"Hmmm." There was now a couch in the break room. And a TV. Adam decided to boot it up and look through the available shows, eventually finding some episodes of Mischeivous Miss Witch, a show about a team of magical girls fighting evil. Adam smiled, this was a good show. He had watched a few episodes in the camps, but he never got past the first arc. He liked Miss Shaman in particular. Yes, she was essentially a walking neo-Animist stereotype, but there was something appealing about her as a character. She was noble, wise, and had a good sense of humor, on top of being very competent in battle. "Good." Adam, for once, let a small smile fall upon his face, as he watched it from the very beginning.
An episode in, Yuma came in and was absolutely bamboozled by the appearance of a smiling Adam.
"Woah, who did you murder? Was it Trifa? If it was Trifa, can I have her money?" Adam shook his head and pointed to the screen, where Miss Witch was having a heart to heart conversation with Miss Captain. "Huh, isn't this for little girls?"
Shing!
Wilt drew air and was rested at Yuma's neck. The bat being threatened took a moment to register the movement, where upon he backed up. Adam put Wilt back in Blush and got back to watching, silent as ever. Yuma looked between Adam and the screen before shrugging and flopping onto the couch, grabbing a beer from the mini-fridge. "Alright man, I guess I'll join in."
An hour later and Adam was patting the back of a crying Yuma. They were on the episode where Miss Fortune has a breakdown and all of her problems come cascading down on her. It was only then that Trifa came in.
"Woah, Yuma, did your ex ask for the bat back?"
"SHUT UP!" Yuma sobbed. "Itshhh so sad!" Yuma went back to crying. Trifa looked to Adam, who usually was the voice of reason.
Adam's face was as still as a mountain, except for the single river of tears flowing out from his uncovered eye.
"Ok, I'm figuring out what got you like this." Trifa joined the group on the couch.
It was a surprise to nobody when Ilia came by and saw Trifa, Yuma, and Adam all crying on a couch to the tune of a very aged anime she vaguely knew about. It was no surprise when later, Sienna would come by to see all of her lieutenants crying. Sienna would leave the room, giving them some privacy. After their tear ducts were drier than the Vacuan sands, Sienna would come in.
"I have an assignment for you all. A strike is being planned in ID (Industrial District) 3. They're arguing for better safety regulations and pay. You all will bring about, what, twenty, thirty people to guard the strike, alright? Be prepared." Sienna left, leaving a document holding some extra details, like where they need to go, what they probably will be facing, and the nearby buildings.
What each of them would do was simple, really. Trifa would hang in the shadows around the area and would alert them when the strikebreakers came by. Yuma would act as reserves with his guns, not to shoot unless absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, Adam and Ilia were the on the ground leaders of the members they brought. Wearing masks and wielding their weapons, they brought 30 men armed with rifles loaded up with non-lethal rounds. And they'd need those rounds, because they were essentially going into open combat.
Because coming to break up the strike (which was technically illegal) were the Atlas Police Force, though it was really just a part of the military. The police branch of the military were different from normal military. They were domestic only, had different structure, had different uniforms, and different equipment. Well, ok, the equipment thing wasn't exactly true. These guys were, as Yuma dubbed them, the Strikebreaker Squad. They were dressed in riot gear and wielded shotguns, pistols, and stun batons. They had tear gas and armored trucks, on top of clear shields.
At the very least, the shotguns were loaded with beanbag rounds.
Anyways, strikes were technically illegal, under the Negative Flame Act, which stated that Uncivil Protests caused negativity and thus, were illegal. This was why many White Fang organized marches were dispersed rather quickly and violently, as well as why police were being deployed to smash the strike they had going on.
The workers seemed furious. They had been going on years with subpar pay and dangerous working conditions. The death rate was the second highest, first being working in the mines. But they also looked nervous. Many were worried they'd face criminal charges, others were worried about the impending threat of the police, and some were just tired. They'd done this song and dance before and it never worked.
And overlooking it all was Adam. With Ilia by his side, they walked through the strike and kept their guard up. Guarding the large crowd of workers holding signs and chanting were the members they brought, who the organizers requested. Strikes rarely went without guard these days. Detractors argued that they were escalating the violence, but the Strikebreakers Squad was using the same equipment against civilians armed with signs as they did against people wearing body armor and wielding rifles.
"I'm rather uncomfortable." Adam muttered as he closed in on himself, pushing his arm against his side harder and harder.
"You get used to the claustrophobia. Plus, it'll be a lot clearer when we get to fighting." Ilia sighed. The look in her face was quite, how do you say, nostalgic? But, Adam could see hints of melancholy mixed with reminiscence.
"Bring up bad memories?" Sure, it was a tad hypocritcal to try and open up small talk when he had brushed off all earlier attempts, but it was relatively quiet (ignoring the strike's calls and shouts towards the management that was watching through tinted windows). Ilia quickly pondered over whether or not to share, but made up her mind.
"Met Sienna after a strike went bad. I-uh, got really into helping protests a few years ago. One time I was beaten black and blue and managed to drag myself into an alleyway. Thought I was gonna die, it was real bad. Bleeding, bone fractures, all of it. Then, she spoke to me, unlocked my aura, saved me." Ilia's frown turned to a triumphant smile. Not a win for the cause, but a win for her. "I owe my life to her."
"... She does seem like the type." He supposed. Sienna had recruited him as well. Though that brought to mind the question of what the leader of a branch of the White Fang was doing in an alleyway.
"Yes, she does."
There was silence for a moment, until Adam decided to indulge in his own curiosity. "I thought you were a human when we first met." Ilia cringed, but let him go on. "You very well could've cut yourself from the past. Why didn't you?"
"..." Ilia's eyes turned downwards as a great shame engulfed her. "I did. My parents, they were miners, you know? The pay was good, but they could never be home. So they sent me to Snowfall Boarding School for Girls. And yea, I sort of just hid my scales. I even had fun pretending I was human." Ilia spoke every word with a wince. "I became part of the popular girls, bullied some poor moth girl." Her breathing was becoming shallower, the events were getting recent. "Two years ago, my parents died in the biggest dust mine collapse in years." Thirteen, Ilia was thirteen. "Then one of the girls said something, I don't know, I'm pretty sure it was a joke about the dust mine. I couldn't control myself and I punched her in the face. Pretty sure I broke her nose." A small hint of enjoyment was present, but it was overwhelmed by grief. "And I turned red, literally. I outed myself. I was socially ruined and chose to be expelled. There wasn't much left of what my parents had, most of it went to the school. So, what was a young faunus girl angry at the world to do but help organize protests?"
"..." Adam was stoic as ever, though instead of staring distantly at the crowd, he looked Ilia in the eyes. "What is important is where you stand now. As long as you are resolute, there is no shame I will pay unto you that you haven't to yourself." Adam finally decided to say. Ilia gave a small smile and wiped the tears she didn't know she shed.
"Thanks, Adam. I needed that. Felt like a weight's been lifted from me."
But any further chatting would have to be put on hold, because Adam's scroll began ringing. He expanded and picked it up to hear Trifa's voice.
"The strikebreakers are coming."
"Lieutenant Colonel?" Ironwood was in his car once more. They were directing a squad to break up the strike guarded by the White Fang. Any doubts or hesitancies were gradually pushed aside as he hardened himself. This was his duty, this was part of the law, and whether or not he liked that law, he would follow it to the letter.
"Yea, boss man?"
"Do you have any relevant experience here?" Because Ironwood did not. He was deployed on the frontline. He was used to commanding soldiers to fight Grimm to reclaim outposts, bolster defenses, and hold steady against the pitch black waves. And he wasn't about to use suppressing fire on the strike.
"Ehhh, not really?" Tortuga shrugged. "If you're talking about my time in the Green Berets, we mostly did Grimm clearing and some sting ops. For my time in the civvie sector-" A common way of referring to the Atlesian Police Department. While all personnel in the department went through the same 12 week training (and that was a thing Ironwood was a bit skeptical on) the APD was a dreaded assignment. Well, there was also the Crop Guard. And- ok there were a lot of positions the more glory hungry recruits dreaded. "-I really was just a desk worker. I mean, I pratcied my aim and all, but nobody was confident enough to try and get the old woman with more prestige than they could dream of to go out and get the youth to stop loitering around."
Ironwood's face was in his palm now, he was really hoping Tortuga had some experience in this sort of thing. As an enlisted officer, Ironwood was trained in war tactics against humans and Grimm in urban and rural environments. He was not trained in non-lethal incapacitation against civilian protestors. Maybe that should be a class?
And the worst bit, the squad under his command were awaiting their orders, so he didn't have the privilege of simply asking his commander for support, he was on a time limit.
Ironwood considered the tools at their disposal. Beanbag shotguns, stun batons, pistols, tear gas, shields to make a shield wall, as well as armored vehicles. On top of that they were also given AK-200s (Atlesian Knight 200) to act as the initial force. This was a trial run where the police officers in question would be using VR to pilot the knights. The reason why being that even if they were confident in the AI programming of the knights, there was no telling what might happen when thrown into a hostile environment like this. These ones were armed with nothing more than shields and stun batons. If the Knights were destroyed, then they'd have to send the squad in the flesh.
His goal here wasn't eradication, it was dispersal. So all he really needed to do was expel the strikers. Approach the mass at the side with a shield wall and force them to move away? Batons, especially stun batons wouldn't find much of a use here. They would incapacitate whatever striker was hit, but he wasn't exactly looking to leave people paralyzed on the street. The pistols and shotguns were also counter-intuitive to this end. Tear gas could do well to scatter the civilians, leaving only the White Fang members.
And while his orders were to scatter the strikers, he was also to arrest the White Fang members. So that was probably where the encounter was going after the civilians had run.
At that moment, Ironwood noticed that Tortuga was staring at him with concern in her eyes.
"I've decided on a course of action."
The strikers were nervous, it wasn't hard to see why. Shining white Atlesian Knights were marching closer and closer, shield wall at the ready. Adam stood tall, aura at the ready, glaring at the Knights from beneath his mask. So that was how today was going to be, then?
"Ilia?"
"Yes?"
"Have the strikers move away as we fight the Knights, have half of our men escort them. Tell the rest we're standing our ground." Sienna made it clear once she knew he was going to be on the field, he was responsible for what happened here. "We don't want anyone to get caught up in the crossfire."
"Alright." Ilia went off to spread the word while Adam stepped up, two men with swords standing guard next to him. The shield wall halted and out of the Knight came a robotic voice.
"CITIZENS, YOU ARE A PUBLIC DISTURBANCE. YOU MUST DISPERSE AT ONCE. CRIMINALS, SURRENDER AT ONCE OR BE SUBDUED." That was loud and very stilted, Adam thought as he rubbed the insides of his ears to make sure there wasn't any blood.
"No." Adam's voice wasn't exactly loud, he didn't really know how to project it without making it rasp like hell, but it was heard. The men he had facing the bots were numbered at around 15, with the other 15 deciding to stay back and get the civilians out without some lurking force attacking them. And there was precedent for that. Meanwhile, the knights numbered at around 80, all with shields and batons. And while technically they were better armed, if the Knights chose to descend on them they were fairly screwed. Because these men, because they still had civilian lives to keep up, didn't have aura, partially to maintain that civilian life. And their training was minimal.
They were trembling, to say the least. But with the unflinching confidence Adam displayed, they decided to go along with it and stand tall. Their battlefield of choice was a street corner where the strikers they'd organized used to be. Now, it was just the White Fang and the bots.
"CRIMINALS, SURRENDER NOW OR-"
"Or what? We'll be beaten, starved, and tortured? The names of our brothers and sisters will be forced out of us so they can be murdered in their sleep? NO! WE WILL FIGHT! ARE YOU WITH ME!?" If his calmness helped alleviate the fears of his men, then his speech bolstered their spirits. Where they now appeared hesitant but willing to go along, they now were eager to stand their ground.
"SO BE IT. YOU WILL BE SUBDUED, CRIMINALS." And with the sound of leg motors whirring, the fight began.
Adam noticed that 65 of the knights were heading back to the armored trucks that carried them, likely grabbing guns or tear gas. Meanwhile, 15 of them ran at them.
"Back up with your rifles! Cover for each other!" Yuma was probably overseeing all of this with his rifle. If necessary, he and Trifa could probably delay and further reinforcements with a good shot on a tire or webbing to derail a truck. The White Fang opened fire on the Knights. The men were innacurate, they weren't crack shots like Yuma, but they did hit a few times. A few were nailed by rifle shots, though most only hit non-vital areas and simply dented the armor. A few fell when their displays were shot. Adam pulled out a pistol he had in his back pocket and opened fire as well, no use in wasting Blush's ammo or delving in with Wilt and getting hit by his own men.
And then, with only around 5 knights still standing, hiding behind their shields, hails of gunfire rang forth from the side of the knights, Forcing Adam to deploy Wilt and cover for the ones who hadn't taken refuge behind trash cans and other small barricades. He was fine, for the most part, got hit a few times but his aura tanked it. One man was bleeding profusely from the shoulder, having taken a bullet. Adam's eyes widened and he rushed over to the man, pulling him in his arms.
"PULL BACK!" Adam yelled, and the men were quick to obey the order. He put the injured man in the arms of another and faced the approaching wall of guns with Wilt. Gunfire was roaring from both sides, with Adam taking the majority of it from the Knights. The retreating Fangs were shooting aimlessly as they retreated and took cover behind whatever they could find, even bolting behind alleyways. The injured decided to split then and there and Adam didn't blame them, this wasn't a good situation.
They could've ran, but he was told to stay his ground. Running was weakness.
"FIRE FROM SAFETY!" Adam pointed Wilt as gunfire grazed him, bolting to the side as a bullet tried slamming into his chest. More and more gunshots rang out from behind him, denting and hitting a few of the Knights. There were 70, approaching as a cloud and slowly moving towards them, rifles at the ready.
Adam spun Wilt, preventing most of the bullets from reaching him and absorbing more and more damage. He sighed, maybe he could talk to Sienna about arming their men with bullet-proof shields.
Looking up, he saw that a vast majority of the Knights were actually pulling back and going around, using the complex system of alleyways and streets to encircle and ambush the bunkered Fangs. A few, 15 in total, were approaching guns blazing. He sighed, he supposed this was his time to shine, wasn't it?
With not a word spoken, only a guttural growl, he charged. He barreled at the cluster of firing Knights, tearing one after another apart, using Wilt and Blush to their full extents. He realized they were controlled by soldiers, the little gestures felt too human and their reaction speeds were too slow. He sliced apart Knight after Knight, exposing circuitry and tearing them apart.
Meanwhile, in a building from afar, a bat Faunus with a sniper rifle sat by a window, keeping his aura up (he wasn't stupid) and keeping an eye on the sight below.
"This ain't good." Yuma sighed, Adam really was adamant about not folding, wasn't he? For such a indifferent guy, he sure could get passionate. Regardless, the purpose of the physical protest was mostly to put public pressure on the factory. They already had sabotaged the machinery. And fighting back really wasn't the best of options in terms of imaging.
But damn if it wasn't fun to watch. Plus, it wasn't like this wasn't common.
Yuma sighed, a few of their boys were getting shot. Sure, the rifles the Knights were using were actually less powerful ones. He snorted, they were feeling 'humane' today, weren't they? Anyways, while Yuma was well aware of the power of martyrs, he was also well aware that he wasn't exactly a fan of their boys dying. He supposed it was now time for direct intervention. So he jumped out the window, letting his wings do the talking as gradually turned to glide. Using his free hands, he pulled out two pistols and looked down at the alleyways he was patrolling.
Gunshots rang out, though none at him so far.
He saw a small group about to be ambushed, two in total, one injured. Yuma descended right as they were about to be filled with lead by rifle fire and stomped the Knight flat, using his pistols to destroy the other two that were going with it.
"T-t-thanks!" Said the injured member before groaning in pain from his shot leg.
"Appreciate it," said the uninjured one, who was carrying his injured comrade.
"No probs, now get outta here." Yuma smiled underneath his mask and watched as they hobbled away. He heard an impact being him, but before he could do anything hasty he heard a familiar voice.
"Calm down, it's just me." Oh, it was Trifa, good.
"Yea, well the situation's turned a bit sour. Should we destroy as many Knights as we can before running away?" It was always better to put up a fight, at the very least.
"Adam had Ilia and some of the guys move the strike to another part of the place while we engage in urban combat." Trifa sighed, she really didn't know what to do here. "While Adam soaks up gunfire, the boys with him have been just poking out and unloading at whatever Knights they can see. And the more we stall, the more forces might come to dispatch us. Plus, a lot of the Knights are spreading out and surrounding us."
"So, what's the plan?"
"I would say getting all our men out, but then we'd leave the strikers to the wolves. Adam seems like he wants to totally beat them back." Though, who could really tell? The guy was going ham on the Knights.
"What if we get the strikers out of here and then consolidate our forces, strike the Knights hard and fast, before running away?" Yuma's idea got a hum of consideration from Trifa, who eventually shrugged.
"I'll get that to Ilia. You keep on picking off Knights. And shoot the tires off of any police truck you can find, alright?"
"Aye aye Silk Sheets!" The nickname got a flick on the forehead (Thankfully Aura protected Trifa's fingers from the hard mask) from the woman before she departed.
The plan was simple, on Ironwood's part. He was using the advantage in numbers and training to spread out the Knights and encircle the White Fang members that were holed up in the streets. They'd close in on them, picking off their already low numbers, until they surrendered or were subdued. Looking at the real time holographic map, with the location of the 70-ish knights on display, the plan was going smoothly. Sure, there were holes, but they were quickly patched up.
As for the VR thing, it was both a gimmick to appease the soldiers and a feature that had an actual use. Human troops, even if just controlled remotely, didn't need to be programmed for situations, they could simply use on the spot thinking in order to adapt to their situation. It was a gimmick in that the VR features meant that soldiers technically wouldn't be replaced, they'd simply get a new tool at their disposal. While there were a lot of things that the Knights couldn't do, even when controlled remotely, like smell (which was important), it was traded in for safety.
"Hey, boss man, I've only counted, what, 15 in the circle?" Tortuga was besides him, serving as a second mind and lancer in order to make sure his decisions were sound.
"Yes, what of it?"
"Weren't there 30 in total?"
"..." Ironwood sighed. "I'll assume they retreated."
"You know what they say about assumptions."
"They make an ass out of you and me?"
"What? No! That they'll be the last thing you make on the battlefield." Tortuga chuckled a bit at how Ironwood managed to say ass with absolutely no emotion behind it whatsoever. Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but didn't judge her weird taste of humor. "Anyways, looks like the boys are closing in. A few slipped out, but they're injured and drones are monitoring them. That absolute tank with a sword is still going strong, though the aura sensors can pick up that he's definitely beginning to waver."
"And they've all hunkered down in a small defensive circle of barricades." Ironwood sighed and barked a few commands into the comms radio. The Knights surrounded the barricade and demanded the immediate surrender of the White Fang members.
They, unsurprisingly, said to fuck off.
Ironwood sighed, this was going to be a long day, wasn't it?
Sorry if I'll be neglecting this fic for a while. I've decided to focus on a personal project.
