Garek, Selene, and Cinder sat in front row seats with Helena at a small sparring arena, watching Pyrrha Nikos and others competing. Selene was sipping on a glass of wine. The crowd was not overly large, but it did set Selene on edge.
For Garek, as a Huntsman, watching the matches of the 6-7 year old bracket initially made him feel queasy. The movements were more like clumsy choreography, the opponents heavily padded and coached through the moves.
But as they moved up in age brackets toward tweens, he could see that there was method to it. The movements became more fluid. Padding disappeared as aura had been unlocked. There was skill and grace being developed there.
But he still didn't like even that. It was too clean. Too nice. It wasn't designed to fight Grimm, it was designed to provide a spectacle.
That kind of training, if applied to Grimm, would get a Huntsman killed.
But these aren't Huntsmen in training, he reminded himself. These are kids participating in the Tournament Circuit. Huntsmen training started at Haven, Beacon, Atlas, or Shade around age 17. No, that's not right either. For most kids, it started around age 13 or so at the combat schools like Signal, Pharos, Sanctum, Oscuro etc. Some of those ended up in the tournament circuit too, deciding that the life and death fights against Grimm and bandits wasn't what they really wanted out of life.
Still, he and Selene clapped encouragement along with Helena over Pyrrha's first match, which she won. For the others, he did so more just being polite. Selene did with more honesty, appearing to actually enjoy the displays of growing skill.
Cinder seemed completely unimpressed. He could feel her silently judging and finding them all wanting. That reaction wasn't lost on Helena. "I was the same way when I first finished Specialist training," she confided to Garek, "watching new Atlas recruits. Kids with toys, playing at being real soldiers. Trust me, I understand."
The patriarch of the family, along with his wife, sat in a VIP box at ringside. There hadn't been room for the Nikos family and all three guests there, so Helena had opted to sit with her new friend instead. They got a few dark looks from her father over that, but he was in a better mood after Pyrrha won her age bracket.
Afterward, Alexander Nikos invited them to join them for dinner at a restaurant. Selene quickly agreed, though Garek and apparently Helena were wary, possibly for different reasons.
Cinder listened good-naturedly as young Pyrrha chattered about weapons and pantomimed various moves. Selene had warned Cinder against being openly critical about the skill levels of the participants, and she had apparently listened and was making an effort. Despite the five year age difference, they shared a love of sparring, and many of Cinder's experiences had left her both more and less mature than her physical age.
Helena and Selene spent much of the meal quietly chatting as well. That left him the target of Alexander and Athena Nikos. Alexander was a barrel chested man, with a personality to match.
"A Huntsman, eh? What did you think of the matches?"
"I can see the progression of the training. The upper levels are like watching a well-choreographed dance," he answered both diplomatically and honestly. "Do they often transition to combat schools after this?"
"Bah. Those who can't afford professional coaches, maybe. But we are Nikos! Only the best for our children." He eyed his youngest daughter with a thin smile. "She will have the best training possible. Keep your eyes open, Huntsman. She will be something to watch." Alexander's then drifted over to Cinder. "And what of your daughter, are you training her personally?"
Garek choked. "Ah, she's our ward, not our daughter. And yes, I am. But more for survival than spectacle. We will be travelling in the wilds, and she needs to be able to defend herself." He had considered idly asking Helena if she would consider asking her family to take Cinder in. Within five seconds of listening to Alexander Nikos' blustering, and the disdain on his face when Garek talked about survival vs spectacle, nixed that. No way in hell would he allow it, even had the man agreed. He suspected Helena would share his views.
"Hmmph. A coarser training for a more primitive need. I suppose so. Still, someone must be the sacrifices, so that others may shine." He slapped Garek on the shoulder, and the faunus had to grit his teeth to stop himself from hitting back rather harder. He glanced over to see Helena's mother, Athena, wince and give an apologetic glance. Well at least she has some awareness…
The rest of the meal, he sought to drag his slice of the conversation to safer matters, with limited success. The elder Nikos seemed obsessed with two things, his disappointment with his older daughter's mundane career choice, and his hopes for his younger.
That was a shock to Garek.
He knew about the Atlas military. Even the most common grunts considered it a point of pride in being willing to stand up to Grimm without being Huntsmen.
The Specialists were something else altogether. He'd researched them beyond his original superficial understanding because of BA's past, and because of what Polendina had said, and then further after meeting Helena Nikos. Specialists trained hard individually and in small team tactics. They had to, because without aura, one mistake could be deadly. From what he'd gleaned, they worked in teams of four to six members, and operated like they were semi-independent parts of a single machine, whether it be defense against Grimm, infiltration / exfiltration, security details, or anti-terrorist activities. They were elite, and proud of that.
And this man dismissed it as a waste. Garek was pissed off on behalf of his fiance's friend. "Being a Specialist is a highly sought after and hard-earned honor in Atlas, Mr. Nikos. It's nothing trivial."
Beside him, he heard Selene and Helene go silent.
"Maybe in Atlas. But in Mistral, it's just playing soldier, young man. We have higher aspirations in Mistral, and the Nikos family has an image to maintain in Argus. I don't expect you to understand, considering the life you are forced to lead."
Garek wasn't sure whether it was real and misguided sympathy, or he was being patronized. He glanced to his left, and saw a quiet pleading look on Helena's face.
"Well, I guess things are different in the big city. I am but a simple faunus from Ansel. It appears I have a lot to learn about Mistral's more influential families."
"Hah! Good on you, for recognizing your upbringing's failings! Not that it's your fault, of course. But a willingness to see ones lacking, and correct it, is the first step." Alexander chuckled.
"Definitely." Garek drawled, and glanced back to see Helena roll her eyes and drag Selene back into their conversation, which Selene did after a grateful squeeze of his leg. You owe me, Selene. World class nookie for putting up with this.
"How the hell did such an insufferable asshole create someone like Helena Nikos?" Garek asked. He had collapsed on top of their bed, fully clothed, mentally exhausted, and pissed off.
"Apparently she asks herself the same question." Selene replied, removing pins from her hair near the dresser. "Though frankly, his stubbornness is one of the things she says she inherited, and which has allowed her to succeed as one of the first female Specialists, despite not being from Atlas. She begged me ask you to pay no attention to her father's casual bigotry."
Garek grunted. "Well, at least he isn't a bigot against faunus. Hell, he couldn't care less. Everyone is beneath him."
"Indeed. It may be petty of me, but there were moments, listening to his words, when I fantasized about hauling him before my Queen, to see that arrogance turned to urine." Garek choked. "Twas but a fantasy my love." She turned to face him showing her teeth.
"G-good… that's the first time I've been terrified of you, right there."
"Oh? You have found me… intimidating… before, have you not?" Her appearance shifted, washed of color except for bright, scarlet eyes that took on a predatory expression. "Perhaps I should… work harder… to ensure your appreciation for my merciless attentions."
Garek swallowed as she locked the bedroom door behind her, and began shedding clothing on her way to the bed.
In the other bedroom, young Cinder smirked as she heard the sounds of furniture creaking, put on a set of newly acquired headphones, and turned up some music that Terra had recommended. She was already familiar with the tune that would be playing in the room next door, and found it rather dull.
The next day, the Lone Huntsmen held their first forward planning session.
The first portion was agreement on their overall strategic goals. As Garek and Selene had already spent much time on this, they were able to convince the rest that they were still working off insufficient information.
The Lone Huntsmen appeared to accept the idea that both existing power blocs were, to some extent, dangerous to them as small players. Garek spent a significant amount of time impressing upon them that, from what little he understood, even the "good" side would sacrifice them in a heartbeat if it gained advantage in the war, or if they were seen as potentially serving the other side. That was not something he was prepared to risk.
Instead, he had argued and obtained agreement that they should, number one, continue to avoid the attention of both major power blocs and, number two, grow their own power base and information network. They also agreed that their overall goal was to find some way of ending the broader conflict between the two blocs, removing the Grimm as a global threat, and quietly neutralizing Salem's agents, including Watts.
It sounded ridiculous when they said it out loud, and they all admitted as much. But, Pete had explained calmly, they had already accomplished the ridiculous by staying alive and operational in the face of Arthur Watts. Why not keep going?
Garek began to understand why Pete was their leader.
From a more tactical perspective, the general agreement was that their next target was Leonardo Lionheart, at least to feel him out. After that, Garek suggested a trip to Menagerie.
"Why?" Pete asked, but the others had nodded along.
Selene caught on immediately. "For the same reason you ask the question. Menagerie is insignificant, in the minds of those in power." She waited as they went from surprised to thoughtful. "We seek to build a base that ignores the current Academies, and the Academies appear to be directly tied to the power bases of the Kingdoms where they reside. Menagerie has neither."
"But it does hunger for influence." Garek added. "It wants legitimacy, to be treated as an equal with the four Kingdoms. That gives us an in. And besides, I've got the beginnings of a plan."
He went through rough details, and except for a few questions, left them all quietly thoughtful. He could tell he'd given them something to chew on.
"That's… not something we would have ever considered," Pete allowed. "But I can't say it's a stupid idea. And it's definitely outside-the-box thinking."
"Which is how we've survived so far," BA added and GNU nodded agreement.
"And yet again, my love, you prove your worth." Selene added. "Though of course, I may be biased."
That got a laugh from the rest. "Speaking of bias and stuff." Pete added. "Have you decided what you're going to do about Cinder? It's not our place to tell you how to handle your… ward. But it will make things more complicated."
"We have," Selene responded. "Logically, it would be better to enlist your aid in finding her a safe place here. She would have a support network, and be closer to Atlas, where Rhodes resides, so he can visit her more frequently."
"But," Garek interjected, "Selene and Cinder have grown closer, and I have taken responsibility for her training, which is not something you folks can do. She wants to be a Huntsman, not a Specialist. He nodded to BA."
"In the end, we will ask her what she wishes," Selene continued, "and allow her to choose. I suspect it will be the first such choice, made freely, she has ever had in her life."
GNU spoke next. "If she wants to stay, I would be happy to foster her." Selene mouthed a silent thank you at that.
"And Uncle Pete and Uncle BA too!"
"She is never staying at your apartment, Pete. That thing is a health hazard, and no vaccine exists."
"Oh, come on it's not that bad…"
"I've seen what's in your fridge, Pete."
"Asshole… at least I'm getting a new car."
"Fuck you, Pete." BA muttered. "My new rifle… fucking Grimm cabal."
The call and hando-ff of a Secure Scroll to Polendina went off without fanfare. First had come the call to Polendina, short and generic, informing him of the courier and suggesting it be delivered at the café where he often took his afternoon tea. Delivery to Rhodes, who had loitered for several days after he would normally have headed back out for contracts, took only a day, and the delivery of the box to Polendina the next.
The box included some helpful tips, chief among them not to use it in his home or work areas, or where cameras were present, until he was confident those had been carefully swept and evaluated.
It was two days later that Dr. Polendina made his first call to Garek using the new device. Garek explained immediately that he had fellow compatriots, experts in various aspects of the situation, who wished to listen in and provide questions and guidance, and received Dr. Polendina's approval for that.
"You have done me a great service, young man. I want to thank you again."
"You've been careful, Doctor? We both know how dangerous he is."
"Dangerous enough to murder some unfortunate person so there is a body available to stage his own death? Dangerous enough to permanently ruin the reputations of several people?"
"I'm sure he's done, and plans, even worse than that, Doc."
"I can believe it. And thanks to you, I've drawn in one individual that I trust completely. He another former associate of mine, an expert in computer viruses and malicious code. I've already instructed him to be extremely cautious, and not to make any changes to code he finds. He is only to discover and monitor until we can discuss." He paused. "We've already found a few… anomalous bits of code in some very sensitive systems, Huntsman. I won't go into detail yet."
That's perfect, GNU said in Garek's ear. BA agreed, and Garek passed that on. "We want to start very carefully, Doctor. We want to understand everything he's touching, and prepare countermeasures and safety protocols, without making any moves that will tell him that we are aware of anything. If he knows that we know, then he'll just find another approach, or start hunting us directly."
"I understand, and my friend said something similar. I haven't told them who's behind this, only that they are skilled, ruthless, and dangerous."
"Good." Another murmur in his ear. "I'm to ask whether your friend will share any suspect code with our team for analysis on our end. If its… sensitive… we understand if the answer is no. We'll leave it to them to evaluate that.
"I'll pass that on." The older man paused. "I was also considering telling the head of the Atlas Specialists that Watts is not dead."
There was a babble in Garek's ear. "What? Oh. Shi- I mean crap. Sorry Doc. I'm told that because Captain Ironwood is also headmaster at Atlas Academy, that's probably a bad idea. He would feel the need to spread the word immediately, and-"
"And again, that would warn Watts that he is being hunted, and make him more dangerous." The older man took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Perhaps I am too old and not nearly devious enough for this sort of thing."
"No! Doc, we need you in the loop on this. We've got to have someone at Atlas with your knowledge and credibility. You know enough about Watts' abilities to understand how dangerous he could be to Atlas. You know his personality enough to be cautious. You have a trusted resource that can monitor his interference better than we can. And on top of that, when the moment requires it, I don't doubt that you can pick up the phone and people will listen to you immediately. That's going to be critical if the midden hits the wyvern."
The scientist sighed. "When you put it that way…" He considered. "And what will you be doing, Huntsman?"
He waited for some feedback from his team. "We've got our own communications and security team. We'll share findings with you too, so you are aware, but they are casting a much broader net. Not just Atlas. And I'm going to be stretching my legs, visiting more people like you in person, across the Kingdoms. Watts isn't limiting his activities to Atlas, Doc. He's working toward some broader goal, and we suspect it's not something that will be good for Remnant. We are hoping that this monitoring will help us understand what he's targeting, which should give us clues on what his overall goal actually is."
Which was not quite correct. Garek suspected that Watts' goal had to run parallel or support Queen Salem's… to gather the Relics, summon the Gods, piss them off, and have them destroy her and all of Remnant in the process, thereby exacting her revenge on pretty much everything and ending her suffering.
And he suspected Watts would play a role in that, whether playing interference, gathering intelligence of his own, sowing chaos in general, or worse.
"Very well, Huntsman Grae. I'm sure you're busy, and my tea break is almost over. You've succeeded in getting me to flinch every time I see a security camera, and I'll be having some discrete checks of my home security system as well." He looked over his glasses. "I want to emphasize, we've already found some troubling… what did my friend call them?… potential exploits?… those, in two sensitive systems that do not look like accidents or errors. You've already done me, and Atlas, a great service."
"That's our goal, Doc."
"Yes, well. Valuable service deserves compensation. How are you folks fixed for funding? I have several… call them open-ended research funds… that we could legitimately purpose to support your efforts."
Garek had to yank the earbud out of his ear at the yell of joy from Pete at that.
"I think my team would appreciate that," he said, rubbing his ear. "I'll discuss with them, and we can follow up."
"Understood." The old man smiled broadly. "Might want to get your hearing checked after that. I heard it all the way over here."
"Yeah. That too. Good night, Doctor Polendina."
Garek picked up the earpiece and opened the door to the small sound-resistant room he'd been in, and stepped out into the larger basement at Pete's Gaming Emporium to find the other three still seated at the conference table there. They were all three smiling.
"Funding for upgraded tech…" GNU breathed.
"Money! I can maybe hire someone to work the counter!" Pete whooped.
"Better gear." BA added. "Hell, knowing government R&D budgets, we might be able to lease a bullhead."
The others blinked. "Are you serious?" Garek asked.
"Damn right I am. Do you have any idea the kind of money my Atlas Specialist team blew through in a month? And I know Polendina essentially had a blank check five years ago. I bet he still does. Atlas takes its R&D seriously, it's literally our culture."
"Holy shit…" Pete breathed.
Garek thought about the half-formed plans he'd already been chewing on, and realized that this might actually make some of them feasible. "You said it, Pete. Holy shit."
He sent a few messages, putting things in motion, just in case.
Among them was a message to Haven Academy Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart, essentially just saying hello to his old Headmaster, and asking whether he might stop by for a chat in a few weeks when he was likely to be in Mistral.
The second was to the aging Chieftain of Menagerie, Perine Ursulus.
[A/N] First thanks to my recent reviewers, harmgee351, HoundOfIre, and Shadowstorm-Vash. Feedback like yours keeps the fingers a typin' and the bunnies a plottin'. An oh my are the bunnies plotting. If anyone wants to be a beta reader, I don't have one, and I'll be happy for the feedback.
As for this chapter, Selene is building ties with her first friend beyond Garek in the person of Atlas Specialist Helena Nikos. A wild young Pyrrha appears age 7 years old, all elbows and knees and fiery red hair. I found an awesome fan art of her around that age, and she was precious as all hell. Pyrrha's and Helena's father (also a creation of Coeur al'Aran) appears and is as abrasive and arrogant as you can imagine from Mistral upper crust. I've also named their mother Athena. If she becomes developed, she'll be more my creation at this point.
Garek and Selene have still not quenched the passionate fire of their feelings for each other. The Lone Huntsmen, now numbering five, have begun to feel they are gaining enough information for the inklings of second step to form (the first having been Polendina). If it's not clear, TLH are pretty much read in on everything except for the fact of Queen Salem's name, how her being immortal worked, and of course that she was Selene's mother and Selene's true nature.
And of course, now the relationship with Polendina is bearing fruit, both directions, and there may be monetary compensation!
TLH's reaction may seem ridiculously naïve, and to some extent it is. The reason why people like Ironwood and Lionheart despaired in canon was in no small part because they first believed themselves strong, and then were shown how powerless they really were. TLH, on the other hand, are weak, and know they are weak, so screw it, why not roll the damn dice?
And those next steps? Apparently they involve Haven Headmaster Lionheart and then the Kingdom (unofficial) of Menagerie. Currently an OC I'm creating, Perine Ursulus, will be the Chieftain of Menagerie and we will see them in a few chapters. A younger and more optimistic Ghira Belladonna is the leader of a much more protest and activist White Fang, which is likely headquartered in either Atlas or Mistral (haven't decided yet).
I've got cleanish drafts of seven more chapters, spanning about two more years into the future of this timeline (basically catching up to Fall of Beacon -8 years), rough cuts of three more running up to FoB -7, and the entire story outlined to its conclusion. Total words drafted so far is over 100k. So fear not gentle readers, my muse will not fail me, and I will not fail you.
I hope you are continuing to enjoy, and appreciate the reviews very much!