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The Viridian Vanguard (Part 34)

As they finally sat down on the bench, removed their armour, and started examining their wounds, they found out some were deeper and worse than they realized, the pain having been dulled by all the pankillers and rapid healing treatments they’d been taking all day. As surgical staples and thread needed to be brought out, they decided to call it for the live tests for now, got to discussing the results, and checking their comm-crystals.

One very important matter in particular stood out:

“I’m sorry to tell you all, but it seems the Quartermaster Branch has changed their mind since earlier today,” Ren said. “Some of the seniors feel it just isn’t safe to have elemental weapons and ammunition here at the Grove, with just Qrow supervising their use; they require at least one other watcher or weaver of similar rank, before they’ll loan us anything.”

“Aww, man!” Yang cried. “Do you guys happen to know anyone that can pair up with him?”

“Not right now, mostly because of the expeditions!” Nora replied. “Pyrrha’s also way below the necessary experience and commendations for her to join up with the regular at the Roost, so there goes that idea.”

“So what do you suggest we do instead?” Weiss asked.

“Information-wise? Read up on the literature, watch instructional holos, and especially the special events in the Pits that revolve around elemental weapons,” Ren replied. “With your team strategy, it might be wise to just choose from melee weapons, and the conventional firearms you’ve already tested. Skill and familiarity can make all the difference, after all.”

“Yeah, I’m not comfortable with stepping into our debut match with two not having any first-hand experience on elemental weapons,” Yang said. “We’ll have to figure something out—Weiss, maybe you can ask your teacher if he can help us? We’ll only really need a single day.”

“I can certainly try, but I doubt it’ll happen,” Weiss replied. “Weaver Tygan has been pretty strict about ‘no foci, no mediums, and no ammo’ for the most part.”

“Well see if you can’t change his mind, and call me if you need someone to try and translate for you.” Yang replied. “We really need to cover as many bases as possible, what with the disadvantages we have compared to other teams.”

“Are there any other concerns we need to address alongside this?” Pyrrha asked.

Just Drawn That Way (Part 3)

“What the hell is this?!” Weiss screamed, her cheeks burning as she found herself in Queen Dragon’s latest concept, drawn just before a break. “Aren’t these Lumen suits supposed to be armour?!”

Even to those that didn’t have a lick of military nor combat experience, it certainly looked far from it.

Most of her body was left completely exposed, the chest plate modeled like a corset conforming to her petite, lithe figure; the mechanical exo-skeleton over her waist and her thighs resembled the straps of a garterbelt and stockings; the heels of her leg armour were raised four inches off the ground and the plating stopped a few inches up her knees, with the armour on her arms was just as skimpy. And as if it wasn’t revealing enough, instead of the usual full body jumpsuit underneath it all, Weiss was drawn wearing a light blue, legless leotard, the only signs it was supposed to be an official uniform being the logo of the Lumania Defense Force, and her future designation:

“Lucky 03”

“I’m pretty sure that’s a non-combat model meant for ‘raising morale,’ am I right, Jaune?” Mercury said teasingly, before he elbowed Jaune beside him.

Jaune didn’t react, instead continuing to sit with his eyes squeezed shut, body instinctively braced for serious physical injury.

“I really gotta agree with Mercury, Weiss, that thing isn’t armour, it just has…” Ruby muttered, looking at her with extremely mixed emotions. “… So many glaring design flaws.

“Not to mention its aesthetics!” Coco added, throwing her hand-out. “Ugh, no sense of subtlety, grace, or coyness anywhere...” she muttered, shaking her head.

“And no doubt that Queen Dragon and Hentai-sama are likely collaborating on this.” Glynda finished with a nod.

“Yeah, that totally looks like something he’d draw, or she knows he’d like to see...” Velvet said, ears drooping as she blushed and covered most of her face with her hands, peering through her fingers.

Cinder sighed heavily. “Stars above, I wish those two never became friends...”

“Well, that certainly does explain a lot, thank you, now could you all PLEASE STOP STARING!?” Weiss screeched, trying to cover herself up.

A/N: No Viridian Vanguard Update This Week

Apologies, but no update this week due to RL issues, distractions, and the muse apparently having had enough of thinking up of conventional weapons. I promise I'll be back next week with a new chapter.

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 33)

With Taiyang unavailable, and Ren and Nora participating in the test runs themselves, Weiss and Cheese took over the refereeing, the former watching the feeds, monitoring the timers, and doing announcements via her comm-crystal, the latter operating a recording of the dueling horn.

“You sure you want to stick with those?” Pyrrha asked Yang as they did a last check of their gear. “I feel like Fury Fists would suit your fighting style as well, while providing significant increase in offensive power.”

“I’m sure,” Yang replied as she practiced collapsing and unfolding her Brawler’s Bracers. “I’ve depended on these guns all my life, I’ll keep on betting on them. Besides, I never liked the prospect of accidentally running out of ammo in the heat of a fight.”

“Fair enough.” Pyrrha replied.

With all that out of the way, Pyrrha started out with a Slugthrower pistol.

Rat-ta-tat! Rat-ta-tat! Rat-ta-tat!

Pyrrha raised her ballistic shield up against the bursts of machine-gun fire from above, Yang crouching behind her, the both of them slowed to a crawl as they crossed the arena’s bridge to the base in the trees. They made it to cover, Pyrrha didn’t hesitate to return fire at Ren!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ren ducked, his cover cracking and splintering with each shot, wincing as one of bullets punched through and missed him by a few inches. <Moving position, defend the flag,> he whispered into his mask-comm as he abandoned his spot, Yang and Pyrrha made a break for it.

<On it!> Nora replied as she stood at a different platform, before she thundered towards the edge and leaped off, towards Yang and Pyrrha. “NO YOU DON’T!” she cried as she raised her hammer high above her head.

Yang and Pyrrha slowed down and turned to look, their eyes widened before they jumped out of the way!

Crash.

Just Drawn That Way (Part 2)

Note: This story has morphed into existential angst/horror and lesbians. Be warned.

SLAM!

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Cinder yelled, her chair screeching across the floor as she shot up.

Akko winced, as did some of the other protagonists in the meeting room. At the head of the table, Papuru-chan was unfazed, still smiling as she always did. “Now, now, Cinder-kun, you’re supposed to be an elite soldier, aren’t you? You’re not supposed to get this emotional over orders!”

“I can when the orders are a joke!” Cinder shouted back. “This is a joke, right?! Just another pitch for an advertisement, or another damned 4-koma?! Because you can’t seriously be saying that I’m going to have to spend an entire month, doing double-shifts with him!” she cried, thrusting her finger at Jaune.

Jaune flinched, before he shrank into his seat even more than he already had.

“It’s official,” Papuru-chan said calmly. “We have the new contracts they signed specifically for the anniversary, actually, would you like to see them...?”

Cinder’s eyes widened. “She agreed to do this?!”

“Hai-hai...!” Papuru-chan beamed. “Don’t worry though, Queen Dragon-sama is being compensated generously for her extra time and effort, and Publisher-tono believes that this event will help bring in even more readers from all the buzz we’ve been getting!”

Cinder gritted her teeth, a tendril of black smoke leaking out from her mouth. “So this all about the money...”

“It’s always about the money,” Amanda said as she lounged on her seat, her boots resting on the table. “Geeze, I know you’ve only been pro-published for a few months, but did you seriously never realize this before now?”

Cinder heaved a heavy sigh, before she pulled her chair back, sat down with her arms crossed and an aura like the heat radiating from a giant, smouldering wreck. How the other protagonists sitting right next to her managed to keep their cool, Akko didn’t know.

“Okay!” Papuru-chan said as she picked up her projector remote again. “Now that that’s been resolved, here’s the rest of the pair-ups for our first anniversary’s Grand Crossover Extravaganza…!”

The rest of the meeting went on without incident, reactions to the other odd or questionable duos far less violent than that of Cinder’s, before Papuru-chan went into more general matters like reviews, sales numbers, and the other upcoming events outside of their control such as conventions.

“… And that’s it!” Papuru-chan said, clapping her hands and turning the lights back on. “You’re all dismissed, everyone!”

The protagonists all stood up, bowed and said the usual formalities,  before shuffling out the conference room, heading down the stairs or the elevators leading back to their respective series’ domains.

“You. Jaune.”

… Except for Jaune, who found himself freezing as Cinder put a hand on his shoulder.

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 32)

Elsewhere in the Grove during the duels, Weiss was in her nest, Penny snuggled up to her chest, Cheese and Winter’s summons around her for company, menial tasks, and/or food as she watched holos through Penny’s projector. (The quality was far superior than her comm-crystal’s.)

“I feel it… the purity of their love…!” screamed the monster of the week. “This is it… the power, of YURI!”

A wave of purple-black miasma shot out of the monster, washing over the convention floor, reality itself beginning to warp and change as bright, prismatic energy was sucked out of them.

Hina gasped. “Akane, Aoi, look! All the couples, the anime and manga, even the doujins and the fan art—they’re all losing their gayness!”

“You monster!” Aoi screamed. “Do you know how long that slow-burn was between Diya and Nene?! This is an affront to all of Girls Love!”

“You’re going down, Yarama!” Akane screamed as she whipped out her spear, Hina and Aoi doing the same with their weapons.

“Piper, this show is so fucking stupid...” Weiss muttered.

“Would you like to change to something else?” Penny asked through an annotation on the holo.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t enjoying it!” Weiss said.

A fight sequence began, the tables and displays being torn up and destroyed from the empowered monster, the heroes trying their best to spare the panicked, confused convention goers, and the merchandise, too, if they could help it.

“Face it, Spiral Hearts!” the Yarama cried. “The power of women loving women is just too strong!”

“That is true…” Hina replied “… but it’s not as strong as the true fans of yuri, those who make and support new content for fans everywhere, not filthy parasites like you! Akane! Aoi!”

“On it!” they both cried, before they all joined their weapons into one giant cannon. “For the love of all that makes our lives worth living… SPIRAL PIERCER…!”

The projection suddenly stopped, Penny’s eyes flashing green.

“What happened?” Weiss asked amid the disappointed growls and groans of the summons.

Just Drawn That Way (Part 1)

Summary: It was a weekly ritual of theirs, show up at the end of each Monday, complain about their existences, before sympathizing, then planning out how they were going to survive what next week would bring.

In short: it was a support group—as much as manga characters could be said to have one, at any rate.

They never thought it would ever do much harm, until it threatened to erase them from existence

Weiss was the last one to arrive, quietly walking in a whole ten minutes after everyone else had already settled into their seats. She wasn’t drawn in her school uniform, or any of her “casual” outfits, instead wearing a buttoned up white-shirt and a sarong around her waist, her hair slightly damp and her iconic ponytail tied up into a tight bun.

Diana sniffed the air and flicked her serpentine tongue out for good measure, smelled and tasted salt water, burnt charcoal, and coconuts. “Beach special?” she asked.

“Yes.” Weiss replied as she headed to the middle of their three-person couch, her usual spot. Ruby and Akko scooted over or pulled up their legs to make room, she thanked them before she sat down with her knees tightly pressed together, her hands clasped in her lap, her posture absolutely perfect and straight.

Akko and Ruby noticed and frowned, but said nothing.

Diana rose up from her beanbag, her snake-half uncoiling a bit beneath her. “Is everyone ready to start the meeting?” she asked.

“Yes,” everyone replied, with varying levels of enthusiasm.

“Then would anyone like to begin our session?” Diana asked, glancing at the others. “Weiss, perhaps?”

“No, no,” she said, shaking her head, slowing down as she noticed drops of sea water dripping down her hair. “You girls go first.”

“Are you certain?” Diana asked.

“Yes.” Weiss replied, carefully catching the water in her hands, before wiping them off on her sarong.

“Then would anyone else like to go first, or shall we just follow our established order?” Diana asked.

“I’m cool with that the usual,” Ruby said, then Akko said, “Yeah, that sounds fine.”

Diana nodded. “Then Ruby, please start us off,” she said, gesturing to her.

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 31)

Pyrrha’s next choice ended being a set of Dunestriders. They were a specially modified design for human hands and feet, fully enclosed without the straps and open toes and fingers they usually had, though the boots still had a reverse-joint form, achieved by having Pyrrha’s actual feet much higher than they appeared to be. It had the effect of making her even taller than she already was, which Jaune immediately noticed as she strode into the arena.

Pyrrha looked at him, visually compared the lengths of her armoured dunestriders and the companion gloves against Jaune’s arm plus sword, and frowned. “These are probably going to put you at a severe disadvantage again...”

“Yeah, it probably will...” Jaune muttered.

“Are you going to stick with your sword and shield again?”

“No, I’ve learned my lesson,” Jaune said, stepping out of the ring, heading to the weapons rack, and returning with a poleaxe.

“A suitable weapon for the conditions of the fight, Jaune,” Pyrrha said, nodding in approval.

“Thanks,” Jaune said, before held the poleaxe out, its spike just a good lunge away from meeting Pyrrha.

She went into her own fighting stance, crouching low on the ground like a sprinter, the dunestriders’ mechanisms whirring and preparing for action.

Taiyang looked at them both and smiled, before he blew the horn.

Jaune attacked first, thrusting his poleaxe at Pyrrha!

Whoosh!

Pyrrha launched herself to the side, and the spike met the cloud of dust left she left in her wake.

Jaune pulled it back and swung at Pyrrha, she leaped over the blade and shaft, landing on her hands before she put her feet back on the ground and started to circle around Jaune. He noticed and rushed to the center, swinging wide for her chest!

Pyrrha dropped to her knees!

Clang!

The top of her helmet banged against the axe-head as she slid across the ground, kicked up a huge cloud of dust in her wake. Jaune pulled his poleaxe back and tried to stab at her, she scrabbled backwards, kicking up even more dirt and hiding her from view.

Jaune quickly pulled his weapon back, squinting as he tried to any sign of Pyrrha…

Whoosh!

The cloud blew apart as Pyrrha launched herself at Jaune!

He braced his feet, and cried out as he stabbed at her…!

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 30)

Note: I know I used “many” thrice last chapter, but it turns out it’s hard to make a number of unique, distinct weapons for Fascist Magical Space Hippies; think of ways to artfully demonstrate their effectiveness in one-to-one matches with a semi-experienced, talented human user whose opponent is essentially a human target dummy; while also trying to keep within self-imposed chapter lengths to avoid author burn-outs.

So, hope you don’t mind this chapter’s selection for the melee weapons, which hopefully gives the general idea of how the Fae have modified or made similar designs to humans, or works completely their own. The next chapter will either be a continuation of melee weapons, or move onto ranged weapons, depending on how many of these crazy ideas for weapons/ways for Jaune to get his ass kicked that you folks want to see.

“Are you sure you want to continue with this plan, Jaune?” Pyrrha asked, her voice modulated by the comm-unit inside her visor. “Even for training weapons, these seem awfully dangerous still, and that isn’t even going into the mediums I’m using!”

“I’m sure!” Jaune replied, making a thumbs up with his gloved hand, the surface still scarred from all his elemental mishaps earlier. “We’ll never get anywhere if neither of us ever get serious!”

(“That’s the spirit, Jaune!” Yang cried from the benches on the side.)

Pyrrha sighed. “Alright, if you’re sure...” she muttered.

From his position on the side of the dirt circle the two were in, Taiyang raised the dueling horn to his lips. “Fighters ready?” he asked.

“Aye!” Jaune and Pyrrha both cried, readying their weapons.

“Then fight!” Taiyang cried, before he blew the horn, starting a long series of one-on-one duels between Jaune and Pyrrha.

The first set of matches were with Fae equivalents of traditional human weapons, but with the advantage of the former’s engineering, materials, and of course, elemental mediums.

Pyrrha’s first chose was a Khopesh and shield, the blade infused with elemental earth. The two of them exchanged simple slashes and thrusts for a few moments, Pyrrha gracefully dodging and deflecting Jaune’s inelegant attacks, Jaune blocking with his sizable shield, or enduring her direct attacks.

It all seemed like a standard sword duel, until Pyrrha activated her weapon’s element, and caught Jaune’s sword in the hook of her blade.

Clang!

Jaune’s sword stuck to Pyrrha’s Khopesh, now magnetized. Pyrrha yanked backwards, Jaune staggered forward and tightened his grip, the two of them started wrestling and kicking up dirt, until with a swift bash of Pyrrha’s shield to the side of Jaune’s head, his sword flew out of his hand.

Pyrrha pulled back, deactivated the medium and dropped Jaune’s sword, before she spun back around and aimed a chop right at Jaune’s neck!

Thwack!

It stopped dead on the armor there, a great deal of sturdy material before even getting close to nicking his skin, but that didn’t stop him from making an incredibly undignified noise.

Taiyang blew the horn, Pyrrha carefully removed her sword; Jaune gasped, instinctively grasping at his neck and stepping back.

“Are you alright, Jaune?” Pyrrha asked as she sheathed her sword.

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 29)

Several hours later, at around 8AM, Yang and Pyrrha took the elevator to the Schnee sisters’ home. Three of Winter’s summons were now resting above the door in their plushie forms, and their spirit forms didn’t hesitate to jump out and crowd around Yang, making threatening noises and gestures at her.

“Woah, easy, easy!” Yang said, holding out her hands as she stepped back from the angry elementals by her ankles. “I’m not here to fetch Weiss again! We’re just going to ask how she is.”

“Has anything happened to her?” Pyrrha asked. “She and Winter weren’t at breakfast earlier, and their comms have been on ‘Do Not Disturb’ all morning.”

The three summons looked at each other, quietly talking and burbling among themselves, before one of them went to a pipe by the door, lifted the cap, and got sucked inside. The other two stayed to watch Pyrrha and Yang, the latter crossing her arms at the wary looks they continued to give her.

A few minutes later, Winter stepped out, her tied into a looser bun than usual, several locks dangling around her head. “If you’re looking for Weiss, she’s drained physically and mentally from yesterday, so unless you’re offering HV recommendations, doing menial tasks for her, or bear large amuonts of blueberry frozen yogurt and/or triple chocolate cake shakes, she doesn’t want any of it.”

Yang sighed. “Damn, I was afraid of that...”

“Why are you two looking for her, if I may ask?” Winter asked.

“Pit Fighter business,” Pyrrha replied. “Specifically, we were hoping to brainstorm on what weapons and tactics I should specialize in, now that we’ve received and reviewed Weiss’ performance at the Weaver’s Terrace yesterday.”

Winter’s eyebrow rose at that. “Mind if I substitute for her?” she asked. “I’ve been wanting to get a better understanding of Fae combat, for sport or otherwise.”

Yang chuckled. “Hoping to get Uncle Qrow on a rematch someday?”

“Among other reasons,” Winter said. “So, what do you say?”

“Well, I definitely won’t say no to free help from ex-Queensguard!” Yang said, beaming.

“Neither will I, and thank you for the offer,” Pyrrha said.

“You’re welcome, now please, come inside and make yourself comfortable,” Winter said, stepping aside and gesturing in. She calmed down then ordered about the other summons that were around, and soon, Winter, Pyrrha, and Yang were sitting on the couch or one of the armchairs, summons carting in refreshments from the kitchen.

“So, how is the situation with your team?” Winter asked as a tray of tea and biscuits was hoisted onto the coffee table.

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 28)

Edit: Apologies for late update, I have been busy with AC Odyssey for the past week and a half.

The Keeper Team came out of the teleporter, and straight into a scene of anarchy.

The walls of the Thundercall Tunnels and Research Facility Hyrkanos echoed with the sounds of booming thunder and the roc’s deafening shrieks, hundreds if not thousands of them flying into the hollow the facility was built in, the aerie so thick and densely packed they were like one solid mass of beating wings and crackling electricity. Energy collectors, lightning rods, and power regulators exploded and melted as the rocs either overloaded them, or ripped them apart with their beaks, talons, and screams; jets and vents roared and tried to blow the rocs away and into choke-points; and what was left of the facility’s watchers were desperately firing high explosives, area-of-effect spells, and whatever else they still had left against the rocs.

With each barrage, dozens of the rocs died, shredded, exploded, shot, frozen, incinerated, gassed, or many other demises, but it seemed there were always more ready to replace them, their numbers seemingly infinite. Suddenly there was a monstrous screech, one that dwarfed the sounds of all of the other rocs combined, that chilled the bones of the Fae and their beasts, sent the watchers running and for cover and the rocs parting to make way.

“SCRAW…!”

Zeus V burst into view, barely slowing down from the high-force winds blasting him, demolishing buildings and towers just by flying through them, the electricity from his feathers blowing up and setting fire to whatever was still standing. Dozens of his brethren flew in his wake, becoming living shields for Zeus, helping lay waste to the other buildings, or attacking the watchers, even carrying off some unlucky Fae and animals.

Most managed to fight their way out of their talons, or their allies shot the rocs down, but a handful didn’t make it, their screams drowned and their fates unseen as the rocs rapidly swarmed around them. Zeus flew back out the hollow, almost completely unscathed, while the watcher’s defense line was pulled back, just one or two more retreats before Hyrkanos was at the mercy of the aerie.

Blake looked back at the portal as it was forced to shut down; the few dozen or so Apex-class watchers and animal companions that had made it alongside the Keeper Team; back to the observation window; then finally, at Ruby. <Let me guess: we’re the ones that are going to be hunting down Zeus?>

<Yep!> Ruby said cheerfully.

Blake sighed heavily, her ears tilting downward. <Alright, it’s not like I didn’t ask for this...>

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 27)

Qrow took one long, slow drink from his flask, pulled it from his lips, and sighed heavily. <Alright, I’m good—let them in,> he mumbled as he capped it again, put it away in the inner pocket of his shirt.

Soon, the door on the other side of the room opened up, their first interviewee of the day strode to the dais in the center of the room, Ruby and the rest of the Keeper Team surrounding her. They exchanged the usual formalities, before she knelt down on the large cushion provided for her, bathed in the light streaming through the high windows.

<Welcome to the first round of interviews for the Keeper Team!> Penny said smiling. <First off, congratulations for making it this far! Second, for the purposes of uniformity, we will have to request that you please communicate almost-to-entirely in Actaeon, save for any Nivian sayings, concepts, or quotes that you feel will not, or cannot translate adequately. Third, though we are sure you are already well aware, the questions we may ask you can get intensely personal, and that you are free to ask such questions back, if either of us feel that they may be relevant, or might prove to be a significant asset or liability in the future.

<With that out of the way: please state your name, who you are, and how your merits and achievements make you the best candidate for this position!>

<I am Anouke Kalla,> Anouke replied. <I have been a watcher since I was old enough to walk and handle a knife, and have been hunting down, slaying, and skinning almost every dangerous beast and horrific monster that lurks in this Valley for the past five decades. Whether they stalk no man’s land, lurk in the darkest, murkiest depths, or soar the most treacherous skies, I can guarantee you I have faced and bested them all, with one notable exception:

<Soul Eaters.>

Anouke put her hand to her breast, looked Ruby in the eyes, and said, <I swear, Keeper Rose, grant me the honour of serving under you, and those monsters will learn to fear my presence as much as yours.>

<Yeah, say no more, you’re out.> Qrow said calmly.

Anouke’s eyes widened, she snapped her head to Qrow. <Excuse me?!>

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 26)

Soon, all the members of the Keeper team, permanent or part-time, were sitting on top of a tangle of roots, munching on energy bars and sipping from canteens as they looked at the holo Penny was projecting, listened to Ruby discussing their plan.

“…And just so you all know: if it turns out they’ve seriously hurt or killed Zwei, I’m murdering them.” Ruby said by the end of it. “Everyone clear?”

“Crystal,” everyone replied.

“Great,” Ruby said before she put her mask on. “Let’s do this.”

Qrow took to the air, Ren climbed up the trees and jumped from branch to branch, both scouted out the area. They found Zwei with his heads stuck in a large knothole, balancing his body on the mouth and a sturdy, large branch just underneath him. When nothing else of interest turned up, they all began to prepare to move into position.

Qrow and Nora perched on branches within sight of the knothole, loading a crossbow, or grenades, gas and anti-magic. Ren readied his blades and climbed above the mouth of the hole, ready to drop on unsuspecting intruders. Ruby and Penny climbed up to the branch Zwei was balancing on, and began to approach him, weapons in their hands.

“Zwei,” Ruby whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. “Zwei, are you alright?”

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 25)

<I’m really very sorry we have to part ways like this, Ruby...> Varryn said as they bowed, all of their belongings in a sack on their back, and the Grove’s Tube station behind them.

<It’s alright, Varryn, we all knew it was much more likely to end like this than not,> Ruby said, bowing back.

<I really do wish that I could have lasted longer in the team’s service, Ruby!> Varryn said as they bent back up. <You’ve been an excellent leader, both within and outside of the walls of the Bastion, and a great friend beside; and to say that the credentials and the experience I’ve acquired in my relatively short time with all of you will be invaluable for the rest of my life will be a severe understatement!>

<Aww, thank you, Varryn!> Ruby replied, smiling now. <You’ve been a great team member and a wonderful friend, too. I’m sure we’d have had spent way more time and had a whole lot more stress trying to navigate, hunt, and trap in the wilds if we didn’t have your skills, not to mention your help with all the Big Game, like Grarr VII!>

The colour drained from Varryn’s face, particularly impressive due to the dark colour of their skin.

<Sorry.> Ruby whispered.

Varryn gulped down the lump that had formed in their throat, before awkwardly jerking a paw behind them. <I’m just going to be leaving now, Ruby… need to get settled in my new home, get my affairs here straightened out, before it’s back out to the wilds again!> they said, backpedaling to the Log that was awaiting them.

<Good luck with all that, Varryn!> Ruby cried, waving. <And if you ever need anything from us, don’t hesitate to call!>

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 24)

Crack!

The spider golem’s last weak point shattered, it frantically, uselessly flailed about before it fell over on its back, legs curling up into itself as it deactivated. Weiss smiled as she ripped her runeblade out from it, held it up into the air as all six of Winter’s summons joined her and posed beside their “kill.”

Winter cheered from her place on the balcony above, Tygan just nodded his head, and switched to the other feeds in front of him.

Thoom!

Sayuri sent the wooden slab rocketing back with a compressed air explosion, before she thrust out the hand her “spitter” was mounted on. The weapon whirred and screamed like a miniature jet engine, a cyclone exploding out and blasting the slab. Her arm wavered slightly, Sayuri braced it against her other wrist, and the slab didn’t move an inch for the rest of the minute.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Goro stood at the pole again with his cannon this time, raining fiery balls of death down on the golems swarming around him, the hapless constructs exploding into smouldering pieces and ash before they could even get close to the barrier.

<Come on! Come on!> he yelled, taking a hand off his cannon to beat his breastplate. <Let ‘em at me, set ‘em all loose, this shit is too fuckin’ easy!>

<We’re not sending any more golems at you until you dial it back!> cried one of the technicians via comm-crystal. <You’re breaking them too badly, we won’t be able to recycle even half of the ones you’ve already busted!>

<Fuck you!> Goro snapped back. <What’s the point of training if you don’t always put your 110% into it?!>

<That’s enough, Aneyama,> Tygan interrupted calmly. <You can get off the pole now, you’ve already got full marks for this test.>