It was a cold and dreary morning within the territory of the Remnant Reclamation Government. For many people living within the heavily fortified city built from the ruins of the kingdom of Vale; the day was just beginning. To some, it would be a day of arduous labor. And to others, it would be a day of training. Regardless of it all... everyone was working for the greater good.
Soldiers patrolled the streets, occasionally stopping people to check their IDs, their health or perhaps even learn of situations that might be detrimental to the general populace. The Black League, while sounding sinister, was the best thing that ever happened for the people.
Led by the High Marshall, a formidable man wielding mighty power armor and a vast array of powerful weapons; this veteran of the War of Reckoning between the Four Kingdoms and the malevolent forces of Salem united the people of Vale and brought them under a single banner once more with the aid of several Hunters and Huntresses, many of whom soon became the first members of the Council of Unity.
However, known only to those within this fortress state, the Black League seeks to reclaim the fallen nations and systematically exterminate the vile monsters that had destroyed so many lives.
That was the High Marshall's vision. And his people would be damned if they didn't work to help him realize a world truly free from Grimm and the traitors whom aligned with Salem.
The people of this new state were prepared for anything; they were well fed, skilled and trained in at least some form of combat should the main lines fail. All of this for the greater good.
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"High Marshall," a voice called out suddenly, breaking the silence and bringing a sinister pair of eyes to focus upon the man who spoke.
"Speak swiftly Director," the High Marshall spoke, glaring at the man through the lenses of his power armor's helmet, "I do not have much time, I must attend the trial."
"I understand, sir, but I bring you news of our projects. Some of the news cannot afford to be set aside and ignored.."
The armored Marshall took a moment to contemplate his next decision, then he turned to face the Director.
"Go on. You have my attention."
The Director nodded, immediately getting to the point.
"Starting with the good news; your Black Legionnaires have been fully assembled, trained and equipped. They stand ready to obey every order that you give. Currently, they are awaiting deployment along with the Storm Guard. In short; your armies stand ready to deploy and strike at our foes should it be necessary."
The High Marshall nodded quietly before deciding to continue walking while gesturing to the Director to follow along and continue giving his report.
"And now for the unfortunate news," the Director sighed, growing worried as he began to speak once more, "the Vengeance Weapons Program has failed to complete the prototype on time due to sabotage from within."
The High Marshall suddenly stopped his walk, turning around to face the Director.
"Sabotage?!" the High Marshall roared, scaring the Director considerably, "are you not in charge of ensuring that our foes do not set us back?! Damnit Jaune! What am I paying you for?! Why am I keeping you around?!"
"I-I I'm sorry, (Y/N)," Jaune, the Director of the Vengeance Weapons Program stammered, "but you know Weiss; she keeps insisting that there are more peaceful means to deal with our enemies."
The High Marshall sighed, crossing his arms as he breathed in and out slowly.
"The things I fucking tolerate. Damnit! You know that diplomacy isn't possible anymore," (Y/N) sighed, calming down slightly, "all chances of hope perished when General Ironwood was assassinated, soon being replaced by that madman Jacques Schnee. Remember the chaos that ensued and how it brought about the collapse of the largest remaining proper state?"
"It's all too recent..." Jaune sighed, scratching his beard and adjusting his glasses, "...despite it being a few years ago."
The two old friends stood in silence, thinking back on times that were far simpler; back at Beacon academy, before the disaster known as the Collapse in today's world. Thirty long years have passed since then...
The Director sighed, then looked up to his friend, his brother and his leader; (Y/N) (L/N).
"I think we should head to the trial and get it over with," Jaune finally spoke up.
"An excellent idea," the armored ruler agreed, turning to go back on his walk to the Hall of Judgement.
To many, the walk from the Parliament that was built from the ruins of the former Beacon academy towards the Hall of Judgement was a short one. However, to both men, it was the longest walks possible as the only path between both buildings led them through the Garden of Heroes where several statues were erected in memory of the fallen; students, civilians and soldiers alike. Whether they be faunus or human, all were remembered fondly and treated with the utmost respect.
"Have you decided on a verdict?" Jaune spoke up, breaking the silence between the two old friends.
"As much as I hate the man," the High Marshall began, "I must show to the people that I am not someone to be feared. Remember Jaune, I created the Black League as an organization where people can unite under in this hellish world. There's a reason why I designed the flag to be the way it is. While we may be fortified and protected against surrounding us... there is a ray of hope out there... somewhere..."
(Y/N) sighed, then stopped before the doors of the Hall of Judgement. He raised a hand to open the door, however he hesitated then turned to face Jaune.
"I'll understand if you do not want to join me," the man began, speaking softly, "this man has hurt our friends as well as yourself far too many times in the past. If you think it'll bring up too many bad memories, go now and wait until the news of the verdict is put in the paper."
"I don't think it'll be necessary," Jaune chuckled solemnly, "I want closure."
(Y/N) nodded, respecting Jaune's choice before he opened the doors and entered the building. Once inside, the two men were greeted by a pair of two power armored guards that stood by another door at the end of a hall that led to the courtroom that was currently in use. Upon seeing their High Marshall; both guards came to attention and saluted which prompted a quick salute in return from (Y/N).
"At ease, friends," the High Marshall ordered, watching the guards change their stances, "has anything changed within the courtroom?"
"No sir," a guard sergeant replied, looking at the courtroom door then back to her leader, "Judge Belladonna has done well in keeping the peace between the jury and the accused. I'm surprised that nobody has shouted or attempted something at all today."
(Y/N) chuckled.
"I see. Well then, Sergeant Greene, I thank you for making sure that the courtroom remained safe. You and Corporal Turner may go to the barracks and switch out with the others."
Both of the guards nodded and thanked the Marshall before clanking away towards the barracks where other members of the Iron Guards lived.
Turning to Jaune, (Y/N) nodded, then opened the door to the courtroom which prompted Judge Blake Belladonna to stand up.
"All rise for High Marshall (L/N)," Blake ordered, watching as everyone within the courtroom rose up.
"You may be seated," the armored man stated as he walked up to the stands and stood by Blake before turning to the courtroom and the man that was on trial.
The room was eerily quiet, only the faint whirring of (Y/N)'s power armor. Then, the silence was broken when the High Marshall spoke once more.
"Mercury Black," (Y/N) began, "you are found guilty on several counts of murder, arson, armed insurrection, destruction of personal property as well as several businesses. You have committed treason and wrought unspeakable horrors upon the former Kingdom of Vale and its allies. Your group has also brought the downfall of the other kingdoms, thus adding to the chaos. Your organization has also inadvertently brought about the formation of several warlord states, including the always problematic Atlesian Holy State and the Vale Workers' Unity Pact."
As the Marshall went on, he noticed that Mercury, despite having all of his crimes brought to light, showed absolutely no remorse. Thus pushing (Y/N) to finally settle on a verdict.
"For your crimes against the Old World and the Remnant Reclamation Government, I sentence you to one hundred years of hard labor at the Forever Fall Waste Disposal Camp. Execution in the Black League is a mercy... Mister Black. A mercy that you do not deserve. I should also note that you are not permitted any safety gear upon arrival at your workplace. You have no more rights and no more privileges. And so, from this day forward; you are now Inmate FF-103."
The courtroom remained quiet, as the verdict was announced. None clapped nor moved to show their joy. (Y/N) watched silently as two regular guards came in and escorted Mercury to a temporary detainment cell before he was transported to the labor camp.
Sighing quietly, he watched as the assembled group of people began to trickle out of the courtroom, leaving himself along with Jaune and Blake. The three friends stood in silence, watching as the people left the building and returned to their daily lives.
"How's your family, Blake?" (Y/N) finally asked, breaking the silence as he turned to the person he assigned as a judge.
"They'll survive," she replied, sighing quietly,"unfortunately the lack of medical facilities is taking its toll on everybody, including my parents and my children."
"I've assigned teams to rebuild the old hospital. However, they've recently discovered that the foundations and the ground beneath it are above an unstable section of the subway network. So, we'll have to make do for now until we find a stable building to establish our hospital."
"I know that already. The news spread."
(Y/N) sighed and placed a gentle hand on Blake's shoulder.
"We'll get through this," he reassured, "soon, we'll have a proper society again. One where we don't have to worry about aerial bombardment from the bandits hiding beyond the Eastern Wastes. And where I'm not forced to take inhumane measures."
Blake smiled slightly, looking over to Jaune while sharing a knowing glance.
"How's your wife, (Y/N)?" the cat faunus asked, breaking the silence once again.
"She's doing quite well," he replied with a chuckle, "our boy's proving to be more than a handful, especially at school."
The three old friends shared a quiet laugh together, enjoying a moment of relative calm. However, the peace didn't last long since the air raid sirens started to scream out their songs of warning. Hearing this; Blake and Jaune immediately ran to one of the many entrances of the vast bunker network beneath the city. (Y/N) meanwhile sighed and exited the courthouse before sprinting to the command center.
"Like fucking clockwork," he growled to himself.
Soon enough, Vale's defenses became active and began to intercept several Bullheads. Meanwhile, (Y/N) and several of the Black League's ground units engaged their counterparts with ruthless efficiency. To the outsider, it would have appeared that the Black League was in trouble; faced with a numerically superior force that was backed by a small number of renegade Hunters and Huntresses.
However, what the Black League lacked in terms of numbers; it made it up in quality of arms, armor and training. Combined with the High Marshall's military prowess; Vale was transformed from its ruined state to a true fortress. Minefields, trenches, bunkers, walls and ramparts made up some of the defenses. Anti-air, artillery and mortar emplacements also contributed to the city's defenses.
Rudimentary radar arrays and other sensors permitted the Black League to be warned in advance, however due to their fragile nature, the radar arrays were regularly damaged. The best radars were held within the city, although their main purpose was to aid with targeting systems of the aerial defenses.
Suddenly, all went silent; Vale's defense systems and the defenders themselves ceased fire. This surprised the attackers who also ceased their attacks.
What was going on? Nobody knew. Vale had successfully fought off the aerial onslaught and all that was left was to repel the ground forces and yet, no shots came. Was the indomitable Black League surrendering?
That was the question left on the mind of Leo Knight; the leader of the Southern Free State's armed forces. He fought the Black League time and time again; trying to crack their defenses and to annihilate the tumor that Vale had become. The Black League was all that remained in Leo's way of reuniting the former kingdom.
The silence was deafening. Both sides seemingly staring each other down. The Southern forces grew increasingly uneasy. It wasn't like the Black League to suddenly go silent. What was it that they were doing? Their answer would quickly become apparent when the wind started to blow towards them, prompting the city to launch several canisters that fell amongst the Southerners.
Unease quickly turned to panic once the canisters spewed out a toxic gas that quickly began melting the flesh of the soldiers. Screams of pain accompanied desperate cries for help as men and women alike of both human and faunus origins fell one by one. However, the gas quickly began to dissipate; leaving many of the Southern army writhing and wheezing.
Leo and his remnants stood still, shaking out of disbelief and rage. The Black League dared unleash such a horror upon his soldiers, and for that; it shall pay! Unfortunately for him though, an artillery piece fired off an incendiary round that landed amongst the wounded, causing them to either explode from the impact or be engulfed by flames. By this point, the gas hadn't fully dissipated which meant that the surrounding area exploded violently, sending a now wounded Leo flying back towards his forces which had already begun retreating.
Meanwhile, (Y/N) and his stunned soldiers watched the carnage unfold before their eyes. Nobody cheered, despite the results of the battle being a victory. Nobody felt good about what they had witnessed; a massacre brought about the use of chemical and incendiary weapons. Although everybody held similar thoughts and reacted closely to the outcome of the battle, the High Marshall grinned beneath his helmet. To him, the battle was an overwhelming success; no casualties on his side while 80% of the enemy was outright erased with the chemical strike.
"Director Arc," he spoke quietly to himself, "thank you for such a wonderful birthday gift."
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And so, with the Black League standing victorious and the Southern Free State's armed forces nearly depleted; the balance in power between those vying to liberate and clear Remnant from Salem's influence gradually tipped in favor of the Remnant Reclamation Government. It seemed, that all which remained was unification through violence.
In the end, (Y/N) had inadvertently become the very monster that he vowed to destroy...
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Part 2 is coming soon.
Let me know what you think of this and if you want to see this as a proper spin-off where I go further in depth and explore this warped version of Remnant.