Chapter 10: Lessons never Learned
(Cross Continental Transit Tower)
Jaune let out a sigh as looked through data written on the computer terminal. After Weiss got the info from her source, she roped the boy into helping her decipher some of the things that might seem odd in the report. If the boy only knew the true value of what he had on screen, he probably would've paid closer attention to detail. Weiss knew that rival companies of her father's organization would pay thousands of liens just to catch a glimpse of what they were reading. Most of these documents were pretty much ledgers that detailed all known trade between the SDC and local distributors. If given enough time, one might actually see a pattern and discover all the little crooks and crimes the SDC had been concocting. If anyone other than her had gotten their hands on them, the SDC would be knee deep in lawsuits in mere seconds.
But Jaune didn't really seem to mind. Looking through crummy numbers and large paragraphs of words was certainly better than being shot at. He always knew that he would've been a better clerk than a Hunter but hey… even a kid like him can dream big if he wants to.
"Hmm… that's odd." Weiss stated startling the boy awake from his drowsiness.
"What is?"
The heiress quickly tracked a list of names on one of the list of suppliers and noted a pattern. "I've been comparing the list of store names that the SDC has been supplying and the list of those that have been robbed by the White Fang. I expected to see some but so far only two have been hit."
"So… what's odd about that?" Jaune inquired.
"Do you know how many Dust stores there are in Vale alone?" The boy's silence made her groan of his ignorance. "Over two hundred. And 2/3 of those are owned by the SDC. Yet oddly enough only two of our stores have been struck by the White Fang.
"Soooo?"
"Ergghhh! It means that the White Fang are targeting local stores, you dunce. Stores that have their own suppliers and their own means of distribution."
"So what? Does that mean they're not going after stores run by your father's company?"
Weiss gave it a thought and looked through the list again only to come up empty. "It's possible that it may just be a coincidence. SDC owned stores do have tighter security systems and insurance so it's possible that the White Fang are only targeting local stores that aren't that secure. It's a large pattern but a pattern nonetheless."
"Great. So that means we just have to watch over stores that aren't owned by the SDC."
"Correct." The heiress agreed. "We narrowed down our window of investigation. Still… something's… amiss."
"What is?"
"If the White Fang were targeting local stores from the start… then why would they suddenly go after a large shipment of Dust from the company?" She pointed out reminding Jaune of that incident by the docks. "It doesn't make sense. The security there should've been over the top. The risk of attacking such a shipment would be irresponsible."
But then a thought suddenly came to Jaune's mind. He remembered something from that night. Something that Blake said to him when he chased after her to the docks.
"What kind of security did the shipment have?"
Weiss raised a brow but decided to check it anyway. "It says here that the large shipment of Dust was supposed to be protected by a number of drones. At least two companies worth."
"That doesn't sound right." Jaune stated earning the girl's attention. "When Blake and I were there, we didn't see a single a single drone or any guards at all. There wasn't even a guy guarding the gate."
"Are you certain?"
"Positive." The boy confirmed it with a nod which Weiss was afraid of. A shipment that big without a single drone to guard it? That certainly didn't sound like her father would do. If she knew anything about the SDC it's that they are very strict when it came to security especially when their assets were involved. If it wasn't for the efforts of a certain Faunus duo and a blonde knight in training, the company would've risked losing millions of liens in products alone. They always had guards. Manpower was something the SDC had in abundance and it wouldn't be the first time they sacrificed people for profit.
Weiss wasn't blind to the wrongdoings of her father's company. Sure it had its shares of dark secrets that she'd wish weren't true but she can't pretend not to see them forever. In the years learning of her company's doing she understood that the morality of the company was 3rd only to profit and prestige. So it stands to reason why she would be suspicious over an unguarded cargo especially when lots of money was involved.
"This doesn't make sense." She muttered quietly to herself. "Why would they leave such a huge cargo unguarded?"
"Budget cuts?"
"The SDC is a multi-billion corporation." She argued. "We have our own private security force at our service and can easily fund an entire army with just a snap. You really think they won't spare a little lien to protect their interest?"
"Ummm… no?"
She sighed. "In either case, this is a big discovery. If I can go through the Schnee Dust Company Human Resource division, I should be able to see who ordered the recall of those drones and find out who's responsible for the lack of security."
"Great… more reading. Like school hasn't given me enough of that."
"Oh hush. We're just looking through old records. Nothing that you should worry your tiny shoes in." Weiss added before she closed her scroll. "Anyway, this should be enough. I'll compile this information and share it with the rest of my team. Yang should probably be finishing things over with Neptune."
"Neptune!?" Jaune barked. "You got him roped into this too?"
"Oh please. I would never do such a thing." Weiss retorted flashing her hand at him. "Sun and him volunteered to help out with our investigation. They should be done right about now." She then walked off towards the elevator with Jaune following in tow.
"Do you guys really charge into danger without a second thought?"
"Aren't you the one who rushed to help Blake when she was in trouble?" Weiss countered with a knowing grin as the elevator began to descend back to the lower floors.
Jaune's blue eyes deflated in annoyance, despite the clarity of the point that was dawned on him. "Good point. But still… you guys are seriously just looking for trouble. Don't you think you should let the authorities look into this instead of sticking your heads in places where it doesn't belong?"
"I prefer action over idleness." Came her plain and simple answer before she worked her way on her scroll.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling my friends." She replied putting her team on a conference call, their images appearing on her screen. But to her surprise, none of the three members of her team were answering. "Strange… they're not answering my call."
"You think they might be in trouble?" Jaune asked worryingly as he knew that Team RWBY was prone to getting themselves in trouble in many situations.
But the heiress reassured him. "I highly doubt that. They're probably just busy with their own leads. We did promise to meet up later tonight so there's still time."
"But they could be in danger. They could run up to bad guys and…"
"Must you doubt everything about us?" The silver haired lady argued, folding her arms as if she felt insulted. "We're a professional Huntsman team. We don't go diving into danger like animals." And just as she mentioned it, a call on her scroll came with Blake's face on screen. She smiled back smugly in return. "See? That must be Blake right now, telling me that she's already met up with the others."
"Everyone!" Jaune could hear Blake's voice on the other side of the line. "If you can hear me, we need backup!"
"HELP!" The other voice was unmistakably Sun. "There's a big robot, REALLY big! That Torchwick guy is in it! It's not like… he's eaten. He's more like… controlling it or something! HURRY!"
…
…
…
Jaune's eye narrowed at her. "You were saying?"
"Shut up." Weiss grumbled as she rushed outside with the blonde knight following in tow grumbling all the same.
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As the pair got outside school ground, Weiss immediately switched her scroll to tracker mode. It was a function that only Hunter teams had to ensure that each member knew where the other was. It was a way to keep them in contact at all times.
"Blake's signal seems to be coming from the highway in the city." She stated. "Somewhere between the docks and the commercial district. If I use my glyphs, I can probably reach them."
"That's pretty far. You'll never make it in time." Jaune noted calculating the distance between the school and the city. And getting to the highway was near impossible unless she was really REALLY fast.
"Well, do you have an alternate suggestion?"
Jaune got to thinking and immediately an idea struck when he darted towards the road where a truck was parked. "I have an idea. Follow me!" The boy then rushed towards the driver who seemed to be busy unloading the last of his delivery. "Excuse me sir, but we need to borrow your truck. Official Hunter emergency!"
The old man barely had the chance to speak when the pair hopped on and drove off, leaving him in the dust, almost quite literally. The unfortunate store owner grumbled to himself, taking a mental note never to leave the keys in the ignition. It truly was a bad day for him already. First that lady that stopped his truck with her bare hands and now this? What else could possibly happen?
(Vale) (Highway)
Jaune and Weiss arrived at the highway faster than they expected. The traffic was light but that was probably because most of the cars decided to shop half way after seeing the carnage that happened earlier. As the two drove into the heightened roads, the number of accidents could be seen increase exponentially like a monster truck rammed through this place.
"I didn't know you could drive." Weiss stated sounding slight amazed to discover the boy's one useful skill.
"Well, I get to drive my dad's tractors every now and then." He returned, smirking. "It's not as fast but it certainly feels the same. You get used to it. So where are they?"
"We're getting close." Weiss announced as she kept track of her friend's signal on her scroll. The beeping noise got louder the deeper they went in the highway. "Take the next left. We should get to higher ground so we can get a better view of the area."
The boy followed and soon enough, the giant robot that Sun described came into view. It was a war machine that looked like it came straight out of a comic book. It had all the tint of a soldier's dream weapon with enough armaments to rival that of an entire army. If it wasn't piloted by a criminal mastermind, Jaune would probably say it was the coolest thing ever.
"There they are!" Weiss pointed out noticing Yang's trademark bike as it trailed the giant machine from behind with Neptune firing a barrage from his weapon. "We have to get down there!"
"Alright. I'll take the next exit and block him off from…"
"Don't bother. I got a better idea." Without even waiting for the boy's reply. Weiss leaped off the window showing off her flexibility.
"Hey wait!" Jaune was practically shaving his years trying to get these girls to just sit and wait for a minute. "Oh come on! I just stole this thing!"
The boy continued to curse himself for getting himself into this situation. He promised himself not to get involve with the White Fang. He promised himself not to get into any more dangerous scenarios until he was fully trained. But none of that seemed to matter now since he willingly roped himself to this little fiasco. If obstruction and disobeying traffic laws didn't get him arrested, he was sure that grand theft auto and damaging of properties would not be far behind.
But none of that mattered now as the boy quickly drove to the next exit, observing the battle on the other lane. It seems like Neptune was riding on the robot trying to steer it off the road and Sun was helping… sort of… until they were both thrown off the rail-barriers.
If Torchwick was really controlling that monstrosity from within, he was certainly proficient in it. Moving a mech that size with limited control manuals must've made him a master with machines. Jaune was slightly envious of course seeing how that guy was easily tearing through the traffic like a madman.
"First they have air ships now giant robots!? Why do bad guys always get the good stuff!?" He complained to no one in particular before noticing the silver haired lady leaping down facing the oncoming traffic before suddenly freezing the ground beneath her causing the large robot to slip and tumble off.
Yes!
The boy mentally cheered as he quickly found his way off the high road, stopping midway to observe the fight from the vantage point. Down below, he could see Team RWBY gathered in force preparing to dish out against the robot which looked similarly to a boss battle in one of those cool RPG games.
Jaune wished he could be more like them. Fast, precise and downright deadly with their weapons. It seemed rather pathetic to be comparing himself but that's what he thought. He was able to pass the scores in Beacon but looking at genuine Hunters and Huntresses in action really showed the difference in their skill level. Those girls were trained from a roughly younger age to become protectors of the world and through years of labor they truly showed remarkable abilities. Jaune on the other hand only received training four months ago when he first arrived in Beacon and even so… he wasn't progressing that well.
"Whoa… now that's cool." The boy stated as he watched how Team RWBY easily matched against Torchwick's robotic weapon. Ruby alone seemed to be calling out signals that went incoherent with the colors of her teammates which revolved around quick and deadly strikes. It feels like those four are gonna go far in the Hunter business, that, Jaune could see.
(Beacon) (Goodwitch's room)
Glynda felt good. A warm shower after a hearty meal made for a good night's rest. Donning nothing but a nightgown and with her beautiful blonde hair free from the bow she kept at the back of her head, she was finally free of today's labor and earned herself a little break.
Being a teacher at school wasn't exactly the best paying job in the world, but it certainly was rewarding enough that she felt content with her life. After years of Hunting Grimm and helping citizens in their need for protection, a simple joy of having a nice club sandwich and a nice warm ginseng tea was a vacation for her.
Though many others would prefer to be partying on the weekends or enjoy a good stroll down the park, she found it enjoyable enough to simply have a quiet time in her given room and have a good book to read.
All that was missing now was a little entertainment for the night. Perhaps there was something on the holonet that would give some laughs for the night.
With a click of a button, the TV turned on revealing an emergency broadcast.
"This is Lisa Lavender, coming to you live at downtown Vale where an unprecedented carnage took place in what can only be described as a robot massacre. Roughly an hour ago, one of Atlas's newest defensive war machines tore through the highway of the streets of Vale causing massive damage to the surrounding areas. Behind me stands the said machine which appears to be locked in combat with a group of young Huntresses."
The cup of tea Glynda held cracked in sheer pressure.
That good feeling she had earlier was now replaced with annoyance and ticked off rage.
(Vale) (Highway)
Jaune was worried.
The fight with Torchwick was taking too long. He could see that Ruby and her team were putting up a good fight but that machine seemed too overpowered. Despite everything they threw at it, that damnable robot seemed to have more surprises up its sleeves. It had laser cannons, rockets and laser tracking systems. The thing was a state of the art killing machine and those girls were fighting it with just their wit and their skills. Its armor was thick making it difficult to crush through its defenses.
Pow!
Weiss was shot by a laser blast throwing her off balance.
"This is bad." He muttered to himself as he looked around looking for a solution. "That armor is too thick. They need help. They need something that packs a punch."
And quickly enough, a stupid thought came to Jaune's head. It was dangerous enough to be called dumb and risky enough to work.
He seems to be getting a lot of those lately.
"I know I'm gonna regret it later."
…
Strapping himself onto the driver seat of the stolen truck, Jaune made a short prayer for himself before quickly put pressure on the gas pedestal, letting the wheels screech like an illegal race car before letting it speed off into the distance.
The boy held his breath and didn't hesitate for a single moment when his vehicle tore through the protective barriers of the highway, freefalling straight down towards the makeshift battleground.