"I want the Tetharans as my last line of defense. The White Fang forces in front will weaken the Remnant forces, leaving my Tetharan forces fresh and ready to finish them off," Cinder ordered the White Fang and Rogue Tetharan commanders at the table.
"U-understood, ma'am," a White Fang commander spoke for the others, turning to leave.
"You have something wrong with that strategy?" Cinder halted the commander with her piercing words.
"No ma'am, other than the fact it feels like the White Fang gets the short end of the stick here," the commander replied quietly.
"If you could come up with a better strategy to have victory against the entirety of Remnant's forces," Cinder leaned forward placing her hands on the table as she glared at the commander, "I'd love to hear it."
"No, m-ma'am, your strategy is the best one available to have victory," the commander snapped to attention quickly as his voice wavered.
"Your sacrifices will not be in vain. If we win this battle then we win the war, because with Remnant's forces destroyed there will be no one left to stand in our way," Cinder stood back up straight. "You have your orders, now go."
As the commanders turned to leave the meeting room, a black fog entered the room and the sounds of struggling guards outside caused the commanders to reach for their weapons and aim at the door. Cinder stood still, looking at the door curiously as it was blown down. Slowly, a figure wearing all black with a white mask walks in, with another soldier bearing a large chainsaw.
"So the prodigal son returns," Cinder smirked. The smirk soon faded into a snarl, "Where the hell have you been?"
"I had to go into hiding after being defeated by Sam and Blake. They thought they had killed me, and it had to look convincing," Adam smirked, his eyes under his mask glowing red.
"And you're going to tell me how you suddenly have these abilities?" Cinder cocked her head the sight of red glowing eyes and sudden apparent immortality.
"I've already told you I have no memory how I got them. I simply fell asleep in that cave since my headquarters was placed there, and I awoke to having new unbelievable powers," Adam admitted begrudgingly
"And you told Sam this?" Cinder continued her questioning.
"I made something up, I improvised. Don't worry about it," Adam quickly changed the subject, "The point is I have brought more White Fang soldiers along with the forces of Grimm."
Cinder's eyes narrowed and wondered how much of the truth Adam was sharing, but decided to leave things be. "Very well, allow me to show you where you can set up," she replied, pulling a map back up to show him. "We'll be taking the most pressure from the east side. Atlas will be bringing everything they've got, and they've taken the least amount of damage of the 4 kingdoms. Vale has also manage to conserve their armies, except for maybe in Vacuo. Mistral has somewhat recovered, but Vacuo is still in a bit of a crisis. Vale will hit us from the south with any Vacuo soldiers they can spare, and Mistral will strike us from the west. I want the largest portion of your troops to the east, with the rest scattered around the south and the west. Keep a couple of divisions here in Tethara too, just in case we need them."
"Sounds good to me," Adam nodded to his lieutenant, who turned around and left the room. "So, what did I miss?" he turned back to Cinder.
"What did you miss?" Cinder glared at him. "What did you miss? A golden opportunity to wipe out a kingdom and destroy their council, and without your assistance we lost Emerald and Mercury, and Roman and Neo jumped ship. What did you miss? If I didn't need your forces I'd wipe the floor with you right now and make sure you don't come back."
Adam didn't flinch, simply smiled and sat down, "I'm sorry that I wasn't present for the assault on Vacuo, but we are still in a golden opportunity," he stated.
"Your meaning?" Cinder softened up, sitting down and relaxing somewhat.
"Remnant will bring everything they have at us, and if we beat them we still win the war this next battle. If anything, my not showing up to Vacuo just ended the war a bit sooner in our favor," Adam fiddled with the handle of his sword.
"Yet at the same time it could just as easily end sooner in our defeat instead of this glorious victory you are envisioning," Cinder's glare returned.
"Oh relax a little! You have an army of Faunus, Tetharans, and now Grimm at your disposal! The last time you went against Remnant here you only had Tetharans, but now you have all of this! The only one who can really challenge you anyway is Sam, so why are you so concerned?" Adam laughed a bit.
"Because of the fact that Vacuo should have been that victory. Yet somehow we lost. Now we are without Mercury and Emerald, and Roman and Neo who can give the forces of Remnant our secrets of our positioning," Cinder reasoned.
"Yes, you lost, but I've heard about the battle. Without a stroke of luck for Remnant's forces, we had the battle won. And that was without the addition of Tetharans and Grimm forces. We'll be fine," Adam stood up and turned to leave.
"Yes, but they didn't have Atlas forces there either. I'm just saying don't underestimate Remnant's forces," Cinder warned.
"Don't worry, I'm looking forward to crushing Sam and his friends," Adam gave one last smirk before leaving.
"I said don't underestimate them, you fool," Cinder muttered under her breath, looking out a window from the Citadel in Tethara.
Neo sat up in her bed that she had received when Sam brought her and Roman back, and began looking around for the aforementioned Roman, finding no sign of him. She got up and quickly changed out of her pajamas into her usual outfit, then walked out to the balcony that was attached to their room. She was surprised to see Roman already standing there, leaning against the railing of the balcony with his hat on his cane next to him. "Hey," she alerted him of her presence as she walked up next to him.
"Hey," he replied, seemingly distracted. Neo tilted her head in confusion as Roman kept his head forward to the Vale city skyline.
"What's wrong?" she asked, turning towards him, leaning her side onto the railing.
"Just…have a lot on my mind," he replied, not blinking.
"You know you can tell me," she pushed his arm to try and get more of a reaction.
"I mean, doesn't this seem weird to you?" Roman finally turned and looked Neo in the eye. "After everything we had done, we're here, in a suite, waiting to join the rest of Remnant in destroying our old boss? And I don't think I'll ever get what happened at Vacuo out of my mind."
Neo simply nodded her head. She also had some nightmares about what had happened in Vacuo, with death practically staring them down. "I don't get it," Roman shook his head. "Sam should hate us, yet I don't know what you did, but he just dropped it."
"Well, maybe we shouldn't be worried about the why, and just focus on making sure that we make up for what we did?" she replied softly, looking over Vale.
"To be fair, I don't know why he spared you either," an agitated man's voice rang out above them. Roman and Neo both turned to see Seth sitting on the roof over them. "And to be honest I'm not a fan of his decision, but he decided to spare you two and I have no reason to not trust Sam's judgement as of yet."
"How long have you been up there?" Roman asked quizzically.
"Just because I won't question Sam's decision to spare you and bring you in doesn't mean I trust you yet. I'm part of the police force that spent months trying to stop you and bring you in," Seth glared at Roman, with Neo looking to get in the way for a moment before Roman held her back.
"You gave me a hell of a run for my money," Roman replied respectfully.
"More like other people's money," Seth said maliciously, though with a small smirk.
"Look, if we're going to be fighting alongside each other, we may as well hash it out now instead of not being able to trust each other," Roman began growing frustrated with Seth's actions.
"What makes you think I could ever trust you?" Seth questioned, jumping from the roof to look Roman in the eye.
"Well, we can either start trusting each other, or not and allow it to potentially hinder our chances of winning the coming battle," Roman offered strategically, hoping to get past the awkward conversation.
"So you think the only way we can trust each other is because we have to?" Seth narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I don't believe it's the only way, but it is the quickest," Roman replied, slightly confused by Seth's actions.
"Trust isn't something one can just develop because he has to. Trust is something that is earned," Seth walked over to the balcony's ledge next to Roman and Neo. "I wasn't just hanging around here because I wanted to, nor is it because I was ordered to look over you. Ozpin has a mission he entrusted me with, and simply asked if I'd consider having you along for the ride."
"A mission? What kind of mission?" Roman's eyes went confusion to intrigue.
"Retrieval of a VIP. I have some basic information to go on, but Ozpin left it on a simply need to know basis. Listen, I'm going to be honest. I really don't like you. But I also realize that I'm stuck with you because of Sam's decision to spare you back in Vacuo. I don't know why he decided to spare you, but I trust Sam with my life, so if he can put your past sins behind for this fight, I can too," Seth explained, crossing his arms.
Roman looked over to Neo, who simply nodded her head. "Very well, we'll assist you on your mission. What do you need us to do?"
"I'm sure you remember Junior?" Seth asked, unfolding his arms for a moment. Roman and Neo simply nodded in response allowing Seth to continue, "Well, again thanks to Sam's mercy, he was allowed to back to running his bar in Vale. Along with that, he's also gotten some of his men back, and I'm sure you still have some contacts in Vale we can get ahold of. We need as much information on the whereabouts of this person as possible, so we'll need all the help we can get."
"I'm honored at the chance of redemption, but if the person is so valuable to Ozpin's cause, why not send his own military? Why use Junior's men and my leftover goons?" Roman asked curiously, scratching his chin in thought.
"Well, simply put, we've got most of our military assets making the final preparations for the assault on Tethara, so they are busy at the moment. Ozpin turned to me because he had little options, and if I'm going to start trusting you I may as well at least offer some by giving you this opportunity," Seth stated, turning to jump back onto the roof of the suite. "I've already got some agents on the lookout, just let me know when you've made contact with Junior and your men." After finishing his statement, Seth jumped back onto the roof and sprinted away from the couple still standing on the balcony.
"I guess we've got some work to do," Neo turned back towards Roman.
"I suppose we do. Though I am curious who this mystery VIP is," Roman pulled out his scroll, leaning back on the railing of the balcony.
The sounds of metal crashing together in quick succession filled the spacious walls of the training room at Beacon. Ruby and Qrow had been sparring for the past 15 minutes, with Ruby slowly wearing down against her uncle. Yang had been watching since she had fought with Qrow first, cheering her sister on.
"C'mon Rubes! Use your speed to get past his defense!" Yang pumped her fist into the air as Ruby disappeared into a cloud of rose petals. Qrow was prepared for this and jumped backwards to dodge her attack, then stopped his backwards progress to retaliate with a few quick jabs. After these hits, Ruby's scroll and the monitors in the room began screeching an alarm signal to show that Ruby's aura had been reduced into the red, and she gave a defeated humph and fell onto the ground on her back.
"You're getting better," Qrow praised, putting away his sword. "With what little training you both have, you're definitely giving me a run for my money."
"We'll be stronger than you in no time, no doubt about it," Yang came up to the both of them from her spectator spot and helped Ruby to her feet.
"Yeah right, you pipsqueaks won't be on my level for some time. C'mon, let's go get dinner, I'm starving," Qrow assumed his usual posture and walked out of the sparring ring with Yang and Ruby following behind.
"Won't be on your level for some time huh? Well what was that you just said about us giving you a run for your money?" Ruby ran up to her uncle as they walked, with a large smirk on her face.
"I still won with plenty of aura left, you just gave me more of a challenge than I expected," Qrow rolled his eyes playfully, returning Ruby's smirk.
"Well that's not very nice Uncle Qrow! You thought we wouldn't put up much of a fight?" Ruby started to pout, folding her arms and stopping in her tracks.
"Never said you wouldn't put up much of a fight, just said you did better than is to be expected from someone with as little formal training as you do," Qrow ruffled her hair, turning away from her to a noodle bar they usually went to together as a family.
"Its been a while since we've been here," Yang sighed nostalgically, with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"I know, but I figured we could use it as a happy place to remember our lost loved ones and feel like they are with us still," Qrow gave a genuine smile before sitting at the bar, with Ruby and Yang following. They ordered their food and began chatting about the war, Sam, and family stories.
"I don't remember much of mom, what was she like?" Ruby asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah, you never really talk about your sister," Yang mentioned, causing Qrow to tense up. This reaction startled both Yang and Ruby, with them turning their heads in confusion. "Uncle Qrow, what's wrong?" Yang asked.
"Its nothing," Qrow's tension immediately subsided as he smiled and took a drink of his beverage.
Ruby and Yang both looked at each other weirdly, and Ruby decided to press, "Is there something about mom we don't know about?" she asked politely.
"Summer loved you both, that's all that matters," Qrow waved his hand trying to push away the subject.
"What is it Uncle Qrow?" Yang jumped in, with both her and Ruby focusing their attention on their awkward uncle.
Qrow let out a long sigh, finishing his beverage and slamming it onto the table. "I suppose its time to tell you both," Qrow looked down, with both Ruby and Yang leaning in to listen. "Summer isn't my sister," Qrow whispered.
"What?! So you're not really even our uncle?!" Yang jumped backwards in both surprise and fury.
"Hold on, I'm not finished," Qrow tried to control his own frustration, with Ruby and Yang trying to as well. "What I just told you was a bombshell in it of itself, but you both deserve the whole story. You two are sisters, but you are only half-sisters. You both share the same father, but two different mothers. Yang, you were too young to remember your biological mother, she left almost immediately after you were born. But, your mother is my actual sister."
Yang's expression was twisted with surprise, anger, and deep sadness. Ruby's face was one of just pure shock and sadness. "So what you mean to say is Yang is the only biological family I have left?" Ruby forced out, barely audible to both Yang and Qrow.
"I'm sorry, Ruby," Qrow lowered his head, wishing he had a full beverage in front of him to distract himself from his current situation.
"So why lie to us? Why lie that you are Summer's brother?" Yang questioned fiercely.
"After my sister abandoned you and your father, I began searching for you two to look over you. Once I learned you were with Summer Rose, I explained the situation to her and she agreed to have the story that I was her brother. We did it because we thought at the time that was what was best for you both," Qrow sighed, with both Yang and Ruby slowly calming down.
"So where is your real sister, my biological mother?" Yang's face had relaxed but she glared daggers into her Uncle's eyes.
"She's the leader of a bandit tribe out in Mistral. But we need to stay focused on the mission at hand," Qrow stated honestly.
"I'll be the judge of what I should be focusing on," Yang fired back, flaring up her semblance in frustration.
"Yang, he has a point. With the war nearing the end, we need to stay focused and finish the fight," Ruby stated, despite tears forming in her eyes.
"This war is important, I don't need someone else to tell me that for me to know," Yang calmed as she directly spoke to her half-sister. "But after all of this time, I learn that I have a mother who left before I could even form memories. I need to confront her about this."
"I understand," Qrow nodded his head solemnly. "I can take you to her."
"Really?" Yang suddenly seemed more hopeful, though she still held a bit of anger at her uncle for hiding this secret.
"Yes, I can," Qrow patted her shoulder, turning to Ruby for a moment. "Ruby, I may not be your biological uncle, but I've been around you since you were born. We may not be linked by blood, but I will always love and treat you as my niece." Ruby simply hugged Qrow, with Yang coming up to hug Ruby.
"So what now?" Yang asked Qrow after they broke the hug.
"I'll tell Ozpin about our mission, and we can head out whenever you're ready," Qrow stood from the bar, leaving enough money to pay for their meal and leave a tip.
"Yang, I am happy for you that you are going to find your mother, but my place is here, joining the fight against Cinder," Ruby smiled solemnly.
Yang frowned for a moment, closing her eyes and lowering her head. But, after a moment, she raised her head with a smile. "Okay, but you have to promise you'll win it for us!" Yang came up to give Ruby a hug.
"As if I would do anything else," Ruby laughed and hugged Yang back.
"Very well. I'll let Ozpin know about what's going on, and then we'll be on the road," Qrow ruffled Ruby's hair. "Make sure to keep in touch."
"I'd have it no other way," Qrow and Yang smiled and began walking towards Beacon Tower, with Ruby heading back to the sparring room to continue her training.
Hey guys! This chapter has been a long time coming, but it is finally here! I'm not going to promise certain release times, but I am committed to finishing this story in its entirety, even going back and rewriting some parts of the previous two parts to make it better. Thank you guys so much for reading! If you feel particularly interested in leaving a review, please do so! As always, I'll see you in the next part!
