Kootranova1 : No, nothing in the show or the books even hints at that happening. That being said, there's also nothing going against it happening. We don't see any Vacuo teams after the double round, so assuming they all lost them leaving wouldn't be that noticeable. All we know from the books is that team BRNZ and NDGO are at the fall, BRNZ helping and mostly getting wiped out, and NDGO fleeing and becoming bullies as a result.
Otro-gamer-mas86 : lets do a quick recap of what Ozpin currently knows. He knows that the one who attacked Amber is the one helping/using Roman, and that she's part of Salem's minions. He knows Neo would help Roman, but is unsure if she's already part of Salem's minions or not. He knows that Neo can become literally anyone, and has already been seen to take on the appearance of an existing person to impersonate them (when she was busy killing criminals left and right), he also thinks Mercury got his leg broken which would rule him out of being a bad guy. Nobody sane is going to harm themselves willingly after all.
Sure, Theodore is saying that team C(ar)MEN shouldn't exist, and as such they're all fake, but Ozpin not going to arrest anyone without proof, and doesn't actually consider Theodore's information to be accurate enough to warrant anything more than strengthened surveillance.
Moreover, while Ozpin knows there is a mole in his group, we also saw how shaken he was when he realized for sure Leonardo was the mole. To him, the four headmasters are those he trust the most besides Qrow and maybe Glynda, so it would make sense that he values their word far above someone he hasn't brought in himself like Rumpole (that being said, this is just my take on her character, I don't believe we know who brought her in)
So no, Ozpin doesn't have enough information to find who's the culprit, and as far as he's aware Neo and Rumpole are the most likely suspects, and while he doesn't believe Neo is the brains behind this, he doesn't actually think the one leading this operation is right under his nose.
Cooldude : This amounts to the core differences between Vacuo & Atlas, along with the differences between how Ironwood and Theodore & Rumpole handle things.
Vacuo focuses on freedom, while Atlas focuses on security. Each are at polar opposites, and as such would lack respect for each other, Vacuo seeing Atlas as a dictatorship in all but name while Atlas would see Vacuo as a lawless place, to be kind.
Ironwood is straightforward. If there is a threat, he'll meet it head on with all his might, that's how he works, that's how Atlas works. However, Theodore and Rumpole are different. When there is a threat, they'll find it and stab it in the back, silencing it forever without anyone being the wiser. To Theodore, Ironwood is an idiot that think everything can be solved by smashing it with something stronger, while to Ironwood, Theodore and mostly Rumpole (as she's the one doing the dirty work) are sleazy backstabbers who don't play fair.
At least that's how I portray them.
Neo grinned as she opened the door to Roman's cell. Sneaking onto the ship had been laughably easy.
Due to the commotion Cinder had caused yesterday with Yang 'breaking' Mercury's leg, there had been a large influx of grimm near the city, and Ironwood had spread his forces thin to meet with the threat. As a result the flagship they were on was only manned by the strict minimum amount of personnel, which thanks to Atlas' mighty technology meant there was only two guards in front of Roman's cell and one back-up pilot Neo had locked in the bathroom.
Why didn't she kill the back-up pilot ? Well Neo had a plan. While Cinder was expecting them to hijack the flagship and Ironwood's army, or at least all of his army that could be remotely control, Neo's main objective was to get out of there with Roman alive. Her plan was simple, she and Roman were going to steal the flagship instead and use it to move to a safe location before leaving for Vacuo.
At least that was the plan, if Roman actually wanted to go along with it.
"No Neo, you've seen how far she's already gotten. The only way we get out of this alive is if we work with her." he said, "Besides, she's already winning, it would be stupid to jump ship now that we might actually get something out of this."
Neo rolled her eyes, Roman was being greedy, and she had a feeling this won't end well for him.
"Now can you give me that scroll so we can do what she expects us to ?" asked Roman.
Neo shook her head. Last time she had went along with his plan he had ended up in jail, now they were doing things her way.
"You want to play tough ?" asked Roman, "Well, unless you give me that scroll I'll touch every single button on the console until we crash."
Neo puffed, he wouldn't. She knew he wouldn't, or at least thought he wouldn't until she saw Roman walk up on the bridge and actually start playing with the commands.
"Hmm... Let's see, what does... this button do ?" he asked out loud as he started pressing, causing a worrying noise, "Oh, fun ! How about... this one ?"
Neo quickly relented, not wanting Roman to crash them down, and gave him the scroll so he could plug it in.
"Now this one, this one's going to be fun." said Roman as he plugged the scroll in, letting it take control over the ship. In a way, he was sorry, but he couldn't let Neo make the stupid mistake of going against Cinder. Even if it meant he crashed the ship and died along with it, he knew Neo would survive, and to him, that was all that mattered right now.
The two criminals suddenly heard a loud thud as the ship shook a bit, causing Roman to frown.
"Ugh... go see what that is." he said to Neo, who simply nodded before going up.
When she saw who exactly had landed outside, Neo grinned. Roman was going to be so mad.
Name : Ruby Rose
Age : 15
Level : 4 (12%)
Class : Reaper [You use the deadliest weapon on Remnant, a scythe, to tear apart the grimm]
Path : None
Title : A simple soul
HP : 10/10
AP : 24/24
STR : 8
CON : 10
DEX : 21
INT : 12
WIS : 14
CHA : 10
Semblance : Petal Burst [You can turn into petals, giving you extra speed as well as allowing you to weave through the air]
Status effects :
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Silver-eyed Warrior [You have silver eyes, which holds the power of the God of Light. It can be used to harm every single one of the God of Darkness' creations]
Defenses :
AC : 17
For : 13
Ref : 20
Will : 15
Beating up little red was a walk in the park. Soon, Ruby was sent dangling above the void, hanging to the ship by the tip of her scythe. Slowly, Neo walked up to her and pointed her sword at her to make sure she stayed there. Now she could simply enjoy one of Roman's endless monologues as he let his heart out at his red-hooded enemy.
She was being stupid, she wasn't paying attention to Ruby at all, and it cost her when the girl managed to open up Hush. In a gasp, she was sent flying in Vale's night sky.
Outside of the initial surprise, Neo wasn't too worried. Ruby was a silver-eyed warrior, and according to the stories that meant she wouldn't do too much harm to Roman. She could count on her to protect him once she won, which shouldn't be too hard even if most of her aura was down. Roman wasn't really that much of a fighter after all.
She couldn't worry too much about him though, she had her own problems to deal with now. Namely that she was currently flying in a horde of grimm.
Griffon
Level : 7 (10%)
HP : 98/98
STR : 20
CON : 18
DEX : 16
INT : 2
WIS : 12
CHA : 6
Semblance : Grimm [a grimm's entire purpose is to destroy the very existence of living beings. Their soul. Gains 1d12 damage against aura]
Defenses :
AC : 18
For : 19
Ref : 15
Will : 14
Neo frowned. One would be okay, however she was surrounded by those grimm, all pretty much the same outside of maybe the experience they needed until their next level up.
Closing Hush, Neo let herself fall on one of the griffon that had noticed her and smashed its wing with all the strength she could muster.
- 12 HP
Not enough, not nearly enough. Opening Hush again, Neo dodged two griffon that had tried to swipe her and grabbed the top of the beak of a third that had wanted to bite her. Pushing herself up on that hand, Neo activated Hush's mechashift, switching from her usual pink canopy with white Illusion Dust weaved in it to one more light blue.
She activated the Dust inside, freezing the bird's head completely. Yet, despite having its head frozen stiff, the griffon didn't show any sigh of being affected by it, never once stopping to try to shake her off.
- 20 HP
Neo noticed the two other grimm flying steady next to the one she was gripped to and barely avoided their claws by jumping off in the air. She switched her canopy again, and this time created a small explosion where the three griffons were gathered at.
- 16 HP
- 27 HP
- 12 HP
The grimm were shaken but relentless and they didn't give Neo a break, swarming around the falling criminal once again. She jumped from griffon to griffon, avoiding all their strikes as a fourth one came along to help its friends.
Seeing it charge her with its beak open, Neo aimed at it and fired straight down its maw with her fire Dust.
- 22 HP
The recoil wasn't enough to stop it, but Neo had enough space to duck under it before stabbing its wing as it passed above her.
- 15 HP
The griffons once again clawed away at her, yet this time, one of the griffon actually tore through the grimm she was standing on as it missed.
- 12 HP
The hurt grimm screeched, and Neo took that as a sign that it was better to get rid of it first. She switched her canopy again, back to ice Dust, and froze off its wings.
- 19 HP
Now, this freeze produced results. The wings stopped flapping, and the grimm suddenly plummeted down to earth. Opening Hush to avoid the same fate, Neo smirked as the griffon splattered on the ground and dissolved into a dark mist.
She had fallen for quite a bit though, and the other griffons would take a few moments to catch up, so she was able to look at her surroundings. Her eyes quickly caught on to the CCT tower, broken in two near the top, where Pyrrha was using her semblance to fight someone, probably Cinder by the flames produced by the other side.
Name : Pyrrha Nikos
Age : 14
Level : 15 (21%)
Class : Gladiator [You spend your life fighting in the arena. Your skills are built for it and you value Dexterity and Endurance above all else]
Path : The Hero [You are destined to save the world, or at least you believe so]
Title : The Invincible Girl [5 bonus to Charisma checks outside of combat if your target knows you]
HP : 15/15
AP : 29/100
STR : 17
CON : 15
DEX : 22
INT : 12
WIS : 13
CHA : 11
Semblance : Polarity [You can move metals around, allowing you to increase your attack result or CA to any amount you want in exchange for aura, you can improve the result up to plus 5 before it becomes noticeable]
Status effects :
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Defenses :
AC : 31(36)
For : 24
Ref : 27
Will : 21
Neo bit her lip. She was really hoping Pyrrha would be able to win against Cinder, but if she had already gotten the maiden powers it wasn't going to happen. The boost she had seen on Raven was just too strong, along with the ability to use Dust abilities freely.
She had to look away though, as the grimm were catching up on her. She got ready to fight back, when she saw Ironwood's flagship suddenly crash and burn, slowly drifting down to the ground.
That small distraction and the worry it caused her proved to be her downfall, as she didn't dodge any of the incoming attacks on her.
- 16 HP
- 14 HP
- 14 HP
[Your HP reached 0]
[Rolling for last breath]
[Roll failed]
[You are dying]
As she fell to the ground, Neo noticed through her blurred vision the sight of Atlas' flagship crashing down in flames.
No, what happened ? Roman wasn't still on that ship was he ? No, she had to save him.
[You are dying]
No, no, no, she had to save him, to protect him, she could die later.
[Rolling for last breath]
[Roll failed]
[You are dying]
Slowly, Neo pushed on her arms. She crawled, using all of her non-existent energy to get closer to the wreckage, if only just a bit.
[Rolling for last breath]
[Roll failed]
[Rolling for last breath]
[Roll failed]
[Rolling for last breath]
…
She crawled, she pushed on her legs, she did all she could. She wouldn't let Roman die. He might make her angry sometimes, he might be a complete dum-dum, but he was her dum-dum, he was the one that had raised her after her parents died, he was the one that had always supported her, protected her, and it was her turn to protect him.
She kept advancing, kept going further, step by step. She was walking now, no running towards the crashed ship. She was so focused on saving Roman that she didn't notice how she stopped bleeding, how her semblance had stopped rolling for last breath, nor did she notice the three new notifications.
[By caring so much for someone you are willing to put your own life above theirs, you have overcome part of your trauma]
[Lost Fighting for you life Status effect]
[Aura : USABLE]
Now, doesn't this seem like a good place to end ?
Just kidding, it is however a good place to take a short break.
To be continued on August 14th
Note that, while I don't usually script the fights too much, I didn't feel like having Neo fight an endless horde of griffons until one managed to crit her. Who knows, if I had gone all the way, maybe she would have managed to kill a whole bunch before falling to her death.
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 16
Level : 16 (23%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 1/10
AP : 30/85
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 18
INT : 21
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 26(30)
For : 19
Ref : 25
Will : 23