Author's Notes

le BEEP le BEEP le BEEP le BEEP le BEEP le BEEP le BEEP le BEEP

That's the new story alert! For some reason, it's French this time - I guess a little bit of France must have accidentally seeped in when I was cleaning it, and now the whole thing's going to be like that until it cools off! Anyways, on to the new story.

We've got action! We've got romance! We've got Freezerburn! We've even got Zwei! That's right, the epic ballad of DUST BITCH has finally arrived!

Yang didn't mean to run over that girl with her motorcycle, but can you really blame her when the young woman was lying face-down on a backroad in the middle of nowhere in Patch in the dead of night? Fortunately, Yang's unintended victim is a huntress and survived the hit, but now Yang owes her one. And in this case, one happens to mean helping Weiss Schnee avoid a trail of assassins and mercenaries dead set on stopping Weiss from traveling across half the world to get home.

Dust Bitch, the newest RatCrimes fanfiction story, will be posting next Wednesday. Be sure to give it the old gander!

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Chapter 56 – What About Me?

Not all people are created equal, apparently.

"Computer, mark the location in the ship's logs," Velvet said into her scroll as the three of them trudged on through the hallway.

"Your scroll don't contact the Job Hunter," Blake said. "And we don't have logs."

"I know," Velvet pouted. "But that was a once in a lifetime chance, and I have to miss it because we're at woooooork…auuuugh…"

Groaning in overexaggerated agony, she rubbed her hands from the top of her forehead down to her chin, dragging her eyelids as she did. In spite of her childish protests, Velvet had in fact let go of the room full of sex toys and things without seriously trying to stall them, so Jaune figured she was entitled to a little silliness if she so wished.

The next three rooms that they cleared were closer in nature to the dancefloor/clubhouse room, albeit much smaller. Velvet described them as 'private areas,' and Jaune decided to assume that the word private in that case referred to the level of privacy and not the nature of the parts that would be shared within them.

The panic room itself was not actually the last room on the end of the hallway, as Jaune had been expecting. There was a small corridor just two doors down that had an red icon of a stick figure running, a Beowolf's bone mask, and an upwards facing arrow on it, which Jaune assumed was meant to imply that it was the direction in which people were supposed to flee in the event that things went wrong.

The corridor itself was narrow, likely to physically bar anything that wasn't the proportions of a human from following those that were down it. At the end, it widened into a large, single steel door. This one had the same indented barcode reader that Jaune had to stick his arm into in order to show it the code for scanning.

"At least the security here is good," Velvet said. "They clearly prepped for the worst, and it's paying off."

"Didn't pay off for the bodies out front," Blake grimly reminded them, causing the mood of the room to drop.

Both girls immediately rushed to apologize for the words, with Velvet saying she hadn't meant to imply their deaths were acceptable and Blake clarifying that she wasn't suggesting anything, but the metal barricade slowly creaked upwards like a garage door before either of them could get out any meaningful thoughts.

Jaune heard screams and shouts from under the small crack and realized that the people inside had no idea what was coming.

"It's okay!" Jaune dropped to his knees and pressed his cheek to the ground, hoping they might see him if he got close enough. "We're coming to save you!"

A bullet flicked off of his cheek, inflicting no damage as his aura protected the skin. Jaune mentally thanked Blake for having trained him up on getting accustomed to raising his shields at all times when in possible combat and just kept speaking.

"We're the rescue squad, folks! There aren't any Grimm, just people, okay?"

The door was now a good foot off the ground, and Jaune stuck his hand through awkwardly to wave to the people on the other side. He couldn't really get the angle right and had to do an upside-down, modified wave, but he hoped that a person's hand as opposed to a Grimm's paw might be enough of a message.

The shouting on the other side had already subsided by that point, as had the shooting, so Jaune stepped back and allowed the door to open on its own the rest of the way. Velvet had taken up watching the corridor behind them, meaning that Jaune could focus on greeting the people.

Before the door even opened up all the way, his heart sank at the sight of far more pairs of legs and shoes than he'd been expecting. The way it had been described by their point of contact, this was going to be a small group of people, maybe ten to twelve. The Job Hunter couldn't even fit that many, but two trips would make it easy.

There had to be a good hundred feet visible beneath the bottom of the door, meaning that there were fifty humans or Faunus that needed rescue.

I guess it'll be a few trips. Damn it, that's gonna cost us extra on the Dust, but we can't just leave people, even if we were only hired to save one dude and his wife.

As it happened, the one dude himself was the person to duck under the partially raised door and greet Jaune first.

"Councilman Virgil, at your service. Would you folks be the hunters assigned to rescue these fine folks?"

Jaune nodded and shook his hand. "Yes, sir, though I do have to clarify that we aren't formally registered as hunters…"

"I understand. The rest of the council will be doing their best to keep this quiet…forgive me for any difficulties my circumstances have laden upon you and your team."

"It gives us a job," Jaune said, shrugging. "Now, we're going to have to –"

"WHITE FANG!" someone behind the door screamed, and chaos followed. Jaune hadn't even realized that the door was fully open, but it was apparently enough for the people inside to see out, see two Faunus, and jump to rampant conclusions.

"What? Where?"

"White Fang and Grimm! We're doomed!"

BANG!

Another bullet was fired from whoever had the gun, colliding with the back of Velvet's head. She turned around, blinking in confusion at the minor inconvenience, and the screams intensified.

"White Fang huntress! Run!"

"No!" Jaune shouted, trying to raise his voice above the crowd. "No, we're not –"

BANG!

Jaune was hit once again by another bullet, this time in the chest.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" shouted the councilman. "PLEASE CALM DOWN AT ONCE!"

There was no fundamental different to Jaune's weak protest as compared to the councilman's aside from volume, but he had to admit, the man somehow had a lot more presence. He wasn't screaming or shouting at his audience, but the neutral, non-targeted way he spoke seemed to somehow address all of them at once.

"Now, whoever has that firearm, please do us all a favor and try not to shoot our rescuers, okay?" The councilman placed himself between the crowd and Jaune. "I know that you have the right to bear arms, but let's not go crazy."

That got some minor chuckles from the crowd, but not all of them.

"It's the White Fang! It's –"

"No, it's not," said Councilman Virgil. "It's hunters who were assigned this mission to save our lives. The White Fang has no presence in Vale, and even in the locations they do, that does not justify bodily assault on any group of Faunus. Now please, just stay calm, and we'll all be out of here and back to safety soon enough."

He turned back to Jaune and spoke in a lower tone.

"We've been going a little stir crazy in here, and I think it's time that we departed. Do you have an airship ready outside?"

"We do, sir, but it won't be big enough to hold everyone. We'll have to make multiple trips…probably eight to ten."

If the councilman wasn't happy about that (and Jaune suspected that he probably was not), he didn't let it show. "Better ten trips than leaving someone behind. I'm sure I can compensate you and your folks for any excess costs…though…there is something I'd like to ask. Let's walk as we talk."

He turned back to the crowd of people who were looking his way and smiled broadly.

"Let's go folks. Thanks to these fine hunters, it's now only a matter of time before we're all safely returned to the walls of the kingdom." He wrapped his arm over Jaune's shoulder. "How about a round of applause for the heroes of the kingdom?"

The same group that had just accused Team Job of terrorism and tried to shoot him just second ago now cheered.

"We're no–"

"I know, but there's no need for these people to," said Councilman Virgil, only loud enough for Jaune to hear. "It's better for everyone if you're 'hunters.' This is an off-the-books mission, after all."

The façade of the high-end, fancy club began to break down as Team Job led the survivors down the hallway towards the main exit.

Regarding the former, it wasn't too difficult to distinguish high-paying resort patrons from the other type of people present in the crowd. No one was wearing nametags, but there were very clearly three groups of people here, separated by their careers. Those who'd paid to attend this function were dressed accordingly, wearing comfortable robes, suits, or pajamas (the attack had taken place at night).

The second was the lodge's employees, who wore uniforms with soft orange tops and pale purple pants. All of them were neatly dressed in the same outfits, and Jaune could imagine them cleaning the rooms, mixing drinks behind the bars, or doing the other upkeep jobs that were needed in any quality hotel.

But the third group of people, the ones that stood out the most, were the lodge's other employees. They were dressed to impress…to impress the first group, that was. This collection of people, which was entirely made up of women, had on what Jaune would've described as slutty costumes for a Huntoween party, had he not known the context. None of it looked particularly comfortable, but Jaune imagined it was not their comfort that was in mind but their ability to provide comfort.

The giddy smile Velvet had worn upon getting to visit her favorite place was missing entirely. As she'd said many times before, she was pretty progressive (more so than most) when it came to sex, but apparently hiring staff to tend to the guests' needs was going too far even for her.

The other façade that broke down was that of the pleasant, man-among-the-people politician who'd somehow either been appointed spokesman of the mid-sized group of people or had appointed himself to that role.

"You said it might take ten trips…would we perhaps be able to make that eleven?" he asked Jaune.

Jaune wasn't the pilot, nor was he the economist, but he didn't need to be to know that making more trips wasn't a good thing for anyone. "We'd prefer to evacuate the people as quickly as possible."

"No, I understand – I'm not suggesting we leave anyone behind." He and Jaune were walking at the front of the group, where the councilman had keenly positioned himself next to the 'leader' of team Job, with both of the 'subordinates' in between them and the rest of the victims. "I'd like to request that my wife and I remain at the back of the pack. You evacuate everyone else first, then you give us a private trip back to safety. Paid for as you see fit, of course."

"You…want to be rescued last?" Jaune asked incredulously. He really hadn't been expecting that, certainly not from a dude who was showing minor signs of pompous self-importance.

Maybe I misjudged him. Maybe all politicians aren't actually evil…?

Nah, there's gotta be a reason.

"Why?" Jaune asked. "You're the one hiring us. You could probably ask to go first, and there'd be nothing we can do."

"I understand the important of loading your ship up and getting as many of these fine folks to the kingdom as quickly as possible," Councilman Virgil stated. "The first evacuation will have to be packed to the brim, as will the second and third and so on. What concerns me is getting caught seen flying aboard an airship with…individuals who might be damaging to my professional image. So, you and Team Jog rescue everyone as you see fit, and then you come back and fly me to a different location. I only ask for special treatment when it comes at no risk to anyone else."

That…wasn't unreasonable. It wasn't highly intelligent either, but this lodge was akin to a fortress, meaning that it would be a safe place to stay. Velvet would ferry people to and from the lodge to Vale, and Jaune and Blake would stay behind to ensure the safety of the others in the event that the Grimm returned. There was no reason it wouldn't work.

Remember, Jaune, you promised Velvet not to judge her for being…part of an alternative lifestyle. Well, this guy wants the same treatment, and he hasn't done anything wrong, aside from coming to a place that hires escorts or hookers or whatever role those women fill. Not great, but not something by which Team Job can't abide.

"Okay," Jaune said. "If you want to wait, and there's no threat to anyone's safety…oh, hold on a second."

They needed the barcode to open up the doors, meaning that Jaune had to stick his arm into the tube and let it read his scroll once more. Departing from the councilman, Jaune placed himself in front of the scanner and pulled up the code.

"Our airship is parked just to the southeast," Blake said to the crowd of people as the large bulkhead began to open up. "We're going to take you in groups of six at a time – that's basically the max number we can fit. For those who won't be going, we ask that –"

"W-Won't be going?" said a voice in the back.

This time, the councilman stepped in before the few stray words could turn into an angry mob. "Folks, I know it's not pleasant, but it's our safest option. Crashing an overfilled airship isn't a fundamentally better way to die than being eaten by the Grimm, but if we put our trust in the hands of the hunters who know best how to safeguard it, we can spare ourselves both fates. Now, I've personally volunteered to take the last trip back, and I promise that –"

"GET DOWN!"

Blake tackled the councilman to the ground as a Deathstalker's frontal pincer snapped where he'd just been standing a second ago. Jaune had been so distracted by the man's speech (and by a buzzing noise in the background that he was trying to place) that he hadn't even seen it coming.

The claw caught Blake instead and began to squeeze her by the midriff, but Velvet wrapped her arms around it and twisted. Blake was released and dropped to the floor next to the councilman, who was crawling away from the door.

"JAUNE!" Velvet cried. "CLOSE IT!"

Panicking, Jaune tried to scan the barcode again, but that didn't change anything. He raised his arm up in haste, not sure of why the door kept going, but that only caused him to drop his grip on his scroll and lose hold of it entirely.

"THE EMERGENCY CLOSE!" Velvet screamed, the buzzing getting louder, wrestling the Deathstalker's claw as the entire beast came into view. "THE RED BUTTON!"

Frantically, Jaune slammed his fist into the button he'd forgotten existed and then reached for his sword. Velvet was pushing the Grimm back, equal in strength to its singular claw, but if another one tried to snatch her up (or worse, a lethal stinger on the end of a tail primed to strike), she would be a goner.

Crocea Mors pierced the claw at the wrist, and Jaune jerked his sword at an angle to remove the limb entirely. The Deathstalker's jet black blood shot onto his armor as Velvet backed up to grab Blake and the councilman by the scruffs of their necks and carry them back to safety.

"Why is there a Grimm?!" Jaune shouted, his shield raising in time to block the second claw. "I thought the guns would –"

"The guns should!" Velvet shouted.

The buzzing sound was getting quieter, and the door was mostly closed, far too low for a claw or stinger to get through. The Stalker might have been a powerful Grimm, but deprived of a limb, it wasn't going to be enough to breach the doors on its own. For a second, Jaune took a step back and allowed himself to breathe.

Then, something loud impacted the entire door, causing the building to shake.

Metal near the top tore, and a black beak ripped into the resort and loudly screeched.

Jaune could only watch in terror as the almost-closed door faltered for a moment before starting to rise up again. The motors that closed it were still whirring, but the Nevermore that had butted its face right through was pushing against them. In that battle of might, the metal of the door itself was the first one to fail and began to tear open wider.

The bigger the hole got, the louder that buzzing got, until Jaune realized what it was.

All of the turrets outside were doing their job as intended and mowing down the Grimm as they approached the resort. In fact, they'd even managed to finish Jaune's work and kill the wounded Deathstalker that had first breached the walls. However, the Grimm were showing up in such gargantuan numbers that the rate at which they arrived was faster than the rate at which bullets would tear through their armor. Grimm were dying by the hundred outside every minute that passed, but more were coming to take their place, and the resort was being overrun.

"Fall back!" Jaune called out, taking charge. "Fall back to the panic room! Velvet, Blake, on me!"

"I can't!" cried Blake. "I can't walk!"

Jaune looked back to see Blake's midriff and upper pants bloodied, with lines of red traveling upward to a wide cut around her navel, right where the Deathstalker had pinched her.

"Someone help Blake!" Jaune commanded. "Velvet, to me!"

The Giant Nevermore had been gunned down outside, but several smaller Gryphons' claws had taken its place and were widening the holes in the main door that had been started by the mega-Grimm. Meanwhile, the low space near the ground that the still-open door wasn't blocking was letting in smaller Grimms like Creeps or Beta Beowolves.

Jaune bisected a Beowolf that tried to jump right over him and get to the survivors as Velvet created a Hard Light rocket launcher of some sort and began to take shots at the Grimm that were making it through. Meanwhile, the turrets continued to spin outside at their maximum speeds, though for how much longer, Jaune knew not.

The breached door wasn't useless, as it kept out the Grimm that were too large for the two security consultants to handle, but the hole kept widening, and it would only be a matter of time before it fell completely.

"Velvet, can you clear them out with your minigun?" Jaune asked. "The one you used on Tyrian?"

Velvet blasted a flock of juvenile Nevermore into oblivion and fell back. "I can try! Hold them off while I do!"

Jaune continued to do his best to combat the rapidly growing flux of Grimm, but there was only so much he could do with a simple sword and shield. Their greatest advantage was fading quickly, and now larger Grimm like Ursai and Alpha Beos were starting to flood the room one at a time.

It has to be every D-worded Grimm in the entire countryside out here, Jaune thought. We'd be lucky if we can even make it to the Job Hunter, let alone lift off into the air.

The Grimm he was seeing wasn't even the enemy's full contingent. Outside, there had to be ten times more that were being mowed down by the turrets. Every passing second gave the monsters of darkness a better position – a larger hole, more Grimm inside the resort, fewer leftover bullets.

So much for multiple trips. We need to get out of here, ASAP.

"Blake!" Jaune called out, not taking the time to look back. "Call Benson! Get him to bring his airship!"

It wasn't all that much bigger than Team Job's when it came to it, but size wasn't the primary factor here. The Job Hunter was a Gala Canary airship, an extremely light, extremely efficient model that used Gravity Dust to fly cheaply. For its size, it could only hold a small number of people.

On the other hand, Benson's rental airship was a fairly normal model. It was moderately sized, but they could pack it to the roof with people and not risk overweighing it.

Between his ship and ours, we should have enough capacity to evacuate the entire crowd.

A small King Taijitu that must have slithered in grabbed hold of Jaune's right leg with its fangs on both heads, having snuck up on him while he was focused on a Beowolf's snapping jaws, and the break in his concentration was enough to deprive him of Crocea Mors' sword. Jaune's shield kept the Beowolf from slashing his throat, but without a weapon, he had no means to dispatch them.

"Jaune! Turn around! Shield towards me!"

It was Velvet who'd spoken, so Jaune implicitly decided to put his trust in her and turn. It cost him a meaty chunk of aura when the Beowolf got its fangs around Jaune's jaw, but aura was something he had in spades.

BLATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

The Grimm were obliterated in an instant by the overpowering wall of bullets that Velvet's minigun formed. Jaune would have been as well had his shield not been protecting him, and even as it was, the force of the attack felt like it broke his arm.

"C'mon Gianduja, gimme some love!"

BLATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

More and more Hard Light bullets devastated the Grimm, destroying any and all who had gotten into the room as Velvet swept from left to right, but the door was also caught up in the crossfire. Hunkering down behind his shield and covering his ears, Jaune could only watch as the snowy wilderness outside was revealed in full to be an all-out warzone.

Some of the turrets were turning slightly red or orange from the sheer heat of the countless bullets they had been firing, and many patches of snow had been entirely dug down to the soil and dirt. Not a single tree that had been there before remained, all pulverized into sawdust and wood chips. It was impossible to tell how many Grimm had been slain so far, as they left no corpses, but it had to be in the thousands, given how many were pouring in from the wilderness.

The automatic guns were targeting the larger Grimm first, and Velvet continued to aid them as she emptied out her supply of Hard Light. The sheer force of the constant attack was actually enough to clear out the area for a moment, though Jaune could see that more Grimm were off in the distance on their way.

We might have two minutes before they're here, Jaune estimated as Velvet's gun stopped shooting.

"Blake!" Jaune called, only to realize she and everyone else were gone. The entire front area of the resort was deserted, save for him and Velvet. "Crap. Did she call for help?"

Velvet pointed to her ears. "WHAT?"

Double crap.

"Hold the line for a sec, Vel," Jaune said. She couldn't hear him, but he imagined she would figure out what to do if any Grimm came their way.

Jaune raced down the main hallway towards the panic room, only stopping to pick up his sword when he saw it.

When he arrived, the crowd of people were cowering at the end of the narrow hallway. Blake stood at the front, gun drawn as she leaned on the councilman for support.

"Jaune!"

"Blake! Did you call Benson?"

"I did! He's gonna be here ASAP!"

"How quickly is ASAP?" asked Councilman Virgil. "Five minutes? An hour?"

It had taken Team Job about thirty-five minutes to fly out there, so Jaune figured it would probably take just as long for the rental service to arrive. He relayed this to the others.

"Here, let's get you out front," said the councilman to Blake. "Lean on my shoulder, here, miss. Here, Jutarna, come and help me."

A woman came out of the crowd and raced to help Blake, taking her by the other arm. Based on her bathrobes, Jaune imagined she was another one of the patrons of the club.

"My wife," the councilman said to Jaune. "I'd introduce you, but I don't think we have the time."

"I can't fight," Blake said, gripping her bleeding stomach in pain.

"No, but you can shoot that gun better than any of us, I imagine," the councilman said. "If we need to hold the Grimm off for thirty-five minutes, I suspect we'll need every fighter we can manage. The two of us will support you, Madame Huntress. As for the rest of you, sit tight, and don't come out no matter what."

Jaune started to run ahead to check up on Velvet and see if she needed any help. The three slower members of their party of four could catch up on their own time, especially since Blake was more or less reduced to an immobile handgun being carted around by two civilians.

I mean, technically, we're all civilians here.

"Hold on a moment, huntsman," said Councilman Virgil, aiding a limping Blake forward as they walked. "There's something I need to ask you."

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Jaune said.

"I assure you, it can't," he said. "I need to talk to you."

Jaune bit his lip.

Velvet must be low on Dust after that attack, but she stopped when she saw there were no more Grimm. The turrets will slow any of them that advance on us.

"Alright, what? Make it quick, sir."

"I assume that you cleared out the Grimm up ahead, if you came to check on us?"

Jaune nodded. "Yes, but not for long. More will be –"

"How many folks fit on your airship?" asked the councilman bluntly.

"Not as many as were in that room," Jaune stated with the same bluntness. "And Velvet's our best pilot. If Nevermore are swarming, we'd need her at the helm. She's also our best fighter, and I don't think I need to say that she can't be in two places at once."

It was a good idea, to evacuate as many as they could on the Job Hunter right now, but with Blake injured, they had next to no change of holding off the Grimm without the full might of Team Job (of which Velvet made up a good 70% normally and 95% right now).

"We need to go," the councilman said. "Before the Grimm return. Your ship can fit at least five, right?"

It was really difficult for Jaune to have to walk alongside this man and repeat himself in a completely pointless discussion when he could be running up to help Velvet. "Yes, but as I said, we –"

"Leave the rest behind," said the councilman. "The Grimm killed them all, and we were the only survivors."

Jaune stopped dead in his tracks.

"That's an order, huntsman."

The councilman's wife averted her eyes but said nothing to counter her husband's request. Blake looked as horrified as Jaune felt.

And the councilman, the man who was supposed to be sharing the burden of all of Vale's governmental control, was just staring at Jaune firmly. He appeared neither ashamed nor guilty, and Jaune could tell that this wasn't some verbal misunderstanding.

"What happened to 'I'll go last?'" Jaune asked.

"That was when things were easy. Now, things are tough. Let's go."

"No," Jaune said.

It wasn't a difficult choice to make, even if Jaune felt horrified that he was going to have to make it. The councilman may have been their client here, but Jaune was going to be D-worded if he left behind fifty people so that one could survive.

And it may not even be survival he's worried about, given how image-conscious he was before.

Virgil stopped walking. "Huntsman, on the authority of the council of Vale, I am ordering you to –"

"If you'd listened to me," Jaune began, cutting the councilman off, "you'd have heard that I'm not a licensed huntsman."

Jaune decided that he'd left Velvet alone long enough. Pushing his way in between Blake and the man carrying her right side, he heaved the Faunus' arm over his shoulder and started moving forward as fast as he could.

"And that means that you, esteemed member of the council of Vale, have no authority to tell me what to do."

Coming Soon: Mutual Assurance

If nobody can lose, then everybody wins.

Author's Notes

Ah, choosing to do the right thing (yet again). I'm sure that's going to mesh well with the debt Team Job Security is in.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!