I own nothing but the OCs save for one.
Chapter 35-The Men Behind the Scenes
Vale General Hospital, Ten Hours after the battle's end…
Screw hangovers, this is worse by a mile. Were Yang's thoughts as her eyes opened to a blurry world of white and blue. A moan escaped her lips and her fingers instinctive flexed our in an effort to grasp something solid. What she ended doing was using her bedsheets for support to pull herself upwards. Before she knew it she was arched over the bed groaning at the spinning world. A bandaged hand ran through her golden mane followed by another. Thank god no one touched my hair. She mentally sighed running her hands down the length of her pride and joy. Once she'd confirmed her hair was safe she focused her vision on the world around her. From what she gathered it was a standard issue hospital room with no window and no TV. Looking down she saw her hands had been wrapped deeply in red-stained bandages. Forming a fix caused slight discomfort but she could work through it. "At least I still have both hands." She mused before swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
To her silent relief both limbs softly touched the ground. With a shaky breath Yang stood up needing a minute to balance herself. Once that was over with and she had all her senses in order she was able to hear the mayhem happening outside of her door. Dozens of voices barking at each other while wheels screeched against the floor and faint screams penetrated the walls. "No wonder Izaak doesn't like hospitals." The blond said to herself making her way towards the door. Pushing the door open was easy, avoiding getting run over was hard though. Not one person paid attention to her in their mad rush form one end of the hallway to another. Right before her violet eyes countless people were wheeled in on title tables, wheelchairs, and in some cases carried by the arm. Immediately blasting her noise was the thick smell of blood and chemicals leaking in through the air vents. "I think I'm going to be sick." The boxer whispered feeling her legs about to give out from under her.
If not for catching one familiar face Yang was pretty sure she would have stumbled back into her hospital room. His blue eyes widened considerable upon seeing her before he was moving towards him. Grabbing her by the arm he dragged her back into her room. Once he was sure the bed would be there to cushion her fall Dr. Rax released a held breath. "This is why I don't do Huntsmen and Huntresses, especially ones barely out of the academy. You're dodging death one minute only to go out to meet him again first chance you get."
"Kind of part of our job." Came the dry reply. "You guys look like you've got your hands full."
"You don't know the half of it Yang." He shook his head. Looking down from his face Yang saw the smears of blood all over his coat. Now that he was closer she caught the thick scent of blood rolling off him. His eyes more than told her what he'd been through in the last few hours. "I've operated on twelve patients in the last five hours, four of which died, one of them before I even got there including your sister."
"What? Ruby?" She suddenly sat up panic spreading in her eyes and fear infecting her soul. "She's alive right? I-I mean she's got to be right? Right?"
"Your sister is and so is Weiss, Blake on the other hand just left critical since she inhaled more toxin than any of you. Plus a fractured skull isn't exactly good for your health if you want my word for it."
"Which room?" Was her immediate reply.
With an eyebrow raised the surgeon asked, "Sun's with her, isn't that enough?" When she remained unchanged Dr. Rax released a defeated sigh. "Go up a floor to room C-34, sixth door on your left. Due please try not to harm yourself or anyone."
"Thanks doc!" Yang called before jumping off the bed and racing out the door.
Dr. Rax watched the blond-haired box with curious eyes and a passive face. She'd healed faster than her teammates, granted out of all of them her wounds were lighter in comparison. Ruby and Weiss had to be treated for serious Aura depletion while Blake was the worst of the lot. Only Yang had managed to avoid any life-threatening injuries. "I guess what they say is true, it ain't easy wounding a dragon except for hitting their pride." He remarked then walked out the door towards his next patient.
Location Unknown, Twelve Hours Post Battle of Aemon Strip...
Behind his mask Adam could feel his own eyes started to turn as red as his highlight. "You know some answers on what the hell just happened would be nice! Answers on why I just sacrificed over two hundred of my men for-"
"Again boy? Honestly I know bulls are hard-headed but I at least thought whatever human genes you have would balance things out." Thong didn't care that her remark twisted the Faunus's face into a hated snarl. It could have swollen into a balloon and popped for all she cared.
"Hey Thong!" Hoyt called from the other side of the elevator. "Just let the boss explain things, after all he called for the kid anyway."
"Probably to tell the kid to relax or give him some extra doses of KOKOU for next time. Heh, you guys sure as could have used it out there on the field." Pox laughed causing each of the Faunus's faces to contort into expressions of fury. Despite their fierce glares Pox's smile widened until it took up almost his entire face. "Oum knows your brother could have used it Carmelo, might have saved him from getting his guts vaporized."
"Hah! Save it Pox." Came the other male at the other end of the elevator on the side opposite of the White Fang. He was a middle-aged man appearing to be in his late thirties with a brown buzz cut and scarred face. A horizontal scar across his left cheek and a vertical scar cutting through the end of his right eyebrow. A small one took up space on his chin and another above his right eyebrow. The man's mocking blue-green eyes ran over the assembled Faunus with amusement and disgust. "You can teach a dog how to play the piano, dance, and sing opera, but in the end a dog is still just a dog."
A visible huff left Carmelo's nostrils and his horns seemed to expand out of his forehead. There was a short snarl before he took his first steps across the garage sized elevator.
"CARMELO!" Adam barked not even reaching to grab the younger boy to stop him. Needless to say it worked
Across from him the ex-Atlas specialist snorted. "Least some of you degenerates know how to follow orders."
"Now, now Thong." Hoyt chuckled. "Give the kid some credit, not like he had much to work with."
While the adults in the room held a slight stand-off Pox and the red-faced Carmelo continued their silent war, one with a grin and the other with a snarl. The human was daring the bull-human to come at him fully knowing what would happen. Carmelo knew what would happen too.
The fight wouldn't last long enough for the garage-sized elevator to be destroyed, hell, what would happen would be so fast it couldn't have been called a fight.
DING!
"Come on Adam, you have something you want to say to our boss then follow me. The rest of you follow Hoyt to the storage facility." Thong barked moving to be the first one out the door.
The mask-wearing Faunus and orange-haired mercenary were the first out of the door and were already walking down the designated pathway while Hoyt guided the rest to the left. Around the two of them various men and women worked on vehicles and APCs creating a never ending festival of sparks and grinding noises. None of them paid the pair any mind instead focusing inclusively in the task at hand. Thong didn't need to back to know Adam was taking in the difference of scale between their base of operations and the White Fang's.
Being built out of a hallowed out mountain it was only natural space was in quantity.
"Were you waiting for us?" Thong lightly questioned seeing the six-foot six figure waiting for them at the end of the hall.
"What you don't believe in coincidences Thong?" His deep voice boomed.
Adman did his best not to look intimidated by the man once regarded as one of Mistral's best Huntsmen, and even then he still felt like he failed. It was hard not to feel that way being around Vesuvius Tect, the Reaper of Flames. He was six-feet of muscle and strength that possessed speed that belayed his immense appearance. His face was remarkably scar-free and handsome in that sort of barbarian way with jet-black hair tied into a short ponytail. Certain patches of it were a shade of brown and even gray, no doubt a result of his highly destructive Semblance. Speaking of brown his eyes straddled the line between brown and red, meeting somewhere in between to form an almost-flame like color that looked down on Adam with amusement. Like Thong and Hoyt he was dressed in the PESTILENCE military uniform with nary a weapon on him.
Adam knew Vesuvius didn't need one given his reputation.
One of those flame-colored eyes fell on him, a cocky grin soon followed. "Got your big-boy pants on kid?"
Snorting the Faunus male pushed the door to the conference room open to find three figures, two female and one male were already there.
One of them was Cinder and the other, the woman she was arguing with was maybe a decade older than her. Unlike Cinder whose olive skin was quite typical her tan sun-kissed skin was alluring and her hair was a honey-blood color Adam knew came from only one part of Remnant. She was dressed in a lab coat like the male only hers was open allowing her assets to bounce out just a little. She temporarily broke off her argument to acknowledge Adam's presence. Her deep green eyes cackled with sick satisfaction coordination with the one-sided smile that spread over her face.
"Ah," she started giving the man a leering gaze. "So the tiger sent his favorite errand boy to greet us. How thoughtful, tell me one of these days does Shere Khan ever plan on coming out of that hole? Or for that matter sending an adult to do business with us?"
"Ah Adela," Cinder purred giving the same look to Adam. "Don't be so hard on the boy. He after all, the face of the White Fang to people like us, and it's not like he can't sell the look."
Adam's grip on Wilt and Blush tightened. He knew responding would only give them more fuel to add and that wasn't what he came for. No, he wanted the man sitting patiently at the head of the table with both hands clapped together.
"It would have been nice Cinder, if you had some skin in the last game. Do you have any idea how much manpower we sacrificed for that little stunt?" Adela snorted turning her gaze back on Cinder. The smile on her face could easily have been described as psychotic.
Cinder's smile; however, was of another though no less dangerous sort. Adam had grown used to seeing that smile and honestly would have paid to see someone knock it off. "We both know that's a stone-cold lie. If there's one thing you all bring to the table its manpower. Besides, whatever losses you do suffer can be so easily recovered it's laughable. When it comes to numbers we all know I'm in the bottom rung."
"Which begs the question of why we need you." Adela fired back. Her nails were now starting to leave claw marks in the oak-wood table at the center of the conference room.
A flame flickered to life in Cinder's eyes and in her opened palm. "Do I have to remind you?"
"Enough, both you." The male suddenly spoke silencing the women. It wasn't loud and booming nor it was deep and malevolent, it was simple in volume and tone. What made them so powerful the two sadistic women followed them was that fact the man speaking them was one neither of them had any intention of angering.
Not if they expected to live past the hour.
Adam wasn't sure what to make when he first met Giovanni Yersinia, one of the Ivory Three. He didn't strike at all as a man worthy of the mountains of praise he'd been given both humans and Faunus. Granted Adam already had a low opinion of him since he was an ex-army doctor who served in the Faunus Rights Revolution. Giovanni was an unamusing main in his early to mid-forties with some of the darkest hair he'd ever seen and red eyes. Those eyes were what silently terrified Adam the first time he'd met him in person. He'd seen a lot of eyes in his twenty-four years of life he'd seen many kinds of eyes: bloody-thirsty, crazy, sadistic, broken, happy, fake, and unreadable eyes.
Giovanni Yersinia's eyes weren't broken, they were flat out hollow. In one look he'd sized up Adam, broken him down, and cataloged him like he was some piece of machinery.
Sitting quietly in his chair he waited patiently for the others to take their seat at the oval-shaped table. His body frame was normal, no muscle, no scars, and not too skinny. A skin complex of peach color that was common throughout Vale. Once when he was able to look close enough he saw past his omnipresent lab coat and PESTILENCE uniform lay a pair of dog-tags around his neck. Adam recognized as being the sole remainder of a life he'd left behind to pursue a path that had led him to becoming a man so feared even the White Fang dared not openly challenge him.
Taking his seat at the end of the table it became glaringly obvious to Adam how alone he was. Even Cinder, who he was unwilling to ever call an ally had taken her seat on Giovanni's end. For the sake of his brethren he remained strong in the face of the three sets of eyes trained on him. His sword would him no good so all he could rely on were what little political skill he had.
"Adam," Giovanni started training those blood-colored orbs on him causing him to flinch slightly. If he noticed or not he didn't let on. "We did tell you what the objectives of the operation were before we carried them out. Both ours and yours were completed, and we told you cost of which wasn't going to be easy." There was no accusation, sneer, or disdain anywhere in his voice. Unlike the others who at least had an idea how his mind worked Adam didn't thus leaving him blind to the thoughts of the revered biologist.
To his right Adela shot Adam another leering gaze. Leaning in over the table she stated, "It's like we told you the first time Nino, it ain't easy igniting a revolution…or surviving one."
Adam kept his temper in check when he at last spoke. "We just want to make sure when Elegia or the others start sweeping the country we've been properly inoculated." He could feel his own eyes going straight in Cinder's direction with a heated snarl manifesting on his face. His nails would have started digging into the table if he'd put more force into them.
"Now that's just hurtful Adam." The dark-haired woman cried in a hurt voice.
"But not unreasonable." Giovanni added turning his sudden glare in the woman's direction.
"And that's just cruel. Two men ganging up on a defenseless woman while another simply stands by landing it happen!" The amber colored eyes that trickled with mischief flew to Adela who returned greeted them with a murderous smile.
Giovanni ignored the silent staring contest between his second-in-command and his criminal ally to give Adam his fully attention. Since his eyes were almost totally unreadable he couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not, but what his eyes didn't do his voice seemingly did. "You have my word Adam we've given you all the proper vaccines to every biological agent we've been developing. When the time comes I trust you have the means of distribution?"
The Faunus swordsman was silent for a few minutes. "…Of course we do." He finally answered letting some of the tension melt out of his shoulders. Growing up Adam had learned to trust his instincts when they sent him warnings. They'd been spot on in alerting him to Cinder, and yet he got nothing when Giovanni spoke. I'm not going to trust this man, but I know he'll give me more of the truth than she will.
"In that case then you've done all we've asked of you. You don't need to worry about what comes after this." The dark-haired dark paused to lean back a little in his chair, the first humanizing gesture he'd seen from him. "Feel free to quote me to Shere Khan."
"…I will if I have to."
"Good, you're free to go."
He took one look around the table, at the man and women who stood miles above his head. Through his mask his perception of reality shifted and warped turning them into scornful faces with eyes filled with hatred. In return he could feel himself reverting from a feared warrior into a helpless child again.
No, the red and brown-haired man thought heading for the door. Never again, not to them or anyone else.
"So now can the adults finally talk?" Cinder asked crossing her legs.
Tapping a head button the four meter-long flat screen at the end of the conference room buzzed to life revealing live new coverage of the surprise attack. The four sat in silence watching the news reel with each of them forming their own thoughts and opinions on the matter. Cinder and Adela chuckled when brief interviews with Councilman Andersen came up. Obviously the seventy year-old man was doing everything he could to avoid questions about Conley's Torch, waving them off as a "secret beyond top secret" that was vital to the nation's survival. The councilman's bodyguards were all pushing the reporters away with surprising force. Snap shots of countless politicians and military figures continuously popped in and out with many of them denying even a word.
"It's a shame we couldn't wake the Dreadspawner beneath Mountain Glenn, but I'd say the Ethm Wyvern was just as entertaining." Cinder noted laughing at the wide shot the area around Aemon Strip. It looked like a tornado had passed through then a collection of meteors had decided to touch down on the remains.
"Frankly I think we should have put Barguist on air earlier, made him do a live coverage sort of event." Adela countered.
"And they say men are violent, you women are downright sadists." Giovanni sighed bringing their attention back to him. "Have your contacts confirmed the warheads at For Lennox will be completed on schedule?" he questioned with both eyes on Cinder.
"Of course they will be. By the end of January all twenty-two of them will be ready for use. I you'll be ready to steal them when the times comes?" She giggled.
"Insults Cinder? Really? I thought you were above all that?" Adela barked.
"I thought so." She laughed pushing back and making her way towards the door. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat with you two I have my own affairs to tend to. I'll see you again in a few days when my…toys are ready."
The two biologists were silent as they watched the door close behind Cinder. Thanks to their enhanced hearing they could hear the loud clanking of her glass heels against the floor until she was long out of range.
"When can I kill her?" Adela asked her superior once she was sure Cinder wouldn't hear them.
"Any time you want, granted you'll probably die in the process. You may hold out long enough to get that last laugh provided your voice still works." Pressing a hidden button on his end the TV shut off and the lights around the room flipped back on. Buttoning up his lab coat he too made his way to the door with the blond trailing him. "How many Adela?"
"In total we lost one-hundred and two, fifty-two of them were G-Troopers. It wasn't so bad."
"I agree, though I would have liked it if we could have captured at least one of the councilmembers."
"Oh posh Gio, that would have killed the fun before it even started." Was her joyful replied.
Outside the door they found Vesuvius and Thong waiting for them. "Ortho's got the battle footage ready for you." Was Thong's reply. "He's waiting for you in your office."
As per usual the two ex-Huntsmen guarded Giovanni on his way to his office with Adela bouncing at his side. It was ludicrous to think he needed protection in his own base, but they did it anyway for as he'd deduced, both of them actually enjoyed it a little. Giovanni didn't mind it at all. At least it gave him people to talk to rather than willow in his own thoughts.
"Are you two sure about staying on? I can always order someone else to lead the mission." He offered as they stepped into the last elevator that would take them to the sub-level that housed his office.
"How many times do we have to tell you boss? Yes!" Vesuvius sighed throwing a hand up. "Jeez, it's cute you're worried about us but I mean come on! This is the fourth time you've asked us!"
"With all due-respect sir, do you really want Hoyt, Pox, and Barguist leading the mission without a clear head?" Thong questioned not breaking her stoic mask.
Meeting the ex-Atlas Specialist's steel-blue eyes Giovanni responded, "I am sending Ortho too."
"Sure the kid's capable but you know the minute he takes his eyes off of them all hell's going to break loss." Came the reaper's reply. "Operation Lighting Thief was designed with us as the main stars so it'd be a poor show if we didn't show up." He finished with a grin.
Thong was less vocal in her agreement however Giovanni could sense the same sentiment from her. "I see, well then consider the subject closed. The only thing I ask of both of you is that you come back alive."
"Tsch! That place may house some of Vale's deadliest weapons but by the time we get there they'll be no left to use them." Came the x-Huntress's voice.
Only Adela laughed at the fighter's answer, Giovanni as usual took the comment in silence and proceeded on his way. At the end of the maze-like serious of halls and corridors they came to a set of double black doors with the PESTILENCE logo imprinted on it. Stepping up close the scanner at the top of the door frame flashed bright green running a scan over the forty-four year-old man. There was a blue flash followed by a loud click. With that the former army doctor pushed the doors to his office open.
It was a rather spacious room, fitting for the head of one of Vale's top PMCs. A fifteen-by-fifteen foot square shaped room with a dark wood and steel desk sat at the back in an elaborate L-shape. Starting from left to right was an artificial waterfall built into the back wall followed by a series of bookshelves and paintings. At the far end lay a black and gray double-doored locker with an electrical keypad on it. On the left side of the room sat a large dresser with a collection glass and stone models sitting across the top.
Two occupants were already standing at attention in front of the desk. Azana shyly looked away from him as he entered but the male simply held up his hand.
"Hey dad." He said as Giovanni took his seat.
"Ortho," he replied getting comfortable. "So how was your day?"
"Eh, could have been better. Went to the place where Vale grows its food, played with some rats, mostly sat around and did nothing but make sure nothing went boom. Pretty boring, you?"
With a shrug Giovanni regarded the twenty year-old male. As previously stated there wasn't a scratch on him due to the nature of his mission. He wasn't blind to the fact his son was considered drop-dead handsome both women and men. In stark contrast to Giovanni's ebony-black hair his was a golden yellow that was kept cut as a reasonable yet fashionable length. Unlike his blood-colored eyes Ortho's were bright blue as the sky though some people said despite their purity they carried the same "hollowness" Giovanni's did. His body was the epitome of what men his age desired-not too scrawny or bulky, a perfect balance between lean and muscle. Not a single scar was visible from the exposed portions of his body which were his face, neck, and hands. As many of the base staff said, "he knows how to wear a uniform" and to a degree Giovanni agreed. Dressed in PESTILENCE's off-duty jacket and slacks his son seemed like a fresh young military recruit with the face of a model.
Of course all these things completely flew over Ortho who often remarked that he looked "average" whenever he looked into a mirror or was questioned about his appearance. Rather or not he was fully aware of his looks or not was a question very few could answer.
"Average, as for your boredom I hope Operation Lighting Thief will make up for that." Answered the PMC leader. Ortho, Adela, and Azana had taken theirs seats while Thong and Vesuvius chose to remain standing. "With the completion of Operation Memorial we can now move onto our next objective which is the acquisition of Vale's latest secret weapon, the Ukken warhead. Our intelligence tells us we're less than a month away from their completion meaning we won't have to worry about any finishing touches once we have them, we'll be able to jump straight to modification. All that aside, I wanted you here so we could go over what Ozpin plans on throwing at us."
"From what I observed it wasn't much worth watching." Adela drily spat leaning back in her chair. "Honestly is the man going senile? An academy of over four-thousand little WMDs in training and he baits the game on a few yellow-bellied preschoolers?"
"He hasn't made it this far without guessing right Adela." Giovanni chided pulling up the battle data on his built-in terminal. Despite simple-look Giovanni designed his desk to include several high-tech features such as holographic displays, wireless communication, high-speed analysis, and for personal use the best Blu-ray abilities possible. In a flash of light in-depth images of teams RWBY, JNPR, IONC, CRDL, and CNBR were playing for all the mercenaries to see. "These are the rookie teams that I believe we must keep an eye on. If Ozpin sees something of worth in them then so must we."
"I'll grant you there are a few jewels in the pile." Thong was the first to admit.
"You got me there Thong." Vesuvius whistled with an easy-going smile on his face. His flame-colored eyes watched every move made by the red-haired leader of team RWBY with a twinkle in his eyes. A hand fell on top of Azana's seat as he leaned in close to get a better look at the fifteen year-old's scythe work. In his mind he spotted all the flaws in her style but kept them to himself. "Damn, it's like watching a mini Summer or Qrow at work. I'm glad to see the talent didn't skip a generation."
"Neither did Summer's Silver Eyes." The blond-haired biologist cackled with a glint in her eyes. She didn't give a damn about the girl's combat abilities, she'd seen better scythe fighting from Vesuvius and Leilah so the girl's abilities were nothing to write home about. Her Silver Eyes though, practically had Adela watering at the mouth. "Can you believe our luck Giovanni? A live one! A young one whose abilities aren't even close to being fully developed!"
"Yes Adela, I'm well aware of Ruby Rose's maternal gift." He replied having already pulled up Beacon's file on the scythe-wielder. "I can see she's definitely Summer's daughter and Qrow's niece, but with none of Taiyang's personality or ability. Those apparently went to her sister." In his right hand he held Ruby's holographic file and in his left was Yang's. A growing sense of deju vu began to take place as skimmed through their respective histories. Suddenly a hand tore away Yang's leaving him with Ruby's, a single finger pointed at her face. Looking up he saw the dark glint in Adela's eyes.
"I want her Giovanni. I want her in my lab now, arms bound and all my tools at the ready. I want those eyes floating in a scanning chamber! I want all the time in the world to take her apart until I know what makes those eyes tick!" With every word she leaned in closer with an ever widening grin and growing shine in her eyes.
At this point Giovanni could practically feel her heavy breathing brushing over his face. He looked into her crazed eyes with his unwavering calm red orbs and said, "I'll see when I can get to her."
"Thong!" Adela shouted spinning towards the ex-Specialist. "Bring me that girl, alive! I don't care if you have to remove a limb or three, just bring me a still breathing body!"
"Yes ma'am." Was her answer.
Ignoring the insane drama his father's second was engaged in Ortho enlarged the recording displaying the battle at Conley's Torch. Since the start that fight had captured his interest and he wanted the others to know why. "Hey dad," he caught his father's attention just as Jaune released the radiant light that completely changed the tide of the battle. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes Ortho, it is." The ex-army doctor answered with a hint of satisfaction in his voice but no smile on his face. "Who would have thought Aegis would present itself to us out of the blue like this."
"Want me to bring him in for experimentation?" Came the Mistral-native's question with nary an expression on his face.
"YES! GOOD GOD YES!" Adela shouted practically jumping out of her seat in excitement. "Aegis! Aegis Giovanni! The Ultimate Shield! This is gold! Pure, beautiful gold right for the taking! We have the Ultimate Shield and the Silver Eyes right in front of there just begging for us to take them!" Pulling up a holographic dial she scrolled through the list until she found Pox. Just as her finger was about to hit the connect-button the screen went dark killing her smile. Wearing a sour frown she looked up to find her boss giving her a disapproving look.
"While I can understand your joy Adela I think it'd be best if we waited a little bit. Let's see how far he can progress before we make an attempt at grabbing him. Besides," Red eyes narrowed at the list of names listed under Jaune's family category-too many jumped out at him and too many were likely to cause problems. "Young Mister Arc's sudden disappearance would draw too much attention. We'll wait until next year, if he survives that long."
"Damn, and I was going to enjoy tearing that pretty boy face of his apart." The green-eyed woman pouted.
"Anyone else catch your eye boss?" Vesuvius questioned stifling a yawn. "I mean we got a few heirs that can actually pull their own weight and a handful of would-be heavy hitters that could become major players if we let them."
"Which is exactly why will wait and see Vesuvius." Answered the leader with a tone that made it clear there would be no arguing. "Ozpin's cultivated a good crop we'll wait to harvest, if nothing is worth picking then we'll simply move on. Remember we've got a wide range to pick from. That is all, everyone save for Azana is dismissed."
Without a word they flied out until only the young woman was left. Throughout the entire debriefing she'd been silent keeping her hands tucked in her lap. She couldn't meet her superior's eye for fear of what she would find in them. There wasn't any need to look up to know the only thing playing now were recordings of Izaak's battles, theirs probably being the main one. Slowly she found the strength to look up, not surprisingly Giovanni's attention wasn't on her but on the video. Sympathy grew on her face watching the joy and sorrow mingle within his red eyes.
"…How was he?" Came his solemn voice after what seemed like an eternity.
"He'…well." She started finding her voice again. "He's been trained well, I mean he took a direct hit from my Andesite and got right back up like it was nothing. You don't find too many people like that, Huntsmen included."
He nodded in understanding before shutting his eyes. "Did he…have to stop and take any medication at some point during the battle?"
"None that I could see. Give or take he looked like he was in perfect health."
"Ah, thank you Azana, you're free to go."
With a quiet bow the young woman left the officer leaving Giovanni alone with nothing but the quiet noise of his mock waterfall. He sat quietly in his chair watching the footage over and over, engraving every move his nephew used into his memory. "He looks like you Rikard but he fights a little like Erna." He mused with a ghost of a smile on his face. "He's thick headed like both of you. When things get tough he doesn't panic, again, just like both of you." The first smile, though it was small, came to his face once he saw the bronze-haired teenager bravely combating the Ethm Wyvern while his allies made a run for it. "You two would be proud of him, I know you'd be Rikard. He inherited your heart. Erna, you'd probably yell at him for such a stupid act then praise him saying he wouldn't be your son if he didn't do it."
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Pausing the videos Giovanni took a quick glance at the caller ID on the incoming call. Pressing the talk-button he started, "Sorry about swamping you over there Anthony. I'll find some way to make it up to you."
From the other end came the smooth voice of his second confident and friend. "Don't worry about it. I actually like, reminds me of the good old days. Is everything still on schedule?"
"No changes on our end. When can we expect a report from you?"
"That's hard to say Gio, you guys really hit the nail on this one. Based on what I've seen today things are going to be hectic for the next three or four days. I'll get back to you as soon as I can but it might be a week or two at worst."
"CuraGen?"
"Your powers of foresight never cease to amaze me. Little over half an hour ago their people barged into the place carrying vaccines for what they think might have been on the battlefield. As we speak every patient, hell, every person in this place is getting a shot to make sure no one drops dead in or out of this place." The doctor replied with a bit of a chuckle.
"I can imagine it now believe it or not. Now that they've seen IRA they're going to be on guard. Odds are once they realized what it was Rec went straight to Moribus and demanded he send a unit's worth of private virologists and medical examiners over to make sure no's caught Swan Flu." Giovanni shallowly chuckled. "Look, just get back to us when you can, in the meantime watch yourself."
"I will, you too." Anthony answered then ended the call.
He was alone now with nothing but his thoughts and the silent harmony his office brought him. He turned the holographic displays off leaving his desk looking the part of a simple well-designed piece of furniture. Sitting back he did nothing but watch the water trickle down the wall until he found the strength to move his body. In less than a minute he was back at his desk with a bottle of mead in one hand and a glass in the other.
Before he finished filling the cup his eyes fell to the collection of photographs to his left. There were six of them in total, each mementos of a life he'd wished he could return to. "I guess this is it huh Rikard? What they call in astrology as the "moral even horizon" from which there is no return. You could say I crossed that line almost twelve years ago but hey, I think today was the part when I took my big leap." The photo was aged within the smooth wooden frame but is picture was still clear as day. It was as if the photo had managed to capture the tropical rays of sunlight just as it did the three men standing in it. "What do you think Rikard? What would Scele think? Was today it for me? I don't believe it was, I think that night in Eboracum was, that was when I became the villain of this story." All three of them were somewhere in their mid-twenties dressed in military clothing: plan t-shirts, camouflage pants, boots, and a set of dog-tags hanging around their necks. The man on the right end possessed midnight black hair that sharply stood out in contrast to the bright colors around him. His red eyes cackled with a soft joy that manifested in the kind smile he wore. On the other end stood a man half-attempting to look away with a sly smile on his face. His bright, almost rust-colored hair also contrasted to the greenery around them yet in a less extreme manner. It was somewhat long almost reaching down to the base of his neck, not to mention the man seemed to be growing something of a stumble. Like the man opposite of him his hazel-eyes with an outer rim of silver with alight with suppressed joy he was failing at containing. Lastly in the center with his arms wrapped around the two men stood a dirty-blond with the biggest grin of them all. Everything about his face from his semi-kept hair to his sapphire blue eyes down to his infectious smile seemed to bleed out into the other two resulting in their own minor yet no doubt less happy expressions.
Giovanni could feel a tear clawing at the edge of his eyes as he held up the first glass to the photo. "I suppose when all this is over we'll find out if you were right Rikard. Are you watching me Ri? Are you laughing at me, cursing me, or weeping for me? Heh, by this time next year maybe you'll be doing all three."
The first time he'd ever tried mead he plainly stated it would be the last time he'd ever drink the stuff. Today marked his twenty-eighth bottle.
Vale General Hospital, Three Hours Later…
"Are you…you're not making this up are you Ren?"
"I don't understand why you think I would. If there was a reason for me to lie it's not like I have an active imagination."
"It's just…"
"Jaune," Pyrrha was the first to cut in placing her hand on top of his. Beyond concern it was hard to read exactly what the Spartan was feeling. When Jaune realized she could barely comprehend what he'd done he knew things were serious. "We're telling you the truth. I…we're not sure how but, you saved us all, twice. The first was at Conley's Torch and the second was-"
"You bear-wrestled the Lockjaw to ground!" Nora exclaimed bouncing out of her seat with a cheeky grin on her face. "Most guys would have been pancakes after taking that kind of pounding but you held on Jaune! The more you kept stabbing into that ugly bastard's head the more powerful your Aura became then boom! It was awesome!"
Jaune looked at his three teammates with bewildered eyes that gave away the shock he was experiencing. When he first woke up Ren informed him he'd been out of it for almost nine hours as the doctors worked to piece him back together. During those nine hours he briefly awoke to painful intervals of conscious only to fall back asleep either through his own lack of strength or the anesthetics the doctors had injected him with. Even when he woke up for good he felt like he was trying to stand up while chained to a cinderblock. It didn't get better when his teammates attempted to explain what had happened while he was out of it. He didn't need to say it for them to know he was questioning if they were telling the truth.
"Do you at least remember fighting the Lockjaw?" Pyrrha had asked him when his skepticism was getting too much.
"Like I'm ever going to forget that one." The blond said with a painfully shudder. From what he could tell there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't bandaged. Apparently while he was out they even needed to stitch some of his wounds closed, Jaune didn't want to know where until they were back at Beacon. "What I do remember is wishing like hell that thing would go down."
"Oh you brought it down alright." Nora chuckled a little. "Everyone saw it Jaune, you played bucking-bronco with that thing, and then you stabbed it straight through the brain. Using your Aura." She made sure to stress out that last part knowing fully well it would catch Jaune's attention. "Congrates Jaune, your Aura's got a light attribute to it."
"I'm a…I…" He looked at his heads then back at his teammates.
"You're more than free to ask the others once you're able to." Ren offered. "They'll tell you the same thing we saw."
It was a lot for Jaune to digest at the moment. When he actually started paying attention in classes he discovered Auras could have various "attributes" that defined their nature and were unique to each person. His mind flew to images of Ruby and Yang, two of the greatest examples of this. Yang for instance, fitting of her personality, had an Aura that was akin to a golden flame while her sister's manifested in the form of rose pelts. Other variants included what few times he saw Neil visible summon his Aura, it was all wind and lightning with a little bit of ice and water thrown in matching his Semblance. And my Aura looks like light, not something cool like lightning or mysterious or Ruby's. Just regular old light. His inner voice huffed a little disappointed. "What about at Conely's Torch?"
The smile fell from Nora's face while Ren and Pyrrha looked away. He'd barely had any account of what had happened at the battle besides seeing hundreds of men and women die in droves until he felt he could take it no longer. After that he remembered Adelhard asking him to hold strong then, well, he couldn't exactly recall what happened next short of waking up feeling like he'd just been run over by a Goliath.
Pyrrha's eyes were nervous and shifty when they finally acknowledged him. Her bandaged fingers were wrapped into a nervous mess she kept untangling. "Jaune, there's something I have to tell you. I…It's-"
"I think I can answer his questions." Came a male voice from the doorway.
The heads of team JNPR snapped over to find Vale's strongest knight standing in the doorway hands in his pockets. He wasn't wearing his traditional armored coating or carrying Dracheträne. All he wore was a plan black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some dark slacks that barely made a sound as they shuffled him into the room. None of the four teenagers could find an eye-catching wound on his impressive body leading them to believe they'd all healed. From what they could see it barely looked like he'd just gone toe to toe with a class-nine Grimm at all, instead having just come back from a peacefully walk about.
Being somewhat experts at reading the atmosphere Ren and Pyrrha instantly knew why the professional Huntsman had decided to grace their teammate's hospital room. Grabbing Nora they trudged out of the room without a word leaving their leader alone with his idol.
Said leader was staring at the closed door with his mouth agape. "G-Guys…" He was sweating up a storm as Adelhard took a seat by him. I'm not ready for this! What do I say to him? What if he finds out my secret?! While Jaune was having his inner breakdown he did his best to put on a brave face for the sake of the man he idealized, who'd just saved his life. You can do this Jaune, slow and easy. "I…I-uh-You…I…thank you for saving me and my friends." He finally managed to get out bowing his head.
"Think nothing of it, if anything I'm the one who should be thanking you." Came his hearty reply. "If you hadn't loaned me Aegis at the Torch my fight with the Ethm Wyvern probably wouldn't have gone over so well."
Uh…yeah, sure. No problem happy to help." God, can this get any worse?
Adelhard looked away with a chuckle escaping his lips. "Was that the first time using your Semblance?"
Jaune didn't know how to respond at first. His history with his Semblance was rocky at best and after the day's battle he wasn't sure if he now gained the ability to call it at will or not. "It sort of was, well, you see sir it's hard to explain." Against his better reasoning he told the blue-haired man the complex story of his Semblance usage, minus a few details that needn't be pointed out. By the end Adelhard had given him his full attention complete with an understanding look in his eyes. "So you see, every time I use it's always more of…instinct did anything. I can't really control it so much as just dig really deep and pray it comes out. To be honest with you it's kind of…embarrassing." The blond finished looking down at his bandaged hands in shame.
"You make it sound like not being able to use your Semblance is something to be ashamed of." Was the man's neutral reply. "Let me guess, you look around and you see the abilities your teammates can do and you feel jealous because you have nothing to offer."
You don't know the half of it. "My partner controls magnetism, my former crush can do just about anything with her Glyphs, the first friend I made at Beacon can cover a mile in the blink of an eye, my…enemy, rival can cause anything he touches to turn into an incendiary grenade, and one of my friends can manipulate gravity. Compared to those things I-"
"Your friend Ren seems to get by just fine without resorting to his Semblance." He gently cut in.
At that Jaune felt his cheeks heat up at the realization in a roundabout manner he was lumping Ren in with himself.
"How many of your teachers do you see use their Semblance?"
"Not that many, then again most of them are so skilled they don't need to." Instantly he caught his smile. "Ah, I'm sorry about that."
"See? It's not the Semblance that makes the warrior, it's the other way around, same story with weapons. I know that may sound hypocritical coming from me but trust me, I've seen my fair share so I know."
"Um, Mr. Adelhard if you don't mind me asking, what is your Semblance? I mean I've never seen anything like that before."
A tension filled pause took up the space between them causing Jaune to think he'd made a mistake in asking. "It's been called a lot of things but now a days it's called Dragon's Pulse. Like the Glyphs of the Schnee Family it's a Semblance that's been passed down through generations of the Von Blu family. Jaune, have you heard of the Dragon Veins of Remnant?"
"Y-Yeah I have." The young blond responded recalling fond memories of his mother and father bouncing him on their laps. "They're the Dust-filled ley lines that run beneath the surface of Remnant. My mother always use to tell me stories about them, that anyone who managed to control them held the power to raise mountains out of fields and reshape the landscape itself." As the words finished leaving his mouth he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. His memory of the past day may have had holes, but he clearly remembered watched a brightly colored laser reduce half the battlefield to a charred wasteland. Two and two came together instantly causing Adelhard to nod approvingly. "That's what they used to power that Dust fragment isn't it? Aemon Strip, the entire park was built over one over three hundred years ago wasn't it?"
"Not little stories anymore are they?"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Both men sensed the sudden chill that blew into their room and reacted with a tensing of the muscles. In a flash Adelhard was on his feet and standing defensively over Jaune. His eyes went to the bespectacled man waiting at the door with a briefcase in hand. Maybe into his late forties or early fifties with cold blue eyes that were half-hidden by the shine of his glasses and with a wrinkled face. Going from his face to the logo on his lab coat Adelhard felt his hands tighten into fists immediately.
"Ah, it's good you're here too Mr. Von Blu." He started not waiting for an innovation to walk in. "It saves us the trouble of tracking you down ourselves." His hidden eyes flickered to the quiet teenager watching the man with a hint of suspicion. "Now, now Mister Arc there's no need for all that. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm chief of CuraGen medical and commercial branch of operations, Edmund Styner. A pleasure to meet the heir to the Arc Family in person."
Author's Notes: There you have it folks, a chapter's worth of foreshadowing, scheming, and build-up that will lead into what I call the main bulk of the story. Compared to what I originally charted out the last twenty chapters or so have pretty much been a prologue to set the stage for who's who and what's what. Still I had a blast writing it and now I can't wait to get to main events!
Jaune-You mean events that'll involve me getting dissected! That lady wants to dismember me!
Ruby-And she wants to carve my eyes out!
Sky-Ah yes that, see when I wrote the draft for the story Jaune was the only one Adela was going to be interested in then we all learned about Ruby's supposed "Silver Eyes" power and thought why not throw that in too!
Ruby-(cocks Crescent Rose)
Sky-Blame the canon writers for giving it to you, not the fanfic writer.
Ruby-(goes off to pout)
Sky-So yeah, this chapter introduced most of the Big Bads of the story including the higher-ups of PESTILENCE. Besides the heroes they're going to be some of my favorite characters to write. Concerning Adam and the White Fang, I have no idea how far canon goes but in this story Adam is NOT the leader of the White Fang, as stated in-chapter he's just the "face" of the organization and the leader's favorite. Going off of canon there's said to have been a change in leadership prior to the story's start so I'm going to run with the possibility Adam was merely a supporter in the leadership change rather than the leader of an outright coup. Feel free to tell me what you think of the decision in whatever comments you post.
The last portion of the chapter dropped a few more hints about what Jaune's Semblance is. At first he's not going to be too pleased about I can tell you that, but Adelhard's going to be one of ones who helps him accept it. Oh and he is going to get some recognition for slaying the Lockjaw, along with a scolding about almost dying while doing so.
Jaune-Can't you let me do one cool thing without having someone chew me out or nearly die in the process?
Sky-Ah Jaune, where'd be the fun in that? One reason you're one of my favorites is because like the average person you get a mix of good luck and bad luck. Leave a review in the comments and have a nice day folks!