Chapter 7
Setting the stage
Ozpin, the grey haired body hopping immortal, sat at the table waiting for the last of his staff to arrive for the pre semester meeting and briefing. His weapon and cane the Long Memory lying in its compact form by his hand. Taking a quick look he noticed that three of his instructors were still unaccounted for and leaned back in his chair taking a sip of coffee from his ever present cup
Unsurprisingly most of his staff was discussing the newest topics that had the academic world in a tailspin. He found it highly amusing to see Peter Port, professor of Grim studies trying to be the source of rational argument in stead of Doctors Oobleck and Peach, the history and science department heads
"In all my travels on the Boundary I have never come across a trace of these nomadic tribes or even found any hints of this so called hidden kingdom." Port stated firmly
"On the Boundary, not deeper into the Wilderness." Oobleck pointed out speaking in his usual fast pace
Port grunted as he acceded the point. Peach jumped in. The petite purple haired tiger, faunus ears high up on her head in her excitement
"And considering these tribes origins avoiding patrols would make sense, especially if they have an ingrained bias towards humans." She spoke out
"But still an advanced kingdom in the wilderness." Port protested
"Most innovations come at times of conflict. A kingdom under constant attack with no help available would inevitably push ahead in order to maintain itself or be destroyed." Oobleck countered
"And the isolation would mean their technology base would be likely to very different from those of Kingdoms in constant contact." Peach added
Ozpin had to give the duo that point. On the other side of the table the discussion was about the revelation of the ancient forced breeding program that had come to light. The discussion was between professors Brown and Silver, the elective teachers for economics and political studies for the fourth years on one side and the social studies teacher and the school physician Doctor Tsune and professor Rheed. The former being one of a rare group a twin featured faunus. Her white cat tail whipping around and her ears were erect as she argued her point.
"I do not disagree that the practise was abhorant, but for Sienna Khan to demand reparations from Mistral is ludicrous and at best opportunistic. If any one has the right to demand reparations it is these tribes and if your really twist the definition of victims Menagerie not the White Fang. And no rational being would belief her claim of keeping it in trust for these tribes." Brown stated
"And for Mistral to pay out triple their gross domestic produce is not going to happen either. They White Fang would have more luck suing Jaques Schnee in an Atlas court for human rights violations that Mistral agreeing. And who is to say that these tribes wantto have contact anyway" Silver said
"That is assuming a lot, considering no one has met them and have an idea of what they want. For all we know, they would be most likely like the cave dwellers of Mantle or the nomadic dessert tribes of Vacuo. They have no need of dust or Lien or our produced goods." Brown added
The door opened and the last of the faculty arrived. Glynda Goodwitch only took her seat after Ozping motioned her to do. Had he not done so she would have remained standing behind his left shoulder. The last to take a seat was the languages and literature professor, professor Prosse.
Ozpin tapped his cane on the table opening the meeting
"We will be opening as per usual on the first for the second to fifth years and prepare for the initiation on the fifth. From the second to the fourth all senior students will sweep the Emerald Forest and cull the Grim that have been massing since the end of last term." Ozpin stated without fanfare
"I assume the second years will be on overwatch with the third years during initiation?" Professor Shade, field craft and survival lector asked
"They will be." Ozpin nodded
Ozpin tapped his scroll to the table and let it link up with the embedded terminal
"We have had several withdrawals leaving open several vacancies in our rosters to be filled and I am happy to say all on the reserve list has accepted."
"Who withdrew?" Silver asked
"All the Winchesters and their allies. Rouge Winchester in fourth year, in first year it was Cardin Winchester, Sky Lark, Dove Bronzewing and Russel Thrush as well as all the Goldman's" Ozpin listed off
"How will this affect our budget?" Silver asked
Ozpin gave a savage smile before sipping from his cup.
"With the Winchester's and their allies in hiding after their esteemed nephew was found swinging from his shoelaces in a cell, there was no objection to the padded budget I proposed. All departments will be fully funded for the year with some discretionary funds available, And for once the bursary students will not have to be sustained by cross funding from other departments." He said blandly
This brought a few smiles from the teaching staff. Ozpin turned to Remington Colt, Beacons head of security
"We have some celebrity students in the first years so be ready to stop any attempts of the press to breach Beacon."
"Who are we covering for?" Colt asked, his voice gravely from cigarettes and booze
"Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee and the four heroes of Fort Freedom." Ozpin said
Colt swore loudly and fluently. Ozpin did not blame him in the least, a quick shake of his head had Glynda sitting back primly in her seat.
"How many of the retired Hunters can I call in?" Colt asked
"The Arc's have paid for fifteen, the Schnee were origanally paying for five but on hearing that the Arc's are outdoing paid for twenty. Mistral was originally down for ten but with recent news upgraded to twenty as well. I have also secured funding for fifteen from the Council. With your normal complement you should have enough to cover the campus for the year." Ozpin stated
Colt looked pleased. Retired or semi retired Hunters were superior to the normal guards the council normally felt was adequate for campus security. Most of these Hunters were inactive till they can fully recover from injuries sustained or approaching mandatory retirement age. And an inactive Hunter was an unpaid hunter, so the cushy positions as campus security was highly sought after. Colt will be able to pick the best available and still have space for more.
Ozpin noted the sudden interest his proclamation brough with Oobleck the most obvious as he was nearly shaking his chair in excitement. Time to stop this before it began Ozpin thought
"The four are here under sponsorship of the Arc family. Requests have been made to ensure their privacy as much as possible. So an early warning will be issued that they are not to be questioned about the area outside the Boundary. They are here first and foremost as students not a source of information. So I ask the faculty to ensure they are not unduly bothered. It will be up to them to divulge as much or as little as they wish." Ozpin said sternly
"Are they to be given exemption from initiation?" Goodwitch asked, adjusting her glasses
"No they will take part like everyone else and be assigned to teams." Ozpin stated.
Ruby Rose, a girl with normal knees, thank you very much was looking at the four armoured figures that had come aboard the airship. And she found herself disappointed. Their armour was interesting sure, but also obviously mass produced as was their weapons. They carried a pistol of some sort on thigh holsters and snubnosed rifles with them, no obvious signs of mechashift technology visible. She startled as a warm arm was thrown over her shoulder
"I am so stoked that my little baby sister got in to Beacon early." Yang enthused
"Yang!" Ruby moaned at the blonde bombshell next to her
Yang followed the direction her sister was staring in and got a devilish grin
"And better yet you finally noticed boys or would that be cute kitty girls." She stated
"Yang. Gross." Ruby whined
"Well if it is not finally finding you have hormones what has you so interested in them, you have been staring for half of the flight at them."
"Just look at them, they have no originality. Their armour looks the same their weapons are the same."
Yang looked closer at the group. Their armour was painted in browns light and dark green, designed to merge with the foliage common to Vale and its surrounding area. The t shaped visors hid their faces. If not for the ear and tail fitting and the obvious chest plate alteration she would have had difficulty spotting the male among the females.
"You are right, they look more like soldiers. But that does not mean they should be disregarded at all. They fought and lived in an area few have ever willing gone into. They have fought Grim and slavers, so they have more experience than us." Yang said thoughtfully
"I know but their weapons have no personality." Ruby objected
Yang shook her head
"And there is the weapons snob I hoped you had left at home. Rubes people are more than their weapons." She said sadly
"But people are hard to talk to, weapons just state the obvious." Ruby replied mulishly
Hina switched of her recorder as the two squabbled further, she opened the internal com they shared
"Before now I did not believe how ingrained this demand to be unique was." She said thoughtfully
"From what I read it was due to the history of these Hunters. Tradionally they had started as entertainers and roadside warriors. Moving from town to town to battle Grim and entertain the towns people." Yara said
"Luckily the entertain part has fallen away." Jaune said
The three females huffed
"We are very entertaining you know." Yaea huffed airily
"I meant me. You know I am tone deaf." Jaune said sighing
"And you don't have ears and a tail too, but we still like you." Katya said patting his arm
A pair of yellow eyes were observing them from behind a book. Every few moments a twitch could be observed from the large bow on her head. Further back in the airship a black haired boy with a pink streak in his hair was struggling to hold back an excitable busty ginger from rushing to the four to demand to see cute kitty ears. A buxom redhead was grateful not to be the centre of attention for once as she happily ate without being disturbed by fans and be able to indulge in her guilty secret of Mistrali detective manga comics on her scroll. In a private cabin a white haired heiress was watching the serving staff load her items onto a trolley getting ready to disembark
Ruby was writing letters lying on her sleeping bag to her old friends in Signal Academy, dressed in heat patterned sleeping trouser and a large tank top, her Beowulf sleep mask on her forehead. She paused, could she really call them friends? Not one of them had congratulated her on her rapid advancement to Beacon nor had they contacted her. Yang dropped down next to her dressed in very skimpy shorts and a top.
"What you doing sis? Writing love letters?" Yang said teasingly
"Writing to the gang at Signal." Ruby replied airily
"Not staring at all the boys? Or the girls I wont judge." Yang continued
"Dad would not approve." Ruby said blushing
"Dad is not here, let your inner lewd girl out." Yang said mock throatily
Ruby attacked with her pillow a cute battle cry emitting from her as she swung with all her strength. Yang merely blocked her and wrestled her into submission in short order before mercilessly tickling her.
Pyrrha was walking to the ballroom where all the first years were to sleep from the shower rooms when she heard the sound of combat coming from empty room. Cautiously she walked to the door and peaked in. a blonde male and three faunus were practising unarmed combat. Though it seemed more like roughhousing than serious training. She pulled back and continued on her path. Wishing she was in there joking and playing with friends as so many others were doing in the ball room as well. Hopefully the morning will bring the changes she desperately wished for.
Ren Lie was really ready to call it a day, a full day of Nora wrangling had him exhausted already. His bedroll was on the edge of the line separating male from female. Seemingly he and Nora were not the only ones to sleep on the line as another four bedrolls were set out, three on the female side. He pretended to listen as Nora was prattling on about Sloth sounds for a secret language to use during initiation. He noticed the sudden lack of noise as the four entered the room. The blonde boy was tall and well built moving with easy grace. The three petite females were what drawing the attention. Dressed alike in short night dresses and shorts they drew attention to their assets with their clothing and more to their hips as their tails swung happily as they joked amongst themselves as they made their way to where they had laid out their sleeping bags.
Nora was near bursting in excitement as the four approached
"Kitty ears and tails. Must pet." She blurted.
Ren had no choice but to tackle her to keep her from charging off. They stopped struggling as someone cleared her throat close to them. Ren and Nora looked up into the stern visage of Professor Goodwitch and for once Nora had the sense not to push the matter
"I believe that will be enough. Mister Lie and Miss Valkyrie." The teacher said tapping her riding crop in her hand
"Sorry professor, bad impulse control." Nora said cheerily.
"I see. I believe we will have no further lapses or do I need to separate you further?"
"No professor, it is under control." Ren stated
Ren was watching the teacher walk away when he heard a sound that chilled him to the bone. Four sets of giggles came from behind him. Slowly he turned around and felt his heart stop. Nora was in the middle of a cuddle pile with the three girls as they were braiding and brushing hair. His expression softened for a moment as it was one of the few times he saw Nora doing something so completely girly. It hardened as he saw the looks being send from the boys side at the scantily dressed quartet, he send death glares at the most obvious of them
"What is Beacon's policy on dealing with lechers?" The blonde boy asked, adding his glares
"I have no idea but I will find out." Ren answered
The blonde extended a hand
"Name is Jaune Arc."
"Lie. Ren Lie." Ren answered
"Sorry not used to naming conventions yet whuch is your name and which is your surname?" Jaune asked
"My surname is Lie. Ren is my first name." Ren replied
The other boy sat down and to Ren's delighted surprise took up a meditative pose. Ren sat down and the two meditated
Nora spared a few side glances at the boys. The one girl, Katya, touched her shoulder and leaned closer
"Don't worry. Jaune is girls only. Your boyfriend is in no danger." She whispered
"Ren is not my boyfriend. We are together but not together together." Nora said quickly
"Let me guess the boy is as dense as a ship hull." Another, Yara, spoke up
They did not believe Nora's protestation. In a corner a set of yellow eyes studied their interaction before her attention was drawn to a hissing spat between the silver eyed girl her blonde sister and a white haired heiress. With reluctance the watcher blew out the candle next to her and settled down to sleep.
No one at the dockyards paid any attention as a section of the docks went dark, not that any one ever actually paid attention to that section as it was owned by several of the more prosperous settlements out of vale as a delivery address for seasonal products being delivered. At most three or four times a year were there any need for observation from the dockyard security division when the settlements send in the fresh crops and consignments of lumber, stone and wood. Not that the last two actually needed a lot of monitoring
There was a lot of noise as the doors to the largest warehouse was opened, small lights from headlamps marking the position of the people opening the doors. Whatever light had been visible from above was blotted out as a large shape blocked it before moving into the warehouse and had the doors closed behind it immediately as soon as it was possible
Operative Perry, a proud member of the White Fang had been dispatched with operative Deery, a new recruit, to investigate the source of the noise, as the sound reached the cell guarding the stolen dust in a hijacked warehouse. They were both caught in the open when the lights turned back on in full White Fang regalia. Not that it was the light that betrayed them it was Perry's constant loud bragging that had drawn the attention of the hidden watchers, the fact that he insisted on walking in the middle of the road instead of trying to move in the shadows of the buildings did not help either
They never saw the figures moving in on them, nor heard the silenced weapons shooting tranquilizer darts in them. The cell commander found their partially burned regalia and masks in a steel drum and concluded they had deserted, He send a message on his scroll to his cell contact to report. If found the two will be executed like the traitors they are.
Derrick was watching the interrogators work on the two captives from the observation booth. The male had cracked the moment his interrogator had entered the room and unpacked the tools of her trade on the table. Not that she actually used the tools. Her sadistic tittering, combined with the skintight suit and butchers boots and apron had the tough "freedom fighter" spilling his guts before she even put her tray of dental tools on the table. The girl lasted till her second round of sodium pentothal. The results were lacking and concerning. They now knew the Fang operated in cells and were sitting on large amounts of Dust, but the reason was unknown. Hopefully the scanners left in place will pick up if someone tries to phone out, the decision had been made to leave the cell in place and keep close on watch on them. At the very least they will know if and when the dust is moved and getting the identities of the covert support staff is always usefull. Sooner or later someone will drop of food supplies or more dust. Now it was a waiting game.
He looked over his shoulder as the door opened and straightened once he saw who entered. The Director looked at the prisoners before pressing button on the console and white noise generators kicked in as steel plates moved over the observation windows
"I believe you should have a report." She said as she sat down
"I do, madam Director. The information my brother gave was correct. The boy is indeed Jaune Arc and his companions are of extra terrestrial origins." Derrick reported
"Go on." She invited
"I have the full written report in my safe in my office as well as something they call a datapad. They have shared information on a few technologies they believe we can safely use without endangering ourselves." Derrick stated
"Such as?"
"Solar power, it can reduce our dependency on dust and they might have inadvertently given us the way to actually reach space itself."
The director looked up in surprise
"They were laughing at footage of Atlas trying to reach the upper atmosphere. One mentioned that even standard nitrous oxide would be a lot better never mind hydrogen than the amounts of dust the Atlas technicians had used and much less watefull."
Derrick gave a small grin
"Head of R and D is currently still swearing up a storm and going on about how obvious it was. And I guess he will still be going strong for a while."
" Is your cover secure?" The director asked, hiding her own smile
"With them yes. My niece and her wife, no. They suspect something. It seems station A has not been as secure as they should be. Saphron has noticed some inconsistencies with what the bank should be and what they are doing. "
"Recommendations?
"Disclosure and bring them in from the cold. Terra might be very useful where she is in the CCT network, she recently hit the glass ceiling and knows that she will not be promoted further because she is not from Atlas, male and hetero sexual. In her current position she has access to a lot of the operating systems, something we can exploit. And not simply boasting Saphron is wasted as a bank clerk. Low level analyst material."
The Director thought about it.
"I will discus it with upper management. Anything else."
Derrick hesitated
"They send out probes to map the planet. I believe in time once we gain their trust we may be given access. However I found something disturbing from what I saw when they showed us what they could see from space."
"Which is?"
"A castle in the middle of the Grimlands and one that appears to be fully intact and powered by some means." Derrick said grimly
"That is very disturbing." The director agreed
Pyrrha was resigned to eating alone that morning as no one had dared to approach her table. She looked up from her plate as a shadow fell over her
"Mind if we join you, everywhere else seems to be taken."
"Please." Pyrrha replied
The four sat down. The boy pointed to his companions
"This is Katya, Yara and Hina Ichira. I am Jaune No… Sorry Jaune Arc." He introduced them
"Pyrrha Nikos. A pleasure to meet you." Pyrrha replied
The four nodded and turned their attention to their overladen plates. They noticed her stares
"Sorry not used to having access to such a variety of fresh food." Hina apologised
"So where are you from Pyrrha?" Jaune asked
A condescending huff interrupted them. A white haired girl in a white skirt and blouse looked at them
"Do you know who you are talking to?" She demanded
"Pyrrha Nikos. She introduced herself by that name." Jaune replied
"You are addressing the four time Mistral Champion." The girl stated
"What sport or is it a more traditional title?" Jaune asked Pyrrha
"How can it be a traditional title, dunce" White haired snapped
"Watch the tone, squidbreath." Katya growled
"And also some cultures elect their rulers for a term of office and call them king or queen, so a traditional title of champion is not that improbable if you are elected to it." Yarra snapped.
The girl reared back and Pyrrha cleared her throat
"No, I won the regional combat championships in my age class four times." She explained
"Closed quarters or ranged combat?" Hina asked
The white haired girl was about to reply when a black haired girl jumped in
"Close combat. It seems that someone forgot that things are very different in the wandering tribes beyond the Boundary." She said from behind her book
"Thank you for explaining. The name is Katya." Katya extended a hand
"Blake." The girl replied
Katya pointed to the book
"Is it safe to have an artefact like that in the open? It must be very valuable." She asked
Blake looked at the cheap paperback she was reading
"No it is a cheap book." She said in confusion
Pyrrha realised the implication first
"I am guessing you do not see a lot of books beyond the boundary?" She asked
"Books are rare and very, very expensive." Jaune shrugged
"Can you read and write?" Pyrrha asked softly
"Our language and Aurubesh. yes, yours we are still learning." Hina replied
"I am guessing Aurubesh is the language of the hidden kingdom." Blake asked
"That what we call it." Katya replied taking a large bite on a piece of smoked fish and meowed in appreciation.
Hina gasped in outrage as she looked at another table. A young girl was dipping something in a glass of milk.
"How dare she desecrate the scared drink?!" She all but hissed out, rising
Jaune grabbed her and pulled her down and started rubbing between her ears
"Different culture, calm down she does not know." He said placatingly
Katya looked to the white haired girl
"Since you appointed yourself as the school monitor go tell her we find what she is doing as offensive." She sniffed
No one noticed Yara slipping a piece of fish onto Blake's plate and lean towards her.
"Go on kitten, you will need the strength." She whispered to Blake
Blake was shocked and started reaching for her bow before she stopped herself.
"Do not worry we will not say a thing unless you tell us to." Yarra added as softly
"How did you know?" Blake asked softly
"Jaune spotted it first, your other ears twitch and when you got close enough your smell. And yes you smell more cat than human, though the lavender scent , I think you call it, on you is nice" Yara explained, tapping her nose
Yang was about to march over to the table with the three rude cat girls and deal with them for upsetting Ruby when she was stopped by Doctor Oobleck an old friend of her father
"Miss Xio Long, stay seated." He instructed
"But professor…" She started
"Doctor, I earned my title thank you very much. Miss Xio Longhow would you feel if someone at a dog in front of you, say a black and white corgi?" Oobleck asked
Ruby gasped and her lips started wobbling
"I would beat the hell out of them. That is just plain worng" Yang declared angrily
"Yet in some sections of Mistral it is a delicacy. You are basing your reactions on your cultural bias. Being from a feline dominant culture and lack of access milk must be a rare delicacy for them. You would do well to learn why someone is reacting in a way instead of going for direct confrontation first. And before you say more I will go have the same conversation with them. Now kindly finish your meal, initiation is in two hours and you need to prepare, conserve your anger for the grim." He said firmly
Ruby was giving Crescent Rose a last inspection when someone cleared her throat behind her. It was one of the cat girls. She extended a carton of milk and a pack of cookies to her.
"I came to apologise, the funny talking man explained my error to me and I am really sorry for interrupting your special treat with my ignorance." She said tail and ears drooping
From the corner of her eyes Ruby had spotted Yang getting ready to intervene but now she was as stumped and confused as Ruby was. Hesitantly Ruby took the items
"Apology accepted, and I am sorry if it offended you. I guess we al have a lot to learn about other cultures." Ruby replied softly and coughed as her voice squeeked
The girl gave a soft smile in acceptance, revealing slightly more pointed incisors.
"Thank you, stay safe out there." The girl said before moving off towards her own locker to get ready
Jaune was doing inventory check on their backpacks as Katya returened and got into her armour. He pulled out a bandoleer of grenades from Hina's pack and replaced it with several clips for the sniper attachment from am ammunition crate they had brought with
"I do not think we will need so many ion grenades." He said
"Says mister two belts of thermal grenades, you know we are going into a forest." Hina replied as she slipped her blaster into her thigh holster
"Of which I put one back, you want a demo pack or breach charges?" Jaune answered
"Give me two of each." Hina answered after some thought
The four did their own weapons and armour check before being double checked by another before shouldering their backpacks and picking up their stubby DC17s and making their way to the exit for the initiation
Pyrrha was holding a very polite and insincere smile in place as the white haired girl, Weiss Schnee was prattling on about how good a team they would make. She followed the quartet as they left, especially the larger male figure. She kept nodding politely in her mind telling the heiress to go copulate with herself. She gathered her gear and made for the exit the heiress right on her rear still prattling away
Yang looked over to her sister to say something but only sighed as she saw the milk mustache and the empty wrapper of the recently received cookies. Another couple was leaving the roo the girl loudly talking about Sloth calls and the importance of not confusing the mating call with the one calling for help. Yang for a moment wondered where on Remnant the girl got that information from, because as far as she knew sloth's rarely if ever made a noise, and more importantly sloth's were not native to Vale.
She shrugged it off and made sure she had reloads for Ember Celica ready to go before grabbing Ruby and dragging her to the door before she could do another weapons check or brothers forbid another "quick" clean and service. It was time for Beacon's sexiest and hottest Huntress to debut herself.
Pyrhha was the first to be launched into the forest. Glynda Goodwitch was monitoring the students as they were launched, she paled as she noticed something about the four special students.
"Stop!" She called out
She was too late as mister Arc was being launched. Ozpin looked at her in surprise. Never before had an initiation been paused or stopped
"Their aura is not active." Glynda said pointing to the readouts on the four
Ozpin was looking to the cartwheeling form of the boy above the treetops
"Fuck." He muttered softly