AN: I have no idea how writing this chapter took so long. Fight scenes are hard. Once again, I am overwhelmed by the support, and again I earnestly pray that this chapter won't disappoint.
Arc of the Revolution
Chapter 7: Dust Gear Arc 3
Schnee Eater
The Atlesian Paladin-290
Developed by the greatest minds in the Kingdom of Atlas in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, the Atlesian Paladin stands at the forefront of protection against the Grimm.
Standing at 23 feet, weighing 226 tons, with armor made from the latest dust alloys, and capable of both being piloted manually and auto-pilot; the Atlesian Paladin-290 stands as a perfect fusion and stellar example of Atlesian Robotics and Atlesian Armor.
Named after heroes and defenders of old, the Paladin-290 was the development name of dust-warhead-equipped, bipedal walking tanks. The 290 is capable of walking or running, with a top speed of 260 mph, through even the roughest terrains that would stop normal vehicles. It is also equipped with multiple Solid-Eye Laser sights, allowing it to fight, unhindered by lack of visibility.
The Paladin is modular and versatile, with the capability to equip a vast multitude of weaponry, allowing it to perform a staggering variety of roles. With the proper loadout, a single paladin can wage local war all on its lonesome.
The most common of its loadouts are TX-55 Energy Cannons mounted on its arms; Vulcan Raven-C007 double-barreled machine guns; and Fatman-026 Homing Missiles. Coupled with its raw strength, these weapons allow the Paladin to defeat a wide variety of Grimm, from large quantities of Beowolves to even the colossal sized goliaths.
Possessing the latest in communications, and detection technology, the Paladin can serve as a command unit for groups of soldiers. The paladin can detect and point out enemy positions via mixtures of radar and sonar, and its long-range communications allow it to transmit data to helmets of Atlesian Army men immediately. The Paladin's cockpit itself contains tactical maps that any commander can make use of.
Finally, the Paladin-290 is also connected to Atlas' combat database, accrued through years of battle with both with subversive elements and the Grimm, allowing its AI to recognize patterns as well as learn strategies and tactics to defeat the enemies of the Kingdoms.
The Kingdom of Atlas: Protecting the Light of the Future.
-Entry Taken from The Atlesian Military Histories Vol. 2
"The Citizens need protection."
-General James Ironwood
"The Citizens need protection."
-Ironwood's Iron Woods*: Strongest Condoms in Remnant
*Ironwood's Iron Woods gained much prominence after the New Fang's victory and subsequent occupation of Vale, particularly among faunuskind. Upon interview of why condoms with the countenance of the stern general were popular, interviewed faunus had echoed, "It makes your dick look like a dick" or other variations thereof.
Laser sights red as blood flared from its body, lighting up the cold darkness of night like malevolent stars. Turning its feet, body, and cannons to face them, the Atlesian Paladin-290 roared dominance.
"Metal Gear," Kaz spoke.
"Paladin." Jaune had uttered.
"Automated Battlesuit." Gaston remarked.
"Damn." Melanie had whispered.
"Shit." Miltiades had cried.
"MOVE!" cried out Jaune Arc as he tackled the seemingly-paralyzed Kaz out of the way.
His timing could not have been better. As soon as they hit the ground, two blindingly-white, deafeningly-loud flashes erupted from the mech's colossal arms.
Where they had stood, scant moments ago was rendered a smoky crater.
Kaz sputtered, and seemed to regain control of his senses. Good, Jaune didn't need to slap the sense back into him.
For better or for worse, the energy blasts that nearly hit them filled the air with smoke and steam. They couldn't see the robot, but neither could it see them, right?
As soon as those thoughts crossed Jaune's mind, sharp, blood-red light pierced through the haze, and began moving around erratically.
Jaune was reminded of Grimm hunting for prey in the dead of night.
Laser sights, Jaune realized. It could barely detect them in the steam!
"W-What do we do, Jaune?!" Kaz cried.
Jaune grit his teeth. This thing was capable of terrible, terrible damage. From what he'd seen, two or three shots from those cannons could bring down the airships they'd brought, and with them, the people they'd come here to Omega to save.
"We have to draw it away from the airships!" Jaune shouted into the channel, "Spread out, try to keep moving! Don't let it get a clear target!"
"Sir." That was Gaston's voice. Good. They'd given him their frequency as soon as they thought he was on their side.
"Like, got it." Melanie's voice this time. She and her sister were probably the best fighters Jaune's side had.
"Ugh, fine." Miltia. Good.
One by one, the rest of the men began acknowledging his order. Still, not all of them got out of the surprise attack unscathed. No one was dead yet, but Jaune wasn't taking any chances.
"Get the wounded out. Now!" He ordered.
A red laser sight seemed to focus on his and Kaz's position, and with nary a word, both of them dived away before another energy blast blew it up.
Kaz, crouched behind a particularly large piece of rubble, and began firing shots at the origin of the light, and Jaune followed suit.
The mech's laser sights practically broadcasted its location, shining so bright a blind man could see it.
The high-pitched clangs of metal striking metal was all they needed to hear to verify that their shots were hitting.
From the darkness, guns started lighting up, sending more and more bullets at the machine. From his peripheral vision, Jaune guessed around 17 men were firing at the mech.
But if the machine was as durable as it looked...
The smoke cleared up, proving Jaune's suspicions right. The bright metal of the mech glinted even in the limited moonlight.
All they had managed to do was barely scratch its paintjob.
And... maybe piss it off. Could advanced AI's get pissed off? That was something to add to the parameters of the Turing Test.
The metal groaned as it turned, sounding eerily like a roar, as the robot turned to its left and fired its cannons yet again. Jaune's breath hitched in its throat, as entire buildings went up in white flames. Did anyone –
"I'm alright!" came the rushed tones of Melanie Malachite.
"We can't do this forever!" cried Miltia.
"She's right!" Kaz grunted, "We can't fight that thing in the open!"
Goddammit, they're right. thought Jaune, but they couldn't go back, not with that thing on their tails.
They'd need to find somewhere to hold it off, or find some way to destroy it.
But what could they do?! They were in the middle of a mining facility in the middle of nowhere! What did this stupid place have that could help him take down this piece of...
And then it hit him.
Jaune grinned, wide.
He might be able to burn this place down like he'd wanted to after all.
The big machine had brought out machine guns on its arms. Apparently it was getting tired of missing its energy cannon.
Keeping his head low as bullets struck the rubble he was using as cover, Jaune brought a finger to his earpiece.
"Gaston!" Jaune cried, "We've emptied all the houses, right?!"
"Yes, sir." The guard replied, voice calm under duress.
"I get it!" Kaz remarked, "With the houses empty, we can use them as cover from big bitch over there!"
"Not just that!" Jaune couldn't keep the enthusiasm out of his voice, "They're near the warehouses aren't they?"
"What warehouses!?" shrieked Miltiades, image flickering as she dodged left and right. For some reason, the robot had decided to only shoot her for the time being.
"Why are those warehouses, like, important now?" inquired the slightly calmer tones of Melanie.
"I'm talking about those warehouses." Jaune had replied.
Jaune could feel the moment they all realized what he was thinking about. Yup, they got it.
"I'll go and rally the men!" declared Kaz, "We'll need plenty of hands to do what you're thinking!"
"I know the location of the other warehouses and reserves!" shouted Gaston, "I'm going with you, Miller."
"We'll lead them to you." assured Jaune, as Melanie responded with an affirmative, and Miltiades sounded like she was on fire, "Just give us the signal."
Miltiades shrieked as the colossal robot launched more energy blasts at her, sending her flying backwards into a mound of snow.
Kaz and Gaston used that distraction to sprint away from the fight, as Jaune and Melanie instead used that opportunity to charge towards it.
Melanie had long discarded the White Fang boots she had worn for disguise and opted to simply wear her heels. This did nothing to impede her remarkable speed as she rushed through snow and rubble to close in on the machine and aid her sister.
Launching herself into the air, she used her left leg to strike on the robot's arm, and turning her kick into a spin, used that momentum to kick with her right.
Her kicks landed, if the screeching of metal against metal and sparks were any indication.
In response, the mech simply lifted its leg in an attempt to stomp its new attacker as she landed.
Swift Melanie dodged the colossal foot easily, as expected.
What wasn't expected was that the sheer force of the blow was enough to cause her to stumble even as she dodged it cleanly.
Still, that little attack bought enough time for Jaune to finally close in.
If bullets weren't strong enough to pierce its armor, then maybe this was.
Drawing Crocea Mors, he positioned himself right in between the mech's legs, and with a mighty jump, stabbed upwards.
The ancient metal found purchase in the beast's steely flesh... and...
And...
The mech looked down.
Miltiades was able to get up and stare slack-jawed at the spectacle.
Melanie simply raised an eyebrow and used that time to rise and pad the snow off her outfit.
Jaune pulled, and pulled, and tried to pull again, even lifting his feet up and trying to kick off to no avail.
His sword, no, he... was stuck on the mech's crotch.
...
...
...
The mech stood frozen. It tried rotating its torso, it tried raising its arms up and down, it tried running around, and then it tried lifting its legs up and down like a petulant toddler giving a tantrum.
All its efforts were to no avail. Jaune had somehow stabbed a spot directly underneath the mech's crotchplate, too far for its stiff arm-cannons to reach. Its legs were too far apart from each other to squeeze Jaune off. Nor could shaking itself throw out hundreds of pounds of hero wannabe plus armor into the snow.
For a brief moment, the AI, greatest of its time, and brainchild of the greatest minds in Atlas, no, the kingdoms, pondered on the benefits and consequences of firing its own dust-warheads on its groin.
Miltiades Malachite leaned in to whisper in her sister's ear, "Melanie, what's going on?"
Melanie, on the other hand, was completely nonplussed. Shrugging, she remarked, "Jaune's like, bravely holding the robot off, sis. Can't you see?"
Miltiades looked back to where her friend was hanging off a robot's crotch.
The robot that so nearly managed to take their lives had now settled for flashing its obnoxiously bright laser sights into Jaune's eyes.
Melanie suppressed a cringe, that's gotta be painful on the see-see places.
"I won't submit!" cried Jaune, "I'll never give up!"
Then, without warning or resistance, the colossal thing had stopped.
As Jaune's eyes tried to recover, the sisters' eyes went wide, did Jaune manage to –
Before they could finish that thought, the mech had started running, sprinting at the two of them.
Miltiades had dodged left, and Melanie had lunged right as the thing barrelled through between them. Keeping the enemy in their sights, both of them spun mid-leap, as if it the evasive maneuver was a choreographed dance.
If the massive thing were after one of them, it wouldn't have a choice now but to turn its back on one of them. It was one of their favored tactics back in the Club, they'd defeated drunken Huntsmen-in-Training with it.
However, the huge machine charged straight ahead, and it was then they realized that they weren't the machine's targets.
No, the machine was aiming for the buildings that served as housing for the laborers they'd just rescued.
The machine had gained speed, the movement of its legs quickening, and its pace becoming even more frenzied.
Jaune's eyes were still adjusting back to the dark when the machine had suddenly halted in front of what looked to be a sturdy wall.
The mech had placed both arms on the wall as if to steady itself, but why would it need to steady itself...?
There was a brief pause, and a moment of realization.
Wait a sec, Jaune had seen this before... it was in... it was in...
It was in a porn.
Jaune's eyes widened with fear when he realized what the mech was up to.
With a mighty roar, the mech thrusted its hips forward, its armored groin leaving dents and holes in the reinforced concrete.
"GAH!" yelped the blonde boy currently serving as the mech's cup. He had taken the brunt of the... uh... blow.
Jaune grit his teeth hard. If he let go, not only would he lose his sword, but the situation would deteriorate back to a battle on open ground. The Twins would be in danger!
Crocea Mors's grip on the mech's hard iron pelvis did not waver, and neither would Jaune's two hands wrapped around its hard shaft.
... Errr, hilt. His hands were wrapped tightly and firmly around the hilt. Yes.
The machine had stopped and looked down, perplexed that Jaune had just managed to hang in there and take it.
Jaune in return merely gave the mech a cocky (Melanie would say saucy) smile, as if to say "Come at me bro."
Seemingly angered by Jaune's freely-given consent, the Machine gave another bestial roar and began resuming its furious, wild thrusting, trying to literally nail Jaune into the wall.
*Thrust!
"GAH!"
*Thrust!
"OH!"
*Thrust!
"ARRGH!"
"Sister, dearest. What am I seeing?" asked Miltiades Malachite, as she watched a robot try to fuck a building as if it was a small dog.
"Modern art," chided Melanie as she snapped more pictures with her scroll, "Now keep quiet, I need to time this. This'll be a decent entry to that photography competition."
Really, the wild, flailing snow provided an excellent contrast to the gray concrete and the darker asphalt. Maybe she'd be able to beat that bunny girl and take first place this time.
With a mighty roar that sent tremors into the earth, the beast plunged its groin into the wall, shattering it to pieces and finally dislodging the literal thorn at its... well, the front was a side, right?
"Arrghaargh!" Jaune quipped eloquently as he was violently dislodged from the thing's armored codpiece, tumbling on the floor of the ruined building.
Thankfully, however, the sword in the stones, was dislodged with him. Jaune shook the dizziness off. That could've been worse.
Despite the fact that they were apparently able to, Atlesian Paladins were not built to thrust their hips into various objects. As a result, despite the furious pounding Jaune took, his aura was still in the green.
Crouching to collect his blade, he looked up only to find himself face to face with yet another barrel threatening to blow its hot white load on his face.
He raised his shield just in time as the cannon sent a blast of dust-synthesized energy at him.
He was braced, but he couldn't take the sheer force of it, and the blast sent him crashing through another wall.
Compared to the groin attack, this had hurt. He lost an even bigger chunk of aura there.
He looked down at his smoking shield. Somehow, the old metal had held off a blast from one of Remnant's most advanced weaponry. Stories of Julius Arc had boasted of how Crocea Mors was unbreakable, but it still evoked awe in Jaune every time he'd seen the legends proven right.
Jaune looked back up as the building he was just in collapsed. One of its walls had had holes drilled into it by a giant robot groinplate, and he had been sent flying at the opposite wall. Little wonder it broke.
Silently, he crept up and laid himself prone near the snow and debris. He was finally able to put some distance between him and the mech. He could still hear the robot's footsteps thrashing around though, but he couldn't hear fighting.
Melanie and Miltia must be safe.
On cue, a voice whispered in his ear, somehow expressing concern despite the hushed tone, "Jaune are you alright?!"
"Miltia," Jaune acknowledged, "I'm alright. You guys?"
"We're fine!" Miltia replied, "But, like, goddammit, what's the plan?"
"You, like, didn't hear?" came the smug tones of Melanie, "Truly, dearest sister, you are a credit to the team."
Despite the situation, Jaune's lips quirked upwards.
"Still, they're, like, still taking a while," mused Melanie, "I thought that they'd be like, done with the preparations with how long you were taking with your boyfriend, Jaune."
Jaune felt his cheeks heat up despite the cold, "Sh-shut up!"
Jaune risked a quick glance at the mech. It ceased stomping around, and had reverted back to using its laser sights to scan through the rubble.
Jaune's eyes narrowed. As long as the mech had those, it wouldn't fall for what Kaz and Gaston were setting up. They'd need to do something about them.
For sure, the mech had other means of detecting threats, but the more they could hamper this thing's sight, the better their chances were.
Jaune counted two static laser sighted cameras on its torso, one movable one under the equivalent of its belly, several on its shoulders and arms.
He could maybe take out the one at the belly with a jump, but no way could he leap high enough to take out the higher ones.
"Melanie, Miltia, could you take out the one under the chest?"
There was a little silence, some shuffling on the other end before Melanie's voice came in, "We can, but we're still far away. We'll like, need a distraction."
Miltia's voice butt in, "Mech almost caught us with the lasers. We don't have any cover to use to sneak close."
Jaune had felt their aura levels even back in the club. While the mech's attacks damaged his aura somewhat, they would completely reduce the aura of either one of the twins. If there was anyone here who could distract and hold the thing off, it was him.
Jaune knew his aura reserves were large, even for his family, but how much aura did an average hunstman-in-training have?
Jaune checked his aura levels. He was still surprisingly in the green, he could take a couple of hits before he even left it.
Turning back to the mech, Jaune could see it approach. It was walking dead center in one of the residential area's narrowest streets.
Even in the middle of the road, the mech's huge bulk was still conveniently close to the surrounding buildings.
Close enough that even his abysmal jumping skills could reach, if he jumped off from one of the buildings.
Taking a deep breath, Jaune assured them, "You'll get your decoy."
"Could you like, ready some sort of signal when it's safe for us to get close?"
"Oh, you'll know." Jaune looked back up, the mech was going right where he wanted it. He gave a nervous laugh, "You'll know."
Kaz always did say that to find him, one only needed to go towards the smoke and gunfire after all.
The battle was going terribly.
Winter Schnee's grip on the table tightened harder.
The right side of the screen displayed the tactical map, icons representing projected numbers of the beasts overran her defenses in the south. Her Atlesian Knights were gaining casualties by the hundreds, and now even her Soldiers were taking losses. Morale was worsening, and soon she'd have to take the field.
The left side of the map displayed the feed from the Prototype Atlesian Paladin-290, where she realized that it was faunus, not the beasts that had attacked her from the West.
Her fingers cracked the material of the table.
A simultaneous attack by the White Fang and the Grimm.
Yes, the Beasts of Extinction, the filthy animals had attacked her from the south, and shortly after, the White Fang had used the distraction to infiltrate them from the west.
Omega was deep in the Grimmlands, the lands no Kingdom dared put ownership to on account of its denizens. Grimm attacks were common, even more so here due to the negativity generated by the faunus that served as her Father's laborers.
Her nose scrunched up in distaste. She held no love for the faunus, but she wasn't fool enough to delude herself that the SDC didn't deserve the White Fang's hatred in some way.
Yet, it is necessary. Remnant is a place of sacrifice.
Standard procedure here was to commit the bulk of her forces to intercept the Grimm, as the noise and gunfire from the fighting would only serve to drive the laborers to even more of a panic, which would only attract more Grimm.
So she had committed the bulk of her forces, leaving only a screening force to sound the alarm if the Grimm had managed to enter the base from a different side.
She did not expect the powerful snowstorm that masked the surroundings and cut off communications from her scouts. Nor did she expect that Camp Omega's security would be defeated so quickly, without so much as causing a fuss.
Winter's icy blue eyes sharpened.
At first glance, anyone would say that the White Fang were simply here to rescue the laborers.
But somehow timing the gap in security caused by upgrading the Atlesian Knights and the Vytal Festival, along with a heavy snowstorm, along with one of the biggest damned Grimm attacks the place had ever seen?
It could be that they were here for the laborers, or it could also be that they were here for the research. Maybe both.
Better safe than sorry.
But how did they know of its presence in the first place?, she thought, before it hit her and she shook her head.
Because of Atlas and the SDC, Winter had long believed that every faunus she met had a fifty-fifty chance of being there by design; as a member of the White Fang.
Winter was wrong.
That ratio was much, much higher.
She had seen the white-bone masks of the Fang through the Paladin's cameras, and reluctantly, had sent such a powerful unit after them.
The Paladin was a prototype, and few among her men even knew it existed, let alone knew how to pilot them. Thankfully, the Paladin's AI was connected to Atlas's Combat Databases, allowing it to operate autonomously.
In another world, perhaps, if the White Fang didn't intercept her reserves, she would be able to send them and the Paladin to assist the defenses. Seeing the Paladin's strength, no doubt it would be able to turn the tides, then she could return to her mission of finding his research.
Not in this world, though.
She had barely a few hours to search through the base before she realized he had hidden his research somewhere in the base. She didn't have much of a description to go on, only that she was going after failed experiments and specimens, and notes.
Also the fact that General Ironwood himself viewed it as important enough to send in a small army to procure.
Winter frowned, then let out a deep breath.
Perfect. Winter repeated in her head. She was perfect.
She was shocked out of her reverie as a white flash glinted in the Paladin's camera feed.
Sitting up and knocking the chair she sat on over, she watched as a white-cloaked figure leaped down one of the nearby buildings on the side of the Paladin.
The figure had a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, and seemed to gleam in the moonlight.
The White-Cloak brought the sword down hard, dead center into the camera feed, but that was not what shocked Winter to her very core.
She had seen the Twin Golden Moons of the Arc Family on that shield.
As the feed devolved into static, the last things she saw were the Arc-crested shield, the bone-white mask of the Fang, and the youth's mocking smile.
Winter would've sworn had she not kicked the habit.
The gears in her head were whirring so fast one could almost see smoke.
The Arcs were renowned allies of Ozpin and Beacon, and by extension, friends to Atlas as well.
Arc Shield, Fang Mask, Mocking Smile.
Weiss!
Ozpin IS Vale. The Arcs work for Ozpin. The Arcs fight against Atlas.
Weiss!
The Arcs who fight against Atlas work for Ozpin who IS Vale.
Weiss is in Vale! Weiss is in danger!
Winter's normally immaculate face twisted into a furious one.
Are the Arcs working on behalf of Ozpin, or are they doing this behind his back?! Are they traitors, or is the Fang attempting to frame them?! Perhaps they mean to play both sides of the board?! Were they here on behalf of Vale?! Weiss!
Winter took deep breaths, and tried to calm down. She brought up everything she knew of the Arc Family.
The Arc Family had strongly opposed the SDC's Labor Policies, but in the end, grudgingly conceded their necessity. Like all Huntsmen, they were made famous and popularized by the media. The Twins Indigo Arc and Viola Arc were especially known to her and...
Winter's eyes widened.
It was not known to her what the Arc Twins were working on, but as they worked in the same circles, it was likely they knew of his research. They'd leaked its presence to the White Fang! It had to be them!
It had all started to make sense to Winter. The sudden, opportune, and very specific attack, the weaknesses and schematics of the camp, they knew it all!
Had she any doubts that the Fang were after the research, they were gone now.
The screen had switched to the points-of-view from the Paladin's other cameras, but Winter paid them no more heed.
Delegating command to her aide, she'd taken her sword and rushed out of the Command Room.
Jaune Arc let out a loud cry as he struggled to hold on his blade.
He had leaped out and plunged Crocea Mors into the mech's torso, right into one of its laser sighted cameras. He had shanked the one on the left, so there was still the right camera to break.
The mech was struggling and thrashing about and trying to ensure he didn't though.
Jaune's eyes narrowed. For the plan to work, he needed to disable as many of the thing's eyes as possible. The ones on the shoulders were bad, and taking them out would reduce risk of failure but it was ultimately unnecessary. This thing could make red glowy side-glances all it wanted, but he... they needed the front cameras dead.
Especially the one on the belly. The one that watched where the thing was going.
As his left hand grasped the sword still embedded on the mech, Jaune winded his right hand back.
Shifting his shield back into a sheath, he reached out and struck the right camera as hard as he could.
The sound of reinforced glass breaking under his blow was music to his ears.
One more camera, thought Jaune.
However, the mech had other ideas.
Apparently remembering how it dislodged Jaune the first time he was stuck, the mech puffed out its chest, and dove for the buildings, intending to slam the boy flat against another wall again.
Just as planned. Jaune was loath to release the sword, but his only plan to take out the belly-cam relied on preempting the robot's actions. Jaune kept his eyes on the ground.
Just before the mech crashed into a wall, Jaune let go.
The sheath had fallen somewhere.
Jaune, on the other hand, had fallen directly under the mech.
Directly under the groinplate that he had stabbed, and under the mech's torso.
And right under the mech's torso, was the last, remaining front camera it had.
He bit back a cry as he fell onto the snowy street, and, quickly rolling around, trained his rifle right at the remaining target.
Jaune emptied the entire magazine on it.
This close, lying on his back, even Jaune couldn't miss.
His spirits rose as he saw his point-blank shots eventually shatter glass.
The mech's reaction was immediate, even as its feet faced forward, its torso pivoted around, both cannons aimed at a shieldless Jaune.
Jaune ground his teeth, no shield, no cover, and no time to dodge. He prepared to take the blow only to hear the sound of breaking glass.
Two blurs landed almost simultaneously on its shoulder-cameras, rending the mech blind, or at least human-level in the dark of night. Miltia had both claws sunk into the mech's left, and Melanie was crouched on its right like a bug, the points of her heels puncturing deep into what were the robot's eyes.
Before the thing could fire, Miltia, with a grunt, twisted her claws and tried to sway the robot's arm. From the right, Melanie simply kicked off, and flipped gracefully on the snow-filled ground.
Both redirected the robot's aim by inches.
The cannons still fired, wild energy exploding on Jaune's immediate left and Jaune's right.
"Miss us?" quipped Melanie, appearing on her now customary place at Jaune's right, hand outstretched to lift him up.
"You have no idea." grinned Jaune, he was about to take it before something glinted at his left.
"You owe me for this." groaned Miltia as she handed Jaune his sheath. "It's like, surprisingly heavy."
Jaune gratefully accepted both hand and sheathe as the mech twisted, turning its huge bulk around to face them.
Jaune wistfully looked at Crocea Mors, still embedded on the mech's chest. A cheerful voice rung in his ear as he pondered on how to retrieve his blade.
"Jaune!" Kaz's voice had rung, "It's all ready! Just go deeper into the residences!"
About damn time, Jaune gave a vicious smile.
"It's coming," Miltia warned, giving the approaching mech a wary look, "Split up again?"
"No." Jaune remarked, voice stronger than he thought it would be, "We run in the same direction, but keep your distance. Be very, very careful where you step."
The mech had let out another roar, and fired at the three.
They dodged, but they needn't had bothered. Even if they stood still, most of the blasts would only barely graze them. With its eyes dead, its reactions were much more sluggish as compared to a couple minutes ago.
Hard to believe Atlas would design something with such an obvious weakness, Jaune thought as he broke into a run, Unless this is a prototype or something.
While a human pilot at this time would no doubt be firing wildly to make up for the lack of accuracy, the machine had continued firing calmly, even as they harmlessly fired too low or too high.
It was an A.I., their chances of success were getting better and better.
Jaune and the Twins dashed through the empty streets, the titan in pursuit. Melanie and Miltia, despite both of them being much faster than he was, lagged behind him intentionally, ready to support him if need be.
"Sir, we see you." came Gaston's stoic voice. "We've trapped everything past this block. Be careful."
"Got it." Had Gaston not warned him, Jaune would've just run straight through. He narrowed his eyes ahead on the road. Now that he was actually looking for it, he could spot sacks laying around, wheelbarrows, crates, and other containers all seemed to be inconspicuously strewn about.
In the corner of his eyes, he could spot the dull glints of White Fang masks and rifles from holes in the buildings, all poised and ready to fire. It wasn't just the Fang though, Jaune could also see dimly glowing faunus eyes in the dark, watching them move.
It seemed the rest of the laborers wanted in on the party.
Turning back forward, Jaune could see it. The more he ran in this direction, the more and more containers they seemed to run past.
Just a little more on this road, and they'd reach an intersection.
Jaune had to hand it to Kaz and Gaston. With the wholehearted support from the locals, they'd been able to turn the whole place into a death trap surprisingly quickly.
Judging from the sheer volume of containers now stacked around, the plan was ready, and all they needed was to get out of the line of fire now.
"Split up!" cried Jaune right before they passed a crossroad.
Miltia dove left, Melanie ducked right, and Jaune sprinted forward.
For a brief moment, the mech had stopped, as if wondering which one to pursue.
A brief moment was all they needed.
Jaune could hear someone indistinctly scream "Now!"
Right as the mech slowed down, gunfire flared up from all around it, from the interiors of the damaged buildings, from the white-cloaked Fang soldiers camouflaged on the snow, from the marksmen on the rooftops, all around it.
The bullets flew, but not towards the mech.
The bullets struck the containers, and with a mighty explosion, set them and their ... volatile contents alight.
Wait, no, not alight. That was steam and ice, but there was a lot of light.
Jaune risked a glance back as soon as he felt the cold air get even chillier.
The robot had walked right into a minefield, where the makeshift mines and bombs were filled with nothing but the purest, unrefined, undiluted ice dust.
Hell, and even the laborers began getting in on it, picking up slightly-fractured dust crystals and hurling them at the mech. Some even pushed barrels and tanks of ice dust from the roof to fall and explode on the robot directly below.
The robot was struggling, half its body was already frozen, and still the Fang kept firing and setting off more, and more, and more ice dust explosions around it.
Every time the mech broke the ice impeding it, it only did so to be frozen again.
Jaune gaped, they weren't doing that much damage to it.
We're only slowing it down, Jaune realized, But why, and where's the stronger dust?
Slowly, growing rumbling in the air answered Jaune's question, as White Fang bullheads dove from the sky.
Fang members nearby used red dust to blow up key supports of nearby buildings, causing them to fall on the mech with mighty crashes, and calling to fall back soon afterwards.
If those red-tinted "hazard" warnings on the fucking tanks the bullheads were carrying were any indication, that's where all the missing dust was.
For a moment, Jaune thought he spotted Kaz, manic grin plastered on, face lit up with what could only be considered very unhealthy enthusiasm.
As if they were bombs, wait they are bombs, the dust was released, dropped directly on the mech as the bullheads passed it by.
Jaune could only stare as if the spectacle was in slow motion, with the same morbid, surprised, fascinated anticipation one might have staring at a train about to crash.
His last thoughts before it did was that there was enough dust in those to power Vale, the Kingdom, not just the city, for a week.
A magnificent maelstrom of fire, thunder and lightning erupted on the frozen mech, melting even dust-augmented alloy and sending electricity jolting across its limbs. The snow, and it looked like even the ground under it had melted into a sinkhole, and the sheer force of the explosion pushed buildings down and flung people like ragdolls.
Jaune was barely able to shield his eyes as he was flung back into a wall by the sheer force of the blast.
Falling on his back, he could only hope everyone got out of that safely.
Even as the explosion subsided, Jaune could still hear the sinister crackling of electricity and smell melting metal.
The static on his earpiece eventually subsided, and he could hear worried voices.
"Kshsssht...kshshsht"
"C'mon... open... eyes," one of the twins.
"Ksshrttt... Ja...ne... Jaune! Jaune! Get up!", came Kaz's frantic voice.
Groaning, Jaune opened his eyes, and his heart dropped.
Its torso looked like parts of it had been blown off, exposing a much-abused cockpit, moreover it looked like its own missiles had detonated inside of it. The outermost layers of its arms had melted, but it still retained its shape. The cannon on its left arm was ruined and looked like it had exploded from the inside out, but both cannons were still pointed directly at him.
It was still, somehow, combat ready.
The titan took one hesitant step, then another, then another, looking like a demon that had just crawled out of hell itself, until it was towering over its prone foe.
Hell, in some places, it was still inexplicably on fire.
Jaune's eyes widened with fear, it could still fight?!
Movements sped up with not just mere fear, but with terror, Jaune quickly unfolded his sheath into a shield and raised it up.
...
And... nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Jaune peeked from under his shield.
The thing had frozen there, like a statue, just looking at Jaune.
Jaune very hesitantly, stood up.
As Jaune rose to his full height, something in the machine had finally given out.
Jaune would later learn that those somethings were the mech's A.I., and long-range communications, allowing it to access and utilize combat data.
Almost solemnly, the Steel Titan fell to its knees before Jaune Arc.
Jaune blinked, if he jumped a little, he could take his sword.
Jumping on the now-still mech, he grasped the hilt with both hands, and pulled the blade out.
Only as he reclaimed his blade did he realize that a crowd had gathered around him.
To both his immediate left and right, it appeared everyone, members of the White Fang, laborer, and defecting guard alike was worried for him or wanted to ensure the mech truly was defeated, and as such gathered around.
As whispers and murmurs found their way around the crowd, Jaune realized they all had their eyes on him.
The cold wind stung his eyes, and – oh crap, his mask fell off when they dropped the bomb on the mech!
Some of the laborers began pointing at him nervously, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Kaz, Gaston, and other members of the White Fang attempt to placate the almost-panicking crowd.
Jaune steeled himself, and refused the urge to nervously shrink away.
They weren't out of the clear yet, and maintaining morale and order was paramount.
No fucking way had they gotten this far just to break because of something as trivial as not being born hot – wait, faunus, he meant faunus.
Raising his sword in the air, Jaune bellowed out as loud as he could.
"VICTORY!"
Miltiades was cackling madly, "So, Jaune, how was your first time?"
After Jaune had bellowed "Victory" the nervous tension in the crowd gave way to enthusiastic cheering, and that was even before Kaz made a side comment that Adam Taurus apparently vouched for him. Even if he was a human, these faunus had Gaston Alabaster as an example that not all of them were assholes.
The faunus had been enslaved to mine dust, and now, they had used that same dust to obtain their freedom.
Had a nice ring to it.
Just remembering the crowd chant, "Jaune! Jaune! JAUNE!" never failed to bring a smile to his lips.
"Look, Miltia," pointed a mirthful Melanie, "He's smiling!"
Oh, right. Damn it.
"Aw, c'mon, throw me a fricking bone here, guys," Jaune groaned.
...Wait a minute, realized Jaune...
"What's wrong?" Jaune could feel the smirk on Melanie's face, "Didn't you get enough boning already from your boyfriend?"
Gah, he'd walked into that one.
After Kaz had somehow reorganized everyone back into lines, ready to board the airships, Jaune and the Twins had stayed with the perimeter guard.
The perimeter guard had been spread thin, primarily to spot and screen threats, then retreat to a bigger Fang reserve force.
They were very, nearly done. 80% of the laborers were already on the ships.
Almost there.
"They were boning so hard, the buildings shook." Miltia quipped.
"We could like, hear you moaning all the way over there." Melanie said singsong.
Argh.
"Coming out of the closet like, isn't so bad in this day and age." chuckled Miltia.
"Don't worry, Jaune. We'll support you no matter what you identify as." Melanie comforted.
"I'm straight!" Jaune nearly shouted.
"You sure?" Miltia asked, "Could've sworn you were checking out Kaz's ass."
"I like girls!"
"Tall, metal, and bulky are the types of girls you're like, into?"
"I like pretty girls!"
"The girls you like don't seem very pretty." Melanie commented.
Miltia pouted, "Does this mean you don't think we're pretty, Jaune?"
"What?! No, you're very pretty!" shouted Jaune.
Wait. What?
"Interesting." Melanie leaned in closer to Jaune with half-lidded eyes. He could feel his cheeks heat up. "Are you saying I'm your type?"
"Nah, Melanie," Jaune could feel Miltia's warm breath on his ear. His cheeks flushed even further, "He's saying I'm his type."
"Really?" Melanie leaned in even closer, and Jaune could see the light gloss of her lips, "What's your type then?"
Previous steely resolve forgotten, with a face as red as the hair of that girl on the cereal box, Jaune was a sputtering wreck.
"W-Well," Jaune tried to keep his voice steady, even as he could feel the twins inch ever closer, "I-I like girls with nice hair..."
"Like mine?" Melanie whispered, amusement glinting in her eyes.
"Y-yeah, nice and smooth."
Miltia pouted, and Jaune couldn't help but wonder how soft her lips looked, "You only like it long?"
"N-no, long or short is fine." Jaune quickly replied.
Jaune's ideal girl was... well if he were to describe it, he wanted a princess, or maybe an angel. Silky smooth hair, preferably blonde or white, with fair skin that looked oh so soft and tempting, and beautiful blue eyes that he could just stare at for hours.
Staring at the snowy horizon, Jaune could almost picture her. She would be a white figure, someone men would be absolutely willing to risk life and limb for. Someone whose cold gaze would kindle the fires in mens' hearts.
"Snow Angel..." Jaune whispered dreamily.
An image began to form. Standing tall, confident, the perfect picture of elegance. Dressed in all white, with immaculate white hair, and icy blue eyes, her clothes serving to outline her womanly figure, she would reach out and caress his face... and...
Winter Schnee struck his face with the hilt of her weapon.
No one had even seen her move. Such was the speed in her possession that only the shift in the wind betrayed her presence.
Twin sea green eyes widened as Jaune was just knocked back in their midst. Quick as lightning, Miltia brandished her claws, and Melanie had launched a kick aimed at their new foe's head.
CLANG!
Twin sea green eyes widened further.
On one hand, Miltia's claws were blocked by an elegant dagger, and on the other, Melanie's heel met the enemy's rapier.
In the next instant, their mysterious attacker had overpowered both twins.
Melanie's mouth went wide. Both she and Miltia had thrown their full weights behind those attacks, and this new enemy had overpowered them with merely her arms.
As both the twins skidded back, Jaune had gotten up and, with both hands and all he had, launched a wide, downward slash at probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
The white woman had effortlessly parried Crocea Mors away with one hand, and with the other, threw a punch, once again into his face.
"GAH!" Jaune was thrown back as his mask broke.
Within a span of a few seconds, she had beaten the three of them back.
The woman walked up to Jaune, and after a few seconds' consideration, made a light poke with her weapon.
Instincts kicked in, and Jaune immediately blocked the rapier's point with his shield.
Body on autopilot, Jaune made another strike with his sword, only for Crocea Mors' ancient metal to clash against his (beautiful) enemy's dagger.
Both Jaune and the woman remained in that position. His strength against hers – no, Jaune realized. This woman could likely overpower him without a second thought, so why –
Icy blue eyes met sky blue ones.
She was studying his features!
"So it's true," the woman spoke resignedly, "The Arcs truly have turned against us."
Jaune froze. He'd forgotten about the crest on his shield!
Immediately after she had spoken, the woman jumped back, evading a desperate stab from Miltia's claws.
"Tell me, traitor," she spoke, voice dripping with malice, "What is Ozpin up to these days?"
...
What?
"What do the Arcs want with his research?" she tried again.
Research? What research?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jaune spoke, voice level.
"Oh?" she mocked, "Then am I to assume you're here just to liberate SDC employees?"
There was a beat before Jaune blurted out, "Actually, yes. That is why we're here."
Winter's eye twitched. Was this little shit mocking her?
"You expect me to believe," Winter spoke slowly, as if speaking to a small child, "That of all the labor camps the SDC possesses, you just randomly pick the one he used as a personal facility?"
Jaune blinked, before responding with, "I guess."
This time Winter didn't bother repressing her anger. Her normally impassive face twisted, red with anger, her teeth clenched tightly against each other, and her hands began shaking in unsuppressed fury.
Jaune, oblivious to how Melanie and Miltia were very nervously backing off, simply told her, "You alright there? You're shaking a bit."
Winter ground her teeth, did this boy just insinuate that she was weak? Oh, oho, she would show him weak.
Winter brought her sword's guard to her lips, "I was planning on simply capturing you to interrogate," then she swung her blade in a traditional fencer's salute, "But I realize that, out of respect for your family lineage, you'll likely survive the loss of a few limbs."
Jaune on the other hand, hadn't registered the threat. Inside, he was too busy giggling, pumping his fist into the air like he won the Vytal Tournament, and celebrating.
His enemy had saluted him!
Someone had finally acknowledged him!
His enemy, a bonafide huntress by the looks of it, acknowledged him as an equal!
Jaune paused.
Tradition dictated that he salute back, but he had never been inducted as any kind of swordsman, nor had he been formally trained in any kind of school.
Wait a minute!, Jaune realized, he did know some kind of salute. He had been acknowledged before by another swordsman!
Back when he was traveling to Vale with Olivine Tiresias and the White Fang Lieutenant aptly named L.T., the good lieutenant had seen fit to teach him a true swordsman's salute.
Jaune sheathed his sword, much to the surprise of the rapier-wielding swordswoman.
Holding the sheathed Crocea Mors in front of him vertically, one hand held the sword up by the hilt.
The other hand grasped the sheathed blade, and stroked up.
And stroked down.
And stroked up.
And stroked down.
He could hear the twins gasp in astonishment and disbelief. They were probably impressed he knew such a prestigious salute.
Spurred on by the encouragement, he stroked stronger! Harder! Faster!
Everyone present swore they heard something snap.
Winter let out a deep sigh, and recalled all the pent-up frustration and rage she'd slowly built up over all her years of life, sucking up to sleazy corporate assholes and dirty military douchebags alike.
She released it. She released it all.
She dashed, faster than the eye could see, and with a deafeningly loud strike, smashed the Arc's face with the hilt of her dagger to the cold, hard ground.
The Arc was flung back, and crashed into the corner of the street painfully.
Dashing faster than most men could perceive yet again, she stood victoriously over the Arc.
He had taken a bad hit, but his eyes were still open, he was still conscious!
Good.
Planting a delicate foot on the Arc's face, Winter allowed herself a gleeful, slightly maniacal smile, as she lifted said delicate foot, and stomped the Arc asshole into the curb.
Chapter 7 End.
OR IS IT?!
Winter Schnee raised a puzzled eyebrow.
She had stomped the Arc traitor into the curb, true, but she hadn't meant to completely collapse the boy into the floor.
He had fallen through the floor, almost as if the space beneath the street floor was hollow, empty.
Huh.
Well, regardless, the traitor was out of commission for now, but the White Fang was still escaping with both the laborers and the research.
Winter's eyes narrowed. No matter what, she couldn't allow the Fang access to that research. If General Ironwood thought it was important, then for sure, allowing the Fang to have it would threaten the peace and security of the Kingdoms!
She regarded her two other opponents. One had elected to stay and try to hold her off, while the other had run back, likely intending to warn her allies.
She needed to stop those airships from leaving. She could always come back for the traitor after she had secured the research and then beat off the Grimm assaulting her base.
Jaune Arc fell through the floor.
He yelped as he landed on a pile of something... weird.
He looked up, the whole place was pitch black, with the exception of the hole he had fallen in from.
He tried moving, wading around whatever the hell he had landed in.
It felt both soft, like rubber, and hard, like metal. He really could feel the cold hardness of metal here, but the skin almost felt like it was meant to be warm. He could also feel wires as he wriggled around.
Jaune brought out his scroll, and activated its torch.
Jaune nearly screamed.
He was wading around in limbs!
Robot arms, legs, and hands! With wires in lieu of nerves, surrounded by what appeared to be flesh.
He – wait, was this real skin?! Against his better instincts, Jaune ran a hand through it.
It felt lifelike enough.
Jaune looked up to the walls, and he felt his breath hitch in his throat.
There, stored in what seemed to be broken pods, were girls.
Robot girls, to be exact, long abandoned, and collecting dust, no, not that dust, the boring dust.
All their heads were exactly the same, of a pretty girl with short, curly hair and freckles on her face, illuminated eerily by the light of his scroll.
"What the fuck?!" Jaune yelped.
Jaune looked left and right, and all he could see were rows and rows of her. They all had the same vacant smile permanently plastered on their face, and were all either in various states of incompletion and disrepair.
One face he passed by didn't have eyes, the other, a lower jaw, and many more were lacking that synthetic flesh in various parts of their bodies.
I-I've got to look for a way out!
Jaune couldn't afford to be stalled here. Kaz and Gaston and the Twins and everyone was in trouble!
Jaune flashed the torch around, left and right, in attempts to look for some way to escape.
Instead, he had illuminated something else.
There, by the very center of the large room, seemed to be another one of those synthetic girls.
This one was held up by wires like some sort of macabre display. She was but a torso, with no legs, and only one outstretched arm, some parts of it covered with flesh, and the others without.
Despite his misgivings, Jaune found himself steadily approach.
Unlike everything else, this one felt different.
Something felt... very, very weak, as if it were, well it was incomplete.
Its face was slightly different too, as if it was trying to say something before it froze in that position.
Most striking however, was the outstretched hand, as if someone was helping it to get up after it had fallen down.
And...
And Jaune could feel his aura stretching, just like the time when he had replenished Miltia's aura back in the Club.
Get out, Jaune thought. Wait, did he actually think that.
He focused on the thought, and the brief ... weakness that he had felt from the unfinished robot girl seemed to sharpen.
It was as if... this machine actually had an aura, albeit one at the brink of emptiness.
Swallowing deeply, Jaune had a hunch of what was going to happen if he took that outstretched hand.
With a deep breath, Jaune took the hand.
He gasped, as soon as he had taken the half-flesh, half-metal hand in his, he could feel a full fourth of his aura travel through it, and go straight to the robot's outstretched arm and into her chest.
His hand was suddenly clasped in the literal iron grip on the robot, and the thing's eyes flashed a deep light green.
Jaune blinked.
So did the robot.
Speechless Jaune's sky blue eyes met the robot's light green orbs, mutual surprise coloring their features.
The robo – the torso, no wait, – the girl's eyes looked at Jaune's face, and Jaune could see her pupils dilate and contract as if they were tiny cameras taking mugshots.
Jaune's mouth went agape. What the fuck?
Torso-girl on the other hand was unperturbed, and she flashed a bright smile.
"Salutations! My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
From his peripheral vision, Jaune could spot the text "P.E.N.N.Y-0.05"
Chapter 7 Legit End.
AN: Ah, so that's done. Welp.
