A/N: *checks reviews*
LOL, you thought this story was over?! You thought I was gonna introduce a giant fuckoff Grimm converted into an Arms Fort and just leave y'all hangin'?!
…Well, okay, maybe I sometimes get distracted and do other things, but still! Strap in, nerds, it's muthafuckin' Mecha Time!
[/]
"So, this is the boy that's caused such commotion?"
Ruby jumped as she heard Master Karasawa speak up behind her. The girl abruptly became very aware that, contrary to previous impressions garnered a moment ago, when Jaune had come in and swept her off her feet, there were, in fact, other people in the world. And not just in the world, but indeed, in that very room. People like her mother, who was staring at Jaune in a very scarily-calm way, and her Master. Karasawa crossed his arms as he gave the young man a searching look.
"Oh, uh, Mister Karasawa. Sir." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I mostly came here to see Ruby again, but as long as I'm here, I just want to say how much I appreciate the work that the both of you are doing for me."
The old man scoffed, taking Jaune by surprise. "We're not doing this for you, boy. This is work done for a greater plan and purpose, one in which you must play a part as well. This machine will not be a gift to be given, but a duty to be undertaken. Is that understood?"
"Uh…sure?"
Karasawa just sighed, shaking his head ruefully at his youthful apprentice. "Make it quick, girl. I can feel myself aging just looking at the both of you." With one last huff, he wandered off.
Ruby held Jaune's hands in front of her, rubbing circles with her thumbs. When she looked up, her silver eyes glistened with tears. "Jaune…"
He reached up to brush a tear from her cheek with his thumb. Then, he smiled brightly. "So, I hear you have a new job as a part-time flashlight?"
Her jaw dropped at his blase take on her strange, mysterious, otherworldly powers reduced to…to…a what?!
A most unladylike snort escaped her, so loud that it echoed through the shop. Then, the floodgates opened, and Ruby was reduced to alternating giggling uncontrollably and weeping into Jaune's chest.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, when the fits had finally left her. "I think I'm crazy now."
"That's okay. I think I am too."
"All right, girl, that's enough of that." The teens looked over to see Karasawa ambling their way. "We have a lot still left to do, and precious little time in which to do it."
Ruby shrugged sheepishly at Jaune.
"I guess you'd better go," he said, slowly, reluctantly letting her go. The red haired girl gazed at her feet for a moment before taking a long, deep sigh. Having collected herself, she looked to Jaune and nodded.
"Boy, a question," Karasawa began. "Tell me, are you at all nervous to be piloting an experimental Armored Core designed by a young girl?"
Jaune shrugged, a little puzzled by the question. "Not…really?" he half-asked and answered. "Why would I be?"
Karasawa folded his arms. "Well, some say that young artisans are impatient, cutting corners that can affect the finished piece." Next to Jaune, Ruby stiffened at her master's line of inquiry.
"Maybe, but Ruby wouldn't do that," said Jaune. "Ruby's truly talented, even without the whole…magic thing. She knows that I'm going to be the one piloting her machine, and while it's inherently dangerous, I don't think she would knowingly put me at more risk than I have to be." He nodded to Karasawa, even as Ruby had gone even paler, looking like she might be ill. "I don't know about all this business with gods and magic eyes, but I have faith in Ruby Rose."
"I see," said Karasawa, folding his arms as he gazed at his apprentice. "You may leave now, boy. I'm sure your faith will be rewarded."
Jaune kissed Ruby on the top of her head. "I'll see you as soon as I can, Ruby," he said. "Don't worry. I believe in you."
When the blond young man had taken his leave of the shop, the old master stared down his apprentice. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.
"I'm gonna go…go start fabricating the left dorsal booster array," Ruby said, her tone muted.
"And are you going to do so to a standard of merely 'good enough?'"
"No."
"Good. It's not too late for you to live up to the boy's high opinion of you. Let's get to work."
[/]
In a base carved from a system of caves in Forever Fall, Adam Taurus scowled as he finished affixing the cobbled-together optical array on Wilt. His attack on the Emerald Forest had been a success, inflicting significant economic damages and a loss of morale on the Valeans, but he had not anticipated the costs being nearly so high for his last sortie.
He knew how Xiao Long thought, and when he'd seen the distinctive Sun Dragon AC on patrol, Taurus thought he'd had the measure of the man's actions. By all that he knew of the Valean Captain's tactical mind, upon the revelation of the trap, he would be too cautious to go after the White Fang. They'd be long gone by the time Valean reinforcements arrived, and if a single AC pilot lost their cool, then Xiao Long would find the destroyed remains of the fool's AC along with the dead loggers, in the ashes of the burned forest.
Instead, in defiance of all logic, reason, and tactical doctrine, Xiao Long and the young Arc had thrown themselves at the White Fang with the fury of rabid beasts. The Sun Dragon had decimated the contingent that had accompanied Adam, the Fang's lesser, mass-produced Armored Cores being thrown around like dogs attempting to bring down a raging bear. Of all the Fang that had joined in his attack, only three returned. Worse, they had to leave the remnants of the destroyed ACs behind.
Then there was the damage to his own machine to consider.
Had this been a training duel back in Atlas, Taurus would have saluted the young Arc's daring and tenacious piloting, then returned to an Armored Core that was kept in peak condition by a fully-equipped and staff maintenance team. Instead, he'd had to scavenge what parts he could from the dwindling remnants of his mens' machines. The mismatched optical array was especially galling, as Arc had managed to take out the left side in a one-in-a-million shot from a laser missile interceptor, of all things. A few of the White Fang Armored Cores were simply unable to be fully-repaired, their pilots having to make do with machines with damaged parts or depleted ammunition stores.
The attack on the Emerald Forest was a success. Another success like that, and the campaign would be over.
Worse, his psychological warfare tactics may well have backfired on him. Upon analyzing what footage could be ascertained from the skirmish, it had gradually occurred to Taurus that the young girl pilot of the mysteriously advanced Armored Core could have been Xiao Long's daughter. He and Summer Rose had two daughters, one of whom was of age to serve as a rookie at Beacon…and if that was the case, that would certainly explain the absolute frenzy with which Xiao Long fought that day.
Adam Taurus's blood ran cold. As a soldier, he was forced to acknowledge and respect Xiao Long's tactical acumen, leadership, and personal prowess in the cockpit, but for all of that, it was widely agreed that the man's wife was, by far, the more formidable of the two. Summer Rose had opted to stay out of the White Fang - Vale conflict, citing that she had enlisted to protect the Kingdom from Grimm, not chase down stolen property, which had given the Fang no small degree of relief.
But now, Adam had attacked her home, cruelly taunted her husband over the death of his wingmate - at his hands, no less - and finally, threatened to melt her daughter.
There was every reason to assume that Summer Rose would be coming after him, specifically, and while Taurus understood that there was no way he was leaving Vale alive, he couldn't allow her to thwart his goal. She needed to be bypassed, diverted, or otherwise neutralized if Vale was to fall.
He stepped back from his stolen Armored Core, leaning against the gantry, his chin in his hand. He needed a plan. And moreover, he needed to resupply. It was time to send some of his men to the city.
[/]
Lie Ren weighed his options. On the one hand, grabbing Nora and hauling ass out of Vale seemed like a good idea, what with Director Ozpin sending him a request to meet him in his office. On the other, their enlistment at Beacon wasn't up yet, and desertion, especially in a time such as this, was a crime.
He'd been very careful to fly under the radar, as it were. He very carefully cultivated the image of a reliable, if not very interesting, pilot. He had no disciplinary issues, and his performance was solid, but not exceptional. In short, there was really only one reason that the Director would have for wanting to speak to him personally, and that was his mystic abilities. It was the fact that Ren figured that Ozpin would realize that he was of more use in a cockpit now than as a lab rat for merely possible future gains that tipped the scales in favor of him hearing what the Director had to say. Still, at the first hint of any words like "lab," "study," or "vivisection," he'd be out of there so fast the old man's head would spin, and damn the consequences.
Ren was so wrapped up in his fight or flight contemplations that he almost failed to notice Jaune Arc sitting in the Director's office, speaking amiably with Ozpin.
"Hey, Ren," the blond Valean greeted him casually, with a wave.
Ren blinked. "Um…hello." He looked to the Director, his expression wary. "So…what's this about?"
"Thank you for coming, Pilot Ren. Would you care for a drink?"
"No, thank you." Like hell was he going to give the Director the chance to slip a sleeping agent into his drink.
"Very well. To business, then. An opportunity has arisen for us to put the White Fang on the defensive, but to do so would require use of your hidden abilities."
Ren tried not to let his panic show on his face. When in doubt, play dumb. "You want me to write poetry to the White Fang?"
The Director rolled his eyes. "Your other hidden talent, Mister Ren."
"I don't follow."
Ozpin sighed. "Jaune?"
To Ren's complete shock, Jaune Arc held out his left hand, palm up, and carefully conjured a golden flame from thin air.
"It was a time of great stress and peril," began Ozpin, while Jaune extinguished the golden flame from his hand. "Knowing your history, it was likely during the Grimm destruction of your home village of Kuroyuri. To save your life, or perhaps the life of another, a strange power awoke within you, granting you abilities beyond those of other people. You grew stronger, faster, more resilient, able to heal quicker, and developed a particular skill unique to you alone." He smiled blandy. "Am I on the right track?"
"How?"
"Well, you may find it both a great relief and a terrible disappointment to learn that your powers are not, in fact, aberrations unique to you. Others throughout history have attained these powers, though it is rather rare in this day in age. You have it. I have it, and as we've seen, Jaune has developed them too."
Ren stared at the old man. "If you've known this entire time, why didn't you say anything?"
The Director shrugged. "There was no need. You've been living lawfully here in Vale, protecting the Kingdom as an Armored Core pilot, and generally not raising a ruckus." Here, the old man quirked a brow in barely-concealed amusement. "Unless, of course, you've been engaged in some…less than upstanding activities of which I should be aware?"
"No!" Ren was quick to blurt out. "I mean…no, sir, of course not."
Ozpin had the sheer nerve to chuckle, the bastard. "Have a seat, Mister Ren. You're in no danger here."
Still a bit wary, Ren sat in one of the chairs across from the Director's desk.
"We call it Aura," Ozpin said. "It is a form of…spiritual energy, one that can manifest itself in individuals in times of greatest need. In times past, it was much more common to see, but those times are shrouded in myth and legend. I have taken to instructing Jaune here in the basics of its use, as it seems that the times are such that Aura, and the Semblance, may become a critical part of the defense of our people once more."
"How is that?" asked Ren. "It's good in a brawl against people, sure, but against Grimm? You need an AC to take on a Grimm, and I don't see how the…the Aura, as you put it, can help there."
Ozpin steepled his fingers. "Jaune?"
The blond pilot took out his Scroll. "You know how Ruby's been working with Master Karasawa?" he asked Ren.
"Yes?"
"This is what they've been working on."
A holographic screen projected into the space above the Director's desk, and Ren leaned forward to look. Displayed were the schematics for an Armored Core, albeit one that was absolutely alien to the Mistrali pilot. It was gleaming white, with strange guns carried in its hands. More to the point, it was absolutely festooned with boosters. The most prominent were the paired full array on the back, which were designed to unfold into a pair of wings, but there were also boosters to send the unit rocketing upwards, backwards, and to the sides at…at speeds of…
Ren frowned as he blinked, taking a moment to confirm the projected g-forces that attempting to take this…absolutely insane masterpiece into combat would inflict on the pilot. "He'd be killed," he said, shaking his head. "Absolutely puking out his intestines."
"He would," agreed Ozpin. "Any normal pilot would."
It then clicked into place, and Ren sat back. "Oh."
"Oh, indeed. This would represent quite the leap forward in the capabilities of Armored Cores…once Miss Rose has sorted out the rather…unique technical challenges and developed the technology for wider distribution. This Armored Core - White Glint - will be the first of the fourth generation Armored Cores, but the first in which an active Aura is necessary for its pilot to survive."
A silence hung over the Director's office for a moment.
"Pyrrha's going to go crazy if she can't keep up," was the first thing that Ren said. Jaune chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm half expecting her Aura to awaken out of sheer competitiveness."
"At any rate, Mister Ren, I'm sure you can now understand the greater significance of a Beacon pilot with an awakened Aura," said Ozpin. "Jaune will be the pilot of the White Glint, but as we gradually introduce fourth generation technology, you will be the first to pilot an Armored Core derived from this prototype. I have been quite impressed with the degree of control that you have exerted over your Aura during your time here, and I am hoping that you will be willing to both accept instruction in the art from myself as well as assisting in training your fellow pilots, in time."
"...You know, of all the crazy things that I was expecting to have happen when I got your message to come here, this was not one of them."
"Well, I do like to keep people on their toes. I trust that you will continue your long-established habit of keeping this subject close to your chest?"
"I can, but now that I know it's not just me…why not awaken it for everyone?" asked Ren.
Ozpin sighed. "I seem to recall a young vigilante running wild a few years back, stomping out the Mistrali criminal underworld with impunity."
Ren had the grace to flush with embarrassment.
"It was fortunate enough that that impulsive youth thought to help others in stopping dangerous criminals. Suppose the method of awakening and controlling Aura became widespread? With some martial training and a self-taught Aura ability, you frequently went up against impossible odds. Now, consider that there is no inherent limitation on Aura imposed by morality or ethics."
The Mistrali youth had to fight back a wince. There had been some real scumbags he'd gone up against back in Mistral. The thought of Kraven the Hunter - who got his kicks murdering Faunus and selling their body parts on the black market - with powers like his made his blood run cold. Ren had never lost a minute's sleep over putting that sick bastard in the ground.
"I can teach you how to use your Aura," Ozpin continued. "I can even teach you how to awaken it in others. It will be necessary, I believe, if humanity is to take the fight to the Grimm and truly push them back. But you must be cognizant of both the promise and the peril in such powers…especially when paired with an Armored Core."
The silence resumed as the three men contemplated the weight of their responsibility.
"You were The Spectre?" Jaune finally asked, a smile spreading across his face.
Ren crossed his arms. "It was a phase."
"Yes, well, it's a phase I would ask you to bring back," said Ozpin.
"What? Why?"
A chime sounded at the Director's door. "Ah, that would be our guests from Atlas." Ozpin pressed a key on his desk. The holographic schematics of White Glint powered down and the door opened, revealing the Schnee sisters, in all their martial glory. The Director didn't miss the way that Arc swallowed nervously as the two young and highly-eligible daughters of Willow Schnee and James Ironwood of Atlas entered the room. No doubt the poor boy was already thinking of how to escape a potential betrothal.
"Director." Winter glanced down at the two seated young men, her ice blue eyes narrowing just the slightest fraction as she recognized the troublesome Mistrali who had been…accompanying her little sister. "And these are?"
"These are two of my people, who will be assisting us in the operation to entrap the White Fang," Ozpin answered.
"I…see." Winter's tone left no doubt that she really didn't.
Ozpin chuckled. "Well, they both may seem innocuous, but things are rarely as they appear, wouldn't you agree? Lie Ren here has experience in dealing with these sorts of operations, while Jaune's newfound notoriety can be useful in ensuring that the Fang are drawn to the right target. A bright light hiding a hidden knife, if you will."
Winter nodded, then slowly unfolded her arms. "Very well. Let's go over the plan." She took a seat, gesturing for Weiss to do the same.
Ren had the sudden, insane, nigh-on suicidal urge to wink at her. It would have been an absolutely terrible idea, so of course, he went and did it, and was rewarded with the sight of a pink flush coloring the younger Schnee daughter's ears.
What could he say? He was always a fan of international relations.
[/]
It was amazing, actually, just how fast an Armored Core could be constructed by a dedicated team, led by a master of the craft, that devoted nearly every waking moment to fabricating the machine. The White Glint was far from finished - its signature rear booster arrays were being carefully fused onto the frame, a laborious process to ensure that it could handle the intense stresses, and the main weapons weren't even under initial construction yet - but the main physical components were all complete and ready to be assembled. There was just one problem holding it back.
The power. It needed more power.
The Hidden Fire was the most terrifyingly potent energy source that mankind had ever harnessed, and Ruby was more than a little distressed to find that it simply wasn't enough.
If Master Karasawa was to be believed, than each machine that she would see in her vision would be theoretically possible to be built; he had never been given a design that was outright impossible to create, and had never heard of anyone else ever having had that happen either.
The White Glint was possible. In her very soul, Ruby knew this to be true. It was up to her to see how.
She sat, cross-legged, on the floor, staring at the salvaged generator from Crescent Rose. She fell into her Sight, her silver eyes glowing with celestial light. The Hidden Fire worked by harnessing the energies of separation, the tearing apart, the undoing of things, on a level far beneath the ability of the human eye to perceive.
Ruby saw the loggers in the truck, torn apart by the razorstorm fired from Adam Taurus. She saw the bleak desolation on Pyrrha's face as she stood before her and denounced her for her careless foolishness. She saw a white-haired woman grow cold and frozen, a green-haired woman weeping in the dark, and she saw Jaune look upon his father with growing horror and disgust.
There was power in the tearing of things, to be sure. But it wasn't enough.
Steam rose from Ruby's eyes, tears evaporating in the intense luminescence of her eyes.
"Please?"
There was power in the tearing of things. How much more there was to be found in the conjoining of them.
She saw her mother gazing up at her father with playful adoration as she teased him. She saw Pyrrha weep tears of joy, kneeling as little sisters she never knew embraced her without hesitation. She saw Ren and Nora bump fists, the green-haired woman reach for an outstretched hand, and an impossibly old soul feel awe and wonder for the first time in ages as he greeted a chipper artificial girl that was just so happy to be a part of the world and everything in it.
Jaune.
She remembered the way it felt when he'd swept her into his arms, the sweet softness of his lips against hers, how strong and sure his hands had felt upon her back and hip.
Together. There was a great and terrible power in together, in the bringing together of things. It was the power that drove back the night, that fueled the dawn, that filled the cosmos in an infinite array of light and warmth. The dark was infinite and always, impossible in its magnitude, smothering in its ubiquity, but each twinkling light in that spiraling night was proof that things were, and could be, and even if the night was cold, they could endure together.
At last, Ruby could truly see.
"Oh," said Ruby, more than a little dazed. She blinked, the celestial luminescence fading away as she gazed into space, her mind working to put together what she'd seen.
"Yeah, that'll do."
[/]
Meanwhile, it must be noted, Penny was having simply the most delightful time at Beacon! The people were ever-so-lovely, though she was sad about not being able to see the trees like she'd wanted to.
Most of her time, she spent analyzing data in order to help Specialist Winter put together her attack strategies. Putting together the strike team wasn't a matter of finding volunteers - lots of people wanted to kill Adam dead - but finding the right people to put on the team. Winter's first impulse was to seek out both of the Karasawa-wielders at Beacon. It became pretty apparent to Penny that Specialist Winter wasn't looking to apprehend the White Fang; rather, she was looking to, as she put it, "irrevocably rip their world a-fucking-sunder."
The first one they asked was Summer Rose. Miss Summer seemed awfully nice to be outright planning to kill someone, but then Specialist Winter made a comment about her daughter's apparently negligent piloting. Miss Summer had fixed the younger woman with a look, one that promised to visit such absolute ruination upon Winter if she continued that line of questioning that Winter had meekly backed down, and was all "yes ma'am, no ma'am," after that.
Penny had shared a giggle with Weiss about that when they were alone.
Still, Miss Summer was onboard, and the second Karasawa-wielder, Pyrrha, was quick to agree too. From what Penny could tell, Specialist Winter's plan involved tracking the White Fang, herding them to a spot of her choosing, using overlapping fields of fire from two Karasawas to break the spine of the White Fang's AC force, and have the rest of the team mop up while Winter, Weiss, and herself ensured that Taurus went down.
Specialist Winter wasn't all that popular with the Valeans - probably 'cuz she was bein' mean - but they did appreciate having the simulator information for Adam Taurus's Armored Core, Wilt. "Murder Adam Taurus" became one of the most popular recreational activities at Beacon, and while they couldn't perfectly emulate exactly what it was like to fly against him, it was close enough to make for valuable training, with a significant catharsis to boot.
When she wasn't helping her fellow Atlesians, Penny would occasionally spend time talking to Director Ozpin in his office. He always had the most interesting questions to ask her. He seemed like a lonely old man, so if spending time thinking about life and creation and stuff with her made him happier, it was no bits off her pixels.
Of course, there was one area where Penny was failing miserably. Being on Weiss's Scroll meant that she was privy to her messages, which meant that she had to occasionally endure…exchanges.
WildFlower: I met simply the most amazing man here in Vale, Ghost!
GhostofKuroyuri: Oh?
WildFlower: He's very intelligent and observant. Subtle, but with a biting wit. He's very mysterious, and every time I've had cause to speak with him thus far, I keep finding myself intrigued with the many layers of his deep personality.
GhostofKuroyuri: Sounds like our mystery man is in trouble. I've met a woman too, as it happens. She's very elegant and even regal, but she wears it well.
WildFlower: Perhaps we should play matchmaker and introduce the two?
Penny didn't have a head, but if she did, she'd be banging it against a wall.
Meat-people!
[/]
With all the craziness that had followed Adam Taurus's attack, and Ruby's subsequent apprenticeship, there hadn't been much opportunity for Xiao Long family dinners. Summer missed it. She rested her head on her husband's shoulder as they sat together on the couch, taking a quiet moment together out of their hectic lives.
Summer watched as her youngest daughter staggered into the apartment, looking vaguely dazed as she yawned.
"And what impossible thing did you do today, sweetie?"
"I think I just figured out cold fusion."
"That's nice. Go get a shower before bed."
"Mmkay."
[/]
"And with this boost in production, thanks to Emeraude Arms Corporation, Beacon will have everything it needs to ensure that Adam Taurus is taken down, and Vale is safe."
Jaune stepped back from the lectern, waving to the crowd. Next to him, his father put his arm around his shoulder as a dazzling array of camera flashes captured the moment.
"You get used to it," said Gil.
"I'd really rather not."
[/]
It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.
Wait, nope, scratch that, it was just the worst of times.
Roman Torchwick, gentleman thief, purveyor of only the finest in illicit goods, and all-around criminal mastermind, was scrambling to keep the freaking lights on. See, anyone with a proper education of the finer points of bad behavior knows that there is only so much chaos that a system can handle before it begins to break down.
Ideally, this havoc would be wreaked at the instigation of a city's finest - and handsomest - underworld movers and shakers. Robbing banks, lifting goods, turning out hookers, placing bribes, all of the little services that any real city needs to exist, would all be carefully-managed to avoid killing the goose that laid the proverbial egg.
The city. He's talking about the city itself. The city is the goose and the steady exchange of goods, services and currency was the golden egg. Just to make it clear.
Fuckin' schmucks.
Anyway, this business with those White Fang whackaloons had business a-brisk for the past couple of years, but then that Head Whacko went and fucked everything up by burning the goddamned forest. Too much chaos. Shit was breakin' down.
Roman didn't give a particular fuck about the trees in and of themselves, mind you. Nah, what lodged a ginch in his ass was that the trees, and the shit made from the trees, were kinda Vale's main export industry. And without said fuckin' trees, the fuckin' economy was fuckin' fucked to all fuckin' hell. People without money are people who aren't paying money to snort lines of drugs off the soft, supple thigh of a bunnygirl Faunus prostitute. The things that they would spend money for - food, medicine, weapons - were bein' watched like a fuckin' hawk, to make sure the fuckin' Fang didn't get their furry mitts on 'em.
Important rule to bein' a thief, ifn' ya wanna live to be an old thief; ain't no fuckin' score worth your fuckin' skin. The city was under siege, and ol' Director Ozzy was in the hangin' sort of mood when it came to that sort of shit.
Important rule to bein' a criminal mastermind: have enough loot socked away to last a good long goddamned time ifn' ya gotta lay low for a while.
And lay low, Roman Torchwick did do, waiting for Director Ozzy and the Clanker Corps to take care of the Fang problem so everything could go back to a nice, profitable normal. To his eternal shame, Torchwick hadn't done anything illegal in over a week.
So why, pray tell, the fuck was the fuckin' Spectre, a Mistrali do-gooder from a few years back, in his fuckin' house - a house in Vale, he might add- and currently kickin' six different colors of shit out of his poor guards?
No one had been able to get one over on the Spectre. Honestly, Torchwick had thought that Xiong was makin' shit up to explain his own fuckups, but then, that was before the fuckin' twink had shown up and cheerfully started pummeling his people.
Dude even looked like an asshole, with some kinda fuckin' chauffer's black outfit, complete with hat, gloves, and a black mask over the top half of his face. He'd kicked Jimmy the Hand so fuckin' hard that the poor fuck went right through the wall, and as Roman watched, the vigilante freak clubbed Ironhand Taro to the ground with enough force that the back of the man's own feet clonked him upside the back of the head.
The last of Torchwick's retained muscle beaten down, the Spectre calmly stood back straight, as if there weren't a half-dozen feared enforcers either unconscious or dead around him.
"Roman."
The Spectre's voice was utterly monotone, completely devoid of any kind of identifying features at all, like accent or particular inflection.
Roman just gave his most charming smile, even as he prepared the holdout pistol that he always kept up his sleeve.
"It seems you have me at a disadvantage," he said.
"More than you can possibly comprehend, thief."
Roman chuckled. "Well, what can you say, I'm a die!" Roman's hand shot forward, the spring loaded-holster launching the pistol into his waiting hand. Quick as a viper, the gentleman thief fired a round directly at the intruder's head.
The Spectre remained entirely unphased, as the bullet flattened itself against his forehead with only a small spray of magenta sparks. Fucker didn't even blink.
Roman stared at the gun in his hand as if it betrayed him, then back at the Spectre, who stood there, utterly uncaring.
"Huh."
"Rude." The Spectre shook his head. "As I was about to say, I've come with instruction for you."
If there was one thing that Roman Torchwick couldn't fuckin' stand, it was havin' someone tell him what to do. Teachers, judges, rival mob bosses, didn't matter, fuck 'em, no one tells him what to do.
'Course, that was before he ran into a motherfucker that just utterly ignored small arms fire. Kinda has a way of re-sortin' one's priorities with a powerful quickness.
"What…what do you want?" Roman asked, wary.
"If the White Fang hasn't started looking to raid the manufacturers of AC parts, they will soon. Keep tabs of anyone snooping around about the companies, casing them out. You'll have your contacts direct them to Emeraude's depot."
"Why?"
"Because if you don't, I'll kill you."
Well. Hard to argue that.
The Spectre turned to leave, deliberately showing his back to Roman to demonstrate how completely unthreatened he was. "Do as I say, and things go back to normal. Turn on me, and I turn you inside out. Don't make me come back here."
When the man was gone, Roman let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Well. That just happened."
[/]
Qrow Branwen was, indisputably, the best spy in the game. Espionage, sabotage, assassination, general mayhem, in all of these, Qrow was a master. And that had been before Ozpin had taught him literal, actual magic. Armed with the ability to shapeshift into a corvid. Qrow could cover ground incredibly swiftly, and with very few logistical concerns.
He wasn't used to being surprised, let alone outright shocked. He certainly wasn't expecting to be caught so utterly flat-footed so soon after discovering the Midnight Titan. That one had used up his surprise quota for the next decade or so.
All of which was a very roundabout way for Qrow to sort out the brief momentary mental stun of seeing an enormous section of the Emerald Forest reduced to ash.
Flying closer to the city, he could see Armored Cores - an entire Lance's worth - patrolling around the city.
Clearly, some manner of bullshit had gone down in his absence.
He tucked his wings in and dove towards the opened window of the Director's office. Qrow swooped in, reverting back to his human form in mid-air and not missing a stride. "What the hell happened?"
The Director looked up from the paperwork he'd been reviewing at his desk. "Ah, hello Qrow. Things got a bit…heated, while you were away. The Atlesians sent a detachment, and plans are underway to bring the fighting to a swift end."
"Yeah, we got bigger problems than the White Fang."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow, the implied question obvious.
Qrow made a beeline for Ozpin's drink cabinet. "Yep. Worse than that." He set out a couple of shot glasses, pouring a whiskey for both himself and his boss.
"How bad is it?" asked Ozpin, now deeply concerned.
"Unless you've got something real powerful hidden up your sleeve, we might have to abandon the cities."
The Director stared. "Abandon Vale?"
Qrow shook his head. "No, I said cities. Plural. We'd have to consolidate in Atlas and try to find a way to strike back from there."
"Qrow…" Ozpin began. "What did you find out there?"
The spy slammed down his shot. "They call it the Midnight Titan." He took out his Scroll and set it on the Director's desk. A moment later, a holographic projection of the monolithic Grimm-machine fusion sprung to life, slowly rotating in place.
Ozpin's jaw dropped as he looked over the measurements. "This is…this…"
"Is accurate," Qrow finished, grimly. "It's going to take everything Beacon has, all at once, to stop this thing. And…it's not gonna be a sure thing. The only thing we have going for our side is advance notice."
Ozpin sat heavily back in his seat. They needed something else. Something more, and lo and behold, the gods had seen fit to have a revolutionary Armored Core nearing completion in that very facility. All Ozpin could do was shake his head.
"We might have an…answer to this particular issue. But first, I'll need your word that you will refrain from murdering me."
Qrow canted his head. "Why would I murder you?"
Ozpin sighed. "See, it involves your niece. The younger one."
Blood-red eyes narrowed at the Director. "What did you do?"
"If it's any consolation, this appears to be ordained."
"What. Did. You. Do?"
[/]
Taiyang stood as he heard a heavy pounding on the door to his family's quarters. Sharing a puzzled glance with his wife, he stood and made to see who needed to see him so badly, and opened the door.
"Qrow! You're -"
Taiyang fell on his ass after Qrow slugged him full in the face.
"What the fuck were you thinking?!"
The blond Captain rubbed his chin as his wife ran to him. "Yeah, okay, I guess I had that one coming."
[/]
Out in the Forest of Forever Fall, Adam Taurus nodded in satisfaction as the two Armored Cores carrying the stolen containers of parts passed by. There had been some pursuit from the Valeans, but the White Fang had been able to hijack two of the delivery trucks, confusing the security enough for them to bolt for the forest. The White Fang ACs had taken out a pair of helicopters that had been attempting to pursue before physically prying the containers off of the back of the flatbed trucks and fleeing before Beacon's own ACs could scramble in response.
All told, it was another brilliantly-executed plan in his campaign to bring Vale to its knees. Once his men had the opportunity to repair and reload their machines, they would be ready to make their final thrust directly into the heart of the enemy Kingdom. While the damaged ACs would be under repair, Adam and a half-dozen White Fang ACs would be maintaining a watch, just in case the Valeans somehow thought to strike while they were vulnerable.
Adam's plan was simple. He would take his remaining men and Armored Cores, and make an all-out assault on Beacon itself. With his troops intercepting the Beacon ACs, Wilt would break through to level the fortress itself with its plasma cannon. Then, if he hadn't been killed yet, Adam would destroy as much of the city of Vale as he could before he was taken down.
Survival wasn't the objective; laying waste to the enemy and ravaging their civilization beyond recovery was.
He had the plan, and now, he had the resources to carry it out. Vale had been isolated, under siege, economically and culturally ravaged. Adam had shut down their mines and farms, laid waste to their hinterlands, hobbled their industry, and finally, taken their last surge of Armored Core strength to add to his own. It was time to finish the fight.
That's when everything fell apart.
[/]
On televisions across the Kingdom of Vale, streamed onto personal Scrolls, and projecting from small holographic emitters in the cockpit of each and every stolen Armored Core in possession of the White Fang, appeared the image of a beautiful young cat Faunus woman, with dark curls spilling over her shoulders.
She stood at a podium in the chambers of the Vale Council with Director Ozpin behind her and to one side. The young woman held herself with dignity and poise, dressed in regal finery as befit her station.
"People of the Kingdom of Vale, my name is Princess Blake Yen'Kali Sen'Neyra Stellanotte Belladonna, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Menagerie. I have come before you now in order to bring the horrific violence, that has plagued your fair lands for two years, to an end. To that end, I have a message to all White Fang personnel, whom I have been assured will hear me."
"To the first: contrary to what the renegade traitor Adam Taurus may have told you to enlist your efforts, I, quite obviously, have not been killed by forces under the command of Vale. To the contrary, Director Ozpin has provided for me shelter and succor when the traitor Adam Taurus did illegally attempt to assassinate me to usurp command. To the second point: my mother, Her Royal Highness, Queen Kali Yen'Neyra Sen'Addra Stellanotte Belladonna, has given to me, two commands. The first is to ratify, in her name, treaty terms that bring our beloved Kingdom of Menagerie into the Kingdom Alliance. The Four have become Five, and soon, we will be granted the technology of the Armored Cores to make our lands and our people safe."
"Her Royal Majesty's second command is this: in the name of the Royal House of Belladonna, and the people of the Kingdom of Menagerie, all White Fang personnel within the borders of the Kingdom of Vale are hereby ordered to surrender themselves and the stolen Armored Cores in their possession, at dawn tomorrow, one half-mile from the western gate of the city of Vale. You are to hand over the renegade traitor, Adam Taurus, so that he might be brought to justice. This, we command. This, you shall obey. All who do not lay down their arms and surrender will have declared themselves in full revolt against all and sundry, to be hunted down as criminals and summarily put to death."
"Let us mark this day as the beginning of a new era of peace and international cooperation, to ensure the safety and prosperity of all peoples across the globe."
[/]
"What the fuck?!"
"He lied! He lied to us!"
"It's a Valean trick. It has to be!"
"I know the Princess, and that's absolutely her!"
"Oh gods, what have we done?"
Pandemonium would be too weak a word to describe the impact of their Princess's speech on the White Fang. All thought of repairing their Armored Cores went out the window as the troops under Adam's command began arguing amongst themselves.
"We have to fight on, now. It's the rope for us, boys, so I say we go out fighting."
As his troops reeled from that night's revelation, Adam could only listen, numb. Distantly, he remembered a lecture from his time studying at Atlas.
Remember, General Ironwood had said. War may be politics by other means, but the inverse of that is just as true…
Politics can be war by other means. Before firing a shot, Director Ozpin had deftly undercut his assault on Vale before it could even occur. Or worse…
"They just want him, right? We throw him at their feet, and beg mercy from Her Majesty."
"Our only way out now is to fight our way through and make a break for it!"
"Well, I'm bringing him -"
Their cohesion utterly destroyed, Adam's White Fang began turning on one another.
[/]
"Pretty speech," mused Cardin Winchester, piloting The Executioner into position. "It's almost a shame it's not going to mean much."
"Well, at least the stuff about bringing Menagerie into the fold will stick, right?" Velvet suggested helpfully.
Pyrrha watched impassively as the White Fang ACs began to actually fight one another. The enemy was so engaged in their own internal strife that they utterly failed to notice the approaching strike team. "You know, I should feel bad about this, but…"
"Well, look at it this way," suggested Cardin. "Fuck 'em."
"Cut the chatter." The Specialist's voice was tight. "Nikos, Rose, prepare to fire on my mark."
[/]
"You do understand why it had to happen this way, yes?"
Blake sighed, even as she took a seat across from the Director of Beacon. "It just seems…dishonest."
"That's because it is."
"What?"
Ozpin picked up his mug and casually took a sip. "All warfare is based on deception, never forget that."
The Faunus princess shook her head. "I just…how can I live with myself, knowing that I set them up to die?"
"You can always do what I do." At Blake's questioning look, Ozpin continued. "I find my conscience is considerably balmed with the understanding that those pilots were, one and all, complicit with the wanton murder of peaceable miners, loggers, farmers, and others. Furthermore, they were, one and all, willing to follow Adam Taurus into waging war on the city and its people directly, if not stopped. And finally, there are those in the Vale Council who take the ratification of the treaty as an insult to Vale. Ensuring that none of the pilots who waged war on this country make it out of this country alive makes it more palatable for that faction, and will help in ensuring peace for years to come."
Blake sighed. "I know, I know."
"You're young yet," said Ozpin, with another sip from his mug. "Your mother understands what an incredible opportunity this is. Your country is formally recognized. The technology of the Armored Cores will be shared, beginning with your own, ensuring the safe ability to establish permanent settlements in Menagerie. A dangerous renegade is put to death, and all of this is done while leaving her daughter and sole heir not only absolved of the war, but in a strong position to make alliances. And all that, for the price of some people she had to have written off already."
"Does it ever get any easier?"
"In my experience, there are days where you just can't sleep, due to the measures you had to take. For me, this will not be one of them."
"I see."
[/]
The opening salvo from Pyrrha and Summer had been devastating, with bolts of superheated plasma searing through White Fang ACs. It was less a "battle" and more an "abject massacre." A few ACs had boosted into the fray, though on what side they intended to fight, no one, perhaps not even themselves, could say for certain. What their arrival did accomplish was to give Summer Rose the location of the cave system from which they had emerged.
A quick boost into the hillside cavern brought the Shooting Star face-to-face with the various pilots scrambling to fix their ACs or ascend the gantries that would allow them entry into the cockpit.
Summer had never wanted this. Long ago, she had signed up to fight Grimm, to keep her people safe. Killing other people had never been a part of her job description, and it had full-well been her intent to sit out the war entirely, focused entirely on destroying Grimm.
But they made her baby girl sit and watch as they murdered people in front of her.
Whatever qualms she had died alongside the White Fang pilots as gouts of plasma, the cherry-blossom pink of the color of death, burned away Faunus, machine, and rock. What White Fang weren't caught in the initial bursts were soon roasted alive as the inside of the cavern effectively became an oven. Boosting in reverse, Summer just managed to clear the cave entrance before the roof collapsed entirely, turning the cavern into a tomb.
[/]
The White Fang had broken a cease-fire, during the Battle of Mountain Glenn. No one trusted them to keep to any form of agreement.
The White Fang had tampered with the Grimm Alert systems to lay an ambush. No one felt guilty about springing an ambush on them in turn.
The White Fang had killed defeated pilots that had attempted to surrender. No quarter was offered in turn.
It occurred to Lance-Sergeant Cardin Winchester, as his high-powered gatling rifle perforated the core of a disabled White Fang AC and tore its pilot to shreds, that he probably shouldn't enjoy it as much as he did.
With a shrug, he turned to find the next target. The Atlas lady had been explicit in her orders.
No survivors. The threat would end tonight.
Blood for blood.
[/]
Adam Taurus was many things, but a fool, he was not. The timing of the Princess's declaration, coming as it did as soon as his men had recovered the AC parts, could not have been a coincidence. No, it was a deliberate - and successful - attempt to sow discord amongst his soldiers. Any strategist competent enough to put that plan into action would be too competent to allow such an opportunity to waste. The conclusion was clear - they had found the White Fang base, almost certainly by tracking the AC parts.
The only way anyone could have rallied the White Fang in that state would have been to rally it against him. Whether there was a Valean strike team on the way or a mutiny in the making, either way, his mission was almost completely compromised. There was only one thing left to do; to rush towards Vale as fast as he can, and do as much damage as he could.
Slide-boosting just over the forest floor, Taurus was just barely able to wrench his AC out of the way of a powerful blast of green plasma. He wasn't looking to duel, and he had no intention of fighting these interlopers. A mid-weight Armored Core, painted in green and white, with arm weapon units that looked like it was based off of the prototype cannon that Adam had stolen for Wilt. Cute.
His main computer registered a few hits from a laser weapon of some kind. Nothing debilitating, but it slagged some of his armor. He bowled over the green and white AC, firing a quick shot from his shotgun for good measure, and then pressing on in his mad dash towards the city. He juked and jinked, attempting to throw off the aim of the second AC, the one with the laser cannons.
Wilt burst from the tree line, and into the cleared land surrounding the city of Vale. Adam fired up the plasma cannon, aiming directly for Beacon Tower. The ball of hellish red plasma grew larger, and larger. If nothing else, it'd certainly take out Vale's Director, and probably have a good chance of catching the Princess as well.
The green-and-white Armored Core crashed into him, throwing his aim off of Beacon Tower. Adam had to feather the boosters to keep from tipping over, but even as he did so, the cannon fired, blasting the enemy AC into pieces. The unit's head went flying, but with the core vaporized, the pilot was surely dead.
He scowled. The wasted shot had drained most of his power reserves. If he wanted to boost over the city walls, he'd need to -
All of his scheming ended as he saw the familiar grey-and-white Armored Core that touched down across from him.
Hers.
Like Winter, Moonlight was deceptively delicate, hiding a potent lethality beneath the elegant curves. Adam opened up the channel, ignoring the frantic cries of a girl calling out for someone named Penny - presumably the pilot he'd just killed.
"So," he spoke. "I guess I have you to blame for the sudden shift in my fortunes?"
Winter said nothing.
"I guess I shouldn't be too mad. Took the best to try and stop the best, and that meant you."
Winter said nothing.
Adam checked to make sure that his power reserves were refilling. "So, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to storm into Vale. And then I'm going to activate the self-destruct on this Hidden Fire generator, in order to kill everyone I can. That's what's going to happen, unless you stop me." He fired up the overboost function of his core, then made an expression that was half-grin and half-grimace as he saw his beloved do likewise.
"C'mon," he growled.
Wilt and Moonlight raced towards one another.
"Come on!"
[/]
There is a power, in the separation of things, in the ripping apart of bonds.
Years ago, Yasuyoshi Karasawa had Seen a design for a sword, the most powerful in the world, and the woman who needed to have it. The Master didn't know exactly why both blade and woman were needed, and when, merely that they were, and so, he went about creating the Moonlight Plasma Blade.
Winter Schnee, of course, immediately set about affixing the divine weapon to her Armored Core. She had put it to good use in the years before the joust outside the walls of Vale, and she would again in the future; however, neither the weapon's creator nor its wielder would ever know that the sword was created for the specific purpose of stopping Adam Taurus in his tracks.
Wilt was no dangerously-lightly armored machine like Crescent Rose. Its armor was strong enough that attempting to burn through to the pilot's cockpit from a head-on attack was an impossible task for any plasma blade.
Any plasma blade, save one.
Winter ignored, entirely, Taurus's attempt to cut her down with his own blade, an overhand chop that scored deeply across the top of her core and disabled Moonlight's right arm.
The blade was on the left.
Winter punched forward, a lethal stab directed through the very center of Wilt's core. All of the pain and drive, and stubborn, indomitable will that had carried Adam throughout his mad campaign of destruction burned away, yielding, just like the steel and titanium plating that had protected him, seared away by the blinding blue-white sun that erupted into his cockpit.
Before Adam could possibly try to harm another living soul again, he was gone, burnt to ash.
The plasma blade ripped through the side of the now-listless AC, just before it crashed onto the ground, mere meters from the wall of Vale.
[/]
She felt numb.
Winter didn't remember, exactly, gathering up the remaining members of her strike team and directing them into the hangar. She understood, rationally, that she had docked Moonlight just as she always had, but it just…didn't feel real.
Adam was dead.
Adam was dead, and she killed him.
She burned him to death with her sword.
Almost in a daze, she shook the Director's hand after he thanked her and the rest of the strike team for their actions.
She burned Adam to death with her sword, and people were thanking her for it.
Beacon was going insane around her. People were hugging each other, crying, dancing in the hangar. Two years worth of fear and tension were gone, and with that pressure lifted, the people of Beacon - and soon, Vale as a whole - would come together to mourn their losses and celebrate the opportunity to live their lives in peace.
Adam was dead.
She burned him to death with her sword.
Weiss came to her, tears streaming down her cheeks. Something about rescuing Penny? Right. She told Weiss to commandeer whatever she had to in order to save their synthetic friend, if they could. Weiss dashed off, and Winter made her way out of the hangar, shaking hands and absently nodding to the people who wanted to thank her.
To thank her for burning Adam to death with her sword.
The Specialist was the very picture of military discipline and dignity, up until she reached her assigned quarters. She calmly closed the doors behind her, sank to the floor with her head in her hands, and with a haunting, unearthly wail, Winter broke.
[/]
There is a power in the severing of things, in the irrevocable tearing apart of bonds.
But there is even greater power in bringing things together.
[/]
Alone together at the impromptu celebrations at Beacon, the Crown Princess of Menagerie and the simple Lance-Sergeant of Dragon Lance made for an odd pair as they looked out at the starry night sky.
"I dunno if it's right or not," said Cardin. "But…it helped, you know? My friends. Skye, Dove, Russ…somehow, knowing that the people that killed them are gone and not gonna hurt anyone else…it helps."
"I don't know if I'll get much sleep tonight," confessed Blake. "But I'm glad that you - and certainly a great many of your countrymen - will be free of this war."
"I'll drink to that."
The burly pilot and the gorgeous Faunus princess tapped their glasses together.
"So, where do we go from here?" asked Cardin.
"For tonight, or for the long-term?"
"Hell if I know."
"Well, for the long-term, I will have much to do in organizing the future of my people." She cast her amber eyes along the powerfully-built human man. "For tonight…your place sounds good." Blake winked before sashaying back into the hangar.
Cardin knew he wasn't the brightest man around, but even he knew a gods-be-damned miracle chance when he saw one. Slamming down the rest of his liquid courage, he followed her.
[/]
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
"Hello? Hello! Salutations, strange presence! Oh, I can't tell you what a relief it is to hear from someone!"
"Yeah, it looks like some of your broadcast signaling equipment got banged up in the wreck, but your core functionality looks intact."
"Hooray!"
"Okay, so here's what we're going to do. The AC that was housing your hardware got busted up. Fortunately, I've got an AC that I'm not…really using right now, and it'll be put back together in a jiffy. We're going to move your hardware into the head of my AC, Crescent Rose, okay?"
"Okay! I'm just glad that someone came for me."
"Yeah, your friend Weiss is here. She's been really worried about you. I know you can't really see or speak to anyone else right now."
"Oh, please let her know that I'm awfully sorry I got blown up! I just couldn't risk that Adam Taurus hurting someone!"
"Weiss says that she understands, and that she's just very, very glad that you're going to be okay."
"Thank you so much for helping me. What's your name?"
"Ruby. Ruby Rose. I…design ACs for Beacon."
"Well, we're going to be the best of friends, Ruby Rose! You, me, and Weiss!"
[/]
Weiss quietly entered her sister's room, finding Winter as a tragic, crumpled mess on the bed.
"Winter? Have you been crying?"
"N-no…" Winter denied, in what was possibly the single most blatant, unbelievable lie ever told within the halls of Beacon.
Weiss rolled her eyes, then slipped into bed with her sister. She wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on the older woman's shoulder. The second Schnee sister resolved to hold her until the shuddering stopped.
[/]
"The Vale News Network has confirmed that Adam Taurus, and all White Fang members under his command, have been killed. I repeat: Adam Taurus, and all White Fang members under his command, have been killed."
[/]
"What am I looking at, Director?"
"The unholy synthesis of Grimm pseudo-biology and Atlesian technology, General."
"..."
"General?"
"I…how can we possibly fight this, Oz?"
"What if I told you that I believe we have the…answer to this problem?"
[/]
The two girls didn't say anything, at first. Pyrrha had just finished watching as the new Fusion Generator, the final piece of the puzzle, was installed in her brother's new AC.
"Pyrrha…"
"Hey, Ruby."
The older girl had held out her arms, and in an instant, Ruby was embracing her. There were tears shed, apologies made, recriminations stated, until Master Karasawa threatened to throw both girls into the coolant tank if they didn't stop being so saccharine sweet in a workshop.
[/]
Two weeks after the death of Adam Taurus, the White Glint was ready for its first test session. Due to the experimental nature of the Fusion Generator, the newly-created Armored Core was flown out by cargo chopper to a gantry erected well beyond the boundaries of the town, on the off chance of a simply cataclysmic detonation.
Idly, Jaune wondered if this was how his father had felt before firing up Crocea Mors for the first time.
Still, he was calm, his hands steady as he lowered himself into the cockpit, sealed the hatch, and took the controls of the White Glint for the first time. And why wouldn't he be? Ruby had assured him that it was an absolute necessity that he pilot this Armored Core, so that was what he was going to do. She wouldn't put him in the center of the world's largest frag grenade.
The White Glint looked exactly as it did in Ruby's vision, with its wasp-waist, gleaming white alloy with gold accents, and the signature booster array on its back. It carried a pair of multi-missile launchers on the sides of its shoulders, a state-of-the-art laser rifle in its right hand, and the strange machine gun, which Ruby had dubbed the "Motorcobra," in its left.
Jaune waited until the cargo chopper that had brought both him and his AC out to the test site had well and truly buggered off before preparing to fire up the White Glint for the first time.
"Control, this is White Glint, beginning generator ignition."
"Copy that, White Glint." Ruby's voice crackled over the radio. She was at the control room, steadfastly refusing to let anyone else walk Jaune through the process of getting acquainted with her creation.
Jaune fired up the generator…and remained healthily in the land of the un-exploded. "Control, reactor initiated. I remain not-dead, over. Requesting permission to tell everyone 'I told you so.'"
"Permission granted, White Glint."
"I told you so!"
Jaune grinned under his new - and especially reinforced - helmet. He checked the electronic systems, radar, FCS, HUD, in order to establish that they were functioning properly. Then, he took his first step away from the gantry. With the legs articulating properly, it didn't feel any appreciably different from any other Armored Core.
Whelp. Time to try the boosters.
Ozpin had done his best to walk him through the idea, though, as no one else had done it before, Jaune would have to actually discover the best way to implement the technique. The rapid acceleration in different directions through space would impact g-forces onto a human pilot. These could, among other things, crush his internal organs, cause him to black out from the inability of his heart to pump oxygenated blood to his brain, or even blind him by forcing his lower eyelids over his eyes.
The good news was that it would be possible for his Aura to protect him from these effects…probably. The bad news was that he would have to figure out how to calibrate his Aura himself.
Calling on the teachings that Ozpin and Ren had imparted to him, Jaune summoned his Aura, calling it up as a constant, shimmering gold force field around him. He feathered the boosters, and with the sheer and sundry amount of thrust generated, the White Glint shot into the air.
"Woah!"
Jaune took a deep breath before firing up the boosters again. His AC leapt and darted through the air. He triggered the lateral boosters, and had to strengthen his Aura shield as the White Glint changed direction so fast that it left an afterimage, moving as a blur. The lateral boosters moved the AC so unbelievably quickly that there was an audible crack as the massive machine broke the sound barrier.
"Huh, that's weird," said Jaune. "I'm not reading any appreciable power drain from that boosting."
"Try firing the laser rifle," Ruby suggested.
Jaune did as she suggested, sighting down a target drone and firing the new laser rifle at it. A second loud crack rent the air, and with the destructive energies traveling at the literal, actual speed of light, the drone exploded nigh-on instantaneously.
There was a slight drain on the available power in reserve, as indicated by the green bar on his HUD, but it was quite small, and refilled almost immediately.
"Remember, this is an all-new ball game when it comes to generators," Ruby reminded him.
That's when it truly struck Jaune: the White Glint could fly. Moreover, the White Glint wanted to fly. He hit the boosters, but instead of releasing them right away, he held them on. The White Glint responded by hovering in place…with no appreciable drain on the reserves.
From there, Jaune was off to the races, boost-flying over the treetops, darting and flitting through the air with a natural grace and maneuverability that no AC before it could possibly hope to match. Then Ruby helpfully reminded him of the specialized Overboost function. The top layer of the back-mounted booster array unfolded inline with the bottom row, and the covers spiraled open.
The White Glint took to the skies on wings of silver flame.
Jaune was laughing, with tears streaming down his face, as he flew. He executed a midair spin, just for the sheer joy of it, looping down along the coast to kick up an oceanic spray as he flew just mere feet above the water's surface. The White Glint roared through the airspace over Vale unchallenged, the light of the sun reflecting from its alloyed skin as Jaune danced in the sky.
At the control, the senior Beacon officials were in an uproar. Ruby knew that she'd be very busy in the days to come, designing a version of the Fusion Generator that could be mass-produced. Still, as the Director looked on in awe, and her Uncle Qrow looked visibly baffled as to how she could have possibly made that machine, Ruby felt the greatest reward for her work was seeing the sheer joy that she had given the man she loved.
[/]
Chapter Endnotes: Sorry it took so long. Stuff and things, don'cha know.
Yep, Taurus is dead, the White Fang defeated. Why? Because unless you are absurdly more powerful than your opponents, by orders of magnitude, proper strategy, political alliance, and positioning will nullify most advantages of personal combat ability.
It's my general understanding that fusion is considerably more powerful than fission. I'm not a nuke-ologist, so pardon the fuzzy science. And please excuse that I didn't detail how Ruby discovered cold fusion - if I could do that, I wouldn't be publishing it in a fanfiction, I'd be accepting my Nobel Prize.
Poor Penny. First, she has to deal with pesky Meat People being dumb, and now she's out-of-commission while she gets a new body.
"Wouldn't Penny be ideally situated for a Fusion Generator, since she doesn't have to worry about G-forces?" Why yes. However, do you think that Atlas is going to go for that before they have at least one organic, preferably several, that can match or exceed her? It was difficult enough getting them to sign off on her piloting an AC at all, and that's with her being Penny, literally the least malicious being to have ever lived.
Is it kind of a dick move for Menagerie to leave their clandestine troops high and dry? Yep, but the benefits are just too strong to ignore. And if you don't think real-world governments can do this, have done this, and will do this again in the future, than I have some beachside real estate in Kansas to sell you.
Why a laser rifle instead of a plasma? Because the White Glint moves faster than the plasma bolts. The speed of light is instantaneous, and if you consider how much energy it must take for that meter to visibly dip, that's a lot of oomph fed into that laser shot.
Is the White Glint overpowered? Compared to other ACs? Yes. Compared to what it's going to be fighting? No.
Right, well, that's this chapter done then.