The next four days passed quickly. Reese was pleasantly surprised with the amount of sleep she managed to get, but Coco made her earn it with the nonstop activity of their waking hours. When Reese wasn't working on equipment, she either sparred or exercised with the other two huntresses. But despite the effort it entailed, the training made Reese more confident about their mission. The thought of being punched by Nora again, even at maximum Aura levels, made the prospect of fighting hordes of grimm seem appealing. The strained expression of stoicism Coco often wore following a match suggested she felt the same way, even if she'd never admit it. As Reese reached for the door something slammed into it, shaking it on its hinges, causing her to yelp and jump back.
"Had enough, Coffee Grounds?" Nora's voice taunted from inside. From the other side of the door Reese heard a groan, and the sound of someone climbing to their feet, swearing as they did so.
"I can't he-ear you-OOAHH!" There was a loud slam and the sounds of struggle receded back from the door. Reese took the opportunity to enter without getting hit by anything airborne and stared at the fight. Coco had one of Nora's arms pinned behind her, but it appeared to require all of her strength and weight. Nora, despite her smaller stature, managed to climb to her feet and hook her free arm under one of Coco's legs like she was going to carry her. She thrashed and spun trying to toss Coco off her back while Coco's free leg flailed uselessly. Then she leapt up and backwards, travelling parallel to the ground for a second before slamming Coco against the floor. Both of them panted, Coco gritting her teeth, while Nora grinned, manic. Reese stared for a moment processing the scene, her cheeks red, then shook her head like a wet dog.
"If you guys are finished, your gear is ready for a test drive," she said.
"Ooh!" said Nora, craning her head to look at her opponent. "Coco, new toys!" She gave her a pat on the cheek with her free arm and rolled off, slipping out of Coco's now loose grip.
"Great," Coco said, barely audible. She lay still a few more moments before climbing to her feet. As they walked to the firing range, Reese grinned.
"I know some huntsmen who'd pay a lot of lien to watch a match like that one if you guys want a cut," she said.
"You couldn't afford me!" Nora chirped. Coco glared at Reese and slashed a finger across her throat. Reese blanched and walked faster.
The range was long. A paper target or a dummy of various shapes and species sat at the end of each lane. Magnhild and Belle Mort sat at the head of a shooting lane with a mock Ursa at the far end. Reese darted ahead to grab the hammer before Nora could pick it up. Nora frowned.
"Yours requires a little more explanation, Nora."
"But it's my baby!"
"Your 'baby' is now even less fit for indoor use."
Nora gasped and clapped her hands, trying to contain her excitement. Coco strode over to her gun and hefted it, looking it over.
"Not much heavier. You added what, five pounds?"
"Six," Reese said. "With the forge brick you've got in there, I didn't want to add too much weight, so that ruled out some of the more ambitious mods."
"What did you even change?"
Reese indicated a small box that sat on one side of the main body of the gun where it met the ammunition drum. She opened it and dropped a red crystal in.
"You may fire when ready, Captain!"
Coco fired the gun downrange and hail of flaming bullets shredded the Ursa dummy, lighting the fragments on fire. Reese held up a hand to stop and Coco released the trigger. Reese opened the box and switched what was left of the flame dust crystal with an ice dust crystal. Coco resumed firing and the far end filled with steam as the ice melted, dousing the flames.
Coco stopped firing and turned to look at Reese. "I'm impressed, but could you get around needing extra crystals? You couldn't have it all run off another forge brick?"
Reese shook her head. "You'd need a different brick and assembly for each element. If I did that, your gun would be too cumbersome and heavy, even for the really tall guy from your doubles match. Plus, it'd look ugly. With the modifications I made you can switch elements fairly quickly, and so long as the barrels aren't overheating it'll transition back to normal rounds while firing. Aside from too much fire dust overheating the barrels, the only downside is that you'll burn through a crystal pretty quick, so you shouldn't use them as your primary ammunition."
"So what you're telling me is I a need a second purse for the crystals?" Coco asked, smiling.
"You could use your belt, but I actually have something for the crystals."
Reese pulled off her boots and slipped her feet into a larger pair of boots that extended to her knees. Coco's eyes flashed with anger.
"Those are mine!"
"Yeah, and you had like five pairs. Which by the way, how the hell do you fight in these?" Reese took a step and wobbled, almost falling over.
"Those are custom fit, hand-tooled, functional works of art, and if they break in combat because of you—"
"Relax!" Reese said, waving a hand. "Half of my job is knowing what not to meddle with. I only made two changes. First, bandoleers for the crystals:"
Reese pointed to a shell holder mounted on the back of each boot just above the ankle, curving around towards the front of the boot in a 'c' shape. Each slot held a metal tube with a color-coded top. She switched back to her own boots and handed Coco the modified ones. Coco snatched them back, put them on, and took a few experimental steps around the room. Her expression softened after the third step.
"Barely any added weight, everything else is the same," she murmured. "You said you made two changes?"
Reese nodded and rolled over a handcart carrying a gutted Atlesian Knight.
"Click your heels together and give Ironsides here a kick."
Coco clicked her heels and gave the robot a straight kick to its torso. A burst of ice encased the robot and sent it tumbling off the cart. Coco grinned at Reese who looked fairly pleased with herself.
"How many shots do I get?" Coco asked.
"Just one per boot. You don't move fast enough to use a multi-shot pair like that Mercury guy from the tournament, but I figured a one-shot model could be useful for breaching charges or getting out of tight spots. Just don't load them with fire dust unless you're okay with risking a melted foot—and click them again so you don't accidentally discharge the other boot."
Coco clicked her heels a second time, then blinked, looking around in confusion.
"Where's Nora?" she asked.
Reese blanched and darted to where she had left Magnhild. The massive hammer was gone as well.
"No, no, no, no, no! She took the box!"
"Reese, whatever you did, it'll be fine. Nora's not stupid enough try her hammer out where it could cause a lot of damage."
"But she doesn't know what I did!" she said, grabbing Coco's shoulders. "Where would she go?"
"There's a heavy weapons range outside at the end of the hall, but it's a hammer. I doubt she—"
Reese shook Coco. "I barely touched the hammer! I just reinforced the insides to handle the special grenades I made for her!"
"You made what?"
From outside, a high-pitched whistle like the sound of fireworks amplified a hundred-fold pierced the walls, followed by a wall-rattling boom.
Reese shot out of the room, Coco running close behind.
…
The next morning Reese groaned, reclining in her seat and pulling her hood down over her eyes. Four sharp was too damn early for takeoff. She tried to nap while they waited for the flight crew to finish prep, but between the early morning chill and the sounds of the base, it was a futile goal. She shifted her body trying to get somewhat comfortable, before sighing and sitting up to stare bleary-eyed at the opposite wall of bullhead. A pair of arms from the adjacent seat wrapped around her torso and arms, squeezing her.
"I love you!"
"I'm aware of that Nora, this is the eighth bear hug you've given me since yesterday."
"And yet it's a fraction of the thanks you deserve. I'm just disappointed Coco wouldn't let us test the other ones you told me about."
Reese sighed. "I'm just glad you tried the flares first."
"And I'm glad for coffee!" a voice said. Nora and Reese turned to see Coco striding up the ramp at the bullhead's rear, holding a scuffed steel thermos in one hand and a metal cup in the other. She had an expression so sunny and forced the other two huntresses flinched.
"Coffee invigorates you, coffee makes you feel warm and alert, coffee doesn't go AWOL before the mission even starts!" She topped off her cup and drained it in the span of a few seconds. After a pause, Nora ventured a question:
"Are you talking about what you're drinking, or your actual team?"
Coco flung the cup down so hard it ricocheted off the floor and the wall above Nora's head before coming to rest in some cargo netting.
"DOES IT EVEN MATTER? I'm ready to make my goddamn thermos our fourth huntsman at this point!"
"I suppose I've been compared to worse things," a voice said. The three huntresses turned to the rear of the bullhead. A look of recognition crossed Coco and Nora's faces. A cloaked figure approached from the bottom of the ramp, carrying a single field pack. Once they were out of view of anyone outside the aircraft, the cloak dropped away to reveal a black-haired girl wearing a long white coat.
"You're the girl who drop-kicked me out of the ring in the Vytal tournament!" Reese exclaimed.
Coco made a shushing gesture with one hand, then smiled at the new girl, folding her arms.
"If I'd known you were the one joining us I'd have been more patient, Blake."
"It was a long trip," Blake said. "Plus, I wasn't the easiest person to find."
"Then why are you here? I am happy you're coming, but most of my proposed team members were local. Even with the huntsmen shortage, they didn't need to look for anyone outside the city."
"Miss Belladonna is coming because her past association with the White Fang may be useful if they are responsible for the events in the southwest," Councilor Stonebridge said, entering from the same direction as Blake. "Plus, her skillset is well-suited to covert operations like this one."
"That's excellent," Coco said, a hint of sarcasm entering her voice. "I don't suppose you have any other surprises for me before we take off, do you? Or any other last minute adjustments?"
Stonebridge sighed but answered in a calm, if somewhat exhausted, tone:
"When Miss Belladonna's status as a White Fang defector became public in the fallout of the Vytal Festival, Glynda was willing to trust her because Ozpin had trusted her, and after discussing things with Glynda, so was I. The remainder of Vale's leadership and Ambassador Sylva were not. Hence what may have seemed like excess cloak-and-dagger surrounding her identity. As for the tight timeline, we thought it safer to have Blake come here instead of meeting in the field, despite the risk of having her identity exposed. The methods of communication we've been relying on since the CCT went down aren't as secure, and we didn't want to broadcast the coordinates or any revealing details to Blake in case they were intercepted."
Coco gave him an appraising look, then nodded.
"Is there anything else, sir?" she said, professional again.
"I've discussed all I need to with each of you," he said, looking each huntress in the eye. "Good luck."
…
After takeoff they all tried to sleep, but one by one they all gave up on the idea. Coco flipped through a notepad, making notes and chewing on her pen. She continued until Nora, unable to stop fidgeting, challenged her to a pushup contest which had yet to stop. After a minute or so of this, Blake closed her book and walked to the other side of the craft, weaving between two crates to sit a couple of seats down from Reese; who had opted to sit on the floor. Instead of reading again, she watched the green-haired huntress work on a piece of some larger device, a panel removed to expose wiring and circuitry. She moved a wrench about, her face calm and focused.
"You didn't strike me as a technically-inclined person," Blake said.
Reese looked up at Blake, then returned to her work. "I'm just full of surprises." She picked a soldering iron from a toolkit laid open on the floor and began working on a delicate-looking part of the device. Blake watched for another moment, then returned to her book. An acrid smell rose from the board and Blake scrunched her nose and coughed. Reese sighed, irritated.
"There are other seats if that bothers you."
"No, it's fine," Blake said. "It's quieter over here."
"That's not too difficult with Red on board," Reese said, gesturing in Nora's general direction.
"Even so, you're much calmer than I thought you'd be outside of a match."
"Gee, it's almost like we met in a fighting tournament, not a ballet recital."
Blake glared and turned away. Reese felt a brief flicker of smugness, then inwardly kicked herself for being sensitive. Apologizing would have been the right thing to do, but the words caught in her throat when she tried to speak. She looked over to see Blake examining Gambol Shroud, a small cleaning kit placed on the seat beside her. Reese sighed, and made the only apology she knew how to make.
"Can I see that for a second?" she said, pointing at the sword.
Blake raised an eyebrow, but handed her weapon over to Reese. Reese separated it into its halves and examined both, eyes squinted. After a minute she handed the katana half back to Blake and continued to inspect the sheath half. She ran a finger along the back tapping it near the handle.
"You ever wanted to cut something while this was on fire?" Reese asked.
"Can't say that I have," Blake said, giving her a bemused look.
"I could give this half an elemental flare, like a dust knife. Honestly, that's about the only alteration I'd consider making. Anything more drastic and I think I'd ruin your familiarity with it. I've seen huntresses with more complex weapons do a lot less than I've see you do with this. I like extra features, but they're no substitute for knowing your weapon."
"I don't want to modify my weapon," Blake said, taking the sheath back. She gave Reese a small smile. "But thank you for offering." Reese gave Blake a lazy salute with one of her tools. The aircraft banked suddenly and they both jumped at the profanity that erupted from the other side of the cabin. Nora appeared, fists raised in triumph.
"I just got crowned The Queen of Pushups!"
"That was a draw!" Coco said. "You got knocked over too!"
"Details. Whatcha working on Reese? Are you making Blake a rocket launcher?"
"It's not, and this one's for me. Well, I say that, but it'll benefit the whole team. It'll help with our gear situation."
"What'd really benefit us is a name," Nora said. "I've tried a bunch of combinations, but nothing works. I mean, The Team with No Name is both appropriate and awesome, but it doesn't roll off the tongue."
"We do have a name, Nora," Coco said, joining the group. "For this mission, we're Team CNBR."
"I thought of that, but that's just an island somewhere off of Vacuo."
"It's also a dye used to produce Mistral Crimson."
"That's lame."
"It's also poisonous in its raw form," Blake said.
"Now that's more like it!"
I feel like I may have telegraphed that a little too much, but show of hands, who called the fourth team member? Thanks for reading!