“Aight ladies, time to roll. Gear check in ten, pack everything you need for some high import VIP escorts”, Scythe ordered over her comms, a thing they rarely ever used. On Amnellium the reason was simple, there was no such thing as a secure network, although sometimes they had to rely on it if they were too far apart for their preferred method of communication. On Earth the reason was even simpler, it had become a habit to use their presence, or aura, or whatever to communicate.

“Shit boss, what’s going on?”, Grunt asked, although from the sounds in the background he was already on his way to the armoury.

“Sis just gave me a mission. Some fucks might think to make a move on Scarlet and associates. To be fair it’s kinda long shot thing, but neither of us care to take it up to chance and it’s better than sitting on our asses all day scratching our balls. Mission is simple, we shadow Scarlet and co a bit, make sure no fuckwits have some funny ideas, and if shit hits the fan we make sure to get them out unharmed. To that end, I’m allowing Omega Parameters for this one. Just make sure you all come back home, if I need to hold a funeral for y’all I have Vuth teach me magic just so that I can revive you and kill you myself after.”

Omega Parameters were unusual for any of their missions. Their squad liked exploding things, but even they understood that if you nuke an entire mega city just to kill one small group of idiots there was a lot of collateral damage. They didn’t care much for people, but they also wouldn’t go out of their way slaughtering innocents for no reason. So usually they stuck to more reasonable approaches that would only take quarter of a city.

Omega Parameters were different. It had been an idea of Bullseye, as so many things had been, and its purpose was pretty simple. Should the mission be in critical danger of failing they would go all out and pull out all the stops, which included widespread bombardment, teleporting in whatever heavy machinery Cluster had in her weird dimension box that nobody knew exactly how it worked, full dragon mode, and a controlled overload of their own dragonic reactor systems if necessary.

That last one wouldn’t kill them outright, but it was a last resort as it would do substantial damage to the person in question as well as everything in their vicinity. It was basically a guaranteed combat finisher, either you won and would spend a few months recovering, or you didn’t and would probably be killed off after.

So far only Grunt and Cluster ever had to use the strategy once each, and both had been very clutch.

“Damn, boss, this is important”, Cluster said with a smirk, although she knew how Scythe felt about family, “Orders received. Can I pack my doomstick?”

“Yes, Cluster, you can pack your doomstick. Just make sure to only use it when really necessary”, Scythe said with a defeated smile. Not that she was actually mad about her girlfriend bringing it, but at the same time she really didn’t think it would be necessary.

Then again, she also didn’t think the rest of the orders were, or their presence in the first place, but when it came to her family Scythe was ready to throw any and all forms of common sense out the window. If Earth wanted to fuck with her then it would have to learn the hard way that she had a Zero Fucks Given Policy with anyone who attempt it.

A lesson Amnellium had already learned, and they had been orders of magnitude more threatening.

“You sure that’s needed, boss?”, Bullseye asked, even if the clicks and clacks clued everyone in that he was disassembling and reassembling his sniper rifle.

“No, not really”, Scythe said with a sigh, “But I can’t help but get a bad feeling. Something got Sis all jumpy, I overheard some issues going on although not the details. I just wanna make sure, okay?”

“Roger that, boss. We’ll make sure everything is handled”, Silk said with a confidence that they all shared.

“Thanks guys. Just make sure you all get home. Don’t forget our top priority!”, Scythe barked the order to remind them of the one thing that outranked any and all mission priority.

No matter what was at stake, the squads safety was the absolute highest priority in their doctrine, as strange as it was.

Once the role calls finished and everyone finished their gear check they got ready to move out. In typical high tech fashion their way to move out involved a stealth capable hover tank. They could have teleported, but they wanted to remain unnoticed. To that end Scythe had ordered combat auras, which was a new thing. None of them were even remotely close to Vuthe’s handle on auras, but they got quite a bit better and could hide from most normal folk without issue. That sadly meant that they couldn’t use them to communicate, but honestly, they didn’t have to worry about anyone breaking their comm decryptions even if they would give them all the keys plus a week to work. It was literally from another world.

At the same time they kept their paranoia up, just because they were sure they wouldn’t need to worry, didn’t mean they wouldn’t put up some safety measures in place regardless.

Anyone or anything trying to get into those would get a very nasty surprise, even if that surprise would nuke the entire network in the process.

Amnellium didn’t do fantasy races or mythical beings. But once in a while they did find some to experiment on, like their squad. And sometimes one of them got loose. Again, like their squad.

So once they had to contend with a living program trying to infiltrate their network. It was a truly nasty experience and the reason why they had a hardware wired system wipe ready.

The drive itself was mostly quiet, outside of Grunt and Bullseye coordinating different drone and turret placements, as well as tactical locations. They only had so many stealth capable drones and turrets as they didn’t have a way to manufacture anymore, but it would suffice for their purposes.

As they arrived at Scarlet's Mansion, for that was what it was, Scythe got out while her squad started to set up everything around the location as discussed.

Scythe, meanwhile, made her way over to the front gate, hoping that her sister would be home. Their squad had hacked into everything on their way with reckless abandon, from public access points to private networks, but they had not touched anything connected to the Mansion Scythe’s sister resided in. It just didn’t feel right. And truth be told, they didn’t need it.

As she approached Scythe felt the familiar pang of… longing? She wasn’t quite sure how to describe it, but she was halfway ready to turn tail and fuck off. But she couldn’t. For once she was on a mission, and the mission always took priority over personal feelings.

At the gate she rang the bell, surprised by how few defences she found. Then she reminded herself that even with the magical world bullshit going on Earth was quite safe. Outside of burglar protections nothing else was needed.

She did pick up on some vague magical feeling, but while she had gotten better with that she still couldn’t figure out exactly what it was, so she decided it was likely protective arrays, although she also decided to tell Scarlet about them if they weren’t.

After a moment an unfamiliar young woman's voice chimed from the doorbell, “Hello. What can I do for you?”, combined with a text running on the doorbell sign asking the same question in three different languages.

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“Uh… Hi. I’m Scythe, is Scarlet home?”, she asked in as friendly a tone as she could.

There was a moment of silence, “I’m afraid I don’t have a… Scythe… on the guest list. For what reason do you wish to speak with Miss Savart?”

Scythe sighed, clearly hearing the doubt in the woman's voice by the way she repeated the name. Yeah, her name was nonstandard for earth, but she also really didn’t want to start discussing things here.

“Look, Vuthe sent me. Can you just ask Scal if she’d be willing to speak with me?”, she tried.

“I apologise, Miss… Scythe, but…”, the unfamiliar voice started, but then cut off when someone else spoke. Scythe couldn’t make out the words from the discussion, but she was reasonably sure it was Scarlet.

A moment later the lock buzzed and the gate opened, inviting Scythe in.

The mansion stood in the middle of a small, well tended garden, although she could see at least two different people at work. The majority was kept in tip top shape, while a smaller part towards the back was slightly more in disarray, probably taken care of by someone else.

In front of the actual door she found some actual guards, although they were just burly men in fancy suits, no weapons visible on their person.

They looked like the typical body guard types, nondescript haircut, well kept beards, fancy suits, the general body shape of someone capable of pushing cars around, with nondescript sunglasses and ear pieces.

Both of them watched her, although without moving their heads. But Scythe knew exactly what to look for. Their body language, while casual at first glance, spoke of tense, well trained muscles, a combat readiness that rivalled most soldiers. She gave them a sloppy salute and a quick “Sup” as she approached the door.

While she didn’t show it, she appreciated them standing guard over her sister.

She hadn’t yet fully arrived at the door when it opened and Scarlet stepped out, a wide smile on her face. “Scythe! How are you doing?”, she said with a wide spread arms and a quick hug.

“Uh, hey sis. I’m alright. How ‘bout you? Shit’s in order?”, she asked, trying to suppress her emotions at seeing her sister once more. While it had gotten a whole lot easier, there was still a part of her that wanted to encase Scarlet in a military grade combat mech and not let her out ever.

“So far, yes. Lot’s of different things going on I hear. But let’s talk inside”, her sister said after releasing her from the hug, motioning her inside.

Scythe nodded, then stopped and pointed to the guards. “They know?”, she asked in a tone that made it very clear what she was referring to.

With a bit of surprise and confusion Scarlet nodded, “Yes, they are part of the KISS, so they know. I wouldn’t trust outside security, not in these times.”

The dragonness nodded, then materialised two of her own SMG’s, standard Amnellium Tech, only a couple centuries old, so still orders of magnitude better than what Earth had to offer.

The guards jumped in surprise, making ready to get between Scythe and Scarlet, but Scarlet was already waving them off, while Scythe held the weapons out to them.

“Here, take ‘em. Not the best of what I have, but should beat any tank they might bring to bust this place open. If you ever need more ammo just tell Scal to call me. I got these things in droves, and if you gonna keep her safe I want you better geared. Handles like any standard gun, shoots super heated plasma bullets at some stupid mach number. Magazine holds three hundred seventy eight shots and they got two spare mags in the stock. There is a data chip in the handle that should connect to most ports, I hope, that holds the full manual. If it doesn’t work just tell me and I can send it over to Scal.”

It had been one of her spur of the moment decisions, but if she was here for guard detail then she would take any help she got, and if Scal trusted them, so would she. They wouldn’t fire when pointed to any registered VIP, were connected to their network so could be remotely deactivated, and they had those things in literal tonnes available.

Scarlet gave her a look, “Scythe. You do realise that these things look more valuable than anything the best military outfit can put together, yes?”

“Yeah. I got tonnes of them. Was thinking of giving them to your guards, just to make sure.”

“And you said they can bust tanks open?”, Scarlet continued, calmly.

“Yup. Beat anything up to standard 38mm anti infrantry titanium CMX coil armour. That should include anything Earth can dredge up. I hope.”

“Scythe… Why the fuck are you giving these things to my guards?”, Scarlet finally asked, her tone clearly dissatisfied.

“Ah… Well, Vuth told me to run sec on you, so I’m doing just that. My team is setting up our defences as we speak. Give them an hour and you would need multiple nukes to harm this place”, Scythe said matter of factly, with a hint of pride in her voice.

Scarlet let out a defeated sigh. “I know I should be thankful, but… Really?”

Before the dragoness could continue, Scarlet waved her inside. “Come on, let’s not talk in front of the door. Mike, Serav, feel free to use the new equipment once you have familiarised yourself with it. During your break you may use the R&R room computer to try and open… whatever kind of data they have for the manual. Oh, and inform the next shifts of this change, please?”

The two nod and return to their station, the new SMG’s hanging behind her back in a way that would be just obvious enough for anyone coming close, but not anyone further away.

“You have an R&R room in your house?”, Scythe asked, surprised, as they entered.

Her sister looked at her, one eyebrow raised in amused surprise. “Scythe. I have seen your place. You literally have an interdimensional fortress capable of withstanding tactical nukes in the thousands with a pocket dimension for training purposes. I know you are a little out of touch, but don’t you think having an R&R room would be normal?”

Scythe blinked, then thought, then blinked again, before she nodded. “You make a very good point. We need a bigger R&R room. And you need better defences.”

Scarlet sighed, again, before she continued leading her sister further into her mansion. “What even is the reason you are here? I know that there are some complications at the moment, but even considering how paranoid Vuthe is, I don’t think this is even remotely justified.”

“Honestly, I don’t really give a fuck about if this is justified or not. Vuth said there might be some group stirring shit up and tryna traget you, so I am here to make sure nobody gets any fucking ideas. I know I’m really bad at communicating my thoughts and emotions, but I do care about you and the rest of the family, and I have been alive long enough to know that the universe is a shit place that likes to bend you over the next dumpster and rape you till you bleed. I ain’t keen on just letting it do whatever it wants when I can make sure that nothing will happen. There is this saying, ‘Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong’, and in my experience it's not just a saying but one of the natural laws by which the world functions.”

“Scythe, I know what Murphy’s law is”, Scarlet interjected with a bemused smile that Scythe knew was only partly forced. Her sister was obviously not happy with her choice of words and her view point, but also couldn’t really argue against it.

“Whatever. Considering how well things have gone so far I would not be surprised if shit was about to go really sideways”, Scythe continued, but was cut off as at precisely this point her comms crackle to life with a familiar, if unwanted voice.

“Squad Leader Scythe, do you read? This is Archangel, Tactical Recon and Infiltration Specialist. I have been ordered to assist and back up your squad in your current mission. Can you confirm my read?”

“You have got to be fucking shitting me…”, Scythe cursed in Amnellal, before jumping onto the comms with a deep frown on her face.

“Yeah, I read you. Now fuck off and go tell Vuth I don’t need your fucking ass in my mission, we can handle this on our own.”, she growled into the mic. And by the way Scarlet looked at her with slight concern, she might have actually growled out loud.

“She has told me that should you say that I am to tell you that that won’t change her mind. I will be on this mission if you want to or not. In her words: ‘I don’t care if she sets you up as bathroom cleaner, just keep an eye on things, okay?’”

The last part was a replayed recording, rendering Vuthe’s voice perfectly. In all honesty Scythe had to admit that she hadn’t expected Archangel to go along with orders like that, to her knowledge the Cyborg was much too prideful for that kind of shit. Then again, she had been part of Apocalypse squad, literally the shit cleaner of Amnellium Prime at times.

There was a long pause in which Scythe tried to calm her nerves down, before she finally spoke. “Aight… Set up… I dunno, set up somewhere and keep out of our fucking line of fire, okay? Cuz we ain’t stopping to shoot just cuz’ you are there. Scythe out.”

“Care to explain what is going on?”, Scarlet asked at the same time, her arms crossed in front of her in genuine concern.

Scythe shook her head, “Just some bullshit Cyborg sticking her head where it doesn’t belong. All good.”

Scarlet’s face told her that she didn’t believe at all that everything was good.