Huntsmen stand out, this was due to several reasons but by far the most obvious was their clothing. Even what was considered plain by their standards would be called eyed catching by everyone else and that was the point, to stand out. In the case of an emergency, people needed a way to identify the ones who could help them which is why even off duty Huntsmen would often place esoteric personal emblems on their clothing as both an expression of individuality and to provide civilians a way to easily spot them in a crowd and right now quite a few people were standing out in this bar. Too many for it to be a mere coincidence, without a doubt this was a bar that specialized in serving Huntsmen both professional and in training but it wasn't rowdy like some might expect. Sure it had an energetic atmosphere befitting of the career but it was also warm, friendly, and most importantly, safe. It was clear that the founder of this establishment wanted to create a place where Huntsmen returning from a job could relax and unwind and they succeeded.
For a moment, PRAN just stood there dumbfounded and at the same time immensely curious but unsure where to begin. Fortunately for them, they had Dr. Riviera there to be their guide. "Alright, everyone just follow me and I'll take us to our table."
"Our table? How can we have a table when we just got here?" asked Jaune.
"That's because I took the liberty of calling ahead and reserving a table for all of us, come I'll take you straight there!" That last part was a big fat lie, what he did instead was take them on a rather roundabout path so they could get a good look around to get a feel for the place, and indeed there was a lot to take in beyond the colorful clientele.
The first thing that they noticed was the smells, rich, varied, and delicious to the point where it made them all more hungry than they actually were. They couldn't help but gawk at a plate of crispy golden fries seasoned with just the right amount of salt and pepper, passing by another table they spotted a man drinking a cup filled with bright scarlet tea whose aroma drifted into their noses and reminded them all of Mistral. The second thing they noticed was the sounds, there was a soft song playing on the speakers whose lyrics they couldn't quite make out but they somehow just knew that it was a hopeful song. Also, they could overhear bits and pieces of conversations spoken a little too loudly and now left floating in the air, jokes, small talks, confessions, and fascinating stories.
The third and most interesting thing that they noticed were the walls or rather the pictures of various Huntsmen that were hanging on them. Nora and Ren seemed to be especially interested in them and scoured every photo that they passed by as though they were looking for someone in particular but they gave up after several failed attempts. "I suppose we really shouldn't be surprised," Ren said to Nora, "She was never interested in venturing too far from home."
"I know, but it still sucks."
"What sucks?" Pyrrha asked no longer able to restrain her curiosity.
Nora then pointed to all the pictures on the wall in front of them, "We've been looking for a photo of a Huntress that really helped us out in the past but, I suppose there are no medals for mailmen."
"Mailmen? I thought you said she was a Huntress?" Pyrrha immediately noticed the odd puzzled looks that she was getting from Nora, Ren, and even Jaune which only served to further confuse her, "What? Did I say something weird?"
Nora then suddenly and rather dramatically slapped her forehead, "That's right! You lived in the Capitol! No wonder you don't know what a Courier is, you've never needed them! No one living there would ever need one!"
"Oh, that makes sense," said Jaune as Ren nodded along.
"Um, okay? But what are they?"
"Oh! They're basically mailmen except they're a million times more Badass because they travel across the land fighting weather, Grimm, and even bandits all to deliver packages and letters on the behalf of settlements who'd otherwise never get their mail and that would be awful."
"That makes a lot of sense, what else can you tell me about settlement life?" You don't have to concern yourself with how the lower classes live their lives. Already Pyrrha could imagine her father's disappointment but she didn't care, she was in Beacon now and she would not let someone who wasn't even there hold her back. "If you like, I can share a few stories about life on the upper levels."
"I've always wondered about the people living there and maybe after a few drinks, we can get Jaune to tell us a few stories about the farm and his 16 sisters!" she excitedly suggested.
"Seven, I have only seven sisters and I'm afraid you'll find that my stories aren't going to be too exciting unless being forced to play dress up and dodgeball is what you'd call exciting."
"What's dodgeball?" asked Ren.
"Are you serious? You've never played it?"
"Never."
Pyrrha scratched her chin and recalled an exercise one of her old coaches made her go through, "Does dodgeball involve someone throwing balls at you that you have to avoid or catch and throw back?"
"That's pretty much it but how is it that you've played it but Ren and Nora have never heard of it?"
"It was more of a training exercise than a game but yeah, I've played it."
Now it was Ren and Nora's turn to be confused about this game that was also apparently a training exercise and they were not about to take this in silence, "How about we sit down and then you can explain what dodgeball actually is?" Nora suggest while scanning the room looking for Riviera whom she spotted sitting at a nice big table conveniently located a short distance away from the bar counter with the restrooms and side exits in clear view.
Everyone quickly greed with her suggestion and walked over to the psychiatrist who was patiently waiting for them while reading through the menu and happily humming to himself what sounded like a sea shanty. When they were close enough to talk to him without raising their voices he put the menu down and looked right at them with a great big smile and said, "For appetizers I would personally recommend the mozzarella sticks but if you'd rather get to the main course then you can't go wrong with some surf n' turf."
Altogether the Team sat down at the table and reached for the menu but there was one exception, Jaune remined standing and he wasn't paying attention to whatever anyone else was saying. His attention was focused firmly on the real reason they had come here, the bar, and his dream, Come on, let's get this over with. "Um, Riviera?"
"Yes, Jaune?"
"Can we… do the thing now?"
"Are you sure? Just coming here is a step forward, you don't have to force yourself to go further than what you're comfortable with."
He was comfortable with this but he wanted to push it further, "I'm sure, I want to do this."
Ren stood up, placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and gave it an affirmative squeeze before letting go, "We are here for you."
"You're stronger than you give yourself credit for," Pyrrha added.
"I'll order for you, you're okay with mozzarella sticks?" Nora asked with a smile that made Jaune chuckle.
"That would be great, thanks, guys." He then turned around and began walking over to the bar with Riviera following closely behind as the others watched with hopeful concern.
Pyrrha sat down at the table with a resigned sigh, "Is this really all we can do right now? I believe in him but, I can't help but feel that I should be doing more."
Ren considered his captain's plight for a second before getting an idea, "I believe that Beacon does offer certain optional courses for people who want to learn skills beyond the normal curriculum. Maybe we should take a few together?"
"That's a grand idea but, I was hoping for something more… I know this is going to sound silly but I was hoping that there was something I could do for him now."
"Don't worry Pyr! Jaune's tough, he's got Riviera with him and all of us to act as backup! He's smart enough to know to ask for help if he needs it and if he does, we'll be by his side in a split second! Now let's figure out what to eat," Nora then grabbed a menu and began to read through it while her leg nervously bounced up and down revealing her true feelings on the matter.
"You're right, I shouldn't worry." Pyrrha picked up another menu and pretended to read, in reality, she was peeking out through the corner of her eye and looking towards the bar table where she soon spotted Jaune and Riviera. She noticed that the doctor was telling something to her partner who in turn said something back but without ever taking his eyes off the bar counter, after a few seconds he walked towards the bartender as Riviera stood back and watched. We're all right behind you...
Finding an open bar stool proved to be an easy task and after taking a deep breath to clear his mind, Jaune then looked around to find the bartender. This proved to be an even easier task as there was currently only one person working behind the counter and it was really difficult not to notice the rather pretty giant of a woman mixing drinks with a twinkle in her eyes, "Excuse me?" he called out to her, "Could I please get some service?"
"I'll be with you as soon as I'm done here," her voice was a little deep but it was also soft, kind, and oddly relaxing. A mere minute later she finished what she had been doing and walked over to him, "Before I take your order may I please see your ID?"
"Sure," he reached into his pocket and showed her his scroll which projected his school ID.
She took a moment to look at it before giving him a little smile, "Riviera told me that you might be coming tonight."
"He did?"
"He wanted to make sure that there would be no issues, so what would you like?"
"I'll have a Mantle Mule and if it's not too much trouble…"
"Would you like me to make it in front of you?"
"Yes."
Without another word she reached under the table and pulled out a copper cup and set it in front of him, then she produced a lime that she cut in two before putting away one half to use later as she held the other half over the cup and squeezed out the juice before dropping the remains in the cup. Then she added some ice before pointing at the shelf behind her, "If you'd like you can pick the Vodka and Ginger Beer."
"Thank you," He then looked at the shelf and searched for the brands that he had seen his mother and occasionally older sister Saphron enjoy, Let me buy a drink for the young hero. In the back of his mind an image began to form of another bar but one far smaller whose name he couldn't recall assuming it even had one, to begin with, I must be remembering the bar I went to back in Jouburg. If my memory serves me right, it was the only one in that town so there's a fair chance that it had no name. He spotted a bottle of Vodka with a label that he recognized and pointed at it, "May I have that one? It's on the bottom shelf second to the left."
"Sure thing," she quickly grabbed the bottle and poured a little bit of the clear liquid into the copper mug before returning the alcohol to its place on the shelf, "And the Ginger Beer?"
He quickly spotted another brand that he had seen his sister drink before, "I'll have the one on the center shelf, third from the left."
"Oh, that's a good choice," she soon retrieved the bottle and poured the contents into the mug before using a stirring rod to mix it all and sliding the finished drink over to him. She watched as for a second he just stared at the cup before he finally tried to reach out with his hand and grab it but the limb froze in mid-air and began trembling.
"Come on, you're better than this," Jaune whispered to himself as he forced the hand to grab the mug. He then pulled it close and began to examine the contents despite already knowing what was inside, A toast to the young hero! A frown began to form on his face as his grip tightened, My head, my heart… they were throbbing back then, I thought I was having a hangover but that made no sense, Without thinking he lifted the mug to his lips and drank it so quickly that he barely tasted anything at all, "Another please."
It was at this point that Riviera decided to approach the young man, "Are you feeling alright Jaune?"
He stayed in his seat facing away from him, "My heart is beating in my chest like I was about to fight someone but all I did was order a drink that I didn't really enjoy and now I've asked for a second for reasons that I'm still trying to figure out," The experience did spark some memories but most of that night is still a mystery.
"Control?"
Jaune slowly turned around until he was staring right at the therapist as his mind processed what he had just heard, "Yeah… that makes sense, I lost control of my own life back then. I know for a fact that I don't care for alcohol but I asked to come here anyway and ordered one just to prove to myself that I'm in control of my own life. After all, what better way to do that than putting myself through the same experience again... is any of this normal?"
"Everyone reacts differently to trauma and PTSD manifests in all sorts of ways. In particular, the need to establish a sense of control has been observed multiple times in people from all walks of life. " He then took the seat right next to his patient just as the bartender returned with the drink, "This is just another step in a journey that will continue for the rest of your life but, it's worth it."
The two men sat in contemplative silence for a little bit as Jaune sorted his feelings and Riviera gave him the space to do so, even the bartender and the nearby patrons seemed to understand this and followed the doctor's example. It took him a few minutes but he finally noticed how everyone was acting and he was grateful for it, he was also naturally confused but it made sense the more he thought it over, This is a bar for Huntsmen and that isn't a career for the fainthearted, the things they've must have seen… I wonder how many people just like me have sat in this very spot. It was a humbling thought but at the same time it was an encouraging one, it felt like a challenge was being put before him. A dare directed towards him and everyone else to either confront what happened and rise above or ignore and be buried by it. Everyone has their burden to bear but no one said we had to bear it alone, that was a very comforting thought.
"Feeling better?"
"A bit."
"Feeling hungry?
"Now that you mention it, yeah I do."
Riviera placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Then let's go back and join your team before they eat all the appetizers, also… are you going to drink that?" he asked, pointing at the copper mug still sitting on the table.
Truth be told Jaune had completely forgotten that it was even there, "Sure go right ahead."
"Thanks!" He then grabbed the mug and gave it a sip, "Still cold, maybe I should buy some copper mugs myself."
"I thought Gris was the drinker."
"Funny enough, it's the other way around," he noticed Jaune giving him a look of doubt so he decided to explain what he meant, "My boyfriend will drink openly but he'll never go over a small cup or two, I on the other hand like to spike my tea and I'm always drinking tea." The look that Jaune was giving him was something that could not be properly put into words, it would be far easier to just say that it was a look that made Riviera burst out into gleeful laughter that continued even after he went to join the rest of Team PRAN at their table leaving a still dumbfounded young man behind.
After a moment of standing there gobsmacked, Jaune was able to bring himself back into reality and join everyone else at the table and found to his delight that there was a plate of mozzarella sticks and a tiny bowl of fresh marinara sauce waiting for him, "Thanks, guys. This is going to hit the spot."
"How do you feel about shepherd's pie?" Nora asked him out of nowhere.
"I like it, I ate it a lot back home… why are you asking me?"
His entire team shyly looked away from him and began shooting accusatory glances at each other before both Nora and Ren ganged up on Pyrrha who then gave a resigned sigh before looking right at him and explaining, "You were taking a while and we didn't want to keep the waitress waiting so we ordered for you."
"And you ordered shepherd's pie?"
"We figured that it would remind you of home."
He dramatically covered his face with his arm and declared "Had I known how you would use this information, I would have never told you about my family!" he held the pose for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter and sitting down to enjoy the rest of the night with his friends.
In the kingdom of Vale, there exists a train station that in the past would take people beyond the walls and into a city that had been built on top of Mt. Glenn, and back then people would often use the train to travel back and forth between these two cities. This constant inflow and outflow gave rise to businesses seeking to cater to commuters and among them was a storage depot located a convenient distance from the station which resulted in the business enjoying such tremendous success, that the owner had planned to open a second facility in Mt. Glenn. Then the worst tragedy in Vale's history struck and all those plans crumbled before his eyes forcing him to sell the business only to find that no one was interested, until fairly recently.
The buyer was a start-up communications company who was eager to set up shop and moved in almost as soon as the proper permissions were granted, empty storage units became filled with equipment and employees could be seen working on site. In the grand scheme of things, this wasn't all that much but there were still plenty of people who hoped that this was a sign of better things to come for a community scarred by a disaster.
Sometimes the Brothers could be cruel.
Adam was sitting by himself inside of a tiny, cold, and painfully utilitarian office that as far as he could tell had been built intentionally to make its occupants uncomfortable, and in his opinion, that was a good thing. It kept him on edge, kept him constantly on guard even against his fellow Faunus who sadly failed to understand the bigger picture. Even now just outside the office, the grunts were loitering about pretending to work while talking about the job they had just pulled and asking pointless questions such as; Why did we enter that apartment, stuffed those people into rooms, and leave only taking a single barrel of Rage that we're not even allowed to use… Okay, perhaps a few of those questions were valid but the validity of those questions was never the problem, the problem was the fact that they were asking questions in the first place.
"Just like you did…," Adam had never intended to speak those words nor did he ever intended to think of her, It's your fault I'm like this! Why couldn't you understand!? Was everything you told me a lie? He tightened his grip on the hilt of his weapon, Wilt and Blush. before letting out a silent curse and forming a fist to lash out at something but, then a sudden knock at the door grabbed his attention and redirected his anger "WHAT!?"
"Major Taurus," spoke the firm but respectful voice of his Lieutenant from the other side of the door, "You are to report to communications-"
Adam cut him off, "You dare order me!?"
"Apologies Major, I didn't mean to disrespect you however this isn't a request, it is an order from the High Leader."
It took a moment for hem to process what his Lieutenant had just said and another moment to try and calm his nerves, You knew this was a conversation that was going to happen sooner or later. Man up and face it! With that thought in mind, he opened the door and confidently strode out, "Thank you for informing me, make sure that no one does anything stupid in the meantime."
"Of course sir but, will you be alright?"
It was a fair question and one that he didn't have an answer for, "I'll be fine." That was a lie, he and the High Leader hadn't seen eye to eye in a long time creating a gap that only seemed to grow wider with every year, To think you once told me that I'd be leading the Fang one day but instead you turned around and put me here in Vale. I should have been in the frontlines, I should be leading raids but you placed me as far as possible from them… are you afraid of me? Under almost any other situation being placed in charge of an entire Branch was a recognition of incredible skill and leadership, it was a reward, an honor, a grave responsibility, and above all, a challenge to bring about change in a world that hated your kind for daring to ask for equality. But we could be doing so much more, we deserve to be more than mere equals.
Refocusing his mind he began to walk towards what was going to be a very uncomfortable conversation and considered what he would say. He did not doubt that the High Leader had seen the video of himself at the hospital which would be a massive point in his favor but it would not be enough. There were going to be questions about his plans and how he got the resources and personnel to carry out those plans and that was what was going to be the problem. Things don't just manifest from nothing and all I had at the start was a small battalion hiding in the Forever Fall, it pained him to admit it but without Cinder, he would still be out there camping instead of operating from within Vale itself! Frankly, the sheer amount of material and manpower provided by Cinder was absurd and fully impossible for just one person to achieve, She is working on the behalf of someone else there is no other possible explanation… Well, I suppose it doesn't matter as long as I achieve my own goals.
When Adam finally arrived at his destination he found to his pleasure that the technicians were hard at work monitoring the connection keeping it strong and steady but more importantly, secure. Without their efforts, there was a real chance that some random passerby with the right equipment and far too much curiosity could pick up on their messages and report them to the authorities. Though that will no longer be a concern when we finish relocating. "Who is in charge here?"
A young man with fins protruding from his elbows nearly fell out of his seat before making his way over to the Major, "Th-that would be me, sir! We're ready to connect you to HQ!"
Adam didn't say anything at first, he was too busy looking at the uniform the Tech was wearing because it wasn't a White Fang uniform. What he and the other Techs were wearing was the uniform of the "Communications," company that now owned this former storage facility, what they were wearing were reminders that he was in a human's debt, "Thank you but I can work the equipment myself, clear the room."
"Sir?"
"That was an order."
"Y-yes sir, I understand."
The Tech turned away from him and called out to the others, "You heard the Major, everybody stop what you're doing and get out!"
There was a moment of confusion but their understanding was not required, only their obedience and before long there was the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as everyone got up from their workstations and walked outside leaving Major alone. But that wasn't enough for him, not as long as there was even the smallest chance that someone else could listen in and so he spent the next few minutes looking for any possible way for somebody to peek inside. It was only when he was certain of his privacy did he walk up to the counsel and noticed that it was a new model that had been bought with Cinder's funding, This had better be worth it, a few button presses later light lights were dimmed as a large screen that was hanging on the wall came to life and then he kneeled before it.
The image on the tv showed a woman sitting on a throne dressed for combat and looking proud. However it would be wrong to assume it was a baseless arrogant pride, she was proud to be Faunus and she went as far as to have black stripes tattooed up and down her dark skin so that all would know that she was a tiger Faunus and she would never stop fighting for her people, "Major Adam Taurus, I've been looking forward to your report for a long time now."
"You honor me and I am pleased to report that we have made great strides for the cause, Sienna Khan."
"Oh I know all about your strides, I've seen your video and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by every aspect of it. But I have to ask, how did you manage to acquire the services of an entire hospital much less run it under the watchful gaze of the city?"
"I-I was contacted by an ally to the cause who was deeply concerned about the plight of the Faunus suffering from Rage, which was going unaddressed by the council. They offered the use of the facility, helped us find and treat victims, and even was there to meet the police who are still bothering him with questions."
"Well, I'm happy that you were able to find such a good Samaritan and I would love the opportunity to thank them personally."
Adam winced, I'll never get my chance if she finds out about Cinder! "Apologies but they requested to remain anonymous and after the service, they performed I cannot in good conscience break that promise."
Her face remained neutral but her eyes told a very different story as they looked right at him, right through him and making his guts twist. She then raised her hand and snapped her fingers which was the signal for one of her attendants to hand her two folders that she then held up for Adam to see, "One of these is the last three reports you sent me." She opened up one of the folders and began turning pages one by one, "I'll spare you the details since we both already know what is written in here; Struggle, frustration, an officer deserting, and you launching petty attacks that accomplish painfully little."
"I'll admit that I was going through a rough patch but my attacks were by no means petty, we needed supplies and took them from known enemies! I-!" Adam forced himself to stop talking, Calm down! She's trying to rile you up, calm down!
"If your attacks had been building up to something worthwhile then I would have no problem but instead all you ever seemed to do was stockpile more and more weapons and Dust!" She shook her head in disappointment, "Violence when the situation calls for violence, that is the principle that I use to guide my decisions. If a mine was exploiting Faunus workers and they refused to listen to reason then and only then would they find themselves under attack and even then we'd only go as far as necessary!"
"AS DID I!" He didn't mean to shout but now he was standing up and he wasn't about to back down, "You left me in charge of a group of soft wannabe soldiers that knew nothing of struggle and I turned them into fighters, you're welcome for that!"
His outburst hadn't upset her or even surprised her in any visible way, rather she looked bored. She was bored, she was bored of his attitude, of his one-track mind that always defaulted to violence, of his unwillingness to self-reflect, and of his blatant disrespect. If only he wasn't so damn popular amongst the extremists and lower ranks, those short-sighted fools. She then put the first folder down and held up the second, "This contains a series of reports on your activities."
Adam didn't say anything but he did glare at her from behind his mask, clenched his fists, began to grind his teeth, and mentally spewed out all manners of vulgarity but he held his tongue.
"Don't act so surprised, what kind of leader would I be if I didn't have the means to certify the reports I receive? It is after all far too easy to lie and the temptation to do so is always present, would you like to guess what this says?"
"I wouldn't have had to work with a human if you had me given actual soldiers or better yet! Assigned me to a location where I could do my job by leading raids instead of camping in the damned woods!"
Once again she ignored his anger, "My problem isn't with Torchwick, he may be scum but his actions are helping the cause and we know where his loyalties lie. Honestly, I think recruiting him was an excellent idea, good job Major."
"And another thing… wh-what?"
"I said employing Torchwick was a good idea," for the first time in a long time she smiled at him.
"Thank you?" he had prepared himself for many possibilities but this was not one of them, Am I dreaming? "I wasn't too sure about him at first but he soon proved his worth."
"Indeed he did, like how he helped you steal an entire shipment of Dust from the SDC. Dust that no doubt you are currently distributing to the poorer members of the community to help them weather the rising prices you caused when you stole the Dust."
He made a mental note to start giving away the excess Dust after he finished lying to her, "Naturally this was always a priority for me." Then she gave him a look, it was one that he had seen several times in the past and never under good conditions. It was the kind of look someone gave you when they had just reached their limits of what they were willing to put up but were too burnt out to get angry. It was a look of disappointment given to children caught lying and he instinctively braced himself for whatever was about to come.
"Adam," She opened up the folder and began flipping through the documents, "Guns, explosives, vans, trucks, armored carriers, Military Grade Bullheads, Atlas Paladins and the list goes on… how did you get this?"
"Torchwi-!"
"TORCHWICK IS JUST A THIEF!" She was standing up now and Adam did not doubt that she would be grabbing him by the collar of his shirt if there wasn't an ocean between them, "Do you think me some kind of fool!? There is no way that Roman Torchwick could have provided all of this and it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of why you failed to report it!"
"I just haven't gotten the chance to report it!" That was a blatant lie and he regretted saying the moment the words left his mouth, There's no way she'd believe that, he was right.
"I am putting you on probation and you will remain there until you decide to come clean about your suppliers and your plans, furthermore you will no longer receive material or personnel support from us."
"Surely you jest… you're serious? Are you actually serious right now!?" Adam could feel the vein in his forehead begin to pop, he could see the red seeping into his vision as reason became overwhelmed by anger. "ARE YOU ABANDONING ME!?"
Sienna raised an eyebrow, "Me? Why did you single yourself out? What about your men or the civilians who rely on your branch of the White Fang because Vale ignores them."
"Why does it matter?"
"Because this isn't about you, this is about our people, our cause, and the future of our race! If you can't understand that then maybe I made a mistake when I appointed you to head the Vale Branch."
"You only did that to get rid of me because you were jealous of how people were looking up to me! You pushed me away because you're too weak to do what must be done for our people! But I'm not! I swear to you..." he just kept going but she didn't flinch once during his tantrum, she just calmly sat down on her throne and waited for him to finish. "...They will never treat us as equals which is why we need to rise above them."
"Are you done? Did you get it out of your system?"
Adam took several deep breaths, "Yeah, I'm good."
"That's great and I want you to know that I appreciate you expressing your concern so I am happy to say that, you're on thin ice."
"Wha-!"
"You had your turn and now it's mine so shut up and listen for once in your life!" She closed her eyes and counted down from five before continuing, "The White Fang was founded for the sake of promoting equality, violence is a tool to achieve that and it is only to be used when necessary and only against those who have earned it. Your views are antithetical to the organization and right now the only thing that is keeping me from disavowing you is that you haven't crossed the line yet. Do. Not. Test. Me." There was nothing more to talk about but the call wasn't ended, the conversion turned confrontation had raised tempers to the point that now both were staring down at each other waiting for the other to blink and neither willing to give in.
The tense was then destroyed when one of Sienna's aides suddenly spoke up, "Sorry to bother you Ma'am but Major Cerulean is waiting to give his report."
She looked at her aid and smiled, "Thank you for the reminder." She then looked right back and Adam and frowned, "I don't know how you got all those resources but we can discuss that after we see what your plan is. Don't forget why we're fighting."
"Everything I do, I do for Faunuskind."
"Then let your actions reflect that Major," She then ended the call and for a moment Adam just stared at the now blank screen.
*BANG*
Smoke drifted out of the barrel of Wilt and Blush as Adam placed his weapon back in its holster, in the back of his head he was aware of the sound of the Technicians trying to open the door and their cries of concern for their equipment disguised as concern for him. The rest of his attention was focused almost exclusively on the newly formed hole in the TV screen, on a purely intellectual level he understood that the shooting had been an impulsive and utterly immature act but he was too furious to even consider logic. He was so angry that when he opened the door he couldn't hear the questions technicians had for him nor did he notice them pushing past him to check inside as he began to stomp back to his office.
Once he returned he dismissed his Lieutenant with nothing more than a furious glare and once he was alone, he sat down behind the deck and just fumed in silence. Eventually, his anger began to die down and with renewed clarity, he thought back to his conversation and reviewed his actions, She made me look like a damned fool! Why can't she understand that half-assed measures will never work? Violence when the situation calls for violence? That drivel might mean something if violence wasn't the only language that humans understand! Why does it feel like I'm the only one who learned anything from Ghira's utter failure?!
He would have likely continued ranting for another hour or so had his scroll not suddenly ring, without thinking he grabbed the offending device and answered, "What do you want?"
"To offer you some help," an unfamiliar voice answered.
Adam pulled the scroll away from his ear and looked at the screen but instead of seeing the caller's face, he saw that a video had been sent to him, "What is this? Who are you?"
"I am the creator of what people have been calling, Rage."
"And what would you call it?"
There was a brief moment of silence that was broken by the sound of chuckling, "Oh, you are quite the clever one. Rage was an incomplete product that was distributed in secret to gather data, it was an experiment."
"An experiment? We were told that it would bring us victory, was that a lie?"
"Yes and no. Cinder was jumping ahead when she called Rage the key to victory. However, the final product, which will be provided to you at no cost, is going to be what tips the scales in your favor."
Adam was suspicious but at the same time, he could not deny that he was a little interested, "And this video, is it proof?"
"That is a video of a failed prototype in action but it gets the point across rather well."
Adam hit play and watched as a Faunus woman tore through a group of armed guards with ease but there was something off about her. He paused the video and stared at her image, she had antlers on her head that suggest she was deer Faunus but they seemed big, a little too big, and oddly sharp. Zooming in a little he noticed that her hair was graying but more importantly was her figure and the way she fought, it revealed that she wasn't a Huntsman or a soldier or even a cop, "She's a civilian!?"
"Correct! But thanks to the drug she is now able to punch well above her weight class and she's become even stronger since then."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because it is time to retire the old girl and I would like your help to do that."
"Retire?"
"She's been through a lot and sadly her mind is all but gone, I've tried to restore it but it's to no avail. My research would have never made it this far without her help so at the very least I wanted to send her off in a way that would honor her."
Adam rolled his eyes, this was exactly the kind of self-congratulatory self-righteous bullshit he had seen so often from so many politicians in the past. It made him sick to think about how far Faunus Rights would have gone if most of those fakers had delivered on even a fourth of their promises, And then they dared to condemn us when we got tired of their stalling and demand the change we were promised. A part of him wanted to just hang up on this caller but another strong part wanted to see just where all of this was going.
"The woman's name Mable Evergreen even if she doesn't remember it and I must say that it was both difficult and extremely rewarding to dig up her history. Had I been a historian-!"
"My patience wears thin, get to the point."
"Very well, Ms. Evergreen hates humans and her diary makes it clear that she wished that she had been born before the Faunus Rights Revolution so she could have fought in it and as a colleague of Cinder I know what you're planning so here is my no strings attached offer for you; I'll send you Mable and you put her on the frontline, I get loads of combat data, you get a half-decent and completely disposable fighter, and she gets to fulfill her desire of spilling blood for Fuanuskind. Everyone wins!"
Adam agreed.
Author's Notes: If its one thing that RWBY fans almost universally agree on is that the White Fang plotline was poorly done, even the writers of the show admit that this was an area they failed. Many have argued what would be the best way to handle them and I always believed that introducing Sienna well before Vol 5, would have been a strong step in the right direction. I intended to prove my theory by improving the White Fang story line, without altering the character or events but rather by expanding on the organization itself and its role in the story.