Volume 3 Chapter 8: Emergency Code Zero
AN: Has to have been the first time in a year that I've written a chapter in forty-eight hours. Hope you guys enjoy this super-mega-long edition of Team Rookie!
Kassidy finished equipping the last of her gear at the same moment that Bob had inserted himself into the dorm building's surveillance… and if she were being honest with herself, she didn't like her chances. There had been AK-200 units stationed at every exit to the building, a full squad under her team's window, and another squad had just entered the building and began making their way to the third floor where their room was. General Ironwood himself was already in their dorm room, all but interrogating her teammates. The thought nearly made her growl, but she bit down on the instinct in fear of the roving band of robots overhearing.
"You do realize," Bob began, speaking over her earpiece, "that if we go through with this, our stay at Beacon is more than likely going to be over. I sincerely doubt Ozpin is going to forgive us attacking a foreign official, who is not only the general of the Atlesian Navy but also a close, personal friend of his."
Kassidy rolled her eyes as she whispered furiously in reply. "Of course I recognize that. But he's not giving us a choice in the matter. You don't deploy that much firepower to an objective if you don't plan on using force, and he's been on our case since literally day one. He hated us – or at least me – before that whole thing that happened in Amity, so forgive me for not trusting his intentions now."
"So, what's the play?" her computer asked.
"Infiltrate the dorm room, neutralize Ironwood's backup, get him away from my team," Kassidy answered. "If I can get face to face with him after disabling his support, then we've already won in the short term. Long term, I'll need to bolt to my hidey-hole in Vale so that there's nothing obvious for him to counterattack. That should buy me enough time to get Ozpin on my side."
Bob seemingly picked out a fatal flaw in her plan in an instant. "What about your teammates? They're going to be exposed and in danger every moment they remain in Beacon."
"I can bring them with," Kassidy argued.
"Can you?" Bob challenged. "Near as I can tell, Atlas is moving to where they can put the entire campus on lockdown in an instant. Slipping past a military blockade by yourself is one thing, but with three other people? Three other people, need I remind you, that have next to no training in the arts of stealth and subterfuge."
"I can't just leave them behind," Kassidy shot back. "I'll figure something out."
"Cameras on the first floor just picked up squad Beta entering the stairwell and making their way up. They're not armed – but they are carrying something. I can't make them out myself. They'll have line of sight on your intended infiltration route in forty seconds."
Kassidy took a deep breath and nodded. Time to put on her game face. "Understood. Begin radio silence, keep chatter restricted to mission-critical information." Out of habit, she fiddled with her grapple bracer before raising her left arm and taking aim. The relic of her first twenty-four hours in Remnant had long since been upgraded from a bullet dragging out a rough steel cable. Now, the thing was propelled by compressed air charged by a crystal of wind Dust. A few additional modifications made the whole thing more streamlined, less bulky, and easier to use in general.
The grappling hook on the end snagged the very edge of the window; a quick yank on the cable ripped the pane of glass open, leaving a gaping entrance for her to jump through. Under prior circumstances, Kassidy would've needed about three minutes or so to shoot her cable back through the window to anchor it to something, anchor her end of the line, and leave the device behind as she scaled the length to reach the building. Now, however, it was a simple (if lengthy) Aura-powered leap to get from the tree to inside the building. Even if she nearly panicked and jumped early when her Aura started spiking weirdly once it got to the energy level it needed, she still managed to land almost silently in the third-floor communal area.
Kassidy hurried to the edge of the doorway as quickly as would allow her to remain silent, finishing the process of pulling the cable back into her bracer and yanking a pair of knives out of the sheathes. Most of the robots were outside, so Bob could quite easily neutralize their threat by engaging the automated locking mechanisms; at that point, they'd have to open fire on Beacon's (and, by extension, Vale's) property to assist Ironwood, a circumstance that would likely be avoided considering the probability it would be taken poorly. The androids already inside the building, however, would be more problematic. Rogue was right out as an option: her sidearm could likely be heard halfway across campus at this time, to say nothing about her dorm room on the same floor. Bob couldn't do a thing to affect the AK-200s themselves, not without attracting Atlas' attention, at least. Baton was too large, so Kassidy had little choice but to engage in up close and personal melee combat with two full squads of androids.
Mechanized footfalls alerted her to the squad exiting their stairwell. Kassidy took a deep breath, counted to three, risked a glance out the corner of her eye to confirm where the androids were just passing her, then rolled out the doorway. Her left knife caught the rear left robot in the ankle and sent it toppling down; she spun on the way up, burying her other blade in the back of its 'head'. Its companion had its power unit violently ripped out, and Kassidy hurried to flash her knives towards the two robots in the front and decapitate both before they could sound any kind of alarm. She slid the knives back into their sheathes, caught her breath, and prompted, "Bob?"
"You're clear; no alerts on Atlesian frequencies yet, and I've been looping the surveillance feeds, so Beacon won't know something's up either."
"Keep it up," Kassidy ordered as she tried to find what the androids had been carrying. Bob said they weren't armed, and indeed not even one had a rifle, so what the hell was Ironwood bringing them up for? Why would the general of the Atlesian Navy request backup that wasn't armed?
She found her answer when she shifted one of the bots aside to find that it had fallen on top of what it was carrying. They were bulky, a bit different from how she was used to seeing them, but Kassidy would recognize handcuffs anywhere. She found them chained to a second set of restraints, a bit wider around and obviously designed for the ankles. That both confirmed Kassidy's immediate suspicions and dashed any lingering hopes of tonight ending peaceably. But something seemed off; there was a node of some kind on the inside of the manacle. Intrigued, and after having made sure she had the keys, she rubbed a finger up against it.
The moment she'd made contact, a dark blue shimmering covered her body, and she'd felt incredibly weak. Her finger shot away from the restraint instantly, and it took a few seconds to piece together what had happened as her Aura came rushing back. Aura-inhibiting restraints. This is… this isn't even your typical arrest. They're expecting me to fight back against whatever the hell they're going to do to me. Kassidy threw the cuffs down and made to continue when a fifth manacle caught her eye, this one wider than the others. Picking it up in her hands, she carefully twisted it around to try and figure out what this one was. A collar, she decided. What the fuck are they carrying collars for…? Her through process when she found a metal plate on the inside, directly opposite from a thicker part that housed… a battery. It's a shock collar. They brought a motherfucking shock collar. A sudden thought made Kassidy sneak a look at the other three robots, and she couldn't help but gasp when she saw they were all carrying a full set of restraints.
They weren't going to just arrest me, Kassidy realized. They're trying to take all of us. Yang might make sense, what with her perceived assault on her dueling opponent after the match was over. But they even have a set for Ruby and Weiss. Why would they try to arrest Ruby and Weiss?
"Kassidy, we're losing time," Bob prompted. "It's only a matter of time before someone recognizes that something isn't right."
Kassidy shook her head and clambered to her feet. "Ironwood's got some explaining to do." Assuming she'd be able to get any answers of him. Kassidy was pretty sure that wasn't happening. What she was pretty sure of, however, was that he wasn't getting her team. She'd make sure of it. But first, she'd have to deal with the man himself. She stormed across the hallways, thankful that her dorm room wasn't too far away. It would've been easy to spot even if she didn't live there, since the door was open and Ironwood wasn't exactly being quiet. She had to do this right if she were to get the results she wanted. Had to start off on the right foot.
As soon as she rounded the corner into the room, she interrupted whatever the man was saying with, "Hold your horses, Jimmy. That much stress can't be good for you, at your age." So much for starting off on the right foot. Ironwood wheeled around on the spot, eyes slightly widened. He wasn't expecting me to get here without him knowing about it. Good. Endeavoring to keep the initiative, she asked, "So what the hell's going on that made you call everyone here for?"
His eyes narrowed. "You know damn well why I'm here."
"Actually, I don't," Kassidy insisted. "How about you fill me in, Jimmy?"
Qrow's pet name for Ironwood got him to grind his teeth. "That's General Ironwood to you. And we are currently discussing the consequences for your team's actions, culminating in what your partner did in her match tonight."
Kassidy's eyes furrowed in thought. So he was going to try to pin a multitude of events on them. That would explain how he thought he could get away with taking Ruby and Weiss. "What did Yang do? Don't tell me it was her fight that I missed."
Ironwood's mouth hung open slightly before he regained his composure. "Don't play dumb, Miss Smith. Are you seriously expecting me to believe that you missed your partner's – and girlfriend's – fight this evening?"
"I was attacked trying to get to my seat," Kassidy informed. If she had any chance of tonight ending peacefully, it would be by focusing the subject on what Cinder nearly did to her.
"Somehow, I doubt that," Ironwood spat. Kassidy sighed; so much for tonight going simply. Kassidy shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, her right one curling around the grenade in that pocket. It was the only chance she had of getting out of here tonight. Fortunately, it was guaranteed to work.
Getting back to the conversation, she retorted, "Reality doesn't much care whether or not you doubt it."
Ironwood snorted in derision, but then his eyes narrowed slightly as he must have thought of something. It took her Faunus ears for Kassidy to hear, "I thought they'd have been here by now."
"You thought what would've been here by now, Jimmy?" Kassidy challenged, bringing the focus in the room back to her. "Your robots? Yeah, they're, uh… running a bit behind."
"Why would General Ironwood be bringing androids up here?" Weiss questioned, breaking her wide-eyed, fearful silence from her bed.
"What's going on, Kassidy?" Ruby asked. "Who attacked you? And why are you being so mean to the general?"
"You do realize that was Atlesian military property you destroyed, Miss Smith?" Ironwood ground out, making Ruby and Weiss squeak out gasps and fall silent again. Kassidy could see Yang's eyes widen, rimmed red from crying and curled up into a ball from how James had been tearing into her.
Kassidy would've smirked at him had the situation been less serious, but she couldn't bring herself to do it at the moment. "Who said I attacked them?"
"I did," Ironwood replied hotly. "And so would the cameras throughout this building."
This time, Kassidy could find it in herself to smirk. "No, they wouldn't." His eyes narrowed as he began whispering again, this time too quietly for Kassidy to make out. Though, it didn't take a genius to figure out what he was trying to do. "Bob," she barked out, interrupting Ironwood's whispering. "Seal the doors to the building. Make sure we get some privacy."
"Building sealed," Bob confirmed.
"K?" Yang asked, voice breaking. "What are you doing?"
"That is an excellent question," Ironwood added, storming up to her face. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Miss Smith?"
"Preventing you from calling in the other four squads of AK-200's you've surrounded this building with," Kassidy shot back, not for an instant backing down.
Ruby spoke up again from where she was trying to crawl further back into Weiss' bed. "What's going on?"
James opened his mouth to answer, but Kassidy beat him to it. "Good question, Rubes, and one I'd like an answer to myself." Staring down the general and sticking a finger in his chest, she asked, "Tell me, Jimmy. When I ran into your robots, why did I see them carrying Aura-inhibiting restraints and shock collars? Four of them, in fact." All three of her teammates gasped and paled in her peripheral vision, and Ironwood's face lost a bit of color as well. Kassidy continued on with, "Why, enough to chain up a whole team of Huntresses in training and cart them off without anybody noticing, while ensuring they wouldn't be able to put up a fight." She stalked past him as he stood silent, probably contemplating how to lie his way out of this.
Kassidy didn't give him time to come up with a lie, however. In a move that shocked every other person in the room, her left hand drew Rogue, the massive handgun leveling itself on his head. "I'm not asking again, Jimmy. Why. Were. You. Arresting. My. Team?"
He let out a breath and glared at her. "Let's ignore the fact that you're currently threatening me for the moment. What makes you so sure that I'm here for more than just yourself? Especially since you just admitted to having ambushed and destroyed my robots."
"Other than the fact that, as you said, I ran into them in person and thus was able to see that they were carrying four sets of restraints?" Kassidy challenged. Her eyes narrowing and glare intensifying, she asked, "Did you seriously believe I'd never find out that it was you that ordered my kidnapping and disappearance two months ago?"
Ironwood's eyes actually widened fully, but it was her teammates that had the greatest reactions. "He WHAT?!" Ruby and Weiss yelled out, fear seemingly forgotten.
"No…" Yang muttered. Kassidy turned around when she heard sheets rustling to find Yang climbing off to stand right next to her, irises starting to turn red and Ember Celica expanding over her fists. "You did what to her?!"
When Ruby and Weiss got off the bed too, Ironwood looked between all of them, sighed, and hardened his face before he drew his own weapon. "This is proving my point exactly, and at this point I've seen everything I needed. By order of the Valean Council, for the commitment of miscellaneous felonies and crimes against the public, I hereby place all four of you under arrest."
The words seemed to break her teammates, obviously not seeing that coming. Kassidy, however, knew that had been coming from a mile away, and thus was able to properly respond to it. "No, you don't," she stated calmly.
Her teammates stared at her. Ironwood blinked, before he incredulously asked, "Why do you believe you're not under arrest?"
"Because I said so."
Ironwood gritted his teeth. "And what, pray tell, makes you believe you get a say in this?"
Kassidy smirked as she turned the device in her jacket pocket over. Time to bring out the big guns. Turning around and taking a step towards her bed, humming as if contemplating something, she threw over her shoulder, "Tell me: do you know what an electromagnetic pulse is?"
The seemingly random question simply made the general more aggravated than he already was, if such a thing was even possible. With furrowed brows, he answered, "What does this have to do –"
"Let me stop you right there, because I know you don't," Kassidy interrupted, actually making a vein bulge on his forehead. "An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP for short, is a highly energetic burst of typically microwave radiation that has this annoying habit of short-circuiting or outright frying electrical components in its area of effect." She pulled the device out of her pocket: a rectangular-ish block a bit bigger than her palm with a trigger and a switch on one side. Thumbing the switch, she said, "This little toy I've been working on recently is an EMP grenade. Real nasty bastard to any electronics unfortunate enough to be in a couple dozen foot radius."
Ironwood paled, his skin turning deathly white as his gun started shaking in his grip. Seems he's able to put two and two together, Kassidy mused. "Now, a little birdie told me that a certain someone had a bad incident about a decade ago, leading to the necessary replacement of several things. An arm, most of your chest… several vital organs." Her grin growing teeth, Kassidy continued, "Now, it is possible to shield electronic devices from the effects of an EMP. However, since your science hasn't caught up enough to know about EMP's, I know for a fact that none of your artificial vital organs are shielded against a military-grade burst like what this thing emits."
"K…?" Yang asked, a look of horror on her face while Ruby and Weiss openly stared at either her, or the general that had lost all of his composure. "Don't tell me you're…?"
Kassidy let her trail off, eyes locking onto Ironwood as her grin fell to be replaced by a rictus of unbridled fury. "You've been afraid of me for so long, because you were afraid of what I might do. You've pushed me to things I don't want to do. And now… congratulations, you've officially pushed me too far. Know that you've left me no choice, at this point."
"Stand down, Miss Smith!" Ironwood shouted in a last-ditch effort to get her to stop what she was doing. "That's an order!"
"My team is not under arrest," Kassidy demanded. "There will be no action taken against Yang until I've had time to consult with Headmaster Ozpin about what happened tonight. There will be no attacks against my teammates until this situation is resolved." Taking a step forward, she growled, "If you fail any of those conditions, I pull this trigger and watch you die right where you stand while your vital organs shut down."
"You can't do this!" Ironwood yelled. "You can't hope to get away with this!"
In response, Kassidy thumbed the switch. The red diode turned green, and the device beeped. Everyone jumped back, but Kassidy just grinned again. "Why so jumpy? All I did was disable the safety." Putting her thumb on the trigger itself, she pointed at it for dramatic effect and added, "It's this button you've gotta worry about."
"Kassidy, wait!" Weiss yelled, tugging on her arm and trying to get her attention. "You're taking this too far! Surely, this is all some kind of mistake!"
Kassidy's gaze didn't break contact with Ironwood's eyes. "You have until the count of five to agree with my demands. One."
"Kass, stop, please!" Ruby begged.
"Two."
Ironwood pleaded, "Miss Smith, you need to think about what you're doing and put that grenade down right now, before you make this worse for yourself than you already have."
"Three."
Yang took her turn to try and get Kassidy to stop. "K, look at me. Look at me!" When Kassidy reluctantly moved Ironwood to her peripheral vision, Yang grabbed her shoulders and begged, "Please, you need to stop this. This is obviously a bad misunderstanding. We can get Ozpin, and Goodwitch, and my uncle, and we'll all be able to talk this over."
"I wish that would be how this could play out," Kassidy whispered. "But he won't let that happen." Speaking up again, she called out, "Four. Last chance, Jimmy."
"Alright, enough!" Ironwood finally conceded, lowering his shaking gun and raising his other hand while taking a step back. "You'll get your talk with Ozpin. And I will… delay my prosecution of your teammates."
Kassidy wanted more. "Call off your attack dogs." When Ironwood simply looked confused, she clarified, "The AK-200's. Remove them from the premises."
Ironwood nodded, whispering into whatever device he was wearing. A few seconds later, Bob confirmed to the room, "All android units are withdrawing from the vicinity of the dorm building."
"Release the lockdown," Kassidy ordered.
"You do realize," Ironwood spoke, tone forced, "that whatever you plan to discuss with your headmaster, it can't possibly excuse your actions tonight."
"Probably not, no," Kassidy agreed. Waving Rogue towards the door, she said, "Now get the hell out. We need to have a team meeting."
Reluctantly, Ironwood backed away. Kassidy made a point of slamming the door closed behind him. She sighed, thumbed the safety back on for her grenade, and slumped bonelessly into her desk chair. She had to be leaving soon, but she felt completely, utterly exhausted. A minute or two to sit down and get her nerves back under control wouldn't be so bad, would it?
"You!" Weiss yelled, storming up and shoving her finger in Kassidy's face. "What has even gotten into you? Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"
"General Ironwood was planning on making the four of us disappear from the beginning," Kassidy muttered. "Threatening him like that was the only way I could have stopped the three of you from getting chained up and carted off to god knows where." Glancing around, she could see that Ruby and Yang were still, for the large part, shell shocked as to what had just happened. As much as Kassidy didn't want to bother them any more than what had already happened, there were some questions that needed answers. "Yang," she prompted, earning a flinch from Yang as she met her eyes. "I wasn't kidding when I said that I missed your fight. What happened?"
"Well," Yang muttered, voice quiet as she was still obviously out of it, "I won my match. I told Mercury, 'Better luck next time.' Next thing I know, he answers back, 'There won't be a next time for you, blondie.' I turn around to figure out what he meant, and he's flying through the air to put his boot in my head." She shuddered as tears began to fall. Kassidy was there in an instant, bringing her into a hug. Yang mouthed her thanks, then continued, "He attacked me, so I attacked back. Or, I thought he attacked me. But now, I've gone and broken his legs, and…"
Kassidy snorted. "Yeah, his prosthetic legs." Yang whipped her head up, prompting Kassidy to continue, "Remember when I was trying to figure those out?"
"So…" Yang began, putting the pieces together in her head, "I didn't hurt him at all? He was faking the whole time?" Kassidy nodded.
"Afraid so."
"But then that means," Weiss began, brows furrowed, before her eyes widened. "Emerald was there with him! She must have been in on it, as well!"
"His whole team was," Kassidy confirmed. Upon her teammates' questioning gazes, she pressed on, "When I told Ironwood that I had gotten attacked, I wasn't trying to stall for time or distract him. I did get attacked."
"On Amity Coliseum?!" Yang gasped. "Who? Where? How?"
"Watch," Kassidy murmured. "Bob, if you would?"
As her teammates watched the video of her encounter with Emerald and Cinder, Yang's grip tightened around her hand, Ruby's breath became shorter as her glare at the screen intensified, and Weiss simply stared, obviously calculating. "How could they," Ruby croaked, voice breaking. Her composure was next as she began crying. "I thought they were our friends! How could they try and hurt you like that?!"
"Wait a second," Weiss interrupted. "Yang attacked Mercury because she thought she saw and heard something that wasn't actually there."
"While I was helpless because something was trying to make me not see something that actually was there, in addition to crippling migraines," Kassidy added. "Yeah, I noticed that myself. Any other situation, I'd say it was coincidence or bad luck, but this…" She mulled it over for a few moments, then asked, "Bob, has there ever been a Semblance that could mess around with people's heads? Make them see things that aren't there, that sort of thing?"
"One moment," her computer answered. After a brief pause, "Extremely rarely, but there have been occurrences of Semblances similar to the one we appear to be hypothesizing."
"So someone's screwing around with our heads," Yang concluded. "Who, though?"
"Emerald," Ruby answered definitively. When everyone else turned her way, she reasoned, "She's the only common factor. Kassidy was alone with Cinder and Emerald in the back tunnels of Amity, but Cinder wasn't at the stadium whenever Mercury got hurt. Emerald's the only one left."
"Nice read," Kassidy praised. Honestly, she'd come to the same conclusion herself, but it seems Ruby had beaten her to the punch. "So, it just remains –"
"Kassidy," Bob interrupted, "I need your assistance in a matter."
Now that got her attention. "What's wrong?"
"My facial recognition protocols seem to be insufficient for a particular task that I've been performing. I sincerely hope I'm wrong with this… but I don't think I am."
Kassidy frowned at her computer. "Now isn't the time to keep me in suspense, Bob. What is it?"
One image flashed on the left half of Bob's screen, a view of Cinder not half an hour ago as she nearly incinerated Kassidy. "This image," Bob elaborated, "is obviously Cinder. I've been trying to find more of their team, trying to glean what information I can, when my software registered a 41% match with another still frame. Normally, I would pay it no attention, but given when it had taken place…"
On the right half of the screen, an image popped up that Kassidy had trouble placing. "What is this second image from?"
"The night of the Dust store robbery," Ruby said. Turning to Kassidy, she said, "Remember, Kass? That was the night we met."
The words got Kassidy to recognize the situation; it got her to recognize Bob's conclusion, also. "I hope you're wrong too, Bob," she muttered. She took a closer look at the images. The woman in the Bullhead was too shrouded in shadow to get a meaningful look at for defining facial features, but the body type seemed about right. Not to mention those burning amber eyes. Her eyes roved over her body again – and stopped on her dress. I've seen that dress before, Kassidy realized, and not all over the place, either. I've only seen one person with that dress before. Who was it? "Bob, see that dress the woman in the second picture is wearing? Search for that dress – that'll identify our assailant from that night."
"Got one," Bob answered almost immediately. The screen split into thirds, the middle section being a picture of a woman walking down the street with not a care in the world. Kassidy didn't care that it was a camera that Bob was supposed to not have access to, because the woman wearing that dress was most assuredly Cinder Fall.
"It was Cinder that attacked us at the Dust shop…" Kassidy breathed out. Meeting her team's eyes, she looked at Ruby and continued, "But it wasn't just us up on that roof, was it?"
"Professor Goodwitch was there," Ruby added on, eyes widening in realization.
"Who was, at best, evenly matched with that woman in the Bullhead." Her eyes focused on a random spot in the wall as the conclusion came crashing down. "The woman who tried to kill me fought on equal footing with Glynda Goodwitch, our combat instructor and Beacon's second-in-command." Looking back at Yang, she kept going with, "That same woman orchestrated a situation where you seemingly attacked your opponent in sheer bloodlust after your match was over."
Nobody spoke for a good thirty seconds. It was finally Weiss who worked up the nerve to ask, "What does this mean?"
Kassidy nodded to herself as she stood up from her bed, dragging herself from Yang's embrace. "I've sat idle for too long."
"What do you mean, K?" her girlfriend asked.
"Beacon's in danger," Kassidy determined.
"It gets worse," Bob announced. Before anyone could ask how, he provided, "I've been trying to crack the encryption on Cinder's Scroll for the past ninety seconds to try and learn more about our new opponent."
"Spit it out," Kassidy ordered.
"First, and most tellingly, was not only the level of the encryption, but of what form it took." Bob paused, almost seemingly for dramatic effect, before continuing, "Kassidy, the encryption on that device was specifically designed to keep me out. I've only just now gained access."
Kassidy's eyes bugged out, unable to come up with a reasonable reply. How?!
"I've also been going through her call records. Multiple calls in the past week, and more over the past several months, connect to numbers owned by known members of the White Fang."
"She's in league with the White Fang?!" Kassidy asked. She thought she'd had them beat! But if someone as powerful as Cinder was plotting against Beacon, and had the resources and manpower of a terrorist army to draw from…
"What are my orders, Kassidy?" Bob asked.
Kassidy took a few steps away from her teammates, planting her hands on her desk and leaning over it. "If Cinder thinks she can destroy the life I've tried to build… ruin the people I care about…" Suddenly standing straight up, she announced, "If Cinder wants a war, then I'll give her one."
"WHAT?!" her teammates yelled at her in sync. Weiss added on, "Kassidy, this is madness!"
"I don't have a choice, Weiss," Kassidy retorted. Taking a deep breath, she made the one order that she has never, ever given before. "Bob, activate Emergency Code Zero." Shuddering, she added, "Keyword: Ezra."
She got no answer for several seconds. Her teammates must have had no idea of what she'd just done, of the Pandora's Box she'd just opened. Eventually, however, Bob spoke up again. "Keyword accepted. Disabling safeties and inhibitors. All safeguards deleted. The Baltimore Ordinance Balancer, or B.O.B. system, reports fully operational. Awaiting orders."
"K…" Yang began, "What did you just do?"
"Something terrible," Kassidy replied. Turning her attention back to her now unlocked computer, she decreed, "If I'm going to fight a war, then I'll need an army. I want Ironwood's robotic forces in my pocket. Make it happen, Bob."
Normally, even if Ozpin and General Ironwood himself had not asked her to limit her computer in certain actions to prevent such a thing from happening, Bob's own programming wouldn't allow her to seize control over her own personal army. Her team knew this. Thus, it was understandable when they gasped and paled when, instead of informing Kassidy of the failure, he responded, "Orders confirmed. Estimated time until complete network penetration and assimilation: thirteen hours, eleven minutes, twenty-seven seconds."
"If it's this bad…" Ruby whined. It grabbed Kassidy's attention, prompting her to turn back to her team. What she met was her team leader's resolve hardening, like a purely sweet and innocent fifteen-year-old should never harden. "What do we do?"
"You three," Kassidy began, "do nothing." When Ruby began complaining, she cut her off with, "Look, all three of you are going to have eyes and ears on you, and not just Cinder's. I still don't trust Ironwood to try something while I'm gone, so the less cause you give people to question you the better." She paused for a moment, then remembered to add, "Still, there'll be people gunning for you, metaphorically if not literally. Stick together, and don't go anywhere unarmed."
"We're already carrying the knives you gave us everywhere," Weiss argued.
Kassidy shook her head. "Your main weapons, too." When Ruby and Weiss started protesting, she interrupted, "You don't get it, guys. This is war, or it will be if I don't get things done perfectly. We don't have room or luxury to take things easy. If we mess up… we don't get a second chance. We're just dead."
"What do you mean, while you're gone?" Yang suddenly asked, ending her suddenly mute observance of the conversation. Her eyes widening as she gasped, she suddenly asked, "You're not leaving, are you?"
Kassidy nodded sadly. "I can't stay on campus. Not after the stunt I just pulled with Ironwood. It's not safe here for me, for the moment." When Yang started breaking down into tears, she reasoned, "Hey, think about who you're talking to. I've got contingency plans in place. I've got somewhere to hide away in Vale until I figure stuff out, and I'll be able to get what I need to put Cinder down."
"Don't leave me!" Yang wailed, literally throwing herself onto Kassidy. "You can't leave me, K! Not for a suicide mission! I won't let you!" Kassidy did her best impression of a fish. Surely Yang didn't have so little faith in her that…
Oh, Kassidy realized. Shit.
She didn't even think about what the situation mirrored. She didn't even think about a mother that abandoned her daughter mere days after being born. She didn't even think of a second mother who left, who left to do what was necessary, and never came back. Regret and self-loathing wormed its way into her heart as she returned Yang's hug. She made her girlfriend think she was leaving her behind… what kind of bitch even did that?
Kassidy, eyes roving for something to give her an answer, found her old rifle tucked underneath her bed. "Yang," she whispered, trying to break through her tearful blubbering. After she get her girlfriend to calm down enough to look at her, she lunged in for a kiss. "I'm not saying goodbye," Kassidy insisted once they broke. "I am not leaving you behind. I can't ignore this… but I'm not gone for good." Taking Yang's hands in her own, she swore, "I promise, I will be back." She nodded, repeating, "I'll be back before you know it."
"Please, don't do this," Yang begged. "You don't have to do this."
"I wish I didn't," Kassidy whispered. Her hand reached for the plaque, and she pulled her old weapon out and held it in front of Yang. "Keep it safe for me, alright? I'll be back for it."
"You'd better be," Yang mumbled, finally releasing Kassidy from her hold as she took the rifle and shrinking back onto the bed and holy shit if Kassidy didn't feel like the scum of the earth now.
Kassidy stood up, shouldered her backpack, collected Bob's components, and took a step towards the door. She stopped, and called back, "Ruby, Weiss, Yang… it's been an honor. You have my Scroll number, feel free to call if you feel the need to check up on me. If I can't answer, Bob will."
"Is this it, then?" Weiss asked. She didn't clarify. She didn't need to.
"Of course not," Kassidy answered. "These next days will be hard, the hardest we've ever had. But I know we're strong enough to make it through things. Fight well and fight hard. And like I told Yang, I'll be back before you know it." She paused a moment longer, and added on, "Ruby, I need you to talk to your uncle. Tell Qrow that Beacon is in danger, and that he needs to find me in Vale. Something tells me he'll know how."
Ruby nodded, once. "You stay safe, Kass."
"Fight well," Weiss urged. "And remember that you're not alone. We're here for you. Always."
"Kick her ass, K," Yang growled. "And then hurry back here so I can kick your ass."
Kassidy couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, ma'am." Taking one final, shaky breath, she bade farewell. "I love you, Yang. I'll never stop loving you. See you in a bit, guys."
Kassidy Smith had entered the room.
The Colossus left it ten minutes later, already on the war path. There was only one objective.
Cinder will burn.
AN 2: Holy. Freaking. Hell. Was that long. I… well, I knew this was going to be along one, but I was not expecting 1500 extra words to pop out of nowhere.
Okay, I stayed up far later than I should have getting this finished again, so time for proofread, reviewer responses, upload, and sleep.
Coming up next: *Jaws theme plays* The First Canon Character Death. And the second.
AgentDraakis: Alright, now I gotta find where I can get a face palm, I would get a lot of use out of that. What, Cinder's virus affecting Bob? Nah, that couldn't possibly happen, right? *whistles innocently*
Clementine Davidson: Well… I hope your sister didn't like her pillow.
EWR115: Probably wasn't the kind of fight you had in mind, but I do hope it was up to par.
CookieTheDark: Unfortunately, I can't really help you here. On the one hand, I'd really like it if you kept reading, but on the other… shit gets bad, yo.
Ultimatrix bearer: Things continue to go down, for real. Hopefully this continues the trend of me being awesome, and you keep being awesome also.
ThornedRose: Look, I'll have your legs! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you've apparently enjoyed the previous chapters.
