uses it, which will drain away the aura from and kill a bunch of civilians to power itself.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: So basically, living through the first thirty-or-so minutes of a bargain bin action movie. Oh, by the way, that explosion happened because I used a grenade launcher to get rid of a roadblock the bad guys set up to stop us. Still have no idea how that happened. Probably hit something flammable that the 18-wheeler was carrying.
[All] Captain Dragon: Uh…
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Wow.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Yep, that's about the reaction I was expecting. Anyway, at the moment I'm chilling out in one of the guest rooms inside the bunker. The professor in question is still coming up with a plan to get me inside the facility where the product of the project is being kept, so I can destroy it, expose its existence to the non-corrupt parts of the government, then destroy the remaining evidence of its existence.
[All] Captain Dragon: Wait, why would they pick you? You didn't exactly seem like the sneaky type when you were still hanging with us. No offense.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: None taken. And the reason for that is because out of everyone who can possibly do it at the moment, I'm the one with the least chances of failure. Our only other options are either the professor himself, his wife, or their daughter. Neither of the parents have their aura unlocked, and the daughter's only a third-year at Compass, so none of them are really suited for this kind of activity. I'm honestly not the best at stealth, but my bulls*** power gives me a temporary workaround for that if I train in it relentlessly during what little prep time I have.
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Huh… hey, what's the name of the professor, anyway?
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Gewehr von Eisenberg. Why do you ask?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Wait, WHAT?! As in, THE Gewehr von Eisenberg?! Atlas's most prestigious weapon developer, and one of the two heads behind the AK-130?! THAT Eisenberg?!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Wait, you're telling me that the guy I saved is pretty much the man responsible for the the world's premier peacekeeping android?! Holy s***, I met a celebrity and I didn't even know it!
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: THIS IS AMAZING! Oh, man, you HAVE to get me his autograph! Oh, oh, I have the perfect idea for that!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: And what's that?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: You have a scroll now, right?
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Yeah, I bought a standard model while I was in Vale. Why?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Okay, perfect. I finished up the blueprints for Crescent Rose, so if I send you a picture, I think I may be able to get a custom-manufactured part with his signature on it!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Finally decided what you wanted in the old girl, eh? I guess I'll have to take a look myself.
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Yeah, I actually put in the final touches a few minutes ago. Wait 'till you see me next summer!
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Looking forward to it. Oh, by the way, you said "two heads" earlier. Just out of curiosity, who was the other one?
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Gepetto Polendina. He's the head of Atlas's Autonomic Robotics Division. He's also a teacher at Atlas Academy. Rumor has it that he's been working with Auratechnology recently.
[All] SSJ Mercenary: Polendina, huh… interesting. Well, I gotta go back to grinding. I'll need every advantage I can get before I go on this impossible mission. Aaaaand now I feel like Donn Cruise.
[All] Captain Dragon: You did say you felt like you were living an action movie…
[All] SSJ Mercenary: True. Bye for now.
[All] Gunblades 'N Roses: Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…!
[All] Captain Dragon: Calm down there, Rubes. You know that you're only getting that autograph if Zeiss pulls this off, right? What if things don't go to plan?
[All] Captain Dragon: Ruby? Ruby?!
A/N: It's baaaaaack!
Okay, yes, I know this is nothing compared to some other hiatuses you've likely seen (looking at you, literalsin), but still.
Anyway, this is more of an exposition chapter, as lampshaded by Petra earlier. This is to offer explanations for why quite a few things that have gone down recently actually happened the way they did.
Fun fact: I came up with pretty much all of this completely on the fly. I knew that Gewehr's codes would be protecting some kind of new technology, but I couldn't decide whether they should be Paladin prototypes or something else. Eventually, I came up with this idea. Oh, and you know that little bit of how this was all Gaia's doing? Well, I forgot to mention earlier that she was also responsible for plotting the route Zeiss took on his walk, which led to him encountering Gewehr in the first place. So yeah, this whole thing reeks of admin meddling.
We also have another chat log, this time focusing more on the sisters and what they've been up to. We also find out a bit more about the world - specifically, who actually created the latest model of Atlesian Knight. The autograph bit may or may not come up again later, I haven't decided.
PEACE OUT, MA BOIS!
[TRANSMISSION ENDED]