Wet Works
The Bullhead rocked as it experienced turbulence. While Clover clung to a handrail, Alexea barely moved an inch.
She knew the First Lieutenant was a regularly happy man, eager to please both his General and herself. It was getting rather annoying having his constant questioning about her every minute or so, but the way he went about it; the way he spoke in such a non-judgemental way…
He only got short answers typed for him.
Though she didn't know exactly what a Semblance was or why she would have one, she knew what made her what she is; the Pariah gene.
Her mouth pulled into a tiny frown under her mouthpiece. The Bullhead shuddered even more violently than before.
"There's a storm over the Wind Path, but we're on the approach now," the pilot's voice came over the inbuilt speaker.
"Could be worse," Clover said and she tilted her head, asking how. He chuckled, "could be a bigger storm?"
She gave the man a levelled stare, unimpressed with the statement of the obvious.
They could hear the pelting of rain on the Bullheads hull and feel the vibration of the thrusters in their feet as they adjusted for wind and many other variables neither knew of.
What she wouldn't give for a Valkyrie in place of this poor parody…
The craft suddenly jolted, nearly knocking Clover off his feet and causing her to stumble slightly. Landing in style…
"Gods, sorry 'bout that, a vertical draft got us just before we hit the ground, but we're on the ground now. Good luck out there," the pilot spoke again and as they finished, the portside door opened.
To call it stormy was not doing it justice, It's more like a damn cyclone!
The only landmarks that could be made out were the faint outlines of buildings and the tiniest glimmer of lights from what she believed to be windows. In the distance, the smallest of glimpses of the rest of the city that scaled up the mountain were barely visible.
She poked her head out to glance at where they were, discovering that the landing pads were also in the docks of decaying ships.
Like the bottom of a Hive City…
While she groaned internally, Clover did so externally as he hoisted a large duffle bag over his shoulder, "I'm supposed to have good luck…"
Alexea faced him and jolted her head out to the rain, collected her own duffle bag, then followed her own instruction. Her feet made a splash in the inch-deep puddle that covered most of the ground and Clover followed after her. Less than two steps away from the Bullhead did both become drenched.
Oh, how she wished her armour and the fibro-muscle layer was sealed, she could feel it sticking to her skin. Still better than heat.
Clover jogged to the neared building while she took strides, her armour clunking together and feet splashing in the water. The vague creaking of the ruined ships and the loud crack and boom of thunder forced the image of dark stone halls to flash in her mind.
She shuddered slightly at the unwanted memory and focused on the cold water that poured down on her, filling every recess in her armour and on her body in the uncomfortably cold liquid. By the time she made it to the cover that Clover stood under, her cloak gained an extra few kilos in water weight. She rolled her shoulders then her neck, causing a series of cracks up along it.
"Another walk in the park for you?" he chuckled as he flicked his hands in a futile effort to rid the water from his form.
She shook her head at the man's perpetual happiness and continued along the buildings with Clover behind her. The motel that they were designated should only be a few streets away.
"You know, I've never stayed at a motel above a bar before,"
She gave him a side glance, I should care why?
He only laughed at her glance, "you should care a lot,"
Froze on the spot and spun on him, the force of her black-soul tightening invisibly around them, making Clover's green eyes go as wide as possible and his breath hitch. She pulled a Scroll out of her duffle bag and typed rapidly, "how did you know my thoughts?"
He swallowed thickly, "a lucky guess,"
Her eyes sharpened into slits and the air tightened. He took a shaky step back and spoke in an equally shaky voice, "It's my Semblance, luck is my Semblance,"
Thunder rumbled overhead as she stared him down with fire in her eyes and a firm grip on the Bolter. If a Semblance is derived from the Warp like other psykers, then how did he do that?
Unless it was a legitimate lucky guess… coincidences can happen.
The air eased slightly and she typed single-handedly, "If you control it, show me."
Clover's breathing returned to a more steady rhythm. He swallowed and took the smallest of steps forward, "It's a passive one, I can't directly control it," he dared to take a slightly larger step closer, "not like yours. I'm sorry if it felt invasive, I can't control it or when it functions,"
The hardness in her eyes lessened a fraction but they still stayed in slits while her right hand gripped the Bolter.
"I don't have a 'Semblance' and don't do it again." She gave him just enough time to read it before she turned on her heel with a wet crunch and continued following the memorised directions given by General Ironwood.
Luck. Luck wasn't a power someone just had, nor something a normal person could. No, it was always a series of events often overlooked that created the illusion of such a thing. Or it was something worse behind the scenes of battle, pushing and pulling on the strings of fate for their own needs and goals.
If she were to run into Greyfax here, it wouldn't be luck, just a coincidence. Nothing more.
For someone to claim it as a passive ability, their delusion would have to be strong. First Lieutenant Ebi was no exception.
No one was.
Clover followed a few paces behind her, the weight of what he felt not wearing off, just lingering like a primal presence watching for its prey. She knew it was the case yet cared little.
Greyfax was needed to be found and if the completion of this would speed it up, so be it.
She led them down the next turn, unfortunately out from under the cover of the awnings that lined the buildings. What awnings there were far and few between. She rolled her shoulders and blatantly ignored Clover's uncomfortable shuffle or odd glances he made when he came up next to her.
Whatever was in the duffle bag was sure to resemble a small ocean. Damned Warp-storm spitting us out wherever it pleases.
But this was far better than the cursed Space Hulk. Anything was better.
But the thought made her wonder, just what happened to the cursed founding and its reinforcements? Sure, they fought aboard the 'Hulk valiantly and many perished when the twisted metal was spat out into their fleet, crushing most vessels on impact or driving them into the amalgamation to join the countless others in their cold, collective grave. Surely the others survived.
Greyfax was too stubborn to die and was the last face she saw in the Warp, the Astartes for as unfortunate as they are, had to have had some come through with her. But if they did, where?
Were they on their own or alongside Greyfax? Or floating in orbit as cold carcasses?
Did they even make it through the Warp?
Even if any of those questions had an answer, the more important question was; what happened to the Custodians in the chaos?
The two of them are the most likely to survive, yet she was not blind to the potential that they could be dead, as hard of an objective as that was to complete. But the Warp was a hellscape beyond any definition of the word. Anything was a possibility there she learned in the short or was it a long time she was there before her vision was met with gold then endless jungle.
And now in a wet city that sat in the jungle.
The two took a left turn at the end of the street, "the motel should be just up this way,"
She gave him a nod despite his averting gaze, let's get this over with.
She let Clover take point, something he accepted happily. Whether it was to get away from the rain or her, she couldn't tell. But she was just as relieved as he was when they entered the front of the bar. Warmth was always welcome.
The people who sat around the bar at tables stopped to stare at them, or more accurately, her. She knew in an average population she would stick out, even without the armour and she expected the glares thrown her way. She met each and everyone with a blank stare of her own no matter how much her gut twisted.
"I'll go get the keys," Clover spoke briefly with a layer of perkiness to his voice and made his way to the bar.
She followed behind him, Bolter now slung over her shoulder and took in the placement of the furniture and people dispersed amongst it. Many of the patrons wore worn clothes of a variety. Most shirts weren't collared and the jackets were thin, pants a mix between shorts and regular. All wore boots. All had a weapon of some kind. Knives, swords, guns. All in a hand's reach.
The entirety of the bar's patrons stared at her, growing glares and looks of disgust covering their faces.
One woman, wearing a leather jacket, dark pants and boots slowly slid her hand ever so slowly towards her handgun. Why's the barrel also a bayonet?
Not that it mattered. If anyone picked a weapon up there would be nothing left to bury, she would make sure of that. Her hands gripped the Bolter, her trigger finger hovering just over its namesake.
There was a tap on her arm and she barely held the instinct to deck Clover, "come on, I got the keys,"
She never faced away from the woman as she backed up to the staircase just beside the bar, nor did she falter in her purposely heavy steps backwards up the stairs. Her armoured plating clinking together in an unspoken, yet audible warning.
Only when she was at the top of the stairs did she turn around, but kept her ears open for any sound indicating a stalker, as unlikely as it would be.
"The General booked us a room each," Clover's voice reverberated in the hall and he held a key out for her in his palm, "just remember to lock the door, this city is a slice of hell with all the bandits and it's underworld,"
Never would have guessed... Instead of showing her sarcasm, she settled for a sharp, neutral nod as she swiped the key from his hand and flipped the small tag attached to find the room number.
"I got room two, yours is four," she looked up to find him in his room's doorway across from her own, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting in a shower and going to bed, the patrons don't like us right now..."
A flash of white light through the window at the end of the hall and the loud rumbling startled both, at this rate nothing will get done in this weather…
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened and likely wouldn't be the last. Not when an Inquisitor is involved...somewhere on the planet, something always goes wrong when they're around and now it's a matter of when and what it will be.
She glanced back at Clover and granted him a swift nod before entering her own room for the...afternoon? Night? She couldn't tell through the thick rain and even thicker clouds above.
Bed, table, window and a small bathroom. The bare minimum for a motel to have.
Her armoured feet clattered loudly against the wooden floor. A quick observation around where the skirting was showed torn fabric jutting out; the remnants of what once was carpet. At least it explained the rough texture of the wood and the yellow and brown stains across the wooden boards.
She turned to the small bathroom to find its door in half diagonally, both halves still attached to the frame by the hinges, a single grimey shower, toilet and an equally grimey sink with a shattered mirror above it just beyond the ruined door.
With the state the room was in and the patrons downstairs, sleep seemed like an unwise option lest someone tries to start a fight they would lose. She turned and locked the door with the flimsy lock. Would it hold back someone determined? No. Would it buy her a fraction of a second? Yes.
A fraction was all she would need.
She turned back to the room and resigned herself to a long night. She unclasped her cloak while moving into the bathroom, where she dumped the duffle bag on the tiled floor and began to wring out the cloak, the spattering of the water rang loud in the room. After a few minutes of squeezing and twisting, she went to the main room and looked for a heater of some kind. With none in sight, she placed the damp cloak on the table out near the bed.
Back in the bathroom, she sat on the floor and her armour scraped and clunked on the tile, undoubtedly chipping it. Not that the owner, or herself, cared that much, the place was a shithole as it is, a few chipped tiles were nothing in comparison to the rest of the room.
She tugged the bag over so it sat in front of her. The sloshing it made did the opposite of boost her hopes that the clothes the General gave her were dry. Upon opening it she discovered that the clothes were, in fact, very, very wet. And not a damn heater in sight…
Not that the armour was going to stay anything beyond twenty feet away from her at all times. He sent her after a cult, not a friendly gathering. She began to wring the clothes out in the shower behind her.
Gather their numbers and strength then report back. A silent snort left her nose.
Why not just kill them?
What better way to remove such a threat than purging it from existence. It's the only way to deal with cults. The Emperor knew there were many scattered around Terra in its underworld that she'd had to eradicate alongside other members of the Sisterhood, Sororitas of Our Martyred Lady and the Ordos Hereticus whether they liked it or not. It was never about feelings but the protection of the Palace, yet many Sororitas dared to place their own superstition above that task, claiming not only herself but also her sisters were abominations to their God-Emperor.
Their claims that any Psyker was an abomination, no matter their loyalties, made her blood boil. If they even understood an inkling of how the warp and Psyker functioned, they would understand that while He was their ruler, their leader and master, He was also a Psyker of great power. So much so it kept Chaos at bay from Terra itself.
To say she despised interacting with Sororitas would be an understatement. She could and would do it if required, like the rest of her sisters, but avoided them when possible. Or they avoided her and her sisters…
It never helped that she was one of a handful of her kind that resided on Terra before Primarch Guilliman returned and the Custodians recalled her other Sisters throughout the galaxy to the Palace.
The next item out was a Scroll. While it was as equality drenched, it still functioned, as evident by a small ping from it. She opened up the notification that took her to a message from Clover, "Informant contacted me. Meet up scheduled for an hour from now. Stay frosty."
Her brows knotted and a small frown pulled at the edges of her lips. She wasn't even aware of an informant in the city. She stood and took her Bolter in her free hand as she typed and sent a response back confirming she received the message.
She tossed the Scroll onto the shoddy bed then pulled the Charging Leverage back with a heavy clack as a Bolt slid into the chamber.
An hour to wait...
Clover pulled off his coat as he readied for a quick shower before the scheduled meeting while thoughts tumbled around his head. Everything about the situation felt wrong the moment he entered the General's office. That woman gave what he could best describe as a sense of dysphoria over his being.
Even more so when they first entered the bar below and especially once tensions grew, it was like a wall slamming into place, nausea violently tearing at his throat. And while she may not have noticed, others in the bar looked as if they were ready to die. Not in a 'fight to the death' way either.
No, their body language screamed of wishing for death, but they were too enraptured by her to move on the thought.
He shuddered as he passed the threshold of the bathroom's disgusting doorway.
Touching her, even just the tap on her arm… he held amazement at himself for not throwing up at the vertigo-inducing hell on his soul, his Aura.
It was like it registered damage but failed to do anything about it. Even with being in separate rooms, vertigo and dysphoria lingered. She really lucked out on that Semblance…
The First Lieutenant ignored the grime and mould as much as he could and turned the knobs in the shower, a trickle of water seeped out of the showerhead. The man sighed in dismay but got under it anyway.
As he let what little water that came out of the showerhead, he admitted to himself that she was a boon in the intimidation factor and more than likely combat if it was necessary.
As juvenile as such a word felt to describe her, scary was apt. From just a glance one knew that their death could be at the woman's hands, everything from her armour to her height and literal aura of negative reaction inducing...aura screamed that she was, is, a threat.
Especially if she could control her Semblance to any extent consciously. All it would take to either start or end a fight would be for her to ramp it up to maximum.
A harsh exhale left his nose.
Time would tell how this would end. For better or worse, he knew they'd survive either way...through brute force if it came down to it.
A/N:
Sorry for being late and this being a short chapter, I rewrote it nearly 7 times but couldn't get it to my liking but felt the need to get something out.
So I polished up what I could and posted this short one to say that I am still continuing this despite other Fanfic authors, and 40k content creators in general, cancelling their projects in light of GW saying "no fun allowed 'cause we need money!" and single-handedly turning their fans against them, as sad as the death of TTS is, it was the discovery of them underpaying staff and fucking them over amongst other things that made me despise GW.
Hopefully, this will be the only chapter to not pass the 5k standard I hold myself at.
I don't really know how to describe Alexea's personality, so I've been writing her in what feels natural to me and seeing where it goes and so far I think it's a decent one that fits her. I.e. She's always ready to throw down, but I think that's just any SoS, SoB, Custodian, IG and SM in general, soooo not that special at the moment. That's okay, she's a work in progress. Lemme know what you think of her so far.
I discovered a bit of lore about Sisters of Silence craving basic human interaction but being unable to because of the Pariah gene and that they never get used to the reactions they cause is something I really like… now I have to just write it in a way that doesn't come across as edgy or forced…
This next decision took a lot of debating before I came to it.
I know there are a few readers who don't want more imperial forces and the focus to be on Celestine, but others also want more Imperials; both sides were voiced by a few people I found online as well as IRL.
So I'll make a compromise; I had three things I considered adding before I created Alexea and the role I have planned for her. They're capped in numbers to balance power and to keep the focus primarily on Celestine:
- A singular Custodian. (my personal preference but I don't get a vote)
- A squad of 5 Sororitas.
- A squad of 4 Astartes.
The one with the most votes wins and becomes a character/s in the story. They will be playing support to Celestine as she is the main character. Celestine will always have the most screen time and attention.
I think it's the best way to give as many people what they want as I can; more forces are added, but the limited number maintains Celestine as the focus. I know a few won't like it, but I'm trying to please everyone as much as I can without pushing any away.
Let me know in the reviews which one you want. But once this is done, no more Imperial or 40k will be added otherwise I really gotta twist Salem's faction more than I have to give them an edge.
I am genuinely sorry to those hoping for a specific group or character or even an entire fleet, but I want this to be contained and not get out of hand to the point that I can't keep track of what's going on.
Speaking of what's going on, Greyfax should be making her appearance within the next few chapters, Chapter 9 will be Celestine centric and I should be returning to the normal chapter length of 5k words minimum.
I'm going to begin to separate the reviews with the lines so it's easier to read.
Haha, reviews go brrrrr
Perum: So, a Silent Sister and Greyfax, huh? I really didn't see that coming. Now I figured there was a high chance of other 40K characters eventually showing up but I hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Makes me wonder if any more will show up, maybe a certain heroic Commissar and his melta-gun wielding Aide?
Jokes aside, things are obviously picking up the pace here and I'm excited to see where it all leads. Oh and one last question, is Celestine going to reveal her true origins and the Imperium's existence to Ozpin and Co?
I was this close to adding Cain and Jurgen. I planned their roles and I even have a part of Cain's first scene partially written out, but it was scrapped because it didn't serve much of a purpose and they were just...there. They didn't really do anything other than exist. Though in the future I might do a different fic with Cain and Jurgen.
I'll probably post it separately once a certain point in the plot is passed.
The "people pleaser" part of me wants everyone to have something to like about this, so I'm glad you like it so far!
And yeah, Oz and Co. will learn soon enough, though Ozpin currently has other ideas of where she's from...heheh…
E: I'm not happy about the OC, as I really only cared about Celestine here and more and more people detract from my interest. I'm far from annoyed enough to stop reading, but I have little interest in whatever the Silent Sister is doing until she's proven to be a character. To be fair, Warhammer is a massive universe, and most of the named characters are important enough that it actively wouldn't make sense to have them all converge somewhere, so having an OC makes sense as they're presumably not important enough to the imperium to be a named character, but are still capable of at least meeting par for whatever roll or class they're a part of. So, did I want an OC? No, I mostly just wanted Celestine and no one else from 40k. Can I accept the OC, proven that she's written better than anything Matt Ward has made? Yeah, probably.
Aside from that, writing was solid. No errors stood out to me.
I await more, as always.
I understand wanting only Celestine and being here only for her, it's the reason why I wrote the first chapter out of boredom and took this seriously when Chapter 1 gained traction and attention.
I will admit, Alexea was a spur of the moment plan and implementation, but I will not let her get as bad as other OCs that you see in fanfics or like Ward's works. I have the building blocks of her personality and role decided, now it's just time to see how she interacts with her surroundings. She's ultimately an experiment for me to see how to create a character from scratch.
But as I said above, Celestine will be the focus of this story, so don't worry about her being sidelined for an OC to outdo her or anything.
Whoever wins in the compromise above will be the final 40k character added and I limited their number to avoid taking away from Celestine.
Anyway, thank you for your review!
CARRE: 1. a) Not gonna lie, was dispointed at first when you answered mine question about "if Greyfax showing up or not" with "proboly not".
Even if that hope kinda stayed when, in the same page, you mentioned you were listing on "Our Martyred Lady"...
...So not only Greyfax WILL show up, but also a Silent Sister (washed Thumbs Up!).
b) ...Is it weird I kinda hope for a someone from Mechanicus to show up (OC or canon, dont care) too?
(If you dont wanna or cant, ignore this part).
2. Well, this mission sounds to be a fun to read (later).
Keep Up with the Good Work (washed Thumbs Up!).
I thought you would enjoy that Greyfax will be here, I loved her character enough to go "fuck it" and toss her in. Her tsundere chemistry with Celestine is too good to pass up, I just hope I do her justice when she does appear.
I'm sorry to say the only other character/s to appear will be from the poll above, don't get me wrong, I love AdMech and their designs are awesome, but they don't capture me as much as the Sisters of Battle/Silence, Orks or Custodians do. I might do something with them later down the line though once I get my bearings with doing this stuff!
Thanks for the review and have a good one!
YermakGundyr: Damn, this is escalating pretty quickly and I love it! I am excited on what will the other Imperials will do on Remnant, now that Celestine will no longer be alone in her crusade. Ah, Ironwood, hopefully, the Sisters will slap some sense into him if he starts sliding into Volume 8 levels of paranoia upon seeing the Imperial's abilities.
PS: About those fics that "oversaturate" the crossovers with 40k, one of the problems that they always face is the toning down of the faction that stars in said crossovers, and this leads to said fic being bogged down to the point of hiatus because it is hard to implement said faction into the storyline. In the case of RWBY/40k fics, an Imperial fleet of even the smallest numbers can cause alot of changes to the canon (Just locate Salem's HQ from space and orbital strike the hell out of it, unless she somehow uses her magic to confuse the sensors) and this is before we get to the boots on the ground sections (*cough* Penny and Mechanicus dilemma *cough*).
Anyways, this fic is already off to a great start and I would love to see more of this.
Believe it or not, I feel it's going a tad too fast, lol.
Well, depending on who wins the little poll above, she may get more than anyone could have bargained for.
I aim to avoid Vol 8 Ironwood; his descent into paranoia is something I can see happening easily, I just don't like how it was done, but that's just me.
Besides, there's an Inquisitor now, Paranoia is one of their specialities…
I'm hoping to never go on hiatus for this, yeah chapters might have some time between them, but I hope to never disappear for a few months only to come back and drop it weeks later because of an overwhelming amount shit to write. It's why I'm being a bit strict on adding forces to this willy nilly and why the poll above is a thing.
I am purposely staying away from any Imperial aircraft of any kind because of how unbalanced it would be… despite a Living Saint, an Inquisitor and a Sister of Silence isn't unbalanced enough (and not the possibility of one of the poll options...Salem is ded
Good thing that not only that Penny doesn't even exist, but the fact that the AdMech isn't appearing then… dear god the drama I would need to write…
Thanks for the support and things should be picking up over the next few chapters, so stick around for it!
Canthurt: Oh boy.! Telling a silent sister to scout? Hah! She'll slaughter everyone and capture a traumatized leader.
Yeah, if the leader lives or maintains their body parts intact, Sisters of Silence a fucking scary ladies.
456: Damn another, chapter another reason to live after that i didnt expect the presence of a sister of silence and the last one is inquisitor greyfax to the fold whats next an Adeptus custode or a grey knight in the party? (Please tell me if they come in there) that would be a divine intervention with any of those 2.
I'm happy you like this that much! Alexea was a surprise to me as well and Greyfax was semi-planned for in case I liked her character enough after I listened to Our Martyred Lady.
Also, sorry about your name, FF NET doesn't like dots that much and thinks it's a link, lol.
Well, the poll gives a choice. While the GK isn't an option if you want a Custodian let me know in the reviews!
GuyUnderABridge: I wish you could add saint sabbat too. People tend forget about her too.
I feel bad for saying this, but I didn't even know of her existence until I read your review. I did a brief look into her and she seems like a really cool character to do something with, so like I said in other reviews, I might do something with her later down the line.
Obligatory reminder to cast your votes of what one you want in the reviews. Once the week is over, with a two days grace period, I will draw the conclusion and work on implementing the winner permanently.
Reiterate: Celestine is, and always will be, the main character.
Thank you all for the reviews and I'll update this when I can if my ADD lets me sit and write...so it'll probably be a while… I hope it's sometime this week but I truly can't say.
Now, I'm going to go play DDLC to torture myself all over again.