A/n: Well, the Corona Borealis hasn't gotten to me yet, so that's a plus.

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Another day, another scene in Vacuo involving sand. Somewhere in the western region of the kingdom, a single bullhead flies through the air. Within the transport sits Sara, Victor, and a handful of bandits and Children preparing themselves for a rescue mission mid-flight.

Whilst the more battle ready were silent, what with the idea that most of them are going to die, one young specialist talks a bandit's ear off to pass the time.

Sara: On a side note, I'm a little bummed about never unlocking my semblance. But, honestly, that's fine. It's just a literal super power that I can live without, no biggie. It doesn't need to define who I am. But it would be useful in a pinch... I wonder what it would be though. Maybe something cool, like duplication or teleportation. I'd settle for just x-ray vision. If I end up with something dumb like changing something's color, I swear--

The bandit she was talking to suddenly stands up and walks over to the bullhead hatch. Sliding the door open, the sound of rushing wind whistles about as the bandit just jumps out and plummets to his death. Sara looks to the open door that he jumped out of for a second before scooting over next to another bandit.

Sara: Anyway, I just realized something. What's your boss's semblance? If a chameleon faunus can already change the colors of their body, do they get a semblance either way--

Bandit: I, honest to god, don't care.

Over in another seat, Victor goes about sharpening his knife for the hundredth time on this flight. Not long after, static blares from the radios before the pilot's voice comes on.

Pilot: We're coming up on the meetup point. Drop off in fifteen seconds.

Children and bandits start collecting their personal shit and wait just a moment before the vibrations of the bullhead landing signals them to leave. Once it lands, the hatches slide open as its inhabitants pour out to what appears to be the entrance to a small makeshift base inside a cave. Sara and Victor exit last and see the premade base before them.

Sara: We should be able to find Mesa here.

The newly arrived arrivals enter the occupied cave and make use of themselves anyway they can. The two specialists ask around and seek out the bandit commander further in the cave. Making their way in, they pass by more bandits and Children that were assigned here previously. Some more walking later, the duo come across a tent that looks much nicer than the other makeshift huts behind them.

Making their way in, they spot three individuals around a table. Two heavily armored figures, and one feminine figure in lighter clothing. Her back turned to the newly arrivals. The two scary fucks snap their attention to Sara and Victor as the woman just turns her head slightly.

???: What is it?

Sara: Urhm, we're looking for somebody named Mesa. We're the reinforcements.

The woman turns around to face them, revealing a blue crop top just up to her breasts with white outlines, showing off a light complexion of skin, along with a pair of blue bracers and pants to match the coat. The crop top barely shows what looks like a yellow cloth wrapped tightly around her upper chest. A similar fabric is wrapped around her head as well, covering up her eyes and letting a small amount of dirty blonde hair out the back.

Besides the fact that she's basically blind, the most noticeable feature is her yellow lynx ears popping out the top.

Mesa: I am Mesa, yes. About time they sent more help our way. To catch you up to speed, we're about--

Sara: Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait, hol' up. You're Mesa, yeah?

Mesa: Literally just confirmed that two seconds ago, but yes.

Sara: Aaaannnd you're a sharpshooter?

With a slight pause, Mesa reaches down and shifts her two pistols, the Regulators, into view.

Mesa: Yeah?

The young red head takes a second to get a good look at the wrappings on Mesa's head.

Sara:.... But you're blind?

The feline faunus "stares" at the reptile faunus without a word, both hands still firmly on her holstered pistols.

Mesa:.... Ears.

Sara: Ears?

In a split second, Mesa whips her Regulators out and points them at Sara. Without hesitation, she pulls both triggers and sends the twin shots hurtling towards the girl. The bullets fly past Sara's head and grazes her--you guessed it--ears, scratching the crap out of them and drawing blood. The young specialist launches her hands up to her ears from the pain and lets out a yell.

Sara: OW, CRAP!

She writhes on the spot a little as Victor snaps his surprised gaze between Sara and Mesa, all the while the two other bandits let out a chuckle. Mesa, reholstering her pistols, shifts her attention to the boy.

Sara: As I was saying; We have a plan on how to reach that Children specialist, Goken. The valley he's trapped in used to be an old dust mine before the Great War. The Vacuo army is pretty much all over the main opening of the valley, but they never bothered to check for any other entrances. Right now, we're right outside an old collapsed mine shaft that we've been digging through for the past few days. We clear a hole through the rubble, grab the angry giant, and get the hell out.

A faint sound of static suddenly emanates from her as she reaches up to one of her ears. Not long after, she soon makes her way past the two, the armored bandits following her lead, and exits the tent before shouting out.

Mesa: We move in ten minutes!

Back to Sara and Captain Chatterbox, the red headed faunus removes her hands from her ears. Obvious blood on her palms, her aura has already healed up her ears during her little fit.

Sara: Did she seriously have to shoot me?!

Victor just shrugs his shoulders in response. Nonetheless, the two make their way out of the tent and quickly follow Mesa further into the cave. A minute of walking later, the small group of Children and bandits arrive to what looks like a worn down bumping post. Right in front of it is a set of mining carts, three in total, and a track leading all the way through a mine shaft. On the walls are mounted lights that have clearly burnt out years ago. Both carts and tracks are rusted to high hell and look to have seen better days.

Mesa makes her way to the middle cart and hops in. One of the bandits takes the back cart as the other takes a hold of it, preparing to start pushing the mini train. Sara and Victor quickly jump into the front cart as the bandit begins pushing. Once everyone is seated, the carts begin to move by the surprisingly strong bandit. All the while, a horrid screeching emanates from the wheels as they start moving for the first time in almost a hundred years.

An agonizing minute later, with her faunus eyes, Sara spots what looks like a downward slope just ahead.

Sara: So how long did it take to clear the rubble?

Needing to yell over the rusty screech from the tracks, Sara decides to start a conversation with the bandits.

Mesa: A few days. We almost made it to the end until we came across a snag.

The carts arrive to the slope. As they finally start riding downward, the bandit pushing them quickly jumps in the back with his comrade and just enjoys the ride.

Mesa: There's still some boulders blocking the rest of the way. We clear those out, we make it to the lower parts of the canyon.

The carts start to pick up speed.

Sara: K. So how do we clear that?

Mesa: Two words; High explosives.

Sara nods her head for a second before the words sunk in. They take a few turns along the tracks, still going fast.

Sara: Wait, wouldn't that cause another cave in?

Mesa: Yep.

The blind bandit pulls out a handheld detonator from nowhere and just holds it near the rim of the cart. Victor finally catches on to what's being said and starts to look worried. Going faster now.

Sara:.. Uhhh--

Mesa: Relax, it's all in the speed and timing.

Sara: WHY THE FUCK WOULD I RELAX?!?!

Not answering, Mesa just smirks to herself as Victor and Sara look to each other in panic. The two bandits in the back just sit in silence. Did I mention the carts are still picking up speed?

While losing her shit, Sara spots a lever brake to the left of their cart. Grabbing it, she pulls with all her might in hopes of stopping this hell ride. She is swiftly rewarded with a metallic snap as the lever breaks off. Her salvation broken in her hands, the color in Sara's face quickly drain to the point of her red scales going pink.

Dirt, rock, and the echoes of a high pitched scream fly through the air as the carts just zoom across the tracks. All the while Mesa is counting down to herself.

Mesa: Five.

Sara: AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!1!!1!!

Mesa: Four.

Victor: *rethinking life choices*

Mesa: Three.

Bandit1: "ahem"

Mesa: Two.

On the last second she pushes the button. Not far ahead, what was just a wall of darkness now becomes a wall of fire as thunderous explosions roar out. The front car and its passengers collide with chunks of flaming rock, shoving the hell stones out of their way. As all three carts are engulfed in fire, they are soon launched out the other end with a trail of smoke behind them.

While the five have a blast of a ride, the force of the explosion soon causes the tunnel to start collapsing behind them. Cutting off any chance of making their way back, and completely ignoring the fact that they might die if they slow down.

Visions somewhat blurred from the smoke and flames, the cart riders don't notice another bumping post just ahead. They do, however, notice the sudden deceleration as they crash into the ancient cart stopper. The post shatters into splinters as the carts and their passengers are launched off the tracks.

Sounds of metal, rock, and people tumbling across the dark cavern echo through the air. The only light sources illuminating the area being the few burning rocks from the explosion.

After a few moments of everything settling the fuck down, Victor is the first to collect his bearings and get to his feet, followed by the three bandits he took a joyride with. The only one still prone is Sara, completely motionless not far off with one of her hands clenched over her chest. Bit of a thousand yard stare on her face. Victor notices this and quickly rushes over to check on her.

Stretching her back in an arc, several pops emanate from Mesa's back as she lets out a satisfying sigh.

Mesa: Aaahhhh~ Flawless execution. Everyone all right?

The two bandits confirm they are still alive. The lack of confirmation from the other two catches her attention as she turns towards Victor and Sara before walking over to them.

Mesa: What's the matter?

Victor doesn't respond as he shakes Sara a bit by the shoulders. The only sound coming from the poor gecko being a slight wheeze from her lips.

Mesa: Oh for--Let me.

She shoves Victor aside as she kneels down close to the petrified Sara.
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*SLAP SLAP*

With two hardy slaps, Mesa smacks Sara across both cheeks. This causes the girl's head to snap to both sides in the process.

Sara: Ooowwwww.

This hilariously harsh action snaps Sara out of her stupor as she clenches her face from the stinging pain. Satisfied, Mesa stands up and addresses to everyone.

Mesa: Alright, listen up! We made it into the canyon in one piece, but that was only the easy part.

Sara: How is almost getting blown up and crushed in a cave in the easy part?

Mesa: We've got the rest of our boys from before packing up and heading over to the main opening up above. They'll serve as a distraction once we find Goken and shoot our way out. Afterwards, we grab a ride and get the hell out of here. Simple as that.

Without another word, Mesa walks off with the two bandits close behind. Victor helps Sara to her feet as she rubs a sore cheek.

Sara: I feel like we're gonna die down here.

The two soon follow the rest of the group to a small entryway leading to a tunnel.

A reasonably uneventful walk through the dark tunnel later, the group soon hears what sounds like gunfire further ahead. Picking up the pace, the five of them rush through the tunnel as four of them spot light not far in front of them. Finally making an exit from the earth tube, the group find a slope leading upward to their right. The sound of fighting coming from that same direction.

All five quickly arm themselves as they rush up the slope. Just as they arrive to the top, a body comes soaring over their heads in such velocity that it manages to slam against the wall several yards behind them. Surprised by the obviously now dead flying cadaver, they quickly make it to the top to witness an interesting spectacle.

Just a few yards ahead of them, a gaint of a being in orange all over swings himself about to shake off what looks like a soldier firmly grasping his back. A few more soldiers scattered about with rifles trained on the individual, not shooting in fear of hitting their comrade. The individual, identified as a man given his guttural grunts of anger, soon gives up on trying to shake off his unwanted passenger. Instead choosing to reach to his side and grab a hold of the soldier's leg and pull with all his might. The poor bastard gets swung under and over the giant's body quickly being slammed to the ground. A horrendous CRACK echoes out as the soldier is soon limp on the ground.

Still holding the now dead soldier by the leg, the giant wastes no time in swinging the body around and tossing it at another soldier. Making contact, both are sent hurtling towards a turned over cart. A painful yelp is all that is heard as the still living soldier crashes back first into it.

With nothing preventing them from shooting now, the remaining two soldiers begin to open fire on the giant man. This..... seems to have no effect on him.

Each bullet just bounces off of his hide as he walks over to the closest soldier to him. As he gets near, he raises a leg and just kicks the soldier square in the chest. This launches the soldier back into a stone wall behind him hard enough to create a crack on contact.

Now realizing this is a losing battle, the last soldier tries to make a run for it. The giant takes a quick step back and reaches for the soldier. One hand grasping a leg, while the other catches a shoulder. With a hefty heave, the giant lifts the soldier up over his head and swings the poor sod down on his knee. A sound that can only be described as a pack of uncooked spaghetti being broken in half echoes out as the soldier's spine bends in an L shape.

With the last of the extras taken care of, the giant pushes the corpse off his knee and stands to his full height. A seven and a half foot giant of pure muscle in an orange jumpsuit... with an orange tail connected to it... That's not a jumpsuit.

Mesa: Yo, Goken!

The large bastard snaps around to the mention of his name, almost ready to rip someone in half. As he faces the group, it is evident that his features are more equine to reptiles. Orange scales, matching tail, reptilian-like feet, and green slit eyes staring them down. On closer inspection, the individual now known as Goken appears to be in worse for wear conditions with cuts and bruises all over. And finally, the most noticeable feature amongst this picture of a man-beast is the dragon face snarling at them.

Goken's features seem to soften a bit after recognizing Mesa before him.

Gouken: It's pronounced Gouken.

Mesa: Nobodycares--Glad you're still alive and kicking, this should make getting you out of here easier.

Gouken: Getting out? You think the six of us are capable of strong arming our way through an entire garrison waiting outside? Ignoring the facts that I have no ammo for my pistols and that half of you look underage. I may be blood thirsty, but I'm not an idiot!

Mesa: And yet, here you are, trapped in an old canyon with Vacuo forces pinning you down.

As those two converse, Sara takes a few more seconds to look at the giant lizardman before turning to Victor in a hushed tone.

Sara: Did you know he was a reptile man? Because I sure as hell didn't!

Victor just shrugs in response, equally as confused as to what the hell he's looking at. Meanwhile, Mesa shushes O.J. Slytherin before continuing.

Mesa: Alright, will you shut up already! First off.

She snaps her fingers towards one of the bandits. Said bandit reaches into a pouch on his hip, removing it from his person and tosses it to Gouken. The not-so-jolly orange giant catches the pouch and examines it, before opening it to reveal several small silver cylinders inside. Wasting no time, he reaches behind his back and pulls out a fairly large advanced pistol. Almost a foot in length. He begins loading three of the cylinders into the gun as Mesa speaks up again.

Mesa: Second, we have more reinforcements prepared to attack from outside. On my command, we'll strike from the front and back, and escape with only some losses.

Gun loaded, Gouken looks upon his weapon with a sort of gleam in his eyes. This soon fades as he hears what sounds like a groan behind him. Looking over, he spots the soldier he threw the body at still pinned against the cart, now trying to escape. Without a word, the large gecko just walks over to the still breathing soldier.

Mesa: So, are you ready? Or do you need a breather?

Finally arriving, Gouken towers over his victim with just a dead expression on his scaly face. The soldier soon looks up after sensing an ominous presence, only to see a large orange foot hovering over his face. With more force than was needed, he slams his foot into the soldier's head, crushing the man's skull into a bloody mess of bone and flesh.

Satisfied, Gouken turns to the blind bandit with a fire in his eyes.

Gouken: Ready.

With all that said and done, the group soon make their way towards what is to be their exit. All the while, Sara just glances over to Gouken every so often.

Sara:...... Yeah, I'm not going to ignore the fact that you're a giant lizard person.

Gouken: And you're a tiny lizard person.

Sara: Hey, I'm a faunus! What are you supposed to be?

Gouken: Can we save this for after we're outside? I've been down here for so long, I'm pretty sure I have black lung.

Deciding to save it for later, the group remains silent for a few more minutes until the sight of what looks like daylight begins to show in front of them. Mesa soon reaches up to her earpiece and presses a button.

Mesa: This is Mesa, begin the attack.

----

Within a refurbished fort in the ravenous forests of Mistral, several individuals in advanced power armor go about their duties in fortifying the fort, while also going out to make sure the plants outside are still burning. Standing on top of a lookout tower are two of our after-story characters, Warlider and p0zi0ner, looking to the plant life waiting to kill them all. The third, Regret, is off doing god knows what elsewhere.

Warlider: This.. is getting costly.

p0zi0ner: How so? We seem to be doing fine.

Warlider: Yeah, for you! I have to burn through resource and manpower to make sure we're not eaten alive by sentient weeds! While you, on the other hand, just snap your fingers and "pffft" out pops hundreds of bananas!

p0zi0ner: Alright alright. Just chill out, Mod.

The banana king's response catches the space general off guard, making Warlider snap his gaze over to him.

Warlider: The fuck you just call me?

p0zi0ner: Shit--Sorry, sorry. I get names with the same number of letters mixed up. War, Mod. It happens, ok?

Warlider: Oooohhhh, ok. That makes perfect sense, Regret--I mean Pickle--I mean Nanner.

Warlider just returns to glaring at trees as p0zi0ner slowly turns to him, contemplating on whether to push him off the edge.