Here we go.

Cover Art: Jack Wayne

Chapter 146

No, no, no.

Panic raced through Arthur's body as he slammed his fingers onto the keys, striking off the hospital's power, Argus' CCT signal, crushing all calls for help, throwing the settlement back a hundred years or more. In the back of his mind he noted there was still time left, time he'd granted Ashari before he would do all this, but that didn't matter.

He wasn't supposed to hind him! He wasn't supposed to win!

He won't here either, Arthur thought desperately. I'll make sure he and Argus lose everything even if he does catch me. Then he hasn't won at all. I'll be the one that goes down in history. I'll be the one who won!

Loud crashes echoed from the hallway outside. Every door was being kicked in. Ashari had identified the floor but not the room and sweat tricked down Arthur's face. A trained huntsman might be able to survive a fall from the window and employ a landing strategy to escape. He was no huntsman. Such barbaric pastimes had always seemed like such a waste of time for an intellectual like he.

Shaking, he rose from the bed, picked up the laptop and set it on the nearest table. He licked his lips and straightened his jacket in the mirror, wincing as another door – one closer than ever – was broken down. Smoothing his hair back and forcing a smug grin onto his face, he set one hand on the hotel table and faced the door, determined to face his defeat head on, well dressed and in complete control.

There was a pause outside, a moment of silence, and then the door came crashing inward, striking the carpet with a loud bang.

"It's too late!" Watts cried, casting his arms up dramatically. "For all your efforts, Ashari, you've achieved nothi-"

Pain blossomed across his face and the hotel room twisted. Or he did. Watts' mind went blank for a moment, the only sensation that of burning agony on his left cheek, before his eyes refocused and he realised he was laid on his side on the bed, knees curled into his chest.

How ignominious…

"I've got the computer!" Ashari was speaking into his scroll, shouting. How-? Oh, it wasn't his. The bright pink thing was garish and covered in sparkly bits of glitter with a stencilled drawing of a white cartoon cat smiling adorably on the back. "Terra, I need instruction. He's shut down power to the hospital and most of the city!"

"Not yet he hasn't," a woman's voice came back. "They have an emergency supply that'll last half an hour at least. Bring it out to me and I'll try and fix it. Don't turn the laptop off or let it go to sleep! It might be password protected."

Half an hour. While it was no surprise to know the hospital had its own emergency dust generators, the realisation that he hadn't done anything hit hard. In all fairness, Ashari shouldn't have been able to locate him in an hour, not in twelve hours, so half an hour's extra power had been a meaningless thing.

So meaningless…

"Get up, you."

A strong hand fisted in Arthur's hair and dragged him to his feet. His eyes watered at such uncouth treatment and he tried to form the words, only to splutter out some blood and a loose tooth.

"H-How…?" he babbled. "I was tracking you-"

"You tracked my scroll. I bought another. Multiple." He opened his coat to show two more scrolls – one black and simple, the other some abstract medley of colours – strapped to the inside. "I left my scroll at the park where you all but confirmed you had no direct surveillance over me. That scroll is hidden by a tree with another beside it, one I was on call to so you'd think I was still talking into mine."

He might have laughed if he wasn't in so much pain. Such a pathetic solution, so… simplistic and blunt. So reckless. If he'd noticed the small variance in voice quality from one scroll to another then Ashari would have been doomed. If he'd had a single camera in the park, it would have been over. If he'd thought to keep an eye on the cameras around his hotel just in case he approached, it would have been Arthur's victory.

So many things that could have gone wrong. So many risks. It was such a poorly thought out and executed plan that could have, in another world, blown up in his face. It offended Arthur to have lost to such a half-assed scheme.

"You didn't even outsmart me…"

"What?" Ashari stared angrily at him and then instantly ignored him. "Forget it." Arthur stumbled forward under the force of a shove, striking the open doorframe and gripping onto it. "You're under arrest by the order of Atlas. Run and I'll be forced to incapacitate you. Give me a reason to put a bullet in your leg, Watts," he whispered. "Please."

This was all wrong. Ashari hadn't even had to work to beat him. His grand scheme, his clever game, his restrictive rules. It should have all worked in his favour, so how? How had he been beaten by a trip to the mall, a set of scrolls and a few fireworks?

I had all of Argus under my control! I was akin to a God!

"Salem won't stand for this," he rasped. "You've betrayed us – her! When she finds out about this, she will destroy you! You and your family will be ripped apart by Grimm-"

His lower jaw cracked under Ashari's fist. Arthur struck the far wall of the corridor and slid down with a wet, agonised groan. For all his efforts in dressing his best, the blood staining his front was ruining his ensemble now. S-Such a brute. Disgusting. Arthur's eyes watered.

"It's best you not mention her name around the others. Maybe a broken jaw will keep you quiet." Ashari crouched down to sit on his heels in front of him. "And this could have been avoided if you didn't pull this shit, Watts. I'm still loyal to Salem."

Impossible. Not after doing this. Arthur tried to gurgle out a question but Ashari simply grabbed his collar, hauled him up and forced him out, the laptop held under his other arm.

/-/

Jaune shoved Watts toward Harriet, who took the broken and bloodied man and quickly led him to the back of a military transport. Cameras flashed nearby, most of them scroll cameras, and the image of Watts brutally arrested would surely circulate. Luckily, the lack of any CCT would stop it getting out of Argus, and with that convenient proof of what Watts proposed, he was sure no one would feel too sorry for him.

"Here." He pushed the laptop into Terra's waiting hands. His sister-in-law knelt on the tarmac in front of the hotel and quickly started going through it. "Can you fix this?"

"I-I'm trying, sir. Give me a moment."

They didn't have many of those but Jaune refrained from saying that. Instead, he turned to one of the nearby soldiers and asked, "Has the extra dust I ordered shipped to the hospital arrived?"

"Sir. Yes sir. They've also been made aware of the terrorist threat."

They'd have noticed it first-hand by now, but he supposed they might have thought it a normal power cut. "Good work. They can make sure those most in need of treatment receive it."

Harriet slammed the door of the APC shut behind Watts and came back, snapping her own quick salute. "Sir. Good work on apprehending him before things could get worse. What shall we do from here?"

"Take him back to the base here and prep for transport to Atlas via Bullhead. Wait for me before leaving – we'll take him together. I'd rather us be there to make sure he makes it there. I want you guarding him until then," he said. "I'll stay here and make sure the block he's put on everything is lifted."

"Do you want me to lift the lockdown?"

"Get someone to tell Argus we're going to, but don't lift it until the CCT is back up. We'd have no idea if people are in trouble outside if it isn't."

"Yes sir. I guess it'll be an easy sell since everyone with a scroll can tell something is up."

"There is that. See to it, Specialist."

"Sir."

Harriet gestured to two soldiers to come with her, then walked back to and into the APC. The engine revved and it trundled slowly away flanked by two other vehicles. Once they were gone, Jaune sighed and turned back to Terra working on the laptop. Atlas had its own programming specialists he could have called on if he had access to the CCT. There were none in Argus and none as closely available as the CCT engineer.

"I hate to rush you, Mrs Cotta-Arc…"

"Then don't!" she snapped. Sweat was running down her face and dripping onto the keyboard. "I've never seen a program like this before. It's not like there's an undo button!"

"Can't you just turn off whatever he turned on?"

"It's not that simple! This… This is connected to everything. Traffic cameras, buildings, mainframe, defence turrets, there's so much. I never realised Argus could be so badly compromised," she added quietly. "I… I don't know where to start."

"The hospital."

"Hyperbole. I'm at the hospital now but I can't see what he did to turn its systems off. There isn't a big shiny `power` button on this. In fact, he didn't interact with the systems at all. The hospital's power is still connected and running from what I can see here."

"Then…?"

"Think of it like a cancer cell in the human body. The power is still running just like blood and nutrients, but whatever program he's put into it is leeching and diverting that power away from the rest of the body, or the hospital in this case. Cancer does that to grow itself and perpetuate, but this is… I don't know. It's just sending the power somewhere else, diverting it."

"It's a virus, then?"

"It's more than a virus. A virus is just a program. This is raw code, and it's rewritten the hospital's core system files. It's as much a part of Argus now as the CCT is. I'm going to try a restore."

There wasn't that much time left, maybe twenty minutes, more if the dust he'd ordered sent would buy time, along with whatever rationing the hospital was able to do. Still, if this wasn't done within the hour then they were going to be in a lot of trouble.

"There's a way to reverse this on that computer, Terra. He needed a way to reverse what he did if we gave into his demands. That means there is a way to do it – and quickly."

"I know. I… wait. Maybe…" Terra leaned forward and tapped away urgently.

"Mrs Cotta-Arc?"

"I-I'm going to try and alter the program a little. It's already in the city's systems and I don't think I can rip it out on my own – not in any real time. B-But maybe I can use his system to control it myself. That power is being diverted somewhere. If I can divert it back, well, the whole city would still be compromised, but we'd be in control of it. For now, anyway. Someone better qualified could work on removing it later."

That was probably the best she could do at dumbing code down enough for him to understand it. Jaune nodded and stood silent, watching her type away. Beacon had never taught code, mostly because it was much too complicated to learn in an elective class, even if it might have been useful in an increasingly connected world. Terra worked in the CCT, however. There weren't many jobs that were as stringent with their qualifications as that.

"I-I think I've got it!" she crowed happily. "Well, not perfect but… I can apply the same program to overwrite two nearby buildings, drain their power and divert that to the hospital." She laughed nervously. "Honestly, this is a pretty bad fix. It's like treating cancer with more cancer."

"You're going to spread Watts' virus further…?" Jaune asked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.

"I don't know how to break it down or remove it. I can't even stop it taking the hospital's power. I can copy-paste as well as the next person, however." Another nervous giggle; more desperate amusement than real humour. "I'll slap it on an apartment block and divert their power to the hospital. We're still several buildings down, but those people are only losing their TV's, ovens and fridges, not life support machines…"

"Do it."

/-/

Ten hours. That was how long it took to fix the CCT and get a call back to Atlas. By that time, James must have been wondering what was going on because the man's face was drawn and tense throughout Jaune's report.

"Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?" he complained. "Watts is captured, then? In custody? I'm surprised. I half-expected you would kill him on the spot and exact your revenge."

"He can't work on fixing what happened to Winter if he's dead."

"Good point. I'm pleased to hear you kept him alive. What of this virus of his?"

"It's sill embedded in the systems around Argus. Mrs Cotta-Arc says it might take months to get it all out, especially because they're going to have to go around system by system to root it out. For now, we've left it there. Without Watts to activate it, it should be harmless. The hospital is running off stolen power from nearby and the CCT is up and running again."

Luckily, since the CCT had been undergoing replacement and repair, Watts' virus hadn't had time to root itself inside. It had been impacted Mistral's, which was bad enough in the long term, but at least meant Argus had its coverage back.

"I'll send a team to Argus and one to Mistral to look at their CCT. We'll make sure everything is cleaned out before Salem can get anything done. Good work today, you, Harriet and Mrs Cotta-Arc. I'll be sure to request she receive a commendation for her work."

"She's a new mother with a new family," Jaune said. "Financial aid might be more helpful than a medal…" Saphron was still his sister and if he could make life a little easier for her and Terra, he would.

"Then I'll see to it she receives a large bonus. What do you think his plan was? Not to stage all this, obviously. It's too sudden and he could have done it from a distance if he wanted."

That much, he would agree on. Watts had come out all this way and only sprang his trap once he found out he was being pursued. That didn't make sense as a premeditated move.

"I think he was here to make sure the new CCT system was infected. He already had most of Argus under his control, and I'll bet he had his hands in a lot of other systems as well, but the new CCT installation was going to use brand new computers with factory settings. He needed a way to infect it."

"Do you think this was on her orders…?"

That was a harder question to answer. Salem's plan – if you could call it that – was always so vague and nonsensical. Brute force combined with some clever minions and a healthy dash of magic. A lot of it defied conventional thinking.

"I think she would have wanted him to be as strong as possible and this is his best way to be useful to her. I'm not sure if she specifically asked him to do this. It was probably more him making sure he remains in control of the assets he has."

"I'll get the systems over here looked at as well, then," James said. "We can never be too careful. He's a dangerous one. Strong individuals, we can deal with, but someone who can take down every system at once… I dread to imagine what kind of damage he could have wreaked in Atlas if he wanted to. Good work on taking him down. Is there anything else to report?"

"Nothing," Jaune said. "Most of the things have already been dealt with. We had to since there was no way to reach you." General Ironwood nodded his acceptance. "News of Watts has already been sent out across Argus and I'm sure it'll reach Mistral and the other Kingdoms soon after. You might want to field some questions on that end and take some of the kudos for Atlas. Feel free to keep my name out of it. I don't need the exposure."

"Of course."

"I'm serious, James. I don't need the fame for this."

"Just as I did not need you to take the fall for the Amity Colosseum for me all the way back then. Credit will be given where it's due, Ashari. You know that. I have to go," he said quickly. "Ozpin has already heard of this somehow and wants an update. I'll have a high security cell waiting for Watts' arrival. Make sure he gets here in one piece."

"Yes sir. We're going by air in case Salem sends anyone to intercept us. We're planning to leave Argus ASAP. Spare them the danger of harbouring us if she finds out what's going on."

"Very well. Good luck, Ashari. I will talk to you soon."

Harriet Bree had the prisoner prepped for transport when Jaune arrived at the Bullhead docks. She wasn't alone. Aside from the various soldiers and such, Terra and Saphron of all people were there. Terra, he could understand, as she was receiving a brief from an older soldier who would likely be guarding her until this was dealt with. Until more experienced programmers came from Atlas, she was a VIP. Saphron was the real surprise.

"Sir." Harriet saluted.

"I've told you to call me Jaune. Why is she here?"

"Terra was concerned for the safety of her wife and child. I thought it better to cave than argue…"

Jaune nodded. There was no real arguing with that, not when arranging a protection detail would be a simple matter. "Fair enough. Is the prisoner ready to go?"

"He's good. His jaw had to be wired shut…"

"He resisted."

Harriet didn't sound convinced but also didn't look too upset. "I've spoken to Clover and let him know the situation. He said you reported to General Ironwood already?"

"Yes."

"Saves me the AAR, I guess. That's a relief."

Moving over to Terra, Jaune offered a small smile, saying "at ease" when she tried to salute for him. It really didn't suit her, but then it wasn't every day you were drafted by the military to deal with a terrorist threat on your home.

"You shouldn't be saluting to me, Mrs Cotta-Arc. You're a hero today."

"M-Me!?" Terra looked positively shocked. Her face darkened as blood crept up, and Saphron's teasing smile obviously wasn't helping. "I-I can't be. I mean, I just did my job. You're the one who hunted the bad guy down!"

"And you're the one who rewrote his virus to save lives in the hospital."

"Rewrote it? I just slapped it on another building and sent that power to the hospital. I made it worse!"

"That's not how Atlas sees it, ma'am. I've spoken to General Ironwood and he was very impressed. You should expect a hefty reward for your work today, as well as a commendation. Mrs Cotta-Arc," he said, this time looking clearly to Saphron. "I hope you'll use that to enjoy yourselves. Your wife deserves a break after such a stressful day."

Saphron giggled. "She'll get it."

"I do need a break," Terra muttered. "Bad enough I had to show the military around and field questions – I thought that was bad. Now this? Ugh. I want to go back to bed…"

"There are teams coming from Atlas to take over," he told her. "General Ironwood is sending military engineers down. They'll be here in two or three hours, then you'll be relieved. Can you last until then? You're the only one who can be on call if something goes wrong."

"Of course I will. Whatever you need."

"Thank you." He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her toward the soldiers waiting nearby. "You and your family will be under protection, but we have no evidence there are any other terrorists in the city. We're also taking Watts to Atlas immediately, so any reprisal attacks should spare Argus entirely."

"Why Argus at all?" Saphron asked. "Was it all about the CCT?"

"We believe so. Atlas will be increasing the security here, don't worry. You and your family will be safe."

Saphron looked content with that, though with the way she was looking at his face from the side, he was sure she was trying to find more similarities between him and Nicholas. Best cut that short, he thought, turning away from her without making it too obvious.

"Harriet. Is the Bullhead ready to go?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then let's get gone." He moved toward it, trusting that Harriet would fall in behind. The pilot was already waiting and saluted them as they came close. "I won't feel safe until we've handed the prisoner over to General Ironwood personally."

/-/

"That was pretty easy all things considered."

Jaune cracked an eye open, looking over at Harriet from the interior of the aircraft as it shot through the air. Travel sickness wasn't something he experienced much anymore, not since he realised his nausea came more from nerves than it did motion.

The two of were strapped into their seats, as was Watts, but the prisoner's mouth was wired shut first for his safety and secondly so he could not mention Salem's name. Jaune had instructed his lower face be bandaged for that reason as well. Currently, he was angry and afraid, if he were to guess by the wide eyes and how they darted left and right. Ignoring him, Jaune looked back to the Specialist.

"You know it's bad luck to jinx us like that."

"Hasn't bitten me in the ass yet, sir."

"That's because you have Clover on your team. Normal people can still be hunted down by Murphy. As for easy, well, we nearly lost Argus to the whims of a madman and I had to run across the city launching fireworks to hunt him down in the space of an hour. I wouldn't call that easy. Unless you mean it was easy for you, miss didn't-have-to-do-anything."

"Hey!" Harriet complained with a grin. "I got the boring tasks, making sure everything runs in the background. I'd have rather had the chance to fight."

"There wasn't much of one." Jaune nodded his head at Watts. "I don't even think he's trained. He has aura, but he didn't have the reflexes to get it up in time. He's a scientist at best. A computer hacker with delusions of grandeur."

Watts made an angry, painful noise through the bandages gagging him. An arrogant hacker, too, one that considered himself so far above everyone else that life and the lives of others had become a game. Only those with fragile egos feel the need to prove their so-called superiority. If he truly believed he was a genius, he wouldn't have needed to lash out at Winter.

He would pay for that. In time.

"I doubt he's going to see the light of day once General Ironwood gets hold of him," Harriet said. "There'll be a trial but it's a foregone conclusion. He has prior crimes he was to face, and his biggest backer back then was Jacques Schnee. Not sure he'll still side with him after what happened to his daughter."

"No. Watts has burned that bridge. He'll be going away for a long time-"

The cockpit beeped suddenly. The pilot swore. "We're locked on! Brace for impact!"

Harriet craned her neck back. "Locked on-? By wha-?"

A loud whistle from outside answered. The pilot dragged them left and a long trail of smoke pierced past the closest window, shooting up into the sky and arching away. Harriet was pushed bodily into Jaune, pinning him to the hull. From her position, she could see outside.

"Was that a missile!?"

"Surface-to-air!" the pilot yelled out. "There's another – I'm going to try and shake it!"

The aircraft veered right this time, ducking low and making Jaune's stomach lurch. Harriet pushed herself off him and clung to her harness, staring out the window. It was impossible from their angle to properly see what was happening and whether they were in danger. Across from them, Watts' eyes crinkled in pleasure, staring stubbornly back at him.

"I don't know what you're smiling about." Jaune snapped. "It's unlikely you'd survive any impact. We have aura. You can barely use yours, not to mention your chances surviving in the wild versus ours."

A loud thoom echoed above and the Bullhead shook.

"Are we hit!?" Harriet cried.

"Negative. It detonated in the air above. I'm going to have to land!" the pilot shouted. "I can't stay above the treeline or we'll be ripped out the sky. Whatever is shooting at us knows that."

"So there'll be an ambush on the ground," she spat. "Perfect. Land if you must. We'll handle the rest."

"Yes ma'am!"

The hull vibrated and rocked as they powered down into the treeline, entrusting the craft's armour to withstand smashing through branches and boughs at high speed. The passengers were jolted and rocked, and if it weren't for the harnesses, they'd had surely been thrown out their seats and left knocked out or worse. Several loud crashes echoed, and the ship veered and twisted sickeningly, the pilot dodging trees in an effort to bring them down before a missile could.

"Aura!" Jaune instructed Harriet.

"You think I don't know!? It's up! Shit!"

"Brace for impact!" the pilot shouted over them. "It's going to be rough!"

There was a second of nothingness after those words – a moment to doubt, prepare and tighten his muscles. Then, they struck. The first impact made a tonne or more of steel bounce like a stone over a lake. Jaune and Harriet were thrown up and slammed back down. Then the second impact hit, this time heavier as the hull dug into the ground. Metal groaned and warped as they skidded through the mud, rocked and battered on all sides.

It was a tree that halted them in the end. Digging through mud and rock, there was no way to dodge, and it was all the pilot could do to twist the Bullhead side on, taking the trunk on the thicker armour instead of caving the cockpit in and killing himself.

Jaune's body slammed into a metal wall that warped in around the trunk. His body protested, air rushing out in a pained gasp. Harriet was better off, not being trapped against the hull and having his body to cushion her. By far, Watts was the worst. His head flew forward and slammed back. His eyes rolled up and he slumped in his harness, smugness removed along with his consciousness.

"Sitrep!" Jaune gasped. "Is everyone alive?"

"I-I'm here," the pilot groaned. "Uninjured."

"Here." Harriet hissed. "Ugh. My head is killing me, but I think I'm okay. Prisoner is out cold."

"Leave him," Jaune said. "He'll be easier to deal with like this. Everyone off."

"Off?" Harriet asked. "It's SOP to stay where we've landed and radio for help-"

"Against a person who's shown us they have a missile launcher?" He watched her eyes widen and her hands jump to her harness. "I thought so. We can try and call Ironwood or Argus once we're safe – whichever is closest. It's almost a guarantee they're after our prisoner right now, either to reclaim or silence him. Whomever it is must not want it getting out."

Harriet moved over to wrestle with the door while the pilot jumped out to do the same from the other side, struggling to get it open. Jaune, meanwhile, unlatched himself and made his way over to Watts, his back to Harriet and the pilot and his hands working to untie the unconscious man. As he did, his left hand brushed over the man's chest, over the mark Salem would have left on him as well. The sigil on the back of his hand pulsed bright blue.

Jaune smirked and tugged his glove up to cover it.

Mother's day tomorrow, at least here in the UK. Shouldn't interfere with my writing as I've already ordered and wrapped everything for her and can't really spend a lot of time there anyway due to lockdown.

Next Chapter: 20th March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur