Cover Art by CHE3ZY.
Things are going good. I'm still crazy busy but like I said, this story provides some of the much needed mental breaks I need. Hope you all like this one. I always appreciate feedback and I do enjoy reading what you all think in the reviews section. If you haven't please be sure to vote for your favorite OC on my profile. Here's Chapter 25!
Beacon Academy:
Penny paced back and forth nervously, evidenced by her hands constantly fidgeting. The last hour had her in a constant state of worry. Rahm and Jai calmly observed her move about with mild curiosity from their chairs on the opposite side of their room. For Penny, the night had started out so promising. She'd done well to fix her standing within the team with the extensive intelligence she gathered on the criminal underworld of Vale. They managed to find a potential lead to the location of either Adam Taurus or Roman Torchwick because of her. The subsequent fun she and her friends had at the club was just icing on the cake, but everything after turned into a complete nightmare. Jai and Rahm had discretely alerted her that Blake went after the deer faunus on the way back to Beacon. Penny had desperately hoped that Terre received Rahm's message but judging from the messages from Ruby that bombarded their scrolls it was clear that Terre didn't get the message in time. Jai, Rahm, and Penny had to hide from Ruby and the others. If they'd been spotted without Terre, it would have certainly generated suspicion.
No matter how badly she wanted to answer Ruby's messages, Penny had to refrain or risk making the situation worse for Terre. As she paced back and forth, Penny mentally rehearsed the cover story that Rahm came up with.
The four of them were in one of the campus' many recreational rooms watching a movie. That would cover why they weren't in their room and why they didn't answer their scrolls. It wasn't an elaborate cover story by any means, but it was simple and believable, and that's all they needed. The more elaborate the cover story the less believable it would have been.
Penny abruptly stopped her pacing and turned towards the window at the same time Rahm and Jai likewise turned their attention to the window. Within a few seconds, the window opened, and Terre silently climbed through. He was dressed in his normal clothing again. The normally emotionless super soldier didn't look too happy at that moment, but that didn't stop Penny from rushing him and enveloping him in a hug.
"Terre!" She couldn't contain her excitement. "I was so worried. What happened? Is everything okay? Is anyone hurt? Did you-"
Jai rested a hand on the energetic girl's shoulder. Penny immediately stopped talking before she let go of Terre and looked away in embarrassment.
Terre silently thanked his brother for the timely intervention. Penny's energy was dialed a bit too high for the situation at hand.
"Welcome back," said Rahm, "I take it you had an eventful night out?"
"That's one way of putting it," replied Terre.
"What happened?" Asked Jai.
Terre took a seat in the chair that Jai previously occupied. The leader of the Bad Batch glanced at the floor for a moment before he looked at his brothers and little sister. Jai, Rahm, and Penny listened as Terre told them everything.
He eliminated Faline's White Fang comrades and was just about to apprehend her for interrogation when Belladonna arrived to save her friend from what she believed was certain death. Though in all honesty, she wasn't entirely wrong. Terre was adamant about eliminating Faline once she divulged all useful information.
Rahm briefly interrupted to mention how he had tried to alert him of Belladonna pursuing Faline after they exited the club, but it was clear that his message arrived too late. By the time his message was sent, Terre had already hidden his scroll in the case and had already run off in pursuit of Faline.
Terre merely planned on incapacitating Belladonna but the cat faunus used her semblance to run away with Faline. Terre tracked them down easily enough via the tracking device Jai planted on her. The infrared mode of Terre's goggles made spotting the two faunus in their hiding spot so much easier. Before he could apprehend Faline, teams RWBY and JNPR, and Sun Wukong arrived on the scene. Belladonna must have called them for help when he was eliminating the White Fang members.
Terre didn't have any other choice but to engage them all simultaneously while holding back to avoid hurting them as much as he could. Eventually, Terre had to retreat to go after Faline who somehow managed to disappear without a trace. He looked everywhere for her, but the tracking device was no longer active. She must have found it. There wasn't any other explanation for it.
Terre finally finished his account of the events. Penny looked relieved at the news that Blake wasn't dead, Jai looked disappointed from hearing that Faline managed to give them the slip, and Rahm…well Rahm didn't look so happy. Terre noticed the change in Rahm's demeanor.
"You have something to say, Rahm?" Asked Terre.
Rahm stared at Terre for a moment before he spoke.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but was our mission not to ensure no harm comes to Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss?"
Terre nodded.
"Then what the hell was that?" Asked Rahm.
Rahm's question earned a surprised look from Penny. She never saw him act like this. Make no mistake, he was calm, but he wasn't his usual self at that moment. She could see the underlying anger in his eyes. Penny's worried eyes darted back and forth between Terre and Rahm while Jai stood with his arms crossed, silently observing the whole situation.
"That was my best effort in subduing and deescalating the situation," replied Terre.
Terre's words didn't get Rahm's body language to relax. If anything, Rahm appeared more aggressive.
"So, using your semblance on Weiss wasn't taking it too far?"
"It was necessary, Rahm. Her combat prowess has improved significantly, and she would have caused me even more trouble had I not removed her from the fight."
Terre paused for a moment before he continued.
"The same goes for the others too."
It was true. They all had improved significantly, but Jaune's improvement was the most noticeable. When the school year started Jaune's experience was next to nothing, but after training with Jai and Pyrrha the novice's skills had improved by leaps and bounds. His improvement, however, didn't stop Terre from taking him, the weakest link of the group, out first. Jaune still had a very long way to go.
"I couldn't afford to prolong the engagement lest my identity would be uncovered. That was a risk that under no circumstances I was willing to take."
Rahm's brow furrowed as his eyes narrowed slightly at Terre as he took a few steps towards him.
"I've seen what your semblance can do. You could have seriously injured or even killed her."
Terre stood to full height and stared into Rahm's eyes as intensely as he did into his.
"I'm aware of what my semblance can do," replied Terre, "I was extremely careful with it. If you think I didn't weigh my options in that moment, then you're mistaken. I did what I had to."
Guardian Zero-One-Zero seemed to visibly relax a bit as he pondered his brother's words.
"I understand that you did what was necessary, but Weiss is my responsibility," said Rahm.
"I understand that, but you were absent on a separate assignment. As it stood, your responsibility became mine the moment she interfered with the mission."
The two killing machines continued to stare each other down silently until a set of hands separated them.
"Alright that's enough," said Jai in a firm voice, earning the looks of both Terre and Rahm. "We've got enough to deal with without you two getting hostile."
Zero-Six-Nine and Zero-One-One looked back at each other for a moment before they silently nodded. Jai was right. This night had been a complete disaster. The only lead they had to find either Taurus or Torchwick got away, and it was because their VIPs and their friends interfered. The last thing they needed now was for them to be hostile with each other. They were brothers and they always stuck together.
Penny smiled. She was happy that the situation didn't escalate.
"What do we do now?" Asked Penny.
Rahm and Jai said nothing. They merely looked to Terre and waited to see what he would say. The leader of the Bad Batch mused it over for a moment before he replied.
"Tonight's mission may have been a failure, but this isn't over. I'm certain that the White Fang is going to limit its exposure; so, it may take longer to find another lead. We just need to be patient and wait for the White Fang to mess up again."
That was putting it lightly. After what Terre did, the White Fang wouldn't dare show its face until it was certain it was safe.
"Should we report this to General Ironwood?" Asked Penny.
The three Guardians seemed a bit caught off guard by her question. They certainly weren't expecting her to ask that.
"Seeing as how we were given free rein to find Torchwick," said Rahm, "I think it would be wise to refrain from alerting General Ironwood until the end of the break period. We still have time to find him."
"I would agree with that," said Jai.
Terre nodded. Telling the general now wouldn't do anyone any good. They needed to be absolutely sure that the trail was cold before they gave the general any bad news.
"I agree as well," said Terre.
Penny nodded too. She was glad that they weren't going to tell the general anything just yet. She still remembered the last time they gave him bad news.
"I am sorry to interrupt," she said, "but Ruby and the others are approaching Beacon Academy."
Her brothers nodded.
"Let's go," said Terre.
Silence.
Teams RWBY and JNPR and Sun Wukong said nothing as they walked towards the dormitory buildings in the distance. In all fairness, there wasn't much any of them could say. Most of the complaints and curses were voiced back at the scrapyard, the location of their crushing defeat. This night had been their first real defeat and it stung. For some, it had been a blow to their pride, for others, it had been a rude wakeup call regarding their inexperience, and for Jaune, it was the perfect combination of everything.
The leader of team JNPR hung his head in shame as they walked. Pyrrha's repeated attempts to console him were in vain. Jaune didn't want to hear it from anyone. He wasn't in the mood for it. It honestly worried Pyrrha a bit. He'd been the first to be attacked and he was the first to be knocked out of commission. Sure, he put up the best fight he could but, in the end, it amounted to nothing. He hated that he was weak, and he hated that he could do nothing while his friends fought while he was out of commission. He felt as though he'd failed his team, and on top of that, he was angry about what had happened to Weiss. While she suffered no physical injuries, whatever was done to her put her into a state of unconsciousness. It certainly scared a few of them at first.
On that note, Weiss wasn't feeling too great about the whole situation either. She had always held herself to such a high standard when it came to her training and development, but tonight had been a very painful reminder of the one area she did not excel at which was hand-to-hand combat. Weiss always looked up to her sister, seeing her as the ultimate goal to surpass. Winter had it all. She was fast, strong, agile, and she was just as good with her weapons as she was with her hand-to-hand combat skills. The assailant from tonight shattered her perceptions of what constituted the pinnacle in skill. It was nine against one and yet the whole thing was nothing more than a nuisance for the one.
Once Blake and the others regained consciousness, the cat faunus told them all how she saw that mysterious assailant slaughter the other members of the White Fang as easily as shooting fish in a barrel. If it had wanted to, it could have killed them all, but it didn't, instead choosing to evade and incapacitate; of that Blake was certain. Blake failed to surmise any one reason for why it only wanted Faline. All she knew was that she desperately hoped Faline managed to get away.
Blake's eyes looked up from the ground as her ears picked up the sound of fast-approaching footsteps. The others followed her example and spotted team PGRT sprinting towards them frantically.
"RUBY!" Yelled Penny as she sped towards the silver-eyed warrior without slowing down.
Ruby yelled in surprise and flinched as she was brought into a fierce embrace by Penny.
"WE ARE SORRY WE DID NOT GET YOUR MESSAGE! ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT-"
"Penny, that's enough," said Jai.
Penny immediately released Ruby and looked away in embarrassment. Internally, the artificial girl was smiling at the acting performance she had just given. They needed to sell this as best as they could to the others.
"We didn't see your message until a few minutes ago," said Rahm, "are you all alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Yang said with a reluctant nod, "but we got our asses kicked, though."
"Who did this?" Asked Terre as he looked Ruby in the eyes.
"We don't know. Whatever it was, it wanted Blake's old friend for some reason. We fought against it together, but the nine of us weren't enough." Ruby looked downcast.
"Did anyone sustain any injuries?" Asked Jai.
This time it was Ren who answered.
"Thankfully nothing serious. A few bruises at best for me, Jaune, Blake, and Sun."
The members of team PGRT looked the nine students over for a moment. Ren's assessment wasn't wrong. The four did have a few light bruises but nothing more. Jaune looked very downcast, however. Weiss didn't look so happy at the moment. Rahm took notice of the heiress' mood, already knowing the cause. In all honesty, Weiss looked very annoyed. The heiress stormed off towards the dorms without saying anything to anyone.
Rahm went after her.
"Weiss," said Rahm, earning her attention, "are you well?"
"Just leave me alone Rahm."
Rahm stopped in his tracks. He watched as the heiress continued on alone. The others watched the whole thing silently. It was clear that Weiss wasn't in the best mood. Her pride had been demolished and she wasn't ready to talk to anyone just yet.
"I'm sorry," said Jai, "we should have been there."
"You're damn right you should have been there!" Nora stated as she marched up to Jai and grabbed him by the shirt with both hands and shook him.
Nora found herself having to put in some more effort to move him. Nora, being the freakishly strong girl she was, was still able to move the big guy around but she was surprised at how much he weighed. Jai didn't look as heavy as he felt.
"Where the hell were you guys?! We could have used your help!" Nora stated as she continued to shake the Guardian. "Ain't that right?" Nora's question was directed to everyone but team PGRT. They all nodded.
Jai calmly removed Nora's hands from his shirt before he straightened himself out. Jai mentally sighed. To think that this night began on such a promising note. He began to recount the cover story they'd rehearsed. He just hoped that they bought it.
Somewhere in Vale:
"You know," said Roman, "I honestly thought we reached an understanding the last time we talked."
"You say that, but you seem to forget that an understanding implies some level of trust," replied Adam with a hint of anger. "You had Faline tailed without telling me."
The two stood alone inside one of Roman's many hideouts in Vale.
"You should be thanking me right now. If it wasn't for Neo, your girl would be dead. I had Neo follow her because you White Fang amateurs wouldn't know subtlety if it bit you in the ass. I told you this would happen, but you decided to go behind my back anyway because you just can't stand having another human telling you what to do."
Adam said nothing. The thought of permanently silencing Roman seriously crossed his mind. The only thing that restrained him from doing so was the fear of what Cinder would do.
"My men won't be of any use if they're not properly supplied. It's my job to take care of them; not yours."
"You didn't even think to talk to me about this?!"
Adam said nothing. He merely glared at Roman.
Roman couldn't believe it. The master thief rubbed the sides of his head in hopes of easing the massive migraine that these White Fang animals had caused him. Not only did Adam go behind his back by sending Faline to arrange a weapons deal with Rusty, but Adam's little deer was stupid enough to let herself get tagged with a tracking device. Neo had informed him that Faline and her friends had been attacked by some mysterious assailant disguised in White Fang garb. This was exactly the sort of thing Roman feared would happen. After the incident at the docks, Roman had met with Taurus personally to lay down some much-needed ground rules. They needed to come to an understanding which was that Roman was in charge of this operation. Adam and his White Fang may have been the muscle, but Roman was the brains. That was how Roman voiced it at least.
The sound of the door opening abruptly alerted the two. Adam reached for his sword while Roman grabbed his cane. The two immediately relaxed as soon as they saw that it was Neo and Faline. Neo looked well enough, but Faline looked like she'd seen a ghost. Neo casually walked over and took her usual spot at Roman's side while Adam went over to Faline to get a better look at her.
"Faline," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "are you okay?"
Faline shook her head no. She was far from it. The night had been a complete nightmare for her.
"Let's start once more from the beginning, shall we? Now tell me. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Yelled Roman.
Roman wanted to hear Faline's side of the story, having already heard Neo's account. Faline glared at Roman before she took a moment to compose herself. Faline turned to face Adam, completely ignoring Roman.
"It came for me."
A deafening silence ensued. Neo and Roman looked on with slight confusion while Adam looked slightly taken aback.
"Are you saying that-"
Faline nodded.
"Yeah. It was a Harvester."
Adam looked a bit skeptical.
"Are you sure?"
His question wasn't unfounded. No one ever survived when those demons were involved. If it was indeed a Harvester, then how was she still alive?
"I don't know what else it could have been," replied Faline with a shiver, "it killed everyone. It tore them apart like they were made of cardboard, and it was faster than anything I've ever seen."
"If it was a Harvester, then how are you alive?"
"Because it wanted me. It said it had questions and that I would answer them."
Adam's fingers twitched slightly as they moved just a hair closer to his sword.
"Did you?" Asked Adam.
"No," replied Faline, "Blake and her friends stepped in to save me. While it was busy fighting them, Neo came and got me out of there. We managed to escape into the woods and then Neo destroyed the tracking device that was on me."
Adam looked both relieved and irritated at the same time. While he was upset that some of their brothers and sisters would no longer be with them, he was glad to know that no vital information was lost to that monster.
"What happened to Blake?" Asked Adam.
"I honestly don't know," replied Faline, "Neo dragged me away before I could see how it ended, but from what I saw it looked as though it wasn't trying to kill her or her friends."
Adam merely nodded. There was a time when he would have gone mad knowing that Blake had fought against such a monster, but Blake was a traitor and she deserved whatever she had coming for her. He loved her once, but she turned her back on him and the White Fang. All he felt towards her now was anger and hate.
"How exactly did you get tagged with a tracking device?"
"I…" Faline began, trying to remember where she could have gotten tagged, "I don't know, but it probably happened while I was…" Faline's eyes slowly widened as a realization dawned on her face.
"While you were what?" Asked Adam impatiently.
"At Club Venture," replied Faline, "now that I remember there was this huge guy that I bumped into at the club. I don't remember seeing what he looked like because his face was blocked by the lights on the dance floor, but I'm willing to bet it was him that tagged me. Hell, in all honesty, I'm willing to bet he was the Harvester in disguise."
Adam took a moment to absorb everything that he heard. So much of this was bad. The Harvesters came dangerously close to finding them tonight, and that meant they were still in the city. They needed to tread extremely carefully. One wrong step and they'd be dead. There was one other thing that the bull faunus couldn't stop thinking about, though. Was it possible that the Harvesters were nothing more than normal humans? If the guy that tagged Faline in the club was the one who killed his men, then it would certainly seem that way. Wouldn't it? Did that mean they could be killed? Adam wasn't sure. Not even the most highly trained human Huntsmen could do the things the Harvesters were responsible for. At the moment, though, that didn't matter. What mattered was keeping the cogs of this whole operation turning, and that meant a painful reality. The Vale branch of the White Fang would need to follow Roman's lead more closely if it wanted to survive. There was no other choice.
"Ahem!"
Adam and Faline turned their attention towards Roman.
"Sorry to interrupt, but would the two of you mind filling us in on what the hell a Harvester is?" Roman lit a cigar with a match before he gave it a few puffs.
Adam brought his hand to his head and sighed.
"It all started over three years ago…"
Solitas:
"Move it, inmate!"
A male rabbit faunus was shoved unceremoniously down a hall of cells as he carried prison-issued clothing and bedsheets. Two Atlas guards flanked him on both sides. The faunus had been here for no more than an hour, having spent it getting checked in. This whole situation had been humiliating. They finally stopped at the end of the hall. One of the guards unlocked the door to the empty cell before the other guard shoved the rabbit faunus in. The door to the cell closed behind him, locking him in.
"Enjoy your stay," the guard said mockingly from the other side of the door.
"Go fuck yourself, human," the rabbit faunus spat back.
The guards paid him no mind as they walked away, leaving the faunus to look over his cell. It was pretty small. It had a small bed, a pillow, a sink, and a toilet. Nothing more and nothing less. Oh yeah. He definitely felt like a caged animal. The faunus set his clothing and bedsheets on the bed before taking a seat on the bed. The faunus sat there for a few minutes before he heard footsteps and voices coming down the hall.
"Please calm down Mr. Lacertilia."
"I'M NOT CRAZY! I SAW THEM! THEY'RE REAL! I'M NOT SAFE HERE!"
The rabbit faunus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had to have been hearing things because that voice belonged to someone he thought was dead. The faunus got up and moved to the door just in time to see a pair of guards and what looked to be a medical specialist escorting a familiar lizard faunus into the cell across from his. The rabbit faunus was too shocked to pay attention to what they were saying. Sage Lacertilia was alive. He and a few others had gone with Adam to Mistral and while they were gone Sage had been left in charge of the camp. When they came back, they found everyone dead. Adam mentioned how Sage had called for help, alerting him to the Harvesters attacking, and how fearful he sounded before the communication line went dead. The rabbit faunus patiently waited until the guards and medical specialist left before he said anything. If he had to be honest with himself, Sage looked like absolute shit. It looked as though the poor soul hadn't slept in days. He looked like a complete nervous wreck.
"Sage!" The rabbit faunus called from his cell.
The lizard faunus didn't answer and was instead shaking uncontrollably.
"SAGE!"
The lizard faunus stopped and looked at him with a blank stare.
"Sage it's me, Ash!"
"A-Ash?"
"That's right. What the hell happened Sage? We all thought you were dead."
"It…it was… them," he said ominously.
Ash's pupils grew in size at that moment.
"The Harvesters?" Asked the rabbit faunus known as Ash.
Sage merely nodded.
"How did you survive?"
"Adam…t-they wanted…A-Adam. He wasn't there…so they t-took me instead."
That sounded a bit odd. The Harvesters never took prisoners. No one was ever left alive, or so that was the common belief. It seemed Sage became the exception.
"But why? They never take prisoners. Why would they take you? What did they want from Adam?"
"It's not about what they want," said a more composed Sage, "it's about what their master wants."
"Their master?"
Sage nodded.
"General Ironwood. They answer to him."
Ash's eyes went wide. So, it was true. The Harvesters really were the spawn of Atlas. No one had ever been able to truly prove it, but it was a popular belief within the White Fang that Atlas was responsible for unleashing the Harvesters.
"What did Ironwood want to know?"
Sage hesitated to answer. He avoided making eye contact with Ash.
"What did he want to know?"
"He…he wanted to know about that mysterious woman that came to Adam for help and… everything related to her."
Ash glared angrily at the lizard faunus. Snitches deserved the worst deaths in his opinion. Ash wanted to yell so many insults at this traitor, and yet he refrained from doing so. The rabbit faunus thought it over for a moment as he imagined himself in Sage's position. Ash liked to believe that he was a brave one and that he didn't let fear control him, but if there was one thing he truly did fear, it was the prospect of encountering the Harvesters. He probably would have sung like a canary too if the Harvesters captured him alive.
'What else can you tell me about them?"
Sage took a moment to breathe deeply before he answered.
"There were three of them and they were massive, all over seven feet tall. I don't know what they really were. They could have been robots for all I know. One was green, one was orange, and the other was gray, and they each had numbers painted on their armor."
Ash nodded, gesturing for Sage to continue.
"They were…unstoppable forces of nature. It truly was as if we were wheat in a field being mowed down. They were faster, stronger, and more powerful than any of us could have imagined. We…we wouldn't have stood a sliver of a chance against even one of them."
"Is there anything else about them?" Asked Ash.
Sage nodded.
"They're called Guardians."
Hopefully the main cast will take their defeat at the hands of Terre as a wakeup call to train even harder than they already are. No, the boys don't know about Rusty himself. Yes they do know that Faline was trying to buy weapons for the White Fang but Jai didn't follow her into Rusty's office. All he could do was tag her with that tracking device. Looks like Adam and some of the White Fang have learned some interesting details about the boys. Speaking of the boys, we can see how seriously they take their mission. I'll say it now; Rahm and Terre weren't about to come to blows but there was definitely some tension there over Terre using his semblance on Weiss. Not just that, but this is the second time that the boys have failed a mission since coming on active duty (Ruby discovering Penny's secret was the first time). This will be one of many sources of internal conflict for the boys. So far, external conflict hasn't caused the boys much trouble. As we've seen, the Guardians are very powerful and are nigh unstoppable. The boys will eventually come face to face with powerful external conflict, but for now it is internal conflict that will begin to form cracks in their metaphorical armor. Already we can see the boys becoming more independent and less reliant on others to tell them what to do. Bit by bit they're becoming more than just machines. In case any of you were wondering, I will be sure to include more of General Ironwood, the Ace ops, Dr. Haze, and Robyn next chapter. Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter. I would greatly appreciate more feedback and more thoughts. Thank you all. Until next time!
-Dude64