Chapter Ninteen: The Chessboard

Ilia and Blake kept a tight grip on the handle bars of the strange craft. Two mini-copters flew through the air, keeping rather low to the ground as to avoid being spotted.

One was a dragging a small crate holding the shock equipment for the mission. This was driven by one of the ninjas back at base who had Ilia in the passenger seat, while the other craft only had Blake and the second ninja in both the seats.

"We're coming up on the drop zone in about thirty minutes, you will move north and enter the gulch; once there move towards a cave entrance located on the western cliff face. Added in to the gear are a few canisters of Grimm bait." The ninja riding with Blake said on the group coms, the headset rather awkwardly resting behind Blake's Faunus ears.

"Grimm bait?" Ilia said, never having heard of such a thing.

"A dust crystal is emptied of its elemental affinity, then aura is infused into the blank crystal, ground up and dissolved into water. The water is then flash boiled into steam, thus creating an illusion of an utterly massive aura collection. You will throw one of the two baits into the cave, waking up the beasty, and then the second will be detonated at wherever you want to fight the damned thing." The ninja riding with Ilia explained.

When one unlocked Aura they effectively light up like a bonfire in a dark night full of fire flies to Grimm.

Thus it was considered important by governments to keep the aura of the population on strict regulation, as most people's Aura was rather weak, thus not an advantage militarily, but just an added amount of Grimm bait; only certain semblances could mask this fact, like one Li Ren and Max's semblance.

To smarter and elder Grimm, northern Menagerie wasn't just a land with large bonfires running around, but an entire region of the world burning. Grimm had built in survival instincts and they screamed to get the fuck away from the entire army of Hunter level enemies.

An army of hunters would normally be impossible as for every one-hundred auras unlocked only a few of them had an acceptable amount to become a Hunter.

Most hunters were encouraged to have large families, as aura sometimes followed strong bloodlines. It was rather hit or miss however.

Not to mention physical aptitude, mentality, and the fact that Hunters are a 'Lawful Good' job class as the trio calls it; and that's rather boring. It's like playing human in D&D; Boriiiiing. There isn't even the chance to call someone a heretic for some assinine reason.

While aura could grow it was a very slow process, the trio cheated in that regard.

DeeJay had the most aura out of the three of them, Carrow was next, then finally Max. If DeeJay's aura would be measured, his would likely be three to four times that of the average Hunter.

This was because of the number of deaths DeeJay has undergone; as with hardship the soul grows. This growth wasn't possible again as all three of them have hit the 'soft limit' as it were.

Each death grew their aura, but it was a very little amount when compared to the mental effects of death.

The 'Player's' didn't need to worry about being born with low aura as they were born from Max's, DeeJay's, and Carrow's aura.

Along with the fact that all of the androids were 'born' with basic combat protocols and encyclopedic knowledge of Grimm and their weakness's, made most Grimm easy prey for the naturally strong and deadly race of combat bots.

Honestly the androids when given the trio's power became a master race.

The two spies nodded in affirmation, before Blake asked a question, "Wouldn't the bait attract any other Grimm into the area?"

"Yes and no. The Blood Gulch has been under heavy bombardment and contention from 'The Lords of Hades' and our 'Shadow Clan'. The only Grimm left are those in the caves." Blake's ninja driver responded.

Blake nodded, but another thought hit her. "If these detonate in a populated location, what would happen?" Her voice going shaky.

"A Grimm wave, what else? Lord Carrow invented these things both for the express purpose of luring Grimm for capture and throwing them inside enemy bases and bolting. Lord DeeJay is ironically the largest producer of the things now." The ninja said lackadaisically.

Both Ilia and Blake froze at the casual admittance toward using the Grimm in warfare, such things were banned several years before the Great War was even a thought in peoples minds; considered a rather harsh war crime that only cruel bandits consider.

"You do know what the Vital Pact is right?" Ilia asked with some trepidation.

"Not really, something about you organics 'uniting' or something. Knowledge of the outside world is readily available if you trade with Cobalt for it, not even considered expensive, but most ask about weapons, how you wage wars, how organics think and the like." The ninja riding with Blake answered.

"This entire 'faction war' and the like isn't even a real war. It's a war game. Our creators are practicing for when the outside world finds out about us and wants to put us in chains, or out right genocide. If humans can discriminate against the Faunus for minimal survival advantages and cosmetic alterations, what will they think about us, who are in almost every practical way better than them?" The one riding with Blake said.

The girl's jaws dropped. Both of them were wondering WHY this was going on. What is Cobalt, what are these factions fighting for, why the boundary. It was all adding up.

Cobalt was acting as the observing third party admin. It was all just a big game designed to prepare a race to fight against the inevitable backlash that their mere existence possess.

They felt a deep unsettling drop in their stomachs, the weight of not just the mission, something that was looking more and more insignificant, but the turning of an era. An era that was looking more and more bloody as they thought about it.

"Ironically its the fact that you two are Faunus that's keeping you alive, along with the fact that Blake here is the daughter of one Ghira Belladonna. If you two were human; instant capture and interrogation. If you two were Atlesian or Minstrali? A chinook wouldn't have been deployed, but rather a bomber and a Cobalt Taskforce." The one riding with Ilia chipped in.

"You two are currently being used in the faction war to ally the Shadow Clan and the Lords of Hades together, but that's just one frame of the comic book. In the bigger picture, Cobalt wants to use your connection to Ghira to enter talks of an alliance, or at least coexistence with one another; oppressed race to future oppressed race, eh." Blake's driver finished in the same lax manner.

"Enough talk, we are entering the drop point, get your game faces on kiddies."

Alt Title: The Page Turns.