Add A Little Lightning

The sound of a jet engine resounded within the inside of an airship where two women were staring intently at each other. On one side was an older looking teen who was actually in her early 20's and on the other side was a pink-haired girl in her midteens.

The tension between the two girls was growing thicker by each passing second.

Lightning who was wearing a casual smirk couldn't help but draw parallels between the kids back at Signal and these 'trained soldiers'. Even their attempts at which is essentially bullying were laughable after comparing it to her previous treatment.

Instead of having any negative feelings, this situation was almost amusing.

One of the soldiers which happened to be the lowest level among the group was the first to speak, evidently growing sick of the tension and how this 'child' was looking down on their commander.

The soldier looked to be in his 30's and had brown hair. His face was the epitome of averageness with no distinguishable qualities.

He spoke not to Lightning directly but to the soldiers surrounding him but loud enough so Lightning would hear him.

Aaron: Can't believe Ironwood is making us Babysit a brat who looks fresh out of diapers. How can he expect us to capture Roman while being held down by dead weight?

The surrounding soldiers burst into laughter but were silenced shortly after when Lightning slightly giggled to herself.

The soldiers stopped laughing and glared murderously at Lightning. One of the men went into a fit of rage and began to shout in an attempt to intimidate the young girl opposite him.

Aaron: FIND SOMETHING FUNNY?!

Lightning: (Nods) Quite funny actually. You guys are already making excuses on why you'll fail even before the manhunt starts. How outstandingly pathetic, I'm in awe.

Aaron: WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

Lightning: I mean c'mon what am I meant to expect if it wasn't for you guys being completely incompetent Roman would be behind bars after all. And now I have to clean up after you lot like you're some undomesticated dogs.

All soldiers present par Winter stood up enraged but before any could spout any more verbal abuse or take physical action Lightning bore down enough physic energy to render all soldiers immobile.

Each standing soldier started to quake at the knees before slamming into the ground while holding out their hands in an act of desperation to prevent their face from colliding with the hard floor

Lightning disregarding the turbulence began strolling towards the men who were on all fours using their last ounce of strength to look up.

The young girl innocently smiled at the soldiers who were now on all fours grovelling. She softly muttered while walking passed them

Lightning: How fitting.

After walking passed them Lightning made her way towards Winter. In a calm unnerving tone which completely contradicted her previous playful one stated.

Lightning: I'm not here to play games… I honestly don't care in the slightest what you all think of me but I will quickly complete this mission so I can return to my team and as far as I'm concerned you guys are the "dead weight" here.

As soon as the last syllable left Lightning's tongue, she withdrew her energy and returned to the seat she was previously at. Reaching into her bag she wore on her waist and pulled her scroll and headphones out.

While the girl immersed herself into music, she was completely unaware of the fearful looks she was receiving. These solders which had served on the frontlines against hordes of Grimm hadn't felt the same level of helplessness as they had today.

Being unable to muster the strength to even defend yourself and subsequently be at the mercy of someone else is a traumatising experience even for 'veteran soldiers'.

The remainder of the journey was done in complete silence from all present. The only thing which could be heard was the engine of the airship and the faint sound of music coming from Lightning's headphones.

Winter no longer looked at Lightning in contempt. She had originally thought that this mission would turn out to be a fool's errand. She knew the men under her for this mission weren't very capable and expected this mission was given to her as some sort of punishment for simply being a "Schnee".

The Schnee family is far too prominent and influential in Atlas to openly reprimand. So, the obvious choice was to put Winter into a position where she would fail giving the higher-ups a reason to punish a "Schnee" for the escape of Roman.

Originally, she had considered Lightning was just another obstacle put on her path to ensure the downfall of this mission but, now her impression of Lightning went from being a young naïve child who didn't know what the real world was like. To a dangerous huntress-in-training.

After landing Winter called Lightning into her office. Wasting no time to get Lightning to be up to speed. Winter wasn't foolish enough to ignore someone with such talent because of a petty dispute.

Winter: What do you know of the current situation?

Lightning: briefly put. Atlas let Roman escape and we need to recapture him.

Winter: Indeed... Our latest Intel informed us he is still somewhere within this kingdom but he's gone back into hiding since. So we have no way of tracking him, our only option on hand is to react to any and all dust robberies in Vale and hope we find a lead on Roman.

Lightning: You should know more than anyone how appetising dust is for criminals not just Roman's group. This seems quite unproductive.

Winter: Agreed but what more can we do? We simply don't have the manpower to search the whole city.

Lightning: I have a suggestion

Winter nods indicating for Lightning to continue

Lightning: Instead of focusing on every single dust store which is a near-impossible task with a team of 14 people why not keep track of all railways and shipyards. Obviously, there's a chance they are using trucks or airsh.i.p.s but that's highly unlikely.

Winter: Unlikely?

Lightning: If the news is to be believed then they have stolen enough to need 20-30 trucks so that's why I doubt they're using them and the same applies for Airsh.i.p.s too. Plus, I doubt a criminal mastermind would use something as flashy as an airship which can be easily tracked within the Kingdom.

Winter: Hmmmm, that's a lot of speculation but either way we are working on assumptions or blind hope. The biggest gap in your logic is that they are transporting the stolen goods all at once. (sighs) we're going to go with your gut feeling either plan of action has its problems... We'll target their smuggling routes instead of trying to catch him in the act.

Lightning: 'Wait she's actually listening to my ideas, I thought I would have to do this all by myself. I suppose this is also advantageous for me. It's not often you get to work with someone of her calibre. In fighting ability...(Gives Winter a once over with her eyes) and looks.'

{Your real intentions slightly leaked out at the end their partner}