"If you want to know the outcome of a game before the game has even started, you need to control each side."
-David Icke
Chapter 14: Like An Onion
Jaune never expected to see Beacon again in his lifetime.
Not only unceremoniously given the boot, but Jaune had also walked away to the maybe cruel yells of his friends. There would be no place for him in Beacon anymore. It was too late for that anyway, he was comfortable where he was.
Had his friends cast him out? Jaune still couldn't remember much, save a blur of tears, then a run out of the room to the Bullhead, there wasn't much else that he remembered. RWBY hadn't actually shown too much actual malice when they met… bar Yang, but the rest of them were fairly level headed. Well, he'd sort things out later when he talked to them.
Preferably not now, though.
Jaune stepped out of the Bullhead first. Tentatively placing one foot down, then the other. Beacon Tower loomed over the grounds, the cogs and gears spinning slowly. The road ahead was lined by the decorative lamps on either side, leading into the arched walls, then finally, into the school itself. The grand aesthetic and architecture just wasn't something that could be seen in many other places. It was certainly something he expected to never see again, but there he was.
He was back at Beacon.
"Enjoying the view, Arc?" Captain Alabaster hopped off the Bullhead with considerably less dramaticism than him, landing on the ground with both of his feet at the same time. "This probably won't the fucking last. So get used to it. Hell knows I did. Well, get used to it again, I should say."
"You come here often?" Jaune quirked an eyebrow.
"Often enough, Corporal," Alabaster continued looking up at the tower regardless. "Bastard's probably looking at us from here..."
"Hm?"
"Nothing," Alabaster turned back to look back inside the Bullhead. "Hey, Azul! You good to go?"
"Yeah, give me a sec," there was the sound of a quick shuffle of papers before the last member of their party, Major Azul, hopped down from the Bullhead. Azul turned back to the Bullhead, peering into the cockpit at their pilot. "Wait here and make sure nobody fucks with the aircraft. We'll be back whenever we're done. Got it?"
"Yessir," came back the Lieutenant.
Azul turned back to the two of them, his rack of medals gleaming in the midday sun, "Alright, we'll head up to the office, negotiate the terms, and leave. He's called you two here for a reason, so talk when spoken to and I'll handle all the semantics, good?"
"Crystal, sir," Jaune nodded. Alabaster responded likewise.
Azul already started walking down the long gray pathway, grey clipboard clutched in his left hand, "Alright, let's go. You guys can talk if you want, it's a bit of a walk."
"Don't I know..." fond, or not-so-fond, memories of getting lost made sure of it. A few students passing by gave the uniformed Contractors odd looks, but otherwise paid them no heed. After all, this was a Huntsmen school, was it not? They were leagues above whatever these pretend soldiers thought they were. Jaune laughed silently at his own thoughts, already working to discern what the students around him were thinking.
Just another lesson imparted onto him by Alabaster, body language.
Jaune made a point to angle his face away from any onlookers.
Lavender had been right after all. Beacon had very much caught up with him, and it definitely hadn't been on his own terms.
He would've covered up his face, just so nobody would recognize him, but alas, the uniform didn't permit it. Maybe it was cowardice on his part not wanting to face RWBY again, or maybe it was reason. Their last one had been eventful, and he didn't want to see what would happen if whatever God looked over them decided to press the "Interesting Event" button.
"Admiring the view, Jaune?" Alabaster nudged him in the side as they walked. Azul was just a few paces ahead, seemingly tuning out their conversation. "Gotta admit, it's impressive, if not expensive."
"You see over there?" Jaune pointed a finger towards a cluster of multi-story buildings off to the side, just coming into view. "That's where the dormitories are. Over there are where the library is. Heh, I don't think I ever used it to study, only reading comics… I don't think I studied very hard. I barely managed to get sure Pyr was the only reason I got as far as I did..."
"Nostalgic, Corporal?" a snort. "How does it finally feel to be back to the place where you got kicked out of? Weird? Nostalgia? Sadness? What?"
"Why you asking?"
Alabaster shrugged, "It's my duty to know what my guys are thinking. Plus, I'm curious. I've visited Beacon before as a student from Atlas, and a few other times, but it still isn't quite like what you've gone through. Curiosity killed the cat, so spill it before it kills me."
"Little sad, a little nostalgic," Jaune breathed out a sigh as he walked, glancing over at the two students giving them the stink eye as they passed. "I always wanted to be a Huntsman when I grew up. I even went so far to fake my transcripts." a harsh laugh. "I like to think I've accepted that I can't be one anymore. It was pretty stupid of me to think I could get by with no training. Hell, maybe I would've gone on some far fetched adventure across Remnant or something."
They shared a quick chuckle before Jaune continued on, "I'm happy where I'm at anyways. I got a crew of people to lead now too, so I can't exactly go off and become a Huntsman now with them depending on me."
What went unsaid, was that there was still a little piece of Jaune that wanted to be the knight in shining armour, that would swoop in and save the day. Beacon just tugged at his heartstrings as if just simply being there would get him back into Beacon to become what he always dreamed of.
A Huntsman.
A hero.
"Are you saying all of this because I'm just here?" he said, an amused look on his face.
"No," a shake of his head. Yet, that small thought nibbled at the back of his thoughts… "I'm saying it because I believe all of it. Not like I'd be able to get back in anyways. I have a feeling that even with all your training, I don't stand a chance against most of these students." he nodded towards a pair of students walking past.
Alabaster turned his head away, choosing instead to look at the path in front of them. Azul tapped a steady beat on his clipboard ahead, whistling a quiet tune, "Don't sweat it, kid. I'm fairly confident that you could take most of these kids in the ring. I trained you, remember?"
"If you call battering me with a sword day in and day out training, then yes," Jaune groaned. "Don't you always tell me to be humble, and not to overestimate myself in battle?"
"Ah, don't underestimate yourself either, otherwise you might miss an opportune moment because you think you're not strong enough. I'll be teaching you more about that anyways when I get you up in the LAV. Combat tactics with the LAV and what to do and what not to do. Still won't make me go easy on you in the ring though. God knows Sabyr Brigade won't," Alabaster muttered the last sentence, gaze drifting off to somewhere else.
As they closed on the main building, a nearby statue caught his eye, building just in front of the main building. One of a man and woman, sword held triumphantly over the Beowulf down below. It was apparently supposed to show that man and woman would eventually triumph over the Grimm. The statue would invoke hope inside people, say that they would triumph over the Grimm, that they were higher than the mindless beasts. It was supposed to say that humankind would triumph in the end.
Of course, it was also dedicated to all the fallen Huntsmen before.
A statue to Huntsmen and Huntresses, they were a dime a dozen. There were even fewer statues of soldiers, and none about them. Sure, he was a Contractor, but wasn't he just as much a protector as a Huntsman? They did it for money, but was it too much different from Huntsmen contracts?
There were no statues of Contractors. They were the silent professionals, as one would say. Their deaths were kept out of the reports, news, and they did the Kingdom's dirty word. There were the Freedom of Information requests on the Huntsmen casualties, but Contractors? No, they were barely in the public's consciousness.
It was an injustice. It went unnoticed to him that he had stopped to look at the statue, and he was even more unconscious of his clenched fists. It was so unfair, the world was so unfair, and Jaune couldn't do anything to change that.
"You alright Corporal?" a hand suddenly came into view, waving up and down to get his attention. Jaune blinked twice, drawing himself out of his trance. "You spaced out there."
"I'm fine," Jaune shook his head, raising his hands to show that he was fine, perfectly fine. "Just thinking about some stuff. Let's get going before Azul notices we're lagging behind."
"Fine with me," Alabaster shrugged, moving into a fast walk to close the distance between the two officers. "So, back to my mini-lesson. Don't underestimate yourself, don't over underestimate the enemy, and don't overestimate with either. Also, play dirty. We don't have to play by the law, so use that to your advantage."
"Is that why we issue just about everyone a tear gas canister?" Jaune snorted, passing over a few students who gave them weird looks. Maybe Jaune remembered them from somewhere, but he couldn't be bothered to remember. Azul ahead pushed through the double doors leading inside. "Actually, don't answer that question. We both know the answer is yes."
Alabaster chuckled, before following Azul through the double doors in front of them, taking off his beret as he did, "The higher end threats usually have extensive training. Hell, every academy Huntsman has four years of training under their belts, so usually even the lower end ones can beat your ass five times over if it was a fair fight."
"We already went through this in basic, sir," Jaune rolled his eyes, and only because Alabaster was turned away. "You got any more wisdom that hasn't already been beaten into me, both literally and figuratively?"
"Well, maybe I'll save the tactical stuff for later," Alabaster quickened his pace, forcing Jaune to quicken his in turn. "How are you holding up right now?"
"Fine, as I already said before."
"Have you talked to your family recently?" they passed by what was Prof- Doctor's Oobleck's classroom. Jaune peered in for a moment. Oobleck sat at his desk, his hands flying at lightspeed, furiously scribbling and checking off something on his desks. The next moment, they had passed.
"No, not that since the Paladin incident. I've been pretty distracted since now that you mentioned it."
"Well, give 'em a call when you can. You don't really know what it's like to not have them until you don't."
They walked in silence for the next few seconds. The only sound coming from them the rhythmic cadence of their steps, Azul's ever so slightly out of cadence. The few students passing by either gave them strange looks or paid them no heed, chattering away uncaringly.
Jaune broke the silence, "Is Alabaster your last name? I don't think I've ever heard you referred to as anything else."
A chuckle, "I left my real name back at Atlas a long time ago. Alabaster is what everyone calls me now. Picked it up because of this shit." Alabaster grasped at his neck, pulling a braided necklace out from underneath the tunic, on the end a jagged white rock. "Someone I met gave me the name, so that's what I go by now. My first name is something I'll keep close to my chest."
"Why?" Jaune immediately blurted out.
"Personal reasons," the grip around his necklace tightened, the knuckles whitening as the Captain breathed in and out measuredly. "That's all I'll say. Now stop fucking prying Corporal, or I'll find someone else to fill that spot."
"Yessir."
Up ahead, Azul stopped abruptly in the middle of the hall, turning to the elevator door to his right. A swift press of the button and the elevator doors slid open. The Major glanced at the pair, who'd stopped just beside him.
Well, they were just an elevator ride away from Ozpin.
"Alright, we're here. Remember that I'll lead the conversation. You're here for a reason, so chances are that he'll try and talk to you. Don't agree to anything, and don't reveal anything sensitive. Got it?" Azul gave a pointed glance up at the security camera watching over them just outside the elevator. "We don't need any more problems than we already have. We're here to work out the details of the contract and nothing else."
Both of them chorused their acknowledgement. Alabaster saying, "Aye sir." and Jaune replying, "Yessir."
Something to take note of for Jaune.
As they filed into the elevator, he admired the decorations inside, having never seen it before. So he was too caught up admiring the clockwork gears and cogs to notice a certain bunny Faunus passing by, who jolted in surprise when spotted him out of the corner of her eye.
Velvet did a double take to make sure she had really seen the disgraced knight, this time garbed in an odd military-esque uniform. The next moment, her team quickly ushered her on, unaware of Jaune and his party.
The Contractors stood in the elevator as the doors shut, whistling, fiddling with pens, or idly pacing around. The start of their ascent nearly went unnoticed save for the number counting up above the door. The whisper quiet mechanism outside soon gave way to calming elevator music, a nice little tune that did nothing to ease the invisible tension within.
"I never liked elevators..." murmured Alabaster, patting his side, grasping around for his holster. A quiet sigh of relief as he pulled out the handgun an inch.
"Me neither," echoed the Major. "I once was ambushed in one when my charge demanded we go up in it. It was a fucking disaster, but we managed to pull the idiot out."
"You're 2nd Battalion?" asked Jaune, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course," came the reply. "We handle everything inside Vale. You lot in the 1st Batt handle everything outside of the walls. I'd say we have the more dangerous job, but I remember you're the ones dealing with the literal embodiment of evil."
Chuckles all around. The Paladin incident came back to Jaune's mind, why were they chosen for the raid again? If there was an entire Battalion dedicated to internal security...
"If there's a whole Battalion of you, why were we picked for the whole Paladin thing?" he withered under Alabaster's glare, which was sent too late to stop him anyway.
"Oh, tell me about it," the Major rolled his eyes. "We were up in arms about how you guys were stepping on our toes with jurisdiction. Turned out SOG wanted the guys they were training and training with for two weeks to be their backup when the primary force was pulled away. A stroke of luck, they would say."
"Not so much a stroke of luck for my section leader," breathed Jaune, looking down at the floor.
"My condolences to him."
Alabaster looked up from the floor suddenly, glancing up at the floor indicator, which read close to the highest number, "We're nearly there. Let's straighten ourselves up before we go in."
"That we will Captain," nodded Azul. "Be sure to be on your best behaviour Corporal. Don't talk unless spoken to, and all that jazz. Tracking?"
"Tracking," Jaune gave a thumbs up.
It was Alabaster who said the last word as the elevator slowed down, sliding to a stop, "Ozpin is a tricky guy. He'll probably try and wring something out of any one of us, especially you, Jaune, since you used to be his student. Be careful, and don't say anything that can be construed as just about anything."
"I'm on the same page as your guys. I promise I won't do anything stupid."
"Alright," Azul rolled his shoulders, grunting loudly as the elevator doors opened. "Here we go."
/ - /
Ruby was bored.
Well, she could've been doing her homework, but ugh! Pro- Doctor Oobleck always explained it too fast, and she never got any of it! Weiss had been busy nagging her nonstop to finish it, as it, "was befitting that a team leader would set an example". Well, it wasn't her fault she was skipped two years ahead and missed all the material in between! Actually, it was her fault for accepting Ozpin's offer… but that was beside the point!
The rest of team RWBY looked just as bored as she was. Even Weiss mindlessly scribbled on her piece of paper, and she always told her not to waste a moment! Her team was all glum and stuff. Sure, Goodwitch's punishment was…
Nah.
After suppressing those terrifying memories, Ruby returned to her normal chipper self.
It gave her an idea, actually. How else to break the boredom, then talk about the Paladin thingie! Oo, she'd be super cool, and be like those military and spy movies she's watched, and do a debrief!
Yeah, she knew those cool, military words.
"Alright!" she called out, shooting up to her feet, and surprising her entire team.
A series of hushes from the librarian sitting behind her desk. Ruby cringed away from the glares sent her way, lowering her voice before speaking again, "I, as the leader of team RWBY, say we talk about the Paladin thingie."
Blake looked up from her book, amber eyes flicking up to her team leader, "What?"
"I'm saying, we should do a debrief."
"Rubes, did you learn that from Bullhead Down?" snickered Yang from her seat across the table.
"No," red crept onto her face. Ruby slam- gently placed both her hands on the table, leaning forward towards her team. "I want to go over our mistakes, and what we can do better! It's a team building exercise, and I demand we do it!"
Ruby winced when the librarian hushed her again.
"Well," Weiss looked up from whatever she was writing on her sheet of paper. "I think we know that the authorities have it well in hand at this point and that they'll handle it from there."
The book Blake was holding clapped shut, and she pointed her amber gaze right at the heiress, "Maybe they were just there for the Paladin. Have you ever considered that if they were really doing something against the White Fang, they might've done something earlier? I think the White Fang will just continue on as usual, and the police won't do anything about it."
"Well," Weiss pulled out her scroll, rapidly tapping on the screen. "Give me a sec… here we go. Take a look at this."
The scroll slid to the middle of the table, and the entire team peered over to read it. It was a news article by VNN, written by Lisa Lavender.
Fifth raid this week by Private Military Company against White Fang
In a surprise turn of events against the White Fang, the Faunus extremist group were halted in their tracks by a series of aggressive raids by the Private Military Company known as Striker Group. Dust prices have finally started to lower thanks to these new efforts. Though, that does raise the question: Why are we outsourcing our security to mercenaries? Many have called for a reestablishment of the Valean Armed Forces, stating that hiring mercenaries to solve our problems shouldn't be the first solution. We've reached out to a Striker Group spokesperson for comment…
Ruby touched out a finger, scrolling through the article as the team read together. Blake was especially engrossed, with Yang close behind. If Ruby had a lien for every expression change the two went through… well, she wouldn't have very much lien but that wasn't the point.
The article went on to describe something about politics, Huntsmen, and some other boring things that Ruby didn't really care for. However, what really caught her eye was a photo that was put in to break up the text.
"Wait, stop there," Ruby placed a finger on the screen, stopping Blake from scrolling past the photo. "What's that? That kinda looks like the vehicle Jaune had..." her voice fell off when she read the caption, and saw the photo.
A LAV crew with 3rd Platoon, Raider Company, 1st Battalion, Valean Detachment, poses for a picture in front of their vehicle. The LAV is an old Atlesian design, which has been upgraded and modified to fit Contractors needs. Photo courtesy of Striker Group Public Affairs.
Ruby's mouth gaped. Everyone else looked incredulously at the screen.
It was Jaune.
The goofy knight stood posed in front of a military vehicle along with six others. They all smiled broadly, making odd gestures with their hands, thumbs and pinkies extended, but the rest of the fingers curled. They all wore the olive drab uniforms that they wore when RWBY had encountered them.
"Isn't that the same guy who was injured?" she pointed her finger to the far right, where a beast of a man stood, beard and all. "I think he was Jaune's team leader or something..."
"Sergeant Colt Razz. Former Atlesian Armour Corps, now an employee of Striker Group," Weiss said, a smug smile on her face as she took her scroll back. The rest of her team cocked their heads at the heiress. "What? I researched all this before!"
Yang whistled, sitting back down into her chair, "I've gotta say, Vomit boy really turned things around since he got kicked out."
"Yeah, and he basically saved us from those neanderthals," Weiss leaned forward, tapping something else into her scroll. "Why did you even provoke them? If Jaune didn't decide that saving us was worth the effort, then we might've been in bigger trouble."
Blake and Yang sullenly sat in their seats, avoiding Weiss' sharp look.
"Look at this," Weiss held out her scroll for all of them to see. "I accessed the SDC records, and apparently, we have quite a bit of information about them. The men we were standing off with are apparently all Huntsmen level. Do you think you could've fought all of them off? All the man asked for was to question us."
"Alright, alright," Yang grumbled, crossing her arms. "I admit, I was a bit quick to get angry. I just felt like I shouldn't have had to go with them, because we were the ones that stopped the Paladin, okay? I was still high on adrenaline and didn't like him bossing me around. That okay for you?"
Weiss deadpanned, "We were also the ones to lead the Paladin on a chase across Vale."
"Alright! I get it. No need to come after me more Weiss-Cream."
"What about you, Blake?" Weiss turned her attention to the cat Faunus, who cringed away immediately. "You were pretty quick to pull out your weapon."
"My..." she vaguely gestured to her bow, and the whole team "Oohed", in understanding. "I thought they'd find out somehow and kill me or something..."
A silence came over the group, the only sound from them Ruby twiddling a pencil in his finger.
"Soooo..." Ruby said, not looking up from the table. "Jaune seemed pretty different."
"I think joining a group of mercs makes counts as different," Yang leant back in her chair, clasping her hands together behind her head. "He definitely was different from the last time we saw him. Like, he sure didn't look half as clumsy."
"And more confident too," Weiss added. "Jaune had certainly gone through a transformation. I suppose he didn't decide to slack off in the months since we've seen him."
"What was that about Jaune?"
Ruby turned around to see who had just spoken. The library doors swung around on its hinges as the remainder of team JNPR walked in. Rather, they were rebranded as team Pincer, or PNR. Pyrrha was in the lead, the red headed champion with a rather curious look on her face. Close behind followed Nora and Ren, one of them gaining some annoyed looks from the librarian.
"Oh!" said Ruby, waving PNR over to them. "Come over here. We uh, sort of forgot to tell you this earlier, but we met Jaune a few days ago."
"What?" Pyrrha was next to her in a flash, along with the rest of her team.
And so RWBY explained everything. Not short and concisely, but often with one of them interrupting the other, butting in with an important piece of information that they had forgotten, or more commonly, an odd, obscure piece of information. It was a loud, long event, often with the librarian threatening to kick them out if they didn't lower their voices.
Pyrrha lapped it all up.
"So, how do you say he's different?" Pyrrha absentmindedly drummed her fingers against her thigh, ever attentive to her friends.
Yang spoke first, "Definitely more confident, and less willing to take shit from anyone. He stood up for us against them, so I say he's just about as idiotic."
Ruby pouted, "Yang!"
"Alright, goofy then."
Pyrrha cupped her hands around her mouth, taking in a deep breath, "Do you know where he is right now? What about if he's okay?"
"Jauney will be okay," Nora leaned on her hands, bubbly as ever. "After all, he's our Fearless Leader!"
"Fearless enough that he stood in front of twenty guns for us," Blake said, eyes directed at the table in front of her. "He didn't have to, but he did it. I didn't think he'd do it for a second, especially after… you know."
"Nonsense," Pyrrha shook her head. "Jaune would never leave you like that. Besides, he helped, didn't he?"
"Yes," Weiss said, "yes he did."
"Do you know where he is right now? He hasn't messaged my scroll in ages," Pyrrha frowned, taking her scroll out again just to check. "I just thought he'd remember, especially after encountering you..."
"Not mine either," came Ren. "He's probably had a lot on his plate, Pyr. Give him time."
"We don't know where he went after, and he hasn't messaged any of us since," Weiss shook her head. "However, we do know who he works for, Striker Group, and what unit he's in. So we can make a reasonable guess as to where he is..."
"Oo! Oo! Is Jaune a pirate now? Argh! Always knew Jauney was secretly a pirate!" Nora burst out, drawing yet another threat from the librarian. Ren quickly pulled her back, attempting to calm her down with his words, which, in Ruby's opinion, worked half of the time.
Weiss was wholly engrossed in her scroll, entirely focussed on typing whatever she was. Pyrrha herself eagerly awaited her next words. Poor Pyrrha, she had a huge crush on Jaune, even Ruby knew that! How Jaune didn't notice, she didn't know. Pyrrha had just gotten over it too, and now that she was given new hope? Well, she didn't know! She was just a Huntress-in-Training! Just a buttkicking, bringer of justice Huntress-in-Training that had a super cool scythe, but she didn't know any relationship stuff, Yang had always scared off any boy that approached her...
"What's even..." Pyrrha oddly gestured her hands around, "this Striker Group? I haven't heard anything about it, ever."
Weiss kept tapping away at her scroll. "Essentially, they're a Private Military Company. They take contracts from people for money, and do the work."
"That doesn't sound too far off from being a Huntsmen..." Pyrrha frowned.
"Except it's more organized like a military. They aren't as well trained as we are, and there's a whole lot more of them. They do things like guarding Dustmines, Grimm eradication, bounty hunting, transportation, escorts, those type of things," Weiss rattled off. The heiress tapped a few times on her screen, before finally laying the scroll on the table. Everyone leaned in to look, most of all Pyrrha.
"Alright," Displayed on the scroll was a map of Vale and the immediate surroundings. Weiss pointed to a spot just west of Vale. "Striker Group has a base there. They call it Base Citadel, and that's also where Jaune's unit is apparently based."
"And you just have all of this information?" Blake asked, an incredulous look on her face.
"Of course!" Weiss yelled, crossing her arms indignantly. The librarian sighed at her desk, massaging her face tiredly, while Weiss continued on. "SDC often hires them to protect the mines from Grimm attack, more often as outer defence and skirmishing. We have our own force for security, after all. And most of this stuff is open source anyways, so everyone has access to it."
"Of course they protect the Dustmines," Blake grumbled. "Anything for money."
Weiss looked like she was about to retort, but instead took back her scroll hastily.
"Hey," Yang turned to her partner. "She said they're on the outskirts, so they wouldn't see any of the abuse and stuff, so don't get mad at Jaune for this."
"I wasn't mad at Jaune," Blake replied, choosing to slump down in her chair, returning to her book. "I thought you were mad at him for sneaking into Beacon, why are you defending him now?"
Yang groaned, slumping back into her chair, "Alright, I got kind of mad at Vomit Boy. Because he snuck in and got in without any training. He could've endangered people yada yada yada. Point is, now Vomit Boy looks like he'll actually put up a fight. I respect that sort of thing, you know? He did it honestly this time."
"And you didn't when he did it here?" Pyrrha shot a fiery look at Yang, crossing her arms at the brawler.
"Ugh!" Yang rubbed his face with both her hands. "I thought we were past this P-Money!"
"Mostly," Pyrrha admitted. "But you bring up that, so I just want to know."
"It was the heat of the moment, alright? I felt kind of bad for him after… you saw me, you already knew that."
"Hmph."
There was a moment of silence from the group. Ruby bit her lip, before deciding to break it up, much to the librarian's chagrin.
"So..." she drawled. "What do we do now? Do we like, sneak onto a military base?"
Nora, of course, immediately responded, "Oh! That'd be cool! We'd be like a bunch of secret agents, sneaking past guards, breaking legs~"
"Nora, you can't just break people's legs," Ren chided, staring at her with a stern look.
While the two began arguing, everyone else started discussing their options.
"What if we sneak on?"
"We could try calling..."
"He won't respond, try again."
"You know we could just not do this..."
"No way Blake! We're all in this together!"
They continued discussing their options for at least fifteen minutes, during which the middle-aged librarian gave up trying to quiet them down. She wasn't paid enough to deal with superhuman teenagers! Well… maybe if she called down Goodwitch…
She never had the chance, however, as someone by the library door caught their attention.
"Hey, guys?" the familiar accent caught their attention. Ruby twirled around in her seat to see the speaker. Velvet stood by the library doors, cautiously peering in.
"Yeah?" Ruby hopped up in her chair, knees on the seat of it, and hands propped up on the backrest. "Hey Velvet, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I think I saw Jaune here earlier-"
In a blur, Ruby was right next to Velvet, who jolted in surprise, "What? Where? Tell us! We've been discussing how to find him foreeevvveer."
"Oh, uh, I think I saw him up at the headmaster's office when I was passing by with my team. He was with two other men, and they were all in military uniforms. I'm not sure what he was doing there though. I think he's still up there, though it was a while ago, so you could probably catch him if you hurry."
"Thanks a lot, Velvet!" Ruby motioned for the rest of her team and PNR to follow. "C'mon, he might get away again!"
Pyrrha was the first out the door, along with Ruby. The rest soon followed, Weiss muttering something about idiots, Yang cheerfully walking along, Ren and Nora speeding ahead to catch up with Pyrrha, who was doing her best impression of Ruby's semblance. Blake was the last one to leave, having taken the time to put away her things.
The librarian finally sighed, thankful that RWBY and PNR had finally left. It was time for some peace and quiet… finally.
"Oh look, it's the freak! Are those ears even real?" Four young men streamed into her library, going straight for the nice young rabbit Faunus who'd taken a seat, and was quiet.
She immediately paged Glynda. She had enough of these kids!
/ - /
"Hello, Mr. Arc."
That was the first thing that came from Ozpin's mouth when they exited the elevator.
Ozpin sat behind his desk, hands clasped together, a small smile on his face. A white clad man sat beside the table, stern expression painted on the man's square face, there was a short moment where Jaune swore there was unrestrained disgust, but the next second it was gone. It took a moment for Jaune to recognize him as General Ironwood, headmaster of Atlas Academy, and General of the Atlesian Armed Forces. He looked just the same as Jaune had seen him on the CCT before. Stark white clothes, styled graying hair, and what probably was the strongest chin on Remnant.
"Ozpin," Alabaster stepped forward, sparing a short turn of his head to Ironwood. "Why the hell is that fucker here?"
Immediately, the Major rushed forward, pulling Alabaster back by the shoulder, "Captain, stay in line. No need to fuck this up for the Company. I've read your file, I get it, but don't fuck this up." the last part he added in a whisper, right next to his ear.
Ozpin smiled regardless, "Well, 'that fucker' insisted on sitting in on the meeting, seeing as you'll be guarding the most precious invention to humanity. James doesn't particularly like it when I step on his toes when it comes to these security matters. Also, please take a seat before we continue."
Ironwood scowled in response, though looking at the Captain curiously, "I wanted to make sure that whoever we were hiring were of the highest quality. I'm mainly here to observe, so I won't say much. Though I read your file Captain. A former officer in the Specialists, and ex-Naval Special Forces before. I don't know what your quarrel with me is, Captain, but I hope you can put it behind you."
Alabaster was about to retort, before tilting his head towards the Major, who was looking at him dangerously, "Aye sir, ex-Specialist and all."
Ironwood nodded appreciably, clearly approving of Alabaster, though the only thing he got in return was a frosty glare.
The Contractors quickly pulled back the chairs offered to them, and sat down. Ozpin sipped his coffee, contently watching the trio in front of him.
"Well," Azul flipped from through his clipboard, pulling pieces of paper out and stacking them in a neat pile. "Hello to you, Headmaster, and hello to you too, General."
Ironwood tilted his head in response, while Ozpin raised his coffee cup to the Major.
Azul placed the last piece of paper on the desk, letting his clipboard sit on his lap, "So, as you know, you've asked for a meeting with us. The communique said that you wanted a force to guard the CCT, correct?"
"That's what I said, Major."
If Azul showed surprise at Ozpin knowing his rank, he didn't let it show, "Alright, we have plenty of units in Vale that c-"
Ozpin put up a hand, stopping Azul mid-sentence. The Headmaster chuckled lightly, before speaking, "Hold on, Major, why go so fast? We have plenty of time. Say, Mr. Arc, how are you enjoying your return to Beacon?"
"Huh?" Jaune jolted upwards, hands shooting to his knees, and his back becoming straighter than a ruler. More than aware of the hole being burned in both sides of his head by the two officers beside him, Jaune cleared his throat. "Uh, it's been weird, sir."
"You don't have to call me sir," Ozpin leaned forward on the table, fixing him with a keen look. "Have you talked to your old team yet?"
"Uh, no Headmaster," Jaune shook his head. "Haven't had a real chance yet."
"Would you like to? It'd be quite easy to call them up and tell them you're here."
"Ozpin," Alabaster interrupted, glaring at the headmaster. "I'd prefer it if you'd not grill Corporal Arc. He's only here because you requested it."
"Alabaster," Ozpin looked at the Captain with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm sure you know why I requested the two of you. You too, Major. I know that you people aren't stupid."
"Oz, " Captain Alabaster placed his hands on the desk, standing up as he leaned into Ozpin's face. "Would you stop being so vague and get to the point already?"
"Why? Then there's no fun in it."
The pair threw insults at each other like they were long lost friends. Or rather, they knew each other well enough that Alabaster could be hostile without any lasting effects. Ozpin glanced at Jaune with a twinkle in his eye, thin brown eyes filled with equal amounts of mirth and scheming. It was like dozens of strings were being pulled on him at once, and Jaune didn't like it. However, there was one thing Jaune was sure of.
He had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Azul cleared his throat, glaring at Alabaster, looking at all of them, "Can we get back on topic now? Or are there some other, uh, pleasantries you want to go over?"
"Well," Ozpin shifted in his seat, turning to face Azul. "If you would like to be so to the point, I'll be too. I want a guard force for the CCT, twenty-four-seven security around the clock, in extension to providing security to the Beacon grounds. The Brothers above, I might even be able to get some more contracts for the Vytal Festival from the Council for you. How would guarding the Amity Colosseum do?"
Jaune was now on mental full alert. At the mention of the Brothers, twelve sirens started blaring in his head. Religions were always present in Remnant, but he'd never heard of the Brothers before, and to hear Ozpin believed in an assumably obscure religion? Another thing to file away for later.
"Ozpin, you can't think of gi-" Ironwood growled, standing up suddenly.
The headmaster put up a hand, cutting off the General, "James, peace. I'll explain later."
Ironwood sullenly sat back down, glowering at the Contractors.
"Alright," Azul said. "What's the catch?"
"I would like Raider Company to do it."
"Ozpin," Alabaster interrupted, shaking his head. "There are a whole lot of units more suited to this task than us. We don't have enough infantry density to do this sort of stuff. I heavily suggest using another unit than us. There'll not only be more of them, but they'll be much better at this than us. Plus, we already have another ta-"
"Captain," Azul warned.
Alabaster closed his mouth, instead crossing his arms, glaring at the headmaster.
Azul shook his head at Ozpin, "I'm afraid I'll have to agree with the Captain here. There are a whole lot of units that are a much better fit at this than his LAV company. They simply just aren't built for this sort of stuff, especially urban warfare."
Ozpin sipped at his coffee, letting Azul fire off line after line on why Raider Company would not at all be a fit for the task at hand, and how their 2nd Battalion had many units specialized in this sort of thing. Ozpin finally spoke, interrupting Azul mid-sentence, "It's either them or no deal."
"I'm sorry?" Azul blinked twice.
"It'll be Raider Company doing this, or there will be no contract, no additional Vytal Festival opportunities, nothing. Do you understand?"
Azul leant back in his seat, staring out beyond Ozpin for a moment before responding, "How much are you willing to pay again?"
"Ten million lien for the entire period of the Vytal Festival."
Azul's face was the most level of the three of them. Ten million lien! So much money for just sitting around in their LAVs and making sure nobody messed with the CCT? It'd be practically robbing Beacon at that point!
The Major blinked hard, starting to tap his clipboard quietly with his pen, "I'm afraid I'll have to ask my superiors for permission to agree to this. Give me a moment please."
"Of course," Ozpin smiled. The Major stood up, sliding his chair back, before retreating to a corner of the office, scroll in hand.
When Azul was out of earshot and turned away, Alabaster immediately shot across the desk, gripping Ozpin by the collar, or rather the cowl around his neck, "What the fuck are you trying to do here Ozpin?"
Ironwood had already drawn his revolver by the time it had even occurred to Jaune to try and place his hand near his sidearm. With a fumble and a curse, his pistol was pointed right at Ironwood. Somehow, Azul hadn't noticed, either because he was looking at the wall, or the confrontation in front of him had been mostly quiet, somehow. Though Jaune fully expected that to change.
"Captain," growled Ironwood, revolver held unflinchingly at Alabaster, despite Jaune's own pistol pointed at the General. "I don't know what your problem with me is, you've been giving me the cold shoulder this entire meeting, but if you don't let go of Ozpin right now, I will shoot to kill."
Alabaster shot a glare at Ironwood, fearlessly staring the revolver head on, despite the fact that one shot from this close to the head could easily knock someone out. It was a moment, one whole moment where Jaune's muscles tensed, heart rate accelerated, and mind was in overdrive. One whole moment where Jaune was convinced they were going to have to fight through an entire academy of Huntsmen just because his Captain was overly aggressive.
Eventually, the Captain pulled away, warily sitting back into his seat as Ironwood tracked him with his revolver, "Corporal, put your gun away before the Major notices."
Jaune complied, sliding the sidearm back in its holster, eyes still glued on the General's revolver, which was still visible on his lap.
The headmaster was unfazed, chuckling as he straightened out his clothes, "Put that gun away James, before we start something that could've been easily avoided, hm?"
Ironwood kept glaring at the Captain the entire time, sliding his revolver back into his holster.
"Now, Alabaster. Or would you prefer Ra-"
"That name is something I'd rather leave in the past, you know that," Alabaster said, a subtle glance towards Jaune.
It was like being permanently three steps behind whatever was happening. There might've been five layers of shadows, games, and more tricks, but Jaune couldn't see that deep. It'd be like peeling an onion, peeling back one layer to see another. The one thing that stuck out to him however, was just the familiarity that Alabaster and Ozpin talked with, and the clear animosity between the Captain and the General. Just one more thing Alabaster had taught him to read in people. But one thing at a time, so he filed away the latter for later.
"You two talk like you know each other, you've referred to each other casually, and Ozpin isn't angry at you for grabbing him. Is there something I don't know about here? Do you two know eachother?"
A moment of silence.
Ozpin glanced at Alabaster, "He's certainly sharp, or sharper than before."
"That he is."
"Well, Mr. Arc," Ozpin turned to him, a cheshire grin present. "I'll indulge you. Alabaster and I certainly share acquaintances, much to his chagrin as you might have noticed."
Alabaster grunted, and Ironwood watched, his stern expression giving way to a much more curious one.
"He and one of my operatives had a run in a while ago. Now, he provides me tidbits of information here and there, and I do as well. A two way street of information, one might say. It's beneficial to both of us, and beneficial to you."
Wait.
Of course.
Of fucking course.
"You told Alabaster about me?"
A smug smile came across his face, "Of course. Though, it was always his choice on whether to accept you or not. So it was down to him in that regard."
"Hey," Alabaster said. "I just pointed you in the right direction. If you graduated, great, if you didn't, that's fine. Then Headmaster Chucklefuck here had the balls to ask me to make sure I'm in the same unit as you. Cost an fucking arm and a half trying to do it, and I was lucky I qualified on the LAV the month before."
"Headmaster Chucklefuck," Ozpin mused, scratching his chin. "You military types always seem to have the best insults, though James here never does, do you?"
"I'd say mercenaries more than us," the General grunted, looking right at Alabaster. "Tell me, Captain, I'm curious as to why you left the Specialists. Your last mission seemed perfectly fine. I certainly didn't see any reason as to why you left the military, bar the several casualties you sustained, though your unit had before, so I still don't see why." Ironwood leant forward to Alabaster. "And I don't like enigmas."
"Then I don't think you've read the full report, sir," Alabaster spat out the last word, crossing his arms. "Do a fucking favour for me for once, and find out what old General Shale's was doing the then."
"What do you mean? Shale's been out of the military for a decade, and you got out six years ago," Ironwood scratched his chin thoughtfully.
Alabaster stayed quiet.
"Alright," Azul's voice suddenly came from behind them. The Major slid his chair back, glancing at the four of them glaring at each other. "Did something happen, and I missed?"
"Nothing you need to know about, sir," nodded Alabaster.
Azul shrugged, sitting down into the chair, "In any case, I got permission to go forward with this deal. So shall we work out the specifics?"
Ozpin nodded, "Let's do that."
What followed was probably something Jaune should've listened to, but he found himself dazing off on multiple occasions. Maybe it was just Jaune, but he'd swear that he saw Alabaster doing that same. Maybe that was just him trying to defend himself. However, the trained part of his brain managed to get the cliff notes. The whole company would be retasked to guarding the CCT, being pulled from the task that they'd barely started. No, they had actually gone on a few reconnaissance trips out on the Grimmlands before. One during the retraining, and one right after the raid. Both had been uneventful, bar a few Grimm.
They hadn't found anything related to Sabyr Brigade since the village mission and the Paladin Incident.
Raider Company couldn't all be guarding the CCT all at once, of course, that would tire out everyone and waste precious troops. So they laid out a loose schedule for Ozpin. One platoon on, one platoon out hunting for Sabyr Brigade, and one platoon on R&R. They didn't really say Sabyr Brigade, more doing other missions, but same thing, right?
It was simple, really.
It was apparently a cycle that they normally did with plenty of other units.
However, it left the guys guarding the CCT shorthanded, which Alabaster had argued over for ages. Eventually, they relented on only having Raider Company guarding the CCT, and were willing to have one other platoon augment it. Not to say Ironwood was willing to take his soldiers out either, they would remain guarding the CCT alongside the Contractors.
It was still pretty bad in Jaune's eyes, and Alabaster's eyes, and just about everyone's eyes.
"So we're done here?" Azul stood up from his chair, sliding the piece of paper forward to Ozpin. It already had the Major's signature on it.
"That we are," chuckled Ozpin, and with a simple scribble on a piece of paper, Jaune and his unit were now guarding the CCT, and in extension, Beacon.
Maybe he should talk to his friends, just to get that out of the way.
"Time to leave," Alabaster shot out of his seat, stepping away from the desk as quickly as possible. "C'mon, let's go."
"Yeah, and don't go rushing off Captain," grunted Azul, lifting himself out of the chair. "Sometimes, I wish I didn't become a grunt. Even with Aura my knees and back are still jacked."
As Jaune stood up out of his chair, Ozpin raised a hand, pausing the puzzled Corporal from moving.
"Do you mind staying here for a bit Mr. Arc?" Ozpin said, "I just want to talk to you for a bit."
"Absolutely not," growled Alabaster, rushing forward to Jaune, and yanking him away from the desk. "You don't get to order around my men like that."
A thin smile, "It's that or I won't gently convince the Council to let you have more contracts."
"Let him do it, Captain," Azul said, looking briefly through his clipboard. "I'm sure the Corporal is smart enough not to say anything stupid."
"What the Major said. Now, Alabaster, are you going to let him?"
Only a moment of hesitation, "I'm staying with him."
"Alone, please," Ozpin's face always stayed the same, the pleasant expression, along with casual sips from his coffee cup.
"Hey, sir," Jaune nudged Alabaster, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I like to think I can read body language now."
"Not well enough, kid," a sigh. Azul tapped his foot impatiently next to them, with a look that said for them to just get it done with. Alabaster leaned down to his ear, murmuring his next words. "Fine, just remember, while Ozpin is a 'good guy'," the air quotes hung heavily in his words, "he's also a manipulative son of a bitch. Stay wary, kid."
Alabaster leaned away, stepping back towards the Major, "Fine, Ozpin. Don't try anything though."
A chuckle from the headmaster, "Would I?"
The glare from Alabaster as he walked towards the elevator said enough, and the fact that he kept the glare up even as the elevator doors shut. Azul's one was of annoyance and frustration.
Jaune turned back to the Headmaster and the General, both were looking right at him. They watched in silence as Jaune stood motionless beside his chair. The General with analytical eyes, scanning him up and down, while Ozpin clasped his hands together, brown eyes boring right into his head.
The small smile was probably meant to set him at ease, and it might've even worked if Alabaster hadn't warned him several times.
"Come sit down, Jaune. You might want to."
AND IT COMES FULL CIRCLE.
You know what I fucking hate? Writing dialogue scenes with a fuckton of characters at once. It's all so many, and you think in the back of your head that it's okay, then you realize you left out a certain character and they just didn't talk.
Absolute cancer writing that stuff.
The story is just gonna dive into the deep end with this espionage shit FYI. Kappa no kappa.
Bruh, I like keep managing to cut scenes that I originally was gonna put in. If haven't put it together yet, RWBY and PNR are gonna confront Jaune the next chapter. That originally going to be the main scene this chapter, but that was bumped to a secondary scene after I cut half the scene last chapter, but now it's just gonna be the next chapter.
Who knows? Maybe it'll be the chapter after that.
I seriously need to better estimate how long scenes will be.
Brb going to pull out my writing skills… OH WAIT THEY BARELY EXIST! Yeah that's the same with my planning skills.
As usual, leave a review to boost my ego to unbearable amounts. There's a rumour that if you leave enough I'll get sponsored by NordVPN. I'm also still waiting for the chapter I get one review and cry. Kappa, but no kappa.
Currently committing genocide against kebab,
Tophat out.