Chapter Seven
Marks
Team Monochrome
Bianca opened the door from Ozpin's balcony to see a sight she never got to see in her time.
General James Ironwood, the man she called father, the infallible and steadfast, was repeatedly slamming his head against Ozpin's desk as Winter Schnee watched, bemused, from the monitor.
Ozpin was watching by his bar top, increasingly pouring vodka into his cocoa. He'd apparently started drinking, stealing Qrow's flask from the owner as the latter lazed haphazardly on one of the couches. Glynda dozed on the couch next to him.
Neither of the two awake looked to have gotten an inkling of sleep in the past 36 hours. Qrow had probably wasted himself on running through his numerous contacts throughout Vale, searching for information dealing with the White Fang, a task Kara knew only too well. Glynda had crashed performing administrative and logistical duties for Beacon.
"You two look like shit." Bianca's first statement caused the General to jerk up, a lock of his grey hair sticking straight up, a far cry from his usual composure.
"Who's that?" Winter's voice came from the computer. She could only hear someone else speaking, not see anything as the camera wasn't pointing in Bianca's direction.
"Your sister." James was way too tired to remember if he had told Winter about a duplicate running around. "Ozpin, could you bring me some Armagnac?"
The Headmaster acquiesced, digging into the bottles perched on the counter top before removing a bottle of brown liquid, barely filled past the quarter mark.
"Year 21 BGW good enough for you?" Ozpin poured a good portion of it into the crystal tumbler sitting on his desk, sliding it over.
"You drinking problem aside…" Winter let the General drain a few gulps before continuing, directing her voice to her sister. "How are you Weiss? You ok?"
"Perfectly fine." Bianca took full advantage of the situation, slipping back into her old name, before leaning over James; shoulder and staring directly into the camera. "If you don't count this scratch on my face."
Winter blinked back, thrown for the worst as she looked at her sister.
"What happened to you?" Winter's eyes couldn't leave the menacing scar gouged into Bianca's cheek. It was deep enough to show off her zygomatic bone, a narrow strip of skin separating it and her eye. "Since when have you had that scar? And what did you do to your hair?"
"There may have been a little incident." Bianca responded, moving behind James and leaning over his shoulder. "And I was forced to salvage my hair after it got cut by a White Fang terrorist."
"No female Schnee has ever had her hair cut short above her shoulders, even by accident." Winter recited a creed their mother had instilled into them when they all still lived at the Castle together. She just happened to keep it tightly bound in a bun, but her hair still spiraled down to her shoulder blades.
"Tough. I kind of like it this short. No more annoying hour long drying sessions after a shower." Winter wasn't sure how she was suppose to react to this confident Weiss. "You should do the same."
"We're Schnees. We can't."
"Really? You still consider yourself a Schnee after they made you abdicate your right to inherit to pursue a military career?" Bianca bit back, enjoying the image of a flinching Winter. "I'm lucky they haven't kicked me out yet. They still think they have a hold on me."
"You're willingly going to disinherit yourself?" Winter completed for her. It was nothing new or surprising to her. She'd done the same after all. "Why?"
"Their business and labour practices. You know as well as I do that Faunus Equal Rights bills have been brutally demolished in every city-state because of their lobbying. I won't stand by with them any longer."
"You think I enjoy watching them discriminate against my friends?" Winter sighed, the toils of days evident on her face by the stress lines streaking down her cheeks. "They threatened me with you and never let me return home, all the while making sure I could never influence you."
"They wanted an heiress they could mold properly, I know."
"I kept the name to protect you." Winter continued. "I let them believe they've had their little victory over me."
"Good. Now we can both take on the name Ironwood." James was already massaging his temples, imagining the pain it would be to manage four daughters. At least they were all grown up. "Right, James?"
Bianca pouting at him wasn't helping his resolve either. Not that he could deny her anything in the first place.
"Imagine what their reactions will be when they realise they've alienated another of their children." James wasn't looking forward to the optional summons for Lord Schnee. "Take on my name. Cause havoc. You're both grown woman."
"Thank you sir." Winter inclined her head. "I'll keep the name change quiet until the Schnees find out about Weiss."
"Do you have time to come visit?"
"I wish. I'm going to be stuck in Atlas for at least the next two weeks while I try to sort this out."
"Winter." James added gravely. "I suggest you take anytime you have available to come visit your sister. I'm starting to get too old for this and you've been doing my job for so long and so well. You're ready."
When Winter first received his call a few hours previous, she had expected a series of demands from the Vale council. Whatever Ozpin had done, the Vale council wasn't even angry at Atlas, but angry at the White Fang. This courtesy call was suppose to be nothing more than that; courtesy.
Not a sudden promotion throwing her into the thick of a conflict everyone could smell coming.
"You're giving up?" Winter snarled at him. "Throwing the weight onto me?"
"I have no choice Winter. I'm sorry." James let her vent at him as she called him out with every curse she knew, every threat she could make and even threatened her resignation. Everyone else in the office watched on, too stunned to see Winter lose her composure absolutely.
"Don't do this to me to me." Winter was on the edge of tears. "Don't leave this to me. I'm not ready."
"You've been my student for the last fourteen years. You can do this." James smiled at her before he suddenly looked many decades older than he should have. "You'll do an amazing job once I'm gone."
"Fuck no. If you think you're retiring so easily then you're plain wrong. You'll sit beside me and be my advisor."
"Perfectly fine. As long as I'm avoiding every single form of combat other than verbal sparring." James' arm gave a low moan of protest at a failed link. "I'm not shortening my time left in this world."
"What do you mean?" Winter was suddenly supremely worried.
"I mean I'm dying. I've had these prosthetics for twenty five years, with constant upgrades, and even they can't stave off the stress my biological body must take."
"Organ donations and stem cells can't save you?" Bianca asked, knuckles white as she gripped James' metal shoulder. "Is there nothing we can do?"
"Not at the rate the research is going and the organs fail within less than five years with the stress I'm under. I'm on my third lung and my stomach and intestines are half gone. I can't push myself any further. I'm essentially half a man."
"How long do you have?" Winter's voice wavered.
"Three years at the least. Five at the most. I'm not wasting any more organs on me. I've accepted this would happen to me a long time ago."
"Why now?" Winter wasn't going to accept such a flimsy excuse. "There are enough organs to keep you going for another twenty years."
"Partly because I've been in the military for over thirty years and spent the last ten years leading it. I'm tired Winter." James let her take that in before continuing. "The other reason is because Ozpin stepped down for his successor this morning."
"Who is it?"
"You'll meet her when you visit your sister." James wasn't letting anything go. One last prank on Winter before he enjoyed his retirement. "And that's all you're going to get from me."
"Then I'll be on an airship immediately. Expect me in eight hours. We can talk then." Winter gave no chance for a return statement as she terminated the communications between them.
"She'll be in for quite a surprise." Bianca relaxed her grip on James. "So why are you really retiring?"
"You don't believe me?"
"I knew the James in my dimension was dying and he never once thought about retiring." Bianca drilled into his grey eyes. "He died fighting out in the field, not in a hospital bed."
"Probably because I actually have something to live for now. I have the next three years at least to spend time with four new members of my family." James returned, staring directly back into Bianca's ice blue. "A painless death by morphine is better than my body failing me in the field and costing a few lives."
"I watched you die." Bianca rested against the desk. "I don't know if I'll be able to watch you do it again."
"Everything must die in the end." James stood from his seat and hugged his newest daughter. Bianca couldn't help but look towards the other headmaster. He gently shook his head at her while sipping his drink.
"I know." Bianca squeezed a tear back into her eye and broke the hug. "I assume since Winter disconnected then her business with you is complete, leaving me little to do but plan ahead."
"Vale wasn't too angry at the attack. None of the districts were too affected by the Grimm and the loss of life was minimal. The council agreed to blame the attack on the White Fang and is willing to support our endeavors against them in the future."
"Which will do nothing to forward the cause of the Faunus." Blake frowned at Bianca's summary. "What is Beacon's stance against the White Fang?"
"The council assumes it's hostile but Summer hasn't released a statement confirming it." Ozpin glanced at the emblem attached to Bianca's top. "But one can be released right now."
"Let the council believe we are hostile to the Fang, but they'll be no statement. It'll stop them from throwing the military into the conflict." Bianca took James' place at the desk and logged in with her credentials, overriding her usual rank with Summer's rank. "We'll continue as a reactionary and preventative force to theirs but we're not in active conflict with them, no matter what assigning a High Commander means."
"Are you releasing Summer's position to the Hunters?" Ozpin watched as someone performed his job for him, studying the pattern of thoughts and compiled a list of possible outcomes.
"Not until a state of open conflict is declared. For all intents and purposes, the Hunters will believe you're still their highest superior. Summer should have told Team RWBY and JNPR she's their commanding officer, nothing more." Ozpin nodded along with their plan for now. "In an effort to even prevent a such a state from being declared, I give you Kara's and my latest project."
Bianca positioned the display to face the office and stretched the screen wide. The title card made Ozpin and James pause at it. It simply stated two words. Both of them had an inkling of what it meant.
Ozpin let loose a wide grin before giving a few laughs. Not even he could have predicted or prepared such a plan.
The screen read: 'Project: Redemption'.
Beacon Cafeteria
"Where are they?" Summer was barely through the door before Ruby launched a question at her. "You said they'd be here."
"Breakfast first. Kara and Bianca later." Summer poked the girl on her forehead, slipping in front of her and walking to the food area. Even in a school of Hunters, there were few teams willing to wake up this early for breakfast on a day off. "Give them a chance to arrive."
Summer had received a message as she'd been watching the two teams spar they had finished finished hashing out a general outline of the project. She vaguely hoped Ozpin would let Bianca keep the badge, but hope was an alien emotion for her.
Keeping this facade was screwing with her more than it should have, but slipping into her usual mindset would make everyone start asking more questions than she would like to handle.
Her team would have to work overtime to prevent psychological damage if she did. Not to her, but to the younger versions they were interacting with. She was a lost case anyways.
The smells of breakfast ceased her thoughts and she focused on bringing enough calories into her body. Eggs, strips of bacon and toast made its way to her plate and she continued to layer more onto it, grabbing a strawberry yogurt to finish it off.
Nova followed in her footsteps, grabbing a similar layout of food but finishing it off with a glass of milk.
It wasn't the food which made then look at the two in wonder. It was the sheer amount they were plating which made them stop.
"You're going to eat that much?" Ruby stared at her own plate, her own portion drastically smaller than Summer's. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"This is only breakfast. There's also a snack in between now and lunch and between lunch and dinner." Ruby followed Summer as she meandered towards the largest table in the hall. There was already ten of them and another potential five coming along.
"And you're not worried around your figure?" Weiss prodded as they all took their seats around the table, Team RWBY sitting across from Summer and Nova and Team JNPR fitting in around them.
"My figure?" Summer was quite unsure about the question. Semantics came to her rescue. "If you're a Hunter and you take your duties seriously then you'll always have a figure."
"The average human consumes around 2200 to 2400 kcal." Nova jumped into to save her sister. "Hunters on the other hand require upwards of 3500 on a regular day and over 5000 when using Aura all day. Do they not teach you this?"
"That may have been a class we slept through." Ruby admitted shyly.
"What if we get fat?" Weiss interrupted.
"You won't get fat. Look at us." Nova gestured to both her and Summer. They were blocks of muscle, Summer a more streamlined version of Nova's bulk, but she was no slouch. "If you eat properly and work out then you too can be as sexy as us."
"That just sounds like a bad infomercial." Blake added and Nova face faulted onto the table.
"You wound me kitten." Nova peeled her face off the table before drinking up her milk quickly. "No milk for you. Bad cat."
Blake's hair stood on end at her patronizing tone and a feral growl would have erupted out in the canteen if Yang hadn't grabbed her hand to calm her down. As if turning a switch, Blake calmed down and sent Yang a small smile.
"Interesting." Summer was watching the two interact, noting much similarities to when her and Kara starting getting romantically involved. While Summer was gracefully quiet about the matter, it wouldn't stop the train that was Nora.
"So, you two dating or what?" Speeding train, meet buffer stop. Commence wreck. Nora's tact would never change. Only Summer could rival the girl but at least she had an excuse. "You kissed her on the forehead, Yang wears your bow, and now you two are holding hands."
Before either of them could answer, Weiss replied, remembering the late night talk she had with Nova and Bianca.
"They'll tell you, if you tell us about your relationship with Ren."
"I have no idea what you mean." Nora chuckled nervously before suddenly brightening and facing Nova. "Who do you end up dating?"
"Summer told you we're from a different timeline." Nova responded neutrally. "I end up marrying Bianca."
"Who is… Weiss." Nora looked between her and Weiss, unable to imagine any circumstance where the two could end up together. "Umm… how?"
"A long story of denial between the two of us. Kinda like how you and Ren like to dance around each other."
"We're not dating." Nora flat out refused and Weiss banged her head into the table. It was nearly exactly how Blake and Yang were without the vocal part. Bianca was right. It was painful watching them.
"Whatever you say lightning bug."
What would have been a comfortable silence between conversations was broken as the entire cafeteria seemed to fall quiet at the main doors opening, making it tremendously awkward. Nova knew it could only mean one thing.
Walking down the main aisle were six of the most important people in Vale and Remnant. Not that anyone knew about the other three, but everyone could easily recognize the silver hair and the cane of their Headmaster and the imposing stride and image of the General of Atlas. If that wasn't enough, Qrow Branwen, the spymaster of the Hunters walked by their side, only known to a few, and walking by his side was Glynda Goodwitch, the dominatrix/deputy of Beacon.
In front of the four walked two women, though smaller in height, who exuded enough threat to keep everyone frozen in their seats. Everyone could easily recognize the classic white hair and ice blue eyes of a Schnee.
But it wasn't her creating the most controversy.
It was the Faunus with a White Fang tattoo, distinctively lacking several teeth and the trademark three claw marks through it, inked into her shoulder walking by her side causing it.
Only their combined sheer presence prevented a riot from breaking out then and there.
"Either leave if you can't stand the sight of her, or mind your own business." Bianca had stopped in the middle of the canteen and declared, not even needing to raise her voice. No one dared to leave. "I thought so."
The party continued onward, ignoring the resounding hum of gossip start around them, finally entering the bar area as the cafeteria resumed it regular sound level.
The table was silent as the group approached, each laden with food as if they hadn't eaten in several days, which may have been the case for the denizens of this dimension. Blake never stopped staring at the indigo tattoo on Kara's shoulder.
Ren shuffled away from Summer's side when Kara indicated she wanted to squeeze in and Pyrrha did the same next to Nova. They barely managed to ingest several bites of food before two questions assaulted them, but Nora beat Blake to hers.
"Are you actually married to Nova?" Nora asked as Bianca finished a piece of bacon.
"Yup." Bianca gave no further indication she actually was, preferring to demolish her full plate, which made Nova and Yang proud. "Married for… about two years."
"I don't believe you." Nora stated. "I think Yang pulled you into this to hide her relationship with Blake."
"It'd be a good idea if you remembered we weren't from the future. Different dimension." Nova responded for Bianca as she polished off her eggs. "They have no reason to hide their relationship. Anyone could see it coming."
"Here, take your money." Qrow slid over his portion of the bet to Opzin, grumbling about all knowing Headmasters. The man collected his spoils and tucked it into his overcoat, thanking Yang and Blake with a nod of his head.
"Hold up. Were you three betting on us?" Blake started.
"Relax kitty." Bianca placated. "Everyone does it. Ozpin was simply lucky enough to choose correctly, unlike Qrow over there."
"I would have won too if it wasn't for you helping disqualify yourselves. You're suppose to help family out Summer, not sabotage it."
"What do you mean by 'disqualifying yourselves'?" Ruby asked.
"One of my bets was hedged on Yang and Weiss ending up together, but apparently, Nova and Bianca don't count towards the rules."
"As if I would ever end up with Yang." Weiss scoffed. It wasn't as if Yang was bad to look at, but the girl was so obviously infatuated with Blake she wouldn't do anything. Though, with her parents out of the picture, she was left with more options. "She was set on Blake the moment she saw her."
"Was I that obvious?" Yang's arm stump imitated her scratching the back of her head.
"In hindsight, it kinda was." Ruby winced as Summer slapped her hand aside as she tried to pilfer her yogurt. "Ow."
"What was the second bet?" Blake stared at the tattoo on Kara's shoulder even though her question was to Qrow.
"That you and Ruby would get together." Qrow answered, aware his bet was completed invalidated unless some tragedy befell the Bumblebee pair. "Summer and Kara don't count either."
Everyone's eyes shifted to the Ladybug pair. Summer took the stares with impunity and Kara was too caught up in her breakfast to care.
"You said you weren't married to anyone, that you were married to Crescent Rose." Ruby pointed out, unsure about how she felt for her own teammate now.
"Yes." The menacing weapon attached to Summer's back hummed with foreboding power. "I also happen to be married to Kara."
"Oh." Ruby blinked, suddenly understanding why Summer was so reticent to her calling her 'mom'. "Does that mean I can call Kara 'mom' too?"
Kara squeezed Summer's thigh, claws penetrating her Aura and piercing skin, drawing thin rivulets of blood. Summer didn't betray anything, relishing in the pain as it triggered endorphins locked away by her troubling ordeals.
"Look at her, Kara. You think you could deny her if she really wanted to call us that?" Summer wasn't appealing to her own sense of feeling, but to Kara's. Though she couldn't deny looking at her younger self didn't trigger scattered memories.
Ruby didn't hesitate to bring her pout to full effect on the black haired woman and Kara couldn't help but be drawn into her silver eyes, so similar yet so different from Summer's, pools of shining radiance.
She reluctantly nodded her head, falling for the obvious persuasion.
"Get Ruby into therapy, Qrow." Summer finished her yogurt. "She's willing to call a complete stranger 'mother'. I know you and Tai tried your best, but Ruby idolized her mother and now sees her in me."
"No." Qrow watched them with his head perched on his hands. "She's your problem now too so you don't get to pawn her off. You'll two will do fine as mother figures for her."
Blake's silent communication held the worst of Summer's glare from affecting their father. She saw it as a chance to experiment before they committed to children.
"Alright." Qrow's eyes narrowed at the easy acceptance, but attributed it to Kara telling Summer something he couldn't decipher.
A short silence descended on them before Blake decided it was time for her question.
"Why did you decide to get that particular tattoo?" Blake directed her inquiry to Kara who sighed and retrieved her scroll from her pouch. She spent a few seconds tapping out a message and slid the scroll over to Blake.
I wanted to get a momento from the time the White Fang was a symbol of equality and progress, not the terrorist organization it is now.
"And the reason you can't tell me this?" Kara tilted her head to reveal the thin scar sitting directly over her vocal cords. Blake slid the scroll back. "How?"
I slipped.
A single mistake had cost them the mission. A little oil slick, a misplaced step, a flash of a weapon and an inability to finish a clone in time had downed her, causing her team to abandon the objective and weaken the offense.
Qrow's death and Summer's subsequent capture was entirely her fault as her team scrambled to evacuate. She and Nova still had arguments about who screwed up the most that day.
"You slipped?" Blake stared at her counterpart with incredulity scrawled across her features. "You slipped and you lost your voice?"
Kara tilted her head back and forth, not deeming a textual response necessary.
"That's it? Not going to tell me anything else?" Kara's answer wasn't good enough for Blake.
"Whether or not anyone on my team decides to reveal secrets is a personal matter, not an issue of trust." Summer slipped into her normal voice, causing Blake and the table to freeze at the tone. It provided no escape. "Respect we have reasons not to tell you, just as I had reason not to tell you how I lost my eye."
No one was willing to contest her after that.
"What do we do now?" Jaune asked, noticing they were all done with breakfast.
"We rest and then we lift." Summer stated as if it was the most obvious activity to do after breakfast. "I'm not having weaklings for students who need to use their Aura for everything. After that, Team JNPR is free for the day, but is recommended to use the time to really familiarize yourself with one another."
"What about us?" Yang, Blake and Weiss nodded along to Ruby's question.
"Tai is arriving around the same time Winter is arriving from Atlas. I'm sure you'll want to see them." James groaned. He had been watching Bianca and Kara since they entered the tower and they never once touched their scrolls, which meant Summer was proficient in the same mind games Ozpin was. Ozpin chuckled at his misfortune. "Weiss?"
The heiress blinked back, waiting.
"On your scroll, there should be a new attachment. If you wish to continue along the path you, Bianca and Nova talked about last night, then complete the form, of which, most has already been completed by Headmaster Ozpin."
"What about my sister?"
"You sister already knows the plan and will be making adjustments to her own." Ozpin replied for Summer, preventing her from getting more suspicious as to why she was suddenly doing his job for him.
"If that is all, I'll see you the eight of you in the gym on the south-west side of campus in one hour." Summer stood from the table. "Qrow, Glynda, James and Ozpin, you're welcome to join us."
"Pass." Came the simultaneous reply from the four. They were much too tired to do anything involving strenuous activity.
Summer said nothing in reply, activating her Semblance and blanketing her team with it, causing rose petals of four different colours to scatter around them in a brilliant display.
"How did she do that?" Ruby snatched one of the yellow petals, observing it from every angle and noted it was exactly as her own. She grabbed a white, black and a crimson one, comparing them all. "She has to teach me how to do that."
Summer let her Semblance dissipate as they arrived back in their room, cutting off the stream of petals before they infected it.
"How went the presentation of Operation: Redemption?" Summer asked as Bianca pawned off the silver emblem back to its rightful owner, having taken it off to hide her real role before she entered the canteen.
"Ozpin seemed to be all for it. We briefly argued about the cost to finance such a mission, but Ozpin assured me as long as the council believed us to be taking an active stance against the White Fang, then we'd never run into a problem."
"No doubt the SDC will funnel more money into Vale when they learn the actions it's taking against the Faunus."
"Which we'll use to fuel our own political agenda. Tit for tat." Nova concluded, always willing to blow dirty money on their own needs to turn it against others.
"How many teams do we have to use for this operation?"
"Potentially around four hundred teams if we can cover the area lost in defense around the border, all of which are at or above B-rank." Bianca recited, having already calculated the number with Ozpin.
"Good. They'll come in handy for the counterterrorism unit." B-rank and above meant they understood the meaning of a black op and a false flag operation. "What about Menagerie?"
"I can't do anything without Blake and I doubt our father will enjoy throwing his support behind another potential terrorist organization after he was forced out from the last one, but if we can guarantee an incentive then perhaps negotiations will go well."
"We'll have to convince him. See if we can't arrange a trip to Menagerie. I'm sure Blake would be overjoyed and terrified to see her parents again. The SDC?"
"Neutralized with Winter taking over for James. The same affliction which killed him in our dimension exists in this one and there's nothing we can do for him. He cited your ascension to the office of High Command as reason to promote Winter. She doesn't know about you yet and her arrival at Beacon will give her a chance to do that."
"Weiss?"
"On the path to independence with plans to clear her bank account and completely sever ties with the Schnees, including a name change to Ironwood. There's only one tiny, itty, bitty problem."
Summer gave her the go ahead to speak, wondering why she enjoyed stringing these moments out.
"Weiss and Winter have a brother in this dimension, a Whitley Schnee, born two years after Weiss." Bianca had discretely rummaged around the interwebs for information about the Schnees during her brief stint in the tower. "It ruins our plan for them."
Summer folded her hands and rested her chin on them, thinking about the situation. In their dimension, this Whitley hadn't existed, leaving the Schnees without an heir and a lady already gone through menopause. They had desperately scrambled to bring either Winter or Bianca back into the family, even disregarding the latter's predisposition to Nova. It had let them play the SDC marvelously, using the weakness against them.
With the Schnees having a fallback heir, the scheme for them fell to pieces. They would no longer have control over the family and would have to create a different plan. Winter could corral the military and prevent its use, but held limited power with the council. Her installment would be protested once the Schnees realized what they had done to them and as a recent addition, held less power than usual.
The Schnee coffers would continue to be used to fuel anti-Faunus propaganda, driving more Faunus to the White Fang and not towards Menagerie. They had created lives for themselves in the four city states and would not go quietly. If they couldn't bring them down, their plans were for naught.
They could always do a black flag against the Schnees but it ran the risks of getting caught. The risk was much too high, but with them not having any means to exercise control and pressure, she might have to authorize it.
"We're not killing my brother." Bianca followed Summer's thoughts perfectly, knowing exactly which way she leant when it came to problems. If her team wasn't there to limit her then they would have feared for the future population of Remnant.
Summer said nothing in reply, waiting for Bianca to put forth her idea.
"We can cripple them economically. Rather than annihilating the Schnees as a family, we annihilate their money. We have over three dozen White Fang masks from this invasion and we alone are enough to sabotage their mines and labor camps. We have enough bullheads to carry a few hundred people at a time back to Vale or Menagerie."
"And what happens when the SDC asks for protection from the Atlesian military when they realize they can't defend against us?"
"We'll do what we must." Bianca knew they couldn't attack non-lethally against them as the real White Fang wouldn't leave anyone alive.
"No. We're not putting the lives of the Schnee over the lives of soldiers who did nothing wrong but get assigned to the wrong place at the wrong time." Nova declared. "We need enough masks, bullheads and teams to hit every single camp and mine at once."
"And what happens when fingers start pointing to who revealed the location of every single mine and camp? They're such a controlled secret only a handful of people know where they are. Weiss and Winter will be under suspicion from the start and we can't risk Winter being forced to resign or even dismissed from her post."
"Bianca, who knows exactly where each camp is located?"
"The Lord and Lady, the CSO and his secretary. Not even the guards know where the camps are located." Bianca realized exactly where Summer was going with this. "Neo. You think she'll go for it?"
"I can always ask. If we're going to do this, then we need the target replaced as soon as possible. Which one do you want replaced?"
"The CSO, Heinrich Rumsfield."
"Do we have a right to order his assassination?" Nova was worried about the direction they were going. "We're ordering a man's execution because we can't find a way around it. It's a very slippery slope from there."
"Do you see another way around it? You brought up the point of protecting Atlesian lives. How can documents be leaked about the location of these camps without us cleaning up the loose ends?"
"We've grown so used to doing things the violent, the definitive way, the brutal, execution style we usually do." Nova shook her head, letting golden locks spiral around her head. "We've lost who we once were."
"I assume you have an idea then?"
"Seduce him and drug him. Simple alcohol with do enough. Can't risk any drug tests returning positive. Once he's under, Neo impersonates him and makes her way into his office and leaks the files pertaining enough information to keep the Schnees' quiet, including the locations and allowing us to further trap the Schnees."
"I can make a password cracker. The only problem is whether his office is within a Schnee compound or if he has personal files at his home."
"Let's assume it's a building dedicated to the operations of the SDC. They have keycard readers as a minimum and iris and fingerprints readers at the worst."
"Let's say we ignore Rumsfield for a moment. Why can't we just break in and take the information we need?" Nova pointed out the obvious, wondering why they even needed a fall man for this job. "Could you do it Kara?"
"No. It's too much security for me. We need Neo and we need someone who knows where the camps are as a scapegoat. I'm sorry."
"We can lift the keycard and fingerprints, and Neo can replicate the iris. Kara, we need a virus to sweep through the security system and erase any information Rumsfield ever enters his office on the night this happens. We don't want anyone knowing this is happening, not even Winter, until it's over."
"Once it's over, the fingers start flying. Winter and Weiss will, of course, not know anything since we didn't tell them. Lord and Lady Schnee along with Whitley will be in the clear and the only two people left will be under suspicion. Kara, make sure you leave just enough evidence that points to Rumsfield."
Kara nodded an affirmative, already planning how she'd ransack the system through a USB drive. If Winter or Weiss were ever under investigation then a letter would be sent out to Rumsfield, demanding his resignation or the evidence he leaked the files would make its way to Lord Schnee, and no one wanted to face an irate Lord Schnee.
If the real White Fang took credit for it, then they would gain the credit for depriving the Schnee of their slave labor and exploitive practices and leave them in the clear. If they didn't, then it'd be seen as the White Fang trying to hide they possessed the means to perform such an action.
Except the people in the know how, namely the Faunus they rescued would know they weren't the real White Fang and that was all that matters. As long as they could turn the Faunus to their counterterrorism group, then they would win the conflict with the White Fang.
Messing with terrorist groups was fun, especially since they dug themselves into a hole by declaring hostilities against the SDC in the first place.
"Can we get it done in two weeks?" Summer asked her tactician.
"I can have the teams informed by the evening but the problem isn't the teams, it's the sheer amount of Faunus kept in the camps. Each camp contains at a maximum 10,000 Faunus and the practice stretches across 8 camps. That comes to an estimated 80,000 people to move. A bullhead at maximum can carry 20 people, an Airship can carry 525 but has space for 700 and an Atlesian Airship has space for 1000. We don't have enough."
Summer retrieved a notebook from the desk and began to make calculations. At last count, Vale held around 3000 Bullheads, each requiring a pilot meaning they'd need around 750 teams, not the 400 they had, but they could spare a night of half-measured border defense. Between Signal and Beacon they had around 12 Airships and if Atlas could spare 12 of their Airships then they would have just enough with an extra 400 capacity to spare. It left 50 Hunters to assault each camp.
"It can be done if we add an extra 350 teams and ask Winter for 12 Airships." Summer gave Bianca the calculations to make sure she was correct. "The next problem is the amount of people we require. For operational safety, we can't disclose where we're going until the night of, but we can order the 750 teams to be standby and another 50 in case anything pops up."
"The other problem is we need to take the camps without losing any ships and at least one of the ships heading to each camp needs to be equipped with a signal jammer. We'd need to arrive at each camp at around 2200, meaning we need to leave Vale before 1200 the day of. If everything goes right, each camp is subdued in 1 hour and we have the next 6 to load every single Faunus there and retreat back to Vale before anything is noticed."
"Another problem is where these 80,000 people will go. Beacon can't hold that many and we can't disperse that many people throughout Vale without anyone noticing. They'd have to be evacuated to Menagerie, another item that has to be discussed with Ghira and his council."
"And if that isn't enough, Winter must also be complicit to this entire operation or we can't get everyone evacuated." Bianca felt a headache start to set in. "She needs to authorize the ships for use from Hunter only airfields and it's a lot of ships she has to move discretely."
"Or James could authorize the mission before he retires and if anything is leaked then he'd take the blame for it and I could protect him. Yet that would undermine his decision to have Winter replace him."
"That's something we need to ask him to do." Bianca concluded. It was a sound plan but it had so many different factors and if one of those factors failed then the entire operation had to be scrapped. "I'll arrange for a meeting with Ghira Belladonna. You get Neo on the op."
"Tomorrow. Give her some time to rest before we start throwing plans around and at her. Today we need to focus on Winter and James' part of the operation. Don't try and do everything at once. I'll send the two week notice at 1600 today."
"Is that everything?" Nova asked. Bianca and Summer's dialogue was sometimes hard to keep up as each threw ideas at each other as fast as sound could travel.
"Yes. It'd rather leave Weiss' independence and Winter's leaving of the family for the aftermath. It would throw the family for the loop, but if Lord Schnee demands Weiss' return early, and I can see him doing so, then both of their plans will have to be enacted immediately." Summer gave her thoughts on the topic and received similar nods of acknowledgement in return.
"Project: Redemption will officially begin after the operation I assume."
"You're the lead on Project: Redemption. It's your idea and I'll follow your orders when it comes to it." Summer handed off a part of it to her. Kara didn't know whether to thank her or flip her off, so settled for neither and nodded. "The project needs to be run by a Faunus to give it legitimacy."
Kara understood the need for her to take charge of it, even if only as a figurehead.
"Next order of business is Serenity. We'll be extremely busy and she'll have to sit on the back burner for a while. Nova is the only person available to work on her while we work on our personal assignments."
"Five weeks, minimum, if I'm the only one working on it, which is not including any testing. The frame itself will take me over a two weeks, and let's not even think about the wiring that needs to be done. The engines themselves are going to gut us."
"I'll find you a few Hunter engineers willing to work with you. I don't need her ready for the op, but flying a standard bullhead seems too slow." Summer said, adding another task to her ever growing list. "There is one more thing. The prank, we're not doing it. It's pushing it too far for nothing but a laugh for us. Understood?" Bianca and Nova nodded. "That is everything I can remember we need to go over."
Not one of them noticed Summer had removed her facade for their short meeting and seamlessly place it back on when she left the room. No one except for a black crow perched underneath their windowsill.
A knife impacted into the stone above his head, the Aura coating allowing it to pierce up to the handle. He understood the threat and followed them in the air. Guess he was going to lift after all.
"Had fun?" Summer brushed back her hair with her hand, resetting it to its natural state after her shower.
She received six stares of contempt in return and two of adoration. It seemed Yang and Nora shared an aptitude for grueling physical exercise.
"Perk up." Summer continued. "You'll be doing this for every other day, forever. You'll fall into the hang of it eventually."
Summer's, Qrow's, Ruby's and Yang's scrolls all lit up simultaneously with an incoming message.
"He's early. Team JNPR, dismissed." Summer said without bothering to remove the scroll from her leg pouch. The aforementioned team shifted around uncertainly, before leaving the group of nine alone, heading back to the dorms. "I'll decide when we show ourselves to Tai. Qrow and Team RWBY, go and greet Tai." Team SKBN left without a trace, leaving the five to proceed onward to the landing pads.
Out in the distance, an Airship was in it's final phases of transitioning to docking at the platforms, its wings rotating down and collapsing to slim its profile, only held up by its multitude of jets on every major axis.
"Race you." Qrow left a large cloud as dust as he rocketed away. Clearing the dust from her lungs, Ruby gave chase.
Weiss, Blake and Yang exchanged glances before chasing after their leader. They arrived at the landing pads as the docking clamps engaged and the doors released. A crowd of people stood waiting for the door to completely lower and at the forefront, stood Tai Xiao-Long, the incarnation of a dragon.
He stalked down the door before it finished lowering and leapt the gap, zeroing on their group of five in a heartbeat. His temper vanished upon seeing Ruby and Yang standing by Qrow's side, but rose up again when he noticed Yang was missing a certain appendage.
"Qrow." Tai greeted neutrally before brightening up and turning to Ruby and Yang. "Not gonna give your dad a hug?"
Qrow watched as the two leapt into his arms. He had missed his chance to be Ruby's father and was now forced to watch her call another man 'father'. If only he hadn't been an immature idiot.
"Is there any chance I can convince you two to come home and never leave again." Ruby got her hair ruffled and pouted. People seemed to love messing with her hair. "You're at least coming home to rest, won't you Yang?"
"Because of this annoying thing?" Yang waved her stump around. Tai nodded. "I'm getting fitted for a new arm tomorrow."
"That quickly?" Tai stared at his daughter blankly. "Two days for a new arm?"
"Monty is very good at what they do." Qrow shrugged nonchalantly. He wasn't quite sure how Yang had managed to get an arm designed and manufactured, but he was sure Nova was in on it.
"I guess I'll stick around for a while. At least until you finished getting used to your arm." Tai turned to the rest of Ruby's team. "And are these your two teammates? Interesting combination. A Schnee and a Faunus."
"I didn't know she was a Faunus until a few weeks into the term. Weiss Schnee, sir." Tai shook her hand.
"Blake Belladonna. I wore a bow to hide my ears."
"Not anymore? I'm not a 'sir. Just call me Tai." Not once did his eyes stray up and stare at her ears.
"Not anymore." Blake repeated, unwilling to give up any information. Tai narrowed his eyes but didn't press it. Everyone was entitled to their secrets.
"Who wants to grab lunch? My treat. Ruby, you can tell me all about your new team."
"There might be a few more people who want to tag along." Qrow segwayed, hoping Team SKBN was listening.
"Wh-" Tai never got to finish his question as four Hunters appeared behind him, the only indication they had appeared being a shift of air. "They're behind me, aren't they?"
"Yup." Ruby started their introduction. "Dad, meet Team SKBN."
Each member of Team SKBN stood opposite from their counterpart in Team RWBY.
"Hello Tai." Summer greeted him, voice as dull as the plains surrounding Mistral.
"Summer?" Tai's eyes stretched to their limits and his mouth hung open. "How?"
Ruby rushed the woman in a lunging tackle but Summer just stepped aside and let the girl fly past.
"Ow." Ruby rubbed the growing bruise on her head. "Let me hug you mom."
Summer stared Ruby down, not willing to receive any more hugs. Kara, on the other hand, was more than willing to give the deprived girl a hug, opening her arms as a gesture for her to get one.
Ruby forgot about her pain and ran forward to give her new mother a hug. Blake watched the two interact, wondering if her own mother would welcome her back after her exodus. With her short hair styled messily, all Kara lacked was a few gold piercings through her ears and she'd be a dead ringer for Kali.
Tai was also watching them in confusion as Ruby hugged Kara. Summer snapped her fingers a few times in front of his face and broke him from his gaze.
"Mom?" Tai repeated Ruby's words. Summer stopped him from jumping to conclusions.
"I'm not your Summer, as much as I may look like her." Summer was well aware who Kara looked similar to and couldn't blame Blake. Kara's parents had locked her in her room and forbidden her from leaving until she promised to visit at least once a month. "I was born Ruby Rose, to Tai Xiao-Long and Summer Rose in the winter of year 66."
Qrow gave a suspicious cough which sounded suspiciously like 'Branwen'. Suspicious.
"And the reason she calls you 'mom'?" Tai watched as Kara pet Ruby's hair, exactly how a mother would have done.
"I gave her the option to call me anything else, but she's Ruby. You know how she is." Ruby disengaged from her hug and rushed Summer again but a hand on her forehead impeded her progress. "She's also taken a liking to calling Kara 'mom' as well."
"And you're suppose to be a weird alternate version of Ruby's team from the future?" Tai looked between the two team standing opposite each other, matching each one to one. "Qrow, I need a drink."
"I ran out." Qrow tipped his flask over, proving his point. "I ran out a long time ago and haven't had the chance to refill."
"At least I can tell the eight of you apart." Tai noted the short hair and facial scars separating the two teams. "Can I get some names?"
"This is Kara, who you may have guess I'm married to. She's a quiet one." Kara waved back politely. "Next to her is Bianca and standing next to her is her wife, Nova, who I'm sure you recognize as Yang with a metal arm."
Tai didn't bat an eye at the four being married to each other.
"And you four are suppose to be alternative duplicates?" Tai reiterated his question. They nodded. "And Ruby roped the two of you into being her moms?"
Another two nods.
"Yup, we're going to a bar and you four get to explain." Tai concluded. "Is Junior still in the business?"
Yang surreptitiously coughed, gaining their attention.
"I may have gotten banned for fighting in there." Yang avoided everyone's eyes. Nova snorted good naturedly, remember why she had been banned from Junior's and Bianca tutted as if expecting it.
"What did you do?" Tai knew Junior from their time in Signal. While he went along to Beacon, Junior left and used his contacts to clear a swatch in the vast criminal underworld for himself.
"I may have beaten up a few of his guards, destroyed his bar, his dance floor and then punched him in the face." Yang listed off the multiple incidents she had had with Junior the last time they met. "Nothing too much."
"You're lucky he didn't press charges Yang." Tai chided. It was probably because he recognized her as his daughter that he didn't and simply forbade her from coming back. "Try not to start a fight this time. C'mon, we can still make the ferry before it leaves."
"I don't do ferries and public transport." Summer replied as they all started moving towards the Airship still docked at the landing pads. "We take a bullhead. Junior's has landing space."
Summer walked off without another word and didn't allow any word in edgewise, forcing everyone to follow her team as they returned back towards the hangars.
Tai observed Team SKBN from a distance, unaware he was being observed in turn. He picked up on how they each handled themselves and how they interacted with one another. Summer was clearly the Hunter in charge, yet she frequently made allowances to Bianca as she walked beside her, altering her gait to either walk alongside her or push her back. Neither seemed to mind the other.
Nova and Kara hovered in the back, with the latter nose deep in a book. She wasn't watching where she was going, trusting Nova to lead her forward and avoid any obstacles as she remained within touching distance of her.
Their gaits betrayed their experience. Each hovered on the balls of their feet, calves ready to spring in any direction at the slightest need. Their eyes never stayed in one place, preferring to take in everything around them all at once.
Team SKBN noticed themselves being watched by Tai. Summer's dominance had cowed Tai and Qrow into following them into a bullhead instead of taking the ferry and having to walk to Junior's. It was amusing having him try to analyze them, yet they stayed true to their usual selves, not altering their physical traits, giving him a chance.
Summer could imagine him piecing it all together, struggling to fit it all together. She slid her scroll against the first hanger service door and thumbed the overhead roof access.
"Who wants to fly?" Summer asked as she stepped onto the craft. She already knew the answer to the question as Kara stepped by her and slammed the cockpit door shut. She instead retrieved her copy of her book and sat against the starboard door, flicking it open to a dog-eared page.
Nova filed into place next to Summer and Bianca sat next to her. Bianca pulled out her book and followed suit to Summer as Nova reclined her head against the door. Summer's free hand trailed down and rested on Nova's metal arm, idly picking at the clean lines and screws of the prosthetic.
Seeing no other alternative, Blake joined them, sitting to Bianca's side and pulled out her own book, settling into the pattern emerging. Ruby, no wanting to get left out, floated over to Blake and sat down, pulling her new book from her corset pocket. Tai immediately pounced on her.
"Ruby. What're you reading?" Ruby looked up over her book, silver eyes already gleaming. She was getting to the good part. Bianca hid a smile.
"A book." Ruby answered succinctly, smiling unnervingly. Blake facepalmed, forgetting entirely which book Ruby had insisted on buying back at the bookstore, eyeing the disgusting shade of orange from between her fingers.
"It's a good book." Bianca lifted her book up to show her own orange covered book.
"Does everyone here read it?" Qrow leant up against the door and watched Tai interrogate them.
"Yes." The three members of Team SKBN and Ruby answered in unison. Blake stared between the three to her right and Ruby to her left in barely hidden disgust.
"I blame you Summer." Tai rounded on her. "She calls you mother and then I find her reading porn."
Summer ignored him, resting her head against Nova's shoulder and continued to read.
"Don't blame her. I got her interested." Bianca placated him. "She's an adult."
"She's not an-" He managed out before realizing she was an adult in the eyes of the law by her military service. "She still shouldn't be reading it."
"Have you read it?" Nova responded without opening her eyes. Tai shook his head. He was a teacher, he barely had enough time during the year to relax, yet alone read. "Then you can't pass judgement."
"It's still carries a stigma with it." Blake's uncovered ears twitched at his response. "Right, nevermind."
"We're Hunters." Bianca took over. "We carry a stigma wherever we go. We're meant to be the paragons of humanity; devoted to protecting those who can't protect themselves. We aren't machines. We have flaws and habits, and if we didn't, we'd snap."
They did their best to avoid looking at Summer. She could feel their attempts; she knew them too well.
"Gimme the book Ruby." Tai held out his hand. Ruby pouted at him, but closed her book and held it out to him. He would've grabbed the book if Qrow hadn't blocked the exchange.
"Tai." Qrow stared Tai down. "She's not a child anymore. You can't protect her all the time. You take the book now and she gets another when you're not here."
The stare down continued, red fighting against lilac. Qrow, having been out in the world and interacting with Hunters daily, knew it'd be a mute point. Tai spent his entire time at Signal, a boarding school where parents were almost always in contact with their children. He needed to let go.
"Try not to read it in public." Tai relented and Ruby beamed back at him, thanks shining in her eyes. Everyone had their quirks.
The cockpit door opened without warning and Kara strode into the fuselage. She blinked impertinently down at Summer, who had dozed off leaning on Nova, her book forgotten in her lap, thumb marking the page she was on.
Kara leant over and shook her shoulder, not reacting as as Summer's hand snapped up and grabbed her wrist in defense. She took to in her surrounding, noting she was back in the bullhead, and released the tension in her muscles. She took the wrist she was holding and pulled herself up, sliding her book back into her pouch.
A blink and a head tilt told her they had arrived. Summer pulled back the door to reveal Kara had parked in the vacant lot behind Junior's bar. In the midday of a weekday, the lot was empty, allowing Kara to pick her spot of choosing.
Summer hopped out of the craft with Kara nipping at her heels, the rest of her team following her. The back door of the bar was open, unguarded by any bouncer, and Summer pushed it open, striding it confidently with abandon.
She brushed by the Malachite twins before they could stop her and planted herself at the bar, grabbing Junior's attention.
"I thought you were dead." Junior cleaned a tumbler with a clean rag, eying Kara's tattoo. "Tai drank himself to pieces after your death."
"Mistaken identity, but my name is Summer." She stared at him, dual coloured eyed challenging his beliefs. He tried to stare back into the void of her eye, but found the process unnerving and soulless. His concentration was broken by the arrival of the rest of her party.
"And the man of the hour, Tai." Junior fanfared. "Your wife is alive by the way. She's sitting over there."
"Yeah, I know. We came with her." Tai sighed. "She's not my wife. She's my daughter."
From behind him walked his two blonde daughters, causing Junior to narrow his eyes.
"I thought I banned you from this establishment blondie." Yang fell back to her trademark head scratch. "Give me reason not to kick your ass out from her right now."
"You won't kick her out for the same reason this establishment exists." Summer's cold voice caused him to stand ramrod straight. "For the same reason why the police don't shut you down and for the same reason we don't shut you down. Now, I'll take a cider."
She wasn't suppose to know that. Only two people were suppose to know about why the establishment existed, the spymaster Qrow and the Headmaster himself. Qrow was still alive and standing next to Tai, meaning this woman, whoever she was, was now in charge of the Hunters, and by proxy, held him by the balls.
He shut up and got her her drink, cracking the cap off a bottle of cider he had in the fridge underneath the bar.
"Oooookkkaaaayyyyyy." Yang stretched out her words. "If you guys are done with your machismo and code talk, can I get a whisky, double, neat?"
"Are you going to pay this time or are you going to destroy my bar again?" Junior raised an eyebrow at her. "You took down quite a lot of my men when you were here last."
"You should get better henchmen." Yang shrugged at him. "Not my fault they fell down easier than a house of cards. But those twins?" Yang winked at the pair hovering by the end of the bar. "I wouldn't mind another tousle with them."
Blake growled possessively as Miltia waved back coyly. Both backed down as Yang placed a hand on her girlfriend and Melanie swatted her sister's hand down.
"Not in my bar." Junior replied as he placed her drink in front of her. "What can I get the rest of you?"
Kara mimed a few words, but Junior understood none of it. Summer finally jumped in and translated her message, asking for a craft beer, and if he didn't have that, then whatever beer he had lying around. He looked offended before pulling out a bottle of Bourbon District Brand Stout.
Nova joined Yang with another tumbler of whisky and Bianca, keeping in her role as a former heiress, asked for a dirty martini with a twist of lemon. Junior grunted, happy his customers knew what they liked and weren't pestering him with inane questions about drinks.
It left Tai and Qrow to deal with the three remaining members of Team RWBY. Neither of them particularly knew how to deal with three underage, yet legal teenagers, who knew nothing about the world of alcohol.
"Just give Ruby a Shirley Temple, Weiss a glass of champagne and Blake a beer." Nova noticed their conundrum and ordered for them. "Weiss and Blake already know what they like, and Ruby can wait another year before jumping in head first."
Qrow looked relieved at Nova's orders and furthermore when Junior slid a shot of vodka his way. He downed the shot straight, shuddering as the burn made its way down his throat and warmed his stomach.
Tai received a half filled bottle of tequila, its label worn with age. They could make out the year 71 AGW on it and nothing more.
"I've been keeping this locked up for whenever you stopped by, considering the last time you were here." Junior indicated the carbon copy of Summer sitting a few seats away, inspecting the liquid's movements as she toyed with her bottle.
"Thanks." Tai uncorked the bottle and threw a couple of gulps back, letting the alcohol dull his senses. "Summer, start talking."
"Qrow asked me to keep him from drinking in my presence." Summer placed her bottle down on a coaster as Qrow chuckled, remember what he asked back in the office. "I'm assuming you shouldn't be drinking either. You were both torn up when Summer died."
"Even Raven joined us for a few drinks." Qrow slid his shot glass back to Junior but declined another one.
"My bitch of mother drank for her?" Yang bit back her whisky. "Hard to believe."
"No matter how bad of mother Raven might have been, she still cared for Summer, in her own way." Tai supplied. "Hard not to care for anyone you've spent the last eight years with."
"Hear hear." Bianca sipped from her martini before slamming it down carefully, signaling for another one. Weiss and Yang looked at her in amazement but she simply shrugged at them.
"How long have you all been together?"
"Five years. Five, long, agonizing years stuck with these idiots." Bianca answered, getting two slaps on the back of her head from Kara and Nova for her trouble. Her Aura dulled the blows.
"Then the three of you are twenty-two and Summer twenty. And how long have you been married to each other?"
"Officially? Since yesterday." Nova responded. "Unofficially, I don't think anyone actually proposed. We kinda just fell along together."
"Typical Hunter wedding then." Qrow laughed. "Very few Hunters actually get the chance to marry properly."
"And you four are perfectly fine with them being together?" Tai directed to Team RWBY.
"It might be a little weird for Yang and Blake but they've already explained they're not from our future." Ruby sipped on her drink innocently, opening Pandora's box. "They're just different dimension us."
"And why would it be a little weird for Yang and Blake?" Tai watched as the two fidgeted under his gaze.
"They're dating." Summer answered for them, handing back Junior her empty bottle. "Yang's just afraid you'll reject her as your daughter."
"For what?" Tai scoffed. "Her choice of partner? Because she's a female or because she's a Faunus? Unlike some, I couldn't care less. Congratulations."
"I guessed you'd be more angry about me replacing Summer in Ruby's life as a mother." Tai's eyes narrowed as he detected modulation within Summer's voice. "Or at least weirded out."
"Ruby can decide who she wants to call mother. I expected she would cling to whichever mother authority appeared in her life first. I expected it to be Yang first, and Glynda when she came to Beacon." Tai let another shot of tequila down his throat. "You're an older Ruby from a different timeline who looks exactly like her mother. I'd be surprised if she didn't cling to you. She can choose worse role models."
He placed his bottle down with a resounding clang.
"Such as a role model who doesn't lie." No one in Team SKBN reacted to the accusation, keeping up their appearances of normality.
"What do you mean she's lying?" Ruby created slurping noises as she drained her drink down to the ice cubes. "Mom wouldn't lie."
"Ruby, take your team outside or away from the bar. That's an order."
"Mom?" Ruby threatened her with her silver eyes.
"An order as your commanding officer." Summer's parting words snapped protocol into Ruby faster than she could sprint. She lead her team to one of the booths, and Miltia and her sister followed them, leaving the seven of them alone at the bar top.
"Junior, leave us alone." The barkeep made himself scarce, leaving six. Summer removed the moon shaped emblem from her pouch and laid it on the counter. "I've never lied to Ruby. I don't get the concept of a lie. I'm protecting her."
Tai flinched at her tone, the utter void of anything resembling emotions, be it hatred, content, warmth or even cold permeating it.
"You get used to it." Bianca slammed another martini back, sucking on the lemon rind.
"I haven't." Qrow moved to Summer's other side and took the seat.
"This is what you're hiding? A monotone?" Tai scoffed and Kara grit her teeth. "That's nothing."
"The monotone isn't anything significant. The reason why I have it, is." Summer answered. "The story behind it is one of the reasons why we're here. Most time travelers in literature, or in our case, dimension hoppers, go back in time to fix a mistake. We lost a war and Remnant fell."
She slid the emblem over to Tai.
"That emblem denotes the rank of the High Commander, the single Hunter in charge of the Hunters, voted it by more that's 60% of them, or named as a successor by the previous. In two weeks time, I will officially wear it and wage war against the White Fang."
"Bullshit." Summer smiled back in emulated amusement. "Ozpin's letting you take charge of his Hunters?"
"For his own reasons. He has his own eccentricities as I'm sure you're aware. I have a chance to fix my mistakes and I'm taking it. I'm telling you because as one of Signal's tenured professors, Signal will become a field outpost."
Tai grunted, acknowledging the order. It was what Signal was initially built to be, but had been converted after the Great War to begin teaching the next generation of Hunters.
"Tell me about this war."
"The war started two days ago when the White Fang successfully assaulted Beacon, destroying the CCTS and killing the Headmaster. It was done by hijacking several hundred of Atlesian droids with a virus. This virus spread along the statewide relay systems and every Atlesian droid stationed at our borders turned and started slaughtering civilians. Hundreds of thousands died before the shutdown code could be broadcast. For their actions in the assault, Vale declared war on Atlas, and the Second Great War began."
Tai sucked in a deep breath, unable to believe this could be happening around them as they spoke.
"In order to prevent a four way slaughterfest, the Hunters locked each city down and plunged us into a cold war. It wasn't perfect, but it limited casualties to several tens of thousands rather than the potential millions. Qrow here was the High Commander during this."
"His death during a botched operation robbed Kara of her voice and left me in charge as the next in line. However, Bianca was left in charge for six months as I was captured during the tail end of the mission and wallowed in the comfort of a cell."
"Why? You weren't the High Commander yet. You weren't important enough to warrant an extended stay in a cell." Tai didn't want to make the connection of what Summer went through as a prisoner if her monotone was a byproduct.
"For the same reason why your Summer was killed. For the same reason why I'm missing an eye. For the same reason why Ruby is never leaving my sight until this threat is dealt with or she can handle anything thrown at her."
"Summer was killed in an accident. By Grimm." Qrow frowned at her implication. "Wasn't she?"
"It was something I learned during my internment. It was the reason I was kept alive and not killed. Summer wasn't killed. You assumed she was killed because you couldn't find a body. She was captured by the same people who captured me. She was captured because of her eyes. Our eyes."
Tai emptied half of the remaining liquid in the bottle.
"She didn't suffer as I did. Her captors didn't want her, only her eyes. They ripped them out, but upon seeing them fail when taken from their host, they tried to implant them back. The eyes wouldn't take and she was killed." Summer spoke casually, ignoring the two men's' flinches as she talked about Summer's death. "I was next in line, but they didn't know about me until my public appearance in the Vytal Tournament."
"Instead of being killed or having my eyes gouged out, I was put through 'rehabilitation.'. Summer chuckled at her own joke. "I broke before they could have turned me against my Hunters. I'm protecting Ruby from myself, from a visage of what she became, a monster."
"And you three let her call herself a monster?" Tai asked after no one rejected her words.
"She knows what she is. She doesn't want to be lied to." Nova downed the last of her whisky. "She can't feel; can't hate, can't love, can't hurt, can't envy, can't fear, can't cry. The list goes on. She's a shell, a weapon we control."
The worse part: there were two of them. And dimensional barriers would bend if the two ever decided they wanted to mutually annihilate one another.
"Well that's all good and dandy them. An emotionless sociopath who can be turned on a target of your choosing." Tai's voice rose and it was only by the grace of the music Team RWBY couldn't hear them from across the bar.
"The correct term is psychopath." Summer said.
"That's it. That's all you're going to offer?" Tai accused. "Do you even want help?"
"We can't help her. We tried." Bianca sighed. "We tried for more than a year. Not a once in a week appointment, but everyday we tried to reconstruct who Summer used to be. It didn't work. It's not as if the real Summer is trapped in her mind from her torture; she no longer exists. She can't construct emotions because she has no basis to what they feel so she fakes everything, but since she has no basis to emotion, she can't categorise memories."
"And you remember everything from before your internment?"
"Everything, including every single moment of my time in my torture chamber. I can remember as well as you can remember any memory, but with no emotions clogging and causing bias."
"Do you know how it feels to like, let alone love?" Summer shook her head. "Yet you're somehow married to Kara. You're fine being married to a psychopath who can never love you back?"
Kara shrugged.
"She's the one who rescued me from my cell. She was the first person to whisper kind words to me for the first time in six months. The first person to touch me without intent to harm. The person who sat by my side until I woke from my coma. Her actions left a scar on me, one not filled with pain, but with care. I learnt how to care back."
"But nothing more?"
"Nothing more." Summer repeated.
"I'm gonna need more drink." Tai rested the cool glass against his forehead. "Too much information; first my Summer, then you Summer. Ruby can never know about her mother."
Summer channeled her Semblance under her while gripping the bar top underneath, rotating around the top and twirling around to land neatly behind the bar.
"She'll find out eventually. Whether you tell her, I tell her, or her enemies tell her. I suggest you start by telling her who her real father is."
Tai missed his bottle completely and stared wide-eyed at the unresponsive soul staring right back.
"Can't keep everything secret. It's on her birth certificate, and once she asks for that, the secret's out."
"Which she'll never see."
"Unless I order her to get a copy of it because of an information error in her profile." Summer replied back without pause. "Tell her before she graduates, or I will."
"Summer." Qrow interjected. "I'm not her father. Not a real one. Tai was there for when I wasn't and by the time I got my head straight, I was far too late."
"You do realize Summer and I, and by proxy, Yang and Ruby consider you a father, even if we call you Uncle? They have two moms now, so why not add another parental figure into their screwed up lives."
"And what do I tell her?" Tai snapped. "That we've been lying to her for her entire life? I didn't even want Qrow around her, but once she got attached to him, she wanted him around. You think it was easy having him around? A reminder Ruby wasn't mine, but his? I tried to kill him the first time I saw him."
"Closest shave I've ever had." Qrow rubbed a thin patch of skin under his chin. "Took off a few layers of skin."
"Yet you two raised two girls to adulthood." Nova reminded. "If I didn't know better, you two would be the poster parents for adoption cases."
"Me and him?" Qrow said, before growing pale at her insinuation. "Please never mention us together again. No offense Tai."
"Not taken." Tai agreed. "Though we always did have good taste in women. I shouldn't have been surprised."
"I'm surprised you didn't chase after Raven." Qrow remarked.
"She always seemed to have a few screws loose. Besides, I had my eyes on Summer the second I saw her."
"Those annoying, twinkling eyes of hers." Qrow concluded for the both of them, looking up to catch Summer watching him. "Nothing like yours I'm afraid."
Summer said nothing in response. She could stare into a mirror for hours and not see her mother in her eye. Kara always said it reminded her of her knives, reflecting whichever situation she happened to be in. Clean and sharp when in their sheaths, and bloody and hungry when on the field.
She had seen Summer in the middle of an army and watched her rip through human, Faunus, mech and droid alike. Her eyes had taken on the hue of a rolling monsoon, an indication Summer had submitted to her baser instincts, removing the facade of High Commander and letting the world see who she truly was. She wasn't a broken and closed off victim of torture, nor the leader of the most terrifying force on the planet; she was a machine, fueled by Aura, orders and objectives.
James had given her a title, whispered among the ranks of Hunter and White Fang alike.
Reaper.
Death.
Summer had given a genuine smile when James had told her about it.
"Is there anything else you want to know Tai?" Summer snatched his bottle of tequila before he could imbibe any more. "If you drink any more then I'm going to have to fend off advances from you."
"Good point. One more question for Nova and Bianca?" Both of them gave a sigh, expecting it. "How'd you get with the heiress of the SDC?"
"Would you rather I go after Kara, or maybe Summer even?" Tai blanched at the last one. "Then shut up about it and be happy for us."
"She punched me, I punched her, then we demolished a training room and collapsed into happy tears." Bianca answered. "Simple. Happy?"
"No. When you four get the time, we're getting proper drunk and you're going to tell me how you four ended up together. I also have to tease Yang."
"Thanks for paying for our drinks by the way." Nova added cheekily.
Tai nodded along before catching himself.
"Wait. No I'm not. To each his own."
"You think the people who arrived here two days ago have money? Besides, you suggested the bar."
"Hmm. Junior!" The keeper popped his head out into the bar. "Put it on my tab."
"By the way, I'm stealing Ruby and Yang for the summer." Bianca added. "They need the training."
"As long as they come visit for the weekends."
"I can do that."
A comfortable silence spread among them, everyone lost in thought. Soon, Summer decided she had had enough thinking.
"We need to get back to Beacon. Tai, you and Team RWBY can stay here if you wish. You're not needed. Enjoy the recreational time." Tai acquiesced to her, moving over to the Team RWBY's full booth. "C'mon Dusty, there's another Schnee we have to meet."
They slipped out of the bar before Team RWBY could notice they were gone.
At least that would've been the plan if they didn't need Weiss, but a message to her scroll and she excused herself to the bathroom, skulking away to the bullhead without her leader knowing.
AN: A few setup pieces for the next coming chapters. Next chapters deal with Winter, Menagerie, Neo and the labour camps. Virtual cookie for those who can guess where the CSO's name comes from. It's a combination of two real life names.