To everyone, thank you for the support! Seriously!

A little bit of a shorter chapter here, kiinda had to rush this one out. Sorry.

Review responses have been moved to the end of the chapter.

Trigger Warning: A slight torture scene. You have been warned.

On with the chapter.

In Remnant…

Taiyang curiously scanned the tablet before him, bolted to a pedestal that's planted to the ground. He was currently at the Hunter's Station in Patch, a place where Hunters and Huntresses could gather amongst themselves and assign themselves missions. The tablet's bright screen shone with information regarding the missions he could take. The Dragon of Patch rubbed his chin as he scrolled through the missions.

'Hmm… This one seems good. Not too far away, simple Grimm clearing mission...' Then, the father of two noticed a glaring problem. 'Ah, but the pay's not that much…' He unconsciously rubbed his pocketed wallet. 'I really need that cash…'

Taiyang scrolled through the list again. At the bottom, he noticed a lone, untaken mission. The details of the mission looked quite daunting, which was probably why it was at the bottom of the list.

'Escort a caravan from Mantle to Mistral, for the family of a Mr. Jade. Yeah, I miiight see why that's a problem.' Taiyang looked at the pay. His eyes practically shot out of their sockets. 'But the pay's amazing!'

He mentally checked his calendar. 'And besides, the Vytal Festival's coming up soon. Heh, it'll be Ruby and Yang's second showing. And with Dust prices at an all-time high, the girls are gonna need it. And this two-month-long mission should do the trick.'

With a nod, Taiyang tapped the screen and accepted the mission. Quickly, Taiyang left the Hunter's station, planning to get started packing as soon as he got home. The mission's due to start in a few days, and for all of that, he needed to get himself prepared.

In the United Continents…

Mistral and LQ-84i both landed on Neo-Abkhazia safely. As the grunts took care of, well, grunt work, the two special cyborgs stayed calmly in a five-story building designated as their temporary HQ, located at the capital of Neo-Abkhazia. The building had been retrofitted with proper equipment to refuel their deployed military cyborgs before their deployment, and it cost Desperado quite the pretty penny.

Mistral sighed as she walked the halls. "I do hope that this is worth it. It's going to cut some money off of our budget."

"Based on extensive calculations, the payout and subsequent success should." LQ-84i responded, his tone neutral and factual.

"Oh, and what would you know?" Mistral challenged. "It doesn't stop at calculations, dog. There are more factors at play. PR, troop morale, loyalty."

"Loyalty; A strong feeling of support or allegiance." LQ-84i turned to Mistral as the woman smirked.

"Yes, loyalty." She chuckled. "I bet you don't understand a thing about it, do you, dog? A cause to fight for…holding true to one's ideals…that is what loyalty is." Her hand came to a tablet she kept. "And I just have the thing to keep you loyal to me."

"You wouldn't." LQ-84i said neutrally. "Your vital signs show hesitation. You will not overload my receptors."

"Oh really? Then we'll just have to see, won't we?" Mistral talked back, her tone playful and a smirk still etched on her face. Then, it turned serious. "Eliminate some straggling Neo-Abkhazia military troops. Once that's done, guard the point I'll mark on your radar. After that, little dog, we'll see…"

LQ-84i nodded and walked past Mistral, beginning his mission. As the wolf faunus turned a corner and left her behind, Mistral's smirk turned to a furious scowl. She growled. This was that damned samurai's fault.

Beating her to the ground…who does he think he is?!

A Few Months Ago…

Virtual Reality.

An aspect of technology that had seen massive progress since its introduction a mere 30 years ago. It was first developed by the Neo-U.S.A Military, to both ease the access and shorten the time it took to train new soldiers. After the technology was proven safe by the government's health and security board, it was tested on a special branch of the military known as Task Force XXI, shortened to TF-XXI. It proved to be successful to a moderate degree, although to this day the differences between virtual reality and true reality were kept distinct enough to clearly separate the two.

Virtual Reality will never come close to Reality, in any aspect. No soldier trained in VR can match one with real-life experience.

However, it provided a good enough substitute for those in charge. If a participant of VR Training were to spend too much time on it, their reflexes would eventually become brainwashed, creating great, if disposable, soldiers should a battle come. And that was what World Marshall was doing right now. Disposable soldiers to maximise profits in a war-based economy.

Reenactions of famous events such as the Tanker Incident along with other sneaking missions done by Solid Snake, the Big Shell incident's combat scenarios, and so much more were planned out and executed as training sessions to create soldiers better than the ones before. With the rise of cyborg technology, this endeavour became so much easier.

And it is so, with great disappointment, Mistral watched as LQ-84i failed in his most recent exercise. As he opened his eyes, exiting the virtual space, she tapped the tablet in her hand and watched as he fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Mistral smirked. 'Yes, next time, don't fail, silly dog.'

This went on for several minutes, LQ-84i unable to move as he spasmed from pain. His senses were exceedingly overloaded. Mistral smiled broadly, enjoying the scene in front of her. However, she was interrupted when Jaune approached her from behind.

"Hey there, Mistral." Jaune greeted. "Are you busy right now?"

Mistral turned around, looking at Jaune with an eyebrow raised. "What is it, débutant?"

They were currently in a VR Training Room at one of Desperado's outposts, specifically one in Neo-Jamaica. Their mission was to take down the local government, yet another attempt to revive the war economy.

Right now, the tablet Mistral was holding had control of LQ-84i's various senses. Sight, smell, taste, hear, and touch, all of it could be controlled from that very tablet. As expected, Mistral used it to overload those senses, torturing LQ-84i. Jaune could see LQ-84i writhe in pain in front of him past the smirking Mistral.

Jaune looked back at Mistral. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Oh? And what does it matter to you?" Mistral asked back, slowly increasing LQ-84i's overload. Jaune didn't react, to Mistral's ire. He merely smiled at her.

"I was wondering, do you want to have a spar?" Jaune asked. "We're out here in the boonies, and there aren't that many good fighters around. I figured it'd be nice to keep on your toes, right?"

"I suppose you're right." Mistral confirmed.

"Great!" Jaune sounded thrilled. His smile widened slightly, though his eyes shone with something dangerous. "I'll meet you at the sparring room."

A few minutes later, the two of them were standing opposite each other in the sparring room. Jaune strapped HF Murasama to his right and HF Crocea to his left. Meanwhile, Mistral unfurled her special-steel polearm/whip combo, HF L'Etranger.

"So, garçon, what are we putting on the line?" Mistral asked.

"Hmm, well…" Jaune rubbed his chin, stroking his light goatee. "If you win, then I won't bother you anymore, even in missions! I know you hate my guts with a deep passion."

Mistral scoffed. "Hah! Like you could-."

"But if I win, then you'll get off of LQ's case." Jaune interrupted, smile still in place. "Can we agree on that?"

Mistral chuckled in arrogance. "Risking yourself for others. How naive."

Jaune smirked. "Isn't that what you're doing with old man Armstrong though?"

Mistral's face turned red in rage. "You dare!" She quickly readied HF L'Etranger. She twirled its elastic edge above her and swung it down on Jaune, the samurai dodging back and drawing HF Murasama.

Jaune wore a smirk on his face. He gripped his sword tight. "Come on!"

Jaune dodged a whip's lash, the polished steel floors cracking from HF L'Etranger's impact. The samurai jumped high and descended quickly, swinging down as he did so. Mistral sidestepped just in time as Jaune landed right in front of her. Mistral twirled HF L'Etranger as it retracted, bringing it short enough for her to strike Jaune. She swung her now hardened polearm at Jaune's side. Jaune blocked it with HF Murasama, his left hand pushing the sword back at its blunt side. With a grunt, Jaune managed to push the polearm away. He shifted his grip and swung HF Murasama in an arc across Mistral's body. The female cyborg blocked with HF L'Etranger. Jaune didn't let up and swung again and again, each blow sending Mistral skidding back. However, none of them were enough to break her guard.

Jaune decided to switch tactics. He changed his dual-grip into a single, right hand-grip. Jaune feinted a swing towards Mistral. The woman braced herself for the impact. At that moment, Jaune pulled his sword back and instead grabbed Mistral's polearm. He pulled Mistral closer as he flipped HF Murasama's grip to pommel first. He rammed HF Murasama's pommel straight to Mistral's gut. The woman gasped in pain, her grip on HF L'Etranger loosening. Jaune pulled again, this time the polearm breaking free. Jaune kicked Mistral away. She rolled on the floor and came to a stop a good distance away.

Mistral slowly got up. She saw HF L'Etranger land right in front of her, bladed edge planted to the floor from Jaune's throw. She used it to support herself as she stood on her feet. She saw Jaune flip his sword into a reverse grip.

Jaune, signature shit-eating grin in place, beckoned her forth.

Mistral roared in anger. "Putain!" She hardened HF L'Etranger into a polearm and gripped it tight. The female cyborg leveraged her weapon's longer reach and swung at Jaune from a safe distance. The samurai blocked it, smirk still in place. Mistral growled in anger. She pulled back her polearm and went in for a thrust. Jaune tilted his body to the side, letting the pole arm's sharp tip miss his body by mere millimeters. Mistral thrusted with HF L'Etranger again and again, yet still Jaune dodged it with no issue.

The samurai's face showed complacency. "Is that all, bitch?" He mocked. "Come on, at least give me a challenge!"

Mistral grunted. "Oh, I'll give you a challenge all right." She loosened HF L'Etranger and shifted her grip into whip-style. She swung it at Jaune's feet, forcing him to jump over the elastic steel. Before Jaune could land, Mistral had already swung her whip again, forcing Jaune to turn his body in mid-air. With this hasty dodge, Jaune's landing was less than stellar. His footing wasn't firm enough. As such, Mistral with ease swung HF L'Etranger, its elastic end tying itself onto Jaune's arm. Mistral pulled hard, dragging her sparing opponent close. As soon as Jaune was close enough, she loosened her whip's grip and immediately hardened its other edge. She did an upwards slash at Jaune, who was unable to resist the momentum. The blade cut a shallow wound across Jaune's armor, as well as living opening a light cut at his left. Mistral spun and hardened her first edge as well. With a cry, she rammed it straight at Jaune's torso, sending the samurai rolling back.

"Ah, is that all, little boy?" Mistral echoed Jaune's words. She levelled her polearm at the ready. "Come, where has all that bluster gone?"

Jaune chuckled. "Right here." He twirled HF Murasama. He sheathed it in its signature gunsheath. "I won't even need my sword to beat you."

"Getting cocky, are we?" Mistral readied herself. "I'll show you not to trifle with me, garçon!"

With that, Mistral rushed at Jaune. She engaged him in close-quarters, swinging her dangerous HF L'Etranger in a wide, chest-level sweeping arc. Jaune ducked, Mistral's blade cutting a bit of his hair. Quickly, Jaune squared up and threw a quick jab at Mistral's face. The woman recoiled but recovered quickly. Her face turned to one of anger again as she swung HF L'Etranger at another arc, this time aimed to cut Jaune's left side clean. The samurai stepped to the right, HF L'Etranger missing him completely. Jaune threw a gut punch at Mistral, his fist meeting her dead on. Mistral bent slightly from the pain, her mouth spitting out spit. Jaune then threw a haymaker at her head, followed by a strong uppercut. Mistral staggered back, body reeling from the blows. With a final kick, Jaune pushed Mistral away even further.

Mistral growled in anger and twirled HF L'Etranger. She roared and swung down at Jaune. The blond smirked and lifted the sheathed HF Mursama to block. Mistral pushed down with even more force, but Jaune barely buckled. The blond samurai pushed up against HF L'Etranger and walked forward, coming closer to Mistral. Seeing this, Mistral loosened her polearm into a whip. As Jaune got in within both of their ranges, Mistral attempted to strike her opponent. Jaune dodged the whip just in time and jumped. He descended behind Mistral, ready to strike. Mistral turned around quickly, her whip already lashing out. However, it was too late. Jaune pressed the trigger on HF Murasama's gunsheath. The blond samurai unsheathed HF Murasama, the wind from the draw's speed cutting it into multiple pieces. The wind cut into Mistral's cybernetic legs, forcing her to kneel. Jaune landed a safe distance away.

Mistral struggled to get her legs back to moving. She tried to push her body up, only to stumble down and fall back to the ground. She weakly tilted her head up, enough to see her sparring opponent approach her with confident swagger.

"That was some awful fighting, Mistral." Jaune mocked. "You're pretty bad."

Mistral growled as Jaune continued talking. "The fight's over. I hope you hold on to your end of the bargain."

Face red from anger, Mistral fished out a knife and threw it with all the force she could muster at her opponent. Jaune tilted his head to the side nimbly, the knife grazing his hair slightly. Mistral prepared to throw another knife, but was stopped when a gust of wind blew past her face. Her eyes widened as she registered what it was.

There, just millimetres from her eyes, was HF Murasama. Its red electricity crackled around the edge of the blade, lightly zapping her face's skin.

"Don't fuck around with me." Jaune growled. "'Cause you know, you remind me a bit of my partner." Jaune brought his sword closer to her. "And I don't like seeing her face on a bitch like you."

With that, Jaune sheathed HF Murasama and walked away, leaving Mistral stricken in shock. Slowly, her face turned red from rage. With a roar, she slammed her fist on the steel floor.

"FUCK!"

LQ-84i couldn't sense anything. His receptors were still reeling from the overload. He couldn't register anything, even as he was lifted by his shoulders and carried away to his quarters.

He finally started regaining his senses as he felt himself being lowered into a bed. His senses cleared up. He could see Jaune standing next to him Next, LQ-84i scanned his surroundings. Looks like he was in his mission quarters.

"Got a hold of yourself?" Jaune asked the wolf faunus. LQ-84i nodded. Jaune sighed in relief. "Good. That was some torture you went through back there."

"Why?" LQ-84i asked Jaune. His voice synthesizer sounded damaged. "Why did she do that to me?"

Jaune shrugged. "Who knows." Jaune walked back and leaned against the wall. He scanned the room. "The room looks pretty barren. You don't have any personal belongings?"

"No." LQ-84i answered calmly. "I am here to work for Desperado. I have minimal personal belongings."

Jaune hummed. "And why do you keep working for them?" Jaune waved his hand. "I mean, I get the whole torture thing and all that jazz, but like I said before, Wolfy. Have you ever tried something that you want? Not the upper brass, not the old man, but you."

Lq-84i thought it over "I…"

Jaune leaned forward. "Why don't you tell me how you got here, Wolfy?" the blond began, "Maybe we can work from there."

LQ-84i seemed to agree to this. With a nod, he began telling his background. "I am designated as LQ-84i." It was easy, going back to protocols like introductions. He didn't need to think hard. "I am the first Faunus Cyborg, designed by DARPA as both an experiment for cyborg technology and as a template for all future Faunus Cyborg operations. Under the order of the Patriots, my faunus features have been enhanced with cyborg technology. As such, my eyes have multiple vision modes, including night vision, infrared vision, and AR vision, all without the need for a visor. My ears are ten times more aware than that of a normal wolf faunus. Baseline agility has also been improved, much more than any other cyborg even today."

Jaune nodded along. "Hmm.."

LQ-84i continued, "To my knowledge, I am the only faunus whose modifications have also enhanced their features. All faunus cyborg operations after me ignored those modifications, for mass-production and increased stability. As such, I am unable to be fully upgraded to current cyborg technology as there are no compatible parts."

LQ-84i could remember the operations clearly, how he was tested with various forms of enhancements, some stable and some not. He grimaced as he remembered the particular pain that he felt after his eyes were enhanced. He could barely see for two weeks straight.

"To keep me in check, the Patriots had designed a tablet to control those senses that they sought to improve. They used it constantly until their Fall, and me falling to World Marshall's hands. As such I am…" LQ-84i paused. "Unable…to break free. Forced to stay loyal." LQ-84i finished.

Jaune nodded. He closed his eyes in thought for a few seconds. Then, he opened them and began to speak.

"Change starts from small things, Wolfy." Jaune began. "Small movements make an avalanche. A major change. You need to start taking back your life, buddy. Think for yourself, regardless of what your masters say. It's like they say. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"But how?" LQ-84i asked. His voice finally showed emotion. "Should I disobey a direct order…you know what will happen! I must remain loyal to whoever holds my controls!"

Jaune scoffed. "From what you've told me, you're one-of-a-kind, Wolfy. World Marshall couldn't afford to lose someone like you. If you start showing your teeth," Jaune smirked. "They'll learn to back off."

"Don't let them push you around, Wolfy. Find your own loyalty."

Three Weeks After The Assassination of N'mani…

Raiden could see the view clearly as he blew past with speeds over 1 Mach. In the past hour, he's blown past multiple airspaces riding Maverick's stealth plane, crossing countless borders and countries. In mere moments, he's due to arrive at his location.

Maverick's contract op area, Neo-Abkhazia.

They received the contract two days ago. What's left of the local government had managed to scour enough money to hire Maverick. They were barely safe, at the border of a neighbouring country. It was there that they contacted one of Maverick's branches for help. Good for them, Boris was willing to offer a large discount, so long as they continued to hire Maverick afterward.

Speaking of Boris, the man initiated his CODEC and contacted Raiden from their base of operations in Neovada, accompanied by Kevin and Courtney. "So! How is it, Raiden? Is the view nice?"

Raiden chuckled. "So far so good. I've got a clean visual."

"A direct feed to your optic nerve, my friend." Boris nodded "I should hope so!" Boris leaned in closer to his computer. "I mean, how does it feel, tovarich? To fly like a bird?"

Raiden chuckled. "Like a bird strapped to a remote-controlled rocket."

Boris gave a hearty laugh. "We will get you there in no time, Raiden. Just relax and enjoy the ride."

Just then, another person entered the CODEC call. "Can you hear me, Raiden?" a heavily german-accented voice said.

"Doktor." Raiden affirmed.

"Remember the two procedures to maintain your new body." Doktor reminded Raiden, the latter involuntarily shuffling a bit in his jet. "One, seizing nano-repair units from your foes. And two-"

"Absorbing their electrolytes." Raiden interrupted. "I got it."

"Yes, yes. I'm glad you understand. Electricity sure is wonderful, no? I just wonder how the first humans who discovered it must have felt…"

"Huh, you mean all those tales about Dust?" Raiden asked. "They're just legends, Doc. I tell them to my son all the time."

"What legends?" Courtney piped in. "I haven't heard one about some dust before."

"Dok here's referring to the origin of the United Continents." Raiden answered. "The story goes that there were monsters called the Grimm who'd go and hunt down both humanity and faunus alike. The battle against them was so great that eventually, the world's continents merged to two. However, we lost contact with the other continent, leaving us as the sole remnants of civilization."

"But I mean, we've got no clear records of Grimm, do we?" Kevin joined in. "I mean, surely there's gotta be something left behind. And if there's another continent, I'm sure they would've reached out to us. We were busy with SOP after all."

"Yes, well.." Doktor interrupted. "The point I'm trying to make here is that legends can become an ample source of inspiration, my dear friends." Doktor answered back.

At that point, Courtney spotted something. "Heads up! Your landing zone's coming in ten minutes."

"Good," Kevin said as he stretched his arms. "That means enough time to do a little bit of reviewing,"

Raiden would have rolled his eyes if he could. "I've been all over the material, Kev. There's no need."

"Heh, and that's what you said three weeks ago. Look, just hear me out, alright?" Kevin asked, to which Raiden didn't respond. Kevin took that as his cue to continue. "Your objective is to enter Neo-Abkhazia and neutralise the terrorists. Once they're cleared out, we can swoop in and re-establish the rightful government – we've brought them to a secure spot, no need for you to think about them. They have no way of opposing the new regime, so that's why they called us."

Boris stepped in from there. "The leader of the occupation forces is Dolzaev. In a single night, he toppled Neo-Abkhazia's government in one fell swoop along with his group of extremists and an at-the-time unidentified platoon of high-tech cyborgs. Even more of those cyborgs are currently being shipped as we speak. We've managed to do some research, and the cyborgs he used were none other from Desperado."

"Desperado…" Raiden growled. "N'mani's killers."

"If we don't stop them here," Kevin smacked his fist against his palm. "Then what Sundowner said back then can become true. A destabilised region, and then it'd be like the Patriots never left. But right now, our more immediate problem?" Kevin pulled up their final research notes, showcasing the man who defeated Raiden, in all his shit-eating-grin renown. "Is Jetstream Jaune."

Raiden scoffed. "The only problem I see is that nickname. The Doktor's overhauled this body. I'm ready to face him."

"He may not even be in-country!" Kevin delightfully added, attempting to lighten the mood. "but, you know, keep an eye out just in-"

At this, Boris' face soured and he looked away, groaning. Kevin realised his mistake. "Oh, yeah… Sorry, Raiden."

Raiden ignored him, eyes focusing on the landing zone. "Ready for insertion."

At that, the plane flew higher into the sky. It lowered a section of its body, revealing Raiden in his new cyborg body. The plane flipped and dove down, nose parallel to the ground. It released its grip on Raiden and flew back around.

As Raiden dropped from the plane, he righted himself. In mere moments, he landed on the edges of Neo-Abkhazia kneeling, dirt and concrete flying from his high-impact landing. He slowly lifted himself to stand on his two feet, his visor retracting. It revealed a single grey eye, the other being bandaged with an optical-view headband tied to the back of his hair.

Raiden dusted himself off. Let's get this mission started.

Countless Desperado Squads Later…

Raiden walked the streets and came upon a blockade in his path. The blockade was a blue, impenetrable, and see-through wall, one specifically made to block cyborgs from walking past.

Boris noticed this, viewing this from his PC connected to Raiden's optical nerve. He contacted Raiden via CODEC. "They have erected an electromagnetic barricade. Maybe expecting cyborg attack, da?"

Raiden hummed. "Yeah, could be. After all, it doesn't make much sense to send normal soldiers against a cyborg army."

Courtney joined in on the conversation. "Then we've got to find a way around it. From what we see here, the wall blocks out the entire street. Maybe you could try some of the buildings on the side?"

"On it." Raiden walked to a building that seemed easy to enter. However, that building's door was locked with an electric keypad on its side.

Raiden looked at the keypad. Kevin decided to chime in. "There's no need to hesitate, buddy. Doktor's added an auto-hacking feature to your fingertips, literally! It may take some time for some of the more complicated stuff, but for a simple keypad, it should take practically no time."

Raiden nodded and did as he was told. He pressed his finger on the keypad, and lo and behold, the door opened with ease. "Thanks, Kev."

The room the door opened to was filled with crates and a stair, ascending to a bridge-like path. Raiden slowly ascended the stairs, avoiding the crates stacked around him. So far so good. No enemies were visible, even if he was to deploy to his AR view. With that, Raiden continued, walking down the bridge.

"Greetings, ninja."

Aaand that was his plans dashed. Raiden's walk slowed to a crawl, his sword in a ready grip, lowered with its tip behind him. Raiden hugged the wall to his left. "Show yourself."

Suddenly, a chainsaw burst forth from the wall behind him. Raiden quickly ducked, the HF Chainsaw brushing past his metal chin. The chainsaw went past him and cut the entire section of the bridge that held him. As a result, Raiden fell to the street below.

Raiden landed with a crack on the street. He lifted his sword and cut two crates just as they were about to land atop him.

Raiden gripped his sword tight. Another crate was falling at him. He sliced it in two, the gap between the cuts revealing a Cyborg lunging straight at him, HF Chainsaw in hand.

Raiden just managed to block the attack, even though he was forced to kneel from it. The attack kept pushing at him. The chainsaw got closer and closer. It was going to graze his eyes!

Raiden had enough and kicked the opponent away with all his force. The opponent landed a few meters opposite of him, Raiden getting up and entering a stance. The one-eyed cyborg narrowed his eye. "And you are?"

The cyborg opposite of him looked at Raiden neutrally. "Greetings, Raiden. I am LQ-84i."

Raiden raised an eyebrow at the name. "LQ-84? A DARPA prototype?"

"Correct." LQ-84i confirmed. "Under the supervision of the Patriots, I have been modified into a special Faunus Cyborg. My modifications to my physical state are far more advanced than yours."

"Oh really?" Raiden relaxed a bit. "And after the Patriots? You decided to go with Desperado?"

"The reasons for my loyalty are none of your concern."

"Heh. Big talk from the advanced cyborg." Raiden smirked. "Can't even gather a reason on why you want to kill me.

"Your taunting is pointless." LQ-84i entered his stance. He tensed and lunged at Raiden. "Exterminate."

End scene! Tell me what you thought!

See you next time!

Review Responses:

To ShortyMcCoy, I'll do my best to remember that! You're right, copying the game 1:1 is both lazy and uinteresting. Thanks for the reminder!