When Winston initially heard Huntsman Qrow's request to meet with the drunk's commander, he did not expect much from whoever was in charge of the sad excuse for a soldier. The most he hoped for was a quick chat with the most competent PDF flunky on the planet and quick redeployment to the front lines of the nearest battlefield. The worst he anticipated was an attempted execution at the hands of an incompetent or heretical officer.
But a surprise audience with an Inquisitor? That was a horror that even the most battle hardened Guardsmen feared, and yet, that was exactly what Winston was forced to endure after his extraction from Greenleaf.
Part of him wished he never reached for his laspistol upon seeing Ozpin's Inquisitorial rosette, as there was no way the Inquisitor hadn't noticed his attempt to grab it. The guardsman had heard stories of what the more extreme Inquisitors would do to anyone that dared to question their authority. In fact, he had seen the end results several times himself.
That was why the rest of him wished he had saved one last lasbolt to plant between the old man's eyes. It was only because of his strict training and loyalty to one of the Emperor's finest that Winston did not dare try lashing out at the self-made tyrant the moment the Inquisitor revealed their status to him.
Despite his personal opinions about the Inquisition and other needless aristocrats like them, Winston still accepted the room the Inquisitor offered him. Not only was denying the direct orders of an Inquisitor tantamount to heresy, an unimaginable act for any soldier of Krieg, let alone a loyal servant of the Imperium, but Winston could not run away and risk losing his best chance at rejoining the Imperial Guard. Inquisitor Ozpin did mention a position perfect for a capable soldier during their meeting, and Winston could not imagine any guardsman more competent than himself for whatever the old man was planning.
It was a difficult position to be in but, between marching towards certain death because of an incompetent Inquisitor's orders or refusing such a suicidal command and allowing himself to and his regiment's name to be condemned for his actions, there was only once possible choice Winston could possibly take.
That was the only reason why the guardsman followed Huntsman Qrow to the quarters the Inquisitor offered him earlier. While Winston found himself respecting the drunken fool slightly more due to his connection to the Inquisitor, he still couldn't bring himself to think of a man who reeked of alcohol as his equal, let alone a superior. Not only that, but the barely sober man's constant whining did little to improve his image in Winston's eyes.
Sure, one of his legs wasn't performing nearly as well as it should have, but the drop in combat efficiency would be minimal at worst. So long as he had an enemy to focus on, Winston was confident that the sharp pain that ran up his leg felt with every step he took might even turn out to be enjoyable once he finally found something to vent his growing frustration on. Besides, whatever supplies or treatment Huntsman Qrow insisted he receive would be better used on a soldier more worthy than himself. As unlikely as it was that such a soldier existed on Remnant, there was still a chance he wasn't the only guardsman on the planet. Even if Winston was truly as alone as he believed himself to be, he knew any medical supplies wasted on him would be better used on the local civilian population.
He had gone all his life without enjoying the luxuries of excess supplies all his life. He was not so weak as to start indulging himself with an immediate visit to the nearest medicae just because it hurt to walk.
Only once Winston was alone in the needlessly extravagant room the Inquisitor provided him, the sole piece of furniture it contained being a wooden bed which was yet another blatant example of the old man's wastefulness, did he finally ease his guard. Even then, he did not dare to remove his weapons or kitbag from his person until the disgustingly fluffy bed had been propped up against a corner to provide him the minimal amount of cover it would provide him. After his line of sight from the window and door had been completely blocked Winston finally felt secure enough to lower his guard enough to inspect his equipment for any damage.
Working with fast, precise movements honed by years of dedicated practice, Winston pulled out every piece of equipment out of his kitbag and lined one side of his makeshift defenses with the few relevant supplies he carried inside.
First Winston pulled out his four remaining bayonets, each of his precious comrades wearing and sporting various nicks and scrapes from the various evils they had purged, and laid them around himself in a defensive formation. It took him a moment to realize he was missing his fifth and final one, only remembering it was still attached to his lasgun and safely locked away elsewhere in Beacon when he noticed the hole in his defenses he left for it, and quickly reorganized his bayonets to close the gap.
Giving up one of his most prized pieces of equipment would have been ordinarily unthinkable, but given how it had been a prerequisite for meeting Huntsman Qrow's commander, he had no reason to refuse what seemed like a senseless yet irrefutable order at the time. It was only after he learned he was meeting with an Inquisitor that Winston understood why the Huntsman had insisted on disarming him. If he hadn't been exhausted from listening to the drunk's ramblings on their journey to Beacon, Winston might have been able to find an excuse to defy the Inquisitor's orders and carry his weapon into their meeting. While an empty lasrifle might have been harmless in the hands of a normal soldier, Winston was not a normal soldier. He was a soldier of Krieg, and he knew from experience that a lasrifle could kill with more than just a few lasbolts or it's attached bayonet.
Yes, Winston was very familiar with how much damage the butt of a lasrifle could do to an enemy's skull. Heretics, xenos, daemons; so long as the enemy was within purging distance, the solid stock of a lasrifle was more than capable of sending them screaming back to the Warp. While he wasn't sure if Huntsman Qrow also knew of this, he was forced to give the older man the benefit of the doubt and the small modicum of respect that the drunk's decision warranted, no matter how much it pained Winston to do so.
Rather than focus on the drunk any longer than he had to, Winston got back to work in preparing his defenses. The next thing he pulled out of his kitbag were the power packs his lasrifle and laspistol had fully drained in his defense of Greenleaf, twelve of them in total. They were carefully lined up against the wooden bed frame protecting the Korpsman from the outside world for any would-be attacker to see. In their current, powerless state, they were little more than both an empty threat and promise of what would come should the lonesome guardsman be provoked in the future. Winston placed them farther away from his defenses than the bayonets so the morning sun could easily reach and recharge them, but not so far that he couldn't reach for them without leaving cover should he need them.
That left Winston with only one other item worth pulling out of his half-full kitbag, his medkit. Winston didn't even need to open it to tell that it was almost empty. The dull pain coursing through his sore limbs and steaks of pain coursing through his leg were more than enough to remind him of how low was running on supplies, especially painkillers. He didn't necessarily need to refill his supply of bandages, salves, and combat stims to continue fighting with everything he had to offer, but that didn't mean he would pass on the opportunity to requisition a any surplus medical supplies from the nearest medicae if he just so happened to be in the area either…
At least, that's what he planned on telling the drunken Huntsman if the careless fool insisted on pestering him some more.
Winston remained hidden behind cover with his eyes darting between the window and door that separated him from the world outside of his room, clinging closely to his makeshift defenses as if he was expecting something to burst in to attack him at any moment. He knew better than to think he would be ambushed while under the protection of an Inquisitor, especially one that lived within a gaudy estate such as Beacon, but for some reason he fought back the feeling that something was going to happen the moment he lowered his guard.
Then again, why should he believe that nothing was going to happen to him? From the very moment Winston stepped outside of his saviour pod, from the very first step he took on the planet he crash landed on, he had been attacked by the strange black daemonic looking creatures that had ransacked Greenleaf. An entire village had fallen to those insidious creatures, the Grimm, as the Huntsman called them. Why wouldn't those barbaric, yet deceptively clever monsters try to attack an Inquisitor's stronghold?
Even more dire still, Winston now found himself under the protection of an Inquisitor, an aristocrat that he would rather kill before he would ever consider placing his trust in. Before he had officially become a part of the Imperium's Astra Militarum, he had held those rare few individuals to the same glorious heights as the Emperor's angels, the mighty and all powerful space marines. But, after seeing what an Inquisitor was like in person…
A sudden knocking instantly drew Winston's thoughts out of the past and towards the door to his room, drawing his empty laspistol purely on instinct before he could remember how little use it would be to him.
"Mr Winston? It's me, Ozpin. If you're not already asleep, would you mind opening the door so I can have a quick word with you?" The Inquisitor called out to him.
For a moment, Winston was tempted to remain silent in the hopes that Ozpin would grow tired of waiting for him to respond and leave him alone. That moment quickly passed as he wondered what the Inquisitor might do to him for failing to respond to his indirect superior, especially if Ozpin figured out he purposefully pretended to be asleep. The guardsman hesitantly left what little cover his overturned bed provided and rushed to the door, quickly unlocking it and throwing it open as he gave the Inquisitor a sharp salute, as was befitting the old man's status as his superior for the time being.
"Sir, Inquisitor, sir!" Winston droned, falling back into his usual routine without a second's hesitation.
"I would prefer if you were to call me 'Headmaster', Winston, and I'm glad to see you're still up." Ozpin said, before seeing the mess the small guardsman made of the room he was given and wincing at the sight of it . "Your taste in furnishings is certainly… unique."
"I found a problem and I fixed it." Winston insisted, seemingly offended at Ozpin's words.
"Problem?" The old man asked, curious as to what the guardsman before him was talking about.
"Too many lines of sight in the event of an enemy attack, sir." Winston explained. "Now I can only be attacked from one direction instead of two."
"I… I see." Ozpin remarked, deciding it would be best to drop the matter entirely before he forgot why he saw Winston in the first place. "Anyways, there was something I wanted to give you before you meet your new team in the afternoon."
"You already found a squad for me to join?" Winston asked, clutching onto his laspistol tightly as he watched the headmaster dig something out of his pockets.
The object Ozpin presented before him was a small, rectangular block of metal that looked completely harmless. That did not stop Winston from recoiling away from Ozpin's outstretched hand ever so slightly, nor did it deter him from trying to see what the headmaster intended to give him.
"It's a Scroll, a type of data slate, if you will." Ozpin explained as he let Winston continue his inspection of the Scroll from a distance rather than taking it for himself for a closer look. "Consider it a welcoming gift for your willingness to attend Beacon Academy."
"A data slate?" Winston inquired, cocking his head in confusion as he continued to look for any other potential threats Ozpin's gift. "What do you want me to do with it?"
"I would like you to read some of the rules I expect you to follow during your stay on Remnant, Mr Winston." Ozpin said, before recalling one of the many small pieces of information regarding the Death Korps of Krieg crossed his mind.
"You can read, can't you?" The headmaster asked in the politest way he could possibly ask that of any prospective student.
"Somewhat." Winston answered, before noticing the worried look Ozpin was giving him. "I've been taught the alphabet in Low Gothic and a little High Gothic. I'm not good at reading, but I will do everything I can do to not disappoint you, Headmaster Ozpin."
"Very well." Ozpin said, letting out a sigh of relief as Winston finally took the Scroll from his hands. "I've made sure to include a dictionary among the rules and other information I would like you to review by noon as well as a text to speech app if you find a need for it."
"Don't be afraid to ask me for help if you have any questions, Mr Winston." Ozpin added, intending to convey his support to his newest student.
Instead, Winston felt a shiver travel down his spine and did his best to not let it show as he heard some of the most terrifying words any Inquisitor could utter. "That will be unnecessary." Winston said. "I need to do this much on my own to prove my worth."
An odd choice of words, Ozpin thought, but he was willing to overlook it since the guardsman was willing to cooperate with him without an argument. "That's one way of looking at things, Mr Winston." Ozpin said as he backed towards the door. "I'll be sure to let you know when I am ready for you to return to my office so you can meet your new team."
And with neither the Inquisitor nor guardsman feeling that anything else was necessary to say to the other, Ozpin quietly left the room. Winston waited a few second to make sure the Inquisitor-, no, Headmaster, left before locking the door behind him. Without any further interruptions, the young guardsman began looking through everything the headmaster wanted him to review. Thankfully there were only a few rules to cover, all of which were supposedly meant to keep Ozpin's Inquisitorial status a secret.
No use of Ozpin's true title, only his status as headmaster? Not taking any orders from anyone Ozpin did not explicitly name as his superior? Mandatory meetings in his office at dusk every Friday or upon request?
Those rules were strange, but not unexpected if the Inquisitor wanted to ensure his own identity was kept secure.
What was unexpected were the rules the Inquisitor had in order for Winston to keep both of their identities safe, if the Inquisitor's reasoning was to be believed. No mention of the Emperor or the Imperium to anyone Ozpin did not explicitly approve of? Needing to lie about where Krieg was in relation to Vale, the kingdom he apparently crash landed on, and the planet of Remnant itself? Keeping the existence of the vile xenos, daemons, and heretics a secret?
Okay, that last one actually seemed quite reasonable so long as none of them posed an immediate danger to Remnant. The rest though, Winston could not comprehend why he needed to lie about something everyone on the planet should know just by looking at him. He thought those rules were stupid, but the Inquisitor apparently thought otherwise.
Who was he, a lowly guardsman who likely had much more experience fighting against humanity's enemies, say that Inquisitor Ozpin, a snobby aristocrat that likely made his subordinates do all his work for him, was wrong?
He would be a heretic, that's what he would be. He would be dead too, if he was right about Ozpin and the Inquisition as a whole.
With a heavy sigh, not from exhaustion but rather annoyance at the annoying situation he was forced into, Winston prepared himself for a long, boring night of reading through the rest of what Ozpin gathered for him. The most important rules had been easy enough to understand, even if the purpose behind them was lost on the guardsman. There were plenty of other, smaller ones too, all of which he could already tell would be inconsequential since they appeared to be more like a guide on the local dialect, such as how Remnant's Planetary Defense Forces were called Huntsmen and Huntresses instead of PDF. Winston could already tell that the files labeled 'History of Remnant', 'The Four Kingdoms', and 'Dust' would be far less enjoyable and much more demanding of his limited reading capabilities. There were a lot of words in there he didn't understand, and it was with a deep seated feeling of defeat that he allowed himself to use the TTS feature on his Scroll for the first of many times that night.
Thankfully, he had plenty of time to spend reading. With some luck, he wouldn't need to rely on such a pointless feature to cover for his weaknesses. After all, he did have until noon to read through everything Ozpin had prepared for him. That would give him plenty of practice to learn the written form of the local Gothic dialect. He could go another night without sleeping without any issue. It would only be after three consecutive nights without any rest that his performance would begin to noticeably decrease anyways. That was more than enough time for him to impress his new team and the Inquisitor so that they wouldn't inquire more into why he had been separated from the rest of the Astra Militarum in the first place.
When Team RWBY heard their names being called up to Ozpin's office immediately after lunch, none of them knew what to expect. The girls had been expecting to enjoy a full day to themselves after their harrowing initiation the previous day, and perhaps finish setting up their rooms too.
Then again, perhaps that was why Ozpin had called them over in the first place. Their beds weren't exactly set up safely, and it wouldn't have been surprising if Glynda Goodwitch or another teacher decided to inform the headmaster about the blatant safety violations they committed. Of course, considering how dangerous their initiation into Beacon Academy had been, safety likely wasn't the reason Ozpin wanted to personally see them.
There was also the chance that Ozpin might have made a last second change to the team's leadership. That is what both Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee had been hoping for, the former still unsure as to whether or not she was ready to lead her team and the latter believing that it was only right for any member of the acclaimed Schnee family to be in charge of their team. Yang Xiao Long's concerns for why Ozpin would want to see her team were less certain, although after her visit to Junior's club went 'differently' from how she expected it too a week previously, she couldn't find the courage to stride into the headmaster's office as confidently as she would have liked. Even Blake Belladonna, normally calm and composed, looked nervous when she had been called to Ozpin's office with the rest of her team. She had done her best to hide her past from the world in an attempt to escape it, and for a moment, she was afraid Ozpin had seen straight through her lies.
Each member of Team Ruby had their own theory as to why Ozpin called them into his office. As it turned out, none of them had come anywhere close to the truth of why the headmaster wanted to talk to them.
"We're getting a new teammate?" Ruby was the first one to speak after hearing Ozpin's news.
"A temporary one, but yes. It is an unusual request, I know, but I hope this isn't a problem for you girls." The smiling headmaster told Team RWBY.
"I don't know if we have room for another person. We're a little cramped already with four people…" Yang said, making it painfully obvious to everyone in the room as to what reward she was hoping for in order to convince her.
"Really?" Blake groaned, giving her partner a condescending look.
"No, Yang's right." Weiss jumped in. "We don't have enough space for someone else to join us. Do you remember how much trouble we went to in getting our beds set up yesterday? We will need something to make up for the extra work we will need to do to reorganize everything."
"See, even Snow Angel agrees with me!" Yang exclaimed.
"Do NOT call me that!" Weiss protested. "It's bad enough that Jaune keeps on calling me that, I don't want my team to start doing it too."
"Whatever you say, princess." Blake told her, smiling ever so slightly as the white haired Schnee glared daggers at her.
Ozpin and Ruby continued to watch the trio's conversation devolve into petty arguing from a distance, careful not to say or do anything that might bring them into the growing disaster before them.
"I'm really sorry, Ozpin." Ruby explained in an attempt to excuse her teammate's behavior. "We're all still trying to get used to Beacon, and-"
Ozpin interrupted her with a small chuckle. "There's no need to apologize, Ruby. I wouldn't have expected everyone to get along on their first full day together as a team."
"O-oh." The little red huntress stammered in relief.
"Now, as much as I would like to offer your team a larger room for taking in a temporary member, I'm afraid that there are not any other rooms available for you girls." The headmaster lamented, before adding, "Well, not unless you want to try living in one of the storage rooms with whatever spare equipment has been stored inside."
"No, no. We should be able to fit one more person into our room if we try hard enough." Ruby insisted, although she struggled to see how that would be possible without making their new member sleep on the floor since their room was already so cramped.
"I'm not sure if the rest of your team would agree with you, Miss Rose." Ozpin said with a laugh as he gestured to the argument before them, which had somehow devolved into petty name calling in the scant few seconds they hadn't been paying attention to the rest of Team RWBY.
"With that said, I would make sure to reward all four of you for the trouble your new member would put you through." He continued, his smiling growing wider as Ruby's silver eyes lit up at the mention of a reward at the same time her teammates jerked their heads in his direction.
Ruby quickly became flustered as she realized her team was waiting to see what she would do about Ozpin's offer. "Oh no, we couldn't accept-"
"Wait just a minute, sis." Yang interrupted, folding her arms together as she focused her attention on the headmaster.
"What kind of reward are we talking about?" The blonde brawler asked.
"A reduction of your attendance fees, less profits taken away from any Grimm bounties you complete, and extra credit in some of your classes for however long they are a part of your team." Ozpin listed off.
The four girls shared an incredulous look amongst each other, their eyes carrying on the entire discussion for them in a matter of moments before Ruby gave the headmaster their collective answer. "We'll be happy to help, Ozpin!" She shouted in excitement.
"I'm glad to hear you are all in agreement, then." Ozpin chuckled as he pulled out a Scroll and placed it on his desk.
"They're ready for you to come up now." He said, earning a muffled response that none of the girls could quite make out, facing Team Ruby once more after taking a moment to put his Scroll away.
"Your new teammate should arrive soon. Do try not to be too hard on him." Ozpin warned the girls, before cryptically adding. "He's been through… a lot."
Most of Team RWBY had the decency to look concerned, but didn't think much about Ozpin's comment. Weiss on the other hand, had neither the patience nor self-restraint to prevent her from speaking her mind.
"Wait, our new teammate is going to be a guy?" She challenged.
"That won't be a problem, will it?" Ozpin innocently asked.
Both Blake and Ruby shrugged as they didn't particularly mind one way or another. Yang seemed almost excited at the opportunity of being able to room with whatever guy the headmaster wanted to join them. Weiss found herself to be the only one that wasn't looking forward to rooming with someone of the opposite sex.
"Oh come on, snowflake. Think about the extra credit." She teased, enjoying the conflicted expression that came over Weiss as she considered what she would lose for refusing to share a room with a guy that she hoped would be as tall and muscular as she imagined.
"I do suppose you have a point." The heiress conceded.
"And what was that last part supposed to mean?" Blake asked, picking up on the more important part of Ozpin's warning as she had expected the Schnee to. " 'He's been through a lot' sounds like there is something you should be telling us."
Ozpin let out a sigh and shook his head as he gave the catty young woman an answer that she wasn't expecting. "While I won't tell you exactly what your new teammate has been through, I'm sure you will be able to sympathize with him the most, Miss Belladonna."
That one comment was more than enough to silence whatever protests the black haired girl had started to prepare, the rest of Team RWBY following her example as they awaited their new teammate's arrival. They didn't have to wait long, as hardly a minute had passed before the elevator into Ozpin's office opened up and a soldier that looked more at home in a museum with his outdated, battered armor than at Beacon Academy marched out to meet them.
At least, that was what they thought the strangely dressed individual was doing when they first stepped foot out of the elevator, limping ever so slightly as they walked up to Ozpin's desk. Ruby tried to step forward to greet them, but they didn't even bother to look at her direction as they passed by the perky goth, ignoring her outstretched hand and her teammates' varying looks of surprise. Not even the hostile glare of Ruby's sister, a woman that was over a head taller than the gas mask wearing soldier, stopped them from reaching their destination.
"You can't be serious." Weiss muttered once the shock of the soldier's entrance finally wore off.
"Reporting for duty, sir." The soldiers soft, calm voice droned on as they fired a quick salute towards the headmaster.
"Uhh… yes, thank you." Ozpin muttered after taking a moment to judge Team RWBY's response towards their new teammates entrance. "Would you care to introduce yourself to your new team, Winston?"
"Yes, sir." Winston said as he fought back against his disgust and gave the disguised Inquisitor yet another salute.
Winston waited for what felt like an eternity, scanning the room and Team RWBY with a dispassionate look as they did the same to him. The girls found the way their new teammate overlooked them as if they were just another piece of furniture strewn about in Ozpin's office to be off putting, to say the least. It was as if Winston didn't even care to acknowledge their existence, a fact that did not go unnoticed by any of the girls.
Yang was the first one to break the silence, still angered by the way the soldier blew off her sister earlier. "Well, hello to you too, you little-"
Ruby was quick to cover her sister's mouth in an attempt to keep things friendly. "Yang, stop it!" She pleaded quietly.
"Is it too late to change our minds?" Weiss asked Blake, the normally unflappable girl shrugging her shoulders in response as she kept her eyes locked onto Winston.
"Headmaster Ozpin? "You said I would be meeting my new squad today. " Winston finally spoke, a small hint of confusion entering his otherwise steady voice. "Where are they?"
Winston was confused. It wasn't a feeling he was familiar with and one he liked experiencing even less. Ozpin had promised him that he would be meeting his new team once he was called up to the headmaster's office, yet he did not see the squad of soldiers he thought he would be assigned to. Instead, the only people he saw in the room were people that Winston was equally intrigued and baffled by.
They didn't look like soldiers, not with their colorful clothes and hair going against every rule and regulation he had come to familiarize himself with while serving in the Imperial Guard. The silver eyed cadet dressed like a commissar was the only one that could have passed for a potential combatant, but even then, Winston could see her or the older looking females behind her doing anything to the enemy aside from fleeing from them once the fighting started.
That, or tripping over themselves as they tried to flee due to the unstable looking footwear they had all chosen.
"Headmaster Ozpin? You said I would be meeting my new squad today." The guardsman finally said, hoping against all the evidence before him that the Inquisitor had something else planned for him. "Where is my team?"
Winston ignored the whispering voices behind him as he waited for Ozpin's response. Although he could only partially hear what they were saying, most of which were hushed insults against him, he did not particularly care what they had to say. They were not like him, never would be. It was not his responsibility to reprimand them for anything they said, no matter how much he wanted to at least inform them that he was not nearly as hard of hearing as they believed him to be.
At least the commissar cadet was trying to bring them under control. That much was respectable. Winston only wished she had a bolt pistol to expedite the process if those other women she was trying to discipline were what he was afraid they were…
"E-excuse me?" Ozpin stammered, looking genuinely surprised for the first time Winston could recall.
"Where is my team?" The young man asked once again, his tone steadying back to its usual monotone as he came to terms with his imminent fate.
"I do not see anyone I would call a competent fighter. All I see are a bunch of juvies pretending to be soldiers, huntresses, or whatever you call this kingdom's PDF." He said, giving his honest opinion of the assembled girls behind him.
Winston heard a series of gasps ring out from behind him, the loudest of which he assumed to have come from the dainty looking silver haired girl that acted far too arrogant for his liking. The guardsman didn't understand why they were acting so dramatic. He was only telling them the truth, after all.
"Yes, well, I suppose I should have mentioned this last night, but these brilliant young women are the finest huntresses-in-training that were inducted into Beacon Academy this year." Ozpin explained, blatantly trying to impress Winston who didn't care for the Inquisitor-pretending-to-be-a-headmaster's praise. "I believe that a young man with your experience would fit in well with the best and brightest of our newest students."
Winston decided to give the girls behind him another look, ignoring the glares all except the dainty commissar lookalike gave him, hoping he might have overlooked something. They had no body armor, no helmets, only two of them were wearing something that might have resembled pants if the fabric was a little thicker, only two of them were wearing boots, all of them were wearing bright colors that any enemy scouts would notice from kilometers away, and only the commissar was carrying any weapons with her or using footwear that didn't have tiny stilts underneath the heel.
Once again, the guardsman was unimpressed by what he had seen.
"These are your best cadets..." Winston muttered underneath his breath, his mask muffling his condescending words.
For a moment, he couldn't believe the ragtag group of juveniles were the best cadets Ozpin had at his disposal. Then Winston's mind slowly wandered back to the drunk he had dealt with the night prior, someone the disguised Inquisitor clearly valued over the other Huntsmen and Huntresses of this planet he had yet to meet.
Suddenly he found Ozpin's claims to be much more believable.
Before Winston could voice any of his other thoughts about the disgraceful excuse for cadets he would be forced to join, one of them made an attempt to greet him. It was the one dressed like a commissar who stepped forward. This was the second time she had tried to do something to him, Winston could clearly tell that she was going against the wishes of her squad judging by the looks of disapproval they shot towards him, not that he cared what they thought.
"Uhm… hi." The girl said, sheepishly reaching out a friendly hand towards Winston. "I'm Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY. Nice to meet you."
Winston looked at Ruby's outstretched hand for a moment before reappraising her once again. While she didn't act like any commissar he knew of, the child was at least brave enough to try and talk to him directly unlike the rest of her team. Her efforts weren't much, but neither were the drunk's. Winston found himself respecting the girl for being able to do that much despite how young and inexperienced she looked, if anything, he found the way her actions contrasted her demure attitude somewhat commendable.
"So, you're my commander." Winston mused, offering his new leader a crisp salute as was befitting their relationship. "Private Winston, Death Korps of Krieg 483rd Siege Regiment."
"Private?" The white haired girl scoffed at him, her image plummeting even further in Winston's mind. "Do you really expect us to believe you're a soldier just because you're dressed up like one?"
"What you believe doesn't matter. I know what I am." Winston responded, the white haired girl looked offended at his response while her blonde and black haired teammates beside her tried to hold back their laughter.
"And what would that be, tough guy?" Yang said between giggles, hoping to antagonize Weiss a little more as well as learn a little more about her new teammate.
"I am…" The guardsman stammered, correcting himself. "I was…
"You don't have to tell them anything you don't want to." The headmaster interrupted.
"I'm fine." Winston insisted after remembering the rules the headmaster had given him the night before, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts.
His new teammates looked concerned, but that didn't matter. Whatever thoughts they had about him would be wasted if they ever voiced them. The quicker he got his introduction over with, the better. He did intend to answer any questions they had, so long as he wouldn't be going against the Inquisitor's will.
Of course, he would have to ignore anything they asked him until they were in private. Although he wasn't planning on exposing any sensitive information to Team RWBY, it wouldn't hurt to make sure the Inquisitor couldn't overhear anything he said. Ozpin did say could tell his direct superiors anything he wanted to, and Commander Rose was the very woman the headmaster assigned him to fulfill that very role…
"I am the last member of my regiment." Winston stated calmly, looking over his shoulder until Ozpin gave him a curt nod of approval.
"What happened to the others?" The black haired girl who had been mostly silent until now finally asked.
"They died. I didn't." Winston bluntly informed her.
Yang cringed at his answer. "Oh, wow… I'm sorry for asking."
Winston knew she didn't care, but he didn't bother arguing over something so trivial. Not when he would rather be retrieving his weapons or doing his daily drills instead of wasting more time in the Inquisitor's office instead of answering more pointless questions.
"Permission to be dismissed, sir?" Winston asked Ozpin. "I would prefer to retrieve my lasgun and my equipment before my next assignment."
"Not until you fully introduce yourself to your team, Mr Winston." Ozpin replied, pressing the matter further with that same overly friendly tone that sent shivers down his spine.
"Of course, sir." Winston said, turning back to address his new team as politely as he had rehearsed last night. "I am Private Winston Voytoski of the Death Korps of Krieg 483rd Siege Regiment. I come from Krieg, an island county somewhere north of Sanus. Krieg is not subservient to any of the kingdoms Headmaster Ozpin has informed me about since my saviour pod crash landed on this continent several days ago. I was unaware there was any sentient life outside of the empire I fought for. I apologize in advance if you find my knowledge lacking. I will do my best to overcome this weakness of mine."
"Voytoski?" Ozpin inquired as the rest of Team RWBY took a moment to process the unexpected change in Winston's previously crude demeanor. "That's quite the unusual name."
"It's Valhallan." The guardsman informed him.
"I don't think you told me your last name before now." The headmaster continued, smoothly glossing over the fact he didn't know what 'Valhallan' meant.
"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell you." Winston responded.
Ozpin couldn't tell what the young man meant when he said that, but the headmaster decided it would be better to be safe than sorry with his reply. "I suppose you are right. I'll do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen again in the future."
"I wouldn't expect anything different, sir." Winston said dispassionately. "May I leave with my new team now or is there something else you would like me to do for you?"
"No, that will be all, Mr Win- I mean, Mr Voytoski." Ozpin corrected himself.
"Good luck, girls." The headmaster called out to Team RWBY as he watched Winston follow them into the elevator out of his office.
It was only once the doors finally closed that the headmaster dropped his act and cradled his head in his hands. "You're going to need it…"
Author's Corner:
Well, I hope you weren't all expecting sunshine and rainbows during Team RWBY's first encounter with our lonesome Krieger. Winston needed a cover story to not expose the horrors of the 41st millennium or sound completely psychotic to his new team, and who better to help him than a man who has had to reinvent himself for millennia? Now with that settled, it's only a matter of time until our questionably lonesome soldier starts making a memorable impression on the cast of RWBY. At least, for those who haven't already been snubbed by him, intentionally or otherwise.
Comments:
"Local Engineseer": Came for Jurgen, Get the Melta!, stayed for the good characterization.
Thanks for the kind words, cogboy! I knew shilling this story on my other projects was worth selling out what little pride I had left! For those of you that are curious and want to see an arguably comparable quality of writing with a lot more dark humor and hijinks spread throughout then be sure to check out my other stories.
Geezuz: Seems interesting, although I think you mixed up professor and doctor for Oobleck, he didn't get his PHD for nothing you know hehe
Frakking warp. I suppose this would be a good time to mention I am searching for a Beta reader for this story, huh? It's hard to find someone to help me cover the RWBY side of things without the W40K angle scaring them off and vice versa. Anyways, I should have that little frak up of mine fixed by now.
Vumanchu: This was really well written. It's really engrossing. I look forward to reading more! Though, I do fear for the cephalopoda-type faunus. Any showing tentacles they have will be shot, gassed, or shovelled. As will the rest of their bodies. As the Emperor wills.
Thanks for the praise, but about the tentacle thing… you do know that mechandendrites, the metal things tech priests attach to their spines to become that much closer to the Omnissiah, are tentacles too? I can't imagine the Adeptus Mechanicus would appreciate any 'friendly' fire, nor would the Imperium tolerate the needless loss of their loyal tech support.
MidKnightMoonglow99: Quite the interesting setup you've chosen to go with. I'm liking it so far, which I must admit is a rarity when it comes to Warhammer 40K crossovers.
I shit you not, this is the main reason why I wrote this story. I was pretty much daydreaming like I usually do when I'm otherwise bored out of my mind when I started wondering what a DKoK guardsman or another heavily traumatized W40K character would do when put in the company of a supportive group of caring oddballs they could find in a universe that WASN'T trying everything it could do to make their life miserable. One quick search for any Hurt/Comfort fics in the W40K crossover tab later, I suddenly had a new idea for a story.
Gotta admit, I was initially shocked to see that there were more than a handful of stories labeled under that genre. Then I saw how many had more than 10k words and was a lot less surprised. There were nine, for those of you who were wondering. Ten now, including mine.
To everyone who commented and otherwise supported this story:
Thank you all for having more confidence in me than I did. I did not expect this story to get anywhere close to the amount of support that it did. Looks like the six months of rewrites and tentative plotting was worth it.
As always, thanks for taking a chance on this story. I hope to see you all in the future.
