Jaune Arc
SDC Mining Camp "Northern Wind"
Somewhere in Atlas
The night was frigid, the coldest it had been for the past week. A fog had settled onto the camp, obscuring anything outside of a range of 50 meters. Guards patrolled the twenty-foot high walls, eyes and cameras useless in the thick swirling fog. The walls were about a half mile in length, the base the shape of a square.
Two guards were standing on the North Wall, facing outwards.
"Hey?" The first man turned to look at the other.
"Yeah?" The other man responded, voice slightly bored.
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
"Oh no, not this bullcrap again. Look, I told you last time, asking this goddamn question over and over again doesn't make it any better. So shut up and be attentive."
"Oh, so I can't ask important questions and expect a good response? You never answered me man! Life is, yknow, important! Excuse me for asking such important questions!"
"Hey, calm down, holy crap. The only reason I don't want to start that conversation again is because the last time that happened, Grimm attacked and I got shot by the West Wall patrol. I am not risking that again, alright?"
…
Hidden under a bush about 20 yards from the base of the wall, two figures watched the two men argue.
"What are they doing?"
Jaune turned to look at Raven, deactivating the zoom in his helmet camera.
"What?"
"I said, what are they doing now?"
Jaune curled his fists. "The same thing they've been doing for the past half an hour. Standing and talking, that's it. Literally, if you ask me again in five minutes, I'll bet you they'll be standing and talking."
Raven's mask seemed to bore into him but he looked away from her, checking his equipment one more time.
"Let's go then." She got up and stalked to the edge of the forested area, watching for any Grimm or patrols. Jaune stood behind her, Wind and aura at the ready to help him leap to the top of the wall.
Raven held up 3 fingers, then 2, then 1. She pulled her fist down and dashed to the wall, swinging her sword in an arc. An almost transparent Barrier formed halfway up the wall and she used it as a step to boost herself onto the wall. Jaune followed suit, using small amounts of Wind to keep the fog around them from swirling too much. They flipped over the barbed wire on the edge of the wall and landed in a crouch.
They snuck forwards towards the still arguing pair. Jaune nodded at Raven and they both lunged, putting their arms around the guards' necks and a hand on the guards' mouths. Their aura-laced chokehold was no match for the undefended guards and they soon fell into a deep, forced sleep. Jaune and Raven dragged their bodies to the side and hid them in the shadows.
They continued around the camp, dispatching each patrol with ease. Jaune used his IR camera in his helmet to see the heat signatures of the guards as well as the heat given off by cameras and such. Normally, they wouldn't show up that well, but in the bone-chilling cold they contrasted well.
No alarms were set off during their disposal of the guards. The patrols had only recently started their shift, and so Jaune and Raven had some time before Central Control would try to contact them. Plenty of time to do what they had come here to do.
Raven had contacted him four days ago, giving him the details of this mission and why they were attacking this camp in particular. The SDC had been buying Paladins and other weapons at an accelerated pace recently, and one of the larger shipments would be coming here. There had been rumors flying around the military base that there was some sort of project that the SDC had been doing something in the mines, as it had been receiving a lot of new workers recently.
All this information was surprisingly easy to get, even for Jaune stuck in the base. The 'secure' channels that the SDC used to transmit information about movement of inventory and workers had been surprisingly easy to listen in on. There were some channels that had encrypted more securely and Jaune hadn't managed to find a chink in the armor yet, though not for lack of trying.
Within half an hour, the two had managed to clear the entire perimeter of guards and were now standing at the main guardhouse on the southwest corner. The fog was a godsend because it prevented anyone from seeing the lack of guards on the wall.
The room was apparently heated, judging by the amount of heat emanating from the windows. Jaune deactivated his unneeded IR vision and knocked on the door. Casual footsteps approached the door.
"Barry, I swear to god if you want a drink, I will…" The man paused as he took in the sight of a man in black armor, face hidden behind his helmet, and a sword strapped to his back.
"Hope we aren't intruding," Jaune spoke amicably, sending an uppercut to the man's chin. "But it's really cold outside." He dragged the unconscious man to his chair and propped him up. "Thanks for understanding."
"Was that really necessary?" Raven sounded a little exasperated.
"No, but it was fun." Jaune plugged his scroll into the computer terminal and started typing. Raven stood guard, occasionally glancing at the screen. Thankfully, the guard had been signed in when he had answered the door, giving Jaune open access to the surveillance systems.
The cameras were next to useless in the fog, but Jaune set them on a loop anyways. They would only show the footage from an hour ago on a loop. Jaune rerouted the feed from the infrared cameras to his and Raven's scrolls. He didn't have the opportunity to make a IR camera and HUD for Raven due to the scrutiny put on his projects back at base by the Atlesian Army, so the feed would have to do.
Jaune saved the schedules for the guards to his scroll. It contained the locations and timings for shift changes and would be incredibly useful in moving through the base if their stay turned out to be longer than expected. A simple layout of the base was the next thing to be saved.
The rest of the stuff was personal and Jaune left that alone. Unluckily, the guard seemed to not be too high on the administrative ladder and had no access to anything more useful. Jaune returned the computer back to its original state.
"Got everything useful. We can head down now."
Raven followed him as they went down the staircase in the back of the guardhouse. Stepping off, they saw two guards lounging about, their weapons lying on a table nearby.
"You guys are terrible guards." Jaune knocked one guard unconscious before slapping the other one into a wall where Raven knocked him out before he could get up.
"Why do you insist on cracking one liners?" Raven carried the body of guard into the corner where Jaune had already put the first guard.
"Raven, have you heard of fun? That's what's I'm having right now. You should try it sometime."
Raven didn't respond. Jaune shrugged and confiscated the guard's weapons, collecting the Dust bullets as he had been doing for every gun he had encountered so far. The Dust bullets contained a particularly explosive mixture of Dust and Jaune wasn't going to pass up on free Dust.
Following the map, the two exited the guardhouse building, stepping into the shadowy world. Jaune turned his IR camera back on. The fog was as thick as ever, turning the world swirling grey. They made their way towards the location of the clearing where the main mineshaft was. In doing so, they would have to cross the Faunus workers' housing, which would throw some elements of luck into their plan. A lot of Faunus had an excellent sense of smell and would no doubt be able to detect the two.
They leaped over a fence, then another, then another. Eventually they were in the interior of the complex, on the outskirts of the camp. They stopped at the tall electrified fence that surrounded the warehouse-like buildings where the Faunus lived. Jaune could feel his anger subconsciously increase as he gazed at them. This was the area where the bulk of the terrible, terrible things that Raven had showed him occurred. Who knows if there was some poor Faunus being tortured at this very moment?
Jaune took a deep breath to clear his head and refocus on the task at hand. They would cross that bridge if they came to it. For now, they had to figure out a way of getting into the mines.
He scanned the area around the fence for any motion detectors or surveillance equipment using the images that were being sent straight to his scroll. He smudged and scratched each one's lens, knowing that there were automatic alarms that would go off if the camera was blocked or destroyed. It would head straight to Central Command of the base and they would be discovered in seconds.
The area now clear, they both jumped over the fence with ease; it had been designed to keep the workers in, not Hunters out. They made their way between each large warehouse, ignoring various sounds coming from them. Laughing, crying, talking, whispering, begging, yelling, all sorts of sounds made their way through the thin walls.
Walls this thin wouldn't provide even a little bit of insulation, and it's freezing outside. Wonder how many blankets they were given?
Jaune stopped at a warehouse's open door and peeked in. The sight was not much different from what Raven had showed him: hundreds of Faunus crammed into the building, barely 5 square feet per person. People were lying down in one corner, bodies shifting as they attempted to get more area. Kids ran around the edges, playing games while their parents called to them.
The floor was covered in patches of ragged grey cloth, similar to the clothing worn by the workers. Everyone, no matter their expression, had tinges of misery and exhaustion on their faces. They were all lean and scrawny, no doubt as a result of being worked hard and not getting enough nutrients. Jaune moved away from the entrance and continued on their path through the warehouses, shunting the sight from his mind. They had a job already, and the faunus weren't part of it yet.
Kalo Black
Hired Hunter
Mineshaft Entrance
Kalo leaned on the side of the elevator as it carried him up to the surface. For all the money the SDC had, their elevators looked like crap. They were basically a cage that was being hauled up by an almost dead motor, making a racket that was sure to deafen anyone who stayed there for too long.
He had been hired by the SDC to 'make certain the safety of the Mine and any property of the Schnee Dust Company therein'. In other words, he was a security guard. He had originally considered turning the job down, but after seeing the amount they were willing to part with, he couldn't resist. His self-respect was only trumped by his love of money.
The elevator jerked to a halt and the doors opened to the cold night air. He stepped out, little bursts of Scorch Dust keeping him warm. Hunters carried around low quality Scorch Dust for this purpose, and it paid off in situations like this.
He pulled his scroll out, browsing the camera feeds, seeing nothing amiss. He sighed and put the device away. Nothing had been different for the past week, why should today be different?
But there was that slight feeling of unease that was slowly spreading through him ever since he had stepped out of the elevator. There was something wrong, but he couldn't see anything.
He put a hand on his whip and the touch comforted him. It had been with him ever since he had built it at Sanctum Academy, and it had won him many fights against both Grimm and fellow Hunters during his career.
He strolled around the edge of the clearing that the main mineshaft lay under, an eye out for movement. All the workers were in their homes, and the guards were patrolling the outside of the housing area, as well as inside the mine itself.
He made two laps around the circle, tensions seeping out of him with each step. He stopped and stretched his arms, feeling the coolness of the air swirling around his hands. He looked up at the bright moon, the broken surface fascinating as usual.
"Pretty, isn't she?"
Kalo almost jumped out of his skin. The voice was coming from right behind him!
He spun around and leapt back at the same time, his black coat swirling. He put a hand on his whip threateningly as he glared at the entity who had somehow managed to sneak up on him.
"Still as amazed seeing her now as I was the first time. How did it break? What could cause such a thing? Is there something more out there? I don't know, but it keeps me up at night." The strange figure continued casually, helmeted face turned up, light illuminating his fully black armor.
He was covered almost head to toe in the stuff, save for the joints. Dust crystals were imbedded at various locations and they glimmered in the moonlight. There was a sword strapped to his side and like his armor, it was black and covered in Dust.
"This is SDC property and unless you have proper documentation, you are trespassing here. If you do not leave within thirty seconds, I will have no choice but to remove you myself." He was required to say these words, but they sounded weak in the context.
The man looked away from the moon and turned his visor towards Kalo. "Hey, no need to become hostile, just a friendly chat, nothing to get up in arms about." The man's tone was casual as if he broke into secure, guarded facilities on a daily basis. His tone was also friendly and comforting, not at all what you would expect from someone as heavily armored as him.
"You broke in here to have a chat?" Kalo kept a hand on his whip, ready to deploy it at the slightest hint of danger.
"Oh dear me, no. Much better ways of doing that, y'know. No, I just stumbled in on you walking around. You looked really lonely so I just wanted to make sure you weren't feeling bad. Strangers are friends you haven't met yet, that's what my mother says. Or something like that, it was a long time ago." The man mused, stroking his chin.
"Aren't you a Promethean? What's the real reason you're here?" Kalo didn't pay the blabber any mind, many opponents used conversation to put their enemies off guard.
The stranger stared at him, then finally shrugged. "I am a Promethean, that I am. I honestly don't know why I'm here. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess? Might as well explore the famous SDC mines while I'm here. Do excuse me." He started towards the elevator, completely ignoring Kalo's battle stance.
Oh no you don't, protecting that thing is my paycheck!
"HALT", Kalo raised his voice, imbuing as much command into the tone as he could. "CONTINUING TO MOVE FORWARD WILL RESULT IN LETHAL FORCE BEING APPLIED. THE SDC WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES OR DEATHS."
The figure paused. "Is that so?" He turned around, the friendly posture now replaced with something predatory. "Does yours count?"
Kalo barely had time to react before something slammed into his side, sending him flying. He managed to right himself in the air and land on his feet. Before any more attacks could commence, he unfurled his whip and snapped at the figure, sending a fireball flying.
The man simply raised his hand and flicked at the ball, causing it to split in two and dissipate around his figure. Kalo pressed down on a different rune on the handle and snapped it again, a blue shield forming around him. The handle was filled with different kinds of Dust, each connected to a rune that would activate a small amount of stored aura. The rest of the whip was crafted in a way such that the Dust and its effects would have no choice but to exit the tip.
The figure looked at him for a couple seconds and then just turned and continued walking towards the mineshaft. Kale thumbed a third rune and launched himself forwards, each step making him go faster, wind bending around him. The figure didn't even turn towards him as he charged. He was 15 meters away, 10, 5…
He flew sideways again as something hit him again, harder than last time. He could feel his aura dip but didn't couldn't afford to think about the cause. He flicked his whip once more, a crack echoing around the camp.
The figure paused once more again, though this time not by choice. He shook in place as he struggled to move. Kalo smiled. Didn't think it would put him in a full body lock. He activated an alarm through his SDC watch, calling in reinforcements just in case.
He got up, snapping his whip once, twice, thrice, each flick charging an attack. Four, five, six. He walked towards the helmeted man, continuing to snap his whip. He reached the man and leaned in to whisper into his ear.
"Cocky little prick, aren't you? The SDC is going to be sending in an army, you're as good as dead. Any last words?" Kalo raised his whip to bring the wrath of his weapon down on his foe.
"So soon? I haven't even struck yet!"
Wait, then who was…?
He whirled around only to see a glimpse of feathers as the now familiar strike launched him backwards. He recovered much faster this time, spinning around to face his opponent. He glanced around the darkened field to see…no one?
I only took my eyes off them for two seconds, where did they…
Another strike hit, sending him ten feet backwards though he managed to retain his balance the entire time. He struck out with his charged up strike and managed to hit something. A resounding crack split the air, sending a dark figure flying through the air.
Kalo didn't waste the opportunity and jumped into the air, snapping his whip thrice in quick succession. He struck out at the figure, but his whip hit something fragile. Cold shards flew into his face, his aura managing to keep them from ripping his eyes apart.
He struck out blindly with his whip, only to receive another massive strike under his extended arm. He flew towards the ground, throwing up rock and gravel as he made contact. He leaped out of the crater and dodged to the left and right unpredictably, trying to get his mysterious assailant to make a mistake and expose themselves.
"What are you doing? You look like a drunk dog chasing its own tail. Seriously, self-respect, you need it." The black figure was back, leaning on his sword as he looked at Kalo dodging around.
Oh no you don't, I know there are two of you. Just gotta keep you away from the mines until the SDC gets here.
He kept ducking and weaving randomly, keeping an eye on the figure as he stared at him. The Promethean shrugged and started walking towards the mineshaft. Kalo watched him go helplessly. From prior experience, he knew that he would probably get smashed if he tried to deliberately attack. The full body stop that he had employed required him to charge his whip, and for that he needed to have time to concentrate.
There was only one thing he could do and that was activate his semblance. It would reduce his physical inhibitions, making him stronger. His aura would be burned up trying to heal his injured body, but if he could stop the two intruders, it would be worth it. It wasn't the most unique semblance, but it got the job done.
He pulled up his reserves of aura as he continued rolling, feeling it flood his body with energy. It was an addictive feeling, the feeling that told you that anything was possible. He stopped rolling and let the energy flood him. A strike came from his left but he ignored it, snapping his whip over and over, building up energy.
He leaped forwards, plowing through a strike that tried to stop him. He could almost feel his muscles ripping apart and reforming, then healing back up. His whip hit the Promethean in the back, sending him sprawling and unable to move, for the next couple of minutes at least. Shock Dust was supremely useful.
He turned around only to receive a strike that created a shell of ice around him, which he easily shook apart from the inside. His muscles screamed in protest but aura and adrenaline were keeping the pain at bay. He swung his whip round and round, the tip spitting a mix of flames and sparks. He lashed forwards blindly, once, twice, thrice, trying to hit something. His instincts flared up and he dodged to the left, a blur speeding by his head. He swung his whip at the shadow figure, another crack echoing through the camp.
He kept up the offensive, each swing charging the next, each strike pushing his opponent back further and further and further away from the mineshaft. He grinned in savage delight as the whip continued to charge. The more it charged, the more powerful it got, the more damage it did, and thus it charged even faster.
He threw his hand forward and turned at the same time, increasing the power of the swing. The strike landed and he could hear a grunt as the figure was sent flying back. He was now facing in the direction of where he had left the Promethean, who was now nowhere to be seen.
Kalo stalked towards the location, glancing around at his surroundings. The elevator hadn't started leaving yet, so the Promethean must not have left yet. Had he run away? No, that wasn't it.
Something flew through the air and landed at his feet. He instinctively looked at it and realized his mistake. A flash of light blinded him and a loud bang deafened him. He stumbled backwards from the flashbang, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. His vision quickly came back, aura speeding the process along. The surprising flashbang had broken his hold on his semblance and he now back to normal, or as normal as you can get with severe aura exhaustion.
Something struck him in the back of the head and he fell to the ground panting. There was no more fight left in him, his stupid, stupid lack of concentration losing him the fight. He felt a presence get closer and looked up, trying to see the second assailant clearly.
All he saw was a flash of silver and then nothing at all.
Jaune Arc
"Raven, what the hell?!"
Jaune stared at the falling body of the Hunter, the trunk collapsing to the ground as the head rolled away, expression blank.
Raven sheathed her sword, somehow immaculately clean despite what it had just done.
"I did what had to be done. We couldn't leave him alive, especially not with the SDC about to come down on us. He would have told them about us and the last thing we want is the SDC, and by extension Atlas, actively hunting us." Raven's voice was casual. The death didn't seem to bother her one bit.
Jaune was still a bit shocked at the brutality of the execution, but he couldn't deny the fact that Raven was right. The man had told him that reinforcements were on the way and there was no way the two of them were going to risk the man telling Atlas who they were, even if there was a large chance he had not seen Raven.
The body twitched for a second and then fell still. Jaune picked up the head and set it next to the body, glancing at the name tag. Kalo Black. The man had fought well against Raven, Jaune stood no chance against him once his semblance activated. The taunting had been fun, but it had only been a distraction so Raven could attack unseen.
The attack had gone off well, with only minor hiccups, like the Hunter's death. The intention was to knock him unconscious and hide him, but Raven had other plans. The other hiccup had to do with the way that the Hunter had somehow paralyzed Jaune. It wasn't a direct attack on him, but it had caused him lots of pain as his muscles seemed to lock up and resist any movement.
Jaune pocketed Kalo's weapon and dragged the body off into the shadows while Raven opened the elevator shaft. He burned the body, keeping the smoke contained using Wind dust. He had also used Wind to obscure the sounds of the battle. He walked to where Raven was waiting, letting off little puffs of smoke out of the bubble as he walked.
"Jaune, are you sure you'll be able to focus on the mission? You look a little sick." Raven climbed down into the hole in the elevator, attaching herself to the cable. Jaune took a deep breath to regain his composure. He had seen people die before in accidents or videos posted online, but never this close, this…personally. He was involved in this murder, for a murder it was. The man was defenseless and Raven had murdered him.
"No, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit taken back y'know? Let's get going, we don't have much time before the SDC gets here." Jaune attached his own carabiner to the rope. He was definitely not okay, but he contained the self-control to shove away the events that just transpired into a dark corner. He would deal with them later.
They dropped into the maw of the mine, keeping their speed manageable as they fell.
Good Hunters like Kalo aren't cheap. How much did SDC spend on protection for this mine? Are there more? No matter how good Raven says she is, there is no way that she can take on 3 Hunters as skilled as Kalo by herself.
They continued falling into the darkness, though the sounds of their descent and the heat from the surrounding rocks were more than enough for Jaune's cameras. The heat increased gradually but steadily as they descended and Jaune slowly decreased the aura flowing into his Scorch crystal.
They fell for about 20 seconds before slowing their descent gradually until they were close to a landing platform. There was no way to contact the surface from here so Jaune couldn't access his scroll to see whether or not the SDC reinforcements had arrived. Whatever they were here to find, they would have to do it blind and with only one way of escape: Raven's portals, which could only take you to places that Raven had already been to. They also required large amounts of aura, which was something they couldn't spend on a whim.
They swung off the rope onto a metal platform, landing softly. Jaune checked the charge on his railgun as well as the state of all his Dust and aura. Raven next to him was doing the same thing, her sword sheath under heavy scrutiny. She straightened up after a bit and nodded at Jaune. They both started forwards together, Raven's hand on her sword, Jaune's sword in his hand.
Jaune activated the IR flashlight on his helmet to illuminate the narrow corridor. The corridor was hewn from rock wide enough for 4 people to walk side by side. There were rails running down the corridor, evidently for a train car that carried supplies and people.
Jaune brushed his hands over the rails softly, feeling for any vibrations. There were some faint ones, but none that indicated whether someone was using the tracks.
"No one on the rails or anywhere close for at least 500m. Let's pick up the pace."
They ran forwards, boosting their strides with tiny slivers of aura, stride lengthening with each step. They stopped after a minute of running to check for any vibrations in the track. There were none. They continued running.
This went on for 15 minutes, following rails down the gentle slope into the bowels of the Earth. The heat was starting to seep past the one Ice Crystal he used for air conditioning. Jaune activated another one, worried. The further they went in, the more aura they would need to expend in either cooling themselves down or healing the effects of the extreme heat.
Jaune crouched down for what felt like the hundredth time, trying to feel for vibrations in the track. He was about to confirm the negative when he felt the vibrations already present in the track change slightly.
"Thomething's on the trackth." Jaune avoided using the 's' sound as the hissing noise carried in confined places like the corridor they were in.
"Nowhere to hide either. No choice but to continue. Probably a guard or some automated machinery."
They continued their routine, checking the tracks every minute. The vibration had gotten stronger and stronger with each stop. The last stop occurred twenty meters before the tunnel ended in a solid metal wall. The duo surveyed the smooth grey barrier, looking for any way to get inside.
"No cameras as far as I can see." Jaune scanned the door over and over again, trying to see anything but lifeless, static metal.
"No mechanisms to open it either. The good news is that there don't seem to be any traps." Raven was crouched, surveying the spot where the rails disappeared into the metal. The rail and the metal were flush with each other.
"The wall should absorb the vibrations, especially since they are touching." Jaune knelt in front of the join, running his finger from the rails to the wall. "But they're not, oddly enough. There is something on the other end either banging on the rails so hard that the door can't absorb all the energy, or this door is a marvel of engineering."
"I honestly don't know. Who knows what the SDC is hiding down here? I wouldn't be surprised if it was some sort of Grimm they managed to get under control. They attempted that. Once."
Jaune knew about the incident of course. What had started as a small project with a couple baby Beowolves had turned into a bloodbath. Every single person in the facility had been ripped to shreds in a massive attack by all kinds of Grimm. The consensus had been that the Grimm had been attracted by the entrapment of their own kind, though the mechanism was still hotly debated.
"So shall we force our way in? Asking nicely doesn't seem like it's working." Jaune already was rummaging inside his pouches.
"Go for it. Should I stand back?"
She knows me pretty well. "Yeah, that would be smart."
Jaune took out two vials of powder and a Scorch crystal. He used up the crystal to create a thin 3-inch-deep hole in the metal. Jaune filled the hole with the thermite powder from the vials and added a small magnesium ribbon on top. He sprinkled some Flame Dust in and plugged the hole with a cap of steel to top off the package and ran backwards to where Raven was standing.
"Don't look directly at the flame, it will damage your eyes." Jaune knew that the temperature the thermite burned at would emit light in the ultraviolet
He concentrated and built up aura inside the Dust. The energy flowed into the Dust and pushed against the mental barriers he had put into place like water against dam.
"Fire in the hole!" Jaune exclaimed as the critical point was reached. The Flame Dust converted all the aura into heat almost immediately. Sparks shot from the hole as the magnesium ribbon ignited, followed soon by a large tongue of flame and globs of molten metal. Jaune watched the light from the highly exothermic reaction play on the walls of the corridor in front of him.
The reaction was soon over, a red hot glowing hole in the middle of the wall. They both turned back to the now not-so-secure wall. Jaune approached the hole, accelerating the cooling process using Dust. The wall seemed to be solid the whole way through, but Jaune could detect some hint of something more, though he didn't know if it was his instinct or his aura.
Jaune waited patiently as the metal solidified and cooled from bright red back into the mid-infrared. He traced the jagged edges and the smooth curves of the hole, trying to find something other than the metal alloy the door was made of.
"Raven, can you detect anything in the door? I feel like there is something inside the wall itself, but it's really faint."
"You feel it too? I started feeling it as soon as you started creating that hole. It feels familiar, though I have no idea what it could be." Raven had her head cocked, grip tight on her sword.
Jaune nodded and peered through the hole. The track stretched into the darkness, the track sloping into obscurity.
"There's nothing special on the other side, the track just continues on."
"What's the point of this then? It's awfully thick, heavy, and well-crafted for a simple track block."
"Exactly. We should try to find what's inside this thing, though I think more explosives isn't the best idea. I'm fresh out of heavy machinery, so that's not an option. Any ideas?"
Raven nodded thoughtfully. Jaune stepped away from the hole and Raven placed a hand inside, feeling around as Jaune had.
"There's something here, the feeling has gotten stronger. Hold on one second." Raven bowed her head as if concentrating.
Jaune waited. Raven didn't move for quite some time. Jaune looked up the tunnel, soldiers and guards should already be in the tunnels, though why none of them had reached them yet was a mystery.
Jaune turned his attention back to Raven and watched her. Her face was hidden behind the Nevermore mask she always wore, her long black slightly messy hair making her mask look even more demonic. She hadn't taken that mask off in front of him, but Jaune didn't care. She would do that in her own time and he didn't really get hung up on those kind of details.
She was stiff, her whole body tensed as if under strenuous load. It didn't seem to be the type of strain one would exert when fighting against something, so Jaune wasn't worried. The thing he was worried about was the time Raven was taking to do whatever she was trying to do.
"Raven…" Jaune began. Raven's head jerked up at the noise.
"BAYEN VE STRETA" Raven's voice intoned, the voice deep and genderless.
"Raven? What…" Jaune began before Raven grabbed him by the throat.
"LEYE VE STRETA" Raven's voice shook slightly.
"What the hell?!" Jaune fought, but Raven's grip was too tight around his neck, by passing his aura entirely.
"TERA VE STRETA. GI TE CHEREDA. HETR LO MARDI."
A bright red flash illuminated the corridor, blinding Jaune. Raven's hands fell from his neck.
Jaune stumbled backwards, hitting the corridor wall. He shook his head and let his cameras adjust to the dim lighting once again. He concentrated his full aura on defense, waiting for Raven to attack.
He looked around as his cameras finally adjusted to the light, taking in the surroundings. They were still inside a corridor, and it looked to be the same going off the scorch marks the thermite had created. The real unknown started from where the metal wall used to be onwards.
What was a completely blocked off section of the corridor was now a humongous open cavern, half flooded with lava. The walls rose upwards into the darkness to form a ceiling. Jaune turned to where Raven had been and saw her limp body lying on the ground, face up.
He scrambled over to her, listening for a heartbeat and checking her pulse. There was one, but it was highly irregular. Her muscles twitched slightly, and her hands tried to clench. Telltale signs of aura exhaustion. Whatever had happened to her after he had interrupted her had completely drained her aura. It might have even powered the red flash he had seen.
But how in the world did a corridor turn into THIS? Did we get teleported? It didn't feel like any other time I teleported.
Jaune analyzed the whole sequence of events. Raven had been tense and under strain, Jaune had interrupted her. Her concentration had broken, causing something to happen to her. Her voice had changed, and she had become highly aggressive. There was the matter of the strange language that she had spoken in.
Bayen ve strata, ley eve strata, tera ve strata? Then there were those other words after these three phrases. What do they mean?
They didn't sound like any language Jaune had ever encountered, either on Earth or in Remnant, though parts of it sounded vaguely similar to Latin.
Jaune picked Raven's body up, the dead weight causing him to use aura to keep up a semi-normal walking pace. He strode to the edge and looked down. The cliff face was more or less smooth, leading into the lava pool below. An acrid blast of sulfur hit him square in the face, causing him to hurriedly turn the air filter in his helmet on. It would help keep the smell down, though not completely.
There was a small island in the pool of lava 50 meters from the base of the cliff that the corridor was in. That meant the island was 60 meters laterally in front of him, and 40 feet vertically. He did some quick calculations. If he freefell, then he would need to be moving forwards at 20 meters per second to be able to reach the island, which would probably cause him to slide off the island and into the lava.
He considered his options. He could go backwards into the corridors to try and get to the main mineshaft. There was a very small chance that he would be able to find a place for Raven to rest so she could portal them out, but those kind of odds made that option a last resort.
Jaune looked at the lava pool again, contemplating ways he could get down. None of the many options that sprang to his head appealed to him. They either relied on too many unknowns or consumed too much aura.
Jaune turned back to the corridor. If there were any search parties, he would immediately turn and come back. It was worth a try to see if he could escape. He could always come back later when both Raven and he were fresh. Now that Raven had been here, she could teleport them in.
He picked her body up again and soldiered forwards, the slight slope working against him. The passage curved and meandered just as Jaune remembered it had when they were coming down it. Jaune grinned as he recognized certain oddly shaped rocks in the wall.
Jaune turned a corner and stopped in his tracks. In front of him lay the lava-floored cavern. It looked the exact same as it had before. Even the portion of the corridor between him and the edge had scuff marks on the ground and scorch marks on the walls.
Jaune set Raven down and sprinted backwards, following the route he had just taken. The path was the exact same as it had been when he had set out with Raven for the first time, not even turned or flipped. Jaune stopped sprinting when he reached the cavern again. Raven still lay there, and everything looked the exact same.
How the actual what? Infinite loop? How can two ends of a tube connect together facing the same direction in 3d space-time? Are there more dimensions of space? Are we even on Remnant?
Jaune turned back to the chasm. It seemed like that was the only way forward, hopping from island to island until he got somewhere, be it another corridor or portal. And he would have to do it carrying Raven.
Let's get started then.
Obligatory AN: What'd you think of the chapter? Anything I can fix? Anything you especially liked? Please review and PM me with this stuff, I love to get them and it helps me write better. Thanks for reading!
