22 Plans going forward

Neo sat at a table opposite of Raven. Both of them were eating and making suggestions about the plan going forward.

"I know you don't like it but we're gonna need Ozpin for this" Neo ate a kebab of Boar and Deer meat.

"Why? To prevent the fall of Beacon? I knew it would be attacked. I told Qrow years ago" Raven poured herself some stolen wine.

"Yeah and I have a plan to get the Maiden powers. You said the Tribe is mine, right? I have some ideas" Neo casually kept eating.

"I did. Though don't think I'll let you do just anything to them.. I want the tribe to live on" Raven gave her a warning glance.

"Sure. No more Raiding and killing though. From now on, you're giving up the bandit life" Neo took some of the wine now.

"You actually think they'll accept that? I can, but banditry is all they know. That and camping" Raven shrugged.

"Yeah they'll probably whine but their attitudes will turn around when they see the stuff we buy from the shop. I'm turning these Bandits into proper Mercenaries. You'll offer settlements your services. Say.. a small contingency of guards can set up in a settlement at night and take care of up to a medium sized horde of Grimm for five hundred Lien a month. With the training and tools we give them, it'll be easy. All we have to do is train them, get them in shape and supply them with weapons. After we weed the really awful ones out, of course" Neo stated and Raven widened her eyes, impressed.

"Then you can offer your services to clear out Grimm infested places and open up opportunities for new settlements. Show people your group's effectiveness and you'll gain recognition easily. That's how we'll hook Ozpin. When we make enough of a name for ourselves you can contact Qrow, who will contact Ozpin and meet with him. Of course, you'll say you took me because I showed magical abilities I'll say I acquired from some old ruin. If you need to sell it, tell them you took me on as an apprentice and lover because you saw I was strong" Neo rolled her neck as she suggested out loud.

"So you think he'll accept that? He knows I know Salem is immortal. He knows that I gave up on beating her" Raven responds with a concerned tone.

"Tell them in me, you found a way to beat Salem. That my magic can harm the soul. At the very least, Ozpin can't ignore the possibility of victory. He'll be suspicious but you should admit to them you can't tackle this problem alone. Then pull some 'Fast and the Furious, family is everything' kind of speech for Qrow" Neo shrugged as Raven spat out her wine with a few short laughs.

"Okay. When should we contact them? How long do you think we have to make the tribe semi-respectable Mercenaries and gain the fame we need?" Raven asked and Neo tapped the table, thinking.

"Gimme two months. We'll start training these sorry asses today. You have guns but they're not coordinated. I'll buy weaponsmithing and a few blueprints in the shop. I need you to gather steel, leather and other materials for armor. I'll be buying Armorsmithing and Tailoring too. I'm gonna make these guys some Helghast armor.." Neo started to chuckle to herself, imagining it.

"Okay..? Anything else?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, make them all start extensive exercises. Nothing as extreme as Huntsmen training but something that'll make them sweat. We'll also be unlocking their aura so they don't die immediately. We'll be really busy over the next couple months.." Neo stood up and got started on her Mercenary training plan as Raven nodded and walked out with a faint smile.

-City of Vale, hideout-

Roman and Neopolitan were currently in the hideout, coordinating the White Fang when Emerald and Mercury came in with smug grins.

~Oh for god sakes.. what now?~ Roman pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Oh yaaay.. she sent the kids. Grab Daddy a beer, would you?" Roman puts his arms around them.

"Ew! Spare me the image of you, procreating" Emerald shrugged him off and felt a sharp sensation on her butt.

Behind her was Neopolitan, who chuckled as she walked by.

"What the hell was that for?" Emerald rubbed her butt and cast an accusatory glance at Neopolitan.

But all Neo did was send a clip of it to the group chat and watch Neo's reaction as Roman and the two started to argue.

[>Neo²: Fantastic job, OG. New rule. Whenever we encounter Emerald we all have to booty slap her and pickpocket her. For Mercury.. Ah, fuck it. I'll break his robot legs at the festival and watch him crawl with just his arms<]

[>Spartanwaifu: You seem to be getting more aggressive..<]

Though Pyrrha said that, the image of a dominant and fierce Neo gave her a pleasant smile and a blush.

~I think she may have awakened something in me since Cardin..~ Pyrrha thought back to how Neo looked back then and her smile deepened.

[>Prettykitty: I'm not interested. Yang's started to try and smack my butt when we leave the training room for some strange reason..<]

[>Neo²: What? That's my privilege!<]

[>Prettykitty: Well come back soon then<]

[>Neo²: Need to sort things out first. So how's Shizuka?<]

[>Prettykitty: Well I unlocked her aura. Seems to have enhanced her healing magic too. She has a ton of aura too. I set up a meeting with Ozpin and told my team she was my friend so it's fine. She's working as a nurse in Beacon at the moment<]

[>Neo²: Good. If Vale does suffer the attack, she'll be needed to help as a healer. Tempted to change her name to White Mage now<]

[>Icecreambae: None of us get that reference<]

[Neo²: I'll turn you all into cultured individuals soon enough<]

[>Icecreambae: Ok gotta go. Fire bitch is telling us something about 'phase 2' or whatever>]

[>Neo²: More Mt. Glenn crap then. Just tell her I know Ozpin is getting in contact with Qrow if she asks about me and what I'm doing>]

[Icecreambae: Sure! XOXO>]

"Oh damn I missed the food fight!" Neo suddenly remembers as she starts on producing the weapons and armor.

-Two months later-

And so time passed on. Things happened mostly according to how they usually did. Though Blake didn't get impatient about catching Roman Torchwick because she knew what was truly going on. And that Neo had a plan to thwart the fall of Vale. Blake and Pyrrha convinced both teams to let the Vale Police handle it, as they could get in serious trouble if they wantonly caused trouble trying to catch him.

Team JNPR was still missing their leader and Ozpin had been quiet about her possible whereabouts since he sent Qrow to search for Raven. Qrow narrowed it down to Mistral but heard strange rumors about a new force emerging in Mistral. He had focused on that and asked around every bar he visited. It turns out the new force was a growing Mercenary company in impressive, yet intimidating full body armor with night vision filtration masks. They had started to charge settlements outside the city walls for defense. They used interesting ballistic rifles and other guns that didn't rely on dust and were cheaper to manufacture.

Qrow even met a few of them in a few settlements. While they weren't as good as Huntsmen, they were decently trained and fit. Plus the addition of aura and their sheer growing numbers made him uneasy. Though he was particularly alarmed by the Raven emblem stitched onto their combat armor.

While Pyrrha was mopping the floor with the entirety of team CRDL and scoring some 'accidental' nutshots on Cardin, Qrow finally tracked down the supposed Bandit camp. Though now, it was a fortified Mercenary stronghold. It wasn't hard to tell they paid for the construction and materials with all the work they've been getting recently. Qrow looked at the large iron gate that was the only way to get inside on foot, as the thick walls were at least twenty feet high.

"Uh.. hello? I'm here to see Raven. Raven Branwen?" Qrow scratched his head and asked before the gate lowered and he saw twenty armored soldiers holding the strange guns look at him and beckon him inside.

"Raven what the hell did you do..." He muttered and walked in, taking a swig of whatever was in his flask.

"This way, sir!" An armored mercenary in an officer's cap gestured to him and lead him into the compound, where Qrow saw the former bandits bringing in food from hunting.

They had a mess hall, training room, rec room, arena and a bullhead launching platform. Qrow broke out in a cold sweat and thought to ask how a bunch of bandits turned into all this but he was lead into Raven's quarters before the Mercenary saluted the door and left.

"Raven..?" Qrow walked in and saw his sister at a table with the girl she kidnapped two months ago. Both were leisurely talking in a familiar manner he had only seen her talk that way to Summer.

"Oh, Brother. Welcome to the compound. I had a feeling you'd be here soon" Raven gestured to an empty seat.

"Sup?" Neo waved at him as he awkwardly sat down.

"I.. Where do I even begin? You turned over a new leaf? Why'd you take the kid? How did you do all this? WHY did you do all this?" He asked with a grunt at the end.

"I suppose I'll go in order. Yes, I turned over a new leaf. Neo and I turned the tribe into something respectable, formidable even. A few lacked discipline in the beginning but we quickly ironed that out. Why did I take Neo? She holds magic, Qrow. She's not a Maiden either. She told me she found some strange ability in some ruins out of Vale. The magic she can use can destroy souls. Do you know what that means?" Raven folded her leg over the other.

"Wait.. WHAT!? Is this true?" He looked at Neo hopefully and she nodded and displayed something Qrow would never forget.

It cost her almost all of her points she accumulated but she needed proof. She pulled out Rhongomyniad, the spear wielded by Artoria Pendragon. It lit up the room and put a pressure on Qrow and Raven they never felt before. The aura of magic filled the entire compound and invigorated everyone nearby. Neo, proving her point, put Rhongomyniad back in her inventory.

Qrow took an unsteady breath and looked incredibly hopeful as he looked at Neo. He turned to his sister again.

"How I did all this? Neo's help. I took her for her talent in magic and saw the implications of what her magic could do.. And I turned a new leaf. I turned the tribe into Mercenaries with her help and ideas" Raven nodded with a smile.

"We have to tell Oz about this.." Qrow said gravely, knowing his sister would fight him on this.

"I agree. I cannot kill Salem with just the Tribe and her. If we want to finally end this war, we must work together" Raven nodded sagely, much to Qrow's shock.

"I never thought you'd agree.." Qrow seemed genuinely happy now and Neo actually felt good for him.

~Qrow deserves a break for all the shit he's been through. Shitty childhood.. losing Summer.. being away from those you love because of your semblance..~ Neo sighed.

"I'm no fan of him but I will work with him. We have a way to win now. I won't let personal feelings get in the way of that. Come, let's go see the old man" Neo got up and stretched as Raven and Qrow stood up.

"Oh, right. I suppose you should know this, Qrow" Raven grabbed Neo's hips and locked lips with the small girl, even giving her round and bouncy butt a quick, flirty squeeze before facing Qrow, who dropped his flask, mid-drink.

"What the fuck.." Raven just smirked at his reaction.

"You're getting good at screwing with people" Neo laughed evilly at Qrow's expression.

"Raven what the hell? She's.. what? Seventeen?" Qrow grumbled with a disbelieving tone.

"Eighteen now. Her birthday was a week ago.. What a celebration it was.." Raven thought back to when she and Neo got drunk and tied up Shay to a tree. They both hit him with sticks, thinking he was a pinata.

"Good times.." Neo smiled with a look of odd serenity.

~They already fucked!? Oh god.. Tai... It took you months to even kiss her..~ Qrow facepalmed as he thought back to his days in Beacon.

"It was possibly the most fun I've ever had.." Raven says reminiscingly, thinking back to when Neo sung 'Cotton Eye Joe' after beating up some of the more unruly bandits into submission.

~Tai I'm praying for you..~ Qrow shed a manly tear and prayed for his best friend.