Jaune blinked rapidly, getting rid of the sudden burst of white light that flooded his vision. He staggered back into Blake, his vision blurry. Blake moved with his weight before she pushed him forward.
He stumbled through the door but regained his footing and crouched down by instinct.
He crouch-walked to the nearest tall object for cover. Blake and Pyrrha sneaked over to his side. His eyes adjusted to his surroundings, allowing him to see their position.
The trio hid behind a small concrete raised wall. Peeking his head over the barrier, his mouth fell open.
A giant cavern, several feet high, opened imposingly in front of him. It reached the height of two office floors combined. Dark black and brown hues made up the interior of the cavern. The walls of the cavern curved and pitched naturally; patches of small stalactites created rippling patterns in the ceiling.
But the unnatural took up residence in the cavern. Large industrial lights, drilled into the ceiling and walls, glowed like mini suns. They lit the entire monstrous cavern in an oppressive wave of pitch white light. Thankfully the softness of the cavern diluted the harsh light.
Giant steel pillars sprouted out from chunky bases and pushed against the ceiling. Most pillars were concentrated at the corners of the cave or right in the middle of it. They bundled together in a forest of steel trees at certain points. He hoped that the pillars didn't suddenly give way, while he and his teammates were in here, and drop the street onto them.
An enormous swarm of White Fang moved like black and white ants on the main floor of the cavern. The noise from voices, tools, and vehicles hammered into his head. However, fixtures that dotted the cavern walls stopped the sound from echoing. That would be unbearable.
Inside of the office, they hadn't heard a peep of the barrage of sound occurring in the caver. Just how far deep into Remnant were they?
Gray concrete composed the floor and all of the surrounding foundations/fixtures. It was dull and uninteresting, but it looked like it could last under heavy pressure.
The small wall he peered over was made out of the same sturdy concrete. These barrier walls rose out of an elevated platform, which they stood on. The platform was several feet off the ground offering them a great view of the cavern floor. It took the shape of a half diamond.
An open space at the lip of the platform led down into stone stairs. The steps led into the main cavern floor. Crates, boxes, and all plethora of storage units piled up next to the stairs.
Crammed into one another, the boxes didn't waste a single inch of space. Most of those blue and brown boxes, from the hidden storage spaces in the office, sat on either side of the base of the stairs.
The main buzz of the cavern occurred a good distance away from the platform. No White Fang patrolled near the stairs. The closest that did were so far that he couldn't make out what they said.
In the main cavern floor, the Fang worked like a well-oiled machine. A large platoon of Fang members, all in white masks and high-tech weaponry in their hands, marched in formation. They all moved in unison, not reacting to the bustle of other Fang members around them attending to their tasks.
A large bulky man stood on a small platform and shouted out through a microphone at the marching soldiers. Jaune deftly pulled out his scroll and focused on the man. He wasn't Banesaw.
The gulf of cavern rock between him and the man on the platform made the man's orders unhearable, but with every movement of his mouth the White Fang soldiers changed directions or broke off into tight battle formations in the blink of an eye.
Blake muttered angrily, "By the brothers, are they building an army? What happened to the original Fang? This isn't a guerrilla group with ill-intended beliefs, this is some sort of paramilitary organization."
He slid his hand over and gently placed it on hers. Blake peered down at his hand and took a deep breath. He lightly squeezed her hand before untangling from it.
He whispered, grasping Blake's shoulder, "Blake this Fang will never and has never been the Fang that once fought for Faunus kind. The one your father built and started was the one and only true Fang. This group right now is a darker shadow of the old Fang."
Pyrrha piped in, "I think they've changed so drastically because of the changes you two made at the docks and the Factory. With Roman out of the picture and Banesaw in charge, the Fang are probably going to get much worse from here on out."
"Then all the more reason for us to take the Paladin off the Fang's hands and to make sure that they never create the breach," he said, agreeing with Pyrrha.
Blake responded, "I know that. I'm just surprised by how low the Fang have become. My expectations were low after the docks fight but now I truly know that this version of the Fang has no chance of saving. I'll create a better one after we avert the videos."
He nodded and went back to observing the main floor. Around the platoon of marching White Fang, large swathes of other Fang members ducked and weaved to certain areas. They carefully avoided the stone-faced soldiers.
The scurrying Fang carried crates full of ammo or dust. They ferried them over to the edges of the room and lined their loads with other similar items. Crates full of illegal contraband filled the circumference of the floor. The storage units ranged from small suitcases packed with dust to giant cargo containers.
Fang members handled stacks of rations, weapons, clothes, and a few even handled plastic boxes filled with books. Giant gray traps hung over certain piles of storage units, mainly those near the marching soldiers or the ones where Fang ducked into, carrying expensive dust crates.
Between the frantic bustle of singular Fang members, large groups ferried heavy machinery or directed forklifts. It was a miracle they didn't run down one another with how tightly packed the space was. But, the Fang that walked the floor easily side-stepped one another and carried on with their respective duties.
They moved like water and squarely focused on the task in front of them.
Blake's cat ears, which the headgear squashed into small puffs, stirred against the swarm of noise. The sudden shift from the deathly quiet of the office to the roar of the cavern threw him off slightly, but he squinted his eyes and tried to take in the new playing field.
Fang members not carrying around materials or other items, walked in and out of massive tunnel openings on the other side of the cavern floor opposite to the platform he, Blake, and Pyrrha stood on.
Through one wide tunnel, groups of Fang slowly walked in and out. They held large heavy machinery, weapons, and ammunition. Muzzle flashes and the faint sounds of metal hitting metal flashed out of that tunnel entrance.
A slow-moving group of Fang members, shoulders relaxed and not holding weapons, moved through a similarly sized tunnel some distance away from the other one. They jostled and talked animatedly with one another near the tunnel entrance.
A few came out of the tunnel brandishing bottles and passed them out to the nearest people. Some Fang came out rubbing their eyes and yawning before they quickly joined the main thoroughfare of the floor.
In the middle of the furthest wall, the largest tunnel of the room opened. A bullhead could fly through the entrance without its wings clipping but no such bullheads dotted the floor. Instead, a nondescript white moving truck, modified to be much larger than the average one, rumbled through the entrance and into the main floor.
A group of Fang stood in front of the giant tunnel and held multicolored scrolls in their hands. They used their scroll lights to guide the giant truck to a streak of black flooring that marred the gray concrete of the floor.
White dotted lines marked the black platform. A ramp with stairs at its sides stood on one end of the black concrete. A group of bulky White Fang members waited on the ramp, eyeing the bed of the approaching scurrying.
A Fang member on the ramp moved their hands in at the non-descript faunus driver hanging their head out of the truck window. The truck's back end stopped at the edge of the ramp. The Fang, stationed on the ramp, jumped into action, cracking open the doors of the truck.
They piled through the doors and came out holding an assortment of unmarked boxes. They passed the boxes down to members on the ramp until they reached Fang at the edge of the ramp. The edge Fang carried the boxes with supreme care, sprinting over to a tunnel next to the giant passageway the truck came from.
A duo of armor-adorned Fang members eyed those that entered through an open steel door that led into the smaller tunnel. They clasped atlas-grade rifles in their hands and stood at the entrance's sides like unmoving watchtowers. The Fang that rushed past the guards didn't look at them but they did slow down significantly.
More Fang went into the truck. They came out with more boxes, which they deposited into the small tunnel. In a minute or so, a Fang member came out empty-handed. He closed the doors of the truck and slammed their fists on it.
The truck revved and moved towards another tunnel on the opposite side of the giant entrance. This tunnel opened wide enough for several trucks of a similar to flow in and out easily. Rumbling into the dark tunnel, another truck came out when the other entered.
The new truck rolled past the docking platform and into the giant entrance tunnel. A few minutes later a small unassuming car crept out of the same truck tunnel and followed the path of the new truck.
Blake hissed into his head, "Jaune, get down!"
His faunus partner grabbed his shoulder and dragged him down. He flowed with the motion and ducked squished into the wall. He whispered to Blake, peering at her. Pyrrha also crouched down and looked at Blake.
Blake didn't respond to his questioning radiance and, instead, pointed to the entrance of the platform stairs.
Heavy footfalls moved up the stairway. A trio of White Fang grunts stepped onto the platform. A big wooden crate blocked their view of him, Blake, and Pyrrha, although if the Fang craned their heads slightly they would be spotted.
The three Fang members, two females and one male glanced at the door of the tunnel that led to the office building.
The male Fang grunted, "I swear I saw someone come through there but I didn't see any of them go over to the depot areas."
His female ally shrugged, "Well no one from top side has come down to pick up supplies in a while. Let's see if somethings going down."
The other female Fang member, who had not spoken, entered the tunnel. Her compatriots followed her.
Jaune looked between Blake and Pyrrha. They both nodded, communicating a plan wordlessly. He took a quick breath and peeked over the wall. No White Fang looked over to their small platform.
Slightly calmer, he lowered himself and turned towards the office tunnel entrance. He flexed his feet and quietly dashed over to the tunnel door right as the last of the Fang trio entered.
He caught the door right before it slid back into place. Blake and Pyrrha dashed in right behind him.
The male Fang walked behind the two others who were slightly further down the tunnel. He didn't look back.
Jaune made some space in the entrance, handing the door over to Blake to quietly close. He slowly crept behind the male Fang member.
His teammates kept a close pace and didn't make a sound. He held his breath while the Fang trio approached the black slab at the base of the ladder.
He crept right behind the male Fang grunt, careful not to step on a pebble or rock. Black straps clutched a shiny gun and a dust-infused machete to his back and side respectively. The weapons clanged against the grunt's body, echoing in the tunnel. The sounds shielded his and his teammates' already padded footsteps.
One of the female White Fang grunts reached the black slab. She looked up at the ladders and hummed. She turned around to her two other members.
Right at the moment, the female White Fang's head swiveled, Pyrrha threw the butt end of her spear into her forehead. The red and gold piece of metal flew through the air like a painted bullet and impacted the Fang mask with a sharp crack. The female's aura shattered, along with their mask, and she fell to the floor.
Jaune, before the other two Fang members could react, rose and hooked the male Fang's head with a gold-accented fist. The male Fang crumpled onto the floor in a heap. His weapons bounced in their straps, slapping against his unconscious form.
The last White Fang member let out a quiet gasp and reached for her weapon. Blake ran at the woman and, ducking under the woman, cracked Gambol Shroud's butt end into the woman's jaw. The female Fang's mouth cracked closed and she let out an agonized hiss.
Her aura broke and she slumped into the wall.
Jaune took a deep breath, steadying his thumping heart. He signaled to his teammates and they quickly regrouped. Their backs faced one another near the drowned bodies of the unconscious Fang.
None of them stirred from their slumber.
He whispered into their heads, looking over the prone bodies, "Are all of you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Both girls answered at once, "Of Course."
He walked over to the male white Fang grunt and took his armor. His teammates did the same for the other female grunts. He adorned the White Fang armor over his black stealth suit, although he couldn't put on the shattered mask.
Waiting for the shuffle of clothes to stop behind him, he turned to Pyrrha and Blake who wore the White Fang regalia. Blake dusted herself off while Pyrrha stretched her arms up, making the armor squeeze against her.
"We should tie these people up and I need to get a new mask," he whispered into their heads.
They wordlessly grouped the Fang members away from the black slab and the tunnel exit in the darkest spot possible. They scaled up the ladder to the first office floor and raided the Fang storeroom.
Coming back down to the tunnel, he wore a White Fang mask, completing his outfit. The long black sleeves of their stealth suits would stand out among the bare arms of the other Fang, but Blake explained how some Fang members modified their outfits.
Pyrrha tied up the White Fang with a bundle of thick ropes from the storerooms. He helped her, removing their weapons and putting them on his person or handing them over to the girls. He helped tie the last knot and, with a tug, backed away from the White Fang.
He rummaged over his person and made sure the Fang mask fit his face. It was a size too big but it did fit. His teammates finished checking over their outfits.
Satisfied, he walked out of the tunnel, Pyrrha and Blake followed.
The steel door closed with a hiss. He blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness of the cavern.
His eyesight returned and he walked over to the stairway that led down to the main floor. The multitude of Fang still scurried around, hard at work un-noticing them. No one stood near the platform.
Pyrrha and Blake came next to him and surveyed the area. Pyrrha tangled with her hair trying to make it into a more compact ponytail so her hair could fit in the cramped space of the Fang hood. Blake didn't react to the Fang armor she wore
He mused, "Now, If I were information concerning a mech, where would I be?"
Blake hummed, cupping her chin, "The last place was pretty obvious but this place not so much. We should start with that recreational tunnel and search from there."
"We should ask for Banesaw's location. I'm betting he might be near the info. After all, he seems to be the ringleader of all of this," Pyrrha added. Her emerald eyes shone behind the slits of her White Fang mask
He led a steady walk down the stairs. His feet glided the rough masonry worn with slightly visible footsteps. They reached the base of the stairs and paused.
He walked over to the crates stacked against the sides of the stairs. Blake slid next to him while Pyrrha went over to crates off to the side. His hands roamed to his sword in a nervous comfort.
He found his sword's hilt and let out a comforting breath. An army of White Fang roamed a few feet away from them, it was nice to know that he had a way of defending against a few of them if a conflict arose.
A black sheath, the exact color of his stealth suit, hid his sword from any prying eyes. Straps locked the sheathe onto his leg and, for an extra layer of security, he covered the sheath with the cleaver from the White Fang member.
He had also strapped the Fang's assault rifle onto his back to hit home the disguise.
Blake slid a hand over the one that gripped his sword knuckle white. He turned to her. Her covered golden amber eyes gazed into him. They seemed to radiate golden rays of light which shone onto his eyes. He let go of his sword.
He returned his attention to the crates. Labels and signs indicated most of them to be dust-related objects, either fragile dust vials or dust itself warned to be handled with extreme care.
The boxes that weren't dust-related were of other many varieties. Some contained containers full of food or medical supplies. Labels on an especially long box, that acted as a base for pillars of smaller crates, read that the box held a weapons workbench that could work on mechashift weapons.
Blake squatted up, gripping his shoulder. He moved along with her, standing.
He asked, "Do you see the tech they have? How are they able to steal this from Atlas or whoever they get it from? Are they that good now?"
Blake responded distractedly scanning over the storage units, "I honestly don't know. All of this seems fairly recent and not from an old raid. It looks like the Fang are getting stronger. "
"Well, more reason to stop them," he said, crossing his arms.
Blake nodded and stepped over to Pyrrha. He went over to the edge of the staircase wall and the girls joined them. He glanced at them before turning back and looking into the sea of White Fang rolling on the main floor of the cavern.
He stepped towards the mass of people. Blake and Pyrrha walked on either side of him.
On his second step, a lithe female Fang member bounded out of the other side of the stairs. He stopped mid stroll and his head instinctively whipped around to the moving woman.
She flipped through the pages of a clipboard held in her hands. She stopped her frantic pace and looked at him. He turned his head, ready to ignore her, but she quickly sped in front of him, blocking his path.
"You three!" she exclaimed looking them over.
The woman's bright brown and white dog ears stood ramrod straight through holes in her Fang headgear. She looked to be a few years older than him but still fairly young. Her dark brown eyes pierced into him, quizzically.
Blake moved closer to him and gripped his arm. She glared at the dog faunus woman for a second before she let go, shaking her head confusingly. She peered between him and the faunus woman before she squared her shoulders at the woman.
"Yes?" Jaune responded in his regular voice. It would come off as suspicious if he tried to emulate a voice without any tools.
"No one's come down here for ages from the office to deliver supplies. The last delivery was supposed to happen thirty minutes ago. I saw you three come out but I don't see anything in your hands. What's going on?"
He opened his mouth to answer but Blake stepped forward and spoke briskly, "There was an accident with a dust vial. The entire office sector is on alert and sweeping the area to make sure that they aren't compromised. They'll come down once the entire place is secured."
The woman narrowed her eyes at Blake. His feline partner didn't break eye contact. A moment passed and the faunus woman sighed, looking down at her clipboard. She let out another deep sigh and deflated in place.
She mumbled, "I would rather they have the materials down here on time but we can't risk our safety. You can go wherever you were heading, have a good day."
He put out his hand before the woman could walk away, "Sorry for the inconvenience, it must be stressful keeping track of all of this stuff."
The woman stopped mid-turn. She stepped closer and nodded eagerly, "Finally someone who understands. I'm not one of the fighters or on-the-field agents but my job is just as important! If we didn't organize any of our goods we wouldn't be able to fight for our cause."
He nodded along, "Well thanks for the effort. You do great work."
The woman flashed him a bright smile which he returned. She stalked off behind the other side of the stairs muttering happily to herself.
He turned to Blake, "That was quick thinking."
Her lips moved under her headgear indicating a smile, "Thank you."
Pyrrha interjected, "Let's keep on moving."
They fell back into their formation. He walked to their original destination of the resting tunnel. They tried to stick to the edge of the cavern floor, as far away from the massive throng of White Fang.
It went well for the first leg of the journey but, about halfway, a group of Fang members, organizing boxes, accosted them to move out of the way. Combined with the frenzy of forklifts and strange looks from the White Fang movers, they shuffled off into the stream of Fang closer to the center of the cavern floor.
They edged around the storage areas, following the main flow of the crowd. He kept his head straight, ignoring the white bone masks around him. He tried to keep his back straight and his gait similar to the rest of the crowd.
In his periphery, dozens of bone-white Grimm masks passed by him. No Fang turned in their direction and kept going about their business. With the number of people flowing by them, it was like they were walking through a city full of Fang.
His heart rate picked up and his hand drifted towards his sword. Blakes eyes pierced through his memory, stopping him. He moved his hand back to his side.
He closed his eyes and did a quick meditation technique that Ren had taught him. It flowed his aura throughout his entire body, cooling his bones. He opened his eyes and walked with more focus.
Blake, walking at his side, tried to keep her gaze forward but would occasionally drift to the other Fang flowing by. Her cat ears bumps squirmed at each subsequent passing Fang.
She would bring unwanted attention to their outfit if anybody took note of her hidden moving faunus features.
He gently grasped Blake's hand and pulled her along. She stopped staring at the Fang around her and peered at him. Her amber eyes were wide open in both hurt and confusion. He solemnly nodded and tried to communicate that they were going to get through this.
He whispered into her head, his voice silent to those passing by, "You alright?"
Blake whispered back, "Sort of, it's still somewhat of a shock to see the Fang act like this, even though we've seen them act like this twice."
"Well, both of those times we weren't walking among the Fang. We weren't really looking at them. But now we are and I get how that's a shock to you. Although, we just have to keep on moving. This isn't the Fang you maybe once knew and right now we have to stop them. In the future, you'll make a new Fang right?."
He squeezed her hand.
She nodded and mumbled under her breath, "Thanks Jaune."
She slowly brushed her hand away from his. They continued walking through the crowd of Fang. They walked closer to the other tunnel and neared the section where the Fang troop marched.
The man standing on the platform was of a similar bulky physique to Banesaw but a lion tail hung from his back. His voice boomed from a speaker in his hand, still directing the Fang to change formation. Many different types of male and female faunus made up the troop, but all of them were unified in the cold hard expressions partially hidden by their masks.
The Fang troop marched without effort. No sound escaped their mouths until the Fang on the platform shouted at them to move into a tight formation, in which case they grunted in minimal effort. They brandished Atlas issue rifles with experienced grips.
None of them looked their way while they walked past them.
More army than rebel group.
After a few more minutes, he, Pyrrha, and Blake pushed through the edge of the crowd and into the front of the recreational tunnel. Very few people populated the entrance, leaving them some much-needed breathing room.
Near the entrance, a small group of Fang sat on a variety of items from turned over empty crates to uncomfortable half stools. But the sitting Fang were not bothered by their seating arrangement. Instead, they happily barked and cheered over a game of cards propped on a table in the middle of their seats.
He passed by them and they didn't look up from their game. Going into the tunnel, he and his teammates passed by Fang members in casual conversation. Some wore regular clothes while others wore no White Fang masks.
Deeper into the tunnel, they passed through an archway and entered a large locker room. Rows upon rows of black or gray lockers lined the walls or stood in the middle of the room.
A myriad of Fang, both male, and female, hastily changed ]in and out of White Fang uniform. They either paid no mind to anyone around them and squarely focused on their uniforms or chatted while they changed.
He briskly led the charge through the room straight to another exit at the opposite end. Pyrrha briskly stopped and pointed to a trio of isolated lockers.
She asked, "Why don't we deposit our weapons here?"
He followed her over to the lockers, with Blake right behind him. In front of them, he held out his arms and opened one of them. It swung open unlocked. Nothing took up space inside of it although streaks of previous items marked its insides. Jaune closed the locker door and looked to the Fang residing in the room.
White Fang members entered and went over to lockers. They deposited their weapons, armors, or both and closed the locker doors. After that, an electronic screen at the handle of the door popped up, they tapped on it before walking away.
Satisfied, he told the other two of his observations. They both nodded and all of them put their Fang weaponry inside of the lockers, keeping their huntsmen weapons on their person still hidden in the black sheathes.
However, Pyrrha had to stuff her shield in her locker because it couldn't compact itself and would stick out on her back without any Fang weapons to cover it.
He finished and closed the locker. The electronic screen prompted him to create a password. He tapped in a memorable combination. Finished, he looked over to his teammates who were also done.
They walked away from their lockers and to the exit.
The amount of White Fang increased, although the tunnel did widen. Soon the harsh artificial light from the cavern and the locker room disappeared, replaced by warm glows.
Pushing through more relaxing Fang members, they entered the base's recreational room.
The area was wide and spacious allowing the inclusion of many sofas, chairs, and even a full-sized bar off in the corner. The ceiling reached the height of a regular residential building.
White Fang lounged on the brightly colored sofas and chatted animatedly with one another. Various tables stood in the middle of the sofas and chairs acting as footrests or places for food to rest on. Fang members watched T.V's of various models scattered around the room, either on tables or affixed to walls.
Near the back end of the room, two entryways led into more chambers. One chamber housed rows upon rows of beds similar to the ones that were in the Fang safehouse and another led into a canteen filled to the brim with people.
Jaune stepped past the initial entryway and spoke into his teammate's heads, "So what do we do now?"
Blake piped up, "Let's go over to that bar and ask for Banesaw."
She pointed to the bar built into the stone wall. A large group of people buzzed around one section of it but only a few sat in another section, which a bartender attended.
Pyrrha led the charge through the forms of the relaxing Fang. They reached the stools of the bar, one of the few things not ramshackled together, and sat side by side. He motioned the bartender over.
The man put down a glass he had been cleaning and walked over to them.
He put his hands under the bar and spoke gruffly, "You need something?"
Jaune shook his head and tried to come off as relaxed as possible, "No, I was wondering, where's the boss?"
The bartender shrugged, "He's probably in that planning room with all the other high-level folk, it's through the Dust Storage area. How don't you know where it is?"
Jaune held his hands up placidly, "Hey my friends and I are new here, we were transferred from above."
The bartender slowly nodded, but he stopped and raised a brow, "If you've got business with Banesaw you better get to it quickly. He's not a man to be kept waiting."
Jaune nodded and pushed down on the bar, about to rise, when Blake spoke, "What happens if we keep him waiting?"
He sat back down and looked between her and the bartender, understanding dawning on him.
The bartender opened his mouth in slight shock, "Well of course you get punished, made to do the worst jobs out of everyone or put through extra hard training drills."
Pyrrha perked up, "Is that all?"
The bartender didn't respond and instead picked up a glass, humming. He went over to a rack of drinks and moved his finger over the various colored bottles. He slowly, almost un-seeable unless you were scrutinizing him, moved his eyes over anyone near them.
He walked back with the empty glass and set it back down.
Leaning towards the trio, he whispered, "Well if you misbehave too much you get kicked out of our righteous cause. But, you didn't hear this from me, rumors are that if you've made it into these remote Fang locations you aren't just kicked out. They kick you out so hard that you can't possibly tell anyone about the locations of the Fang bases. If you catch my meaning."
The man continued, "There was a gal here who was always here at the bar who wasn't pulling her weight as you could imagine. One day she was called over by Banesaw and the next day she wasn't here. I haven't seen her since."
Jaune hummed, "Tha-"
The bartender moved away to another group of people before Jaune could finish.
Blake spoke, "I think we have enough info, let's go."
She got off her stool and headed back towards the lockers. He and Pyrrha walked side by side, following. They grabbed their equipment and exited out into the main floor of the cavern.
The same amount of Fang activity greeted them. The mass of bodies flowed and pulsed like a living breathing person. He turned towards their next destination.
Two bulky guards still stood near the grated jet steel door that led into the dust storage. But now the door was sealed shut. He led Blake and Pyrrha into the mass of White Fang and they followed the crowd to the steel door.
He tried to move slowly through to get a better understanding of the guards and entrance. The flow of the Fang went around in a steady circle backward and forwards.
He led Blake and Pyrrha to the slowest moving part of the circle. Moving with the crowd and coming closer to the steel door, he tried to take in as much information about it.
From time to time, some people would break off from the flow of bodies and approach the entryway. They either showed the two guards crates they carried in their arms, a keycard, or spoke to them. One of the guards would nod and take out a scroll. They passed the scroll over the lock of the door, making it hiss and slide open. The person would enter and the door closed behind them. The guards returned to their posts and waited for another person to approach.
Jaune noted all of this, brewing an idea in his head. He, Pyrrha, and Blake neared the guarded door. He broke off from the moving Fang with his teammates in tow.
Blake popped into his head, "Jaune, do you have a plan to get us inside of there?"
Pyrrha added, "It seems like there isn't a way to sneak in."
He responded to both of their concerns, "Follow my lead."
He strode up to the guards in a confident walk. They instantly locked eyes with him through their slitted masks. Their hands didn't go towards their giant rifles but they did position their bodies to get a better angle of him.
One of the massive guards stepped forward and held out a meaty arm, stopping him in front of the massive door.
He grunted, "Business."
Jaune stepped back, not tripping up his initial motion, and spoke to the hulking figure, "I'm here to see Lieutenant Banesaw about an incident up at the Office sector that needs his immediate attention."
Behind the mask, the guard's brow rose and he sneered, "It's Commander Banesaw, not Lieutenant."
Jaune looked away from the guard and, in the most sincere voice he could muster, he apologized, "Sorry, my friends and I are new here, we just got transferred."
The man snorted looking up and backing away from Jaune, "Calm down, you don't have to act like a Schnee. Anyways, I can't let you in without some verification about your post, even if you're new.'
Jaune sighed internally, it looked like they couldn't talk their way in like the other Fang. He nodded and turned around, ready to confer with his teammates. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted the dog faunus woman from earlier walking in the stream of Fang towards them.
He made eye contact with her and raised his hand, frantically calling her over. She looked at him and paused. She shrugged and walked over to him, stepping out of the bustle of Fang
"Do you need something?" she asked, putting her clipboard to the side.
"We were told to tell Commander Banesaw about the disturbance but we left in such a rush that we forgot our verification and-"
The woman finished, "-you don't want to make the trip all the way back to the office? I get you."
She turned to the guard, and she fished out an ID from under her armor and raised her clipboard to the guard, "Let these people in, I just checked in with them when they came out of the office level. There was some sort of dust accident up there, the boss would want to know about it."
The guard peered at her clipboard and her ID for a moment. He grunted, backing away and turning to the door. He pulled out his scroll and scanned it over the door lock. The door hissed open.
Pyrrha and Blake walked through the door. He stayed behind and turned to the dog faunus woman.
He rubbed the back of his head and spoke, "Thanks for helping us."
She stepped forward and smirked, "You can make up the favor by coming by the bar and buying me a drink."
With that, she walked by him, squeezing his bicep, and headed off towards the recreational area. She turned back and gave him a small wave which he replied in kind. He let out a hoarse chuckle and his mouth dropped open in shock.
Blake's voice rang through his head, interrupting his stupor, "Jaune, you coming?"
He mumbled into the mic, "Yea, be right there."
He turned back around and entered through the steel grate door into a well-lit but musty cave. The door closed behind him with a thud.
Blake and Pyrrha stood at the entrance of a tunnel that led into a large cave. Inside the cave, dozens of Fang workers moved and organized brightly-colored dust cargo containers. SDC and other dust company logos emblazoned the containers and the smaller crates around them. Labels pasted over every single crate explicitly mentioned pure refined dust took up the containers. All of the dust containers from the outside had no such labeling.
The sharp sound of a fist hitting metal pulled him out of his awe. Turning back, the Guard from the outside pointed at a corridor to the left of them.
He barked, although the door muffled his voice, "Stop staring and get to the Commander."
Jaune nodded and entered the corridor with the girls on his tail. The tunnel opened up spaciously and rose a similar height to the recreational room. Warm amber lamps and lights lit the tunnel brightly. The amber glow glowed like torches,
Silk wrappings and rugs adorned the walls of the tunnel. All of them were a variety of Vacuo, Mistral, and, most prominently, Menagerie handiwork. Going through the tunnel, they passed by wooden doors nestled into the walls. Muffled voices emanated from the first few doors but no sound came from those further down the tunnel.
Nearing the middle of the tunnel, the sudden thud of heavy footfalls echoed in front of them. His heart spiked up but his hunter reflexes kicked in. He whipped around to the nearest door and rushed through it. Blake and Pyrrha followed hot on his trail.
He latched the door close and leaned against it. Blake leaned next to him, ear to the door while Pyrrha crouched down listening at the doorknob.
He evened out his breathing while the footsteps neared closer. The heavy footfalls thundered by their door and went down the passage. They shook the walls and rattled the door on his cheek.
A heavy minute later the footsteps quieted down until they disappeared. He waited an extra minute just in case but nothing stirred outside. Letting out a deep breath he didn't know he had been holding, he backed away from the door.
The room they were in was about the same size as a meeting room from the office building. A large oval table and several cushioned office chairs took up the space. It was a strange contrast against the rugged walls of the cave, although the smooth flooring and modern light fixtures didn't make the furniture stand out too much.
He looked over at his teammates. They eyed the door and room with pure clam, not string from their spots.
He spoke, "Alright, it looks like whoever that was passed by us Let's keep on moving."
Slowly, he crept open the door. An empty passage greeted him. He exited into the tunnel and looked in the direction the footsteps went down.
A giant hulking figure made their way down the passage. Tight cords strapped a massive chainsaw to their back. Jaune's heart spiked at the sight of Banesaw. The hulking man walked down the hall and into another meeting room near the entrance of the tunnel.
Jaune turned back to the way they were originally going and crept forward. Blake and Pyrrha left the meeting room and followed. Blake consciously whipped her head back down the corridor.
They reached the end of the tunnel. One singular ornate wooden door, larger than the other doors in the cavern, took up the end of the hall. Next to it, two guards warily watched as they approached. They held their rifles at their sides, but their fingers hovered over the triggers and stocks.
One of them came forward and spoke in monotone, "Sorry this room is for high command only. If you're here for Banesaw, you just missed him."
Jaune slowly nodded inching closer to the two guards. Although out of the corner of his eye, he noted the muscles around the guards' arms tightened, ready to spring out.
He peered at both of them in an awkward pause before speaking, "We need to know where Banesaw went. We have some ur-"
He stopped mid-sentence and socked both of the guards in their guts with aura-infused fists. The guards let out sharp grasps and buckled over, dropping their rifles. Their aura flared up but it didn't stop the pain.
Blake and Pyrrha ran past him and knocked out the guards. Pyrrha used the butt end of her weapon's short sword form to hammer the head of the guard to his right. Blake used Gambol's end and smacked it hard across the left guard's cheek, creating a meaty thump. The tapestries on the wall dampened any noise from the fight.
The guards' auras shattered and both of them fell to the floor, out cold. He grabbed the nearest body and Pyrrha the other. They dragged them into the nearest meeting room and dumped their cold bodies.
Coming back out, he and Pyrrha took up positions next to the ornate door with Blake. He took the lead, standing in front of the door. Blake bunched up next to the door, squishing against Pyrrha, and gave him a hand signal.
He nodded and slowly turned the door handle. It moved without tension, unlocked.
He spoke into their heads, "It's unlocked."
Blake muttered, "Then let's hope there isn't a welcome party on the other side."
He styled his resolve and opened the door slowly. It moved without a sound and he entered into a large chamber.
In the middle of the chamber sat an enormous oval meeting desk, the largest he had ever seen so far. Like all of the furnishings in the tunnel, the table was made out of a blend of both fine Mistralian and Menagerie woodsmanship.
Giant comfy office chairs surrounded the table but were scattered around like a meeting was just held here and no one had cleaned things up. On the table were stacks of manilla folders full of paper, Documents of all kinds from simple letters to blurry photographs littered the table. Some empty bottles of some unknown liquid acted as paperweights for some documents.
A large framed photo of Sienna Kahn, in a stoic expression, hung in the middle of the far wall. White Lillies dangled from the frame.
From the side, a squeaky feminine voice asked, "Excuse me, do you have any business here? The meeting was already held several hours ago."
He turned to see the same mouse faunus woman from before sitting at a desk. Her familiar gray mouse ears lazily protruded from the top of her Fang mask. A thick wad of white bandage wraps covered one of her ears but otherwise, she looked the same as before.
She sat behind a desk similar to the one from the factory building, this one just as overburdened with papers and other such memorabilia as the last one. Behind her relatively small desk, stood a much larger, almost comically, sized one.
It even held a wooden chair that would only accommodate a giant figure. Nothing much took space on the desk except for an open huntsman weapon maintenance kit, with all of its tools out and neatly arranged on a black piece of cloth. A small Beowolf bone mask rooted on top of a small bevy of documents.
He peered at the bone totem for a second before turning his attention back to the mouse faunus woman. She stood from her chair and approached him.
She opened her mouth to speak but he quickly lashed out an aura-infused punch into her gut. He winced at hitting the defenseless woman without any warning. The fact that she seemed to be so high up in the Fang lessened his guilt.
Her teal aura shattered like thin glass. She crumpled onto the floor with a groan and slumped to the side, unconscious.
He motioned for Pyrrha and Blake to enter. They sneaked in, stepping over the body of the mouse woman, and closed the door behind them.
Crouching down, he gingerly picked up the faunus woman bridal style and carried her over to the desk. He gently laid her down on her chair. He held her head while stacking all of the documents on her desk to create an impromptu pillow. Letting go of her head, she slumped onto the sheets breathing slowly.
He rifled through the documents before stacking them but saw nothing of note. He walked over to Banesaw's desk and examined the Beowolf skull. It wasn't an actual skull as those disintegrate with the killing of a Grimm, but it was a fine bleached porcelain replica.
He put the skull down and looked through the measly amount of documents on the desk. Most of them looked important. He fished out his scroll from his pocket and took thorough yet hasty photos of every single paper.
Going around the desk, empty space greeted him. He inspected the desk looking for a secret compartment or anything of that sort, but he came up empty. Right as he was about to head over to Pyrrha and Blake, something glinted off of the room's artificial light in the corner of his eye.
Through the eyes of the Beowolf skull, a white plate closed the bottom of the skull slightly higher than the actual end of the skull. He picked the bone up and turned it over. A glossy framed photo took up the underside of the jaw.
The same white porcelain that made up the skull also made up the photo's frame. No wonder he hadn't noticed it the first time he handled the skull. The photo showed Banesaw and the mouse woman in complete Fang attire standing side by side.
The mouse faunus had a small smile on her face towards the camera while Banesaw's lips were in a hardline. They stood in some sort of dense forest, in the background a White Fang flag stood frozen mid-flap.
He put down the skull for the final time and joined Blake and Pyrrha at the large meeting table. Both girls diligently swept the table and the room, taking photos of every space and document. He left the record handling to them and went to the center of the table.
A giant map of Vale took up the middle of the table. All around it, several smaller maps showed different versions of Vale from its highway system to its subway system.
Red and Black lines were drawn over the main map accompanied by handwriting and notes in the margin. Many different handwriting styles littered the map but the most prominent was a harsh scratchy style. All the map needed to be truly complete was a dagger sticking into it, although Jaune wasn't willing to part with the tactile knife from the depot.
Blake and Pyrrha finished taking photos of the other documents on the table and came to him. They flashed some photos of the large map and its surrounding papers. Sliding up next to him on either side, they went over the map.
The markings and lines indicated that dust, weaponry, and parts of the mysterious package, which they all agreed to were parts of the Paladin, were being shipped from many different Fang Warehouses to a central location. Red circles encircled many Fang bases on the map, it seemed that Vale was chock-full of Fang. On the map, the factory and the office base they were in were all circled, and distinct routes sprouted from them to the Vale highway system.
A convoy would ferry Fang and equipment from the outposts and bases over to the largest and busiest highway in Vale, the very same one that team RWBY fought the Paladin on. Form said highway all of the Fang would congregate and take a detour out of Vale and towards mountain Glenn through a route not marked on the maps.
He whistled, "This is a lot."
Pyrrha let out a loud breath, "I can't believe the Fang have this much power to try to pull this off."
He turned to Blake who glared at the map. After a few seconds, she looked up and peered at him with pure determination, "It doesn't matter, we'll put an end to this and make sure they never set foot in Mountain Glenn."
He nodded and squeezed Blake's shoulder. Her amber eyes lingered on him for a moment. She turned back to the door and, with Pyrrha, walked out the room. They whispered to one another, gesturing to everything around them.
He stood in the doorway and took one last look around the room. His eyes drifted to the knocked-out mouse faunus woman who still sat unmoving. Something nagged at the back of his head but he couldn't identify what it was.
Ignoring it, he followed the two girls out of the tunnel.
The door to the tunnel hissed shut. The bright sterile light of the main cavern floor welcomed them back. Behind him, Fang still moved about in the dust pure dust storage area.
He walked with Pyrrha and Blake back into the mass of people. The guards at the side of the door didn't spare them a second glance as they left. The mass of the Fang had thinned out slightly but still bustled busily.
Pyrrha whispered into his head, "Now all we have to do is go back the way we came and get out of here. Hopefully, none of the Fang in the office building got out of their bindings."
He chuckled, "When we get back there, we'll knock them out again to make sure that we're safe."
Pyrrha nodded, walking next to him.
Blake muttered under her breath, "That is if we make it back there without running into trouble."
They walked towards the office building platform.
A blaring alarm exploded from the roof of the cavern stopping everyone, including them, in their tracks. They stopped right in the middle of the mass of the Fang, halfway to the office platform.
The lights of the cavern roof turned bright neon red and started to flash.
The gruff voice of Banesaw overlaid the blaring alarm from an announcement system, "We have an intruder in base. I repeat we have an intruder in base, all personnel report to your respective posts."
Blake sighed through her mic-piece, "I jinxed it."
AN:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Life is getting pretty busy so expect updates to come out whenever they can.