Chapter 49 Ad-hock Detectives
Character Cleo
"This is Emerald calling Mercury," Cleo said into the comms of her scouting shuttle, "Come in Mercury."
"I hear you Emerald," Marcus said, "Have you and the team boarded the Citadel?"
"We have," Cleo replied, "Coming into docking range now."
"Good luck Emerald," Marcus said, "I'll be waiting for you."
"Emerald, Mercury," Garrus asked from the passenger area.
"Old code name we used for each other," Cleo replied, "Back when it was just us working the jobs, then Cinder came along... It's just something we've gotten used to when communicating by radio."
"Makes sense," CT said, "Radio is fairly easy to intercept."
"Yeah," Rodger added, "Right Main?"
"Blarg you," Main grunted.
"I'm going to want to know that story," Gregory said, "But it can wait until after we find Reana."
"Right," Garrus said, "About that I've called in a few favors with the Citadel Security, we should be able to get access to all of their monitoring equipment. It's not comprehensive but it does cover a good fifty percent of the Citadel so unless Reana is trying very hard to not be found, which it seems like she might be, we should spot her pretty quickly."
"And if she is trying very hard not to be found," Cleo asked.
"Then we will have a longer wait before she comes up on one of the feeds," Garrus replied.
"Okay we're locked lets go find Ms. Adams," Cleo said, "Mercury patch me through to EDI."
"On it," Marcus replied.
"Garrus show us the surveillance room," Main rumbled as he walked out of the shuttle.
"Right," Garrus said, "Um, can someone remind me why we brought him?"
"Simple when we find Reana we may need a lot of firepower to get to her," Rodger said, "And from fighting against and beside him for a while, I can tell you he has got some firepower."
"Lets just go," Cleo said. Garrus nodded and led them from the docks to the C-Sec headquarters. On their way EDI set up a stream of data that ran to a display that flipped down in front of Cleo's left eye. Cleo had gotten the head piece from Shepard so that they could stay updated with what he and the rest of the crew were doing. "Okay EDI what am I going to be looking at here?"
"When Garrus gives me access to the live feeds from the Citadel I will scan them and send the relevant ones to your display," EDI said, "That way when you find Reana you can keep up with her even if she is on the move."
"Thank you," Cleo said as she ended the call and turned her attention to Garrus who was conversing with a man who looked to be in charge.
"Commander Bailey I hear you have some equipment that we might be able to use," Garrus said.
"Yeah but it comes with a catch," Bailey, an older officer with a bald head and haggard but strong demeanor about him, said, "I can let you give EDI access to the system but, you've got help us track down a smuggling ring that has been dealing in Reaper tech. That stuff is extremely dangerous and illegal. Only a very few business have been authorized to handle any Reaper equipment."
"Seems reasonable," Cleo interjected, "You get use of our AI friend and we get use of your hardware. I assume this smuggler is a big time player here?"
"Very much so Ma'am," Bailey replied, "Otherwise we wouldn't have been deterred at our attempts so far to stop his runs."
"His," CT asked, "So you know who it is?"
"Unfortunately yes," Bailey replied, "But this particular Turian has many ties with the Council and has used them to stop us from legally doing anything to him."
"Who is it," Garrus asked as a dangerous and hard edge crept into his voice.
"I thought you would be wiling to help a fellow officer out," Bailey stated, "His name is Tigerius Carev. He popped up almost over night about a year ago, ever since he has had dealings with every influential dignitary on the Citadel and many that are from off world as well. He is extremely wealthy due to the afore mentioned smuggling so getting at him has been almost impossible for us."
"I do believe we can help with that," Rodger said, "I spent a very long time fighting against people like him, I'd do this just on principle."
"Agreed," Garrus said.
"Even if this didn't help us find Reana it needs to be done," Gregory added, "Take us to the investigation offices."
Bailey nodded and led them through the checkpoints into C-Sec. They passed through the spacious lobby and entered the underbelly of the beast. While the lobby was a nice bright blue with flora in it, the information office was wall to wall displays with feeds coming from every camera, officer and droid at C-Sec's disposal. Cleo was almost giddy at the amount of tech at her disposal, almost.
"Okay boys," Bailey said to the five officers working the room, "Don't know how many of you know of Garrus here but he's a hero in my book and he is offering to help us find Tigerius then we are going to help him find a missing woman."
That was met with a general round of thanks and appreciation from the officers and a couple who remember Garrus slapped him on the back as he moved in to give EDI access to the system.
"We're in," Cleo radioed to Marcus, "Run the scans."
"On it Emerald," Marcus replied. Cleo smiled, She may be helping Shepard and his crew but she was also planning on helping herself to. She and Marcus had come up with a bug to monitor the data streams and send any information that they deemed valuable back to them for their personal use. Like when a shipment of weapons was coming in, or what dignitaries would be visiting the station. If DC was going to be operating in this galaxy often then she wanted to have some resources.
"I'm here Garrus," EDI said through the sound system in the room, "Scanning for Reana and Tigerius now." Everyone waited in awkward silence for a while as EDI ran the scans.
"Okay, we're in," Marcus radioed to Cleo.
"Good work Mercury," Cleo whispered back.
"I've found a match to both Tigerius and Reana," EDI said soon after. Cleo's visors pulled up the images that EDI magnified on the displays, thus proving that her bug was working. "Reana seems to be distraught and may even be under surveillance or pursuit. Her previous path of hits in the system indicate that she is trying to make her way to the Lower Wards. Interestingly Tigerius' path seem to project him heading towards the same area. We should be able to find them both if we get to the Wards before they do."
"Thanks EDI," Garrus said, "Okay you heard the lady lets go."
"The bug is working exactly as planned," Marcus radioed to Cleo, "Lets see what we can make for ourselves with it." Cleo smirked as they headed out of the investigation office and were given two security cruisers by Bailey so they could get to the Wards faster. Garrus was keeping up with EDI's stream of information on his omni-tool and Cleo was tracking the same information via the bug. As they and their targets approached the destination, Cleo began to get concerned. Both Reana and Tigerius were not just heading to the Wards but were heading to the same place in the wards. She had seen this type of situation before and it never ended well for the hunted in the group, Reana seemed to be the hunted.
"Main we may be in for some trouble," Cleo said as she parked the elliptical, flying, vehicle. "Adams. Whatever happens you get to Reana and get her out of here, I've been on the dealing end of situations like the one I'm seeing play out here and it never ends well for the bait. I'm sorry but Reana seems to be the bait."
"Well, we'll just have to see how the hunters like this then," Adams said as he charged his Paladin heavy pistol.
"Tigerius and Reana are in the same building," Garrus said as the other three rejoined them, "It's not far from here, just a bunch of apartments, but run by one of the local factions with an affinity for C-Sec. If Tigerius is there then he's got to have a damned important reason and probably plenty of back up."
"I'd say at least eight," Cleo said, "possibly nine, if one is a sniper."
"We can't know anything for sure," Garrus said, "But I agree we can expect resistance."
"We can deal with resistance," Rodger said as he, CT, and Main all loaded their weapons.
"Then let us hurry," Adams said, "If we get in fast they wont have as much time to set up."
Garrus nodded and led them down the streets of the Lower Ward before turning into an ally way and motioning for them to climb the fire escape. Cleo knew why, Tigerius and Reana had entered the same room, neither had come out yet. By entering from the floor above the team could move downward to the room without raising too much alarm until they needed to. Rodger went up the ladder first followed by Main then Adams, CT, Garrus and finally Cleo herself.
"You'd better hurry," Marcus said, "It is usually after the meeting that the hunter strikes the hunted. A room with a window too..."
"I know," Cleo hissed back, "Let me concentrate."
They entered the building one floor above the level that Reana was on and made their way down. They passed two people that Cleo had tagged from her feeds were probably working with Tigerius since they had been following him for greater than eighty percent of the trip.
"Those two," she said to Main after they passed the said goons, "They are with Tigerius, once we make contact keep an eye out for them."
"Right," Main rumbled back. Cleo saw Tigerius leave the room on her feed and shortly after Garrus told everyone that it was just Reana in the room. They picked up the pace as the two previously passed goons moved past them in a bit of a rush. Cleo already had a bad feeling in her gut.
They reached the room to find it locked from the inside. Garrus was going to open it with his omni-tool but Main just kicked it in. Adams rushed in as Cleo's worst suspicion was proved true. Reana was laying in a pool of her own blood on the floor.
"Reana," Adams called to her as Garrus sent out a call for a medical team. "Reana it's Gregory, Stay with me dear. Gaige has been looking for you, don't you leave us like this."
"Gregory," Reana gasped much to everyone's surprise, "Tracker on Tigerius, this will let you find him. Been hunting him ever since the Reapers..." She was interrupted as she coughed up blood. "He uses the indoctrination for his operations, stop him, he is why Gaige had to leave. Stop him for her." Cleo knew Reana was gone as soon as she finished that last statement. She went over and put a hand on Adam's shoulder as he squeezed his wife's hand before taking the tracking locator from her other hand.
"Medics will be here in," Garrus said, "Oh... Adams I... I'm so sorry."
"Tigerius is why Gaige had to go to Pandora," Adams hissed. Cleo backed away to give him some space. "Now Reana is dead for trying to make things right. Since she can't finish this, We. Will."
"Where is he going," Rodger asked.
"To an ally way in the Upper Wards that will take him to the Presidium," Garrus said, "One of us."
"You stay with Adams," Cleo said, "You know him best, I am streaming EDI's information to my eyepiece. Coupled with the tracking device we can find and remove Tigerius."
"You're streaming... never mind," Garrus said, "Fine go. Adams and I will remain here until the medics arrive."
"Watch out for the sniper," CT said, "He took the shot from across the street judging from the entry angle of the hole in the glass there."
"They had better watch out for me," Adams said, "Make it slow."
"I can do that," Cleo said, "Rodger, CT, Main lets go." She led them out of the building and back to the car. Soon they were stationed on the Presidium near where Tigerius was going to arrive. Cleo was watching his every move via either the tracking device, a square, orange, tablet like, device that showed periodic pings of the beacon on it and the stream that EDI continued to feed to her. "Get ready he is close so expect his muscle to show up any time now, also watch out for the sniper."
They were positioned outside the elevator from the Wards. There was a fountain and garden near the elevator so each of them took up a position near it to make them look like bodyguards for Cleo. She hopped to catch Tigerius' interest and make him think she was a new high profile in town so he would try to initiate conversation. Then she would black mail him for all he was worth and if he chose to fight her Aura would absorb the first few hits and allow for the superior fighting prowess of her Spartan friends to overwhelm him and his goons.
Right on cue Tigerius and his nine bodyguards exited the elevator and began to head towards the embassies before he stopped and headed over to Cleo. She of course pretended to not know he was coming and instead let Main intercept Tigerius.
"Do you have business whit this one Emerald," Main asked her as he put his intimidating bulk between Tigerius and herself.
"Hmm, I do not believe we have met yet," Cleo replied as she turned to look over Tigerius. He was a Turian like Garrus but with a hint of blue to his skin and brown eyes. "Who might you be to approach me?"
"I do beg your pardon," Tigerius said smoothly, "I am Tigerius, a highly respect business man who deals in problem solving for the upper echelon. As I have not seen you here in the Citadel before I simply wanted to introduce myself. I am sure that if you are here to speak with any of the Council they will mention me."
"Problem solving you say," Cleo mused as she put on hand under her chin and the other reached behind her back to one of the handles of her twin sickles, "We may be in the same line of work then, just on opposite ends, I am more of a problem creator for the enemies of my clients. In fact I believe one of them has mentioned you before now that you bring it up. A Gregory Adams..." At that phrase, CT and Rodger formed up behind her.
"Adams," Tigerius hissed, "Get them."
Cleo absorbed the first bullet with her Aura so what she did next could count as self defense. In a flash her sickles were out and she was dancing a whirlwind of death through Tigerius' goons. Main had pinned Tigerius to the floor while CT took out the sniper and Rodger got the goons that had taken cover behind the fountain. The fight was over in an instant and Cleo had already cleaned and concealed her weapons before returning to the still trapped Tigerius.
"Why kill Reana," Cleo asked him calmly.
"She knew to much," Tigerius replied, "I fixed my clients problems by making their opposition believe what my client wanted them to. I used indoctrination and Reana was going to spill it to the Council."
"Huh a full confession," Cleo said, "Why not tell us where to get this indoctrination device and we might come to an arrangement."
"It's in Flux, on top of it actually," Tigerius said, "It's their new antenna."
"Main let him up," Cleo said as she saw Adams and Garrus come up the elevator behind him. "Well Tigerius I'd say this has been an eventful day, and I'd want you to die standing at least."
"What no," He turned to run only to come face to face with Adams' pistol. The same pistol soon relieved him of said face.
"That is going to be a lot of red tape for Bailey to deal with," Garrus said, "But he deserved it."
"Let him deal with it," Adams said, "I will want to tell Gaige in person about what happened."
Character K/C
Malachor V was a barren wasteland. All gray rock and electromagnetic discharges with cliffs and ravines riddling the entire planet. How it held an atmosphere was one of life great mysteries, the other one was what they hopped to find on such a desolate rock.
"Issac any sign of Necromorphs," C asked for K.
"Oh there are signs of them having been here," Carter replied, "just no signs that they are still here."
"What do you mean," Coris asked.
"They were here," Star said, "We passed over the ships they took from Korriban, there is no other way off this planet, I hope."
"Always with the qualifying statements," Juno said, "Could you at least pretend to believe that we won't have to chase these things down over all of creation?"
"We could if it would make you feel any better," Qui-gon said.
"Please do then," Fenix stated.
"I for one am interested to see these Necromorphs," Ivan stated as he lumbered behind the party in his ACU.
"Agreed," Doug added.
"Actually between the two of you I don't know who would win if one of you tried to control the other," Issac said, "It would probably depend on who has the most mass and influence."
"Doug would win that," K thought.
"You would help him wouldn't you," C thought back.
"Only if I absolutely had to," K replied, "There is a reason I jumped into you instead of him."
"One that you have even more reservations about than this form," C asked.
"Yes," K answered.
"Hey can you to stop the mental conversation," Sam asked, "It is a bit disconcerting seeing you switch eye colors all the time."
"Sorry," K/C both said, "But you try having one of us in your head with you."
"Right I guess I did seem a bit insensitive," Sam said.
"I thought that was one of your better qualities," Baird jibbed.
"Do you guys talk like this all the time," Carver asked.
"We'll just say that things are talked about," Dom answered.
"I like it," Kota said, "It's a break from the stand here, go there, no talking, routine that people like us usually work under."
"I thought that was your routine," Star remarked.
"Only with you kid," Kota replied.
"Carver is right," C said, "We're here to look for these Necromorphs. Now seeing as Issac and Carver are the only two available experts on the creatures if they want quite then they shall have quite."
"I'm right here," K said.
"And you're not an expert dear," C said.
"K fancies that he knows a thing or two about these creatures," Issac said, "He very well might but nothing like me and Carver. We had them in our heads, we went up against their hive-mind and we won."
"Okay I've got to admit they actually beat me on that one," K said.
"The trail leads down into the planet," Carver said, "Any guess as to what might be down there?"
"The Sith believe it is a center of Dark Side energy," Star said, "A conduit of tremendous power."
"If the Necromorphs are being controlled as you believe," Issac said, "Either they all got what they were looking for and found another way off planet, or an almost undying army of hostile aliens. If they are not being controlled then we still face an almost undying army of hostile aliens."
"Well you know they won't be there then," Anya said, "Killing them all would be to easy." Issac and Carver just looked at her, or at least turned their helmet's towards her, their expressions were, of course, unreadable behind the metal and lights. "Look you don't know us okay, at least not very well. Kill an infinite amount of enemies, sure, find one bad guy out of a multitude of galaxies and dimensions, not so easy."
"One that is logically impossible," Ivan said, "and two the Necromorphs are more than one entity."
"Well at least one person was listening to our over view of these creatures," Issac said, "Come on the way down to the core looks clear."
They spent the next half hour navigating down the ravine that would take them to the temple at the core of the planet and then the next fifteen minutes making their way through the temple itself. The structure was in amazing condition when one considered it was tens of thousands of years old, at the center of a very unstable gravitational event and was a conduit for the destructive Dark Side. It was built out of a golden colored composite material and utilized the rock of the planet surface for the floor. Where most temples were long hallways and a few open rooms this one was many open rooms and the one hall that led to the center of the planet where the team, Ivan excluded for size reason, now stood.
The center of the planet was a meditation chamber. Not something K expected from the Sith. The room actually radiated a calm before the storm feel. The only point of interest in the fairly large chamber was the slightly raised dais at its center. It was however filled with discarded organic material.
"The Necromorphs were here," Issac confirmed, "This is the only way in and I saw no signs of them leaving, other than what is here in this room."
"So the Necromorphs come in here and then disappear," Doug said, "A teleport system perhaps?"
"Nothing so mundane," Qui-gon said, "A lot of Force was used here not long ago. It didn't create a ripple due to this place's unique nature of absorbing such events. That is why we don't feel the oppressive weight of the Dark Side."
"What are you implying," K/C said.
"The Necromorphs could have been sent somewhere," Kota said, "The Force is capable of such actions."
"Either way they are not here so where did they go," Cole asked.
"Well there is one way to find out," Star said as he stepped up to the dais. He floated into the air and began meditating. Soon a picture formed around him, a picture of two dragon shaped land masses, a picture of Remnant.
"We need to get back there now," C said.
"Where is that," Carver asked.
"That is Remnant," K/C said, "DC's newest home."
"Then lets go protect this home," Coris said, "Maybe I can get you back your body somehow along the way."
"Juno," Star said from atop the dais, "Follow me. Kota make sure she follows me." Then he disappeared in a flash of purple light.
"Star," Juno yelled.
"What the hell," Carver added, "What was that?"
"Teleport," Kota said, "Across a dimension."
"Star went on ahead to warn Remnant of what is coming," C said, "Come on we need to leave."
"Prepping the Pestilence for boarding now," Doug said, "Ivan is already on rout back to the hangar."
"This better not turn out to be another Lambent," Fenix said.
"The Necromorphs wouldn't have been able to activate that teleport on their own," Issac stated as the group headed back to the surface, "Someone or something must have helped them through."
"Lucifer," K thought to his brother, "Something is helping a life form called the Necromorphs, got any leads?"
"That is not a lot to go on," Lucifer replied, "I'll see what we can find out."
"Ow," C thought, "Does talking with him really hurt like that every time?"
"It does for a while," K answered.
"Pestilence is here," Doug said "Everybody back inside we're going hunting."
"Hey K what happens if we cross a dimension while I'm in your body," Coris asked.
"I guess we will find out," K/C answered as they entered the hangar. "Doug hit it!"
"Locked onto the Ark jumping in five, four, three, two, one," Doug counted down until they warped across the dimensional barrier in a flash of light and a whooshing sound. They came out above Remnant and beside the Ark. Nothing seemed amiss that they could tell, that is until K's body fell over. K took the opportunity to inhabit his form again, allowing C to revert to her normal form.
"Ah it is good to be home," K exclaimed, "But where is Coris?"
"If I were to guess," C said, "Retrieving his own body."
They all looked out the window of the Pestilence and down to Remnant.
"Only one way to find out," Juno said, "And only one way to find Star."
"Right Star," K said, "Doug radio him if you would."
"On it," Doug said. After a few moments he nodded as he played the audio into the hangar.
"Juno you made good time," Star said, "I'm on Remnant with Coris of all people, you should get down here and see him, it is quite the sight. Also it looks like RWBY has adopted a Beowolf and we've got two new arrivals who are stuck here quite by accident. I'm out at the southern edge of Vale by the cliffs with RWBY, JNPR, Serenity and a few others. Come on over and meet some of DC."
"How did, You..." Juno sputtered, "Never again!"
"Okay, okay fine," Star agreed, "Sorry for leaving on such short notice but I didn't know how much time we would have until the Necromorphs showed up here."
"Apology accepted," Juno sighed, "K?"
"Right you can pilot the Rouge Shadow down, there is enough space to land her," K said, "We will follow, "Issac, Carver, your with C and me. If you want to find your friend, or what these Necromorphs are planning then I'll have to get you familiarized with the crew you will be working with. C and I have another appointment to keep with the rest of DC in yet another universe so we can't stick around for long."
"Fine with me," Carver said, "Lets go."
Character Gaige
After her Dad told her about her Mom's death, Gaige had gone mental. Bandit had been contracting with Tigerius to ship them Reaper parts for use in their production. He had been discovered by Reana years ago, and it was him who had gotten her sent away from Eden. Now all her rage and sorrow were aimed at Bandit and with Ax, her Dad, Deathtrap and Mr. Torgue by her side as the crew of the Hunter and Torgue Co. ripped into the fleet of Bandit Co. she was an unstoppable force of wrath. The shotgun that she had used was replaced by weapons she found as they ransacked the ships of Bandit. Now Gaige wielded her omni-blade, a Reaper tech based laser wrist cannon, a shoulder mounted micro grenade launcher, a full suite of space worthy armor with a Reaper AI that integrated the suit with her body and robot arm. The suit had blades sticking out at the joints, a dual bladed staff shotgun, and her digi-struct claws on her robotic arm.
The same arm had just punched through the door to the bridge of the capital ship of Bandit. Behind her was Ax and Deathtrap behind them was her Dad and Mr. Torgue. All of them were surrounded by the fire that was coming out of the walls of the hall behind them from Gaige's lasers and explosions. In front of them were the twenty bodyguards of the leader of Bandit and the leader himself. The creatures before her were more machine than man, but that didn't bother Gaige. She was, after all, more robot herself than human at this point. Gaige didn't even say anything just activated the speed increasing routines on the armor and charged. The micro grenades took out the first four guards then it had to recharge. She dropped another three with a blast from the wrist laser, then Gaige set in with the bladed gun staff. That took out another ten before it had to cool off. She switched to her omni-blade and finished off the last three guards. The leader of Bandit however managed to grab her hand and keep the omni-blade from striking him down. Gaige just stabbed him through the face with her digi-struct claws and freed her hand from his grasp.
"Time to say good by ass hole," Gaige hissed at the corpse. Looking up out the viewing window Gaige saw the Hunter rise up right in front of them, "Get back to the Normandy," Gaige said, "I'm going out the front." She looked at her Dad first, then Ax to make sure they understood. She didn't want to shatter the bridge's window with them unprotected inside. Neither looked happy but they both turned and left with Mr. Torgue. As soon as the door closed behind her she looked over at Deathtrap and digi-destructed him back into her arm. She then ran at the window and smashed right through it. The suit took over and activated it's flight routines. Ion rockets on her calves and forearms activated allowing her to fly through space and land in one of the hangars on the Hunter.
"Damn Gaige that was awesome," Brick said as he looked up at her, "Where did you get the upgrades?"
"I raided their HQ," Gaige said, "Where do you think?"
"Off their cold dead bodies," Brick laughed, "I couldn't find anything that was better than these gloves Yang made. I like the armor though, space worthy too. Sweet."
"Yeah," Gaige replied as she walked past him to head to the Normandy.
"Gaige, you appear empty," Legion stated as she boarded the Normandy a few minutes later. "Might we offer some advice?"
"Sure Legion," Gaige said.
"When Geth die it leaves an empty place in us where once a bright spark used to be," Legion said, "But we don't hold onto that empty place instead we fill it with new light, a new Geth. You are your mother's new spark. So do not be dim, but outshine her as she would want you to."
"I... Legion that was very human for you," Gaige said as she blinked away tears.
"And you are very Geth for a human," Legion replied, "You are certainly brighter than us." With that Legion walked off towards the navigation controls. Gaige headed for the shuttle bay where everyone from the raiding party waited for her. By the time she got to the bay all the rage had been muted by Legion's words, a bit of the sadness too. She still embraced her Dad as they regrouped.
"Mom's fight is over," Gaige said, "We finished what she started."
"That we did," Adams agreed.
"I'm so sorry," Ax said as he place his hand on Gaige's shoulder.
"We can't bring your mom back," Mr. Torgue said, "But I hope the explosions helped you put her to rest."
"Rest," Gaige repeated, "Maybe that's it!"
"What," Ax asked.
"Don't you see," Gaige said as she thought about what Legion had told her. "we are Dragon Company, we don't get to rest until we're done and since there is an almost infinite amount of universes it make us practically immortal. That is why Summer came back, she wasn't done yet, not ready to rest. Now Mom can rest because we finished what she was doing."
"My Adams, how your little girl has grown," Shepard said as he walked into the bay. "I am sorry for your loss. I was able to pull Reana's file from the Council. She was one of their highest level operatives for years until she went rouge to uncover Tigerius' network. She couldn't be tied to the Council because even back then he had influence with them. It was during this time that she met you Gregory. It seems that in the end she chose you and Gaige over herself. Tigerius was planning on hunting you two down according to the last intelligence report on him."
"Thank you Commander," Adams said, "But I know the look on your face, your going to ask us something aren't you?"
"Liarra found the source of the dark energy disturbance," Shepard said, "We have to move fast if we want to catch them."
"Them," Gaige asked.
"It would seem the source of the disturbance is an organism or collection of organisms," Shepard said, "One that can use dark energy to jump between universes."
"I'm up for blowing up more stuff," Mr. Torgue said.
"I could handle some more fighting," Gaige agreed, "Where are we going?"
"That is the hard part," Shepard said, "It is coming from the heart of the galaxy."
"Well you survived going there once," Adams said, "We are in the best position to hunt this anomaly."
"I'm in Ax," added after looking at Gaige and Adams.
"We're all in," Marcus said as he walked into the bay, "First though We should go pick up our friends on Sanctuary. It would seem that they have the situation there under control."
"The Invention is too big to go into the heart of the galaxy," Shepard said, "Trust me the Normandy feels like a big ship in there."
"That is why we are not taking the invention," Marcus said, "Cleo wishes to go with you, so I will remain on the Invention and we can stay just outside the heart and provide intelligence to you."
"My ship will be too big then too," Mr. Torgue said, "It is as least half the size of the Invention same for the Hunter."
"I am thinking a team of ten people," Shepard said, "Cleo, the four of you, Mordin, and Liarra, that leave three slots open."
"Maya and Krieg," Ax said.
"Okay one more," Shepard said.
"If I may make a suggestion," Marcus said.
"Go ahead," Shepard said.
"That dragon Malafor," Marcus said, "he seems to have an affinity with the dark energies of the various worlds."
"Sounds good to me," Gaige said, "Lets go get them."
Character Malafor
They had regrouped in Westmarch about a week after Diablo's team had found the soulstone and beaten back a shade of Maltheal. Diablo had informed them that Maltheal was seeking the stone so he could use it as a focus for his soul reaping. Now that the stone was in their possession it was a simple matter of hunting down the elusive specter. At least that was what Tyreal had said. It had been another four days of searching while Maltheal's forces continued to ravage Sanctuary. Orthino had taken the offensive against the forces of Death. With Hadriel and Bad Co. at his side the elder dragon had brought the conflict to a stalemate for now. Malafor knew better than to trust a stalemate to last for long. They had the position to take the upper hand, Malafor intended to use it.
First Ezio had absorbed the shade that Maltheal sent to retrieve the stone, so he could channel the same forces that Maltheal himself could. Second Bethany was quite possibly the most powerful person to have ever been born on Sanctuary. Third Tyreal was the embodiment of the heavens. Forth the Primes were united, well except for K who would be joining them soon. Fifth, spaceships. The Infinity was running intelligence from space and was deploying the occasional Spartan shock team. Yes Malafor was convinced the old dragon had the right idea, it was time to be the aggressor. Thus his call upon Ezio.
"You want to do what," Ezio asked.
"You heard me," Malafor said, "We are going to find and kill the aspect of death himself." Malafor said. "I want you and Leah to be a part of that team."
"Who else would be going with us," Ezio asked.
"Auriel, Beth, Lil, Inarius, Lilith, Xarle and Blood-Raven," Malafor answered.
"It would seem to be the fastest way to end this conflict," Leah said.
"No this conflict will continue on for a very long time," Malafor said, "But our part in it would be finished for now."
"So long as Lil doesn't use her teleport on us I'm in," Ezio said.
"Same," Leah added, "When do you want to leave?"
"Now," Malafor said, "The others are waiting for us, Del Rio already has a location and with Tyreal, Orthino, Hadriel, Bad Co. and my brothers holding the line across Sanctuary this is the best time to strike."
"Where is he," Ezio asked as they headed out from the plaza that they were in and towards the eastern gate of the city.
"Maltheal is hiding in a sub dimension of the spectral side of Sanctuary," Malafor replied, "A place Diablo called the Pandemonium Fortress."
"Aptly named considering the chaos we are going to rain down upon it," Ezio commented.
"Oh you've no idea," Malafor said, "It lies in a region full of dark energy, of convexity, my primary focus for power."
"How do we get there," Leah asked.
"Auriel can open a portal," Malafor said, "they are just ahead, get ready to go." True to their word the rest of the team had gathered at the eastern gate and were waiting for him. Malafor nodded to the assembled group as Leah and Ezio joined their ranks. "Okay open the portal." Auriel cast a beam of light from her hand that opened a blueish gray portal in front of them. Malafor walked through and looked around the massive stone structure he entered. Surrounding him were the creatures of Death, big executioners, the aged exarchs, nimble assassins, and the death maidens. More importantly Malafor felt the flood of convexity that washed over him. As the reapers charged him he snarled before unleashing his most powerful attack, a beam of destructive current that shredded not only the charging minions but the very stone of the ancient fortress. When the rest of the team came through he was finishing up the last of the monsters.
"This entire place smells like you," Xarle remarked, "Or maybe you smell like this place?"
"The power I channel has a strong presence here," Malafor said, "It is quite possible that I wont need any of you to help but it never hurts to have overwhelming force."
"This place is massive," Lil said, "How do we know where to look for Maltheal?"
"Easy," Lilith said, "At it's heart. If he can't have the black soulstone he will go to the next biggest source of power, that would be whatever is left of the world stone."
"Well then everyone mount up," Malafor said, "I'll carve us a path right to him." Ezio swung up onto his back with Leah following. Lil and Beth got rides from Inarius and Xarle and Blood-Raven were given a lift by Auriel. Malafor charged the air in front of him with power before dashing through the fortress. It was mostly a bunch of catwalks of stone but with the ability to fly they need not bother with the endlessly doubling back loops that they would undoubtedly get lost in if they were walking. As it was they just flew over the somewhat dilapidated interior walls to the massive open dais in the center of the fortress.
"What is this," Maltheal roared at them as he flew up to meet them, "You may have bested my shade but I am another matter."
"I don't think so," Beth said as she became vengeance once again and fired a hail of projectiles at Maltheal. All of which went right through him.
"Foolish human," Maltheal said, "And you Auriel, siding with the demon spawn and the traitor?"
"I am no traitor," Inarius said, "It is you who have betrayed all that we stood for."
"All that we still stand for," Lilith said.
"Enough," Malafor said, "You are death, but do you know what I am?"
"You are the darkness," Maltheal said, "A force I have fought against for years uncounted."
"Wrong," Malafor said, "I am power." In that moment Malafor embraced the memories that Haggard created in his past. The change swept through him in an instant, his almost black scales lightened up to a muted purple. His spiny horns morphed to the majestic crown that they once were and his eyes shifted from the orange and black that they were to a brilliant sparkling silver. Malafor smirked before launching forward all the energy he had been collecting in front of him. The wave of silver sparking force washed over Maltheal and knocked him to the dais but did little more than annoy him.
"Nice show but I think we will need more than that," Ezio said, "If I can get close enough I can absorb him."
"I'm thinking you can do more than that," Leah said, "You absorbed his shade so you channel the same power he does, I think out of all of us you can kill him."
"Then we'll run a distraction," Blood-Raven said, "Auriel take us in."
Inarius follow Auriel down to the dais to drop off Beth and Lil, Lilith landed and pitched her strength against Maltheal's. Her claws were met with his claw-like scythe weapons. Inarius' attacks were just as easily repulsed by the Shade as Liliths. Xarle's magic seemed to do nothing, Blood-Raven's arrows and her own skills were just as effective. Auriel's attacks went right through Maltheal, as did, Lil's, Beth's and Leah's. Malafor knocked Maltheal to the ground again and Ezio jumped down to execute him. Maltheal however must have realized the threat and knocked Ezio aside with his wings before getting up and heading towards the assassin. Malafor intercepted Maltheal and was able to actually land a hit upon the twisted angle. Maltheal repaid him with a whirlwind series of blows that sent him skidding to the edge of the dais. Looking past Maltheal, Malafor saw that Ezio had gotten up and was now engaging the phantom. Maltheal was twice Ezio's size and the swirling mists that had skulls reach out of them to consume the souls of those unlucky enough to get caught in them were apparently of no concern to the skilled assassin as he deftly avoided everything that Maltheal sent at him. Malafor reengaged Maltheal to try and give Ezio an opening but that only ended with him getting hit with what appeared to be a clone of Diablo's lightening inferno. With a burst of speed Maltheal went from knocking the rest of the team back to being right on top of Ezio. Malafor dove forward to try and take the blows that Ezio was about to receive when the boom of a gun rang out and Maltheal jerked back with a hiss. Ezio had shot the shade with his hidden gun preventing Maltheal from slicing him up.
That one shot however seemed only to enrage the specter. As he sent waves of soul stealing bolts out at the entire team. They all dodged the bolts for a good twenty seconds before Maltheal returned to his more melee based attacks. Malafor already was regretting this decision, the real Maltheal was much more powerful than he had expected. Even with the combined power of his two pasts Malafor was not a match for the angle of death, however he was a Prime and he knew who was powerful enough to finish off this abomination. "Brothers, I need your help!" Malafor sent out the thought with enough force that Maltheal stopped and turned to him.
"Prime," Maltheal said as he knocked Xarle back into Inarius putting them both on the ground, "I will end you." With that a swirling line of skulls started to close in on Malafor as well as a massive fire ball and two streams of the sudo-lightening inferno. Malafor put his wings in front of him and threw up a shield but he didn't think it would help. So the explosion that he heard followed by a very familiar roar was a relief. He lowered his wing's to see not Diablo as he had expected or Baal or Mephisto but K in his hooded human form atop C in her Leviathan form.
"What is this," Maltheal exclaimed, "More sacrile... huh?"
"This is the taste of a true death dealer's blade," Ezio said as his sword sprouted from Maltheal's hooded head. "Reaper I reap you." Ezio pulled his sword out as Maltheal started to crack and shimmer before howling and being pulled into Ezio. Ezio then went over and helped Xarle and Inarius up.
"That was some good timing," Malafor said to K.
"Prime," K replied, "You did call me remember?"
"Of course you were a Prime once," Malafor said.
"Still am," K explained to the rest of the crew of the Invention as they made their way to the edge of the galaxy's heart.
"Cheers," Wyoming said, "that is a tale for the centuries. Malafor you must be missing a few bricks to think of something as dumb as that."
"Don't remind me," Malafor said.
"So how did you get here," Church asked, "you were in Star's universe last if I recall."
"Actually when you called we were back in Remnant and were preparing to head over here anyway," K said, "Malafor just happened to give us a position to lock onto."
"Basically pure luck then," Malafor said.
"Basically," C agreed. "Also it seems we've gathered a few more friends. You'll have to meet them when we get back."
"You seem to do that wherever you go," Malafor said.
"Blake and Sun matched us this time," C said, "They found an entire dimension that we previously didn't know about."
Malafor, Church and Wyoming looked between each other. "An entire dimension," Wyoming remarked, "Maybe it's where Allison is stashing all your money Lenard."
"Shut up," Church snapped. "Look we're getting close to the heart Malafor you'd better go get with Shepard. Wyoming will be running your logistical support out there so I hope you two will tolerate each other long enough to do something useful."
"Sounds like your the one with tolerance issues," Wyoming remarked as he left to go to the operational support room.
"K, C, when this entire plan fails miserably maybe you can salvage something from this," Malafor said as he headed off to meet with Shepard.
"You know I was thinking the same thing," Church said.
Malafor entered the hangar where the Normandy was docked. Cleo met him outside of the Normandy with Gaige, Adams, Ax, Maya, Krieg, Liarra, Mordin and Mr. Torgue.
"Glad you decided to join us," Mordin remarked, "Your appearance has changed... much improved I must say."
"Ruby will freak when she sees you have silver eyes," Gaige said.
"Right," Malafor said, "Can we just get this over with?"
"Can you fly through space," Cleo asked.
"With Sarge's suits yes," Malafor replied. "wait why?"
"The Normandy can get us in close but it will be the Kodiak that takes us into the ship that is the source of the readings," Liarra said, "Your armor would allow you to fly along side us."
The entire idea was suicidal, the amount of astrological hazards that they would be exposed to was unbelievable, Malafor liked it. "Okay I'll meet you outside," he said. It took him five minutes to get the armor on and another five to meet up with the Normandy. Before him was the outer edge of the core of the galaxy, a swirling, super dense cluster of stars in every stage of death, from the super massive red giants to black holes and some where in the center lurked the super massive black hole.
"Wyoming," Malafor radioed, "Where is this object located?"
"I'll send you the nav feed that I am running to the Normandy, look for it in the upper right corner of your hud," Wyoming replied. Checking the specified location Malafor saw a chart of their path through the hazards of space. The ship they were looking for was very close to the center of the galaxy, but then again so were they.
"Liarra how big would a ship have to be to create the readings you are detecting," Malafor asked over the radio.
"I honestly don't know," Liarra said, "The Reapers detected that it was a ship, my readings were obscured by the black hole it is orbiting."
"It wouldn't happen to be," Malafor asked.
"Yes it is the big one," Liarra confirmed.
"Baal, what would you have done if you had succeeded in parking the Ark in an orbit around that black hole," Malafor thought.
"I would have channeled it's destructive force into myself," Baal answered, "I admit I am envious of you getting to be so close to such a powerful event."
"I know that part what would you have done with that power," Malafor pressed.
"I would have started sending tendrils of control out across the universe to gather the strength of all such events," Baal said, "Do you really think that this disturbance is a match for me?"
"No but they may be trying to replicate that strategy," Malafor returned, "I'll keep you all up dated as we progress." He received a mental 'nod' from Baal before they broke off the conversation.Malafor was not encouraged by Baal's conversation, but he didn't expect to be. Now he had an idea of what the source of this dark energy disturbance was attempting to do. The question is how long has the facility been operational. Harbinger had mentioned that his creation was to discover a way to counter act the dark energy fluctuations. If this place had been around since before his time... Malafor was suddenly much more wary of their destination.
"Okay this is as close as we can get you," Joker radioed, "Launching the Kodiak now."
"Malafor we are away," Cleo said, "Follow us in." Malafor moved from beside the Normandy to the smaller deployment ship as it headed through a dust cloud. "The target should be on the other side of this debris field, We don't know what to... oh."
Malafor was going to ask what it was but he passed out of the dust cloud to behold a massive structure built around the entire super massive black hole. It was like a giant gyroscope spinning endlessly around the black hole's event horizon, a perpetual energy machine. The arms of the machine were larger than anything Malafor had seen before. It was them that were keeping the debris away from the black hole with the amount of space that they displaced as they moved. The arms didn't move very fast but each one was so big that it didn't need to.
"How are we going to land on that," Malafor asked.
"Landing on it will not be the problem," Cleo replied, "it is getting off, if those arms are right at the event horizon we won't be able to get away from them.
"Not true," Liarra interjected, "Event horizons are based on maximum velocity, we could escape it if we harness the energy of the structure itself to fire us away from it."
"Okay but what about us," Malafor said, "Even if we land on it wouldn't we be crushed?"
"Not necessarily," Liarra continued, "The event horizon is the begging of the gravity distortion, on the edge we should feel normal gravity."
"I'll go in and test it," Malafor said, "If anything happens I can just reform in my realm back on Sanctuary."
"Okay we'll monitor you," Cleo said.
Malafor headed in towards an arm that was heading towards him. As he got closer he began to notice that on the edge of the arm facing away from the back hole were structures. Most looked like capacitors, huge ones, but a few looked like they might have been residential, one even looked like a space port. The thought of what sort of creatures would live around a black hole was disturbing to say the least. His thought were quickly distracted as a turret popped up and took aim at him. In an instant the turret, which looked more like a crystal focus, caught a beam of energy that sparked from the black hole and directed it at him. Malafor felt the rush of convexity pulse through him and shivered at the power he felt. In response to the turret shooting him a door opened up in the space port looking structure to allow him in. "So the being who built this relied on the same power I do," Malafor thought. He sent this information to Baal who signaled that he received it.
Malafor landed inside the structure. It lit up with pale yellow lights as he entered. The dark gray exterior was contrasted by the muted white interior. Looking around the pathways that ran through the structure were at least three time the size of Malafor. He concluded that there could only have been one race that had built this structure, the Giants. It seemed abandoned now however, probably due to the Giants having been defeated when Beast joined DC.
"What sort of creature are you and how did you get in here," Malafor heard a voice asked over an intercom system.
"I am Malafor, Prime of Power," he replied, "This station has been causing quite a bit of interference across the galaxy. Lets just say I was curious."
"And those on the ships you've got circling around us," the voice continued. Malafor was sure he had heard that voice somewhere just recently.
"Those who are allied with me," Malafor informed the voice, "You act as if you do not know me but I've heard your voice before."
"Impossible," the voice said, "We've only just moved in. I advise you and your allies leave before I loose my patience with you."
"Look we didn't come all the way to the center of the galaxy to find what is causing the dark energy to be unstable just to be turned away by a voice on an intercom," Malafor bellowed, "Either come out here and make me leave or stop disturbing the convexity of this universe!"
"Fine you asked for it," the voice said.
"Try and keep it civil down there," Cleo said, "If they really just moved in then they may not know what the facility is for."
"Oh you've been monitoring me," Malafor said sarcastically, "Thanks Emerald, really appreciate it."
"What did you call me," Cleo asked.
"Didn't you say that was your code name for radio," Malafor replied.
"I didn't say any thing," Cleo said.
"We are not on the radio any more," Cleo said.
Malafor looked to his left to see Cleo standing there glaring at him with her sickles drawn and ready to fight him, Malafor, off. "Emerald your not just messing with me are you," Malafor asked.
"No," Cleo replied, "Why?" He noticed the other Cleo intensify her glare but she did not speak, so that could only mean.
"Then there is a very angry version of you staring down at me right now," Malafor said.
"I take it you are talking to someone very much like me on the other end of that radio," Cleo remarked.
"Very," Malafor agreed, "Your not from this dimension are you?"
"That is astute of you," Cleo said, "Cinder figured we might run into ourselves when we crossed the dimensions but this prize is far to valuable to not risk it. This machine produces an unlimited supply of energy... we don't have to be on separate sides you and your allies could join us, think about it the entirety of creation at our fingertips to rake from as we please."
"Malafor..." Cleo said over the radio, "Ask her what happened to Remnant."
"What happened to Remnant," Malafor asked.
"You even know our planet," Cleo remarked, "It really must be this dimension's version of me on that ship. Our endgame worked out."
"Malafor," Cleo radioed, "If our end game worked then that means that RWBY was not there to stop us, it means that I am still a part of Cinder's inner circle, that we are still evil. Get out of there, I know what I'm doing there. Cinder wanted to bring in as many slave races as she could and that generator would give her enough raw power to pull them from across dimensions."
"How many slaves are you expecting to gather from here," Malafor asked, "the Reapers are controlled by on of my brothers, the most powerful of us all. These other races are ours, and we don't like sharing."
"So you enslaved me in this universe," Cleo commented, "I must admit I am disappointed, she must not be nearly as skilled as I am."
"She is probably drawing power from the generator itself," Baal suggested. Malafor took the idea and amped it up to a whole new level.
"Okay then," Malafor said, "I guess I'll just have to actually put some effort into capturing you."He started drawing in as much power from the machine as he could. While the construct was capable of generating an unlimited amount of energy it was at a constant rate. Malafor was pulling in energy faster than it could produce it.
"Stop that you fool," Cinder's voice echoed from the comms, "drawing in that much power will drain the system and destroy this machine. I would rather we both leave it alone then it be destroyed, it is a most valuable piece of engineering!"
"I'll tell you what if there is this universe with a construct like this then there must be others, go bother them," Malafor said, "And I'll leave your precious device intact."
"I will not forget this slight," Cinder said, "I will find you and your allies and I will crush you. Emerald, Mercury, Roman, lets go. We can pick other more profitable battles."
"I hope Junior has been more successful," evil Cleo said as she walked back into the structure, "and you, you got lucky."
"Malafor get back here," Cleo radioed, "we need to talk."
"We need to get back to Remnant," Malafor added.
"Agreed," Cleo said, "Liarra is the energy stabilizing?"
"I won't be able to tell right away," Liarra said, "K might be able to though since he is connected to the Reapers."
Malafor flew out through the opening in the roof and headed back through the dust cloud behind the Kodiak to the Normandy.
"If Cinder really wanted to keep that station intact then that means she will be back for it, but not right away," Cleo said, "Space should get calmer in the meantime."
"As soon as you get your readings lets go," Malafor said, "I've had enough of this universe and it's surprises."
Character Ivy Schnee
The giant King Taijitu smashed it's way out of the cave just as the last of Weiss' friends dove to the side. Glynda had her wand and was sending her purple lasers into the serpent. Ivy drew her commas, Sol and Luna and summoned a circle of star-burst runes around her hands. She fired two of them behind her to send her at the King with amazing speed. There were eight left for her to use in her attack. Glynda's attacks zipped past her as Ivy clashed mid-air with the Taijitu. A star-burst fired at the ground propelled her up to the top of the snake's head another one blinded the second head while Ivy charged her commas with the remaining star-burst and drilled through the Taijitu's first head leaving a hole almost twice her size in it's skull. The second head was coming down towards Weiss but Jayne dove in front of it and knocked it out of the way with the but of his rifle. Ruby then jumped over both of them and brought her scythe down on the head splitting it open.
Ivy looked herself over, her usually prim and proper, silver, business suit was now covered in blood, scales, flesh and bits of brain. Ivy sighed, there went another twelve hundred lien suit.
"I take it charging through the enemies runs in the family," Jayne remarked.
"Weiss did get her desire to be a Huntress from me, true," Ivy replied.
"Her taste in friends must have come from her father," Glynda said, "She is certainly better at it than you."
"To be fair you were my first friend," Ivy said, "I'd say I was handicapped."
"Mother," Weiss greeted as she walked up to her with a smile. For a moment Ivy though she would restrain from hugging her but then Weiss embraced her anyway, getting blood on her dress in the process. "What are you two doing here?"
"Ozpin noticed that just Blake and Sun had signed up to go into the caves," Glynda said, "He wanted someone to check it out."
"Which we were already on our way to do," Weiss said, "Why you two... wait were you two... Were you visiting Mom?"
"Like I said," Ivy said, "My first friend."
"I guess Mr. Schnee is wearing off on you Ms. Schnee," Blake joked causing Glynda to smile just a little.
"Blake I know you and Sun are... Fanus," Ivy said, "But... why are you riding a Beowolf?"
"Oh right," Weiss said, "Mom meet, Aurora, Igniculus and Midnight." Weiss indicated each as she spoke.
"A pleasure," the elemental Igniculus greeted as he flew around Ivy's head, "Your are very much like Aurora."
"He has a point," Ivy said as she shook hands with Aurora, "We both wear white and I can tell you were brought up in a regal setting."
"I am the Queen of Light of Lemuria," Aurora said, "and like you I usually end a fight with a ruined set of cloths." Ivy smiled then looked to the Beowolf.
"Midnight," Ivy asked. Midnight barked twice in confirmation before purring at his name. "They purr?"
"That is what we asked," Sun stated, "I guess they do."
Suddenly a small explosion erupted above the cliffs and Starkiller fell into their midst.
"Glynda good to see your here," Star said as he looked them over, "Has anything come up through the scrolls about reanimated bodies or mutants?"
"No," Glynda replied after a quick look at her scroll, "I assume you came back ahead of the others to ask this for a reason."
"A life form called Necromorphs jumped to this dimension and from their tracks they are either here already or are heading here," Star said, "Also we think we found the source of Dust on Remnant." He looked like he was going to explain more but a massive earthquake interrupted them all. From the ground punched a crystal, draconic, hand formed of Dust. Before her eyes a dragon of Dust emerged from the ground. It was made of pure crystalline dust, the most powerful from of the substance to be found in nature.
"Star you found my body," it said, "Just in time too it would seem, it was running out of juice."
"No problem Coris," Star said, "So yeah we found him, though you were possessing K's body."
"I guess he can have it back now," Coris remarked.
"Hey hold up I've got to take this call," Star said, "Nice pet by the way."
Everyone just stood around while Star had a conversation with someone on the other end of a radio call. "So," Coris said, "I see my body has become a very important part of your society. Don't worry about my return it will actually stimulate the growth of the remaining cells."
"Wait how much growth do you expect," Ivy asked, concerned for their warehouses full of Dust.
"Don't worry," Coris said, "It is not fast enough to cause an explosion of anything but if you happen to have a lot of my cells they could perpetuate themselves indefinitely."
"So the richest company on Remnant just got richer," Pyrrha said, "That is predictable actually."
"Okay Doug is dropping everyone off at Beacon," Star said, "If you want to meet the rest of those we picked up follow me." Star jumped to the top of the cliff and then dashed off.
"Does he uh do that often," Coris asked.
"Often enough," Mal said, "You can follow the Serenity to Beacon."
"We're parked at the top of the cliff," Ivy said, "Can you drive back up?"
"Yes Mother," Weiss said, "Though I think Blake and Sun will be riding Midnight. Aurora what about... oh right you can fly." Aurora just smiled down from where she was hovering in the air thanks to her fairy wings.
"We will follow you," Igniculus said.
"First I want to see how you expect to get your vehicles to the top of the cliff," Glynda said as she pushed her glasses farther up on her face.
"Okay," Ruby said, "Weiss?"
"Got it," Weiss said as a ramp of glyphs that led to the top of the cliff appeared. "Glynda, Mother get in." Ruby and Yang drove up them first on Bumblebee followed by Blake and Sun on Midnight and then Weiss and Jayne in her convertible. Mal and his had gotten back into the Serenity and were leading Coris towards Beacon.
"Practical," Glynda remarked as they left the convertible to enter their own vehicles, "She is not like you at all."
"Thankfully," Ivy replied as she got on her motorcycle. Glynda got on her own bike and the two headed off for Beacon. They arrived a few minutes after Weiss since they were, after all, driving around on motorcycles for leisure when Ozpin called to see if Glynda could check on the situation at the cave. Ivy had heard of K from her daughter, husband, and friends but now she was about to meet the eccentric, slightly reclusive, possibly egotistical, leader of Dragon Company. Ivy was just glad that most of the blood and all of the fleshy bits from her encounter with the Taijitu had been blown off during the ride, the suit was still ruined however for business purposes.
"Ah you made it," Ozpin said as the two pulled up, "K and C are around back with the new faces, I've got to file some reports based on what Aurora told me about the cave and based on what Issac tells me of these Necromorphs. Glynda if you would come see me after you are done getting a feel for our visitors I would like your input, yours as well Ivy if you can spare some time."
"I took the whole day off," Ivy said, "Might as well, should we meet you in your office?"
"No, Bartholomew's I think," Ozpin said, "I'll be talking with him about Coris."
Ozpin left them to head towards the school's offices. Ivy and Glynda proceeded around back to the airfield. Ivy's first question was which one is K when she saw the three dragons sitting around with various DC members, Star, Price, Chief, Arbiter and a few others that Ivy had not met yet but had seen around Vale. Then there were the four truly new people. Two were in metal plated suits except for their heads which were uncovered, no sign of helmets however. Another was an older man who appeared blind but could evidently make out his surroundings as he navigated around the gathering. The last one was a woman who was glaring at Star with a very familiar mix of anger and joy, much like glares that Ivy had given Abrams over the years.
"Well hello there," Ivy said to the woman as she moved over to her and Star, "I'm Ivy Schnee, and you must be Juno."
"Oh he talks about me that much does he," Juno asked.
"Only at parties when he is trying out do Yang's stories," Ivy replied.
"Glynda," a man in a black cloak with piercing green eyes called as he walked over, "Glad you could make it. I already told Ozpin all the details but I can give you the highlights before C and I have to go help Shepard."
"Who's this," Ivy asked.
"This is K," Glynda said, "K meet Ivy Schnee, a long time friend of mine."
"Ah the Queen of Dust," K remarked, "It is good to finally meet you. It is hard to believe we've been operating on Remnant for six months and have hardly met anyone outside of Beacon and Vale."
"Maybe I'll start a trend then," Ivy said, "No to be rude but I thought you were a dragon."
K blinked and his green eyes were replaced with flickering green flames, "Leviathan actually," he corrected. "I change forms quite a bit, but don't worry if you stick around long enough you'll see me in my natural form."
"Eccentric and egotistical, check and check," Ivy said, "Reclusive not so much."
"Wait for it," Glynda said.
K laughed at that before saying, "Well I am about to leave with C and we don't know when we will be back."
"There it is," Glynda finished.
"Okay," Ivy conceded, "K you are exactly as described."
"Glynda must have only been telling you my good qualities then," K said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Glynda I apologize but I have to go, you can get the details from Ozpin about the situation as it stands."
"I will," Glynda said, "Don't be gone to long, James gets into trouble when he doesn't have to worry about watching you all the time."
K chuckled as he walked towards the shimmering dragon with crystal wings. Once he was perched atop its back they both vanished in a blue orb cast by Coris.
"Who was that that he was riding," Ivy asked.
"C, his wife," Glynda replied.
"Oh," Ivy remarked, "Well lets go meet these new faces."
"Yes, lets," Glynda agreed.
Character Vale Police Chief Burnie
"You want us to be on the look out for what," Burnie asked Ozpin. The Headmaster had called just a few minutes ago and had explained in great detail that he believed that an alien life form might show up in or around Vale. Creatures of earthy construction, creatures that reanimated dead flesh, even such creatures as ghosts and the like. All of this Burnie was used to, but the last item on Ozpin's list was odd even for him.
"That is right," Ozpin said, "I want to know if there are any reports of Dust growing."
"Okay just making sure I heard that right," Burnie said, "I'll get Joel and we will go take a look around but I can't say if we will find any of those in Vale It's been pretty quite here since DC set things straight."
"Thank you," Ozpin said as they ended the call.
Burnie sent a message to Joel's scroll telling him to meet him at the cruiser parking garage. Joel messaged that he would be there and Burnie left to meet him. They met at the cruiser and got in without a word. Joel spoke up after a few minutes of driving around Vale to ask, "So what is it this time?"
"Odd creatures, aliens, growing Dust," Burnie answered.
"So the usual... wait what," Joel asked.
"That is what I said," Burnie commented as he turned towards the warehouse district of Vale. "Ozpin seems convinced that Dust may start growing."
Joel was silent for a moment with a contemplative look before saying, "Are we sure he isn't on medication or something?"
"Ozpin," Burnie asked, "If it was anyone else, I'd assume they were sniffing Dust, but Ozpin... Man I don't know what to think about that guy. Don't get me wrong if it wasn't for him and Beacon Vale would have been overrun by Grimm or at least Cinder long ago, I'm just wondering if he isn't starting to get a little senile."
"Is he part of DC," Joel asked.
"Unclear," Burnie replied, "Why?"
"If he is then he is immortal and wouldn't get senile," Joel explained.
"He must not be then because there is no way in he..." Burnie said as he turned into an ally and ran smack into the back of a tall, tree like creature. Burnie quickly reversed as the creature turned around and swatted at them with it's rocky arms breaking the windshield. Joel brought his pistol to bear and landed five shots of flame dust powered bullets on the creature setting it on fire and causing it to convulse and then explode. Burnie was gripping the steering wheel with as much of an iron grip as Joel had on his pistol. It took the two a couple of minutes to unlock from their positions.
"I guess he isn't senile yet," Joel stated.
"Yeah," Burnie agreed as he opened the door and got out, drawing his own pistol. "Come on we should at least check the remains." He and Joel looked like two cops from a B rate movie as they cautiously approached the shattered wood and rock remains with their guns aimed at the creature. Neither cared however about what anyone might think if they saw them, as far as Burnie was concerned a creature made of wood and rock could pull itself back together at any moment and he wanted to be ready.
It didn't of course and after determining that the wood and rock of the creature's body was just that the two holstered their weapons and started to head back to their damaged cruiser. That is until Joel pulled Burnie's attention to the glow of a Dust crystal in the ally behind where the creature was facing when they ran into it.
"We can't leave that laying around here," Burnie said as he walked over and picked up the blue crystal. "Charged with ice, not designed to be a bomb then. Someone probably just dropped it one their way out of one of these warehouses."
"Didn't Barry and Ellisa purchase one of these warehouses for the White Fang recently," Joel asked.
"Yeah, I delivered the keys to the kid myself," Burnie said, "I think he'll do good as the Fang's leader. Actually that is his warehouse over there... looks open too."
"Why do these things always get interesting just when we are ready to leave," Joel pondered aloud.
"Because that's just the way things are," Burnie remarked as they walked into the opened door to the warehouse and found themselves in a mess. Inside was Ellisa and a dozen Fauns all trying to keep the tops on boxes of Dust that were popping open as the dust inside them expanded. One in the back blew and sent a crystal flying which landed at Burnie's feet. "Well that explains why this crystal was out in the access road," Burnie said. "Excuse us Ellisa but is this yours?"
"Ah Burnie, Joel, how did you end up here," Ellisa asked, "Never mind, look we need help the Dust is..."
"Growing," Joel remarked, "You know I'm starting to really dislike it when Ozpin is right."
"The Headmaster sent you," Ellisa asked.
"No he just said that the Dust might be growing," Burnie said as he handed the girl the two crystals, "How is that working out for you and Barry?"
"It's not easy," Ellisa said, "Between running the White Fang and the classes We've no free time at all, in fact I'm probably going to miss my class with Professor Oobleck due to this mess."
"I'll call Ozpin and tell him what is happening," Burnie said, "Joel head back to the precinct and get the cruiser in the shop, I'll stay here until you get back with a fresh one and until I hear from Ozpin."
"You just don't want to drive in the broken cruiser," Joel said as he turned to leave.
"That too," Burnie agreed.
"Broken," Ellisa asked, "How did that happen?"
"A living tree was in the road," Burnie said, "It's not a problem anymore. I'm going to step outside while I call Ozpin, then I'll see about helping you all with this mess."
"Okay," Ellisa said, "I'm holding most of these boxes together with Aura but it's getting harder."
"First thing you should do is stop trying to compress the Dust," Burnie advised, "It could explode if you keep doing that." He stepped outside to see the tail lights of the cruiser heading down the road. Taking out his scroll Burnie placed a call to Ozpin. "Ozpin, we've encountered both your elemental creature and the growing Dust, Ellisa is having a time with it in her warehouse. No sign of the Neco... Necro, Nerco..."
"Necromorphs," Ozpin finished, "From the two experts on them that are here in my office the Necromorphs don't start out big, look for little, tri-limbed creatures of a pale or tan complexion. Both Issac and Carver, the experts here and myself are convinced that the Necromorphs are somewhere on or near Remnant. Keep an eye out, they attack in mobs."
"Near the planet itself," Burnie commented, "So they are space fairing too."
"That is actually where they would be coming from," Ozpin said, "Doug believes he can spot them before they get within range of Remnant but I want to be sure that if they show up we will be ready for them."
"Right," Burnie said, "I'll get right on that when I'm done making sure Ellisa won't blow up half the warehouse district and after Joel gets back with a cruiser."
"You're at the site of the Dust growth," Ozpin commented before there was a conversation in the background, "Tell Ellisa that Bartholomew and the class will be coming to her to help out and to sate Bartholomew's curiosity."
"I will," Burnie said, "I'll be sure to notify you if the Necromorphs show up."
"Appreciated," Ozpin said in closing as they ended the call. Burnie sighed and walked back inside to help open the crates of Dust to release the pressure and prevent the Dust from spontaneously combusting. He sighed it was going to be a long afternoon.