Chapter 14

In the centre of Vale, in its main square, stood a Cenotaph. Inscribed upon its sides were the most important battles in the Great War, from foreign rice fields in Anima to the frozen arctic seas of Solitas, nearly every important battle was there. On its base, a simple sentence was inscribed as its main centrepiece, beckoning all who viewed the monument to know one thing in particular.

Their name liveth for evermore.

It was for remembrance. Of the thousands lost in the fighting, from settlements swallowed up by the Grimm, in the battlefields where the greatest of armies on Remnant clashed. And of course, are also the ones lost at sea, never to return back to shore. Ruby always wondered who that monument was for, was it for the soldiers who survived the war? The widowers and children of the soldiers who did not come home? Or even now, for future generations to continue its memory, ensuring that the conflict is baked into Vale's many traditions?

She did not know the answer to that question, truthfully it could have been a little bit of everything, and nothing at all. It was not a conflict she had a lot of stake in, aside from her Mother's mysterious history of course, but still, wasn't the emotion of it a grand, intoxicating feeling? She remembered an old poem from the Royal Isles, the last line, in particular, standing out to her as she saw lilies laid next to the Cenotaph in remembrance.

Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori.

It was sweet and fitting, to die for one's country, and the grand prize all of those lost souls received? Monuments to their glory, never mind the amount of lives paid to have them erected.

"Ruby! Where you at?! There's a place we want you to check out!" Yang suddenly called out while the Kansen was hidden behind a pillar. Taking that as a queue to duck further behind it, she peered out onto the main square, finding that her family was looking around all over for her. Instead of her…conventional clothing, she had been forced into a light-coloured sundress. She had never worn something like this before, and all of that was due to Yang's insistence, with her father relenting to her enthusiastic demands.

"You know, she's kinda right, you could use some brighter looking clothes…" …betrayal came from those you least expected, at least she wasn't footing the bill for this at all. Not that Ruby hated these clothes, but rather they clashed with her style, her emulation of Ulrich's appearance to the best of her ability meant that she currently had two distinct styles clashing together. Her hairstyle screamed punk, while everything else was straight out of some old movie where the main heroine danced around in a field of flowers while singing. She didn't remember the name, but it was set in old Mantle so that was why she liked it.

Making sure she was hidden from view, Ruby decided that she could stay for a bit longer. Interacting with family was exhausting, and she was beginning to regret-

Feeling a shudder come from her partially exposed back, she looked behind and saw Valéan on the opposite side of the waterfront. Though too far for normal human eyes to see, her Kansen eyes allowed her to perfectly see her deck, filled with tourists, and Valéan herself glaring at her. Did she mention that her family decided to head to downtown for their shopping? It was where the old shopping districts were from the Belle Époque era, so it was a natural choice. The old battleship's expression was something in between a disappointed elderly woman, and also a youthful face promising scorn if she didn't get back to her family immediately.

Sighing despondently, she slowly got up from her bench behind the pillar, only to run into someone.

"Oof! S-sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going-" Oddly enough, the person that ran into Ruby was someone in a white coloured uniform, a naval one if she had to guess. Though just looking at her you wouldn't have guessed she was part of any armed services, light brown hair tied up into a ponytail, a short height just slightly taller than Ruby, and also her general disposition was nothing like what an officer should have been.

" Yeow …it felt like I was hitting a brick wall, what do they feed kids these days?" Upon closer inspection, Ruby noticed that she was wearing an Atlesian naval uniform, which explained her accent. From the eastern regions of Solitas if she was correct.

"Apologies, I was not aware you were in my way…" It was technically Ruby's fault as well, both for not looking and for her 'hitting a brick wall', there was a reason why personnel working with Kansen were reminded that they could crush steel beams like a candy bar casually. No one really harassed or bothered Kansen on base that way, one's precious family jewels could easily be subject to the force that could power an entire battleship as some unfortunate few found out the hard way.

" Ah pizdets… no, it was also my fault for not looking correctly. I will be on my way now…wait, where am I?" Looking around, the young naval officer became agitated as it was evident she was lost. It wasn't surprising, Vale's old districts were built before various highways and the like covered the newer areas, thus making navigation particularly tedious and confusing. A medieval town, updated for modern society, albeit just barely. Good luck finding your way out of the old stone streets, even Ruby gave up several times before and just used her rigging to jump across the roof during her smuggling deliveries.

"You're in the old shopping district, in Vale's historic old town. I can point you towards where you need to go-"

"Huh? This is the old shopping district?"

"...yes. Were you expecting something different?"

"Oh, uh, it's just that there aren't any signs telling me where the shops are, I'm not used to areas like this. Too old-fashioned, I guess? Atlas has these giant neon signs everywhere that tell me where things are, so…"

Even though Ruby couldn't care less about her Valean pride or whatever, she felt like she had to tell the difference between Vale and Atlas to this 'tourist'.

"Old fashioned, maybe, but in Vale things are done more subtly. We are not so crass as to have advertisements dot every corner of our city." Atlas itself was more like a giant floating island of advertisements than an actual liveable city, how did its citizens even get a good night's sleep?

"I…guess you're right? Reminds me of old Mantle…"

There it was again, Mantle. Her supposed ancestral home, Doctor Oobleck had not gotten back to her yet, so she was spending her days twiddling her thumbs with nothing better to do. Deciding that waiting any longer meant another potentially devastating lecture by Valéan, Ruby excused herself.

"In any case, enjoy all that Vale has to offer, officer…"

"Oh, I'm Roza-uh I mean-Ensign Roza Anikanov! Atlesian Federal Navy." She instinctively raised her hand for what Ruby assumed to be a salute, but quickly stopped herself as her expression morphed into a cringe. "Sorry for that, I'm trying to remember to properly greet people as an ensign, I'm not used to public appearances, yet, hopefully, I think. Oum imagine Specialist Winter saw me do that…" Roza mumbled the last part, but not quite enough for Ruby to not hear it.

Ruby didn't really care. Even in her memories of Ironblood when Ulrich interacted with officers she usually dismissed the formalities.

"I'm not your commanding officer. I hope you enjoy your time here, Ensign." Just as she was about to leave however, Roza stopped her again.

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to know where the good stores are at, right?"

"Mayhaps…" Ruby didn't like where this was going, it felt like the situation with Roman all over again. This time, however, she was going to be entangled with someone she didn't like the affiliations of whatsoever. Unfortunately, the mischievous glint on Roza's eyes said otherwise.

"So, I got handed this lien card by my superiors and was told to go buy everything I need. Now, since it's not really my money, I can get the nice things that I want which Atlas does not have. Since we're about the same size if something that I get happens to end up in your possession…I may just look the other way."

Due to Atlas's history, most of its artisans and artists fled the continent before the Great War even broke out. This resulted in their sub-par artisanal industries today, which wasn't a big issue due to their massive industrial base. However, that meant that high-quality goods that weren't science-based such as clothing and artisanal goods, were usually imported.

"...no budget?" Ruby asked, already, this was a better-sounding deal than what Roman offered her before. The floating bullhead was still weeks off from the agreed-upon pickup date.

"None, they're sparing no expense for my time here. Just don't buy out the store or anything. So, how about it?" Roza held her right hand out, waiting for Ruby to shake it. Well…one of Valéan's wishes was for her to meet new people…and she could potentially get that new Vacuoan crocodile leather choker today…

Deciding that today was a time to try new things and meet new people, she tentatively shook her hand.

"Excellent, wait, don't think I caught your name yet…?"

"Ruby Rose. Are you not concerned about being seen with a teenage girl leading you around? Harming the great Atlesian image?"

To her credit, Roza waved her off completely, clearly, it wasn't a concern for her at all. "Sure, as long as my superiors don't see me with you I don't really care. Come on, I don't have all day, it's the least I get for sending me here on short notice…"

Ignoring that last part deliberately, Ruby began leading Roza away from the main square. She took one last quick peek at the main square, finding that her family was nowhere to be seen. Relieved, she made a note to send a text to them later.

On a nearby tree, however, she did not notice an old-looking crow perched on top of its branches, peering down upon them with an inhuman grin.

In Vale's diplomatic quarter, Glynda was currently making her way towards the Atlesian consulate. Consulate, not embassy, because Mantle still technically held the title of embassy, even if it wasn't for long, she was there because the Atlesian contingent sent by General Ironwood had their base of operations there. As she was the only other person who had encountered this 'Hutten', Glynda was immediately volunteered by Ozpin to act as a liaison between them and Vale. It wasn't a terrible deal, her duties at Beacon were halted temporarily while she was on this assignment, but then again anyone would have been worried if Peter Port of all people became the academy's (temporary) custodian. She hoped it would remain standing by the time she got back.

In stark contrast to the Mantellian building, which was designed in line with Mantle's local architecture in mind, the newly constructed Atlesian consulate dwarfed the older embassy's size by quite a bit. It sported the usual monotone and high-tech architectural style that Atlas was known for, and in a district where most of the buildings were historic, stood out like a sore thumb.

Walking into the section reserved for their use, Glynda managed to get through security without much hassle. Unfortunately, however, that was only the first big hurdle today, the second one was meeting with the contingent's leader. Her words had to be chosen carefully, for Winter Schnee was not in their inner circle and thus not privy to their more important secrets. As the guard who escorted her stopped in front of her, she looked inside the office area reserved for their mission.

Of all the chaos happening inside, with what appeared to be two distinct groups of military officers setting up on different sides, was Winter directing the flow of personnel and equipment. Not that Glynda disliked her, but it was her personality conflicting with some of the close colleagues she worked with. It was the stereotypical Atlesian pride and coldness if she had to give an honest description, one that did not win them many favours abroad.

Still, she was here now, and they had a job to do. Walking up to Winter, Glynda cleared her throat behind her as the former was still engrossed in work.

"What? Who-Ah, apologies Miss Goodwitch, as you can see you have caught us in an inopportune time."

Glynda nodded, apparently, they had some trouble with getting all of their equipment and personnel ready due to how sudden it was. "Don't worry too much, I've seen much worse during my time as Beacon's administrator."

Winter frowned, an expression Glynda expected to be seeing a lot in the next few weeks. "I do not dispute that, but comparing the Atlesian armed forces to huntsmen and huntresses in training is not what I would describe as flattering. In any case, I'm afraid today will just be spent on setting things up, I would have preferred it if you arrived tomorrow actually."

It was the polite way of saying 'scram and come back tomorrow!'. This was why she found most Atlesian military personnel hard to deal with, they had one of the best militaries on Remnant, sure, but that also came with an unhealthy dosage of pride. Pride came before the fall, as they say.

"In any case, I trust you have read the report from Qrow?"

Her frown morphed into a scathing glare for even daring to mention his name. While Glynda did agree with her on some of Qrow's…less flattering parts of his personality, he was still nonetheless highly capable at his duties. When he wasn't piss drunk of course.

"Do keep in mind, Specialist, that he will be a part of this investigation, General Ironwood briefed you on this, no?"

"Yes…he has…"

"Then, whatever your personal reservations are about him, please cooperate for the sake of our goal."

After being chastised, Winter's glare softened as she looked around with weary eyes. "I do not see him with you, is he…"

"He's taking a vacation day today, something about spending time with his nieces. He will be joining us on a later date, I'm sure he's just as thrilled to be seeing you." It was no secret they got along like hot oil and water. Glynda just had to make sure to not be in the splash zone.

"Ugh…"

Changing the topic, Glynda was asked if she had a plan for luring out 'Hutten', who had remained quiet after that incident. Not a single report or sighting from the Coast Guard and police was heard from them, leading Gylnda to suspect that she was currently in hiding.

"Simple. We need to draw her out." Winter declared.

Glynda however, scoffed at the notion. "Draw her out? With what? All we know is that she is a suspected smuggler, and those types always go into hiding when they catch a whiff of trouble. Vale's underworld is much trickier than Atlas's own, I assure you."

Most criminal activity was concentrated on Mantle instead of Atlas, meaning that Winter would not have had a lot of experience in dealing with them. The issue was that she saw them as some enemy, a military force to lure out and defeat with overwhelming firepower. Atlas had that in spades, sure, but what if their enemy was never going to take the bait in the first place? Someone like Hutten had no reason to fight, or even take on the Atlesian military even with a supposed Battleship. This was exactly the reason why Glynda did not approve of Ozpin requesting Ironwood's help.

"I do not need to remind you that you are in Vale. Despite the council allowing Atlas to conduct this operation, you are still beholden to Vale's laws and sovereignty. For the sake of us both, do not be rash, for I would not like to find out if my semblance can block naval artillery."

Glynda was fairly confident in her ability to block the smaller guns, the main guns however…

"I…will keep that in mind. In that case, I don't suppose that you have a suggestion? At least something that we can begin working towards?"

Truthfully, there were few options. Ozpin's connections did not have as much detail on Vale's underworld as they would have liked, so there were few true options. Aside from Hutten's connection with Torchwick that they have confirmed, there wasn't much else they could pin her with. There were some minor gang fights that they suspected Hutten to be a part of, but again, those were just rumours. Finding Torchwick was not an option, so that left…

"...there is one link we can try. We suspect that Hutten has a 'handler' of sorts for her operations, there aren't that many in Vale's underworld that include smuggling. His name is Hei Xiong, otherwise known as Junior for the Xiong family." Among the various crime families in Vale that dealt with smuggling, the ones that came to mind were the Xiong family. Unfortunately, that was also one Glynda had very little information on due to how compartmentalized his operations were. They knew he was running a smuggling ring in that nightclub of his, but they could never gather enough evidence to pin it on him.

"Whatever he may be, we'll get the answers we need out of him, one way or another-"

"Specialist, again, you are in Vale." Glynda deadpanned at her, causing Winter to shut up and look away. Maybe Qrow actually had a point regarding Winter, after all, she'd only admit it over her dead body, however.

Omake:

ObserverNull: Argus sequence proposed…

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Ruby woke up in her bed, startled by a dream of iron and fire on the high seas. It was the most glorious thing she had ever witnessed, and she had to know more.

"Finally woke up? Come on, we're gonna be late for Oobleck's lecture!" Weiss was already in her uniform, looking at Ruby with a disapproving look. Actually, now that she thought about it, all of Team RWBY save for her was already up and ready for the day.

"I just had a crazy dream, there were guns! Big guns, explosions and…and…I was on the ocean or something?!"

Yang, however, did not share the same enthusiasm her sister did. "Alright Rubes, that's great and all but you have around five minutes before we ditch you for Oobleck's class."

Deciding that not getting another detention from him was higher on her priority list, Ruby dashed into the bathroom with her semblance to get ready for the day. The dream of a weird battle at sea, with someone who looked a lot like her, wielding a scythe and all, left for another day.

AN:

Yeah, I know, been a while since it updated. In any case, we see Ruby getting to know more people, as 'advised' by her battleship grandmother, Glynda greeting the Atlesian contingent with some difficulty, and a new Omake series. It's not going to be a react fic or anything like that, but the concept is somewhat similar. You'll understand more about it in later chapters.

As always, be civil in the comments below.