Here we go.
Cover Art: Mystery White Flame
Chapter 32
Rock cracked and threatened to crumble under his grip. Jaune let go and dropped the six or so feet into the dark, landing with a grunt and a flex of his knees. The heavy gloom hung all around him, banished only by the faintest beam of light from Flynt's scroll above. He was immediately glad that he wasn't claustrophobic, because the walls and ceiling were a lot closer than he would have liked. These may have once been subway tunnels but time and damage had left them in a poor state, and there was rubble everywhere.
"Are you okay?" called Neon.
"I'm fine. The roof isn't as stable as it looks. Careful on the way down."
As if to mock him, Neon swung off the same bit of rock he had and climbed down without a care in the world. The girl was practically half his size and weight, however. When Penny tried, the rock gave way entirely under her robotic body, and she scrambled before dropping. Jaune held his arms out, only for Neon to bodily shove him aside before Penny landed, impacting the ground with a horrific crack and a groan that was more embarrassment than pain.
"Idiot!" hissed Neon. "You realise Penny weighs, like, five times as much as a normal person, right? You'd have broken your arms!"
"I am okay," said Penny. "Thank you for your concern!"
The worst part was that she probably meant that, even as Neon flushed and mumbled a quick apology. Flynt was the last to come down and he gave up entirely on climbing, dropping like Jaune had instead. A few pebbles and a cloud of dust came down with him and bounced off his hat. He waved his hand through the dust to dispel it and said, "This is exactly how I wanted to be spending a Friday night. Stuck in a dark tunnel to a Grimm-infested city with you lot."
"Hey," said Neon. "A lot of guys would kill to be in a dark tunnel with beauties like me and Penny."
Flynt crossed his arms. "Are you offering?"
"No."
"Then don't say it like it's a benefit." He shone his scroll torch ahead into the dark, illuminating the jagged rock walls and sending a whole bunch of creepy-crawlies skittering for cracks in them to hide. "Ugh. I did not come dressed for this."
Given that Flynt was wearing a fancy suit and a waistcoat, Jaune had to agree. His own faded jeans fit in rather nicely, them also being in good need of a repair. He felt worse for Neon, who had come in a skirt and whose rollerblades would be an actual death-trap on the uneven ground. To be fair, they'd both known where they were going tonight. It wasn't like they couldn't have put a little more thought into things.
"I doubt that hole is the main entrance down here," said Jaune. "Or at least not the one they're using to ship heavy equipment. The White Fang must have another entrance. Probably several. Those will almost have to be on levelled-out ground if they've smuggled vehicles inside."
"Wider tunnels too," said Neon. "You'd struggle to ride anything but a motorbike in here, and I wouldn't risk my life on a bike in this dump. And I refuse to believe they're walking all the way to Mountain Glenn. These guys are random people joining up as terrorists. They're not trained military or survivalists."
Jaune was convinced on that as well. You couldn't just expect the average person to walk for days on end, and most of the White Fang had jobs and identities they had to keep in Vale. You could absolutely book a week off work and disappear to do whatever it was they were doing, but that would only work once or twice a year. The unemployed might have more time, but even they weren't going to be eager to trek though this. He wasn't, and he liked to think he was a lot more rugged since coming to Atlas. If nothing else, he was more durable.
"I guess all we can do is move on and hope this tunnel connects to another, bigger one." Jaune activated his own scroll and did his best to pretend he hadn't heard rats scuttling away. Or that he didn't feel Neon cling to his arm and move a little closer, almost standing on his feet. "You really shouldn't have worn a skirt."
"It's manoeuvrable…"
"So are the rats," said Flynt. "I bet they can scurry right up your legs."
"Shut up!"
"You have aura," said Penny.
Neon moaned unhappily, her tail flicking around to wind around Jaune's thigh. "That's so not the point. C-Can we get moving already? Just because I can see in the dark doesn't mean I want to stay in it."
"Speaking of that," he said. "Should we really have our scrolls out? Will that give us away?"
Neon shook her head. "Even though us faunus have night vision, we still prefer to have some light to work with. I guarantee any faunus down here will be using torches just like we are. It just makes things easier."
That was all the permission he needed to keep it out. They moved as a tight-knit group, but more out of necessity than anything. The path was uneven, rubble everywhere, and it was safer for everyone to use the same path the person in the lead – Penny – picked out for them. Flynt and Neon were scanning their torches over the walls as they went, and Penny ahead, but Jaune had his angled downward. Tracks weren't going to be obvious in place like this, so he was more interested in litter. Even the most conscientious White Fang member wasn't going to feel bad about littering in a place like this, and it wasn't like there were any bins around. He spotted a few cigarette butts and the occasional scrap of cloth or paper from a gum wrapper.
It was hard to know how much of that was White Fang or locals, though. He wouldn't be caught dead coming anywhere down here, but he'd heard how abandoned buildings could be taken over by squatters, the homeless, and people doing drugs. When you needed somewhere to shoot up that was hidden away from the police, a place like this would be attractive. There was also the possibility of people just wanting to explore and having more of an adventurous spirit than they had common sense.
What did become obvious was how much more litter there was near the hole than not. There had been several cigarette butts about ten feet away from it, but now there was nothing. Just the rocks, stones, and the occasional dead rat that Neon picked her way very carefully around. Maybe the cigarettes had just been tossed down the hole by people. Rodents might have picked them up and carried them a way before realising they weren't food.
"There's an opening ahead," said Penny.
"Yeah? What kind-" He saw it as Penny shone her torch on it. "That's an opening…?"
It was more of a crack in the wall. About four feet high and two wide, but jagged. There was a wooden pallet, half-broken, laid out on the floor next to it, and a gang tag spraypainted onto the wall in a font Jaune couldn't make out. It wasn't the White Fang logo, though. This had lettering and little skulls around it. Probably some idiots imagining they were a big deal. The crack in the wall looked natural, which was to say he didn't think whatever gang had been here had dug it out themselves.
"We can fit through if we crawl," said Flynt. Neon made a deeply unhappy noise in the back of her throat. "Uh. This is gonna sound really scummy, but should we maybe let Penny go first?"
"That does not sound scummy to me," said Penny, tilting her head to the side. "Anyone else would be in great danger if there were to be an ambush on the other side, or if they got stuck. I will be fine in both cases."
Flynt sighed and grabbed his hat. "It's more the principle, Penny. Don't want you thinking we're using you as a human shield or something."
"But I am happy to be your shield, even if I'm not human."
Flynt looked to Jaune desperately, as if asking him to convince his partner she wasn't an object. Jaune raised his shoulders. He'd tried, he'd really tried, and it was an ongoing battle. But for now, he'd take the cooperation he could get. "You can go whenever you're ready. Let us know if there's anything we should keep an eye out for."
Penny smiled and got down on all fours, crawling into the gap without hesitation. There was some noise inside; her clothing grating on stone, and the shuffle of her knees on the floor, and also some high-pitched skittering and a muted "Oh, I'm sorry. Please excuse me Mr. Mouse" from Penny. Neon sobbed behind them.
"All is clear," Penny eventually called. "The tunnel narrows halfway, but only for a moment. I do not believe it poses a danger to anyone."
"I'll go next," said Jaune. "Neon goes…" Jaune remembered the skirt, and the fact that Neon would be giving anyone behind her a show. "Neon goes last."
"What?" asked Flynt. "Why you looking at me when you say that?"
"Sorry. Tunnel beckons."
Jaune dove down and crawled in before Flynt could call him out. It was not a fun experience. The ground was cold and slightly damp, and little bugs crunched under his palms as he went. Thankfully, Penny had scared all the rats away, but he still came out of it hopping around and rubbing himself down. Penny helpfully had him turn around so she could pick nasty things off his back and out his hair. Flynt came soon after, to much the same, and finally Neon scampered through like a rocket, all but flying out their end and bouncing on her heels unhappily. Flynt offered her a handkerchief which she promptly used to scrub her knees raw.
"The tunnel here is much better maintained," said Penny. "There are tracks, too."
"Tracks?" asked Flynt. "Fuck me, we're not in the subway are we? Are we about to be hit by a train?"
"No. We're definitely not in the existing subway system." Penny must have been looking at a map internally. "These are old systems. They're not actually a direct route to Mountain Glenn, but they line up onto them. I believe these were designed to fan out and deliver Mountain Glenn carriages to multiple stations here. The eventual goal was to link the subway systems together entirely, rather than have one line between the two cities."
"It was really meant to be an extension to the city and not one of its own, huh?" said Flynt. "Damn shame. Well, which way to reach the main line? That's got to be the one the White Fang are using."
"This way." Penny started moving.
It was all they could do to follow.
/-/
Penny's navigation system worked wonders and they soon found themselves in another tunnel, this one wider still and thankfully without any tight cracks to squeeze through. There was light too, which was unusual. The official lighting systems in the tunnel were decommissioned and long broken, but someone had set up standing spotlights every hundred metres or so, powered by small dust-powered car batteries. They were dim, but in the pitch black they still stood out as clear beacons marking a path.
Jaune tapped his scroll. "Team Jackpot calling Warden."
"Warden reads," came the immediate response. "What do you have for us?"
"We've found what we believe to be the main tunnel, sir. There are clear signs of people being down here, and they've even set up some lighting to make things easier."
"Roger that. Are there any sign of vehicles?"
"No sir. It's quiet here."
"Move onto stage two, then. Set up an ambush and capture however many you can. Do not be afraid to go loud. The White Fang already know we're here so there's not much point being subtle. You are currently outside Vale's walls according to our readings. Only barely, but enough to be clear of any diplomatic incidents."
"Heh." Flynt rubbed his hands together. "Nice."
The call ended. The tunnel was uniform in terms of shape and size, and there wasn't really any part of it that screamed "ambush material"; at best they could use the tunnel they'd come out of, which would at least give them somewhere to duck into if an honest-to-goodness full-size train came barrelling down here. He doubted it would. Vale could ignore a lot, but the sounds of a train in an abandoned tunnel certainly wouldn't count. It'd make the ground above shake. Still, better safe than splattered.
In the end it was decided that they would hide in the off-tunnel and wait for people to come by. It wasn't the most inspired plan, but if they travelled and took someone down then they'd need to drag them all the way back as well. After that, they hunkered down, weapons drawn, and waited.
And waited.
And waited…
"How lo-"
"Thirty-six minutes." Penny's answer was immediate. "Eight minutes later than the last time you asked. You are improving, Flynt. The interval between your questions was six minutes before."
"Yay for me," grumbled the guy, bouncing a pebble off the far wall. "How are you so patient? Doesn't your brain work faster than ours or something?"
"It does," admitted Penny. "But you shouldn't assume that makes me smarter." Jaune didn't think anyone actually had. "It just means I can split my attention more effectively. But yes, I would normally grow bored if I had to wait this long." Her lips quirked. "But I am simultaneously playing three different computer games father uploaded into my systems."
"Son of a bitch!" yelled Flynt, kicking his feet out unhappily. Neon was the only one not sitting, and mostly because she wouldn't bring herself to. "When do we get to have brain implants that let us play video games, huh? Where are the flying cars I was promised as a kid? Where's my hoverboard!?"
"I believe there is a student at the festival with one."
"It's not the same…"
Jaune smiled faintly. He was bored as well, bored enough to appreciate the welcome distraction Flynt's complaints offered. They didn't really know when, or even if, the White Fang would be coming tonight. They might be coming later, or they might have already been, and all they could do was spend the whole night here and check, then leave cameras to track and trace what times people went by for future visits. And next time he was bringing a boardgame or something. This was ridiculous.
It was another hour before they heard noise, and by that point Flynt and Neon had taken to playing tic-tac-toe in the grime while Jaune was trying desperately to find signal on his phone to read a novel. The faint rumble of an engine and the metallic sound of something bouncing on uneven ground reached their ears.
"Finally!" cried Neon. "My legs are killing me!"
"It's not a train," said Flynt. "Sounds like something on wheels. How are we stopping it?"
"Easily," said Penny, stepping out into traffic without a care in the world.
Jaune's jaw dropped, and he was sure those driving the ATV had a similar reaction when their headlights suddenly brought up a girl standing in the middle of an abandoned tunnel. There was a screech of the brakes but the vehicle still hit Penny at over thirty miles an hour. And then, suddenly, it was moving at zero miles per hour, the front end wrapped left and right around Penny's body, and with the girl buried up to her cleavage in the engine. He wondered morbidly what those inside were thinking to have Penny's face effectively two inches in front of their window.
"I suppose I should have prepared a pun for this," said Penny, tilting her head cutely.
"Looks like this is going to be a category-s write off," quipped Flynt, strolling out into the tunnel as the White Fang stumbled out the vehicle. "S for surprise, motherfuckers!"
"Oh, that's good!" cheered Penny, slowly pulling herself out the vehicle. "I shall remember that one."
The faunus were slow on the uptake. Which, to be fair, might have had something to do with them just having survived a car accident. They were probably concussed or rattled at the very least. One of them slumped against the wall and began to vomit, while another drew out a gun. "A-Atlas pigs!" he yelled, slurring slightly. "You'll never take us alive!"
The first round bounced off Flynt's chest. The second and third too. The faunus unloaded the entire magazine into the man, who stood with a smirk on his face. Until the last one, aimed at his head, went just a little higher, tore a hole right through the centre of his hat, and sent it fluttering to the ground. Flynt was gobsmacked.
Neon snorted.
"Okay," growled Flynt. "The first fifteen shots I can accept – but the sixteenth? That was expensive, you asshole!"
Flynt timed the last word with his fist crashing into the man's face. The faunus snapped back and cartwheeled over himself to land in a heap in the tracks. The first was still throwing up, but there were two more. One dove at Flynt and tackled him into the vehicle's seats, while the last pulled out a cleaver and turned to face the rest of them. The plucky faunus flashed the weapon at three enemies, one of whom had just finished peeling machinery off herself, and then swallowed. He let it drop from his hands and raised them in the air.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," said Neon. "And trust me, being taken alive isn't half as bad as it sounds compared to, say, being taken in dead."
"N-Noted ma'am…"
Flynt kicked the last man off himself and pinned him to the wall, then pulled out the cuffs they'd been provided and linked his hands together. The one who had surrendered turned his back and offered his almost politely, and Neon cheerily cuffed him. "Well, that was easy enough."
"Wasn't meant to be hard," said Jaune. "We're ambushing amateurs. Penny, can you check the vehicle and see what they were bringing?"
"Of course!"
It was a silent agreement to let the last faunus finish throwing up before the cuffed him. He wasn't in much of a state to fight and might even need some medical attention when they got back. Penny worked over the vehicle quickly, an old and banged up four-wheeler that was even more banged up now that Penny had introduced herself to its bonnet. She came out with dust supplies, but also machinery. Nothing concrete, just pipes and screws and a whole lot of electrical trash like broken-down machines. They were ruined now, and honestly looked like they'd been broken before the crash as well. He'd hazard they were picked up from scrap yards.
"Let's get these four out," said Jaune. "I think we just dump this here to be honest. The White Fang know we're here so there isn't much point clearing it out for them, and they'll notice when these lot don't make it to Mountain Glenn."
"Sounds good to me," said Flynt. "But, you know, I technically took out two of them, Penny did good work on all four and Neon convinced the last one to surrender. You didn't technically contribute."
Jaune frowned. "I didn't realise this was a competition, Flynt."
"I'm just saying the one who contributes the least gets last say on who they carry back." Flynt picked up his unconscious enemy. "I call shotgun on this one."
Neon dove for her surrendered one – a man who could literally walk on his own feet. "Mine!"
Jaune caught onto what they were saying at the last second, or the reason behind it. He reached out desperately but Penny had already taken the last person, conscious and struggling, but clean. That left him with…
The faunus looked up at him, sitting on the floor, covered in vomit.
Jaune sighed.
"Damn it, you guys…"
/-/
There were two unmarked cars waiting for them on the surface. The drivers flashed them badges that marked them as Atlesian military police; they technically had no right to act like this in Vale, but then that was what the tinted windows and unmarked cars were for. "Two to each," said one of the drivers. "Keep their heads down. General Ironwood's orders are to bring them directly to his ship for interrogation. You're invited."
Jaune pushed his vomit-stained prisoner into the back of the car and climbed in after him. Penny did the same on the other side, while Flynt and Neon took the second car. He was tense, uneasy, and "interrogation" had made him even more so. He didn't think Atlas would actually lower themselves to torture someone. He hoped not. He'd heard some people use the argument that they were "advanced interrogation methods" but a spade was a spade, and torture was torture.
He needn't have worried.
Their vehicles drove onto a smaller ship that took them up, and the prisoners were taken away and isolated in different rooms. Team JCKP watched through cameras rather than one of those fancy trick mirrors he'd seen in crime shows, as one of the faunus was sat and cuffed to a table, and an officer talked to him.
"I'm not going to sugar coat things; you're set to go down for a long time. Terrorism is bad enough but place the timing at the Vytal Festival and we can quite easily slap on conspiracy to murder thousands. You'll be tried in Atlas. I'd expect several life sentences."
"But I didn't do anything!"
"Don't play games with me, kid. You weren't down there dressed up like this because you were attending a fancy dress party. We have you red-handed. Does your family know you moonlight as a violent extremist? Our files here say your dad works at a hospital. Not after today, he won't be. You think they'll keep him on once they find out about your loyalties?"
"Fuck you! I won't talk!"
"Your funeral, kid." The interrogation officer shrugged. "This is a formality anyway. What, did you think we needed you? We've captured four of you – and your pal Simon already squealed."
"Simon-? No. You're lying!"
"Am I? Roman Torchwick, Mountain Glenn, the robot – am I ringing any bells?"
The faunus, who couldn't have been older than them, went white as a sheet. Team JCKP had watched all the interrogations however, and though there had been one with a faunus named Simon, he'd refused to say anything. They all had. This one didn't know that however, and Atlas already knew the details the soldier was giving.
"He's good," said Neon.
"Atlas invests in everyone," said General Ironwood, smiling proudly. "Not just you students. Any soldier who shows aptitude in any skill, be it interrogation, administration or engineering, is immediately offered a fully paid scholarship to explore and develop the skill further. Almost everyone takes it for the pay increase if nothing else."
"I assume a scholarship in interrogation doesn't involve more physical means," said Jaune.
"Torture?" General Ironwood stabbed right through his flimsy wordplay. Jaune winced. "We do not employ it, no. It is only suitable for dragging out flawed and faulty information. Leaving aside proven examples of victims lying to end the pain, the mental strain of torture can harm the victim's brain and memory, essentially robbing them of the knowledge you're after in the first place. Lock someone away and torture them for months, and you'll find their recollection of life outside the pain becomes blurry. That's no good for any of us."
"What if he doesn't talk?" asked Flynt. It was a pointless question because the faunus on the screen, convinced the secrets were already out, began to babble to try and reduce his own sentence. Flynt amended it. "What if he hadn't talked? What then?"
"They could still be investigated – and they will be. Their homes, their families, their connections, their computers. It could all contain valuable information. You four shouldn't concern yourselves with that. We have teams of investigators who know how to handle that better than you could. Any pertinent information will be shared with Warden and then passed onto you." He reached down to push a button and turn the video off. "But I have my own mission for the four of you. Something I would like you to complete tomorrow if possible."
Jaune saluted. His teammates did the same. "General Ironwood, sir. We're at your disposal."
"That tunnel is being used to transport material to Mountain Glenn, and we can't ignore the possibility it's intended to transport material back as well. Your orders are to go back down into the tunnel tomorrow and follow it two to three miles out of Vale. Use your discretion on the distance. Once you are there, you are to place and detonate explosives to seal the tunnel. Ideally, we want three seals. We expect them to dig through it, and we may as well make the job as hard as possible. Three sets of explosives, evenly spaced, to bring the tunnel down in three distinct locations. Once done, return to Beacon. Can you accomplish this, Team Jackpot?"
"Sir. Yes, sir. But we will need to request explosives…"
"They will be supplied. Naturally. A vehicle will be dead dropped close to the location you entered from, the key to which will be slipped under your door sometime tomorrow with the exact location of where it is parked. Inside will be briefcases filled with enough explosives to see the job done. I needn't stress the importance of not being found by Valean authorities for this one. They won't appreciate hearing that we're smuggling ordinance into their city."
"Roger that, sir." Jaune saluted again.
Hopefully the White Fang would be too busy trying to figure out who was taken and what they knew to look deeply into what their team were up to.
Next Chapter: 3rd June
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