Ch. 42 Mad scramble
That fucking bitch, how dare she order me around, I'll show her!
Neo was pissed. She knew something like that would happen eventually, but having it happen still sent her mood in directions.
Cinder had the gall to ORDER her and Roman to do her dirty work for her. And that meant Neo had to scramble to get a move on as well. Luckily they had the dubious support of that alcoholic huntsman, but that still didn't fill her with confidence about what she was about to do.
But Cardin thought this was the person for the job, and for some gods forsaken reason she trusted Cardin's judgement. Neo still sported a scowl on her face, though she hid it well with the use of her semblance. Cardin on the other hand, put on a game face that would rival her worse scowls. And their destination just happened to be Beacon's forge, to meet the guy that could put together her identity, to ask him for a favour.
And as if that wasn't enough, one wrong move meant certain death, if not for her than certainly for Roman. So here she was… balancing on the blade of a knife.
Speaking of knives, the blacksmith was currently working on something that would probably become a knife. He had the blade in the firm hold of a pair of tongs and was holding it in the blaze of the forge.
"Hey… Jaune?"
"Hmm? Oh, Cardin. And Mint, right? What can I do for you? As you can see, I'm a bit busy right now."
"Yeah, sorry but we kinda need you to listen to us right now. Yang and Pyrrha are training with Rose and Valkyrie right now, so I figured we could catch you alone. It's a private matter."
"Alright, can this wait like half an hour? I'm almost done with this and can't really stop working on it."
"That's fine, can you listen though? I'll try to explain the situation."
"Sure, but a fair warning: the hammering is loud."
As soon as Jaune finished his warning, he took the glowing white piece of metal from the forge and brought it to the anvil. Cardin tried to talk over the strikes, but eventually just stopped, finding no sense in shouting over the noise.
But Neo had to admit it was mesmerising watching him work. Each of his strikes was measured, though from the way he flared his aura with every strike, and from how the metal changed its shape, or even from the sound alone, she could tell just how much force was behind each blow. The metal seemed to reheat itself from the force of the rapid impacts. The blonde blacksmith didn't need to reheat the metal anymore, but it stayed white hot for the whole half an hour. From the way he was staring at the anvil, one would think he forgot about their presence, focusing only on the blade itself.
The blade was obviously similar to the one that nearly slit her throat a few days ago, but about twice as long. For a moment Neo thought he was trying to compensate for the lack of reach that had saved her before, but looking at it from a practical standpoint it was clear that this blade wouldn't fit into a shoe sole.
Either way, Neo was convinced. If this shit ended with her alive and free, she would have Jaune make her those shoes. Sure literal stiletto heels sounded cool, but there Neo liked the idea of surprise attacks. And if this guy helped her with this favour of hers she had little doubt he would help her later too, even if it took some convincing.
Eventually Jaune quenched the blade and turned to face them again.
"Right, I'm about done. It needs to cool down before I can do more work on it. So… what was it you needed?"
That shook Cardin from his thoughts, so he cleared his throat and started explaining.
"Ughm, I'll preface this by saying that you're one of the few people I could trust with this. There is a reason we sought you out while Rose isn't here."
"Alright? What's the big secret?"
"I'm getting to that… Ughhh… So, as you know this is Mint. Thing is, that isn't her actual name. The reason she's here is because her life and the life of someone she cares for as if he was family is being actively threatened. There is something we need help with and we need you to promise not to freak out or tell anyone before we reveal anymore. Just what we told you so far is putting them in danger."
"...ok, wow that's… a bit heavy. Fine you have my promise, Arc's honour that I won't tell anyone."
"And I know you'll honour that. It's one of the reasons why I trust you, despite our differences."
"Alright, sooo… what's the secret and how can I help?"
"...it'll probably be easier to show you. See Mint's legal identity is that of Trivia Vanile, a girl who perished in a house fire along with her entire family."
Jaune's eyes widened as he saw the air around the girl shatter to reveal a little girl with brown hair.
"Or so the official story goes. That of course isn't entirely true."
Jaune held up a hand, motioning for Cardin to stop, then covered his face with it while gripping Percusio Gravi with his other.
"...what did I get myself into." he eventually hissed out through his palm, his voice barely a whisper.
"You're the girl I fought with when we arrested Taurus aren't you. Is Torchwick the one threatening you?"
Jaune heard glass break and immediately swung his hammer up to parry the estoc the girl with pink and brown eyes tried to stab him with. Cardin jumped in to keep Neo from stabbing their potential ally. It was bad enough she tried once and he could only hope that Jaune would be reasonable about this.
"I'll take that as a no, and from your reaction I assume he's the one you care for like family?"
His voice was trembling, but his stance was far from aggressive. Cardin sighed in relief as Neo sheathed her sword. "Sorry, it's a sore topic for her. Yeah, Torchwick is kinda like her uncle."
"Well shit. I know I promised, but why shouldn't I report the known criminals? I hope you have a good explanation, cause I'm listening."
"Right, well it turns out. Some people already know about this. Kinda. We hope they don't know who Neo is here at school, but… Yeah, anyway after Torchwick and Neo escaped from you, some huntsman working for Ozpin found them. But instead of bringing them in he tried to get them to turn on the one that's threatening them. Of course, it ain't that simple, cause you know, death threats, but suffice to say we're working to stop a bigger baddie."
"Sounds… convenient? Who?"
"...uh what?"
"Who was the huntsman? Still trying to figure out if you're lying."
"Didn't get his name, but Neo called him a red eyed drunk. Any better description, Neo?"
Neo pouted, but started signing out a description, while Cardin translated for Jaune.
"...black hair, red eyes, wore a tattered red cape and grey button up, big ass sword with a clockwork mechanism… and you have his scroll number! You never mentioned that! Who cares if it's a burner scroll, we can contact him and have him confirm!"
Neo was pouting at Cardin and Jaune couldn't help but drag his palm down his face again.
"Ah fuck. Yeah I know the guy. "
"You do?"
"Yeah, though he won't be thrilled to know you dragged me into this mess. Do you mind calling him to confirm?"
"I'd rather you don't but so long as you don't tell him much…"
"I'll try. I'm just gonna tell him I'll be helping you against that evil boss of yours. That okay with you, Neo?"
A nod later Jaune was handed Neo's scroll already dialling a voice call. Jaune was kinda hoping it wouldn't actually be Qrow that picked up. That he could just tell Goodwitch or Ozpin about this and be done with it.
"Hello, my stabby friend? I hope you got yourself a voice box otherwise we're not gonna be able to chat much."
"Fuck she wasn't kidding. Hello Qrow."
"Arc? Is that you? Why are you calling me from this number? Don't tell me she pranked me! I had to pay for her fucking icecream you know! It was hella expensive too!"
"Yeah, it's me. And your stabby friend is here, trying to get my help against the big bad evil guy. Apparently you talked with them about this after I fought her and Torchwick."
"Is Roman there too? Did they kidnap you or something?"
"No and no. Genuinely just asking for help. Seems like she was telling the truth about meeting you too."
"Yah… look it's ultimately up to you if you want to help them, but they are technically still wanted criminals you know. But yeah, everything points to them being threatened to do the shit they did in the last months, and whoever's threatening them is pretty bad from what we know."
"Thanks Qrow, I'll keep that in mind."
"Right, when you inevitably get caught, just tell them you're working with me. Stay out of trouble kid. I've gotta go."
The call ended and Jaune couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Fuck it, I'm in. What do you need my help with?"
=O=O=O=
A call went through to the headmasters office. Ozpin was currently sitting at his desk, watching his monitors and sipping coffee. The festival was ready to start, all the preparations were done for now and there was some promising new development happening in the security department.
"Hello, Qrow."
"Oz, I have development on the ice cream girl front."
"I know, I'm watching it unfold on security cameras. Mister Arc is within Beacon's workshop along with two other students, one of which just revealed her identity as miss Neo Politan. As well as another name that I haven't heard in a while."
"Well who is she? Can we figure out anything from her identity? What about her teammates?"
"Due to her illusion based semblance it's a possibility that she's simply taking the place of another student. Though her vocal impairment makes that unlikely. We cannot make a move yet though as that could tip our mastermind off. It's possible that they aren't a part of that team themselves. Regardless, I'll be sure to keep a closer eye on them."
"Always the bigger picture with you Oz. I hope you know what you're doing."
"I would hope so too. I've been doing this for a long time after all."
"I trust you Oz."
When the call ended, Ozpin turned his attention back to his camera and the files of four students that came to attend the festival from Haven.
"I wonder how they got around Leonardo…"
=O=O=O=
Cardin sat on a cushion in team RNJR's room. It was his first time here and he had to concede that it was quite something.
"And you're sure this chick from Atlas can help with this?"
"Trust me, she's quite familiar with computers. If there's anyone who can help you with this and not ask too many questions? It's Penny."
"I know I'm the one who brought you in on this but I hope you know what you're doing."
As a knock sounded from the door Cardin shut himself up.
"Just let me do the talking… Penny, glad you could come."
"Hello friend Jaune. What did you need me for? Your message was very low on details of this request of yours."
"Right, come in and sit. I'll explain."
"Hello, you're Cardin Winchester, right? I'm Penny Polendina."
"Umm, yeah nice to meet you."
"Right, so first of all, Penny, this a big secret, okay? Like Atlas weapon development level of secrecy."
"Friend Jaune? You know I'll have to tell my handlers, right? I don't have the freedom to keep secrets of non personal variety from them, unless I have orders from someone higher up the chain of command."
"Um, Jaune…"
"Shush Cardin, trust me on this. Penny, you know how me and team RNJR went on a mission with specialist Schnee right? And how the mission ended before we could finish it?"
"Yes, that event is within my recent memory. Specialist Schnee seemed quite frustrated about the mission ending early. She seemed to be especially vocal about her displeasure with huntsman Branwen's interference."
"Right, well the mission ending early and this request have something in common. It has to do with Qrow Branwen's current assignment."
"Oh! That would make this request fall under huntsman Branwen's authority and allow me to circumvent the normal chain of command. I'm aware of his involvement in terminating your mission to capture Torchwick and his current assignment is classified under Vale's counterterrorism efforts. I should be able to request permission to work on this assignment and nobody but huntsman Branwen and possibly professor Ozpin would be notified of it."
"That… would be fine Penny. Can you inform him that it's me asking for help when you do that?"
"Of course friend Jaune… I'm ready to provide assistance with your request."
From the brief pause before she offered assistance Jaune caught onto the fact that she had probably just sent that request off and possibly had it confirmed too.
"Right so here's the thing… On this scroll is a dangerous piece of malware and we need you to help us analyse it and ideally help us counter it or hijack it."
Cardin took his cue and slid an inactive scroll, the one that Neo had gotten from her employer, across the coffee table. Penny almost visibly scrambled to get away from the table, before just readjusting her sitting position so that she was further from it.
"I see, for me to do that safely I'll need to get my hands on a system of sufficient complexity for me to decompile the malware. Of course it will need to be disconnected from the CCT network and air-gapped from all other electronic devices. It's a bit of a shame I cannot connect my own systems to it, as that would speed up the process greatly. Unfortunately we do not know anything about the nature of the malware at this time and I do not feel comfortable engaging a Chill or Worm type virus. Despite my unique architecture and excellent firewall capabilities, the risk of infection can never be reduced to zero. I'll see about obtaining the necessary hardware. Please hold onto the device containing the malware and do not connect it to anything in the meantime."
With that Penny stood abruptly and left the two boys confused.
"All I understood was not to connect the scroll to anything. It's turned off and I wasn't going to. Did you understand any of that?"
"I'm a blacksmith, what do you think?"
"I think that chick is crazy."
"Don't call my friends crazy, your girlfriend tried to stab me not even an hour ago."
"Touché, Arc, touché."
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
We're nearing the home stretch of the Beacon arc. I'm going through the exam period of the winter semester so time is in high demand, but I'm having fun writing.
There is a good chance I'll miss a week at some point during the next two months, but I have oneshots lined up in case I do.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch.43 Amity's rising stars