A nice, quiet, uneventful week. Well, aside from the weird illness that left me snottin' and snortin' while my voice tried to do a Qrow impersonation. So glad that's over, but it looks like I passed it on to my wife, so now she feels awful. Fun times!
Also got my RWBY V9 DVD in this week. Binged it almost immediately. Not my favorite volume, but still good overall. Also enjoyed seeing both Chibi Season 4 and Fairy Tales in the special features. Biggest disappointment is that we never got to see the dreaded goose that Jaune feared so much (check his list).
Atlas both was and wasn't what Adam expected.
Cold would've been an understatement. Snow blanketed the land as far as the eye could see, at least from the view in Dormir, the small fishing village they'd landed at. The residents there assured him it was actually warmer in Atlas and Mantle thanks to a heating system run by the SDC. Adam had been on guard the moment they came ashore, but no one in Dormir seemed to care that they were faunus. He had a feeling that might change the closer they got to the floating city hovering menacingly in the distance.
Getting to Solitas had been a long voyage - one Adam spent going over the plans endlessly with his small crew. Bane and Yuma were along for the ride, along with a trio of handpicked members of the White Fang that Adam didn't really know. Sienna assured him they'd follow his every command, which still felt a little weird. With the news that the mine had already been closed, their original plan had been scrapped and replaced with a less risky one.
Some of the workers had already been shipped out to other SDC camps throughout Remnant, but others chose not to move. Most of them had family in Mantle and preferred to stay, only for the SDC to terminate their contract and throw them out. They'd almost all wound up in the slums of Mantle, or so Sienna's contact said.
All they had to do was sneak into Mantle, make contact with the local White Fang, and convince the remaining workers to join. Anyone who wanted to stay would be welcomed into the local chapter while the rest would be smuggled back to Dormir for the long voyage to their new home. Since most of the workers that stayed behind had families, Adam expected most would opt for Menagerie.
"What brings you to Dormir?"
"We're heading for Mantle, actually," Adam explained to the pair of young women that met them at the docks. Sisters, by the looks of them, both bundled up in thick coats that Adam envied at the moment. They didn't exactly keep a lot of winter gear in a tropical place like Menagerie, and while his blazer helped stave off the biting chill of the wind, he'd have killed for something a little thicker.
"Everyone does," the older of the two said. "Not much to do around here except fish."
"What's wrong with fishing?" her sister demanded.
"Nothing, Zure." She didn't sound very convincing. "Well, you're in luck. The train to Mantle should leave in a couple hours. Should get you there in no time."
"Thank you. You've been a great help." More importantly, they hadn't asked any probing questions. Just a quick greeting and some useful info. Very useful, since walking to Mantle through the frozen wasteland of Solitas sounded awful. They'd be lucky to reach the city before they froze to death. "Do you know where we can buy some coats? It's a little colder here than we'd expected." Adam rubbed his arm for emphasis.
Zure, the younger of the two women, bit back a laugh. "Always is." She pointed to a small building just down the road. "You'll find everything you need in there. Should be enough to get you through even the coldest night out here." Her eyes looked Bane up and down. "Though I'm not sure what they'll have in his size."
"I'll manage," Bane assured her. His sneeze sort of ruined his false bravado.
Two hours later, bundled up in some of the thickest coats they could find, Adam and his squad boarded the train to Mantle, sighing in relief at the heated train cars that awaited them. There weren't many others on board. In fact, the vast majority of the train wasn't for passengers at all. Dormir, as the man who'd sold them their new attire proudly informed them, was the premiere fishing village in the area and supplied regular shipments of fish to Atlas, as well as a few other nearby villages. Practically everyone in the village learned how to fish at an early age and spent their whole lives harvesting the sea for a fresh haul every day.
It was a simple life. One filled with the satisfaction of a job well done and the joy of knowing you'd provided for others. A younger Adam would've been content with a life like that, but now? He had bigger fish to fry.
Adam did his best to ignore the two men in Atlas uniforms a few rows ahead, even as his hand reassuringly patted the simple looking bag beside him. Bringing a sword to Atlas was risky, but there was no way he'd be charging into the Ursa den unarmed. Not to mention he'd need it for the last part of his mission.
The ride to Mantle passed uneventfully. Bane sat opposite of Adam but spent most of the time staring out the window at the bleak landscape flying by. Yuma sat a couple rows further back with another, while the remaining pair had grabbed seats near the front, posing as a young couple in awe of their journey to the floating city. They played their parts well, keeping to themselves even after the train arrived and going their separate ways initially. Two or three faunus arriving together wouldn't draw as much attention as half a dozen.
All it would take is one quick inspection to realize who he was.
Adam tugged the hood of his coat down a little lower as he and Bane slipped through the bustling train station of Mantle and out into the busy streets of the city, hurrying down a path he'd studied for days. Each pair had their own route and a centralized meeting point deep in the city, well away from the prying eyes of Atlas. Bane took the lead, his larger form shielding Adam from view as they cut through another alley on their way to the rendezvous.
The meeting place hardly looked like much, but that was sort of the point. Atlas and the White Fang weren't on the best of terms. Nothing about the building screamed terrorist organization headquarters. In fact, it looked identical to just about every other building on the street. Just a long row of rundown apartment buildings. The windows were dark, with curtains and shades blocking the inside from view. Beside the front door was a column of buttons, each with a name scribbled alongside.
Just to be safe, Adam looked both ways before pressing the button labeled Grauer.
The door swung open almost immediately, revealing a rather normal looking man with light skin and a pair of floppy, black ears laying atop his matching hair. His nervous eyes looked them both over before he finally asked, "C-can I help you?"
Adam lowered his hood. "We're expected."
"Expected? By who?"
Were they really gonna do this the hard way? He understood being cautious, but they had to know who was coming and what he looked like. How many other bull faunus with red and brown hair did they know? Rather than waste time dancing around the topic, Adam lifted the ribbon across his face, revealing the one detail they had to recognize.
"It's you!"
"Keep it down," Adam warned, pushing his way inside with Bane close behind.
Their host began to ramble. "I…I'd heard you were coming, b-but it's been so long since…and with the explosion and all, we weren't sure…"
Adam really didn't have time for this foolishness. "Has anyone else arrived?"
"N-not yet," he answered. "Well, not any of yours, I mean. We've got a few people upstairs. They can't wait to meet you." Bane shrugged in response to Adam's exasperated look. "I can't believe it. The Hero of Orostachys. I'd heard the stories. Even saw your broadcast when you talked about everything they did to you. Does it…does it still hurt?"
Adam resisted the urge to beat the guy's head against the wall. Or his own. Whichever would make the talking stop. "You said there are others?"
"Oh yeah! Right this way."
The stairs creaked and groaned as they made their way up to the third floor. One of the doors they passed was busted with caution tape strung across the entrance. Adam could just catch a glimpse of a dusty room with a rather large hole in the floor. Repairs were out of the question, given how little of the room remained. He just hoped their meeting space would be in better shape.
"In here." Adam and Bane followed the guy into a much brighter room. More importantly, one that still had an intact floor. Three others were gathered around a large table, though like he'd said, none of them were from the Menagerie crew. A few others milled around further back, though they all stopped to stare when he and Bane arrived.
The lone woman in the trio proved far more tolerable almost immediately. Was there a rule in the White Fang about women with cat ears being in charge or something? "Adam. It's good to see you." Nodding to the doorman, she quickly added, "Keep watch downstairs. There should be others on their way." She hesitated before looking to Adam. "There are others, aren't there?"
"Four more," Adam confirmed. "Two pairs. They shouldn't be far behind." At least he hoped not. No matter how many times he reassured himself, the possibility of his team being caught still haunted him. Once their greeter had fled, Adam asked, "Are you in charge?"
"Looks like it," she replied, standing a little taller. "Call me Felicia. These are my two lieutenants, A-"
"No names," Adam interrupted. "The more people who know you, the bigger the risk someone will rat you out." A lesson Sienna had drilled into him time and time again. One of many, really. Sienna may have been a skilled fighter, but her true strength lay in organization and planning, and she'd imparted a few key lessons for him to bring with him. "Is everything ready?"
"Y-yes." Such confidence. Truly inspiring. "I mean, yes. We're ready. Did you…want to review the plan?"
"When the others arrive." No reason to go over everything twice. "Bane, why don't you go check downstairs? See how secure the building is."
"I'll take a look." No questions. No hesitation. The immediateness of Bane's compliance, especially given his intimidating size and presence, only served to bolster Adam's appearance in the eyes of the three before him. They didn't need to know that Bane had next to no clue what to look for, only that he obeyed.
It also left him alone to talk about other plans.
"Now that we have some privacy, how does our raid of the refinery look?"
"We're right on schedule," Felicia assured him, moving some papers aside to show a rough map of the city. Specifically, one area of the city. The large SDC lettering on the central building made it clear which one their target would be. "Our target's here, near the southern edge of Mantle, just a few blocks from the wall. The building's security system is outdated."
"How outdated?"
"Stone Age outdated," Felicia said with a smirk. "Padlocked doors. No motion sensors. Not even cameras." In other words, the softest target imaginable. "Management keeps asking for improvements, but so far, nothing."
Because who would be foolish enough to steal from a refinery in the shadow of Atlas itself? They didn't exactly keep a lot of lien lying around. The only thing there would be industrial equipment that was too heavy to move. Even the dust wouldn't be there overnight. Stuff like that would be shipped out in the evening, leaving nothing but an empty warehouse.
Except for a few nights.
"The street behind the refinery is closed for repairs." Unscheduled repairs due to sudden damage that may or may not have been orchestrated by the people before him. "We have two, maybe three nights until it opens back up."
"Two nights," one of her lieutenants confirmed, pointing to the street in question. "They're focusing on one side so they can start getting transports in again. Should finish up tomorrow evening, but trucks won't come until the morning."
Felicia smiled. "Their trucks won't, but ours will. My team is working to secure at least two trucks to smuggle the dust out. We'll also need to break into the underground storage once we're inside. They're keeping all the dust down there for safety."
An underground storage area? No one had said anything about that. "Will that be a problem?"
"No." It better not be, or their whole operation would fall apart. "Getting in will be the easy part. Getting out of Atlas with all that dust? That's where the real fun begins."
Felicia detailed the potential escape routes, but they all had one thing in common. If they wanted to get the dust out of Mantle, they'd have to pass through one of the gates. Normally, that would be easy, but not many people would be driving truckloads of dust out of the city at night. If the guards inspected the cargo, they might have to fight their way out. While Adam felt confident they could take on a couple of unprepared guards, that wasn't the real issue. One call for backup, and Atlas would have aircraft scrambled in no time. There wasn't exactly anywhere to hide in the barren wastelands outside the walls, and all it would take is one shot to turn their trucks into mobile dust bombs.
They'd have to cross that bridge when they got to it. Worst case, they'd take out the guards before anyone could radio for help. By the time they figured out what happened, Adam's team would be long gone. Well, Adam's temporary team. His real team would already be in Dormir with the rescued civilians, waiting for his arrival. None of them knew they'd be transporting more than just people, though.
The ominous creaking of stairs cut their planning session short, but they seemed to have everything in order. Knowing they only had a few moments left, Adam quickly instructed, "Tomorrow night, as soon as the moon passes behind Atlas, we strike. Tell no one."
Almost as if on cue, the door slammed open and the room became a lot more crowded. Yuma and the others had met up part way and arrived together, so the gang was all here. Bane brought up the rear, gently closing the door behind him. The latch didn't quite catch, leaving it to slowly swing open again. He tried again, but the door only mocked him as the hinges squealed with the reopening. Bane shut it a little more forcefully this time.
A little too forcefully.
A jagged crack split along the top of the door frame, continuing down toward the mostly crushed doorknob. Adam pinched the bridge of his nose as Bane muttered an embarrassed apology.
"Don't worry about it," Felicia said. "This place is practically falling down around us. One more door won't hurt."
Even if he didn't expect much, Adam knew Bane could use a distraction. "Bane, report. How's this place look?"
"Questionable," Bane responded. "Front door is solid, but there's no way to see outside without opening it. Darker than the other buildings, too. Looks like we're trying to hide something."
They were, but they didn't want everyone else to know that. "Good point. Need to put a peephole in the door if you can. As for the outside, are all the rooms being used?"
"Only a few on the middle floors," Felicia explained. "Bottom floor's too exposed to the outside and the upper floors…well, we don't have an elevator."
Laziness was hardly an excuse, but he was glad to hear they'd at least considered the risks of the ground floor. Still, the vacant upper rooms would work to their advantage. "Turn on some lights in the empty rooms. Pull the curtains back a little, too. We want it to look lived in."
"Won't people notice it's always the same windows?"
"If someone's looking close enough to see that, you're already in trouble." A few appreciative nods followed his logic. "You don't have to stay completely hidden. You just have to not stand out. If you really want, switch up the rooms throughout the day. You can ditch the lights during the day, but make sure to pop some on in the evening at random."
"We'll see it done," Felicia promised, jotting something down before turning her attention on the new arrivals. "This the rest of your crew?"
"They are. They'll be helping us with the evacuation." And not the raid. He hoped she picked up on his hint.
"Understood." Only time would tell. "Then I guess we'd best get right down to it. Most of the workers are nearby. Not really anywhere else they could go." Not after losing their jobs, they couldn't. Adam had a feeling the SDC hadn't bothered to take care of them. If Sienna was right, they probably hadn't even been paid yet. "We already talked to most of them and can have them here and ready to go first thing in the morning. You can catch the early train out."
"We'll send them in shifts," Adam countered. "If we send too many, it'll just draw attention." And that was the last thing they needed. "I doubt Dormir sees a lot of tourism."
It seemed Felicia had planned for that. "We'll spread the tickets out. The train passes through Dormir on the way to Essen and Crossed. They'll all get off in Dormir, but it won't look as suspicious when we buy the tickets."
Adam could see why Felicia was in charge. She clearly had a good head on her shoulders. "Good idea. We'll send half in the morning with Yuma and the others. They can get the ship ready before Bane and I bring the rest in the afternoon." Or just Bane. The big guy wouldn't like it, but given the choice of leaving Adam behind or abandoning a bunch of defenseless civilians, Bane would make the right choice. Just to be safe, Adam would make sure to include some families with young children. As intimidating as the big guy could be, Bane had a real soft spot for children.
"There's a bit of a problem." Of course there was. Nothing ever went this smoothly. Adam waited for Felicia to explain. "One of the children…both her parents died in the explosion." Oof. Instant orphan. "She's being kept in a home for troubled youth on the other side of town. When news spread of the explosion, some of her classmates…let's just say they were less than sympathetic. Especially when they found out she was a faunus."
"Hidden trait?" Those weren't unheard of. Heck, both of Felicia's lieutenants could pass for human. Axol had been like that, too. In a world that hated people for being different, blending in sure would be tempting. He'd never had a choice, though. Not with the horns sticking out of his head.
"In a way." Felicia snapped her fingers. A shorter man rushed over with a folder almost immediately. "She's a chameleon faunus. Color changing skin. Most of the time, she can keep it hidden, but if she gets too emotional…"
Like finding out her parents had just died. Adam took the folder from Felicia, looking over a small docket of information with a picture hanging from a paperclip. Likely an old school photo or something. He doubted she'd be smiling for the camera anytime soon. "Ilia Amitola," he read, passing the picture of the young, freckle-faced girl to Bane. She was around Blake's to a prep school in…Atlas? Really? No wonder her classmates hadn't been very sympathetic. "Attacked several classmates during school hours. Three hospitalized." A fighter, then. Adam couldn't really blame her for what she'd done. He'd done much the same to Dorian once upon a time, not to mention his constant fights with Pika. Sometimes, you had to let your fists do the talking.
"They tried to keep her up in Atlas but moved her back down to Mantle after she attacked another child. Parents agreed to drop charges once they realized she was an orphan. Not much you can get from someone with nothing." More like with nothing to lose. "She's barred from ever returning up top and is pretty much under house arrest until they can figure out what to do with her."
Most likely, they'd just throw her in a cell and call it a day. Or hand her over to the SDC as free labor like they'd done with Jakob. Forced to work for the same people who'd killed her parents. She'd be utterly alone. Cast out into an uncaring world with nothing but the pain of her loss and a lifetime of misery ahead of her.
He couldn't let that happen.
"We'll get her out," Adam promised. He'd sworn long ago to not let others go through what he'd been forced to endure. Ilia deserved better than whatever horrors Atlas and the SDC had planned for her.
"Schedule's already a little tight, boss," Yuma interjected. "You sure we've got time for this? I mean, it's terrible what happened and all, but she's just one kid."
He'd been just one kid a long time ago - one kid not worth anyone's attention. So he'd been left to fend for himself. Abused. Enslaved. Taunted and tortured. Insulted and reviled. His branded face now adorned countless posters with Kingdoms actively calling for his head.
And all because no one could be bothered to help just one kid.
"We aren't leaving her," Adam declared, ending any debate on the matter. "Bane and I will get her after the first group leaves." That way, if anything went wrong, they'd already have half the civilians out and the rest ready to go. "Get us another ticket for the afternoon train. One way or another, we're getting her out of Atlas tomorrow."
Even if he had to tear the Kingdom apart to do it.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
"We don't usually have many people looking to adopt from us," the gray haired man who ran the orphanage mused as he showed Adam and Bane to his office. As much as he called it a home, none of the children they passed looked like they wanted to be there and none of them looked at the man or his staff like parents. "You have to understand, most of these children are brought to us in handcuffs. Assault. Thievery. Drugs. These are the children society has failed. Most of these kids would be locked up if it wasn't for us."
Instead they were locked up here. It was hard to see the place as anything more than a fancy prison, especially with the bars across every window. A safety measure to protect the children, he'd assured them, but Adam doubted anyone was trying to break in.
"If I may be frank," Adam had a feeling he wouldn't bother waiting for permission, "some of these children are…unsuitable for adoption. There's a lovely orphanage uptown with plenty of children with much less…baggage."
"I'll be fine," Adam almost growled. He'd tried so hard to hold out hope for this place, but it looked like their caretaker had given up on all of them already. Maybe he'd been worn down by repeated failures, watching the children grow up and leave, only to fall right back into their old habits again. Or maybe he'd just seen too many couples change their mind after meeting some of the kids here. Either way, it didn't excuse his behavior. "I'm actually an orphan myself, so I know what it's like."
"Ah, that explains it." He doubted the man truly understood. "So do the two of you have a home here in Atlas?"
"The two of…" Adam turned to Bane, who looked far too amused at the insinuation. "We're not…he's just a friend. I'm single." Why did that sound even worse? "Look, I'm just here to adopt. Can we skip the personal questions?"
Apparently not. The man held up a stack of forms. "Sorry. I'm required to take all this information down. Have to make sure our children are going to good homes, you know."
As opposed to rotting in this dump? Sure, he didn't want some child predator coming in to order a dozen new victims or anything, but did they really have to put up so many barriers for him to adopt? No wonder almost nobody left Katai's orphanage. The prices alone would keep most people away. A full-blown interrogation hardly helped the matters. Plus, they probably wouldn't approve him if they knew anything about him.
"I assure you we'll take good care of her." Better than this moron ever could.
The fake smile plastered on the man's face made Adam sick. "Oh, so you're looking for a daughter?"
"I am. In fact, I had someone specific in mind." Bane slid Ilia's picture across the table.
The color drained from the guy's face almost immediately, taking his smile with it. "H-her?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No. I mean, yes. She's not available for adoption."
"I'm a friend of the family," Adam tried. He'd never heard of her parents before, but Felicia knew them pretty well. They were even involved in the White Fang a while back but ended up taking jobs with the SDC to afford to send their child to a prep school in the so-called city of dreams.
More like a city of nightmares, at least if you were born a faunus.
"It doesn't matter." He pushed the picture back. "I can't let her leave. Not until the courts have a ruling."
"I thought the charges were dropped." Felicia told him as much. Had her intel been wrong?
"The parents' charges, but the school had to pay for those poor girls she attacked." Poor girls? Was he really standing up for those racist piles of trash? "I'm told they intend to seek damages against her."
"They want her to pay?" Adam could see Bane bristling beside him, but the larger man kept quiet…for now. "How? She doesn't have any money." All her parents' earnings went toward her schooling - through a third party, of course. No prestigious school in Atlas would consider the daughter of a couple of faunus miners for entry. Thankfully, the White Fang had a handful of shell companies they could route money through.
"The life insurance payout." Wait, what? They were going after the only thing Ilia had left from her parents? Were they really that petty? He already knew the answer. "That or they'll garner her wages."
"You make them work here?" They'd done that in Katai, too, but Adam had never seen a single lien of that money in the end. Even if he'd stuck around and kept his head down, he had a feeling most of his earnings wouldn't have made it back to him.
"Not us," the man quickly assured them, though even then Adam had his doubts. "Her future earnings. Or they might push for her to pay it off sooner. The SDC sometimes takes on junior employees in need of lien."
Things were going south fast. Just as Adam feared, they wanted to do a repeat of Jakob. Sell her off to the SDC for a few years but keep her wages for themselves. Probably underpay her as a junior employee too, just to make sure she could never earn enough to break free. By the time she realized what was going on, it would be too late. She'd be trapped in the SDC's grasp, hopelessly waiting for a relief that would never come.
"That's not right!"
Adam jumped as Bane's fist smashed into the desk, a frightening crack echoing in the suddenly still room. It was the first words Bane had spoken since they arrived and the very sound of them made their foe shrink into his seat. Bane looked ready to tear him limb from limb, and while Adam wanted nothing more than to let him, they didn't need that kind of heat right now.
Not if he wanted to have any hope of success on tonight's raid.
Adam held a hand out in front of Bane, watching as the giant of a man sat back with an angry huff. "Sorry about that. He just…neither of us want Ilia caught up in all of that. Isn't there something we can do?"
Adam's calmer tone helped soothe the man's terror a little, but his eyes kept darting over to Bane every few seconds. It didn't help that his oversized bodyguard looked ready to start smashing the room apart at the drop of a hat. "N-no. There isn't." A growl from Bane made him flinch. He stumbled over his words as he tried to explain. "It's not up to me!"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm under orders to keep her here until the school makes a decision." They all knew what would be decided and what would happen to Ilia as a result. "She's not the only one, either. Every week, an officer comes by to check on them. If one of them went missing, I could be in a lot of trouble."
"How unfortunate…for you."
"Don't hurt me!"
Adam jumped in before Bane could paint the room red. Blood red. "What my friend is trying to say is that we aren't leaving without her."
"But they'll-"
Adam shushed him before the excuses could start. "When's the next check-in?"
"Four days," he answered, pointing to a calendar on the wall. Every week was marked with an identical appointment. "If she's not here-"
"When she's not here," Adam corrected, "you'll be just fine."
"You don't understand! If I lose track of someone, they…they could take my license."
"And you don't understand." Adam nodded to Bane, who pulled Adam's weapon out of the thick coat he'd been wearing. Hiding something like that on Bane was always easier. The man's eyes practically bulged out of his head at the sight. "If she doesn't leave with us, you'll lose more than your license."
"B-but…I…you can't…"
"I very much can." For emphasis, Adam slowly drew his sword, letting the terrifying sound fill the room. "One way or another, I'm leaving with Ilia. Whether you sign in blood or ink is up to you." Adam shoved his sword back in the scabbard at the last second, causing the man to jolt as Bane rehid the potential instrument of his death. "But I'm not an unreasonable man. Perhaps we can come to an understanding."
The next weapon Adam pulled proved just as motivating, though in a much different way. Adam flashed a healthy stack of lien - well beyond what an adoption would normally cost. Then again, this wouldn't be an official adoption, so it would all be profit. Profit that only one man would even know about.
Lien really did make the world go round. The sudden shift in mood was breathtaking, though he still had some concerns. "What about the check-in?"
"Give us two days," Adam insisted. "After that, say she escaped. Better yet, tell them someone broke in and kidnapped her."
"They won't like that."
"Somehow, I think you'll be okay." After all, Atlas would have far more pressing matters to attend to by then. "You can even tell them what I looked like. Not him," Adam quickly added. No reason to throw Bane under the bus. "Tell them I broke in and threatened you, then fled with the girl. Maybe smash a window or something. They'll be so busy looking for me, they won't even bother with you."
The man wasn't quite as dumb as he looked, perking up at Adam's words with a bit of concern. "W-why would they be so interested in you?" His eyes trailed up to Adam's hair and the pair of horns peeking out. His eyes widened as realization began to set in.
Maybe it wasn't the best plan, but Adam had a feeling it would do the trick. He'd probably already put the pieces together, anyway. Just to be certain, Adam lifted his ribbon mask to reveal his most recognizable feature.
"It's you!" It seemed his reputation preceded him. Whatever fear the man had of Bane paled in comparison to his sudden terror at Adam's true identity. "Y-you're…you're the one from the news. The terrorist! You're-"
"Adam Taurus," Adam finished for him. "I'd say the news exaggerates a bit, but I doubt you'd believe me." After all, no one else seemed to. "Now, I'm offering to pay quite a bit both for Ilia and your silence. Well, two days of silence."
"What do you want with her?" he demanded, only to gulp and back down when he remembered who he was talking to. "Is…is she one of yours?"
"No. Unlike the SDC, we don't use children." Not that anyone would cede the high ground to them. "Like you said, she's just a child that society failed, so we're here to pick up the pieces." Because no matter how much people claimed to be caring and passionate, no one bothered to step in for Ilia, just like they'd never bothered with him. He wouldn't let her become another victim of the world's cruelty. "So, here's your choice. We're taking Ilia." That part wasn't up for discussion. "You can either walk out of here a richer man or be carried out later…in pieces."
"I'll take the money!"
"Good choice. See? I knew we could reach an understanding." Soji always said negotiations could be cutthroat, though he probably didn't mean it so literally. Adam tossed the lien on the desk, smiling as the man quickly pocketed the money. "That's for Ilia and two days of silence. Understand?"
"Y-yes." Adam cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, sir!"
"Better." If he wanted this to work, he needed to make sure the man feared the consequences, even if they were just a bluff. Thankfully, the media did his work for him, giving plenty of credence to his empty threats. "If you so much as whisper about me in your sleep before the two days are up, you and I will be having a much less friendly discussion. Let's not let it come to that, eh?"
"It won't. I won't." Good. Whatever pride or sense of justice the man had, it didn't measure up to the value of his own life.
Adam replaced his mask and stood. Bane followed suit, leaving the man looking up at the two of them as he cowered in his seat, afraid Adam might change his mind. "Now that that's sorted, perhaps we should go see Ilia and tell her the good news."
"Of course!" Their almost-victim shouted his answer far louder than necessary, bolting from his seat before power walking to the door. "R-right this way."
"No need to rush," Adam laughed. "After all, we wouldn't want anyone getting suspicious, would we?"
"N-no. Definitely not." Because that might terminate their deal…and his life. He did his best to calm down before ushering them both out the door. "Right this way, gentlemen," he tried again, still sounding a little shaky but better than before.
Adam and Bane followed him through the building, hurrying past anyone in the halls before they could really get a good look at the trio. Finally, toward the rear of the building, they reached a large, locked door. No light came from under the door and not a sound could be heard.
"This is it," the man announced quietly as he unlocked the room. "We've had to keep her in her own room after…well, after a few incidents with the other children." He opened the door to let them in, then stepped in ahead of them when neither of them moved. No matter what deal they'd made, Adam wasn't dumb enough to trust his back to a desperate man. The temptation to lock them all in there together would be too much. "Ilia, dear. You have visitors."
Adam stepped in behind the man, leaving Bane to block the doorway and act as lookout. The room was unusually dark. It took Adam a moment to realize there were no windows. He tried the lightswitch, but nothing happened. The lightbulb had been removed, leaving the small space in total darkness.
To a human, nothing would be visible, but Adam had a bit of an advantage there. Even with only a faint light coming from the hall, he could see everything fine. The room was a bit of a wreck, but it had all the necessities. A single, messy bed. A desk that had been flipped on its back, the chair on its side a few feet away. A door across the room opened to a small bathroom. All in all, it looked like a pretty normal room - one that a vindictive tornado had torn through.
"Ilia?"
No one answered. The room was silent save a periodic dripping from the bathroom sink. Nothing so much as moved in the darkened room.
"Ilia?" The man tried again with no success. "I…I don't understand. She was here this morning when we brought her breakfast. No one's been in or out since!"
Brought her breakfast. So solitary confinement, then. He couldn't really say he was surprised, even if she was just a child. In the eyes of Atlas, she was nothing but a criminal. A violent one according to their reports. The state of her room would only add to that perception. They'd see an angry, dangerous monster that would as soon tear apart a room as another human being.
Adam didn't see it that way. Ilia was hurting. He'd been there. Maybe she'd overreacted initially, but they'd come down on her like a hammer. What was she supposed to do? Bow her head and thank them for their punishment? She'd just lost her parents and had her whole world ripped away from her in an instant. She needed help, not a tiny cell. They'd locked her away and then had the nerve to look surprised when she didn't take it well?
Something caught Adam's attention out of the corner of his eye. He slowly walked deeper into the room, keeping his focus on the missing lightbulb even as his instincts screamed about something to his right. Once he reached the bed, he sat down and zeroed in on a shadow across the room. "You can come out now. We're not here to hurt you."
She was clever. He'd give her that. Well-versed in her faunus ability, too. In the pitch black of the room, she nearly blended in. He almost missed her, but the moment she'd taken a step toward the door, he'd seen the slight difference. It was just a little too dark. A human might not have seen it, but a faunus would be able to pick out the difference even without extra lighting. Once he noticed it, it was hard to miss the two eyes watching him from the darkness, especially when they widened in surprise at his words.
"There's no reason to be afraid," Adam tried again, keeping his eyes locked on her. She hopped silently to the side, but he followed it easily. "Neat trick, but I can still see you, even if he can't." She narrowed her eyes at him, likely noticing the horns on his head and realizing what he was. Still she stayed in the darkness, unsure what to do.
"We're with the White Fang." Bane's words drew her attention immediately. "We heard what happened. I know you're hurting-"
"You don't know anything." Her first words, a pungent mix of hatred and sorrow. Ilia's eyes turned a bright red, even if the rest of her remained cloaked. "My parents died, and they just laughed at me. They stole everything from me!"
"We know." Adam let Bane keep talking, knowing he had a better way with children. There were quite a few kids in Menagerie that called him Uncle Bane already. "You're not the only one they've hurt."
Adam took that as his cue. "But we won't let them hurt you anymore."
With that, Adam repeated his earlier reveal. If she thought she was the only one who the SDC had hurt, she had another thing coming. He heard her gasp at the sight. "You…you're…"
"Adam Taurus." Was this becoming a thing? "Terrorist, vigilante, murderer, and whatever else they've branded me with. But before that, I was just a young kid like you. I lost my parents, endured things no young person should have to go through, and just when I thought there was nothing else they could take, they took my name. They dragged me through the mud for daring to oppose them, and they'll do the same to you if you let them."
"Adam…"
"Move, Bane." Bane looked between Adam and the dark corner that Ilia called home. "Step aside." Reluctantly, Bane did as he was told, leaving an open doorway. "You can leave, if you want." Ilia took a step toward the door, only to pause at Adam's next words. "Go on the run and hide from the world for the rest of your life. They might even forget about you in time. You can pretend this never happened and live your life hiding the pain you know will never truly go away. Blend in and start over somewhere far away, always wondering if your past will ever find you again.
"Or, you can come with us. We'll take you far away from here. Someplace safe, where no one will judge you for what a bunch of humans claim." Just as they'd welcomed him in even as the rest of the world condemned him. "You can even work with us to help others like you all over Remnant. Make sure no one else has to suffer like we have."
"You want me to join you?"
"I want you to be free," Adam answered. "I want you to make your own choices. Run away. Come live with us. Join us. Whatever you choose, I want it to be what you want. No one will judge you for what you decide, but if you want, you can help us give that choice to faunus everywhere someday."
Because that was the one thing he'd never had. Not until he took it for himself, and for that, he'd paid dearly. The mark on his face served as a constant reminder of the price of his freedom, but better scarred than a slave. There would always be a price to freedom. He'd paid his, but now he intended to pay it for others. Even if it meant the whole world turned against him.
Adam stood and headed for the door. "Well, that's all I've got for you. Your life is in your hands now, Ilia. Make it a good one."
Adam stepped out into the hall.
"Wait!"
He turned to see Ilia materialize from the dark. The light almost seemed to ripple down from her brown hair, revealing a young girl with tear-stained eyes.
"Take me with you," she begged. "Let me join you."
"Are you sure?" Adam asked. "It won't be easy. They'll condemn you for coming with me. They'll call you a terrorist. Vilify you. You'll be a pariah simply for being born different."
"They've already done that," Ilia admitted, eyes dropping to the floor for a moment. "Can you…can you really make a difference?"
"I don't know." It hurt to say, but nothing in life was certain, and change wouldn't come easy. They'd have to fight tooth and nail, and in the end, it might mean nothing. "But I'm going to try."
"Then I'll help," Ilia promised, looking a little more confident as she walked across the room. She hesitated at the doorway, trying to build the courage to leave her old life behind.
"You can do it," Bane urged, coming up alongside her.
Ilia shut her eyes and leaned forward, more falling than stepping into the hall. She stumbled to a halt, looking around as if she expected it to all be a cruel trick. When no one shoved her back, she let out a long exhale.
"Welcome to your new life," Adam said, a hand on Ilia's shoulder to steady her. "From here on out, whatever happens will be up to you and you alone."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." They were still in Mantle, after all. Only once they had their feet firmly back on Menagerie would he consider the mission successful. "Stick with Bane. We're leaving."
"Good riddance," Ilia muttered as they started down the hall.
Good riddance indeed.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
By the time they got back to their improvised base, Yuma had already left with half of the refugees, but the building was far from empty. There had to be at least two dozen additional faunus in the building, clustered in multiple rooms as they waited to depart. Word had spread quickly, and while some of the workers refused to leave, some of them knew families in need and had sent them in their place.
The moment they'd entered the planning room, Ilia took one look and rushed across the room, flinging herself at the surprised leader with a shout of "Auntie Felicia!"
"Good to see you, Ilia," Felicia said once she'd caught her breath from the chameleon missile. "I see Adam got you out safely. Are you okay?"
Ilia sniffed in response, not really sure how to answer. "She'll be fine," Adam promised, both to Felicia and Ilia. Better days were ahead. "How are we looking?"
"Yuma called to let us know they'd arrived. Second group should be ready to go in two hours." Perfect. "Everything else is being taken care of."
In other words, their mission tonight was still on track. Rescuing Ilia had been a risk, to be sure. If their promise of silence fell through, Atlas would be on high alert, scouring Mantle for him. Only time would tell if he made the right call.
As long as Ilia got out, he'd call it a success.
"Are we going somewhere?" Ilia asked. He hadn't gone over too many details. Not when there were prying ears all about.
"We're taking you to Menagerie," Adam finally told her. "It's an island full of faunus. And best of all, it's way warmer than this awful place."
"Are there people my age there?" she asked apprehensively.
"Plenty of them," Adam assured her. "In fact, I know someone there right around your age. She's a…friend." As weird as it felt, she was. She was also a student, a housemate, a sparring partner, a thorn in his side, and about a million other things. "Her parents pretty much run the island. I'll make sure to introduce you to her when we get there."
The next few hours were a flurry of activity as they prepared a small crowd for departure, going over instructions in detail as Felicia's men distributed tickets to everyone. They'd travel to the station in groups, boarding according to the destination on their ticket. Everyone would be on the same train, but it would look a lot less awkward if they didn't have a whole herd show up at once. No matter what their ticket said, they were to get off in Dormir. Each of them was told to look for Bane so they could head for the ship together.
"It'll be a long voyage, but I promise it'll be worth it." Adam's words helped cheer some of the more worried families.
When the time came, Adam accompanied the last group to the station, spotting Bane easily once he arrived. They kept their distance until everyone had boarded. Everyone except Bane, Adam, and Ilia, who was practically glued to Bane at the moment.
Which meant it was time to break the news. "Look after them, Bane."
"You're not coming with us?"
"Not yet," Adam said. "I'll join you first thing in the morning, hopefully with a few truckloads of cargo. Have the ship ready to leave before sunrise."
"A mission from Sienna, I take it."
"Got it in one," Adam laughed before looking around and lowering his voice. "I can't say much, but the civilians are the priority. If I'm not there by sunup-"
"You will be."
While Adam appreciated the confidence, he needed to make sure failsafes were in place if something went wrong. "If I'm not, you get these people back to Menagerie, you got me?"
"Adam-"
"No. They're the priority." He couldn't risk so many lives for his own. "Whatever happens, they have to make it. Promise me you'll get everyone out."
"I promise."
"You're not coming?" This time, it was Ilia to ask the obvious question.
Remembering Ilia's name for his cohort, Adam answered, "Auntie Felicia and I have to do something first. Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it and we'll all be on our way to Menagerie together. Okay?"
Ilia pried herself away from Bane long enough to give Adam a tight hug. "Stay safe. And make sure Auntie Felicia doesn't get hurt."
"I'll keep everyone safe," Adam promised. It should be a simple job, but he'd make sure everyone walked away in the end, even if he had to abandon the mission. Lives were more important.
Ilia sniffed as she wiped her eyes and stepped back to Bane. "You'd better. You said you'd introduce me to your friend when we get there."
"And I will." And maybe having a friend her age would do Blake some good. At the very least, it might distract her and give him a break from all her training. "Stay safe out there, big guy."
"I'll keep the lights on," Bane promised, holding out his hand. Adam grasped his arm firmly near the elbow, the two exchanging a meaningful nod before heading in different directions. As Adam took one last look back at everyone, Bane knelt in front of Ilia and tried to cheer her up. "None of that now. C'mon. Show me how you smile." Ilia looked confused for a second before a strained smile fought its way to her face.
He'd have to work on making that a real one someday.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
"They're on their way," Adam reported the moment he got back to Felicia. "You sure you don't want to join us afterwards? Plenty of room in Menagerie. Ilia wouldn't mind having her auntie along for the ride."
"I can't," Felicia answered. "My place is here." Adam could respect that. It was nice to see the other branches of the White Fang had capable leaders. He wondered if he'd ever be up to such a task. "Thank you for looking after her. Her parents…they were good people. They deserved better."
"We all do," Adam said. "We'll remind them of that tonight."
Felicia nodded, walking back to the planning table for a final run-through. Everyone gathered around one last time, knowing it wouldn't be long until they all headed to their respective objectives. "Drivers will secure the trucks here," she pointed out a garage several blocks from the refinery, then traced a route to their target building, "and drive them to the loading bay in the back. Repairs should be done soon, so you'll have a clear path when you get there."
"First trucks on the new road," someone joked.
Felicia smirked but pushed on. "Once we're in, my team will cut the lights to the building and break into the storage room. We'll move the dust to the loading bay. Pack as much as you can, then head for Dormir. Our friends from Menagerie have a ship waiting. As soon as they're loaded, we'll ditch the trucks outside town and make our way back. Any questions?"
"What's he doing while we're securing the dust?"
They all knew one another, and no matter what stories they'd heard, Adam was still an outsider. What's more, he'd sent his entire team away rather than have them help on the raid. He could've argued about the importance of protecting the civilians or making sure their ship was ready to load and leave, but that wouldn't convince many people.
If he wanted to lead, then he only knew one way.
"I'll be on both teams," Adam announced before Felicia could answer for him. "Once the trucks are secured, I'll head for the refinery and help lead the infiltration, then join the trucks for the ride to Dormir."
"Satisfied?" Felicia asked. Heads nodded around the room. No one could question his involvement now. "Good. If all goes well, we'll be in and out before the SDC knows what hit 'em."
"And if it doesn't go well?"
Adam grinned as he loosened his blade an inch, the slight whisper of steel drawing every eye in the room.
"That's what I'm here for."
We're on the brink of the start of canon with the raid from Adam's character short coming up next chapter! Thankfully, we don't see much of it other than Adam arriving, so I've got plenty of freedom here. Got a whole plan for the raid from start to finish, so stay tuned!
I spent my first writing day doing nothing but research for this chapter. We get our first Arrowfell references. Fun game that I got 100% completion on without too much trouble (a little backtracking at the end), but I really enjoyed the extra lore it introduced for Atlas. Dormir and the two sisters are both pulled directly from that game, along with the two other towns mentioned (Essen and Cross). Then we went a step further and brought in another canon character with Ilia's appearance! Was worried I was making her too violent at first until I went back to Blake's character short and realized I was right on the money with her attacking her classmates. Been eager to bring her into the fold and figured this would be the perfect time.
As for external references, I may have gone a little ridiculous with the name on the apartment building. Grauer is a reference to a species of gorilla. Felt fitting to have an animal reference for the White Fang hideout. Even better to go with gorillas cause, you know, guerilla fighters. It's dumb, but it's my thing. Also, Felicia is the first name of the Marvel character Black Cat. Slight stretch of the rules there, but it references a color in a way and relates the black-haired cat faunus to...a black cat. Salem was already taken, so no Sabrina reference, sadly.
Next chapter: Adam leads the refinery raid.