Chapter 49
(AN: I'm back for real. More on the bottom of the page.)
"It's complicated," I said, anxiously looking around me.
"Uncomplicate it," Blake said as she crossed her arms.
Sighing heavily, I motioned for us to keep walking. My only saving grace was that the only ones here were RWBY, Oscar, Jaune, Pyrrha, Liya and Emerald. Winter, Qrow and Team CRDL went off to the general's office, with the Ace Ops who weren't in critical condition choosing to go ASAP the moment Marrow began his recovery. Others like Ren were sent off immediately for his arm, and Nora followed.
The only one who probably didn't need it was Maria, but because of her age they thought it was better to check - much to her annoyance since I could barely hear her mouthing off in the distance. Still she just had to ask this while everyone else was around didn't she? "At least I hopefully shouldn't have to explain it again," I thought tiredly.
"I didn't even think I would have it. When we got back to the house after the attack on Haven, I found it in my bag with a note from Roman. His way of thanks in a weird sort of way," I explained.
"And you thought you'd keep it?" Blake demanded.
"I figured I could at least use it!" I said, unintentionally raising my voice. I pulled a hand down my face in an attempt to remain civil. "My dust is good but it's not unstoppable, and I needed a weapon I could rely on to supplement it. Being stuck without my belt and being forced to use it was a good incentive, especially since those bandits hated Dust."
"You could've asked me to make you one," Ruby pouted a bit.
I chuckled a bit at that, as Biscuit nuzzled my hand. "And I wouldn't have any other weaponsmith make it, but we haven't had a break or a time to actually get it done. Not with...all of this happening," I said.
"We have been getting run ragged," Jaune said with a weary grin. "I doubt we could've been able to do more than take short breaks at a time."
"Agreed," Liya said. "We were mostly stressing out over you and Em going missing, plus the fact that Jaune and Pyrrha have been having their own drama lately."
"Huh, what are you-" I said before Jaune sighed and Pyrrha looked away awkwardly. I hope everything was alright with them.
Blake didn't seem ready to leave it at that however. "Why didn't you tell me?" Blake was all but demanding now, hugging herself and looking down, causing the group to stop in the middle of the hallway. "Aren't you worried about what people will assume of you, as a Faunus?"
"That's what I said," Yang grumbled from just behind her, it seems she wasn't entirely won over by my reasoning, or she could just still be mad. Can't say.
"And as I said, they're going to come regardless of me being the one to kill him. At least this way they'll think twice about doing so, and we can get some radicals off the streets. A win win I'd say," I replied with a snort.
Jaune, either sensing this was going to go on for a while or that it was personal, tried slipping away with Pyrhha. She hesitated for a moment, seeming concerned, before following him.
What I said however seemed to hit a nerve and set Blake off. "So that's it huh?" She asked in an angry tone. "Strike fear into everyone and kill them if they don't comply?"
Now it was my own turn to get angry. She couldn't be... "What are you getting at?" I asked, scowling at her implications.
"You seemed really eager to finish Adam off, now you're using his weapon and talking about attacking people as if it's nothing," She continued as I began to clench my fists tight enough to cause my aura to glow.
"Oh, this little..."
Seeing how the situation was developing rather darkly, Liya and Emerald attempted to step in and stop us. "Look let's just all cool down for a second..." Liya said, attempting to slow things down before they got to a point where things would overheat.
"Back off," Was Emerald's reply as she aimed her own glare at Blake.
"I am nothing like him," I said between gritted teeth trying not to shout, after getting right in Blake's face. "You think I wanted to kill him? That I would throw everything I've been trying to do away, just so I can what? Rule the Faunus? He died because he wouldn't surrender! He died shooting me in the gut, nearly killing me!"
Blake started backing up, but followed her every step, not giving her any breathing room. A hand or two tried to hold me back but I threw them off easily. "Fuck you Blake. I never wanted to kill someone! But I did it because I knew if he lived things would get even worse!" Blake's back hit a wall, as she kept trying to back away from me. She looked afraid, but more than that, she no doubt looked furious at me still.
"I'm sorry I killed your ex, but guess what? If I never did it, you would have killed him instead!" I gave a final shout as my voice broke, leaving me in a coughing fit. My teeth gritted again as my body shook from the adrenaline, tears starting to build up in my eyes.
Blake tensed up, eyes widened as her anger burned away. Yang clenched her own fists, but didn't intervene. "W-what?" she whispered.
"You and Yang would have killed him after he came after you. H-he chases you across Anima and nearly murders you and Yang..." I continued after taking a moment to catch my breath, my body still shaking as I turned to look at Yang. She looked surprised, sure, but not as much as I expected from learning she killed someone...in fact, her reaction seemed to be lackluster. Maybe she was tired? Or was she expecting an answer like that?
"Markus, Blake was wrong to say that but you have to understand-" Weiss began in a soft tone, trying to be the voice of reason. But I wasn't having it.
"Why do you keep doubting me?!" I sharply turned to Weiss, my breaths coming in quicker. "I know I've fucked up and haven't done the best, but dammit I'm trying! I've given my all for Remnant and you guys, I didn't want this!" I screamed again, throwing my arms out to emphasize my point.
"We know, Markus! It was unfair that the gods killed you to bring you here!" Ruby pleaded with me, her own tears starting to shine through.
My body felt as if it had been dumped into an ice bath, my previous anger being doused along with it. "What did you just say?..." I asked the little reaper, my voice quiet and fragile. My anger had given way to an expressionless yet questioning gaze. Ruby's eyes widened before her hand came up and covered her mouth, but she knew it was too late.
I didn't know what face I was making, but it had to be bad as she looked down and the building tears began to fall. "W-what did you say? Tell me!" I cried, turning to Ruby, almost running to her to shake her shoulders and demand the answer when my partner spoke up.
"We...used a question, Markus," Liya hesitantly confessed, as she looked just as guilty as Ruby.
"We know for certain that you aren't from Remnant, we know all about your life before, how you got here and...what the future looked like without you."
I could only stand and stare at Liya, my partner. I had shouted at Weiss in a moment of frustration, I didn't really believe what I was saying. Blake had turned to the others in shock, as did Emerald. "They used a question on me?" I thought numbly, as my eyes unfocused and my body continued to shake. "Just like with Ozpin?"
I continued to think the same thing over and over as my hands covered my face, my own tears finally breaking free. "Why?" I asked hoarsely, not seeming to have enough air in my lungs to ask much else, as my chest felt like it was constricting. "Why would you use it on me? Why didn't you tell me?' I asked, question after question going over in my mind.
"We wanted to know how you got your knowledge, and how you were using it," Liya answered as she continued to look guiltily at me. That wasn't the real reason they asked the question, that much was clear.
"O-Ozpin wanted to help you carry the burden, so that we could help beat Salem," Oscar lamely went along with it.
Blake blinked. "A question? What are you talking about, do you mean from that relic?" she whispered. Judging from her expression, she had no idea about this. But Yang...Yang looked like she wasn't surprised at all.
All I could hear however was how they didn't trust me, how they used one of two precious questions to ask about me - because I was so much of a risk, despite everything I'd done for them, everything I gave up for them. "Yet again," a dark part of my mind thought. I couldn't handle this, my breaths kept getting quicker, the shaking speeding up and my chest feeling tighter.
The others seemed to notice my predicament, with Emerald running towards me to try and help, Liya trying to see if there was a doctor nearby, and Yang hovering around me.
I didn't know this at the time, but my Dust was reacting to my emotional distress now, randomly wrapping around me protectively, to lashing out and making an assortment of shapes from weapons to arms. I could feel the others backing away, Emerald and Yang jumping back as I nearly cut at them.
I couldn't apologize...I was too scared.
I was too angry.
I was too...tired.
That fatigue slowly caught up, and my mind and body calmed, with my dust falling to the ground around me like buckets of sand dumped from a child at the beach, before slowly entering the canisters.
"This is how James must've felt...losing everyone on his side," I said to myself in the quiet hallway, as I removed my hands from my tear stricken face and straightened up. The pain vanished, as did my fatigue. I no longer felt hurt, scared, or angry. In fact, I no longer felt anything at all.
Mettle had activated again, but unlike last time I wasn't going to deactivate it. The reprieve it gave me was too great at the moment, too great to consider the drawbacks.
While everyone watched me wearily, I slowly unclipped Wilt and Blush, before turning it and tossing it to the still nervous cat faunus. "Keep it," I said to Blake in a monotone as I began to make my way towards the infirmary, Blake watching my retreating form. "It obviously means a lot to you. More than it does to me anyways." The commotion had drawn the attention of doctors and others at some point, and I moved on, trying to get out of the crowd - leaving behind RWBY and Liya, who hadn't made a single move to go after me.
Just as I made our way through the gathered crowd, I spotted Jaune and Pyrrha, both looking rather horrified at the situation. I pushed my way past, even when they called my name and tried to grab my shoulder. As much as I appreciated their concern, I had much more important things to worry about, like how I still needed that check up. I was likely to pass out soon, and that argument had not helped me in the slightest.
I stumbled down the hall, looking for the infirmary. I was still without an arm, and my aura was very low at the moment. Still, Mettle kept me upright. Mettle was keeping me operating well enough to not suffer any longer.
I felt an arm on me, and I turned to see Emerald, holding me by the arm. Despite my anger, I just sighed at her. She wasn't at fault for any of this - she never once questioned me over my loyalty or what I hid.
A bark soon followed, and I turned to see Biscuit following close behind, close enough to offer some comfort but otherwise leaving me to myself. He was a good boy.
I don't think the doctors liked having him in there, being a healthcode violation or something along those lines, but with them possibly thinking the alternative choice was me potentially snapping, they ultimately kept quiet about it. Still, I felt embarrassed about that - it wasn't one of my best moments.
Emerald was the only one I could handle being around. Someone I could let my guard down around. But for now, I was keeping it up, just to be safe. Everything around me went on in a haze. Minutes passed like seconds in my mind, and I couldn't hear the questions of a few people asking me if I was alright, or Emerald asking where the infirmary was located.
Hours passed, and I sat there as doctors checked me over, Emerald remaining by my side the entire time. Eventually, General Ironwood came to see me, looking rather concerned for my well-being. "Are you alright?"
I looked up, Mettle no longer active in my eyes. I had to shut it down in order to get some medication in me. I don't know what it was, but it was supposed to allow my aura to heal properly, and it wouldn't do that with a semblance siphoning it. Not that Mettle siphoned much aura to work with, but the properties of my semblance's ability to copy other semblances meant it took a lot no matter what I copied.
"I'm...I'm OK," I said, a little agitated - not at anyone in particular anymore. "Just mad. Trying to cool off."
"I saw the commotion on security. They used a question?" Ironwood asked. I nodded, and he frowned. "That was reckless of them. Understandable, but a terrible choice regardless, for many reasons."
"Yeah," I said. "Sorry, I...I'm not at a hundred percent at the moment," I said.
"Don't worry," Ironwood said. "In fact, I have a little something that might distract you." I raised an eyebrow before I realized he was holding a box since he walked in. Opening it, he pulled out an arm.
It was almost perfectly shaped like my old one, except it was slightly broader, with a darker gray tint and sleek armored parts on the wrist, like a large vambrace.
"State of the art artificial neuron threads," the general explained. "It no longer has a self sustainable power system hooked up and operating off of your nerves. It is now completely compatible with your nervous system in every way. This arm is much lighter, and slightly more durable since we could pack in more armor. Plus..."
He opened a small slot in the palm. "It's designed to carry your neural Dust," he said. "You can wield it right to the hand. Should save you some time in a fight."
I blinked, oddly emotional at this gift. "You...had this made for me?" he asked.
"Indeed, for quite some time now. We were going to have your old arm replaced when you got here, but..." the general eyed my armless shoulder. Chuckling, he handed the arm off to a doctor in the room. "Miss Sustrai, if you'll allow the doctors to begin attachment?"
Emerald looked like she wanted to argue, but she gave in and walked out, leaving me to get my new limb. She waved shyly at me before the door closed, and I lay back down on the bed, closing my eyes.
I could really use some sleep. Yet, I couldn't. Nerve attachment couldn't be done unconscious apparently, but mostly because of what Ruby said, it stuck with me.
...I was killed?
- an hour later -
"I didn't think you could allow your students to be so reckless, Ozpin, but I guess today is just full of surprises for all of us," the general scolded. Ozpin at least had the decency to look ashamed, as did three members of RWBY and Liya. Blake had been filled in on what happened, and she looked upset as well - both upset and guilty.
"It was just a precaution for what was still unknown. One that I believed was the right one to take. I see now that I was wrong," Ozpin said. "Leo wasn't the first, and unless we beat Salem soon, he's unlikely to be the last."
"For Gods' sake, he's still young!" Ironwood exploded, making RWBY jolt. "After everything he's done, you still think he has an agenda against us! You were the one who told me to give him a chance! You had me listen to him back when Beacon still stood! What happened?"
"Beacon Academy still fell. Mistral was still attacked. Haven Academy still fell. The CCT was destroyed regardless of our preparations," Ozpin said. "Despite more favorable circumstances, the enemy being known, the fact we are no longer as vulnerable as before, you cannot deny that many things have taken a turn for the worst."
"I know. But he is just one person. He can't stop everything. We can't stop everything. There's only so much that knowledge alone can bring. Yet he's proven time and time again that he can be trusted. Not only have you broken his trust, you wasted a damn question on a relic! Now we only have one left!" Ironwood ranted before sighing, closing his eyes and rubbing between them stressfully with his gloved mechanical hand.
"I-I'm sorry," Ruby whispered, clutching her hood to herself as she pressed her legs together, her muscles tensed up with obvious stress. "It was a mistake. We...we wanna make things right."
The general opened his eyes and looked to RWBY, and they all blanched in some way. His eyes looked just like Markus's eyes did before he had thrown Blake the sword and gun. "You want to help? You'll give him time. For now, we need to address the threat at hand. I need all of RWBY on a special assignment with the Ace-Ops," he said sternly as he pulled out a scroll. Pressing a few buttons, a hologram was quickly pulled up for team RWBY and Ozpin to see. "A project of upmost importance."
Yang blinked. "That's...that's Amity Colosseum," she said. "The communications tower?"
Ironwood nodded. "Correct. Markus told me of it when we last spoke in person at Atlas, after the Breach," he said. "I'm glad he mentioned it, because we were able to get started early. If I recall, he said it was still well under construction. But now, it's under refinement and final testing."
He looked at team RWBY. "The four of you will be on guard duty as we prepare the tower for launch. We have been constructing this tower ever since the fall of Beacon as a backup in case Salem would try to go after the CCT again. It appears that it was an ideal precaution," Ironwood said.
Ruby coughed before she spoke up, nervously - Ironwood noted. "Umm, what will you be using it for? T-the question told us what your plans for the tower were last time, but what about now?"
The general looked in Ruby's direction, a stern expression on his face. "I believe you know my answer," he said.
Ozpin's eyes narrowed, no doubt remembering Ironwood's original plan through the answer by Jinn. "You can't be serious. We can't reveal Salem's existence - panic will break out all over Remnant, and she will have an opening to destroy everything as we know it," he said.
"And if we keep fighting her in secret, we will only weaken ourselves to the ever increasing attacks by the Grimm, not to mention her agents sabotaging all of our efforts to fight!" Ironwood countered. "The Grimm aren't going to back off. By keeping things secret...we only limit our own capabilities to deal with them. To deal with her."
"James, you can't-" Ozpin said before others spoke up.
"General Ironwood is right," Yang said. "We lost Beacon and we lost Haven, because they knew we couldn't fight them off as well as we should've been able to." Looking away, she clenched her fist. "Markus wasn't responsible for our defeats...the enemy just knew how to get through us."
"Miss Xiao Long-" Ozpin said before Ruby spoke up as well.
"The people need to know," the silver eyed girl said. "We can't keep them in the dark...they have to know what we're up against. We can't do this alone."
"I agree," Weiss said, a stern glare on her face as she accepted her choice. "We need everyone and everything to fight her."
"Atlas can't fight this alone. No kingdom can fight her and the Grimm by themselves," Blake said. "But together, all of us can. There's no point keeping this secret any longer."
Ozpin looked at the girls in dismay before looking back at the general, who stood unflinchingly before him. "What'll it be, old friend?" he asked.
-one hour later-
The procedure was over, with my new arm perfectly connected to my hardpoint - where the last arm was attached, with a few more tests done on my nervous system. It was nothing special, just following simple commands such as flexing my fingers, hand eye coordination, and checking for delays. My Dust was removed from my belt as well, being brought to scientists to have it checked over.
I lay back with a sigh after everything was done, I was still on mandatory bedrest for at least another day, with my procedure being so new and all, as well as a potential for 'Acute Stress Disorder'. All I really knew was that I was stuck here. Atlas hospitals may be fancy, but a hospital was a hospital - dull and clean.
Before my lamenting could reach critical levels, the door to my room was opened, and in walked James Ironwood. Quickly sitting up as best as I could and offering up a salute, I smiled at the man. "What can I do for you, James?" I asked.
"I got the report that your fitting was done and everything was in order, still I thought it best to check up on you myself," the general said. "How are you feeling?"
My smile fell a little at the question, there was no point in lying to him. James was a good man.
I lay back fully while releasing a tired sigh, my arm coming up to cover my eyes. "I'm sure you already know the answer," I said.
"I do," the half mechanical man said. "If you were wondering where Biscuit is, he's with team RWBY. Once your procedure was complete, he went off to find them. Stopped to get some attention from the soldiers too."
"Touch hungry dog," I remarked with a little bit of amusement. I was glad Biscuit was with RWBY - I didn't want them to feel like crap forever. And a dog was the cure to that. Well, maybe except for Blake. Still, I was remembering what Ruby said. That the gods had killed me to bring me here. I should be upset, or unbelieving, but for some reason, I had accepted it.
Maybe I feel at home here already. Or maybe I knew all along that there was no going back. At this point, I'll never know.
"Your Dust is ready. If you want, you could do something to get your body moving. But if you want to stay here and rest a little longer, that won't be a problem at all."
I fell into thought, stroking my chin as I made my choice. "Hmmmm..."
- several minutes later -
I cut down another robot with my sword, formed seconds earlier right out of my new prosthetic. I wore an Atlas Academy T-shirt and training pants, along with shoes. I had just gotten my aura replenished thanks to some aura boosters, and I insisted on going to the training room to keep my skills sharp.
Around me were the wrecks of several Atlesian Knight (T) Types, which were Atlesian Knights stripped of all but their most basic armor, meant to be live training dummies. They held sidearms or swords - the ones Atlesian soldiers used in melee. There was only one left now, charging into close quarters combat.
It didn't stand a chance - falling in two pieces as I sidestepped its charge at the last possible moment before slashing at its waist. As I sighed and recalled my Dust, I heard the door open.
Winter and Emerald were waiting there for me, Winter standing there with a formal stance and hands clasped behind her back while Emerald remained casual. She seemed to be nervous, and I realized that Winter must have been keeping an eye on her. "General Ironwood asked me to show you some things, things he says you would like to see," she said.
"Uhh, OK," I said, walking over. Emerald grabbed my hand - my flesh one, as Winter led us down the hall towards another location. As we walked, I noticed less and less students and more and more military personnel passing us by, the dorms and the student facilities no longer in view - seeing terminals and several operating systems.
"This looks like the command center. Where exactlu are we going?" I asked as I looked around.
"You'll see," Winter said frankly. We fell silent after that, before I chose to speak up again.
"You know, Weiss has gotten pretty good at a lot of things while we were in Mistral. But she can use some help getting better," I said.
"I know," Winter said. "But I cannot allow my duties to go lax for the sake of family when there's plenty of work to do protecting Atlas."
"Weiss will protect Atlas. As will her friends," I said as we walked. "But they need help. Take some time to go check on her and her team. So they can survive the hell that is to come. The General will understand. The most important thing we need are people at their best."
I thought she would blow me off, dismiss me as I likely didn't know what I was talking about - at least in her eyes. But she surprised me by responding much more gently than I thought she would. "I'll consider it," she said. And that was the end of that.
She led us to a room guarded by two Atlesian soldiers, both of whom saluted to the specialist at once. Winter saluted back sternly before opening the door to the room. There was no room name beside the door, simply a letter and a number on the cool metal - C8.
Upon entering the room, I saw three soldiers in a firing range. Two of them were guarding the door, holding standard assault rifles with the standard armor, and the third...was holding a massive rifle in his hands. "Whoa..." was all I could say.
"That's a big gun," Emerald said as she stepped forward, wanting to get a closer look at it.
The weapon's stock and handle were connected, with a hole included for the thumb. The weapon was long, at least 1.5 meters long. Its barrel was blocky, and there was a massive scope on top of it, glowing blue with two small cylinders on the side of the weapon. It sort of looked like the Longshot from Gears of War, but if it were Atlesian gray, more sleek, and very heavy.
On the soldier's back was a huge metal backpack with a set of tubes connecting from the backpack to the side of the rifle's stock, in a way that didn't interfere with how it was held. The soldier's helmet was different as well, fully covering the face and no longer exposing the mouth, as well as having a huge set of binocular-like optics over where the eyes would be. Where the blue on the Atlesian armor would be for this particular soldier, there was black.
Looking around, I saw that the standard Atlesian armor for soldiers was different as well, coming with white knee and leg armor, with a set of straps on the thighs for pouches. It occurred to me just how much stronger Atlas had gotten in its fleet, and its armies. But what changed?
"The handheld railgun," Winter said as she came over and took the rifle from the waiting soldier. "Our new heavy weapon for infantry support, as well as long ranged defense, miniaturized from the new defenses put in development months ago. General Ironwood states that you were the creator of such a concept."
...that's right - I was the change here.
"I didn't create it, I just...brought the concept over from my world. Well, at least what I could best remember at the time," I said sheepishly.
"So...how does it work?" Emerald asked.
"It uses magnets to accelerate a projectile to near supersonic speeds. Though that was only for the turrets," I said. "Not a handheld gun. Recoil must be a bitch."
"Velocities of the fired projectiles are upwards of around 1,280 to 1,400 meters per second," she said. "We applied gravity Dust modules on the rails to reduce recoil, but the weight makes the application of this weapon...limited."
"I mean, long range and heavy hitting power," I said. "Seems like it'd be best used on the wall. Or on the back lines of defense."
"Indeed," Winter said, handing the rifle back to the soldier, who proceeded to arm it. A slot on the side opened up, and the soldier slid in a large bullet-like object - it had no shell, and the tip was lined blue. Slamming it shut, the hum of power filled the room as the rifle began to charge.
Within seconds, the soldier aimed towards a set of targets all lined up - one in front of the other. He pulled the trigger, and I winced horribly at the incredibly loud *BLAM* that rang out throughout the room. The targets glowed purple as they were pierced, and the bullet kept going before shattering, stopping at the fifth target in line.
"Each target has enough gravity Dust to imitate the gravity of this planet, and each one behind the next is increased by increments of 5," Winter explained. "The velocity of this bullet pierced a few meters worth of armor plating, as well as the collective force of 21 times the gravity of Remnant pushing against it."
I blinked. "Wow...kinda dangerous. What's the maximum effective range?" I asked.
"Five kilometers,' Winter answered before she gestured. "Come." We left the room to the next room, which was at the end of the hallway. After about a minute walking down the long hallway, Emerald spoke up, quietly.
"Hey...are you alright?" she asked.
"I'll be fine," I said. "Thanks..."
"Because Ruby said...Ruby said you died to get here. And I don't know what that means. I know you came from some other world?" Emerald said, and I could tell she still didn't believe it herself, which I couldn't fault her for given how out of this world it seemed. Heh. Out of this world.
"It means I probably died in my world...to be dropped in here," I muttered. "So there really is no going back. Look, I'd rather not deal with it. Not right now..."
Emerald just smiled reassuringly and leaned against me as we walked. I flushed a little - especially since my arm was pressed against her tightly, my elbow against her relatively soft stomach, and my upper arm nestled snugly between her-
Nope, stop, I did not need to think about that! My panicked thoughts were interrupted as Winter opened the door. Emerald separated from me as we walked inside, revealing a room with several computers, and a room inside said room. The door opened, and someone familiar came out to greet us. "Ah, Miss Schnee!" the man in the walking wheelchair said. "And you brought guests!"
"Of course, Doctor Polendina," Winter said cordially. "Mister Onissa and Miss Sustrai, this is-"
"Pietro Polendina," I said as I held out my right hand - which the eccentric doctor shook with a kind smile. "Director and father of the Penny Project. And the creator of my arm?"
"Of course!" the elderly man said. "My, I do love to see my creations at work. Er, how is the articulation? I wanted it to have as much movement as possible, but that armor the general wanted included might limit that."
"It's perfect," I said, smiling. "And the general said it was designed for me and my neural Dust?"
"Indeed," Doctor Polendina said. "How is it working out, by the way-"
"Doctor, I believe you know why we're here," Winter said.
"Hm? Oh! Of course," he said. "She should be done rebooting just about-"
"Father, where are you?" a familiar voice asked. "I thought my rebooting would only take a few minutes."
Is that...
"Of course, Penny! Come on out here - your friends are here!" Doctor Polendina said. The room door opened wider than it already was, and Penny herself stepped out.
She looked just like her old self - from Volume 1 through 3, with her curly hair now longer, long enough to just pass below her shoulders. She retained the cowlick, and her bangs were now shorter. She wasn't wearing her dress - or her boots, or much of anything at all. Instead, she wore a white bra and white panties, basic underwear.
It didn't stop me from blushing, however. "H-hi, Penny," I said. Penny's eyes widened before she jumped forward and tackled me in a mighty hug, sending me and Emerald to the floor in a crash against some lab equipment.
"Penny, please! Compose yourself!" Winter barked. But Penny ignored her, just hugging me while pinning me under her extremely heavy body weight.
"I missed you so much! I heard you were injured and that you needed a prosthetic arm, and I was sent back to Atlas and I couldn't see you again, and-" Penny babbled, much more distraught than I ever heard her before.
"I'm OK," I said, cutting her off in order to try and get her to stop crushing me. As she stood up, she pulled me up to my feet and began brushing my clothes for any Dust or foreign materials. "I don't get it, we barely talked..."
"You underestimate how much she values friendships. Even if the time spent with them is brief," Pietro said, smiling. "Penny, do you want to get dressed?"
"Father, I want to spend time with him," Penny said before looking towards Emerald, who was getting up and dusting herself off. "You...are a villain, right?"
Before Emerald could flinch, growl, or back away, I stepped in. "Was. Was a villain. She's on our side. And she's one of the closest friends I have," I said, grabbing Emerald's hand. I noticed that she calmed down rather quickly after that, and I smiled. "Maybe you can be friends with her too."
Penny looked between the two of us before grinning. "OK!" she said, before taking my other hand and leading both Emerald and I towards the door. "Let's go!"
"Penny, your clothes!" Pietro called. Penny looked down before seeing that she was indeed still in her undergarments. Briefly apologizing with no embarrassment whatsoever, she went back into the room to get dressed.
"I'm afraid that you won't have time for a friendly hangout," Winter said. "General Ironwood wants you in his office as soon as possible."
"Why?" I asked. Winter, of course, didn't exemplify - simply saying "You'll see" and leading us out of the room.
"Markus?" Penny asked. I turned to see Penny, fully dressed with a confused expression on her face.
"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "The general wants us for something. I'll see you as soon as I can, OK?"
Penny looked a little saddened - and that made me sad as well. How could it not? Penny really was adorable. Her sad look went away moments later, replaced by a soft smile. "Alright. I eagerly await your return!"
I grinned back and waved before I hurried to catch up with Winter and Emerald. "Oh, Ruby and everyone else are here as well! I'm sure you'll see them all soon," I called over my shoulder to Penny, causing her small smile to brighten immensely.
Winter didn't even acknowledge me staying behind, and Emerald didn't look too happy. "I don't like her. She's too cheery," she remarked.
I sighed. "She's a robot who knows very little. She's still learning - don't be too hard on her," I said lightly, defending Penny. There was a reason why she was such a loved character, after all.
Emerald didn't respond, just looking away. Was she jealous?
I didn't get a chance to ask when we stopped at the elevator, where four others were waiting for us as well. "Hey, Mark," Cardin said as he and his team spotted us. They were leaning on the wall across from the elevators, Dove and Sky on their scrolls while Russel was doing nothing at the moment, just waving casually at us.
"Did the general call you too?" I asked.
"Yep. New mission," Cardin said. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah," I said as I rolled my prosthetic arm back. "Feels good as new. A bit sore but that'll wear off. Any idea what we're doing?"
"The general has not disclosed any information at the moment," Winter said, stepping between me and Cardin's conversation. "You will see when we arrive."
The elevator dinged, and the seven of us piled in, silently waiting as the giant metal box took us up to our destination. When we arrived, Winter led us all to Ironwood's office - smack dab at the top of the tower of Atlas Academy.
General Ironwood and Qrow Branwen stood in front of the large holographic projection table in the center of the office. The lights were off, and the table was lit up - showing blueprints or a map of...something. The windows behind the large desk were closed, and the lights were off.
The general turned to see us and smiled. "Good, you made it. I assume you had a good workout?"
"Yeah," I said. "So, what's going on?"
"We were scouting out Mantle below for any possible dangers to our defenses when we located a potentially dangerous threat," General Ironwood said, as he turned back to the table. He pulled up an image of the crater in the middle of Mantle. There were caves and several large facilities, as well as dozens of railways leading from various stations to the mines, to junctions where old locomotives and railcars remained. The entire area was absolutely massive.
But what caught our attention immediately was the huge amount of vehicles and people moving crates and all sorts of equipment into the mines - people wearing black and white uniforms, hundreds of them. "The White Fang," I muttered.
"Indeed. Since Salem's forces showed up, they all but fell silent. I figured the primary reason for that was because of the sight of the much larger threat. We figured they were among us when we evacuated Mantle. However..."
"They're likely planning something big. Much of Mantle's defense force was lost when Grimm overran the walls of Mantle. We checked again - almost every Knight, Paladin, and weapon lost in the defense has been taken by these guys," Qrow said. "They're probably planning something bad."
"That's not all. The mines have been in use for decades, but more unstable parts of the mine include plenty of unrefined and very volatile Dust," Ironwood continued. "And with such a large force bringing weapons and manpower, as well as gathering the old mining equipment, we can only assume how much power they'll have access to."
"And they're right under Atlas," Cardin said. "General, these guys are fanatical, screws are so loose that they're probably already gone. Do you think they'll try attacking Atlas?"
"I believe so. However, there's a bigger concern I have in mind. Ever since the White Fang moved in, the Grimm attacks on Mantle have stopped. They haven't attacked the White Fang despite such a massive presence in the crater. That can only mean one thing," the general said.
"Salem may want these guys alive," Emerald spoke up.
"And with an army, a lot of abandoned weapons and equipment, and all that Dust, it'll be bad if she gets to them," Ironwood said. "Especially if they blow a hole under Atlas and..."
Get to the vault.
And with Fria in intensive care, taking the Maiden would be easy - even if Winter or Penny were there to defend her. Cinder was dangerous, but things have changed now. What if Hazel and Tyrian were here? What if Watts infiltrated Atlas and hacked a clear path straight to the maiden?
I rubbed the spot between my eyes as I thought hard on this. The Winter Maiden was already vulnerable enough - the vault didn't need to be as exposed. "What did you have in mind, sir?" I asked.
"Reconnaissance," the general replied. "We will deploy a few scouts to map the area around the mines. Three teams of two will set up perimeter beacons along the edges of the crater. Then we'll be able to map the main area and conduct a tactical bombardment to seal the White Fang in the mines and destroy any chance they have of endangering this kingdom."
"Beacons?" Dove asked.
"Indeed," Ironwood said. "They'll provide a wireless connection to everything that goes through the power grid of the old mines. We have confirmation that they turned on the power conduits that feed the lights in the old mines. And security cameras have been reactivated as well. If we get those beacons up, it'll get us a look at the camera feeds."
"And it'll give us an up to date look at how the mines look," Qrow said as he crossed his arms. "As well as see if any of Salem's lackeys are in there."
"Each beacon will need to be placed a kilometer apart. We'll provide you with mapped locations for each beacon, it'll be very simple to follow," Ironwood said before he turned and looked at me and Emerald. "The two of you will receive brand new scrolls along with new equipment."
"If you're going to just bomb it, why take a look?" Cardin asked, looking at the map - which appeared to be straightforward enough. "Seems like a waste of time."
"Because we need to see how much Dust is in the mines," Winter said as she stepped in to answer his question. "Mapping the empty areas lets us know how much is empty and where we can strike. If something goes wrong, if we set off even a fraction of the Dust down there, the chain reaction will cause an explosion strong enough to devastate the city, the landscape around it, and be enough to possibly destabilize Atlas itself. The only way we do this with as little risk as possible is with targeted artillery strikes."
"The beacons are getting prepped for deployment, and we have Mantas being prepped for low altitude precision runs," Ironwood said. "Bronzewing and Lark will be Team One. Winchester and Thrush, you'll be Team Two. Sustrai and Onissa will be Team Three. Any questions?"
"No, sir," we all said simultaneously.
"Right. Everyone knows the plan now," Ironwood said, shutting off the holographic table, which also turned the lights back on at the same time. I watched as it lowered and retracted in on itself and lowered back to being the Atlas emblem on the floor, as the window shutters opened up once again, revealing the menacing armada of Grimm in the distance. "Good luck, huntsmen. Dismissed."
We all left the room, prepared to follow Winter to get ready for our mission when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning to see who it was, I saw Qrow with a worried look on his face. "Hey, kid. Can I talk to you for a second?"
I turned back to see Emerald having stopped. "I'll catch up, it won't be long," I said. When we were alone, I sighed and looked back to the caped man. "What is it?"
"Look, I heard about what was said. And I just wanna say that they're sorry," Qrow said. "Not saying you shouldn't be mad. Just don't be too mad at them for long."
"I mean," I started. "Not sure when I'll stop getting mad, not like I wanna. But what they did kind of hurt. Regardless of intention." Sighing, I crossed my arms, feeling the cold steel of my left arm pressing against the skin of my right. "I just need time is all."
"That's good. RWBY's got some missions to keep busy, you know? Ace-Ops are taking them to Amity Colosseum to protect the CCT there," Qrow said. "As far as I know, it's just them."
So the Amity Project is going ahead, even amidst the chaos of Salem's armada. That's good. "Sounds great. What about JNPR?" I asked. "Haven't seen them since we arrived."
"Ironwood's gonna call them in for their mission. And I'll be working alone as usual. Probably dealing with Grimm on the outside, scouting, etcetera etcetera," Qrow said.
"And what about Liya?" I asked. "Is she gonna be doing anything?"
Qrow frowned. "Not sure. I'll ask ol' Jimmy if he has any plans for her. Oscar is sticking with the general for now," the ex-drunkle said.
"Alright," I said before looking towards the door where the others had vanished. "I'd better get going. See you around, old man?"
Qrow snorted and smacked me on my shoulder. "Yeah, see you later brat," he said before making his way back up to the office. Sighing with a smile, I turned and headed towards the door to catch up with the others.
(AN: My arm is finally free! Free and ITCHY AS HELL BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SIX WEEKS!
Seriously, the recovery was rather smooth, and I finally managed to get some of my ideas out there. Thanks to RokenDarkly and Triscythe59 for helping me out while I was an angsty one handed dumbo. I'll be able to bring my upload schedule back up, no more several weeks for one chapter any more.
We're getting into the meat of the story now - Atlas is definitely where a lot of the good action is. And with Volume 9 confirmed to be months away, I'm very excited for what it'll bring, especially given the plans I have and the theories me and my betas and friends came up with about it. However, until it comes out, we'll just have to wait and see.
Thank you for remaining patient, and I apologize for the long delays for the past month and a half.)