"She's not just four wheels and an engine… she's home."
Anonymous
Chapter 6: The Dark Wing
*RUSTLE*
*RUSTLE*
OK, that's the paperwork for the weapons taken care of… now where the hell is the rest?
*RUSTLE*
*RUSTLE*
If I don't get this registered then there will probably be hell to pay. I really don't want that Detective getting my ass about it.
*RUSTLE*
I wonder if that Councilwoman can help? She seems to be on our side. Maybe she can sway the Detective to let it slide?
…
…
Probably not. She's arrested 2 Councilman over the last few years for their crimes, so she'll probably not listen to or accept bribery from ANOTHER one.
*RUSTLE*
*RUSTLE*
AHA! There you are you bastard!
AHEM!
Now after a LOOONNNGGG and boring few hours of getting the weapons properly registered in the system, similar to what Huntsmen & Huntresses do with theirs, it's time for to put the wheels in next.
Now I already had my driver's license, so that wasn't something I had to cross off the list to get in the system, otherwise I would be stuck in purgatory all over again to not only get the damn thing, but also register it the system at the same time. I guess that's one thing I can thank my asshole father for is teaching me to drive, it made the tests a cakewalk.
Now of course I need to check over the details before filling everything in. Why? Well… the Dark Wing isn't your normal vehicle.
Now the Dark Wing started off with a rather strange life. It wasn't some manufactured automobile from some Valean or Atlesian car company… well technically it was Atlesian made but I'll get to that in a second. We first encountered the vehicle on the road to the village of Maykr, where we planned on commandeering an Airship to take us to Salem.
Now this being us, things quickly derailed THAT plan altogether.
*BOOM*
The Airship blew up. Yeah, just like that. And who would be responsible then the goddamn Branwen Tribe. Or rather remnants of the Branwen Tribe that is. I guess even after the complete slaughter of the Tribe and ass kicking of their leader Raven Branwen, retribution for their assault on Kuroyuri, the morons decide to still try their luck on preying on villages.
Well, that wasn't going to slide with us. Eren quickly got us moving and we split up across the village to mop up the mess. Afterwards, Cinder and Emerald told us something one of the villagers told them: more were coming.
So afterwards we met just outside the village to intercept them. The plan we came up with was a quick one, but it worked. Eren would lay in the road and wait for them to get close, upon which he would transform into his Titan and the explosion would knock the vehicle over. Eren would then pick the vehicle up and shake the bastards out, while Cinder would surround them in a ring of fire to prevent them from escaping. The pièce de resistance was Nora, who brought the lightning down right on top of them.
Once everything calmed down, we all went to check the vehicle out. It was BIG I will say. On the inside there were like 32 seats in total, 15 on each side, plus the passenger and driver seat up front. There was a computer terminal up front that had files on the vehicle. It was apparently a prototype All-Terrain Troop Transport for the Atlesian Military, funded by the SDC apparently, which explained why it had so many seats inside. After Nora pushed a button and accidentally smacked Eren in the face, which was funny as shit I won't lie, we found racks of Assault Rifles.
A closer look upfront we found a two-way radio system and the aforementioned computer.
Looking through the terminal, we found an owner's manual of sorts with all sorts of details that were definitely useful in maintaining the ride. It was thanks to these files that we learned about it being a prototype, and that it also had a shit ton of reinforcement to make a tough beast. The communications system wouldn't work however, due to needing a "higher vantage point" or something.
Now this next point is something none of us saw coming. Nora came up with, at the time, a rather ridiculous idea that the "higher vantage point" we needed was up in the air, meaning the vehicle would fly. None of us paid that idea any mind and went back to reading the manual. When it said to push a button to reach that vantage point, I pushed it. And… well…
*WHOOSH*
The transport started to rise.
It. Started. To. Rise. Up.
As in it started to FLY! The transport was capable of flying! Nora was actually right about this! And she was so smug about it for ages!
We quickly shut it off and returned back to the ground just to be safe. Eren however, after reading through the section of the manual, saw a golden egg in our hands. Now the ride couldn't go TOO high like an Airship proper, and it needed some fuel, but it was the perfect transport for us the use over the ocean in order to reach Salem's domain.
Unfortunately, we ran into a snag in that little plan. The engine completely died on us a little while after Eren and Cinder went somewhere, and Nora's attempt to use electricity from one of the wires to boost her Semblance in order to wrench open the hood resulted in every wire in the battery and across the ride to short out.
So, Nora and Cinder volunteered to grab some new wiring for the vehicle, and after getting the computer up and running again and copying the blueprints to my scroll, we found out the reason the damn hood wouldn't open was because we needed to do it from the inside on the terminal, and in order to do that we needed an Atlas Military log in. Thank God we had the Schnee with us.
Now with that all out of the way, I was able to get started on checking the insides for what needed fixing and/or replacing. The wiring was more important than I initially realized as it was connected to every important electronic function in the vehicle, such as the navigation and the flight function. And it was during this checkup, and after a VERY painful shock, we also found out the damn thing had Turrets installed on the top of the vehicle. Nora was like acting like a kid getting a new toy after that revelation.
Now after getting the new wiring installed, I asked everyone to back away and stay put while I check out the vehicle. What I was really doing was taking the vehicle back to Maykr to get some assistance in building some… upgrades we can call them.
After a quick nap, I went back to the others. Boy was the crew stunned at what I drove back to them.
What was ones a beat-up prototype military vehicle that had originally been in the possession of bandits, was now a Motorhome. A very large Motorhome with some big ass 6x6 wheels. More importantly, it was our little home away from home: The Dark Wing.
With some help from of the folks from Maykr, we were able to make new frames and panels for the Dark Wing, along with some purple and grey paint to fit the name. Cause driving a large military vehicle would draw unwanted attention anywhere, and known us wanted that. We used CMG Motorhome (1) as the inspiration for the design, and it was fitting considering we were going to be living in it for the duration of our trip.
With the exterior and the inner components like the battery and wiring all spruced up, it was time to the start installing some new components on the inside. We took out the 30 seats in the back in order to put in some important appliances we would be needing. We put in a cooking stove and oven for when we need to make meals, as well as a kitchen sink and dishwasher to clean up when we were all done. Above that we installed some cupboards for things like mugs, glasses, plates and bowls, and a pantry just on the side for things like food.
On the other side, we replaced the old seats with one large curved bench seat that could easily hold all of us A couple guys from Maykr that ran a furniture store supplied a dining table to go with the bench seat, which would be useful if we ever have to eat inside if there is bad weather, or if we just feel like eating inside.
Once all that was done, we went to back of the Dark Wing and we got to work on the sleeping arrangements. We decided to with Bunk Beds for this one, that way we would all have somewhere to sleep. There was one for Eren, one for Cinder, one for Nora, one for Ren, one for Emerald, and of course one for me. As for the Schnee, she got the blow-up mattress. What? You thought she would get one after the shit she pulled?
Of course, after Midori joined the party, we needed to change some sleeping arrangements. Thankfully, Nora was all for sharing a bed with Ren, so the extra Bunk became hers.
Now there was a bit of a wrinkle. There was only enough space in the Dark Wing for either a toilet cubicle or a shower, and after some thought crunching, decided a shower would be better.
Note to self; see if there is way to expand the Dark Wing for a toilet.
With the interior done, I also included some extra features when me and the guys from Maykr were working on the new frames and body kits.
The first thing we added were a set of retractable wings which extend out the sides of the Dark Wing. These wings were implemented to give the drive, AKA me, better stability and control when the Dark Wing is in its flight mode. With some tuning and upgrading, the Dark Wing could potentially be able to go much higher in the air like a proper Airship. The second thing we included was an afterburner system to give the Dark Wing a boost in speed, both wheels on the ground and up in the air, which will definitely help when dealing ground and air-based Grimm, and other vehicles if we get into a car chase.
It would be like something from Furious and the Fast (2) that we all saw during movie night.
The third and final thing is less of a new addition and more of an update. The turrets we accidentally discovered on top of the Dark Wing can be operated by a console in the front passenger seat. The guns can be set to an automatic function, which would allow them to operate by themselves, and serve as protection against Grimm and wild animals if we ever stop to camp out in the wilds. When set to manual, the console opens up and extends a set of controls to allow a person to operate the turrets themselves.
The update I talked about was for the Turret console. Most of it was outdated and was slow to load up, and most functions would have some lag. Luckily, we were able to update the console to modern standards, and now it is all smooth sailing.
Now here's the problem. Getting an automobile registered under your name should be pretty easy to do right? Well how many automobiles do you know that are cable of flying and have big ass gun turrets on the roof that are probably not legal? So, the thing I have to figure out is how to fill out all the paperwork and get the Dark Wing registered without exposing all of the special functions in the process.
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...
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Honestly, I wonder how there are people that can actually handle filling out all of this paperwork and technical details without going completely insane in the process.
If I ever become friends with one such person, I will gladly take them out for a beer to unwind… if they allow me in to places like that anyway.
Mercury Black
Citizen of Kuroyuri – Kingdom of Mistral
Hunt Inquisitorius – Inquisitor #5
Hey guys! The Avenging Titan here! Hope you all are doing great and happy holidays to you all!
Sorry if this took a while, I was a little stuck on what to write for the chapter. But eventually I was able to think of something, and I was kind of surprised I didn't think about this one sooner.
The Dark Wing.
And it was the perfect chance for our boy Mercury to channel his inner Qrow and continue narrating since this is his baby after all.
Now the concept of the Dark Wing was something both me and Court of Talons worked on, and I talked about in the AN of Chapter 18 in A New Path, but I'll touch up on it again. Unlike with Team RNJR in Volume 4, Eren and co.'s group was bigger: There was Eren, Cinder, Ren, Nora, Mercury, Emerald and Winter/Ymir. That's seven people, and when Midori joined the group that made 8, so that's 3-4 more than Ruby's group.
Plus, the Land of Darkness is a lot further away than Mistral with an ocean separating them, and is a much more hostile environment than the wilds of Anima. So, the group needed something to carry all of them plus their gear and supplies for the journey.
And thus, the Dark Wing was born.
When coming up with the Dark Wing, I wanted it to be a major part of the group rather than it being a one-off thing, which is why we converted it into a RV/Motorhome. And the main inspiration that was used when creating the Dark Wing was the Rust Bucket from Ben 10. The overall design of the Dark Wing is similar to that of the Rust Bucket in that it is a GMC Motorhome, but with 6x6 wheels (type it into Google to see an image), and serves as both a transport and a "home/HQ" for our main cast when traveling.
The special features and gadgets that the Dark Wing has was also inspired from Ben 10. The flight function was taken from the 1st episode of Season 3 "Ben 10,000" which had the Rust Bucket take to the skies. The afterburner system was something the Rust Bucket also had as well.
As for the Turrets, that wasn't taken from any specific source, and was mainly inspired by how certain ground based military vehicles had guns and other types of weapons mounted on top.
The Dark Wing has definitely helped the gang out, and has been through the ringer as well.
Moving away from the Dark Wing, I have something awesome to share. On the AO3 version of A New Path, a user by the name of "predator1701" left a review with link on it, saying that he used DreamUp on Deviantart to create an image of Eren holding Cinder close, the two almost kissing.
Here's the link to check it out:
predator1701/art/DreamUp-Creation-1002995315
It's cool, isn't it? Again, major thanks to predator1701.
With all of that out of the way, this is going to be the last chapter for 2023. I hope you all are staying healthy and doing OK. This is The Avenging Titan signing off, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
(1) - CMG Motorhome is Remnants version of GMC, kind of like how Spruce Willis is based on Bruce Willis
(2) - The Furious and the Fast is a play on The Fast and the Furious series.