Here we go
Chapter 15
"We're behind schedule. The dust convoy has already reached the ferry." Adam tapped two fingers on the map, showing a connecting line between the continents of Anima and Sanus. He looked at Blake, Jaune and two White Fang members huddled around a table made of an upturned barrel with a map drawn out over the top. "Our best chance was to strike before now, but it's slipped us by."
"That's my fault, isn't it?" Jaune asked. "Because I needed us to save Jade and Hazel…"
"No. I factored time in for that. If anything it's the fault of those squads that hit it after we did. This was always going to be a tight operation; I planned it so we'd hit the train here," his finger slid to a point south of Mistral, "-where it would be refuelling. That was only ever going to be a window of a couple of hours. We lost that having to rest after fleeing the facility."
"That's it, then," Blake said with noticeable relief. Adam had to have noticed it, but he didn't react, even if the two White Fang members did, sending Blake dirty looks. "We've missed the convoy."
"Not quite. There's still time…"
"We can't attack it at the ferry or we'll be covered in huntsmen before we can get the dust away."
"You'd have us do nothing then?" one of the White Fang members demanded. "Sienna granted us this task. It's our responsibility to see it through!"
"Our responsibility is to the innocent faunus who might be harmed by this." Blake glared back at the faunus who could have been twice her age or more. Whether it was her position as Adam's partner or just her natural confidence, she wasn't cowed in the slightest. "Or do you think it's humans manning the ferries? It's dangerous work. We attack there and we'll never get the dust away, especially if it's in industrial containers."
"Blake isn't wrong." Adam's words earned a smug smile, though it was soon wiped away. "But I've already planned for that. We won't be hitting the ferry. Too dangerous, as you say." He slid his finger over the narrow channel and onto the other side, onto Vale.
"Adam, no!" Blake said. "I thought we were heading to Menagerie before Vale!"
"It's a temporary diversion. We take boats across, sneak on board the train while they're loading the dust and wait for it to begin its journey. Small team," he said. "You, me and Jaune. Once the train is moving and on its way we strike while it passes through here. Forever Fall. That's Grimm territory and any response will be muted. We decouple the cars, blow the connector and scuttle the dust. That's where you'll pick us up via Bullheads," he told the other faunus. "It's outside Vale's airspace and well beyond range of their defences. From there, we retreat to Menagerie with the dust in tow."
"Sounds good," the faunus said. "We've got elements in Vale with aircraft. Be a long journey back to Menagerie, though. Not sure the fuel will make it. If we stop here or here, we have ex-labour camps that can refuel us." The man leaned over to indicate on the map and Adam nodded, circling those spots with a pen.
"I'll leave that to you to arrange. Only tell those you trust."
"I'll get on that now." The faunus up and left, his companion following. The moment they were gone, Blake turned back to Adam and spoke.
"Is it really a good idea to chase this?"
"It's not the best of ideas," he admitted, "But they won't expect us to be here. This is a rare opportunity and a chance for Jaune to prove his worth to Sienna. All the progress saving his sisters won't mean anything to her. This will." Adam leaned back and fixed Blake with a firm look. "You weren't bothered about this when we were stopping the train in Mistral. What's changed?"
"Mistral is still fairly safe on the rail lines. Forever Fall is Grimm territory…"
"What does it matter, Blake? You were fine with us attacking targets in Atlas."
"That's because we were going to attack while it was stationed and steal the train! Now you're talking about hitting it mid-transit, and in Grimm territory. That's ten times worse!"
Was it? Jaune didn't know. The where didn't matter for him – attacking a train in Mistral or Vale was about the same thing. There was one problem, however. "What about Jade and Hazel? I don't want them going near Vale if Chivalric Arms have facilities there."
"We won't bring them. They'll stay here safe while we go on the mission. It won't even take a day," Adam said. "At best we're looking at four to six hours from crossing the channel to returning with the dust. Any longer and we're inviting retaliation."
Fast and hard. That was the only way for a group as small as theirs to make it work. Jaune nodded. The twins had been a little braver since waking up to find themselves not only safe but sandwiching him between them. They weren't recovered by any means, but their familiar snark had returned, even if it was clear they were forcing it in an effort to cling to the normality. He could go and be back before they knew it.
This had to be done. He needed the resources of the White Fang to infiltrate Vale and Adam had proven himself so far. If that meant he had to impress Sienna Khan, so be it. He'd bring them back the dust and earn his place. It couldn't be harder than breaking into a lab or fighting those elite soldiers.
"Adam, sir!" The tent flap was pushed in suddenly. "Those humans are back…"
Adam was on his feet immediately. "Humans? Who? Huntsmen-?" He gripped Wilt.
"No sir. The ones from before, from when we first touched ground in Mistral."
Snarling, Adam let go of his sword. "Them? Persistent. Tell the guards to stand down," he hissed. "They're no threat. Just pushy and ignorant of the boundaries they push upon. I'll come deal with them."
Blake caught his sleeve before he could go. "Who are they?"
"People who want to hire us," he replied distractedly. "People who think the White Fang is for hire in the first place." He pulled his arm away, Blake letting him go. "I'll send them on their way, and if they come back a third time, they'll be having words with Wilt."
Jaune watched him go, then looked to Blake, gripping the edge of the table as she stared down on the map. "What's the big deal?" he asked. "It's the same job. Only the place has changed. Is Vale that big a deal for you?"
"No. It…" Her eyes scrunched shut. "We'll be attacking it while it's moving. Before, we were just going to incapacitate the guards and take the train. Here, we'll be stopping it in an area covered in Grimm. Where do you think the people on board will go?"
Oh right. He hadn't considered it. They could just have tied up the SDC personnel before and left them in the station to be discovered later, but now. "I'm sure Adam has a plan. Let's put a little trust in him. Okay?"
Blake didn't look convinced.
/-/
"Will you be okay?" Hazel asked. "It sounds dangerous."
"Is my big sister worried for me?" he asked teasingly, earning a pout and a weak punch in the stomach. The worst part was knowing she hadn't held back at all but that it was all she could manage with so much malnourishment. At least she and Jade were eating, though Fitch had them on wet and soft food. The doctor knew best. Either way he feigned pain for their benefit. "Ow. Okay, okay. It'll be fine. Safer than anything else we've done, even. At best we're going up against train conductors and security guards. I'll be in more risk helping to move the dust because I might drop a crate on my foot."
"Knowing you, you would!" Hazel laughed despite the accusation, calming down now that she knew he'd be okay. "I can't believe I'm sat here listening to my little brother plan terrorism. I can't believe I'm supporting it."
"Don't think of it like you are. I'm just paying my debt to Adam for helping save you." They weren't terrorists – or more specifically his sisters weren't. He almost certainly was at this point. Not that it matters. Chivalric Arms and Atlas will label me as anything if it means turning people against me. In the end, this was all just him doing what he had to. Adam and the White Fang were protecting his sisters. That meant they instantly had his loyalty.
"When will you go?"
"Soon," he replied. "As soon as Adam makes the call. Don't worry, I'll be back before tomorrow. The thing about the White Fang is that everything is hit and run. This won't be a protracted fight or even a fight at all! If we take so long huntsmen arrive, we're not doing our job properly."
Hazel motioned with her hands toward him. He came close and let her wrap him up in a tight embrace, pressing her face into his neck. "Stay safe," she whispered. "None of this will be worth it if you die."
"I'm not going anywhere, sis. Not until we're a family again."
/-/
Crossing over to Vale was a surprisingly simple affair. If you went from city to city, you dealt with checks and balances, ID and more, but with so much of Remnant's land mass inaccessible due to Grimm, the borders of each Kingdom were little more than dotted lines on a map. They found their way to a small village by the coast run by faunus, where a man with bit donkey ears didn't ask questions and took them across the channel in a speedboat, cutting across and then travelling north up the coast, past the ferry docks where the shipment would be landing in an hours' time.
That was guarded. Jaune saw it from the boat as he, Blake and Adam whisked by without masks, Adam keeping his head down so no one could see the scar. A train lay waiting in the station, armed men in white and grey uniforms scanning the area as they buzzed by.
"Looks like we're on schedule again," Adam said, sitting up once it was out of sight. "It's getting on that'll be the problem."
"We're jumping onto a moving train?"
Adam grinned. "Afraid so. Up for it?"
"I'll have to be now, won't I?"
"He's teasing you," Blake said, slapping Adam's arm. "It's easy, Jaune. We'll find a ridge overlooking the track and it's less jumping and more falling onto it. As long as you go when we say, you'll land. It's the stopping it I'm more worried about."
"Leave that to me," Adam said.
The rest of the journey was made in relative silence. The trees on the shore began to turn red, tinted as though trapped in eternal autumn. The trunks became white dappled with black and grey. The boat drew into the shore soon after and they clambered off, Adam thanking their driver before he pulled out and away, looking relieved to be done with them, or perhaps just away from territory claimed by Grimm.
"It's beautiful," Jaune said.
"Forever Fall." Adam started moving, trusting them to follow. "And it's as beautiful as it is deadly. You can harvest sap here that's used in cooking and medicine. Villages used to harvest it before the big corporations moved in and took over. They outpriced the villages by cutting corners and using cheap labour, usually faunus. Send them in, collect the sap from those that come back alive and repeat. Benefit is, you don't need to pay the wages for those that die."
"That's horrible…"
"It's business," he growled back. "That's not even racist. It's just the usual profit over everything mentality. Safety standards are the first thing to go, morals next. Then the SDC shows up and lays down train tracks. I've no idea how they managed that in a place overrun by Grimm, but I expect it was at a great cost, none of it paid by white collar workers."
Working from the map Adam had, they found the tracks without much difficulty, then followed them along, looking for any terrain that would grant them an east route on board. Jaune's eyes scanned the area for Grimm, nervously biting his lip as he realised his Semblance would for once be useless. He might have been anathema to huntsmen, but he was a poorly armed civilian where the Grimm were involved.
Against all odds, they found none. Was that normal? Everyone always said the Grimm were everywhere, but `everywhere` was a big place and they were just three people walking along the train tracks. Maybe the Grimm weren't as densely populated as people thought, or maybe they stayed away from empty clearings devoid of activity. Whatever the case, they travelled for a good thirty minutes without incident, until Adam spied a steep hill rising up from the trees.
"That's our spot. Clear view of the area and we'll see the train coming. No lip or overhand but I've a feeling the SDC will have cleared those to prevent rocks falling on the tracks. We'll have to do a run up and jump on. The slope will help there."
They trekked up in silence, climbing the pinkish terrain until they were up above the treeline, able to see for a fair distance, the red treetops rippling like an ocean in the breeze. "The girls would love to see this." He pulled out his scroll. "Mind if I take a snap?"
Adam shrugged. "Sure."
Jaune snapped a few pictures before putting it away and enjoying the vista for himself. Places like this could have been sights to see for tourists if it weren't for the Grimm. But maybe they only remained this way because of them because tourist companies couldn't come and turn the view into gaudy attractions with stairlifts, gift shops and other crap. Or people couldn't come and graffiti their names into the beautiful trees, drop cans of soda on the ground and scare away the wildlife.
Sad as it was to say it, the land flourished thanks to the Grimm. They didn't even hunt other animals.
"Heads up." Adam stood, gripping Wilt. Blake and Jaune rose as well, following his gaze to the thin plume of smoke coming up from the trees, spouted by a vehicle burning dust. It was hard to judge from a distance, the train seeming to move slowly, but it would be fast closer up. Jaune swallowed his fear and drew Mors. "The plan is simple," Adam said. "Get on board and disable anyone you see. Secure the dust and leave the rest to me." He moved forward, ducking into a run. "Let's go."
They ran. Down and down, faster and faster, until they delved back into the trees and his chest began to hurt. Blake and Adam were unstoppable, indomitable. It was sheer grit that kept him going with them until the tracks and the train came into view, the engine moving past with the long trail of cars chunking along behind. Some of them were large cars full of dust but others were flat and lower to the ground.
"Those!" Adam ordered, knowing he'd seen them. "Jump!"
There was no time for hesitation. Feet pounding down, Jaune took a deep breath and launched himself up and forward, hands circling in the air. The freefall was a terrifying moment, but it didn't last long. Metal clanged as his boots touched down. He almost stumbled when the ground under him moved. He fell to hands and knees, catching his breath as Adam and Blake landed on either side of him much more gracefully.
"Well done," Blake said, more to him than Adam.
"We can't afford to wait," Adam said. "There's a chance we've been spotted. We move forward and take the engine. Deal with anyone and everyone en route."
They were on the clock now. An hour until the train finished its journey and reached Vale, and time needed for the White Fang to get Bullheads into position. His heart raced as he hurried up to the next car, slamming into the door and gripping the edge, dragging it back with a loud, metallic crunch. It slid free, grating open. He slid inside and let Adam take the door, holding it open for Blake. Being daytime, thin beams of light cut through the slats at the top, shining over the interior, reflecting on numerous glass lenses set in metallic faces.
"Uh, guys," he opined. "I thought you said this was a dust shipment."
"It is," Blake replied. "Why- oh…"
Numerous lights flickered on, the eyes of at least twenty armed robots coming to life as they jerked mechanically and pulled themselves off the walls. "Intruder detected," one of them beeped out. Its arms raised, revealing an assortment of weaponry you wouldn't expect to find on a commercial train.
"This isn't dust," Adam said uselessly. "It's a weapons shipment."
"Neutralising."
"Blake!"
"On it!" Blake charge din and sliced at the thing's arm, sliding under and causing its first barrage to adjust and cut through the floor in pursuit. Adam lunged and pierced it through while it was distracted, but by that point more were pulling themselves off the walls and activating. Adam sheathed and drew Wilt again, the blade wreathed in fire lighting up the interior and revealing yet more robotic assailants.
Mors centred on one and fired, muzzle flash blinding and round pinging off its chest. It swung a clawed arm at him in response and nearly took his head off! The arm sheared into and through the metal wall, showering him with sparks.
"Adam!" Jaune yelped. "I'm useless against robots!"
He could fight them with aura, but it was no better than the average person doing so, and the things were lunging right at him! If they caught him, they might drag him off the train and then he'd be stuck in Grimm territory. He ducked under another arm and slashed the blade of Mors at the machine's neck. It sparkled and slid over the metal plates, failing to cut. Did he shoot an explosive round? No way. Not in a confined space with his own allies here.
"Adam!?"
"Go ahead!" Adam roared. "Blake and I will deal with them." Adam put words to action, slicing forward and unleashing a wave of red that blew open the door ahead, granting Jaune a chance to run past the scattered robots and out into the open.
It wasn't leaving them. This was what Blake and Adam were good at and a quick look back showed them working in perfect consort, twisting and slipping by one another, switching enemies, slicing, shooting and kicking droids off the train. They'll be fine. He nodded, turning back ahead. Time for me to do my part!
His shoulder hit the next door and he rushed through, finally spotting the dust crates. So there was dust here, but why the robots as well? Security? That didn't make sense. Why would security be stored in another cart and not, say, guarding the dust? They were obviously a shipment, but a shipment to where? Who in Vale could possibly want killer robots?
He could think of one group. Like soldiers armed with gas grenades, robots with natural hardiness but no aura would be a good way past his Semblance. Could the SDC be working with Chivalric Arms? They might be – but it might just as easily be them sharing a train. Either way, these robots aren't destined for commercial use like the dust is. Not unless people in Vale like to invite murder machines into their homes.
Adam would know what to look for. Maybe there'd be further evidence toward the front of the train or with the driver. Moving past the crates, he dragged open the next door and peeked through. No robots thankfully, only more dust stacked high in wooden crates. Catching his breath, he slowed down and made his way forward more carefully, flicking the safety on Mors. No use misfiring surrounded by so much dust. The sounds of combat continued behind, proof that Blake and Adam were fine.
Human opponents were probably up front in the engine room and the car before it. With any luck they hadn't heard the carnage, though he doubted that. Covering two more cars, he slid through the gap between two more, jumping over the connectors and onto the next. The door was locked from the inside but a ladder beside it provided a way up onto the roof. That also gave a good view back and he breathed a sigh of relief to see his allies moving closer, having dispatched most of the robots and now entering the cars containing the dust.
A tree branch almost punished his lack of attention. It whistled overhead so close it caught his hair and Jaune yelped, diving flat and looking ahead. Crawling forward, he worked his way to the next connection point between the cars and slid down, panting for breath. The door was open but the one behind was locked again, the car sealed off entirely. Through the window, it was dark inside, but a flash of light shone through a crack in the trees and illuminated a host of sleek metal figures that had Jaune recoiling.
"More robots? Shit." Luckily, the door was locked, and he didn't activate them. The one at the back must have been left open for some reason. "There's something fishy going on here…"
The train rocked suddenly, shaking back and forth and forcing him to grip onto the railing or fall off. It kept shaking, picking up speed in a way he could feel deep in his bones. The sudden lurch of it knocked him back into the locked door.
"What the-?"
Pulling himself off he heard the louder ka-chunk behind. Jaune gripped the ladder and drew himself up so that he could lean one elbow atop the carriage and look back. His eyes widened, panic gripping his heart.
The train was splitting in two. Several cars back, around where the dust had been, the cars had disconnected and were slowing down, fading into the distance as the now shorter train sped on, picking up speed due to the reduction in weight.
"Blake!" he yelled, spotting her further down looking away from him. She flinched and turned back, almost as afraid as he. "What happened?"
Her attention darted backwards and then away, and she hurried to his position, dropping down between the two cars to land next to him. He couldn't help but notice how pale she was, how she was shaking.
"Adam disconnected the cars," she blurted out. "He cut the train in two."
"What? Why!?"
"T-There are people on board. The SDC staff and crew. It's to keep them alive. He's taken the dust and cut the train there so the White Fang can collect it. The only other choice was to blow the train up and strand it, but that would kill everyone on board."
And Adam cared about that? "Nice of him to decide that on the spot! What about us?"
"Us? Oh, ah, we're going to be picked up in Vale. It was a sudden change of plan – he's going to have the White Fang cell there get in touch and look after us. We need to stay hidden until then. We'll ride the train there, get off while they're inspecting the damage and lay low."
Knots were already twisting their way through his stomach. Why would Adam decide on this now, and why not give them a chance to fall back to the point where he wanted to cut the connectors? He touched his scroll but knew it'd be useless. There was no signal out here. Damn it, Adam. I promised Jade and Hazel I'd be back before nightfall. You better have a good explanation for this.
"I don't like this, Blake. I'm a wanted criminal. Vale might be safe for you if you drop the mask, but it's filled with huntsmen who'd kill me as soon as look at me!"
"It'll be fine," she said. "It… Everything is going to be okay."
"I'm not some skittish animal!" he snapped. He regretted it a moment later. "I-I'm sorry. This is… I don't like this, but Adam knows best. He's not led us wrong so far. If he thinks this is best, I guess it is." How, he didn't know, but he had to have faith. "I guess it's better than killing everyone on board."
"Yes. Yes, it is. Adam…" Blake trailed off. "There… There was a change of heart."
"What about these killer robots? You think that's Chivalric Arms?"
"Maybe…"
"It can't be SDC," he said, following Blake into the next carriage. "If it were, they'd be guarding the dust, not taking up storage space doing nothing. They're basically strapped in for shipping. It's an arms shipment. Chivalric Arms. Makes sense."
"Yeah."
"You think we can trace where they're headed? It might give us the heads up on the next facility to hit. Three Bullheads went to Vale, but we don't know how many labs they have here or if they'll try and move my family now that they know I'm after them. What's the next step, do you think?"
"Probably."
Jaune scowled and gripped her shoulder. "Blake. Are you even listening to me?"
"No," she admitted, stopping and shaking a little. Her hand rose to her mask, slipping it off her face. After a long moment of hesitation she cast it out the closest window, sending it spinning into the trees.
"Blake…?"
"Our masks are no good in Vale. Might want to ditch them…"
He didn't. "There's a bigger reward on my face than for a member of the White Fang."
"Then keep it," she snapped. "I… I'm not in the mood, Jaune. Can we focus on the short term for now? Your family… They'll be okay. I…" Her eyes scrunched shut. "Trust me, Jaune. We'll find your family, just… let's find somewhere to hide for now."
He bit back his angry words. Blake was as shaken by this as he. "Alright. I'll trust you."
/-/
The train began to slow down as it approached Vale, the great walls of the city visible from the slatted windows, the gates protecting the railway entrance opening long before the train passed through, taking them from green wilderness to urban brown and grey, what he assumed to be the industrial part of the city surrounding them.
Blake led him off before it came to a stop, the two of them leaping from the train within view of anyone nearby, choosing speed over caution. Someone might have yelled out, but by then it was too late and they were rushing down alleyways and through factories, some abandoned and others quiet as the evening hours ticked in. Even if the city was bustling, there were areas that could only be called squalid, broken down homes and abandoned factories dotting a zone thick with the smell of burnt dust and smoke, the cacophony of the train clanging into place making it a poor place to live.
Some still did, of course. Jaune pulled his hoodie up and kept his face down as they hurried past people coming and going, more faunus than not in the poorer district, their boots splashing down in puddles, the cold wrapping around them. Blake was a girl on a mission, almost as nervous as he as she scanned every faunus and gripped her weapon tight as though expecting them to attack.
Eventually, she found them somewhere to stay. A broken-down apartment block with homeless people squatting in the rooms. It wasn't hard to find space higher up where the roof was less stable and the stars could be seen above. Wedging them in and sealing the door with Gambol Shroud's ribbon, she fell to her knees and panted for breath.
Jaune peered nervously out the broken window, avoiding the sharp shards of glass forming a star pattern where someone had thrown a rock through. The city was bright and well-lit, more so in the distance than where they current were, which was far smokier from industry. Cars hummed as they drove by, shearing through large puddles and spraying the sidewalks. It was civilisation after a long time away, and yet he didn't feel safer for it.
"Out the fire and into the frying pan. Do we try and slip out tomorrow? Meet up with the White Fang and hitch a boat to Menagerie?"
"Yes." Blake was looking away from him as she said it. There was a sharp snapping sound and he rounded in time to see glass sprinkle to the floor.
"What was that?"
"My scroll. One of the robots must have hit it." She showed it off, the screen cracked beyond repair. "It's useless now." She tossed it into a corner of the room with more force than he thought necessary. Must have been frustration. "Where's yours?"
He patted his breast pocket. "Here. Should we try and call Adam?"
"Not tonight. He'll still be in Forever Fall and there'll be no signal there. We'll give it until tomorrow and make contact when the sun is up. He'll have had chance to get back to Mistral by then." Blake eyed his chest, his scroll, and then looked up to him. "You should get some sleep. I'll take first watch and wake you up around three in the morning. You can do the last few hours and we'll move at seven. Any earlier and it'll be suspicious for us to be about. We'll blend in better with the morning rush."
"To contact the White Fang?"
"Yes."
They had a plan. Good. Jaune shuffled over to the corner and sat against it, lacking anything to lay down on or cover himself with. He wanted to offer to take first watch for that reason alone, but Blake looked even more agitated. "It'll be okay," he said, hoping his words might have some effect. "If Adam says this is the plan, it'll work. We'll make it."
"I… I know." Blake closed her eyes. "Go to sleep, Jaune. This… Things will make more sense in the morning, I promise. I'll keep watch."
"Alright. I trust you."
Blake smiled thinly, leaning rigidly against the opposite wall. Her eyes remained on him more than the entranceway, though it was blocked off itself so he supposed it didn't matter. She'd hear someone trying to get in. Closing his eyes, he tried to force himself to sleep, only to be plagued by the thought of Jade and Hazel's reaction to him not coming back. Hopefully, Adam would explain to them what was going on and get them to Menagerie.
/-/
When his eyes flickered open the sun was streaming down through the window he was sat under, the sounds of cars and honking and everyday life loud and clear behind and below. Jaune blinked the sleep away, groggily wondering why it wasn't still dark if it was time for his shift. He looked up, question on his lips.
Blake was nowhere to be seen.
Wow. Good job, Blake. Yep, this is how Jaune gets his introduction to Vale, not with the support of Adam or the White Fang at his back but dumped in the middle of the city by a runaway cat cutting ties and looking to make a new start. To be fair to Blake, she knows there's no way Jaune would agree to her plan. He's loyal to Adam because Adam has his sisters.
Next Chapter: 25th May
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur
