Chapter Forty-Seven: Hunter Initiative
The rest of the flight to Mantel was done mostly silence after Weiss finished her tale about her sister. The quiet was occasionally broken by Yang either adjusting the coordinates after checking with Weiss to fly though dead zones to avoid Mantle Air Patrols or by Ruby who was fine tuning her teams weapons, though she didn't have time to finish the modification she wanted to she did have time to adjust them just a bit. Currently she was fine tuning the exhaust port Myrtenaster make Weiss' Dust casting use less Dust. She had already finished filing Gambol Shroud ejection port to prevent jams from happening while the weapon swung about. Yang had protested a bit at first, she still wasn't on board with the design changes but after a few pouts Ruby got her wish and added knuckle guards with a few spare parts she always carried in her backpack.
Weiss paid little attention to the wolf beside her preferring to watch out the window every once and a while running her fingers through Ruby's hair or across her tail absently. When she got close to the wolf's ears Ruby would lean into the touch before returning to her work. Blake was sitting up front with Yang acting as co-pilot though she was spending more time reading her book more than paying attention to the instruments. Penny went largely ignored by the rest of them but she barely drew attention to herself anyways, though it was rather creep that she never moved even when the Bullhead hit a bit of turbulence.
A blip from the cockpit made Yang blink in confusion, "Ummm, Weiss? Is the Leviathan Facility surrounded by restricted air space?"
"Yes but my passcode could have bypassed any security we may encounter…" The Heiress trailed off as she slowly let her gaze drift over to the mechanical girl standing on the other side of the aircraft. "Shit, you let them know didn't you?" Weiss growled at the doll grabbing her rapier.
"I'm sorry Miss Schnee but I must follow my orders. And they are to not allow you to reach your destination." Penny explained a slight hissing noise filled the cabin as ten swords started rise up from behind the doll. Weiss stiffened, the memory of her first fight with the mechanized doll forming in her head as she a growling from behind her. She knew Ruby couldn't draw her scythe in the cramped aircraft but the doll couldn't use its weapons to its full advantage either. "Now please surrender quietly."
"Weiss? Ruby? What's going on back there?" Yang called out as Blake drew her weapon as she stepped into the back drawing her weapon.
"Just keep us flying Yang." Ruby called back stepping up beside Weiss. "We'll handle it."
"Miss Schnee, surely you know that the odds are against you." Penny shook her head.
"I've taken one of you out before." Weiss shot back readying her sword. "And this time I've got my team with me."
Penny gave a fake sigh, "Miss Schnee the prototype you took out was only the third instance of my programming, I am much more advanced."
"The swords are on wires." Weiss explained to her teammates as the swords started to dance about behind the machine, "They have a limited range, though they may have extended the length so even if you think you're out of its range you might not be. Each one can move independently as well."
"I have allowed you enough time to surrender Miss Schnee," Penny explained, "Now I will be using force." Without further preamble the swords shot forward forcing Ruby to dodge to the side while both Blake and Weiss parried them away. With a flick of her wrist Blake transformed her left Gambol Shroud and threw it towards the doll's legs hoping to pull it of balance.
The doll didn't even bother to look at the incoming attack as a sword flicked down to deflect the chained weapon as another shot towards the panther forcing her to deflect it. With a limited space Weiss couldn't use her full range of attacks and was many forced to either deflect or make small jabs at the doll, and she didn't dare use Dust in the confined space. Seeing four blades rush towards her she summoned a repulsion glyph hoping to knock them back into the doll. Instead Penny redirected them into the hull and floor of the Bullhead while sending two more towards the Heiress. As Ruby couldn't draw her scythe she was forced to continue to dodge around the swords trying to tangle the fine wires she had spotted connected to each blade.
As the three fought in the back Yang continued to pilot the aircraft glancing back to make sure everyone was unharmed until a loud alarm filled the air, "SHIT! We've got incoming fire!" The blonde started flipping switches reading the air defenses while pushing down on the throttle into maneuvering speeds. "Hang on it's gonna get bumpy!" Yanking the control stick to the left she sent the ship into a tight roll.
Ruby, Weiss and Blake had little time to process what Yang had held as they were suddenly jerked to backwards as the Bullhead sped up suddenly and were tossed into the air as Yang preformed the roll. Reacting quickly Weiss summoned a glyph around each of them protecting from the incoming swords that tried to attack while they couldn't move. When the roll finished each of the girls was thrown to the floor and even the doll stumbled a bit.
"Yang keep us steady." Ruby called out as she rolled away from another set of blades that rushed towards her.
"Then tell them to stop firing at us!" Yang yelled back as she pushed the Bullhead into a sharp dive to avoid another barrage of shoots. She hadn't dived fast enough as two round detonated close to the tail making the Bullhead buck again this time even the doll lost its footing causing it to hit its back against the side of the ship.
As the dive continued the girls in the back experienced a few moments of weightlessness, in those few moments Ruby noticed something about the swords, they could retract but they could not fire out as they required the weight of gravity to work. "Weiss, Blake I have an idea. Yang get us up high."
"I can try." Yang growled out as she strained to pull up out of the dive. They were only about thirty feet above the snow when she managed to pull up skimming a few trees as they leveled out. As they leveled out the fighters jumped quickly to their feet, the doll sent two swords into the Bullhead just behind its feet steading it.
Seeing her chance Blake lashed out at few of the swords hoping to sever a few of the wires only to push them off target an smash the window beside her causing more warning sirens to start blaring, "Loosing cabin pressure." Yang called from the front, "We're not going to be able to get very high at this rate."
"I only need a moment." Ruby replied as she dodged another swipe of the swords. She rolled underneath the wires putting her near the cockpit and facing the doll's back.
Weiss seeing Ruby's position began to put together her wolf's plan and smirk in response. She summoned a glyph and shot forward drawing the doll's attention and keeping it off of Ruby. Slipping in and out of the swords she skated about the cabin knocking the swords into the hull of the Bullhead. Blake also started to pick up on her leaders plan and started to use her shadows to draw the swords that were attacking her away from the wolf. The doll seemed unaware as to what they were doing and kept her attention on the attackers.
"And up." Yang called out as the Bullhead suddenly lurched nearly straight upward. Both Weiss and Blake were nearly slammed into the back hatch of craft but they adjusted themselves to land on their feet. Ruby would have been thrown into the back of the doll but she grabbed hold of a brace bar and held herself in place as the Bullhead quickly ascended.
The air inside the ship grew colder rapidly causing ice to form on the inside of the front window as each sword were retracted from the haul of the ship more air to rush out of this ship cooling it even more and just as the swords were about to strike out Yang pushed the ship again into a sharp dive rendering the wires useless. As the dive began Weiss and Blake pushed off of the back hatch as Ruby hit the release opening it. As the two girls passed by the doll they sliced the wires connecting the swords that were still impaled into the haul.
Switching her position so her feet were against the wall Ruby pulled up her semblance and with a mighty shove she shot off the metal and towards the doll flipping around to kick the machine out the back hatch and into the open air. Just as she was to pass through the hatch herself a large blue glyph appeared at her feet catching her. Looking down she saw Weiss and Blake hanging onto straps with the Heiress' hand extended downward holding the glyph in place.
Yang gave a mighty yell as she yanked hard on the stick causing the Bullhead to groan in protest. This time they only just barely managed to level out smashing into even more tress as they raced by. Blake reached up and hit the button to close the hatch as Ruby dropped to the ground, the hatch only close halfway before the hydraulics seized up. Weiss ran over to Ruby and helped her up, "That was reckless Ruby." She said as she checked her over, "But I'll admit it was clever."
"Thanks." Ruby smiled as she reached up and pecked at the Heiress' lips.
"Umm, hate to break up the party but we're still being shot at." Yang yelled back as the Bullhead bucked again. There was flash of light outside one of the windows causing the ship to rock violently to the side. "Shit we lost engine two. Strap in ladies we're going down." The blonde flipped a switch causing a blast shield to go across the inside of the front windshield but it to only closed partway. Weiss pulled Ruby over to one of the seats and the two quickly strapped themselves in while Blake did the same across from them. "Brace for impact." Yang called out as she tightened down her own harness with one hand while still trying to steady the Bullhead with the other.
The first hit was almost soft as the metal haul skipped across the surface of the ground before launching back into the air. The following hits were much harder and jarring as the Bullhead crashed against the uneven surface tossing it in different directions. The craft pitched and rolled violently tossing its passengers about on the inside, the frame crumpled but only in the designated areas as to keep them from getting crushed. When they finally came to a spot the silence was eerie.
Giving a small cough of blood into her hand Yang called back, "Everyone breathing still?"
Blake looked about seeing both Weiss and Ruby were hanging above her still strapped into their seats, "They're out cold but it looks like they're alive." The panther slowly reached up disengaged her own harness. As she tried to sit up pain lanced across her shoulders making her cry out, looking over she saw her left was definitely dislocated. "I'm gonna need some help getting to them though."
"I've got ya Kitty Cat." Yang chuckled as she unclipped herself and promptly fell to the side causing her to grunt in pain, "Fuck that hurt." The blonde grumbled as she stepped through to the back. Blake looked at her face in pure horror, the left side of Yang's face was covered in blood, "Shield didn't catch all of the glass." She explained reaching down to help Blake up. "It will heal. Want me to help you with your shoulder?" Blake nodded, "On three. One, two." With a quick wrench Yang popped Blake's shoulder back into place.
"What happened to three?" Blake growled as she winced at the pain and then relaxed as her shoulder fell back into its correct position.
"It's overrated." Yang smirked, "Now you go disengage their harness I'll catch." Blake nodded as she climbed up to the unconscious pair. Reaching Weiss first she reached for the button while looking down to make sure Yang was ready. At a nod from the blonde she pressed the button sending the Heiress into her arms. Yang caught the falling girl only to fall herself coughing hard.
"Yang!" Blake called out, ready to drop to the aid of the other girl.
Yang waved her off as she rolled Weiss off of her and on to her side. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a broken rib, I think, lets get Ruby down then we can get out of this tin can." She struggled to her feet and nodded showing she was ready.
With a sigh Blake reached over and pressed the button on Ruby's harness only this time she let go as the wolf fell and landed lightly on feet beside Yang keeping her up right as Ruby landed in her sister's arms. "Got her?" She confirmed getting a nod from Yang. "Right let's go." She said picking Weiss up off the ground. As they reached the back hatch Blake reached down and pulled a lever that set off some small explosives blowing the back hatch off. "You didn't happen to get a look at our location did you before we crashed?"
Yang shook her head, "I think we're still about five miles out from the facility but with these two in this condition I doubt we'll make it very far."
Blake was about to reply when she hear a high pitched whine, higher that what human's could hear coming from behind them. Glancing over her shoulder she noticed the two swords that were still stuck in the hull of the Bullhead, only instead of glowing green they were red. It took only a second for what was about to happen click in the panthers mind, "Yang dive!" She cried out just as the two swords detonated throwing them both forward and into the Atlas snow.
Blake's head rang like a gong as she struggled to lift her head off the snow. The world spun around her as dark figure approached them. "Command this is Captain Rourke, we have the Prometheus." One of the figure's spoke as she tired to struggle to her feet.
"What of the others?" Another asked.
"Bring them, the Doctor wants to have a chat with them." The first voice replied. Blake looked up and was able to focus on the mask of a SDC commando before he brought the butt of his rifle crashing to the side of her head.
When Blake came to she quickly realized that her wrists and ankles where strapped to a metal chair. Looking around she found Weiss in a similar position on her right and Yang on her left, it appeared both girls were still out cold, continuing her scan she could make out no trace of Ruby. Falling back into her skills as an infiltrator the panther started to take stock of the room they were in.
It appeared to be a small conference room with a projector overhead and a podium in front of them. Off to one side she saw the door to the room but there were no widows any where to let her know if there was anyone coming, with a frown she looked at the other wall and saw that there were no windows there either so she had no idea where they were inside the building or what time of day it was. Deciding it was best to get the others awake before anyone came for them Blake turned towards the Heiress. "Weiss." She called out hoping her voice was enough to pull the girl from unconsciousness, "Weiss." She kept calling louder and louder each time.
Finally after a few minutes the white haired girl gave out a soft groan and started to raise her head, "Blake? Ugh, where are we?" Weiss finally got her eyes to focus and started to look about the room.
"That's what I was hoping you could tell us?" Blake explained, "Let me get Yang up first and then we can talk."
"Already getting there Blake." Yang groaned, "Should I be hurt that you woke Weiss up first?" The blonde gave a dry chuckled as she started to pull at the restraints. "These are much stronger than they appear."
"Where's Ruby?" Weiss asked glancing about. "Ruby?" She called out hoping the wolf was just out of sight.
"She's not in the room." Blake explained, "I've already scanned for her and not even her scent is in this room meaning she's never been in here. Now any guesses as to where we are?"
Weiss looked around paying more attention to the details of the room. "If I had to guess we're in a conference room in the Leviathan holding facility, these chairs are reinforced with Null Dust meaning they'll absorb a lot of damage before they even begin to show fatigue."
"Correct Miss Schnee." A calm male voice spoke as the door opened. At the sound of the voice Weiss stiffened in utter terror as she slowly let her gaze go to the person who spoke.
The man had short sandy blonde hair and eerily bright green eyes behind large round glasses. His care free expression was marred by the stich work that covered his face making him look like he had been cut apart and patched back together. He wore a simple lab coat over a gray shirt and black pants. Weiss started to shutter the moment the man entered the room fully. The man gave the three girls a wide smile, a smile that make both Blake and Yang shutter as it held no friendliness in it but something more sinister.
"Who the fuck are you?" Yang growled out before anyone else could speak.
The man cocked his head to the side, "Watch your language Miss Xiao Long." Yang jerked back at her name, "But I suppose I can answer your question. I am Stein, Doctor Stein to be more precise and I want to thank you for bringing back my most prized experiment."
"We didn't bring you anything." Blake glared at the man, after hearing Weiss' story she started to fear for the Heiress.
"Oh but you did." Stein smiled at the panther. "Sadly it did cost me my precious doll but she can be rebuilt, when I get around to it that is." Seeing the confused looks on Blake and Yang Stein sighed, "Honestly did you just assume that Marionette was in Vale on accident? I needed her there to draw out Miss Schnee when I learned she was in position of the Prometheus, but we can cover that later." The man walked over to the podium and started to type on the console there. "Captain Rourke, is the Prometheus contained?" He as he continued to type.
"Yes Doctor, the subject is contained." A voice spoke over a speaker on the podium.
"Excellent. Please prepare the tests." Stein smiled as he turned back to the girls. "Now I'm sure you ladies have several questions."
"Where is Ruby?" Yang ground out at the man before them, flames flicked from her hair as she strained at the cuffs pinning her wrists to the chair. "Tell me where my sister is!"
"Your sister?" Stein looked confused for moment before understanding crossed his eyes. "Oh you mean the subject. I had forgotten you claim familial ties to it. Well to answer your question it is safe for now." His words sparked even more anger in the blonde.
"She's not a subject she's my sister and I'll rip your fucking balls off an shove them down your fucking throat if you hurt her." Yang roared as more flames poured from her body.
"Yang!" Blake flinched as the flames whipped by her, Yang was starting to lose control of her Aura which with them so close together would only end badly for them. "That's enough you need to calm down." She twisted in her own seat trying to escape the intense heat from her partner.
Glancing at her partner Yang could see the beads of sweat already forming on her skin, focusing she started to take deep breaths to reign in the wild flames. Satisfied that Yang could calm down enough to not cause any imitate danger to them Blake turned her attention her left.
Weiss had lowered her gaze to the ground and was muttering under her breath, "This is not real, he is dead, this is not real, he is dead." Over and over again. Blake was confused by the Heiress actions, why was this man affecting the girl so much when she had seen her face down much more terrifying opponents.
Her muttering had seemed to start to get on the Doctor's nerves as he glared at the girl, "Miss Schnee if you're going to talk then please, SPEAK UP!" Doctor Stein snapped slamming his hands on the table making Weiss jump and flinch back in fear. "Honestly, you had the same bad habit when you were a child. I thought we had worked through that with you."
Weiss just looked up at the man, her eyes were glossed over with fear and confusion. "You can't be alive, you died. I saw you fall you died." Her words seemed to bring back that off smile to the Doctor's face.
"Fell?" He asked with a small chuck starting to walk over towards the Heiress, "Fell my dear girl? Or was I pushed off that platform?" Weiss flinched away from the man causing him to laugh manically. "That's right you can hide from what you did all you want but you know what you are." He leaned forward pulled Weiss' face up and forced her to look into his eyes. "Murderer." Weiss tried to flinch away but Stein held her so she couldn't look away. "Oh yes Miss Schnee, you pushed me off that catwalk and into that inferno, you tried to kill me. I can still remember the pain of that day, the metal rods piercing my body, the flames burning away my flesh. Oh how I cursed you as I recovered, years of research destroyed, countless hours of data returns wasted on one selfish little girl. But even as I cursed you, you earned your father's respect that day. You see you proved that day that you had it in you to remove someone you saw as a threat and then cover it up by making it seem an accident. That day your father saw a the makings of a true Schnee in you. Sadly you've gone and ruined it by cavorting around with these ladies." With a sneer the Doctor released her allowing Weiss to drop her gaze back to floor while tears dripped onto her dress.
"You fucking bastard, I'm going to rip your fucking guts out through your goddamn mouth and-" Yang started growling out only seize up as a scream tore from her throat.
"YANG!" Blake screamed in panic as the blonde slumped down and started panting heavily. The panther looked over Yang looking for any sign of what could have cause that reaction. When she found what she was looking for she knew this man had prepared well, resting around the blonde's neck was a black ring.
"A control collar." Stein confirmed what Blake was looking at as he pulled out what looked like a keyfob from his pocket, "I figured you'd be the hardest to contain Miss Xiao Long so I took proper precautions. Be aware that if your thinking you can use this pain to feed your semblance I'd advise otherwise, when the collar is activated it passes close to two thousand volts through your body making it impossible for your brain to process any other signals." He started to walk back to the podium as the pressing a switch on it causing the lights to dim. "Now then I'm aware you've been very busy with your studies and lectures but sadly Peter is a terrible Grimm Studies professor so I'm going give you a bit of a lesson while you're hear."
"Fuck yo-" Yang seemed to find her voice again and tried to growl at the man only to seize up in pain again.
The Doctor sighed as Yang once again slumped down, "Miss Xiao Long, class is in session, I'm going to have to ask you to watch your language."
Yang glared up at the man her eyes flicking to red, "Do it again you bast- Hngh!" Her jaw clack shut as the collar shocked her again.
"Final warming Miss Xiao Long, the next shock will be stronger," The Doctor explained with a shake of his head before pausing to think, "Though I am curious now as to how much voltage you could sustain before you received any real damage. An experiment for another time I suppose." He shrugged as he tapped another button bringing up a projected screen on the board in front of the girls.
The screen showed a picture of the SDC logo surrounded by what the girls recognized as the seals for the other nations around the world. Below them were the words 'HUNTER INITIATIVE – 2010'. "Now as you are aware Grimm have become increasingly difficult to deal with. As humanity pushes out into the frontier and build towns the Grimm push back invading these towns, killing innocent civilians making it harder for humanity to survive outside the walls of the kingdoms. The kingdoms however, are becoming over crowded putting a strain on the economies and the people who live there." The screen changed showing a line graph with three lines; red, black and blue. The red and black lines were steadily increasing while the blue line decreased. Off to the side read population while the bottom read years. In the right corner the legend labeled each line, the red was civilians, the black was Grimm and the blue was Hunters. "Now this graph shows the last accurate censes that was taken at the end of the year 2009 CE. As you can see the Hunter populations were already falling below an acceptable average even back then and this was distressing to those who guide humanity's progress so a group of like minded scientist were tasked with creating a safeguard for our continued existence."
"This is sounding more like a history lesson rather than a Grimm studies." Yang mumbled.
"If you have a question please speak up." Doctor Stein grinned. "I will take time to make sure I answer your questions thoroughly before moving along." He looked between Weiss, Blake and Yang before nodding. "Because of this data the 'Hunter Initiative' was started in early 2010. This initiative was to be a series of experiments and projects that while varied all had the same long term goal, the survival of sentient life on Remnant. Miss Schnee as already read several different experiments that took place through the files I provided her at the FEAR facility." Weiss looked up at the man in pure shock making him chuckle, "Did you really think those files were just there by coincidence? Those computers nearly beyond repair and yet those files were still recoverable? It seems like you have a lot of retraining to do Miss Schnee." The man shook his head in disappointment, "But that is beside the point. Now in the early days of the Hunter Initiative there were only two projects, 'Rook' and 'Bishop'." The slide switched to show a tower and a mitre.
" 'Rook' projects were mainly focused on Kingdom defenses as well as how we could outfit Hunters with better weapons and making weapons that could be used offensively against the Grimm. From this spawned others like 'Jupiter', 'Hammerfall'; both of which failed. But it had its share of success as well, 'Knight' which saw the development of the Atlesian Knights as well as the Paladin was one of the most successful, as well as the process the SDC uses to refine its Dust. 'Marionette' was a more recent success though after seeing how easily a group of under trained Huntresses defeated it I suppose its back to the drawing board on that one." As he talked he switch slides to show pictures of the development of each project.
"As for 'Bishop' it focused more on how to manipulate ourselves and our enemies. How could we make ourselves better? How could we turn our enemy on themselves? Projects like 'Hallow' were we learned how to manipulate a person's soul and 'Maidens' which pushed a subjects Aura to its fullest potential answered the first questions but they took years to develop. 'Fear' attempted to wage biological warfare against the Grimm but only turned on its creators, but the most useful was 'Chimera'." The Doctor gave a wide smile as he switched slides to one showing parts of Grimm in large vats. One picture caught Weiss' attention, it showed a group of three people standing in front of an array of vats; two she recognized as the Doctor and his assistant but the third made her eyes widen, the Headmaster had a lot to answer to when they got out of this. " 'Chimera' took nearly twelve years to show any progress but through it we not only cataloged Grimm DNA but we learned how to manipulate it and create our own." The next slide showed a monstrous Grimm like the one they faced on the island making the girls shudder, " 'Chimera' were the first time we had any true success with pitting Grimm against Grimm. But sadly any 'Chimera' we created could not be controlled so ultimately it was seen as a failure but the data we gained from it was invaluable. The manipulation of genes lead to so many more possibilities."
The slide switched again showing a cylindrical container that was big enough for a person, Weiss shuddered at the sight of the object. Stein chuckled at her reaction, "Yes Miss Schnee 'Leviathan', the project to embed the ability to manipulate and even grow Dust with in a human body. 'Leviathan' needed a stable, near unchanging genetic code. Such a requirement meant the Schnee Family were nearly perfect for the experiment. Sadly even our most successful subject suffers from adverse side effects." The slide switched to show an older looking version of Weiss minus the scar over her eye. The vacant look in her eyes gave her a near crazed look.
"Winter." Weiss gave a whispered sob at the picture of her sister.
"Yes," The Doctor nodded, "Winter Schnee was the last subject to undergo the 'Leviathan' experiment. She took Miss Schnee's place and while she was able to keep her life her mind was fractured beyond repair. The experiment was successful in giving her the power to manipulate and grow Dust but with her mind in it's current state she is an unusable asset."
"But 'Leviathan' wasn't the only project 'Chimera' gave birth to," Stein flipped to the next screen showing the simple crest consisting of a Grimm mask surrounded by animal masks, below it was written 'PROMETHEUS'.
A/N: And we're getting close to wrapping this up, FINALLY! Sorry but this story has been like dragging on me for a very long time and now that the end is in sight I just want it over with. As a side note, I get it that you are all curious as to what's going on and there's going to be questions as to where I am and why I'm not updating quickly but guys please don't drowned me in messages over this I'm only one person with a life (well not so much a life as a screaming mess in the corner but same thing really) I am working on this I am going to get it done but really after the last message I got I was very tempted to just scrap this an never come back but it was just one person and after I cooled off I remembered one person does not represent the whole. There are many more of you who are kind, gracious and even understanding and I greatly appreciate all of you even if I don't respond to them all. Rant over moving on.
Now we are getting into the chapters that actually started this whole mess of a fic, actually from the break line on were in the original document that I wrote nearly five years ago now with a few changes and the next chapter as most of it typed up in the original doc too so after a few tweaks here and there to make things fit I'll be posting that too, hopefully soon. Next we'll learn the truth behind the Prometheus and how it will effect team RWBY.
Until then: You all have my deepest thanks, come on by and drop a funky review if you choose, and as always may you find happiness in your life.