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Cheap fluorescent lights fizzed and flickered, snapping Raven out of her brooding as she momentarily looked up, watching the flies buzzing around the long, pale strips of light. Finding them as dull as expected, she returned to people watching from her spot at the end of a table in a dingy corner, a metal finger tapping against the equally metal table top. The few people there were only marginally better than whatever drawl was projecting on the screen above the bar, talking about whatever mediocre things were going on in their lives. Though not much news came out of this Urbworld, so it was hardly a surprise. Her red eyes took another peak at the clock.
21:37
Her contact should've been here at eight.
Sighing, Raven stood up, running her fingers through the thick, pitch-black mane she called hair. It’d taken ages for her to find this hole-in-the-wall pub her client had wanted to meet at, and now they weren’t gonna show up? Oh well. There's be more business else-
Crash.
Metal hand quickly found sword-hilt as Raven readied herself, bionic eyes scanning the room. Whatever had just caused a ruckus would show itself soon, and then she’d-
…
A woman. About the same age as Raven, though she appeared much timider, currently in the midst of flustered apologising to the bartender, who had also come into view, lips curled into a smile under his grey goatee as he reassured her it was okay, and the glasses hadn't been that expensive anyway. Raven regarded her with confusion. Nothing was out of the ordinary, save for her very unusual sincerity, it seemed.
But. There was always a but with the people Raven dealt with. And this one was no exception. At first, the telltale signs her eyes picked up from cybernetics - different temperatures, weight, electric signals - just didn’t come up. She seemed all-natural. But then Raven realised, it wasn’t because there was nothing different.
EVERYTHING was. Every detail her eyes picked up was ever so slightly off. But enough for it not to be a coincidence. Raven grasped her sword tighter as the woman turned, spotting her and… smiling? She rushed over with a cheerful “Hello!”, grasping Raven’s other hand before she could even react and shaking it furiously, leaving her baffled. “Um… hello?” was all she could muster.
“I’m so sorry for being late!” The woman apologised when she eventually let go of Raven’s hand, frowning slightly. “My keys ended up misplaced, then traffic was bad, then I ended up in the Trevas sector instead of here and-”
Raven just stared, mystified, at the woman in front of her who, unabated, kept talking. Somehow managing to collect her thoughts, she cleared her throat, cutting the woman off. “So… you’re my client.”
“Yes, I am!” She replied cheerfully, once again extending her hand. “Summer Rose, in the flesh!”
“Right…” Great. A rookie. Raven took his hand, and was shaken even more furiously than before, feeling as if her brain was going to fall out of her head. “You know we tend not to use names in this kinda business, right?”
“Well,” Summer replied with a smirk, finally stopping shaking Raven, who breathed a sigh of relief, “this probably isn’t your regular kinda business.”
Raven was now ever so slightly intrigued (even if she’d never admit it) as Summer walked past, sitting down in the spot next to where Raven had been, and patting down next to her. Already finding her eyes trolling at the woman’s antics, she acquiesced, sitting down as Summer pulled out a small mobile device, setting it on the table. After pressing a few buttons, a small image was brought up on the screen, what looked to be some sort of map. “Recognise this?” Summer asked. Raven shook her head silently, studying the map intently. “Good, you shouldn’t.”
“It’s been dubbed digsite pallium. Official records of the company there state its purpose before they abandoned it was just for more natural resources. However, it was much more than that.” Tapping a few more buttons, a new image came up, similar to the one before, except with readings that made Raven’s eyes widen. “What in the….”
Summer chuckled warmly. “Yep, that’s about how I first reacted. All of this indicates something big and nearly alive underneath. An AI of some sort. Something like-”
“An arcotech.”
“Precisely. Given the company were ankle to even land on it, it’s either sleeping or dead, or whatever the equivalent is for them” The smirk Summer now held was almost predatory as her eyes sparkled at the word, disturbing Raven ever so slightly. “And for currently unstated reasons, the original company abandoned the site. Now leaving it fair game.” Raven wanted to question how this supposedly inconspicuous woman had gotten ahold of such info, but knew better than to ask.
“So, what. You wanna raid the place or somethin’?”
“Not exactly. My group believe we could use the site to, in fact, research the sleeping arcotech. Data from which could be revolutionary, given the technology that has come from them that we still don’t understand. Research at the source may change that.”
“Okay,” Raven spoke hesitantly. There was still one thing she didn’t get. “But, why exactly am I needed for your little ‘research expedition’?”
Summer hummed in response, tapping the table. “Well, even with the arcotech currently down, we can’t be certain any Mechanoids it’s created are. So, we need someone to protect us all, hence why I’m trying to hire your pretty face.” She finished with a smirk, catching Raven momentarily off guard. She quietly readjusted herself, careful not to look Summer in the eye as she did. “That makes sense, I guess.”
“Good! Well, if you’re happy with this price, it’s a deal” She pushed a few more buttons, and slid the little device over to Raven. She took a look-
…
“Oh, I’m in.”
“Good!” Summer brushed off her white cloak as she stood, looking down at Raven with a smile. “We’ll be meeting at the Terima hangars, B12 and B13. You know how to get there?” Once Raven had nodded, Summer’s smile grew. “Great! I’m looking forward to working with you.” She turned, still looking over her shoulder with a mischievous grin. “Partner.”
Raven would leave fairly soon after Summer had, making her way down the various steel walkways of the endless city that made up the Urbworld’s surface. Eventually making it to her apartment, she slumped into her bed, a small caw coming from her pet raven, Red. But even as she fell asleep to the bird’s caws, Summer’s parting words and smile kept floating in her mind.
This was gonna be a long job.
~ ~ ~
BANG!
BANG!
CLASH!
Turns out it was gonna be longer than expected
Everything had been going fine at first. Raven had managed to convince her brother to come along for the job, given the years she’d have to spend in cryo. They’d managed to get on well enough with the crew, and had set off on their journey.
Only problem was, they hadn’t reached their destination. Raven had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with them going hunting for a literal arcotech, but their navigation AI had malfunctioned. Luckily, their ship warning system didn’t, so they’d actually had some warning when the ship split in two above the planet they were currently on. One which they shouldn’t have been anywhere near.
A rimworld. Wild. Chaotic. Untamed. And sat right at the edge of space, with no technology to speak of able to get them off its surface.
Normally Raven would ask herself how things had gone so wrong. Currently, however, she was very occupied dealing with the Mechanoids that had jumped on them the moment the survivors crashed down. Qrow was somewhere nearby, judging by the sound of his old-fashioned ballistic revolver firing through the woods, whilst Summer was at her side, firing at the encroaching Mechanoids with a charge-pistol. Cutting through another Lancer, Raven looked around…
There!
Crashing through the woods was a Centipede. Most likely, the Centipede. Raven grinned. This was her chance.
Dropping low, she charged, dipping back and forth as the Centipede spotted her and began to fire its large charge blaster, ripping through the ground as Raven drew closer and closer, grass and dirt flicking at her mask. With a final slide she reached it-
SLASH
The plasma sheath of her sword cut through the blaster, and as it reached its core, a flash of light marked its explosion, throwing Raven crashing into the upturned dirt. Thankfully, her shield belt took the brunt of it, as she shakily stumbled to her feet, grinning manically at the charred corpse of the machine. Sensing the tide changing, worried chirps sounded from the surrounding Mechanoids as they began to flee. Of course, Raven took that chance to take a few more down.
When they were all gone, however, she slumped to the ground, taking her mask off and wiping her forehead. She’d still been disorientated from the cryosleep, so the fight had taken a toll. As she sat, a clattering caught her attention, and she watched curiously as Summer attempted to tear the charge lance from a dead Lancer. After about a minute of watching the poor woman tug to no avail, she rolled her eyes and pulled herself up,w walking over and, in one fell swoop, cutting the lance off and sending her flying backwards. “You could’ve jus’ asked me to help, ya know?”
“You… looked… tired….” Summer gasped between long breaths, dumping the lance next to her as she lay on the floor, desperate for air. Raven just rolled her eyes again and sheathed her sword, walking over. “Hey, I don’t have time to be tired.”
“Of course… you don’t,” Summer shot back sarcastically, but all the same, she took the hand Raven offered, flopping on her as she tried to steady herself. “So… what now?”
“Huh. What do you mean?”
“Well,” Summer started, leaning down to pick up the lance after removing herself from Raven. “I thought you might know a bit about what to do now, as being stuck on a world at the edge of colonised space with no way off it is not in my area of expertise. It’s… scary, to be honest. I- I don’t know what to do.”
That was an understatement, judging by the look in Summer’s eyes. Raven felt for her, but it wasn’t like she had any answers. Not real ones, anyway. With a sigh, she placed a hand on Summer’s shoulder.
“I will admit, I’m as lost as you are. But right now, I think we should focus on the now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the ship should’ve dropped us somewhere we can at least live. It’s just unlucky there were some beaten-up mechanoids here already. So we need to get the group together and formulate a plan. Bury any dead, collect food, find water, and make shelter. All the survival essentials. Do you think you can focus on that for now?” Raven gave a smile of reassurance, and slowly, Summer nodded. “Good. Let's start on number one.” Raven walked off and cupped her hands together on either side of her mouth.
“ANYONE WHO CAN WALK, GET YOUR LAZY ARSES OVER HERE NOW. ANYONE WHO CAN'T, SOMEONE ELSE CARRY!”
Summer chuckled at her crassness, and Raven turned back, smiling cheekily and giving her a thumbs up.
Maybe, things would turn out okay. For now, at least.
So long as they stuck together.