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Killjoy :

Twisted ~ The point is that Jaune, and everyone else, have it rubbed in. I won't say why, but that is in fact part of the point.

The Fish King :

Twisted ~ Kind of, yeah. But less Spartan and more a rifleman with a small shield for cover, ala Pavise Handgunners of the Byzantine empire. For context, during the advent of smaller matchlock firearms, soldiers would form ranks using large pavise shields and crabine-esque weapons to skirmish with minimal risk.

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Something was off, Six felt, as they pushed open the main doors to Haven Academy. Reaching down, he lifted his sword and shifted it into its rifle form, stepping past the group and standing next to Qrow with it held comfortably in his arms. "I have a bad feeling. Zero contacts on my radar systems."

"What's that thing's range?" Qrow asked without turning, instead managing to look uninterested entirely in any of the happenings around him.

"Far enough that I should detect movement in any of the nearby buildings," Six answered shortly, disabling his speaker for a moment, "Dot, VISR mode. Scan for heat signatures if you can."

"Your recovered helmet is specialised and can scan for heat signatures, movement, and metals of varying types up to fifty yards," she offered helpfully, an icon on the side of his HUD lighting up.

"Do it then," he ordered.

Metal reinforcements lining some of the walls, demolition charges, (automatically marked on his HUD), and various weapons, or what looked like them, hanging on walls. What was lacking was any sign of movements, aside from a door wobbling back and forth where it had been left open.

Finally, the pings ended, and he turned to Qrow, "Movement straight ahead, thirty yards. Single target, appears unarmed and unarmored, sitting at a desk. Staff, probably."

"How do you know that?" Ruby asked quietly, looking first at the rifle and then Six.

"VISR scan of the building," he answered, rolling his eyes behind his helmet and turning to Qrow, "Ord- Suggestions?"

Qrow chuckled and strode forward, Six just behind him and the others trailing further. The drunk didn't hesitate at the door, yanking it open, the bearded man on the other side leaping in surprise. "Q-Qrow! You couldn't knock?"

"Nope," he complained, the group stopping in front of the desk across from him as he nervously stepped around it. "You were supposed to meet us at the gate, Lionheart. You weren't there, so we thought something might have happened."

He fished a clock out of his pocket, making a show of flinching and looking apologetic. "Ah, I'm sorry. I must have lost track of time," he chuckled, scratching at his beard and easing into his seat comfortably. "But, uh, should we really talk with the children and this," he gave Six a once over and swallowed nervously, "rather large man here?"

"They already know everything important. The Maidens, magic, the works." The man visibly flinched again, this one appearing far more honest than the last, and opened his mouth to protest.

"Six," Dot started, the Spartan muting his speakers while the two went back and forth and turning slightly to the side, "I am detecting outbound signals originating from this room, mainly passive ones, probably from security suites. An inbound signal has attempted contact ten times already however."

"Personal device, possibly?" he asked, finger sliding into the trigger guard instinctively. Prudence, mainly, if anything happened he'd put rounds into 'Lionheart' first and foremost and then react to whatever threat there was.

"Negative. The channel appears to be encrypted, and isn't directed at the personal device in the man's jacket. It is instead routed along the same signal as the outbound one, piggybacked and concealed onto it." After a second and in a quieter voice, the AI added, "The security forces in Mistral and Haven Academy would have no reason or desire to use piggybacked signals. It would be easier to have their own, and the outbound signal is evidence that they use their own."

"Monitor it," he ordered, turning to look at Ruby and her friends as they relaxed into a couch for a moment, gripping the rifle more firmly, "Try to piggyback it to the source, if you can."

"This Kingdom is in shambles, Qrow. As soon as possible isn't when you want it to be, it's when I can convince the Council that I need Huntsmen more than they do." The old man sighed, resting his head on a few of his fingers. "These days, bandit tribes don't rank very high on their priority list."

"We can go ourselves, then," Qrow argued, leaning down on the desk and into the man's personal space, "You and I are trained, veteran Huntsmen. These kids aren't pushovers either, and Six…" he turned his head to look at the Spartan, gesturing at the Headmaster in a manner he took to be a request for permission. Six nodded, and the man turned back, "Six is a veteran of a war of his own, and not only did he kill one of her men, a scorpion Faunus, but he also took out the Nuckelavee."

Lionheart was silent for a few seconds, fingers drumming on the table, "Impressive enough, but I have had four men and women from this Academy alone die who have slain thousands of Grimm. Members of the Lokhoi as well, almost all of them. We need numbers as well, and these children won't be able to stand in a fight against the Branwen tribe's numbers." He gestured to Ruby, easily the smallest and frailest of them, "We already lost one Rose, Qrow, I won't send another to die. Especially one so young and untrained."

"Hey!" she squeaked offendedly seemingly out of sheer reaction, flinching back and looking upset. A dead loved one, perhaps? She wasn't young enough to have lost many comrades, and likely not to have them close enough to be on the verge of tears merely at a mention of them passing.

Jaune was quick to step past Qrow, wrapping an arm around the small girl and hugging her before glaring at the old man, "That was uncalled for, sir. You obviously know something and you hurt Ruby with it."

"As a philosopher once said, 'a broken heart, may one day mend, yet a broken body, is only an end.' I will gladly hurt her feelings to save her life, young man." He turned his eyes on Qrow, swallowed nervously and marshalled a stern face, "Even if it makes you angry, Qrow."

Six understood the sentiment, in a way. He'd seen enough Marines and Troopers die young and brash that eventually, he stopped letting them on his missions. It offended them, and clearly hurt them, but not as much as a bullet or plasma shot. Stepping forward, he said as much. "I agree, as much as I hate the methods. Better to hurt feelings now than bury her in a few days."

"But we have to-"

"Which is why I am willing to help, in any way you require, to get us where we need to be." Six said, cutting across before Qrow could get angry and looking at him. "I won't let my team get thrown to their deaths again, Qrow. Even for a good cause. I apologize."

After a second, the man pushed off the desk and sighed, shaking his head, "S'fine, Six. I don't hold it against ya, if I'd been through the shit you have…" He shook his head, chuckling dryly and wagging a pointed finger at him, "Well, ain't nobody else I'd listen to."

"Thank you, Qrow," the Spartan said politely, inclining his head and fighting the urge to salute before turning bodily to the Headmaster once again, "My offer stands."

"You'd be working under me directly, you know. And against the Grimm," the older man said seriously, standing and leaning forward on the desk, braced on his fingers, "I heard the reports that you lacked Aura to protect you, so I hope you have more than bravado to back up your offer."

"The man essentially rode a Nuckelavee until it exploded, Leo," Qrow argued hotly, clearly fed up by now with the man's hesitancy, "And I'll back him up too, so cut him some slack. Or at least as much as Oz ever cut you in the bad old days."

"You always bring that up…" Lionheart sighed, shaking his head and turning around to gaze out the window with his arms behind his back, "Very well, then. I'll request additional Huntsman as well as reports on Grimm activity. No guarantees, of course, but-"

"If we cut 'em down in numbers, we might get help sooner," Qrow snapped at him, shrugging when Ruby thumped his arm and shook her head at him aggravatedly.

"Well, yes," Lionheart said with a heavy sigh, "I could… also use help against other, smaller bandit tribes as well. To rob Raven of more fighters later, if nothing else, but while fighting Grimm is honorable… This would be…" he sighed, seeking the words, "Not as much."

Wet work, Six concluded instantly, turning to look at the others' confused expressions. Minus Qrow who looked downright apocalyptic, opening his mouth to obviously rip into the man. Six stepped between him and the desk, the man's odd colored eyes boring into his visor as he pushed him back until he relented and Six turned to the Headmaster, "Dispatch the others against the Grimm. It sounds like you need a wet works specialist, and I am one. But…" he tilted his head at Ruby, the Headmaster looking over his shoulder, "I work alone in that field. A hyper lethal vector in his element is unstoppable, but not with additional variables I don't strictly need."

"Wet work?" Jaune asked quietly, Six's eyes closing in frustration. He'd hoped they wouldn't answer, after all. "What's 'wet work'?"

"Means killin' people that are problems to someone," Qrow offered helpfully, fishing out his flask and taking a long drink before shoving it and his hands into his pockets, "He goes in, kills whoever Leo or whoever the hell it is tells him to, comes on back for the next job. About right?"

"Affirmative," Six said snappishly, aggravated at the look he knew Ruby would be giving him, "I have until now managed a ninety-eight percent mission success rate. Virtually one hundred percent, minus recent engagements that weren't true wet work operations."

"How do you mean?" Lionheart asked curiously, turning fully and reaching up to scratch at his beard. "Forgive me, the Council will ask when I make the offer."

"I am not as good as others in a prolonged engagement, or during more… defensive maneuvers." He thought back to the small outpost on Reach which, while still on par for Spartans, was below what he could have done under better situations. "I am excellent at infiltration, assassinations, sabotage and interrogation. While I can, and almost exclusively do, win a field engagement, I prefer to avoid them."

"Six, you promised." Six turned, looking at Ruby, and she stared back with hard silver eyes, much like Qrow had done with his equally strange eyes. "You promised me, and us."

Unlike with Qrow, he balked under her stare and turned away. "This is the best method to secure your objectives, Ruby. This is the best use I have for you and your group, so I will utilise it to the fullest."

"It's not about how useful you are to-"

"Except it is!" he finally snapped, turning to face her hard enough the floor splintered slightly under him from the force of his boots pushing off the ground. "I was built for use, Ruby, not even born. This is what I am." He pointed at them in turn, "I don't judge you for being Huntsmen or Huntresses. I respect it, you are needed and useful. But you're a weapon for killing, just like me." He turned back around, looking at the Headmaster sitting in his seat now and looking quite surprised and mildly frightened, "Get me a list of targets, and I will begin operations immediately."

"Y-Yes, of course, Six," Leo said, stuttering, and Six nodded before turning and storming from the room.

Ruby made to follow, but Qrow grabbed her arm, "Let him go for a bit, pipsqueak. You've been pushing too much, he needs to make some choices and do some thinkin'," he sighed, and let her arm go when he was sure she'd stay, "And… he does kind of have a point too. He's accepting of who you are, and what you are. You only give him half that."

Six was able to hear them, of course, standing at the gate scarcely past a hundred yards, using the signal Dot had managed to get from the man's device to listen in and make sure they'd be okay without his support.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked lowly, the sound of armor shifting echoing quietly.

"I mean that you all act like killin' is something evil, which it is. But you act like it always is," Qrow said tiredly, shaking his head, "Look, kids, I'd kill Cinder if she were here. Would that make me a monster? Would ya judge me for it after it was said and done?"

"No," Ruby answered first, quietly.

"Then stop doin' it to him," Qrow said simply, "Let him change naturally, or don't, but you can't do it for 'im. He's gotta make up his own mind. And if you each force yourselves on each other like this, trying to determine who is wrong…" Silence reigned for a second, and Qrow continued. "Just… think on it. Now let's head out, I need a damn drink."

Six watched them go, kneeling behind a rock a dozen yards down the wall from the main gate, before standing. He took a step to return to the office when another voice echoed, "We have got to work on your improvisational skills."

"Dot?" he asked quietly, looking back in the direction of the office and sinking back into his hiding place, throwing the cloak over his weapon to prevent a glint being seen before going still as the dead.

"Negative on new contacts on your VISR system." She pinged it anyway on his visual HUD systems, showing the man alone in his office, sitting at his desk, "Confirming the inbound signal as the source of the voice. No change in signal strength or frequency, he must have been listening the entire time."

Not friendly then, in all likelihood. If they had been, why not mention them at the onset for politeness? Or if they were important figures, when they had discussed his uses? His hands tightened on his rifle slightly when Lionheart spoke, "I-I did my best, Doctor Watts., I'm-"

"Don't use my name, you simpleton," the voice sighed tiredly. A common mistake for the teacher then, it would seem. "Honestly, how many times do I have to say that?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor."

"Trace it?" Six asked quietly, activating an in-suit recorder.

"Already attempting that. The signal lacks strength for me to follow it conventionally without noticeable signal interruptions. Detection probable," she said simply, showing the strength of the signal on his HUD's lower part, then adding a second - hers - and showing a probability of detection. Eighty-five percent. "Shall I go ahead, Noble Six?"

"Negative," he said after a few long seconds, slowly sinking lower, "No… Get me another VISR scan of the building, and tag the signal flow pattern on my HUD." She did, and he couldn't help but smile thinly. "Good, now prep some infiltration software."

"May I ask the objective, Noble Six, while I build the program and follow the signal flow?" Dot inquired politely, the extra details disappearing from his HUD and being replaced by multiple VISR pings and overlays.

"Wetwork, Dot," Six answered quietly, sliding the safety off his rifle, "We just need our targets, like we told Lionheart."

"Understood. Working."

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After this chapter, I'll be going on Hiatus for this story until I adjust to a new work schedule. Been working on doing that for a while, and only just now got to revisit this title. I also wish to watch the new Volume and adapt to the new information it may present about Mistral as a whole. If you'd like to prevent that, you can always become a Supporter and I'll go between the two stories, Mind Games and this one.

Secondary note, this story features mild butterfly effects. Which is why sentences will be ever so slightly different. It's mainly to help me maintain both stay somewhat in line, between this story and Canon.