The Guardians of Remnant

Novus 8, Friday, The Kingdom of Atlas, Capital, Skydocks

Mila liked Atlas a lot less than Vale. That would not be surprising to most people, considering that she was a Faunus, adopted sister to the Valoran Queen's husband or not.

Atlas was far less...accepting than her homeland. The many shocked glares and muttered whisperings that followed her on the way here was proof enough. Grimly, Mila noted that the only reason that she had avoided confrontations was that she was dressed in her military uniform and carried a standard of the Kingdom of Vale.

Now, the Elysium Skydocks in the Atlesian Capital was usually only used by the kingdom hotshots. Council members and nobles and the like. What was a mere soldier like Mila Leonhardt doing here? Why was someone like Mila, who loathed most nobles (Rivales and Schnees in particular come to mind) here willingly?

Well, that was Lu's fault.

Her sister-in-law had briefed her on this...Guardians thing that General Odin had concocted. Personally, while Mila liked the old soldier, she thought that this idea was doomed to crash and burn. Unity of the Kingdoms? Good luck with that.

However, orders were orders and there was no way Mila was saying no to Lu.

Presently, Mila sat at a private lounge, boredly waiting for the airship that would take their motley crew to the top-secret Guardians HQ.

The lounge itself was so fancy and high class that she wanted to vomit. Gold chairs?!

She glared at the glass bottle of very expensive wine in front of her.

"This could have fed me for a month. Bloody Atlesians."

The delegation from Vale's Royalty (herself, Fran Jade, Lupa Cerulean, and that Azulong woman) had arrived first. And now...now they had to wait for the other idiots.

Bloody great.

edited 3rd Nov '15 7:53:23 PM by GrimHelm

Arrival of the Diplomat

A black 4-seater car would soon pull up right outside of the meeting place where its two occupants were instructed to go. The car itself was a rental sedan, not exactly the best-looking thing to ride around in, but not an absolute hunk of junk on wheels either. The sound of the engine being turned off came not too long after the car parked, as would the sounds of car doors being opened.

Out of the driver's seat stepped Lilac Aurion, clad as usual in her sky blue suit coat/skirt hybrid that she always wore, white leggings and gloves, and sky blue high-heeled shoes. She once more had been called upon to join a team of specially selected Hunters, though this time, she would not have to worry about expecting a child. Her son Stormer was safe at home with her husband Squall, taking the worry of that off her shoulders.

Lilac then looked at the one who had travelled with her, her former teammate and good friend Maria Ursa. "This looks like the right place, Maria.", she said to her.

Maria Ashen yawned as she stepped out of the shotgun seat, stretching out and breathing in the free air. When the tiredness left her face, she gaped at Elysium Skydocks, her Aura barely letting her notice the colder climate of Atlas.

"Wow...didn't realize the government would actually spend money on us," she joked as she started walking up to the building, expecting Lilac to be right by her side as they walked. "And for a second time on us mothers, eh?"

edited 3rd Nov '15 8:38:06 PM by Insano

"Yeah, it's still hard to believe that out of all the Hunters in Remnant, we're part of the ones that get chosen for this. Twice even.", Lilac said with a bit of a laugh as she walked right alongside Maria up to the building's entrance, opening the door for the two of them to head inside. "Is Pius gonna be okay with Rey?"

"Oh, Rey should be just fine with Pius. He's his father, he should be able to outsmart him," Maria replied as she stepped inside and kept walking, inwardly reciting the details of the rendezvous point.

"Pius..."

"A-dah?"

"How did you get up there?"

Pius simply smiled and laughed at his father, a happy little boy barely even three years old.

edited 4th Nov '15 8:19:27 AM by Insano

A man in navy blue was flying his way, having thoughts about his wife Adamas, his little daughter Calia, and about what he was getting into, thinking silently to himself. He smiled as he passed over the buildings, and waved to the control tower while pressing a button on his suit to give out a light and signal his presence.

(I guess it's here. Oh you, Max Rayfer. I hope you're ready for this.)

Max was pleasantly surprised that he was chosen for this. It's the first time he was called for a top-secret meeting. After all, he did have a bad rep before, thanks to his first flight attracting... the wrong kind of attention.

Controlling his jetpack, Max did a Three-Point Landing at a distance from the door to the building. He wore a sleek, navy-coloured suit from neck to toe, a device that resembled a pair of aviator goggles on his head, his trusted Jetpack Geier and Weapon Eagle Strike, and finally, a bag containing miscellaneous stuff.

edited 3rd Nov '15 9:03:14 PM by ironcommando

A bright yellow taxicab pulled up behind the rental sedan and another Huntsman climbed out of that one. Freddie Angels felt full of energy, like Farmer, Worker, and Soldier were the only things weighing him down, and that he'd shoot off like a drag racer if he didn't have them to keep him steady. His clear eyes flicked around and he grinned wide, taking in the sights of the airport. He'd elected to look his best today, and dressed in a nice red button-down tee with tan slacks. His hammer and sickle sat in parallel on his back, and his pistol sat on his hip. Patchwork and beaten to hell and back, they were much uglier weapons than the rest of him, but what were ya gonna do?

He tipped the driver generously and hauled an understated burgundy suitcase out of the trunk—all of his luggage. Swinging back around to the concourse and about to head up to the airport proper, Freddie's breath hitched in his throat and he could only make a horrible choking noise. Two Huntresses, right in front of him! He grinned ecstatically. He knew the world was certainly full of them, and it wasn't like he wasn't a Huntsman himself, but still! Calming himself, steadying his shakes, Freddie approached them casually, calmly. At worst he could just say hi and be on his way, just coincidentally meeting other Hunters. After all, couldn't blab about his top-secret assignment to anyone!

Which led to Freddie passing by the two women and greeting them with a quick wave as he turned and walked backwards briefly. "Hey there! Couldn't help but see you're Huntresses, just wanted to say thanks for your service, seriously. My name's Fr—Fred." He grinned at them and tapped the weapons hanging from his slings. "Just graduated from Beacon myself, off on my first assignment now. Sorry, didn't want to bother you none, just wanted to say hi." He dropped his hands in a placating gesture, then turned back around and dropped into his own pace towards the private lounge... which was, of course, in the same direction the two Huntresses were going.

"I can imagine, Maria.", Lilac replied with a chuckle before turning to notice Fred near them. "Oh, hello there. My name is Lilac Aurion. You say you're a Beacon graduate?", she said as she extended her left hand to him. Fred should notice that she's wearing a gold ring on her left ring finger.

edited 3rd Nov '15 10:31:25 PM by UndyingPhoenix

Oh jeez, married Hunters. They had successful careers and stuff. Surnames that mattered; he'd definitely seen Aurion on a wall plaque or something. Freddie turned back around and clasped her hand. His shake was the kind kids learn at resume workshops, sure and steady.

"I actually got out a little while ago, then got hired on for this coalition to help Remnant across national boundaries." He nodded to Lilac's friend as well, even if she hadn't said anything. Acknowledgement helped. "Are you two also on assignment right now, or am I, uh, interrupting the rare R&R that Hunters get?"

Max saw Freddie, Lilac and Maria talking with each other. Being the polite guy that he was, he decided not to interrupt any of them, and slipped past them silently into the building, avoiding their notice, while keeping a calm face. Deep down, he was worried.

(Don't want them to notice me... I've got the feeling that they know about that incident of mine...)

He would try to keep a low profile, avoiding notice from the others.

edited 3rd Nov '15 9:42:59 PM by ironcommando

Novus 8 - Elysium Skydocks

Somewhere behind Clinton, the ATV's engine was a quiet thrum as its owner gunned it towards the building, just as Max landed and the yellow taxi had parked to let Johnny out.

The rider, a tall, tanned, and extremely fit woman dressed in the adapted gear of a professional circuit fighter and a faded leather vest normally worn by the Menagerie Rangers, swung in to the spot just behind the first biker and turned off the motor. She took off her helmet and shook at her short bob of light green hair, making the antennae rising from her temples bob.

She was eyed the building the way a fighter would a challenger, amber eyes narrow.

Midori Hongo, dark horse contender on the international circuit, sighed, rolled her shoulders and hopped off her vehicle. She reached for a rucksack strapped to the back and was soon on her way inside, her gait graceful but guarded.

Upon entering, Midori recognized quite a few faces from her time in Beacon. Lilac Aurion, for one. And there was a twitch when she spied Francesca Jade. A grin quirked her lips.

Things are gonna get wild...

edited 3rd Nov '15 10:12:56 PM by KR_Vandal

"I'm actually a Beacon graduate myself, graduated almost 6 years ago, in fact.", Lilac replied with her usual kind tone. "And my friend and I here are kind of on the way to the same thing you are."

edited 3rd Nov '15 9:48:15 PM by TheHailStormer

Inside

Prospa swirled the wine around in her glass, taking time to smell the scent before drinking the fluid at a slow and deliberate pace. "Apparently Lu pulled some strings and got some of the people from that covert group." She commented, looking out the window at the new arrivals. "I believe they're names were...Lucy and Martha? Is that right? I suppose it's not important."

Her gaze turned on the others. "Along with what appear to be some rank amateurs. Always nice to see her Royal Head-in-the-clouds willing to trust unknown quantities with the future of Remnant.

edited 3rd Nov '15 11:05:29 PM by guyshane

edited 3rd Nov '15 10:31:33 PM by UndyingPhoenix

"What? No, really?" Freddie jerked his head backwards, then tilted to the side, at both statements. "What are the odds?" Pretty good, judging by her accent. "On both, actually, given all the other academies around." He stretched his face into an exaggerated frown. "Of course, in a country full of intense espionage and danger, I can't really trust that you're really not just following me. We'll just have to see when we get to the actual private lounge." He smiled, cheekily. "I mean, just as a precaution, you know?"

"Really laying on thick with all the secrecy, aren't you?" Maria asked with a sarcastic chuckle, keeping in step with Lilac and Freddie. "I'm Maria, if you didn't already know. Nice to meet you."

"I can understand that. Always good to be cautious for covert things like this team, though maybe you're playing up this whole secrecy thing a bit too much.", Lilac said with a small chuckle before spotting a green-haired, tan-skinned grasshopper Faunus who was quite familiar to her out the corner of her eye as she walked. Midori Hongo. Good to see someone else I know on this team. She gave a small wave to Midori and gestured for her to come join her, Maria, and Freddie in walking toward the lounge.

Novus 8 - Elysium Skydocks

With a wave of her own, Midori crossed over to the lounge where Lilac invited her, her long legs easily eating up the distance.

"Ain't you all a sight for sore eyes," she said as she dropped her stuff on the floor next to her plush seat. "How many more Beacon kids are we expecting?" A closer look would reveal that Midori's face still bore scars and bruises from a very recent bout, with a cut above her eye taped down.

Above the skydocks, gradually getting closer

Standing behind the helm of The Cloud, Henry was busy shouting orders to his crew as they flew through the air. "MISTER GREENE! BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES! MISTER CHANCE, GET THOSE CANNONS SECURED, GET THE GUNPOWDER TO A SAFE SPOT WHILE YOU'RE AT IT! HAVE SOMEONE ELSE SECURE THE CANNONBALLS, I'M GOIN' TA GO FIND JOHNNY"

With that, Henry stormed belowdecks and into his cabin as his crew scuttled about the deck doing their best to brace for impact. Eventually finding his son, Henry put a hand on the lad's shoulder before saying "Johnny, we're about ta crash into the ground an' we're goin' pretty fast, so I'm goin' ta have ta do somethin' kinda daft to make sure that you don't get hurt. Trust me, alright?"

The lad simply nodded in response to his father.

"Good lad" Smiled Henry as he patted Johnny on the shoulder.

Finding a suitably sized padded chest, Henry tipped it onto its side, dumping the contents onto the ground before shoving as many cushions and other padded objects into the chest as possible. Once there was just barely enough space to fit Johnny inside, Henry picked his son up, placed him gently inside and placed some more cushioning around him. Shutting the chest's lid tight and lashing it to a wall, Henry knocked on the lid and said "I'll be back in just a minute son, I'm not goin' ta forget you" before dashing back abovedecks and readying for impact.

Moments later, the Skydock

With a loud crash, The Cloudy impacted with the ground, skidded a few hundred feet and eventually stopped a few inches away from one of the Skydock's buildings.

After a few minutes (mostly spent getting his son out of the chest and making sure he was okay), Henry popped out from the ship to do a brief damage inspection.

Placing his hands on his hips and sighing at the state of his ship, Henry muttered "This isn't good, won't be able ta get you in condition ta sail again for a good while"

edited 4th Nov '15 12:22:07 AM by Eachiunn

Lounge

Still trying to avoid all attention, Max placed his bag on the ground, took off his goggles, and leaned on the darkest wall of the room. His navy uniform would make him hard to spot... that is, if the wall was dark enough.

He noticed a green-haired girl who was now with the group he saw before. He didn't even flinch when he felt the vibrations of the ship hitting the ground.

(What was that!? Ok, get yourself together. I haven't seen any of them before. Maybe they don't know who you are and what you did)

edited 3rd Nov '15 10:28:11 PM by ironcommando

edited 3rd Nov '15 10:31:42 PM by UndyingPhoenix

"Oh, crap, that's right!" Freddie placed a hand over his face in shame as his face reddened. He could feel his heart sink as the criticism from the older Huntresses sank in. "Uh it was... it was nice meeting you guys, but maybe I'll—I'll go on ahead, okay?" Freddie took a second to gather himself. "Or—or whatever, you know, we can—we can walk together too, if that's—"

Then The Cloudy slammed into the ground. Freddie actually did the closest thing he could to jumping out of his skin as his Aura separated from his body, jumping backwards in an expression of fear that mimicked his own cringe. "Dammit! Holy crap!" Aura still hanging out off of his body, Freddie pointed to the ship, then to the Faunus in front of them, smiling weakly. "H-hey there. I'm also a Beacon grad actually, my name's, uh, Fred. Fred Angels."

Lupa was standing off to the side from the others, a hood up covering her lupine ears to avoid strange looks. She had spent quite a few years outside of Vale fighting Grimm after Grimm, and had the scars to prove it, course she had toned it down to raise her adopted son, a blue haired infant that she had saved, taken in, and given the name Remus. She had settled down quite a bit, enjoying peaceful times as a housewife, and then, to her surprise, she had been called in for this.

She looked carefully at the others arriving from beneath her hood, recognizing a few faces from quite a few years back.

The Meeting Room

Francesca was...agitated, to say the least. She had not been comfortable ever since they had landed on Atlesian soil. She was not happy, but it wasn't the environment or the racist natives that were responsible, not they steered clear of the eight foot tall Dragon Faunus.

It was the piece of paper situated in front of her, a letter from the Doctors seeing over Oscar and his condition. The letter was short but that didn't help it. There were only so many ways that you could tell a woman that her Husband still had not awoken from a coma that he had entered several years ago.

In an attempt to ease such thoughts and feelings, Francesca had moved to reach for the bottle of wine, holding it close as she took several sips straight from the bottle, manners be damned.

The shockwaves from the ship landing did nothing to improve her mood as she rolled her head on her shoulders. "...Someone needs to learn how to drive." She grumbled to herself, her eyes half closed.