Chapter 3: Convergence

The Hunt room wasn't bad per se, normally it was just a place where they gathered. After the commotion outside, the soundproofed, almost pitch-black room would've been a sensory deprivation chamber were it not for the enormous, four-sided table beside them, from side to side the square piece of furniture was as wide as a car was long. The only piece of furniture around them, although Ruby wasn't sure the projector would count. At a glance it appeared as a simple, if oversized ring lamp, hung from the ceiling as a chandelier would. In reality it was a hologram projector in standby mode, parallel to the table, the low blue light pouring down on them in a somewhat fuzzy cone.

Like we're alone on a deserted island, waiting for the next castaways, Ruby thought. The others would, soon and inevitably drift ashore.

The Assembly was always arranged by the Huntress Ann Greene, had to be, because the loss of the CCTS meant no internet, and by extension no input from other academies at will, information took too much time to travel between continents, sometimes weeks, often months. Behind the scenes she compiled the data of their reports, If the situation was critical, an assembly would be called. No mediator or overseer, the teams were meant to be independent, and the encounter could only end when they reached a decision. It could, and normally did, go on for hours.

Every leader would arrive with a witness, preferably a member of their team. Ruby knew that having Weiss at her side was, most of the time, a good thing. She had a presence that could turn heads when she entered a room, the hawkish look of a bodyguard while also being her equal, at least when it came down to the nitty-gritty of it. On a more personal level, she knew Weiss worried about the diplomacy involved. If Ruby told her she'd take another witness, she would respect it and follow orders… but she'd likewise worry nonstop about the risk that other leaders were trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

Definitely an atlesian thing, the thought crossed Ruby's mind. They still had Noble houses, unlike the rest of Remnant.

The door opened, sliding into the wall with a quiet whisper. It was the first leader after Ruby, Jaune, though she could've inferred it, given the clash of metal on metal coming from his armor. He wore his set into the meeting, like he had for the past year, most noticeable was the helm, it followed the contours of the head and neck, with a closed, pointed visor, and side-by-side vertical slits. The helm resembled those of old-fashioned Knights, not the androids, but the soldiers from around the time of Weiss's grandfather.

Regardless, nobody would be confusing Jaune for a knight, even beneath the armor it was obvious he was human. The mannerisms, the way he talked, it would never be confused for the indifference of androids.

Following close behind him walked Ren, wearing a mixture of green mistralian robes — they were called Kasaya, if Ruby remember correctly — that reached all the way to his midthighs, black clothing, and pieces of armor hidden underneath, bracers, chest and thigh plates, wrist guards. Others would never notice any of it, but he was just a hair away from being as armored as Jaune, and his was as silent as Jaune's was loud. Ruby wondered if the duality was on purpose.

The two of them looked fine, at least. Ren still had his hair in a ponytail, braided, and Jaune's armor was spotless. They moved to Ruby and Weiss' side, to their right.

"Team Ruby!," Jaune greeted them, through the filter of the helmet, his voice was distorted, a low-pitched, mechanized contralto, "it's been awhile-"

The door opened for a second time, in the threshold stood none other than Cardin Winchester. He was tall, compared to most, but was missing his armor, only dressed in casual, civilian clothes. In another situation it might have been something of poor etiquette, to leave the uniform behind. Ruby knew there was a good chance his uniform was not in a presentable state.

Cardin acknowledged them, moved their way, "Team, Ruby. Team Juniper," he extended a hand. Jaune was the first to shake his, then Ruby.

Behind Cardin followed Russel, no longer sporting a mohawk for the simple reasons that half his face was bandaged in what looked like rough, field medical attention, and he carried an almost uncomfortable ashy odor. That he was there and not in the medical bay brought up possibilities, none of which were pleasant.

It was not a good sight. Perhaps in the days of Beacon Academy, when Cardin was the perpetrator of a heavy, indiscriminate bullying campaign most would not have cared, yet after he, and his team were punished by none other than Glynda Goodwitch, he'd made a complete one-eighty, especially after missions with Professor Greene. Tried to become something of a model student, went out of his way to make amends, even apologized to Velvet publicly.

If anything, he was trying.

Between leaders and witnesses there was chatter, murmurs audible only to those they were intended to. Ruby glanced at Weiss.

"Wanna bet who's coming in next? My money is on Team Slate."

"I'm thinking Team Azure. They're usually some of the first."

The door opened a third time, in through it was Sable, leader of the team by the same name. She was pale and raven haired, wearing a forest camo cloak over black, slim body armor that left only minor gaps in the joints. The most noteworthy apparel she carried was the gauntlets, covering her arms from the biceps to her hands, with flexible, sectioned pieces where anatomy would flex. The biceps, forearms, hands.

Ruby recognized the design, it was a weapon, not armor. Something she'd drafted for Yang when they were still attending Beacon then left it on their databases so future students could study, improve upon and craft premade projects. If the blueprint wasn't tampered with it should've been capable of using Dust to project weapons on the fly.

Behind her was Amara, an olive-skinned blonde wearing simple, standard-issue armor. Blocky red spaulders, a two-piece chest plate over urban camo clothes.

The two passed them, then halted when opposite to Ruby and Weiss, only the table between them. Gods, not even a greeting, every time Ruby had seen her in the past the same thoughts crossed through her mind; Sable walked like Weiss, chin up and back straight, seen through the image of Blake Belladonna.

"Well, color me surprised," Weiss whispered to Ruby.

Ruby turned away, her head near Weiss' ear, "Go over Team Sable for me?"

Weiss nodded, "Mistralian team, they focus a lot on Ruin Zone containment. Roaming the outskirts, keeping Grimm from spreading. Uprooting bandits before they use the zones for refuge."

Ruby nodded. No doubt Sable was looking at them as they spoke, measuring them up.

For a fourth time the door opened, Arslan Atlan walked through with Bolin, her second-in-command. Arslan was a dark skinned, fair haired woman, while Bolin was only slightly tanned, with long dark hair. They had similar themes going on with their outfits, both dressed in short, asymmetrical robes over black clothes. Hers yellow, his closer to sunset orange. The two settled near Jaune.

Ruby knew they were qualifying for the Vytal Tournament way back when it was still a thing. At the back of her mind, she wondered if they'd ever meet in the arena. It could've been fun.

Before the door could close entirely, a hand forced it to grind to a halt, inner workings whined before surrendering.

Coco Adel. The fashionista, she still wore her hair short, dark brown hair dyed caramel near the tipos. She dressed in a cocoa shirt, black trousers with an ammo belt and bandolier slung over her chest. Uncharacteristically, she was devoid of the usual accessories, even her black beret.

No witness followed as the door closed behind her. No member of her team.

She walked to Cardin's side, her heels clicking, then folded her arms when at the table. Connecting the dots wasn't hard, no detective skills were needed to tell what exactly afflicted Coco. Ruby wished she could say something, but what to say? Sorry your teammate is, in the best of cases, at the medical bay? It'd sound awful and patronizing at the best of times.

Say nothing at all? It felt wrong… Maybe Coco needed some space, seeing her, it was as if the woman was smoldering with anger, quiet as she was.

The lights blinked for a moment, a red projection of the Beacon emblem hovered over the table, spinning at a snail's pace.

Unanimously, every head in the room turned.

Silence. For a few moments there was nothing, no movement from anyone present as the realization sunk in.

Sable nearly growled, "What?"

Ruby glanced her way, then more than ever someone should take the reins, "Everyone's here. Let's begi-"

"Everyone? This is half our numbers!" Sable interrupted

"And that is the subject of this assembly," Ruby said.

"Oh come on," Sable retorted, sneering. "The scroll reader must've crashed, there's no way."

Jaune planted both hands on the table, not violently, but the motion itself was enough to catch Sable's attention.

"This is every team on board right now, Sable. Team Ruby got the best intel, they were the first aboard The Mirage today so they get the floor. You know the rules."

Sable frowned, glared at Jaune, then Ruby, "Fine. Please continue."

Ruby tried her best to keep a straight face, set her jaw. All eyes were on her.

"Mirage, bring up the incident map."

On her command, the emblem projected atop the table disappeared, replaced by a red, three dimensional map of the Kamin area. Mountainous in some areas, but mostly tundras. The difficult terrain was a natural defense and rare in Solitas, but when the place fell to ruin it also made it difficult for Huntsmen and military alike to take it back.

"Last night, during our first expedition all teams here engaged in combat by the Atlesian military," ten dots appeared on the map, blinking regularly, "So far nothing points to any provocation from our teams, and there's no indication of any mistake either. These were calculated attacks."

"Did we get any word from their Specialists?" Arslan asked.

Ruby shook her head, "Nothing. They're being secretive right now. It's not unlike them, but we never had any incident like this before."

"So something changed," Cardin said.

"It's possible. The bridge launched as many long-range signals as it could without attracting Nevermores, but we still can't tell if the teams are operating."

Arslan had both hands behind her back as she spoke, "Five teams completely disappeared then.."

"Exactly. Meaning, before we proceed… we all need to agree on the best course of action out of possible routes."

"And what would those be?" Sable asked. A harmless question, if it wasn't asked in such a challenging tone.

"Retaliation. Retreat. Possibly negotiation," Ruby listed, without missing a beat. "I'm considering retreat. Our teams have a good combined infiltration expertise, we could evacuate the others, regroup, and see if the situation will change, or if we'll get any new information. Tracking is half our specialty anyways, we could do it in no time."

"I think it's reasonable," Cardin said, "Keep our losses to a minimum, wait and see."

"Assuming there is anyone to evac by now," Sable added. A little morbid, but a fair assessment.

Arslan nodded slightly, "It's not unfair, believing there's not much to search for. If, by any chance they were captured, we don't know of any nearby holding facility. If they were killed in action, then their bodies would be dust by now. We could be going on a wild goose chase."

"I vote for negotiation," Jaune said. "This is coming out of nowhere. It could be a rogue faction, maybe this is the result of infighting. If that's the case I think Atlas would be on our side."

Ruby turned to face Jaune, "There's only one problem, and that's we cant even send a message to their General. Maybe there are blockers spread around, I don't know, but we'd have to send a team there…"

Into what might be hostile territory, the words went unsaid.

"I want blood. I vote for retaliation." Coco said, breaking the silence. All heads turned her way, uncomfortable stares.

"What makes you say that?" Arslan asked.

"My team agreed to let them take us in, and they shot us," Coco raised her voice at the end, almost barking the words.

Ruby found herself stunned, unable to utter a word. The details of the fights weren't in the reports, too short of a notice, and it caught her off guard.

Ruby shook herself out of the daze, "You were delivering supplies right?"

"Yes. To the at-risk village south of Kamin, they were running short. We unloaded the last package, then the next minute we're surrounded by five trucks. We thought we could clear things up, maybe it was a mistake, but no. Not even five seconds after we surrender they blast us."

Sable's brows furrowed, she was pensive before cutting in, "That… Doesn't seem like they're willing to negotiate then."

Cardin took a deep breath before speaking up, "I don't think we should retaliate for this, not yet. We have new towers now and with Atlas we could rebuild the CCTS. Maybe Jaune is right and this is a rogue group, out to stop us."

Coco clicked her tongue, shaking her head, "They never wanted to revamp the CCTS! They attacked Beacon, remember? It's not a bunch of Mavericks, this is Atlas, plain and simple."

"But why would they do this?"

Sable cut in, "A first strike. Maybe Atlas wants a larger piece of the Remnant pie again."

"I'm almost agreeing with Ruby," Jaune said, to Ruby's surprise. "Our mission can't work if we're being attacked on all sides. Rogue group or not."

Sable interrupted them, "Whoa, wait a minute, I'm with Coco here. They attacked ours, we can't let that slide!"

Ruby remembered the attack, the conflict that could've blown her team, nearly two dozen refugees and their pilot would've been blown out of the air if it weren't for her and Weiss. And even then their huntship suffered some damage.

"We didn't. You're not here because they let you go now, are you?" she asked, the others all turned their attention to Sable.

"Of course not. That's not the point, if it looks like we're ignoring this they'll just keep doing it. We'll have to go over again in a week, a month, and who knows how many we'll lose then."

She paused for a second, staring at the blinking dots on the map.

"Who knows how many we lost now."

How many was it? The answer fluctuated in Ruby's mind, there were twenty disappeared Huntsmen and Huntresses down there, five teams in total. Of those twenty how many could've made it? Judging people by strength alone wouldn't lead to a reasonable answer, there was more to hunting than that. Regardless of what Ruby could think, what inferences she could make, she couldn't find a direct answer.

"What if we compromised? What if we strike back to find the other teams?"

Arslan looked at Ruby like she'd grown a second head, "A counter attack then. Refuge in audacity, keeping the enemy on the defensive."

"It's what I had in mind. I believe the other teams fought back too. Maybe some of ours lost but whoever attacked us lost something. Be it Dust, intel, equipment. Why are we here thinking they walked away fine?"

"It's been hours, even if they didn't walk away from it, there's a hierarchy there. Their superiors definitely noticed the lack of success by now, they'll adapt too."

Ruby sighed, frustrated to no end, "We can't just sit here on our hands!"

Well, stand. There were no chairs but Ruby kept the thought to herself.

Arslan glanced at Ruby, looked her in the eyes, "That is true. Inaction at this point would be worse than betrayal."

Jaune raised a hand, stopping halfway through, "What if we ambushed them? Assuming they have intel on us, that's something we can use to our advantage. Turn a disadvantage into a strength."

"Their response time was oddly quick," Sable added, after a quick exchange of whispers with her witness. "They had eyes on us for sure, looking to see when we'd be vulnerable."

Ruby pondered on that piece of knowledge, staring at the final piece of a puzzle.

"I think that's something we can use. We can sort out the details later, what do you say?"

For once, they all agreed on something.

—❖—

There was a series of scrolls buzzing, every one of theirs. Weiss checked hers, there was a message on screen.

Please stand by.

Long range message received.

Was Greene messing with them? Why go around the security jammers just for something like that?

Ruby was looking at something on her scroll, "Oh no…"

Siently, she pressed her scroll to the table. The other leaders were falling back on some mannerisms, keeping themselves calm and collected. Coco had her arms folder, Arslan put her hands behind her back. Jaune had his hands on his hips, leaned forward a little, and Sable and Cardin kept themselves still like statues.

The hologram shifted to a two-dimensional rectangle, a window to display video. Some teams had to move, adjust their positions to get a better view.

It was Team Indigo, from Shade Academy. Their leader, Nebula, the purple haired one, was on screen, running through an alley. She had a teammate on her shoulders as the video switched on. The dirty alleyways, flanked by tall graffitied buildings told Weiss it was likely Mantle, with a slim chance it one of the surrounding cities. The video had been taken with a scroll and it was shaky, a little unfocused, but it was unmistakably one of the missing teams.

Something the size of a car and vaguely humanoid — two arms and two legs — crashed behind them, hard enough the screen shook with the impact. Nebula ran towards the camera then stopped herself, looking at something past it. She unsheather her weapon, screamed something unintelligible at whoever was behind the camera. Another impact and the camera plunged to the ground, staring at the sky.

There were screams drowned out by gunfire, some of the Indigo members maneuvered around or above the scroll, alongside flashes of fire and electric Dust.

Some moments later things quieted down, Nebula picked up the scroll, rushed behind a dumpster with her teammates, dragged an unconscious Octavia.

"There. Zoom in," someone whispered, outside of the view.

"I'm on it."

The camera pointed up, above a skyline riddled with buildings of various heights, definitely an outer district in Mantle. The image blurred for a minute, then focused, still a little blurry, five Griffons, flying in a V formation? No, they were pitch-black, but the bodies were too sleek, their wingbeats too quick. The image didn't help, too blurry to make anything out. The screen blackned for a moment, someone wiping at the lens. By the time it cleared up, their targets were gone.

"We're clear."

They rushed to the end of the alley, the camera pointing at their assailants, now a wreck on the pavement.

Atlesian Paladins, the boxlike, humanoid armored vehicles, painted black. Their metal panels were blown inwards, craters made by Dust ammunition. Inside, something slick and pitch-black coiled and threatened to lash out, an amorphous blob, a Grimm! From behind the camera, someone shot it twice, each impact erupting in flames. A shrill, unearthly hiss later, whatever was inside the Paladin stopped moving. They shot it twice again, just to be sure.

The camera zoomed in again, at the paladins 'chest'. There was a weathered decal, a white emblem that displayed crystals radiating from a hexagon. Underneath, in a compact blockish font, only the letters S, D, C.

Schnee Dust Company.

Weiss took her hand to Myrtenaster's grip, clenched it tightly, so much so her knuckles were white.

"Where is it?"

It still wasn't over. The camera snapped to a spot above the Mantle, somewhere miles above. The city of Atlas, the giant landmass that floated above them, tethered to the ground only by a series of cables connected at the center. Hundreds of ships hovered in the air around it, more flew up in lines, their piloting too smooth, too precise.

There was a sound, like the crack of a whip magnified a hundred times louder. A cable disengaged, fell to the ground slowly in the distance, then a heavy crash echoed in the distance, marking the end of its collapse.

"I can't find it!"

More cables disengaged, one after the other, they weren't looking for the city?

A white streak crossed the top of the screen, to the left, followed by a loud booming sound. Something moving so far it broke the sound barrier. By the time the camera snapped to it, whatever moved there was long gone.

Again, on the opposite side, for the second time a sonic boom followed, then it hit a building, a cloud of dust rose from the impact, a long, sectioned tail cut through it, then foiled inside. It was metal, and sounded like hammers striking anvils for every section moved. There was a roar, though Weiss hesitated to think about it like that, it was something closer to a ship's air horns, deep and loud, so powerful it cleared the dust in an instant.

It had perched itself atop the tallest building it could find, debris broke off beneath the claws. It was all metal, armored in white, the arms were almost too human in their anamoy, though the legs were digitigrade. A long neck serpentined almost in tandem with the slim tail. On its back, a pair of wings, with a trio of turbines where a membrane or feathers should be. It was almost like a viper if Weiss looked from a certain angle.

"Shit, get out of there," Sable sighed, as if her words would reach Team Indigo on the other side of the recording.

Behind it, the last cable detached itself from the city of Atlas, the city of miracle, constructed and designed to keep itself afloat indefinitely was drifting. Moving.

The video zoomed in on the creature just as it stared back, a pair of white eyes lighting up underneath skull-like features, then it stopped.

End of Transmission.

The words flashed red over the last frame, encased in a rectangle.

An army of Grimm and androids. Led by the SDC, a takeover?

No. It dawned on her. Remnant would be plunged into war again.