I'm at the doctor today again to get the results of some tests. Turns out they're very interested in my family line through my father's side, which isn't great news since my great-grandfather died of diabetes at 40 and my grandfather died of cancer at 36. Let's just say it's not a very healthy lineage and they want to talk about my indicators because there are alarm bells of one or the other. Hopefully not both ffs. Mildly stressing, but it's got to be done.
2023 really hasn't been my year thus far. Sheesh.
Cover Art: Mystery White Flame
Chapter 43
It was an oddly awkward affair sitting up on the ground floor with all the other students, as soldiers took over their posts and some went to provide medical aid to the injured, all the while the sound of explosions and gunfire echoed beneath them, in a basement that wasn't supposed to exist. Jaune felt awkward but Winter looked worse, not knowing what was going on but holding her ground. It was a relief to know he wasn't the only ignorant one, but a CO in the blind wasn't exactly a good thing, either.
Still, Winter took control and was a calm and organised voice, and that was what everyone needed right now. Jaune couldn't help but wonder if that was how he'd sounded when he talked to Brass and Coco, but she probably did it a lot better. More composed, much more professional, and exuding an aura of command he simply lacked.
For now, anyway. Maybe he could ask Clover to teach him how she did it.
The sounds beneath the school ended as suddenly as they had begun, and a stillness fell upon everyone up top as the elevator began to whirr again. When it opened, the huntsman from earlier – Qrow Branwen, apparently – stumbled out with a bloodied face. He caught sight of all the people staring at him, awkwardly laughed, and held up his hands, swaying like he was drunk. More like drunk from blood loss by the looks of it.
"Everything under control," he said, slurring a little. "Ozpin and Jimmy just cleaning up a little down there. Everyone can stay calm and return to their dorms. Or gather somewhere. Don't really know." He stumbled, and a soldier lunged to catch him. "Thank you. Funny story, but my legs aren't working so great right now."
Winter sighed. "Get him to the medical bay. Carry him if needs be. All students, I'm going to suggest you gather outside on the lawns. It's safe now, and we can't say the same for Beacon's structural integrity with the same certainty. Feel free to wander and stretch your legs, but not far. Let's not lose anyone now. Arc, with me," she added. "And Mr Brass and Miss Coco as well."
The three of them meandered over, each looking more than a little exhausted. Jaune's was a physical kind, his body having only recently come back under his control after a drop out the window. Brass and Coco just looked mentally tired. Thankfully, Winter didn't have any extra orders for the two of them.
"I felt I should congratulate the three of you on your performance today," she said, smiling grimly. "I'll speak with the headmaster once he is back and stress that the two of you, and your teams, should be appropriately recognised for your work today." Coco and Brass stood a little taller. "As for you, Arc, I'm sure we can arrange something back in Atlas."
Jaune saluted weakly. "Thank you, ma'am, but it was just self-preservation."
"Hmph. Hiding is self-preservation. Storming the CCT through a small army of mechs to send out a distress call, then organising the defence of a school that isn't your own is far more than that. As is risking your life to rescue a hostage. No more foolishness out of you," she said, sharply. "There's nothing more arrogant than someone trying to be humble when they've quite clearly gone above and beyond."
"Sorry, ma'am."
"She's got a point," said Brass. "You kicked Coco and I into gear when we would have sat around in the medical bay hiding. Kinda embarrassing." He shook his head. "But it was a wake-up call I think we needed. I'm going to take my being team leader a lot more seriously after this."
"Same," Coco said. "I was so focused on protecting my team I forgot we were four fully armed and dangerous combatants. Makes me think we deserved to be knocked out the tournament when we were."
"Any lesson learned is a valuable one, and this tournament isn't as important as everything that comes after you graduate," said Winter. "Here, your losses earn you a moment's frustration, while out there any failure will haunt you for the rest of your life. Better you both take home a valuable lesson today. Either way, I wanted to ask you two to continue leading those outside for now. Keep an eye on them. The threat is very much over, but I'm sure the teachers will want to do a headcount, so make sure they don't get into any trouble."
The two left to do just that, leaving Jaune to be drawn away as most of the students filed out. The soldiers remained, though Winter ordered several to go guard the students just in case. Once they were out of the corridor and aside, Winter spoke again.
"We've retrieved Penny safe and sound, and I spoke to Adel's team to impress upon them the importance of silence. They agreed, stating that they owed you and Penny did more than enough to earn their trust."
"That's good. What of the hostage?"
"Badly hurt but alive. It seems Neo sought to do away with her the moment she knew you were following. The girl was able to crawl to safety and staunch her bleeding. She'll be in hospital for a week or two, but she should make a full recovery."
That bitch. She hadn't ever planned to give the hostage back. If she'd had more time, she might have made sure the girl died too. Winter noticed his expression.
"Don't waste your time getting angry. Escalating to attempted murder of a Beacon student will have her hunted throughout Vale, and likely abandoned by any allies she has left. Atlas security, at least on the academy, is too stringent for her to slip through, and it'll be updated with her details the moment we get back."
"If you'll pardon my cheek, ma'am, that security didn't stop someone hacking the robots."
"No. it didn't. We're looking into that now but the reality of it is that Atlas access codes were used, so we either have a traitor or someone lapsed on security and let their codes be taken, either by a hack or some other method. What they achieved must have looked impressive, but it was really little more than stealing the key to someone's car and re-wiring it. The list of suspects of who could do that is slim, but we expect treachery."
"Can it happen again?"
"Not after today. We will make sure every mech is disabled and deemed safe before use, and every automated unit as well. This is a lesson for us not to take our enemy's capabilities for granted. We designed those units to combat the Grimm, and we imagined – perhaps foolishly – that no one would want to interfere with that. The Grimm are a threat to all of us, after all. But it seems some people will sacrifice any number of people if it means achieving their own aims."
"And," she added, "it's obvious that there is more going on here than even I am cleared to know. General Ironwood, Headmaster Ozpin and Huntsman Branwen obviously know of something beneath the school." Winter took a deep breath. "And it is none of our business."
"Ma'am?"
"Something to learn, cadet, is that there will always be things you are not privy to. The bigger goals behind a battleplan, the specifics behind any given order, prototype weaponry, new innovations, and discord among the higher ranks. There are things we are simply not meant to know, and that does not mean we aren't trusted. It just means the knowledge is not relevant to our jobs. Whatever is kept in the basement of Beacon is obviously a matter for those who run Beacon, and General Ironwood likely knows because he is another headmaster and might be asked to temporarily take over should Ozpin die or be rendered infirm. At least until a new headmaster or headmistress can be selected. Such a secret is not for us, a teacher and a student from another school, to know."
So, don't ask and don't look. That was the message. "I understand, ma'am. Should I keep this out of any reports?"
"Mention it to General Ironwood, and this conversation if needs be, but yes. Keep it out of reports to anyone else. Captain Ebi and Warden included. At least until General Ironwood gives you instructions otherwise."
"Understood."
Winter smiled tiredly. "You're a good student, Jaune Arc. Do you see now why we suggested you and your team for the specialist programme? You were hesitant at first and didn't see yourself fit for the role. Has that opinion changed?"
After everything they'd done, Jaune couldn't help but feel it had.
"Yes. I think I'm ready to become a specialist."
"Hmph." Winter chuckled. "Not yet you're not, but, once you graduate, I dare say the Specialists would be pleased to have each of you."
/-/
The Vytal Tournament continued on that day like normal, with the two-vs-two rounds happening while the entire city was ignorant of the attack on Beacon. It couldn't stay that way however, no matter how much Atlas would have liked their little hiccup with the mechs to stay a private matter. There were just too many students who could talk, and too much damage to Beacon. Jaune imagined it was a decision by Ironwood and those higher up to admit their fault and manage the fallout rather than be caught lying about it.
The reaction from the media was expectedly ruthless, but Ozpin spoke out in favour of Atlas for cleaning up their own mess, and he and General Ironwood hosted a press release in which they revealed the dangerous actor behind the hack, and how she had been slain within Beacon by General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin, with the aid of a Valean huntsman. No names were mentioned, and no body presented, but there really was no doubting after all the explosions belowground.
A team had been arrested, however. Or the Remnants of one. Warden had been right; the enemy had infiltrated Beacon and had been right there among them. Jaune didn't know who, and that was frustrating, but he didn't ask.
Did he want to know more? Yes. Of course he did. His whole team did once they found out what had happened, and after Neon and Flynt stopped fussing over him and Penny like they might disappear. They were furious that they hadn't been there to fight alongside them and kept blaming themselves even when it really wasn't their fault. The fact they'd lost – to Team RWBY of all people – was just salt in the wound.
Still, despite them all wanting to know the full story, they knew better than to dig into it. Whatever was kept at Beacon was none of their business. Their business was Atlas, the protection of Atlas, and looking after one another. Valean criminals weren't their problem.
Warden agreed. "Good job, Team Jackpot," said the man in charge, over the encrypted call. "This all but officially marks the end of our working together. It's been productive. Command is more than satisfied with us all. Your primary goal of stopping the Paladin falling into enemy hands was a success. Better yet, a White Fang action aimed toward Vale was foiled, and while our mechs assaulting Vale is a black mark on our record, you were instrumental in mitigating how large that mark would be. Thanks to your quick actions in bringing in the rescue party, no one in Beacon died. No Valean citizens lost, and no transfers either. Quite frankly, it could have been much worse."
"Feels like everyone is singing our praises of late," said Flynt. "We get it. We did good."
"You don't get just how much good you've done," said Warden, smiling wryly. "You didn't hear it from me, and try to act surprised, but news has it there might be an awards ceremony for the four of you, which might even include the Atlas Star of Valour."
Flynt choked on the air he was breathing in. "W-What!? But that's for distinguished service on the battlefield! That's meant to be for wartime only!"
"As far as command is convinced, you managed to avert a potential war. The White Fang were clearly aiming to implicate us for the destruction of Beacon. Had they managed to use the Paladin – our machine – within the city, and then use our robots on Beacon, well, it's not too hard to imagine our alliance with Vale falling to pieces. And that's before we consider the idea of the White Fang using that same software to hack our machines in Atlas. Initially, we expected this would be a simple case of the White Fang trying to steal and smuggle our Paladin away to dissect and try to understand, but we see now it goes much deeper."
"Will Atlas be investigating that?" asked Neon.
"Absolutely. The intelligence services are already being gathered toward the White Fang, but also tracking down this hacker. I can't comment on that, both because it's above your rank and because it hasn't even started yet. Not much to comment on." He shrugged. "But rest assured the White Fang won't be getting away with this. No one begrudges them their anger against the SDC, and even us for the exploitative laws that are still in place, but targeting civilians in another country and blaming it on us is a declaration of war. Of course, Atlas would never legitimise a terrorist group by declaring war on them but, for the purpose of handing out medals, we're at war – and your wartime service has been recognised." He chuckled. "Again, feign surprise. I'm not supposed to have told you."
Jaune felt he could be genuinely surprised anyway if this ended up happening. Him, receiving a medal? That was insane. He might even send a picture of it back to his family – maybe with Crocea Mors. He'd stolen it, imagining he'd be just as good as his father, but he'd spent more time learning to use a gun than a sword, and he wanted to see what weapon truly fit him.
An apology to his family, and an invitation to come visit Atlas. He'd make it up to them and show them that he'd earned his place, and recognition, within the city. He had a feeling they'd be proud of him whatever he did, but he wouldn't be proud of himself until he'd made amends.
"Honestly, I'll be glad to see the back of Vale," said Neon, once the call was over. "It's a nice city but there's just too much crap going on here."
"Where were Vale's authorities in all this? I know their police can't get through the Emerald Forest, but where were the huntsmen? Why was it you two and the other students who had to do everything?"
There had been the one huntsman in Qrow Branwen, but Jaune could see Flynt's point. It was ridiculous that there hadn't been any other defence on Beacon. They hadn't expected this, sure, but that didn't mean they should have courted disaster by leaving the school empty. There was always someone in Atlas, and the benefit of not having your academy in the middle of nowhere was that other people could intervene as well. The military, hell even the police. They could swoop in to support Atlas if it ever came under attack, while here in Vale the academy might as well have been on its own island.
"Neo is still out there even though she's injured," said Penny. "And Amity Colosseum would be a very easy place for her to ambush us. I don't think Jaune should go. Or any of us if we can help it. Not unless we're being guarded."
"We're not leaving you two on your own," said Flynt. "Not after what happened this time. Can't go out into the city either or she'll have at us. Would be easier if we could just fly home and say goodbye to this place, but I guess that'd be seen as rude."
Atlas couldn't really afford to insult their hosts right now, after the debacle with the mechs. They'd about patched the holes on this leaking ship, but the hull was unsteady, and no one wanted to rock the boat. The ideal outcome now was for the Vytal festival to end without any more drama, and the only one capable of creating any should, by this point, be Neo.
Giving her the opportunity could hurt Atlas more than anything.
There was always the worry she might take hostages in Vale and demand him come out for them, but, and as harsh as it sounded, that wouldn't then be his problem. Neo would be breaking the law, a problem for Vale to solve, and the fact she'd both a) already killed people and b) shown she couldn't be trusted by attacking a hostage before, would work against her. The authorities just wouldn't trust her to not harm the hostages even if they played along, and they certainly wouldn't be offering a foreign national up as a trade.
"Let's just see what we're told to do," said Jaune, laying back on Beacon's uncomfortable beds. "It's not like General Ironwood and Professor Schnee will have forgotten we're targets. They'll either place us somewhere safe or have us at Amity with a small army to protect us."
"Or put us in the VIP boxes!" said Neon, cheered by the idea.
"Or that. It'd be a good way to make sure no one got to us. But as far as I'm concerned, our part in this is over. We did our duty, we stopped the bad guys, and we even helped stop Beacon from imploding when it came under attack. I'm done."
Neon, Flynt, and Penny exchanged looks, before they each shrugged.
"Sounds good to us, boss."
Next Chapter: 19th August
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