Epilogue...
Two days after the fight with Verdant...
General Ironwood's cobalt eyes roamed across the wide surface of his desk, his large fingers tapping against the knobs on the highest drawers. He snapped his gaze upwards to peer over at the furthest side of the room, focusing on the small indicator that rested above the elevator doors.
It wasn't moving yet… which meant that Team MARS wasn't yet in the elevator.
"Sir?" Winter Schnee asked in a low tone, capturing Ironwood's attention. The prim and proper Atlesian officer was standing at his right side. "Permission to speak freely?"
Ironwood waved his hand dismissively. "Speak…"
"Regarding Verdant Bulwark, sir," Winter spoke slowly, carefully annunciating every word. She paused when Ironwood visibly shuffled in place.
"What about him?"
"The demands he listed… do you actually plan to deliver on them?"
Ironwood sighed and pulled open the top drawer of his desk, withdrawing a piece of paper and laying it out in front of him. Written on the paper in meticulously neat handwriting were Verdant's many demands.
"Expensive Mistralian wine, daily newspaper, entertainment system, a libraries worth of books… ranging from fiction to nonfiction…" Ironwood mumbled as he read off the list. "Not to mention… at least once a week I am to personally visit him… and play a full game of chess with him… to completion."
"In all honesty I expected him to ask for more," Winter wrinkled her nose. "But do you plan to honour these requests?"
Ironwood frowned. "Reluctantly yes… I will deliver on these promises."
"General Ironwood si-"
"Just call me James," Ironwood rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I would prefer it at the present time…"
"Okay…" Winter's face twisted into a cautious look. "James… can I ask why you are giving him all these things? He gave us the location of the relay room, but what reason do you have to uphold your end of the deal?"
"Verdant will be a little more forthcoming with what he knows if he is happy and comfortable," Ironwood leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers together. "He and I served together in the armed forces… he was trained to withstand most known interrogation methods."
"Is that it?"
"No…" Ironwood frowned. "I owe him… the least I can do is meet the demands of a man I will be imprisoning for the rest of his life."
"You 'owe' him, s- James," Winter hastily corrected herself. "What do you mean? Because he spared the life of Honey Aurum?"
"Well yes," Ironwood nodded. "If she was killed over all this… Team MARS would certainly not stay in Atlas, and the blame would have been shifted onto me. They have proved useful … I want them to stay."
Winter wrinkled her nose again. "With all due respect I must disagree sir."
"Oh?"
"Team MARS has shown themselves to be impulsive and without proper discipline," Winter warned. "Would it not be better to look to our own academy for new recruits?"
"I don't want to involve more people than necessary," Ironwood waved his hand. "Team MARS has already been exposed to one relic, even if they don't fully understand its importance or nature, it only makes sense to pull them deeper in… should they choose to go along with my offer."
"I still don't think they're the right fit, James…"
The ding of the elevator doors caught their attention, it seemed as if Team MARS was about to enter.
"I would like you to stay for the briefing," Ironwood muttered in Winter's direction. "There is something I need to explain… to both you and Team MARS…"
"Explain, sir?" Winter turned her head, her eyes shining with curiosity.
The elevator doors slid open with a chime. The four members of Team MARS filed out and approached Ironwood's desk in an organized line. The teammates still looked battered from the difficult fight two days prior, but according to the doctors their aura and wounds were recovering.
"We're here for the debriefing, sir," Mauve Tempesta spoke first, gesturing to her team with her hand. The lynx girl looked like a mummy, her arms covered with thick bandages to cover up the minor burns she had been afflicted with.
"Thank you for coming on time, please sit," Ironwood pointed to the four chairs he had set up in preparation of their arrival. He waited for Team MARS to get seated before continuing. "Where should we start? There is a lot to talk about…"
There was silence from Team MARS before Mauve piped up.
"How about we start with Verdant?"
"He's been detained," Ironwood leaned forwards to press his hands together. "I'll be doing everything in my power to make sure he stays that way. You four did an excellent thing for Mantle… with Verdant's influence gone I can weed out the corruption that he introduced and make the city more receptive to Atlas' influence-"
"Wait a minute here!" Asher interrupted, an unpleasant look on his face. "What do you mean by that last part? Atlas' borders are still closed… you're not going to do anything drastic with Mantle… are you?"
"If you're suggesting that I am going to take control through martial law, you're wrong," Ironwood shook his head. "These are difficult times… and Verdant's backdoor dealings made it difficult for me to know exactly what was going on down there, I need to take the opportunity while I have it."
"You're talking like this is all temporary," Asher grumbled.
"Nature hates vacuums," Ironwood frowned. "With Verdant gone someone will eventually pick up the pieces of his empire… a whole new snake with a whole new head to cut off… but enough of that," Ironwood leaned back into his chair and tapped his fingers against his desk. "You'll be happy to hear that the team I sent to protect your friends has reported bac-"
"How?" Sage inquired, his blue eyes shining with hope.
"Through the same relay Verdant used to contact his associates," Ironwood smiled. "It took some time to modify the equipment and bring it up to modern standards, but we now have a form of communication… even if it is a little bit simplistic."
"And Honey?" Sage burst out, rising from his chair. "What happened?"
Ironwood frowned. "She is alive, as is the rest of her team-"
"Thank God!" Rust shouted, also rising from his chair. Mauve and Asher soon joined them, patting their teammates on the back in celebration of the good news.
"But there were injuries," Ironwood finished, seeing shocked looks come over the teammates faces. "They are all expected to make a full recovery, but I'm afraid Honey Aurum suffered severe damage to her left eye."
"Severe?" Sage whispered, a vacant look in his eyes. "How severe…?"
Ironwood released a long breath he didn't know he had been holding. "There was no chance of repairing the organ, even with aura… that was the worst of her injuries."
Sage crumpled back down into his seat, his blue eyes glimmering with unshed tears. His teammates immediately moved to comfort the faunus boy.
"Unfortunately," Ironwood cleared his throat. "One of my own men died protecting her… it wasn't a flawless battle."
"I'm sorry to hear that General," Mauve frowned as she gently rubbed Sage's shoulder. "We appreciate the sacrifices you had to make for this… Team Violet is very close to us."
"Do you four need a moment?" Ironwood asked carefully, his blue eyes lingering on Sage, who still looked on the verge of tears. "We can take a break if you want to discuss this between yourselves."
"No," Sage spoke softly, raising his hand to wipe the tears from his eye. "I'm okay… let's just keep going."
Ironwood nodded and waited a moment as the teammates took their seats again. He rose from his chair, and after shooting a quick nod in Winter's direction, stalked down the steps to meet Team MARS on the floor of his office.
"What we need to discuss next is the future," Ironwood called out as he reached the floor. He took a few steps forwards so that he was standing directly in front of Team MARS and straightened his posture. "We need to discuss where we go from here. Assuming that there still is a we…"
Team MARS looked between themselves.
"Are you… suggesting that we stay in Atlas?" Rust questioned, tilting his head in curiosity.
"I'm not suggesting it, I'm offering it to you four," Ironwood smiled, wringing his gloved hands behind his back. "I want you four to stay…"
"With all due respect," Mauve cleared her throat. "I don't know if that's the best idea."
"Why not?" Ironwood questioned the lynx girl.
Mauve looked a little bit uncomfortable. "I know things have mostly worked out in the end… and I'm not saying that we're without blame here… but this relationship wasn't exactly built on a solid foundation."
"This entire thing has been a mess from start to finish," Asher added with a grumble. "You weren't honest with us from the start… and then you expected us to play along while giving us nothing to go off-"
"Yes, yes," Ironwood held up his hands. "I-"
"Don't forget that fake mission you made us go on," Rust added, staring upwards with a thoughtful look on his face as he reminisced.
"Okay," Ironwood spoke a little louder, fighting the urge to rub his temples. "You four are absolutely right… I treated you like assets and gave you little reason to trust me," Ironwood stopped for a moment to awkwardly clear his throat. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done that… none of you are disposable-"
"But why have us stay up here?" Sage probed further. "If it's possible I'd like to be on the first bullhead to the village where Honey is… I want to see her…"
"What if I brought her to you?" Ironwood responded, seeing the faces of Team MARS light up. "Now is not a good time… we need to wait until they are all medically stable and ready for transport, but wouldn't you agree that you're all much safer up here?"
"You would do that for us?" Sage mumbled.
"Consider it a small part of the payment for what you four have done for me," Ironwood smiled. "But that's not the only offer I want to make you four… I think I can sweeten the deal… if you'll hear me out?"
Team MARS looked between each other again before Rust piped up.
"Go ahead…"
"Thank you," Ironwood smiled. The General left his standing position and quickly ascended the steps to his desk again. He reached under the desk and withdrew a battered looking hardcase, laying it on the desk for Team MARS to see. "I'm sure you four recognize this case?"
Mauve, Rust and Sage all nodded, but Asher looked confused.
Ironwood descended the steps and took his spot in front of the team again. The General dropped the case down to rest at his feet and leaned against the elevated platform that supported his desk.
"I want to lay out two possibilities for your future as a team," Ironwood spoke slowly, holding up his hand and displaying two fingers. "Possibility one, you four leave Atlas… I will have you transported wherever you desire and will cut contact with you; I will even have your equipment replaced and repaired before you leave. From that point on you four will be free to continue your lives as you see fit, I can even put in a good word at the other academies for you if that is what you wish."
"And possibility number two?" Mauve asked carefully, her eyes narrowing.
Ironwood took a second to clear his throat. "You four stay in Atlas, I will not just replace your equipment that was damaged, I will write you another blank cheque to use as you see fit. You four will enroll at Atlas Academy with a full tuition to continue your education and I will see to it that you are personally tutored by myself and Specialist Schnee-"
"Me, sir?" Winter Schnee finally spoke up. The woman was still standing at her designated spot by Ironwood's desk.
"Yes, you," Ironwood nodded in the woman's direction. "Speaking of which… please join the rest of us down here, Winter."
The white haired woman had a confused look on her face as she descended the steps.
Ironwood continued. "Now you can take that second offer as it stands, but if you four want… I can offer something even more enticing," the General reached down and grabbed the hardcase off the ground, cradling the object in his brawny arms. "If you four want to know more… I can involve you. I will explain the importance of the crown you four fought for and why it is a much coveted object…"
Team MARS had been stunned into silence.
"Take a moment…" Ironwood offered. "This is a big decision."
The teammates leapt off their chairs in a flurry of movement and huddled up. Ironwood turned his head to spot a bewildered look on Winter's face as she watched the team whisper to each other.
"Schnee," Ironwood whispered. "Go lock the elevator… make sure the intercom has been turned off as well."
Winter nodded and stalked off to fulfill her duty.
Finally Team MARS broke apart their huddle and took their seats, unreadable looks on their faces. Mauve once again was chosen as the mouthpiece for the four.
"After some discussion, we would like to take your generous offer to stay in Atlas," Mauve spoke in a tone that sounded far too polite. "But only if Team Violet is up here with us, if they aren't coming then we aren't staying."
"Very well," Ironwood nodded. "I'll see to it that they are offered the exact same deal i just gave you four, free tuition and all. But what about my last offer? Do you four want to know more about the crown?"
Team MARS once again looked between themselves. Mauve was about to speak up when Ironwood cut her off.
"Before you give me your answer… I want you four to understand the importance of the information I am offering you," Ironwood warned. "This information is classified and a well-kept secret… I will not tolerate you repeating what you said to anyone outside this room without my permission."
Winter returned from making sure the elevator was locked, tucking her the access key into the pocket of her military coat.
"Furthermore," Ironwood continued. "This information is… simply incredible, your entire view of Remnant and everything you know about your lives will be fundamentally changed. If you four choose to follow me down this rabbit hole… there is no coming back out…"
Mauve sat silently, her eyes glassy as she bit and gently chewed her lower lip. She was carefully considering Ironwood's warning in her head, and while her common sense screamed at her to remain ignorant… curiosity was a powerful thing…
So Mauve did what she usually did… she looked to her team…
Asher had a cautious look on his face and was nervously drumming his fingers on his right thigh. He turned his head and caught her eyes, giving her a slow nod that told her everything she needed to know.
Sage had a cool and impassive look on his face, which was a little unlike him. Out of all of them Mauve knew that Sage was the most deserving… given that he had been put through the bulk of the hardship.
Rust looked intrigued, leaning forwards in his seat to rest his elbows on his legs and prop up his head. The large boy had an eager look on his dark eyes… Mauve instantly knew where he sat on the issue…
What about her though? Of course she wanted to know more… and Ironwood's cryptic warning had certainly peaked her interest.
But was it the right choice to make? Was a lifetime spent in ignorance a better choice for the four of them? But then again… they couldn't live their lives ignorant anymore now that they knew there was more to Remnant than they initially thought…
Mauve steeled herself and prepared to give Ironwood her answer, she would once again speak for the four teammates she didn't feel she deserved. She briefly turned her gaze towards her teammates to gauge their reactions; Mauve was quietly elated to find them all nodding at her, handing her the reins and letting her make the choice.
"General Ironwood," Mauve cleared her throat. The lynx girl felt her heart begin to hammer against her ribcage. "We-"
Elsewhere, deep in the jungles of Mistral...
Cobalt Azure was a man on the run...
The young huntsman was sprinting through the humid and moist jungles of rural Mistral, far away from any bastions of human or faunus civilization. The occasional chatter of insects and gentle patter of light rain was masked by his labored and scratchy breathing.
Cobalt grunted in exertion as he jumped a small creek, yelping in pain as he stumbled to the ground, his injured forearm slapping against the muddy rocks; the limb was adorned with a bleeding flesh wound…
… courtesy of a sniper round that managed to sneak past his already battered aura.
Cobalt scrambled to his feet and continued his sloppy sprint through the thick and leafy brush. He had to put as much distance between himself and his pursuers as he could.
Then the howling and whistling started… a garbled chorus of voices that seemed to sound all around him, leaving Cobalt unable to pinpoint a location.
The wolves were after him… they always hunted in packs… and they were absolutely relentless. He had made first contact with them hours ago and they were still chasing after him.
Cobalt was about to hop a small ridge when a whistling noise screamed through the air, followed by an ear-shattering cracking noise. A small but intensely hot object connected with the shoulder of the huntsman; the bullet shattered what was left of his battered aura and sent him sprawling into the mud.
Cobalt spat out the dirt and grass in his mouth and scrambled into a sitting position. His shoulder throbbed with agony from the bullet impact as he nestled into the muddy wall of the small ridge he had tried to jump. His once pristine blue robes were ruined, heavily saturated with mud and adorned with rips.
The whistling and howling started again, making Cobalt yelp in fear and burrow deeper. Fighting wasn't an option, he had lost his grip on his weapon perhaps an hour ago and was unable to retrieve it. Besides… the wolves worked in packs and he was alone… there was no chance of winning even if he did have his weapon! He knew because he had tried… he had deflected the first few bullets with his Bo staff… until they flanked him from the sides...
Cobalt squeezed his eyes shut and used his filthy hands to scrape up some mud and cover himself up, trying his best to conceal himself. He was in the middle of smearing dirt on his arms when a soft crunching noise made him freeze.
He could hear them! Heavy breathing and the soft squishing of combat boots against mud and ground.
They were still whistling to each other, alternating between shrill noises and warbling… to anyone else these would have been meaningless noises… but Cobalt had heard all the tales about the wolves, the boogeymen were communicating in perfect harmony… coordinating and planning to search the area and look for him, no doubt.
Cobalt did his best to slow his breathing down to make as little noise as possible…
The chorus of whistles fell completely silent… Cobalt released a rattling breath of apprehension.
"Found you, bitch!" Roared a deep and scratchy voice. Cobalt whimpered weakly as an armored hand reached under the ridge and unceremoniously yanked him from the mud. The Huntsman's world spun as he was thrown roughly to the dirt.
Using the last of his strength Cobalt forced himself into a standing position and broke into another run, his feet struggling to find traction in the mud. An armored hand clamped down on his uninjured shoulder but Cobalt roughly shook it off, beginning to pick up speed as he weakly sprinted away.
It was all for nothing though...
For the second time that day Cobalt was suddenly knocked onto his face. He felt his legs tighten as the taut cord of a bola grenade bound his body up. Cobalt's face mashed into the mud, leaving him unable to breath. The huntsmen choked out a terrified sob as he was suddenly pulled backwards. Cobalt tried to blink the mud out of his eyes as his world began to spin, he could feel air whooshing past his ears and the rush of blood in his head as he was hoisted upwards by his feet.
It took a few moments for the discombobulated huntsman to realize that he was hanging upside down by his feet now, his body still tied up by the taut cord of the bola grenade. Through his filthy, mud covered eyes Cobalt could just make out the definition of an armored breastplate.
"Ah, Number Two!" A tinny sounding voice rang out. "Up in the trees again? You always know how to dress them up for me…"
"You plannin' a monologue, boss?" Another voice chuckled. Cobalt blinked the mud out of his eyes, watching as the unidentified man in front of him walked out of sight.
"Just a short one this time," the tinny sounding voice chuckled out. "Numbers four, three and five… watch the treeline for any grimm. As for you, let's take a good look at you…"
Cobalt grunted in discomfort as armored fingers roughly brushed the mud away from his eyes and tilted his chin up towards his chest; Cobalt wished the mud had stayed, because he was now staring directly into two tinted eye plates.
Cobalt was face to mask with an Adjudicator… face to face with a wolf, a feared hunter of Hunstmen and Huntresses!
Everything was silent for a moment, save for the patter of rain and Cobalt's labored breathing.
"Cobalt Azure… twenty-six years of age, graduated from Haven academy… 'C' class Huntsman license, identification number is 57700-46789-29081… do you know why we are after you?" The Adjudicator spoke, his voice sounding tinny from the ballistic mask he was wearing; the dark tinted eye plates concealed his eyes.
"I didn't do anything!" Cobalt gasped out, wiggling in discomfort as his vision spun; he could hear the blood rushing to his head. "You've made a mistake or something!"
"Then why did you run?" The leader questioned, tilting his masked head in curiosity. "How do you think I felt back there? I just wanted to have a nice little chat and you turned tail to flee… a little rude of you if you ask me!" The masked boogeyman straightened his back and tilted back his chin. "Hey boys! What do you fellows think!? Was Mister Azure being rude back there?"
His rhetorical question was answered with a chaotic, off-key chorus of whistles.
Cobalt was silent, his tired brain forming a rebuttal. "I was terrified! You… your reputation-"
"Yes, our reputation precedes us!" The leader chuckled darkly. "I suppose that's a reason to run… but we're not unreasonable men, we know when it's time to talk problems out…"
"I-"
"You know why I think you tried to run?" The masked man mused, cutting Cobalt off. "I think that you thought you were gonna get away with what you did… and that you wouldn't draw the attention of the Adjudicators… didn't you?"
The masked man took a few steps back, giving Cobalt a proper look at his captor. From head to toe the leader's body was concealed by thick black and yellow ballistic armor, complete with thigh plating and CQB shoulder pads. The man's face was covered by a ballistic mask and shroud; three dark yellow stripes ran diagonally across the face of the mask, mimicking the appearance of an animal's swiping claw.
But that wasn't the worst part…
Dangling from the adjudicator's kevlar vest were half a dozen hunting licenses. The small blue cards had been hole punched and strapped to the vest by lengths of paracord and tapped gently in the rainy breeze.
Was his going to be added to the Adjudicator's collection? Another trophy?
Cobalt stayed silent, not wanting to incriminate himself. He inhaled sharply when the masked man pulled a razor sharp tomahawk off his waist, twirling the weapon in his gloved palm.
"Hey Number six!" The lead adjudicator chuckled. "Come over here!"
Cobalt weakly watched as another adjudicator entered his field of vision. "Number Six" was dressed identically to his leader, but his mask was plain black his chestplate lacked decoration.
"Something wrong boss?" Number Six asked, leveling a long look in Cobalt's direction.
"Look at this nice pinata!" The lead adjudicator chuckled, slapping the tomahawk into his subordinates hand. "Want to see what type of candy were gonna get?"
"I like candy!" Number Six chuckled darkly, twirling the blade near Cobalt's face.
"Alright!" Cobalt gasped as the blade drew closer. "I admit it! I- I did it!"
"No…" The masked leader chuckled gravely, accepting his tomahawk back from his subordinate. "I want to hear it all… what is it that you did?"
"I-" Cobalt gasped for a moment, the blood roaring in his ears as his bound body tilted in the gentle breeze. "I did-"
"Oh I can't hear you like that!" The lead adjudicator tapped at his ear, reaching out to steady Cobalt with his hands. He then bent down a little at the knees and grasped Cobalt's chin, angling his head so that his ear would be placed right next to Cobalt's mouth.
"Go ahead…" The lead adjudicator whispered. "Don't you dare spare a single detail… I'm a good listener."
So Cobalt told him absolutely everything, he wasted no time admitting his guilt. The lead adjudicator was silent as Cobalt sobbed, quietly listening to the confession.
"Tell me…" The adjudicator finally spoke, turning his head so his masked gaze bored into Cobalt's. "Do you remember the oath you recited when you got your license? Could you remember the words for me?"
"But-"
"Just do it…" The leader interrupted again, reaching down to trace a gloved finger against the edge of his tomahawks blade. "You're in no position to refuse me…"
"I sol- solemnly swear…" Cobalt hiccupped. "To be Remnant's sword and shiel-"
"But you weren't," The leader interrupted, moving his gloved hand up to clamp Cobalt's mouth shut. "Those people were counting on you… and they all died because of you…"
The leader removed his hand and stood up again. "What do you fellas think? Is Mr. Azure here a model Huntsman?"
A somber chorus of whistles broke out from the other masked soldiers in the area.
"It seems as if the mob has spoken," the leader craned his head down and tapped his fingers against the head of his tomahawk. His gloved hand moved lower to remove a large revolver from his thigh mounted holster; he placed his thumb against the hammer and kept the barrel pointed low.
"You have two choices…" The leader held up two fingers as emphasis. "We can drag you back to face punishment for what you've done… or we can kill you here and now and just report that you fought back… which one?"
Cobalt didn't need to think about it.
"I choose the first!" The Huntsman pleaded.
The leader whistled again and Cobalt yelled out in pain when one of the soldiers who he couldn't see cut him loose. He slammed head first into the muddy ground and was left moaning in pain.
Cobalt groaned weakly as two adjudicators grabbed his shoulders and roughly stood him up.
"Look on the bright side of all this," the leader mused to the struggling man. "With you rotting behind bars… you'll make an excellent example for our other virtuous defenders-"
"Boss!" Another adjudicator interrupted, leaving his position from watching the tree line.
"Number Three?" The lead adjudicator drawled. "Problem?"
"Yes sir!" The masked soldier answered, popping a black scroll off his chest piece and unfolding the device. "Update on… the Big Fish…"
Cobalt couldn't see the faces of the men around him, but the way they all stiffened told him exactly what he needed to know.
Someone who could make the Adjudicators uncomfortable? Who was this person?
"Spare no detail!" The lead adjudicator grumbled, accepting the scroll from his subordinate. "What's the damage?"
"One death, multiple major injuries and a village got leveled" Number Three mumbled, his voice muffled by his black mask.
"That's low!" The leader remarked, stretching out his arms to hold the scroll further away. "Shockingly low!"
Things were silent for a moment, Cobalt could still hear blood rushing in his ears as he was held in place.
The leader released a long, rattling sigh and handed back the scroll to his subordinate. The heavily armored soldier turned back to Cobalt and placed his hands on his hips. "Sorry, Cobalt… there's been a change of plans. It looks like you fought against us and we had no choice but to kill you…"
"What!?" Cobalt spat weakly, struggling against his captors. "What do you mean?"
"A small village near Vale just got visited by an old enemy," the leader explained, gently tilting his head to the side. The boogeyman raised his hand up, using three of his fingers to trace the three scar patterns on his mask. "The enemy in question is one whose evaded us before… we need to get there while the trail is still warm and delivering you to a cell would just waste time… and that's not even mentioning the paperwork."
"Just let me go!" Cobalt weakly sobbed, feeling his legs buckle. "You can take my license if you want! Please…"
"Sorry…" The leader shrugged. "But guys like you just don't change…"
Cobalt's last sight was the revolver being lifted to eye level and a muzzle flash. The two adjudicators holding the Huntsman dropped him unceremoniously to the muddy ground.
The lead adjudicator watched the body for a moment before crouching down and patting at Cobalt's ruined blue robes. He found what he was looking for after some time, the small plastic card that officiated Cobalt as a huntsman.
Cobalt's body would be left to rot… there was no sense hiding something that was already out in the wilderness. In time his licence would be cleaned, hole punched and added to Number One's growing collection…
All in a day's work… but there were bigger fish to fry.
