Interlude 2-1: Fallout
"When it rains, it pours, huh?" summed up Nora succinctly as she cut apart her well-done steak.
The only reply from the morose Team ABRN was from Bolin. "Headmaster Lionheart is dead."
Those headlines had been the second part of the double whammy after the dance. "Professor Leonardo Lionheart, Headmaster of Haven Academy, found dead in office" or some variation thereof was written on every news site that carried it, along with information about how he had been beheaded and there were no signs of anyone having broken into the locked office. Naturally, it struck the Havenites particularly hard. Team JNPR was sympathetic as well, given they themselves were all from Mistral. It had been the leading story out of the eastern kingdom, with the other kingdoms being occupied with matters closer to home.
"The Furchtlos... all those people… gone," observed Pyrrha.
That had been the headline in Atlas for the whole day after the blast, along with the names of all hands lost aboard. It was a long list, and it caused much weeping when read by the Atlesian students and all those who had come to know any of those soldiers and sailors lost when a second sun had briefly dawned over Remnant. Besides the emotional toll taken on so many, there were also the political ramifications.
"The Atlesian military is pulling back to Solitas," observed Reese as she looked sadly out the window at the sky entirely free of military airships.
Following the loss of the Furchtlos, the Atlesian Council had voted in a three to two decision to recall all military forces from all overseas commitments save Argus, which would have a reduced presence. General Ironwood had stayed behind in Vale alongside the students and faculty in his capacity as headmaster, but in Atlas, there were now questions raised about his loyalties and fitness to continue serving in his dual roles . It was one more dark note among so many for Team RRANNBWW, but with Atlas pulling back, it left the other kingdoms to step up.
"Hopefully, NEST will be able to pick up the slack," Ren noted.
With the loss of an Atlesian air cruiser in what was technically Valean air space and the loss of Atlesian manpower to provide security for the Vytal Festival, the Valish Council had passed a long-proposed reorganization of the Vale Home Militia. Among other things, it initiated recruitment of veteran soldiers and Huntsmen to serve full-time as the backbone of a clear command structure for when the call for volunteers sounded, but some were also being formed into a new National Emergency Strike Team to serve as a well-trained core of specialists available for larger or longer-term missions that individual Huntsman or even whole Huntsman teams were ill-suited for. It was unfortunate that it took such a terrible loss of life to bring about what was so badly needed, but there were still other, brighter pieces of news to be found.
"I spoke to Doctor Greer," said Jaune suddenly. Doctor Carl W. Greer ran Beacon's extensive infirmary and trauma ward. "He says Maple and those fourteen other people who were rescued are all on the road to recovery. I say that's good news, right?"
"Of course," replied Pyrrha. "That they were forced to endure such conditions… it is beyond the pale. We should all be saying prayers of thanksgiving that they are safe now."
"They're fingering the SDC," pointed out Nora. "Those who still have fingers, I mean."
"Real bad shakeup for the company here in Vale," Reese noted with a sigh. "This whole mess is going to overshadow the rollout of this new 'energon' superfuel of theirs. Do you have any idea what that stuff is capable of? It's amazing. I just hope the backlash doesn't hit Missus Brown."
"Who?" Jaune queried.
The green-haired girl looked over at him. "Cala Brown. She's the one who negotiated the SDC's purchase of my dad's company. Got us a pretty sweet deal. Just a few months ago, I heard she was being transferred to Vale."
Team JNPR exchanged awkward looks. Reese's father had founded a small vehicle company and had been bought out by the SDC, but it seemed the Chloris family held no ill will over it. Indeed, she had explained that that had been her father's entire purpose behind the company, to have it be bought out by a wealthier company in exchange for a payday he could retire on.
"Anyway," Reese said, "the SDC's bringing in special investigators to look into this. I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of it."
"You really think they'll find out what's going on?" Nora asked skeptically. "'Cause you say 'special investigators,' and I hear 'cover up specialists.'"
Reese bristled. "The SDC does good work," she said defensively. "It's the most philanthropic company on the planet. They've donated more to charities for retired Huntsmen and Grimm attack survivors than anyone else. I mean, I get it, it's easy for people to blame them, but that's just because the SDC is successful, and they're not." She shook her head. "I just can't believe this goes all the way to the top. Assuming it isn't a frame-up job, it's probably just someone who went a little too far."
"'A little'?" Pyrrha echoed incredulously.
"After all the things the White Fang have done, can you really blame them for going overboard?" Reese retorted. "They're terrorists."
"And what about all the innocent people caught up in this?" Jaune demanded. "Just... 'oops, so sorry, we made a mistake; have some Schnee-brand superglue to put your fingers back on'?"
"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Reese denied. "They went too far, I said that. It's just... I can understand why."
"Enough," Arslan growled, her hands on the table clenching into fists. Nadir reached over and placed a hand on one of hers, calming her down. "We didn't come here to argue." She smiled at Pyrrha and Jaune. "We came here to congratulate you two lovebirds."
That half of Team JNPR blushed. "And what about you two?" Pyrrha asked, nodding back at Arslan and Nadir.
Nadir groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Arslan said stonily.
When Team JNPR woke up the next day, they found themselves faced with a new and exciting message on their scrolls.
"Huh, looks like they got the first-year missions sorted out," observed Jaune. "That probably means we should take care of that."
"Neat," replied Nora without an ounce of enthusiasm. She wasn't quite awake yet.
"Look on the bright side. This could be used as a tutorial on how to navigate the mission board for our later careers as Huntsmen," pointed out Ren logically.
"Just another day at the office," summed up Pyrrha before having a realization. "I have no idea what it's like to work in an office."
Jaune shrugged. "Well, the teachers work in offices, so I can't imagine it's that different."
Pyrrha nodded. "Oh yes, that makes sense."
"Still, we better get on it," said Nora. "According to this, Ozpin is going to be giving a speech in the auditorium. It would be pretty embarrassing if Team Rainbow didn't show the colors."
With that declaration made, they began their walk to the auditorium. When they got there, they found it already filling up with students from all four academies. Naturally, they gravitated towards their teammates - and Yang - who had already arrived in the auditorium.
Sensing that his fellow blonde would be the one least likely to have issues with him, Jaune slid up to Yang. "When did you guys arrive?"
"Just a few minutes ago," replied Yang calmly and quietly. "Everyone's pretty on edge."
"You aren't?" prodded Jaune.
Yang shook her head. "I'm worried about the others, but we'll weather this storm. This is what we've trained for, right?"
"Well, what you've trained for, anyway," pointed out Jaune.
Yang looked at him strangely. "Oh yeah. You weren't raised from birth to be a Huntress like me and Ruby."
"You say it so casually, as if it's normal," Jaune deadpanned.
Yang shrugged. "Well, it is. It's as normal as building a network of supply caches or providing overwatch for your family's dates. By the way, sorry I wasn't able to be there for you at the dance."
"Hey, don't worry about it," he comforted. "After all, your dad was one of the chaperones there."
The blonde girl nodded. "He talk to you there?"
"Yeah. He talked to me a bit about what happened with Ruby, and then he talked to me about what I should do with Pyrrha," answered Jaune with a blush. "It was pretty awkward."
"Did he tell you to date her until the start of the next semester, and then if you are still together, you should get married within a month?" asked Yang bluntly, and when Jaune nodded slowly, she continued. "Ah, Scenario Seven Mannsfield. He must think you can go the distance with her."
Before Jaune could answer, a tone sounded throughout the auditorium, and all eyes were drawn to the stage where Ozpin was walking out to the microphone stand.
"Good morning, students," he said in a cold, clear voice that was amplified through the speakers and quieted all who heard it. "This week has been very atypical, as I'm sure you all must be aware. We have suffered great loss, and now there are rumors and worries swirling about the future. As is natural for people, we look to the past for guidance.
"Nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in our planet's recorded history, a war so terrible it could only be known as the Great War, came to an end. But before that end, it was fought, and fought for ten of the most brutal and bloody years to have ever soaked our world's soil. By the end of it, few could remember what it had been like before the war. It may have seemed like a dream, but it did exist. Back then, people knew of the mounting tensions between Mistral and Vale, but they thought they would calm down as they usually did between the kingdoms. They had what is known as an optimism bias, something even the most paranoid among us struggle with. Indeed, even now, some of you are thinking, 'ah, but if everyone is so worried now, then we can prevent the problems.' This is, of course, quite preposterous, as the bad times rarely care whether you fret about them or shrug them off, and worry is not action.
"So, should you be worried about war? No, you should not. You should be prepared. You should be prepared because war is coming, if it is not already here. You should be prepared because we have no idea when the next blow will come. You should be prepared because this is what you signed up for.
"Yes, we have lost friends. Yes, we have lost support. Yes, Headmaster Lionheart is dead. Yes, we are facing an enemy that hides in shadows and has no compunctions about using the most unfathomably powerful weapons ever developed by mankind. Yes, terrible things keep coming, time after time after time, and yes, we are still expected to do our jobs.
"This is the moment that all of you signed up for, whether you knew it at the time or not. If you are uncomfortable at all with that, then I firmly suggest that when you exit the auditorium, you hand in your withdrawal papers for the sake of yourself, your team, and civilization as a whole. This is not the time for summer soldiers or sunshine patriots. This is the time for heroic Huntsmen with stout hearts to survive and fight in the harshest winter in close to a century.
"If, after all that, you still want to continue, then stand by for your first missions."
No one, not a soul, moved their feet. Perhaps they were just too ashamed to walk out in full view of everyone, or maybe the social proof pressing in on all of them at that moment was pushing them on. Whatever the case, after a short pause, holographic mission boards popped up, and Ozpin continued.
"Around the room, you will find a selection of missions where you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman. These tasks range from repairing the city's defenses, to rescue work, to search and destroy missions, to law enforcement. They are all important, especially at this critical juncture. While, as always, we encourage individuality and free choice, I suggest you carefully choose a mission that best suits your abilities, so that you may provide the greatest help possible.
"Keep in mind, the Huntsmen you will be shadowing can have you sent back to Beacon if they find you wanting. Should that happen, then you will have to have a discussion with your teachers about your future in the academy system. For as I said, we are entering a dangerous time, and we cannot afford to waste resources.
"With all that said, I wish you good hunting on your missions."
Ozpin left the stage, and the students began to shuffle about to mingle and choose their missions. Among those were the students of Team ABRN, Team SSSN, and Team APRC advancing over to interact with Team RRANNBWW, and Yang. There seemed to be this tension running through most of them.
"Hey, Jaune, you're in good with Ozpin, right?" asked Bolin when they had reached an acceptable proximity.
"Well, I don't know about that," said Jaune warily.
"It's what everyone says. You guys are like the two top-tier teams in first year, and you're always in good with the headmasters and teachers. I've personally seen Ruby here talk to Professor Goodwitch like an old friend," restated Bolin. "So, you've got to let us know, man: is there really going to be a war?"
"Not between kingdoms," answered Jaune as evenly as he could.
Cinder almost certainly had the full power of the Fall Maiden. Before they had been ordered to pull out, the Atlesian troopers had found the VTOL that had been carrying her, based on DNA analysis of the blood inside the cabin, shot down with no body in sight anywhere nearby. That was horrifying enough, but what else they had found there sent chills down their spines: giant rectangular footprints that transitioned into wheel tracks.
That meant one of four possibilities. The first was that she was allied with those "Autobots" that one of the other Beacon teams had run into, who described the White Fang as not extreme enough, the same White Fang who had disavowed Cinder. The second - and first to jump to their minds - was that she was allied with the Decepticons, who had specifically asked for Atlesian military personnel to be killed when the bomb went off to make sure Atlas was weaker in anticipation of their inevitable betrayal. The third was that it was an independent actor, either Cybertronian or someone who employed transforming mechs that just happened to leave tracks that resembled Cybertronian tracks. Lastly, it could be yet another faction of Cybertronians lurking out there.
Three of the four possibilities introduced two more possibilities. The first was that the Cybertronians had learned about the Maidens and Relics, and indeed the whole system of magic, and so had cultivated Cinder to be their instrument. The second was that they had instead formed an alliance with Salem herself.
All these possibilities put together made for a very worrying picture, but it was also a picture they had to keep to themselves. They couldn't let the others know that the rabbit hole even existed, never mind how far down it went. They would have to keep this secret just a little bit longer… just a little while longer, and the world would know about the Cybertronians. Hopefully, disclosure would come on their terms.
Team ABRN looked at each other in confusion. "What do you mean, 'not between kingdoms'?" Arslan asked.
"The White Fang," Reese said suddenly. The rest of her team looked at her, and she shrugged. "Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? A lot of people conflate Atlas with the SDC, and Atlas prides itself on its military. Hit 'em where it hurts."
"Problem with that theory," Jaune pointed out. "It's not widely known, but the White Fang disavowed Cinder. They're the ones who turned over the evidence against her in the first place."
"Cinder was behind it?" Arslan sputtered, then punched her left palm. "Atlas should've let us Havenites take care of her. I bet she had Lionheart offed as well."
"But why?" asked Neptune. "And who? Cinder couldn't have done all this on her own. So who's backing her, and what do they want?"
"Cobra," answered Rufus, and everyone in the five teams turned to look at him.
"Who?" asked Arslan in confusion, an expression mirrored by the others around.
"Cobra," repeated the lone Atlesian male, to which he was only met with the occasional shrug. "Come on, guys. I told you about them last week. They're a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world."
Reese raised an eyebrow. "So… the White Fang, but an equal opportunity employer."
Rufus pointed at her. "Yes! Glad to see one of you is on the bounce."
Nora shook her head as another round of speculation developed. It seemed like everyone was doing it these days. Though of course Team RRANNBWW had done it first, and they had done it best.
Yang gave a small little sneeze, and Nora bent her attention towards her. Probably just something in the air. Then again, maybe it was the bare-chested company.
"So, where are all of you off to?" asked Weiss conversationally.
"A simple Grimm extermination mission," answered Arslan as she walked over to the nearest holographic board. "Shouldn't have any trouble finding them. The Grimm have been going wild lately. Little wonder why."
"We're going to try for escort or guard duty," said Aska as she stepped up to the board next to Arslan. "What about you, Snapshot?"
"Oh, we had a big discussion over this, and we came to a compromise," replied Ruby evenly as she pivoted and tried to find the right board. "We're going to look for helping out emergency services outside the city. Ooh, first try. Griffin Rock sounds like a great place to go."
Sun smiled as he looked over their shoulders. "We're always getting wrapped in some darn fool idealistic crusade or crazy conspiracy. Uh, no offense."
"None taken," replied Aska without looking away from the board.
"Anyway," continued Sun, "I thought it would be nice to just settle down in one spot and do some nice honest work at a slower pace. That's why we're going for wall repair."
Nora didn't know if Sun noticed it, but Yang was getting a little weak in the knees at that.
Wait, what? realized the ginger-haired hammer wielder. She gets excited over him when he says he'd like to travel the world, and she gets excited over him when he says he'd like to settle down? Is there anything Sun does or says that she isn't attracted to?
It was a thought that sent Nora's mind reeling. They just got done putting a bow on the love life of one blond, and now this? What next? Was some hussy going to go after her Renny?
No, they had to fix this. Somehow. They couldn't just let this go on forever.
Switching her gaze to the side, Nora noticed that cute little Penny was shaking like a leaf. Well, not exactly, but close enough. She needed some help, and with no offense meant to Ciel, Nora thought that she needed a little more redhead and a little less robot.
"Hey, you all right?" asked Nora after getting in close.
"Yes," Penny managed to get out before she hiccuped. "I'm just worried about the headmaster's speech and what Jaune said. There's a lot of nasty people out there, and I don't want anyone close to me getting hurt."
"Don't worry, Bladerider," chimed in Rufus, having clearly overheard. "We'll keep anyone from stealing your precious bodily fluids."
"'Precious bodily fluids'?!" gasped Penny. "But I need those to live! They're, well, precious!"
"He's joking," Nora comforted with a glare at the Atlesian boy. "You want to know a secret, Penny?"
"What?" asked Penny, her voice quiet and her eyes locked on Nora's with vibrant intensity.
"What you're feeling right now is exactly how a real Huntress should feel," whispered Nora confidentially.
Penny blinked. "What?"
"That fear for the safety of others. Use it, channel it, and face the danger to come knowing you've got people who love you fighting alongside you. Just keep them safe. Focus on that, and the rest will take care of itself," explained Nora before going and putting a finger to Penny's chest where a small thumping beat could be felt even though her clothes. "You've got the heart of a heroine, Penny. Don't sweat this little stuff."
Her fellow redhead smiled a bit. "Technically, it's a fluid pump."
Nora's eyes got very wide at that, and her finger retreated as if scalded. "Oh! Um, sorry. I probably shouldn't be touching you then. Not after the last time I did that with someone with a prosthetic heart."
A single tear rolled down Nora's face at the memory, but before Penny could ask for an explanation, they were interrupted by the sound of a familiar blond.
"Hmm. Hey, Juniper, come take a look at this," said Jaune from another of the boards. Nora and the rest of the team shuffled over to look around their fearless leader's body to see what he was investigating. "Looks like some of the defenses in the Emerald Forest are acting up, and they're looking for someone to scope it out."
"Think it might be the enemy?" asked Ren seriously.
"I don't think we can discount it," agreed Pyrrha. "But it could be something to do with the fires. Just a simple recon mission either way."
"Looks like just another day at the office then," said Nora in what many knew as her normal tone of voice.
Team JNPR entered Professor Peter Port's classroom with all the confidence and pep of someone buying insurance.
"Greetings, students!" addressed Professor Port in the bombastic hearty voice he had become known for. "Are you ready to start your first official mission as a team of heroic Huntsmen?"
Ren double-checked his weapons. "Yes."
"I'm ready," said Nora, stifling a yawn.
"Indeed," confirmed Pyrrha.
"I think so," Jaune shrugged.
Port seemed a tad annoyed at their replies, or perhaps crestfallen. "Come now, children. I know there's a saying about how you should act like you've been there before and will be there again, but this is ridiculous. Show some enthusiasm!"
Pyrrha smiled a well-practiced smile that looked like it had been ripped straight from one of her photo ops.
Port frowned, probably. "Better. If you weren't about to engage in a life or death struggle with hordes of the man-eating Creatures of Grimm! Come on, students! I know that Ozpin has you running around doing all manner of 'extra credit' assignments, but those are just that, extra. Your future still depends on completing the basic coursework first."
It really didn't, reflected Ren. After all, they all had seen that Professor Ozpin had filled out all the paperwork needed for them to become fully licensed Huntsmen and Huntresses just as soon as the time came to drop this charade. Their future was already secure, which just made this part of keeping up their cover.
With that in mind, and remembering his and Nora's off the books ninja training from years ago, Ren began to fake a smile of his own to blend in.
"No! Stop it! That's terrible!" complained Port, waving his hands about as the door opened. "Aren't any of you the least bit excited?"
"I am, Professor!" cheered one of the girls who stepped through the door, her striped hair in shades of pink and purple matching her purple eyes partially hidden behind a pair of glasses.
There were four of them, all dressed in thick-looking yellow hazmat suits, with helmets tucked under their arms.
"You shouldn't be, Magic," another one of them said, her cerise eyes deadly serious beneath her berry-colored bangs. "While aura can protect against radiation, the amount of radioactive materials involved here is unprecedented."
"Um, excuse me, radiation?" Jaune asked, raising a hand.
The berry-haired girl looked at Jaune, her eyes drilling into him. "Yes. Radiation. What, you think a Skylord just turns into a nuclear fireball and leaves no side effects?"
"No." Jaune shook his head. "I mean... what's radiation?"
The rest of Team JNPR nodded in agreement.
"It is a pretty niche subject, Radstorm," Magic pointed out.
Radstorm sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as a vein on her forehead throbbed. "Right. Radiation... I'm not going to get into the specifics, but it's a side effect of how the bomb that blew up the Furchtlos works. You can't see it, you can't smell it, and you can't feel it until it starts dissolving your insides and making you vomit out your guts. Literally. And then you die."
"But you said aura can protect against it?" Pyrrha asked.
"That's right," Radstorm confirmed with a sadistic smile that suddenly dropped, "but it's a constant assault on your aura, so it brings it down pretty quick, and it only needs the briefest and smallest of openings to get in. If you're lucky, you might just get cancer instead. Either way, I hope everyone here who wants to have kids some day has some eggs and swimmers on ice, just in case."
"Which is why we had radiation suits fitted for all of us, Team Juniper!" Port announced.
"Also, here," Radstorm held out a pill bottle.
"What are these?" Ren asked quietly as Jaune accepted it.
"Potassium iodide," she explained. "It'll help prevent some of the worst symptoms if you get exposed. Some."
"Umm, thanks for the pills," said Jaune, "but who are you guys?"
"I'm Radstorm," she replied, thumbing her chest. "Leader of Team Fairstar, second-year Atlas team." She gestured to one of the girls who hadn't spoken, with orange eyes and streaked blue hair. "That's Daiku." She pointed at the other who hadn't spoken, with orchid eyes hidden behind spectacles, off-white hair, and a severe expression. "Straight Shooter." And then the girl with glasses whose enthusiasm had been banked by the dire warnings. "Magic."
"Hold up. Time out," Nora interjected, holding her hands up in a T shape. "How do those names spell 'Fairstar'?"
"They're callsigns. They're all the rage at Atlas Academy," explained Straight Shooter in the most deadpan voice Jaune had ever heard. "They use our real names to form the team name."
"F.I.S.T.," sounded out Magic. "That's how you spell Fairstar."
"Pfft-what?!" gasped Nora in barely suppressed laughter. "So, which one of you is the punchy one?"
"All of us," replied Radstorm with a defensive edge. "Want us to show you?"
"That won't be necessary," Jaune said to diffuse the situation and offering up his hand to his fellow team leader. "Nice to meet you. We're-"
"We know who you are," Straight Shooter said. "Every Atlesian knows Team Juniper."
Jaune blinked, withdrawing his hand, and instinctively, he glanced at the tall redhead next to him.
"Not her," Daiku clarified. She pointed at Nora. "Her. Not everyday a couple of Valeans just waltz onto the flagship with full clearance. With one clearly intent on inflicting extreme bodily harm to the other. Didn't think the rumors were right till just now."
Jaune stared as Nora actually blushed.
"It, uh, it was a thing," said Nora, waving it off. "D-don't ask."
"Now that the introductions are out of the way, I'd like to get started on the briefing, if you don't mind," said Professor Port jovially as he turned on a holographic projector which shone onto the blackboard in front of them a series of maps and pictures. "To make a long story short, the massive forest fire started by the detonation of that nuclear bomb is playing havoc with all manner of business, and we have Huntsmen zipping this way and that to contain all the trouble spots that have popped up. This has left some gaps in the line that would normally be taken care of by the automated defenses. However, two of the control nodes are on the fritz, and that's leaving actual gaps in our defenses.
"To make an even longer story even shorter, we need boots on the ground to see what's what and get them up and running again. Team Fairstar will be working to repair the control nodes and bring the system back online while Team Juniper and myself provide escort. If all goes well, then we'll all be home for dinner," finished the professor.
"Before we do that, we'll have to bring our weapons in for decontamination," Radstorm told them all. "The last thing any of us want is to miss a stray atom of radioactive material stuck in a transformation gear and then have our spines fold in on themselves from a neuro-degenerative condition."
Jaune blinked. "Well, that's terrifying. Thanks. Now we know."
"And knowing is half the battle," all of Team FIST replied in unison.
The Bullhead roared through the sky on its way to its destination. Behind it were the spires and towers of Beacon Academy. Ahead of it was a towering cloud of smoke fed by one of the largest forest fires in decades. Within it were Teams JNPR and FIST and the tower of isolation that had seemed to follow Pyrrha Nikos almost all her life.
Only, that isolation was a bit more literal now. The insulated radiation suits they all wore were hardly the height of comfort, and for Pyrrha, it was an especially unsettling experience. Here she was, a champion fighter, a Huntress, and, if she was being completely honest, someone who prefered to wear light armor if she had to wear armor at all, and she was wrapped up like the filling of an ice cream cake because she was terrified of a single particle of an invisible contaminant that she could not see or sense in any way slipping into her body and killing her in the worst ways possible.
She was supposed to be strong, to be fearless, to show the world that they could follow where she led… but if she took that suit off like she so desperately wanted to, she would only be condemning all those around her to watching her die at the very best. It was foolishness, and she should dismiss it. But she very much needed a distraction.
She turned her helmeted head and saw the brilliant sapphire orbs of her beloved Jaune. He was smiling at her! Oh, what a day to be alive! Her blond prince had finally come and rescued her from that accursed tower.
...but why?
Oh, she remembered what he'd said. Those words were seared into her mind, the night her dream came true. And yet... a part of her couldn't help but wonder. Ruby had just broken up with him, and she'd heard stories. About broken-hearted people seeking comfort wherever they could. About those "rebound relationships" that never seemed to work out. About how there would always be comparisons made.
That couldn't happen. She couldn't fail Jaune in that way. She had to be better. She had to prove that she was the one for him and there was no one else. That meant she had to… had to… what did she have to do? How did she become more than a rebound girl to Jaune?
How could she earn his love?
Silently, she resolved to be the perfect girlfriend.
It was then that her thoughts were interrupted by the comlink in her ear and the muffled voice of one of the members of Team FIST.
"So, you guys are friends with Team Ruby, right?" asked Daiku as she shifted her stance.
Jaune shifted uncomfortably himself. "It's complicated."
Oh, he was hurt! Did she rush to comfort him, or would that make her seem too clingy? Perhaps she should stay quiet and let him stay strong.
As Pyrrha's thoughts were whirling, Nora chimed in with a gesture at Jaune. "He's complicated. We say 'yes.'"
Daiku shifted again and spoke with a soft tone that Pyrrha could tell was uncharacteristic. "Okay then. How are they holding up anyways? I heard one of them bought the farm last semester."
An image and sound flashed to Pyrrha's mind of Blake complaining about how her memorial didn't feature her best pictures. She'd been back for weeks now, though. Were there still people who thought she was deceased?
Suddenly, and without warning, Magic spoke up for the first time since leaving the classroom. "Blake's not dead, she just faked her death! ...I mean, that's what I heard. It's apparently something they do at Beacon? They sometimes fake their deaths, and then the teachers fake a cover up of their deaths?"
"She pulled a Qrow?!" shouted Professor Port from the cockpit. "Oh, I can't believe I missed that."
"That is excessively complicated," bluntly observed Straight Shooter with a terribly deadpan voice.
"But radical," offered Daiku with a raised finger.
"But why?" asked Radstorm. "For fun?"
"Well, why else would you do it?" rhetorically and loudly answered Port from the front.
"I don't know about faking her death," Pyrrha said diplomatically, "but she did get ninja training while she was away."
"Why not get training from an accredited ninja training program though?" asked Magic with what sounded like some variation on panic.
"She did!" answered Nora with what was probably a smile. "Got the paperwork and everything."
"It's true!" confirmed Port. "Her grades were excellent!"
"Interesting," mused Radstorm thoughtfully. "But why not with us Atlesians? We were right there. I'm sure the instructors would love to have her onboard."
"Oh, it's because she and Weiss had a bit of a fight over…" - and here, sweet Jaune paused to deftly search for the right words that would not betray either gallant Weiss or consolatory Blake - "…politics."
"Ugh. Boring," scoffed Daiku dismissively. "I get enough of that from my parents. Let's change the subject."
In the short silence that followed, Straight Shooter locked eyes with Pyrrha and began to speak. "I've seen some of your matches."
"Oh," acknowledged Pyrrha, unsure of the tone. "That's... nice."
"You rely too much on your semblance," said Straight Shooter with all the grace and subtlety of a hammer.
"Wh-what?!" sputtered Pyrrha, aghast.
"You are quite proficient, but you trust heavily in your semblance redirecting incoming attacks," the Atlesian girl clarified. "I am concerned whether it is applicable against Grimm, and if not, whether you are capable of compensating."
"Hey," Jaune interjected gallantly before Pyrrha could formulate a response. "Pyrrha's semblance is plenty useful against the Grimm."
Pyrrha debated correcting him on that. Her polarity gave her an edge in the tournament circuit because of how common metal weapons were. The Grimm, on the other hand, didn't use weap-
"I mean," he continued, "she used it to help me take on an Ursa Major just a month or so into our first semester at Beacon."
has crashed. Restart? Y/N.
"Pyrrha? Pyrrha, are you okay?"
She blinked and found herself staring into her boyfriend's concerned eyes again. "I- I... you knew?!"
"Of course I knew, Pyrrha," he said. "Not at first. I mean, I always knew something had helped me there; hard to miss my shield pulling my arm with it. I knew you, Ruby, and Weiss had to have been watching me fight it, since if you'd all just gotten there, Ruby would have arrived first. And since I knew Ruby and Weiss's semblances..." he trailed off meaningfully.
Pyrrha's lips trembled. What had she done? Jaune had told her so many times how she had been the first person to really believe in him, how important that was to him, and yet... and yet, she'd underestimated him. Doubted him.
"I'm sorry," she blurted out, begging for forgiveness.
"For what?" he asked incredulously. "Saving my life? Trying to give me a bit of confidence?" Before she could answer, he pulled her into a hug. "Never apologize for that, Pyrrha. Never."
Didn't- didn't he understand?
"Awwww," cooed Magic, putting her gloved hands up in front of her to create a little heart. "That's so romantic. It's like seeing my brother and sister-in-law together again. Oh, I haven't seen them in months."
"Adorable," confirmed Straight Shooter in that deadpan voice of hers.
"I think I might be getting diabetes," agreed Daiku in a faux-nauseous voice.
"I know, right?" Nora cheered. "I've even cut down my pancake consumption!"
"Two couples in one team, that is sweet," observed Radstorm.
Nora's eyes went wide, and she looked at Ren, then back at Radstorm, shaking her head vehemently. "Oh, no, no, no. Renny and I aren't... together-together."
"Then you're both idiots," declared Straight Shooter.
"Anyway," Radstorm interjected, "we should probably discuss our tactical options, see how our two teams can integrate on the battlefield." She looked over at Pyrrha. "What is your semblance, anyway?".
Pyrrha froze. She'd been more open about her semblance among her teammates since coming to Beacon, but she'd kept it well-hidden for a reason. That reason had not gone away, not yet. Indeed, it was coming up very shortly with the Vytal Tournament.
"Some form of telekinesis," Straight Shooter said. "I haven't seen enough of her matches to pin down anything more specific, nor do I care to. Tournament fights bore me, especially when the outcome is so easily predicted."
That was... fair, Pyrrha had to admit. It was strange how much that stung, though; she'd always been mystified by the appeal so many people seemed to find in merely watching a match. Certainly, she'd watched many matches herself... but those had been for research: assessing future opponents, identifying new tricks and techniques to incorporate into her own fighting style, and learning from their mistakes. It had never been for fun.
"It's a trump card, isn't it?" Daiku asked. "Come on, Pyrrha. We're second-years. We aren't in the same bracket for the Vytal Tournament. We aren't going to spill your secrets. I mean, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, right? And we'll be more than strangers by the end of this."
"Agreed," Magic added reassuringly. "After all, losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend." Her face took on a haunted look. "Forever."
Team JNPR edged away from her as best they could at that.
"Does, uh, does she do that often?" Jaune asked.
"Not really," Radstorm said. "There's just a few topics that cause her flashbacks. Those dang Rainbooms from Canterlot Combat School really messed with her head."
"Radstorm!" Magic scolded. "What have I said about insulting my other friends?"
"That respondent conditioning is a terrible thing to use on someone who's supposed to be your comrade in arms," interjected Daiku. "It wasn't right then, and it isn't right now."
With wide eyes, Pyrrha realized that another argument was brewing. That was terrible. Something had to be done before this escalated further. So, in a panic, she pounced on the first thing to come to mind.
"It's polarity," she said with as much calm and grace as she could muster. "My semblance allows me to control magnetic fields, and therefore, I can manipulate the weapons of others, or my own." She pointed at the sword and shield on the wall. "I carry Miló and Akoúo̱. Akoúo̱ is my shield, and Miló is a triple-changer sword, spear, and rifle."
Straight Shooter blinked in the silence that followed, and then when she replied, it was in a more sincere tone. "That's actually pretty cool. It's certainly a lot better than my semblance. All I can do is see the weak points in things, and it casts a pretty large net on what qualifies. It did encourage me to get pretty good with precision rifles and pistols though."
Pyrrha detected a familiar note of sadness in the Atlesian girl's voice, a tone that hinted at a psyche haunted by her own strengths.
"My semblance allows me to store electricity in my body that I can then unleash in various sizes of sparks," put in Daiku, her voice rising into a more joyful mood. "I usually use static electricity, but to keep it coming in battle, I use a hammer equipped with an inertial intensifier and a kinetic engine to shock my body into getting my charge back up. Kind of hard to do it in this suit, but I'll manage."
There was a gasp from Nora at those words. "You have an electricity semblance, and wield a hammer? I use a hammer and have an electricity semblance!"
"Really?" responded Daiku, now very clearly interested in what was going on. "Holy smokes. What are the odds? What does your semblance do?"
"I can generate it, store it, and use it to power up my muscles," explained Nora. "We definitely need to team up on this mission."
Ren merely gestured to his own weapons and said, "SMGs, and my semblance allows me to calm emotions."
"Huh," Radstorm mused, "sounds like a good match with mine. I can create a stealth field around myself and others, but it also blinds anyone cloaked by it. Combo with yours, and we have the perfect anti-Grimm stealth system."
"Perhaps," allowed Ren.
"Anyway, as for my weapon," she continued, pointing at where it was stowed on the wall, "it's a raygun. It makes Grimm explode."
Nora let out an 'ooooh' of appreciation at that.
"I bring The Swarm," Magic declared ominously. After a moment, she pointed at the gigantic backpack on the rack and elaborated, "It's what I call my collection of combat drones. My semblance is telekinesis."
"Ooh, like Professor Goodwitch?" Nora asked eagerly.
"Sort of?" Magic half-agreed. "She can do way more with hers than I can with mine, though."
After a moment, Team FIST's gazes turned to Jaune as one.
"What?" he asked, then shrugged. "I have a sword and a shield. What you see is what you get with me."
"What about your semblance?" inquired Daiku.
"Still working on figuring out what it is," he admitted.
"Yeah, sometimes, you need some pretty extreme or crazy situations before you figure out your semblance," Radstorm acknowledged, nodding sympathetically. "I know I did before I figured out Stealth Girl."
Pyrrha frowned and felt the need to defend her lead- her boyfriend. That still took some getting used to. "Jaune is the anchor of our team. He holds the line so we can maneuver."
"Good news, students!" boomed Port jovially as he walked back into the cabin. "This VTOL is needed elsewhere, and so, we'll be getting hot-dropped near to the first target, and then from there, we will have to make our way to the second target on foot."
"That's the good news?" asked Straight Shooter disbelievingly. "Then what's the bad news?"
"There isn't any!" cheered Port happily. "Well, unless you're the pilot, then you won't be able to share in the glory of the hunt."
Before further objections could be raised, Team JNPR got out of their seats and began to pick their weapons out of the ready racks. Team FIST did likewise, with only a slight delay. It evidently had come as a bit of a shock that the first-years were more on the bounce than they were.
"Right, when those doors open, the Professor goes first, then Fairstar, then Juniper," said Radstorm as she hefted the gigantic form of her "raygun" over her right shoulder. "Remember," she continued, holding out her left arm to try and emphasize the computerized bracer on it. "Listen to your computer's snoopers. You start hearing ticking, you get out of there quick, and you call it in. It will play over your helmet's speakers too, and it has priority, so don't ignore it."
"You already gave us this lecture," Jaune reminded her.
"And I'm going to keep giving you it until it sinks in," replied Radstorm hotly as she turned around to face the doors. "And if you're all good little boys and girls, I'll show you the really fun settings."
As the doors opened, music began to play. It was an upbeat and peppy tune. Naturally, Port was the source.
"Oh ho! I already have!" he cheered, jumping out and onto the cliff the Bullhead was hovering above and singing along the whole time. "I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle!"
Radstorm looked back at Team JNPR, who all just shrugged. With that matter unsettled, they went back to focusing on the mission.
"Let's go, Shadowbolts!" called out Radstorm as she leapt out of the Bullhead.
"Let's go!" cheered the rest of the team in unison as they leapt out as well.
Without a word, Team JNPR leapt after them. As soon as all nine people were on the ground, the VTOL above them pulled up and away. They were all alone now.
The forest… the forest was like a great hellscape. Her suit protected her from almost all the effects, but Pyrrha still found herself horrified at the sky that was filled with so much smoke and little dancing embers. Around them, they could see the burnt grass and scored trees that had been hastily put out by a roving fire crew trying to keep the fire from jumping the line.
Where once the Emerald Forest had easily lived up to its name, with vibrant greens and browns that spoke of life unconquered, it now appeared a blackened husk of its former self, and the fires that still raged in the distance cast a hellish red glow to the corpse of what had once been a beautiful woodland.
"We have become death," whispered Magic just loud enough for her helmet's microphone to pick it up. "The destroyer of worlds."
"It will be a silent spring," said Radstorm, as in confirmation.
"Hurry up now, students," declared Professor Port as he started to descend into the cavern attached to the cliff.
The two teams followed after him, descending into darkness. Remembering the brief tutorial given back at the school when they were putting the suits on, Pyrrha moved to alleviate that problem. She reached up with the hand holding Miló and hit a pair of buttons. The first turned on the lights on the side of her helmet, and the second turned on the holographic projectors that created a heads-up display on her visor to highlight each and every one of her friends.
"Man, these suits are really cool," said Jaune appreciatively.
"Thanks, me and Radstorm worked pretty hard on them," answered Magic. "Ever since the bomb detonated, actually. She already knew everything known about protecting yourself from radiation, and I know gadgets. We both had to learn fast how to make a fire suit."
After jumping down a small ledge, the nine found themselves in a large room with a central pillar of blatant technological construction poking above the knee-high layers of smoke that had drifted in from outside. Obviously, it was the control node for the defense systems, constructed in such a place to shield it from any prying Grimm who would seek to destroy it. Unusually, though, there seemed to be a box of completely different manufacture attached to it.
"Find a hot spot," ordered Radstorm with a gesture between Magic and the pillar.
"Technically not accurate, but okay," replied Magic as she ran up to the device on the pillar and seemed taken aback. "What the-?!"
"Problem?" asked Jaune curiously.
"Maybe," answered Magic, still examining the device. "This is Merlot Industries technology. I'd recognize that logo anywhere. Looks like it's disrupting the normal operations of the control node. That doesn't make any sense though. Merlot Industries didn't make anything like this before the company dissolved."
"History lesson later, mission now," said Straight Shooter bluntly as she took out her bulky precision pistol and aimed the scoped weapon at the device.
"No, don't!" shouted Magic, throwing up her hands in the process. "We don't know what shooting it will do. There could be some sort of bomb in it set to go off when it loses its grip. This is an operation that needs to be done carefully."
"Of course," sighed Straight Shooter, snapping her gun back up. "Just don't set it off yourself."
"Don't worry. I got this," replied Magic, going back to working on the device. As she did so, the top of her backpack opened up, and a quartet of small disk-like drones no bigger than a dinner plate and not much thicker flew out. One of them stayed close to the pillar, but the others flew out to all corners of the cavern; all were still highlighted by Pyrrha's HUD though. "I'll even send out a small number of my drones to scout this place out."
"Good thinking. We could use the early warning," complimented Jaune, once again displaying that tactical brilliance Pyrrha so admired.
As if on cue, a far too loud howl sounded from the entrance.
"And so it begins," said Ren as he brought out his StormFlower SMGs.
A Beowolf peeked its head over the ledge and was immediately met by a hailstorm of bullets as Ren's weapons lived up to their name. It backed away but was soon joined by more Beowolves leaping into the cavern. As one, the entire group opened fire and dispelled them, but no sooner had they done that than more were Grimm heard, both at the entrance and deeper into the cavern.
"Ren!" Jaune called. "Use your semblance on Magic. Everyone else, find a partner, watch each other's backs!"
It was a simple plan but a good one... but of course it was. It was one of Jaune's plans.
She moved up alongside him, and the Grimm came. The next few minutes were a blur to her, not in the sense of not knowing what was going on - as she absorbed all that happened like a sponge - but because it was so normal for her. Pyrrha engaged in combat like others engaged in walking, and so, because it was so natural to her, she did not put too much thought into it.
Thinking too much about combat, she had learned long ago, was a fool's errand. If one was to survive, never mind win, one had to act on instinct. Years of training had honed those instincts to a razor's edge, and... well, it felt good to finally get to use them in a way that was useful without technically taking lives.
Soon, the sounds of battle were joined by the sound of autoturrets outside, both the staccato of autoguns and the booming of larger cannons. Some, of course, had been wrecked by the Grimm, who took every opportunity to sabotage the defenses, but others had escaped their wrath, and still more had been built as concealed backups for that specific eventuality.
Shortly after the guns came online, the flood of Grimm thinned to a trickle before disappearing entirely, the last of the Grimm fading away into thin air.
"Wow, your semblance feel's really great, Ren," Magic practically moaned.
"Hey, back off, lady," ordered an agitated Nora.
"Why?" asked Straight Shooter pointedly. "You said you weren't together. Which means you're both on the market, so to speak."
Magic blinked, then shook her head, blushing at the innuendo. "Sorry, it's just... everything was so clear." She held up the device that had been attached to the control node. "Anyway, got the thingy, and one of my drones also found us another exit through the cave system on the other side of the hill. It'll save us going around to get to the other control node."
"Very well," Professor Port agreed. "Lead on, Miss Sparkle."
Oh, was that Magic's name? She must be the S in Team FIST.
After they emerged from the cave system, they found themselves on a well-trod path, and soon, they were passing through the overgrown remains of some stone structures. The smoke was thinner here, but still present, lingering in patches, and while there were no fires in sight, the sky still glowed red as an ever-present reminder of the crisis facing the Emerald Forest.
Pyrrha sighed in wonder. "These structures are beautiful!"
"These ruins must be full of history," agreed Ren.
"Ah yes," Professor Port acknowledged. "The Emerald Forest is filled with ruins of ancient kingdoms. Keep an eye out for artifacts. Doctor Oobleck is always looking to expand Beacon's collection."
Soon, the overgrown ruins gave way to what might have once been a temple or some other place of worship, but time had taken all but the floors. The team naturally spread out in the more open space. The view would have been incredible had it not been for the smoke filling the sky above and the canyons below. At least, it seemed, that on this side of the mountains, the fires had yet to spread, save for a few burnt embers.
"Hey, this looks cool," came Jaune's wonderful voice from off to the left.
The group converged on his position, and embedded in the floor before a raised section was an ancient-looking plaque with writing still visibly engraved on it, almost - but not quite - worn away by time and the elements.
"What's it say?" Nora asked, squinting at it.
"'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,'" quoted Professor Port solemnly. "'Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Bart told me about this one years ago."
Pyrrha looked up at the raised section of the floor, and realization struck her. "There must have been a statue here."
"That is the leading theory," Professor Port agreed. "But if so, it was long gone before the Kingdom of Vale was even founded."
After a moment of reflection, the group continued on. It was an interesting bit of trivia, and Dr. Oobleck would surely find it fascinating. But in the end, it was just the remains of yet another kingdom that didn't make it.
"You know, Bart always asks this question when taking a first-year team out on their first official mission, and we've got time, so why not do it here too?" asked Port aloud as they walked.
Pyrrha was still racking her brain on who Bart could be. One of her teachers, perhaps? No, that didn't make the slightest bit of sense. It must have been some other Huntsman that Professor Port knew.
Their teacher continued. "We'll start from the back, Team Juniper. Mister Ren, why did you choose to become a Huntsman?"
"Revenge," answered the normally calm man with a dark and menacing tone. "My parents were killed by the Grimm."
"Hmm. A fairly common motivation," commented Port. "Miss Nikos, why did you want to be a Huntress?"
That… that was a question she had asked herself a lot over the last year. Why did she want to become a Huntress? There were a lot of reasons, actually, but one stood head and shoulders above the others.
"I wanted to test the limits of my skills and use them in an arena which actually mattered for once," answered Pyrrha.
"I see," noted Port. "Miss Valkyrie, what about you?"
"Oh, well, me and Ren were already doing pretty much everything a traveling Huntsman does anyways, so why not get a license and get paid to do it?" replied Nora easily.
"Interesting," mumbled the professor. "Mister Arc, that leaves you. Just why did you come to Beacon Academy?"
"For all the wrong reasons," fair Jaune answered with a self-deprecating chuckle that stung Pyrrha's heart.
A derisive snort came from Daiku. "'All the wrong reasons'?" she asked. "Please. I decided to become a Huntress because I wanted to get some distance from my rich parents and do something radical. I figured, what was cooler than becoming a Huntress?" She chuckled. "Turns out, a lot, but I'm not about to turn my back, now that I'm committed."
"She's right," Magic agreed. "I mean, I only became a Huntress because of a chance encounter with my friends here. Before we became friends, I mean. My other friends were always concerned about my safety-"
"They were smothering you, Magic," Straight Shooter corrected.
"-okay, maybe a little. They were just worried about me! But the Shadowbolts... they treated me differently. I mean, yes, they cared, but they held me to a higher standard, expected me to hold my own. They showed me that I could walk on my own two feet. And I guess I got tired of being protected all the time."
"When I was five, I broke my leg," began Radstorm. "I had to be taken to the hospital, and they took an X-ray of it there. That was the first time I understood what my father being a radiologist actually meant, and what an incredible benefit radiation could be to the world when properly harnessed. Nuclear physics became my lifetime passion, but a job in the lab doesn't leave many opportunities to test the practical applications to medicine, defense, survey work, and too many other things to count. You know what does? Being a Huntress."
Team JNPR's eyes turned to Straight Shooter, who hunched her shoulders a bit at the unexpected attention. "When I unlocked my semblance, Destructive Insight, I was going through a pretty rough spot in my life," she said. "First time I turned it on, I didn't see the weaknesses in my obstacles like I wanted to. Instead, I saw how fragile civilization really is. It made me want to become someone who would make it stronger. For a time, knowing how fragile everything really was, I kept activating it for fear of breaking something by accident. It got to be a bad habit of mine that almost ruined my life, but I'm getting better."
"Team Fairstar is right," Professor Port said. "There is no such thing as a wrong reason to want to save lives. Revenge, competitiveness, inertia, teenage rebellion, peer pressure, a thirst for knowledge, and fear. When you save a life, it matters not why you did it, only that a life that would have ended that day... did not. So, Mister Arc, your reasons?"
Jaune looked away and sighed. Finally, he looked up and shrugged. "Growing up, I always heard tales of my family's history of heroism. I guess... I just wanted to be a hero."
"And that, Mister Arc, is perhaps the noblest motive any of us here have. Myself included," Professor Port declared gravely. "No one will fault you for wanting to be remembered."
They came across another cliff, and at the base of it were…
"Boarbatusks!" declared Port cheerfully, pointing at the porcine Grimm milling about in pairs. "A fine sight indeed. Who wants to be the first to slay one?" He paused. "I'll have to remember this location for later."
Radstorm hefted her enormous rocket-launcher-shaped raygun and aimed it. "Boarbatusk: tagged for extinction."
She must have pulled the trigger, because one of the Grimm exploded into a spray of its inky black innards shortly after she said that.
"Let's heat 'em up," said Radstorm as she fired at the second Grimm, and after a brief moment, that one too exploded.
Pyrrha resisted the urge to let her jaw drop. "Wh-what?"
"I told you, I'm a nuclear physicist," Radstorm reminded them, patting the side of the weapon. "Desolator here is my primary weapon. It uses microwave radiation to rapidly excite the molecules of a target, causing them to heat up so quickly they explode."
Then, as if in afterthought, she added, "I, uh, use an AER-2 laser rifle in tournament combat. It's safer that way."
"The more I find out about radiation, the more terrifying it becomes," Ren pithily summed up many of Team JNPR's thoughts on the matter.
They all dropped down onto the level below and had not gotten more than a few dozen feet before they heard a clicking sound. Out from a cave appeared a mid-sized Deathstalker, its red eyes clearly lusting for violence. The group readied itself to give it what it wanted.
Before it could emerge from the cave, Straight Shooter's pistol snapped up, and she fired two shots in rapid succession. The first punctured one of those eyes and made it cry out, stunned. The second bounced off the roof of the cave and happened to dislodge part of it, bringing it down upon the head of the black abomination.
The Grimm, now thoroughly crushed, began to dissolve, and the group was left to look at Straight Shooter.
"Holy smokes, that's incredible," breathed Jaune, and Pyrrha found herself wanting to agree. "You've got a pretty amazing semblance there."
"Uh, did you guys miss the part where she said that it ruined her life?" asked Magic seriously.
"No, I-"
"It still takes training and practice to get to where I am," said Straight Shooter, cutting Jaune off. "I can see weaknesses, but that doesn't mean I can hit them. That, I had to learn the hard way, just like everyone else."
Jaune nodded. "Okay. I got it now. Sorry."
"Stop apologizing. You pick up too many habits from your girlfriend," replied Straight Shooter bluntly.
With all that said, the group made their way to the remains of another cliffside building that offered a tremendous view of the mountains across a great span, and another forest fire burning away. Pyrrha could see a quintet of mostly red and white winged aircraft, all slightly different, flying over the fire, dumping water or some other fire retardant into the flames before banking away. She didn't recognize any of the craft, but then, she wasn't overly familiar with such aircraft to begin with.
Jaune whistled at the sight. "Nice view!"
"Indeed," agreed Pyrrha with a melancholy tone.
"That's a long way down!" commented Nora as she looked out over the cliff.
Ren struck a similar tone to Pyrrha. "All of the world before us… and all of it on fire."
They made their way around the corner, and they found yet another temple type area with a collection of Grimm walking around.
"I got this!" cried out Daiku as she brought her sledgehammer out and spun it around.
Incredibly, the sledgehammer was flung towards the Grimm at incredible speeds with Daiku still holding on to it. With a happy cry, she collided with an Ursa and bowled the Grimm over, only to land just behind it on the stone floor. Before it got the chance to get up, the young Huntress brought her hammer down on its head, pulverizing it.
The rest of the group followed, and the Grimm that were upon the ancient platform were soon completely obliterated.
"Well, that was invigorating," commented Port as he stretched himself out. "It's good to see that these suits can withstand the rigors of an active Huntsman. Good job, you two. I'm tempted to make these a permanent addition to the Beacon inventory."
"Thank you, sir," said Magic, "but these are only prototypes. If these end up being put into mass production, I'll let you know. Though, on a personal level, I'd rather not have too many more situations that call for fireproof radiation suits."
"Well, 'it's better to have something and not need it, than need something and not have it,'" quoted Jaune as he walked over to the edge of the platform and down into the small valley below where another control center was located in the middle of a platform surrounded by translucent boxes, a handful of poorly-hidden Beowolves lurking around it in ambush. "Hey, there's our objective!"
"I see it," confirmed Daiku, as she looked about, and then her gaze settled on the nearby lever next to a collection of gears and what looked like a currently-retracted bridge. "Hey, there's an old mechanism for the bridge here. I think it might still work. Want to give it a shot?"
"I think I've got a better idea than indulging your architectural interests," commented Twilight as drones began to deploy from her backpack.
"Hey, don't knock architecture," shot back Daiku. "It's the most way past cool thing there is."
"Maybe," allowed Magic as she put one foot on top of each of two drones that had landed in front of her before the disk-shaped drones rose up into the air. "This, however, is more fun. Come on, everyone. Step on!"
Pyrrha eyed the drones warily as the rest of the group all stepped on top of them. It did look a tad ridiculous, but on the other hand, it was probably better than just jumping off the cliff. That might have been interesting enough in initiation, but in this situation, it would probably come off as grandstanding.
She got on top of the drones before her, and then felt a clamping on her boots, even as the machines rose from the ground. They must have made for quite the sight there as they flew through the air, but no one was around to see it. Jaune though… well, he looked proud and commanding from his perch, crouched down, one hand on each of the drones he rode, as though he were driving them, rather than just riding as a passenger, his expression stoic. It made Pyrrha wonder how he made it look so natural, especially with his motion sickness, when even she felt so unbalanced atop the drones she rode; she was not used to being a passenger like this, and the lack of control robbed her of her usual grace as she kept having to shift her weight in response to the drones' movements
As they neared the ground and the objective, Pyrrha felt the clamps release, and she leaped off, hurling Akoúo̱ at one of the hidden Beowolves, bouncing it off the lupine Grimm's skull into the next one, and the next. With subtle guidance from her semblance, she pinballed the shield between the Grimm ambush party, stunning them briefly, but long enough for the rest of the combined team to finish them off.
Once the immediate area was clear of Grimm, Professor Port peered first at the control node and the device attached to it, then at the transparent boxes, which in turn proved emblazoned with the same logo Magic had pointed out at the first control node. "Just as I thought: more sabotage. But those cages... were they trying to capture Grimm? Hrm... I don't like the looks of this. For now, let's just focus on the objective and get that control center up."
"You got it, Professor," acknowledged Jaune. "Same plan as before if the Grimm show up?"
"I got no objections," confirmed Radstorm. "I think we might even do better, thanks to how open this space is."
The drones began to orbit about them, and Magic wasted no time and rushed over to the box on the control node.
"That is definitely the Merlot Industries logo," she commented after a brief examination. "But like I said earlier, they went defunct years ago, way before our time. So what's a brand spanking new piece of tech from them doing here?"
"How do you know about them, Magic?" asked Pyrrha curiously.
"Older components are cheaper, especially if there's no one still providing tech support for them," answered Magic honestly. "Merlot made some good stuff. I like to play around with it sometimes."
She was just about to open the device when the demonic screech of a Nevermore could be heard, very loud and far too close. Magic sighed at that. She might have also uttered a curse, but Pyrrha couldn't hear and didn't feel comfortable judging.
"Right, kiddie gloves are coming off!" called out Magic before slapping a control on one of her backpack straps.
Suddenly, the top came open on her backpack, and there was a great rushing sound. All at once, the sky seemed to be filled with the circular drones, flying in coordinated movements, as if part of a great flock of birds. Additionally, a quartet of spider drones crawled out of pouches on the side and took up positions around Magic. Then, as if to top everything off, the drones all transformed to deploy relatively massive guns from their bottoms or tops.
Above them, a trio of the giant birds flew, and The Swarm parted before wrapping around to engage them with a storm of kinetic energy weapons. More feet could be heard on the ground, and more Grimm came into view, from the tiny Creeps to the fire-breathing Manticores. It would all be an extremely complicated battle if she were to try and follow it, so she didn't; Pyrrha just took up position beside Jaune and let instinct take over.
Another few minutes later, and she had a Beowolf in a headlock so Daiku could smash it when the sound of rocks moving broke the air. A trio of turrets had emerged from concealment in the nearby cliff and were pointing straight at them. They wisely and quickly dispatched the Grimm before the turrets began to fire on any that were left. Likewise, similar sounds went off all throughout the nearby forest.
"Good show, team!" complimented Port. "I've called in a Bullhead to pick us up."
"Wow, that was exhausting," admitted Jaune to Pyrrha. "How do you manage to keep track of so many things at once?"
Pyrrha shrugged. "I don't. I just act on instinct."
Team JNPR walked into Ozpin's temporary office.
"Ah, welcome, Team Juniper," he greeted them. "I trust decontamination went well?"
"As far as we know, yeah," confirmed Jaune.
They hadn't heard any ticking while they were out, but Radstorm had just said that it was better to be safe than sorry. Following yet another lecture on the dangers of radiation, this time going in depth on just what it was, no one was willing to fight her on that. After all, they all wanted kids, and they would prefer them to be born with the correct number of limbs if that was at all possible.
"Good," said Ozpin. "We've been looking into Merlot Industries while you and Team Fairstar were completing decontamination procedures. I have another mission for you, if you're up for it, to investigate the old Merlot Tower in Mountain Glenn."
Team JNPR exchanged puzzled looks.
"'Mountain Glenn'?" Jaune asked on behalf of his team.
"An ill-fated attempt to expand the city of Vale," explained Ozpin. "It fell to the Grimm many years ago. It's also where Merlot Industries was headquartered, and as far as we know, the company never recovered from the loss of their primary facility and chief staff members."
Jaune nodded. "Okay, dangerous mission deep into Grimm territory." He looked around. "But where's the rest of Team Rainbow?"
"Team Ruby is still on their own first official mission, as is Team Sun," said Ozpin patiently. "This is a mission for Team Juniper, not Team Rainbow."
"Sir?"
"Mister Arc, I made you team leader for a reason," the headmaster reminded him. "I'd rather not see your potential go to waste."
Author's Note 1 (Cyclone):
Major props to Cody. He pretty much wrote this chapter all by himself, aside from a few specific segments of certain scenes. Most of my contribution was in the brainstorming and editing stages. He's the one who really put fingers to keyboard to get this written..
If you're wondering why radiation is such a mystery to our characters, it's important to remember that this was literally the first nuclear detonation in all of Remnant history.
For those who recognize it, yes, this is indeed the Grimm Eclipse storyline. If you're wondering why Professor Port was taking to the field, unlike in the game, that's because of the whole "first official mission" thing. That didn't apply in the canon of the game because Team RWBY's first official mission was the Mountain Glenn mission, and Team JNPR presumably got a chance to go on their deputy sheriff mission or some other mission off-screen after the Breach was resolved.
The Ozymandias reference... well, there's really no possible way to insert the explanation into the story that I can think of, so here it is. Spoilers for those who haven't watched Volume 6 yet. We were thinking that there used to be a statue there that Salem had erected of Oz's second incarnation during their "conquer the world" phase and then wrecked after the, ahem, divorce proceedings.
Developing Team FIST was an... interesting experience. Sugarcoat, in particular, was a series of domino effects. I envisioned her Destructive Insight semblance as a way to explain why she's so blunt and caustic about flaws she sees... because she sees all of them. But when the question of why she became a Huntress came up... well... we got this.
Yes, Professor Port is being a touch hypocritical, just as he was with basically the same line in the game. Obviously, the dire warnings on the effects of radiation have been exaggerated, and Team FIST's opinions of the Rainbooms is, shall we say, a touch slanted.
Author's Note 2 (Cody MacArthur Fett):
Well, this chapter was quite frustrating to finish. It just didn't feel like anything was clicking right, or if it was clicking it wasn't clicking enough to actually write the darn thing. I pulled several late nights on this, and in the end I still feel it's not quite up to snuff. Ah well, an incident during the week drove home that my pessimism over anyone liking what we put out is not necessarily just paranoia - which, I have found out, is the actual clinical term for being afraid of what others think of you. This chapter is done though, finally, so it's time to move on to the next one.
Now, why was this done with Team FIST? Frankly, it was because we already had Twilight Sparkle as a technician type character, and because I've been wanting to do more with them ever since they were introduced. Reading the sidestory chapters that ScipioSmith has produced has only made that feeling more intense. It's kind of a shame then that the only idea we have for them until we get to the Vacuo arc is a thirty second clip of their match during the Vytal Tournament. Ah well, maybe we'll get to see more of them in the stories the readers write?
We talked a lot about it before we came to a divergence point between Twilight Sparkle in SAPR and Magic in StS, because there are a lot and not all of them are immediately noticeable. Ultimately what we went with was her meeting the Shadowbolts - Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and Indigo Zap - since in SAPR they hadn't yet appeared when we first wrote this. Now, that's because ScipioSmith didn't feel comfortable writing the characters and didn't know what to do with them (I'm one of those people who really liked the Shadowbolts in canon EqG and wished they would do more with them, so obviously I had a few ideas), but what if there was more to it? Crystal Prep is noted as being a highly competitive environment that is not very personable… though it's, you know, from Sci-Twi's perspective, and she's just about as ready to marry a calculator as her Equestrian counterpart is to lay with books - which is a joke, since they both obviously have things for human men. That could be taken in a very negative light, but it also reminds me of some place like UA, which means it's perfectly possible that Twilight could get a bunch of friends there who are constantly pushing her to go beyond and surpass her limitations, Plus Ultra!
Was kind of worried about Team JNPR not getting enough time to shine, but then I realized that they're getting the next two chapters all to themselves, so they're going to get plenty of screentime to work out their issues.
Indigo Zap seems like a pretty simple character, but she's got her own personality going that we were happy with after working on her a bit. In terms of sheer history though she's definitely one of the more important characters for those around her, since she was almost certainly the first person to sweep Twilight up into their little group after their chance encounter. She's also got her own little quirks going with how her callsign means 'carpenter' and she thinks that architecture is the coolest thing in the world. I'd probably make a joke about how she's some bizzare fusion of Rainbow Dash and Rogal Dorn, but I'm not sure that counts.
Sunny Flare was actually the first person in Team FIST designed after we decided to have Twilight greet Weiss all the way back in "Cold." Yes, even before the schtick of Twilight herself was nailed down. Mostly this was thanks to her having influence from two sources: the Fallout series because of those wrist things she wears, and the Desolator from Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. Some of you might have already figured that out though, and spotted the other C&C reference in this chapter.
As Cyc said, there's a bit of an unreliable narrator phenomenon going on in this chapter. Though Twilight, as ever, is a little naive about her friends, believing them to all be one big happy family… that argues every time they get together for the holidays. Give it time though, I'm sure they'll all work things out and learn a valuable lesson about friendship by the end.
Adapting the plotline of the game starring just Team JNPR though? That was one of the oldest thoughts for this fic. Though the twist that we have going was added a little bit later.
Description of the environment was one of the things we tried to nail in this chapter, but I'm not sure it worked. While writing it I was just trying to think of how it looked from inside the helmet of Pyrrha as she walked along in this fireproof radiation suit, and… oh, I don't think there was any way to capture the destructive beauty of what I was seeing in my mind's eye into prose. Maybe one day I'll commission an artist who can with pictures.
Speaking of Pyrrha's perspective. You might think it's a bit of a cop out since we hate writing fight scenes and almost every time we do try to do it the chapter takes twice as long to complete, and you're partly right. The other part is though is translating some things I've picked up from interviews with various special forces over the years: that in combat if you think about something you'll die, but if you act on instinct you'll live, so train yourself till the moves you would have made after a great deal of thought are instinctual.
Author's Note 3 (Cyclone):
Personally, I think Cody's being too hard on the chapter. I think it's great, but that might be because I had so little involvement in directly writing it and so was able to enjoy it more as I read through it during our editing passes.