A/N: I have no idea if this will land or not, but I decided to try a little something different with this chapter. I hope you don't find the formatting off-putting, but I did want to experiment with a different writing style. I guess I should thank you for being my guinea pigs on a new method of delivering exposition.

Thanks for your support, and let me know if this occasional diversion from normal third person perspective is a welcome change or a weird transition.

Excerpt from interrogation of detainee #04200520

Audio only

Name: Adam Taurus

Date 8/31/XX82

Time: 0210

Interview Conducted By:

Head of ACEOps Clover Ebi

General James Ironwood

AceOps Specialist Marrow Amin

[0210] EBI: Good evening, or good morning, rather. It is 0210 hours and we are going to be interrogating the High Leader of the White Fang, Adam Taurus. Thus far, Mr. Taurus has been cooperative and pleasant. He will be escorted in by Mr. Marrow Amin who will also be overseeing the recording of this interrogation.

[edited for time 6 minutes]

[0216] EBI: Thank you, Marrow. Won't you have a seat, Mr. Taurus?

[0216] TAURUS: Adam is fine.

[0216] EBI: Is there anything I can get you? Tea? Water? Coffee?

[0216] TAURUS: I don't suppose there's any way you can swing me a bottle of bourbon?

[0216] EBI: (chuckles) Unfortunately, no. As much as I could use a drink now, as well, I think General Ironwood would not approve.

[0216] TAURUS: And will your fearless leader be joining us this evening, or morning rather?

[0216] EBI: Unfortunately, no. General Ironwood has other matters to attend to, even at this ungodly hour. I'm afraid you're stuck with me.

[0216] TAURUS: That's unfortunate because I won't be speaking to anyone unless the General is present.

[0217] EBI: He will be given a transcript of our conversation.

[0217] TAURUS: Sir, with all due respect, I am the High Leader of the White Fang. I did not send my highest ranking lieutenant to Atlas, I came myself. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask you to do the same.

[0217] EBI: You're not really in a position to dictate who will be speaking with you.

[0217] TAURUS: I came here of my own free will, and with what I'm offering, I believe I'm in a position to make all the demands I want. You can deny them, of course, but I will not speak another word of why I turned myself in unless it's directly to the General.

[0217] (shuffling)

[0217] EBI: I can assure you, he'll be informed of our entire conversation and any action will be overseen by him directly.

[audio edited for time 6:18]

[0224] EBI: Mr. Taurus, I'm sure you're tired…

[0224] TAURUS: No doubt by your design. My cell was deliberately kept very well lit and cold, and now after 2 am I've been summoned for my interrogation? I'm sure your offer of coffee was only a ploy to fuel that fire.

[0224] EBI: We can let you back to your cell as soon as you answer a few of my questions.

[0224] TAURUS: I'm not answering any questions unless they are asked directly by General Ironwood and he asks me his questions in person.

[0224] EBI: I'm sorry, but I have no control over what the General does with his time and I"m not about to interrupt whatever very important matter he is doing now and tell him I have an uncooperative prisoner who has demanded to speak to my manager.

[0224] TAURUS: I'm not asking you to do any of that. I'm just informing you of the circumstances under which I will talk and answer questions. If that happens tonight, so be it. If that doesn't happen until four weeks from now, I'll wait.

[0224] EBI: Listen, I'm not trying to make this more difficult, I want to go to bed and sleep as much as you probably do…

[0224] TAURUS: Pity.

[0224] EBI: …but in order to do my job, I'm supposed to conduct this debriefing.

[0225] TAURUS: Perhaps then it would be in everyone's best interest if we stopped for today. We could both get some sleep and you would also have a chance to pencil in General Ironwood for this interrogation.

[0225] EBI: That just isn't going to happen.

[0225] TAURUS: It will…when you're desperate enough.

[0227] EBI: Mr. Taurus…

[0230] EBI: Please be reasonable. You really are just going to sit and say nothing until we get the General in here?

[0230] TAURUS: That is correct. Either you'll get tired enough to let me sleep, or you'll get curious enough to bring him here. Either way, I can last. I've gone days at a time without sleep or food in harsher conditions than this.

[0230] EBI: (sigh)

[transcript edited 8:04]

[0238] (door pneumatics)

[transcript edited 1:24:24]

[0403] (door pneumatics)

[0403] TAURUS: General Ironwood. It seems the AceOps aren't the only ones burning the midnight oil.

[0403] IRONWOOD: Adam Taurus. The head of the AceOps tells me you refuse to speak with anyone except me.

[0403] TAURUS: That is correct, though I did not insist it be tonight. Regardless, I thank you for meeting with me.

[0403] IRONWOOD: Why is it you wish to speak with me so desperately?

[0403] TAURUS: Not necessarily desperation, but I am aware that you and I have a few common goals that I believe need to be discussed face to face. No recordings, no transcripts; just two men who want what is best for their people having a conversation candidly.

[0403] (chair scraping)

[0404] IRONWOOD: If I may be so audacious, I'd like to see your scar for myself. I've seen the photos from your booking, but I'd still like to see it for myself.

[0404] (cloth ruffling)

[0404] IRONWOOD: Hot iron brand?

[0404] TAURUS: Yes, sir.

[0404] IRONWOOD: How old were you?

[0404] TAURUS: Eight.

[0404] IRONWOOD: And your vision?

[0404] TAURUS: I can see out of my left eye, but have limited peripheral vision. I cover it mostly to hide my identity.

[0405] IRONWOOD: Your identity as High Leader of the White Fang.

[0405] TAURUS: While I am proud of my former position, I also understand the need to not be easy to identify to the authorities, particularly of Mistral and Atlas.

[0405] IRONWOOD: I see. And I take it you have no objections to Clover Ebi being present during this debriefing and he may ask a question or two?

[0405] TAURUS: None at all. I merely insisted I speak with you in person as I am sure you will have questions only I can answer and I wish to be done with this entire process as quickly as possible.

[0406] IRONWOOD: I see. Very well. I suppose I should begin with why exactly you are here, having willingly given yourself over to the custody of the Atlesean military knowing full well you'll be tried for your crimes in Atlas and most likely extradited to Mistral to be tried for your crimes there as well, and quite possibly after that Vale and Menagerie.

[0407] TAURUS: I turned myself in, General, because something bigger than the White Fang threatens both of us and if we don't start working together now, I believe it will sign death warrants for all of us.

[0407] IRONWOOD: So this is your attempt at an alliance?

[0407] TAURUS: For this isolated instance and only as long as Salem threatens Remnant, yes. I believe our best chance at survival is for the Atlesean Military to join forces with the remaining huntsmen in Mistral and Vacuo and for the faunus to join and do their part in preventing her victory by also forming an alliance with the White Fang as well as Menagerie's volunteer militia. The grimm queen is bigger than all of us, and if we don't band together, she'll pick us off one by one.

[0408] IRONWOOD: She's already done a fair job of turning us against each other.

[0408] TAURUS: A pain I am sure you realized at the fall of Beacon. My moment of clarity came during the sacking of Haven when Hazel's men left us to take the fall for the bombing of the school and tried to arrange for our involvement to shadow his own. I can only hope the others she has worked with from the Xiong crime family to the Branwens figure out she isn't going to keep us around forever and the spoils of war only last for so long.

[0408] IRONWOOD: And how do you propose we unite? You'll just give a speech to your men, I'll give a speech to mine and we'll put down our weapons and hold hands?

[0408] EBI: We could never allow an alliance with a terrorist organization. Sharing weapons and intel with them would only result in disaster later on down the road.

[0409] TAURUS: But there will be a 'later on down the road'. If we don't, Salem will overrun the world with grimm and either destroy all of us, or subjugate us into a life worse than death.

[0409] IRONWOOD: That still doesn't answer the question. How is it that you propose we go about joining all of these adversarial forces, some of whom don't know about Salem's existence to work together to defeat her?

[0409] TAURUS: I will act as liaison to the White Fang and direct my troops accordingly to coordinate. You, of course, already have command of the strongest military force in Remnant. Blake Belladonna is here, as the daughter of the Chieftain of Menagerie has already demonstrated her ability to rally the faunus to work with huntsmen. With the combined forces, we will be able to coordinate an attack to eliminate Salem's armies, both grimm and otherwise.

[0409] EBI: So…what? We're going to network our way to victory? You know, one of our huntsmen has connections with the Branwens, should i get him on the comms and see if the bandits are interested in joining forces as well?

[0409] TAURUS: You're free to mock, but this, working together, is the only way to survive.

[0409] IRONWOOD: Logistics aside, that's only her minions. For every one of her pawns we take out, she always has one to replace it. We cannot merely defeat Salem's forces and expect her to give up. She's been at this for centuries, she'll always find a way to come back.

[0410] TAURUS: I am also under the impression that Salem's destined nemesis is also here in Atlas. Ozma's soul has inhabited a boy. If he has true magic, between him and your silver-eyed warrior, you'll have the relevant firepower you need to destroy the grimm queen herself.

[0410] IRONWOOD: How you know about either of those things is beyond me, but perhaps you weren't made privy to the fact that Salem cannot be killed.

[0410] TAURUS: I believe the information is that Ozma cannot kill Salem. That speaks nothing of Ruby Rose or anyone else that might make the attempt. Ozma can assist, which is imperative as he can wield actual magic, but the only caveat is that he can't strike the killing blow.

[0410] IRONWOOD: That's assuming the information is applied specifically to Ozma. We're acting under the assumption the relic's answer applied to everyone. If she can't be killed, there has to be some other way she can be defeated in a relatively permanent way.

[0410] TAURUS: No matter how you attempt it: capture, destruction, banishing her to another dimension, it's going to take real magic, serious manpower, and serious firepower. I can bring you two of those things.

[0411] EBI: Two? You can bring portions of one. You know nothing about real magic: the relics and maidens and I seriously doubt you have enough manpower to actually assist the Atlesean army and the full force of the huntsmen.

[0411] TAURUS: Then explain to me why the White Fang has thrived and evaded capture for decades acting outside of the law. You have yet to make any kind of meaningful headway with who you have characterized as a ragtag group of urban terrorists. Your people outnumber mine almost five to one and yet we've won a war unto ourselves and have successfully mounted attacks on two of you academies.

[0411] IRONWOOD: You had help.

[0411]TAURUS We are resourceful and pragmatic. We aren't bound by a council like your army or by a code of ethics like your huntsmen, we do what needs to be done.

[0411] IRONWOOD: And the serious firepower?

[0411] TAURUS: Weiss Schnee.

[0411] EBI: She isn't even the SDC heiress anymore and she's not a licensed huntsmen.

[0412] TAURUS: Not yet. But this is the crux of our conversation. Whether anyone realizes it or not, Weiss is the lynchpin holding our success together. She may not even realize how crucial she is to the fate of the world. But I do.

[0412] IRONWOOD: Why don't you elaborate on your relationship with Weiss Schnee?

[0412] TAURUS: I was initially instructed to assassinate Weiss as a means of redeeming myself from the shame of my involvement at Beacon. Then High Leader Sienna Khan thought it was…unbecoming of me to work with humans to attack a school full of children and that had faunus attendees. To make up for this, I was instructed to regain my goodwill with the White Fang by killing the heiress of the SDC, though I know now she's been disinherited.

[0412] IRONWOOD: Why didn't you kill her?

[0412] TAURUS: I thought…at the time…I thought it would make for better revenge to enslave her to the White Fang, the way her father had enslaved the faunus to his company. Not even being given the dignity to die for your cause but instead being forced to serve the very people who despise and abuse you. I was filled with hatred for everything she was: a human, a Schnee, a huntress, and I wanted her to suffer. I wanted my vengeance to be more long term than just slitting her throat in her sleep

[0412] IRONWOOD: And when did that change?

[0412] TAURUS: I don't know if there was any one point, but it was gradual, like falling asleep: slowly and then all at once. She never fought me, and yet she constantly challenged my ideals, my philosophy and even pointed out when my actions contradicted my desires. I knew, despite my mistreatment of her, that I could trust her, and in time, we came to depend on each other because we were all each other had.

[0412] IRONWOOD: You had an entire terrorist faction at your disposal.

[0412] TAURUS: General, you and I know that there were things that I know, working with the likes of Cinder and Hazel that we couldn't just reveal to the dedicated faunus under me. So, yes. Weiss became my confidant, my advisor, and eventually, we became involved romantically.

[0412] IRONWOOD: Sexually?

[0415] TAURUS: Yes.

[0416] IRONWOOD: And how long have you two been involved?

[0416] TAURUS: There isn't a hard and fast start date to this, but I'd say…two months, maybe ten weeks.

[0417] IRONWOOD: And did the White Fang approve of your relationship?

[0417] TAURUS: (snort) Not when they found out.

[0417] IRONWOOD: You tried to keep it a secret?

[0417] TAURUS: I was concerned it would affect my reputation and her safety, yes.

[0417] IRONWOOD: And after that, after they found out about the two of you, is when you decided to flee here to Atlas?

[0417] TAURUS: It was her idea and I thought it wise.

[0417] EBI: And how do we know you're not just using Jacques Schnee's daughter to get the huntsmen and the rest of humanity to fight off the devil you were foolish enough to make deals with?

[0418] TAURUS: Because if I had wanted to use her, I would have started the night I took her and I wouldn't have brought her back to you. Had I wanted to "use her", either for my personal pleasure or for my nefarious plans, I would not have put her back in the path of her people, her team, and her own sister. I put her own weapon back in her hand. I followed her lead here, and I have no guarantee now that you'll even release me when this is all over. I'm risking everything I have ever loved or had for the last fourteen years. You think I would do that because I thought I could get the Atlesean military to do my dirty work for me?

[0418] IRONWOOD: Perhaps not your dirty work, but I have a hard time believing that you've miraculously seen the error of your ways and have decided to turn from enemy to ally just because you've had some revelation.

[0418] TAURUS: Please don't take this as some kind of change of heart, General. The faunus are not so eager to let bygones be bygones.

[0418] EBI: You mean you do not wish to work alongside the huntsmen?

[0418] TAURUS: What I mean is, I do not wish to side with humanity: to aid the same kinds of people who put us in cages and made us resort to violence just to make our voices heard. The faunus have spent the last twenty years not benefitting from a war we supposedly won. I fear that if we reach out an olive branch to humanity now, without any real change on their part, we are absolving their past, but also condoning how they treat us now. We will be giving humanity every right to say they were just "misguided' in the past and that our actions are us being difficult and vindictive. Our goals may align, but we are not working for the humans.

[0419] IRONWOOD: And after this ordeal with Salem? What then?

[0419] TAURUS: I think we should wait until we get to that bridge to cross it, don't you?"

[0419] (chair creak)

[0419] IRONWOOD: And you believe the White Fang will still follow you? Now that you've been seen at Schnee funded galas and have fled to Atlas to seek shelter from the consequences of your actions and under the auspices of the very rich humans they despise?

[0419] TAURUS: When they learn the truth about Salem, yes. I have many loyal members of the White Fang. Both Vale and Menagerie are loyal exclusively to me, and even if Artis takes over as the high leader, most of Mistral, if given a choice, will choose me over that she-bear.

[0419] EBI: And why will they follow you?

[0420] TAURUS: Because I am a product of both the mistreatment of humanity and the misanthropy of the White Fang. If anyone can bring the faunus to see the necessity of doing something untasteful to ensure our mutual survival, it's me.

[0420] EBI: And why should we trust you?

[0420] TAURUS: Because Weiss and I have come to Atlas for more than just our safety. We have a mission here, and I think in this regard, our desires would coincide.

[0420] IRONWOOD: How so?

[0420] TAURUS: Your biggest fear right now is Salem, but your second is the elections. We've brought with us enough evidence to ensure Jacques Schnee must recuse his campaign and, if all goes well, steps down as the CEO of the SDC as well, leaving you with Robyn Hill on the council and an ally at the help of the greatest dust supplier in Remnant.

[0420] IRONWOOD: You must have some pretty damning evidence. Something we've been trying to dig up for years and you were able to obtain it within the span of a few months.

[0420] TAURUS: A week actually.

[0421] (papers shuffling)

[0421] TAURUS: You see, General, if you know which people to ask, the information comes to you quite easily. You spent all your years trying to figure out how he was cooking the books and didn't even consider asking any of the actual people he victimized.

[0421] EBI: The faunus?

[0421] TAURUS: His daughters.

[edited for time 3 minutes]

[0424] IRONWOOD: And after that?

[0424] TAURUS: After that, we begin the insurmountable task of working together to take down the greatest threat to life that has ever been.

[0424] IRONWOOD: A task for which we are woefully unprepared.

[0424] TAURUS: Perhaps now, but if my plans are put into effect, and if Weiss is allowed to assume her rightful place as the heiress of the SDC, we would be able to bolster your troops with the dust and additional skill sets offered by the faunus and we actually might stand a fighting chance.

[0424] IRONWOOD: There are still so many logistics. (sigh)

[0424] TAURUS: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Our first step is removing Jacques Schnee from his company. Will you assist us with this?

[CONTENT REDACTED FROM 0424 - 0431]

[0431] IRONWOOD: We can discuss the matter further. Operative Ebi, you are dismissed for the time being. If you'll excuse us, Mr. Taurus and I have some matters to discuss in private.

[0431] EBI: Yes, sir.

[0431] IRONWOOD: And if you would be so kind as to turn off the recording devices in the room.

[0431] EBI: Yes, sir. I'll see to it.

[0431] IRONWOOD: Get some rest, Clover.

[0432] IRONWOOD: Thank you sir.

[0432] (door pneumatic)

[0432] IRONWOOD: (sigh) You must have a serious ace in the hole if you've come into my compound with that kind of confidence. What exactly is it that you have on Jacques Schnee?

[0432] TAURUS: First, I think we should discuss the terms of my release and immunity from charges. Even if you decide to not to try me for my many…many crimes, I need a guarantee that I won't be extradited to Mistral or Vale…or even Menagerie.

[0432] IRONWOOD: I can't give you that kind of guarantee if the information you have isn't as effective as you'd like it to be. Immunity is not going to be something I can offer you until I can see the information you have.

[0432] TAURUS: There are two encrypted flash-drives; one is with my belongings and the other is with Weiss. Hers is enough to take Jacques Schnee out of his run for the Council. Mine will remove him from ownership of the SDC. You are free to check the information Weiss has to prove its voracity. After that, if you want what's on my drive, we'll need to discuss the terms of my immunity.

[0433] IRONWOOD: You've thought of everything, Mr. Taurus. Planned to the last detail.

[0433] TAURUS: As always. My survival and the survival of my people depends on it.

[0433] (chair scraping)

[0433] IRONWOOD: You should get some sleep. We'll collect the information from Weiss later this morning. If things check out, you could be released as early as this evening.

[0433] TAURUS: Thank you, sir.

[0433] audio disconnected