Chapter XV: Construction

Water 7 was an odd place. Jaune likened it to a giant fountain: flooded channels for streets between colossal concrete structures. It was built in cylindrical tiers, the canals cascading down in between them. Separating the first and second tiers was the majority of the town — built on a slope, the city was filled with stairs and tangled walkways. The very peak produced the water that traveled down the island, turning Jaune's initial likening to the intentions of the architects. There was little doubt why this was the hub for shipwrights and the home of Galley-La; it was easy for Jaune to see why Franky strayed clear of that career.

What confused them the most was how welcoming the civilians seemed to be. After noticing their pirate flag, they were told not to dock up front where the citizens and marines would be and were sent around to the junk yards, a place on the outskirts full of the scrap remains of unfortunate ships.

A series of protruding I-beams, lumber, and other various materials and parts that Jaune couldn't quite label became an obstacle course for him to swim through. Only a couple of days had passed and it was all starting to become more natural to him. Finishing his fourth lap that morning, he emerged where the others were gathered. That action had certainly become cleaner. Over repeated use of his devil fruit, he figured out that there was a sort of constant pressure as if the world knew what he was doing was unnatural. If he let that pressure push him up, he could launch out of the ground with ease. It took him just a bit longer to learn how to land it though.

"Any news?" Jaune called out after his feet were firmly on the ground. He grabbed a towel to wipe himself off. He had already explained to the others how weird of a sensation it was to emerge not wet from water, but only sweat.

"They've begun construction," informed Ren. "Supposedly, an anonymous party is allowing the construction on their private property."

"Wait, private property?" Ruby looked up from the sorting of mechanism parts she was doing. "That sounds — I don't know, just off. Like, someone else owns where our thing is built."

"It was the only way, unfortunately," Ren replied. "We didn't have anywhere for it, and neither did he. There has to be somewhere it's built, so he had to make do. Luckily, it seems the land owner is not only willing, but excited and supportive for the project."

Jaune grunted in approval. "That's good for us. I say we don't ask too many questions and push that luck." His crew seemed to share in his sentiment, none of them voicing any complaints. Jaune propped himself against a slab of warped metal that worked like a wonky chair. It was nice basking in the sun while counting the clouds over the horizon until Blake ruined it. The swimming was becoming fun, but training his reflexes and techniques against the skilled Blake was just a promise of pain. He had not managed to find mercy from her yet.


Ironwood held the mug like a life-line. It was the only thing keeping him sane at this point. The soldier before him was waiting to be chewed out, and rightfully so. So much had just fallen apart, and it had been on his head to supervise it. Despite that, Ironwood was unable to muster the anger. Even if it was deserved, even if this soldier needed to be disciplined, he simply felt cold inside.

When working on relations with the Grand Line, his orders were quick and precise to make copies of their plans. The poorly named, in Ironwood's opinion, 'World Government' had not received a copy of their plans. What was sent to them were the originals. What's more is that they lacked the proper title block or stamps which were added on digitally after scanning. The only reason they had kept the originals was for the option of quick editing; thus the stamps and title block were prone to change, hence the lack thereof. Without delving too far into the legal-ese of the matter, it could be summarized by saying they had no proper way to prove the authenticity of the originals and therefore convict the thieves. Damn Pietro and his love for pencil and vellum. If Ironwood didn't know any better, he would have assumed the weird habit to be part of this entire Grand Line nonsense.

And once more, all roads led back there. He had been sitting here staring at this soldier while lost in his own thoughts. "Nevermind that, it hardly matters anymore. Little does nowadays, it seems."

"S-sir, I —"

Ironwood held up his hand. "No. No, it's alright. There's nothing more that can be done." His eyes trailed over to his window. Wisps of ideas for actions that could be done passed through his mind, but he just felt tired at this point. "You are dismissed."

"Sir?" The soldier ventured, staying past his dismissal. "Are you feeling —"

"You may go," Ironwood interrupted. "Just — go." He did not look up, lest he see the soldier's face. No general should be looked upon by his subordinates with pity, yet here he was. At least the hot cocoa warmed him where little else could. It was a small grace in the winter hellstorm that surrounded him. Damn Ozpin; did he not realize what happened in the world of politics when he left? He almost felt responsible for both Atlas' and Vale's councils at this point. Lately, there had been larger and larger dissonance between Vale's council and Beacon, and here was a foreign general attempting to keep them together. He had nearly drawn a line in the sand when a council member denied his offer for a mug of hot cocoa.


The wind whipped through Whitley's hair. Freedom — it was true freedom that he had now. The chains of that damnable play he once called life now laid shattered at his feet. Next to him stood his loyal, right hand man, a blond compatriot that had been with him through thick and thin now. Although their beginning had been rocky, Whitley's surname having been used for fame, time had led Whitley and Cavendish to be brothers in arms. Even now, Cavendish stood next to him with a list filled with all the freedoms Father had barred off. Running indoors, smiling during photos, smiling when not taking photos, wearing 'peasant clothes,' being kind, joy and general cheer, whistling, and tomfoolery to name a few. No matter where the waves took them, he would be content so long as he fulfilled each item on the list. That had been what he was doing when he discovered the most exquisite substance: salt.

Father would always put his foot down when it came to the mineral. He told Whitley that salt led to more than bland, which led to excitement, which led to dreams — dreams were also forbidden — dreams led to 'improper ambition,' that led to taking needless risks, and, finally, that led to the possibility of losing money. Now, Whitley could see that Father was at least right to the point of dreams. That sharp, immaculate taste held no rival; it brought him above mundane ambitions. Wealth, fame, and power? Those meant nothing compared to what was in the waters around him. It was just as Father said: anything outside of that life was not-bland, but that was what he craved.

"Cavendish, how close are we to the next island?" Whitley asked.

Cavendish left for a moment to ask their navigator. When he returned, he began to say, "Sir, we are —" only to be promptly interrupted.

Whitley held up his hand. "Please, Cavendish. I may be your captain, but I will not lead you all the same way he would: I will lead you, not rule you. There's no need to address me so formally." That was one of the reasons his crew held so much respect for him. His tactical knowledge and cunning mind were so advanced that his age was almost irrelevant in their battles — except the times he would lose control of himself. That was not what kept his crew around however. The boy was endearing, fiercely loyal, and refused to place himself above anyone else. With his goals being more spiritual than material, they were happy to support him.

This had not been the first time the conversation happened between them, but it was so far from the norm, not to mention Whitley's vernacular. "Very well, Whitley. We are a day and a half from the next destination. We should be arriving around 2, depending on the weather of course."

Yes, that would be fine. Plans would need to be arranged for what parts of the list could be marked off. Tilting all the paintings in a household would not be so simple, so strategy and planning was required. He told Cavendish to join with the others to begin, knowing that they should utilize as much of the rough thirty-six hours they had. He also made sure that the salt-location department was aware of their ETA. It simply wouldn't do for them not to be able to act immediately.


"See, if I take this one here and turn it sideways, it's in defense mode now. Since it's blocking that nine, I get to draw the difference; it's only a ten, so just one card. Oh, but they're both diamonds, so it's twice the amount…" Nora sat quietly while Yang gave her a rundown of the card game. She never knew that solitaire was so interesting. She would add playing it to the things she would do with Ren when they met up together again. Of course, that would come second to the big journal she was writing in every day. It was a cool journal too: pink, sparkley, and covered in kittens and swords. She wanted hammers to match Magnhild, but the marines couldn't find any cool hammer stickers and they already took long enough to find the others.

Oh yeah, she forgot that Yang was still explaining. Somewhere, a magic system from clovers and hearts had popped up. She was so glad that her business calls were finally wrapping up. People could be tough to deal with, saying things like 'irrational,' 'not possible,' or 'irrelevant.' She just wanted to entertain herself with cool games. Sadly, it was interrupted when they got a message from Ozpin about another mission.


"So, what's the plan?" Neptune asked. He was laying down and staring at the sky. Sun had to hand it to him, he was doing pretty damn well for a guy with a phobia. There was still tension present, but so long as his eyes were clear of the waves, Neptune acted calm.

Sun was taking a moment to adjust their sails to the wind, constantly glancing at the log pose so they didn't veer off course. "I've got a couple of ideas. The way I see it, becoming a warlord just puts me under the navy's boot." They had agreed to the proposition not too long after it was given. "And you're only safe so long as you're with me, so you're there too. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be some lackey for the government."

"It's not like we had much of a choice," groaned Neptune. He had to admit that after so long of hearing Sun go on about excitement and adventure, he was starting to get on board with the idea. However, the moment he did, they ended up in this situation.

"Right," Sun agreed. "So the only thing I can see for us at the moment is riding this position until we spot our chance. I mean, we weren't prepared and that's my fault. I relied too heavily on the movies."

"Is that why your first request as a warlord was a tricorn hat?"

"Not important," Sun batted away, adjusting said hat. "What I'm saying is that they see enough potential to be worried about us, but they can clearly see that we were under prepared. That's why they gave us this log pose and this ship. Being a war lord is giving me a chance to get us what we need, look into their government, and have a bit of sway."

"You don't have much of that last part," Neptune said, recalling the papers. "It mainly said that we can pick how we operate, so long as it only affects pirates."

Sun shrugged. "It's something, and right now that's enough. We have our foot in the door, and we can peek inside until we see a chance to book it. It's not the best situation, but we can make the most of it, right?"

"I guess so." Neptune couldn't see much else they could do, but something else came to his mind. "So what about this recent job they gave us? A group of rookies that we need to take down in collaboration with a marine team?"


Jaune was impressed to say the least. There were buildings back home that took months to build. And while Ansel had a smaller workforce than Vale or even the Super Franky Building Co, Franky's crew, dubbed the Franky Family, were impressive. In only days they had laid a foundation and built up half the height. The design was certainly interpreted by the construction superintendent: high concrete walls with small windows that gave it a lighthouse look. Though the part that gave it away was how the base resembled a sizable wooden sloop.

The Straw Hats were currently watching, recently given an update that the main interior of the tower was now accessible. The land owner had evidently wanted them to see inside to get recommendations of furniture. It felt a little strange but somewhat reasonable.

Jaune half expected the inside to be a hollow staircase going upwards with how barren the exterior was. He was wrong. His jaw dropped when he first saw the ornate carpet lining the floor. Then his gaze trailed up to see a curved wall with various doors all carved from a rich, dark wood surrounding a spiral staircase of the same material. He almost felt it didn't need any furniture with everything that was there — it was like entering a homely mansion. Franky guided them, giving them a brief tour. When they got to the second floor, one of Franky's workers, Mozu, came running in.

The panic in her eyes had them drawing their weapons. Jaune looked at the recently finished weapon that Ruby had given him. Deep down he had hoped it wouldn't see use for a while.


Pyrrha's stomach churned. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. With them lined up in rows, nearing their destination, and Ozpin preparing to brief them on their mission, it felt like they were headed to war. She could feel a chill in the room and wasn't sure if it was her nerves or Weiss' that she was feeling. Yang looked somber, like she was silently quashing any hesitation she had within. The two Mistralian boys with them, Sun and Neptune, looked very reluctant. Out of all of them, Nora was the only one wearing a positive emotion: fragile hope.

Ozpin was quick to give them a run down. The rumors that important documents had been stolen were true and referred to plans for a CCT tower. The current belief was that their friends were responsible. Hearing him refer to them as 'Straw Hat Jaune and his crew' was surreal. This was really it — they were marines, their friends really were pirates now, and a fight was nigh.

The mission was simple, supposedly. Apprehend the Straw Hats and destroy the CCT before it could get too far into construction. Ozpin had informed them that the tower should not be on private property nor controlled by someone who is not the government. The power to control the internet wasn't one the government wanted in the hands of civilians let alone pirates. The implication was clear that they would monopolize this opportunity. Both Sun and Neptune seemed disturbed by this.

"This sounds sort of like shoot first, ask questions later, sir," Nora inputted. "Is that really a good idea? We might — we could really hurt something."

Ozpin looked at her with sympathy. "I understand that you do not wish to 'hurt' your friendships, but this is necessary. They have shown that force is needed, and we must stop this at all costs. Please, do not let your sentiments hinder your judgment."

The coast came far too quickly; Pyrrha blinked and they were on the shore. Surrounding the in-progress tower was a thuggish looking group. They huddled together in their roguish uniforms that made them look like some biker gang. Their tools, hammers, axes, pickaxes, drills and even a few welding torches and a jackhammer, were wielded calmly, but with a certain readiness. These may be builders, but Pyrrha was certain: they were pirates too.

"Get to the tower!" Ozpin commanded. Then he gave Pyrrha a sharp nod, letting her know she was now in charge.

"Yang, Neptune! Sweep the edges to make sure no one gets away; we don't want them escaping or getting reinforcements. Weiss, Sun! You're on crowd control: keep them separated so they don't overwhelm any of us. Nora, watch my back as I lead the charge!"

Reconnaissance showed the pirates' ships being docked to the southwest, so Yang and Neptune rushed to flank the left side to stop anyone with cold feet. It was a good thing that Yang was able to launch herself far, since the mob hardly hesitated to move that way. Well, if they wanted to run, that just meant they wouldn't have to be hurt too bad to be stopped.

Yang went off on a rampage, knocking pirates down all around her. She tried to scare them off with flashy moves and hits that might hurt worse than the damage they caused, but she still felt the urge to wince with each that fell. It was almost too easy, like fighting civilians.

Neptune had her back and watched the rest of the side. His shots showered between them, electricity crackling with each pirate unfortunate to get hit by it. Whole heartedly, he felt worse than Yang did. She could pull her punches, but each that fell to his weapon left an uncertainty within them. Over and over again, he had to tell himself they were only unconscious.

Nora almost wished these people had aura. There were a multitude of reasons why, but the highest was that she didn't want any of them hurt. It was visible in her movements, consisting more of a shooing motion than an attack. Those that met Pyrrha had no such luck. Of course, she felt bad for it, but these were criminals and her friends were on the other side. Her stomach tied in knots, but she had to keep momentum otherwise she might falter. With her arm locked close in front, her shield acted almost as a drill splitting the wave of people.

Ice spread over the field underneath the sea of panicked feet destabilizing them. Weiss glided over the surface propelled by her glyphs, charging through any denser pockets of the group. Bouncing from target to target, Sun followed her lead and used his staff to make sure they all stayed down.

By the time Pyrrha stood in front of the tower, she turned to see the rest closing in. The pirates were all on the ground, defeated one way or another. Rushing in from where their ship was came a small group of marines carrying rope to apprehend them.

Faintly, one of them yelled, "Damn you! You'll all regret this!"

"Tell it to the judge!" Yang called back.

"I will! I'm calling the police!"

Yang laughed, "Are you kidding? I am the police here!"

Pyrrha drew Yang back in, telling her they weren't worth it. "Nora, start to take the tower down." Readying her hammer, she hesitated and Pyrrha caught her eye. "I know how you feel, but they have aura and they'll be fine."

Nora whined, "But it looks so cool, and our friends are in there. Do I really have to?"

Just before Pyrrha could push the matter, Weiss stepped in. "We could just go after them first and bring down the tower second."


When the marines entered, the first words out of Franky's mouth were, "You're super trespassing on private property. I need to ask you to leave."

Pyrrha only frowned and pushed past him to the stairs. If he was trying to pull a stunt like that, then he couldn't be much of a threat. Though she was surprised to recognize him — now Jaune went from being around pirates to perverts. Franky continued to pester them until they all passed. None of them noticed Franky smile and flip on a switch.

Up the stairs, Jaune began handing out orders. Not to say Mozu's warning wasn't enough, but a glance out the window had let them know exactly what was happening. When Ruby saw Nora winding up an attack, their plans to fortify the stairwell changed. With the marines aiming to destroy their tower, concentrated damage low and close to the foundation wasn't good.

First, they went up to the second level where construction currently was. The framing rose higher, but the walls didn't. They didn't have time to discuss why Franky had furnished the first floor when the third wasn't even complete. Next, they needed to lure and separate them as close to the outer sides of the tower as they could. Luckily, the higher floors were hexagonal in structure, perfect for them to have one room each. It would spread out the damage, but it would force them into one-on-one combat. Hopefully they could handle that.

Planning was cut short when a mane of red hair began emerging from the stairs. They waited to make sure they were seen before sprinting into their respective rooms. A loud "They're scattering" told them it worked.

Jaune stood in the center of his room. It felt like a concrete atrium with half the roof finished and the other exposed to the sky. Muffled through the wall, he could hear a bit of discourse. Pyrrha tried to send Yang after the 'pink and brown haired girl,' but she wasn't having it, clearly set on a different target. Jaune silently wished Ruby luck. Then, it seemed to happen again, but Jaune could only just make out Nora's name. Moments later, Pyrrha walked in.

Jaune wanted to be confident, to hold his ground and let her know his mind was made up, but his eyes trailed downward. Neither moved for a very long time, even as combat began elsewhere. The echoes felt fainter and more distant than they were before.

"You have a new weapon," Pyrrha noted dryly.

Jaune held it up letting her see it. "Crocea Libertas," he named it. "Ruby helped me with it."

"Are you," her words trailed, failing her for a moment. "Are you trying to leave your old life behind?"

There was something in her words that gave him a bit of strength. It was a need to prove her wrong: to be defiant against her accusation. "This isn't about leaving anything behind. It's about what's ahead. You were all welcome to come aboard, to bring along all of your hopes and dreams, so that together we could find everything we're looking for."

"Jaune," it hurt to hear her voice sound so pleading. "Please just stop this — it isn't right. You're trying to justify being a criminal! All I want is to help, so please let me help you."

"Sorry, Pyr. My adventure has only just started, and I'm not going to give it up just yet." As Pyrrha readied her weapon, they both understood that neither would listen to the other right now. Jaune lunged and Pyrrha held up her shield. Then she panicked.

Jaune was nearing too close to the ground, so he had to have tripped. Instinctively, she reached out to catch him, only for him to keep falling farther than should have been possible. Jaune fell into the ground.


AN:

Sorry for the long delay of getting this one out there. I've been busy and kind of tired.

The confrontation begins! It's the first time since Beacon, but it certainly won't be the last. Good luck to the Straw Hats and double good luck to Ruby.

Anyways, next chapter: Fight for What You Believe In!