Chapter 4: Upgrades, Champions, and Stick Fights

Normally Jaune's post-mission debriefings were comedic affairs, between Cardin's snide remarks, Ruby lamenting about superficial damage to Crescent Rose, and Yang throwing in as many puns as she could. This was not one of those times. For one, there was the spectre of Cardin's abduction hanging over them. On the other hand, there was the severe damage to Crescent Rose. None of their Mecha had even been that seriously damaged in combat before, and it was a stark reminder of the odds against them.

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "I've notified Valean Intelligence about the situation with Cardin. They said they'll make locating him their top priority, unless they have fires they have to put out." He let his hand fall on to the table, not bothering to hide how defeated he felt. "Ruby, what's Crescent Rose look like?"

"A mess." Ruby said. "It was a good thing that I got back to the Gladius when I did, because my MAC would've gone critical if I had taken another hit. Other than that, the internals are absolutely shredded, I lost my Railgun, the right arm is gone at the elbow. It's going to be a while before Crescent Rose is ready to go again."

"What's a while, Rubes?" Yang asked.

Ruby flinched. "If I can get it into a dry dock setup, a couple weeks. But if we have to do all the repairs here on the Gladius, we're looking at a month. At best." She smiled, but it had none of the usual glimmer behind it, "It's fine, I would've needed to do some work to accommodate the Beam Scythe that Ironwood's sending, this just gives me an opportunity to really get some upgrades going, so this doesn't happen again."

Jaune swiveled in his chair, and looked out at Amity, where he could see the construction of the aptly named Amity Station taking place. "Guys, I need you to be completely honest with me. No décor."

Ruby sat up straight in an instant. No décor was another pilot slang term, this one meant that Jaune wanted them to ignore rank while answering his question. "What's up, Jaune?" Yang asked.

"Do you guys think I'm cut out for this?" Jaune asked, his uncertainty bringing a tremor to his voice. "Leading this task force?"

Weiss answered immediately, "Yes. Due to how harshly the Valean military treats claims of nepotism, I have no doubt that you can lead this task force. Your father would never risk the possibility of someone-"

Jaune sighed, "Weiss, stop dodging around it, and answer the question. Do you think I have what it takes?"

Weiss pressed her lips together, forming a grim line. "I am still reserving judgement until such time as I can come to a proper conclusion."

Ruby glanced at her lancemate, only to get a thought across their link. He needs encouragement. Encouragement I don't know how to give.

Yang waved her hand dismissively, "Jaune, you're being way too hard on yourself. So we got bruised a little, it's not like the White Fang is going to get Cardin of all people to talk."

Jaune shot out of his chair and slammed his hands on the table. "You think so, Yang? You think I'm just being too hard on myself? Our operational strength is down to seventy-five percent after a single encounter with the White Fang, not our real enemy, mind you. They've kidnapped one of the pilots that I am responsible for, and in doing so have the potential to completely compromise our operational security! And as for Cardin talking, need I remind you that he was the lowest ranked in our class at interrogation resistance! But I'm just being too hard on myself, right? RIGHT?"

"Yeah, you are." Yang said cooly. "This is the Fang we're talking about here. If Cardin talks, and they learn we're going after the Revitalists, they'll probably want to help. Look, I know this is the first time we've suffered anything that feels like a defeat, but look at the big picture. We defended the convoy against a numerically superior enemy, after being yanked out of FTL by God knows what!"

Jaune opened his mouth to snap at her, but thought better of it. He turned back to the window and rested his forehead against the transparisteel. "Ruby, what about you? Do you think that-"

"Yep." Ruby stated.

Jaune froze, "Just like that?"

Ruby nodded, "Of course, Vomit Boy. It's been like that ever since we partnered up for the doubles tournament back at the Academy."

Jaune blinked, "But we lost in the second round?"

Ruby shook her head, of course Jaune would focus on that, especially right now. "That doesn't matter, Jaune. We still won the Best Teamwork award! I know you've got what it takes to lead this task force, because I've seen it."

Jaune sat back down and activated his Omni-Scroll. "Thanks, Ruby. Anyways, there is some good news. First, Sensors got enough of a reading on the new White Fang Mecha to construct simulator packages for them. This way we can practice against them so we don't get caught off guard again. Second, we're getting some reinforcements from Mistral. Three new pilots, their Mecha, and their support crews. They'll get here within the next couple of weeks."

Yang leaned back and propped her feet up on the table. "Well, don't keep us in suspense. Who's joining the party?"

Weiss shot a glare at Yang. "Could you at least attempt to have some semblance of decorum?"

Without taking her feet off of the table, or breaking eye contact with Weiss, Yang sent an otherwise satisfactorily military salute at Jaune, "Sir, who is Mistral sending to assist in our mission?"

Weiss's eye twitched.

Jaune's gaze flicked between Yang and Weiss before deciding to not stick his foot in a bear trap. "They're sending us Champion Lance." After saying that he used his Omni-Scroll to project headshots of the three pilots, along with stat sheets of their Mecha.

Weiss's eyes bugged out. "What? They're sending us Pyrrha Nikos?"

Weiss's astonishment wasn't completely unwarranted, as Pyrrha Nikos was considered by many to be the most skilled Mecha pilot of her generation. In the Kingdom of Mistral, the most popular sport and pastime was simulated Mecha combat. At fifteen years old, Pyrrha had been the rising star of the sport. Especially remarkable was the fact that she had never lost a match, earning her such monikers as the Invincible Girl and the Eternal Champion. However, five years after her debut, she had left it behind to join the ranks of Mistral's military. However, Pyrrha's reputation preceded her and she was never assigned a partner. This led to the three man Champion Lance, where Pyrrha was joined by Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, who were well known in their own right for commandeering a village's singular aging Mark One Mecha to escape after it had been destroyed by a Grimm.

Yang whistled, "Nice. Pyrrha alone is a win, both in combat strength and the good old hearts and minds category."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised that you would even think of-" Weiss snapped her attention to Ruby as a thought from the younger girl was beamed to her. "Ruby, no! Focus on getting Crescent Rose repaired!"

Ruby winced. It wasn't her fault, she had just been really excited about the optical camouflage system on Ren's Mecha! Anyone would've done the same thing! "Yeah... that's fair."

Jaune sighed. "Anyways, that's everything right now. Ruby, I need to know what parts you'll need requisitioned as soon as possible. Dismissed." Jaune stayed seated as the others filed out. After they were gone, his eye was drawn to Pyrrha's picture, thanks to her red hair and sparkling green eyes. She was definitely cute... and only one equivalent rank rank away from him in the Mistralian military, so there wouldn't be any ethical-

Jaune shook his head violently, no way that was ever going to happen. A girl like Pyrrha interested in a guy like him? Not in this lifetime.


Ruby had been downplaying it by a factor of a hundred when she had told Jaune that Crescent Rose was a mess. In reality it was a complete and utter disaster. Her ranged weapon was just gone, and upon making it to the Gladius, Crescent Rose had practically fallen apart. Rather than pondering the fact that she had survived by sheer luck, Ruby was taking the opportunity to solve a problem that had plagued Crescent Rose since its inception.

Heat.

Despite the freedom that the Valean Federation gave its pilots in design their Mecha, they always seemed to be gunshy when a pilot started to say ok, I need some custom parts. To a master of all things Mecha like Ruby, it was an absolutely maddening restriction. Due to only being able to use widely available cooling systems, Crescent Rose was constantly flirting with the redline. As a result, Ruby had to skimp on armor to maintain the speeds that she wanted and not blow up from overheating. She had a design for a cooling system that would solve her problems, but it used custom parts that she would have to make herself.

Sighing, she sent off the request to allow her to use custom parts. Again. This would be the... fifth time?

Ruby drew a deep breath in. Better to worry about what she could control, namely weapons. General Ironwood had forwarded her the specs on the Beam Scythe so she could prep Crescent Rose for it. A magnetic holster on the back of what passed for Crescent Rose's waist would do the trick there. Now, the main issue was ranged weapons. Since she would need both her hands free for the Beam Scythe, that meant integrated weaponry. Rail Cannons were the obvious choice, but shoulder or hip mounted? There were pros and cons to each, but-

"You really do know what you're doing, don't you?"

Ruby looked up from the console she was using to finalize her upgrades to find Weiss. She was wearing what Ruby supposed passed for fatigues in the Atlesian military. Dark colored pants and a gray jacket over a black shirt, adorned with navy blue epaulettes.

"Huh?" Ruby said.

Weiss fidgeted, "You tend to send thoughts to me in the form of images. One of them was the schematics for the cooling system you designed for Crescent Rose. It really is impressive."

Ruby smiled brightly and rubbed the back of her head, Weiss not being cold? Run with it! "Thanks, Weiss!" Her smile shrunk by a couple of molars, "I just need actual approval from Vale before I can start using it, which... hasn't happened yet."

Weiss frowned, she probably had no space to talk, given the fact that she had been given leave to modify Myrtenaster. That was something that rarely happened in the Atlesian military. Maybe a subject change? "You know, I had overheating problems with the GLYPH Drive when I was first designing it."

Ruby perked up immediately, there was Mecha tech talk to be had! "Oh, yeah? How'd you fix it?"

Weiss gestured to Myrtenaster in the next bay over. "The wings have a purpose other than aesthetic. They serve as radiators."

"Oh, that makes sense. I can see how... wait a second..." Ruby trailed off as she began to have a brainstorm. She rushed over to another console, and started inputting data. "Combine Crescent Rose's Rail Cannon with Myrtenaster's Beam Rifle, use the magnetic constrictors to compress the Dust reaction, sheathe them in GLYPH Field... between my cooling system and Myrtenaster's wings we should be good on cooling... We'd have to be perfectly in sync, but that's fine, we have the Link after all..."

Weiss wasn't paying attention to Ruby's rambling, due to the fact that she was lost in the mental image of what Ruby was dreaming up. In her mind's eye, Weiss saw Myrtenaster's Beam Rifle link with Crescent Rose's Rail Cannon, saw them charge up, and...

"WHITE ROSE CANNON, FIRE!"

Weiss looked at Ruby in amazement. For one thing, this... combination weapon was completely unprecedented, revolutionary even. And Ruby had just pulled it from thin air! Weiss knew her way around her Myrtenaster better than most pilots knew their Mecha, through the virtue of her being the one to invent the GLYPH Drive, but Ruby... Ruby was a prodigy.

Weiss was brought out of her reverie by a ping from Ruby's Omni-Scroll. "Huh, a message already? Ugh, they probably denied me again..." Ruby grew very quiet as she read the message from the Powers That Be, Ruby began to recite the message, growing more and more excited as she did so. "Flight Officer Rose, due to your status as a member of the Inter-Kingdom Unity Task Force, we, the VFM Mecha Design Approval Board, give you permission to use custom parts and sign off on your COOLING SYSTEM DESIGN! YES, FINALLY!' Ruby began jumping in place while in the middle of squeeing.

No one knew better than Weiss what it felt like to get the go ahead to use the design that they had come up with, but there was only so much that Weiss's eardrums could take. "Ruby, while I know that you're excit-" Weiss was cut off by Ruby launching herself at Weiss at wrapping her up in a hug.

Weiss immediately seized up.

"GET OFF!"

Ruby recoiled from Weiss's mental shout. "Sorry, I-I didn't know that you don't like that."

"That isn't an excuse!" Weiss seethed through gritted teeth. Stop. You're not in the manor anymore. You won't ever be again. You don't have to push people away. She took a breath to calm herself, "I'm sorry, Ruby. Affection is something that I... am not used to. Please ask before you attempt it in the future." Weiss assumed that would settle the matter, bur all it did was cause Ruby to unleash what could only be called weapons grade puppy dog eyes. Eyes that Weiss felt like she could get lost in forever...

Weiss Schnee felt her heart skip a beat.

"How about this," Weiss quickly added, "I'll go to the mess hall and get us some coffee, then I can help you tackle the cooling system? How do you like your coffee?"

Ruby's mood brightened, and her dazzling smile that wasn't cute in any way, shape, or form returned. "Sure, I wouldn't mind the help. Cream and five sugars."

Weiss very nearly blanched at the mention of the unholy amount of sugar, but the years of having to remain composed as her father's... donors would say any number of reprehensible things about the Faunus and leered at her while they thought that she hadn't been looking had some benefit in the end. "Right, I'll be right back." Ruby turned back to her console, and whistled a tune as she went down the list of parts that she would need for the upgrades to Crescent Rose.

Weiss walked towards the door at a steady pace, then ducked into an alcove as soon as she was out of sight. What was going on with her? She had never been attracted to... anyone before, but now Ruby was here making her heart flutter with that smile and eyes of hers! Was this just the Link? Or was this something else?


No longer simply just a collection of construction ships clustered around each other, Amity Station had begun to take shape. It featured a long, oblong central structure that gave way to a boxy bottom section that housed a docking bay big enough for frigate class starships and dry dock facilities for Mecha. About a third of the way down, if you started from the top, there was a habitation ring.

"Why the hell would the Valeans build a orbital station around this galactic snowball?"

Captain Heather Shields of the Mistralian Union starship Solace let out a sigh. Once again her second in command was showing a profound lack of professionalism. "That's classified, Shiro."

That was very true. The only ones on board who knew the reasoning behind the creation of Amity Station were the members of Champion Lance, due to the sealed briefing documents that they had received upon accepting positions on the Inter-Kingdom Unity Task Force. Heather didn't see the point in it, really. So some jerks from Atlas got a bit too overt with the racism sometimes, it's not like that mattered in the long run. Mistral wasn't exactly the most Faunus friendly kingdom by any stretch of the imagination, but things weren't so bad that there needed to be a task force dedicated to fostering unity between the kingdoms. Right?

"Of course it is." Shiro groused, "There's something screwy going on here, and we're just throwing Champion at it."

Heather pinched the bridge of her nose, she had absolutely no idea how Shiro had gotten to the rank of Commander while being so defiant of authority. "From what I was told, they were handpicked for this by the leader of the task force."

The Comms officer spoke up, "Captain, the Valean ship on station is hailing us."

Heather stood and adjusted her uniform, "Open a channel." She stepped forward onto the holographic plate n the center of the bridge, this would collect an image of her and send it to the recipient. Within moments, a holoimage of the Valean ship's captain coalesced. "This is Captain Glynda Goodwitch of the Valean ship Gladius, identify yourself."

"Captain Heather Shields of the Mistralian ship Solace. I believe you've been expecting us."

Glynda inclined her head, "Indeed. Please proceed to the docking bay at the bottom of the station. Please excuse the dust, the crews are still putting the finishing touches on it."

Heather cracked a smile, "Oh, we don't mind a little dust, Captain. We'll begin our landing sequence. Do you mind if we have Champion fly escort on our way in? Lieutenant Nikos wanted to... say goodbye properly, as she put it."

It was common practice for Mecha pilots to fly in under their own power during a farewell to a posting. For ground-based installations, that usually meant buzzing the control tower. For ship-based postings, that meant flying in an honor guard formation. "Far be it from me to begrudge Champion Lance that tradition, Captain Shields. Go right ahead. Gladius out." Glynda's image winked out, and Heather returned to the captain's chair.

She opened a channel to the hangar, "Champion Lance, you are cleared for launch. Do us proud."

Almost immediately, Pyrrha replied. "That is foremost on my mind, Captain."


Pyrrha Nikos was not perfect.

From a young age, she had been fascinated with Mecha, specifically the sport of simulated Mecha battles that leaked into all aspects of life on her homeworld of Argus. One of her fondest childhood memories was of sitting in the nosebleed seats in Argus's Grand Arena with her father, cheering on whatever competitor had caught her fancy.

Her family was poor, she had known that because of the neighborhood she had grown up in. However, Pyrrha had never wanted for anything, her parents making sacrifice after sacrifice to make sure that she didn't have a hard life. She still remembered listening at their cracked bedroom door as they discussed the woeful state of their finances. Hearing that her mother was patching up her worn out dresses and that her father's had worn holes in his work boots...

The next day, Pyrrha Nikos skipped school to go to the Grand Arena, as they were holding open tryouts for Mecha pilots. By all rights, they should not have let her try. They should've called her parents, should've sent her back to school. However, something about Pyrrha impressed the organizers, the fire in her eyes, they had said. They gave her a crash course in how to control her Mecha, and put her against another hopeful. The Mecha they had been given were barebones, just a Heat Axe and single Autocannon, designed to make skill the deciding factor.

The fight lasted approximately seventeen seconds, and Pyrrha Nikos emerged victorious without even a scratch on her Mecha.

Her parents were disappointed that she had skipped school, of course. Then Pyrrha had told them why she had done it, that she wanted to make it so they didn't have to sacrifice their well-being for her happiness anymore, wanted them to be able to take it easy.

In her first fight, when she stepped out onto that simulated battlefield in her Mecha, Lachesis, she dominated the fight. She had dictated the pace of the fight from start to finish, and her opponent had never touched her.

They called her the Invincible Girl, called it a perfect victory.

At first, Pyrrha had loved it. Loved the roar of the crowd, the interviews, the commercials. Through a series of fights, the league organizers elevated her to champion. More monikers were thrust upon her, Goddess of Victory, Eternal Champion, The Unconquered.

Slowly, she realized that none of her fans... knew her. Even her friends from school only saw the Invincible Girl. Only her parents knew the real Pyrrha. The roar of the crowd began to ring hollow, because she knew that they weren't cheering for her, but for the version of her that had been placed on a pedestal.

Pyrrha Nikos was not perfect, and it seemed like she was the only one to believe that.

Until she received a call from the leader of Mistral, Leonardo Lionheart. He had noticed her growing disillusionment and gave her the opportunity to join the Mistralian military as a Mecha pilot. Not as an exalted champion on a pedestal, but as one of many. She accepted without a second thought, then when she met Ren and Nora in the Academy, she had found what she had been lacking for so long. Friends who could see the real her.

Pyrrha shook her head, bringing herself out of her memories. They had a job to do, if only a ceremonial one. She felt the familiar thud and lurch that meant that her Mecha was in place on the launch catapult. All systems ready, and they had launch clearance.

Pyrrha Nikos was not perfect, but to her, this was. Launching off into the great unknown with her friends by her side? She couldn't, and wouldn't ask for anything more.

"Lachesis, engaging!"

The catapult activated, and her gold and bronze colored Mecha was sent hurtling into the void. She cranked the throttle to max, executing what passed for an aileron roll as she did so. She had never been able to give up her salute as the announcers had called it. She resisted the urge to draw her Shot Lancer, there wouldn't be any need for it on this run, but the habits of five years of showmanship ran deep.

"Stormflower, all systems green."

Pyrrha glanced at the display for her rear cameras, and saw Ren's Stormflower take up position on her left, the magenta stripe that ran down the center contrasting with the emerald green paint job. Ren had designed his Mecha to outwit opponents rather than overpower them, and it succeeded marvelously at that thanks to its Optical Camouflage and the high sensitivity thrust nozzles that Ren was so fond of.

"Maghnild, ready to smash!"

Now, if there was a Mecha in Champion Lance designed to overpower opponents, it was Nora's Maghnild. Decorated in an eye-catching hot pink with a neon blue lightning bolt motif, the bulky Mecha was loaded with weaponry, including Nora's favorite, her Boost Hammer. She fell in on Pyrrha's right.

Pyrrha glanced at her navigational display and saw that the ground crew had already set aside Mecha bays for them, and that the indicator for auto-docking was lit. "Let's go ahead and do auto-docking, considering the last time we tried to dock manually was... less than spectacular."

Images of Ren and Nora popped up in her HUD, Ren had a pained expression on his face as he remembered what was known on the Solace as the Pancake Incident. Nora had never been the best when it came to finer control of her Mecha, and had misjudged the distance and flattened a scissor lift. No one had been hurt, but it was still embarassing. "Aw, come on, that was one time!" Nora complained. She had a wild grin on her face, but Pyrrha knew that Nora did regret her mistake. Nora was just being her usual, chaotic, irrepressible self.

As the auto-dock took over, Nora began to run her mouth. "So, why do you guys think they picked us for this?"

Pyrrha felt the old dread coil around her stomach, the dread that the people she was about to interact with only saw the Invincible Girl. Ren, ever perceptive of others' emotional states did his best to put her unspoken worries to rest. "It could be any number of reasons, Nora. It could be that our Mecha fill roles that they need filled. On the other hand, since this is a task force that is dedicated to inter-kingdom unity, whoever is in command may have wanted the best and brightest of all the kingdoms, which we all qualify as." Ren's pointed look at Pyrrha did not go unnoticed.

"Either way, we're here to smash some bad guys!" Nora interjected, "So stop being all gloomy and crap!"

Pyrrha giggled. Nora always knew how to cheer her up.


Due to the nature of how Mecha were controlled, ensuring the physical fitness of the pilots was a necessity. As such, the Gladius was equipped with an extensive gym setup. It had everything from state of the art weight machines to omnidirectional treadmills that used virtual reality headsets to project whatever environment you preferred. There was even a dojo for those that preferred to hone their skill at the various martial arts that had risen from the Kingdoms.

Ruby spent more time at the shooting range and hangar than the gym, and as such preferred to do High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. This enabled her to spend less time actually working out, but still gave her the results she wanted. The only downside was that it left her absolutely exhausted.

Yang, on the other hand, was a gym rat through and through. She was the proud record holder of every weightlifting record on the Gladius, and it wasn't unusual to see her in the gym even after a mission. She supplemented her weight lifting with boxing. Once a week she held boxing clinics that were popular with the crew.

Weiss eschewed the exercise equipment in favor of ballet. It was easy to tell when she was at the gym, as there was always a small group of people that gathered to watch. When asked if she minded that they did so, she replied "Not at all, I dance for myself now, and if others take notice I will not begrudge them."

While Jaune had an appreciation for dance, thanks to his mother's futile attempts to gently guide him towards a career that wasn't being a Mecha pilot, he wouldn't dream of doing it for a workout. Instead his workout consisted of weightlifting and Vytalian Stick Fighting.

Vytalian Stick Fighting had been created millennia ago, back when humans and Faunus only lived on the planet of Vytal -now known as Beacon- in Vale. As humanity had began to colonize the surrounding star systems that would become Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo, the fighting style endured. Most significantly, it was discovered that sparring matches could test Mecha pilots for Mind Link compatibility for use with the old Mark Three Mecha with near perfect accuracy. As a result, aspiring pilots in all four kingdoms were taught Vytalian Stick Fighting as a matter of tradition.

Jaune had just finished with his lifting routine, which was much less strenuous than Yang's, and had begun to make his way to the dojo.

Honestly, this was a welcome break from what he had been doing for the last couple of weeks. He had been comparing their encounters with the White Fang and their known methodology, and there were... discrepancies. The White Fang rarely attacked military ships directly, and when they did it was almost always Atlesian ships. On top of that, the White Fang would only open fire if the enemy commanders attacked first, even going to the point of negotiating for spare parts for their ships and Mecha.

They also didn't knock ships out of FTL using an Atlesian computer virus.

Right now he had approximately twelve percent of a plan. An absolutely insane plan that he was sure that Vale's Diplomatic Corps would reject outright. But if they didn't there was potential for the White Fang to go from an enemy to an ally overnight.

Jaune was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice that someone else was already in the dojo. After he had selected a staff from the wall he turned, and his jaw hit the floor.

Pyrrha Nikos was there, she was practicing Vytalian Stick Fighting herself, and she was magnificent.

While her physical beauty had undoubtedly been the subject of more than a few wandering eyes -oh good Lord, you could grind meat on those abs- that wasn't what held Jaune's attention. It was the total surety in each strike, the barely suppressed smile on her face, the mischievous glint in her emerald eyes as she executed a complicated sequence of maneuvers that would've left an actual opponent staring at the ceiling contemplating the direction their life had taken.

Fortunately, Jaune had been able to reconstitute his brain into something resembling working order by the time she noticed him. "Hello again!"

Jaune blinked as his mind raced to remember when they had met before, oh right, when she had first come to Amity Station. "Hi." Jaune said, "Uh, you've been keeping up on Vytalian Stick Fighting too?" Oh my God, I sound so lame.

Pyrrha casually spun her staff around, "Yes, I have been. Mostly as an exercise in control. I had to train five years of excessive flourishes out of my combat, and this helps me keep focused."

Internally, Jaune wilted. While it may have been inadvertent, Pyrrha had just reminded him of the gap between them. "For me, it's... I'm still not where I need to be when it comes to combat. I'm not good enough. My spatial awareness is crap. Vytalian Stick Fighting helps me hone that, I guess."

Pyrrha shook her head, "That's ridiculous, Jaune. You're an amazing pilot. I've seen recordings, and the way you make split second decisions is unheard of."

Jaune sighed. "That's because of my Mecha, not me." When Pyrrha tilted her head in confusion, he explained. "Crocea Mors has a Precognitive Combat Module installed. A few times per day, I can activate it, and it shows me all possible strategic options. I still have to choose what to do, but I'm basically cheating."

Pyrrha paused. This didn't mesh at all with what the footage of Jaune in combat she had seen. He wasn't a prodigy by any means, but he was competent enough to hold his own against the likes of the White Fang. That was something that not every Mecha pilot could accomplish. Then there was the look in his eyes. There was a sharpness to them while he was in a fight, the same kind of sharpness that Pyrrha saw in her own eyes when watching recordings of herself. That came of a drive to succeed, and that simply couldn't be taught. You either had it or you didn't, and Jaune had it. Whether he believed it or not. "I don't believe that, Jaune, and I think I can prove it to you, here and now."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, his curiosity was piqued. "Oh yeah? How's that?"

To answer his question, Pyrrha moved to the far end of the room, and took her stance. Her staff held behind her, and her left arm outstretched, she beckoned him with a single finger. The meaning was crystal clear.

Come on.

Jaune kicked off his shoes and moved to stand opposite of Pyrrha, who had transitioned to a more practical stance, one that mirrored the ready stance of Raging Flash, a Mistralian sword style. Her staff was held down by her waist, diagonally pointed towards the ground behind her.

Jaune took a breath and took his own stance, one that allowed him to use both ends of his staff as the situation dictated. "Alright, what are the rules?"

"First to three strikes is the winner, just like how they tested for Neural Link compatibility for the Mark Threes. Full contact." The corner of Pyrrha's mouth quirked up in a smile. She wasn't afraid to get rough.

Okay, if I'm going to do this, I'm not going to hold anything back. That stance she's using is from Raging Flash, I recognize it from Adam's dossier of all places. She probably won't stay in it for long, though. Not many of its techniques are conducive to Vytalian Stick Fighting. Just got to roll with the punches.

"Ready?" Pyrrha asked. This was usually the part where her prospective sparring partners backed down. After all, it was one thing to say you were up for a spar with the Invincible Girl, but it was a whole other thing to-

"Ready." Jaune said.

Pyrrha's breath hitched as Jaune inched forward. There was that look in his eyes again. That look that made it seem like he was analyzing every little thing about his opponent, that look that made it seem like he knew everything she would do before she did it.

It was a shame that she had a few surprises for him.

She stepped in and swung her staff in a single motion, but Jaune danced out of her range. Pyrrha pressed the attack, thrusting the tip of her staff at him as she advanced, forcing Jaune to stay on the defensive. He foiled her attacks with twirling parries, keeping momentum for his own strikes. Then as he deflected a thrust aimed at his head, he brought the other end up in a smash directed at Pyrrha's midsection.

He stopped just short of hitting her. "That's one." He said, his scorekeeping tinged with disbelief. How had he taken the first strike?

Pyrrha's eyes shone with delight. Finally, someone who would give her a fight instead of rolling over. She reset, this time taking a stance with the staff held vertically, close to her body. Jaune moved first this time, feinting an attack from her unguarded side, then transitioning into a low sweep. Pyrrha leapt over it, and brought her staff down in a strike that would've hit perfectly on the crown of his head. "One to one." Pyrrha said, "Don't get cocky, Jaune."

Jaune felt a grin form on his face. What was this? This... excitement? He had never felt this way in a fight before. The vibrations through his weapon on contact and the sound of his heart in his ears had never felt like music before.

The next round began, and Pyrrha came out swinging. She came at him with am unrelenting barrage of strikes, never giving him a moment to so much as breathe. Finally, Jaune saw an opening. Her backswing was too wide, no doubt an artifice of her time in the arena. In the split second available to him, he attempted to counterattack, only to find his feet tangled up by a combination of Pyrrha's feet and staff. He lost his balance and fell. When he looked up, he was met with Pyrrha's staff in his face. "Two to one." Pyrrha said.

Jaune knocked her staff away and scrambled to his feet. It was now or never. In a fit of uncharacteristic cheekiness, Jaune beckoned her with the same motion she had before the start of the fight. He lunged forward with a wild overhand strike, which was blocked. All according to plan. He slid his staff along hers, smacking one of her hands. Then he brought his staff up in a thrust aimed directly at her neck. "Two to two." Jaune said, "All tied up."

He should be intimidated, Jaune knew. He was going toe to toe with Pyrrha Nikos. That would've made many a fan of virtual Mecha combat quake in their boots. There was a massive gap between them, and she showed that with every exchange. But yet... he wasn't intimidated. When she got that mischievous glint in her eye, it was like she was daring him to try to match her, to fight on her level. And he was doing it. It was almost like she was inspiring him to greater feats of skill that he had thought were beyond him.

There was no doubt in Jaune Arc's mind. He had found his wingman.

Jaune charged, and Pyrrha met him in the middle. The cracks of their staves hitting each other and their grunts of exertion were the only noise in the dojo. Then, when Jaune went for an overhead, Pyrrha capitalized by smashing her staff into his elbows, keeping his arms up, and leaving him open to Pyrrha hooking her staff through his legs and sending him sprawling. "Three to two." Pyrrha said, "My victory."

Jaune groaned as he hauled himself to his feet. "Nice hooking strike there at the end, those always trip me up."

When he met Pyrrha's eyes, there was only disappointment waiting for him. "Really, Jaune?"

"In my defense, I didn't intend that pun."

Luckily, Jaune was spared from further judgement with a ping from his Omni-Scroll. He answered it, and was greeted by Qrow Branwen. "Hey, kid. This a bad time?"

Jaune shook his head, "No, sir."

Qrow grimaced, "Knock off that sir crap. Makes me feel old. Anyways, I'm calling to let you know that... it took some doing, but I convinced Vale's Diplomatic Corps to sign off on your insane plan."

Jaune felt like Pyrrha had just sent him ass over tea kettle again. "I'm sorry, you what?"

"Did I stutter?" Qrow snarked, "Let me spell it out for you. You have official backing to go have a chat with Adam Taurus. Don't screw it up." Qrow's image winked out of existence, leaving behind a stunned Jaune.

"They actually went for it." Jaune said, almost in a daze.

"Jaune, are you going to be able to look Adam in the eye when he's the man who's holding Cardin captive?" Pyrrha asked. She had been briefed on the previous engagements, and was worried about Cardin. Despite him being, by all accounts, a terrible person.

Jaune stood up straight and threw his shoulders back, "I'll only have to do that if I'm wrong, because if I'm right, then the White Fang won't have Cardin captive." He called Glynda. "Captain? Set a course for Menagerie. We need to talk to Adam Taurus."

"Well, I can't say that isn't a bold move. Very well. Anything else?"

Jaune grinned. "Gather the troops."


Ghira Belladonna sighed as he pushed his reading glasses back up his nose. Even though it had been thirty years since the Faunus Rights Revolution and the founding of the space colony of Menagerie, there was still so much hate in the Kingdoms. Systemic racism and discrimination still ran rampant in Atlas, Mistral was quieter about it, but it existed there too. Vale had always been more accepting of the Faunus, due to its firmly held belief of personal freedom. Some of the old families were still vehemently racist, but they were a minority. And Vacuo... well, they didn't care. As long as you could pull your weight, you were accepted. If not, the desert could have your bones.

The concept behind Menagerie was simple. Give the Faunus that were tired of the racism and discrimination a place to go where they could live free of that hatred. Or, if they were so inclined, fight back against it in the White Fang. Unfortunately, Atlesian propaganda hadn't made recruiting easy. Either Faunus didn't want to join because they didn't want to be part of the senseless violence that Atlas threw up on their vid-screens, or they were all too eager and had to have their anger, justified as it may be, tempered before they could join.

Ghira had lead his people through the tail end of the Faunus Rights Revolution despite barely being twenty years old at the time, and had led the White Fang for twenty more. After he and Kali had Blake, Ghira retired from the White Fang -leaving that particular duty to Sienna Khan- and settled into a rather comfortable role as the head administrator of Menagerie.

He looked up from his terminal as Sienna, Adam Taurus, and Blake entered his office, all of them dressed in their flight suits. "Ah, Sienna, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Ghira asked.

"The Valean delegation is due to arrive shortly." Sienna said, "I thought you might like to greet them."

"Not just Vale." Blake interjected, focused more on the the diplomatic side of things as she always was. "They're sending the Inter-Kingdom Unity Task Force. Not only is Vale represented, but Mistral and Atlas are too."

Ghira steepled his hands as he leaned back in his chair. "Who are we dealing with here?" Noting Sienna's raised eyebrow, he quickly added more, "Purely academic, of course."

Blake let out a laugh, "Sure, Dad," She pulled up her Omni-Scroll and accessed the information that she had been furnished. "The Valeans are all relatively new Mecha pilots, talented but untested. Their commander is noteworthy, as he was scouted for pilot training for... being good at video games. Mistral sent Champion Lance, so that means Pyrrha Nikos, who has a history of being outspoken in favor of Faunus rights."

"Or at least as much as her corporate handlers would allow." Adam said.

Blake didn't miss a beat, as she was used to Adam's comments on briefings. "Well, that's not an issue for her any longer. The only potential issue that I can see is the Atlas representative."

Sienna tensed up. Blake had warned her beforehand that Adam might react poorly to this news, especially since this was his first time hearing it.

"Who is it?" Ghira asked.

Blake looked her father dead in the eyes. "Weiss Schnee."

Adam's hand twitched up to the mask he wore. "We're going to just let a Schnee waltz in here? Into Menagerie?"

"I should also mention that the Valeans were rather forthcoming with their information, more so than ever before. They said that Weiss had to leave behind everything to become a Mecha pilot. Also that she despises her father." Blake quickly added.

Adam chuckled darkly. "Well, that's one thing we have in common."

Ghira hummed noncommittally. "No Faunus..." He muttered to himself.

One of Blake's cat ears twitched as she picked up her father's whisper. "Dad?"

Sienna narrowed her eyes, "What are you thinking, Ghira?"

While Ghira couldn't see Adam's eyes due to the mask he wore -which looked distressingly like a Grimm~ he knew that due the tilt of his head, he was curious as well. "Sienna, would you be amenable to Blake taking a leave of absence from the White Fang?"

"What are you scheming, Ghira?" Adam asked.

Ghira spread his hands wide, "No schemes here. Just an idea. An idea of how powerful a message it would send if-"

Blake gasped, "If I was fighting alongside Weiss Schnee in the name of inter-Kingdom unity."

Ghira rose and slipped his reading glasses into his pocket. "Exactly."

A predatory grin appeared on Sienna's face, "Assuming that our talk with them goes well, I don't see an issue with that."

Adam grunted, "I'll prepare a conference room." He began to leave before Sienna stopped him.

"Wait, it might be unorthodox, but I want to use the War Room."

"Are you joking?" Adam blanched, "If this goes south, our visitors will be right at the heart of our operations! They could ruin everything we've worked so hard to achieve!"

Blake shook her head, "No, it makes sense. By inviting them into the nerve center of our operations, we show them that we have nothing to hide."

Adam turned his gaze on her, and his grimace began to bleed into anger. "Fine. I'll get the War Room ready for visitors." As soon as he was out of earshot, he added his own commentary, "Don't get me started on bringing a damned Schnee into the War Room..."

Sienna saluted Ghira, out of respect more than anything else. "I need to make sure there's room in the hangar for their Mecha."

Ghira moved from out behind his desk and placed his hands on Blake's shoulders. "Blake, no matter what happens here today, know that I will always be proud of you, no matter what path you choose."

"Thanks, Dad. I should probably make sure that Mom isn't waist deep in one of the new Seekers when the Task Force gets here." Blake said with a laugh.

Ghira could only share in his daughter's mirth, ever since retiring from the White Fang, Kali had thrown herself at Menagerie's engineering department, station maintenance or Mecha repairs, it didn't really matter. Running the station is your hobby, Ghira. Keeping it running is mine.

"Alright, I'll be along in a moment." Ghira said.

"I thought you retired from the White Fang?"

"I did, but they are coming to Menagerie, and I happen to be in charge."

Blake rolled her eyes as she began to leave, "Whatever you have to tell yourself, Dad."

Ghira turned back to the window and leaned against the frame. As he was looking out into space, the Gladius exited FTL and became visible once more. He frowned as he noticed a twinge of pain from his knees.

He had knee pain right before the ceasefire that had ended the Faunus Rights Revolution, in the White Fang's favor no less. Something big was going to happen here today.

And the Remnant Cluster would never be the same.


A/N: I keep apologizing for these massive hiatuses then I just give y'all another one. I'm sorry about that. Anyways, there's a bit to unpack here.

We get Jaune's main internal conflict, some Imposter Syndrome. Even though he can make it seem like he can walk the walk and talk the talk, deep down he feels like he doesn't have what it takes... for reasons that will be explained soon.

We see Ruby hard at work in the hangar, and get a little preview of her and Weiss's greatest invention. The White Rose Cannon attack was one of the first things I came up with for this fic, soon after I decided that White Rose would be one of the main ships.

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora are here! Pyrrha's story is going to be a big conflict in this fic, and oh man... if you guys knew the things I have planned...

Fun Fact: Pyrrha's Mecha is named after the member of the Three Fates responsible for measuring the length of the thread of life. Make of that what you will, I look forward to reading your theories and seeing how close you get to the actual answer.

The stick fighting scene pays homage to that same scene from Pacific Rim. It was one of the scenes that I knew HAD to be in this fic, and was one of the first moments I nailed down.

So, Adam. Yeah, he's different. That's because I'm borrow from Gundam tropes here. He's the stereotypical kinda antagonistic masked ace. Will he stay on the side of good, or will he go to far into shadows? And if he does go into shadows, will he be able to find his way back before it's too late? For that, you'll have to keep reading.

Until next time.