Beacon Academy, Psi Training Room; Three Months Later
Aaron smirked as the four kids -two local humans and two 'fanus'- from Vale filed in. Ever since moving into Beacon, Aaron and Amber had settled in and finally acted human (or in Aaron's case as human as a chimera of aliens, animals, and human DNA could be)... and Ozpin had made his goal of getting ready for psychics and making a class for them a reality.
... the sad thing was that it wasn't supposed to be this soon. Aaron gave it at least half a year at worst... yet here they are.
The only good thing is that they were apt learners, more than capable of learning 'The Gift' as the Ethereals -be corporeal or ascended- called psionic potential. They had done their exercises with incredible diligence and their parents were oddly relieved, as they were trying to figure out what the fuck was happening with their kids and was glad that someone was there to help them (backed by the world-renowned Ozpin no less!). Thankfully Aaron's time working for the Boys and Girls Club in Great Falls had armed him with enough experience to not be a complete idiot in trying to teach the kids... it also helped that he was great with kids.
"Have you kids been doing your exercises?" Aaron asked politely.
"We have!" one of the fanus kids said in an excited tone, "We've been doing them as much as we can!" Aaron simply smiled back, glad that they took to their studies seriously.
"What are we going to be doing today Mr. Neumann?" one of the human kids asked bashfully.
"It is simple," Aaron answered, "Today we'll be looking in what your specialties lie. I'll give each of you a special crystal, designed specifically to show where your gift lies. The Gift that is psionics is similar to one's innate talents." The four kids were in rasp attention, digesting everything Aaron said. "These crystals are designed to reveal one's talents, some may scare you, some may surprise you, but in the end, they are a part of you. They make you unique, your own person. No other person will have the exact same abilities as you." The kids simply nodded as Aaron explained. "Now, Sophia Arc, you go first. All you have to do is call upon your gift and let it flow into the crystal." The little human girl -the youngest of the Arc family- simply smiled at going first and let her psionic potential flow.
The reaction made Aaron's eyes widen to almost-comical levels. Sophia was an incredibly rare one indeed, able to teleport at will. How far would have to be determined but it was a powerful ability. Then there were Sophia's intense empathic and telekinetic abilities, which also surprised Aaron. Although she wasn't as empathic as Alma Wade, Sophia was well within her ballpark (which would probably explain why she never really went into all the teasing and jokes that her older sisters would play on their only brother). Her telekinetics though... is surprising. We're talking 'if properly honed, she could benchpress main battle tanks' levels. If she decided to go into the Huntress business, she would be one scary lady. Not Aaron's 'horrifying mix of the Pointman and Darth Vader' scary but pretty close.
"Those are very rare indeed Sophia," Aaron commented, "Especially that psi-teleport ability, as even I have a hard time using that." Sophia glowed in excitement. "You'll have to experiment with me once I teach you the basics, but I foresee that you'll be an amazing huntress if you decide to take on that craft." Sophia's smile became radiant as she said something along the lines of "I'll be like my big brother!". "Now Samuel, let's see where your talents lie." The fanus boy -with deer antlers- nodded as he slowly fed his psionic potential into the crystal. The one odd thing about this boy was the fact that his antlers also glowed while he was using his psionic abilities. Aaron could only begin to guess on the whys given that his own horns glowed with his psionic abilities as well.
The reaction wasn't anything like Sophia's, but it was quite similar. Aaron was surprised that this fanus boy having quite a similar ability set like him. Incredible reaction times -borderline on precog- would come in handy with all sorts of things ranging from craftsmen work to combat, telekinetics can make all sorts of activities far easier, and the ability to summon constructs made out of pure psionic energy like Protoss psi-blades would be interesting, to say the least.
"Whoah!" Samuel exclaimed as pillars of psionic energy came out of his wrists, "... what's happening?" The rest of the students backed off as per protocol for 'unexpected psionic shenanigans'.
"Just don't panic Samuel," Aaron ordered, "Just calm down and it'll recede." Samuel took a few calming breaths and the pillars vanished. "You're similar to me Samuel, and that means we'll have to make a comprehensive education program for you." Everyone else looked slightly dejected. "Now, these are your affinities, your natural talents. You can go into things outside your natural talents but they aren't as easy for you. They are things that make you your own person. They make you unique. No one person will have the same exact talents or abilities as you. Some might be better than you in some areas while you beat them in others. I, for one, have an incredible weakness in psi-teleportation. Outside the basics, I can't do it to save my life. What I do have is the ability to have reaction times so fast that I can produce afterimages, and few people can even hope to do this and despite my natural talent in that area, it took me over a year to perfect it enough that I don't slam myself into walls." The kids started to giggle a little, imaging their teacher slamming himself into walls when using his incredible reaction time. With that, the rest of the day went smoothly...
____________________________
Amber and Aaron's dorm, deep within Beacon; Nighttime
"So, Aaron," Amber asked Aaron as she passed the mashed potatoes, "How was your class today?"
"Interesting," Aaron answered, "very interesting. Samuel is similar to me, Sophia is a ball of fun, Richard is just plain interesting, and Sarah is going to make Emerald green with envy..." Amber frowned a little after she heard Emerald. Although she had some sympathy for the girl, she was part of a group that wanted to effectively kill her. After interrogation, however, it was found that she was more or less shanghaied into working with her old 'boss' -Cinder Fall- and stuck with her until Cinder got herself killed fighting an enemy she couldn't win against. "... but all of them are pretty good kids. Emerald will be teaching Sarah about her illusions once she's off parole and everyone is going to get a few lessons in empathic scanning before we do anything..."
"That sounds like a slog," Amber commented, "... and if it is anything like the classes for the makeup students that I've been teaching..." Aaron simply nodded as he dished his potatoes. "So, how about that date you promised this Friday?"
Aaron froze still for a moment. "It's still on schedule, although it might be later given that Ironwood wanted me to check something," Aaron answered, "something about a top-secret project that he has been backing needing some outside eyes."
"Well, given that he has been helping Ozpin a lot lately, I couldn't blame you for helping," Amber commented, "Still, I would expect you to come to the date!"
... and so began another night of the two living together, fostering something more in the meantime...
Vale Outlying Residential District, Vale; Six Months After Displacement
Aaron entered his usual Dust shop without incident. The thing about specific veins of dust was the fact that, when put under duress from psionic energy, they became some of the purest Elerium that Aaron had ever seen, and this specific shop is the only supplier of that specific vein of dust. This vein of dust is also extremely expensive, horrifically so. Like quintuple the Schnee Dust Corporation's best expensive. While Schnee Dust Company cornered the Dust market, there are only a handful of other operations that managed to stay afloat, and the main supplier of this store is one of those select few.
"Ah, Mr. Neumann," the store manager beamed, "Run low on Griffon Dust CoOp dust, eh?"
"Yes," Aaron answered sheepishly, "We've had a minor accident with a shipment, apparently there was a missed impurity in the shipment and caused a fire in the conversion chamber. Thankfully we've got it under control, but we lost a good part of the shipment." The store manager simply sighed.
"That has been happening a bit more over the last month," the store manager admitted, "Apparently the White Fang has been trying to ruin dust shipments all across Remnant, causing problems for everyone." Aaron sighed as he tried to keep himself from literally going to the nearest wall and banging his head against it. Those idiots were only making it worse for everyone and had sent agents to find this 'Adam' character and his inner circle... just so Aaron can crash their party and use them as examples. So far... Adam was damn smart. "So, you'll want to call in an emergency shipment?"
"Yes, please," Aaron answered, "I'll sign it off right here just so you can get the order in faster." The store owner smiled and got out the tablet he used for this sort of thing. "If you've got the Dust, I'll like to have four kilos of it for personal use."
"I've only got a kilo left I'm afraid," the store owner replied with a frown, "the White Fang had caused most of the Griffon Dust CoOp dust to go back to distribution centers for immediate inspection and the kilo I have left was before the established recall date." Aaron sighed, as it was only going to give him only a magazine's worth of Elerium for his heavy plasma rifle. "That'll be 4950 linen for the kilo of personal dust." Aaron quickly paid for his personal dust when the bell rang. Aaron turned around and saw several White Fang goons enter the store with their superior. Aaron quickly detected their intentions and readied his sidearm.
Aaron didn't have to do anything, for the only other customer in the store -a girl in a red hoodie coat- began the scuffle, sending one of the White Fang thugs through the window. Aaron smirked and proceeded to telekinetically lift the rest of the goons and threw them all out of the window.
"Just fucking great," one of the goons complained, "It is just our luck that we had to tangle with Aaron Neumann!" The goon in question -who had deer antlers on his head- growled in frustration. "Remember our training, use those amulets then get him into a crossfire!" Aaron quickly raised an eyebrow as they moved to cover, trying to get good arcs of fire on him. The girl was already busy with another group of White Fang, so she couldn't help until that group was dispatched.
"Hm, eight against one eh?" Aaron calmly commented as he smiled, "Reminds me of the mission in Rio de Janeiro." Aaron then tried to telekinetically lift them from their positions and discovered that his telekinetic powers simply 'slid off'. "Huh, a surprising turn of events... still won't save you though..." That was when Aaron went -as he and his comrades in XCOM put it- 'Pointman Mode'. Time seemingly slowed to a crawl, distorting every sound with their slowness, the speeds of the White Fang's actions were moving was something out of a stop-motion camera, their bullets seemingly moved out of the barrels with deliberate slowness, and Aaron was still moving normally. Aaron took out a combat tomahawk and threw it at the goon at his forward left, behind a garbage can. The blade -due to its immense speed and being made out of alien alloys- ripped through the man's aura with ease, spewing crimson blood in a 20-degree arc a good meter or so. The next target got a reply in the form of a plasma bolt, hitting her left shoulder and thus killing her instantly as part of her exploded due to the sudden shift of temperature (from her human-like 37 degrees celsius to a blistering 7700 degrees celsius).
Aaron then ran towards his third target and slapped a shock bomb onto the male faunus's chest, the electricity literally shocked him into unconsciousness while Aaron went after his fourth target...
________________________________
Ruby nearly got hit by a White Fang goon as she looked upon the carnage that was unfolding beside her. One of the goons tried to rob her in the store, so she decided to send the female faunus through the window and into the street. Then the strange being simply sighed and sent the rest of the White Fang in the store and into the street with some sort of weird purple energy. After what looked like the leader said something about their luck and that they were tangling with Aaron Neumann, it all clicked.
She had heard all the rumors, stories, and tales about Aaron. He was considered a literal one man army, able to hold his own against Fenrir by himself for a good half an hour before it fled with several permanent injuries. Now she can see why. Her semblance was nothing like what she was seeing, as it was effectively teleportation -a slight side effect of her semblance had given her the ability to see the difference between 'going really fast' and 'practically teleporting around', and what Aaron was doing was well in the latter category- to even a practiced Huntsman's eye. The odd ax-like blade he threw had to be going at least 2000 meters per second to have the effect it had on that horse faunus while that rabbit faunus died as a small bolt of energy hit her in the shoulder, causing her to literally explode.
Ruby quickly mopped up her group of goons and simply semblanced her way towards the carnage to provide supporting fire if it was needed... but all she saw was carnage. Out of the eight that Ruby saw, only three were still alive, knocked out but still alive. These goons had utilized military tactics in their attempt to kill Aaron. Now the White Fang trying their hand in assassinations and terrorism wasn't unheard of, but to use military tactics was... unheard of.
"So, little girl," Aaron asked politely, "what brings you to Vale?"
Ruby -in front of one of her newer heroes- could only do one thing: squeal.
This came up when Coco's actions in the novel came up on QQ...
The situation on Remnant is one of attritional warfare and attritional warfare is quite literally who can throw the most bodies, material, and ammo into the fight and literally outspend the enemy in those resources (most countries IRL don't spend men like water but we've seen what happens when they do). One side can't step outside of the five major city-states without getting attacked by Grimm and likely number in the hundreds of millions total... at best. Outside of these five major city-states, it isn't uncommon for entire townships to be wiped off the face of the map in a night. The opposing side is literally without limit and has Grimm like Kevin (aka the dragon Grimm that has a literal mountain on top of!) lying in wait.
This doesn't bode well for Remnant's resource extraction capabilities. The thing is, in our world, resource extraction is a very intensive effort without constant attacks or having shit like creeps and other Grimm hiding in your tunnels for mining, beowolves and other 'fun' Grimm in the woods for agriculture and forestry, and whatever the fuck is hiding in the oceans for fishing and other oceanic activities just to start with. With those attacks? Resource extraction is severely bottlenecked to the point that it is telling that only in the last century that the City-States of Remnant properly industrialized and that is because Minstral/Atlas is implied to be the exporter of said industrialization.
Since resource extraction is so bottlenecked, industrialization would be pretty poor (IRL, the 2nd Industrial Revolution started thanks in part by cheap coal that was the result of the first industrial revolution using steam engines to allow deeper mineral seams to become accessible) in comparison. Effective industrialization is a requirement for attritional warfare as you can't spend men, material, and ammo in massive quantities without them. Add to this that the effective operational capacity for Remnant industry is bottlenecked due to the poor resource extraction capacity, and you'll be starting to have problems. I wouldn't be surprised that Remnant industry is a master of making every single bar of metal last because of that deficiency. While I wouldn't be surprised that bullets and shells aren't going to run out at the time of the show as they have absolute priority, if the Grimm seriously attacked then they'll likely be starting to hurt in terms of ammo surprisingly quickly. This isn't because of just their weakness in industrial capacity, it is how constant the Grimm attack.
Huntsmen/Huntress teams take something on the order of a decade (plus or minus 2 years) to train through 'Battle School' and the Academy. Let's say each Academy has a graduating class of 40 teams (or 160 people) per year. With four academies, that's 160 teams (or 540 people) per year. Given that the 'moment of silence' bit takes several seconds before they started the tournament indicates quite a few of these teams are MIA/KIA. Let's say RWBY's year is a damn good year for a 'low end' MIA/KIA rate and then go with 50%. So, that is 270 people (or 80 teams) KIA/MIA. An average year, in this case, might go up as high as 80%, but let's go with 75% to give an easier to calculate number... which adds up to 120 teams or 480 people. A not-that-bad bad year is likely -for the sake of argument- wipe out the entire class with really bad years at least starting to eat into the other classes at the minimum.
This is plainly unsustainable. Period. End. Of. Story. If we are to put this into our perspective, I can't put it into our perspective properly. The best I can do is probably WW1 where the difference between raw recruits and veterans is simply huge...
The best way to deal with the Salem problem is to make her powerless not kill her killing her isn't easy stripping her of her power by silvereying her is doable.
The best way to deal with the Salem problem is to make her powerless not kill her killing her isn't easy stripping her of her power by silvereying her is doable.
This is plainly unsustainable. Period. End. Of. Story. If we are to put this into our perspective, I can't put it into our perspective properly. The best I can do is probably WW1 where the difference between raw recruits and veterans is simply huge...
Well, there are crazy things that I've been working on, that is on a conceptual level. Like a CnC Tiberium (personal remake version where Kane and Nod is GDI's frienemy...) fic that uses GATE as a methodology, a fic that has one of the factions of my own setting coming in via the GATE methodology, a 'Battletech made in the lens of the Iron Pact universe misjumps over Remnant' fic, and now something based upon the game Imperium Galactica...
Ok, going full crazy here, the SLDF Exodus shows up at Remnant due to few miscalculations... and then decide since this is a good world (despite the Grimm problem) to settle on, manages to negotiate settlement rights...
I'd think it be a bit more interesting for the Magistracy of Canopus to find Reminant.
Mainly because while their military with have some interest in Atlas and the other nations, the civilians would have more interest in Menagerie because Canopans are degenerates. They'd have several bio-med corporations set up shop trying to figure out how to turn humans into faunus.
Red Thorn by moguera
As a child, Ruby Rose ran away from home to escape her father's controlling and overprotective attitude. Years later, Ruby returns to Vale, only to find herself invited into Beacon Academy, where she'll have to make friends, reunite with family, help train a deadbeat teammate, and maybe even find love...Oh...And maybe help save the world...If she can find time for it.
RWBY - Rated: M - English - Adventure/Friendship - Chapters: 166 - Words: 1,447,610 - Reviews: 2836 - Favs: 1,568 - Follows: 1,740 - Updated: 57m ago - Published: Dec 15, 2019 - Ruby R., Jaune A., Team RWBY, Team JNPR
Today the epilogue of Red Thorn posted, at 1,447,610 words in one hundred sixty six chapters posted every other day (except the days FF.net was down last week). Excellent read with nicely written smart fights and plenty of twists and turns.
Red Thorn by moguera
As a child, Ruby Rose ran away from home to escape her father's controlling and overprotective attitude. Years later, Ruby returns to Vale, only to find herself invited into Beacon Academy, where she'll have to make friends, reunite with family, help train a deadbeat teammate, and maybe even find love...Oh...And maybe help save the world...If she can find time for it.
RWBY - Rated: M - English - Adventure/Friendship - Chapters: 166 - Words: 1,447,610 - Reviews: 2836 - Favs: 1,568 - Follows: 1,740 - Updated: 57m ago - Published: Dec 15, 2019 - Ruby R., Jaune A., Team RWBY, Team JNPR
Today the epilogue of Red Thorn posted, at 1,447,610 words in one hundred sixty six chapters posted every other day (except the days FF.net was down last week). Excellent read with nicely written smart fights and plenty of twists and turns.
It is super AU, extreme OC world building, and the Author projects their father issues onto Ruby and Taiyang. There is pacing accelerates rapidly at the end.
It is super AU, extreme OC world building, and the Author projects their father issues onto Ruby and Taiyang. There is pacing accelerates rapidly at the end.
Ive read red thorn except for like the last 10 chapters or so (because they hadn't been written yet, I will wait for a few more before binging) its decent, the weisse/fem OC pairing is kinda outta nowhere though. If you have other things to read go ahead, but if you want another hit of RWBY that is not crap give it a shot.
So here we go with the Personal-Future-History-Setting-Meeting-RWBY idea. This one is under the name of Of Grimm and Men. A bit corny, I know, but it kind of fits.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Town of Georgetown, Valian Grimm Wilds; ~1750km south from Vale - Fructidor 22nd, 80 Years After The Great War (AGW)
Today wasn't a good day for those living in the area designated as the Valian Grimm Wilds, and so far, it only has gotten worse. Whatever got the Grimm riled up enough to abandon all known conventions and head towards somewhere, destroying anything in their wake in the process.
That included the CCT relays that allowed the various towns, villages, and cities in the Grimm Wilds to call in Huntress assistance.
With communications cut off, civil unrest began to ferment. While the larger cities in the Grimm Wilds sent their airships to Vale to apprise them of the situation, the various villages, towns, and smaller metropolises didn't have such capabilities. While these islands of civilization kept close together to help against the Grimm, surviving the onslaught made everyone unable to send couriers in fear of getting them killed.
For the fanus Plantier family, this was in the back of their minds, as they had far more immediate concerns to worry about at the moment.
_________________
Yvette Plantier idly skipped as she played in the small park that the large town had. There are only a handful of people at the park, leaving it to feel eerie. While her parents lived in town, their jobs took them to the fields and forests for most of the day, respectively. Geneviève Plantier is Yvette's mother and is the head forester of the town. That meant that she regularly wasn't home until nearly bed-time, and thus Yvette didn't get to see her much. That contrasts with Gautier Plantier's job as Chief of Agriculture. His work had him either working from home, making sure that the crop yields would be sufficient for this year and coordinating the farmers, or out in the fields for hours on end. While Yvette knew their work is vital, it didn't mean it hurt when something from work came up that took them away from her.
The Grimm mindlessly going to some distant location deep into the Grimm Wilds for some inexplicable reason helped her family in this regard. Her mom rarely has to go to the various foresting stations, and her father doesn't have to do anything farming-related for the last few weeks, letting the family get closer together. Occasionally they had to meet with the mayor, but that is a small price given the circumstances. Right now, however, isn't one of those occasions. Right now is a family picnic at the park.
"I told you that going to the park today is a good idea, Honeybun," Gautier playfully quipped, "Yvette is happier since we've been able to go out and be a family these last few weeks." That was when Gautier frowned. "I'm just sad that it wasn't under better circumstances." Geneviève only sighed.
"I know," Geneviève frowned before smiling again, "We're just lucky that we can have family time..." That was when Gautier smiled.
"Well," Gauntier said as his smile became fox-like, "the mayor has told me that everything is ready for us to have proper departments. We don't have to run around like headless chickens anymore." Geneviève quickly tackled her husband in elation. "Woah there, don't get too happy!" Geneviève only chuckled in response.
"Um, mommy, daddy, I see something up in the sky," Yvette commented as she pointed to a plane-shaped speck in the sky. That was when Geneviève and Gauntier looked where she was pointing and saw the barely-visible aircraft* for themselves.
"Honey, get Reginald on the scroll, tell him that there is an unidentified aircraft flying around," Gauntier ordered. His wife quickly took out her scroll and began calling the resident air traffic controller.
The thing about fixed-wing flying is that it's all high speed, high altitude. Below 3,000 meters and you're going to be either vaporized or ripped to shreds, even with semi-ablative laminate armor. Only helicopters can operate close to the ground because they work hand in hand with the ground forces and work behind them in support. Fixed-wing aircraft don't have that sort of luxury.
Here though? So far, there hasn't been anything resembling a modern air defense network; no soldiers with TAC missiles, ready to ruin our day; no SPAAGs or SHORADs waiting for a sensor lock; just these horrors and the terrain.
"I've got a town on scope," my elephant uplift WO flatly states as he looked through his AugReal, "pretty decent sized. We're probably looking at some 10k citizens at most."
"Right then, keep the camera rolling, John," I ordered, "I'll make an orbit so you can get everything." Right now, we're on recon duties, and that meant most of the external ordinance hardpoints have all sorts of recon equipment installed, including smart dust dispensers. If it were a normal situation, this would be a job for the TacBombers as their range allows them to cover more ground. The constant horror attacks had delayed the airbase's construction and, thus, delayed the deployment of the TacBombers, which leaves multi-role fighters with the work. I smoothly began the orbit as my WO started recording.
"Um, Ron, we've got people looking at our direction," John commented, "From the looks of it, one of the locals heard us." I nodded at the statement, and given that you could hear a thundering jet up to 6,000 meters, it was plausible. "I'm getting a... VLF signal from the town. It looks like they're trying to contact us." I frowned slightly in contemplation before I made my move. "From the sound of it, it looks like they're trying to ascertain our identity... asking if we're from a nation called Atlas."
"Alright, pipe it to me, and you get that mapping data," I ordered, "I'll try to massage any problems. Just keep that recon camera and the sensor array recording." My AugReal quickly showed me that the signal is now coming to my station, and I initiated our first contact with the locals. "This is SolGov Fighter-Bomber Thunderbird to unidentified signal; please give Ident."
"This is Georgetown Air Traffic Control to Thunderbird: you have penetrated our airspace undetected. Ever since the Grimm overran this section of the Grimm Wilds, everyone in this sector hasn't gotten any communications. Has Remnant been united under a single banner within the last three months?"
That got me to raise my eyebrow. The voice on the other end sounded very British, to the point that it was a bit uncanny. That was when it hit me; this planet hasn't completely unified yet. I should thank the ATC, though, as we've got a better name for the planet than "the planet of horrors" that we've been using for the last few months; if Remnant is what the locals named their world, then we don't have to cause incidents with the locals.
"I'm afraid not," I answered, "A portal opened up a hundred kilometers from here to our world, allowing an invasion of grotesque horrors and cause some damage before kicked them out of our home. We chased them to the other side and landed on your planet." The ATC sounded like he was in a state of shock. "We're sorry about entering your airspace without permission, but you're one of the first signs of civilization that wasn't some carcass."
"The only other towns further south are Oveilville and Chancellorsville, and they've been declining in population for years since their Dust deposits started drying up. Although I wouldn't be surprised that you stumbled upon a few old ghost towns on your way here, this part of the Grimm Wilds is just lousy with them. So, other than the Grimm, what brings you to our neck of the woods?"
Ah, more information; makes things a whole lot easier in the long run. We're getting more information out of this guy than all of our investigations combined. Since this world is where the Horrors originate, Grimm must be what the locals call them.
"We're on reconnaissance duties," I answered, "due to how the Horrors been delaying our airfield construction, we got the short straw to get ahead of the main force and see what's out there. We didn't expect to see a living town, though you're something of a surprise to us. Can you get your leader on the horn? We'll need him to schedule an official visit."
"Damn, I'll get the mayor in as soon as possible. Can you send a communication to your superiors? We've been in the dark since the Grimm destroyed the CCT relay stations three months back when they stormed your place. If you can help us to at least contact Valenmart or Lethis, that would be a great help."
"I'll see what I can do," I responded, "We've got another twenty minutes before we've got to RTB. We'll stay in orbit until then. Also, what heading are the two towns you described? If you want us to contact them, we'll need their heading and distance."
"Valenmart is heading 309, distance 200 miles; Lethis is heading 342, distance: 320 miles. If you could get a communique to them, it would help us a lot."
I frowned at that information. We've got two deep-range recon craft in that direction and are probably there by now, or at least getting into sensor range. With our radios, we can start relaying messages to those cities. The question now would be: do they still exist, or at least not as a corpse?
"Indiana Jones, this is Thunderbird; I've got a live town here requesting communique to a city at Three-Zero-Niner, roughly 321km from our position. What's the situation in that city?" I asked over the flight channel.
"This is Indiana Jones to Thunderbird; I've got a battered but living city at those coordinates. Appreciate locals that they're battered but OK. From what the city's ATC is telling us, the horror hordes had an element break off in an attempt to raze it to the ground. No casualties and only minor repair work needed."
"Good to know Indiana Jones. Thanks for the appraisal," I commented, "Oscar Mike, this is Thunderbird; do you have a live city at heading Three-Fower-Niner, roughly 515km from our position?"
"This is Oscar Mike to Thunderbird; affirmative on that appraisal request. Similar situation to Indiana Jones's city. At least that's what it looks like and what the city's ATC is telling me."
"Good to know, Oscar Mike," I sighed in relief, "Georgetown ATC, this is Thunderbird; we can confirm that Lethis and Valenmart are intact. Want to send a message?" There were mumblings in the background.
"This is Mayor Gregory Reynolds to aircraft Thunderbird; you've given us a bit of a scare when one of our citizens sighted you. Since you've appraised us on the condition of some of our fellow frontier cities, can you start relaying messages for us? Without the CCT network, we're practically blind as bats out here. It also might be too much to ask -but I'm asking anyway- can you send some engineers to see if you can repair the CCT relays? If you can get those up and running again, we can communicate easier."
"Mayor Reynolds, this is Thunderbird," I replied, "if you can give us a description of these communication relays, it would make our job a whole lot easier. Although it might be impossible due to our differing tech bases."
"Differing tech bases... you mean you don't use Dust? Practically everything these days relies on or augmented by Dust in some way or fashion. It's..."
"Impossible?" I completed, "When you're dealing with a portal that acts like a wormhole, dealing with creatures that defy known physics with a murder-boner for psychics, and humans on another planet outside of the Solar System, impossible is nothing. We'll probably have to set up our own communications network, though, given the likely incompatibilities between the CCT and our communication systems." I quickly switch to the command channel. "Command, this is Thunderbird; I've got a priority Alpha update."
"This is Command; send the update."
"I've got a live town here, from the looks of it some 10k strong. Oscar Mike and Indiana Jones have encountered two cities that are also live," I answered, "Current communications indicate that they've lost long-range communications; their relays got destroyed when the Horrors came through. They're requesting restoration of this capability."
"Understood, Thunderbird; we're getting similar reports in your sector. We've been expediting airbase construction for air and logistical support, given that we're starting to find live spots of civilization in your area. Send the message that we'll look into restoration of communication capability."
"Alright then, let's give the locals the news," I told myself as I switched channels, "Georgetown ATC, this is Thunderbird; I've just got off from command, and we'll be expediting your request. There are a lot of live cities and towns in this sector, so it'll take some time to process."
"Good to know then, Thunderbird. Just tell your superiors that we'll be ready for their envoys when they get the time. Keep us advised."
"Understood Georgetown ATC, Thunderbird out," I responded as I put the town on hold, "Command, this is Thunderbird; they'll be ready for envoys when we're able. Recommend using something with long-range communications."
"Thunderbird, this is Command; read and understood your last. Hit your last waypoint and RTB..."
*
The image above is what our RWBY PoV characters saw. For its description, it's a Mach 1.8 A-10 with stealth features and an impressive sensor suite. The aircraft has a Magneto-Hydrodynamic Turbine and two hydrogen using hyper fan turbine engines, allowing it to go up to Mach 2 and power everything. Giving this aircraft its firepower is its 30mm ETC chaingun (with a 5,000 round magazine, usually split between APHE and AHEAD ammunition) and several metric tons of ordinance hardpoints and weapon bays. The centerline ordinance bay can carry five 2000kg bombs alone, while the innermost hardpoints can carry up to ten 500kg bombs. Most attack aircraft are hard-pressed to haul that much ordinance in three locations.
Its defenses consist of active and passive systems made up of armor, electronic warfare, and laser AMS systems. The armor is a semi-ablative laminate composite that utilizes 'Energy Web' (or E-Web for short) dispersion technology to limit the damage caused by anti-air lasers and particle weapons. Combine this with an effective stealth setup, an ECM suite, an abundance of physical countermeasures, and two 500MW/100kJ LAMS units, and it is harder to kill than one would think. It can also laser designate targets from the stratosphere.
There are a few reasons that this aircraft is feared in the A New World setting, and it's going to show here. The only downside of this aircraft weighs in at 90 metric tons and change when fully loaded. If the proper tactical bomber (in this case, the TB-01Y) is the aircraft the locals are seeing, then they'll be dealing with a 180 metric ton (and change) aircraft capable of achieving Mach 2.4. Oh, and its ordinance package can be up to almost 99 metric tons of explosives of various flavors, including nuclear. If the MR-01Z is feared as a multi-role fighter, then the TB-01Y is feared as the tactical dump truck.
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In other news, with the reveal of Cinder's backstory, there is a theory that she's a victim of the slave trade. The current growing theory is that she was a sex slave in addition to a domestic one. From what I've heard about that horrid trade, those that come out of that trade either a) need assistance for the rest of their lives because they're so broken or b) turn into psychopaths. In Cinder's case, however? Well, she has the dubious honor of being both.
If you want to make Cinder a 'good guy' for a fic, you'll have to go out and go full AU mode. The reason being? Being a bad guy is the only door available to her in the grand scheme of things, so to speak.
Well, been looking through Fanfiction and I found this: Signs and Portents. What is unusual is that it's a Babylon 5/RWBY fic featuring our favorite associate and our favorite thief.
So, I've been thinking yet another fic idea (this time an AGI in a survival core landing on Remnant and thus causing shenanigans), it's about how easy it was that Cinder was able to subvert the androids... when it hit me:
The androids we see aren't the first ones made and deployed. Thus, there might be limitations, and given that they're rather 'dumb' it made me believe that the androids have very limited tactical planning space (so, at best, we're talking very early Bolo 'smart' here). How would you mitigate such a flaw? By outsourcing the processing system to something that can take the mass and volume, in this case, the Atlassian airships. It would probably be very new in comparison to the androids and that with the Festival approaching and the force multiplier (i.e. major incursions were beaten back with this system) that the processing system became, it was fitted in an ad-hoc way to the airships, with the master probably being on Ironwood's flagship.
If it wasn't for the fact that the Festival was so close to this system's deployment, then they would have likely gotten most of the security problems found and fixed.
Basically, think of what happened was someone got into the C3 network and hijacked it.
