Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25389303-20161009134004/@comment-25389303-20161106192726

As Blanc had predicted, the rest of the flight passed without incident. It wasn't long before the water beneath them turned to sandy beaches, then grassy countryside, and eventually the city of Vale itself. Fully aware of the official restrictions regarding air travel, Blanc avoided the main airport, and instead piloted the ship to a smaller airstrip near the suburbs which she had used to find the ship that had taken her to Mistral. While nobody was technically supposed to be flying airships not meant for evacuation, nobody would bat an eyelid at the sight of two more Hunters and their robotic companion secretly entering the country to help out.

From what she could gather from the news, Vale was reasonably secure for the time being. Beacon Academy had been quarantined, and efforts were being made to reclaim ground lost to the Grimm. But even so, there was no mistaking how the colour seemed to have drained from the once-vibrant city, as fear began to take hold.

Landing the ship safely, Blanc shut all of the systems down and left the cockpit. After booting Tragoedia up again, she then walked into the carbo bay, where she found Nobel lying asleep in the corner of the room.

"Hey, wake up. We're here," she said gently, shaking him lightly. Without waiting for him to rise, she turned and threw open the bay door, basking them in morning sunlight. Blanc jumped down onto the dirt with a yawn, stretching her arms and legs wearily - glad to be back on solid ground again. As she suspected, the airstrip was full of small aircraft of varying sizes and designs, and surrounding them, their passengers. Most of them appeared to be Huntsmen and Huntresses, but here and there there also seemed to be groups of who Blanc could only believe to be hired guns drawn to Vale in the hopes of finding easy work.

While scouting out the numerous mercenary groups, Blanc came across a particularly large transport ship being unloaded by several large, scary-looking men clad in heavy flak armour and camoflage gear. Even among these intimidating-looking individuals, however, there was one who towered above them all - a giant of a man wearing a skull-like iron mask who Blanc recognised instantly.

"HECTOR!!!" Blanc exclaimed in delight, running forward and embracing the man with a hug so strong that even a giant like him stumbled slightly as he turned to face her. Caught by surprise, the man almost threw the girl to the floor in reflex, but caught himself when he realised who it was.

"Miss Claymoore. This is a surprise," replied the gruff mercenary in a flat tone sweetened with a tinge of cheeriness, as he pulled her off of him while his companions looked on in bemusement.

"What are you doing here?! I thought you were going home to Atlas!" Blanc interrogated in delight, barely able to stay still after being reunited with her old combat instructor. Hector wasn't quite as overcome with joy as Blanc was, but was happy to see her again.

"I was. But then Beacon fell, and people needed me here. I'm just here to make sure a supply shipment arrived safely." He looked over to the ship which Blanc had arrived in, and saw Tragoedia and Nobel beginning to emerge. "Friends of yours? Or rather, Diaboli's friends?" he asked slowly.