Just when everything had been going smoothly, General James Ironwood let down his guard.
It was a single moment, a lapse in judgement, where he felt safe. Where he forgot about the unending assailants that threatened the stability of Remnant, where he lost himself in nostalgia, remembering what it had been like, all those years ago.
A moment where he got to enjoy a dance with an old flame, speak with a close friend about things that weren't work. Watch a surrogate daughter enjoy herself.
Then, like it always was and always would be, he was violently reminded of the horror that Remnant held within its shadows.
And he'd spilled punch down his front. Which was not something he appreciated, the fabric was… difficult… to get dry cleaned. Partly because it was an uncooperative material, and partly because it was actually comprised of a fabric blend that was a military secret.
The ground had shaken as if a localized earthquake had decided to join the dance, and it was accompanied by a cacophonous bang that resounded across the campus and down into the city proper.
All of this happened, and Ironwood played it back in his mind as he drew his revolver, his two security guards flanking him, hands on their weapons, heads on a swivel as they kept their eyes out for potential threats.
Of course, Ironwood's security was more of a formality than anything else. Sure, they were top notch SMO operatives, a part of the MP branch, but they were still soldiers. To them, Ironwood was a legend.
"Brownes, get me a sitrep, get in touch with the Daedalus. I want to know exactly what just happened. Mozambique, link up with Beacon's staff, help out where you're needed."
Brownes and Mozambique quickly saluted, not arguing the General's orders and doubling their pace, heading for their destinations.
It was at this point that Ironwood rounded the corner, and saw the complete lack of towering CCT. Which was an odd occurrence. It was usually there at this time of evening.
It wasn't normally replaced with smoking, flaming rubble, wounded soldiers, and the armored corpses of his fallen men.
The General didn't even give a single thought to anything but rushing in and starting to drag his men out of the wreckage, pulling them clear, as another chunk of tower teetered ever closer to falling, structural damage abound, the most obvious of its forms being the cracks that ran through the concrete and the shattered, splintered and bent rebar that poked every which way.
It didn't look good.
Brownes was the first back to report, though his report was given as he too began dragging wounded out of the rubble as best he could. "General, the Daedalus reports nothing out of the ordinary! No outside interference, no Grimm!"
Ironwood swore under his breath. This meant it was an internal job. Good news, Vale wasn't at war publicly.
Bad news, this was either White Fang, or something worse, and Vale's shadow war had just kicked up a notch.
"General, sir!"
Ironwood looked up, and let out a sigh of relief as he saw Mozambique escorting Glynda towards him.
"Glynda, I need you deeper, clearing rubble! There might be more men buried under there!"
Goodwitch only gave him a nod as she began clearing a path, pushing rubble up and back over her head, neatly placing it in a pile out of the way. There was too much damage for her to repair, she couldn't place flaming concrete powder back.
Three large chunks of tower crumbled and were pushed sideways, momentarily distracting the vice-headmistress. "Was that you, Glynda?"
A silent shake of her head had the General aim his revolver in the general direction the rubble had come from.
Then a hole in the rubble pushed itself open, and a man carrying an unconscious red-cloaked girl stepped out, three injured soldiers laid on the ground behind him.
Naruto Uzumaki, skin having been effectively cooked off the bone, stepped out of the rubble, handed Ruby to Brownes, and stepped back in, hefting a soldier into a carry and stepping out.
Ironwood had seen many injuries in his lifetime, his own being some of the most severe yet non-lethal, but this was different. Uzumaki was quite literally missing all the flesh and, well, anything but bone on the left of his face. Even his eyeball had liquefied, which was never a pleasant thing to think about.
So it was somewhat strange to watch ribbons of flesh stretched out and wrapped parts, slowly but surely repairing the damage.
The second injured soldier was passed to Mozambique, who took the man and quickly set about triage, but Naruto was still going, retrieving the third.
Naruto barely even paid attention to Goodwitch as he passed the third soldier to her, before he walked up to Ironwood.
"No- One- Left…" He ground out, sounding like his throat was made of sandpaper. Obviously, it had cooked as well.
Then the boy sat down, rubble forming a seat beneath his hand.
Ironwood wasn't sure what to say.
At least his suit was mostly intact?
He'd only had moments to make a decision. One moment he was doing his typical 'I'm-concerned-but-disguising-it-with-bad-humour' conversationalism, and the next a wall of fire was headed towards the two of them.
And it wasn't like he'd expected it to happen, either. He wasn't prepared for a bomb to go off in front of him.
A rapid cast of Mana Field had half-conjured the dome, and even if he had enough time for a full cast it wouldn't have protected either of them much better, because the sheer power of the shockwave shattered it, and the two of them were thrown into the back of the elevator as a wave of flame hit.
Ruby was honestly lucky that she'd been basically slammed into the wall and Naruto had been slammed into her, because if it wasn't for that she would've received the worst of the heat. As it was both of them were left smoking, flesh cooked and third-degree burns across their bodies.
And neither of them had Aura, which had shattered the moment the shockwave had hit them.
All in all, not looking good.
Naruto was conscious, at least, even if quite literally every second was pure unadulterated agony. At the very least Ruby was unconscious so she couldn't feel what it was like to be inside an elevator as the building crumbled underneath them, whilst their flesh went from raw to rare to well-done in a matter of nanoseconds.
Then they had to contend with the rubble burying them in a vaguely elevator-shaped coffin, powdered concrete making the air even harder to breath, which was only compounded on by the smoke.
All in all, not a great situation.
Naruto let out a charred groan as his knees hit the ground, but he paid the agony no mind, crawling over to Ruby.
The girl was on the ground on her back, and though her red dress had survived her skin had not. Naruto was planning on fixing that.
'Observe.'
[Ruby Rose]
[Level: 20]
[HP: 29/170]
[SP: 170/170]
[MP: 0/0]
[AP: 0/340]
Naruto's remaining eye widened. Ruby had almost died.
System Mind had never kicked in faster as he immersed himself in his skill list.
There had to be something, anything he could do.
'Stupid. No healing spells, no healing potions, did you really think no one would get hurt? Ozpin warned you, Naruto, you idiot!'
Naruto had no doubt that if his tear ducts hadn't effectively vaporized, tears would be trailing down his face. His ineptitude had led them here, and in a way, this was his fault.
'There has to be something I can use, something! A skill, healing, or maybe Aura?'
Naruto knew that he was the only person alive that could regenerate the way he did. His HP equated directly to his body's physical form, but all the readouts he received when he Observed anyone were more or less summarized forms, different from his own. Ruby's low HP value didn't mean that it would regenerate quickly like he did.
It meant that without Aura, she would die, and he didn't know how to directly give her HP.
What he could do was try to force his Aura into her, and hope that it boosted her own Aura enough. Like jump-starting a car, except with the physical manifestation of the soul.
Naruto placed a palm on her midsection and closed his eyes, willing his Aura Control to push out his Aura, directing it into Ruby.
[Skill Created!]
[Auric Transfusion (Active): Thanks to the System, you have a unique understanding of how Aura works, including an intimate knowledge of how to transfer Aura from yourself into others who are compatible. Not all are compatible, and the target must have an awakened Aura for it to take effect. Some Aura is lost in the transfer, at an efficiency rate of 50%. This rate is improved as the skill levels. Level 1; XP 0/12.]
It was only after the notification appearing that Naruto realized the skill had stopped only seconds after starting.
Which was confusing. Was Ruby not compatible?
Naruto Observed her again, but noticed that she had received a few points of Aura, so it wasn't that she wasn't compatible, which was a good thing.
Naruto's one good eye spotted his reflection in a shattered screen. 'Oh. I'm out of AP.'
At least Naruto did have a skill he could use to fix that, and so he closed his eyes, calming his mind.
Meditation activated promptly, and he felt his body begin to heal at an accelerated rate, as his regeneration rates doubled.
He let his AP regenerate for a few seconds, before focusing it all into Ruby, using Auric Transfusion to push all of his AP into her body, which accepted it, red sparks flying as her Aura began to heal her injuries.
It was enough to keep her alive, enough to jumpstart her regeneration, so Naruto released the skill, standing with a wobble.
Now, it was time to break free of the rubble, which was a lot easier than it sounded. Terrakinesis would make it an easy job, and the CCT wasn't the biggest building width-wise, so it wouldn't be too difficult to simply mould some of the rubble into walls, and create a solid tunnel.
It would make the cleanup a little bit more convoluted, but that wasn't the biggest issue Naruto was presented with.
'Survivors. Those soldiers might've made it, though I don't know how many. I have to do something.'
Naruto needed more new skills to deal with what was effectively a significant problem. 'How do I see who's still alive?'
Naruto pushed what little Aura he had into his one working eye, and was rewarded with another skill.
[Skill Created!]
[Soul Sight (Active): Thanks to the System, you can infuse your eyes with Aura, giving you the ability to see Aura. The dimmer the Aura, the lower the total amount. Can see inactive Aura. Costs 5 MP/s. Level MAX.]
At least Naruto had the Mana to maintain it, though it would mean he would have to toggle it in order to use Terrakinesis.
Naruto took a glance around with Soul Sight and saw only three faint glows, human-shaped, all within the rubble. He cracked his knuckles, which hurt way more than he was willing to admit, and set about clearing a path to them.
Despite the fact that he felt like he'd been char-grilled.
'I hope this heals quick.'
Ruby was in the infirmary, still unconscious, which Naruto was grateful for. He wouldn't want her to feel what it was like to spend too long in an oven. He'd fully healed, by now, but he'd actually had to shed the cooked skin as his semblance replaced it, which had been an experience that he never wanted to repeat.
It just so happened that he'd done that in front of the General, who looked vaguely discomforted by the revelation. Credit to the man, he hadn't seemed shocked that Naruto was healing, so his claims to be aware of the System weren't unfounded.
Speaking of the General, he was standing beside the Headmaster, the two of them sharing a glance before turning back to Naruto, who was sat in a chair on the opposite side of Ozpin's desk in the man's office, waiting for their response.
"So, you decided to investigate instead of reporting it, and when you reached the top floor, the elevator door opened and a bomb went off?" Ironwood asked, his stare still intense.
Naruto nodded. "If I had to guess, it was rigged to blow the moment the doors opened."
Ironwood nodded. "That would make sense. Why, though? Who could have the motivation to blow up the CCT? Especially now, with the Daedalus above Vale. It just means that Vale has to temporarily rely on Atlas for inter-kingdom communications."
"Perhaps it was not meant as a direct attempt to disrupt communications, but as an assassination attempt? It would not be as strange when you consider that the top floor is highly secure, and only people with permission are allowed on the top floor. James, had you have been the one to notice your soldiers on the ground, you would've been on alert, and quickly made your way to the top floor. Perhaps the bomb was meant for you?" Ozpin pointed out, and Ironwood nodded along, face turning pensive.
"If so, our foes are becoming emboldened. We cannot allow something like this to happen again. I'll be tripling security, we can't let them do whatever they feel without consequences."
"Are you sure that is the wisest decision, James?" Ozpin asked, sipping from his mug. "There may be repercussions to increasing your force size in Vale so dramatically."
Ironwood shook his head. "It isn't as if there is no precedent. I can speak with Vale's council, see if I can negotiate to maintain security as a part of the Vytal Festival."
Ozpin remained silent, most likely considering his options. "Of course, James." The man turned to face Naruto, looking him in the eyes, which had thankfully repaired themselves.
"Mr Uzumaki, you have had a very long night, and I imagine that you would be more than willing to retire to your dorm for some well-deserved rest. I would just like to ask one question before you go."
Naruto nodded.
"Do you still wish to take part in the General's operation?"
Naruto took a deep breath.
"Yes, sir. We owe it to Vale to help out whenever we can, it's our job."
Ozpin nodded, and turned to Ironwood.
"Good to hear, Uzumaki, because we'll be ready to depart in two days. We can't delay this, even with the current circumstances as they are."
Naruto winced internally, but nodded externally, standing from the seat and making his way out of the office and into the elevator, delicately pressing the button for the ground floor despite knowing that there was no chance of there being another bomb.
'Man, saying it and accepting it are two different things.'
"Did it work, ma'am?"
Professor Aurum's office was dark, lit only by a dim lamp in the corner.
"Yes. It appears to have gone off without a hitch, though the casualty rate was far lower than expected. You did well, Emerald. You too, Mercury."
Emerald and Mercury, stood next to each other, remained silent, but Cinder could tell that they had perked up somewhat at her rare compliment.
"So, we have access?" Mercury asked.
"Ironwood did exactly as expected, and all of Vale's traffic is now running through their destroyer. We have complete access to every single system that passes through the Daedalus," Cinder explained. "It went according to plan, Mercury, you needn't worry."
"Now what, ma'am?" Emerald asked, shifting in the dim light.
"Now, Emerald, we wait. Roman should be finished soon, if all continues as planned, and then our moment will present itself."
Naruto wasn't angry often. He was rarely maddened, and tonight was proving to be a very different affair from what he had expected.
The rise and the fall, he reasoned. Good and bad, Karma, whatever they wanted to call it. It didn't really matter what it was called, it sucked.
And, for once, it wasn't his fault. It didn't have anything to do with his semblance, so it wasn't something he was responsible for, but at the same time, it meant there wasn't anything he could really do.
It was nearly four in the morning at this point, and the shattered moon offered barely any light, shrouded as it was by the dark clouds that passed through the sky with nary a thought for those who stood beneath them.
It didn't matter all that much to Naruto, Candlelight providing more than enough light for the area he was working in.
As for what he was working on, well… that was a little more difficult to describe.
Ever since he used Terrakinesis to carve a staircase down the cliffside, he'd entertained a few ideas in the back of his head.
Nostalgic, childish ideas, ones that he didn't really see all that much use for, until tonight.
Well, he still couldn't see all that much use for them, but he was angry, and he needed something precise to take his mind off of what had happened. It was always harder to stay angry when you were working on something precise.
The Beacon Cliffs were solid stone, made of what Naruto assumed was some kind of limestone, and it was remarkably easy to shape with Terrakinesis, if a bit slow. That was fine. He wasn't planning on sleeping, and even if he was he doubt he could.
Naruto allowed his control to push the stone, carving a hole in the wall, evening it out to be much neater than he was used too.
It took shape with time, becoming square, or rectangular if you took the depth into account, as he tunnelled into the cliffside, widening it out until it took a shape he was happy with.
Okay, yes, he was caving in to the childish idea of making a secret base in the cliffside.
It was for a good reason, a secret place to train some more… obvious skills, like Alchemy, and other things that didn't look like Aura manipulation.
It was also a place where AWBN and RRYN could relax, now that the school appeared to be no longer safe.
They'd set off a bomb in the CCT, and Ozpin had no idea who did it! Naruto had a feeling Blake would have a good idea, but she was asleep, and as far as Naruto was aware she and Weiss had retired before the bomb had gone off. His scroll hadn't been messaged, so he assumed she was still in the dark about it.
He'd let them know in the morning. At least Yang knew what had happened, and Pyrrha had found out by proxy. As far as Naruto knew, she was still sitting next to her sister, waiting for her to regain consciousness.
The very thought of Ruby sent a spark of anger through his body, and the hallway he'd been shaping shuddered as a crack ran through the center, nearly splitting it in half.
He controlled his breathing, taking one deep inhalation followed by a long exhalation, and repeating that method for at least half a minute. It succeeded in calming him down, and he resumed his work, quickly repairing the accidental damage.
He didn't need to make it massive, like some kind of underground maze that stretched for miles. He was trying to make a covered room to put some equipment in, not a dungeon.
Of course, Naruto didn't quite know exactly what kind of equipment he would end up needing, and the size of whatever future equipment would be, so at this point, he was kind of winging it, as he carved a door frame into the side of the hallway, pushing through and beginning to shape a room.
Less than two days until they were going on a mission to kill the giant worm Grimm. Naruto had that lurking in the back of his head too, and honestly, Naruto was worried.
He wasn't prepared. Every time he thought he was, he was rapidly dissuaded of that idea, usually through some violent, dangerous means.
He had a plan for tonight, though it was technically this morning. A simple, two step plan that was guaranteed to help.
First, he was going to finish constructing the little hideaway.
Second, he was going to go find some Grimm, and take out all his frustration and anger on them. It wouldn't be all that difficult, either, considering how much negativity he had no doubt he was radiating.
Naruto had finished widening out the room, having reinforced the walls by compacting the earth into far denser limestone than it had been before. That was the point he decided he'd had enough, and he stepped outside into the brisk air.
The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, the milky orange giving the world a tint he felt it didn't deserve. At least rain, or even just overcast weather would suit his mood.
Of course, the warm light in the sky had the added benefit of making it easier for Naruto to spot the incoming airborne Grimm that were headed his way, a swarm of smaller Nevermore bearing down on him.
Naruto didn't even bother with his weapons. He had a perfectly good set of Mana Arrows to pierce the avian menaces.
Naruto's face turned downright vicious.
"Sir, we're ready for departure. Corvettes' Icarus and Iapyx are ready to take over communication regulation, and R&D have finished the prototypes."
A nod answered the soldier. "Thank you, Brownes. Is Bison's squad ready for the operation?"
"Yes sir. His squad is standing by. He mentioned that the council is using this as a test run for some new gear, too, sir."
Ironwood nodded once more. "I'll let Ozpin know we're ready to depart. Thank you, Brownes."
As Brownes left the room, Ironwood swiveled in his chair, staring out over Vale from his office aboard the Daedalus.
A new day was dawning for Vale, and for Remnant as a whole. A new dawn for Atlas, too. Gone were the days of their overbearing status as the 'bad guys'.
General James Ironwood would lead Atlas into a new age of heroes.