RWBY: Glowing Embers
Chapter 6
oxoxoxo
Maria pushed her feelings down as she and Thatch stepped into the arena. It was easy enough to put her concerns about Julia and her new tech aside, as well as Emily, Rick and Micca's findings about Derek Blanch. The roar of the crowd as she stepped into Amity Arena was invigorating. Maria could practically hear her heartbeat getting faster as she checked Imperator's ammo count. Taking a breath, she steadied herself as she turned to Thatch, the renegade running his swords over one another and chuckling to himself. She found herself chuckling along with him, unable to keep the smirk from her face as the two waited on their opponents. "Ready for a good fight, Thatch?" She asked, pulling her gladius from its sheath and examining the edge.
"Always, fearless leader." Thatch replied, looking her over. "Your freshly polished weapons and armour tell me you are too."
"Always." Maria replied. "You've been around the kingdoms right? Our opponents this round are from Vacuo, what can you tell me about them?"
Thatch grimaced and shrugged. "Not too much, honestly." He said. "Vacuo is a tough kingdom to pin down, they're generally more free spirited and loose than other kingdoms. Notice that they're the only ones without a school uniform? We can probably expect the same from their fighters."
"Wild cards, huh?" Maria mused. "So expect the unexpected then."
"Exactly." Thatch confirmed.
Maria frowned. She wanted to say more, but her musings were soon interrupted by the sounds of heavy footfalls. Turning to the source of the sound, Maria could only say that after Thatch's words, she was more than a tad surprised.
Their opponents marged towards them in locked steps, each wearing a near identical style of uniform, military style pants and boots, held up by finely made belts. Over their torsos were lightly armoured coats with metal plates over their chests and abdomens and articulated pauldrons covering their shoulders, as well as coattails ending just below the knees. The uniforms differed only in colour. On the right was a boy, dressed in a deep brown coat, its trim the colour of steel, a large, military style backpack slung over both shoulders. His head was near shaven, with only a short, military cut mohawk of brown hair and a well trimmed goatee around his smirking mouth. She couldn't tell the colour of his eyes, due to the pair of reflective sunglasses over them. He carried no obvious weapons, but the armour on his jacket extended over his arms in a pair of bracers and to his legs as greeves. Next to him was a girl in a stark silver uniform, her back length hair black but streaked with silver that matched her uniform. Unlike her teammate, she bore her face to the crowd, her purple eyes scanning her new opponents, and she carried her weapon proudly, a lengthy metal spear. Scanning it over, Maria could scarcely tell what its alternate form was, but knew it could not be so simple as to just be a spear.
Maria raised an eyebrow. "Free spirited, huh?"
"Or… This." Thatch said, his expression matching hers.
oxoxoxo
From the audience, Alison, along with Francois, Velvet and Ben watched as the terrain was introduced to the stadium. Thatch and Maria stood on a side now covered in trees, while their opponents stood with their backs to a massive canyon. While Ben and Francois stared over her shoulder, Alison was bringing up information on their team's new challenge. All students were given information on the other teams participating in the tournament, they just weren't told who they would be facing until the actual match. Alison was now taking advantage of that fact, using the database of teams to determine a bit of information on who they would be fighting.
"Team CLSQ," Alison said aloud, finding the info on the enemy team. A group that defied all logic of Vacuo by wearing near identical uniforms.
"Looks like they're fighting Peter Chai and Starlene Julie." Ben commented. "Any chance you can get us the info on their weapons?"
Alison tapped the image of the opposing team, but no information was revealed. "Looks like not, I bet they don't want us having too much info on the other teams."
"What we could do with that from here is beyond me." Francois muttered with a roll of his eyes.
"I know I wouldn't want my weapon spoiled for the other teams." Velvet added. "Not that it matters too much anymore…" She added, somewhat glumly. The faunus girl brightened somewhat when Francois put an arm around her and pulled her close, but Alison could still see she was more than a bit down. The artist couldn't blame her too much, after all, her team had been all but destroyed in their second fight of the tournament.
"Looks like the fight's about to start." Ben said, pulling her attention back to the arena. True to what he said, the arena had fully formed, the environments locking into place as the countdown to battle was projected overhead.
Alison quickly shoved her scroll into her pocket, and with a gleam in her eye, she did something she could never imagine herself doing before coming to beacon. Standing up in her seat, she raised her hands to her mouth and called out to her boyfriend. "GOOD LUCK THATCH!"
With a face redder than Ruby's cloak and a massive grin splitting her face, Alison dropped right back into her seat. Her heart skipping a beat when Thatch turned at her shout and gave her a quick wink.
oxoxoxo
A bowl of popcorn in hand, Rick sat between Micca and Emily as the three of them watched the tournament on the lair's computer. Aiden had even brought down a few old couches to sit on, rather than the old setup of just sitting on office chairs. Emily, of course, had her contacts ready to message her at a moment's notice in case of a crisis, but having already set their destination for the night's mission, Emily, Ben and Aedan had all agreed that they could not only use some rest, but also a morale boost before said mission. And what better way to both relax and boost morale than to watch Maria Gaia do what she did best.
"What do you figure their chances are?" Micca asked, taking a handful of popcorn. And stuffing it in her face.
Rick grinned. "Uh, this is Maria we're talking about. Kicking butt is what she does best, and Thatch is a literal terror on the battlefield."
"You guys haven't seen the data on their opponents yet, have you?" Emily countered. When the others gave her a questioning look, she had the decency to look a bit abashed, her cheeks colouring to match her hair for a moment. "I might have taken a peek at the fighter stats in the tournament. Peter and Starlene might have some surprises in store for them."
"Come on then, spill!" Rick demanded, quick action from Micca just saving the popcorn before the Axman sent it flying.
Emily put a hand to her chest in mock offense. "I would never do something like that!" She declared. "I could never spoil a fight for you. Besides, I tell you, you'll just tell Alison and Francois. That would ruin their surprise too."
Rick grumbled and Micca elbowed him in the ribs before putting the popcorn back in his lap. "Why did we invite the third wheel?" He mumbled.
Emily replied with an elbow of her own. "Excuse me, I've been running my contacts for days tracking down that Fangbreaker base, the least you two can do is let me in on TV time." She grabbed a handful of popcorn and daintily popped one kernel into her mouth. "Besides, you two haven't even had a date yet. And no, your missions don't count, unless the White Fang is also your third wheel."
Micca and Rick both flushed at her words, but it was Micca who salvaged her dignity first. "Pipe down, will you? The fight is about to start."
True to her words, the countdown was beginning, and all eyes turned to the screen.
oxoxoxo
(Music begins here. Song: Reckless by Judas Priest)
The second the fight began, Peter Chai took off in a run towards his side of the field, breaking for the canyon.
"Thatch," Maria ordered, raising her shield and opening the boss. "Go spring that trap and come back when you're done. I've got this one covered."
"You got it, boss!" Thatch said, charging for the other side of the field as Maria opened fire on Starlene. The black haired girl dived out of the way as the hail of gunfire soared past her. Rising to her feet, she broke into a run, charging in a circular arc as Maria kept the pressure on her. The girl ducked around and under the gunfire however, and soon managed to reach the centurion, ducking under the stream of bullets and slamming the butt of her spear into Maria's gut, raising the weapon high for a strike with its point.
Maria ducked aside and stabbed out with her gladius, but Starlene merely juked back and smacked her in the head with her spear's shaft. Maria allowed herself to stumble back, raising her shield and opening the boss once more, but Starlene seemed to be waiting for this, raising high her spear as it gave off a high pitched keening wail. The sound only grew louder, Maria clenching her teeth and cringing it the volume as it continued to grow.
The wail of the spear dimmed somewhat as Starlene leaped forward and stabbed down at her. With no room to block, Maria ducked aside, the spearhead slamming into the ground and shearing through the floor, the vibrating blade easily piercing the ground. Starlene pulled her weapon back, but this time Maria was quicker, smashing her shield into her opponent and knocking her back. Opening the boss of her shield, Maria opened fire once more, the blast of bullets battering her opponent, rapidly dropping her aura as she was shot back into the forest on EMAD's side of the field, the impact knocking a tree to the ground and throwing up a cloud of dust.
Her view obscured, Maria stopped firing, dust and leaves still filling her view, her opponent nowhere to be found in the wreckage. She frowned. Firing into the forest would only obscure her view with more dust, and there wasn't even a guarantee she would hit her opponent. Grip tightening on her sword, Maria advanced, finger on the trigger as she walked into the treeline.
"Looks like Team CLSQ has divided the competition!" Oobleck announced from above. "EMAD's dynamic duo have certainly got their hands full!"
Across the arena, Thatch clambered after Peter Chai as he scaled the canyon wall, his opponent's strength boosted by his mechanical bracers. "You can't run forever!" Thatch called as his opponent reached the top. Channeling his aura, the renegade leaped up to the top of the canyon. His opponent ran away yet again as he crested his jump, only dropping a moderate sized brown metal box as he ran. Thatch's eyes widened as he dropped towards it, scrambling away as soon as he landed, fully expecting an explosion to sound behind him as he ran. No explosion came though, and Thatch only grinned more. A dud. Perfect.
His opponent running over an open canyon carried another advantage: open terrain. Thatch raised his swords and opened fire, Peter ducked as the bullets sailed by, several impacting him and lowering his aura. The boy slid to the ground, dropping another box before scrambling back to his feet and running once more.
Thatch rolled aside as Chai dropped the second box from his backpack. Expecting the explosion at any second.
It never came. Growling to himself, Thatch realized he'd been had. "I am going to drop you into such a nightmare when I catch you." He muttered, breaking into a run once more.
Peter Chai had more than gained distance on him, however, having reached the opposing end of the canyon. Thatch once more opened fire as he caught up, several bullets impacting Chai as he dropped another box, but the boy was soon gone, leaping from his side of the canyon, his greeves launching him toward the other side of the canyon. He didn't reach the other side, however, and as he crested his jump, Peter hurled a third box at the other side of the canyon, the cube latching itself to the canyon wall with a series of spikes. Peter slammed into the ground, cracking it and lowering his aura from the impact. Giving a quick salute to Thatch, Peter took off once more, the now enraged renegade opening fire once more, the distance throwing off his aim as bullets slammed into the canyon floor.
Thatch ground his teeth and growled as he jumped down, sliding down the side of the canyon, swords spraying bullets as he did. Peter zig-zagged below as Thatch fired at him, a few bullets impacting the foriegn student as he frantically ran for cover.
Maria could hear the sounds of gunfire as she crept through the trees, barrels in her gun spinning and ready to fire the second Starlene came into view. The trees surrounding her were massive, and Maria could only wonder what the audience could even see from this angle. Then again, what could she even see? The trees blotted out most of the light, and though she knew her opponent would be obvious when she saw her, that was easier said than done. Starlene seemed to know just how to hide, and for someone wearing all silver, Maria had to admit she was impressed.
That admiration turned to sheer annoyance when the keening wail of her opponent's weapon began again from behind her. Maria only had enough time to turn and see Starlene's spear slice through the base of a massive tree, the other girl ramming her shoulder into it and sending it careening towards Maria. The centurion dove out of the way and came back firing, but only a handful of her shots impacted Starlene, the girl dodging between trees, cutting them down with her sonic spear and sending the lot of them crashing down around her.
Maria ducked and dodged around as the trees fell, some crashing to the ground and sending up even more dust, further obscuring her opponent, while others braced themselves against other, larger trees. Maria grit her teeth as she was forced to pick her shots, something difficult to do with her more 'point and waste' style of shooting, lest she knock them onto her and eliminate herself.
To make matters worse, with the dirt, dust and falling trees all around her, Maria's view was getting worse by the second, and though she could still clearly see and hear where Starlene was, her silver clothing and sonic weapon making her stand out to both the eyes and ears, any time she ducked behind a falling tree, Maria lost her for a fraction of a second.
Catching a lucky break, Maria managed to pin Starlene down, a burst of fire striking the girl and dropping her aura significantly, making her scramble behind a tree the thickness of an ursa. "Come on out and let's finish this! You can't have much aura left!" Maria taunted, a grin forming on her face as her opponent continued to seek cover rather than face her. She kept her finger on the trigger, bullets ripping through the tree trunk. "Face me, or I'll knock the tree over and fish you out from the remains!"
"I've got a better idea!" Starlene cried from behind the tree. Her weapon began to wail again, and in only a second, she had sliced through the trunk of the tree. The trunk facing Maria already weakened by her barrage, the tree fell directly atop her. Making a mad dash, Maria tried to roll aside, only to be wrenched back by the impact, finding herself falling flat on her backside. Looking back to see what had happened, her heart sank. The tree had fallen atop her shield, hammering the base of the near unbreakable weapon into the ground like a tent peg. With the tree still resting atop it, Maria had little hope of retrieving it, and any chance she would try was dashed when Starlene clambered overtop of the trunk and dove toward her with her spear. Cutting her losses, Maria abandoned Imperator and scrambled away as Starlene's spear impaled the ground where she had been a second before.
The rising cloud of dust from the forest was barely registered by Thatch as he continued to chase down Peter Chai, the Vacuo student still managing to evade his attacks. Though he had managed to hit the other boy as he chased him down, his aura was still just out of the green and into the yellow as he caught up to him.
Thatch grinned. That was about to change.
"Incoming!" He cried as he jumped for Chai. Peter recoiled from the attack, but fumbled as he tried to escape. Thatch pressed his attack, making a series of quick slashes with his blades, Anne and Elizabeth cutting through the air and landing even a few successful strikes against Peter, forcing the Vacuo student to go on the defensive and finally draw his weapon, a collapsible baton that he began to use to try to parry some of Thatch's frantic swings.
Thatch grinned madly. "Now we're in business!" He yelled as his semblance began to take hold, making his grunts of effort into snarls of rabid fury as he pressed his assault. He slashed, swings barely parried by a now sweating Peter Chai, the expression on his face betraying the panic he felt.
The renegade's assault was brought to an end when Peter smacked the tip of his baton into Thatch's face, knocking him back and breaking him out of his fear semblance. "You've got guts, Chai, but one good hit won't win this for you."
"Indeed," Chai said, voice more smooth than Thatch would have imagined for someone who had been on the defensive all fight. He daintily raised his baton and grinned. "Let's get a few more."
Peter raised his baton and the sound of metal shifting could be heard from around the canyon. Thatch looked up at the boxes Peter had thrown, as they were now opening, each one producing a small cannon, a trio of miniature artillery batteries.
"A stunning display of a one man ambush from Vacuo!" Port declared above. "Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on Peter Chai's Overkill Overture!"
Thatch's shoulders dropped as the tip of Peter's baton became a laser pointer. One that he aimed directly at him. "Oh no…" He muttered.
Maria could hear the sounds of artillery fire from outside the forest, it just being audible over the sound of Starlene's sonic weapon. However, she did have more to worry about than that at the moment. Starlene was a very capable spear fighter, and had her on the ropes with a series of sonically enhanced thrusts and slashes, attacks Maria had to be very careful when parrying, lest she lose her sword along with her shield.
"Team EMAD is in a bad spot." Oobleck announced. "Thatch is under fire and Maria has her back to the wall, how will they get out of this one?"
"Good luck with all that." Starlene said She grinned, coming back for another thrust from her spear.
Maria ducked aside as the thrust came in. Making a snap decision, she grabbed the haft of the spear in her free hand and heaved it forward, throwing Starlene off ballance as the spear was jammed into the ground. Her opponent off ballance, Maria grabbed Starlene by the front of her suit and smashed her sword's pommel into her temple.
Though the girl's aura absorbed the bulk of the impact, Star was still knocked back, losing her grip on her weapon and stumbling back. Maria was quick on the followup, making a series of slashes at her opponent, forcing the other girl back to where she had lost her shield. Star lost a step for every slash Maria made, vainly attempting to block with her aura, while not losing what she had left. Maria was relentless in her advance, each and every slash a potent hit, causing Starlene's aura to flicker with each and every strike.
With a war cry, Maria raised high her gladius, Starlene cringing back and squeaking in terror. The sound of steel impacting earth was heard, as the tip of Maria's gladius buried itself into the ground as she threw it down. Starlene peeked up, but her vision was met with Maria grabbing her by the shoulders. With a great heave, the centurion threw Starlene down, a metallic impact sounding as she slammed into Maria's shield.
Starlene dragged herself back up just in time to watch Maria step behind her shield, the shield itself still embedded in the earth, and pull the trigger. In only a moment, the boss had opened, revealing the spinning barrels behind it. Starlene let out a scream of utter terror as the gun roared to life, the stream of lead it spewed draining her aura in seconds and throwing her from the forest.
"Oof, and Starlene Julie is down by Aura loss." Port announced.
"A masterful reversal by a disarmed Maria Gaia!" Oobleck added.
Maria smirked at the praise, even as she once again failed to pry her shield from the ground it was embedded in. Giving one final heave, she realized it wasn't moving anytime soon.
Thatch would have laughed at the announcement of Maria winning, if he had a little more freedom to do so. At the moment he was dodging artillery barrages from Peter's cannons, the Vacuo student simply following his movements with his baton and directing the cannons. Anytime Thatch would stop moving, even for a second, Peter's cannons would fire, turning the space he had just occupied into a crater within another second.
Rolling away from another barrage, Thatch quickly fired off a burst of bullets, dropping Peter's aura slightly, before he got him in his sights again and fired another barrage from the top of the canyon. Thatch scrambled away, but just wasn't fast enough this time, getting caught in the blast. Blown off his feet and knocked to the ground by the explosion, Thatch, still seeing double, hauled himself back to his feet and ran just in time to avoid another shell. His ears still ringing from getting hit, he could just make out Peter taunting him. "... 've only got so much aura left before the red. Think you'll make this one easy on yourself?"
"Shut up!" Thatch roared, opening fire once again. The burst of bullets had barely left his gun before he had to duck and roll again to avoid being flattened by another series of shells.
Peter chuckled as he followed the renegade with his baton. At this point, it was a gamble on either side. Thatch would either get hit with another blast and be knocked out entirely, or his bursts of gunfire would finally chip through Chai's aura.
That was, until Maria charged from what remained of the treeline. Even with his vision spinning, Thatch's eyes widened as his leader emerged. Her aura was still going strong, but a good shot from Chai would drop her in seconds. In a moment of dread, Thatch realized that Chai knew that too. The Vacuo student smirked at him as he tried to rise before turning his attentions to Maria.
The cannons roared again, artillery fire crashing down as Maria ducked in and around the blasts, shrapnel ricocheting off her aura and dropping it slowly but surely. At this rate, though Maria was slowly getting closer, it was unlikely she would reach Chai before he flattened her with a blast, and at that point, she was done.
Thatch groaned as he hauled himself to his feet, gritting his teeth as he regained his footing. It would only take a short time before Chai noticed he had gotten back to his feet. He needed to act first, and there was only one idea that came to his shaken mind.
Slamming his fingers down on the triggers, Thatch fired all the bullets he had in his clips, many going wide as his vision swam. It did what it needed to though, it got Chai's attention.
Thatch charged as his swords clicked empty, not bothering to try reloading. His semblance flowed into Chai, stirring the conductor into a panic as he brought his batton up to level with him. Thatch could almost hear the cannons coming about to focus on him as he ran for Chai, swords raised to strike.
He was only a few feet away when the shells felt his aura disintegrate as he flew through the air, ears ringing and vision swimming. He hit the ground and immediately felt like either vomiting or passing out. In the end, he went with the option in between: he groaned and rolled onto his side.
"Now THAT looked painful!" Port commented. "EMAD's wild card Thatch Edwards is down to aura loss."
"Can Maria Gaia pull off the win for Beacon?" Oobleck added. "Or will Peter Chai take the match for Vacuo?"
Peter Chai smirked as victory seemed near, but immediately had to duck aside as Maria leaped at him with her gladius raised for a brutal stab. The centurion was right in his face, hacking and slashing away with her sword, forcing Chai onto the defensive. With the frequency and ferocity of Maria's attacks, Peter Chai couldn't hope to strike back, lest she catch him with a slash. He ducked back to try and gain some space, but Maria was on him in a second, pouncing with her blade raised. She stabbed through Chai's aura, the blade just being deflected from the skin of his shoulder. Chai's eyes widened as he saw how close the blade had come, turning to face his opponent just in time for her fist to slam against his jaw.
Peter Chai left the ground for a moment before landing on his back. His own vision swam as though he had been hit by his own attack. He raised his baton and aimed shakily at Maria, but before he could fire, her foot lashed out, brutally kicking the weapon from his hand. Chai tried to scurry away, but Maria had him, grabbing him by the collar of his suit and hauling him to face her. The two locked eyes for a second, her red orbs reflected in Chai's sunglasses. Her eyes narrowed.
Before Chai could say a word, Maria slammed her sword's pommel against his face, once, twice, again, his aura flickering with every hit. Finally after the third she shoved him forward and yelled "MOVE!" She lashed out one last time, brutally kicking Chai away, her boot slamming into his sternum. The feeling of his aura disintegrating put a wicked smile on her face as Peter Chai hit the floor of the arena and groaned in pain.
The battle adrenaline fading, looking at Chai's state, Maria's eyes widened as she remembered her own teammate. "Thatch!" She declared, tossing her blade aside and rushing to the side of her companion. The renegade groaned in pain as Maria cradled his head in her lap. The rest of Team EMAD ran onto the field, bringing the medics with them.
Maria stepped aside as Alison took over for her. Thatch chuckled as he rested his head in the artist's lap. "I knew my skull was thick enough to take that hit."
"Mon ami," Francois said, shaking his head as the medics checked over his partner. "Let me insult you. You focus on recovering."
Thatch chuckled and flashed a thumbs up. "Can do." He said before turning to face Maria. "Good show there, fearless leader. Never knew you were that dangerous in a dust-up."
"I've been in a few, I think I got lucky there though." Maria said, smirking. "That reminds me, Alison, once we get Thatch to the infirmary, I've got a project I want us to work on."
Alison briefly looked up from Thatch to her partner and met her eyes, nodding with a small smile. She turned back to the renegade, her boyfriend, and the two shared a smile. "Want to get dinner after you get out of the infirmary?" She asked him.
"With you?" Thatch said, toothy grin on his face. "Anytime."
The two locked eyes, her green meeting his brown. Her hands traced the lines of his face and played with his hair as they shared a smile. Alison slowly began to lean in, her eyes closing and heart beating.
Thatch, however, stopped her, a finger on her lips as she leaned down. Alison raised a brow in confusion, but Thatch was quick to clarify. "Alison, I appreciate the sentiment, but I still kind of feel like I'm about to vomit, and I'd rather it not be on you."
Alison turned red as Thatch was placed on a stretcher by the medics. "Raincheck?" She asked.
Thatch smirked. "You know it."
Alison, deciding to have one more daring moment, returned his smirk, and winked at him.
Maria watched as Francois and the medics brought Thatch out of the arena and began to make her way back to the site where her shield sat, still embedded in the ground. One step closer to the final round, and she had plans for when she made it there.
oxoxoxo
Miles away, on the edge of Vale's borders, Caroline Leon took stock of her situation. She had been able to escape the destruction of The Abyss, and while she had lost many men on that hell of an island, much of her force still remained. They were secure within the Atlesian Firebase for now, her loyal Caroleans having swept the entire mobile fortress for any remaining inferri and come back with a clean report. So that was it then, that nightmare was over. The only trouble was what remained for her to do.
She had sent out a distress call weeks before, her force running low on supplies and having to resort to hunting in the nearby woods. The response had come in from Adam himself, surprisingly enough. "Commander Leon," Adam had said. "I'm glad to see you alive, and you're in the perfect position for our next operation."
"And that operation would be?" Caroline had replied. Her mind was aflame with emotions. She was grateful that Adam would be sending her supplies in the near future for this operation, after all, her soldiers would need to be in good condition to be of any use to the White Fang's forces. However, she also held frustrations toward Adam. He had essentially taken command of all White Fang forces in Vale from their leader Sienna Khan, and was now refusing to get her wounded and exhausted men to safety. "Adam, I have wounded among my soldiers, some of them are in no condition to fight humans right now, especially Atlesian soldiers."
"They will do as they are told, Commander." Adam replied, all but cutting her off. "I will send you reinforcements and supplies, you can deal with your wounded before the operation begins."
Before Caroline could demand more answers, Adam had cut the call off. Intending to call on Torchwick again, Caroline had been more than shocked to find him to have been detained by Atlas after his attack on Vale. Perhaps it had been for the best that she hadn't been present for the attack on Vale from the Abyss. She avoided capture and avoided seeing more of those things she spent so much time with on the island. She was glad to never have to see those again. Still, with that avenue of information closed, she tried to contact Cinder again, only for the girl to reject all her calls and reply only in messages. That was how she found out about Torchwick's imprisonment, as well as the failure of the attack on Vale.
That, however, was not enough for even the most amateurish commander. Caroline had decided to take matters into her own hands and had dispatched Wun to Vale. An information broker in the city had recently slipped up and revealed his location, and Caroline knew just how valuable someone with his network could be. Ordering Wun to bring this Masque back alive, Caroline had dispatched her last and greatest special operative, ordering her to return if the threat was too great. Wun, of course, had ignored that, losing both her target, as well as both the APCs she had been sent out with.
She had, however, survived, and Caroline knew that the familiar diminutive shape of the young snake faunus would soon darken her doorway.
"Commander Leon?" Caroline was jerked out of her thoughts by her soldier's interruption, but quickly regained her bearings and gestured for him to continue. "Wun is ready to see you."
Caroline nodded. "Very well captain. Give us the room, if you would."
Upon their escape from the Abyss, Caroline had taken command of the fortress from her office once more. Though it was a small space, it was still large enough for her and a pair of guards. Upon the order, however, the guards both gave a salute and, as the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Wun Sol, stepped out, giving the young girl a quick salute that she returned while repressing a yawn.
As the door closed behind her, Wun gave a salute to Caroline, but she was in no mood for formalities. Caroline stepped up to the shorter girl and quietly wrapped her in a tight embrace. For a few moments, no words were spoken between the two, even as Wun shakily returned the embrace.
Caroline reluctantly broke the embrace and took a quick step back, her hands still on Wun's shoulders. "Commander?" The girl said, somewhat confused.
"I'm sorry, I was just worried after your report on the car chase in the city." Caroline said. It was partly true. After more excitement than she anticipated in Vale, she was more than happy to see her remaining protege alive and well, but that wasn't all. After so long of dealing in overly formal tones with the ever uncooperative Adam, being all but ghosted by Cinder, abandoned by Blanch and finding out Torchwick was beyond her reach and behind bars, informality was something she needed, even if only for a second. Informality, as well as affection. To the soldiers in her remaining force, she needed to be strong, needed to put on the most impassive face she could, even resorting to her semblance to keep calm at times. With Wun, however, the mask could fall away. She could live again, be herself again.
It was only a moment, but soon enough, Caroline had regained her professional poise, standing at ease, hands behind her back. "Report, Wun."
Wun nodded. "Ma'am, Masque has completely vanished again. My men have been in the Vale underworld since we lost him, but no one can find him anymore."
"Unfortunate, but understandable." Caroline said, frowning. "There was something else you wanted to tell me though, what was it?"
"It's… nothing, ma'am." Wun said, turning away slightly. "I'll need to investigate further before I report on this."
Caroline didn't like that response. It was too quick, too little information and far too vague for her tastes. But knowing Wun, when the girl shut herself out, she wouldn't be saying more. "Well, you might have time to investigate, I'll need you back in Vale." Walking back to her desk, Caroline produced her scroll and opened up a map of the city. "What few contacts I have in Vale are starting to go to ground. The White Fang are losing popularity, becoming associated only with the terrorist moniker we've earned with these recent attacks." She marked off areas of the map where she had lost contacts, where former White Fang sympathizers had cut her out. "To make matters worse, we have a new problem: the Fangbreakers. They're a relatively new group, but they're gaining popularity in Vale at least. They're after any Faunus they can claim is related to the White Fang. Unfortunately, that's a lot of Faunus they're claiming. Some of my former contacts have turned up dead after a run in with them." Caroline marked off a few more areas of the map.
Wun looked over the map with interest. Her concern was well hidden, but Caroline knew all about hiding emotion and how to see it in those who tried to hide it. "So what do you need me to do?" The girl asked.
"I want you to head back to Vale and take over what remains of our network there. Any and all White Fang operations are to go to ground and any information you can uncover comes back to me." Caroline explained. "Adam is planning something in the coming weeks, and I don't like the sound of it. I want us out of the way when he starts his plan."
Wun saluted. "Consider it done."
Caroline nodded. "I've sent you a list of my remaining contacts. I'll set up a meeting for you before you arrive in the city." She hesitated a moment before continuing, but gathered her resolve and continued. "Be careful there. That city isn't safe for faunus."
Wun merely nodded. "I'll keep an open communication, commander." With one last salute, Wun turned on her heel and walked from the office.
As soon as the door closed, Caroline sighed and slumped down in her chair. She knew it was necessary to send Wun to Vale, she needed eyes in the city, and hers were rapidly closing. But that didn't stop her from worrying for the young girl, or from being concerned about what she was hiding.
oxoxoxo
Erwin slumped back in his seat and placed his scroll on the desk he had been given. On the desk rested his old blade, Drakon, a reward for his bravery and brilliance in battle, and a reminder of his greatest failure as a general. Ever since he had recovered it from The Abyss, he hadn't felt right carrying the blade, and had only held it by the handle once. Unwilling to be reminded of his greatest failure, he had decided to give the blade up. Who to give it to, however, was another question entirely. Fantine had given him a list of Beacon's finest students, with two names at the top. To Erwin, however, the answer was obvious: one student was already having a great amount of pressure put on her by Ozpin and Ironwood. The other would receive his old blade.
Fantine was currently with Ozpin and would be speaking to their other student any moment now. Erwin, meanwhile, had borrowed the masked professor's office to speak to his chosen student. Vlad stood next to him, scoffing at Fantine's more than somewhat dramatic office decor. "Can this guy do anything normally?" Vlad muttered, feeling at the velvet curtains over the office's only window. "It's a school office, not an evil lair, say when on the dark and dramatic already!"
"I don't blame him for it." Erwin replied. "Some people want to put their past behind them. Fantine used to live on the streets after all, now that he has the option to be ostentatious, why not do it?"
"Because it's a coverup for his own inadequacies." Vlad replied. "Why give up what the past taught you?"
Erwin frowned. "Maybe I'm not giving it up, but passing it on to someone who can do better."
"Oh come on, you know that's not what I meant!" Vlad shot back.
"Isn't it though?" Erwin demanded. "You think I'm throwing away what happened to us in the Faunus War."
"No, I think you're handing a perfectly good sword away for nothing." Vlad spat. "And to a kid, no less, what's going through that brain of yours?"
"She's only a little younger than I am, what does that make me?"
"A prodigy, that's what." Said Vlad. "You graduated this dump when you were a kid, went to war and mentored Benny Boy personally, and became a legend. One bad campaign doesn't invalidate all that, and it doesn't justify throwing away a perfectly good sword!"
"If I were throwing it away, I would agree." Said Erwin. "I'm giving it to someone who can do better than I can." Vlad was about to retort, but a knock at the door interrupted him. "Now shut up and let me have this meeting."
The door opened, and Maria Gaia walked in. The girl snapped a salute, her armour clanking as she did. "Sir." She said. "It's an honour to finally meet you in person."