The Plan
Darkness and Light walked down the streets of Mistral, in their divine forms, hidden from the views of all those present. As they were doing so, Light looked around.
"You know what this reminds me of?" he asked.
"I assume you will be telling me," Darkness answered, not looking at him.
"A mortal once came to me asking for a magical set of tools, that would always remain in pristine condition, and could build anything," Light explained, "I gave him those tools, and at first, he just used them to build structures and monuments. But, inevitably, he passed on, and the tools fell to others; and the one who inherited them used them to build weapons. They turned a tool of creation to destructive means."
"It is in their nature," Darkness said, "They find destruction easier than creation."
"Perhaps that is true," Light answered, as he looked towards one of the mountains over the city, "Perhaps that is why your creations are drawn to him. I suspect…." He then came to a halt, still staring at the mountain.
"What is it?" Darkness asked, coming up beside his brother. Light said nothing, but continued to stare at the mountain. The younger looked at his brother, before following his gaze. He looked through the mountain, through the earth, and through the rock. It was then that he saw what Light said.
"It cannot be," Darkness said, "I did not think to look the last time I was here…"
"Why are you surprised?" Light said, "You and I both saw one of them at the Academy."
"I thought that to be an anomaly, that the force of time eventually claimed them," Darkness muttered, "But there is no doubting it now, if two remain, then they all most remain."
"So, what will you be doing now?" Light inquired, "They are your creations, after all." Initially, Darkness said nothing, as he looked his hand, which curled into fist, and he looked up.
"I am going back to the mortals," he declared, as he turned on his heels, and started walking.
"Are you now?" Light answered, looking after his brother, "Why may I ask?"
"I hereby damn their choices," Darkness answered, looking towards Light, "I will not allow them to face this alone." With that, he kept walking.
"Why?" Light repeated, as he turned towards his brother, "You owe these mortals nothing. They sent you away, even after you had done for them, and yet you want to return to their side? How can you?" Darkness then stopped, and was silent for a moment, before he assumed his true from.
"BECAUSE THEY NEED ME," he answered, and with that, he beat his wings, turning into a stream of dark energy that streaked across the sky. That left the God of Light, and if he had a mouth, he would be smiling. However, he looked towards the mountain one last time, before he also disappeared.
(in Argus)
It hadn't been easy explaining what was going on to his family, but Jaune had to. He needed his family's help if they were going to pull this up, especially Terra's; she knew the comm tower better than just about everyone in the city. And if he was going to tell his sister-in-law, he would have to tell Saphron, and if he was going to tell Saphron…
Rain and Alistair were predictably opposed to the prospect of their youngest son trying to rob an Atlesian military base, as were their daughters. It took over an hour worth of explaining, and promises from Qrow that they would all be fine, and even then, they initially wouldn't approve it. Until finally, Jaune gave another one of his in depth speeches about how important their job was, and who his family could trust him (Ruby may have pitched in a few words of her own a couple times). That didn't convince them entirely, but it finally got the family to agree to help him.
Weiss was now nervously making her way through the base to one of the nearby Bullheads, dragging her suitcase behind her. Leading her was a short, elderly woman in a uniform, and they were being followed by some goose-stepping twins with tall hats. Trailing behind them were Saphron with Adrian in her arms, along with Milly and Hunter, with Lazuli being in her mother's own arms, Lapis on her father's shoulders, and Flynn being lead by his mother's hand. The kids were looking around excitedly at the sight of the big stuff going on around them.
"I cannot understate the excitement I felt when you decided to go home," Colonel Caroline Cordovin as she looked back at Weiss, "Going to Beacon was a such a waste."
"Yes," Weiss said after a moment, "It's time to get back to my roots."
"You know, I can see it now," Cordovin said, "You and your sister fighting side by side, hand in hand, in service of the State of Atlas."
"Absolutely," Weiss said with gritted teeth, which Cordovin apparently didn't hear or wasn't listening to.
"I will be sending my two top lieutenants to personally escort you to Atlas," the commander continued, "You'll be sure to make that clear to General Ironwood, right?"
"Um, of course," Weiss said, and with that, she started to embark onto the ship, while Cordovin took her leave, as she heaved up her (slightly heavier than normal) suitcase.
"Please!" one of the tall twin guards said, holding up a finger, "Allow me to carry your bag!"
"No! Allow me!" the other said, as both started trying to all but tear Weiss' case from her arms.
"No, please!" Weiss said, as she tried to hold onto her bag "I'm fine!" Unfortunately, the guards either didn't hear her, or weren't listening. This didn't go unnoticed by the Arc girls, who were standing further back.
"You ready?" Milly whispered to her younger sister.
"You know it," Saphron answered, before looking to her son, "You know what do do, sweetie." Adrian nodded in understanding, before he burst into a (fake) tantrum, screaming, bawling, and flailing in his mother's arms.
"Look, brother!" one of the guards said, "There is a child crying!"
"Go, you must console it!" the other said, as his brother marched over to Adrian, but that still left one with Weiss.
"Now kids!" Hunter said. The three octopuses all nodded in understanding as well.
"Hey mister!" Flynn said, as he ran up to the other guard, as he leapt up this arm, holding on by his tentacle, "How many guys are here?"
"Hey mister!" Lapis said, as she jumped onto his other arm, "How big is this base?"
"Now, now children!" the guard said, as he finally let go of Weiss' bag, "I will answer all your questions in short order." That gave Weiss the chance she needed, as she leapt onto the airship.
"Bye Aunt Weiss!" Lazuli said, waving, which fortunately, the twins didn't hear. Weiss just waved slightly with a smile to her potential future niece, before she pulled out her Scroll.
"Those stubborn idiots," Maria's voice grumbled from inside Weiss' bag.
(on the cliffs)
"On the ship." After reading the text, Nora looked up from her Scroll.
"Weiss is ready," she said, looking up. The rest of the group, bar Blake, Ilia, Yang, and Pyrrha were on the cliffs outside the city.
"Alright," Jaune said, "Now everyone keep an eye on the Scroll, the moment the signal goes down, it'll only be down for a short time."
"We're almost at the Tower," Ilia said through Jaune's own Scroll.
"No signs of trouble, yet," Pyrrha said through Ruby's Scroll
(in the woods)
Blake and Ilia were making their way towards the city comm tower, as Yang and Pyrrha scouted out the surrounding area with Bumblebee. Blake had Terra on the Scroll, who was giving her instructions on the tower.
"Now remember, you'll only have a small window to do whatever it is you're going to do,"the dark haired woman explained, "Whatever it is, do it quickly."
"We got it," Blake answered with a nod.
"Oh, and one last thing, this conversation never happened," Terra said, "If word get's out that we helped you guys sabotage the tower…."
"Don't worry," Blake said, "This isn't the first time we hacked into Atlesian hardware." Not amused, Terra glared at her.
"Never. Happened," she said as bluntly as her voice could muster. Her point made, Blake just nodded before the Arc-in-law hung up.
"I like her," Ilia said, with a smile, as Blake looked up to see the tower not far from them.
"Alright," she said, "This shouldn't be any different from the other one's."
(in other part the woods)
Yang was sitting on her motorcycle a couple miles from the tower, looking at her scroll. She and Pyrrha were keeping an eye on the permitter, making sure that no "unwanted" individuals came too close.
"Okay," Blake said, "We're at the tower."
"Alright," Jaune said, "Keep communications open for as long as you can. Once you've done your stuff, we won't be able to maintain contact."
"We'll keep watch here," Yang said, "Pyrrha's scouting the other side of the woods, she says there's nothing to report."
"That's… that's good," Jaune said, as he frowned through his scroll.
(on the cliffs)
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, noticing her boyfriend's frown.
"This is going too well," Jaune said with a frown.
"That's pretty pessimistic," Oscar said.
"He does have a bit of a point," Ren said, "Things generally don't this well for us, especially recently."
"I don't like this either," Qrow said, swirling his flask, "It's too quiet, like something is going to very wrong all of a sudden." Oscar's eyes flashed as Oz took back over.
"Maybe things are going better for us than they normally have been," he said, "But that doesn't change what we need to do. We keep going as planned until something does go 'very wrong all of a sudden'."
"Weiss and Maria have control of the ship," Nora suddenly said as she glanced at her Scroll.
"Okay," Jaune said, as he spoke back into his Scroll again, "You guys ready?"
"Ready!" Blake said, "Yang?"
(in the woods)
"Ready!" Yang answered, "Pyrrha?" There was no answer initially, which asked Yang's brow to furrow.
"Pyrrha?" she asked, "Come on, talk to me bronzie." Starting to get a little nervous now, Yang clenched her teeth.
"Guys, I can't raise Pyrrha!" she said.
"Here it comes," she could hear her uncle comment rather bitterly.
(with Pyrrha)
Pyrrha was sent sprawling to the ground with a cry, before a metal foot came up which she had to roll to avoid. As she was rolling she leapt back to her feet and held her weapons at the ready.
"I've been waiting for this," Talos said, as he advanced on her, opening his second pair of arms, and unsheathing his blades.
The Old Ones: The Miner
Janus hiked up the collar of his coat, shivering at the cold, as he wrapped his tail around his torso in an attempt to salvage some heat.
"Come on, we're almost there," his friend called out from ahead him. The snow leopard Faunus glared at him.
"You said that four times now," he said.
"Because we are," Nicholas Schnee answered, with a grin, as he kept not judging forward. Janus Ounce just rolled his eyes, and kept going after him. The two were currently hiking their way through the Atlesian tundra the stinging wind, based on Nicholas' hunch.
"Stop!" Nicholas suddenly said, holding up his hand.
"What?" Janus said, looking around as his friend suddenly pulled out a shovel.. They were near some cliffs.
"Seriously, here?" the leopard asked, spreading his hands, "I mean, I know Dust is underground, but…"
"Just bear with me," Nicholas said, not even looking behind him, save to toss Janus a shovel, "Now dig!" Groaning, the Faunus started to do just that. They dug for what felt like a couple hours, with nothing to show of rather efforts. Janus gave another groan, as he leaned on the shovel, looking over the fruits of their labors.
"Great," Janus said, spreading his hands, "So much for your hunch."
"Keep digging!" Nicholas said, not looking up.
"Nick! This is madness!"
"I'm not going to let Mantle choke on it's own poverty!" Nicholas said, "I will dig until my arms fall off!" Janus stared at his friend, as he dragged his hand over his face.
"Nick….," he began.
"Praise the Brothers!" Nicholas suddenly declared.
"What is it?" Janus asked. Nicholas then suddenly held up a green Dust crystal. Janus' eyes widened in shock at that.
"That's…."
"This is it!" Nicholas said, as he continued digging after pocketing the crystal, "It's here!" Janus stared at his friend for a time, before smiling.
"Careful," he said, as he started digging himself, "If there's more in here, we don't want to set off any of it."
Note: If it wasn't already clear, it should be now; the Old Ones are the ancestors of the various protagonists. The order of whose ancestors are whose should be pretty apparent as well.
Most of this chapter was dedicated to setting up the finale. I wasn't sure how Jaune explained what they were going to do to his sister and in-law, and how they got them to support them. I tried including an actual scene of him pitching it to his family, but I couldn't fit in a sufficient set of scenes. So I decided to omit the scene, and file it under "suspension of disbelief".
Something that got me thinking writing this chapter was what Cordovin, and by extension Winter's, actual rank in the military is, if "Specialist" is a position. The US Army has Specialists, but they're fairly low ranked (their pay-grade is the equivalent of a corporal), and Winter doesn't (at least by all appearances) seem to be low ranked. She works closely with the Atlesian military general commander, and seems to have authority over a number of other Atlesian soldiers. This is just a complete shot in the dark, but I'd have to guess she'd be an officer herself, perhaps a Captain or a Major. Cordovin is the commander of a garrison in an Atlesian base, and normally that position is held by Colonels. Of course, maybe Specialists are completely separate from the Atlesian rank structure, and don't have any official "rank" in the meaning of the word.
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