RWBY was greeted with applause as they climbed the netting to the deck. Winter had already broken open the champagne and poured out the bubbly into some crude glasses. As the crew celebrated the White Fang survivors were being hauled off below decks into the brig. One of the crew grabbed a hold of Sun and pulled him away from Blake.

"What the hell are you doing?" demanded Blake.

"He's White Fang, damn terrorist is going in the brig."

"He's not a terrorist! He was working with us to find out about the White Fang," Blake insisted.

"What's the commotion here?" asked Winter with the bottle.

"Ma'am, this one is a member of the White Fang and RWBY is interfering with his arrest."

Winter's eyes narrowed, "Weiss."

"He's not White Fang," said Weiss, "But he did join them to infiltrate them. But he was doing it for us. To help us find out what they were up to."

"Hmm… and the rest of you will vouch for him too?"

"Yes!" said JNPR and RWBY.

"Alright. Crewman, release him."

"Thank you."

"Sun Wukong, come with me. I have questions for you," glared Winter.

"What? Why?" asked Weiss, "He's innocent."

"Partly innocent," said Winter, "He has information regarding the White Fang and since you didn't bother to tell father or me about your little… operation, I can trust that you won't tell us what you've learned. So, I'm going to ask a few questions. Don't worry, I'll play nice. Here, enjoy the champagne. Sun, if you please."

"Weiss," muttered Blake.

"Sis –"

"No arguing, Weiss. It'll be quick."

"Umm… Ruby…"

Penny timidly walked out of the crowd of sailors. Her swords were sheathed in her back and her eyes bright and cheerful again. A small smile was painted on her face.

"Umm… what happened to… to Torchwick?"

Ruby couldn't find the words but at the same time couldn't fathom why Penny wanted to know.

"Penny, he didn't make it," said Wiess, "The sub took a hit."

"Oh… oh…" Penny's eyes dropped, "Why was he familiar to me… Oh, I mean General Ironwood won't exactly be happy."

"That old man is never happy," said a crewman, "Winter knows so she'll sort it out. By the way, thanks for the help. That little trick of yours really saved our skins."

"What trick?"

The captain came running across the deck. He was short of breath and wide eyed.

"Hunters, sorry for the interruption but we need you on the bridge."

"Hmm? Why?"

"We're getting something strange on sonar, radar, sounds. We're getting sounds," the captain leaned in and whispered, "We think it might be the giant squid grimm."

"Quickly," said Weiss making her way to the bridge.

"Here, take a listen" said the communications officer.

A deep booming tone sounded from the speakers. It was like the deep double bass providing a mellow melody. The sound transitioned to higher tones then fell. Long and short notes made a strange song that mixed with the sound of rushing water.

"Do we prepare for another attack?"

Ruby listened intently the sounds and notes strangely familiar. It was as if she had heard them in a dream.

"Stay in your shores, your shallows, your shoals. The abyss is ours. We shall not hunt you, we shall not harm you. We shall preserve the status quo… As set forth by your predecessors. Leave us to our abyss… Leave us to our abyss… leave us to our abyss… Disturb us no more."

Everyone looked at Ruby.

"What?"

"That's what it's saying," she said, "It's hard to explain, but I know that's what he's saying."

"So… we're safe?"

Ruby nodded, "We'll be just fine."

The council of four reconvened in the same dark dank room. The same light blue holograms flickered in the shadows. Mr. Schnee wore the devil's smile while General Ironwood fumed. The Elector was rather pleased with the news. Maritime transit was recovering and trade was booming. The small disaster caused by the grimm created a large demand for large ship works, steel, dust, and other commodities. Yet Ozpin didn't smile, didn't frown. He folded his hands, closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he thought carefully of the next words he would say.

"A stunning success," declared Mr. Schnee, "See? When we are given the proper resources a disaster can be quickly resolved. So, next time I make a request Ozpin you better honor it."

"I don't think this is time for celebration, Mr. Schnee," said Ozpin, "Yes, the squid and the snake are dealt with but the true culprit is still at large. They may very well use the same methods to control other unique grimm and turn them on our kingdoms."

"Then you better do your job," said Mr. Schnee, "Now, Elector there is a matter of the adequate compensation for my successful mission."

"Of course," said the Elector, "Whatever your fee Mistral will pay."

"Yes, but it is not money I want," Mr. Schnee's smile ran away, "I want you to solve your little election problem."

"Sir, I understand your interest in the election but we cannot proceed. The candidate challenging the incumbent has issued an election by champion. Unfortunately, the candidate's champion has fled to Vale and is currently part of Beacon."

"Have him select a new champion and get this over with."

"He refuses to pick and according to our laws only he reserves the right to pick champions. As such the territory the territory will be governed by the current representative until she decides to return to finally finish the election."

"Ozpin, I know fully well as everyone else here that Pyrrha Nikos is the champion for this election," Mr. Schnee's eyes narrowed, "By order of the Regency Council I am ordering you to extradite her to Mistral."

"A rare motion from you, Mr. Schnee," said Ozpin, "This must a very serious matter. By order of the Regency Council I will extradite her. However, she may attempt to flee if I try to force her."

"Your problem, not mine. Come up with an assignment, a task, a mission, whatever. Just get her to Mistral. I want my damn mining projects passed through their senate."

"Ahem!" coughed Ironwood, "There is the more important matter of Torchwick. He is still missing. I want all of our intelligence agencies on high alert and searching for this man."

"General Ironwood, I can almost assure you that he is dead," said Mr. Schnee.

"And how would you know?"

"I don't for certain, but for someone of his notoriety to move unnoticed now that we know who he is, or was rather, to move unnoticed is very unlikely."

"That man faked his death once before, he can do it again."

"Truly?" said the Elector, "General, I think you are paranoid."

"You are too lax," he replied sternly, "If he reconnects with his allies their project will be revived."

"Ozpin, your hunters are monitoring the situation, correct?"

"Of course."

"Elector?"

"The Tenno controls our hunters, but we can persuade him to undertake more covert operations."

"Good. General, I suggest you relax and monitor the situation. As I said before, he may very well be dead."

"Mr. Schnee, your daughter is here to see you."

"Gentlemen, this meeting is adjourned," said Mr. Schnee as he disappeared.

"Adieu."

"Ozpin, this is serious," said Ironwood.

"Trust me, James, I am very well aware of the situation. We can't alarm the people though. I'll handle the intelligence gathering. Keep you armed forces at the ready but not on high alert. If anything your specialists should be the ones to move if needed, nothing else."

"I'll do more than –"

"Don't overdo it, James. Too much and they all go to ground," Ozpin looked over his shoulder, "Excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to."

Winter walked into Mr. Schnee's office. She took her seat and put her feet up on the desk.

"You're early," said Mr. Schnee, "You weren't scheduled to arrive for another day."

"I know you're a stickler for punctuality," smiled Winter, "And I thought you might want to see Weiss this evening."

"Question is does she want to see me? We'll talk about a family dinner later. You said you had something for me."

"Yes, these," Winter pulled a pair of small earrings from her pocket, "According to our little informant, or should I say Weiss' informant, the White Fang wear these to prevent falling prey to the signal that controlled the grimm."

"Hmm… strange was this issued to all crewmen?" asked Mr. Schnee.

"No," said Winter noticing the oddity, "It was only given to him, Blake when she was captured, and that was it as far as he knows."

"Send these down to R&D. What else?"

"Well, it's a little far-fetched but apparently the White Fang want to build their own country. That was my expression as well. Talk about a pipe dream. The stolen merchandise and dust was to fund their little army or stolen droids."

"Well they have the intelligence of animals," muttered Mr. Schnee, "What of their benefactor?"

"He was in the dark. Just a grunt, a cog in the machine," Winter sighed, "Will you let the rest of the council know?"

"I'm certain Ozpin already knows," Mr. Schnee leaned back, "The Elector doesn't stand to benefit from this information since the venerable Tenno controls their military and hunters. As for the Great General Ironwood…"

"Escalation to a grandiose scale on a rumour," said Winter, "That or botched operations. I'll keep this between us then. I'm surprised he didn't declare war as soon as he heard the White Fang had the symphony."

"The tried. What about your sister? Do we have to keep her silent?"

"RWBY and JNPR seem to be moving on their own. I don't think they'll be causing any leaks, but we should keep an eye on them."

"You keep an eye on them," said Mr. Schnee, "If you want."

"Now about that family dinner."

Glynda walked into the room and locked the door. Ozpin ensured that the four communications platforms were completely disconnected. The two academy heads stood in the centre of the room. Glynda handed the usual data pad to Ozpin.

"Nothing new to report, but they have amnesia from the last week," lamented Ozpin, "What about our team in Vacuo?"

"Still reporting," said Glynda, "What's the next move?"

Ozpin walked to his favourite corner with the chess board. He examined the chaotic order of the pieces. Rooks, bishops, the queens and kings still in play. The knights stood behind the walls of pawns facing against each other. Ozpin took two white pieces from the board and advanced black.

"Pull them out of Vacuo," ordered Ozpin.

"Of course, but what about your suspicions? If we don't have eyes and ears in the area we won't be able to monitor their activities."

"I'll ask a favour of our old friend," said Ozpin, "If he's sober. Did we get anything from the last team?"

Glynda shook her head, "Nothing."

Ozpin stared at the board, "What are you doing?"

Ozpin took the white queen's knight and advanced it toward the black king's bishop. The pawns were all in position squaring off against one another. The kings were safe, far to the rear. The white bishops and knights and rooks were moving to where they were needed. But the black pieces were a puzzle. Their more powerful pieces were clearly on the move but there was no pattern, no method to their madness. Every time white seemed to be in position to capture the prize they would slip away.

"What game are you playing?"

A lone destroyer sailed over the tumultuous waves. The high waves crashed against the bow and washed over the deck. Red covered the morning sky. Sailors in navy blue uniforms scurried about the deck battening down the hatches.

Cinder Fall stood at the prow. Neptune and Emerald were shivering from the cold winds and splashes of sea water. Water turned to steam as it approached Cinder. Her dress glowing bright red and hot to the touch.

"Pod off the starboard!" hollered a crewman, "Man in the water!"

Cider strolled to the crewman took his spyglass. She peered out over the sea. Debris surrounded the area. A small craft bobbed up and down in the waves. It was shaped like a turtle's head and badly damaged. A man dressed in a soaked white suit lay on top.

"That's him," she said, "Collect him for me."

"Yes my lady."

The crew piled into a boat and quickly collected the stranded man. He was nearly frozen with limbs turning blue. Breathing had slowed substantially and his heartbeat was weak. They rushed him to sick bay. The stripped him of his clothes and began heating him up.

"When will he regain consciousness doctor?" asked Cinder.

"By day's end if all goes well," he replied, "But if you need him immediately I can give him a cocktail of drugs. It will wake him but there is a chance he may go into cardiac arrest. Is he important?"

"I have time, I can wait," Cinder contacted the bridge, "Captain, set a course for Meerstadt."

"By your command my lady," said the captain, "We will contact the others of the Vacouan fleet and have them follow."

"No, have them continue on their patrol pattern until complete."

"By your command."

"So what do we do while we wait?" asked Neptune.

"Emerald, the shogi board," Cinder grinned.

Torchwick gasped as he escaped from the cold grip of death. Fluids dripped into his arm from an intravenous tube. He awoke several hours later with the sun starting to set. A red sky marked the coming of the night. Cinder made one final move and completed Neptune's defeat.

"Gah! I hate this game," grumbled Neptune, "Give me something physical and we'll see who's better."

"You'd still lose, Neptune," said Emerald.

Torchwick grabbed his head, "How long was I out?"

"Since we found you? Several hours," said Cinder resetting the board, "Since the incident, three days."

"Don't suppose I can get some days off for hazardous work injuries?"

"No, absolutely not," said Cinder, "In fact I need you to accelerate your project."

"Easier said than done," said Torchwick.

"We've got all the parts you need," said Emerald, "And more dust than you've ever had before."

"Parts and mechanics and dust aren't the problem," said Torchwick, "The last success was because I had a volunteer… so to speak. If you want this to work I need –"

"Souls," said Cinder, "Or so the legend says. But you found a more tangible substitute. Luckily you have two volunteers."

"You two I suppose. No," said Torchwick, "I get to choose the next six sisters… or brothers, not being picky."

"Hey! We're more than capable of taking it on" said Emerald.

"Damn straight," said Neptune grabbing Torchwick by the collar, "You think we're too weak?"

"Compared to other options? Yes. Now let go of my suit you damn monkey," Torchwick sighed, "I have a list of candidates. Four you should be familiar with, one is one of my own, and the last is…"

"Very interesting," said Cinder, "Well then consider me your goddess of life. By the way I have to ask, why are you helping us? You aren't a patriot, you not motivated by money, though you do ask a very sum, and you don't seems to particularly like me. So, why?"

"It's a long story," Torchwick grinned.

"Regale me," she said as she moved the lance piece.

"I'll give you the short version. During the last conflict I stumbled upon the creation of the Seven Sisters while trying to save… it was a complete accident. I didn't know at the time what caused it until much later. But Colonel Ironwood caught wind and demanded I create a super soldier. When I couldn't he took the one success I had and forced me at gun point to make it a weapon. It succeeded spectacularly but caused destruction on a criminal scale. And Colonel Ironwood made it so all the blame fell on me. He took everything."

"So simple revenge to kill him."

"Kill him? If I wanted that I would have done it a long time ago. I want him humiliated. I want the world to see him cower before an unstoppable force. I want him to order his men to run away, not fall back, not retreat, not surrender. To RUN AWAY! I want the world to call him General Run Away. For children to point at him on the street and say 'there goes General Run Away'."

Cinder took an enemy piece, "I see, no need to go further. And I personally guarantee that I will make that a reality. It may even be amusing to me."

"By the way, I don't think our enemies would be letting us move so freely. Just what have you done to all of our tails? PHLX and HPLT for example. And their 'disappearance' is sure to draw more attention."

Cinder examined the board. Every piece was in place. She took one of her captured pieces and placed on the board facing against her enemy. Emerald made her move clumsily. Cinder placed another captured piece to fight for her, then another.

"I've dealt with them appropriately."