Uncaged Cat 5 - (Pre-RWBY, SI)

If you wish to Donate and Support: ptreon DOT com / socialistbukharin

Colonialism is not the kind of process one would expect to be so 'interesting' in an era where most of the available landmass was colonized. At least, most of the 'safe' landmass.

Salem's fief in the north-west was indeed a worrisome reminder that Remnant was never going to have a fully globalized planet while she was around, but what we had was enough to at least create 'something' close to it. And yet, despite that sort of limitation, there was something that some of the naval experts in Menagerie had wanted to try for some time now: Colonizing one of the unnamed islands in the west.

The process was a complex one, and it had been up for discussion even before the latest Mistralian War. The delay had been mostly presented by two major factors: a lack of naval technological certainty to commit this deed, and the diplomatic permission of Vale to permit such an expedition so close to their waters.

The former was something that had been solved around the time my second child, a daughter by the name of Ruhi. She had inherited both my hair and eyes, something that helped in distinguish her from her big brother. Ghira was growing properly, he was a healthy little brat that liked to crawl a bit too much whenever he was left to 'sleep' in his room. I couldn't tell if he had already developed a knack in picking up when to 'rebel', or maybe he was just a rather 'high-maintenance' toddler - still, I loved him and his lil' sister both.

Jaya was ecstatic about our baby girl, but she had asked to lessen the 'fun times' just so that she could recover after two close pregnancies so... back to doing stuff in the international stage. And the Colonization Agreement between Vale and Menagerie was a turning point in cementing the friendly relations between the two countries.

The council had been intrigued by the idea of obtaining new land, mostly so that they could have a place for Mistralians migrating into their land following the few fiascos Mistral went through. It wasn't as bad as it was back during the First Mistralian-Menagerie War, but there was just so much space for secured settlements, and the costs of building new ones in hostile areas were not of the kind that could be handled with the rest of the budget.

Hence why they saw the idea of a collaboration to clear up some lands from the Grimm, arable land at that, could be a good opportunity to appease both those that wanted the Mistralians to settle in Vale, while also not have them cause the overpopulation of the capital and other major towns and cities.

With that idea greenlit, it was a matter of their military to share their resources with ours, and we had an operation well-planned - one that started with a scouting mission that... went south. Very south.

The scout boats were destroyed, the crewmembers killed- the cause of this attack was reportedly two Wyverns that had settled the island meant for us. The discovery caught me off-guard for a few reasons, as I saw no reason why Salem would have these two big Grimm-spawning 'carriers' around and... then I realized this was a long-term chess move: after all, Salem had set her eyes on Vale to fall first due to Ozma having taken residence in Beacon and, before that, being the last King of Vale. So, it made sense she had two Wyverns in standby for the invasion that would occur decades ago.

I am not sure what her reaction would be upon ruining this plan for her, but I was hardly concerned since Menagerie's defenses were top notch and Salem had yet to rely on agents as far as I knew. So, with the threat recognized, permission to deploy two Airships was provided. With technology evolving fast in those 'peaceful' decades, airships were deemed the best option for modern warfare.

While normal ships were not neglected in advancements, airships were provided with better armor, better high-caliber guns, and even better living conditions for the crew. And with the Wyverns being the kind of threats that required a lot of firepower to be put down, I was more than happy to see those wrecked by our pride of the air fleet.

The battle was a bit more intense compared to any human-on-human conflict, especially since the Wyverns and the other flying Grimm fought with unnatural dedication to hold their grounds against the invasion force. Sadly for them, high-caliber explosive dust rounds do not care for that sort of determination. And once the wings of the Wyverns were damaged enough, the two titans fell to the sea and drowned to death. Once the Wyverns were out, the rest of the flying fiends were easily shot down from the skies.

That didn't meant the skirmish was a quick affair, or one without some 'damage' as the airships had to get back home for repairing and leave the naval invasion to airplanes dispatched from rudimentary carriers.

And the battle for the Island that was named beforehand as 'Maldivia' took two full days to see its closure.

The initial assault was almost pushed back as the Wyverns got the time to truly pollute the place with hordes of Grimm. And before anyone questions why I hadn't opened up a Huntsmen School just yet, I had to gauge the risk-benefit report in regard to how viable of an option it was.

At the time, having a small detachment of aura-specialized troops felt like a compromise option to test out the effect of having just special units in that regard; and these squads played a big role in keeping the line as more troops were funneled through the transport ships. Slowly but surely, the takeover of Maldivia was finished and, taking our conquest as a signal to act, Vale dispatched their own invasion force to secure the islands that would be named 'Avalon' and 'Luna'.

The Colonization Agreement was thus fulfilled through ratification in 25 AGW (After Great War), and the new balance of things allowed for greater trade relations with Vale. But not everything was sunshine and rainbows, not when the scout mission had seen so many families deprived of fathers, brothers, and sons. Compensation was paid, taxes were lowered, and other benefits were provided to lessen the burden of their losses, but there was a specific case that caught my full attention through Jaya and that led to a new development in the manor.

Durga Reo, recently widowed as her husband perished during the scout mission, had been hired by Jaya as the Assistant Housekeeper, right under her mother, since the woman was without a job and in need for a source of income to sustain herself and her daughter. While this may not seem much... there was something deeply ironic about this situation as three more years went by and the kids learned how to walk- and how to run around.

"You two rascals, get over there!" Poor Durga called, trying to keep up with the giggling menaces that were quite known to be troublemakers.

No one knew who had 'corrupted' the other, but it goes without a doubt to say that both Ruhi Belladonna and Kali Reo were quite the cheeky brats whenever they got in the mood to prank or tease people around.

Where Ghira was quite the polite and social 'baby boy' for his mom, Ruhi was a pest that quite enjoyed having fun with her 'crib-mate' as the two called themselves. And it was Durga that was responsible in tracking them down and handle punishments. It was never anything physical, and it involved them being put in two distant rooms to be lectured separately since they tended to distract each other and not listen to adults whenever they were together.

All in all, the noises of giggles and wild running was indeed a very amusing ambience music to keep myself distracted through the paperwork and, at times-

A knock interrupts my scribbling, and I see the door open as Ghira's pudgy head peeks inside.

"Da, you free?"

I check my watch and... I smiled. "Can take a hour or so off, bud. What do you need?"

He showed me a rubber ball and I smiled at the idea.

"Let's go outdoors to play then and- do get Ruhi and Kali to tag along. We can give Durga a break for once."

The boy nodded, pacing fast to intercept his sister and step-sister as I finished my journal entry.

At times, it was just nice to catch a break and play with my kids.

AN

More land, more peace, more babies, and a new lady in the house. Of course, Durga just needs headpats and hugs.