Chapter 9

"Look general Ironwood, I can explain…" Jack was then interrupted when Ironwood raised his hand.

"Mister Ryder, I don't want to hear your explanations, neither does Ozpin." Said Ironwood, looking at the boy in disappointment. "What we like to hear is how you managed to destroy the chip that you acquired from that bunker underneath Mountain Glenn." Ironwood, and to an extension Ozpin, were disappointed and upset to learn from Jack that the chip was destroyed by him accidentally during the night. They were shocked beyond belief to hear about a bunker underneath Mountain Glenn. They sent teams there, both regular soldiers and huntsmen, but the bunker was gone. No trace of its existence was found. So, they were hoping that the chip that Jack uncovered would give them some answer, which leads to the discussion right now.

"I…woke up rather groggily today." Said Jack, coming up with a story to cover up Blake telling him to do uncover the chip's secret on his own. "And I might have accidentally discharged my weapon at the chip along with some belongings of mine." To make this story believable, Jack had to fire his weapon at his desk with some of his more ridable belongings, like notebooks and the like. Course he was now going to fail an exam now, but it was necessary in his eyes to do so.

"I seriously doubt that." Said Ironwood. He remembered Jack Ryder during his time in the Atlas academy. He didn't make many friends there, nor was he the best in terms of skills, but his technical prowess and his test scores caught his eye. Plus, the times he asked his subordinate, Winter Schnee, about him, she always spoke highly of the boy. Another thing was that, during his time in the academy, he never broke the rules and was a highly decorative student. Too hear him make such a sloppy mistake, was something that Ironwood didn't believe. Ozpin, however, seemed to buy it.

"While I am disappointed at this news, mister Ryder, I understand that these things happen. You may go." Said Ozpin. Both Jack and Ironwood looked at Ozpin in surprise.

"With respect, sir, I failed you. I should at least be punished for this muck up." Said Jack, not believing that he was getting scot free.

"I agree." Said Ironwood. "The boy did discharge his weapon in his quarters, potentially endangering his fellow students. That sort of thing should be punished, Oz."

"I know." Said Ozpin. "Which is why I'm now assigning him a locker until it is he is deemed ready to having a weapon in his room again. That is all. Good day, Jack." Though reluctant to leave, Jack just saluted the two men in respect before leaving. As he watched the teenager leave, Ironwood let out a sigh.

"You're too nice to the students, Oz." Said Ironwood, looking at him in disappointment. "And you're also placing too much trust in them."

"James, don't start…"

"But I have to." Interrupted Ironwood. "Your faith in these new students of yours is beginning to erode my faith in your strategizing skills. Sending a first-year team into a highly dangerous zone with only a doctor as a backup? Not to mention sending a group of first to second-year teams to fight against the Grimm when they invaded. And to top it all off, you sent those teams from that Grimm invasion to Mountain Glenn again to investigate that robot and it ended with two of them being injured, one being severely so. Without my consent or the councils as well. What were you thinking, Oz? Do you even trust me?"

"I do trust you, James." Said Ozpin, turning to his good friend with stoic eyes. "But that last mission required subtly. Something that you lack."

"I know I'm heavy-handed, Oz." Said Ironwood. "But you must understand how hurt I was that you didn't at least tell me about your plan."

'I know." Said Ozpin with true regret. "And yes, I should have told you. But time was of the essence. And only know do I realize my mistake."

"You're lucky that I stood up for you." Said Ironwood. "Or the council would have fired you."

"Yes, and you have my thanks, James." Said Ozpin. "So, what now? What is your plan for the Vytal festival and its security?"

"For now, getting more men and automated machines as well as more gunships." Said Ironwood. "Unfortunately, the Atlas council is being difficult in sending more troops due to the losses suffered from the breach. Fortunately, I pulled some favors and strings and got enough to replace at least 75 percent of the equipment and manpower we lost as well as a new airship. The rest is being replaced by specialists."

"How many?" Asked Ozpin, intrigued.

"Just eight. But they're some of the finest we have." Said Ironwood. "I believe miss Schnee will be happy about seeing one of them." Ozpin then let out a smile.

"Ahh. Her sister is being stationed here?" Asked Ozpin.

"Yes." Said Ironwood. "She was quite adamant about it after hearing about the breach and her recent scuffle with another robot. She should be arriving early from the everyone else."

"How early?" Asked Ozpin. Ironwood just looked at a watch on his wrist.

"About now." Said Ironwood before looking out the window. Sure enough, he spotted Winter's personal ship coming to Beacon academy. "I believe Jack will be happy about this as well. He and Winter were…close."

"Close?" Asked Ozpin before looking out the window.

"The intimate close, I believe." Said Ironwood with some amusement as he watched the ship make it's descent.

Meanwhile

Courtyard

"Seriously guys, that's what happened. Ozpin just let me off the hook." Said Jack as he explained what happened. A few were shocked at the fact that Ozpin had let him off the hook so easily and others were glad he did so.

"That seems a bit odd of Ozpin to do so." Said Weiss, a bit skeptical.

"You're saying that after Ozpin sent all of us to mountain Glenn, knowing the possibility there may be more of the big robot that did so much damage to Vale?" Asked Coco sarcastically as she lowered her sunglasses. She along with her team were walking by when they saw team RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN waiting near beacon tower. Curious, they went over to ask what they were doing. Upon learning that Jack was currently speaking to Ironwood and Ozpin about the chip and how it got destroyed, which would be a cover story for how it really broke, they stuck around if only to praise Jack for his willingness to take blame for something that wasn't his fault.

"N-no…It just seems kinda irresponsible of him." Said Weiss.

"She has a point." Said Blake, surprised at Ozpin's decision. "He basically gave Jack a free pass."

"Heck, I would punish him a bit if he broke something important to me." Said Nora with a psychotic grin.

"Yeah." Said Jack, a bit uneasy. "Moving on, what are you guys planning to do for the Vytal festival?"

"Train." Said Coco. "It's in six days. So, we all got to train as hard as possible in order to better represent our academies." She then made a cheeky grin. "Not that it matters to you all cause team CFVY is winning this one."

"No way. We're going to win." Said Sun with an equally cocky grin. "It about time for the Mistral academy to win a tournament again."

"Really? Cause JNPR is going to destroy all of you!" Yelled Nora with excitement.

"No way, RWBY is!" Said Ruby. As the more childish teenagers were arguing amongst themselves, Jack walked over to Blake and Weiss, who were smiling at bit at the leader's antics.

"How's Yang? Is she going to…" He then stopped when Blake sighed and looked at him with sad eyes.

"She won't be able to participate in time for the tournament. As a result of that, we're not entering the tournament." Explained Blake.

"We've been thinking of ways to tell Ruby that without breaking her heart, but…"

"I know." Said Jack. "Sorry about that. You guys certain you won't participate?"

"Yeah." Said Weiss. "While her injuries will heal in time for the tournament, she still has only one arm, giving us a crutch."

"And even if we did participate without Yang, we'll be at a disadvantage. That, coupled with the fact that we can't ask for substitutions, means we can't participate."

"You think Ruby will take that as an excuse?" Asked Jack, not believing that Ruby will go in with just two teammates.

"She'll have trouble accepting it at first, but I know she'll make the right call." Said Blake. The three were going to continue their conversation when Weiss suddenly gasped out loud, staring at a unique airship landing at the docks. Upon seeing it himself, Jack's jaw dropped to the ground in shock. "What is it?" Asked Blake in curiosity, looking at the ship. To her surprise, Weiss ran down to the docks.

"It's her sister." Answered Jack as he also walked down to the docks. A bit surprised at hearing that, Blake then informed every one of the new event. Hearing that the eldest daughter of the Schnee Dust company was here, Ruby and Blake ran down to the docks, eager to see their teammate's sister. Everyone else just waved goodbye before leaving. By the time they all caught up to Weiss, she was already shouting out to her sister, who was currently overseeing the checks on her ships as well as securing it to the docks. Upon hearing her sister, the elder Schnee turned around slowly, an impassive look on her face, which remained as Weiss ran up to her along with her teammates and Jack.

"Winter it's gre…good to see you." Said Weiss, catching herself upon seeing strangers among her sister. "How have you've been."

"Good." Said Winter, an impassive voice that came along her face.

"Where have you've been?" Asked Weiss.

"Classified." Stated Winter.

"Anything important?" Asked Jack.

"…Classified." Stated Winter, eyeing Jack with interest. She then snapped her fingers at her guard robots, who then backed off along with her human crew. She then sighed to herself before offering a kind smile. "How have you've all been?"

"Splendid." Said Weiss, though excitement was in her voice. "I've been getting excellent grades, at the top of my combat class, and…" She couldn't say more when Winter slapped her in the head.

"That's not what I meant." Scolded Winter. "I meant how your life is? Are you eating well? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, she is doing well in the last department, miss Winter." Said Jack, stepping in, acting formal with the elder Schnee. "She's made friends with several teams as well as her own." As Winter stared at Jack, Weiss was currently glaring at him for just shoving himself into the spotlight. She then twitched in annoyance when Ruby began touching where Winter slapped her. To her surprise, Winter donned a smile.

"That's good to hear. I assume that your friends with her as well?" Asked Winter, shocking Weiss with how she was looking at Jack. Almost…affectionally.

"Yes, a few down there, but we've pretty good friends in my opinion." Said Jack.

"A few downs?" Asked Winter, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. When she found about that time." Said Jack.

"Ah." Said Winter, a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. "That accident. I assume she responded a bit excessively?"

"Yes." Said Jack. "She can certainly throw a punch and scare someone with ease like you, ma'am. She's your sister alright." Though Weiss glared at him for those remarks, Winter just smirked.

"She is my blood, after all." Said Winter before turning to Weiss. "How did you do it, sister?" Asked Winter curiously.

"A freeze to his perverted hand and a few slaps to his face." Said Weiss with a proud smirk. Winter just twitched her mouth in amusement.

"Good." Said Winter before turning to everyone else. "I assume these are your teammates, Weiss?"

"Yeah, Ruby is our leader and Blake is one of my other teammates." Said Weiss, introducing her teammates, respectively. Blake, a bit cautious at seeing another Schnee, just bowed in head in greeting. Ruby, on the other hand, was nervous and bowed awkwardly.

"Nice to see you, your majesty." Said Ruby. "I hope the air is nice for you." Weiss just rolled her eyes at that.

"It's a bit…colder than when I last came here." Said Winter.

"Well, it is Fall." Said Ruby. She then got a punch to the head from Weiss for that remark.

"So, how long are you staying?" Asked Weiss with a smile.

"For the duration of the tournament." Said Winter, which made Weiss smile. "Don't get your hopes up, Weiss. I'm afraid I'm here as security, so I won't be around you as long as we both like. I assume you all know why?" Everyone then sobered up.

"Just you? No one else?" Asked Jack, incredulously. Not believing Atlas would only send one specialist.

"No. Several other specialists are being sent here along with an airship and enough troop and equipment to replace a large percent of general Ironwood's fleet." Explained Winter. "I will admit, though, I will spend a lot of my free time with you all."

"Really?" Asked Weiss. She internally squealed when Winter nodded. "Then let me escort you to my team's quarters. Just so you know the bunkbeds only look unstable."

"Bunk beds?" Asked Winter as she was being escorted by Weiss.

"I hope you to see you all later in…due time." Said Ruby as she lifted her skirt.

"You know, you didn't have to do that around Winter when it's just her. She doesn't care too much what people act when it's private." Said Jack as he walked to Ruby.

"Really? Thank god. Didn't want to embarrass myself." Said Ruby as she rubbed her head.

"She's a lot nicer than I thought." Commented Blake as the three watched the Schnee sisters walk to the dorms.

"Yeah. She does that to a lot of people." Said Jack. "Once you get to know her, she's not so bad. I thought she was an ice queen when I first met her, but after a while, I saw she's a truly nice person."

"Can't judge a book by their cover." Said Blake.

"Indeed." Said Jack. "So, any of your family arriving?"

"Well, dad's worried for Yang, so he's coming. Letter came this morning." Said Ruby. "Don't know about my uncle, though."

"And I haven't seen my parents in a long time. So, I doubt it." Said Blake with a sad look. "What about you?"

"Mom and dad sent a letter this morning as well. They were worried a bit, but they're fine with be staying here until the term is up." Said Jack. "On the very off chance that RWBY doesn't win, who do you think will win the festival?" Keeping appearances up so that Ruby doesn't know the sad news yet.

"Hmm…maybe CFVY because they're a year ahead of us." Said Blake. "Though I will be rooting for JNPR."

"Same here!" Said Ruby. "In fact, we got to go train with them. Later Jack!"

"See ya." Said Jack as he watched the two girls leave. "Maybe I should go see Winter and Weiss. Hope nothing bad is happening."

Later

"Okay, seriously. How have these things not killed any of you, yet?" Said Jack as he saw the unstable bunkbeds. "These things are like a disaster waiting to go off."

"We're just really careful." Said Weiss as she sat on her bed. "And they're actually really sturdy."

"Somehow, I doubt that, Weiss." Said Winter as she eyed the makeshift beds. "Seeing that we're alone, may I ask how was your experience with these death machines." Asked Winter seriously. Jack and Weiss then looked at each other before turning to Winter.

"You heard?" Asked Jack, already knowing the answer.

"Yes." Said Winter. "I wouldn't have asked to be transferred here if I didn't know. So, tell me. What were they like?" Jack then looked at Weiss again. Upon seeing his eyes, she waved her hand to tell him to do it.

"Well, they were massive." Said Jack as he began to tell his experience with the machines. "Almost unstoppable. The bigger one, the one that Atlas took, was unbeatable. We threw everything at it, yet it wouldn't go down. It kept firing and firing until this Faunas woman deactivated it." Raising an eyebrow at that, Winter motioned him to go on. "The smaller one was no less deadly. It had some sort of aura-like shield that didn't go down until we focused so much ammo and dust into it. And even then, it's armor only broke when Yang, a teammate of Weiss, managed to use her semblance to dent the armor enough to rupture the power core, but not before losing her arm and suffering shrapnel penetrating her body."

"I assume this is the one in the infirmary. The one that's related to Qrow?" Asked Winter.

"Qrow?" Asked Weiss.

"Your leader's uncle as well as your injured teammates." Explained Winter. "I have to assume he'll be here soon." She said it with so much disdain, that Weiss widened her eyes. Jack, on the other hand, knew how much she hated Qrow and his antics. He always managed to rile her up. He, on the other hand, found Qrow to be tolerable. He may be a rulebreaker, but he genuinely loved his nieces and Jack respected that. Though his views on morals and beliefs like happy endings was something that got on his nerves, especially when he kept insulting him for no good reason.

"I assume that Atlas won't be offering anything to her?" Asked Jack.

"Well, given Ironwood's friendship with Ozpin, I'd assume that he'll be willing to give her a robotic replacement. Though I doubt it, considering he pulled enough strings to get this many reinforcements here." Said Winter. "Anyway, did you uncover some data about either of those machines?"

"Well…yes, but it got destroyed." Said Jack. Raising an eyebrow, Winter motioned for him to explain, which he did so with the fake story. Upon him finishing, Winter sighed to herself while shaking her head.

"Did you honestly expect me to believe that ruse, Jack?" Asked Winter as she eyed at him in disappointment.

"Worth a shot?" Said Jack. Winter just shook her head.

"How did you know?" Asked Weiss, curious. It was a poor excuse, sure, but Jack made the accident extremely believable.

"Please, I knew him for so long that I knew that he wouldn't pull so an amateur mistake unless it was on purpose." Said Winter. "Now, what happened exactly?" Jack just looked at Weiss, wondering if he should tell her. Reluctantly, Weiss nodded her head.

"*Sighs* Alright. What really happened is that Blake asked me to decode the chip or…processor of that droid we fought. I told her that it was near impossible, but she wouldn't listen. So, out of curiosity and probably a want to figure it out as well, I tried to decode it. I spent so many hours trying to transfer what data was on there to my scroll." Explained Jack before showing Winter his scroll. "While it did work, it unfortunately, broke my scroll and destroyed the chip. Essentially, making the whatever is in the chip worthless." Winter just stared at him before speaking.

"Are you planning to get it repaired?" Asked Winter.

"Yeah." Said Jack, putting the scroll back in his pocket. "I hope that data is still intact."

"Doubtful." Said Winter. "You should have left it to the professionals, Jack."

"I know, but I really thought I could crack it myself." Said Jack.

"Much as I respect your skills in engineering, I truly think you should have left it alone." Said Winter before sighing in exasperation. "Moving on, I wish to see how well both of you had become since attending Beacon academy. Weiss, we'll be dealing with your semblance as for Jack." She then turned to him with a smirk. "We'll be dealing with your hand to hand skills." Jack then donned a look of dread at that.

"Oh crap." Said Jack, preparing for a world of pain.

Later

Some courtyard

"Ohhh." Moaned Jack as he rubbed his neck while Weiss was giggling in amusement as Winter inspected him for any permanent damages. "Why is it that you always go for my neck?"

"You have poor reflexes." Explained Winter. "Plus, you have poor defenses for your neck. Something that can be exploited by a fast-enough opponent." She then frowned. "You still need to work on you hand to hand skills. In fact, you may have gotten even worse since you came to Beacon. You also need to work on your reaction time and reflexes."

"I know." Said Jack as he got up. "But you know that I have horrible reflexes, Winter. You said so yourself back in Atlas."

"True." Said Winter. "But that doesn't mean we can improve them to be at least adequate. Now." She then turned to Weiss. "Let's deal with your summoning's, Weiss. Did you improve on them?" Weiss just donned a hesitant look before answering.

"You know I can't." Said Weiss.

"What?" Asked Jack as he twirled his arm around. "You don't know how to use your summonings?"

"Yes, she can't." Said Winter. "For some reason, she can't summon anything properly. Either that or it doesn't work, which is odd, because all Schnees have been able to summon their fallen opponents with ease."

"Everyone Schnee except me." Said Weiss with a frown. "I just can't do it."

"How come?" Asked Jack.

"I don't know. I just can't." Said Weiss in frustration.

"With that attitude, you'll never be able to achieve it." Said Winter. She then sighed before placing a hand on her sister. "Let's at least try. Jack, I'm afraid that this is private. Can you wait somewhere close by?"

"Of course, Winter." Said Jack. "I'll just wait outside the courtyard." He then bowed in respect before leaving. Eventually he sat down on a bench close by that made him easy to spot by the Schnee sisters. As he waited for them to finish, Jack looked at his scroll, attempting to try and fix it on his own. When Blake left his room that night, he tried to turn his scroll back on. Unfortunately, the explosion that destroyed the chip, must have also damaged his scroll as he couldn't turn it on. He tried to reboot it, change the power cells, even turned it off and on, but it wouldn't work. Humming in thought, he brought a set of small tools he'd kept around him and he opened the case. Despite knowing the pointless of the task with the tools he had, he still did so. If anything, it would keep him busy while the Schnee sisters were training. What he found, after removing the covers, completely shocked him. The circuity was…completely different than the standard model. Though he dissected only an old model of the scroll back during his engineering courses, he was sure the current model didn't have circuitry that was constantly changing or had this many glowing circuits. The circuits and wiring were constantly morphing and reconnecting with each other. He never seen anything like it. He knew that he had to tell someone about this, but who? Due to his lie to both Ironwood and Ozpin, he'll likely suffer a punishment that even Ozpin can't stop. But they needed to see this. He was about to say screw it and face the consequences for his deception when he saw a cloak that looked like it was made from feathers. Blinking in surprise, he was about to check it out when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. After being pulled from the bench, he was saw the woman from the breach. The one that took down the giant robot.

"You people really need to stop now before things get worse." Said Xayah before dragging him somewhere. After finding a secluded part of the courtyard. After making sure no one was around, she let Jack go. "Let me get to the point. Give me that scroll of yours and I'll leave you alone forever."

"What do you mean?" Asked Jack as he got up. "Don't you work for Ironwood?" Having been told by Ironwood that there wasn't an operative of his that was named Xayah before telling him about the chip, he was suspicious of this woman as well as the people she was with during the ball. Now that he thought about it, something seemed…off about her. But for now, he'll play dumb and try to fool her. To his surprise, she just rolled her eyes.

"Don't play dumb, kid." Said Xayah as she placed a hand on her hip. "I know that Ironwood had told you that I don't work for him. I also overheard you talking about the chip's data being in your scroll. So, look." She then brought out her hand. "Just give me the scroll, pretend that stupid cover up of yours is real, and both of us will go off scot free and happy." Jack just narrowed his eyes.

"I don't think so." Said Jack, clutching to his scroll with all his strength. "This scroll is going over to Ironwood and Ozpin and there's nothing that you can do about it." Xayah just scowled before sighing to herself.

"Okay, kid." Said Xayah. "In my earlier years, I would just kill you now and take that scroll. But, that was a long time ago. Now, I'm a lot more…nicer." She said the last word with some hesitance. "So, just give it to me. I would tell you the reason if it didn't put you in danger."

"What the heck do you mean?" Demanded Jack as he edged closer to where he hoped Winter and Weiss were. "Why would telling me what you're up to put me into any sort of danger?"

"Let's just say my current superior's superior is not the kindest person there is." Said Xayah as walked closer to him. "You just have to trust me."

"Trust you?" Asked Jack, skeptically. "Why would I trust someone who lied about their affiliations, even if they helped us with the recent Grimm invasion."

"*Sighs* Seems I can't convince you." Said Xayah as she looked at him in frustration. "And I can't show you anything compromising. So, I'll just do this." She then grabbed him by the neck and brought him to her face, a feather placed on his neck. Though it shouldn't be anywhere near sharp enough to cut him, he felt the edge being razor sharp and he'd seen their effectiveness personally, so he knew how deadly they were. He put on an impassive face, his two years of training in the Atlas academy kicking on, despite being afraid for his life. She then got closer to him, their faces close to touching, before speaking. "There's a sniper some distance away, waiting to take a pot shot at you should you refuse to not tell anyone." Jack was shocked at this and was about to look around when Xayah headbutted him mildly, still leaving a forming bruise, though. After letting the teenager go, with him landing on his butt, she crouched down at him.

"Look, I'll be straight forward with you." Said Xayah as she kneeled over him. "Do not give whatever data was on that chip to anyone, no matter how trustworthy or good-intentioned they are. If you do, you'll be signing their death warrants as well as dooming this planet to oblivion. Whether by us or those machines that you fought before. So, please…don't share it." Jack was surprised to see a look of pleading from her eyes. Before he could ask her why, she suddenly disappeared in a plume of feathers, leaving a confused huntsman-in-training. After the last feather vanished into thin air, he looked at his scroll and it's internal circuitry, which was still morphing and changing. He knew that it was his duty to report this to the headmasters and face the consequences for lying and his morals compelled him to as well. Yet…there was something in Xayah's pleading eyes that made him second guess. He shouldn't trust her as she really gave him no reason to but also no reason not to trust her. And something about her tone made him think that she was telling the truth. Groaning to himself, he went to his spot in the bench to grab the covers for his scrolls. After finding the covers, he screwed them back on. Once completed, he stuffed the scroll back into his pocket. Against his better judgement, he decided to trust Xayah for this once. Until she gave him a reason not to. That and he actually wanted to keep living.

Meanwhile

Much later

Unknown location

In a relatively unknown location, a large number of robot, ranging from the nanoscopic size to as large as the machine from the breach. They were all either repairing a large metal facility, which was damaged somewhat, all of which seemed to be from time, or guarding it. The deepest part of this facility contained a large room that contained a large pillar-like machine. The machine was currently analyzing the combat data and recordings from the breach and the battle in the bunker. Though the larger machine wasn't in it's standard forces or in it's entire garrison, it still managed to acquire it's combat data. Carefully analyzing both sets, it concluded that it needed to upgrades it's forces to have quicker reaction times and more durable armor. Moving on, it recently discovered that most of it's facilities were out of commission and repairs were under way. It also found out that most of it's garrison was still in stasis or destroyed due to time or other incidents. With only a minor portion of it's forces active, the machine decided to figure out the strength of the locals before making any moves. With this in mind, the machine sent out several recon drones to determine their strength and weakness as well as anything it can use.

Meanwhile

Night

"Looks like he won't tell anyone." Said Xayah as she watched Jack go to sleep. She then frowned when she heard some yelling. "Relax, you fish bowl. I'll do what needs to be done if he squawks." With that she turned off her communicator, sighing to herself after doing so. "I hate that asshole so much." She then looked back at Jack. "Better listen to me kid."