If you've read "Everyman" you probably know that something that really annoyed me about the canon series is that WBY spent what appeared to be the majority of the time leading up to their reunion sitting around and feeling sorry for themselves, while Team RNJR was through the most hostile environment on the planet, but when they get back together, they're all still on the same level, except Jaune, whose still miles behind everyone. It feels like the writers had Qrow kill steal like a jerk just to keep the status quo.
So even though I've hopefully made it clear that WBY spent most of their time away training (that's one of the main reasons I added the time cards last Volume) They still weren't dealing with the same environments that RNJR went through, so they've fallen a little behind.
Also I apologize for misspelling Maria's name. There's just some names that you automatically assume have an "h" at the end.
"So what were those things?" Blake asked as everyone regrouped at the camp. "They looked like the 130 series of Atlesian Knights, but they were sturdier, more agile, and… smarter?"
"They're called Omni-knights." Weiss spoke up. "A rogue Atlas scientist designed those years ago. They're designed to analyze their opponents and adapt, sharing information with a hive-mind."
"That actually sounds pretty useful." Ren acknowledged "Why aren't they normally used?"
Weiss looked down. "I don't fully understand why, but apparently they had to be started slowly, on minor threats, and then built up from there. I guess they had to keep the learning curve gradual. But apparently testing them on Grimm was going too slowly for the project head. So he started kidnapping huntsmen students."
"Wait." Jaune leaned in "I think I remember this. About ten years ago there was a series of kidnappings that almost shut down the academies."
Weiss nodded "They started with first years from the primary schools. They'd kidnap them and make them fight Omni-knights the Omni-knights adapted enough to defeat them. And just to be 'efficient' and get as much data as possible, including what a desperate subject was capable of, they wouldn't stop until the students were dead. They'd take two students from each of the academies just to be efficient. Then they'd move on to the next year. Then they moved on to first years from the Huntsmen academies. 39 students were killed before they were finally shut down."
"How were they shut down?" Ruby asked.
"Winter." Weiss's voice indicated both sorrow and pride. "She was test subject #40. She ended up being too much for them. She broke out and managed to contact the authorities. The project was scrapped and the head scientist arrested."
"Are we sure he's not out?" Jaune asked "You guys just fought a bunch of his creations."
"He's dead." Weiss insisted "I don't know the details, but Winter was so relieved she couldn't help but tell me."
"You couldn't even kill Jaune."
"He caught us off guard with the gun." Emerald insisted, trying to maintain her dignity.
"And this one tried to lure him away from the camp with his dead partner." Mercury rounded on Emerald.
"You did what?" Cinder turned to her disciple with incredulous anger.
"I figured he'd be thinking with his other head." Emerald said weakly.
"And you thought a dead girl would work? She died in his arms, you think after all this time he'd still be in denial?"
"You'd have had better luck with an illusion of Weiss." Mercury mused "Might be a couple months too soon, but if he's not at least starting to get over Pyrrha somethings seriously wrong with him."
"But let's get back to the matter at hand." Cinder waved a hand. "The two of you together couldn't kill Jaune Arc!"
Her irritation was compounded by the chuckle over her earpiece "Looks like the boy has been training and your little lackeys aren't as skilled as you thought."
"You're being too hard on them." Hazel growled "They were up against Ozpin. He's too much for them."
Emerald frowned "I don't think-"
Watts sighed over her earpiece "Don't bother. He's got his blinders on."
Cinder turned to her earpiece "And what about your machine's Watts? They were supposed to thin the herd."
"The last time my machines were tested, it was on Academy first years. Did you expect your enemies to do nothing for eight months?"
"They nearly had Ruby's old team handled! Why didn't you send in more?"
"You saw how quickly her current team dismantled them. The learning curve can't be too steep or my machines can't catch up. Even sending in two at a time was going to slow their progress. They weren't going to improve fast enough to catch up with the other four. At this point I probably need to make some physical upgrades."
Cinder paced in frustration. "So if you had to guess, about how powerful would you say our adversaries are?"
"I'd wager that Schnee, Belladonna, and Xiao Long are on the level of Academy third years. The other four could probably beat the average fourth year."
"But that's only when Jaune uses Ozpin right?" Mercury hoped that Hazel's comments weren't just blind conjecture.
"Sure, go ahead and tell yourself that if it makes you feel better. Either way they shouldn't be a problem for the combined forces of all four of you. So you can rest easy Cinder, your little ego trip will probably pay off."
Taiyang looked at Ghira and Kali as Qrow finished telling them about his and Team RNJR's mission. After Team SSSN filled them in on the events at Raven's camp. Kali was trying hard to process what she'd learned about Ozpin and Salem. Ghira placed a hand over hers.
"It's true Kali." She looked at him in surprise. "Ozpin approached me after the revolution to try and recruit me to his cause. I'd had enough of fighting after the war, so I turned him down, telling him I'd try and promote peace my way."
"There's a lot of new information here for us too." Neptune supplied "Ruby and Jaune told us about the Maidens and the relics, and that we needed to keep them protected, but they didn't tell us Ozpin was in Jaune's head. Although Raven did ask him if she was talking to Jaune or Ozpin."
"He was acting pretty weird before that." Sage supplied.
Taiyang turned to him. "Weird how? Like he was someone else?"
Sage shook his head "Nah, he was just muttering to himself, or he'd pause like he was lost in thought. I guess he was talking to Ozpin."
"That's not all that was different." Neptune chuckled "He and Ruby were pretty chummy."
Sun laughed "I caught that too! We should start a pool to see how long it takes for them to start going out!"
Everyone jumped as Taiyang rose violently to his feet. He was glaring furiously at Qrow.
Sun squeaked out an attempt at consolation "I'm sure it'll be a several years before they give you grandk-"
"Kid!" Qrow growled, still cowering under Taiyang's glare "Stop talking!"
Taiyang took a deep breath and calmed down. He took his seat and turned to the table at large. "So, we need to figure out a plan of action. Whatever Raven said, I doubt she's going to just pledge her allegiance to us. I thought Yang might be able to reason with her, she's just about the only person who could, but now that Ozpin and Ruby are involved she's probably got some plans laid. They probably won't be for Salem's benefit, but they won't be to ours either. We need to be ready when the time comes."
"We also need to figure out what's going on with Lionheart." Qrow added "He's definitely acting weird. We need to find out if he's compromised or not."
"And then there's the White Fang." Ghira supplied "I need to speak with Sienna and convince her to see things our way. But even if I can, I doubt Adam and Tyrian will give up their plans without a fight."
"We should probably also figure out a way to help Ruby and the others if things go wrong." Sun chimed in. "We might have to get them out of there pretty fast if things go south."
"We need to move fast." Taiyang concluded "Whatever happens, we have less than 72 hours to prepare."
"So what's the plan for today?" Ruby yawned as everyone gathered around the camp for breakfast. "Sparring like Weiss said?"
"I think we got a pretty good idea of our capabilities last night." Weiss shrugged. "You three took on three droids designed to kill first years with ease, so you're probably about on the level of fourth years. Same probably goes for Jaune; it sounds like if you'd been fighting Emerald or Mercury alone you'd have won pretty easily."
"Guess Qrow wasn't exaggerating when he said a day out here is like a week in Beacon." Yang said, trying to smile but still frustrated with herself.
"So then the three of us are probably on the level of third years." Blake said encouragingly "We've all been working hard."
"Good to know we weren't all just sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves." Yang said before she could catch herself. Blake frowned but ignored the backhanded compliment.
"It's still not enough." Jaune quickly changed the subject, sensing the discomfort. "Emerald and Mercury are still dangerous, and Cinder and Hazel are still on a level beyond any of us. And they might have more of those Omni-Knights."
"We don't have to beat them." Ruby was deep in thought. "We just need to keep them busy long enough for one of us to grab the sword and bring it to Raven."
"You're probably our best bet for that." Jaune nodded "And Hazel will probably be too focused on me to notice what you're doing."
"He'll destroy you."
"We just have to keep him busy long enough for everyone to get away."
"Ren and I can keep Cinder busy." Nora added.
"And the three of us can probably handle Emerald, Mercury, and any Omni-Knights they have left." Blake added.
"Once you get the sword, all of them will be after you Ruby." Yang said, looking at her sister with concern. "Can your semblance get you that far?"
Ruby grinned and turned to Jaune. "I wanna try something."
Taiyang groaned as he entered the kitchen of the house Qrow was "borrowing". The meeting from the previous night had gone well past midnight.
"So." Taiyang jumped and looked to the kitchen.
Maria had been silent for the entire meeting, just listening and observing. She now sat at the kitchen table, while Qrow was sipping from a coffee mug.
"Care to explain why you hate Ozpin? Every time someone mentions him or that boy he's possessing being around her you lose it. Seems to me he's on our side."
Taiyang sighed and shook his head "Ozpin isn't on anyone's side. He expects everyone else to be on his side."
"He knows Salem better than anyone Tai." Qrow supplied "He's been fighting her for a couple millennia. I think he's earned the right to lead the charge."
"He's been failing to beat her for millennia. You ever wonder why that might be Qrow? That maybe he's not the brilliant leader he wants us to think he is?"
"You're dodging my question." Maria interrupted "You hate the idea of your daughter being anywhere near him. Why?"
"He thinks its Ozpin's fault his marriage to Raven failed." Qrow growled bitterly. "He isn't willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, he screwed it up himself."
Taiyang sighed wearily and turned to Maria "I'm fully aware of what I did wrong. My weakness ruined my marriage. My stupidity broke Raven's heart. I know I'm responsible. But I suspect, and so does everyone involved except Qrow, that Ozpin used my weakness to further his own agenda."
"And what was that agenda?" Maria asked.
"My second wife had special powers, kind of like a semblance. Those powers were hereditary."
Understanding began to show past Mariah's prosthetics.
"I got her pregnant while I was still married to Raven. And again, it was my fault. But I think Ozpin helped make it happen."
Yang took a break by the stream. They'd decided to spend the day training for their attack on Cinder's camp. Most of the group had split up and begun sparring while Ruby and Jaune were currently exploring the uses for Jaune's semblance.
Yang jumped as a portal opened behind her.
"Hello Yang."
"What do you want Raven?"
"To talk."
