He'd flown back over to the HQ with the others, but intended to make his visit brief. Still had plans for the day, though the only notable one was to take Ruby out to do... something. He had enough currency to do that much and still have more than enough left over for other things of higher later importance. Nevertheless, he had a small shopping list and ample time to kill, so he thought he'd teach Ruby a skill he picked up on while on rotation through his home world once all was said and done.
Touching down on the rooftop alongside the others, he dismissed them all with a wave, having told them all that he'd be taking Ruby out to do a few things, none of the five of them bat an eyelash at him taking his leave. After all, they had their own things to do, errands to run, families to attend to, so it's not like anyone was just burning free time.
Taking the elevator down a floor, he crossed the halls in a brisk march towards his room. He'd offered Ruby her own room, something he thought she'd appreciate, after all, they finally had some legitimate sense of security and safety, but she opted to share a room with him instead. He assumed it was because of a sense of greater security or safety around him, but didn't think too much into it.
Opening up the door, he was treated to a rather amusing sight, as he watched Ruby and Mercury seemingly playing a game of tag, racing to and fro across and around the penthouse with each laughing as they went along. It was a nice little display of the two getting along, but dismissed it as he did have other things that took priority for the moment.
"Ruby, let's go." He announced towards the girl, immediately drawing the game to a halt as the two children shifted their attention over to him. He was about to step forward, but felt a hand test itself on his shoulder...
"Mercury, come along, some things we gotta do." Marcus revealed himself, stepping past Midnight and turning his gaze back. "Taking my boy out to learn a few new skills. You as well?"
"Something like that." He replied, before kneeling down and lifting Ruby as he usually did just as she ran up to meet him. Midnight regarded his lieutenant with a simple nod, before doing a 180 and making way to their destination...
"What is this place?" The child asked as he utilized his free hand to prop open the door, allowing an elderly couple to enter before him as he held the door. The store was of decent size, being it's own building as opposed to the hole in the wall that was the Armorer's old setup, and had about six or seven different isles, each one brimming with all the goods he needed to have a good time...
"It's a bait and tackle shop. Everything one needs to fish." He explained, walking up and examining a few of the rods. He needed to pick one small enough for the child, and another large enough for himself. Following that, he needed bait, hooks, lines, a bucket or two, the works. Ruby just rested her chin on his shoulder in response, allowing him to pick up everything they needed in peace.
It took a few minutes to pick out everything he wanted and needed, but he had it, and after stowing it all in his MRAP, he set a course for his next destination. It was, of course, the only logical destination one could set with such goods, so it wasn't exactly difficult to find. After another couple minutes, they'd arrived, and found themselves a secluded spot at the docks. Most of the docks were unoccupied, though thankfully most of the water hadn't frozen over.
It was also notably warmer here than it was in Patch. Must've been getting close to the desert now, which suited him just fine. Once he'd set up all their gear and set down in their spot, he handed Ruby her rod and began to explain...
"Fishing is a useful skill, but it is also fun if you have the patience." He started, guiding her hands into the right placement before taking his own and demonstrating how things were done. Ruby did her best to emulate him, and he did his best to guide her and make corrections where they were necessary.
All things considered, she was a fast learner. He didn't actually expect her to get anything today, but by the time he'd caught his fifth fish, a largemouth bass, she squealed in delight and excitement as she managed to pull her first. It was surprising, since they'd only been out fishing about forty minutes by then. He pat her on the head and ruffled her hair with his spare hand, before casting out his line once again, the child eagerly mimicking the action after dropping her own catch into the bucket...
He himself had caught eight in total by the time they were done, Ruby a second by the time an hour and a half was up. There was more he wanted do, so they called it for their time fishing there, though he did note that Ruby seemed to enjoy fishing. It was a nice little detail to note, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he closed the lid on the bucket, stowed it in the MRAP with the rods, and walked her along the harbor to a little ice cream shop along the road. He himself was hankering for something sweet, so it would be a treat for both of them to celebrate making it this far without dying. He hoped he'd be able to celebrate again once they got there, but best to concern himself with what was immediately ahead of them for the time being.
"Ah! Are we getting ice cream?!" Ruby squealed, bouncing up and down with abundant energy as they approached their destination.
"Yes. Calm down a bit, it's difficult to hold you in a stable manner with you moving this much." He told, getting a small pouty face from the girl, but she did follow the order, so it all worked out.
Stepping inside, he was treated to the sight of a young man, likely no older than sixteen (albeit still older than himself) who wore a white, short-sleeve button-up shirt, black pants, and a pink apron with the store's logo emblazoned across the front, had short blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a cheery expression settled on his face as he stood behind the counter...
"Welcome to Calliah's, sir!" He welcomed them as he moved to the beginning of the line. The glass front of the counter allowed him to see each flavor and the things he could slap on, should he so choose. He regarded the boy with a simple nod, before stepping up and looking over the collection of flavors, the child in his arms craning her head and body around to look upon her choices.
He ultimately settled on something a little lighter, having a simple cup of vanilla ice cream with some chocolate & peanut butter bits sprinkled in and a few sliced strawberries. Ruby had cookies and cream ice cream with the same peanut butter and chocolate treats in a cup of the same size, with the addition of a thin layer of caramel coating the cold part. They both sat down at the booth after he paid their tab, though Ruby sat in his lap since she was still a little too short to reach everything rightly, and quietly ate their treats.
Ruby noticed however how he only moved his balaclava enough that he'd be able to eat, but still kept everything else concealed. She cocked her head to the side with an unspoken question, but eventually just sighed and returned to her frozen treat after realizing he wasn't gonna answer following his continued silence. She knew he wasn't particularly chatty compared to most others, preferring to let his actions do most of the "talking" for him... still, she hoped to at least some day get a better reasoning behind why he hid his face. Something better than "he just doesn't like to show it," at least.
"Mister Midnight?" She began, directing those big silver pools up at him and successfully garnering his attention. "Are we going anywhere after Ice Cream? Today's been really fun, and I don't wanna call it a day yet..."
"Do you have anywhere in mind?" He countered, making her tap her chin a few times, before finally snapping a finger and beaming back up at him with a big, toothy smile.
"Yes! Mommy and daddy used to take Yang and I to this neat place called Wolf's! There's pizza and an arcade and it's super fun!" She informed, receiving a nod from her guardian.
"It's 1400. As long as we're back in the penthouse by 1730, we can manage."
"Yay!" She cheered, kicking her legs out and shooting her hands up into the air to show her excitement. Midnight just rolled his eyes as a faint smile crossed his lips. It was gone just as soon as it was there, but it had been there nonetheless...
Finding the place here was a bit of a pain, but he managed. It was a decently large and busy establishment, with glass double doors in the front, and the inside made liberal use of a whole spectrum of colors, though all the leather for seating was dyed crimson, while the tablecloths were snow white. It all sat over an almost marble-like tile floor, whether it was or was not actually marble, he didn't know, nor did he necessarily care, and it was sectioned off from the arcade by something akin to what one would use to seal a door at the bottom. The arcade itself was carpeted, in contrast to the tile used in the eating area, and had a pretty large variety of game systems to choose from. It was bustling with activity, though he wasn't too particularly concerned with civilian parents and their brats.
Now, after purchasing a handful of tokens, he set the girl down and let her lead the way through the arcade. She seemed adamant about wanting to do things together, and showed almost no interest in seeking to do anything alone. It didn't bother him, and he'd admit it was a fun little distraction. A coop shooter game, racing, some sort of game on the table where a disk was dropped in and they had to hit it into the other's goal while defending their own, which the child had referred to as table hockey, occupied a fair portion of the time. Most of the other children and even other adults there gave them a wide berth, the reason of such he thought was fairly obvious in being one of three things, the first being they thought they were weird, second they were intimidated by his presence, and third being they just weren't too keen on approaching someone as heavily armed as himself, not that he necessarily cared. The last hour or so was spent sort of decompressing, eating a little bit of pizza and letting Ruby cash out on all the tickets they'd earned.
"Hey!" A voice called from behind, and he turned to see a woman with a bowl haircut approaching him aggressively with her three brats in tow, he counted at least three. "Your brat-"
"Begone, insect." Midnight dismissed her without any care, lifting Ruby up into his arms so she could actually see everything at the ticket counter. Ruby was just about to set a hand on something, when a hand set itself on his shoulder. It tried to tug him back, but he wasn't so easily moved. Midnight sighed as it seemed the obnoxious lady didn't take so kindly to being dismissed.
"My kids want the big water gun up there, but we don't have enough tickets. Your brat does, have her buy it for my-" He groaned. It was one of these sorts. Great.
"Lady, if the child wants to buy your ankle-biters anything, that's her prerogative, but I'm not forcing her to buy anything for anyone." He answered politely, though she didn't seem to take too kindly to that.
"Unbelievable! As if you didn't take MY parking spot first, now you're acting like a damn tyrant! Why you- I'm gonna call the-"
He started tuning her out at that, opting to help Ruby sort through the prize pool instead. If some uppity, entitled bitch wanted to harass him, he could just tune her out just as easily. As far as things that got under his skin went, there was fairly little, and he really didn't feel her banging on his armor either, so it all worked out-
"OW!" The child in his arms suddenly yelped as her head jerked back violently. Acting on reflex he turned into the tug so Ruby wouldn't be hurt if someone were gripping her hair, and drew his blaster with his free hand. The woman's hand immediately withdrew from Ruby's scalp the moment the gun was pulled, screaming as he drew a bead on her head. He looked left to see the child rubbing the back of her head gingerly, before turning his head slowly back towards the woman...
"WELL, DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW?!." She screamed in his face, though his attention was still mostly focused on the child in his arms.
"You okay, kid?" He asked her softly, a shaking head being her response to the question he raised.
"That hurt..." She sniffled, holding her sleeve over her eyes. He growled lowly as he refocused on the woman, tightening his grip on the handgun.
"What you have to tell me better be worth assaulting the child over, otherwise this is going to end very badly for you." He threatened, making the woman take a step forward and poking his breastplate.
"Where do you get off ignoring me?! Where do you get off parking in MY SPOT?! Where-" She was cut off when his blaster was suddenly holstered, and a fist met her face, dropping her to the floor with a bloody nose. She made the mistake of touching him without his explicit permission, something he'd normally kill over. She was lucky they were in such a public area.
"Touch me or the child again, and you won't live to see the morning, do I make myself clear, whore?"
"How... how dare you! You can't hit a woman, you-"
"Ah... actually, he kinda just did though..." Ruby chirped, drawing a small, amused chuckle out of Midnight. He wasn't expecting her to add her two-cents into the matter, but the look on the woman's face was just priceless.
"Leave us, and do not disturb us ever again. I won't repeat myself, and if you try to make me, I'll bury you in pieces. Tiny, bloody pieces that you could fit in a Tupperware bin, do you understand me?" He growled out, letting his hand linger over the grip on his blaster pistol. Finally, as if a semblance of clarity overcame the woman, she scrambled to her feet, collected her kids, and ran out the door. "Damnable leeches..." Midnight grumbled, before setting Ruby down and giving her head a once-over...
"I-I'm fine, da- I- uh, Mister Midnight..." She squeaked meekly as he did so, pulling up the collar of her jacket with both hands and burying her face in it. Eventually, he decided she was fine, and turned back to the man at the counter who looked more than a little shocked by the sudden encounter. Sighing lightly, Midnight pushed all the tickets forward, and let Ruby pick out anything she wanted...
He came outside a few minutes later to the sight of that woman from earlier lashing out against his MRAP, though really doing nothing to it in practice, though she also had her own car parked in front of his vehicle, keeping it locked up in the parking lot, unable to move...
Or so he assumed she thought. Quietly loading Ruby and her couple of prizes up, he set himself in the driver's seat while she continued screeching at him, and started up the engine. He had 30 minutes to get back to the apartment to meet the hunters bringing the orphaned children, and it was already a 20 minute drive, so he was cutting it closer than he'd like, and didn't have a minute to waste.
Honking twice, he put a little pressure on the gas, lurching forward slowly and making the woman leap back and trip over the hood of her car, which her three children scrambled out of at the same time. Just in time, as the moment the last one scrambled out, he'd begun flattening the tiny car. Without a care in the world, he crumpled the tiny civilian car under his superior vehicle, and left the scene without a word. In his eyes, the score was even now...
"What's this?" Midnight mused as two carriages were pushed up to him with the ten hunters from earlier, their families nowhere to be found save for spouses...
"You said to bring the fallen hunters' orphaned kids, Mand'alor... they're infants, sir." A lithe female answered, making him cock his head slightly as placed a hand on one of the carriages. A boy and a girl, his helmet's scanner identified, neither over two years. It wasn't optimal, but he'd given his word, and in his eyes, either a man had his word, or he had nothing.
A nod escaped him as he gently lifted each with a separate arm after setting Ruby down. They were both bundled up and fast asleep, snoring faintly in his arms...
"We were accepted two hours ago by your Lieutenant, our families are upstairs..." She continued, seizing his attention. "The Armorer is getting rest, however, so we won't be receiving any armor for some time, and our children, our, ah, 'Foundlings' won't be receiving their own helmets for the next few days. She's prioritizing warriors first for equipment."
"As it should be..." He grumbled contently, before setting the children back in their carriages and regarding her with a handshake. "Well, I'm sorry I can't give you a more proper introduction, but welcome to our Remnant Mandalorians. Do you already know of our current mission?"
"Yeah, it's some sort of exodus, right?" She answered, resting a hand on her hip as she cocked it out to the left. "To Vacuo, if I'm not mistaken."
"That's correct. I won't bore you with the details, but the open range is advantageous." He answered, setting a hand on Ruby's shoulder as he informed her. The child had already put her helmet back on, bonking her fist against the forehead a few times and releasing an amused giggle as she did so.
"It's for the child's protection, we know. Marcus already filled us in on the details, Mand'alor." Another, a large, burly wolf faunas interjected to inform him of their understanding, drawing his attention over to the man. He recognized this one, having fought side by side with him when a pack of Beringels singled him out the other day...
"Davian, correct? You use a warhammer, correct?"
"Glad you remember, Mand'alor. Yes, that's my name... it's odd to think Marcus and I are now Brothers-in-Arms, we've fought many times in the past." He answered, putting his fist to his heart in a sort of salute.
"If you can hold your own against him, then I'm sure you'll be a mighty asset. When will you be receiving your gear?"
"Tomorrow. I'll be first up to receive my gear, a helmet and pauldrons. The rest of the steel plate and jet packs are currently being fabricated for all ten of us by Miss Black, should be finished within the hour, according to her." His answer satisfied him, so he regarded them one last time before taking his leave, allowing Ruby to push the smaller of the two baby carriages...
"...with the increase in numbers, there's a heightened requirement for everything. Most importantly among the long list, however, is transport. Ten at the gate have joined our ranks, including twenty three others within their respective families, and among them thirteen warriors, and finally the two infants. Mand'alor, I hate to sound pessimistic, but we're taking in thirty five new Mandalorians." Rikka crossed her arms as she explained this, rolling her neck as she did so. He understood the concern, of course. While he'd be taking the two infants with himself into his own MRAP, there wasn't enough space on the Yachts for everyone, especially not if they picked up even more while they were here... transporting everyone was gonna be tricky, as was moving all their supplies with them.
"We've already confirmed that they have a small motor pool of their own, but it'll be insufficient... we may have to finance the purchase of a few new vehicles if we wish to continue moving anytime soon." Aaron added, lounging back as he chewed a wad of gum so casually, hands resting behind his head as he kept his eyes locked with his own. "We're at fifty seven here. We're growing fast, but unfortunately, we might be growing a little too fast for our own supplies to keep up with."
"Marcus, what's your input on all this?" Midnight shifted attention over to his top Lieutenant, hoping he'd have a solution in mind...
"I have a solution in mind... but we'll need some time to rearm before we take such a venture." He started, drawing all presents' attention, including their 23 new warriors. "Atlesian Military convoys pass through Günter's pass about a dozen clicks north of the city. Hijacking even one of those convoys should give us plenty of vehicles for our purposes."
"You want us to tango with Atlas?! Are you crazy? We wouldn't last thirty seconds!" Davian boomed, his tail stiffening as he shot up out of his seat. Marcus only chuckled in response as the sudden roar of the crowd died down with Midnight's signal for silence.
"If we were just a single team of Hunters, you'd have a point... but there's twenty nine of us ready to fight, thirty including the Armorer. We'd only need twelve for an operation like this, sixteen if we want to take em all out before they can sound any alarms or tell anyone who's attacking." Marcus added, bringing up a roster of all warriors available. Though, after watching him bring up a completely different file, they all realized that this was hardly for vehicles alone that they he wanted to take this convoy as he laid out a file labeled as 'Beskar Shipment.' "This specific convoy will be rolling through in four days. It's apparently carrying a quarter ton of Beskar, too. We'll steal the vehicles, and we'll reclaim our birthright while we're at it."
"The Beskar alone is worth a fight with Atlas. Marcus, I want twenty warriors beside us selected for the ambush. The Armorer and the other seven warriors will remain here as security." Midnight ordered, before grabbing one of the files and perusing the contents. "There's sixteen vehicles in total. We'll split up our force into four attack groups of five, with one among each squad designated as squad lead. Marcus will act as the forward commander for the ambush, and I will provide sniper support."
"Mand'alor, I mean no disrespect, but is it truly wise to make an enemy of Atlas? Perhaps we should attempt to negotiate with them instead?" One in the background asked, making Midnight shake his head in denial.
"That they deny us our Beskar is reason enough to throw the first punch. They will not recognize our claim to it, and that has already made them our enemies." It was said with such steely resolve, though none absent at the gate earlier seemed too ready to make such a change of allegiance yet. He sighed, and stood up whilst regarding Marcus with a nod. "I won't ask any of you to battle Atlas if you do not want to. I don't expect any of you to follow me blindly, but if you will not follow me, you will either remain here to guard, or you will leave immediately, forfeiting any arms and armor you've received from us."
"Those of us who have fought alongside you will follow you to the death, Mand'alor." Rikka affirmed, saluting him with a fist to her heart. "The rest of them just need to fight alongside you once or twice and they'll follow, I'm sure."
"I see your point..." He admit. Thirteen of his battle-ready brothers and sisters were only here because they were related to others who'd joined, but as of yet lacked any further reason to follow him specifically. He was acutely aware that he needed to change that, but now just stood the question of how to go about that?
Taking a moment to ponder, he rested the chin of his helmet on his fist after propping his arm up on the table, quietly mulling over his options. The others had all been drawn to his side through inspiration in battle, so if he could replicate those scenarios again, he might be able to win those who'd not fought alongside him before over in loyalty. A simple solution, but if it works...
"Aaron, what's the biggest, most dangerous and most lucrative hunter mission available in the region right now?" Midnight turned to the Veteran Hunter leader, making everyone present perk up slightly. Surely, confidence from a big kill would be substantial, right?
"Ouroboros. Entire crusades have been dedicated specifically to killing that snake, all have resulted in total failure, hundreds of Hunters dead. The kill order has existed as long as the IHA has existed, but that Grimm monstrosity is perhaps tens of thousands of years older. I'm sorry, but if that's our target, we may as well resign ourselves to death here and now." He informed, drawing a small chin scratch from the Mand'alor.
"He's right, Mand'alor. Ouroboros has a total Hunter kill count in the high thousands... but nobody before us has had the proper arms and armor to do the job. If anyone can kill it, it's the Mando'ade!" Marcus added, slamming his fist upon the table for emphasis at the end of his declaration. Aaron simply shook his head, before picking out a picture of the giant snake and sliding it over to Midnight.
"It predates all known history of this world, but it is the last of it's kind. Slay this one, and the glory of being the ones to bring the King Taijitu's ancient ancestors to extinction with finality will be ours... the Mando'ade from that alone will go down in Remnant history for millennia to come." He mused, watching as Midnight picked up the picture and examined it...
"So, the exact size of this beast is as of yet unconfirmed?" Midnight inquired, looking up from the picture towards everyone else in the room.
"That's right. Nobody has ever bore witness to it's full size in thousands of years. If legends are to be believed, it was five kilometers long ten thousand years ago... we do not know the growth rate of this ancient species of Grimm, but we do know that nothing short of weapons from Atlesian warships could even scratch it's bone plate during the last crusade two hundred years ago." Aaron continued, running a hand down his face in exhaustion while the room was drawn to silence...
"But it's a lot softer on the inside." Marcus noted, making Aaron burst out in laughter...
"Yeah! It's acid is also potent enough to melt through high carbon steel beams like a high pressure water hose through notebook paper! No way we're getting anything in there, or anyone with a weapon that could damage the thing."
"Seismic Charges. Beskar Armor. Mandalorian Under Armor." Marcus drawled, crossing his arms across his chest and lounging back in his chair as if he'd just said something completely foolproof. Most of the room just scratched their heads in clear confusion, with the exception of the one calling the shots...
"If a Seismic Charge can punch a region-sized hole in an asteroid belt, it can kill this thing. How confident are you that our gear can protect us from the acid, and where will we find a Seismic Charge?" Midnight queried, making the man stand up and look to the doorway. He nodded his head once, and from the shadows of the corridor, lo and behold, Mercury walked out, pushing a charge with just what they needed in it...
"I told you my boy and I had somethings needed doing. Speaking of, we have about six more Beskar Ingots to our name." He boasted, before banging his fist against his armor a few times. "And my armor and suit have been drenched in the acid of Krayt Dragon before, and the armor came out unscathed. My suit needed repairs, but it held, and it protected me."
"I see..." Midnight mused, letting his gaze roll over everyone present. Eventually, he shrugged, and set his hand down on the table with a slam. "Marcus, get that Seismic Charge rigged for remote detonation and inform your wife that I'll need my suit reinforced. Tomorrow I'll be taking the rest of my armor over to the Armorer so it might be replaced with the Beskar replacement. My Kama and pouches are already acid-resistant, I just need everything else rated the same. Everyone else, as soon as the last warrior is equipped with their updated wargear, we're going hunting... and we'll go down in history as the warriors who killed Ouroboros!" With his declaration set in stone and the meeting concluded, he shot up from his spot at the head of the table, hit his sharpest about-face, and marched right out. If anyone had anything they wanted to say in opposition, they had their chance, and they held their piece.
Today, the Mando'ade armed themselves, trained and prepared. For tomorrow, like their ancestors 4,000 years before them in the time of the Neo Crusaders, they went to war...