Beta'd by: Immortal Spank, Old man of the mountain, UwU Hewwo

Being dead didn't surprise me.

I was poor, living paycheck to paycheck as I slowly trudged through the days, barely tolerating the minimum wage job I've been stuck at for the past five years.

My parents had committed the grave sin of daring to try and make it big in America, starting up their own small business in Mississippi, and selling cyber security to big companies.

And you know? For a while, it really worked; they were selling big and raking in money, and when I was born, I was blessed with a life of middle-class luxury. It was nice.

But the business wasn't my parents' main goal; no, they wanted to build up a small nest before they started their real business, Solar Panels.

My parents dreamed of a world with clean energy, and they figured if they didn't start, then it would never get done.

My mother had died rather early in my life — a cancer diagnosis my father and I had written off as just shit luck. We had grieved and mourned in our own way, but my mother and I had made some good memories before she passed away.

I still miss her, even as I floated aimlessly in this endless abyss.

It wasn't until years later that we learned the true cause of her death. One day, while my father and I were watching the news, it was discovered that a food packaging company had been caught dumping toxic waste into the Mississippi River and had apparently been doing so for the past five years.

The same river that my family had gotten their water from for some years because mother and father wanted to cut down costs on the water bill to help save up for their dreams.

I spent the next five months reassuring my guilt-stricken father that I didn't blame him and that I still loved him.

Not long after that, my dad and I were the next to get some serious health issues; we both suffered greatly, but luckily for me, I still retained my ability to walk.

My dad wasn't so fortunate; drinking that toxic waste for so many years rendered his body unable to support his own weight. He could only move if he got into his wheelchair, but staying awake was painful for him, so he spent most of his time asleep outside of eating with me.

Our medical expenses piled up, draining the small fortune my dad and mom had saved away for their dream. Next were the luxuries we were forced to sell off while I was still too young to get a job.

Soon we were cutting back on everything, until I finally managed to turn 16 and get a job; earning us some much-needed money beyond the government welfare and unemployment checks we received every week.

And that's been my life for the past five years: working at Walmart while my body died slowly, earning minimum wage with shitty coworkers, and dealing with shitty customers.

Until today, I died; my heart finally gave out after years of poor health as I was checking out a customer.

I felt bad for my father; despite the depressing lives we had to endure, I still loved him, and yet I'm going to be leaving him all alone.

Even though I was bodiless, floating in this endless void, I still felt a deep sadness for my dad, cursed with outliving the woman he loved and the son he never got to say goodbye to.

It was strange to be able to think in an endless expanse of darkness. I expected the afterlife to be… well, I didn't really think there was one, but if there was, I expected something better than this.

I wonder if humanity would have been different if society had known this was what awaited us after we died.

…Oh who am I kidding? We'd find some way to hate each other. We're particularly good at that.

I guess this is my existence now: drifting aimlessly in the inky void, doomed to slowly go brain dead as my brain shuts itself down.

I just hope it happens soon.

I nearly gagged at the horrid smell that assaulted my nose.

…Wait a second.

My eyes snapped open, and my vision blurred as I clumsily rolled to the side, falling off the uncomfortable mattress and dropping something my hand was holding in the process.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath but paused at the sound of my voice.

It was deep — much deeper than what I had… before.

I groggily stood up, ignoring the uncomfortably familiar stomach pains as I forced myself to lean against the wall and move towards where my crappy mirror was on the wall.

…How did I know that?

My head was killing me, but I managed to force myself to stand in front of my scratched mirror.

…some Tom fuckery was going on.

Instead of the short, ghostly white, bone-thin body with frizzy pale blond hair I was used to, the mirror showed a tall, dark-brown haired, tanned man with a bulky frame… along with two large white curved horns protruding from my head. I mindlessly brought a hand up and caressed the large bone, marveling at my new appendages.

I groaned as my head throbbed in pain. I barely managed to hobble myself back to the bed before I heaved, vomiting all over the floor as I collapsed face first into the mattress, my head thankfully bouncing to the side as my vision darkened for the second time just as a faint blue light appeared.

(-)

I slowly came back to consciousness, my earlier throbbing headache seemingly gone… and some clarity that I still didn't know what to make of.

This body's… well, my name is Cedar Minos, a twenty-five-year-old bull faunus who worked a disgustingly underpaid job at a dust shop to pay off a bank loan that I could tell the man would never be able to pay off.

I lived in Atlas, the most technologically advanced country in all of Remnant…and unfortunately the most racist against Faunus.

I knew exactly where I was, and it did not fill me with confidence, especially since I don't know when in RWBY's timeline I've managed to find myself in.

I grimaced as the memories of last night slowly drifted into my memory. Cedar had gone home last night with an apple he managed to purchase from one of the convenience stores that were still open late at night when his boss let him clock out. He wanted to reward himself with a rare treat after a particularly difficult week, especially because Atlas cannot grow most of its own fruits due to its climate and elevated altitude.

Fruits in Atlas are expensive, especially for Cedars' meager funds, but he had worked hard and deserved it. The problem was… the apple had gone bad ages ago, but Cedar didn't know that; he'd never seen an apple much less eaten one, and purchased the rotten apple thinking that's what an apple looked and smelled like.

He was lying down on his bed when he swallowed a bite, and his body immediately threw up, but he had unfortunately swallowed some of it and had started to choke… and that's when I woke up.

I sighed as I slowly sat up; it seemed as though Cedar had unfortunately choked to death on his own vomit… not a particularly dignified way to die.

I opened my eyes and nearly scrambled back in shock at the bright blue, glowing text that was displayed in front of me.

Greetings player

Please select a Technology Pack

What the heck is this?!

Inquiry detected: What is this?

Greetings, Player ID #4004567

You have been selected from the billions of souls on your planet to beta test our new system, the Technology Pack System!

You get one starter tech pack to start out with, and through continuous use, you may earn credits to purchase more!

TIP: Advanced technology packs, or otherworldly technology packs, cost vastly more market credits than the starter selection packs. Be sure to think carefully about what packs you want next!

Please Select a Technology Pack

That…doesn't explain anything.

Please Select a Technology Pack

My eyes twitched. Fine, system, I'll play your little game.

I leaned my back against the wall, mindlessly scrolling through tech packs as I tried to find the perfect one.

Deep Sea Exploration tech? No… Android Manufacturing Tech? Interesting, but no... Biotech? That sounds promising… Solarpunk?

I blinked, Solarpunk? That's… environmental technology, isn't it?

My mind was filled with the last moments with my mom and the fond memories of my dad before we were both doomed to die.

How my parents will never be able to realize their dreams.

Solarpunk Technology pack selected!

[Solarpunk Technology]: Technology centered around the creation of environmentally friendly technology. This includes (but is not limited to) clean energy, water purification, ecosystem preservation, etc.

The prompt disappeared, and I was in total silence in my rundown room again.

Don't worry, Mom and Dad. I'm going to see your dreams realized… even if it's in a different world.

"And to fuck over Jacques," I frowned, "the racist bastard."

The plan was twofold: to make my parents proud and to fuck over the SDC. If I can manage to introduce a powerful, cheaper source of energy into the market, the SDC value plummets.

The thing about the SDC was that it was the biggest dust mining and distribution company on the planet, but just because they're the biggest wouldn't give them the amount of economic and political power it has.

That comes as a byproduct of literally everything in this god-forsaken world requiring dust to function.

Scrolls? Needs dust. Appliances? Needs dust. Cars? Dust. Huntsmen/Huntress ammunition and weapons? Dust. Electronics? Dust. Clothing manufacturing? Dust.

Dust is needed in every industry on the planet, and that gives Jacques the power to fuck over any country if he so much as raises the dust price by a couple of dozen Lien, and he knows that.

It's why everyone is so… passive about his abhorrent business practices. If the SDC goes down, what company can possibly take its place? It's simply too big to fail.

At least… it's too big to fail in a market where the sole energy source is dust.

I grinned and got up—well, tried to get up. The second I tried, I was assaulted by a wave of intense nausea.

I grunted and laid back down; it looks like I'll have to miss work… and I don't own a scroll to tell him. Great.

I turned my head to glare at the apple that dared put me in this position and blinked in confusion.

Out of the brown, mushy, spoiled apple flesh, right in the apple's core, was a sprouting seed—five of them.

Bewildered, I tried to delve into my new memories to see if I could recall anything useful.

I… I remember a surge of something just as I was choking to death on my vomit.

… Did Cedar's aura unlock in a desperate attempt to save him?

I braced myself and slammed my wrist onto my bed frame, watching with glee as a bright yellow aura shimmered into existence, fully protecting my hand and wrist from the impact.

"…fuck that hurt." I hissed as I cradled my aching wrist. Okay, so not fully protecting me from the impact. I grimaced as I gingerly rubbed it,"you fucking idiot, never do that again."

Pain aside, it was good to know that my aura had activated, but that didn't explain the sprouting seeds in the apple… unless?

"System?" I called out to the empty room.

What does the user need?

Now I feel less like an idiot talking aloud in a completely empty room. "Is there a way to check to see if I have my semblance unlocked?"

System users can use the command "Status" to view the user's profile sheet. This sheet includes currently equipped technology packs, their name, aura percentage (if applicable), and semblance (if applicable).

"Status."

Name: Cedar Minos

Species: Bull Faunus

Aura Capacity: 100%

Semblance: Plant Growth [Unevolved]

{Technological Packs Equipped [1/5]}

[Solarpunk]

[]

[]

[]

[]

{Technological Packs Unequipped [0]}

…I have questions.

Okay, first things first, let's see…aha!

Plant Growth: The Semblance of Cedar Minos. Plant Growth accelerates the growth of plants using Cedar's aura. Semblance has both passive and active effects.

Passive: the user promotes the growth of plants around them by standing still for a long period of time; this is enough to grow grass and moss to maturity within a matter of hours.

Active: The user can focus their aura on a plant to massively accelerate its growth. At full power, the user could even grow a tree to full maturity within two weeks from just a sapling.

…that works wonderfully with solar punk if used right.

Okay, next question. Am I limited to the five technology packs I can equip?

The user can increase the number of Technology pack slots by purchasing them from the pack shop!

I peeked into the shop and winced; it was… expensive. Triple the amount of money it took to buy one starter tech pack.

At least it wasn't nearly as expensive as some of the packs in here; the Neurological tech pack was nearly twenty times as expensive as the extra tech slot. It was ridiculous.

I laid back down on my shitty mattress; the combination of both my sickness and… everything else today has left me so exhausted.

I'll just… take a little nap and maybe not go into work today.

I was fired.

I had woken up that day still feeling like two semi-trucks decided to spit-roast me, but I decided I needed to suck it up and go to work because I couldn't miss two days in a row without telling my boss about what happened.

So, I crawled out of my bed, put on my cleanest clothes, and trudged through Atlas's absolutely frigid climate (without a coat!), ignoring the stares from the people around me, and walked the half mile (0.8km) to my job from my house in the slums.

I made it maybe four steps inside the store when my boss noticed me and stormed over to yell at me, furious that I had not shown up yesterday.

I tried explaining to him that I had food poisoning, and because I didn't have a scroll, I couldn't tell him ahead of time, but he told me that wasn't an excuse.

He then asked me for a doctor's note to prove that I was sick, despite him knowing he doesn't pay me well enough to afford a fucking doctor's appointment—not to mention the obvious visual cues my nasally voice, my pale face, puffy eyes—I could go on.

When I obviously couldn't give him a note, he fired me on the spot, despite my memories showing that this was the first time Cedar had ever missed a day of work, not to mention that he never so much as raised his voice at Mr. Daytin (the boss) even as the old fossil tore into him for the most minor of mistakes.

So, I walked all the way back to my rundown home and collapsed back into my bed, the food poisoning making it hard to keep my eyes open for more than twenty minutes.

I ended up just falling asleep again.

It was the next morning where I discovered an… unfortunate part of my semblance.

The wall adjacent to my bed was covered in mold from floor to ceiling.

I moved the bed to the other side of the room, and only then did I feel comfortable enough to go to sleep.

For the next week, my routine consisted of waking up, going to the convenience store to buy the cheapest food and water I could, eating and drinking what little I could stomach, and going back to sleep. As each day passed, it got easier, and during that time I would spend what little time I felt okay enough to move to explore Atlas.

But I never explored much for long, not only because of my steadily growing nausea as time marched on but also because… the citizens' judgmental stares made me uncomfortable, and it was frustrating to have to deal with the insults they thought I couldn't hear when they muttered under their breath.

I felt more alone than I already was.

But soon enough, the sickness passed, and I felt okay enough to go out and actually do shit.

My first stop was the dump to scavenge for metal parts. Only…it was a bust.

See, apparently, Atlas has a special recycling facility specifically to make use of any thrown-away metal. Through some process I can't begin to comprehend, they're able to repurpose all the metal the citizens throw away as trash.

What this means for the dump is that they get paid by the city for collecting the metal and delivering it to the special plant, roughly two thousand lien per ton of metal waste they deliver.

It also meant I couldn't take any for my projects.

I left feeling slightly dejected, but it didn't stop me from being productive today; I decided to go to the library to make use of their publicly available computers.

It just… took roughly a couple of hours to get in because the Librarian at the front refused to let me in; she said my horns could damage the books on the higher shelves and my size could be a danger to the other people in the library.

She even implied that I might not even be able to read.

Fucking bitch, I could even feel her eyes watching me right now as I sat down at the computer desk.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, scoffing quietly at her narrowed gaze as our eyes met.

I took a deep breath to calm my irritation. Let's… let's just do what I came here to do.

I had to be quick, though'; from the time the Librarian spent wasting my time, I only had roughly an hour or two before I had to leave.

The first thing I looked up was Beacon, and luckily it was still standing, which meant that I was at least pre-volume 3 RWBY. But I saw no mention of any of the teams I was familiar with, so just in case, I also looked up Weiss Schnee.

There wasn't a lot of relevant information, mostly it was about her past singing career and her prospects as the future head of the SDC, but there weren't any articles decrying her for going to Beacon rather than Atlas Academy, so I'm going to assume I'm before volume 1.

What else could I search for…

I typed in Pyrrha Nikos into the search bar, and dozens of articles and DustTube clips appeared in the search results—nearly 100,000 results—all discussing how wonderful the three-time Mistral tournament winner is.

If I'm remembering correctly, didn't Weiss introduce Pyrrha as a four-time tournament champion to Jaune at Beacon? If these tournaments happen annually… I'm roughly a year or two ahead of the start of RWBY.

'But what does that mean for me?' I thought as I closed the browser, 'It's not like I can get into Beacon, or any huntsman school for that matter, even if I wanted to.'

The simple fact of the matter is… training to be a huntsman costs a lot of money.

You'd think that remnant would bend over backward to help out the brave men and women who risk their lives to fight against the endless threat of the Grimm. But nope! It's actually ludicrously expensive to become one.

Making/purchasing your weapon, maintaining your weapon, academy costs, prior academy training costs, combat outfit costs and the costs to repair it if it gets damaged, ammunition costs, and a whole load of other bullshit that makes it nigh impossible to be a huntsman if you were poor, like me.

And what do Huntsman get after their years of dedicated service for fighting for the good of all humanity? When they die, they get their name chiseled into a Mural!

'Yeah, fuck that,' I snorted as I left the Library. 'Leave fighting the giant black death monsters to the professionals.'

Besides, with the Solarpunk tech pack, I can make a more efficient energy source than Dust, and once that gets out, you could say I'd be saving more lives than I ever could as a Huntsman!

Now, if only I could actually do that.

I can't just magically make what I want; my tech pack gives me the ability to make what I want, but I still need the materials to make the shit I want.

Luckily for me, pretty much all the things I could think of are possible to make in this world, but it will take quite a bit of money to get there.

It's getting late; I should head back home and start job hunting tomorrow.

I started my trudge back home through the snowy climate, keeping my head down as I astutely ignored the stares the citizens were giving me. A tiny scowl marred my face as a woman somewhat aggressively shoulder-checked me.

The small, building frustration I had started to feel since my unjust termination by my former boss was reaching its tipping point. The frequent, suspicious glances from the citizens, the librarian, and the woman just now were only adding fuel to the fire.

I just want to be back in my shitty home already.

My stomach grumbled something fierce as I winced. Eating practically nothing for a week straight has made me ravenously hungry. I don't think I can wait until I get back home…

I lifted my head up, ignoring the people around me as I looked around. A relieved sigh escaped my lips as I saw a small diner just down the road. I quickly made my way, doing my best to avoid most of the people around me as I made a beeline towards the food.

I opened the door of the diner, sighing in contentment at the heat that snuggled against my cold skin. My shoulders dropped in satisfaction as I walked up to the hostess, who was distracted by some tablet.

I coughed lightly to get her attention; her head snapped up to me in a practiced greeting, but she stopped. Her eyes rolled, her finger pointing to a sign next to the door that I had missed.

No Animals allowed!

For the briefest second, I was confused.

And then I wasn't.

A white-hot rage burned in my chest as my furious stare roamed across the smug, scoffing faces of the customers inside. My anger must have shown on my face, because the hostess shrank in on herself once my attention was redirected at her.

My eyebrows furrowed in anger at the sound of scraping chairs and several men standing up as they stood aggressively at me, ready to fight me off if I got violent.

I bet most of them just wanted to punch me regardless.

I snarled in anger and turned around, leaving the diner as I slammed the door closed, cracking the glass door in the process, but I didn't care.

Fuck this place. Fuck Atlas; fuck the people in Atlas; fuck everything about Atlas. The second I'm able to, I'm leaving this shithole.

My anger almost exploded at the sound of sirens in the distance, but I tried to calm myself almost fruitlessly, but I just managed to get my emotions barely under control just as the car stopped just ahead of me. The two soldiers hopped out of the car and walked towards me.

"Sir! We'd like to ask you a few questions." The taller of the two called out, his authoritative voice grating on my already waning patience as his partner brought out a scroll.

A deep sigh exploded from my nose. "What do you want?"

The captain frowned. "Watch the attitude, citizen." The man's eyes narrowed slightly, and his posture shifted slightly to expose the hilt of his taser. "We're investigating possible suspects for helping contribute to the White Fang's recent raid against an SDC warehouse just three days ago. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

I shook my head and sharply replied, "No, I don't. Can I go now?"

"I told you to watch your tone, Faunus." The soldier grunted.

I clenched my fist so hard that my knuckles audibly popped. The soldiers immediately hovered their hands over their tasers. "Sir, please calm dow-"

"I've had a really shitty day, and the last thing I need right now is two officers profiling me for something I haven't even done." I grounded out.

The other officer cautiously spoke up: "We've received reports of suspicious faunus individuals hanging around the area with possible connections to the White Fang." He raised his hand slightly from his weapon. "We just need you to come with us down to the station so we can know for sure you-"

"Are you serious?!" I shouted.

"Sir!" The lead officer yelled, "This is the last time I'm going to ask, control yourself!"

"You're asking me to remain calm when I'm being detained with no evidence!" I argued, taking a step forward without thinking.

That was a mistake.

The two officers immediately brought out their taser guns and fired at me, my aura flaring up as my body seized up in surprise. A pained gasp escaped my lips as I fell to the ground as the two officers pinned my arms behind my back, handcuffing my wrists together as I was dazed.

"You're under arrest for attempted aggravated assault against an officer." The large man ground out as he hauled me to my feet, "Along with suspicion of collaboration with the terrorist organization 'The White Fang', anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

The rest of the night was a blur as I was taken to the station and tossed in a jail cell, along with a bunch of other roughed-up-looking faunus.

The guard sneered as he locked the door behind me, leaving me with my fellow prisoners as I slowly picked myself up from the rough shove, coughing as some dust got sucked into my throat.

My stomach growled loudly, my face twisting as I realized that I still haven't eaten much at all today outside of the cold, miserable instant oatmeal I had for breakfast today.

I managed to shuffle myself past the others, leaning against the wall as my eyelids grew heavy.

I'm… so tired…

. . .

My eyes snapped open at the loud banging on the cell bars. I scrambled up as a guard was slamming his baton on the metal poles, rousing everyone awake from their slumber.

We were then taken away from the jail cell and each taken into different interrogation rooms. I was the last one to be forced inside one, my hands cuffed to the table, so I couldn't try anything.

I sat there for what felt like hours until a soldier walked in, folder in hand, as she slammed it down on the table, removing her hand briefly to pull out the chair across the table to sit down, allowing me to see my name printed in big, bold red letters across the folder's face.

"Cedar Minos," her crisp, authoritative voice cutting through the quiet room as she opened my file. "Male Bull faunus, 6 '4ft in height, 6' 6ft horns included. Age 25, moved to Atlas seven years ago, but lives alone and has no known living relatives. You live in a one-story small home on the edge of Atlas, had to take out a loan at the local Bank of Atlas to afford it, and was recently employed at Daytin's Shop for All Things Dust until you were terminated six days prior due to poor performance and excess absences."

'What a bunch of bullshit.' I thought bitterly.

The female soldier leaned forward and sharply spoke, "After termination, we were able to uncover traffic security footage of you walking back in the general direction of your residence. However," Her eyes narrowed. "You were not seen again until today, walking to your local dump, the Atlas public library, and Georgina's diner until you were apprehended by our officers at precisely 20:00."

The woman's fingers drummed idly on the table, "Subsequent questioning of your neighbors has revealed that you've historically been distant, quiet, and generally unassuming. It has also been revealed that your neighbors had not seen you at all during the six days between your termination and your most recent appearance on security camera footage."

"So, Cedar Minos, can you explain your whereabouts during those six days?" The soldier asked, but it felt much more like a demand.

I took a calming breath. "I understand that you have compiled information about my personal life," I responded, my voice steady despite the frustration boiling within me. "But I was sick those six days; I had eaten a bad apple, and it gave me food poisoning. I was mostly asleep during that time."

The female soldier's expression remained impassive, her eyes searching for any sign of deceit. "Food poisoning, you say?" She retorted; her tone laced with skepticism, "That's quite a convenient explanation. But we have no record or witness testimony to substantiate that claim. Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts during that time, or maybe a doctor's note to corroborate your sickness claim?"

"I hadn't gone to a doctor," I replied, a hint of frustration seeping into my voice. "I can't afford the fees to go to one, and I live alone. I don't have any close friends or family who can confirm my whereabouts. But that doesn't make me guilty by default. It simply means there's a lack of evidence." My eyes met hers, stone cold. "I am innocent, and I demand fair treatment."

The soldier leaned back slightly, her eyes narrowing further. "Innocent until proven guilty, yes," she acknowledged, her voice dripping with a subtle hint of mockery. "But we both know how difficult it is for someone like you," she sneered, "to escape suspicion. The burden of proof lies with you, Cedar Minos. What can you offer to support your claim of innocence?"

"I went to the Stardust convenience store during those six days early in the morning to buy myself food and water," I answered. "You can ask the employee who worked the morning shift; I'm sure he'd recognize me."

"And after that?"

I grimaced, saying, "I mostly went to sleep during that time to recover, but I had gone out of the house sometimes to explore. How did the traffic camera not capture that footage?"

"Moving on." The woman ignored my question. "White Fang operatives were able to launch a surprise raid against one of the SDC dust shipments heading from Atlas to Vale, coincidentally during the time that you were 'sick.'" She said in air quotes, "Shipment security camera footage captured during the raid showed one of the members that participated in the raid to have aura: a tall man with horns on his head reminiscent of a bull."

…no…

"Following the assault on the Dust shipment, Atlas special intelligence forces were able to discover secret White Fang plans to launch an attack on the SDC board of directors." The woman smirked at me and said, "During our investigation into you, we found out about your library searches into Weiss Schnee and your ability to use aura, as witnessed by Senior officer Mazon and officer Cerule. So, we have a possible bull faunus, with aura mind you, caught on camera raiding a SDC dust shipment with plans to attack the SDC directly. And you, a bull faunus with aura, caught researching Weiss Schnee, the heir to the SDC." Her hand slammed down on the table, her eyes staring into my own furious glare ."How do you explain tha-"

A loud explosion rocked the police station.

The officer yelped as she lost her balance, her hand swiping at the table in an attempt to maintain her balance, but all she managed to do was swipe my file off of it, spilling the papers all over the floor. I managed to stay where I was because my hands were handcuffed to the table.

Loud, wailing sirens blared out instantly, casting a red glow in the room as the woman on the floor scrambled back up, her hair out of place as she glared at me. Her eyes glanced briefly at my heavily handcuffed wrists and scoffed. She cocked her gun, and ran out of the room; the heavy blast-proof interrogation door slammed closed behind her.

Dazed, I shook my head as the distant sounds of gunshots echoed through the station hallways. Shouting and panicked screams were barely able to be heard over the wailing sirens of the alarms.

I could faintly hear the heavy doors of the interrogation rooms being opened before me, my heart pounding in my chest as the sound of scrambling feet got closer to me.

The door to my room slammed open, cracking the wall it slammed into as two faunus garbed in black ran into the room, their white fang masks secured on their faces as the shorter one ran up to me, metal cutters in hand as the taller White Fang member with what I think are bat wings stood guard at the door and fired their pistol into the hallway, pained cries screaming in the hallway following shortly after each round they fired.

The shorter White Fang member brought up the metal cutters to the chains of my handcuffs and snapped them in half. Now freed from my binds, I was able to stand up, towering over the member who saved me as I stood to my full height. I glanced down at the White Fang member, unsure how I felt about being saved by the very organization I was being accused of corroborating with.

"…Thank you." I ended up saying.

"No problem, big guy," A woman's voice said as she patted me on the back, "Let's get you out of here."

The woman led me to the door, and we all booked it through the station, steadily ignoring the dead officers that littered the ground; some even stuck to the wall with a copious amount of… is that… web?

We ran through the station and burst through the back door, meeting up with my fellow cellmates as they were huddled in the back of an armored van.

"Tch," The woman who freed me clicked her tongue, "You're too big to fit with the rest of them; you're in the front with me and my partner."

I didn't question it as I was shoved into the middle of the two White Fang agents. The shorter woman hopped into the driver's seat and slammed on the gas, sacrificing subtlety for speed as we burned rubber on the road.

Cars honked and swerved as our van blitzed through the road, the sound of sirens in the far distance slowly increasing in volume as more and more police started to chase us.

Our armored van crashed through cars as we continued our escape, drawing in more and more armed forces to chase us as we sped through the streets of Atlas.

"Are you trying to get every cop in the city after us?!" I screamed as we swerved around a corner, running a red light as cars crashed into each other behind us. The screams of my fellow prisoners hiked in pitch as the woman continued her reckless driving.

The woman cackled, "Hell yeah I am!"

A bright spotlight shone on our car as the sounds of a fucking helicopter tailed after us, two miniguns stationed on its side as it chased after our speeding van.

"Yuma!" Our driver shouted, "Take care of that!"

The taller man, Yuma, opened the glove compartment on the passenger's side, and my eyes bulged out as the Faunus pulled out a fully loaded tommy gun. He leaned out of the van's window and started to fucking unload on the helicopter, which was unfortunately too close to the ground to fully avoid.

The pilots miraculously managed to swerve the helicopter to the right just as Yuma opened fire, the bullets penetrating into the side of the flying machine instead of shattering the glass and killing the people inside.

It was forced to veer up, avoiding the tall buildings around us in the process as it tumbled around in the air trying to reposition itself, giving us enough time to speed away from its line of sight.

Yuma clicked his teeth in annoyance as the gun in his hand ran out of bullets, leaning back into the van as he began to reload the gun.

I glanced over to the side mirrors of the van and saw a punch of swat cars swerving around from the intersection we just passed, speeding up as they caught sight of us. I frantically patted Yuma on the arm and pointed to them.

"Fuck!" He hissed, "Trifa, take care of them!"

"You got it, Yuma!" Trifa shouted, "New guy, you know how to drive?"

"You cannot be serious!"

Trifa, instead of responding to me, cackled as she swung her leg around over my waist, ignoring my indignant shout as I instantly grabbed the steering wheel and hauled myself into the driver's side, and pressed her body up against mine as she popped open the van's roof. She then wrapped her legs around my chest for stability as she grabbed the two pistols on her side and started blasting at the cars.

Unfortunately for me, Trifa's waist was blocking my fucking vision.

The van got rammed by a car as we ran another red light, but Trifa managed to keep herself steady by holding onto my horn. I winced at the groans I could hear in the back of the van as I tilted my head to the side, forcing Trifa to let go of my horns so my eyes could peek out of the side of her waist.

The mad woman wrapped around me bellowed in laughter as her bullets popped the tires of the SWAT cars chasing us, slowing them down significantly and forcing them to stop as we sped away.

Trifa slithered back down into the van, laughing as she slid down my chest and claimed me as her chair.

Lucky for me, I was like a foot and a half taller than her, so I could thankfully see the road.

"You guys are insane!" I said breathlessly as I swerved the car to the right as Yuma directed.

"Relax, big guy!" Trifa patted my chest and said, "We're almost at the pick up-point."

Pick-up point?

I swerved to the left at Yuma's shout, and that's when I noticed where we were going—the bullhead runways.

In the distance, I could make out around five bullheads; each had several White Fang grunts hanging inside the hangers as our van and several others poured onto the road. I nervously glanced to the side, but Trifa waved at one of the drivers, so I assumed they were just more White Fang.

Our vans crashed through some chain-link fences. They swerved to the side before coming to a complete stop, much to the dismay of the faunus in the trunk of the van.

Yuma kicked the door open and hopped out, with Trifa crawling across my body to do so as well. Dazed, I stumbled out of the driver side door as I kissed the ground.

Yuma helped me up as Trifa freed the Faunus in the back of the van, ushering them towards the bullheads, as the other white fang members from the other armored vans piled out and ran towards their own bullheads. Some took off faster than others as Faunus of all kinds piled into the bullheads.

Trifa, Yuma, and I were the last ones to start running towards the Bullheads just as an Atlas military airship descended from the cloudy sky. The sight of the giant warship frightened all but one of the bullhead pilots, who sped away into the air.

Two giant metal containers were launched out of the ship and crashed into the ground ahead of us, miraculously missing our getaway bullhead.

The sides of the shipping containers opened as Atlasian Knight droids marched out, their red and black armor shining in the moonlight as they opened fire.

Yuma and Trifa acted swiftly, dodging the gunfire in an incredible display of acrobatics, and charged at the attacking droids, weapons drawn as they went in for the kill.

Me? Not so much.

I hissed as the bullets from the guns bounced against my aura, bruising my skin as I clumsily ran behind the armored van to protect myself. The sounds of fighting rang out in the night; the sound of metal tearing metal filled the runway as droids were beaten back.

I took a peak outside of the van and my eyes widened in panic as the airship started to descend.

Scrambling to my feet, I stumbled a little. My hands pushed against the concrete beneath me to stabilize my body as I ran towards the bullhead.

"RUN!" I desperately shouted to my two rescuers, pointing at the massive, descending metal ship above us. Trifa and Yuma glanced up at the airship and ran towards the bullhead, ignoring the remaining Atlas knights as they fired their guns at us.

Trifa and Yuma had the advantage of already being down the runway, so they got to the airship fast. I was still halfway there when the remaining knights turned around and fired at me.

I screamed in fright as I ran, my eyes closed as I let my aura tank the hailing bullets that were fired at me. I felt some form of resistance, but that didn't matter to me as I barreled towards the sound of Trifa and Yuma screaming for me.

I could hear the bullhead starting to take off, so I pushed myself to the limit, breaking into a dead sprint. I dared to open my eyes and screamed in fright as the black and red metal of an Atlasian knight filled my vision, just as I felt two pairs of hands grab onto my horns and yank me inside the bullhead.

I yelped in surprise as I was tipped inside the bullhead, tumbling further inside as the bullhead immediately took off into the night sky, the weight of the Atlasian knight that was pierced by my horns pushing my body into the bullhead as it sped away into the night as fast as it could.

I heaved in great gasps of air as I lay sprawled on the floor, Yuma and Trifa managing to finagle the broken Knight off my horns. I could taste the blood in my lungs as I greedily inhaled big gulps of air. My arms and legs were numb as the adrenaline slowly left my system, and my heart rate stopped beating at what felt like 200 bpm.

I could hear the sounds of heavy gunfire from the giant airship behind us. Still, our, but our pilot must have been the greatest pilot in existence as they maneuvered our ship around the incoming fire, dodging and weaving between the heavy artillery being fired at us.

Eventually, we were out of their range, and they stopped following us (thank God). Yuma, Trifa, and I allowed ourselves to relax as the immediate danger was behind us.

Yuma slid down the wall, taking off his mask as his sweaty face looked at me. His reddish-brown hair slicked back with sweat as he scratched idly at his goatee. Trifa did the same as she strapped herself into a seat, collapsing against the seatbelt as her gray hair stuck to her forehead.

"So, big man," Trifa gasped as she caught her breath. "What's your name?"

"Cedar… Minos," I panted, my voice hoarse as I melted into the floor.

"Cool, cool." She panted, "Listen, not that I need to point it out, but you can't exactly go back to Atlas. We were going to take the people we freed to Vale or back with us to Menagerie; we could do the same with you?"

"Fat chance of that," Yuma groaned. "Cedar was in interrogation when we found him; he's likely going to be wanted by Atlas soon, and Vale would be obligated to hand him over if they knew he was there."

Trifa winced. "I'm sorry, Cedar; I should have given you a mask or something."

"It's fine," I wheezed from the floor. "Atlas fucking sucks; I was planning on leaving that shithole anyways. Saves me a plane ticket." I tried to laugh, but I just ended up coughing.

Trifa and Yuma both chuckled. "Half of Menagerie shares that sentiment," Yuma smirked. "You'll get along fine with the folks there." His tired eyes met my own. "Get some rest, Cedar, it's a long bullhead ride to Menagerie, and you look like you could use the rest."

I didn't even get the chance to thank him as my eyes drifted closed, sleep coming instantly.

(-)

General James Ironwood stepped out of his airship as it touched ground on the airway, frowning as the terrorists managed to scramble away on one of their stolen bullheads.

No matter, even if The White Fang stole four bullheads, he had four thousand in reserve.

His eyes scanned the remains of their Atlesian Knight model 130; the few that had managed to survive saluted him. He waved them off as his brows furrowed.

If the knights could be dismantled so easily by The White Fang, then they're still not fully operational; this was a good test to see if they were field ready. It was clear that they needed upgrading.

'However,' Ironwood thought, a frown drawing on his brow, 'That horned one had managed to take one; better get the programming team to rewrite their code. We can't risk the possibility of those terrorists hacking our Knights.'

Ironwood watched as his men got to work packing up the knights and transporting them back onto his airship. He blinked in surprise as his earpiece flared to life.

"This is General James Ironwood."

"Sir!" said the brisk voice of Winter Schnee, "I have information to report!"

Ironwood nodded and said, "Very good, Specialist Schnee. Forward it to my scroll immediately. I will go over it as soon as I can, but I'm putting you in charge of relief efforts at the Schnee Directors board meeting effective immediately."

"Understood, Sir. I am forwarding information as requested."

His scroll pinged the second after Winter ended the call, and Ironwood spent the next ten minutes reading through the full report.

It would seem that the police were interrogating their prime suspect, one bull faunus named Cedar Minos, when the White Fang attacked the police station, freeing all the suspects in the process along with Cedar himself.

Security footage caught by a camera from the Schneebucks across the street showed Cedar getting into the front of the armored van with the two terrorists after the other captives were forced into the back.

'No signs of resistance; in fact, he appears quite cooperative.' Ironwood thought as he scanned the evidence compiled by the police, 'Cedar Minos was also the one who stole the Atlasian Knight, now that I got a good look at his face; he's the horned man I saw earlier.'

The young man's actions prior could have been written off as forced compliance, but no innocent man would have run towards the terrorists as they were about to leave, and it was clear that his reckless charge to skewer one of his knights was no mere accident. It must have been intentional so that the White Fang could attempt to reverse engineer their code.

No, it's clear that Cedar Minos was an undercover White Fang operative. And to think he's been in Atlas for seven years and never got caught—not even an ounce of suspicion until he slipped up.

Who knows what kind of damage that man could have caused if he wasn't caught…

One thing was clear to Ironwood: Cedar Minos is dangerous.

Name: Cedar Minos

Species: Bull Faunus

Aura Capacity: 100%

Semblance: Plant Growth [Unevolved]

{Technological Packs Equipped [1/5]}

[Solarpunk]

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{Technological Packs Unequipped [0]}