For a moment, Raven's world was total darkness. When she finally gathered enough strength to open her eyes, she felt like three tanks had run over her. She woke up expecting the top of her tent, or the map of Remnant she kept hanged, but once her eyes saw the group of mechanical feet in front of her, she remembered everything clearly.
She was ready to tackle them, but her arms and legs were tied. One of the invaders grabbed her by the head and pulled her up making her feel a tickling sensation on the forehead. "Aura level: 20% and growing". The machine said before a second one delivered a punch to her stomach, shattering whatever aura she had regained. "Aura level: 0%". The first robot then dropped her while the second walked away. She managed to sit and saw the aftermath of the attack.
The camp was now a pile of ashes with just some poles, logs and pieces of cloth left standing. New, however, was a white marble desk and platform, and two rows of stone torches that formed a straight path. She noticed she was being held at what could be considered the left of the path with other survivors of the tribe while another group of survivors was on the right.
"Raven! You are awake!" an existed female voice said behind her. She turned around and found a young girl with long brown hair, some falling over her right eye, looking at her with admiration. "Don't worry, I'll give you time to figure a way out, then we'll show that back-stabbing son of a bitch what happens when you betray the Branwen tribe!".
Before Raven could ask her what she was talking about, the blue monster Vernal was fighting, now wearing a blue hooded vest with gold incrustations, blew a strange-looking trumpet. All robots then bowed and she was able to see Hotaru walking the path between the torches, using a more traditional looking version of the armor he used to fight her, but with a red sash and strange red flags with symbols unknown to her written on them.
"The case of the Branwen Tribe against the realm of Seido is now in session! Commander Hotaru of the Seidan Guard presides over this trial. The order of trials will be defined by the defendants will; should none pass, we will choose for you!".
The girl next to Raven gave them a cocky smile and stood up. "I'll go first!". Two robots then dragged her to the empty platform, while she smiled all the way.
Hotaru stood behind the desk and spoke to her. "Joan Cafel, you are accused of conspiracy to kidnap, robbery and damage of public property against the realm of Seido. How do you plea?".
She just kept looking at him with a smug grin and answered him in a mocking tone. "Well gee, Mr. Judge-man, sir. I don't know. I just woke up here!".
"So, you deny any sort of kidnapping against myself and my associate. Mr. Carline Vevento?".
She just nodded. "Kollector, can you play the security footage salvaged from the attacks against me?" he asked the blue man and the other nodded. Hotaru smiled while Kollector pulled the remaining head of one of the androids from his bag. It then projected a video of Joan putting explosives on Hotaru's van. "Madam is that you on the video? Have you lied to this court?".
She just played dumb again and continued her mockery. "Oh, that is not me, Mr.! That is my twin sister! Maraan Cafel".
"Do you have proof that this sister of yours exists?".
She shook her head. "Only my word!"
"Then the court calls 'Shay D. Mann' to testify!".
Every last one of the surviving tribesmen looked with anger and disgust as Shay was brought by the robots. The first to confront Hotaru and getting a tooth knocked out, the first to surrender to the invaders, and the only one who agreed to 'testify against the tribe'.
Hotaru then stood up and walked towards Shay. "Mr… Mann, by the Declaration of Order and the Elder Gods, will you tell the truth on this court?".
Shay was shaking on the spot. He gulped and then answered him. "Y-y-y-yes s-s-sirrrr…".
"Good!" Hotaru remarked before walking towards Joan. "Mr. Mann, for how long have you been a member of the Branwen tribe?".
"Many years now".
"More than two? Three? Five years?".
"More than five, yes…".
"And during those five years, did you meet Miss Cafel and or her sister in question?".
"I met Joan, yes. But she doesn't have a sister".
"Oh!" He remarked with a fake surprise. "And can you prove this?".
"There is a list of all active tribe members. Her name is on that list".
"Kollector?" The blue man then pulled a set of papers from his bag and looked through the pages until finding Joan. "So… this list mentions you, and no supposed sister. Anything to add, miss Cafel?".
She just rolled her eyes at him. "Duh, I lied. Now stop being an idiot with all of this role play of yours and just send us to jail already!".
"Jail? I think you don't quite understand. As the supreme judge in this case, I find you guilty of all charges with the aggravation of lying in court and disrespecting your judge. I, therefore, declare that your sentence: Is death by public execution and it should be carried out immediately!".
He then kicked Joan behind her knees, forcing her to kneel. He grabbed her head with both palms covering her ears. Every tribesman was looking at the scene puzzled as to what would happen next and Raven prayed to the brothers for it not to be what she was thinking.
"Get your hands off me, you brown-nosed… wait… why are my ears feeling hot? It's burning! It bu-AAAAAAAAH!". A yellow glow could be now seen coming from where Hotaru was holding her and then golden liquid falling. She yelled for a few more seconds before her eyeballs dried up and more of the golden lava began to fall out from her eye sockets while she gargled lava that proceeded to cascade down her open mouth and drowning her screams. When her body went limp, Hotaru removed his hands and the body fell on the ground with a loud thud. He then raised his foot and stumped on her skull, leaving a mixture of blood and the golden lava while the body twitched for a few more seconds.
All the spectators watched in horror and went on to yell at Hotaru pleads of forgiveness and threats of violence. "Silence!" yelled Raven. And everyone stopped talking. "Why did you kill her!? Mistral, Vale and Atlas abolished the death penalty long ago!".
Hotaru laughed quietly while moving back to behind his stone desk. "This camp has been conquered by Orderrealm and therefore, we apply our justice, Miss Branwen. Now, who's next?".
No one dared to even move a muscle. It wasn't until Kollector pulled out a list and read the first name, Iod Isope, that a middle-aged man began to panic as he was dragged to the platform.
"Mr. Isope. You are charged with conspiracy to kidnap, robbery and damage of public property against the realm of Seido. How do you plea?".
The man wasted no time and confessed. "Guilty! Guilty! Please don't do that to me, please!".
"You admit your guilt on all three charges?".
"Yes!".
"Very well, you will not face the death penalty then…". Just as Iod was letting out a sigh, Hotaru continued. "You are sentenced to a life of service to the realm until your debt has been paid!".
At that moment, two of the robots grabbed Iod and pulled him by his arms. They then changed their remaining free hands to the metallic buzz-saws and preceded to cut his arms at the elbows. Blood splattered in every direction while the sound of crunching bones filled the air. When they were finally done, Iod fell to the ground screaming while the robots changed their arms to flame throwers and closed his open wounds by forcibly burning his exposed muscles. The robots then proceeded to do the same with his legs, cutting him at the knees and closing his wounds with fire. His remaining body was then carried to a carrier.
"He insists that arms and legs are no longer needed to turn humanoids into cyborgs, so we got rid of them now instead of having to dispose of them in the city". Hotaru commented. "Do not give up, though. Should any of you manage to prove your innocence, you'll be able to walk free and do whatever you want with your life".
One of the tribesmen then stood up. "I want a lawyer! I have the right to a lawyer!".
Hotaru laughed for a moment before answering him "Again, this is not a trial by Remnant laws. In Seido, you represent yourself in court. Now, I believe this qualifies you for being the next". He snapped his fingers and the guards dragged him to the platform.
Raven was busy looking for a way out, if they had just burned the camp down, then she might still have a way to get out. She kept looking until she saw two guns on Kollector's hips: Vernal's weapons. The trial continued while Raven managed to get Kollector's attention. "You! What did you do to
Vernal!?".
Kollector looked at her puzzled and then noticed her looking at the weapons. He remembered how the older woman seemed to care for the younger one and talked to her as a new defendant was brought forward. "There was no fight. Grimm tore her apart before we got to her". He then grabbed one of the guns and shook it in front of her. "This is all that is left of her" he told her with his hideous grin plastered on his face.
Raven was at a loss for words. "You are lying!".
His grin just grew wider as he then turned around to face a random tribesman shaking on his knees. Kollector then stepped next to him and grabbed him by the neck. "Tell her how her pet died!" he commanded.
"V-v-vernal was stabbed and-and-and eaten by a beowolf. She then fell down a cliff with it; that is all I remember".
Kollector then looked at Raven with a sadistic smile before throwing the guy at the altar. "You are next!" was all he said as Raven felt a turmoil of emotions. She just remained still as members of her tribe were picked and slaughtered.
The trials went on for hours without anyone being able to prove their innocence; not that they thought Hotaru would grant it anyway. In them, tribesmen would turn against each other in order to prove their innocence and even escaping plans were foiled by people willing to snitch. A small window to escape discovered by Raven for some of them to get away was then ruined by a girl who pushed her down and out of the way, but she didn't know where to run to, so she was quickly gunned down and suffered death by brain-melting.
Raven felt all hope was lost. Kollector told her she was being saved for last, and now her 'trial' was just a few people away. She had decided to just sit and wait until an intermittent light on her right began to annoy her. And when she looked at the source, she was at a loss for words. There stood Vernal; without her jacket but definitely her. She gave her hand signals telling her to be quiet and that everything was going to be ok before she moved over quietly.
After their encounter, another tribeswoman was 'sentenced to life' and her limbs got chopped before she was taken to the carrier; now only four people remained before her. 'If Vernal has a plan, I sure hope she starts it soon' she thought.
Vernal was thankful that all the robots were at the trial. That gave her enough time to go to the only place that now gave her a fighting chance: Their cargo ship. All that raw dust just resting there unprotected was just what she needed. Plan A was to put dust charges all through the remains of the camp and shoot at them to cause explosions and distractions for her and Raven to escape. If all that failed, that was why she had 'plan B' waiting for her in a hidden location.
Getting the dust was easy enough. Placing the charges through specific points of the camp without being noticed was more of a challenge, but she was successful. Thankfully, she returned for Raven just as her 'trial' was beginning. She hid behind a tree and remembered all that happened before she was able to return.
Vernal and five other members of the tribe were running through the woods. It was already sundown and the faint buzzing of the circular saws could be heard behind them. "Where are we going?" she asked the other survivors.
"Far away from them!" One older man answered her.
"So you don't have a plan!?"
"Getting away from them is enough for me!"
Before she could retort him, another older woman with short hair stopped them and pointed to a cave. "Let's hide in there!". Everyone went on but Vernal picked up a fallen branch with leaves and proceeded to clean her tracks as best as she could.
They entered the cave deep enough so that they would still be able to see the light of the entrance, but far away as to not be seen or heard. They all laid against the walls to catch their breaths, but calming down was not on the close future.
"We are gonna die, we are gonna die, we are gonna die" one man kept repeating. Another woman was now crying while covering her face with her hands, and the woman who found the cave was clearly getting irritated by what the others were doing. Vernal was more worried about rescuing Raven, but denying she was just as scared as the others would be a lie.
"We are gonna die, we are gonna die, we are gonna die" the first guy kept repeating until another bigger and muscular tribesmen had enough.
"SHUT UP! They'll find us if you keep talking!".
"They'll find us if you two don't shut up!" the woman who found the cave yelled while the cries of the other woman grew. They all began to yell and Vernal was now reaching her boiling point. She then heard something and fired a shot at the wall, effectively making everyone silent. "Did you hear that?".
They were faint, but they were clearly steps, and they were getting closer. "They found us!" the crying woman whispered.
"No… those steps are too fast to be them… and too loud… It sounds… like…" In all of their altercations, Vernal never considered an important factor: They were all emanating negative emotions.
The cave rumbled and a mid-sized Death Stalker came from a wall deeper on the tunnel. All the survivors ran towards the only exit available; robots be damned. On the way, a man and the crying woman fell to the ground. Vernal wanted to return and help them, but by the time she arrived, one was grabbed by one of the Grimm's pincers while the other had been stabbed by the stinger. Vernal then left with the others only to find Kollector and his scouting team with flame throwers aimed at them.
"Enough games, child! Come with us and face justice now or as burnt humans!" he threatened them.
Vernal had to be glad, in some way, for what happened next as the Death Stalker emerged from the cave roaring and distracting their attackers for some time. The three remaining members ran as fast as they could, but they were still panicking and soon enough, got the attention of a pack of beowolves. She tried her best to keep them at bay firing her guns at any beowolf that got too close while also having to keep an eye on the robots she knew Kollector had sent her way.
They kept going until the worst that could have happened, happened: They were now at the edge of a cliff. The four remaining tribesmen then looked back at the pack of beowolves that were now surrounding them. Vernal didn't know if she could take on an entire pack while protecting the others, but she was then able to see two of the robots coming from the woods. She expected some of the beowolves to turn around and face their new pray, she expected the rest of the beowolves to get close to them, but she did not expect to be stabbed in the back. Literally.
The pain made her drop her weapons, and when she looked over her shoulder, a small knife was now sticking out of her back, and the culprits seemed to be two of the other survivors, the short-haired woman who was looking at her with anger, and the bulky man who was pointing his gun at her. "You had weapons this entire time!?" Vernal yelled at them.
"We didn't want to waste them. And right now seems to be the best time to use them!" the man said.
"If we surrender you to them, they might forgive us!" the woman said with a nervous laugh.
Vernal, in the meantime, had had it. She tried everything in her power to save them and this was the thanks that she got? She just screamed as hard as she could and allowed the rage to take control. Not caring about anything anymore, she tackled both to the ground. A beowolf then jumped at them and his force was enough to send all four down the cliff.
On their way down, they fell on a rock platform sticking out. Vernal and the woman got up while the beowolf began to devour the man. They then heard crumbling and saw how the platform was falling. They managed to jump to a small cavern hidden by the edge of the cliff and saw as the beowolf fell with the remains of the man to their doom.
"Whew, that was close. Right Ver- AGH!". The woman was unable to finish her sentence as Vernal pounced her to the ground and began to strangle her. She then remembered the knife on her back and took it out. She then covered the woman's mouth as she stabbed her on the neck, not letting her go until all movement had stopped and blood was not gushing out anymore.
She was able to hear the robots moving towards the hill, so she hid herself and the corpse against the mountain as best as she could.
"Analysis: The three remaining subjects have fallen over a cliff with sustainable damage done by a beowolf. Chances of survival: 3.96% each".
"Target acquired: 40.3098 degrees to the left. A piece of clothing remains from the scene. Object property of the female known as 'Vernal'. Begin retrieval". She then heard as if a harpoon had been shot at the ground and saw some gravel falling as loud metallic stumps got closer and closer before stopping. They were then replaced by quick consecutive stumps getting further away. "Object retrieved. Should the bodies be retrieved?".
"Negative. Time and resources would be wasted. We must return to Kollector now".
As she heard the robots getting away, she let go of a deep breath she was not aware she was holding. She then fell on her knees, feeling the need to rest for the first time.
Vernal woke up and noticed that the sun was now going down. If anything, it meant that she had been asleep for a few hours. She then turned to see the body of the woman next to her, and as much as she wanted to push her remain off the cliff, she decided against that and carried it to the cave where the other two bodies were to at least give them some sort of burial.
All the robots had left, and she was thankful that the camp was not so far away. In their rush, they seemed to have been running around the settlement only getting away slowly. The smoke, unfortunately, was enough of a landmark to tell her where she had started.
Arriving at the camp, she was able to see all the strange things the invaders had brought. She hid behind some bushes, away from any of the robots' line of sight and arrived just as one of the bigger members of the tribe accused Raven of blackmailing him into cooperating with the tribe. Soon after that, Hotaru declared him guilty and then preceded to do what she could only define as 'melting his brain' ad then popping his head open. A disgusting display, to be sure, but she had only one priority: free Raven.
After some time, she got an idea. She managed to get to what remained of their looted storage tent and found two big sacks. 'I need to return to the cave. Fast!' she thought. 'Hope they haven't checked under the main tent'.
After moving around everything she needed, she was just missing a distraction; but before she could get it, it was important to let Raven know she was alive and coming for her. Using the remaining of a mirror, she was able to get her attention and to instruct her to keep calm. Everything was set except for a distraction. An idea then popped on her head: The dust that Hotaru had recovered. If she worked fast enough, she would be able to stop Raven's execution.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Shout out to Shadowwolf20 for being a passionate reader, it means a lot.
Don't worry, this story will not be dropped to the pile of neglect; I have the whole thing thought from beginning to end and I'll get there.
As for Outworld and others, We'll see...