Well, clearly last chapter was mediocre at best. I'm gonna go back and edit it heavily as soon as this chapter is out.
Well, now that the mushy stuff is done, now is the time for Villains to meet Heroes... After I shamelessly put the CRWBY (The characters, not the creators) through their first match of 40k.
Also, that one conversion that some of you saw in the previous chapter but now isn't there? Again, I decided to add her later on at a point where there's a little more emotional oomph for it. But she will be mentioned here in this chapter.
Chapter 19: Welcome to Beacon
"Heroes are defined by their villains. Batman is nothing if he doesn't have Two-Face." —Greg Rucka
Sip.
The time was 10:25 in the morning. One minute until he should arrive.
Sip.
Where on Remnant is that boy? I told him to be 10 minutes early so we could debrief him before we met with James...
Outside, the sparse clouds hung low, a thin blanket over the city of Vale. Considering it was the start of July, it was rather odd that the monsoons had picked up so early this year; normally in Vale they started around mid-August, even on years when the forecasts predicted higher precipitation throughout the year and yet for some reason they had started up so early...
"Quite the omen, don't you think?"
"Hmm? I'm sorry Professor, I wasn't paying attention considering..."
"I was just commenting about the weather, Glynda; the monsoons are quite early this year, don't you think?"
"Actually, now that you mention it," Glynda began, "it has been unusually rainy as of late."
Ozpin hummed as he dwelled upon the idea. "Perhaps Mother Nature is giving us a break this year after the longer drought last year. Goodness knows the farmers out on the edge of the Kingdom's lands could use it more than us here in the city."
Outside, the cloud cover continued to drift lazily over Vale, the sun peaking through in spots to kiss the steel, brick and mortar of the city below. No rain had actually fallen yet, but Ozpin was not one to say "never," and what was a little rain anyhow.
"Has the mess hall been holding strong since yesterday's debacle?" Ozpin asked.
He glanced aside to see Glynda standing astride him, staring out towards the landing pads along Beacon's northern flank. The tower had a grand viewpoint of the surrounding academy, giving Ozpin the ability to watch over his Academy and his students—at least from a macro-management standpoint.
Glynda growled. "Everything is stable and secure," she said with a huff, "but I'm thinking from now on we ask Jacob to keep an eye on those two groups, or at least ask him to mediate should they do that again."
"It was just a simple playfight Glynda," Ozpin reassured her again, "all things considered we've seen much worse in previous teams."
Glynda huffed and relaxed a bit, though he could see she was still as tightly coiled as a suspension wire; a few wrong steps and she could snap.
Their attention returned to the outside. from out of the cloudy skies, a massive airship parted the cloud-cover and descended towards the larger landing pads. It was easily closing in on 200 feet long, 30 feet tall and probably in the nature of 70 feet across, big, black and sleek, to all the world looking like a massive black dagger slipping out from behind the veil of the sky to nestle itself in a titan's back. Bullheads zoomed by it that by comparison were small enough to be as to it what a sparrow was to an eagle. Despite the militaristic appearance, it was purely designed so that people on board could travel the skies in peace and in style, thanks in no part to the generous donations from various socialites from Atlas and the battery of small arms along the hull to protect it from Grimm that also flew the unfriendly skies.
An Atlesian Skyhawk. Massive and sleek, a vehicle built for luxury that could easily become a battleship in a few days of reconfiguration.
Ozpin felt it both was a testament to his philosophy of the sword becoming the ploughshare and a mockery of it.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A request to enter pinged from the elevators.
Ozpin turned on the security cameras inside the elevator. It was Jacob.
Ozpin looked down at his Scroll's clock.
10:27. Well, better late than never.
"Come in," he called out.
The door opened up and in stepped their newest initiate. He wore a focused look in his eyes, and a more confident stride than usual told Ozpin that Jacob had at least already been sizing up the situation and wanted to give James Ironwood a good first impression.
"Morning, Professors," Jacob said as he entered the office. "Sorry I'm late, had to deal with laundry after yesterday's foodfight. And yes Glynda, sorry I let that get out of hand."
She didn't answer, but she did nod in acknowledgement.
"It's quite alright Jacob," Ozpin said as he walked up to him, "I was merely concerned that you wouldn't make it to the meeting. James Ironwood is not one for tardiness, and I figured that it would bode well in your favor if you got on his good side."
Jacob smiled and only nodded once. "Considering he's head of the largest armed force on the planet as well as the headmaster of Atlas' Huntsman Academy, I wouldn't expect less." Jacob's smile suddenly vanished as his gaze was tugged out towards the landing pads. "Whoa," he said as he came up to the window, "That's an Atlesian airship?"
"Indeed," Ozpin said dryly as he joined Jacob in looking outside. Another two had joined the first airship and had begun unloading their passengers, most of them Huntsmen and Huntresses of Atlas Academy here for the Vytal Festival... some 400 of them if what James said was true.
"Jesus Christ," said Jacob in awe, "I wouldn't want to meet them in the unfriendly skies, that's for sure. Funny enough, I was expecting them to come by boat, not by plane."
The word "plane" caught Ozpin's attention; no one in any of the Kingdoms called airships "planes". Storing that detail away, Ozpin answered the unasked question Jacob had posed. "Considering Atlas' technological prowess," he began as he hid the sarcasm in his voice, "and 'proud nature', Im not in the least bit surprised that they're coming in from the skies rather than by ship."
"Goodness knows that Ironwood certainly loves to bring his work with him whenever he travels," Glynda growled.
"Well," Ozpin began, "Running an academy and a military makes him a busy man. But yes, those are a definite eyesore."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The elevator again. "That must be James. Come in!"
The doors opened and out stepped the figure of Headmaster-General James Ironwood. Ozpin always forgot how different James was now from that fresh-faced boy that had first joined the Inquisition so many years ago; James' features were beginning to look weathered and rugged, and Ozpin couldn't ignore the beginnings of gray hair along James' temples. Despite the signs of age beginning to creep up on him, Ironwood was still the epitome of health, lean but broad-shouldered under that white overcoat, blue-grey undercoat and black sweater, though Ozpin knew that behind the coats, grey dress pants and white glove on his right side his body had been replaced with a great deal of cybernetics from when...
Well, it wasn't good to dwell too much on the past.
"Ozpin," James exclaimed in delight as he entered the office.
"Hello, General," Ozpin replied as he stood at attention; it would have been rude to not, even if they were of the same overall rank technically.
"Please, drop the formalities," he said as the two met in the center of the room and shook hands, "It's been too long." Ironwood's attention turned to Ozpin's right and a big smile appeared. "And Glynda, it's certainly been too long since we last met!"
Ozpin eyed Glynda wearily; James had a tendency to push Glynda's buttons just right.
"Oh you," she feigned flattery with a flirty wave. She leaned in close to Ozpin and whispered, "I'll be downstairs."
As the doors closed behind Glynda, Ironwood laughed and said, "Well, she hasn't changed a bit." His gaze suddenly seemed to stop on something behind Ozpin. "Ozpin, did I interrupt a meeting with one of your students?"
Ozpin turned and looked to see Jacob standing astride his desk, standing at attention though he seemed far from intimidated by Ironwood. "Well," Jacob began as he walked towards them slowly, "Yes and no, General Ironwood, sir."
Ozpin figured now was as good of a time to interject as any. "James," he began as Jacob closed the distance between them, "I'd like you to meet Jacob Muller... our newest initiate."
There was a tense silence as Ironwood looked over the boy and sized him up. "So, you're the boy that caught Ozpin's eye and Amber's ear," he said finally. He reached out his right arm in a handshake. Jacob took it and soon found himself in the vice-like grip of James' robotic hand, though he seemed to be trying to hide the pain he was feeling as he desperately tried to return the firm grip. "A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine, General," Jacob said as he bit back what was clearly the urge to cry out in pain.
"Firm grip for small hands like that," James said jokingly.
"Funny," Jacob hissed, "I'm told that I've got a grip like a baby."
The two let go of their handshake, Jacob cradling his right hand as he flexed it in testing. In what to Ozpin felt like a clear contest of the dominance of wills, Ironwood had more than come out on top of that duel.
"There's a lot of potential in you," James said with a smile. "You'll be a great asset to the Inquisition, I guarantee it."
"Thank you, General. Well, no disrespect intended, now that we're done measuring firearms," Jacob said with a laugh, "I have a feeling that Ozpin's wanting to talk to you."
Both Ozpin and James laughed heartily at that comment. "Indeed," Ozpin said as he moved over to his desk, "I actually was wondering, what in the world has brought you all the way down as Atlas. Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival." Ozpin moved to pour fresh coffee from the kettle sitting on his desk, offering mugs to both Jacob and James.
"Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year," James said as he took out a canteen of what was probably his favorite Atlesian whiskey and spiked the coffee. To his left Jacob picked up a lone sugar cube and split it in half before dumping one half into his drink. Jacob took a hesitant swig, but immediately started coughing; clearly coffee was not in his palette. Yet he soldiered on with a transparent smile of courtesy as James took a drink from his. "Besides," he continued, "with you hosting I thought it might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."
Ozpin felt that this was a loaded answer. "I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends," he said as he topped off his own mug and sat down in his chair, "however the small fleet of ships outside my window has me concerned."
"Well," Ironwood said as his face turned into a frown, "concern is what brought me here."
Now we're getting to the point.
"I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasing difficult—"
"Oz," James interrupted, "You and both know why I brought those men. And so does Mr. Muller, if what you said is true."
I knew it, Ozpin thought to himself.
He took a drink from his mug and sat it down on the desk with a sigh. "We are at a time of peace, James. Shows of power like this... are just going to give off the wrong impression."
"But if what Qrow said was true..." James paused as he looked over at Jacob and then back to Ozpin. "How much does he know?"
"He knows about the Maidens... and about Salem as well," Ozpin confirmed with a nod.
"And the Relics?"
Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Jacob had stopped and was listening intently. Both turned and looked at him intently.
Jacob returned their intense stares with a nervous glance around the room; they were both intimidating him fiercely, Ozpin quickly deduced. "Oookay," Jacob said as he finished another small sip of coffee, "clearly I'm not as in the loop as I need to be, but let's focus on the big threat coming to skin us alive, shall we? If what I've heard from Ruby is true, we're talking about Qrow Branwen, right?"
Ozpin arched an eyebrow. "I take it she informed you that he is her uncle?"
"Yeah," Jacob said as he set down the mug and sat in the chair to the right hand side in front of Ozpin. "Regardless, he's part of... The Inquisition, right?"
Both men nodded at the boy, Ozpin noting the hesitance in Jacob's voice at the mention of their organization's name.
"So, what's this message from him?"
"Three simple words," Ironwood said plainly. "'Queen has Pawns.'"
"Queen has Pawns... Salem has cronies, boots on the ground as it were, I would guess?"
"Precisely. As I was saying, if what Qrow said is true—"
"If what Qrow said is true," Ozpin began as he interrupted James, "then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vytal Festival, James; A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you don't scare the people of Remnant by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the planet."
"I'm just being precautious," James replied sternly.
"As am I," Ozpin replied calmly, "which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses—and Inquisitors in some cases—as we can."
"Believe me, I am." General Ironwood turned and began to walk towards the elevators, stopping halfway across.
"But ask yourself this: Do you honestly believe that your children can win a war?"
And with that, Ironwood walked inside the doors of the elevator and vanished behind the burnished green doors.
War. What an ugly word and an even uglier event. Ozpin had borne witness to too much war for one life, even if it had been some 80 years since it had occurred.
But he never wanted to see such life lost in such a way ever again.
"I hope they never have to," he said to Jacob as the elevator carrying James Ironwood descended to the ground below.
Jacob's brow furrowed as the obvious signs of a deep memory haunting his mind danced in front of his eyes. " I pray to God that they never do," he muttered solemnly.
Ozpin didn't have to be psychic to know who Jacob was talking about.
"...So," Jacob began in a clear attempt to break the tense silence, "I probably will have to wait on an explanation of these Relics?"
The silent hum of the elevator was the only thing he heard on the way down. The air inside was cold in no small part due to the vents coming from what was probably an onboard AC unit. Had he been outside at the time this would have felt like a gust of divine wind from Heaven, and even then considering home he had never been a stranger to extreme temperatures.
...What are those damn Relics?
10 minutes had passed since Ironwood had left Ozpin's office, and Jacob was now riding the elevator down to the ground level; Ozpin hadn't given him any information on the Relics, stating that, "The time being was not conducive for telling him everything at the moment," and that for now Jacob should, "focus on his training and socializing for now."
"...Damn it Oz," Jacob hissed through his teeth, "You're not making my job any easier by keeping me in the dark. How am I supposed to help you if you won't help me?"
He leaned back against the wall, his brow furrowed in anger as he stared back up at the ceiling. With a heavy sigh, he continued to ponder everything thus far; Now that Ironwood was here with the Atlesian Army, tensions were about to start skyrocketing. With Roman and the White Fang stirring up crime throughout the city, the Grimm would be more and more drawn to Vale as a tasty meal to chow down on with gleeful abandon, which would in turn beef up security, which would in turn feed people's fears, so on and so forth ad nauseum.
Granted, it was probably for the better that the defensive ranks were getting beefed up in preparation for the Vytal Festival; more boots on the ground would save far more lives in the Battle of Beacon... up until those Atlesian robotic troops would get hit with the Queen Virus that Cinder cooked up. What were they called again? Were they the Paladins or were they the Knights? He honestly couldn't remember, and he wasn't about to go have it clarified with Ironwood when the General had yet to reveal them to the public.
The hum continued as he closed in on the ground level. It was a minute to travel from Ozpin's office down to the ground, and fortunately he didn't have to worry about people coming from the CCT Center and crowding the elevator; He had learned from inquiry that the elevator to Ozpin's office was standalone and simply led to the office, ground floor, and The Vault.
10 seconds to ground level, Jacob realized that he hadn't visited Amber in nearly a month. Sure, what was she gonna say being comatose, but it wasn't like anyone else was coming to visit her.
And no one should be alone for too long.
5 seconds to ground level.
Quickly, he opened the numberpad and typed in the code to access the Vault.
0-7-1-8-1-3.
The elevator zoomed past the ground floor, onwards and downwards to The Vault.
Jacob let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. It would be another minute or so until he arrived.
With a minute to burn, he glanced down at his phone and scrolled through before deciding to turn on BattleScribe out of boredom. Fortunately for him, despite having the old 7th Edition Codexes with him he had managed to download all of the 8th Edition Indexes the week before he had left, giving him an opportunity to compare and contrast the two editions of Warhammer 40,000. The sudden addition of variant movement distances had definitely thrown him off when he had played his first and probably only game of 1000 points of his Storm Wraiths Space Marines against 1000 points of Tyranids painted up with the purple and white colors of Hive Fleet Leviathan. He remembered writing up a storyline as for what was going on, how this splinter of Leviathan had broken off from the main fleet and had begun ravaging planets on the way to Catachan only to be stopped by the Storm Wraiths on an Agri-World 70 light-years from the 'roided-out Vietnam expy planet.
Well, stopped with the help of... his Pyrrha-Celestine conversion.
It had been just after he had watched Season 3 for the first time in February, and at the same time the new sets for the Gathering Storm event had been released about the same time. He had received a St. Celestine model with her two Gemini bodyguards from a friend who had simply wanted the Archmagos Cawl model out of the Triumvirate of the Imperium box set, and at the time he had getting truly familiar with conversion work.
In an admittedly morose—and probably insane—frenzy he had conjured the idea to use some of the third-party female conversion heads he had received for his Guardsmen over Christmas, and with a little help from some Green Stuff modeling epoxy he managed to create a version of the new plastic model of Celestine the Living Saint in the likeness of Pyrrha Nikos. Granted, he hadn't been able to paint on her tiara, let alone model it on, but Celestine's Iron Halo technically worked for the same aesthetic feel. He'd even taken the time and the headaches to scrape off the fleur-de-lis and other heraldry on Celestine's leg armor and smoothed it out so they could be painted as bare legs to complete the ensemble as accurately as he could.
Just now thinking about that project, Jacob was overcome with a sense of embarrassment; Considering where he was now and the fact that he was now friends with her, that wasn't just creepy, that was down-right nuts...
Ding!
The doors opened, and once again the Vault stretched out before him. The hall was silent as the grave, the dim emerald light casting long claws across the walls like a den of ancient and terrible beasts of some forgotten abyss.
Jacob stepped out of the elevator and into the long and cavernous hallway with a few trepid steps. He expected his footsteps to echo ferociously throughout The Vault, announcing his presence to anyone who may also be down here, but found that his footfalls echoed no more than they normally did in the halls of the auditorium.
The walk to Amber's stasis pod was quiet and somber as Jacob continued to think to himself. He hadn't really noticed it before but at a pace more akin to a morning walk in the park it was a solid 3-minute walk from the elevators to the stasis pods, not counting the minute and a half he took to stare down the corridor at the halfway point that led to the initiation room... and the statue that looked uncannily like Malcador the Sigillite.
Jacob decided that maybe it was for the better that he should just focus on checking up on Amber.
Finally, the soft glow of Amber's stasis pod arrived in his line of sight... the same as it ever was; no visual signs that she was doing better, no changes to be found.
A heavy sigh echoed down the hallway, originating from Jacob. "I really shouldn't have expected any different," he muttered to himself.
He walked up to the massive machine and stared down into the pod. There, the Fall Maiden laid in her comatose sleep, her body too weak to heal itself and still too strong to simply give up and die.
"Hey Amber," he said quietly, "how're you holding up?"
No answer but for the same silence a grave would give him.
"...Sorry I haven't been down in a while," he continued, "I... uhm, got tied up with things as of late."
Again, no answer.
He sighed heavily and sat down astride the pod. "What do you care," he said to Amber, "it's not like you can really hold a conversation with me." Jacob leaned back against the pod and looked up into the shadow-cloaked, deep-green ceiling.
"It's nice to be able to talk about these things with someone... Lord knows I can't really say anything until it's too late. If I say anything too early, than the main timeline becomes forfeit and... Ruby and Yang and Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Ren, all of them become just as easily on the chopping block as Pyrrha and Penny are at this current moment—well, will be is probably the optimum word. If any one of them gets hurt or worse because I didn't play my cards right, I would be just as ashamed of myself as if I let Pyrrha and Penny die. But then there's you, Amber... and for you I realize that there's nothing I can do. Look at me for fuck's sake, I'm using you—the Fall Maiden, comatose and without an heir to either your power or your name—as my Goddamned sounding board. I'm lying to Ozpin about knowing you just so I can stay at Beacon and train up, I have no real choice but to either let events play out as they were set to be by Monty, or I forsake "canon" and throw caution to the wind like a headstrong teen! Fuck it, I am a headstrong teen in a way if I take into account what I was like back home!"
Jacob launched onto his feet in frustration. He let out a very agitated growl as he ran his hands through his hair; what he would give right now for a satin tag to rub to alleviate his stress was a laundry list and a half. "What do I do, Amber!?" How can I save them all, how can I keep them safe," Jacob shouted, "When the only way to keep them safe could threaten a Kingdom! I mean, sure I owe no allegiance to Vale, but how well do you think I could sleep at night if I saved them at the cost of hundreds! I don't want to be selfish, but being selfless puts them all at risk! Especially Pyrrha!"
He rounded on the pod and slammed a balled fist into the chassis, the impact forcing a resounding thud down the hallway and into the darkness.
Amber's heart monitor remained stable, to his relief.
"Sorry," he muttered as he leaned over what in truth was to be her coffin and held his head in his hands, "I'm just... I'm just frustrated with how this is going, with what my options are at the moment. Your attacker—Cinder Fall—moves against us all, and considering what I've seen of her, I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of trumping her unless I use subterfuge and keep lying my way to victory. But the truth will eventually come out, and I when it does... will they hate me for not telling them? What will Pyrrha think of me then? Ruby? Yang? Jaune? What do I do, Amber... What do I do?"
No response.
"It doesn't help," he said as his voice cracked, "That about 2 weeks ago now...well, I went and killed a kid in self-defense. Yeah, how would you feel about me now? Took a life to save my own skin, some hero of the people I'll end up being long-term."
His face felt flushed and hot. His pulse was furious, his palms were already damp with sweat as he stewed in his anger and fear.
"I'm afraid Amber... I know I'm afraid, and I don't know how to stop fearing for them all... They're all capable fighters... but this is a foe beyond any of them, and beyond me by a longshot. What do I do?"
He shouldn't have expected an answer. Cold, hard logic dictated that Amber couldn't answer him even if he tried his hardest to talk to her.
So why was it he could swear that the pod felt the slightest bit warmer to his touch?
"I know that kind of fear all too well."
Jacob's already-racing heart took a flying leap into his throat as he wheeled and drew Cadia from his belt in an unsteady quickdraw; His stance was off-balance and a sweeping kick would have easily made him hit the ground face-first. Pyrrha would not have been happy with that.
"Easy soldier," said the figure as it moved closer. Out of the dimmed light, General Ironwood walked out, his hands in the air and a calm demeanor to his stance.
Jacob rolled his eyes in embarrassed frustration and put his pistol away with a heavy sigh. Facade back on, Jacob thought to himself. "Jesus Christ," he said exasperatedly, "sorry about that General. Thought someone from Salem's team had followed me down here."
Ironwood arched an eyebrow. "Why would you think that?"
Jacob flinched ever so slightly at his faux-pas, but quickly shrugged and tilted his head aside, as to suggest he was considering a hunch. "Considering the jump in activity for both the White Fang and Roman Torchwick's goons, something tells me that's not a coincidence. I think Salem's "pawns" are recruiting pawns of their own."
"And you were of the mindset that someone could have followed you down here to either kill Amber or report back to Salem about it. Precaution and preparedness," Ironwood noted as he walked up to Jacob and placed his left hand—his augmented hand, Jacob remembered—onto his shoulder. "I can appreciate that mindset; God knows Ozpin could learn a thing or two from that."
"I know, right? I swear," Jacob said with a roll of his eyes, "he's letting his guard down when there is clear signs that the enemy's looking for a back to sink a dagger into."
Ironwood smiled at that. "Glad to see that there is something we can agree on, Mr Muller." He turned and looked down at Amber, a sadness in his eyes as he scanned her up and down, as if looking for something.
"How long have you been standing there, actually?" Jacob asked as a creeping fear of being discovered coursed up his spine.
"Less than a minute actually," Ironwood said matter-of-factly. "I take it there was something I wasn't supposed to hear before, 'I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell'?"
Jacob's stomach stopped readying for a backflip as he came down from his terror; he hadn't been discovered... yet. "Just, uh, just something Amber and I promised one another before she left," he lied calmly, "just that we would both stay safe and all."
Ironwood nodded in understanding as silence assumed control of the room. After a minute, Jacob decided to strike up a conversation.
"So, General—"
"Please," Ironwood interrupted, "You may be my junior in age, but as long as you are part of the Inquisition, we're colleagues. Call me James... or just Ironwood if you prefer."
"Right... James. How much as Ozpin told you about me?"
"A lot actually," Ironwood replied, "and from what he's reported, you were made of stern stuff even before you joined the ranks of the Huntsmen Academies."
Jacob snorted a bit at that. "I doubt it; all things considered I have Pyrrha and Jaune to thank for saving me, otherwise by now I would have long since left the ass-end of a Beowolf as a brown log, not to put too fine a point on it."
Ironwo—James replied with a laugh of his own. "Considering that bite mark on your arm, I doubt that would have been the case. An Ursa's bite on a good day is known to take a man's arm off at the bone. Either it was an already weak Ursa, or physically you're already quite durable."
A now all-too-familiar twinge coursed up Jacob's left forearm. Goddamnit, he thought to himself, Not again. Why does it keep doing that?
"I think it may have already been weakened," Jacob replied in earnest, "Since Yang had been fighting it and its sibling for a few minutes before we arrived. Still, what's a scar or two if they mark a victory, I suppose."
Ironwood visibly winced at that sentiment, his own left arm going rigid as if it were struck on a nerve. Ironwood cleared his throat and said, "Fair enough. I also wanted to say something in regards to what happened at the Wharf District those few weeks ago."
Jacob's turn to flinch. The image of the kid's face rose to the surface of his mind like a macabre mug shot, but was quickly banished with a shake of Jacob's head. "...What about it?"
"Ozpin briefed me on what happened; the fight with Torchwick and... what happened with that boy. I'm sorry that you had to take that shot; it's never pleasant to take a life... especially one that young."
"Please don't remind me," Jacob said as his stomach roiled and nearly forced him to double over. Two weeks out, and it was all still troubling to think about, regardless of all the hugs he could get from Pyrrha and Ruby when the memory did flare up.
"But that being said," Ironwood continued, "What happened out there was an unfortunate series of circumstances. You did what you had to, just like any soldier would in a battle. It wasn't pleasant... but then again all things considered, our task is the farthest thing from pleasant as well."
"...That's not very comforting, James," Jacob said flatly.
"It wasn't meant to be," Ironwood replied. "Now that Salem seems to be reinforcing her ranks, there may come a time that you must again take a life. But the only comforting thought I can give you is that if it comes to that, every life you end can possibly save far more lives. Every enemy that you fell had the potential to take someone away from their family and friends; Your friends and loved ones could be put in danger if you fail."
Jacob felt the faintest spark of heat in his chest as a name came to mind:
Cinder.
Ironwood's words rang clear with his inner American: If he lets the enemy get away, others will suffer and die for his failure.
Pyrrha. Penny.
His hands balled into fists.
I won't let them suffer because I failed.
After a minute of letting his stomach finish roiling, Jacob righted himself with a deep breath and a stern gaze. "You're right," he said with a huff and a nod of his head, "You're absolutely right."
"Glad to hear it," Ironwood replied. "Now, I'm going to suggest that we both stay vigilant, but take Ozpin's words into consideration at the very least."
Jacob looked up at James with a cocked eyebrow. "I thought you were not one to rest on your laurels, what gives?"
Ironwood sighed as he turned and looked back at Amber. "There's a reason the Ozpin's the leader of The Inquisition, Jacob. As much as I am on high alert, Ozpin is right to some degree. It's the Vytal Festival, and it does us no good to run ourselves ragged when the rest of Vale is in celebration. We'll both keep our eyes peeled, but we should only act if things start heating up."
A smirk lined Jacob's lips. "Fair enough," he replied, "though I will admit that I agree with you that Ozpin's being perhaps too complacent."
Ironwood smiled back. "Well, at least someone else is on high alert."
Jacob looked back down at Amber, and the tiniest lick of sadness lapped against him like the tide on a placid beach.
"If you don't mind James," Jacob said, "I think I should take my leave now, if you don't mind."
"I think it may be best if you get away from here for a bit," Ironwood replied. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Muller."
Jacob nodded and said, "A pleasure to meet you, General Ironwood, sir."
And as he began to walk away, his mind conjured the rhythmic rat-tat-tapping of snare drums. His gait became more furious and controlled, as if he were marching to war.
A smile graced his face as he came to a conclusion.
Maybe it would be fun to teach these kids how to play Warhammer 40k.
He gazed down at his phone and pulled up BattleScribe.
The Warrior Song began to play out in his mind.
I've got the reach and the teeth of a killing machine,
With the need to bleed you when the light goes green,
Best believe I'm in the zone to be,
from my Yin to my Yang to my—
"Yang Xiao Long, prepare your Kingdom for battle!"
"Bring it on!"
"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!"
Yang let out a gasp of surprise.
Even I could hear the melodrama in that, Pyrrha thought to herself.
"Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"
"You fiend!"
"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts 1 turn."
Yang snickered. "Pretty sneaky sis, but you just activate my trap card! Giant Nevermore!"
"Whaa!?" Ruby screamed as the sound of fist meeting a desk resonated in Pyrrha's right ear.
"If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"
"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"
"That's just a risk I'll have to take..."
Pyrrha sighed to herself. I can appreciate having a little fun... but do they have to be so loud in the library?
Pyrrha looked up from her Grimm Studies textbook as she took stock of everyone in their little super-group. Professor Port had already begun intermediate Grimm breeds like Beringels and Deathstalkers, and Pyrrha had suggested that they all get a head-start on studying for the inevitable pop exam Port was known for using.
On her left, her partner Jaune sat initially studying, though only now she had noticed that he had exchanged his textbook for an X-Ray & Vav comic, while Nora slept on top of the textbook Ren was studying from.
Maybe this wasn't as good of an idea as I initially thought it would be, Pyrrha thought to herself.
She cleared her throat at Jaune and quickly swapped the comic book in his hands for her textbook, deciding to take a few minutes for a break to have a read of the comic; granted, she wasn't one for X-Ray and Vav, but none of her romance novels or her classics were on hand, and it didn't hurt to try and read something new for a change. But despite her best efforts, RWBY's
"Well, Weiss," Yang said, "it's your turn."
"I have... absolutely no idea what's going on," she heard Weiss lament.
"Look, it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus..."
As Yang continued to chatter on about their game, Pyrrha's thoughts turned to the Vytal Festival; both teams had qualified to represent Vale and Beacon Academy along with CFVY and a few others, and in the meantime the buzz about the Beacon Dance was beginning to reach a fever pitch. Already a few couples were springing up around the school, though no one had asked anyone from RWBY or JNPR to the dance. Admittedly Pyrrha had never attended a dance before, not even at Sanctum when there were far more boys chasing after her than here by comparison. Despite that, Weiss and Yang had both confirmed that they would be at the dance, albeit as coordinators.
That should be interesting to see, Pyrrha thought to herself with an amused smile. Considering the two were polar opposites, the party was more than likely to swing from formal ballroom dance to a raucous, rollicking party with wild music and dances in a heartbeat. Pyrrha was hoping a bit more for the ballroom dance type, wild parties weren't her forte if she was being honest with herself.
But who would go with her? She was Pyrrha Nikos, the Champion of Mistral, a star in her own right...
No one thought themselves worthy.
Everyone, except Jaune, she wistfully thought to herself. He had never treated her like some demigoddess that was beyond his grasp, some idol to be worshipped and coveted like so many guys back at Sanctum had treated her.
To him, she was just Pyrrha Nikos, his partner. His friend.
And it kind of made her heart flutter.
"...Pyrrha, are you okay?"
Pyrrha blinked twice and shook her head as a male voice pulled her out from her session of self-reflection. "I-I'm sorry, what's wrong?"
It was Jaune that spoke up, as he was looking up from his "I was asking if you're feeling okay Pyrrha. You look like you're running a fever."
"What? Jaune, I feel fine," she replied in assurance.
"But your cheeks are all rosy," he said with a worried furrow on his brow.
Pyrrha felt her stomach hitch a little. Now that he mentioned it, she did feel a little hot and bothered under the collar... as well as in the face.
Oh gods, am I... blushing?
"I, uhm, I-I'm fine Jaune," she weakly stuttered, "B-being in the sun must be heating me up." Without a moment's hesitation, she drilled holes in her textbook as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
And then suddenly, Weiss assumed command of everyone's attention... as usual.
"Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"
Without warning, yang flashed another card in Weiss' face. "Trap card," was all she said before she swiped pieces from Weiss' side of the board in a flurry of resin and gloved fingers. Weiss only had enough time to utter a confused cry before Yang finished, declaring proudly, "Your armies have been destroyed."
"I hate this game of emotions we play!" Weiss cried as she slumped back into her chair.
Without warning, Ruby flew into Weiss' lap, hugging her closely. "Stay strong, Weiss," she said through an attempt at a cry, "We'll make it through this together!" Weiss simply replied, "Shut up, don't touch me!"
Yang leaned back and rested her hands up behind her head. "Alright Blake, you're up."
It was at this point that Pyrrha noticed Blake was not actually paying attention to what was going on around her; for all intents and purposes, she seemed to be in the same place as Pyrrha had been moments ago, deep in the landscape of her own mind. "Oh, um, sorry, what am I doing?"
"You're playing as Vale," Yang replied, "trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant!" Pyrrha thought back to the last time she had seen this game in Mistral: this game, while popular in both Vale and Atlas, hadn't taken as much root in Mistral, mainly due to the lack of intrigue on part of the populace and poor marketing on part of the company that created the game.
But before that thought could go any further, her vision was soon obstructed as Jaune passed in front of her and walked up to RWBY's table. "Hey, can I play?"
Pyrrha rolled her eyes and smiled. As much as she wanted to study and by extension wanted him to study, maybe it was for the better that they take a break for a bit.
"Sorry Jaune," Ruby replied, "we've already got 4 people."
"Besides," Weiss snidely began, "this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess." Pyrrha furrowed her brow at that remark to her partner.
It was Yang however who countered the heiress' statement. "Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago." The annoyed sound that Weiss made was unusually satisfying to Pyrrha's ears.
Jaune puffed out his chest and said, "Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!"
"By who? Your mother?" Weiss replied.
Jaune's confidence soured quickly as he replied, "A-and Pyrrha!"
"Hello again!" Pyrrha called out, though no one on RWBY acknowledged her. That was actually kind of a new experience for her... she wasn't sure if she liked it or not; leaning more towards yes no doubt, but still...
Jaune bent down and began to plead. "Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!"
Weiss pulled back her cards close to her chest. "I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo," she retorted.
"Why not," Jaune replied. "You've trusted me with way more important stuff before."
Pyrrha felt a sudden lurch in her stomach. Jaune was about to be stupid again.
"I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fa—"
Pyrrha darted over to Jaune with inhuman speed, slapping a hand over his mouth and saying, "—Fun-loving person, whom we all admire and respect!"
A collective glance from everyone lined itself at Blake, who clearly was not amused about her secret nearly getting out.
"Right. That. Ladies, enjoy your battle." And with a bow, Jaune turned and began to return to his seat. A few seconds later however, a set of footsteps announced a newcomer's presence.
"'Sup losers!"
Pyrrha's gaze snapped up as none other than Sun Wukong rounded the corner, holding his fingers in a "peace" sign as he walked up to the table RWBY was at. "Hey Sun," Ruby replied. Just then, another boy rounded the corner, the one that she recognized from the mess hall that had been with Sun and Jacob. He was fairly distinct with that lapis-blue hair and maroon jacket, but they hadn't gotten the chance to be formally introduced to him yet. Even then though, she had seen him at Sanctum Academy in the past, as part of the bookworm clique that formed up in her class.
Speaking of those two, she thought to herself, where is Jacob? He was supposed to meet us here after his meeting with Professor Ozpin...
"Ruby, Yang, Blake... Ice Queen," Sun addressed each of the girls.
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss lamented from Sun's greeting.
"I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."
"Uhh, aren't libraries for reading," the bluenette asked the assembled teams. "Thank you!" Ren cried out as Nora awoke from her nap with a loud cry of "Pancakes!"
"Shut up," Sun chided the other student, "Don't be a nerd."
"Geh-geh-geh-geh! 'Intellectual', okay?" The boy raised a finger to enunciate his point. "Thank you. Anyways, I'm Neptune."
"So Neptune, where are you from? Weiss asked with a tone that Pyrrha felt may have been a bit flirty.
The boy—Neptune— grew a massive grin across his face. "Haven," he said as he sauntered over towards Weiss, "And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."
"Um, I'm Weiss, she replied in the kindest voice Pyrrha had ever heard from the heiress. Beside Pyrrha, Jaune whispered in aggravation," Are you kidding me!?"
Hearing that Jaune was still continuing to chase Weiss for some reason made her feel... sad wasn't the right word for it... not depressed, not downtrodden... dejected?
While she was grappling with the sudden subtle emotion, Blake had without warning, stood up from her spot at the table and began to walk away as she said, "Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually. I'll see you guys later." And with that, she briskly walked away from the scene.
Everyone stood in silence as they all tried to process what was going on with her. Pyrrha couldn't even tell if she was upset over someone, or something, or is her old defenses were starting to react to Neptune and Sun.
From somewhere behind her, Nora muttered, "Women."
A second later, they heard the faint voice of a man come from the same direction as Blake had headed towards.
"...Hey Blake, where are you... going... Uh, okay then."
Pyrrha felt a little relief; it was Jacob.
However, what he had with him forced her to do a double-take.
Jacob rounded the corner with a smile on his face, a devious look to his eyes, and all of his miniatures from his desk in his hands. When Jacob had allowed the two teams and Team CFVY to enter his dorm, one of the first things she and several others had taken note of were those models, each one macabre or menacing in some form or another.
"Oh, they're from a game I played back home," he had told them at the time, "I'll teach you guys how to play it one of these days... if I can get around to remaking my armies from absolute scratch." Pyrrha had a funny feeling that today was that day, full army or not.
"Hey Jacob," Ruby said as he wandered up and commandeered a third table and set down his payload.
"Hey guys," he replied, "sorry I'm late. Professor Ozpin wanted me to meet someone... high up on the totem pole, as it were. But after that episode of nerve-wracking, I needed a bit of a wind-down, as it were."
"Who was it?" Jaune asked as he walked up to Jacob.
"Well... just someone here for the Vytal Festival," Jacob hesitantly said, "let's put it at that."
Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Pyrrha all shared a collective glance at one another as they registered how he said that; clearly it was some kind of secret, but what was so secret that he had to keep it from them?
"Wait a minute," Yang said as they returned their attention back to Jacob, "I thought you said that the game needed a whole army to play?"
"Well, yes," Jacob replied as he held up his hands defensively, "to play the normal version of the game you do, but I kinda came up with a way to just play with individual models like I've got here." At the same time as he said the latter part, he began taking books from the shelves and assembling them in a circular pattern around the center of the table. "Me and the guys back home came up with the idea after a few of us were short on time for a game, since the full-sized game can take in upwards of 4 hours to play depending on the armies." By now a second layer of books was starting to stack up on top of the other ones, this layer made of books more compact in size than the previous layer.
Pyrrha was quick to deduce what it was he was proposing, but it was Neptune who was first to say anything. "Are you... trying to make an arena out of books?"
Jacob's head snapped up as he met Neptune's gaze. "Oh, Neptune, sorry I didn't notice you there. But yes, it's my... attempt at an arena."
Every time Pyrrha saw Jacob compared to everyone else in height, she had to feel sorry for him to be so short. Being 5'5" as a guy was probably a little embarrassing at times when guys like Jaune and Neptune towered nearly a foot over him at 6'3".
"Ookay," Sun said, "I'm a little out of the loop, what game are we talking about here?"
Jacob conjured a smug grin. "Warhammer 40,000 is it's name, but most players call it 40K. 'In the grim-dark future of the 41st Millennium, there is only war.'" On that last bit, he held his hands up and jittered his fingers as if trying to convey the idea as "spooky".
Now this was news to Pyrrha. "Sounds a little dark for a board game," she said with concern.
Jacob pointed a finger at her as he replied, "Tabletop game, it's played directly on the tabletop,, not on a game board. But to answer you, it's all in good fun; honestly the grimdarkness was kinda played for laughs in the past, though nowadays... not so much. But anyways," he continued as he piled the books ever higher, "I had completely forgotten about the Duels my group used to do if we wanted a quick game or two, so I decided to try to play that instead of trying to proxy a full army."
"...Well then," Yang said hesitantly, "good luck with that. Hey Neptune, wanna join in on our game?"
Pyrrha watched as Neptune seemed to debate with himself on which game to play. After a few seconds, he turned around towards RWBY and slid into the seat Blake had been seated in. "A game of Remnant sounds fun, I haven't played in years actually. Sorry if I'm a little rusty..."
As the four of them began their game, Sun and the whole of JNPR congregated around Jacob as he finished building his book-iseum; It was a sizable construct, a circle about two feet in diameter all the way around that reminded her vaguely of the auditorium's fighting ring.
"Alrighty," Jacob began as he clapped his hands together, "so, just before I left, the 8th edition of the game dropped and I got the opportunity to download the basic rules on my phone. Now, the rules for the different armies and by extension characters were supposed to start releasing as of... a month ago, so, what I'm gonna do here..."
Jacob trailed off as he pulled out his "phone"—his people's clear but admirable attempt at a low-tech Scroll—and began to tap away at it. "Well, since all of the Indexes downloaded, here's what I'm gonna do: I was originally gonna teach you guys how to play 7th Edition, but... from what I played of 8th Edition just before I left, I find that 8th is a little more streamlined than its predecessor. Though, the addition of movement distances is a little annoying in regards to some models... So, who wants to play me first?"
Jaune was quick to step up and offer. "Sounds like a fun game, I'm in!'
"Ooh, ooh, can I play after Jaune!?" Nora cried as she zipped over to Jacob's side and hugged his arm.
With a chuckle, Jacob replied, "Sure Nora, how about you play the victor with whoever you want to play—"
"Awesome! I wanna use the big guy with the hammer and shield!" Nora quickly picked the aforementioned model up and proudly displayed it as if it were her own. When she said the character was bid, she wasn't kidding; the suit he wore clearly was not made for agility in mind. It was large and square-shouldered, a massive grilled piece protecting the mouth of the person inside while massive plates covered the arms and chest. The back was adorned with a red-painted cape that hung below a set of what Pyrrha thought were fans and tubes on the back, and the shields on the shoulders were painted in white and gold. In his right hand was a massive hammer, comparatively akin in size disparity as Nora and Magnhilde were, twin-headed and emblazoned with gold skulls on the sides as he held it out and off to his side as if gesturing with it. In his other hand was what was clearly a massive golden shield, made from a pair of wings and set in the center was a grey twin-headed eagle that seemed to glare menacingly back at Pyrrha. Wherever Jacob was from, the two-headed eagle seemed to be a regular motif.
"Oh, my Terminator Captain?" Jacob asked as he took note of what she was talking about. "Uhm, sure, I guess; he's running around in what the game calls Cataphractii Terminator armor, so you'll get a better armor save and invuln save."
"'Invuln save'," Jaune asked as he studied the model on a motorcycle, "what's that?"
Jacob simply chuckled and said, "All in good time, young grasshopper, let's get the basics down first... Uhm, anyone have a set of 6-sided dice on them?"
And so for another half hour, Jacob gave them the basics of the game; it wasn't unlike some of the Great War strategy games that mainly older folks tended to play, though the science-fiction and fantasy was through the roof to Pyrrha. He and Jaune were up first, with Jaune choosing the grizzled-looking old man with a beret and jacket, a massive glowing pistol in his left hand and a comically-sized gauntlet on his right. Jacob opted to pick a female character in a dark jacket and vest with a peaked cap on her blonde head, in one hand a sword painted with lightning coursing across it as if the weapon were charged with arcane energy and a bulky, blocky pistol in her other hand. A "Tempestor Prime" versus a "Lady Commissar" Jacob had said the matchup was, since he figured that it would "only be fair to pit normal human against normal human". The game rules seemed simple enough, you move your units, then you shoot, and then you attempt to get into melee and duke it out from there.
"Now, in some cases," he had said when first introducing the game's phases, "A unit will have psychic powers, so there's also a Psychic Phase where a character will try to conjure spells and powers."
"Wait," Ren said in confusion, "I thought that this game was more based off of science fiction; there's magic in this game?"
"Sorta," Jacob replied, "kinda, it's a bit tough to explain in a few simple words, but basically there is an entire realm called the Warp where those with greater access to it can, well, 'warp' the fabric of reality to their whim, usually through summoning daemons or smiting your enemies."
Ren and Pyrrha both shared a look of confusion. Demons?
As the fighting continued, Jacob rolled to go first and failed to "steal the initiative" from Jaune. By now, everyone had grabbed a chair and was watching the fight with intensity. Jaune's character moved up closer to Jacob's before firing off his first "plasma pistol" shot, the dice rolling heavily in his favor. The shot wounded after Jaune rolled a four, and according to the rules Jacob's model had no armor left, so he would have to take the wound.
"Ah, now you see where that invuln save comes in. Refractor Field: Five-up and the wound is ignored."
"What?" Jaune did a double-take.
Jacob rolled his lone dice. it landed on a two.
"Damn, she takes a wound, down to three."
Jaune beamed brightly. Pyrrha mirrored the action back at him.
Jacob held up a finger and grinned mischievously. "Don't get cocky, Arc. Three wounds are still three wounds. Now comes the charge phase, though I would seriously not recommend it."
"Why's that," Sun asked, "you both packin' some serious melee."
"Two things, Monkey King," Jacob replied as he held up two of his fingers in response, "First is that I will get an Overwatch shot, and second is that he has to roll a 12 on two d-6 dice to get into melee with me."
As Sun visibly mulled over Jacob's new nickname for him, Pyrrha mulled over the situation; Jaune had a 1 in 36 chance of getting into close quarters, and even then that secondary save roll still posed a hurdle. At the same time, Jacob had said that the "power fist" that Jaune's character had was powerful and did variable damage in upwards of 3 points; one good swing could kill Jacob's character outright. But the risk was too high.
"Hah, easy! I'll more than get it!"
Pyrrha felt the urge to squeak in exasperation. "Jaune," she began hesitantly, "I don't think I'd recommend that—"
"—Alrighty then Jaune, let me first get my Overwatch off. Overwatches are basically supposed to be snap-firing, so I'm hitting on a six." Jacob rattled the dice in his hand. "Glory to the first man to die!" he roared in a posh accent as the dice left his hands and careened across the table.
It landed with six dots facing up.
"And it hits!" Jacob laughed as Nora whistled and Jaune balked. "Strength 4 pistol versus your toughness of 3, I wound on threes."
Jacob rolled again; He made a roll of five.
"It wounds but it has no Armor Penetration, you get your regular four-up armor save."
Jaune looked down at his dice with a determined face. "Come on, show me a four!"
Jaune's dice rolled a two.
"And it goes through! Whoo!" Jacob hopped as he and Sun high-fived in response. "You are also down to three wounds, and now you can make your charge."
Jaune looked down and took a deep breath. "Okay, I can do this," he muttered under his breath as he shook the dice in his hands.
Pyrrha felt the dread in her partner. If he failed this, Jacob could get in, shoot again and steal the charge from him in melee. She came up to his right side and squeezed his arm with her hand. "You can do this Jaune," she said to him, "you've got luck on your side."
"...Luck's on my side!" she heard him silently roar as he tossed his dice.
The first one rolled six dots face-up.
While RWBY and Neptune's table was a raucous unto itself, the air around J-JNPR's table was silent as the grave as the second dice landed on a corner and spun like a top.
Pyrrha hugged Jaune's arm with one hand... her other hand suddenly felt warm to the touch.
It was only then that she had noticed that Jaune was holding her other hand in his own. She looked down at it with a surprised double-take.
Oh gods, she thought as she felt butterflies in her stomach and a heat rising in her face and... elsewhere.
There was a collective gasp. Pyrrha's attention was drawn back to the table.
The second dice had landed with six dots facing up.
Jacob looked up with a surprised look in his eyes and a smile echoing with astonishment. "To quote a spinoff game," he said as he suppressed an astonished laugh, "Nuffle smiles brightly!"
The two characters were moved into contact, and the fighting began. Jaune's attacks only numbered three, and were only hitting on rolls of four or higher because of the rules of the "power fist".
Two attacks hit, and both wounded on rolls of two or higher. All Jacob had was that roll of five to save. One failed and one survived.
"Okay then, roll to see how many wounds it does."
Jaune rolled a two. Jacob's character was down to a lone wound.
"Now I swing back," Jacob said as he scooped up four dice and rolled them; despite only missing on rolls of one, two dice failed to land a blow. Jaune's character was safe for another round, though Jacob rolled two wounds and succeeded in both, the weapon's armor penetration cancelling his armor save outright.
One wound each. It was all down to the next round of fighting.
"Okay, my turn again," Jacob said. "For future reference, pistols apparently in the new edition of the game can be fired even while in combat."
Pyrrha felt her eyes imitate what Jaune's did, both of their's widening as Jaune whimpered, "Wait, what?"
"Hitting on twos! If you will not serve in combat, then you will serve on the firing line!" The lone dice tumbled out of Jacob's hand before landing on a four.
Pyrrha felt both a bit of fear for Jaune and the exhilaration of the game coursing through her. This is supposed to be relaxing for his people?
"Wounding on threes!" The dice rolled again, landing on a five. "No AP, you need a 4 or higher."
Jaune grimaced as he shook the dice, Sun and Nora cheering him on. Pyrrha found herself quietly joining in just as Jaune's dice sailed out of his hand. It tumbled and rolled across the table, bouncing off one of the books before coming to rest at the foot of the commissar.
Six dots beamed brightly up at the gathered lot.
A collective sigh of relief echoed around the group.
The momentary tension was relieved by force when RWBY's table erupted into laughter and indignant cries. Pyrrha turned her attention towards the game table and found that clearly Yang had made some kind of joke at Ruby's expense judging by how the younger Huntress' dejected hunch.
"I do not sleep with Crescent Rose!" she squeaked indignantly.
"Oh hardly," Weiss replied, "On the contrary you always cover it in a blanket like it's a baby!"
"But she is my baby in a way," Ruby whined as she hugged her arms close to her body.
Pyrrha suppressed a chuckle. There were times that Ruby Rose felt like a promising team leader that was more than capable of keeping her team together on a whim. And then there were those times where she was reminded that she was the youngest of them all, two years Pyrrha's junior and by extension everyone else's junior.
Part of that naivete she gave off egged Pyrrha to wonder what spurred her into the Huntsmen line of work in the first place.
A cry of surprise snapped her attention back to her table; Jacob had rolled three ones on his dice, leaving him with only one attack to wound on. A collective cringe echoed its way around the table, Pyrrha even wincing at the poor luck.
"Oh well, this is the clincher," Jacob said as he picked up the lone dice. "Wounding on fours; Glory to the first man to die!"
The dice left his hand and tumbled fervently before it cruelly landed on a two.
"Emperor, why has thou forsaken me!?" Jacob cried in mock anguish as he clearly was fighting the urge to laugh at his own misfortune. With a sigh he turned and said, "Your turn to attack in melee, Jaune."
"Alright, I got this in the bag!" Jaune eagerly swiped up his three dice and quickly tossed them. Two hit their mark, the third being equivalent to a wild swing.
Twos to wound, both wounded. Jacob's secondary save was in effect.
Jacob looked nervously down at the two dice in his hands. "Whoo boy," he said with a huff, "When it comes down to the last wound, the tension is insane." He brought the hand with his dice up to mouth, the sound a deep exhale escaping his throat. "My faith is my shield!"
He lobbed the two dice across the arena, the two dancing madly across the way. The first on bounced once, twice, thrice, four times and landed on a six.
But the second one bounced across the table, spun like a top after two bounces, before finally coming to a rest.
It was a two.
"And that's the game," Jacob said as he raised both his hands high into the air, "Jaune's Tempestor Prime is the winner!" Jacob put his hand out and Jaune took it in a firm handshake. "Good rolls for your first game," he said with smile, "Though it's a whole lot different once the lone model becomes three dozen or so on a battlefield. Still, good job!"
"Thanks," he replied, "That was actually pretty fun. Can we go again?"
"Actually, I think Nora wanted to have a go at it—"
"And I wanna take a stab at it!" Sun said as he butted into their conversation.
"I think we're all going to want to try it out," Ren said as he picked up the one hooded character and studied it; Beneath the black hood a skull stared down at whatever it was clearly about to attack judging by the massive sword raised high over his head, pointing into the sky as if drawing power.
Pyrrha in turn looked down at the assortment of models and found herself picking up a lady clad in silver, ornate armor and adorned in a dark-brown fur cape, a strange rifle with crossbow arms in her hands and a massive cruciform sword strapped to the side of her mechanical-looking backpack.
Part of her noticed that with the black hair and red highlights on the end of the ponytail that it resembled Ruby somewhat.
"It seems like fun," she said as she looked up at them all, finding a collective smile around the table.
"Great, I go next," Nora said as she lifted the "Terminator" high in the air.
"I call the guy on the bike!" Sun replied.
Pyrrha looked back at the stack of books on their original table.
Professor Port's assignment isn't due for a few days anyhow, she thought, Maybe studying can wait an hour or two...
"I still can't believe he got that last game! I had Mistral Raider Camp locked down, and lo and behold what are the odds he'd pull out Atlesian Bombardment at just the right moment to stop me!?"
"I don't know Yang, do I look like a mathematician? Regardless, I'm just floored at the fact that Nora failed two, count 'em, two out of four three-up Iron Halo saves!"
"Don't rub it in! Sun just got lucky with that croz... craz, crazy-us—"
"Crozius arcanum, Nora, it's called a crozius arcanum. Or if you'd prefer the "fancy beating stick" as my old acquaintance Wib called it."
"Right, whatever. But that Inquisitor fight with Ren and Pyrrha, oh my God that was tense!"
"I'm just glad you were able to modify the rules for my—or rather your—Inquisitor, Jacob."
"Honestly Ren, it wasn't even that tough all things considered; I just converted the old rules for Power Armor and the Daemonsword for 8th edition rules, though I may need to figure out if I balanced them out in comparison. Still, that master-crafted condemnor hurts in this game now, last edition it wasn't worth even half the points it did cost!"
"How about next time around winners go up against winners, losers against losers?"
Jacob stopped and turned around in the hallway, arching his eyebrow at Jaune. "So you, Pyrrha and Sun in a three-for-all? I like it."
"Ooh, kinky.~"
A collective blush and shocked cry of "Nora!" echoed down the hallway. Even Ruby cried out with them and blushed furiously, a sight that had Jacob contemplating in concern just how much Ruby knew of that word.
"Kidding, I'm kidding," she replied with a dismissive wave.
Jacob rolled his eyes as they continued to walk down the corridor back to their dorms. The past four hours had them trying out Warhammer 40k and then watching RWBY finish up their game of Remnant!, and judging by everyone's reaction if they were back home on Earth Jacob would have roped in at least another five people for Games Workshop to drain the bank accounts of. While RWBY—sans Blake, who had left to return to her room to ponder the situation with the White Fang as he recalled—took point now, JNPR hung back to walk with Jacob, surrounding him on all sides with Jaune and Pyrrha walking beside him as they continued to chat about the game.
"And these characters I have with me aren't even the most overpowered ones out there," Jacob said with a laugh as he thought through the list of characters, "if any of my Chaos characters had come with me like my Alpha Legion Sorcerer, Oh man you could see just how dangerous psykers can be on a good day; granted we could always proxy if we ever wanna try out some of the other rules."
"Wait, you're allowed to do that?" Jaune asked.
"Technically yes," Jacob said hesitantly, "but official tournaments made that a no-go."
"Wow, I'm amazed this game hasn't reached outside of your home," Pyrrha said.
Jacob's stomach clenched up a bit as he scrambled for an excuse. "W-well, part of it is the expense to get everything, and part of it is also finding a crowd to get hooked on it. Let's just say that, say for that Cataphractii Captain it costs 30 Lien, not including painting supplies."
Weiss wheeled on them from the back end of RWBY, balking at the price. "30 Lien for one little piece of plastic?"
"Wait till you hear about the paint prices," Jacob muttered to her in exasperation. "We jokingly call it plastic drugs for a very good reason; most people sink at least a few hundred for a decent-sized army. Yours Truly bought himself three armies worth of models for both Imperium and Chaos for about a thousand d—lien, and that's been in my first year alone of playing," he said, nearly stumbling and saying dollar instead.
Nora's eyes widened in absolute horror as she leaned into him and screamed. "A thousand Lien?!"
Jacob held up a finger and replied defensively, "over a year, Nora, over the course of a year. If I had gotten it wholesale it would look more like two thousand instead, but my local group tends to drop off bits and pieces at our local store and I've been fortunate enough to capitalize on the stuff they get rid of."
Jaune whistled low and said, "Nice, pinch the pennies wherever you could."
"Oh yeah, but sometimes there would be a new model no one got their hands on yet and I would swallow my pride and but it whole-price," Jacob said as he remembered his first purchase, a $60 pack of Chaos Terminators he eventually painted up as Alpha Legionnaires. "Damn," he muttered, "I miss those guys something fierce."
As they reached their dorms, the rest of Team RWBY quickly entered theirs as yang seethed and grumbled, "Ugh, we never should've let him play!"
Ruby giggled and replied, "You're just mad 'cause the new guy beat you! See, if you just attacked when I told you to..."
Jacob felt a lone chill crawl up his spine like a spider, or a finger tracing a line up his back. That line sounded familiar for some reason, though he was drawing a blank as to what that reason was.
"Stop," he heard Weiss say as the door closed.
Oh, right, he thought to himself, this is where they decide to start snooping around at the White Fang situation.
Jacob leaned up against the door, though a hand grabbing his shoulder firmly stopped him.
He turned around and was greeted by Ren. "Didn't your mom ever tell you about listening in on conversations?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Hey, if something's going on with them," Jacob hissed, "I'd like to be in the know, whether they want me to or not. Now shush, I'm trying to listen." He cupped his ear to the door and began listening; it was the exact scene from Volume 2 Episode 2, as far as he was concerned.
"...Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it."
"Well I'm not," said Blake angrily, "they don't know the White Fang like I do!"
"Okay, between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom," Weiss said, "I'm sure the three of you think that you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells!"
"Uh, who?" Ruby said.
"But let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!"
"Well yeah, but..."
"We're not ready!"
"And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day," Blake shouted in anger. Jacob felt the presence of four other individual join him in listening in. "They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not!"
A collective glance around from everyone told Jacob that all five of them were thinking the same thing; RWBY is not doing this alone. At least, everyone except Jaune, who was clearly nervous about the idea judging by the grimace on his face.
"Okay," Ruby said as Jacob imagined she was no doubt acting spastic and looking rather manic as she said it, "all in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale... say aye."
"Yes! I love it when you're feisty!" Yang boomed.
"Well, I suppose it could be fun," said Weiss.
Jacob decided that maybe sneaking around wouldn't be as good a plan. Before anyone could react, he rapped on the door with a Shave and a Haircut tap and said loudly, "Count me and JNPR in too!"
Beside him, Pyrrha made a pained wince just as RWBY made a collective indignant cry of, "Jacob!" and swung open the door, JNPR jumping back just in time to not topple over as the door opened inwards. Jacob on the other hand did not, and face-planted into the carpet at Blake's feet.
"Jacob Muller, reporting for duty, ladies," he said through a mouthful of carpet.
Behind him, He heard Pyrrha mutter in embarrassment, "Sorry..."
"But yeah," Nora said behind him, "what he said: sounds fun, we're in!"
"None of you said aye..." Jacob righted himself as Ruby said that and shot them all a thumbs up.
Blake returned the gesture with a simple smile. "Alright then, we're in this together."
And that that moment, Jacob decided to get into the moment with Ruby.
"Let's hatch a plan!" She said.
"Let's hatch a plan!" He jinxed. Both looked at one another and smiled.
"Jinx!"
"Jinx—Damnit, I owe you a soda," Jacob winced.
At that exact moment however, a metaphorical lightbulb went off in Ruby's head: "I left my board game at the library!"
"We're doomed," Weiss deadpanned as she held her head in exasperation.
The lightbulb went off in Jacob's mind just as Ruby zoomed past him and JNPR and into the hallway.
This is is the part where Ruby first meets—
There was a sound like shoes skidding on rug and the sound of two bodies meeting each other.
Jacob felt the blood rush from his face. He and the two teams scampered out into the hallway. "Sorry," Ruby said as she scratched her head, having landed on her butt. "Are you okay?"
Jacob's heart fought a hard-pressed decision to either stop in terror or thunder in rage.
Just like in canon, Ruby had run headlong into a certain ebony-skinned green-ette with a hallucinatory Semblance.
"I'm fine," Emerald Sustrai said as she offered a hand up for Ruby, "Just watch where you're going." Just like in the show proper, she had forsaken her more risque... "chestless vest" was the closest thing Jacob could describe it as, the underlying olive green crop top and the white pants with leather chaps for what was supposed to be the Haven Academy uniform. Astride her, also clad in a Haven Academy uniform, was Mercury Black, the kickboxing bastard that blocked Ruby from getting to Penny during P.V.P, and tricked Yang into attacking himself during a later fight.
Both were part of Cinder's cadre... and that meant...
"Oh, right, sorry," Ruby apologized as she was helped to her feet, "Um, I'm Ruby! Are you new?"
Emerald stepped aside, and the world took on a tint of blood red.
Even while clad in the uniform of Haven Academy she oozed the word femme fatale. The admittedly-sultry strut she sported, the long flowing hair the color of midnight—just like her soulless heart—that came down to her chest, the overconfidence in her every movement...
The amber eyes that hid the fires of the Fall Maiden beneath them.
She was at fault for everything that would happen.
She led to Penny's death.
She let the White Fang loose on Vale.
She killed Pyrrha.
Cinder Fall.
"Visiting from Haven, actually," Cinder corrected.
Had Jacob been a man of lesser composure, he would have jumped her right then and there and strangled her to death. Attractive as she was now that he saw her in the flesh, Jacob felt the bloodlust in his veins as a little part of his mind began chanting, "Abhor the witch, destroy the witch," like a deranged Black Templar.
Jacob's attention was suddenly drawn to the fact that Pyrrha was standing next to him. The anger and the urge to stand in front of her and defend her grew like a fire set to gasoline.
For a few seconds, the hallway was quiet as the grave as Ruby and Cinder stared one another down. Jacob's eyes bored into Cinder, drinking in every ounce of his new opponent, but if she was aware of his stare, she wasn't showing it.
"Ooh," Ruby realized as the silence ended, "You're here for the festival! But exchange students have their own dormitory."
"I guess we just got turned around," Mercury said.
"Not a problem," Jacob said before Ruby could begin, conjuring a facsimile of a friendly tone, "We all go through that sometimes. Your building is just east of here, next dormitory down." he walked up beside Ruby and locked eyes with Cinder with the intensity of an eagle, the two of them squaring off in a battle of wills.
Cinder's eyes danced like a candle flame as she scoured him with her eyes. "Well well," she began, "You must be the Lone Wolf that everyone's been talking about."
Jacob felt his composure waver as a startled and horrified chill ran up his back. Cinder was aware of his presence. He only barely managed to recover his cool and replied, "I hope they've only been saying good things about me."
"Very good things, I can assure you that," she replied as her she deceptively raised her hand daintily as if it were made of glass. "I'm Cinder Fall, and you are...?"
It was just like Weiss as the wharf a few weeks back, only this time it was a far more deadly game they were playing at the moment; As much as he wanted to fight her here and now, he knew that she could easily take on Jacob and all 8 members of RWBY and JNPR without breaking a sweat. None of them knew, but he and Cinder both knew it.
He took her hand, squeezing it gently and pressed it to his lips, the unimaginably soft skin conflicting with the blackened heart that beat beneath. The faint smell of cherries reached his nose, but in his mind there was the smell of a rotten soul hiding beneath it.
"Jacob Muller," he said, hiding his desire to be venomous behind a smirk, "at your service, Ms. Fall."
Behind her back, Jacob spotted Emerald making a disdained face at him, as if he were intruding into her territory.
"A Huntsman and a gentleman," she said with a laugh, "I see Ozpin trains his students well." The emphasis she put on Ozpin's name didn't escape Jacob's notice; some horrified part of him was screaming that she was far more in the loop than she had any right to be.
"Well," he said, tightening his grip ever so slightly, "I am quite a savage fighter in the ring, I can assure you that," In a sense his way of warning the False Maiden:
Don't mistake me for a pushover; If you fuck with me, I will kill you... somehow.
Cinder laughed with a false mirth he could hear as plainly in his mind as any thought he could conjure. "Really? I hope we can see that in the ring sometime," she said as he let go of her hand. "But if you'll excuse us," she said, "we should be on our way. It was... a pleasure to meet you two."
"Likewise," Ruby said beside him, blissfully unaware of the mounting tension in the air.
And just like that, they began to strut past RWBY and JNPR and down the hall towards the east dorms, Jacob's eyes glued to Cinder as he internally seethed in impotent rage. It certainly didn't help that as Cinder walked away, she was clearly putting some extra swing in her hips in a sultry sway to hypnotize anyone following her.
Those who follow behind her hypnotized to her every gesture... just how she likes it, he growled mentally.
"Oh, and welcome to Beacon!" Ruby cried out as the trio of troublemakers walked away.
"Wow," Jaune said in a stupor, "she's uh... something."
A long and low whistle left Yang's mouth as she clearly watched Cinder saunter down the hallway. "She's got femme fatale written all over her," Yang said with a chortle.
"You have no idea," Jacob muttered under his breath as he watched them round the corner to the elevators and disappear into the night.
"I think she's got a thing for you, Jacob," Yang joked. Jacob heard it, but didn't respond.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Theoden of Rohan uttered the one thing Jacob was thinking to himself.
So it begins.
AAARGH, This chapter was SOOO LONG and I scrambled to get this out even remotely on time and BLAAAGH... *ded*
Anywho, next chapter we return to our 40Kharacters for sure this time and we finally start finding out some truths... because the next episode is A Minor Hiccup and whatnot. And Jacob will get some new intel he isn't particularly prepared for.
Critiques, comments, reviews and all are welcomed, to all those who've joined me on this I thank you for being patient with me as I've scrambled with both this and school. It means a lot to mean and I hope you'll all join me... in the next chapter. Buh-bye~!