I violate my oath, to defend….
I violate my oath, not to see your tears.
Two Days Later, in the United Continents…
After the fall of The Patriots, every single nation had resolved to increase peace efforts. Communications have been better established, relations were built upon, and welfare collaborations were increased. However, even so, the presence of PMCs could not be so easily wiped out. Most were still much more powerful than the average nation's military force, even more so now that they were recovering from the ruined AIs. To remedy this, the nations decided to build a single building smack-dab at the centre of the U.C, in the border zone of multiple countries.
The building was finished within a year, and was then aptly named The Conference Room.
It was here, today, that every single nation under the U.C came to hold an emergency meeting.
After the events with Desperado and Senator Armstrong, every single nation decided to monitor their PMCs with much more intensity. Every single communication was discreetly monitored, and every plan was reviewed by their intelligence agencies.
As such, it came as a surprise to the CIA that a civilian, previous role with The Patriots be damned, contacted the head of Maverick Security directly and gave concerning intelligence that pointed to a disturbing truth.
The CIA weren't unfamiliar with Aura. Far from it, they had a special Aura division within their ranks, mostly to monitor their Far East division and the odd case of Aura here and there around the U.S. There weren't many of them; barely over twenty, but it was enough to know its general rules.
But the existence of lands beyond the borders? Even they thought it was a mere legend.
They turned to the head of the Far East division for advice. He told them that it was best that they kept the entire thing under wraps, that the ones who knew were kept to a select few while he prepared the necessary measures.
But Joji's advice came too late.
The information was leaked to certain other intelligence agencies. After that, it was just a matter of time before every single government knew what was up. Though, it was good that they had the common sense to keep their civilians in the dark.
As such, to mitigate the disaster, the Neo-U.S decided to call a meeting in The Conference Room.
Joji could already predict where this was going to go.
He did the best he could to bring in the one person he felt would get the job done in faith.
"My back hurts."
"No it doesn't. You're just pissed that your vacation was cut short."
Snake sighed. "You're not falling for it?"
"Oh please. You started whining the moment you got the call." Otacon gave a small smile. The two of them were standing right beside the stage in The Conference Room's, well, conference room, waiting for the rest of the nation representatives, their intelligence agencies, as well as their PMCs to come to the meeting. "But I understand. I'm kinda frustrated too, y'know? I didn't plan on having to make a presentation too.. But I guess this' what we've got to do, right?"
"Right…"
"Oh, don't feel so bad, Snake. Look on the bright side!" Otacon patted his partner on the shoulder. "At least you won't need to go into the field this time, right?"
"Yeah. I'm the commanding officer of this operation, just like Colonel was to me back then."
People started to come into the room, some giving a double-take when they saw Otacon and Snake. Clearly, they had heard of their stories, the soldier-and-hacker duo who played a key role against the Patriots. Among those people that entered were Sunny and the crew of Maverick, followed by Rosemary.
Sunny gave Otacon a wave, and he waved back.
People kept filling in, taking their seats surrounding the stage. Eventually, once every country was accounted for, the meeting was started by the CIA's head of the Far East Divison, standing behind his table.
"Good morning everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joji Kazama, head of the CIA's Far East Division. I trust all of you have been briefed on the situation?"
A murmur of agreement.
"Very good. Then let me begin my piece. The U.S proposes an expedition to these lands, led by agents selected in this very meeting."
More whispers and murmurs.
A representative spoke up. "You're sure it's safe?"
"We won't know unless we try."
"And you're sure the data can be trusted, I take it-?"
"This is outrageous!" Another one interrupted. "Why are we even entertaining this charade?! It's just another conspiracy theory cracked up by a mourning widow-!"
"Like the wife you divorced?"
People laughed.
"Hey, what's this?! This isn't respectful! Why you little-!"
"Huh, what is it, huh? Was anything I said untrue?"
Otacon sweatdropped, and Snake sighed.
"What you want, huh? You wanna mess with me? Right now?!"
"Calm down…" Joji spoke. It went unheard.
"You wanna mess with me!? Fuck you!"
A roar from the crowd.
"Hey, hey!"
"You messed with the wrong person! You don't know who you're-!"
A tick mark appeared on Snake's forehead. Then, in one loud voice, "SHUT UP!"
Silence.
Snake coughed, his piece said. He gave a small nod to Joji, who continued. "As I was saying… The U.S proposes an expedition through the borders. Naturally, we've started to prepare the necessary equipment to handle such a task. Vehicles, munitions, resources… our military are preparing them as we speak. Does anyone object?"
"Permission to speak?" Neo-Morocco.
"Permission granted."
The Neo-Moroccan representative stood up from his seat and shared his piece. "We've all heard of Remnant by now, and these… Grimm. We accept the proposition of the U.S. However, I'm sure I speak for everyone here, how will the other countries be involved, exactly?"
"The other countries will take part in whatever manner they see fit. We are willing to recede control in any part of the operation so far as it is within reason."
People whispered. The U.S, receding control?
"How about in the agent part?" Neo-U.K.
"Like I said before. The agents will be selected in this very meeting. It can be from any country."
"…But you'd like for at least one of them to be from you, right?"
"…"
"I rest my case." The Neo-U.K representative leaned back in his chair.
After a minute of silence another representative decided to speak up, this time from Neo-China."…What exactly do we gain from this?"
"Relations, for one." Joji said. "We could gain contact with an entirely different civilization and build together lost history. And a deeper study on the Grimm will no doubt be available, as well as technology exchange."
"And all countries will benefit from this?"
"Yes."
"Hm…" The Chinese representative put a hand on his chin. "…How far has the U.S come in its preparation?"
"We have begun construction on the vehicle with data pulled from research done by World Marshall as well as young Sunny's own analysis. Methods of communication are also being researched, as well as general operation planning."
Neo-Japan spoke up next. "What happens if 'Remnant' is hostile?"
"If all peace efforts fail, then we will respond with the necessary force. Together, as one."
"…One of the men involved in this fiasco was Raiden." Neo-Africa. "We have witnessed his skill and goodwill, during the tenure of Prime Minister N'mani. And of course, we've all heard of his efforts against The Patriots. I'm sure everyone here would like to give him their thanks and assistance, correct?"
Nods and agreements.
"…And yet, even so, he also mentioned another person involved. Jaune Arc."
The room fell silent.
"By the U.S' own reports, World Marshall has been severely crippled as a consequence of Senator Armstrong's actions. We have all agreed to monitor our PMCs more closely, and take action against any crime they commit. So if I may ask, why the hell are we rescuing a terrorist?"
Joji waited for a second. He tried to feel if his phone was buzzing.
He sighed when it didn't.
He'll delay that matter for a bit more. If after this, he didn't show up, then he'd consider their deal off.
"I think that can be answered after this." Joji turned to look at Snake, by the stage. "Mr. Snake, if you would."
A pat from Otacon as he prepared the slides, and Snake took to the stage. A projector flared up behind him, showing the slides Otacon prepared.
"Alright, everyone. Let me begin this by-."
"Kakkoi desu nee, senpai~!"
"SORRY, SORRY!" Otacon quickly shifted to the right presentation, his face red with embarrassment.
"As I was saying…" Snake chuckled. "The plan of the operation so far is this. With technology developed by Solis, we burst through the barrier, helped by covering fire from the nations. Once we land on Remnant, our agents are to confirm their landing first, and only then make contact with the Kingdoms, supervised by the U.C at every step. We are to ensure peace first, and war hopefully never. Once a relationship has been established, we are to retrieve Raiden and Jaune Arc."
The screen shifted to the vehicle being developed. "As you can see, the vehicle is being constructed as we speak, though it can still be interrupted by any nation that wishes to be involved. Like Joji said before, you can also provide other supplies, technology, anything that can help."
"How about the problem with ammunition?" A PMC representative asked. "We're supposed to provide covering fire, but the borders that the Grimm guard are too far away from land."
"That has already been accounted for. With the assistance of every nation here, we'll be designing a forward operating base, FOB for short, at a point before the Grimm border. It'll act as a relay base for the Remnant expedition agents."
"Good enough." The PMC representative relented.
"Any other questions?"
"When can we start nominating our agents?" Neo-Saudi.
"…We can start now."
"Very well. Then, I propose-"
They started to discuss their agents, the conversation slowly growing louder and louder. Joji slumped in his seat, only slightly. It's a shame, really. He would've liked for the other of Shintaro's sons to be-.
A buzz from his phone.
Joji couldn't help but crack a smile. Well then, looks like he was wrong.
He came through after all.
On every inch of the entrance gate, reporters stood before the gate guards, trying to intimidate them through. The guards just barely managed to hold them back, but any more of them and they'd be swarmed almost immediately.
"You can't just keep us out!"
"The people deserve to know the truth!"
"What prompted the nations to suddenly hold an emergency meeting?"
"Does this have anything to do with the Patriots?!"
They were all surrounding a single point: A building known as The Conference Room, built just short of a year ago. Its purpose was simple, to prevent another incident like The Patriots. In the wake of the incident, the nations had decided that they needed to intensify communications and peace efforts. As such, the building was made smack-dab in the middle of the U.C, on a neutral border zone between multiple superpowers.
Clearly, if Armstrong managed to get that far, then something must have still been lacking.
Is that why this meeting was suddenly held? The citizens weren't even told about this, and the press barely managed to retrieve a leak! All anyone had were speculations!
"Any comment on Senator Armstrong's actions?!"
"Could this be the dawn of another World War?"
"Open the door and let us find out!"
"You can't keep the truth closed!"
The reporters kept standing there, pressuring the gate guards to give up while yelling their multiple questions. They were all absorbed with the current situation…
They just barely managed to catch the sound of heavy footsteps approaching. The steps were certain and determined.
A Japanese reporter was interested and took the time to turn around. He felt his jaw drop. "H-Hey, that man's-!"
More reporters paused, taking the time to turn around.
The man kept on approaching, his footsteps firm and his gaze unflinching.
Whispers broke out.
"No way…"
"The Tojo Clan's…"
"…He actually left Japan?"
The man finally kept walking, the reports giving him a wide berth. He reached the gate guards, but kept his mouth shut as he approached.
One of the guards stepped forwards. "Hey, you! Stop right there-!"
He was interrupted when an older colleague put a hand on his shoulder. "No, stop it. Leave him alone."
"What?" He turned to his senior. "Why would we do that? He's outnumbered two hundred to one!"
The man walked past.
"You don't understand… That's The Dragon of Dojima."
"…Him?!"
"Tokyo's legendary Yakuza…Kiryu Kazuma."
Kiryu stared the building down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He made a quick call.
The other side picked up.
Kiryu spoke first. "I'm here. Keep your end of the deal."
Kiryu hung up without waiting for another word. Pocketing the phone once more, Kiryu started to walk towards the building again.
The guard from before ran towards Kiryu, reaching out to grab him by the shoulder. "Hey! Just who the hell do you think you are-?!"
Grab!
Faster than he could register, Kiryu grabbed his arm in a firm grip.
His cyborg arm, pushed back by a mere human one.
"Don't touch me right now." Kiryu's body let out a glow and his eyes flashed. Blue, Purple, Yellow, Red. Brawler, Rush, Beast…
Dragon.
"…I don't know what I might do." Kiryu squeezed the arm, and sparks flew from the crumbling guard's arm. The guard groaned in pain. Silently, Kiryu let go and pushed the guard back. The guard stumbled back and fell flat on his butt.
Kiryu paid him no mind and turned back around, walking into the building.
Jaune Arc…
Prepare yourself.
Yesterday…
He gazed down at the ground, a gun aimed at his head. He couldn't do anything. He was going to die, all of this was going to be for nothing-!
"HAAAAAAA!"
In a sudden turn of events, he heard his best friend charge at the enemy with a knife. The enemy couldn't react, and his best friend ran him through with a knife.
"Ack!" The enemy shifted his aim and pointed the gun at his best friend.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The enemy, even after being stabbed, managed to put in several bullets in. His best friend ignored it and kept pushing forwards, pushing the knife deeper, taking the two of them into the vault and ramming the enemy into a pile of money.
He was confused. Aura didn't heal the gunshot wound..? He made sure to have only put him in the red earlier!
The enemy slumped against the pile of money, dead.
"No way… I'm letting this asshole… get away with it!"
His best friend clutched the wound in his gut, a knife planted on his opponent against a pile of money. Slowly, he started to step back from the wound. With the strength he had left, he picked up the gun on the floor and turned around, giving him one last smile. "The responsibility's mine…" He pointed the gun at the vault's bomb. "So let me do this."
He tried to save his best friend. "Don't!" His legs wouldn't work. Damn it, NO!
"DON'T DO IT! NISHIKI!"
A smile.
The last one.
"NISHIKII!"
Click!
BOOM!
Kiryu woke up with a start in his room. He looked around, glancing at the digital clock on his bedside table. It was midnight past one minute…
One month after that day.
He sighed and sat up on his bed. Today's the day he's due to go back to Tokyo. Might as well get ready and start packing.
"Ojii-san?"
Kiryu turned to his room's door, cracked open with his charge's head peeking over. Damn it, he must be really out of it to not notice such a little thing.
"Haruka…" He got off his bed and approached her, opening the door fully. "Are you alright?"
"I heard you screaming again." Haruka said, eyes to the floor. "I wanted to check if you were OK."
"…I'm fine." He said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Now, go back to bed. We have a trip in four hours."
"…We don't have to go if you don't want to."
He shot a glance at his charge. "What…?"
"Ojii-san, I was the one who suggested that you come back. But if you don't want to…"
"No." He said. "You're right. I should visit him. Especially since it's been a month…"
"Do you think he's woken up?" Haruka mumbled, barely audible.
"…I don't know."
Four Hours Later…
Four hours later and he finally arrived in Tokyo. Walking through the infamous red-light district, he held his charge's hand in his own and carefully guided her through the crowd.
Haruka subconsciously snuggled close to her Ojii-san. With the kind of people that were starting to eye them, she'd rather not have a repeat of last year's events.
She felt him give her the same treatment, if only by his hand's gentle squeeze.
After what seemed like hours of walking, they finally reached their destination. A hospital smack-dab in the middle of the district, one that provided care to people like her Ojii-san.
They entered as one. The receptionist immediately recognised him, her eyes going wide and her body stiffening for just a second. With a hushed whisper to her co-worker, she had a guard come over and lead the newcomers inside, up to a private elevator and into the highest floor. They exited the elevator and the guard led them to a room at the edge of the floor.
"I'll be waiting for you outside, Yondaime." The guard said to Kiryu. "I'll keep the two of you safe. And if anything does happen, your men will be notified immediately. "
"I left that life." Her Ojii-san said simply.
"But you are still the Yondaime." The man replied, tone even. "That doesn't change, even if you left a year ago, Kiryu-san. You were Sera's choice. The one he trusted."
He sighed in frustration. "...Arigatou." Kiryu opened the door and stepped inside. Haruka shuffled in just before the door closed itself.
Inside was a simple sight. A man laid on a hospital bed, his eyes closed and his breathing rhythmic. He was covered in no bandages at all, the medical tools showing all normal signs, and yet his eyes didn't open even as he stepped inside.
He didn't even stir when his best friend had come to visit.
"Nishiki..." Kiryu looked down, eyes starting to brim over. His best friend, stuck in a coma he can't, no, won't ever wake up from. This was the only hospital in Neo-Japan who'd take care of people with Aura, and even then what they could do was limited. After all, why care for traditional medicine when nanomachines could work on practically anyone?
Even if Aura was the thing that saved his best friend, it left him in a coma no one knew how to cure. They could only bring him to a stable state.
Nothing more.
A knock on the door. He threw a quick glance, Haruka going behind him. The door opened, and he could briefly see the guard passed out on the floor. But moreover, the man who opened the door was-!
"I'm not your father." He said calmly. "My name is Joji. His twin."
His twin…
"Forgive me. Shintaro always liked to keep my matters private." Joji shook his head. "I've heard a lot about you, Kiryu Kazuma. I've come to give you an offer."
"An offer?" Kiryu echoed back. Haruka whimpered closer to him, while Joji stood firm.
"I work for the CIA." Joji said bluntly. "Recently, new information has circulated about Aura and its origins. As a former Yakuza member, I trust you know what I mean."
Kiryu gave a brief nod.
"Good. This information was first discovered by us, the CIA. Then, it was somehow leaked into several other nations as well. In light of this information, every single county in the U.C has contacted one another in secret. It's too late to stop the information flow now. All we can do is hope that everyone gets along."
"Every single nation plans to converge in two to three days, in the Continental Border Zone. Of course, the superpowers will be the ones leading the conference. I can already guess what's going to be concluded there. We're going to need two agents on the ground, ready to pack it up and go to Remnant. One's already locked in; the other one, I'd like it to be you."
"If it's anything involving combat then you can count me out." Kiryu said firmly. "I left that life behind. All those fists and blood, it's time to move on."
"….Hm. I expected as much." Joji shook his head. Then, he pulled out a file out of… somewhere, and gave it to Kiryu. "But before you make any decisions you'll regret, take a look at the facts. Then, decide."
Kiryu shot him a glare.
"Go on." Joji offered the file to Kiryu once more.
Relenting, Kiryu silently grabbed the folder and opened it up. He checked the contents of the first page. "This is-?!"
Joji nodded. "The Brazillian Bloodbath, the media had called it. I trust you remember? One and a half years ago, just before Sera's reign, you and your best friend booked the fastest flight to Neo-Brazil to confront Shibusawa. You prepared yourself to fight tooth and nail to defeat him, only to find the entirety of the Yakuza there dead. It was by chance that you found Makimura Makoto unharmed, having stumbled out of there herself amidst the bloodshed. Nishiki secured her, and as you went to confront Shibusawa, you found him dead with a sword wound in his gut. Haven't you ever wondered, who exactly killed all those men mercilessly?"
"…So this is the guy?" Kiryu read the file and looked at the picture. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a pair of swords coloured red and yellow. He let the words roll around in his mouth. "…Jaune Arc?"
"That's right." Joji said. "The info we found mentioned that name in passing. He was last seen in a duel against the original leaker, Raiden." Joji leaned forwards. "Don't you want to find out who this is? A chance to avenge those who have fallen? After all, even if they were Yakuza, did they deserve to die? This is your chance. I'm betting some nations will hold their alliance if we don't capture him. You're my best bet."
"I'm no pure-hearted soul." Kiryu said firmly. "It wasn't right that they died… but I can't change the past."
"This man took part in Sera's murder, as well as countless others as a smirking, cocky assassin. Surely you're not thinking of letting him go?"
Kiyru's hand unconsciously turned into a fist. His breathing became shortened, his gaze growing blurrier. This person, he's-!
A gentle squeeze from Haruka.
Everything was clear once again.
Kiryu let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "…That was the past. I've left that life behind. Even if I were to do something about it… it's not my place anymore." Kiryu felt Haruka's hand in his own and gave Joji back the file without even looking at the final page. "I'll have to decline. It was nice seeing you, Kazama Joji-san."
With that, Kiryu walked past Kazama and was about to leave the room. Haruka followed him from behind closely, unwilling to be left behind.
"What if I tell you that you can take back the past?"
Kiryu stopped just as his foot stepped one inch outside the room. 'What?'
"One of the premier doctors under Maverick's employ has recently found a way to create Aura-compatible nanomachines." Joji spoke, Kiryu and his backs to each other. "I can convince him to create a set for medical purposes… but I'll have to give something back."
Kiryu turned around quickly and shot Joji a glare. "You…"
"The option is yours, Kiryu." Joji opened the file again, right to the last page. He handed it to Kiryu, full of proof of the working Aura-compatible nanomachines. "Do this, and I'll do my best to have one designed for Nishiki."
Kiryu looked at the file again. It worked on multiple test patients, even on some more extreme cases.
Should he take this….?
"Take your time. I'll be waiting tomorrow for your call."
In the silence, he heard the idle beeps of the heartbeat monitor.
His best friend still hadn't stirred one bit through the whole ordeal.
All those men in Brazil, and the countless others this Jaune's murdered….
Sera…
Nishiki…
'Jaune Arc, huh?'
This is by far the biggest gamble I've taken since I started this story.
For clarification, I've condensed the plot of the Yakuza series. Basically Kiryu got out early, etc. etc, you get the idea.
Also, the humour tag finally comes into play!
Oh, and about the rouge politician, that's based on the Malaysian "Can you speak English? - Fuck you!" meme that rolled around some time ago.
Anyways, thoughts, leave 'em in the reviews!
Thanks for reading!, and see you next time!
Review responses:
To ThanoSstinks, let's hope that doesn't happen!
To SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, yes, that's true! I think this is a form of 'cruel mercy'. In the end, he can't bring himself to kill her, but letting her go wouldn't be in it for him either.
To Gwyn, glad you recognised that! I aimed at a mix of the two, Huey and Skull Face. Thanks for the compliments, and for reading too!
To PSYCONIG, yeah, she's alive, but effectively neutralised to the point she's not even a threat anymore.
To SolSparda369, I'm planning on making the root of his mistrust in the fact that Silver Eyes play a major role in the conflict, and yet he wasn't told at all. RWBY's head won't be in the game, so to speak, and JNPR, RWBY, and the Arc family now already know something's up. They've all got their hands full. Thanks for reading!
To Dhestrya, thanks!
To Lord-Azraael3, glad you thought so!
To Saitama1155, wow, really?! I'm honoured! Thanks!
To Greer123, thank you!
To Gonsmoss, yeah, basically Salem kept Silver Eyes in spare so she could transplant them to people she wants to turn, when they aren't obedient enough. Normal ones, like the VOID unit, aren't exactly high quality and aren't worth making to begin with. And since the people that have the Silver Eyes are limited, and keeping an eye for long periods of time doesn't exactly work, she has no choice but to keep the owner of those Silver Eyes alive until the next person she wants to turn comes along. Tai figured this out, that's why he was so angry. Summer's been alive for 15 years, suffering, and no one told him a thing.
To Just a reader now a writer, I don't think that the Haven students will be that spiteful, but her name will turn eyes towards her. I'm happy you liked it, and thanks for reading!
To Mernom, it sure wasn't. Kinda feel bad for 'em, but, well…
To CriticaofRanomness, glad you liked it! Since this' so brutal, I'm thinking of bumping it up to M just for that scene alone. But so far, I dunno…
To Skeletalrepublic, yeah, that's true. She'd be done otherwise.
To Anon, hope the Yakuza part here satisfied you! And yeah, Beacon's on their toes now, and glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!
To Galeon82, you got a lot of things spot on! Honestly! :). I think it won't be a matter of who's going to contact Haven first, more of the point RJVT's (Rabbit?) going to be proactive and go to Vale themselves, though not immediately as a team.
To Guest (1), to a degree :)
To Just A Guesst, here you gooooooo!
To Guest, the battle against Salem's forces (CEMN and Roman and others) comes in Vale!
To Guest (2), right now!
To Kabuto S. Inferno, I'll admit that this is a big blunder on my part, and I didn't make it clear enough, if at all. It was basically Huey's trial 2.0, and by that I meant down to the fact that the executers themselves (Venom, Tai) were forcibly called by their followers. Venom was suddenly called back to base to deal with the enraged soldiers and Huey situation, and the Tai, in the middle of discussing the Silver Eyes with Venom, was called down to the courtyard to deal with the students and their rage against Raven, growing impatient with her imprisonment. As such, he was caught with the rage he felt (like how I explained in my response to Gonsmoss), because a) Summer is likely alive and has been suffering alone for 15 years, learning of this from Venom, b) Ruby is also possibly in danger, c) no one told him anything at all, d) Half of the students are out for blood, and e) Before he asked her, Raven might possibly have known about Summer's fate and did nothing, even helping the enemy. (this was later proven wrong, cooling down his anger.) In his rage, frustrated-addled mind, he took the option he deemed right, with a bit of pleading from Raven. Was it actually right, though? That'll always be up for debate. Will he come to regret it? I suspect something will grow in his heart. Will he deal with the consequences? Yeah, I'll make sure he does, council and all. And for Yang, I'll admit with all my heart that I need to catch up. I do remember something about her visiting the camp and Raven telling her the similarities between STRQ and RWBY, I believe Weiss was captured (?) or something like that. And, I believe she teleported to Tai after Haven (?).That's as far as I know, which is, well, lacking. If you felt it was mixed, I'd love for you to tell me how you'd think it should've went down. All inputs, honestly, I'll accept wholeheartedly. As always, thanks for your review, compliments, and for just reading! If you think my reasoning's lacking, then I look forward to hearing more from you! Stay healthy, and hope you won't go through that much pain anymore! Stay safe!