Remnant - XXI

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Requested By : Gib

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I have realized recently this has basically become 'A Realist Hero Rebuilt a Kingdom' but industrial age, and Shockwave got Isekai'd.

This is now the story.

*shrugs*

For now at least~

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With Menagerie's second city of solutions came many new problems, as if the Gods themselves were determined not to let them have anything without strings attached. The water plant could produce water for three times Harmonex's size, so there was plenty for Menagerie too. But without a direct connection, they had to barrel the water and transport it by hand and boat. Eleven of Menagerie's ships had been appropriated for the work. They were large barges, designed for low, easy travel in the shallows, which meant they were poor fishing ships that wasted most of their space, so they weren't missed.

But they also weren't the only example.

The water treatment plant itself took thirty Faunus from Menagerie, all the hands he could find that had worked sewage in the Kingdom. It wasn't an exact match, but with the scrap books Shockwave had forged for them, they were taking to it well enough. Street maintenance workers also had to be brought over, along with men and women to handle trash disposal, reclamation and distribution of what could be used. Farmers and fishers moved over, happy for the nicer houses, fertile fields and fresh fishing waters. Shop-keepers packed up to head over as well, along with a teacher who set up tents on the beach for her classes.

Harmonex was booming with fresh settlers and all kinds of business, including a series of logging mills scattered along the coast to either side.

It was a sight to see.

But…

"At this rate, Menagerie itself will hemorrhage and die." Ghira explained quietly, sitting in the sand and enjoying the water washing up his calves before it drew away again. "And I know what you'll say. 'Just move'."

"That is what I was going to say, yes." Shockwave rumbled, kneeling in the shallows of the water and gently, carefully extracting samples of coral from the shallow reef-growths.

He inspected each in turn, then either returned it to the ocean or placed it in a wooden box the size of one of his fingers floating beside him. What he was even doing, Ghira had no idea. All he would say was 'cataloging' and 'testing' when Ghira asked. So he left him to it and settled in to talk.

"Logically, it makes sense to just move. But…"

"But?"

"Menagerie is my home, now." Ghira explained, "Others' too. There are plenty of folk that don't want to uproot again, after everything."

"I see…" Shockwave rumbled and extracted a large slab of stone, encrusted by a creeping blue vine that wormed out like a web from a deflated, ball-like creature. Small tendrils all along its vines and body wormed in the air, searching for water or whatever else, and Shockwave asked, "What is this?"

"Spider-Kelp." Ghira grunted, "Rare. Poisonous, too."

"Posoinous?"

"Mhm."

"In what way?"

"It wraps 'round your legs." Ghira explained, grimacing but forcing himself on anyway, "It has spines inside those little tentacles all over its larger webs. It latches on, digs them in. The poison rots your flesh away. And if you rip it off…"

"It tears apart your flesh regardless." Shockwave filled in, "An ingenious defensive tactic."

"I'm pretty sure it catches fish that way, too…"

"Even better." Shockwave rumbled, "A shield that is also a sword. The ingenuity…"

"I wouldn't call it that." He crossed his arms when Shockwave turned to him, his head spikes flicking and red eye narrowing in what Ghira had come to guess meant he was curious, "I had a friend that fell off a boat, once. It latched around his shoulder. His neck. We tried to burn it off, but… It rotted his neck through."

"I see." Shockwave gave it a look and then, gently, sat it in his box and rumbled. "You have my sympathies, Ghira."

"Yeah…" He sighed, "I appreciate it."

"Everything that you have said is true." Shockwave rumbled, "Menagerie will need to be revitalized, well and truly. The factory will do much, but nowhere near enough."

"You say that like you have a plan." Which didn't surprise him. By now, Ghira knew to just assume Shockwave had some kind of solution to whatever problem reared its ugly head.

Even so, it was a relief when his metal friend nodded.

"I do, yes."

"And it is…?"

"A revitalization effort." Shockwave answered cryptically, rumbling his passing semblance of a laugh when Ghira sighed and rolled his eyes. Quietly, and obviously amused, he explained, "Starting with a proper connection between the cities."

"You mean a road?"

"And more." Shockwave confirmed, "You did say that traversal between the two was a challenge. I will draft plans and survey for a highway. I will require your laborers to clear it, however. My Insecticons have other duties."

"Such as?"

"Protecting my conrustion units." Shockwave answered, going still, "I do not know why, but the Grimm have begun attacking them. Targeting them. It is strange."

"It is, yeah…" The Grimm had only ever cared about people. Ghira had even seen them react to Shockwave and his Insecticons, once or twice. But simple drones? A Grimm might run into them on accident, or bump into one and rip it apart, as though expecting an attack, but they ignored them.

They were as good as buildings, as far as the Grimm had ever cared.

If the Grimm were changing…

"I don't like any of this, Shockwave." Ghira finally said, "I have a bad feeling…"

"As do I." Shockwave nodded, "For now, however, all we can do is stay the course. Progress will be slower, but that is a factor which can be worked around."

"Yeah." Ghira agreed, "It can."

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His first Insecticons had been purpose-built brawlers, capable of flight, but only to the ends of reaching the combat. The were blunt designs, brutish, but effective at exactly what he required them to be and to do. Manual labor, and brawling. They were exceptionally adequate in their roles, accomplishing their tasks with minimal damage and loss of units. And the horned beetle was an old staple of his designs, favored for nature's simplicity and strength.

But now, he needed something altogether different.

He began first by slimming the design's form, and thus weight, down. Gone were the broad, square shoulders of the beetle and its solid, stocky waist. Instead, he slimmed them down, into a smoother, waspish frame with narrow shoulders, hips, and long, thin legs with wide, clawed feet to grant it more purchase when it needed to land somewhere. Unlike the first variant, this one's wings were bare to the air, hanging off either of its shoulders like a membrane cape. Thin armor was layered all along its body, like chitinous plate-mail, with round joints that would allow the arm to bend at unnatural angles.

He left the head largely unchanged, styled after the ancient kabuto helmet, as it was already an efficient design.

Lastly came the large rear of the machine which, when transformed, would function as it's 'stinger end'. In its 'Bot mode, it hung just below and between the wings, useless for now. But, when transformed, it would take its place and serve as its most dangerous weapon. A long, cyber-titanium spike capable of injecting a cocktail of corrosive toxins into any Grimm it came across. And, should it puncture an Atlesian ship instead, it could simply spray the venom inside, where breathing its noxious fumes would do the deed.

The venom itself was the part he took the greatest pride in. He had refined it from a dozen various plants, mushrooms and animal secretions he had collected across Menagerie. In tests, it was able to liquify plants it came into direct contact with and, if heated to the point of vaporizing, it would wilt them.

Finally, he attached the power conduit to the thin chest of the creature and poured energon into its Spark.

The Insecticon spasmed and snarled as electricity was forced through any of a dozen systems that had until then never experienced life. Then it went still, for a moment, before its lights flickered.

The machine rose and turned her small eyes on him, and he greeted her, "Hello. Your designation will be Flit."

"Flit…"

"Rise." He commanded, and she did, staggering up on her long legs for the moment it took for her to gain her sense of balance. She was slight, but only just a bit shorter than he was, though he knew she weighed half as much due to the extensive cyber-aluminium skeleton chassis he had built into her, to reduce weight and allow faster flight and movement. "Your gyro-systems are functioning. Excellent. Test your wings."

"Master." She nodded and did as he bid her. Her wings thrummed to life, filling the air with a dull hum as they lifted her up off the floor. When he nodded, she lowered herself and her wings stilled.

"Excellent." He nodded, clasping his hands behind his back. "Next, I want you to-"

"Master!" He turned as Chop Shop, the first of his beetles and a nearly constant companion now, as their de facto leader, came into his cave-laboratory. "Call for you! From home."

"Home…" For a foolish second, he thought of Cybertron. But that was easily dispelled, they had no reason or capability he knew of to simply call him on his closed network. More likely, "Menagerie."

"Yes."

Shockwave brushed past him and out, into the open air. A simple communications console had been built just outside his cave, attached to a slim tower that spired up into the sky, secured by long wires that webbed out to the surrounding machines and mountains. Dishes collected the signals and brought them down, translating them as they went, to project on a simplistic screen he had built at head height. A simple green button sat to one side, to accept signals, and a red sat to the other side, to refuse them, or cut them off if he so chose.

Ghira's face appeared on the screen and he sighed in an exasperated sort of relief, "Shockwave, good. Finally."

"What is the matter?" He demanded quietly, if not impolitely. "I asked not to be disturbed while I worked."

"I know, I'm sorry, but- Menagerie." Ghira explained shortly, "We've spotted ships on the horizon. Hundreds of them.

"Atlas?" He demanded, already signaling Chop Shop to gather the Insecticons serving as his personal guard and prepare them to leave. "Are they invading?"

"N-No." Ghira grimaced, "We, uh, ordered one of your Insecticons to… Go see what they were, and come back. I'm sorry if that overstepped, but-"

"It did not, they are yours to command. Even into danger." He clarified simply and shortly. As much as he appreciated the man's consideration, right now there were more important matters to tend to. "And?"

"They're civilian ships." He explained, "Uh, Mauler, he brought back one of their captains. She explained that they were ordered to carry the Faunus here. Or they'd be arrested."

"Arrested…"

"Shockwave," Ghira said, "Atlas deported every single Faunus in Vale in one week. There are thousands coming- We only saw the fastest in their fleet. They'll be here in a few days. A-And if Vale was coerced into allowing this, thousands more will be coming from Mistral, too. A-And Vacuo eventually, even."

"I see…" Shockwave rumbled and turned, "Chop Shop, go to Menagerie. Take my guard. Fall under Ghira's command. Clear land for template construction. Gather all units, even from relay construction inland."

"Yes, Master."

"Shockwave, we can't-"

"Menagerie is a home for your people. All who need it. I will make it so." Shockwave cut him off gently, "Designate terrain. Construction on Harmonex-template homes and roads must begin immediately. And dispatch your fishermen, all of them. We will need the docks cleared and fish incoming to feed so many."

"I understand." Ghira nodded, jaw set grimly, "I'll get Kali on the construction projects, she'll manage it. Then I'll send the fishers out and join the hunt for meat along the coasts."

"Sienna should be-"

"I already contacted her." Ghira assured him, "She'll be back as soon as she can, with clothes and whatever food she can gather. For now, we have a lot of work to do."

"Indeed." He rumbled, "We do."

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Ozpin watched the news in his office with a mug in his hand, its forgotten coffee cold. He watched the coverage of hundreds of ships being ordered out, loaded down with every Faunus Atlas could ferret out, rights be damned. He listened to coverage on the Verdant Elixir which had been claimed by Grimm at sea, and taken with it four hundred and ninety one Faunus exiles and sixty Human crew-members. He listened to the story covering the riots, with footage of uniformed Atlesians beating Human protestors to drag Faunus out from behind them.

"Atlas will prevail." He heard Ironwood say from the screen, "Atlas will end this war as quickly and efficiently as possible. To all Faunus remaining in the Kingdoms, present yourselves and you will be allowed some personal baggage and a comfortable trip to Menagerie. To all who hide, however, you will be arrested, your belongings confiscated, and you will be deported with no regard to your comfort."

"Atlas will prevail." Ironwood repeated, bringing a fist up and nodding grimly, "Law and order will stand. You may all believe in that."

Ozpin cut the feed off and sighed at that. Then it buzzed and he flicked his Scroll open, "Yes?"

"Ozpin." The head of the school sounded exhausted, "Ozpin, Atlas-"

"I know." He said, "I saw."

"I need you in the field." The headmaster said quietly, "I'm pulling all teachers that can fight out and canceling lessons."

"The Grimm…" Ozpin sighed and stood, "Send me instructions, I'll be on my way in minutes."

"I… Thank you, Ozpin." The line died, and Ozpin scowled.

Turning, he bellowed and hurled his mug at the wall, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. He heard a quiet knock at the door and turned to snap, "Who is it?"

Goodwitch opened the door, looking in warily, and said, "Sir, we… Heard teachers were going into the field."

"Yes." He sighed, "We are. I'm afraid our private lessons will-"

"We want to help." She cut him off and stepped in, with his other favored student at her side.

"If people need us," Summer Rose said, "we have to help."

He wanted to refuse, to tell them to stay in Vale where it was safe. But those wide, pleading silver eyes broke him down before he could try. Solemn, he nodded, "Very well. If your parents permit it, you may accompany me. But you will follow my instructions to the letter."

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes, Mister Ozpin."

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Ashe filed off of the boat with all the other Faunus from Vale. Some of them had been working when Atlas' thugs had come for them, and filed out in torn, filthy uniforms of a dozen types. Cooks, trash-men, a few business suits and dresses, and every stripe of restaurant she'd seen while she was there. Most, though, were like her. Snatched in the middle of the night, when they'd been asleep. Some had been piled into the boat naked, or half there, and had blankets shoved at them to cover up. But anyone covered enough, like her, had been left in the frigid trucks and cells and told to wait it out for almost a week.

Everyone had tried.

Not everyone had managed it…

Coming out of the pitch black of the ship's hold into the bright, tropical sun blinded her painfully. She flinched for surprise and stumbled down the uneven, bouncing gangplank. Her foot caught at the wet edge of the board and slipped off the edge. Her hands were still cuffed and secured to a metal belt wrapped around her stomach, so she couldn't catch herself.

And she wouldn't be able to swim, either…

"Aaah-" She hit the water and sank, salt stinging her eyes, and kicked desperately to swim. Her vision was blurry, though, and she couldn't paddle.

Something massive wrapped around her and she screamed into the water, a warbling, bubbly sound that echoed around her.

Then, it pulled her up and out of the water, into something's shade.

A massive machine stared down at her, soaking wet and laying in what she realized now was its hand. Its head was curved and smooth all the way around, but ridged in layered plates of armor, and its faced was covered by a protective slab of metal. Its red eyes narrowed as it lifted her up, and her heart raced.

She was sure it was going to eat her…

"Careful!" It hissed loudly enough it made her ears hurt, "Wood wet! You fall! Hands bound, no swim! Fleshy one drown! Master be angry!"

"M-Master…?"

"Me not Master!" It snapped, sounding almost… Afraid of its own misunderstanding. It turned and looked over its shoulder, wary, before it turned and gently dropped her onto the wooden walkway that was already being crowded by the Faunus coming off the boats lined to either side all along it.

"Here, I got you." A man grunted, gently helping her up. He was tall and broad, shaped more like a barrel than a man, with a worn hoodie and jeans. The blue-haired man grimaced when he looked her up and down and peeled his hoodie off, raising his voice as he did, "Cruncher! Could you get her cuffs?"

"What in the Gods is a Cruncher-" She felt the shadow fall back over her and turned, neary backing into the stranger as the machine loomed down over her.

Gently, surprisingly so for something so big, it slid the long point of a claw between the police strap and her stomach and cut through it cleanly. Then it did the same with the chain between her cuffs and, as the metal thudded to the boardwalk, it turned to the next Faunus it saw strapped up the way she had been and began to do the same. So transfixed on it she was, she nearly squawked when something was dragged over her head. Struggling, she stumbled away until her hands found the sleeves and she realized what it was.

Poking her head meekly out of the head-hole that was easily three sizes too large for her, she mumbled a, "Thanks…"

"Don't mention it." The now-bare chested man grunted, waving her along. "That'll cover ya until you get your robes. Head on now, everyone! Nice an' calm, just follow the guides pointin' and ignore the Insecticons! They're your friends!"

Insecticons…

That meant plural.

Turning, she looked along the beach where a dozen of the towering machines were working. Some were meandering back and forth from ships in the shallows, carrying cages full of Faunus that they dropped on the beach and pried open. Others were doing like 'Cruncher' had, freeing faunus of their binds. And still others were menacing the ships, snarling instructions at the crew on the decks that she couldn't hear over all the noise and the distance. Someone said something that clearly upset one and they were plucked from the ship and dropped into the ocean after a moment of indecisive snarling.

And past it all was…

Well, Menagerie, obviously. That's where they had to have been taken. But it looked so different from the pictures she'd seen of it… Those had been a barely explored, much less settled, jungle ringed by a low mountain range that offered no protection. The 'settlement' had barely been more than a management building at the center and the docks the picture had been taken from.

But this…

Most of the jungle had been cleared, now, and the land had been leveled out enough to build on. Already she could see streets winding through the city, more than twice as wide as the stride of the machines around her. A few builds had been built along them, packed together and several stories tall. Like pictures of Mantle. And a large building far to the side, in the shade of the great wall that enclosed Menagerie protectively and a tower built below it, was a large wood and stone factory, lined by chimneys that pump white smoke into the air over the walls, where the wind carried it away.

"What in the Gods' names…"

"Yeah, it's different." The large man grunted from beside her, nudging her along finally. "Go on, get. And welcome home!"

For the first time in days, Ashe wasn't so scared…

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