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>>5833482
The yard reeks figuratively and literally of poverty, the have-nots. Those who can’t afford Gillian’s accommodation fees are thrown out in the cold, the headmaster powerless to stop her lest he loses one of the only sources of revenue necessary for running the school and training the next generation of warriors against the Grimm, dark and soulless monsters, seeking only the destruction of mankind.

As you walk among the tattered tents and improvised homes, you spot your targets near the fountain.

Narci Pink and Typhu Tornadus, partners and the N and T of your team. Typhu appears to be running in circles around the fountain with some crystals attached to her arms while Narci berates her.

“I said swifter you muscle-brained girl!” Narci demands in a posh voice.

“Alright! I never get to run at full speed so much, thank you so much!” Typhu speeds up, her powerful legs pushing her faster and faster until she seems almost like a blur.

Narci checks the screen from her scroll with a manic smile. “Yes, it works-!” She’s interrupted by the crystals in Typhu’s arms shining brightly before exploding. Typhu is unharmed but Narci falls into the fountain from sheer surprise.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay Narci?” Typhu rushes to her dripping partner.

“What were you doing you imbecile?! You charged way too much energy!”

“But you said I needed to run faster…”

“W-well, I said swiftER not swiftEST. Night and day.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Narci, Typhu, good day.” You approach the pair.

“Leader!” Typhu happily waves.

“Sir!” Narci stands up straight and salutes you, hitting herself in the face with some wet flora from the fountain.

“What were you doing?”

“Having fun!”

“Running laps at full speed under forty degrees heat?”

“Yep!”

“Ahem, I was testing a hypothesis. As you know, Dust is present as an energy source and in our very ammunition, but it needs to be kickstarted and depending on how it is the power expelled differs greatly.”

“Yes, you pump more Aura into it and it’s stronger, I use gravity Dust, what’s the point?”

“Well, I’m testing whether we can kick start Dust using nothing but kinetic energy, a possible easily renewable energy machine.”

“Did it work?”

“It exploded,” Typhu says.

“It’s progress!”

“Explosions are progress?”

“That is the main pillar of science you fool!”

You had enough girl bickering for today so you change the subject. “Where’s Charlie?”

“Here mistress.” Charlie seemingly appears out of nowhere from the blindspot of you three, startling both girls and making Narci fall back in the fountain.

“Charlie,” you say in a neutral tone, “you know I’m not a girl.”

“Of course mistress, you can be whatever you want.” Charlie hands you an envelope. “A letter for you arrived this morning.”

“I have somewhere for letters to arrive?”

“Yes we all do. I check it every morning.”

>>5833485
“Neat.” You break the wax seal and begin reading the letter written with flawless penmanship.

Dear Picaro Calavera.

Due to your courageous actions in saving the life of an Atlas citizen, your team alongside Coco Adel and Sun Wukong are formally invited to a ceremony to receive medals in honor of your upstanding morals and valor.

Promptly respond whether you accept the invitation.

Regards, General and Headmaster of Atlas, James Ironwood.

“That seems kinda short for a letter,” Typhu says while peeking over your shoulder, a trivial task for her.

“I quite liked it.” You turn around to see all three girls sneaking a peek.

“General and headmaster? He forgot councilman,” Charlie adds.

“Oh Brothers! I can’t believe it!” Narci shakes with joy. “I’m getting a medal from General Ironwood!”

“Aren’t we all getting one?”

“General and headmaster.”

“And councilman.”

Narci continues undeterred. “After so many years I’ll finally get the acknowledgement I deserve!”

“That is up to mistress.”

“W-what?”

“General, headmaster and councilman Ironwood said it was mistress who needed to accept the invitation.”

“Oh please, he’ll accept… right?”

You didn’t quite hear as you were deep in thought.

Indeed you saved the life of Isaac Thyme, the Atlas citizen, back in initiation where you were forced to carry him 250 kilometers through the hostile desert after he was cut in half by a very powerful Grimm.

That good action did not go unpunished. You were forced to meet Gillian Asturias who wanted you to become her lackey after that feat, an offer you denied. The attention didn’t stop there, as now the council of Atlas seeks to use your story as a pr stunt.

On the other hand, you met with the general himself during a gala Gillian used to entice you and arranged the ceremony to your liking, guaranteeing top of the line prosthetics for Isaac, recognition for Sun and Coco and a proposal to grant replacement limbs to huntsmen.

Will you go?
>Yes
>No

---

Remember to vote on this post.

And at last, one hour and one week late, the second part of the Vacuo quest!

Here's to another thread of paranoia and adventure!

>>5833487
>Will you go?
Yes. Ironwood might be a glowie, but he's *our* glowie, and a kindred spirit to Picaro's paranoid ass. I fully expect us to be able to swing that limb replacement scheme-- but only if we're in full attendance.

>>5833487
>Yes
Nice to be back.

>>5833487
>Yes
We made a deal.

40 more minutes.

>>5833487
>Yes
Here we go shadowrunning again

>>5833499
>>5833503
>>5833516
>>5833593
We going to the tundra. Writing.

“We are going,” you declare.

“Woo!” Narci jumps out of the fountain. “I need to pack! I need to get my nails done! We need souvenirs and we need them now!” Narci grabs Typhu with the intent of dragging her for her chores.

“Hm, I should get something warmer, Atlas must be freezing.” She says to herself, ignoring Narci’s pushes as if they were a gentle breeze. “Will you accompany me, Narci? I want a scarf.”

“N-no,” Narci speaks between gasps, “you follow me, peon.”

“Okay.” Typhu happily walks alongside Narci, leaving you and Charlie alone.

“Let’s go tell Coco and Sun.” Charlie nods and you two wordlessly go back to your tent, finding it with three guests.

“Oh, there’s Picaro and Charlie,” Emerald Sustrai says with a welcoming smile and friendly voice. She always has those, you find it somewhat unnerving how kind she appears after your teams’ first meeting back in initiation.

“Mistress has news for Coco Adel and Sun Wukong.”

“What is it Piqui?” Coco asks with a hint of concern. Who can blame her, lately you don’t bring her good news very often.

“I have news for Coco and Sun.”

“Charlie just said that.”

“She stole what I was going to open up with and I didn’t know what to do. My plan got ruined.”

“It’s a conversation between friends, not a battle.”

You remain silent. After you got tricked by your own older brother, Grant Calavera, you find yourself much more careful of what you say and do around people. Suffice to say, school has not helped your socialization issues.

“What is the news bro?” Sun asks.

“We are going to Atlas to receive medals for saving Isaac’s life.”

The tent lights up with surprise. “For real?! Hell yeah man!” Sun raises his palm to high five Fox and he obliges.

“How did you know he wanted one?” Coco asks.

“Context clues,” Fox answers.

“And how did you accurately hit his hand?”

“Instinct.” Fox high fives Sun once more.

“Atlas? No thanks, too cold.”

“You are not invited, Period Head.”

“I just wanted it to be known that I wouldn't go anyways.”

“Hey, I wanna take a vacation too!” Mercury Black voices what the guests are thinking.

“Why would YOU go? You didn’t help at all.” Coco gives him a side eyed glance.

“We met up in the end and walked together,” Emerald says.

“Right after you tried to mug us.”

“Pft, that was nothing, if we wanted you dead we-” Emerald puts a hand over Mercury's mouth.

“It was a lapse of judgment, a mistake, a playful prank between good friends!”

“A prank? Really? That can’t be your best excuse, what kinda friend does pranks like that?” Coco looks at them incredulously.

“Neo.” Emerald yanks her hand out after Mercury licks her. “She once pranked me by putting a blade to my throat just as I was waking up. Hilarious.”

Neo happily nods.

>>5833703
“That she thinks I’m scared of some mute midget bitch.”

Neo no longer happily nods. She tries to hit Mercury’s crotch but he deflects the blow.

“So,” Emerald gives a pearly smile, “can we please go?”

“No. The invitation didn’t allow for further guests.”

“Duh, we were implying you smuggle us in. You can put the midget in a handbag.” Mercury smiles while wrestling Neo on the ground. Well, he wrestles, she tries to claw his eyes out.

You must decide-

“No. Why would I do that?”

Emerald tilts her head and gives an innocent expression. “For fun?”

“I do normal things for fun, like training.”

“Whatever.” Mercury plants both feet under Neo’s abdomen and kicks her off. “School for narcs is full of narcs, let’s bounce.” He stands up and leaves the tent.

“He does know we won’t follow him, right?”

Neo blows a raspberry in his direction.

Emerald sighs. “Well, you don’t lose anything for trying, you all have fun in the snow, you’ve earned it.” Emerald smiles and Neo gives a thumbs up.

“Mistress, shall I write the letter with our confirmation?”

“Sure.”

“Give me a moment.” Charlie goes to her spot in the tent and retrieves some pen and paper before scribbling rapidly.

“Hum, Piqui, not to be rude but are you certain Charlie is the best for-”

“Done.” Charlie clears her throat before reciting her letter. “Dear General, Headmaster and Councilman James Ironwood.”

“Okay.”

“Regards, Picaro Calavera.” Charlie looks back up. “Is it up to your expectations?”

“Yes.”

“… don’t you think it’s a little bit brusque?”

You stop to think for a moment. “Hand me the letter please.” You compare Charlies’ and Ironwood’s Hm, they seem almost exactly the same, just without all the filler- wait, you think, I need a title like the general, but what should it be?

What will your title be?
>Dater of At Least One Malachite
>Savior of Goatboys
>Breaker of Windows
>Other, write-in.

>>5833705
>Breaker of Windows
How can I not pick this.

>>5833705
>Other, write-in.
>Leader of team PCNT
The most boring title, fitting for our autistic boy

>>5833717
>+1
Salem fears the day Picaro teaches Ironwood the art of The Stare

20 minutes.

>>5833711
Breaker of Windows.

>>5833717
>>5833725
Leader of team PCNT.
Writing.

“Add, ‘Leader of Team PCNT’, please.” You hand the letter back to Charlie.

“Wow, the most boring option possible every time Piqui. Every time.”

“Come on Coco, leave him alone, I’m sure he knows how to have fun, what’s your favorite movie Picaro?” Fox defends you.

“I don’t watch movies.”

“You were supposed to say something lame like a documentary, that is so much more boring I can’t even make a joke. Don’t you have a tv?”

“He does not,” Coco deadpans.

“What do you do in your free time- train, I get it, geez,” Fox mock-whispers to Sun. “Someone needs to desperately get some.”

“Get some? Get some what?”

“Pussy. Get your head right, your feet on the ground and your dick wet.”

“How do I do that?”

“You see brother, gotta give them the D.”

Coco groans at the incoming crude joke.

“Devilishly distracting demure damsels and daddy’s daughters with dazzling, dastardly deceptions, driving them to devour my, uh, my penis.”

“Man, I got lost halfway through that. All you gotta do is follow the chick around until they stop running away and give you a date.”

“Wow. Both of you are terrible,” Octavia says, almost impressed.

“Testify sister.” Coco no-look high fives Octavia.

“Why do you two only get along when it comes to attacking us? And for the record, my thing was way better than Sun’s stalker habits.”

“Hey dude, not cool.”

“Well this is fun.” Emerald smile seems way too big. “It’s not that hard to get a girl to date you, why so many hairbrained schemes?”

Neo puts up her index finger and thumb, the space between them seeming devastatingly small in the boys’ eyes.

“Hey man, I’ve got a nice dick, promise!”

“They used to call me Fox Ali-huge schlong-stair, ask anyone!”

Emerald covers her eyes and groans. “Why Neo? They are gonna be defensive the whole day now.”

Neo mimics stirring a pot.

“Mistress, these shenanigans are dumb.”

“Yes.”

“Can we leave?”

“Yes.” With that order, you both leave the stirred pot of hormones and fragile prides that became of your home, confident in your average sized member.

“Mistress?” Charlie asks as you walk away.

“Yeah?”

“How do you usually ‘get chicks’ around here?”

“The only girlfriend I ever had threatened me with a knife to go out with her.”

“So it's the same as back home. Useful knowledge.”

“Hm, I guess. I wonder when we leave for Atlas?”

“Like this, never.”

“Why?”

“The confirmation is still in your hand. I believe you must send it first.”

“I don’t know how to mail a letter.”

“Neither do I.”

Why did they send a letter in the first place? A text would have been good enough. I hope they aren’t trying to get me into their school by impressing me.

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>>5834010
The letter had been sent thanks to a not-so-helpful librarian and merely a day after Atlas responded.

Boy did James respond…

“Cool, the next great war just dropped.” Fox looks up.

“Lots of guns for a cab.” Mercury looks up.

“There’s no way they are traveling in THAT.” Emerald looks up.

“It’s either an expensive transport courtesy of the taxpayer or Atlas got tired of Theo’s shit. In which case I’m defecting.”

“Yeah, me too.”


“Eh, not impressive.” Octavia looks up. “Look at all the empty space, typical Atlesian wasteful attitude. I could strap in at least a hundred more guns per side.”

“HOLY CRAP DUDE!” Sun shouts from inside the building and decides the stairs are too slow, so he jumps out the window to the yard, not before actually opening it. “Are we under attack?!”

“Fuck are we gonna do if we are?” Octavia asks.

“Pray. Cry,” Fox answers.

“Defect.”

“Yes, thanks Merc, defect.”

“Or do like Neo and disappear. I was just talking with that midget.”

“I vote disappear.” Fox raises his hand.

“No one is disappearing, the leader just needs to make a calm, and sound decision.”

“Sun, you are our leader.”

“You know I was talking about Picaro or Adam, dude.”

“Do you see that Typhu?!” Narci points excitedly at the flying battleship.

“Hum, it’s kinda hard to NOT see.”

“That-! Is…” Narci looks disappointed. “An older model… I thought those were out of circulation.”

“PICARO CALAVERA!” Coco shrieks from the other side of the yard. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO NOW?!”

“Not my fault.”

“If they are here to pick us up, then it is your fault mistress.”

“Look Calavera.” Adam points at the metal beast. “Those are the scum you ally yourself with. Atlas and their shock and awe tactics, funded with the blood of the meek.”

“Shouldn’t you be in detention for wrecking the school, Taurus?”

“I escaped. I had to see this with my own eye.”

“YOU MUST BE JOKING!!!” A booming voice comes from atop of Shade before new glass breaks. Theodore lands in the yard. “Jimbo got an excuse to show off his cock. Jokes on him, mine’s bigger.”

As the battleship lands alongside a tiny fleet of smaller ships make their landing, Theo rushes to the opening hatch.

“Where’s that half-tin fuck? I got words to give him. Words are what I call these.” He pulls up his fists.

A man wearing an official looking uniform puts his palms in peace. “Wow, easy there headmaster, the General isn’t here.”

“And who are you?”

“Clover Ebi, specialist from the Ace Ops working under Ironwood, a pleasure to finally meet a legend in the flesh.” Clover offers a friendly handshake.

Theo accepts it with crushing enthusiasm. “Headmaster Theodore, about to tear this piece of junk down piece by piece with my bare hands.”

Clover manages to yank his hand free. “You really earned your rep, ouch.”

“Here we don’t make shows of strength, in the desert we ARE strong. And we always follow through.” Theodore kneels down and begins tearing a metal plate from the ground.

>>5834015
“Theo, wait!” Professor Rumpole hastily enters the scene.

“I’m busy wrecking this!”

“You can’t!”

“How in Remnant is this not justification for violence? They parked a fucking battleship in MY soil!”

“This is in no way a hostile action, Atlas is merely protecting a VIP, an action you signed off on.”

Theo did? I guess it makes sense he’d be notified and could’ve stopped me going to the ceremony, but didn’t.

“The deal was using the correct amount of force.”

“Our advisors have unanimously decided this is the correct amount of force.”

“That’s bullcrap.” Coco crosses her arms.

“You know it, I know it, everyone knows it, even Atlas knows it!” Adam looks thunderous.

“A show of power,” Charlie concludes. “They intend to give off the image of might, a Kingdom so wealthy they can afford to send a giant ship for transport. A stark contrast to Vacuo. Perhaps the general is trying to kill two Nevermore with one bullet, impressing mistress and poaching some more students from Shade with the excuse of protection.”

“Then why use an old model?” Typhu asks.

“The average person can’t tell the difference. They betted on it. It’s probably something from some warehouse waiting to be scrapped.”

“Just leaving billion Lien ships lying in the closet.” Fox sarcastically says.

“All smoke and mirrors.” Adam spits on the ground. “Lies, deceit, what that accursed place is built on.”

“But shouldn’t it still be illegal or something?” Sun seems flabbergasted.

“Rules don’t apply to the strong, only the weak. What can the impoverished Vacuo do against mighty Atlas.” Adam storms off. “Have fun Calavera.”

Following his example, Theodore also passes fuming beside you.

Clover, seeing his chance, jogs to your group. “Hey guys, how’s it going?”

“Not so fast Clover.” A blue haired woman appears to materialize out of thin air. “We agreed to greet our guests together.”

“Oh May, I was looking for you but you are… quite hard to find sometimes.”

“Gave up fast, eh?” The woman turns to your group. “You guys must be the ones Isaac won’t stop talking about. You with the stare must be Picaro.”

“How do you know Isaac?” you warily ask, ready to call Promised Return.

“He also told me you are one paranoid fella, let’s skip the suspicions.” She pulls out a scroll and shows it to you, a very familiar face appears.

“Hello bossman, I have not been kidnapped-”

“Be serious Isaac!” A voice you vaguely recall calls from behind the lens.

“I’m messing with you bossman, how are you?”

“I-”

“You are talking to a prerecorded video-”

“You are not, this is a call!” The voice interrupts again. “Also hi!”

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>>5834016
“Isaac, Atlas has sent a giant battleship and parked it in the yard.”

May flips the scroll to point at the giant metal beast. “That’s an old model. Damn cheapskates.”

“I already deduced it with my genius min-”

“I can’t wait for you guys to come visit! I gotta go get bathed but we’ll chat in person soon!”

“Who bathes you? Hi I’m Fox, I was in the option to go slow.”

“Uh, okay, anyways, see you guys!” Isaac says before ending the call.

“Did that earn your trust?”

“No. He never claimed I can trust you.”


“It was implied.”

“I hate to cut the meeting short, but we have to get moving, General Ironwood wishes to discuss strategy with the VIPs ASAP, we must board the battleship,” Clover says.

“Sorry ASS, but Isaac wants to talk and thank the people who saved his life ASAP, they are gonna be in Atlas for a week, he can wait. Also, I’m sure our guests would rather travel in a much less gaudy thing.”

The call is yours.
>Go with Clover
>Go with May

---

Vote here and see you tomorrow at 18 utc.

>>5834024
>Go with May
Kek, I forgot Charlie is as autistic as we are

>>5834024
>Go with Clover
>But promise to meet with Isaac the second we're free
Much as I want to go with May, we're going to be in Atlas for a week, and there'll be plenty of time to see Isaac. Business before pleasure. We've got schemes afoot.

>>5834024
>Go with May
nice to see you back, op

>>5834071
Actually, I'm now thinking whether going with Clover would be better to try and get that deal for Isaac's lower body and other hunters.
Schnee can go fuck himself, he is paying more taxes and he better like it.

>>5834024
>Go with May
It should be interesting to see how May reacts to Charlie calling Picaro her mistress.

>>5834024
>Go with Clover
>But promise to meet with Isaac the second we're free
Gotta make sacrifices to get what we want and help others.

>>5834447
Does May hate it when faunus take orders from humans?

>>5834455
It's mostly because Picaro has (to quote Charlie) trainsexual gender dysphonia

>>5834071
>>5834412
I'll change to support this
>>5834092
>>5834455
>"I was interrupted while talking to Ironwood, so I need to finish the talk. The better this PR stunt goes, the more we can negotiate for you."

>>5834024
>>5834447
After some thought I'll also change my vote to
>Go with Clover
>But promise to meet with Isaac the second we're free

>>5834024
>Go with Clover
>But promise to meet with Isaac the second we're free

>>5834111
May

>>5834092
>>5834455
>>5834481
>>5834565
>>5834594
Clover. Writing.

“I was interrupted when talking with Ironwood. The better this show goes, the more I can negotiate for Isaac,” you say, stone faced.

“Well, thanks for thinking about Isaac,” May responds in a sarcastic tone. “Woulda been better if you just put off work for a second.”

“I promise we’ll see him as soon as we finish hashing out the details. We have a week.”

“Tsk, friends second, eh? Take him Clover, he already fits in with your bunch.” May walks away a few paces before vanishing.

Must be a Semblance.

“That’s a good attitude kid, don’t let her make you feel bad.” Clover gives you a friendly smile. “Business first, that’s how you keep the Grimm at bay.”

“Hm.”

“Ugh great, you made him enter mission mode.” Coco massages her temples. “The whole ride he’s gonna be distant and weird.”

“Weren’t we in a hurry?” You ignore Coco.

“Yes, let’s go, I’ll show you your accommodations, the flight might be a lil’ long.”

“Really?” Narci asks. “Flying from Vacuo to Atlas shouldn’t take more than six hours.”

“We need to avoid the Grimmlands.”

“I know, that’s already accounted for.”

“A ship this size can’t cap up at too much speed for the safety of VIPs.”

“You’ve got an answer for everything.” Coco raises an eyebrow.

“You guys can ask more questions inside, chop chop.” Clover gestures to your group to follow.

Fox and Octavia wish you safe travels. You notice team AMEN, Adam’s team, are all missing.

You are led by Clover around the insides of the Atlesian battleship, painted with shades of white and light gray as it’s usual for the Kingdom.

“The Atlesian Roc 1200 is a marvel of Atlesian technology, capable of comfortably housing up to five small battalions of proud Atlesian soldiers.”

“You said Atlesian three times.” You find his pitch boring.

“It’s very important you know how great Atlas is in order to steal and use you as a pr stunt for a couple of months,” Charlie doesn’t even try to whisper.

“Just months? I imagined my story was worth at least a year.”

“The masses move fast. You’d have to find some other mained faunus to heroically save. If it comes to that, I’ve gotten good at pretending to be a helpless, young and fertile girl with a broken arm. Observe.” Charlie grabs a hold of her shoulder and moves it in an awkward angle until you hear a pop.

“Did you dislocate your shoulder? Do not dislocate your shoulder. I thought you said pretend?”

Charlie pops her arm back in place as easily as she dislocated it. “The pretend was that I was helpless with a broken arm. I’m still young and fertile though.”

“Mr. Clover,” Narci shily says.

“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”

“I-it’s Narci Pink, sir. May I ask a question?”

“Of course!”

“Why the AR 1200 and not some newer model like the 1500 or even one of those AD types?” Narci asks full of curiosity.

>>5834717
The question catches Clover off guard. “You do know your stuff, hehe… You see, Atlas military is powerful enough to have an influx of ships, b-but we are also mindful of our spending and don’t just throw away our toys once new ones arrive!”

“What about the wet paint?” Coco asks while pointing at Sun who had touched the wall and gotten a handful of white as a result.

“A coincidence, the place needed a new coat of paint anyways. Let’s continue the tour, shall we?”
>”Hm.” Go along with him. No point voicing your feelings unprompted.
>”Yes sir.” Give him what he wants.
>”Only if you stop trying to buy my allegiance with empty boasts.” Demand transparency.
>”I believed you said we were going to our rooms.” Cut the tour short and head to your room.
>”This is an insult to my people’s intelligence. Tell Ironwood if he intends to wow me, he’ll need to do better than painting iron yellow and calling it gold. Let’s go.” Go to your room on your own.
>Other, write-in

----

Votes here.

>>5834718
>>”I have already talked with General Ironwood, you can save the script for the cameras, let's get going.” Demand transparency, but also throw him a bone.

>>5834718
>”Only if you stop trying to buy my allegiance with empty boasts.” Demand transparency.

I'm already regretting going with this guy

20 minutes.

>>5834732
>>5834737
Writing demand transparency.

“Only if you stop trying to buy my allegiance with empty boasts.”

“Ah…” Clover scratches his cheek. “Sorry about that. I must say, you are all very bright kids.”

“Drop the nice guy act dude.” Sun crosses his arms.

“It’s not an act.”

“Then continue being nice, I like it when people aren’t mean to me.” Typhu crosses her arms.

“… okay.” Clover decides that kids nowadays are just weirder and continues on. “Down the hall you have bathrooms, though your rooms will have a personal one.”

“How many rooms?”

“Two, each one has two bunk beds. We’ll let you decide the placement if you wanna separate the teams or the boys and the girls.”

“Hm.” You all turn a corner and see a room filled with people.

“The cafeteria. The journey is gonna take twelve hours, so we’ll arrive at zero six hundred hours. You will be given dinner. Make your own pizza.”

“Seems like a lot of soldiers.”

“The plan was for me to lead you guys to the main bridge where you’d see all the men working.”

“Is the pizza also a ploy to impress me?”

“No. Today it’s Ryan’s birthday. Happy birthday Ryan!”

“Thank you sir!”

“And lastly, here are your rooms.” Clover leads you to the final location. “There are also training areas, a recreational lounge and more facilities, you can consult the map in your room.”

“Hm, thank you.” You give Clover a small nod.

“Need anything you tell anyone, they’ll fetch me. Have fun and remember to look out the windows once in a while, the view is stunning.”

“I feel kinda bad,” Typhu says. “He seemed like a good person.”

“He wasn’t being truthful.”

“Maybe those were his orders…”

“His orders were to lie, he failed.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t say he lied,” Narci countered, “more like he painted a prettier picture.”

“The worst lies are those sprinkled over the truth.” Charlie gives her final verdict.

“Man, I’m sick of all this spy crap, I’m hitting those fancy Atlesian gyms!” Sun runs off in a direction without checking if he’s going the right way.

“Ah, what the hell, we better make use of all the bribes while we have ‘em, I’ll go see those lounges.” Coco checks the map and goes in the right direction.

“Typhu, let’s go!” Narci again tries to drag the big girl.

“Where?”

“Let’s see how this beast works!” The girls run off to snoop around the internals of the vehicle.

“What do you wanna do, mistress? We could salvage this time to prepare for Ironwood.”

Either way, now you are free to decide what to do for the long journey.
>Go to the gym
>Go to the lounge
>Go to the engine room
>Stay in your room with Charlie
>Other, write-in

>>5834750
Thread 1 established that Ironwood is a passive-aggressive, politeness-judo kind of guy. It only makes sense that he'd want his hand-picked agents to be similar autists.
To the best of my knowledge, Clover isn't a bad person; he's just *like that*, as are most of the Ace-Ops-- prioritizing the mission above all else, even to their direct detriment. What his mission is, in this case, I can't be sure; he *was* probably just trying to impress us.
>Other, write-in
We've got a long flight ahead of us, so we can hit the gym, make our rounds, and do spy shit in our room with Charlie before bed. Maybe even check the cargo hold for stowaways like the paranoid fuck we are in case the other members of team CMEN snuck aboard with Neo's invisibility/illusion fuckery.

>>5834823
>Write-in
>Look around for cameras and recording bugs, see if there are any 'blind spots'
>Tell Charlie to not call us mistress or say something equally as weird, at least for the duration of this whole pr stunt.

>>5834823
>>Go to the lounge

>>5834823
>Go to the lounge

>>5834932
>>5834871
I support BOTH of these

>>5834823
>Look around for cameras and recording bugs, see if there are any 'blind spots'
>Tell Charlie to not call us mistress or say something equally as weird, at least for the duration of this whole pr stunt.
>Go to the lounge
Combination of these two. Gotta use up our bribes.

Backlink >>5834455

>>5834823
>Stay in your room with Charlie
It won't win, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and what it wants is best girl.

>>5834823
>>5834932
I'll change my vote to support this >>5835100 as a compromise.

>>5834939
>>5834968
Lounge.

>>5835629
>>5835100
Go to the lounge and do spy shit.

>>5834871
>>5835047
Do some more paranoid shit.

This one's gonna be a long one. Writing.
Sorry for the delay, traffic coming back home.

“Charlie, let’s go decide which room we wanna stay in. Check thoroughly.”

She nods in understanding of the subtext. “I believe we should be separated between boys and girls. I’ll go in the room to the left.”

“I’ll take the right. Remember to look for any rats.”

Charlie goes into the room without another word and you go to yours.

The room is about what you expected. Cramped space, two bunk beds and a single table. A place for a soldier to sleep and little else.

At least it isn’t the barracks. This place must be for the important. That thought galvanizes you.

Important people are worth being bugged, Lady Browning’s Preparatory Academy for Girls taught you that.

It also taught you how to spot listening devices. Well, how to plant them, but the lesson applies nonetheless.

Indeed, that school before burning down prepared high socialite girls to survive in the upper class, even the dark realities.

After searching every corner of every minute space in the room you find nothing. This just means they are well hidden. Better be careful.

The idea you aren’t being spied on doesn’t cross your mind.

You exit the room and knock on the adjacent door.

“I’m finished checking my room, are you?” That was not a question.

“Yes.” Charlie opens the door. “Check mine, maybe you’ll like it more.”

“Thank you kindly.” You enter as Charlie holds the door open for you before leaving you alone.

From the state of disarray the room is in, Charlie was either conducting her search or didn’t have time to finish and clean up. Either way, you check yourself.

Charlie can think you are just being careful, the truth is you don’t trust her TOO much just yet despite how helpful she’s been.

In your eyes, you have one true ally in this ship and she’s probably playing video games.

Like the other, this one is clean. SEEMS clean.

You exit the room to a waiting Charlie. “Which one do you like more, mistress?”

“You need to stop calling me mistress.”

“Of course-”

“It’s not about that. As long as we are in Atlas, we are show ponies for equality. We can’t have a faunus calling a human as any form of superior. The council will get upset.”

“And goodbye prosthetics. How do you wish to be addressed? Team leader, lover, brother, father, son? I can act however you want.”
>”With my name.”
>”As your teammate.”
>”As your friend.”
>Other, write-in

---

You know the drill, vote here.

>>5836246
>”With my name.”
>”As your teammate.”
>”As your friend.”
Alright let's see if this goes through to her.

>>5836246
>>”With my name.”
keep it simple

>>5836246
>”As your teammate.”

>>5836246
>”With my name.”

>>5836246
>”With my name.”
Clearly, they knew we would check the rooms for bugs as soon as we arrived, so they must plan to lure us into a false sense of security and place them while we are away and distracted! We've clearly subestimated Ironwood...

>>5836246
>>5836298
On second thought saying all these things at the same time might be confusing. Changing my vote to
>”As your teammate.”
It's simple enough.

OP ?

>>5836375
>>5836423
>>5836428
Name

>>5836382
>>5836897
Teammate

Sorry for the disappearing, caught some nasty stomach thing and I thought I could get better before writing. Suffice to say, this seems like a couple of days kinda deal so I'll just soldier on and write.

Again, very sorry.

>>5837440
Don't force yourself QM. If there's any health issues that could affect you it should checked out first.

“Just use my name.” Simple and clean that you are.

“As an equal then. One second.” Charlie undoes her high and wild ponytail, letting her unkempt fall off. She grabs hold of two of them and straight up ties them into her hair to make some hoops.

The hairstyle makes you grimace, reminding you of a certain someone. “Now, Picaro Calavera!” Charlie says in a grandiose voice. “Let us go forth for the glory of Vacuo!”

Well, this is marginally better than a scandal.

“Ugh! This technology makes me seethe- Something’s missing.” Charlie’s voice returned to normal in an instant.

“Why are you acting like Gillian? Just replace mistress with my name.”

“I’ve referred to my superiors as master or mistress all my life. If I act normal, maybe it’ll slip out and Atlas is filled with surveillance. It’s less risky if I turn into someone else. I’ve done this before.”

“But do you HAVE to be Gillian?”

“Yes. She calls you by your name most often- I got it!” Her voice returns to the posh tone. “I need a submissive lesbian to follow me. To the lounge, Picaro Calavera!”

You let yourself be dragged as you were already planning on visiting Coco, however, something catches your eye.

Cameras. Of course.

“Charlie, how about we check the view. It’s very bird’s eye.”

Charlie peeks through the corner of her eye at the camera. “We better be able to see Vacuo. If there’s a single blind spot, I’ll make a scene.”

With a nod, you both begin walking around the whole ship, making mental notes of every possible blind spot.

The system looks very old. Odds are it was outdated even when the ship wasn’t. What it lacks in quality makes up tenfold in quantity. you think, frustrated at Atlas’ wanton vigilance. Every singular camera is covered, the ship itself appears built to avoid as many uncontrolled areas as possible.

You look at Charlie, expecting her to go on a Gillian style rant about Atlas keeping its citizens on a leash. The girl is dead quiet, looking at every corner.

In here the people agreed to be watched, but in the city Atlas will have to be covert to have this level of control. At least I know now.

Ironwood likes to know everything that happens in his turf.

After spending almost an hour witnessing damn near a police state, your paranoia flares up. You remember team AMEN’s sudden disappearance.

“We make another round. Look for anyone suspicious.”

“You would dare make a queen walk on her own feet? I should have you whipped Picaro!” Charlie exclaims, but complies nonetheless.

Another hour of walking around, occasionally looking out the window for the excuse that you’re merely admiring the view, yields a small bit of intel.

“A lot of soldiers aren’t wearing their helmets.”

“The rank and file grow rebellious as the years pass. Only the rookies wear those stuffy hats inside.”

You begin paying close attention to anyone wearing a helmet, a perfect way to hide true identities, combined with the packed full vehicle…

You reach the cafeteria and notice a strange soldier. A very small female, wordlessly pointing at some ice cream.

“Charlie.”

“Picaro.”

“Looks like they have neapolitan ice cream.”

Charlie looks around and her eyes widen for a second. “Indeed. Let’s go get some at once.”

You both power-walk towards the girl, she must’ve seen you. She leaves the cafeteria through a back exit.

You send a text to your teammates when you notice you’re heading to the cargo bay. If this is a trap better spring it and not let her get away, help is coming.

Her steps hasten and she enters a big container off the side.

Inside you find Emerald and Neo. The former looks like a deer caught in the headlight and the latter has her hands linked behind her back, wearing the most innocent face possible.

“Uuuh… hi.” Emerald waves.

“Get Clover, we’ve got some stowaways,” you tell Charlie.

“Waitwaitwait!” Emerald rapidly says. “We aren’t here to do anything!”

“I never said that. I said you are stowaways, which you are.”

Neo lifts her eyebrows and thinks for a second.

“I mean… yeah we technically are, but you can’t get us thrown out like that!”

“Why not? You are with Adam and Mercury, two crazies. I don’t trust you.”

“But we aren’t! We came alone, right?” Neo frantically nods. “Just because we’re in a team, doesn’t mean we get along. Adam is a slave-driver of a leader and Merc is a creep.”

“Merc?” Charlie raises a single eyebrow.

“Uh, why is your hair like that?”

“Ask me another question and I’ll throw you off board myself, peasant!”

Emerald gives an inquisitive look, you roll your eyes. Don’t ask.

“Look, Neo and I are here just because we wanted to get out of Vacuo for a while. The climate, the sand, sleeping outside, it’s terrible.”

“So you aren’t bringing ‘Merc’ along?”

“For the sake of honesty, we were gonna offer but he kept staring at that May girl like an idiot. He’s totally obsessed.”

Neo does quotation marks with her fingers at the word girl.

“We just wanted a break, please don’t rat us out, we’ll owe you!” Emerald does a pleading gesture mimicked by Neo.

They seem honest enough and since you’ve arrived, not once have the girls ever opposed you, Emerald often hangs out with your group even.

On the other hand, handing some petty criminals to Clover may go a long way in building trust, at the expense of your classmates.

What will you do?
>Tell Clover
>Keep it hidden

---

Votes here.

>>5837537
>>Tell Clover
if they want us join us they shouldve asked

I know for a fact yall did not figure out team AMEN got on board thanks to the clues I've sprinkled, you just are extra paranoid.

>>5837441
Not like I'm actually working it's just writing. It's therapeutic and fun. The problem was that I found it quite painful not be laying down, but I'm better now, don't worry!

And look at the time, see you tomorrow at 18 utc.

>>5837537
>Keep it hidden
While getting along with Clover and Ironwood could be nice, having Neo owe us could be better I think. Hm honestly I'm not sure.

>>5837540
I've seen many QMs keep on updating even when they were sick (the most recent Touhou and Ippo QMs come to mind), and it doesn't end well.

>>5837537
>Keep it hidden
>"At least warn us next time. And you better not cause trouble."

>>5837536
>“As an equal then. One second.” Charlie undoes her high and wild ponytail, letting her unkempt fall off. She grabs hold of two of them and straight up ties them into her hair to make some hoops.
>The hairstyle makes you grimace, reminding you of a certain someone.
Now I'm reminded I didn't know charlie's default hair style
>>5837537
>Neo does quotation marks with her fingers at the word girl.
it's a tranny ? zam, merc sure is unlucky

>Keep it hidden
>>5837540
>I know for a fact yall did not figure out team AMEN got on board thanks to the clues I've sprinkled, you just are extra paranoid.
I didn't see then, but it was expected they'd be inside.

>>5837537
>Write-in
>Try to offer us using our influence so they can be here openly.
Could backfire but it's worth a try.
But they're definitely up to something, we should try to pry it out from them if we can or at least keep an eye out.

Backlink >>5835100

>even when away from Vacou Gillian still comes back to haunt us
lmao Charlie, why you torture us like this

>>5837537
>Write-In
Let's tell them that we'll keep them hidden, but only if they make it worth our while. No such thing as a free lunch.

>>5837537
>>5837547
I'll amend my vote to
>Keep it hidden
>But on the condition they allow Charlie to keep an eye on them and we know about what they're doing
We can have a secret connection with/on them just in case we need it. Besides it feels like a bad idea to just let things be now that we know they're here.

>>5837537
>>5837563
Switching my vote to support >>5837640

>>5837537
>>5837640
+1
Specifically instruct Charlie to keep an eye on them. This can help with getting rid of the possibility of Charlie letting things slip like she said could happen, since it doesn't require her to act so much if she's around these two.

>>5837537
>>5837640
Support.

>>5837630
Hopefully with this new assignment she'll cause less issues. Gillian's personality could potentially cause friction.

>>5837539
Tell Clover.

>>5837554
>>5837555
Keep it hidden.

>>5837634
On condition.

>>5837640
>>5837725
>>5838225
>>5838238
Have Charlie keep an eye on them. Writing.

Feeling a lot better today!

>>5837555
>Now I'm reminded I didn't know charlie's default hair style
You could kinda see it in a drawing from last thread when fighting the Komodo but it was just a silhouette.
I left my notebook where I designed her at my parents, but her hairstyle is the classic ninja girl ponytail, think Leona Heidern from KoF, Baiken from Guilty Gear or Valentine from Skullgirls, that high, wild ponytail. I like fighting games.

“Fine,” you say, “on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Charlie will keep an eye on you.” Her being away from me will reduce the chance for a slip up. Plus, I left Vacuo for a week, I do NOT wanna deal with Gillian.

“We really are not up to anything, why are you so damn paranoid?” Emerald asks, frustrated. “The guys, sure, you and Adam have a thing going on and Merc-ury,” she quickly corrects herself, “is a psycho, but us?”

“Neo-”

“But me?” Neo flips her the bird.

“If you wanted to come, why didn’t you ask?”

“We did ask.”

“They did ask,” Charlie agrees.

You think for a second. “Oh yeah. Either way, you can let Charlie follow you or I'll hand you in.”

Emerald throws her hands in the air. “OKAY, geez. Not like we were gonna do anything. Get ready for a report full of window shopping and fancy brunches.”

“Picaro?” Coco enters the container. You told them you were headed to the cargo bay.

“Coco. False alarm.”

“There weren’t intruders? And why did you say not to tell anyone?”

“There ARE intruders, and I don’t trust Clover.”

“Hey Coco.” Emerald waves.

“Em? What are you doing here?”

“They are the intruders.” You send an order to stand down for the rest.

“No they aren’t. It’s just Em and Neo.”

“Who intruded the ship uninvited.”

“It’s whom.”

“No, it’s who.”

“I think it’s whom,” Charlie says.

“What even is the difference?”

“It’s who when it’s the subject of the sentence-” Emerald says.

“We don’t have time for this. Who is right?” you interrupt.

“You.”

“Great. They’re stowaways.”

“So what? Are you gonna snitch on them?”

“No. I’m having Charlie keep an eye on them.”

“And you’re okay with that Charlie?”

“These plebs need guidance, lest they grow lazy!”

“… what?”

“Yes, I am okay with it.”

“And you gals?”

“What other option do we have? Either this or getting thrown off board.”

Coco sighs. “Piqui, you have got to chill the fuck out for one second.”

“We’re in enemy territory Cuqui, due diligence is needed. I am gonna chill now, I intended to join you in the lounge before getting distracted.”

“It’s been hours.”

“We still have a long way to Atlas. At least 9 hours.”

“9 hours you are supposed to be sleeping. Clover said we’re arriving early in the morning.”

“It’s fine. I slept last night.”

“After I damn near restrained you!”

“Wow, do they always do this?” Emerald asks.

“Every night.” Charlie looks into nothing.

Coco massages her temples. “I guess… It has been a while since we did something fun together like back then.”

“It’s been a busy month.” You recall Gillian, the book, Theo, Grant. It gives you a headache.

“One hour and then we go to sleep, okay?” Coco, ever diligent.

“Yep. Keep me posted.” You order Charlie before following Coco to the lounge.

“I don’t get what’s going on between them,” Emerald says.

Neo gives her best guess in the form of a finger entering an o shape formed by two from her other hand.

“Most likely.”

The lounge is empty by the time you arrive. Atlesians go to sleep early it seems.

“This is better than I expected.” You can see a pool table, a game console with a bunch of games on it, some flight and driving simulators, ping pong, and more.

“What were you expecting?”

“I pictured a gray room with a couple of books. They even have a bar!”

“If anyone knows how to party, it’s the army.” Coco smiles. “What do we start with?”
>Pool
>Video games
>Ping pong
>Simulators

---

Votes here. Turns out there's a lines limit, annoying.

>>5838396
>Pool
Classy. Simulators sound fun too. Actually they all sound fun. Shame we missed meeting some connections.

>>5838396
>Pool
Good for reminiscing about better days

>>5838396
>>Ping pong

>>5838396
>Ping pong

>>5838396
>“I don’t get what’s going on between them,” Emerald says.
>Neo gives her best guess in the form of a finger entering an o shape formed by two from her other hand.
Neo really likes doing this one

>Pool

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>5838399
>>5838400
>>5838418
Pool.

>>5838403
>>5838410
Ping pong.

Roll for Picaro to see if he beats Coco.

>>5838472
Five minutes or I roll myself.

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>5838472

>>5838486
I was in the middle of rolling, lol.
Picaro is good in battle and nothing else it seems, writing.
I actually already wrote a part, I was just waiting to see how the game was gonna end.

>>5838418
She has a very dirty mind

>>5838488
>and nothing else it seems
He's also an emotional support slut.

“Pool sounds good.”

“Well aren’t you a classy bitch, wanna play poker later?” Coco teases with a smile. “I play striped.”

“That’s not the rules.”

“Chill.”

You both grab one cue and are pleasantly surprised the balls were already placed in the triangular rack. “Hm, that’s nice.”

“Atlesians seem like that, prim and proper. Every time they’d finish a game, they’d rerack. Who goes first?”

“You, I guess. I don’t really care, I will defeat you like every rock paper scissors game ever.”

“I have decided that you were using your Semblance to cheat.”

“I didn’t even unlock it.”

“Don’t matter, that’s what I decided. Scooch.” Coco shushes you away as she takes position to hit the white ball. A part of you feels compelled to point out that you still need to decide in which hole the eight-ball needs to go, but decide to do as Coco asked and ‘chill the fuck out’.

Coco hits an illegal first break and continues her turn, but one hit later she doesn’t manage to pot a single ball. “Damn, it’s been a while.”

You on the other hand underpower the cue and merely push a ball. “More for me. Pool isn’t very common in Vacuo.”

“No no,” Coco gives a tiny laugh, “I mean you and I just hanging out as friends.” Coco manages to hit a very easy point. “And me completely wrecking you, yeah!”

“Okay okay, don’t get too cocky, that one was free.”

“Check this out.” Coco leans over to carefully line up a shot, bouncing off the side and potting a hard to reach ball. “How about that?”

“Luck.”

“Bull.” Coco tries an equally flashy shot, but fails. “Crap…”

“See?” You try again, this time using too much force and sending the ball flying. You groan as you go pick it up.

“Gods, you’re so bad!” Coco twirls her cue and rests it on her shoulders. “Forgot how to have fun? Did the sand and sun fry your brain?”

You put the ball at roughly the same spot and go for another shot. “You’re gonna eat your words.”

“Preeetty sure that was a foul.”

“Shut up.” You try once more. Not even close.

“Y’know, I don’t get why you chose Pool.” Coco nails another. “Not like we played a lot back in the day.”

“How far back are we talking? The huntsman and princess days, the you forcefully making me wear girl things days or the willingly wearing girl things days?”

Coco does a trick shot and pots two at once. “Hm, we played sports when I was in my tomboy phase.”

“You’re still in that.”

“Bitch how?”

“You wear pants.”

“Girl-pants.” Coco accentuates her statement by scoring another point.

“Same thing.”

“Were you a tomgirl when you crossdressed?”

“What’s a tomgirl?”

“It’s… nevermind.” She nails her final striped ball. “Only the eight-ball left, scared?”

“Nah, I’ll still win.”

“You and your ego.” Coco grumbles and decides to try and pot the final ball at the hole in the most awkward angle.

“You and YOUR ego.” You finally take a turn as Coco fails. “I knew you were gonna get baited. You see Coco,” as you monologue you line up a shot, “what you fail to understand about me is that when I’m up against the wall I-” you don’t score a very easy point.

“Hm, cute.” Coco pots the eight-ball and wins the game. “What’s that? Up against the wall and what else?”

“Shut it and rerack, we play again.”

Game after game, you discover how terrible you truly are at pool. The frustration is highly mitigated as the game soon becomes an afterthought.

“Man, remember when Veronica got in with the Malachites?” you recount a teenagehood anecdote, “they made her steal a car and she crashed it.”

“That was crazy. Remember Erin and Mauve? They are a thing again.”

“Again?”

“Yeah. That’s not the bad part, they actually got engaged, broke it off and now they are together again with a third, younger girl.”

“Hum, how young?”

“Legal. Barely. I wish that were me.”

“They are ugly though.”

“Mauve got some work done on her face, but yeah, uggos. I mean getting in a relationship with an older, hot woman. Like Lisa, she’s killing it on the news.”

You feel happy knowing after Browning’s burned down, its students managed to move on well enough. They were the victims. “That’s good. Lady Browning’s was hell.”

“Yeah, I used to get panic dreams of Lady Beat scolding my posture, but she wasn’t that bad.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause she’s dead.”

“Yeah. How lucky that only one girl died in the fire, thank the Brothers.”

“Trivia Vanille.” You remember her name. You’ve never once spoken to her, but the fact that she died makes you feel guilty for not doing something about it.

“Poor girl. She was mute.”

“Yep, she was mute.” And that’s about where you both know.

The conversation continued on like that, recounting old stories and telling new ones from the time apart.

Coco lost the track of time long ago, but you are acutely aware the one hour is coming to a close.

Coco puts the cue down on the table and stretches. “I’m bored of beating you, let’s play some video games, they’ve got the new Ultra Vytal Huntsman Arena.” Coco seems excited and it’s the first time you’ve seen her so happy since your first meeting, before all the drama and stress.
>Remind her of the time
>One more hour can’t hurt

>>5838532
>Remind her of the time
Meta question from someone that hasn't watched the show, is Trivia alive and actually Neo? They are both mute with ice-cream names

>>5838532
>>One more hour can’t hurt

>>5838532
>Remind her of the time
>>5838543
good point

>>5838543
If she is, she might also have been the one to start the fire as well, since everyone has said Neo is menace. And it would make sense, no-one dies except the identity she gets rid of.
But is Trivia the real identity, or Neopolitan? Or are both fake? The fact that we got in that school means that it's possible to enter with a fake one.

>>5838532
>One more hour can’t hurt

>>5838532
>One more hour can’t hurt
>>5838543
Yes

>>5838532
>Remind her of the time

>>5838532
>One more hour can’t hurt

>>5838532
>Play for a bit
>But then remind her of the time after the first game

>>5838532
>One more hour can’t hurt
But only an hour, eh? We need to still get up for tomorrow so that's fair.

>>5838543
>>5838597
>>5838677
>>5839216
Remind her of the time

>>5838571
>>5838649
>>5838673
>>5838901
>>5839296
One more hour. Writing.

Eh, sleeping 7 hours never killed nobody.

“Sure, boot it up!” You happily urge Coco to start the game.

“You betcha!” She does so. The big flatscreen lights up with various logos, among them are the ones from the huntsman academies.

“Hum, I never realized they were involved with this.”

“Guess it makes sense they’d bankroll games about huntsmen kicking ass. Make the people feel safe.”

“Also makes the Grimm look like harmless fodder.” You ignore the painfully easy story mode and hit versus. About 12 recognizable huntsmen from history to choose from.

“Small ass cast. They wanna squeeze every penny with dlc.”

“You’re just salty your main didn’t make the cut.” You pick yours, the mysterious Grimm Reaper. Unlike all other characters who are based on actual people, Grimm Reaper is more of a legend.

“Bro, you’ve picked the character that made you horny when you was twelve and stuck with her for three straight games.”

“Not entirely true, the Grimm Reaper still makes me horny. There’s nothing more attractive than a woman who can kill a Nevermore with her eyes closed.”

“I’ll admit, the mystery woman thing is kinda hot- hey, do you find her sexy?” Coco hovers a newcomer, but one you recognize from outside the game.

“Summer Rose?”

“Bitch got added to VHA but they removed Hide.”

“Who even played that character with all the goofy ass gimmicks?”

“I did, because I’m not a scrub like you playing easy mode with GR.”

“It takes real dedication being mediocre at a game I don’t really like.”

Coco laughs. “Shut up. I’ll play Nick Schnee.” She hovers over said character but doesn’t pick him yet. “Give me a sec.” She walks up to the bar and pulls out a clear liquid and two shot glasses. Coco reads the bottle. “Damn! I’ll give the Atlaesians this, they sure like their alcohol.”

“What are you doing?”

“Making this more interesting, whoever loses a round takes a shot.” Coco smirks and puts a hand to her hip. “Gonna man up or pussy out?”
>”Bet.”
>”That’s not a good idea.”

>>5839430
>”That’s not a good idea.”
>"Aren't we supposed to go to bed after this?"
The Grimm Reaper is obviously grandma isn't her? That makes that comment really weird

>>5839430
>”That’s not a good idea.”
>"...for now. Put a rain check on it."
Sorry Coco, but we got an important day tomorrow and being hungover doesn't seem like a good time. But otherwise I'd be down, sounds like fun.
Then again we could just do the old "drink water and eat a light snack before you sleep" trick to not get hangovers as badly but I don't know if either Coco or Picaro know about it.

>>5839430
>”Bet.”
>>5839434
But isn't his grandma well-known ? and he'd recognise her if that was the case

>>5839434
To be fair to Picaro he's probably just bantering.

>>5839444
The Grimm Reaper always wore a mask and a hood and never gave her real name.
No one knows what happened to her or who she really was.
All Picaro knows about Maria's past is that she used to be a pretty good huntress before losing her eyes and retiring and that her husband was, according to her, even stronger.

>>5839430
>>”Bet.”

>>5839430
>"That's not a good idea"

20 minutes.

>>5839444
So far, it seems that the names and themes of the characters in the setting are straight forward. So since our complete weapon is a scythe and our surname is skull in spanish, I'm guessing that it's the same for grandma. And that screams Grim Reaper to me.

>>5839434
>>5839436
>>5839498
Not a good idea.

>>5839444
>>5839493
Bet. Writing.

>>5839515
Qrow uses a scythe too, he just usually uses it as a sword most of the time. He’s almost certainly in the game too, unless he’s dlc, since he’s supposedly famous according to tertiary sources of canon (their RWBY ttrpg campaign). Hell, his style is directly inspired by stories of the reaper, who was his childhood hero.

You look to the side for a split second. “That’s…”

Coco instantly knows what’s coming and her smile fades.

“That’s not a good idea Cuqui, we’ve got a very important day tomorrow. Can I get a raincheck?” You offer her a small smile.

“You say that, but you damn well plan once we’re out this ship and you have other shit to do you’ll leave me for last.” Coco slams the glassware back on the counter, it’s a miracle they didn’t shatter. “Like always.”

“Hey, that's not fair.” You get up. “We just hung out, we were cool.”

“Oh, thank you so much for remembering your friends at the last second! What were you doing all this time? Snoopin’ around, spying, how did you find Em and Neo? I seriously doubt you just ran into them.”

You walk up to her. “Am I supposed to spend every hour of every day ‘hanging out’? Slurping shots at the club with the homies? Grow up Coco, we fight for our lives out here, and I sure as shit am not apologizing for spending a measly two hours making sure YOU,” you stab a finger into her chest, “and our teams are safe.”

“Oh!” Coco laughs. “So you are thinking about the team now? Are you even a part of it, I never noticed.”

“What are you implying.” You cross your arms.

“Oh nothing, just how you’ve already wasted an entire month doing-” Coco catches herself before she accidentally exposes you. “Stuff instead of spending with the people you’re gonna bleed with the next four years with.”

Now it’s your turn to laugh. “Wow, that’s some logic. Why spend the small amount of free time in my hands not trying to get out of our bad situation and… other stuff, I shoulda been eating ice cream with Neo!” You find yourself surprised at the anger, but then again, Coco was always the one to get your emotions out.

“That’s not what I said, asshole! Look-” Coco takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes. “Let’s just play the game, okay?”

“… sure.”

You both awkwardly walk to the couches and play some matches. The air is heavy with tension and not twenty minutes later, Coco checks her scroll.

“It’s been an hour…” she says with a hint of sadness.

“Yeah…” You get up and turn off the game. You see Coco still seated with a pensive expression. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah…”

You both walk silently to your rooms, the energy makes the walk feel longer than a couple of minutes.

As you reach the doors, you open a couple of texts Sun had sent. dude


em and neo are here

real sneaky like

charlie said we bunk with them and say we separated by boys and girls

And an hour later.

a dude saw me walk into my room with two lady guards

this rules He sent a drawing of a face wearing sunglasses.

After finishing reading, you groan. “Hate the way he texts.”

“He texts normally, you text in full prose and one word sentences.”

“Yes. That’s better.”

Coco chuckles a bit. “Sorry for blowing up like that earlier, I was having fun and being happy for once, then you reminding me of all this crap made me explode.”

You look down and say nothing.

“I didn’t mean it. You are a part of the team and your work is important and-”

“Okay I get it, don’t freak out. There’ll be time for hanging out after the important - not important - annoying shit is out of the way.”

Coco frowns. “You say there’s time, but there isn’t. There are only 52 weeks in a year and at the end of the day what’s gonna make the difference between life and death isn’t gonna be your connections to important people, the knowledge you possess or the schemes you come up with, it’s your comrades and whether they have your back when shit goes down.” Coco puts a hand on your shoulder and leans close to your face. “You’re just one, Piqui.”

“I mean, they did have my back when spying Gillian…”

Coco smirks. “You could convince a rock in Shade to mess with her. But…” her serious tone returns. “I also worry you grow more and more distant, and really freaking paranoid.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” You hate concerned Coco.

“All I ask is that you lay off it and spend some time with people. Being alone doesn’t just mean not having people beside you, but being in your own head can lead you wrong. Will you do that for me?”
>”You really do ask a lot of me, needy bitch,” you say with a smirk, intending to cool it.
>”Yes.” You’ll give it your best shot.
>”I’ll try…” You want to do it but intend to avoid giving her false hopes. Who knows what tomorrow might bring.
>”Coco…” You doubt you’ll be able to do it, whether you like it or not.
>You look at her resolutely. The world is bigger than you or her, you will not stop until your goals are achieved. She’ll come to understand in the end.
>Other, write-in

---

I feel like this is the third time Coco has given a lecture like this, but Picaro just keeps climbing higher in that strung. To be fair, everyone seems to have an agenda, so some paranoia is warranted.
All points of view in the end.
Vote here.

>>5839587
>>Other, write-in
hug her “I will Coco”

>>5839587
>”You really do ask a lot of me, needy bitch,” you say with a smirk, intending to cool it.

To be fair, we didn't even have the option to hang out with our friends. Everyone was unavailable either because they were hurt, or because the cops were around.
Of course, Coco would ignore that if we pointed that out. Because that's what she always does.

>>5839587
>hug her
>"I'll try..."
As much as I want to call her a needy bitch, saying we'll be more mindfull then playing russian roulette to level up our semblance would send very mixed messages.

>>5839599
At least she hasn't brought up therapy this time.

>>5839595
Let me add something before we forget
>"Coco, did you tell the psychologist about my semblance? Because I'm pretty sure she was trying to make me talk about it without me mentioning it. And don't even try to say I was imagining things, you haven't been right about doubting my gut feelings so far."

>>5839606
>>5839587
>support

>>5839587
>”You really do ask a lot of me, needy bitch,” you say with a smirk, intending to cool it.

Just gonna say yeah, the "Grimm Reaper" is totally grandma.
https://youtu.be/Bu6Kzw8-hAY?si=nCKe2a7yljYcsyG5

Also remember a dirty Fauner took her eyes.

>>5839590
Hug 'n promise.

>>5839595
>>5839623
Needy bitch.

>>5839606
>>5839609
I'll try 'n hug.

A tie, let's wait for 30 minutes see if it solves itself.

>>5839606
>saying we'll be more mindfull then playing russian roulette to level up our semblance would send very mixed messages.
That'd be funny.
>"What the fuck Piqui?!"
>"I promised to not isolate myself and I haven't."
>"Why do you have Burden to your head."
>"Testing my Semblance. Merc is here to make sure the gun is loaded. We're bonding."

>>5839587
>>5839606
+1

>>5839734
Based hugger
Captcha PANTY
kek

“I… uh…” A part of you wants to put her mind at ease. To tell her everything will be alright and after this week it’ll be normal life. But you can’t, how could you? Maybe she’s right and you do seek adversity, but what is a huntsman if not that?

“I’ll try…” You hate how you sound. Like a defeated man. You don’t try things, you do things.

But you can’t lie to Coco, the one thing you can do is try.

Coco must’ve felt your turmoil. “Aw, come ‘ere you.” She wraps her arms around you and gives you a hug which you reciprocate.

“Y’know, this is the second time we hug in a short time frame. Seems kinda weird.”

“We hug when we greet each other, though.”

“Yeah but those are hello hugs, not emotional hugs.”

“Well, I am a high maintenance bitch.”

You smirk. “You said it, not me.”

“Alright, enough sappy shit.” Coco untangles herself. “We are badasses, remember. Now go do the most badass thing and sleep a healthy amount.”

“Yeah, yeah, goodnight. Geez, if I wanted this much nagging I’d have stayed home with ma.”

“Well SOMEONE has to trick into eating your nutrients.”

“… that’s why you convinced me to use lunchtime to study while you get my food…”

“Maybe. Sweet dreams!” Coco gives you a lazy backwards wave as she enters her room.

You shrug and enter yours.

“Hello Picaro.”

“Charlie, I thought you were sleeping with the other girls.”

“I’m keeping an eye on these peasants.”

“I guess.” Said peasants were deeply asleep, the hard military mattresses seeming like paradise after a month outside. Sun didn’t seem much different than usual.

“You can go to sleep, Picaro.”

“Nah, you go, I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“Are you certain? Tomorrow is important in establishing political alliances.”

“I’m sure, get some sleep, you’ve earned it.”

Charlie doesn’t question further, nodding once and leaving to the adjacent door.

You don’t intend to keep active vigilance. You climb to the upper bunk bed and have some decent rest at last.

Not before riddling the room with sound traps in case one of the stowaways intends to sneak out.

I promised to try, but let’s not get crazy here.

You wake up to see everyone else still sleeping. The low light shining through the blinds and a check on your scroll indicates it’s now 5 in the morning, one hour before arriving at Atlas.

Better get everyone ready to make a good impression.

And I’ll get to use the sound traps for something, neat.

One can jingling later, half the room is awake.

“What time is it?” Emerald asks, half-asleep but still more awake than the other two.

“5. We need to get ready to meet Ironwood.”

“Who’s we? I’m not getting in the same room as that freak.”

“You are also breaking the law and infiltrating into his Kingdom.” The silver lining, the fact they aren’t in jail indicates James didn’t bug the rooms. At least that’s a weight off your shoulders.

“That too.”

“You need to get out and keep your covers, there must be some procedure foot soldiers have before landing, roll call at least.”

“We are not amateurs, boy. Come on Neo.”

Neo flips her the bird and buries herself in her pillow.

“I know you did that on purpose just to make me look bad.”

Neo moves in a way which seems like laughter, before flipping her covers and getting out of bed.

“I also know you usually sleep in pajamas.”

“Put on some clothes before Sun wakes up and we have another stupid thing happen,” you say while looking to the side.

“How is he not awake after all the ruckus?”

Once confirming Neo is dressed (and not using her Semblance to appear dressed) you answer Emerald’s question, “He wakes up like so.” You spank the faunus in the rear hard.

“I’M UP,” he jolts.

“We have one hour to get ready.”

“Okay dude!” Sun is full of energy even first thing in the morning.

“You two stay here, I’ll get Charlie. If you leave her sight-”

“You’ll rat us out, yeah.”

“Good that we are understood.”

“Douche.”

You ignore her and go wake up the girls, after you all hit the showers, one for men and one for women.

Some soldiers are already there but it doesn’t bother you, Shade already made everyone used to communal showers.

After the morning ritual, everyone goes to do their own thing: Charlie follows two female guards alongside Coco who thought she might get lonely; Typhu is dragged around by Narci; Sun goes back to the gym which he claims “Has holograms dude! Holograms!”; you went to get a morning coffee and get mentally ready for the day ahead.

“Picaro!” A familiar voice calls from the side. “It’s me, Clover.”

Oh, yeah. You take a sip and grimace. This is terrible.

“Wanna see something cool? Look out the window.”

You do as he says and you must admit, the view is striking.

Not every day you see a floating city after all.

File: Atlas.png (1.29 MB, 1272x820)

1.29 MB PNG

“THAT is Atlas.” Clover gestures to it with a big grin.

The city could not be farther from your home if it tried. In every aspect they are the opposite, climate, lifestyles, even the blue colors clash with the oranges and yellows of Vacuo.

Vacuo’s architecture follows a plan of putting things where they fit, giving the city an irregular shape as it naturally grows. Atlas seems planned from the beginning, a puzzle in which every new piece is made to fit perfectly with the old ones.

Also, one is a flying city while the other is Vacuo.

They do have one thing in common, right in the middle, the tallest building of them, rests the huntsman academy. Shade in Vacuo and Atlas in… Atlas.

You wonder why that is.

“They say you can make the trip a million times and never get tired of the view, what do you think?”
>”Gotta hand it to you, this IS impressive.” You can’t deny the truth.
>”How does it fly?” You are more curious than impressed.
>”Looks cool.” You have no real feelings either way.
>”Why does it fly?” You are left speechless and not in a particularly good way.
>”What a waste of resources.” You find it somewhat insulting Atlas would expend so much in making a big piece of rock levitate.

---

Really late update, but something came up, sorry. See you tomorrow at 18 utc.

Oh, votes here, yadda yadda.

>>5839792
Fellow hugchads rise up.

>>5839845
>”How does it fly?” You are more curious than impressed.
Need to know more.

>>5839845
>>”How does it fly?” You are more curious than impressed.
also qm would we do THE STARE to the other council members

>>5839845
>”Gotta hand it to you, this IS impressive.” You can’t deny the truth.

>>5839845
>”How does it fly?” You are more curious than impressed.

>>5839845
>”How does it fly?” You are more curious than impressed.

>>5839845
>”Gotta hand it to you, this IS impressive.” You can’t deny the truth.
Flying cities are cool.

>>5839845
>”Why does it fly?” You are left speechless and not in a particularly good way.

>>5839845
>”How does it fly?” You are more curious than impressed.

>>5839846
>>5839856
>>5839931
>>5840069
>>5840206
How does it fly?

>>5839924
>>5840141
Impressive.

>>5840147
Not in a good way. Writing.

File: Atlas view stare.png (57 KB, 1097x1800)

57 KB PNG

“How does it fly?” you ask after that long, awkward interaction.

“What?” Clover is confused.

“How does it fly?” You take a sip of your coffee.

“Oh, right. Well, first of all I’m nowhere near qualified enough to give you a proper explanation.”

“Hm.”

“The gist of it is, after the great war ended with Atlas - known then as Mantle - surrendering, the ruler of Mantle capitulated his sole seat of power to be replaced by a council. They decided to focus their efforts in rebuilding the war torn Kingdom with a focus on a brighter future. Great effort was put into making the Atlas combat school the best, most advanced it could possibly be. Eventually, it was decided scientific and military facilities should be built alongside the school to aid the future warriors. The wealthy saw this as an opportunity to build prime real estate in what’s objectively the safest place on Remnant, and people will pay top Lien to be away for the Grimm.”

“What’s that gotta do with a flying city?”

“The council of Mantle decided a couple of decades ago that Atlas had become more than just an academy. All advancement, tourism, everything happened in Atlas, so they moved the capital over there which gave them some… privileges.”

“I see.”

“With newfound permission, a mining frenzy unleashed. Deeper and deeper they searched for every spec of Dust, eventually, getting more than what they bargained for. Gigantic gravity Dust crystals were found and accidentally activated, so powerful they tore the city off the earth itself!” Clover recounts with excitement.

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“The Atlesian council worked overtime to build those chains you see and successfully anchored the Kingdom.”

“So it was an accident.”

“It was an opportunity! Atlas has become the place farthest away from the dangers of land, only flying Grimm can reach the city. Without having to worry about Grimm, the Atlesian minds could focus on advancing medicine, communication, and transportation!”

“Hm, one question.”

“Yes?”

“You said after the war, you guys focused on everything BUT the military, right?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

You look around yourself to the giant battleship you are currently boarding, much more advanced than anything in any other Kingdom. The best part, this is supposed to be outdated by Atlesian standards. “Okay. So medicine and stuff, right?”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Clover puts a hand on your shoulder and smiles. “Isaac will get top of the line prosthetics.”

He misunderstood what you were saying, but you shrug. “Okay.”

Clover touches a finger to his ear. “We’ll be landing in Atlas academy in t-minus 10 minutes. Get your team ready.”

File: Winter.png (551 KB, 673x860)

551 KB PNG

Landing at Atlas academy was much less rocky than what you expected, all it took was some railings and only Narci fell on her rear. A clear, perfect landing.

As the doors open, the first thing that hits you is the cold.

“Didn’t I tell you to bring something warm?” Coco looks merely chilly in her fashionable jacket.

“I have a scarf.”

“You always have a scarf.”

“F-fuck this weather!” You shiver.

“Y-y-yeah m-man!” Sun is worse off, as his chest is fully exposed.

“Idiot, just bottom up your shirt.”

“I-I-I a-a-ain’t g-got a-a-any left, m-m-man.”

“I don’t have any warm clothes either.”

“Oh…” Coco looks to the side while mentally kicking herself.

Cold weather is better in the mind of the standard man, since he can afford to remain warm with as many layers of clothes needed, while in the hot he has to bear the heat.

You and Sun are below the standard.

“Don’t be weak, Vacuans!” Charlie declares. “And don’t feel bad Coco, the real reason they’re like that is because they’re used to Vacuo.”

“Traitor!” you accuse.

“In that case, suck it up.”

“But what if I get sick?”

“Use your Aura and you won’t.”

“Obviously, still doesn’t stop the feeling.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Coco gives you a playful slap in the shoulder. “Clean bill of health.” She walks down the ramp.

“Fuckin’ hate cold.” You mumble as you follow.

Clover doesn’t follow you further than the ramp. “Unfortunately, I have other business to attend to at the moment, so you’ll be guided by Ironwood’s secretary and a personal two man - well, ‘man’ - escort.” Two female soldiers walk alongside you. “We chose these rookies since some of you have made strong connections already.” Clover winks.

“Ugh,” you say. “Not my type.”

“Excuse you?!” Emerald is not amused.

Clover bellows a laugh. “Tale as old as time, it’s been a pleasure. Stay safe out there.” And he walks back to the ship before it takes off again.

Before you can even think of exploring the place on your own, a lady approaches your group. “Good morning students.”

“You must be Irondude’s secretary!” Sun says.

The woman closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I’m assuming Specialist Ebi told you that. My name is Winter Schnee, a Specialist under General Ironwood’s wing. Not ‘Irondude’.”

“We need to meet with the general.” You don’t put as much emphasis on the title.

“Of course, however, let us first go on a small tour of the school.” Winter smiles.

Looks like she has the same orders as Clover, will you give her the same treatment?
>”We’d rather see Ironwood first.” You have better things to do, such as meeting Isaac again.
>”Okay, but make it quick.” A look can’t hurt and it’ll make the girl feel better. She seems green.
>”Sure.” The school seems interesting, you can’t deny it.
>Other write-in

>>5840375
>”Okay, but make it quick.” A look can’t hurt and it’ll make the girl feel better. She seems green.
We'll spend time with our Goatbro yet

>>5840375
>”Okay, but make it quick.” A look can’t hurt and it’ll make the girl feel better. She seems green.
>"Schnee? Are you related to a man named Jacques? Rich, can change his hair color, complains about taxes and even though it could help people"

>>5840375
>>”Sure.” The school seems interesting, you can’t deny it.

>>5840375
>”Okay, but make it quick.” A look can’t hurt and it’ll make the girl feel better. She seems green.

>>5840382
Kek
>support
>>5840375

>>5840375
Amending my vote >>5840378 to include the write-in. Winter's a good girl.

>>5840382
>+1

>>5840378
>>5840382
>>5840415
>>5840417
>>5840470
>>5840495
Quick.

>>5840388
Sure.
Writing.

Schnee? I’ve heard that name before. “Specialist, may I ask a question?”

Winter perks up at the use of her title. “But of course student, that’s why I’m here.”

“Are you related to a man named Jacques? Rich, can change hair color, hates taxes.”

“Based,” Emerald says almost by accident.

You can tell Neo is giving her a smug look behind her helmet.

Emerald’s cheek turns a red hue and she looks to the side. “I’m spending too much time around the guys,” she mumbles under her breath.

That cute interaction distracted you from Winter’s now downright nasty expression. “I - ahem - we may be acquainted.” She tries her hardest to remain stoic.

“But aren’t you Winter Schnee?” Narci chimes in with her Atlesian knowledge. “The first heir to the SDC who very publicly announced she’s rejecting her heritage and intends to join the military? The one General Ironwood fast tracked to graduation?” Narci asks with a finger to her chin and upwards look.

“… yes.” Winter left eye quivers. “The very same. And I wasn’t fast tracked or given special treatment, thank you very much, I earned a spot on an accelerated course of study, graduated and joined as a Specialist in the Atlas military in two years.” Winter stands tall, or tries as hard as she can.

“Soooo, you are what? Nineteen?” Coco asks with a confident smile.

“Yes, why?”

Coco puts a hand on her hip and pulls her sunglasses down halfway, her signature ladykiller pose. “I-I- y-you- a-a-after- f-food?” She tries her best.

“I you after food?”

“You didn’t answer my question specialist, are you related to,” you rummage your pant pockets and pull out a surprisingly crisp card, considering how many times your pants got washed, “this man.”

Winter eyes bulge out and she snatches the card from your hand in a very un-stoic like fashion, before tearing it to pieces.

“… is that a yes?”

“I - ahem - that man is married to my mother and I was the heir to my family’s company. That is all. Let’s go on the tour.” Winter doesn’t wait to see if you are following, choosing to stomp and assume you are.

You did want a quick tour.

“This is the yard.” She lazily gestures to a huge group of students, neatly separated in groups, all singing in front of a flag with backs straight and a palm over their hearts.

“Swearing allegiance at six thirty in the morning?” you say.

“For all the crap Shade has, at least we don’t have to do that,” Sun adds.

“And look at that ugly wall of gray, ugh!” Coco scoffs. “No dress code almost redeems Vacuo completely.”

“Well, I think this is nice.” Narci seems offended.

“That is the training grounds and that’s the cafeteria.” Winter continues her tour, earlier enthusiasm gone.

“I wanted to see the training grounds-” Typhu tries to say.

“No questions until the end of the tour.”

Despite the somewhat insulting speeds, you do manage to make out a few details, like how clean the hallways are without a single crack.

Really comes to show how Vacuo is the impoverished Kingdom and Atlas the rich one.

“Here’s the elevator to the General office and that is Martha. Do not engage Martha in conversation, she’s mean.” Winter refers to a middle aged woman with way too much make up reading a magazine behind a desk besides the elevator.

Martha, however, engages the conversation herself. “Why hello Winter, why so stormy? Did the gray pant suit store close down? Did your only friend melt in the sun?”

“Shut up Martha, your husband left you for a man and your son has autism, call the elevator.”

Martha gives her a side glance while picking up a landline and saying something. The elevator comes down some seconds later.

Winter ushers your group inside.

Great tour…

The ride is surprisingly quick considering how tall the tower looked.

The first thing you see upon the doors opening is James Ironwood, hands linked behind his back and a smile that seems practiced.

Winter steps up, mimicking his stance. “Sir!” She salutes. “Specialist Ebi called me a secretary again!”

“Is that all Specialist Winter?” James' smile turns from phony to an amused smirk.

“Oh, the guests have arrived and I have shown them around the facilities as instructed sir.”

“Quite the fast tour, the ship landed a mere five minutes ago.”

“A fast tour seemed like the best option!”

James laughs. “I’m sure. I have an assignment for you, I need you to photocopy this,” he hands her a piece of paper, “and send it to every member of the council plus anyone you might think is important. I trust your judgment, Specialist.”

Winter beams and salutes. “Yes sir! I’m on it.” She snatches the paper and heads to a side room, the door with a taped piece of paper reading Specialist Winter’s Office.

File: Atlas Office Ironwood.png (1.23 MB, 1182x818)

1.23 MB PNG

“Quite the interesting welcome committee,” you say.

“Cut her some slack, please. She feels like she has so much to prove. It’s a pleasure to see you again, student.” Ironwood extends his left hand.

“Likewise general.” You take the offer. James goes around the room greeting everyone the same way.

“You two must be the escort.”

“Sir.” Emerald and Neo both hold forward empty hands, the general looks at the offered nothing and nods.

“Good. And I see you two have been…” James coughs in his hands, “personally chosen by the VIPs. Goes without saying any further… activities must be done privately, understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Let’s go to my office, shall we?” The general gestures your group to follow.

You walk through a hallway until reaching a set of double doors. Emerald and Neo play the part and push them open for you, and once inside, close them.

Ironwood raises an eyebrow at the soldiers staying in the room.

“It’s fine. I’d rather they stay,” you say.

The general looks down. “It’s serious then… ahem, if that’s what you desire.” You all walk to the front of his office and Ironwood goes behind the desk. “Take a seat.” He gestures to six arranged chairs in front of him.

“You wanted to discuss the ceremony.” You cut to the chase.

“Yes. Will you do it?”

“What, the ceremony? Of course I will, that’s why I’m here.”

“Good. That’s the official reason I called you here before the local border office could take a look at you all. There was an urgent matter and the council decided to allow for a free pass.”

The pieces are coming together in your head.

“Of course, now I must make sure all your papers are in order. Let me call Winter, she’s certified.” James pushes a button on his desk.

“Sir?” A voice comes from a small speaker.

“Are you busy Winter?”

“Yes, but-” He cuts the call.

“She said yes. Well, looks like there’s no other option but for myself to run through it all, a job unfit for a general, though I’m certified. Alas, there’s just no other option.”

I found it weird he was asking to meet urgently for the ceremony, it was just a cover to go under the council’s back!

“I must ask, do you have all your papers in order? If you don’t, councilman Sleet said we could offer them to you in exchange for a small favor.”

No one told you anything about papers. “Yes we do.”

“Uh, dude, no we-” Sun gets his mouth shut by Coco’s palm.

“Couldn’t quite hear the last part, but you said you had them, so in order to expedite the process I’ll take your word for it. Any unregistered weapons must be given up for registration, do you have unregistered weapons?”

“No, no we do not.”

“I’ll believe you. A random fun fact, did you know there is illegal weaponry in Atlas? Another random example, a staff filled with class 5 gravity Dust would be illegal and whoever carries it should be careful to not use it in public unless his identity is concealed.”

Another thing you didn’t know. “What a funny thing to say.”

“And lastly, let’s take a look at your records.” Ironwood taps another button and a holographic display appears in front of his desk. “Narci Pink, escorted out of a Weiss Schnee concert.”

“O-oh, t-that wasn’t me, hehe.”

“Sun Wukong, multiple counts of stalking.”

“Come on dude! That’s called flirting.”

“Typhu Tornadus, nothing.”

Typhu looks relieved.

“Lame,” Narci says.

“Charlie no-last-name doesn’t exist apparently.”

Charlie nods.

“Coco Adel, multiple counts of petty theft.”

Coco looks down and speaks in a low voice, “High school was rough. So much pressure, I just snapped-”

“DUI, last month.”

“… I didn’t know there was alcohol in that drink.”

“And lastly, Picaro Calavera, another ghost. Before saving Isaac Thyme’s life, there is nothing on Picaro Calavera’s whereabouts, no school nor medical records, no government programs, competitions, nothing.”

You smirk. Nice try Atlas.

“There are records of a Picara Calavera attending Lady Browning’s Preparatory Academy for Girls between the years 91 and 94.

“I have no idea who that is.”

“Of course you don’t. This was just a list compiled by the council meant to be read by whoever examines you. A lawyer was supposed to be with you, but he called out sick at the last second and there was no time to find a replacement. But I can tell you all these so-called crimes are nothing and you have nothing to worry about, something I’m sure whoever the council intended would also say, as it is the truth.”

You sigh in relief.

“I should still read what Picara did.”
>Roll a d5 to determine how much tomfoolery Picara Calavera did. The higher the number, the sillier.

---

I was gonna give a choice, but decided to do a callback to the penis roll.

Rolled 1 (1d5)

>>5840675

>>5840679
Picara was a very good girl, shame she disappeared after the fire, she could talk some sense into Picaro!

Writing.

Rolled 4 (1d5)

>>5840675

>>5840679
Incredibly fitting.
Picaro is autistic even while wearing a dress.

Forgot to say this was just one roll. Either way it's just a joke, the real choice is coming in like five minutes.

>>5840688
I was planning to make Picara a complete fucking animal, but in the end I chose to let the die decide.

“Oh, no records.” James sounds mildly surprised.

“I heard that Picara was a real stick in the mud. Still got on with the meanest bitch in school.” Coco leans forward and whispers. “They say she gives good head.”

I needed to have a good head to avoid getting found out.

“And that should wrap everything up.” Ironwood deactivates his computer and stretches. “Here, take these.” He pulls out eight cards from a drawer in his desk. “Two are the keys to your hotel rooms, the other six are your per diem.”

“What’s a per diem?” you ask.

“A set government allowance to cover for expenses.”

“Soooo…” Charlie’s eyes light up. “We don’t have to do anything for this Lien?”

“Aside from showing up to the event, no.”

Charlie snatches the card with joy, you all follow soon after.

“Please, make the best of your time in Atlas.” The general smiles and leads you outside. “This pilot will take you to the hotel, from there you can use the public transport to move around.”

You nod. “Thanks.”

He nods back. “My pleasure. If I need anything I will call the day before to schedule a meeting and you can put it on your calendar.”

“I don’t have a calendar.”

“… okay.”

With that awkward goodbye, you six plus your escort board the small ship.

“All ready?” The pilot asks. “Good, let’s take you to the Nicholas Hotel. Lucky bastards.”

“Actually, we need to go to Mantle first,” you say. That’s where Isaac is waiting.

“No can do. The Nick is pretty strict with check-ins, if we wait around too long you won’t be able to go to your rooms until tomorrow. Unless you fancy wasting one of your luxury vacation days in the slums, I’d wait until later.”

You see the faces of your team. The promise of a soft bed in a five star hotel seems like a dream come true after the yard, despite what they might feel, they don’t feel ready to give a single day.

The call is yours to make, however.
>Go check in, then go to Isaac. It’s just gonna be a couple more hours.
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.
>Other, write-in.

---

And that's a wrap for today.

>>5840701
>>Go check in, then go to Isaac. It’s just gonna be a couple more hours.

>>5840701
>>Go check in, then go to Isaac. It’s just gonna be a couple more hours.

>>5840701
>Go check in, then go to Isaac. It’s just gonna be a couple more hours.

>>5840709
Wait, changing to
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.

>>5840701
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways
Goatbro, we're a-coming!

>>5840701
>>5840706
I read the votes wrong kek. Changing my vote to
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.
We promised we'd meet Isaac the moment we were free, it's only right we keep our word to our friend.

Another option could be
>Other, write-in.
>I'm going to visit Issac like I promised. If any of you want stay in the hotel instead, you are free do it. I'll can give him your regards.

>>5840736
I assumed Picaro was picking only for himself, and wouldn't be dragging everyone to Mantle with him. Can QM confirm?

>>5840675
>“There are records of a Picara Calavera attending Lady Browning’s Preparatory Academy for Girls between the years 91 and 94."
Our family was very creative, hmm ?
>>5840701
>Go check in, then go to Isaac. It’s just gonna be a couple more hours.

>>5840701
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.
Tundra Boy mand his could accommodate us if need be

>>5840763
This part
>The call is yours to make, however.
Made me think that those two options would be to choose for everyone

>>5840701
I'll change my vote >>5840713 to support the write-in. Picaro can go solo, and check in at the hotel tomorrow if need be.

>>5840701
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.

>>5840701
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.
Team can stay if they want, but I'm guessing Isaac wants to meet us all sooner rather than later.

>>5840701
>Go to Mantle right away. Enough delaying. Luxury never fitted you anyways.
We said we would see him as soon as we could.

>>5840701
>>5840736
>Supporting

>>5840703
>>5840814
Check in

>>5840719
>>5840711
>>5840953
>>5841658
>>5841692
>>5841723
>>5840713
Go to Mantle. Writing.

File: Slums.png (1.57 MB, 1631x902)

1.57 MB PNG

“We did promise to see him as soon as we could.”

“You promised that, not us,” Emerald says.

“No, no, it’s okay. I don’t need a fancy bed or ac or not sleeping fearing someone is gonna molest me…” Coco doesn’t sound completely honest.

You sigh. “Tell you what, I’ll go and anyone who wants to go to the hotel can go check in instead and we can meet back up in a couple of hours.”

“Actually, the Nick has individual check-ins,” the pilot interrupts your scheme. “Safety concerns and other excuses.”

“Oh. Well, who wants to go spend an entire day in the slums with me?” You smile, expecting at least a couple of people to come with you.

Arriving at Mantle, only one person got off the ship. The others stepped into luxury.

“Thanks…” you say to the pilot.

“Don’t worry about it, now I can get some overtime, suckers. Have fun!” The man didn’t want to spend another second in the bad parts if he could.

Reminds me of home. Is the first thing that comes to mind upon seeing the place.

Mantle isn’t a monolith of poverty, it used to be the capital and it shows in the nicer parts of the city being better than the richest parts of Vacuo. However, Isaac lives in the BAD parts.

The slums seem to be a relic from the past, or perhaps a grim present. Tents and the lucky improvised house litter the streets alongside groups of mostly faunus huddling together besides fires.

The cold is almost unbearable down here, living in the literal shadow of Atlas blocking any sunlight.

You see what appears to be mine entrances, with faunus coming and going, dirty, exhausted, overworked. They’re the lucky ones, being assigned to the civilized veins and not the ones out in the wild where there’s no one to enforce regulations.

You inform Isaac you arrived via message and he tells you to stay where you are.

Gladly. This place is like a maze.

You try to approach one of the fires, but the faunus shoo you away. They aren’t fans of humans.

From the way everyone’s looking, no one is apparently.

You can see some humans scattered around, but they are few and far between, probably people really down on their luck who were seen as miserable enough to be accepted.

And here’s where I’m staying. Well, I could go to the nice parts, but still gotta sleep here.

You shiver and, lacking any alternative, you wrap yourself with your scarf.

Being alone in a place like this is dangerous, this you know, but you aren’t worried when the thought of something happening crosses your mind.

Nor when it actually happens and you are held at knifepoint by some teenage faunus boy. “Give me everything, I mean it.”

You merely raise an eyebrow. His stance is horrendous, his blade dull and he looks weak. Ever since you’ve started carrying Burden and later Promised Return no one has tried to mug you back home, thieves know to stay away from huntsmen. The boy didn’t spot them due to you being covered by your scarf.

In his eyes, you’re a small, frail boy, a perfect mark.

You are not.
>Reveal your armament. He’ll get the memo.
>Call Promised Return and really scare him off. Make sure he doesn’t bother you again.
>Teach him a lesson that crime doesn’t pay.
>Really show him mugging from people who are struggling just as much doesn’t come without consequence.
>Other write-in

>>5842950
>Call Promised Return and really scare him off. Make sure he doesn’t bother you again.

>>5842950
>Other write-in
>Give him constructive criticism then instruct him on how to take care of himself in a fight
Bloody faunners, can't even steal from a kid.

>>5842965
You really want to teach someone how to be a better mugger?

>>5842968
I like to call it networking.

>>5842950
>Call Promised Return and really scare him off. Make sure he doesn’t bother you again.

Actually, would going for the memo option better? Scaring him too much might end up becoming a story that spreads, which could hurt the ceremony and the deal.
Yeah, he's a mugger, but that never stopped people from suddenly turning them into saints in a story if it means hurting the reputation of the other side.

>>5843025
Hm that's a fair point. I'll probably switch my vote later to it.

>>5842950
>>Other write-in
use cqc on him

>>5842950
>Steal his knife out of his hands
>"No, YOU give ME everything."

>>5842950
Supporting >>5842965 and >>5843060, with my own provisions.
>Disarm him, before we Uncle Iroh this shit. Make sure our Aura is up, just in case he tries something stupid.
>Offer him some food, assuming Picaro is paranoid enough to keep his own rations when traveling.
>Maybe even point out that he doesn't seem the criminal type, like so.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNtJ05sfRi4
He's clearly weaker than us-- starving, struggling, and not even a particularly good mugger. Sometimes all you need is an act of random kindness, to turn things around.

20 minutes.

>>5843025
We only have 20 minutes to change, so do you want to do it?
Although there's currently a three way tie between us, punching him and trying to teach a random mugger how to be a better bandit

>>5843040
Oops, meant to reply to this post, not mine

>>5843069
>+1

>>5842954
>>5843004
REALLY scare him.

>>5842965
>>5843069
>>5843097
Give him a lesson in a good way. (Not all three say the same but the spirit is to be kind and teach him better, so I'll count them together.)

>>5843060
>"Grandson, remember the basics of cqc."

Writing shamelessly stealing a scene from AtLA RWBY does this all the time, so it fits.

File: MisteryLady.png (354 KB, 493x747)

354 KB PNG

This kid has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.

Even if he had caught you off guard, your Aura is already up to protect you from the cold. That dinky shiv would bounce right off.

You sigh. “Your stance is horrible.”

“Wh-” The faunus doesn’t see it coming. You grab his wrist with one hand, the other pushing up against his chest while one foot is put behind his.

In one swift motion, he goes down disarmed.

“This is a lousy knife.” You grab the blade and the handle and snap it in two. “That was a pretty sad attempt at robbing.” You grab the now harmless weapon and enter a better stance. “Like this, you’re much harder to knock down.” You hand him the handle back and offer him a hand. “What’s your name?”

The street urchin drags himself back before running away.

“Wait! I’m not gonna hurt you!” You try, but the boy hurries away and doesn’t look back.

Man. I kinda wanted to help him. Maybe I’ll run into him later on.

“Interesting strategy.” A woman’s voice comments from the side.

You turn around. The owner was a tall female, a huntress considering the strange contraption on her wrist.

And a fantastic sense of fashion.

“You were trying to be cool and help him, right? All wise and peaceful, betcha you were gonna offer him some food and everything.” The lady stretches. “Save it for the honest folk. That kid was old enough to know better and realize we are all fighting the same battle.”

You give her the stare.

“Unless you’re willing to come around every day and reinforce the good behavior, he’s just gonna slip right back to stealing from the same victims of the system who are too kind to take advantage. Best thing to do is scare them, give them the speech and hope they are too frightened to steal again and go work in the kitchen or something.” She sighs while putting her hands on her hips. “Never said I liked it, it’s just how it is down here in the slums. Too much pain too often and we can’t be everywhere at once.”

You keep staring.

“Better than putting them in jail, that’s a sure fire gang machine, aside from cheap labor for the state. In a perfect Remnant, we’d have a rehab center for those troubled adolescents. First I’d make one for drug addiction, that’s a real big problem in the low income parts. If you ask me, I suspect foul play on behalf of the council. But enough rambling,” Finally, “I’m looking for a Picaro Calavera, he’s supposed to be a real strong, real smart guy.”

You stare at her harder.

“He’s also meant to have a piercing glare, but you have a pretty weak one to be frank.” She smirks.
>”I AM Picaro Calavera. Excuse me for having hope in people.”
>”Funny. Did Isaac Thyme send you?”
>”If I laugh at your 'wit', will you stop talking?”
>Stare as hard as you can.
>Ignore her and find Isaac on your own.
>Other write-in

>>5843214
>"Did Isaac send you?”

>>5843214
>>Stare as hard as you can.

>>5843214
>”Funny. Did Isaac Thyme send you?”

>>5843214
>”Funny. Did Isaac Thyme send you?”

>>5843214
>"…you didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, did you."
>"Did Tundra Man send you?"

>>5843214
>Stare as hard as you can.

>>5843214
>>5843382
I'll change my vote to
>”Funny. Did Isaac Thyme send you?”
To break the tie.

>>5843215
>>5843261
>>5843294
>>5843393
Did Isaac send you?

>>5843216
Stare as hard as you can.

>>5843336
Counterattack with another witty remark. Writing.

“How fun. Did Isaac Thyme send you?”

“Not gonna engage in the banter? You must be Picaro Calavera. Robyn Hill.” She extends her hand.

You eye the offer, before shaking. “Picaro Calavera. But you already knew that.”

You see her hand glowing white, out of instinct you try to yank free but her grip is too strong. The glow overtakes your hand as well and turns green. “Now I do. The way you were described didn’t give me much confidence.” She finally lets go with a smirk.

You call Promised Return. “What did you do?”

She puts her palm forward and makes it glow white again. “Just my Semblance. I can tell when someone lies to me. Pretty handy.”

You are still wary. “Why would I lie about my name?”

“Honestly, I just thought you actually weren’t Picaro Calavera and instead one of the other girls Isaac told me about. The ones with illusions.”

“Why would they be here?”

“Dunno, checking doesn’t cost me anything though. Found it suspicious you didn’t ask for any proof I was with Isaac. He describes you as ‘the most paranoid man alive’.”

“…”

“Then I say ‘Ironwood is the most paranoid man alive’.”

“It wasn’t necessary. That pin,” you point to the bird hanging from her scarf, “May and Isaac’s sister had it too. I figured you were part of those Happy Huntresses.”

Robyn chuckles. “Bossbaby is observant.”

“Bossbaby?”

“I’m the leader actually. But enough introduction, Fiona must be worried already.” Robyn turns around and gestures to follow. “Follow me.”

You don’t follow her. “I did not give you permission to use your Semblance on me.”

“Oh no, I used my special power which you knew nothing about and I could’ve gotten your deepest secrets in - gasp - making you say your name. Now I won’t be able to use it again, but you’re right, I’m totally-”

“Shut up.”

“Sooo… you coming? Fiona is making stew.”


“Whatever.” You put away your staff and begin following Robyn.

“Two things. One, love the scarf.”

You almost said ‘you too.’

“Two, as a vote of confidence and trust, Fiona’s cooking is terrible. Just a heads up.”

“You’re trying too hard. It’s annoying.”

“To do what? Be your friend? As far as I see it, you’ve saved Isaac’s life, we’re already friends.” Robyn’s cheer drops for a second. “I told that lil’ dum dum to be cautious and apply for Atlas next year.”

“Your wish is granted,” you flatly say.

“As a pr show pony. As soon as he enters we’re transferring him to Beacon.”

Beacon? That’s Vale’s academy and the hardest to get in.

And the one with the record for most Vytal festival’s tournament wins.

And the one with the most obnoxious headmaster.

“It should be easy. Transfers are easier than getting in.”

“Hm.” You intend to continue the journey in silence.

“Lemme guess.” Robyn does not.

“I don’t let you.”

“Ironwood tried to give you the ol’ military honeymoon. Taking you on big ships, showing you around his fancy school and I’m assuming you’ve got a card with an absurd amount of Lien.”

“…” You still intend to remain silent.

“He did that to me too, you know? Back in my academy days. Ironwood likes to recruit young and groom them for as long as possible to become his loyal soldiers. He did that to the Schnee girl, if I didn’t know any better, I’d assume he was looking to get his Iron Wood in some young Scnussy, you know what I’m saying?”

“…”

Robyn has a conversation with no one. “But James is a lot of things, but sex is the least important thing on his mind. A shame, it’d been hilarious to see Jacques reaction to her eldest daughter getting railed by his worst enemy. We’ll have to be satisfied with his wife having an affair with the White Fang’s Atlas branch leader.” Robyn leaves a small room for a response.

“…” Which never comes.

“That didn’t get to you? Boring.” To accentuate her point, she yawns. “Anyways, your stunt probably put stars in his eyes. Not saving Isaac, all huntsmen eventually become saviors and there’s no real difference between what you did and what some experienced pro would do, you can’t save someone better. I’m talking about fighting - what do you call it down there? Creeping Death or something? - the big Komodo. That thing is fierce and the sole reason so many die in initiation at Shade every year, cutting its tail during it? Now that’s the kind of potential dear General wants. Though it won’t be much good, that lizard is hard to kill. It regenerates at abnormal speeds.”

“It does?”

“HA! So that’s got a reaction!”

Of course it did. That Grimm has been a mystery since you entered Shade, perhaps from before even as your brother didn’t tell you anything about it. The students were useless and the faculty always changed the subject.

But Robyn knows.

“Well, our friendly conversation of state secrets will have to wait until brunch because…” Robyn pushes open a door of an unassuming house. “We are here!”

The grand entrance is met with an underwhelming response.

May is balancing on a chair with her back to the wall and her feet up the table.

A muscular woman doesn’t look up from her game of solitaire. “Hey.”

You don’t care about them as your eyes lock up to a figure on a wheelchair rolling into the hallways and talking into a side door. “They are both white powders, of course they are interchangeable,” he says in a sarcastic tone.

“Uh, yeah.”

“No! Baking soda and salt are not-” He catches you out of the corner of his eye and his mouth is left agape.

“Oh I gotta record this.” Robyn pulls out her scroll. “It’s so hard to get emotion out of boys these days.”

And you do have emotions right now. Lots of emotions. A million words you wish to say, but what will be your first few?
>Write-in

>>5843510
>Sorry for not coming straight here tundra man, I thought that Ironwood wanted to talk about something important other then just trying to bribe me. I came here as soon as that all posturing was over.

>>5843510
>"Nice to see your face again, tundra boy."

>>5843521
Wait, we posted at the exact time, down to the second.
I've never seen that before

>>5843510
>>Write-in
turn around and grab robyn scroll the hug isaac