A/N: I own nothing, all licenses belong to their respective owners. to odstrules21: nope, Luna is on side. she will have a role to play in the story beyond what we have seen, but she is a friend. Good guess though.
This chapter was interesting for me to write as I have suffered from PTSD in the past and to some extent even now, writing about it for a different person both from within and without was a fun mental exercise.
It was hard enough to make it through history when he was missing all of the context that came from growing up in a world effected by it without having to worry about someone creeping around him. he hadn't had a chance to tell the team, between a short, fruitless chase, and making it to class on time, he would do it during their lunch break, they needed to know. "Mr. Steele, you have a level of military experience. Can you tell me the mistake made by the newly liberated miners during their attack?"
They were covering the precursor to the Faunus rights rebellions, specifically with the widespread slave uprisings. This particular unit brought back some painful memories for him, slave miners rebelling against an oppressive corporate interest, just like himself. He could see a number of mistakes the miners had made, the big one though was hard for even properly equipped and trained forces to attempt. "they attempted an amphibious crossing at the river, when the slavers retreated and destroyed the bridge the miners should have let them route, instead they attempted to ford the river to score a killing blow."
"excellent! Indeed, the miners attempted to cross the river and were ambushed during the crossing…" Steele lost his focus on the class, the doctors speech blurring into the background. It was inevitable that he would be dragged into his memories with this unit, he was just surprised it had taken so long. He could feel the mines shake around him, hear the rumble of the fighting above as pieces of the ceiling fell on him, huddling in the dark mineshafts, in the small crevasses that he was still small enough to hide in. he could feel the fear as he ran from IMC patrols, rounding up and executing as many of the slaves as they could find, trying to deny the Militia potential recruits.
Something was wrong with Forrest, his eyes were unfocused, and he was gripping his arm tightly, fingers white from the pressure. The team had seen him like that a few times, usually in history, always when he spoke about the IMC, but never to this extent. An image was forming in Blakes mind, he was strangely knowledgeable of geology and the intricacies of mining, he quite publicly and vocally sympathized with the faunus, he openly had an issue with large corporations- which made sense considering the little he told them of the IMC. She was missing a few pieces, he just didn't speak about his life before he started fighting; but she didn't need every detail to know that if she was right, the IMC had left more than just scars, he was probably much more intimate with the brutality of the IMC than he indicated.
A quick touch to his arm was enough to make him reach for a knife he didn't have, which broke him out of his… flashback? Panic attack? Either way he shook his head and gave her a small smile, the same one that he gave any of them when he realized he had slipped. It was kind of scary, watching him try to function when he wasn't training or working. They hadn't seen him fight outside of initiation, but she suspected that was the only place he felt like he had a handle on things since he got here, he was most comfortable at war and wasn't sure how to deal with not having that constant pressure. She had seen people like him with the White Fang, they had trouble going into the cities without being on a mission, more at home outside the wall where the constant threat of the Grimm filled the void where struggle was considered an fundamental part of their identity.
He didn't focus on the class, but he wasn't grabbed by what ever it was that had pulled him from the now. She shared a look with the rest of the team, they needed to find a way to help him, they had a plan for the afternoon, once classes had ended. It hadn't had anything to do with mental health, just a little team bonding, but here they were, with a heavily traumatized soldier as a member of their team in desperate need of help.
Steel did everything he could to focus on the now, the things he needed to do, the things he needed to figure out. He would not be dragged into the past; he would NOT be dragged into the past. The hostile Pilot, his simulacrum, anything except the class and his time before the ACE. He knew his team noticed his episodes- they were the ones to bring him back- but he wasn't ready to give them full story, not that he didn't trust them, he just wasn't ready to go into any detail with anyone.
He let out a massive sigh of relief as class ended, he had chemistry next, which would be a good distraction. Chemistry on Remnant was nearly identical to back home, which gave him a distinct advantage on the conventional chemistry; the issue was Dust. As useful as it was, it was a massive pain in the ass. There was a separate version of the periodic table for Dust, despite being organized by how Dust types behaved and their properties, the whole thing looked more like some sort of demented satanic ritual diagram. The powders had different properties than the crystals, cut vs uncut mattered.
The thing that got Steele's attention was that Dust could be refined and enriched, kind of like radioactive compounds- which Remnant had a surprisingly small amount of knowledge on- once enriched, the properties became much more pronounced, in exchange they became much more reactive and dangerous to handle. They weren't taught the procedure, just made aware of it so they could work the equations, he had a feeling that Weiss knew how to do it. All he needed was a small vial of each type of Dust and his Semblance would keep him stocked up with high grade, high energy Dust.
Lunch couldn't have come fast enough, as soon as he had food and the team had sat down, he brought them up to speed. "Team, we have a problem. After the movement class when I went to change, I managed to discover that someone is following me; probably you all too. Keep your eyes" giving Blake a significant look "and ears open at all times, let me know if notice anything, let me know if you think your being followed. XR and I weren't the only ones to come through the portal that landed us here, who ever is sneaking around is extremely dangerous, they can and will kill without hesitation if it benefits them."
"So, the IMC is here? Following us? Why didn't you tell us?" Ruby nearly started squeaking as her voice rose in pitch, thankfully none of the team looked angry or panicked, just surprised.
"I… not the IMC, a group of mercenaries. Ozpin is looking into them, if it came down to it, I was going to deal with them myself. I didn't tell you because it didn't involve you until now, if I had reason to suspect they were hunting me I would have told you earlier." She had a point, he should have told them earlier, but there was no reason to get them involved in a spat between mercenaries; the chances of them encountering the Predators any time soon were astronomically low, and he fully intended to stay clear of them unless they forced his hand.
The team took it surprisingly well, Yang seemed excited at the prospect. "Bring it! I took on a whole night club full of gangsters by myself, you make Pilots sound super scary, but we have you and a full team. We can take 'em."
"as much as I appreciate the enthusiasm, this is real. These aren't random street thugs, these are highly trained and skilled killers, most of them with some serious mental health issues." Steele let out a sigh. "you might be right… there is no way to tell how they adjusted here, if they have their Auras or Semblances. Anyway, they couldn't stop XR and I even with an army backing them up."
The team shared a round of smiles, they were up to this. The rest of the lunch break was passed in good sprits and idle chatter. They had sparring for the whole of the afternoon and the team spent a good amount of time discussing the matches they had seen previously, and the hypothetical outcomes of certain unseen matches or rematches. "I'm asking Goodwitch if I can fight today, everyone else has been in the ring at least once since the middle of the week."
"I'm sure its just random chance, Goodwitch wouldn't stop a student from having a chance to spar." Weiss wasn't exactly defending Goodwitch, but she obviously wasn't paying enough attention to the randomizer they used in class. Blake on the other hand.
"No, he isn't on the list Goodwitch uses to pick competitors. You can see all of our faces as it rolls to select, his face has never shown up." Blake had a dark look on her face, Steele had a feeling that she knew what he was thinking.
"Wait, you think that the teachers are deliberately stopping you from fighting? Why?" Yang seemed a little skeptical but was figuring it out. She was smarter than she acted, catching on quickly. "you think that the teachers are afraid of you?"
"or for me. We don't know how strong my Aura is, but we do know that despite having caught up and, in some cases, exceeding the standards for strength and reflexes etc. we have no idea how ill match up to the rest of the students. I assume the teachers don't want anyone to get hurt; if anyone misjudges or doesn't have enough control, there is a chance of serious injury on both sides."
Conversation drifted until class started up, they had all changed into their combat outfits and were waiting for the first match to start. Goodwitch had her scroll out when Steele spoke up. "I want the first match."
Goodwitch looked nervous for just a moment, short enough that he wasn't sure he had seen it. "Very well Mr. Steele, your opponent will be…" the randomizer spun, settling on… "Ms. Nikos."
Steele was more than happy with that result, Pyrrha was the best fighter of their year full stop. She might have been the best fighter at Beacon outside of the teachers, apparently, she was world famous for her skill. He had been wanting to test himself, there was no better opponent in his opinion. He made his way down to arena like a normal person, as sorely tempted as he was to just jump down.
He had a few objectives for the fight: determine the effectiveness of his firearms against Aura users, gauge his CQC and martial arts against Aura users, and finally determine his own capabilities including his Aura in relation to the kind of combatants he could be expected to encounter.
He stood on his end of the arena; Justice held at a low ready as he stared Pyrrha down. As soon as the match started, they started sprinting at each other. The steady thud thud of the custom Flatline echoing out as he fired from the hip contrasting with the sharp crack of her rifle. He noticed a change in his capabilities before the first bullets landed, he could see them in the air, he was fast enough to dodge them now, where before he could move to try to prevent a solid bead; he could actively dodge each bullet now.
He shifted sideways, sliding out of the way of each of her rounds. In reply she spun her spear to deflect his rounds, he needed a higher rate of fire to force her into a defensive stance. He dropped into a slide and switched to the R-99, drilling down into her side as slid past. She twisted and flipped, bringing her shield in line to block his burst. She came at him with a barrage of slashes and jabs that forced him to fall back on his jump kit to not get hit, he had seen her strikes take out nearly 20% of an opponents Aura with one blow.
He noticed something alarming, his rounds weren't hitting where he expected them to. He was constantly aiming at anything that wasn't covered by the shield, yet his rounds were always impacting against it. he had enough, his firearms were effective at forcing a defensive response at least, he didn't think the smart guns would do much better. He slid around her, holstering the R-99 and drawing the 2020 and a data-knife.
Pyrrha stopped, taking in his new loadout and stance before adjusting her own. This time he let her come to him, she fired off a few rounds that he managed to deflect with the knife. She closed to melee range, opening with a jab that Steele blocked and countered, his knife flashing inside her guard. Phyrra managed to push his arm out of the way with her shield which exposed her to a pair of shots that landed cleanly against her shoulder. Those were the only two hits he would land the entire fight, though she had trouble landing any on him.
They began a back and forth stalemate. Steele struck like gunfire, sharp, precise, and steady, yet his strikes never managed to land like he expected, something was tugging his blade away from her body at the last moment. He went in for what he thought was an opening in her guard, he reversed his grip and slid his blade along her arm, aiming for the artery in the armpit. It was not an opening, she twisted and brought her arms together, grabbing his arm and pulling him into an overextension. He fired his jump kit in an attempt to recover, before he managed to her shield was driven into his face at full force. He staggered back with the force, he had linked his Aura monitor into his HUD and was alarmed to see it was nearly 50% depleted from the single hit.
He dropped an electric smoke grenade to give him cover while he figured out a new course of action, he hadn't wanted to use his tacticals or his ordnance but would probably have to if he wanted to win. There was a gasp from the crowd as he drew the Intruder, he was confused on that point until he realized that his Aura was regenerating. He smiled under his helmet, this was perfect, his Aura was like him as a Pilot, it would recover as long as he had some time.
Before he had the time for his Aura to recover completely, before the smoke had faded, he was nailed by a flying shield followed by a gunshot propelled spear. He didn't have time to react even with his newfound reflexes, the shield hurt, but the spear managed to break his Aura and carry through into him. He was carried into the wall behind him where the spear pinned him to the wall, he was fully impaled, honestly not the worst injury he had ever had but the pain was intense. He could taste the blood in his mouth, and feel it dripping down his chest as he was pinned. With a quick surge of exertion, he pulled the spear out, ignoring the pain. He kicked it behind him as he readied his weapons again. "I guess that's match over Professor?"
Phyrra had been looking forward to finding out the extent of the quite odd member of team RWBY. When the match had been announced she was more than happy to get into the arena, his skill had more than impressed her. He was fast, accurate, he moved like a leaf on a breeze constantly tumbling and twisting, shifting from the up in the air to down against the ground, sliding out from her strikes with narrow margins. Her issue with the fight was that he was quite seriously trying to kill her. Where her opponents in the past had put their all into the fight, they didn't aim to hit any exposed piece of skin, when they closed to melee he aimed his knife at her joints, neck, and major blood vessels. His knife flowed like a steel river, jumping between his hands, swapping with the pistol when ever it would get him a better angle. When he couldn't get at her joints, he went for organ strikes, with his fists, the blade, or the barrel of the pistol. In reply she gave everything she had, every stab and slash forced him to move or evade. When he had managed to shoot her is when she got serious, the pair of shots letting her know that this was one of the best opponents she had ever faced.
That was when she left him an opening, his blade flashed in, driving towards her armpit. Again, with a kill strike, it made sense as he was a soldier, but it unnerved her that he seemed to enjoy trying to kill her. She closed the trap, rotating his arm and pulling as she stepped forward to drive her shield into his face. He took it like a champ, falling onto his back foot before springing off with the assistance of what he called a jump kit. As soon as they separated, he dropped a canister that erupted into a cloud of smoke that arced with lightning. She glanced at the Aura displays, she was down to around 70%, the two shots had hurt but hadn't had too much impact. Steele on the other hand was down to nearly half, but was recharging of all things, that shouldn't have been happening that quickly, it took hours to let an Aura recharge properly.
She decided to end the match, this would never end otherwise. She threw her weapons at him through the smoke, she knew something had gone wrong right away. She could sense her spear stuck inside him, hear the sound of him sticking to the wall. When the smoke faded, she was horrified to see that he was wounded, more so when he pulled her spear out and kicked it behind him and readied his weapons. She never wanted to hurt anyone, and now the last person she expected to be able to hurt was seriously injured. She couldn't focus on what he was saying, just on the fact that she had hurt someone she considered a friend, blood dripping from the rend in his armor.
She snapped out of it when Goodwitch called the end of the match, she looked as shaken as Pyrrha felt. There was no reason he should be standing, let alone ready to continue fighting even with a potentially fatal injury.
Phyrra and Professor Goodwitch were both staring at him in horror, he imagined the crowd was as well. He didn't know why they were freaking out; his Aura was already back to full and the stims had taken care of the wound. It hit him that they weren't used to Pilots and their abilities, the enhanced healing offered by the armor and the stims wasn't something they would know about. "Mr. Steele, that's enough. Ms. Nikos wins the match. Someone get the Nurse, Mr. Steele, I need you to sit down and relax. You are badly wounded and need medical attention."
"I'm fine, look at my Aura, look at my health monitor." He turned to Pyrrha, trying to show that he was fine, and this was no big deal. "looks like you're better. Good match, I'm looking forward to the next." He picked up her spear and tossed it to her before turning and making his way into the locker room. Apparently, they were still worried, his team was waiting for him with team JNPR who ran past him to check on Pyrrha.
He was trying to lock up his weapons while Yang was moming out and trying to get him to sit down and wait for the nurse, despite his protests that he was fine. He lost; Yang was much stronger than he thought. She held him down until the nurse showed up and begun to try to stabilize him. it was when she tried to get his armor off that he started cooperating, just to get it over with more quickly. "look, I'm fine!"
His armor was off, and he had unzipped the front of his jumpsuit exposing his chest and stomach, and the pile of scars that covered his body, the one caused by Pyrrha's spear only stood out because it was fresh, otherwise blending in with the rest. They were all staring, to the point that he was kind of uncomfortable.
"What happened to you?" well now that was a long story.