Chapter 7: Twin Battlegrounds, Part 1
U.S.S Athena, 30 minutes outside Vacuo.
6:30 pm
The U.S.S Athena was a smuggler vessel under the control of the Inquisition and it was sailing towards Vacuo. Following their capture, Team D.E.A.D was divided, with Donnic and Desmond being restrained inside a container aboard the Athena while the siblings were sent to another ship called the Argon Sky. Donnic was waking up from being unconscious after being incapacitated by the attackers in the warehouse, as Desmond was nudging at his foot, and they had realized they were in a container with a white-haired woman in an Aletian military specialist uniform...
" Where are we?" Donnic asked with a grunt.
" We're on a smuggler ship heading towards Vacuo." The girl said.
" Who are you?" Desmond asked.
" Winter, Winter Schnee." She responded.
" You're Weiss's older sister." Donnic said in a surprised tone.
" Yes." Winter responded.
" How did they capture you?" Desmond asked.
" After I saw the report about the kidnapping, I immediately captured an Inquisition agent and tortured him for information." Winter explained.
" But something went wrong I take it?" Desmond asked.
" Yes, turns out he had a group of friends shadowing him the whole time." Winter said.
" Well, we got caught trying to check out a possible lead for our own search into rescuing them." Donnic said.
" Our captain has a little crush on Ruby." Desmond said.
" I think our current situation is kind of more important than that, Des." Donnic said, trying to shut him up.
" Oh really, like you didn't tell us that you chopped off your ex-girlfriend's lower right forearm?!" Desmond pointed out.
" You don't know the whole damn story so you have no right to judge me." Donnic said angrily, with not a sign of sarcasm in his voice.
" What happened?" Winter asked.
" It was 2 years ago at a charity event Conrad was hosting at the arena..." Donnic started. " It was to raise funds for a local children's hospital they were building in the city, so he held a match between his best fighters against the largest Grimm he could get. When it came to me and Celeste; we were going up against a big momma Ursa and her mate, so we split up and took on them both. I was able to slay the mate, so I went over to help out Celeste with the mother, and was delivering the killing blow when..." He said.
" What happened then?" Desmond asked.
" I had failed to see that her aura was low from that fight, and when I delivered the killing strike and was reveling in my victory; she was behind me screaming at the fact she had a profusely bleeding stump and her arm was on the ground. As I reveled in killing the Ursa, I started to take notice that something was wrong as people in the crowd were either screaming in shock or booing me. So I looked at Valhalla's Bane, and realized it had been drenched with both scarlet blood and blackened blood. I turned around to see some of the folks in the crowd, paramedics on their day off, with a pissed off Conrad in tow, running towards her with trauma kits from the arena's infirmary slung over their shoulders. Conrad was busy trying to kill me while the folks were moving her out of the arena and into the prep room." He said.
" What happened after that fiasco?" Winter asked.
" Conrad threatened me, told me that I was banned from the arena and club for two whole years." Donnic started.
" What happened to Celeste? How did you end up humiliating her?" Desmond asked his team captain.
" Turns out she was undergoing a combat evaluation to get into the Aletian Huntsman Academy as there was a recruiter in the audience." Donnic responded. " With the incident, her admission request was denied, and she ended it after recovering from a coma she was in for the first month, claiming she was doing "damage control." He said.
" Man, that's rough." Desmond said.
" It's clear that you have been haunted by the guilt of that mistake." Winter said.
" Yeah, that's why I don't get cocky anymore, just stick to sarcastic, witty comments." Donnic said.
" Well, I'm glad we got the emotional part out of the way, now can we please find a way to get out of here?" Winter said.
" Agreed." Both boys said.
" Well, I might have an idea." Desmond said as he opened his cuffs.
" How did you do that?" Donnic asked.
" Get held hostage by the White Fang enough, you pick up a few tricks." Desmond said.
He released Donnic and Winter from their restraints; then they overpowered an Inquisition guard that came to investigate the container. Donnic snuck out to survey the environment, in which he observed the activities of each of the guards on duty...
" How does the guard status look?" Desmond asked.
" The Bridge is heavily guarded, guys on each of the balconies, and basically guards, guards, everywhere." Donnic said.
" Well, that's just dandy." Desmond said.
" They have the numbers, but we have the element of surprise." Winter said.
" How so?" Donnic asked in an intrigued tone.
" If we can take care of them without attracting attention to ourselves, we can incapacitate their numbers." Winter said.
" So a regretful smartass, a broody giant, and an Aletian specialist are going to take on a ship full of religious whack jobs, cool." Donnic said.
" There will obviously be more on the lower decks." Desmond pointed out.
" But there are more prisoners on this ship than soldiers." Winter said.
" We take the bridge..." Desmond said.
" We can release the prisoners and they can overpower the cultists." Winter explained.
" Some of this ship's crew maybe amongst the captives, so at least we have people who know what they are doing." Donnic pointed out.
They tiptoed out of the container and slipped past searchlights that patrolled each part of the ship; incapacitating each guard and cultist crew member that they had come across. They overtook the crane guards and pushed forward towards the bridge and Donnic snuck up on a guard who had a sneeze...
" Ugh, hay fever?" Donnic asked.
" Yeah. Wait, what?" The guard said, before being taken out by Donnic.
They slipped into the Bridge, where they found a restrained Ruby and Weiss tied to chairs in the corner of the room, and the captain was in fact the actual captain of the ship, who betrayed the smugglers he was working with to the Inquisition.
" What do you intend to do with the girls?" The Captain asked the Inquisition Lieutenant.
" They are going to be offered to Inquisitor, so they shall ascend to be mothers of the new dawn." The Lieutenant responded.
" Really, because I know a few prostitution gangs that will pay good money for them both." The captain said, before being shot and killed by The Lieutenant.
The lieutenant walked over to the girls and started gently stroke Weiss's face, as if he was trying to calm her...
" Shush, little one, you will be hailed as a mother to a new civilization." The lieutenant said.
" Not if I have any say in the matter." Winter whispered.
" Agreed." Donnic said.
The trio charged into the Bridge, with Donnic and Desmond taking out the guards that were at the controls and Winter going toe-to-toe with The Lieutenant. Their duel had immediately ended with Winter driving her rapier through the lieutenant's throat; while Donnic and Desmond readied themselves to turn the angry prisoners on the Inquisition soldiers...
" You ready?" Desmond asked Donnic while he was at the cage controls.
" The intercom is at my command, so hit the button." Donnic said with a snicker.
Just as Desmond hit the button, Donnic let loose a comedic line that won't be easily forgotten...
" Attention all passengers, this is your new captain, we're having a special today of whoop-ass for the Inquisition boys onboard, so please distribute evenly." Donnic said over the P.A.
Alarms began to blare as the thousands of captive men and women onboard rioted all over the ship, attacking any individual flying Inquisition colors on their clothes. Winter untied her sister and Ruby, and hugged Weiss with relief that she was alright...
" Weiss, it's over now." Winter said.
" Yeah it is." Weiss said.
" Good to see that you're alright you two." Donnic said.
" Donnic wouldn't let the Inquisition get away with this kidnapping." Desmond said.
Donnic looked down to Ruby hugging him, in which he simply shrugged and hugged her back...
" Thanks for rescuing us Donnic." Ruby said.
" Well, I wouldn't be a good man if I let them turn you into a lab rat, now wouldn't I?" Donnic responded.
" Is your sister and Blake onboard?" Winter asked Ruby.
" No, they split us up so we wouldn't be found so easily." Ruby responded.
" Do you know where they took them?" Desmond asked.
" They mentioned someplace called Argon Sky." Weiss responded.
" Argon Sky? As in the U.S.S Argon Sky ? " Winter said.
" A ship?" Donnic asked, as some of the captives onboard took the helm of the ship, so Desmond walked over to talk to them.
" Thanks for doing that." Desmond said to a heavy set bearded man, who took control of the steering wheel.
" Anytime, I'm Barnes by the way." The man said.
" I'm Desmond, the wiseass is my team captain, Donnic." Desmond explained.
" Nice to meet you." Barnes said.
" Do you know where they had intended to take the ship?" Desmond asked.
" Looks like an atoll just off Vacuo's southern edge." A girl at the maps said.
" An atoll?" Desmond asked.
" Yeah, but its strange." The girl said.
" Why is that?" Desmond asked.
" This atoll was originally mined for dust, but it supposedly collapsed because of the mining operations there." The girl said.
" So it shouldn't be there?" Desmond said.
" They could be hiding the entrance to Sanctuary there." He thought.
" The closest place from here is the port city of Meridian, we can head there and report this to the police." Barnes said.
" Keep an eye out for an airborne Aletian cruiser that looks beat to hell." Winter pointed out.
" Got it ma'am." Barnes said.
They sailed for over an hour, arriving at the enormous port city of Meridian on Vacuo's eastern edge. Barnes and Desmond talked with local authorities, and Donnic began to pick up Evan's transponder frequency...
" (static) Hello (Static) is there anybody out there?" Evan said.
" Evan?" Donnic said.
" Donnic is that you?" Evan asked.
" Yeah, where the heck are you?" Donnic said.
" With a group of Aletian soldiers, listen, you've got to tell the people of Meridian to evacuate." Evan explained.
" What?, dude, we're at Meridian right now and we have Ruby and Weiss." Donnic explained.
" GET THEM OUT OF THERE!" Evan screamed.
There was then a booming sound in which Donnic raced outside to see a large Aletian airborne cruiser crash land into the western part of the city and emergency sirens going off all over the city...
" What is it? Inquisition?" Donnic asked Winter.
" Worse." Winter responded.
This left Donnic puzzled, what could be worse than the Inquisition that managed to have Winter disturbed?
This concludes Part 1, in which an Aletian cruiser has just crash landed in the city of Meridian. Part 2 is centered around Evan and Andrea's time on the Argon Sky, in which they encounter an enemy that is born from the Inquisition's failures, and they are rescued by a group of allies and they must race to aid the people of Meridian as the enemy threatens the city's very existence. This story is getting good...
WAIT AND SEE.