Just one warning: this chapter is set two weeks later, officially brining this story to the Jaunadice Arc.
Also, I forfeited to reply to people last chapter, how very silly of me. Worry not!
Tuutje: Glad to see that you are completely up to speed now. The thing about Chapter 1 being contradictory was something I had noticed a while ago and you are completely right, it IS confusing. So recently, I had posted a rewritten version. Other than that, thanks for the compliments!
Nightraze: It is good to read that you liked that scene; I was stricken by a random moment of inspiration when I wrote that.
ONYX DATABASE VERIFICATION REQUEST
ACCESS REQUEST: █████
Item: Ruby Rose
Threat level: (UNKNOWN)
Description: Ruby Rose is the daughter to Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, half-sister to Yang Xiao Long. R. inherited not only her mother's heart, but also her eyes. Trained in the usage of a combat-scythe by her uncle, R. is plagued by the desire to be a hero and a Huntress.
Open attachment Alpha: due to her resemblance to her mother, Ruby is a viable counter to Blackwood.
LEVEL 4 SECURITY ACCESS REQUEST
ID: FltCommYale
PASSWORD: **********
"They really don't want people to read about a simple girl. So, Ruby Rose, resembling her mother? Want to see that for myself."
Day 23 -Headmaster's office -8:13
The night of fire in the southern compound in Vale had proven to be a one-time occurrence, at least for the time being. There were no other reports from any sort of criminality in the city, nor of anyone continuing to use what had once been an outstanding base of operations. It seemed like everything was going as planned. Better than planned, actually. Because the students had performed most sublimely during their operations and lessons. That is to say, sublimely for first-year students. They still had much to learn.
Glynda Goodwitch poured herself a new cup of tea and sat down in her chair. The papers were really all too clear on the matters and Ozpin had asked her to summarize what had happened the past two weeks in Beacon, so that the Professors might be able to work at their own schedules and perhaps make some changes to support the growing capabilities of the students that they were educating. Ozpin had made some changes to the schedule to allow colleges like Dust-handling and Aura-mastery to fit into their days at school.
But the students themselves had finally acclimatized to the environment of Beacon…mostly. Now that she was busy with summarizing the events, she could let her thoughts run freely, starting with team RWBY. Ruby had managed to grow into the role of the leader without extreme incidents, as evidenced by the tight bonds that were present in that all-female team. Her ability to read the people she encountered was…interesting yet highly disturbing. Ozpin had taken it upon himself to send Adamant to the girl, ordering him to teach Ruby how to deal with her gift. That meant that Professor Adamant was also skilled in reading people himself, but to a much lesser degree. It was his clever and cunning way of talking that enabled him to manipulate people like that, not his way of reading them. Ruby's skill in that kinesics–as Matt called it- was way more developed than his ever could be.
He had told her that in a brief conversation during lunch, when the two of them had been alone in the Professors room.
"Ruby can be compared to me in a few simple steps. If our readings are projectiles, then mine weights four kilograms and hers forty. I fire mine with a much higher speed than she does, enabling me to hit harder than her heavier rounds."
As strange as that comparison had been, it had made sense. It meant that Ruby´s skill was less refined and needed a way to guide it. That is where Ozpin had entered with his order; making the bowtie-loving man meet up with Ruby every three days to teach her how to utilize her ability. If kept unchecked, the young Rose could end up hurting people. If trained and cultivated, she could prove very effective in ending fights before they started however. It was what had managed to increase her leadership-skills to such a degree: her impressive cognitive ability, coupled with Matt's teachings on who to utilize it.
The thought Ruby that could talk just as well as Adamant did when it came to guile tactics and manipulation was one that she did not want to have regarding Beacon's enemies: such a person would be able to tear down entire governments with just six words.
But fortunately for them all, that would not happen. Matt's way with words was just as unique to him as Rose's way with faces was to her. The man could assist her in controlling it, but no more than that. Besides: Ruby had proven to be too goodhearted to use such a gift for own selfish purposes. Of all the people that were currently attending, she trusted her the most.
Team RWBY: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. Miss Schnee had started to show signs that her attitude was increasing: Professor Port had been…worried by her initial attitude, but with a leader like Ruby, those troubles practically solved themselves. Things were going good with team RWBY…if only the same could be said for team JNPR.
Pyrrha Nikos was extremely gifted and also kindhearted, making her an excellent partner for Jaune Arc –who was also kindhearted, but less so on the gifted part. Extremely less so. The kid's combat stats did not lie –neither did his combat record, in that regard- but his level of competence was severely lacking. It would result in his premature death or destabilization of his team. Both factors had to be accounted for…but were unwanted. If Jaune did not improve soon, he might well be removed from Beacon and replaced by someone more competent. That is; if Professor Ozpin did such things. She had never once heard of him removing someone from his school, but stranger things had happened lately.
But mister Arc was not that incompetent as a leader though; his combat abilities were severely lacking, but his persona had actually improved over the course of weeks. More than three weeks had the students been at Beacon now and even though the boy did not show any significant increase in prowess, his tactical mind did. Or at least according to the…the Sergeant-Professor.
Ugh…she hated having to call the man that. He was not much better than Matt Adamant was and judging by how those two always sat together when dining, they had some sort of a history together. When she had read that Johnson was recommended by Professor Adamant, she had felt despair. Who could deal with two Matt's at one school?
But there had not been another Matt. Who had come instead was a person equally unique…and equally frustrating. The man was obviously military –much to the intense disapproval of Professor Peach, but she would address that later- and his strange way of acting might even be offensive to people. Granted, his Warfare module was doing particularly well and after just one lesson with the students they had all but forgotten about the slaughter that had taken place in the criminal compound.
She had not minded the five soldiers gunning down the criminals; of course it would have been morally right to capture and imprison them and executing them all just like that had been a gross and irresponsible action, but at the very least they secured the safety of the students and that was the most important thing.
Where Ozpin had found them, or with whom he had made that deal of his, was still unknown to her. But it had also been less troublesome than she had initially thought. It was obvious that the man had made a deal with some foreign combat school, where he had managed to pluck the near-mute boy called Will from? If he had such contacts, he would also have the contacts to gather soldiers from some foreign city. Perhaps he had even offered them jobs in Beacon? Serving as additional security guards or something similar?
If so, then her slightly-shaken trust in Ozpin had been reassured. Because the five men had stuck around Beacon, occasionally appearing and disappearing again for unknown reasons. Yes…it had to be that. Exchange student and security guards, all to make sure that his Academy was safe.
Where was she again? Oh yes, Jaune Arc. Jaune had proven quite competent in the lessons of Warfare, going as far as to earn one…badass grade. Right.
That left team LACG and their problems. Lisa Adamant –younger sister to Matt, but thankfully the complete polar opposite- had major troubles with her task as a leader. Part of it came from the troubles she had with maintaining her temper and cool and the other part came from a blatant lack of leadership skills. Her team was tailored more to sabotage and ambushes as opposed to offense –like RWBY- or defense –like JNPR- making the three teams an extremely effective force when educated correctly. But Lisa was not leading her team properly…perhaps just as poorly as Jaune was doing. At least Jaune had the trust of his teammates –to a certain extent- while she did not have the trust of her team. They were close, of course, but they had yet to fully trust her as their leader.
Only time would tell whether team LACG could excel like RWBY did.
Team CRDL was doing average –with average combat skills, average results in colleges and average character traits. She had no idea what those four boys were thinking, but they needed someone to alter their personality very quickly.
Oh well…time to address Peach's problem. Professor Peach had severe dislike of the military. No, it was worse. She absolutely despised anyone even remotely resembling a soldier. Where that blatant hate had come from was still unknown, but it caused for some very tense times in the personnel-room. Thankfully Matt and Johnson had picked up on that and left everytime she entered, but it still caused friction. Because not only Johnson, but also the five soldiers that made up Fireteam Lima were very present at Beacon. She had yet to actually see any of them interact with anyone outside their squad, but Peach still did not trust them either way. It made for some pretty difficult problems to solve. The team captain had said that he promised to keep them as low-profile as possible, but in such a close school such as Beacon, keeping to oneself was a difficult thing to do.
And only the most socially-deprived psychopaths were capable of avoiding all total human contact either way. Speaking of which: she was still unsure how she felt about the student called Will. Because his behaviour did not remotely resemble that of a student. She could forgive him the few times he had disappeared from Beacon, because he most likely had assignments to complete as ordered by his original school. But that one time…the one time he had been so close to the Slaughter of Warehouse Six…she knew that it had been him. He had murdered all those criminals in the Warehouse and then fled to the outskirts of Vale to await extraction. She still had to figure out what that meant…but it could not be a good thing.
After having been defeated during his questionable involvement with the battle of the southern compound, he had snuck out of the hospital on the same night. Staff had informed Ozpin and her about his escape, culminating in a desperate jump from the top of a roof, five stories high. How he had survived that while injured was beyond her. And after that, he had only visited a minor amount of colleges before disappearing into his Hangar Bay again. It had been particularly awkward not only because it completely beat the purpose of leaving the hospital in the first place, but also because he had been unable to go on the training missions and exercises that they had cooked up for the students. Headmaster Ozpin had most likely ordered supplies to arrive, because the boy had somehow managed to fix his armour in the days it had taken him to fully recover from his physical damage. Why he didn't simply use his own Aura to lap himself up was a mystery, but she did understand why he had been so desperate to fix his suit.
He didn't have anything else to wear.
In his possession was: a t-shirt, military cargo pants and a very fetishistic skintight body suit. Tastefully coloured in black.
She did not expect someone like Will to comprehend the embarrassing thoughts behind wearing something like that, but neither had she actually seen him wearing it. Most of his appearances had been coupled with team RWBY, where he had been wearing his Beacon suit.
So…that was about it. Her summary about the most recent developments in Beacon Academy was complete. Spanning a total of ten pages, would be more than sufficient for Ozpin to think off the next course of action.
It was dark outside, an early Saturday-morning. Everyone should be sleeping now by all rights, including the students. The first months would still allow them to make use of the weekends to make homework, relax and visit the City of Vale. But after the first portion of the first year, that would change. Students would be sent on longer missions to places that were further away. Perhaps Headmaster Ozpin could still seek contact with Harvest or other cities to allow the students to fulfill missions there? It would be an excellent training module and-
"Morning." A loud voice said and nearly caused her a heart-attack. Who had snuck up on her like that?
She turned around and realized that it was Professor Johnson that had disturbed her, entering the Professor's chambers with a glass of water…and not coffee.
Finally someone that wouldn't contribute to the rapidly shrinking stocks of coffee…
"A good morning to you too. Why are you so early?"
"Sleep is highly overrated. I thought that I should check up on you."
"Check up? How did you even know that I was here?"
"WOMAN PLEASE! I have spent more than two weeks at this place now, I know my colleagues."
She snorted. "Do you now?"
"Indeed."
And as Johnson started to explain just how she had allowed him to predict that she was there at the early morning of the Saturday, she wondered why she hadn't ran the moment she knew that he was about to enter the room. His increasingly ridiculous reasons for her presence there were sort of interesting to listen to, but they distracted her monumentally.
"And then there were two rays of light that entered the room, just like your name has two syllables! THAT WAS MY FIRST CLUE!"
It was too early for damn Johnson…
RWBY dormitories -8:25
"Good morning team RWBY!"
Weiss Schnee nearly fell out of her bed as the voice echoed through the room, bouncing right back at her head. Only one person could be disturbed enough to shout everyone awake that early in the morning.
"Ruby please…it's too early…" Yang groggily said and turned her back to the rest of the gang.
"What did I ever do to you!" Weiss told her teamleader while Blake dropped from her bed to get dressed. "It's Saturday you dolt! Go back to sleep!"
"Oh lovely little Weiss…it is Saturday alright! But do you know what other day it is?"
"The I'm-going-to-beat-you-senseless-with-a-pillow day?" Yang guessed from underneath her pillow.
"Nope! That would be tomorrow!" Ruby gleefully replied, once again causing everyone in the room to suffer from the deadly wakey-wakey syndrome. "Today is the free Vale-Breakfast Machine's opening! It offers a free breakfast to everyone that is currently enjoying a training to become a Hunter!"
Right…that event was today. Ruby had been pressuring them for three days now and today was finally the day that the redheaded girl was going to get the breakfast of her life. That event would start at…what was it, nine o'clock? Either way, Weiss couldn't crawl back now…a promise was a promise after all. "Fine…just gimme a sec'…."
She did not get her sec; her soft, warm blanket was violently yanked off of her body in one swift movement.
"What in the world!" She yelled with surprise and shot upright; hoping that there had been some sort of mistake and that half of her bed had simply fallen to the ground instead. Because Ruby wouldn't be so stupid as to actually steal her blanket and possibly mess up her nightgown, now would she?
The ground was clear and there was someone hanging next to her, roughly a foot away from her face.
"RUBY!"
The redheaded girl simply waved at her, holding her blanket on one hand. How did she-? "Hey Weiss! Ready to wake up now?"
How did Ruby do this? Had she somehow latched her feet onto the frame of her bed in order to lower herself to her bed? Why did the most crafty and sneaky ideas come to that girl's mind AFTER the crisis? When Yang had accidentally set fire to the warehouse they were supposed to be clearing from the remaining criminals it was all like: "Oh no! We are going to get burned! Let's jump into that ice-cold freezing river to survive the fire!" But when they were crawling through some old museum and she had encountered a really big spider, Ruby had not hesitated for a second in shooting the sprinkler installation, instantly chasing the big critter away.
The Warehouse had the same sprinkler installation, mind you.
And then she disappeared again, leaving little rose petals behind as her body simply shot back up her own bed. She had NOT expected that to happen when Ruby had opted to go for bunk beds, that was for damn sure.
"Fine!" Yang suddenly yelled. "If you guys insist on being so noisy I'll just get up now. Weren't JNPR and RWBY supposed to join us?"
They were. Jaune had told them that he would take his team and wait for Ruby downstairs, near the primary entrance to Beacon. Lisa had said that she wanted to allow her team to catch up on 'missed sleep' or something like that. It betrayed that it was in fact LACG that was responsible for the loud noises and explosions that echoed through some of the previous nights, but that was about it. She hadn't elaborated on it.
Weiss sighed explosively and quickly started searching for her clothes, hoping that she was still able to properly clothe herself before Blake or Yang could catch her like that. Blake had jumped under the shower before she started to dress up, but the dark-haired girl somehow still managed to get dressed faster than any of them did. It was total madness that she could outspeed them all, but by the time Yang fixed the final strap of her outfit, Blake was already waiting for the rest of them.
"Done?" Blake asked with a frustrating little smile.
"Yep!" Ruby nodded and instantly shot past the ribbon-wearing girl, opened the door and disappeared down the hall before any of them could give a different reply.
Yang peered at the now empty hallway and scratched behind her ear. "Huh…guess she was really eager for today…" And then simply left them, going after her sister.
"I guess so. It is quite a famous event." Blake replied. "I wouldn't be surprised to see CRDL or Velvet's team there."
"Then we had better hurry up!" Weiss added and crossed her arms, taking care not to bump her elbow into Myrtenaster's hilt. "IF everyone will be there, things will get very busy. How late does that place open anyway?"
"Nine," Blake said and then frowned. "That reminds me: we should visit the Hangar Bay first."
"And why is that?"
The two of them exited their dorms and started down the hallway, following the two sisters in an attempt to catch up with them.
"We should ask if Will wants to join. I don't think he knows of today's event."
The Heiress groaned in frustration when she heard that. The teamless student called Will was one of her LEAST favorite persons in Beacon…just above team CRDL and just below some random Faunus lowlife she had seen in one of the classes. His entire demeanor was just the exact opposite of what people should be: he was weak-minded, unable to convey his opinion about important matters and completely unaware of the implications of his uninterest in the world around him.
And to top it off, he was rude.
Seriously, who would react to a simple and honest question about the past with "irrelevant"? You had to be a complete and utter lunatic to do so! And what was with that strange habit of his where he would sit at their table once a day, not during breakfast or during dinner but during the lunch? He even had a complete schedule with that for crying out loud! He would sit with them for exactly twenty minutes, ignore all of them for the duration of the entire lunch except for the end where he would actually reply with a few words, before he would leave. And only ever greet Ruby, who seemed to get along just fine with him.
So why did Blake want him with them on such a special occasion? Ruby had been looking forward to this for three days now and all he could do was mess it all up for her. Why would Blake risk that?
"And why do you think that he will be pleasant company? The last words he has spoken to us were "people are a burden"!"
"Well…you did ask him why he did not have a team. What did you expect?"
"A proper reason!"
"He gave one."
"Why are you so eager to have him join us at this event?"
"Because!" Blake said and turned around, her expression too serious for this conversation. Then her features calmed and her eyes softened."Because…he behaves like he knows that he is an outcast. Everyone deserves a chance…don't you think so?"
Weiss huffed and walked past her friend, glad that she did not have such feelings regarding strangers. "An outcast is an outcast for a reason…things need to come from both ways, Blake. And it is time for him to do something in return." She didn't wait for a reply and chose to follow Yang and Ruby, not feeling particularly bothered by the raven-haired girl's plight.
All right, perhaps a little bit. Just a tad. But it wasn't the same! Of course she knew what it meant to be lonely and alone and of course she was bothered by it, but she had done everything possible to prevent that from continuing. And now she had her team…now she had Ruby. Now she had friends. She had suffered and given up on her own ego and feelings just to struggle her way out of that cold cloak of loneliness. Seeing someone like Will pushing everyone that even remotely cared for his situation away without reason was just a painful reminder that she had not been around anyone who cared about her in the past herself. People needed to learn how to appreciate what they had…and it seemed that Ruby's mister-grumpy-face did not even remotely feel like he should have someone around him.
For someone who had struggled since day one to get people to care about her, such a thing was only infuriating and unacceptable.
But…in the time she had gotten to know Blake, she knew that the girl also cared about Fauna and other people that had a hard time at Beacon. It was just how she was…and Ruby had told her that it was important to respect people for who they were. It wasn't easy...but if Blake thought she should invite him too…she had no place telling her what not to do.
No, she had not. She would go along…for now. "I don't think so, no. But I won't stop you either."
Blake nodded at her, perhaps understanding what she implied. The two of them eventually made their way to the Hangar bay –which had taken at least six days to be fixed by Beacon personnel- and knocked on the door.
No response.
"Open up you mute!" Weiss yelled, much to Blake's apparent frustration.
"Can't you ever talk to people without somehow insulting them?" The girl asked her, but Weiss didn't respond. She would talk respectfully to people when they should get respect or when they earned it; not just because it was 'normal' to do so.
"I don't think he even heard me…do you think he is still sleeping?"
"It IS still Saturday…there is a good chance," Blake replied, raising both a valid point and a not-so-valid point. While most people had used the past weekends to catch up on missed sleep, Will had taken the time to show that he was not most people. According to Cho, Alessa and even Ren on one particular morning, the boy always got up at exactly six o'clock. That included days where the lessons began later and weekends.
"Oh please. Like everyone in this place knows how to enjoy a full night of sleep. That's too human for him," Weiss bit back and turned away to leave that accursed place. Whether it was because of the fact that soldiers had stored their gear there or that Will lived there, the atmosphere had grown pretty disturbing.
"How is sleeping only a human thing? Animals do it, Fauna do it!"
Weiss sighed. "Figuratively speaking!"
Blake shook her head once and joined her, deciding that leaving that twisted place was the best choice as well. They walked through the hallways for a minute or two in silence, trying to find Ruby and Yang downstairs. They should be waiting for JNPR down at the main entrance of Beacon, so actually finding them would not be a problem.
Then Blake spoke up again. "You and Ruby seem to be getting along very well now, for quite some time, actually."
Well duh. That had happened just a few days after their awkward first meeting. What was she getting at? "Yeah, I know. Why?"
"Nothing, really. I was just wondering how close two girls could actually get in such an environment."
Wait…what? What did- did she mean-? "Blake Belladonna…what are you insinuating?"
"What?" Blake said in turn, sounding surprised at that sudden outburst. "No, nothing! I just haven't been around other girls so often, especially not for such lengthy times. I was just curious."
Oh…whoops. "I-I see. Good. Well…"
"Want to talk about it?"
"No." Of course Ruby managed to get her to feel off at times, but that was only to be expected! Ruby could read people like they were pervy books; it only made sense that she doubted her own feelings like that. Such had been the case when the redhead had first drawn that ridiculous picture during Port's lessons and when they had their conversation afterwards. It had taken her almost a week to fully accept it: Ruby Rose made all certainty of emotions fall away like snow in the winter. And that was just how it was. She did that to other people too…right?
Weiss felt her cheeks sting with heat and decided that this topic was pretty dangerous. If she didn't watch it, people would soon think that she actually had a crush on her teamleader. Sure, Ruby was cute and all…and energetic…and attractive in a faint way, but that was it. Blake was also attractive in a way, but that didn't mean that she was crushing on her too?
"You are blushing."
Sneaky little –"Am not!"
"Yes you are."
"Why don't you keep your nose to your books? Those always seem to elect a blush on your face."
Now Belladonna was the one who was blushing. Ever since Weiss had caught the girl reading that mature book in private during a lesson with Oobleck, Blake always blushed whenever someone brought that thing up. Something that Ruby always took advantage off, too.
Vale city districts, 7:56
So this was where the subject would be? Interesting place for such an event... there were plenty of vantage points, places where ambushes could be staged and even a few quick getaway routes should things go south. This would get complicated.
It was a peculiar place for a meeting too, a nightclub like this. Perhaps because of recent usage by criminal organizations? They would provide excellent cover…should they actually accept him being there. There were so many uncertainties...so many things that could go wrong. But if everything went according to the plan, Onyx would soon have its subject detained and he could move to the next theatre of war.
After ten minutes of carefully scouting the rooftops for eventual spies, snipers or other treats, Operative Greystone flexed his shoulders and crossed the street, heading for the darker alleys of the city. Even though he had been incapacitated by Operative Mantis during the clean-up, Fireteam Lima had done an excellent job exterminating the largest portion of crime-lords in Vale. Fools, every single last one of them. A single rumor had herded them all together like cattle for the slaughter. Only the smartest ones had stayed in hiding…like the one he was searching for now.
Staying low-profile was important now…more important than anything, including the lives of innocent bystanders. He would need a fully-concealing outfit in the future, but for now he just had keep his head low. And if wearing a normal shirt and black pants was the best way to stay unnoticed, that would be what he would wear. Most of the people there wore headwear of some sort…he should do that too.
The club could be reached via a multitude of ways: the labyrinth of small alleys, a dark and less-popular road and another alley that led to a notorious sector of the city. He had chosen for this approach, because he could lose eventual followers and engage in close-combat without fearing for bystanders. It was always so messy when noncombatants were involved.
He cut the corner to the left and suddenly, all the busy noise of the street disappeared. This was one of the less popular blocks in the district; not only known for robberies and theft, these streets were also notorious for the heavy amount of shady traffic, ranging between drugs and alcohol to simple partying. But if you did not belong to that circuit, you had no business there.
But he had. Perhaps that was why the Vale PD did not work there? The amount of money and people they would have to invest was simply too large for such a petty circuit like that. Proper cleaning had to be left to other organizations, it seemed.
The Operative kept on walking, ignoring the alley to his left where a man with a brown coat and a cap suddenly jerked into movement. He had his hands in his pockets and his gaze low, allowing nobody to see his face. The peculiar way that he suddenly moved when he had laid his eyes on him was indicative of his objective: him.
Greystone slowed his already less-than-normal pace down a bit to allow the man to catch up. Hands in his pockets…strange bulbous object sticking out from pocket indicating firearm…anxious yet synchronous footsteps…this man was planning to confront him.
He could turn around and shoot the man then and there; there wasn't anyone around that would serve as a witness he would have to take care of too and it would serve to avoid all other unwanted interaction…yet he could not shoot him just yet. If that man was simply seeking to sell him something or worse, have a little 'chat' with him, he would have made unnecessary noise. And that would most likely compromise this place for the coming hours –his meeting was in the evening and Junior was only in the Club for a very specific hour. After that, his bird would have flown. And a gunshot followed by a body wasn't going to raise his odds.
"Hey you," the man hissed and he turned around, his arms in an unsuspecting idle position from where he could pull his gun out with ease.
"Sir?" He asked the man. That bulbous protrusion in his jacket did not completely look like a firearm…but he would not risk it.
"This is a robbery, give me-"
The rest of his words were cut off as 12.7 x 40 mm round tore through his skull, coating the old brick wall behind him with blood and bits of brain. The man was dead before he knew what hit him and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The Operative sighed and placed his pistol back. This was exactly the kind of unnecessary action that he had not wanted to be at the receiving end of. Why did that have to happen to him? The man could have just picked someone else.
Kneeling down next to the lifeless body, he began searching the pockets for any proof that this man was on the blacklist, justifying the kill. He found three wallets and a condom, but no weapons. Not a single knife, gun or otherwise lethal arms –and nothing that indicated that this man was a dangerous individual.
Great. Firing a gun when it had not been necessary. Now he couldn't finish his scouting operation, meaning that he would have to go in blind when the night came. And that could result in an even higher death toll.
Now that his cover was blown, he might as well do something useful to kill the time before he would have to play the game. The top priority for now was to get out of that area before the police decided to come: they were not too eager to take care of the criminals there, but once a shoot-out began they were among the first people to actually show up. He didn't want to have problems with the Police. The last time, he had been forced to slaughter an entire unit to escape.
He back-tracked his way through the alleys, making sure that there was nobody around that could identify him as the killer. Once he had made his carefully-plotted way out of that sector, he resurfaced near the edge of the City-district.
It was eight nineteen and he still had to wait twelve hours before it was time. There was only so much time spent by practicing with his weapons and cleaning his armour. After that he usually switched by practicing with his armour and cleaning his weapons. But he had done so yesterday; his guns were all shiny, his knife was sharp enough to cut through Ursa-plating and his suit was completely repaired.
Neither could he just map the city of Vale to determine all possible sites of attack, roads that could be blocked or areas where ambushes could be staged, because he had already done so the first eight days at Beacon. As a result, he now knew where he could go when attacking, where he could go when defending and where he had to go when he needed a place to hide. Apart from the governmental buildings and docs, of course.
The last time he had spent more than ten minutes staring at the building where majority of the political parties resided, a whole bunch of security guards had appeared to arrest him for…whatever it was that they thought he had been doing. Something about terrorism and mass-murder…it had been a very stupid reason, actually. Why would he even bother to scout a building from up close if he planned death?
If he wanted to assassinate such a politician, he would scout the building through the scope of a sniper rifle before taking the shot. Something as obvious as staring at the walls, hoping that some sort of weakness would reveal itself was something he would leave to other people. Like demolition experts.
He shook his head slightly and continued through the city, hoping that he would encounter something that could ease him. He was starting to feel restless and that was always a bad thing. If things went according to plan, he would soon be very busy. But for now, he had to do anything at all that kept him busy until that precise moment came.
A few shops…passengers in cars…a newscast in an electronics shop that said something about a certain Vytal Festival anniversary… nothing of interest to him, really.
Greystone stopped at another shop. It depicted a poster of children playing in mud, while it was raining. In some backyard. A poster for selling clothes. It looked very real, too. He could nearly feel the mud sucking on his boot, nearly hear the children screaming and the sounds of machinegun-fire ripping…what was one more?
Right. Yes. Of course. That too. Forgotten that too.
The sides of his vision were becoming blurry and he snapped out of it. It was eight forty-nine and there was still nothing to do. Perhaps he should go back to the castle and practice some more? Mantis had managed to beat him because he had not been fast enough. He had spent most of the time that wasn't consumed by colleges and equipment maintenance by simply practicing his aim and training his reflexes. If Mantis got the drop on him like that again, it would be over. He had no idea why she had been there other than her being a mercenary. Someone with her skills could get rich very quickly…no, it wasn't like hr. There was no way that she would ever sell her loyalty. She had defected, but why? What for? She just wasn't the type for petty vengeance and money.
Well, type or not, next time he encountered her he would end her.
A girl from across the street winked at him, but he ignored her and kept moving. There was a large and loud café up ahead and the pink neon sign that adorned it was partially successful in attracting his attention.
It read: "Breakfast Machine opening! Free breakfast for ALL Huntsmen-and-Huntresses-to-be!"
And below that: "Premier at 9:00:00"
…breakfast…machine? Seriously? The strange workings of civilian minds were as intangible as ever…it was why he had never bothered with understanding them. There was a big crowd of people already forming in front of the gates. It was eight fifty-four and that meant six minutes before this ridiculous place would open. And he would be gone long before that, because he had NO intention of sticking around when a shop was that busy in the morning.
Absolutely no way at al- wait one, who were that?
He frowned and instantly blended in with a nearby wall to prevent anyone from recognizing him. Of course they would be there. Team CRDL from Beacon, the very first in line when it came to free things and food. It was only to be expected though; this place was tailoring their business specifically for Beacon students and the only group weak-minded enough to fall for such an obvious trap –because it had to be trap for the students- was team CRDL.
And if he were to be seen by them, a confrontation would be inevitable. Winchester had never actually forgiven him for dumping them in that pool of mud and thereby causing them to fail the course. They had been able to make a fool out of him once, the first day that he joined the colleges again after his wounds, but never again. There had been an electrical tension in the air, which he knew only he had picked up. A tension that always stirred whenever someone was about to die. Had Cardin pushed his luck…no.
So in essence, team CRDL was still looking for a bone to pick with him. And he would not allow them to indulge in their petty revenges, because he knew himself. If CRDL wanted to get into a fight with them, he would kill all four of them. No questions asked. And that scenario would kill all of his shots at keeping a low profile at Beacon…and eventually his entire presence in Vale would be revealed. Not acceptable. It wasn't what he wanted.
So he kept his distance from the four as he had done for an entire week, choosing to stick close to team RWBY as an escort. But if they wanted to be so oblivious to such an obvious trap and blunder into it, he would not stop them.
He was about to turn around and leave when he heard voices –the real kind, not the ones of terrified children.
"I want to goooo! Hurry up now, I am hungry!"
"Ruby watch out, the cars!"
"Those things are not fast enough to hit her."
"Damnit Ruby! Watch out where you are going!"
Team RWBY. And team JNPR –walking a few meters behind them. What were they doing here? Why were they up so early if not to go on a mission?
He turned around again and looked at the neon sign. "Free breakfast-"
No. They could not be that stupid…teams RWBY and JNPR could not be stupid enough to actually believe that propagandistic nonsense about Beacon students getting free food. It was a trap; couldn't they see that? What was wrong with those people? If they walked in there, they would get cut down in an ambush.
Now he had a problem. If it were just CRDL, he could simply let them die. But RWBY and JNPR were a different story. He needed JNPR as cover in Beacon and Ruby…if they all died…that would not be pretty. It was either him moving away and letting everyone die in that sneakily-staged ambush, or sticking around and torturing himself with needless banter, social interaction and attention.
He sighed, already knowing how to deal with this problem. Of course he would stick around to warn them. He had grown to like Ruby too much. But that did necessarily have to mean that he would run across the wide-open area, subjecting himself to sniper fire and gleefully greeting the eight students in his attempt to warn them away.
No. He would simply join them in the café and help them out when the trap would be sprung on them. Come to think of it…such a painfully obvious name would be too obvious. People would start thinking it through…plus there was the whole campaigning act. No…there probably wasn't anyone in there that wanted to murder the young students of Beacon.
…but it never helped to be sure. He would stick with them for just this once to make sure that everything was in order for civilian standards. After all, children thrust fresh into a conflict could easily lose themselves.
~0~
Beacon dormitories, 8:26
Saturday morning. The new day that would spell a change for the better in Vale…hopefully. The last time a new diner or restaurant in the city had opened up with such glamour and spectacle, it had turned out to be discriminating against Faunus-kind: no Faunus was to enter that specific building.
And that was the way things went in Vale. The unnecessary hate against Fauna had been increasing for two years now and with the addition of people actually banning them from their own clubs and diners, that hate was now escalating.
Velvet Scarletina had hoped that she would find a better place somewhere…ever since had graduated from her combat school, in fact. But Beacon was no different from the rest of the city. Even at the most prestigious Academy in the whole of Vale –stationed right in the capital of the Kingdom- she was a victim of racist students. Like the four boys from team CRDL, for example. They were the newest ones in a year, fittingly.
It was the typical school bully and his gang of allies scenario…one guy in particular had a bone to pick with her and his friends quickly followed. It usually started with hurtful jokes and mean remarks and it always ended with physical violence. There was no way of stopping it…and very few to none of the students of either schools had actually stood up for her. Her team hadn't been there at the moment.
But that was ok. She knew that it was an extremely dangerous thing to do to stand up against the popular people that loved to belittle the less fortunate. Whether those were Faunus, weak or simply strange. She had gotten sort of used to it, but that didn't make it less painful. Every single time she heard the voice of someone, she felt her stomach tighten in anticipation and her heartbeat fastening as if it knew that something was about to happen.
She sighed and she hugged the heavy book closer to her chest, hoping that she could find her dorms or the ladies-bathroom in time. She had wanted first simply tried to get to her locker without running into anyone, but the recent commercials concerning the opening of 'Breakfast Machine' had caused the normally ever-so peaceful Saturday-morning to become much more…busy. So when she had almost reached her locker to grab her gear for the day, her sensitive ears had picked up the echoing footsteps of a heavy student walking through the hallways. And given the known fact that there was one particular heavy student at Beacon, one might understand why she had then attempted to find a new route.
But while she had initially found success, a problem had surfaced later one. Her team, namely, was still sleeping back in their dormitories. She had snuck her way out of her room to get her book and find a place somewhere safe to study in peace…something that was not very easy, considering the extent of her hearing range.
But now that she had finally found both her book and a route back to her dorms, she heard those thundering steps again. There was only one student fortunately, but that was still a problem…because it was still the same one.
Velvet swallowed and rounded the corner in an attempt to get away as fast as possible –and stumbled upon an intersection with two other hallways, where the route to her team had effectively blended in with a whole new route. This was JUST her luck…weren't rabbits supposed to have good luck?
…not that she actually had had good fortune…not in a very long time. She spun around desperately to find out where the footsteps were coming from, but there was a frustrating echo effect that made it very hard for her to get a bead on the origin of the sound. Where was the guy coming from? Where should she go? Did it make sense to simply pick a random hall and try her luck there? No…luck never worked…what would she do? What would she-
"Watch out where you're going you freak!" A loud voice yelled in very close proximity to her, causing her to jump at least a foot in the air. Turning around to face her stalker, she came face to face with Cardin Winchester; the biggest bully of them all.
"Well well…look what we got here?" He then sneered, realizing just who he had encountered in that early morning on the ever-peaceful Saturday. "Little miss Faunus herself, all alone!"
"Please…" She said, her voice cracking under the stress. She could already feel tears forming in her eyes, but she would not falter. If she broke down in crying now, she would never get away. A bully was just like a dog; violent and keen to prey on the weak ones. If she showed any sign of weakness whatsoever, the dog would attack.
"I don't even think you can read?" The boy then sneered and grabbed her book, yanking her one solid source of protection out of her grasp with sheer force.
"Animals can't read, everybody knows that." He laughed and then started to walk away, choosing one of the random hallways to disappear into.
"Wait! That's mine!" She cried in despair, feeling her tears bordering on the verge of breaking out.
Her pleading fell on deaf ears and the tough-built student walked away with her priced book, the Anatomy and Mentality of Grimm. Oh how desperately she had wanted to show the class that she too could be an excellent student…and now this…this jerk came along and decided to simply steal her property! Just when she was about to get into a safe area too! The unfairness of it all was enough to allow her tears to run down her cheek unopposed, but nobody was there to see it. Cardin was walking away with her book, laughing like he had just pulled the funniest joke in the world. That guy was sick!
"Please…" She whispered and stumbled backwards, hitting the wall with her back. No way was she going to get that book back now…it would probably serve as fuel for a fire or something equally disgracing...it was so unfair…what had she ever done to him? What had Faunus-kind ever done to him?
Her knees nearly buckled as she continued to cry in silence, not knowing what to do now. Perhaps she could ask Professor Adamant whether he had another book for her. That man seemed like a very trustworthy person…even though he had accidentally blown up a female toilet when she first saw him…
No. She couldn't tell anyone what had happened today, or Cardin would pick on her even more. It was a dangerous thing to rise up against bullies and only a few people pull something like that off. It would be better to go unnoticed…even though it caused her so much pain.
Fresh tears hit the ground and she sniffed once, trying to maintain a proper posture. Oh how that boy would laugh if he could see her now…she couldn't allow him to have fun over her misery, she had to recollect herself! It was only a book; it wasn't as if he had hurt her physically –but words could hurt too…and the mere fact that he had both called her an animal and a freak was enough for her heart to clench together in pain. His opinion shouldn't matter that much, but it reflected what the entire world seemed to think about her –or the Fauna in general. Their violence and hate knew no boundaries…and soon, one of the students would go farther than the general bullying and actually commit a hate-crime. Mankind had tried to oppress the Fauna once before…
Cardin's loud voice rang out again. "Hey!" He shouted at another person, probably spotting someone else he could hurt. "What are you-"
She heard a faint 'thud' as a body hit a wall and figured that Winchester had gotten violent again. Perhaps he had found Jaune Arc?
Footsteps again. Someone else was walking down the hall…was Cardin going back to further humiliate her? Hadn't he done enough?!
Her gaze slowly shifted from the ground underneath her feet to the place where the sound of footsteps was coming from. She saw the figure walking out of the long hallway and her heart skipped a beat when she processed just who it was –and then a cold pit formed in her stomach, pinning her to the ground and preventing her from budging an inch.
Frozen in fear, they called it. And that was quite fitting, actually. A person like Cardin –for all the horrors and pain he could inflect- had certain boundaries he would stick to. Things that he would and would not do: he had standards. He was just a school bully, incapable of truly doing the actual horrible things to his fellow men.
The black-clad soldier who was now walking down the hallway, however, did not have that problem. She had heard what had happened and she had read the reports: these people had single-handedly murdered up to thirty surrendering gangsters after teams RBWY, JNPR and LACG had knocked them out or captured them. A slaughter of helpless prisoners. This person that was walking towards her, his visor aimed at something in his hands, was the true monster. Not bully could live up to that –and if she did not run away RIGHT NOW she would perish at his hands.
His polarized visor snapped up at her and she could imagine the cold eyes behind it focusing on her large rabbit-ears, identifying her as the perfect prey Her heart was beating like crazy and she air was growing very warm, despite the chilly breezes of wind that usually permeated these hallways.
The 'man' walked closer and closer to her, never once faltering with his unyielding stare from behind that accursed helmet. Why couldn't they leave her alone? Why couldn't they all leave her alone!
She closed her eyes and she felt her knees fully buckle under her weight, allowing her body to drop to the floor. She was absolutely terrified…this was all just too much .All she had ever wanted was to read that book and study for the coming courses. She never wanted this! She never wanted any of this-
'Hey." A voice said, slightly muffled in origin. It didn't sound unfriendly; on the contrary, it sounded actually pretty nice. "Young. Kind."
She opened one eye and then the other one. She was still alone in her half-crouching half-sitting position, with the only other person on the area being the one with the helmet. Was he…talking to her?
"Are you alright ma'am?" He said. Why was he talking so respectfully to her? Was this some sort of trick?
And then she saw what it was that he was holding in his hands. It wasn't a large knife or a rifle of any sort: it was Anatomy and Mentality of Grimm. Her book. This man had faced Cardin himself to get her book back. But why? Why would he do something like that?
"I-" she muttered, not knowing what to say. Everyone behaved like these five soldiers were sociopathic murderers, yet this man had willingly retrieved her book for her. Even though he was simply standing there, looking a bit awkward, there was nothing hostile about him. Had people been lying? Mistaken?
Perhaps this was a younger one? Or a nicer one? She didn't know anything about sociopaths except for the obvious thing –the lack of emotions and empathy- but this person seemed like he genuinely cared for her! Was he just messing with her? People had done that before, and she wasn't going to trust this one.
No…she had a sixth sense for detecting ill intentions from people. This man truly did not want to harm her. At least he didn't give her the creeps she normally felt before people started messing with her.
"I-" Why didn't her words come? What should she do now?
Then the man reached out, grabbed her arm and dragged her up. It wasn't the gentlest way to assist her…but it was the gesture that counted. How could these people have such horrific reputations when this one was obviously just trying to help?
Then he offered her the book. "Is this yours?'
Words did not seem to work, so she nodded instead, leading up the man returning her precious book to her. This was the biggest stroke of luck in a very long time…if it continued to go like this, at least.
He looked behind him again and then seemed to decide that it would be the best for him to keep moving. But she did not want him to leave!
…why didn't she want him to leave?
"W-what is your n-name?" She asked him, hoping to buy time for her own heart to calm down and actually gather some courage.
He turned around and faced her again. "Lima two-one," He said without a hint of shame in his voice. It was obvious that he did not care about his name like that…but at the very least he could tell her what his real name was?
"Y-your name h-has a number?" She asked him, feeling stupid for asking such a question. This man –no, not a man. He sounded too young to be a man…this young man had practically saved her from Cardin. It was unwise to question him like that.
He shrugged. "Yeah…" He said, not seeming to understand the problem. He was about to turn around again when another boundary-breaking idea jumped into her mind.
"C-could you p-perhaps walk w-with me? T-to the dorms?"
He was silent for a long while, slowly causing her to think that her initial thought had been right and that he truly did not want to have anything to do with her. But after ten seconds of silence, he eventually replied –much to her surprise and delight. "Of course."
Velvet smiled. It had been a long time since anyone apart from her team had shown her kindness.
Vale city district -8:58
It was finally time! The time was finally there! Breakfast at the Breakfast Machine! That café had been the subject of many commercial spots on the television and now it was finally time to allow the café to live up to its reputation!
Oh Ruby could see it now. The bright, pink neon sign that indicated the delicious gathering of food and coziness and warmth and-
"Is that team CRDL?" Blake said with a frown.
-and CRDL…apparently…oh well, they weren't edible. Nothing would ruin her mood now! Nothing could stop her!
Ruby stopped a few meters in front of the entrance and tried to maintain a nonchalant posture, not at all trying to look at the four large guys who were standing at the entrance of the café, bashing their way through the crowd of people to get inside.
JNPR joined her team at the front of the building. Even though Cardin's bullying had gotten much worse to Jaune over the course of the two weeks, Jaune was still as lifelike as he had been at the very beginning. But he was less naïve and uncertain now…there were actual moments where he got dead serious now. One might mind that those moments were almost always brought on by Cardin's presence, but at the very least they were enough for him to motivate his team. During the various colleges with the various Professors, he actually scored a few points now and then.
That didn't seem to help him, however, as he still looked a bit depressed whenever he was sitting in the dining hall and CRDL walked past them. One of these days, something would have to happen to either him or Cardin that would tip the scales of that conflict a bit. And perhaps it would be the best for Jaune if he provided that nudge himself too.
Oh well, it didn't work to muse about things like that when there were freshly baked cookies and cakes waiting for her. So when both Jaune and Pyrrha walked up to her and Yang, she just smiled and waved at them. At least the boy looked happy now. Pyrrha was always able to cheer him up merely by being near him and she knew why that was.
But she would not say anything about it; Professor Adamant had told her that it was not socially acceptable to meddle in the affairs of other people when there wasn't any danger or people to be impressed.
The doors could open any second now. Ruby could feel it in her heart –it was almost time. She looked around her one final time to confirm that everyone was there, as team LACG would show up later. Yang…check. Weiss…check. Blake with her bow…check. Jaune and Pyrrha being lovely- check. Ren and Nora…check. Will…check .Good! Everyone was there!'
…wait what?
"Will?" She jumped a meter backwards when she saw him standing there. "What are you doing here?"
Jaune slowly looked to his side, saw the sudden appearance of the teamless student and nearly stumbled backwards. Pyrrha actually had to prevent him from falling onto the hard concrete and supported his body with her arms.
Weiss gave a little girly scream of surprise and –as expected- instantly turned into angry Weiss. "How long have you been in the city? We had looked for you in your little hidey hole!"
Will had the strange tendency to pop up randomly and act like he had been present the entire time. It was a good thing he was here though; he had isolated himself terribly the first few days after his return to Beacon. His first steps to visiting colleges had been tentative at best.
Ruby was about to go and meet him, but Blake beat her to it, joining her team when she had first been standing in the back to observe the crowd of people. "Why are you here? You didn't strike as the type to enjoy a place like this."
Well, Blake had a point. Someone like Will might be expected to eat in his own…dark…corrupted…diabolical…Hangar bay. But not in a fancy and happy place like Breakfast Machine. So…why was he here?
"I had an errand to run," he said, speaking the most words Ruby had heard out of him in three days. At least Alessa and Cho were forced to speak their minds every once in a while, but without someone that cared about him, Will was not subjected to that same influence. While it was good to see him out among the living again, she couldn't help but think that something was wrong. No, not think. It was more of a feeling. The same feeling she had had on the day he had reappeared. She couldn't put her finger on it.
But she had seen what a group of people could do to another person…what RWBY had done to Weiss and Blake…and her, to an extent. And while the opposite could also be stated when one looked at the influence CRDL held over Jaune, she couldn't just let an opportunity like this go to waste.
That haunting in his eyes hadn't gone away. "Okay," Ruby slowly started, locking eyes with Yang's. The blonde was still staring at Will with a slight frown on her face…like something was wrong. Like she knew something was wrong. "Do you…want to join us?"
He looked at her. Ruby could see Weiss–now positioned behind him- subtly making cutting gestures to her throat, indicating that she did not want to be around him. Silly little Schnee Heiress…she didn't need to see those gestures to guess her intentions. She was perfectly capable of seeing what Weiss wanted by focusing on her eyes and the stance of her shoulders. Also, her clenched fists were a pretty big clue. Weiss did NOT like Will and she couldn't exactly blame her for that…but she hadn't liked her before and look at them now! Partners, friends and messing around!
No…wait…that last one did not belong there.
The boy glanced around –a quick movement that indicated that he was also NOT feeling comfortable. His sudden movement caused both Jaune and Weiss to flinch and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He was a sharp one, despite his total lack of people skills. And then: "Sure."
Yang slowly opened her mouth, failed to cook up words that could cut it and closed her mouth again. And Ruby totally agreed with her sister there; words did NOT cut it. Will, wanting to join them in something as trivial as breakfast? Wonders hadn't ceased. And she was happy for it.
"Well then!" Ruby said before any awkward questions could be asked. "Shall we go?"
As if a god in the sky had wanted to confirm her request, the doors opened and the two dozen people that were waiting in front of them all marched inside, clearing the way for them.
She didn't wait for the rest of her team and instantly charged towards the set of double doors, hoping that there would still be a special table for Beacon students. But she would not neglect her duties as a teamleader! While staring through the pretty interior of the shop to scout for any table large enough to accommodate thirteen people, she also kept a close eye in the present members of JNPR and RWBY.
Jaune offered Pyrrha an arm –which she gracefully took- and the two of them strolled towards the entrance. Weiss merely shook her head without a smile and followed them with Blake close on her heels, wearing a cute little smile.
Blake needed to smile more.
Will student didn't seem to move one inch, so Yang took it upon herself to force him to do so. She grabbed him by his arm, forcefully so, and pulled him inside. A bit unceremoniously. It was kind of unnecessary to do, seeing as he had already agreed to join them but…it was Yang's way of saying "Hello, join our group," and seeing Will kick with his feet as he attempted to keep up with her was kind of funny.
And breakfast with the complete collection of Beacon students in a single building that was not Beacon would be even funnier.
Headmaster Ozpin sat on the opposite end of the large desk, eyeing his staff with a mixture of concern and hope. "Now that we have come so far, there is something I must tell you all."
His people sat up straighter, looking at him with wonder and that same concern. He saw Professor Goodwitch staring at him. Had he betrayed her trust by keeping this from them? Or was this a case of simply using trust to cover up secrets?
There was no way of knowing. "Several months ago, a man sought me out. A man with a proposal. He proposed a joint-cooperation between Beacon Academy and his own organization. I was skeptical at first. He did not care. This man said he knew that things were spinning out of control in Remnant. That the Kingdoms would soon face more troubles than they could handle. That Beacon would need to stand tall."
He paused and the result was immediate.
"Right. I know there are civil wars and insurrections in Vacuo and Mistral, but how does he know? Was it a threat?" asked Professor Adamant.
"I never thought it was a threat. It was a message, foreboding in its nature."
"What did you tell him, sir?" asked Professor Port.
"I told him that, should anyone from Beacon find themselves in mortal danger, I would gladly accept any form of cooperation. And until that moment arrived, I would not bind myself in any way. Later, he contacted me again. The man said that things had been set in motion and a new deal was made." He paused to let that sink in. "They would deal with the lack of communications between the Kingdoms and in turn, they would send one of their students to Beacon."
Professor Goodwitch gasped and Johnson frowned. "And at the start of this year, the Councils of Mistral and Vale started negotiations? Is this a thing?"
"Not only that, Atlas and Vacuo completely opened their borders to each other," said Professor Peach. "But Ozpin, is this not a coincidence? Who is this man? This organization of his?"
"I do not know his name. But nonetheless, a deal was a deal."
"And the boy named Greystone came here," said Professor Oobleck with an expressionless face.
"Indeed. The boy is from the same organization. They called it…Onyx Academy."
A whisper ran through the ranks of the assorted Professors and Matt Adamant sat up straighter. "Onyx? Oxford? The same as that letter I got."
"I would think so."
"Ozpin," Glynda Goodwitch slowly said, "when you said 'mortal danger'…"
He nodded gravely. "I know. When the five-man team of Fireteam Lima interfered, they may have well saved lives. "
"And a deal was struck," commented Adamant.
"And a deal was struck. I intent to find out more about this 'Onyx Academy' and what they represent. What power they hold. But for now…I want all of you to be aware of this."
Much to their credit, none of his staff seemed to be mad at him. There were looks of doubt and uncertainty…hesitation here and there, but no accusatory stares. They were with him a hundred percent.
And a hundred percent was what he needed if they were going to solve this conspiracy together.
Recent insurgency reports:
A group of 22 Servants of Menagerie attempted to enter Kingdom of Vale through Harvest, having heard of Whtie Fang activity in city of Vale. {Located and neutralized.}
A group of radical Faunus-youths attempted to travel through Luna to Vale to join White Fang. Police departments and Luna's military were alerted and the Faunus were apprehended. {No casualties.}
Several smaller groups of as-of-yet unidentified terrorists attempted to cross Vale's borders. {Located and neutralized. }
Splinter-cell of Atlas military managed to intercept a dossier on a clandestine operation in Arcadia. [Located and neutralized.]
"Vale's seen more action in the past week than it has in months. The removal of all syndicates and cartels must have alarmed several higher-ups or something…"