Chapter 85

So I took at my traffic graph for the first time in a while and really my views dropped a lot once I got to the later chapters. I guess I didn't manage to hold that many people's interests but that just goes to show how far I have to come as a writer. On another note, I will be studying to be an editor in college, so hopefully that puts me on the track to be what I want the most with the tools I need to get there. For those who made it this far, thank you for your support, it really means a lot to me.

'I knew you'd stoop low to get what you wanted Jacques, but this?'

'This is all a great leap James.' Jacques Schnee said, flinching back into the armchair he was seated in as the council around him discussed what to do.

'No it's quite simple really – now that I know Arthur Watts is alive, working with a madman like Tyrian Callows, it would be easy for someone like him to coordinate an unthinkably heinous act like the one in that warehouse.' The General grimaced. 'Watts designed Mantle's entire security network; he used that access to hack the surveillance system and frame someone else for the job.'

Ruby placed a comforting hand on the android girl's shoulder.

'All while stealing an election.' Ironwood finished, pacing menacingly towards the man. 'And once you became a Councilman, your newly granted clearance gave him a backdoor into Atlas's secure network.' He slammed his hands down on the armrests of the chair. 'But you probably hadn't even considered that, had you?'

Robyn erupted in a burst of anger. The people that died that night; their blood is on your hands.'

'Jacques Schnee must be tried.' The councilman said. 'Not only for treason, but as an accessory to murder.'

'These are outrageous accusations!' Jacques Schnee hissed. 'I only intended to win the election! I never intended to-!'

'ONLY!' Robyn screamed, hurling a chair in a burst of rage. The room fell silent, the members of the council considering their next move in light of the new situation.

'What else will he be able to do with the access Jacques's given to him?' A councilwoman asked, changing the subject.

'With enough time… anything he wants.' James answered, blinking as everyone's phones rang more or less in unison. The room erupted into a chorus of confused voices.

'What do you mean the heat has gone off?'

''You have to believe me, I didn't know he was planning this!'

'You are going to shut your mouth and get the heating grid back up and running. Now.'

'I-I've been informed that we can't get into the system. It's… It's been blocked off.'

'Without heat down there… people are going to die.'

'Ruby approached the pondering General. 'General Ironwood? How bad is it?'

'He's using Jacques's credentials. We can follow that activity on the network; if he's found his way into the Amity system…' The General seemed lost in thought over his scroll. 'No, the secret is safe. For now. But if he learns about Amity, then she learns about Amity.'

'Can you block his access?'

'It's too late; he's already starting to lock us out.'

'Can we trace him somehow? Find out where he's hiding?'

'He's going to be mobile.' Jaye cut in. 'You wanna flush him out you need to get him out in the open.'

'Okay so lemme get this straight.' Robyn raised her voice, casting out over the distracted crowd in the room. 'Yep still here everyone.'

'Not now Robyn, you're not important.' Kamina said, and she ignored the fox boy.

'How do a disgraced scientist and disappeared serial killer find each other General? Why would they target you? And why are you working so hard to hide the amity communications tower from them!'

'You know?'

'I used to think you were hiding something to protect yourself. But I can tell there's something much bigger going on here.' Robyn said. 'Now I think it's to protect something else; us… Atlas… maybe even all of Remnant, and you're afraid of what might happen if you tell the truth.'

The doors slammed open in a hurry, revealing the commander of the Ace Ops and the small ex-farmhand.

'General, the Grimm are all over Mantle.' Clover jogged to the man's side. 'The air fleet's doing everything they can, but they can't easily target Grimm in the city without risking casualties.'

'This… this is exactly what I was afraid would happen!' Ironwood paced into the corner, covering his eyes with an almost palpable wave of hopelessness overcame the usually unflappable man.

'Sir we need ground support now.'

'What we need is to start evacuating Mantle. If it's completely overrun, it's not going to be safe anywhere! Use the fleet to get-!'

'If I move the fleet then Atlas will be vulnerable!' Ironwood yelled, placing a hand on the wall to steady himself. 'I… I tried to keep the kingdom safe. And now we're losing everything.'

Oscar approached the man gently, pacing softly across the marble floor. 'General, earlier you asked for my advice.'

'I wanted Ozpin's advice.'

'And his advice probably would have been to keep your secrets. But when we first got here you already knew that wasn't the right course. You had a new plan.'

'It's time to give up on that plan. It's all falling apart.'

'The panic you were worried about; it's already happening. The secrets you're keeping; they're about to be in the open anyway. It's time. Tell the truth.'

'You're not alone.' Ruby said, approaching the pair. 'We can do this together.'

The General finally cracked a smile, nodding quietly to the pair who had helped him put himself back together.

'Thank you.' He said briefly, turning objective again after regaining his composure. 'Oscar, I think it's time you get back to the academy.'

'I think you're right.' The boy said, placing a hand on the lamp by his side.

'Miss Hill, Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla, there are some things you need to know about. Let's figure out how we can help Mantle, together.'

'I've called a transport.' Winter cut in, giving the General a knowing look.

'What about Watts and Tyrian?' Yang asked, and General Ironwood set his mouth in a straight line.

'You leave them to me. Right now, you're needed down below.' He said, and the smol girl stepped forwards to command her team.

'Alright everybody, time to do our jobs.' Her eyes alighted on the android girl standing shaken in the corner, not keeping up with everything that was happening. 'All of us.'

'What she said, let's make it happen Huntsmen!' Clover called.

'Finally! I was going to die of boredom if this kept up.' Kamina grumbled, getting up from where he had seated himself in Jacques's previous seat, eating the steak that had been prepared. Jaye and the twins sat on the other side, eating quietly the entire time and wiping off the last of the steak from the plates. He popped a potato into his mouth, heaving a satisfied sigh.

'Well now that we're fed, I need some exercise to help with the digestion.' He grinned, getting up from his spot on the chair. 'Come on twinsies.'

Clover lead the way out the door, the rest of the fighters jogging behind. They passed by a server standing just outside the door, watching them leave with an expression of amusement on her face, and Jaye did a double take when he spotted her. He slowed to a halt, giving her a look and a raised eyebrow, and she made a face of fear as he stared. He narrowed his eyes at the girl, and Kamina grabbed the boy by the arm.

'Come on mate, stop ogling other girls and get after your blondie over there.'

'What? No, I'm just dead sure I've seen her somewhere before.' He glanced back at the server as Kamina pulled him away. She had turned away from the party, rounding the corner nearby, and the boy narrowed his eyes where she had disappeared. A bad feeling was forming in his gut already, but he decided that this wasn't the time for that and followed the crowd out from the house.

'Aright everyone, I need to stress to our new huntsmen and huntresses; we are prioritizing citizen safety over killing Grimm, got it?'

The party nodded in response, bumping along as the airship shuddered in the air. As if responding to the chaos around them, the ride was none too comfortable, and Jaye was beginning to regret having eaten an entire meal right before this. The airship shook hard, as if having taken an impact, and he swore as the airborne Grimm howled at them from its spot on the windshield. He grabbed onto the seat he was on, throwing an arm over the nearest twin and keeping her rooted to her spot.

'Hang on!' Marrow yelled, as if anyone needed the instruction, and Harriet swung the rudder sideways, spinning the ship in the air. Jaye swore at the rabbit girl as they spun head over heels thought the air.

'Harriet this is not how you make people fall head over heels for you!' He swore, earning himself a few choice words from the woman. A massive claw embedded itself into the hull between the cat girl and her blonde partner, and Jaye swore as the airship shuddered in response.

'I can't shake it!' Harriet grunted, wrestling with the control stick as the airship began to keel sideways from the weight of the Grimm. As if their luck wasn't bad enough, a second airborne Grimm shot out of the sky, crashing into the wing and setting it ablaze.

'I don't think we're staying airborne!'

'Time to go!'

'You have your team assignments!' Clover yelled, slamming his fist into the door latch. With barely a moment's hesitation, they leapt out from the burning ship in their pairs. Jaye and Kamina bumped elbows, tumbling out from the open doors and whooping on their way down. The twins followed, stretching out their arms to slow their fall, spinning into a roll as they hit the ground. Shooting to their feet, they jumped in surprise as they immediately came face to face with a Sabretooth, leaping atop its back and burying their knives into its body. Jaye landed some distance away, atop a building, jumping as a certain pointy haired girl landed next to him. Harriet heaved a sigh, getting to her feet, face screwing up into a look of displeasure once she caught sight of him. He rolled his eyes at the woman, watching as she paced to the edge of the roof.

'Good luck.' He called, turning away from here to assess the situation at hand. 'Try not to get hurt.'

'Since when did you care about me?' She scoffed, glancing out over the rooftops. They'd all landed in the vicinity of each other but considering her speed she could make a quick run to the further areas that needed attention. 'Do us both a favor and drop the act; it's sickening.'

'Why do you insist on making it seem like we have to be at each other's throats?' Jaye sighed, finally having had enough of this charade. 'We can cooperate like professional adults; why do you insist on bringing our personal relationship into this?'

'I'm not bringing anything into this.' The woman said flatly. 'We can work together just fine, but don't act like you care about me. You've made it clear that you don't.'

The pair stared at each other for a long moment, before Harriet finally broke her gaze and turned back to the city that was in chaos before her. Jaye heaved a sigh.

'Look… Hare. It's not like I didn't care about you; in another life we might have been good with each other. But not in this one.' He said, weighing his words carefully even as he spoke them. 'I'm no good with this stuff alright? I don't know what to say to make all of this better. If I had been born in Atlas; if I had become a huntsman here, I might have joined the Ace Ops the same as you. In a life like that, I don't doubt I would have been happy with you.' He sighed again, not sure where to look as he tried to sort out the words in his head. 'But there's no room for what ifs or maybes here. I'm living my life as it's dealt to me; and you just weren't in my cards.'

'Funny how you're chalking all of this up to fate.' Harriet scoffed, and Jaye made a sound of irritation.

'Goddammit Harriet will you give it a fucking rest and work with me here?!' He swore, seizing the woman by the shoulders and shaking her in anger. He breathed heavily, reeling in his temper, and smoothing out her uniform where he had crinkled it. 'I'm playing the cards I have and you're playing yours. I'm not saying what I did was right, but I am saying that I wouldn't have done it if I had a choice. If things had been different, well we wouldn't be having this conversation, but you have to let it go.'

He stepped away from the woman, clearing his throat as he squinted into the distance.

'They look pretty handled here, so I'm going to make my way over to the district by the wall. They could use a hand plugging that gap.' He said, gesturing at the massive hole in the anti-grimm wall where the monsters were still pouring through. Harriet nodded quietly to the boy.

'Yeah, I'll head down to the centre of town. I can make it faster than the others, but if you get the chance then tell little red to meet me there. She's the only one who can make it there in good time.'

'… Sure.' Jaye heaved a quiet sigh to himself. 'One step at a time?'

'One step at a time.' The woman replied, scratching her head. 'I'm not quite ready to forgive you yet, but it's a start.'

'So you gonna quit ragging on me every second?'

'I'll do my best.' She shot him a grin, for the first time not a smug or sarcastic one, before leaping off the edge of the roof. Jaye sighed to himself, a smile of relief breaking across his face, leaping across the rooftops towards the massive hole where the heralds of destruction were still pouring through. He steeled himself for the oncoming battle, drawing his blades as he closed in on the hole that was threatening the lives of all the citizens of Mantle.

Several hours later

'Robyn Hill. For such a little bird you have quite the impact around here.' The scorpion man said, acting like his usual flamboyant self in spite of the robotic tail hovering above his head. He dodged an arrow from Robyn, missing him by a hair's breadth as he moved. 'Bringing hope and a smile wherever you go!' He caught the next arrow between his fingers. 'I find it… upsetting.'

Charging the woman, he flinched back immediately as a fishing hook shot out of nowhere in front of him. Bouncing back and out of harm's way, he growled in frustration at the two other huntsmen who had descended from the buildings above to combat him. Robyn grinned; her crossbow outstretched.

'Sorry Callows, I really wanted to pummel you myself, but the General insisted I share.'

'Well you're not the only one with a grudge.' Clover said, flipping his fishing hook onto his back.

'You'll both have to get in line.' Qrow growled, leveling his gun with the crazed maniac. Up on the rooftops, Jaye leaned against his fist in boredom as he watched them prepare to fight.

'Remind me why I can't just take Tyrian down on my own?' He muttered, spinning a knife between his fingers. 'I mean, odds are that I'd win pretty outright. He lost to Damian after all.'

'In a one on one. Almost everyone lost to Damian in a one on one.' Kamina replied over the radio, making a sound of exertion as he stabbed a Grimm. 'You barely won, and that was because your Semblance shut him down at every turn.'

'Fair enough.' Jaye grumbled, watching the fight unfold below. 'Still it would be faster for me to just do it myself.'

'Please don't.' Harriet's voice came through the comms. 'We're letting them fight Tyrian so we can accurately assess how strong he is while guaranteeing we beat and capture him. We can't make an assessment based on your fighting strength, so throwing you in there would be completely pointless.'

'Thanks Hare, means a lot.' He rolled his eyes. 'I'll only step in if it seems like they're losing alright?'

In Amity Stadium

'Arthur Watts.' General Ironwood's voice rang out heavily over the PA system. The thin, mustached man glanced up at the control room where the General was standing, raising an eyebrow at him in an expression that hardly screamed surprise. 'Welcome.'

'It wasn't finished.' Artur Watts narrowed his eyes at the leader of Atlas. 'It was bait.'

The General tossed the microphone aside, stepping through the open window and launching himself down onto the stadium floor. Watts raised an eyebrow at the man as he landed metallically on the floor, brushing off his hand on his suit.

'You know James, this place has always been a technological marvel.' The minion of Salem tossed his leather bag aside, clattering loudly against the hollow metal floor of the modular stadium. 'Truly, even before you went and did all this. The different types of dust, the biome system, and of course, everything that went into controlling them.'

He wiggled his fingers, the rings laced onto each of them lighting up in classic Atlas blue as he initiated the controls for the ring. The machinery spun to life as the floor began moving, releasing the long stored and nearly forgotten components used back during the Vytal Festival. The mustached man raised his fist, projecting a hard-light dust shield in front of his face as a bullet slammed into it, crumpling under the impact. The General kept his revolver raised, narrowing his eyes at the man even as the stadium continued to change in the background.

'You always were a pain in the ass.'

End of chapter 85