Author's Notes:

Hello! I just wanted to start this chapter by clarifying the Empire at War reference. I do not intend this to be a large part of the story. Mistral having a large criminal element is relevant (later) but the Consortium is not. This was more of a fun nod to the Empire at War game and may be brought up from time to time but will likely never be a highly relevant point.

This will also be the last shorter chapter for a good bit. The next few chapters are going to be longer action packed ones. Enjoy!

And I saw someone ask when updates occur. I try my best to update by the sixth of every month.

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 49: Testing the Waters

"You know that Faunus girl you told me to keep an eye on, Blake? I'm sending you video feed of her. She ran into the other targets like you said but had no reaction." Six read as he glanced at his Pip-Boy. The message from Gratius was pleasing for a couple reasons.

The first was that the Faunus was fully onboard with his plan and actively working towards his goals. A good start to getting the Faunus to trust the Mimic as well.

The second was that his program was working. The datachip that Six had provided for Gratius contained a small program for the Faunus' scroll that could send and receive encrypted messages from him.

It wasn't even designed by Six. Not only did the Courier not have the time to code software all the time for every little task but using a familiar messaging method would put the mercenary's mind at ease.

And, if he played his cards right, a good way to reveal himself to the Voidwalkers. That was the plan after all. One day soon, they would be his fighting force against Cinder, Ozpin, Grimm, and anyone else that got in his way.

He just had to make his plan suit their best interest and indebt them to him. The Law of Reciprocity did say that doing favors for people often resulted in a feeling of gratitude. Of course, that "law" also didn't account for psychopaths that didn't care. Either way, he'd be visiting the Voidwalkers as the Mimic on one of their missions. Specifically the one Councilor Dream was likely behind.

The most obvious reason for Six's assumption was that the mission indirectly assigned by the Councilor was most likely a trap of some kind. From the way the mission was given, to the remote location and to the terrain of the area.

Bandits had set up southeast of the capital, a good number of miles outside the city. The location was a ravine that led into a small mountain within one of Vale's many forests.

The problem with this was twofold. The terrain wouldn't allow for heavier vehicles inside and the ravine entrance served as an excellent chokepoint. In essence, it was a perfect defensive position from most ground-based forces.

For a singular Huntsman that would be no problem. They would dart in and use their Aura to bypass defenses before getting in close. For many of his men that hadn't unlocked their Aura's, a problem. They could send in the few soldiers they had with Aura first but that would pose its own dangers. If the Aura-users went down first and the enemy had their own rogue Huntsman, that was a death sentence.

And that was why he had Jeremy "commission" a new piece of equipment. It put acquiring Bullheads for the Voidwalkers a bit behind but this mission was more a more immediate concern.

An Atlesian Paladin had been purchased and was currently being shipped to one of the Voidwalker warehouses. It would later be retrofitted with both a custom paint job and Voidwalker armaments. The cost hurt but the sheer durability and destructive power more than made up for it. It would also prove more maneuverable than their armored vehicles, able to squeeze into the ravine.

Funny enough, the acquisition of the Paladin was only thanks to Dream's own new trade agreements with Atlas. What was once a confidential weapon was now a public commodity to those with enough Lien.

That didn't include the specialized Humvees though that was only the technical name he was using. In Remnant, they were called something along the lines of a "Multipurpose Dust Hover Vehicle" or a "Multipurpose Dust Wheeled Vehicle" depending on which variant the operator was in. MDHV didn't particularly roll off the tongue so he'd keep calling them Humvees.

Besides the semantic differences between his world and Remnant; combine a Paladin being supported by Humvees and trained professionals, and that was a tough fighting force to beat. Hell, Six would go so far as to say that a few squads with those Humvees and a Paladin could take on your average Huntsman and be likely to win.

Six didn't have any full-on Huntsman in his fighting force as Huntsman being privately contracted like that was seen as fairly taboo by the state. Despite that, he did have a soldier with their Semblance unlocked and a handful with their Auras.

That combined with the rest of his fighting force at the moment, in Six's mind they'd be able to take on a Huntsman team, one at most. Probably a few student teams as well. With Six's direct support, maybe two to three Huntsman teams.

He had done everything he could to prepare his troops for the job at hand without exposing himself. All that was left to do was make an appearance when the operation actually occurred.

Which led him to another operation, the mission that Roman was about to give him as Six unlocked the door to his new apartment.

The old one was still under investigation after the White Fang attack and would need to be remodeled at some point. Not that they would find anything. All of Six's secrets were hidden thanks to his Pip-Boy. And with all the perpetrators dead, the motivation for the attack would likely remain a mystery.

Which–Six imagined–was good for Richter "Bloody" Spring. There had to be a reason for Richter's seclusion away from the capitol and Six had a fairly good idea as to why.

Due to being busy, the Courier had only done a cursory investigation into Richter's background. The older man used to be an Atlas "recon" soldier. But the redacted parts of his background hinted at something far more nefarious. And from what he heard from Adam, it sounded like he operated during the Faunus Rights Revolution and maybe even sometime after.

While curious, Six had a good number of other projects and issues to look after, and Richter wasn't a major risk to his plans. Maybe after dealing with Cinder and Ozpin would Six dig into it more.

From what his compass was telling him, there were two people already inside his apartment. They weren't marked as threats and from what he knew of the coming operation, Six had an idea who was waiting for him.

Which was why he also wanted to check the video feed from Gratius before he entered the apartment.

Opening the email attachment, the Courier saw a video feed appear on his Pip-Boy. It looked like the camera pointed at the cafeteria exit from what he could tell. Two people, Mercury and Emerald, were leaving. Of course, as far as Six was aware, they weren't using their real names. And Six was fairly certain that Cinder was a fake name as well. What were their fake names again?

If Six recalled… Mercury was going by Markus Velafi and Emerald was going by Aesling Xin. The Courier wasn't as informed on naming customs but those names seemed distinctly out of place. They didn't follow common color-naming conventions nor Vale's name schemes as well. Both coming far closer to Mistrali names.

The two were leaving the cafeteria and happened to walk right by the Faunus in question, Blake Belladonna.

It had come as a bit of a shock to Six when Cinder had picked Emerald and Mercury as part of her entourage. After all, they had to be known to Blake. But so far, they had remained entirely under the radar and Six wasn't sure how.

The three people walked right past each other in the video without a care in the world. It was like Blake had never seen them. It didn't make sense.

It was probably Emerald's Semblance since Mercury didn't have one. Now that was an interesting tale.

The story was very hush-hush of course but Roman has dirt on everyone. Except Cinder… Maybe. And when the grey-haired kid annoyed Roman enough, Six had gotten the info he wanted.

The child of an abusive assassin that wanted to train him to be one. A father that stole Mercury's Semblance before being killed by the kid. And when he died, Mercury's Semblance went with him. The entire thing explained Mercury's attitude.

The one question Six did have was what the teen's Semblance was before it was stolen. Not that it mattered since it wouldn't get in Six's way now.

As to why Blake didn't notice them; that left either Blake being a traitor, which Six doubted, or Emerald's Semblance. Whatever it was, it was proving very useful for the conniving little group to get around with. Not that he could do anything about it at the moment.

For now, he'd address the two people sitting on his couch as the Courier swung open his front door.

The multi-colored hair of Neo and the bright orange of Roman greeted Six as he entered. He was still in his Beacon uniform as he was supposed to be visiting his apartment. At least, to any tails from Ozpin it would appear that way.

He wasn't sure how the two criminals got into his home but he hoped they'd done it without being seen.

"You know henchman number two-" Roman stopped his joke when he received a glare from Neo. He let out a sigh before continuing, "employee number two… This place feels drab. Not an ounce of life in it."

That was the point after all. This new apartment had the bare minimum of necessities in it to make it appear like he was living there. In reality, this was just another cover for his House persona.

Six didn't deign to give the man a reply as he crossed his arms and waited.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Roman sighed before continuing, "fine, fine. We don't need two mutes under my employ," earning yet another glare from Neo.

"We have a job for you." Roman's statement was leading into what Six assumed was what Adam had been told.

"You'll be leaving at the end of this school week," Roman began as his partner in crime picked up a bowl placed on the coffee table in front of them filled with ice cream. "And returning at the end of the weekend."

He'd have a few days then. It would be just enough time to check in on the mission his Voidwalkers were being sent on before heading out. That left another detail Six wanted to nip in the bud.

"That's risky," Six countered as Roman raised a brow. "My cover is already under suspicion at Beacon. If I leave for too many weekends unannounced when shit goes down–because that's all you send me to deal with–I'll be found out."

Raising his cane and pointing it at the Courier, Roman continued with a smile, "and that's why Cinder has deemed this the last job you go on before the whole plan comes together. And don't worry, you'll be filled in on the details of the plan when you arrive."

That would prove to be convenient for the next month or so before the Festival. Not having any obligations outside of the academy for the next month would give Six a lot of time to focus on his plans. Well, a lot of time if he didn't factor in evading Cinder and Ozpin's gaze, managing the Voidwalkers, setting up for his plan, researching Dust, upgrading his equipment, and various other miscellanious tasks.

Still… He couldn't show Roman that.

The Courier crossed his arms and stared Roman down. "I want something in return," Six demanded while staring the conman down.

This seemed to get both Neo's and Roman's attention. It wasn't very often that the Courier asked for something other than pay for his services.

But it was Roman who eyed him up and down before sitting in thought. The conman deliberated on the Courier's request before snapping his fingers and replying, "no."

"Why not?" Six demanded and lied at the same time. The Courier knew exactly why Roman wouldn't give his request the time of day. Because after that fiasco with Adam, Cinder had him by the balls.

"Because after you went off and euthanized a few mutts," Roman began as Neo silently snickered. "Cinder has been coming down on me and that means I come down on you."

Six placed a hand on his visor before replying, "it's good to see that everyone in our circle is a racist."

The conman let out an audible "pfft" as he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't pretend that you care now. How many Faunus have you put in the ground in the past couple weeks?"

A fair point, but his was still valid as well. One bad deed does not cancel out another.

"Besides," Roman continued as he crossed his legs. "I'm not racist, I just remind everyone around me of their place." And for just a moment, the sitting man's eyes hardened as he said, "because no one looks down on me for long."

As quickly as it came, it disappeared. "Besides, poking a bit is all in good fun."

"Being looked down on…" Six repeated back as he glanced towards Neo.

The small mute didn't seem to have a care in the world as she devoured her ice cream in bliss. But that was also a lie, a façade she sold well. After all, Six could see the tensed muscles, the way she glanced towards every exit to the room. It was something the Courier often did too.

Moving towards the coffee tables, the Courier stood across from them as he continued, "Roman, why are you doing all this?"

This caused the conman to pause his snide attitude and glance over with a curious look. "You know that's a very vague question. Doing what?"

"This plan of Cinder's. It doesn't make very good Lien, it throws the city into chaos, and it puts you in a shit ton of danger." Pointing a finger at Roman, Six questioned, "I guess I don't see what's in it for you?"

This earned Six a glance from both Neo and Roman before they turned to each other with curious looks.

After a few moments, Roman turned back to the Courier before replying, "you should know by now things are changing in Vale. These deals with Atlas, Cinder's plans… Gods dammit, even the Mistrali underworld is in a complete mess right now."

"Things are changing. And if we don't change with 'em, they'll break us. So I chose a side, the side I think is going to win." And once more, Roman's eyes hardened for a moment as he spoke. "And there's no one that can beat Cinder at the moment."

"I…" Six got out before pausing and thinking about it. There was no way…

"You really think she'll hold up her end of the bargain? That you're going to be part of some new power in the world?" One chuckle escaped Six after he spoke, just one. But it was enough to raise Neo's brow.

After all, it wasn't often that Six laughed.

"You have to be lying. We both know she thinks of us as two-bit players. And when we're used up, she'll toss us to the side if we're lucky, or in the incinerator if we're not. Get real."

"Tread carefully, you've been a lot less useful lately. You can't get away with spouting off at the mouth too much." Roman's reply was both a warning and a test. Was Six willing to push the subject, to show some backbone?

Mimicking some of Roman's eccentricities, the Courier wagged a finger at the conman. "You're not the only one that can annoy people to get what they want. Besides, you know I'm right. But I get the idea."

"You'd want someone with a stronger and better position on the board," he continued while tapping the visor of his helmet.

That was Ozpin, Cinder, and Salem's mistake. They thought of this fight like a game of chess with two opposing sides on a board. But life isn't that simple. No, they were playing a game of hide-and-seek tag with dozens of moving players and teams.

The conman's eye twitched before he sighed. "Seriously," Torchwick warned. "Keep those comments to a minimum. I may not like her but I've got standards." And, if the Courier had to guess, the conman didn't know if Cinder was somehow listening.

"Got it, anything else?"

Roman relaxed before standing up from the couch. "That was it, we've sent all other relevant details to your Scroll… Thing…" The conman trailed off as he glanced at Six's Pip-Boy. "Just stay in touch."

Six nodded his head before stepping towards the kitchen. There was no helping that they were stuck together for the moment. Or maybe Roman and Neo had some sort of trick up their sleeve to get out of his apartment without being seen by whatever spies Ozpin had.

And of course, the mute followed him. Only earning a raised eyebrow from Roman. Damnit, why couldn't his employer keep his other employees under control?

Neo followed him into the kitchen. An average-sized kitchen for a kitchen from the Old World. Immaculate compared to the Wasteland. The thought gave him a moment of pause.

A pause where the mute darted forward and opened the freezer to retrieve more ice cream. Of course that was why she followed him.

"You'll get fat eating all that ice cream."

It was only then that Roman glanced over towards the Courier with nervous eyes. And judging from the death glare Neo was sending him… Perhaps, just maybe, Six had made a mistake.

"Shit," Six rectified as he shrugged his shoulders while opening the fridge. "You look fine as is. Stop worrying so much."

And that was apparently the right thing to say as Neo's frown turned into a grin. "Though you could stand to not pilfer my food." The Courier continued as he grabbed the necessary ingredients to make a BLT; or whatever the off-colored foods were called in Remnant. In fact, Six was pretty sure this was one of the last meals he had with the Spring family before leaving.

That thought was interrupted by the small psycho shoving a Scroll into his face.

"I've been very good about not keeping you company at work, so I deserve the treat!"

Ignoring her message, Six turned towards the stove before turning the holographic dial. Why was everything see-through? It was off-putting to the Wastelander that was used to analog controls.

"Roman, Neo, sandwiches?" Six called out.

The first to respond was Neo who looked down at the not-bacon meat in his hands before making a gagging motion. A no from Neo then.

A few moments after that and a voice called from the living room, "sure, I'll take a bite. Having food made by The Mimic is ironic in the best of ways after all."

It was a stretch to call their situation ironic. Someone from the outside might say so, given the context of a murderer providing food to a criminal. But they all knew better. It was an employee making food for his employer.

"Stop ignoring me!" The Courier read as a Scroll was once again shoved in his face.

"I will when you stop being a petulant child," Six responded as he placed the slabs of meat onto the hot pan, a satisfying sizzling sound being his reward.

Then the tip of Neo's umbrella pressed into his back. A child to the bitter end.

Not that such a childish threat would phase the Courier. "I know if you wanted to, you would have killed me already. Stop pretending and get to your ice cream before it melts."

He couldn't see it, but the Courier could practically feel the pout Neo was giving him before she withdrew her umbrella. She then finally left him alone to go back to the living room.

It was going to be a long day.

"Huh, that actually looks good," Roman commented with raised eyebrows and a surprised expression.

A very long day.

Author's Notes:

UndeadLord22: "Hmmmm, if Six's eyes is visible, wouldnt some people guess he was a Faunus? Seeing that his eyes glowed, unless he was wearing contacts"

Author: His eyes don't glow unless actively being used for a task though they are reflective like a nocturnal animal's eyes. If this comment is meant more for this chapter alone, only Adam and Junior looked him in the eyes for any period of time. In the former's case, he already knows. In the latter's case, Junior didn't have a whole lot of time with Six and isn't a particularly intelligent/perceptive individual. So, yes, it is possible to notice that Six is different from the average human but most people on casual viewing won't notice that. You have to stare directly into the eyes in the right lighting (though Faunus have an easier time picking up on this trait, note that Huey and Adam have pointed it out but hardly any human has).

If you're talking in a more general sense, Six very rarely reveals his face. Weiss thinks he's a Faunus so team RWBY likely will too (eventually). Ozpin and the faculty know but that's not seen as an issue. Don't forget that he wears a helmet that covers his face at Beacon and rarely associates with others outside of it.