Team JNPR

Bullhead Main Room

Ren stared at the shrinking forms of Jaune and the Promethean as they fell. Penny cowered in a fetal position in the corner, head hidden in her hands.

Ren's mind churned with turmoil. Jaune had trusted Penny absolutely. She had shot him in cold blood when he was vulnerable, lying in the grasp of the mutilated Promethean. If she was here to help murder Jaune, her actions didn't make it look like she was feeling anything like success.

Blackmail? Ren almost dismissed it outright, thinking that the Atlesian Armed Forces were strong enough to protect a Huntress-in-training. But that delusion had been violently and suddenly shattered after the Promethean had just waltzed into the base. What was it that Jaune said before Penny shot him?

Ren closed his eyes and concentrated on rewinding his memory to a few seconds ago. He stood mere feet from the Promethean, Penny kneeling by Jaune. Jaune's mouth moved and said something to Penny. Ren rewound again. And again. And again. Nothing, he couldn't make out the words that had caused Penny to shoot his team leader.

Ren looked up as Nora and Pyrrha entered the room. The door slammed closed behind them. Pyrrha still seemed dizzy and under the effects of aura exhaustion, but she stumbled over with Nora's help. The two kneeled next to Ren. He felt Pyrrha's entire body tense up as she realized what the falling objects were.

Ren could still see them falling, getting smaller and smaller as the seconds crawled by. He closed his eyes, thinking of the broader picture. Now was the time for action, not reaction. The fight had only really damaged the cabin and this common room. The cabin had suffered a 'catastrophic atmosphere breach' according to Penny. That must have been the Promethean's entry point.

The clangs of metal had reached Ren's ears mere moments after Jaune had left the Health Bay. Ren had left Nora to look after Pyrrha and raced to the main room. He arrived just in time to see the Promethean and Jaune circling each other in the enclosed space. The rest would be seared into his mind for years to come.

There had been no spray of blood, no indication that Jaune had been injured by the shot. Could there be a chance that they could catch him before he fell into the water? The chances were low, but low was better than nothing.

Pyrrha flinched next to him. Ren's eyes snapped open just in time to see the cause of Pyrrha's surprise. An orange flower bloomed where the two bodies had been a few milliseconds ago. A shockwave swept over the ship, shaking the platform they knelt on. Ren grabbed Pyrrha as she almost collapsed against him. He pulled her away from the edge and sat her up against the wall.

So much for catching him. Goodbye Jaune.

Nora glanced up from her unsuccessful attempts at consoling Penny. After spending so many years with her, Ren could read her like a book. Ren shook his head. Nora's eyes widened and she raced to the edge to watch as the final flames dispersed in the wind. The normally hyperactive girl kneeled stock-still, fighting back tears.

The wind howled through the cabin, doing its best to disperse the heavy atmosphere. Pyrrha leaned against the wall, eyes closed and a tear crawling down her face. Ren's normally stoic bearing was cracking as he fought to keep his emotions under control. Penny still lay completely still in the corner.

"How could it go so wrong?" Nora's voice was quiet, almost inaudible over the roar of the wind. "A damn ship was dropped on that freak. We're a mile high. How?!" Nora's hands curled into fists and her aura flared around her. She slammed her fist into the wall, almost tearing through it. Ren hadn't seen her this angry and frustrated since their village had been ransacked four years ago.

Ren grabbed her before she could lash out again. He wrapped his arms around her and held on as she tried to break out from his grip. Her struggles slowed as sobs shook her. Ren held her and shared in her grief as they had so many years ago. He could still remember the dark interior of the Bullhead that had carried them away from their burning village. Help had been too little, too late to save most of the citizens.

The wind increased in pitch and shut off entirely as the doors finally closed. Pyrrha opened her eyes and watched as Penny sat up. The girl was still unknown to her, but Jaune seemed to trust her. She had seemed exuberant, even slightly manic in her behavior before the fighting began. Now she was a far cry from the one back at the military base.

"What happened here Penny?" Pyrrha's voice cracked. Penny's eyes turned to her and they seemed distant, as if the redhead was simply looking but not processing anything. Pyrrha saw Ren's eyes turn to Penny, with anger in his eyes. Penny noticed and shrank slightly into herself.

"Tell her Penny. Tell her everything you did." Ren's voice was normally smooth and free of any overt emotions, but this was cold, even for him. Penny hesitated for a second before making up her mind. She moved to the center of the room and sat down cross-legged on the floor. Her eyes closed for a second before reopening.

Pyrrha gasped imperceptibly at the sight. Where green human eyes used to be now resided two green, slightly translucent orbs. Light shined out of them and onto the floor where a symbol showed up. A green sword hovering in midair before splitting into Atlas's emblem and two concentric arcs.

That's Jaune's symbol. What's that doing there?

The symbols dissipated and a hologram of Penny showed up. It was the same happy and excited version of Penny that they had seen back at base.

"Salutations! I am Penny Polendina. You are most likely watching this because my human self is compromised for some reason. Not to worry! I am here to help. Please, converse as you would with a real human." The smile wavered microscopically.

"What…what do you mean real human?"

"I am not a real human in the normal sense. The part of me talking to you right now is a computer program because my human self is incapacitated in some form. I guess you could call me Shilling." The hologram looked around with a half-smile before sighing a little. "That was supposed to be funny."

Nora had calmed down and was sitting opposite Pyrrha, staring at the hologram. Ren stood behind her, a similar expression on his face. The reason no one reacted was because of the absurdity of their situation.

"I must admit; I am a bit confused. I do not see any authorized Atlas personnel here. I am assuming that due to my deployment here, we are in a safe environment. Is that a correct assumption?"

Pyrrha nodded and the hologram smiled. "Excellent! What else can I do for you?"

"Are you saying Penny isn't a human?" Nora asked incredulously.

"Not in the traditional sense. Her genome, appearance, even behavior to some extent matches a human's. She even has an aura. A better term would be cyborg, according to my internal dictionary.

She has robotic parts inside of her, meant to protect her and those she is assigned to protect. Weapons, plated endoskeleton, reinforced joints, the works. An AI imprinted on the 'brain'," the hologram made air quotes. "alongside the normal imprint of the brain."

Is this what Atlas has been doing? I had heard rumors, but this is ridiculous!

"How had Atlas managed to do all this?" Ren gestured to Penny's body. "The technology isn't advanced enough to modify a human body to this extent."

The hologram beamed. "This body wasn't modified, it was created! My father started the project, and my brother joined in soon after to help finish it."

"Your…your father and brother? Do you mean you have family? They created you?"

"Well, not biologically speaking. Well, technically my father is the biological father of the original Penny whose brain we used for the imprint. My 'brother' helped develop the technology and ideas behind making me possible."

Pyrrha started rubbing her temples. It was going over her head and it didn't help that the hologram was doing a horrible job at explaining itself.

"Your father is Victor Polendina, right? Who's your so-called brother?"

"Jaune Arc." Penny's smile withered away like paper in a fireplace as she looked at everyone's expression. "Is…there something wrong? What happened?"

"You mean you don't know? You shot him off this ship, leading to his death." Ren stated bluntly.

Penny's eyes widened with shock. "WHAT? That…why would I…I don't believe it!"

Nora's eyes narrowed. She leaned towards the hologram. "You shot him and you don't remember?! What kind of…"

Penny held up her hands and started talking quickly. "Full disclosure, I am simply a backup. I do not have full access to memories. I do not understand why Penny would shoot Jaune, but I can search through the log dumps for the gun. Was there anything he said to her that caused her to react so…violently?"

Everyone turned to Ren. He grimaced. "He did say something, around a couple words before she stiffened up and raised her arm to shoot. I couldn't make out anything else."

The hologram nodded, saluted, and disappeared. Penny's body didn't stir. Pyrrha watched it for a little bit before looking back up to Ren.

"How did he die? What happened?"

Ren rubbed his eyes. "I wasn't there for the actual fight, but last I saw they were squaring off weapon less. The Promethean was faster than Jaune but the enclosed space evened the odds letting/Jaune held his own.

I came back here to think of a plan, before I heard a series of small pops. I rushed to the compartment to see the Promethean pinning Jaune down while squeezing his head. Jaune's eyes were closed and both of them were absolutely still."

"Still? Like not fidgeting, no struggling, nothing?" Nora asked, one eyebrow cocked in surprise.

"Nothing. It was absolutely surreal. I got Penny to come with me to scan the two to see what was going on. When Penny crouched near Jaune, he started saying something.

Penny stiffened up, the door opened, and she shot the two of them out of the ship with what I thought was a wrist mounted gun. As soon as Jaune fell out, she collapsed to the ground and crawled into the corner."

Pyrrha wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth. "How did that...criminal get on board? Didn't Penny crash an airship on top of him?"

"Analysis complete."

The hologram popped up once more, a bit more morose this time. "Seems like a manual override of the computer systems took place. Source was vocal. I ran the scans ten times to see if there was anything else that could cause the behavior you described, but its seems like that Jaune manually told Penny to shoot."

Another stunned silence. Nora broke it this time. "Why exactly would he program something like that into the software? It's literally a suicide button!"

"I'm sure Jaune had his reasons Nora." Pyrrha was having the same thoughts as Nora, but something in her told her that the entire story had not been told. They were missing something, something that would explain this mess. "He doesn't, didn't, do things for no reason, that much we can say for sure."

Silence fell over the four individuals in the room, each lost in their own thoughts. They each were reflecting on the day's events, how everything had gone downhill from dawn until now. Jaune was dead and that hurt like an open festering wound, but all of them tried their best to seal it. Grief and sorrow were not the way to go forwards right now; that would come later. Now was the time for action.

"Penny, how far from Beacon are we?" Pyrrha's leadership qualities started to assert themselves as she finished collecting herself. "Can you put in a call to Beacon Academy and patch it to my scroll?"

"I can do that. What importance should I list the call as?"

"Urgent."

The hologram disappeared again. Pyrrha put her scroll on the floor and waited for the call to be patched through. The scroll didn't have powerful enough antenna to work anywhere outside of populated areas, but the ship did.

It seemed like the Promethean hadn't taken them offline, otherwise the hologram would have told them already.

The three watched the scroll's face as it rang. Ozpin picked up on the fourth ring, the display to a picture of him in his office, sipping coffee. The city could be seen in the background, fires burning across the length of it.

Nevermore and Bullheads maneuvered around each other, the former gouging holes in the latter with its teeth and claws. The Bullheads returned the favor with what most soldiers call 'the big F-off bullets'. Each shot lit up the surrounding area in an aura of light.

"JNPR. It is good to see you. I have received news of an attack on the Atlesian base you were in. I heard reports of fighting, but I must admit I do not have all the details yet."

Pyrrha grimaced. "There was an attack, not on the base, but targeting Jaune. He's…he's dead."

Ozpin's stare . If it weren't for the movement far off in the city, it would have seemed like the video had frozen.

The three waited. Ozpin was known to do things like this and the best option was to wait him out. After a minute, Ozpin finally looked down at the table. "That is extremely unfortunate. JNPR Team Leader Pyrrha, mission report please."

Pyrrha took a second to gather her thoughts before starting. She detailed what happened after Jaune had been discharged and the reveal of his involvement with the Prometheans. She described the plan to use the Promethean's arrival as a way to get a ticket back to Vale.

Everything came out after that: the unexpected ferocity of the Promethean, the escape with Penny's help, the subsequent fight on the Bullhead. Ren took over after Pyrrha's voice started cracking a little describing the end of the fight.

Ozpin stayed silent throughout the entire story, only nodding at the end. "Penny Polendina, Victor Polendina's daughter. She's with you at this moment?"

"Yes Headmaster, though it's…it's complicated. I'll let her introduce herself." Pyrrha pointed the scroll at Penny's slouching body. The hologram appeared after a second, waving at the scroll.

"You're right." Ozpin stared at the sight before pursing his lips. "This is complicated."

…

The ocean's color lightened, going from black to dark blue to light blue. Ocean turned to sandy land, which in turn became grassy. The shadow of the Bullhead raced across the treetops. Pyrrha sat with her legs dangling out of the side of the Bullhead, staring into the distance.

Ren and Nora were in the back of the airship readying their weapons. Penny was back to her 'human' self and in the cockpit. The fact that she didn't need to breathe worked in her favor due to the…leaky…state of the cockpit.

Ozpin had informed them that Team RWBY was back in Vale helping evacuate citizens. They were assigned to assist them and then report back to Beacon. They could handle the Grimm, Pyrrha was sure of that; breaking the news while not breaking down was what daunted her.

Even now she couldn't believe Jaune was truly gone. The dangers of being a Huntress had been impressed upon her ever since she had started the path, and she had truly taken it to heart. But Jaune? He had been the anchor for their team, always confident, a great leader for the team.

Jaune had always been a constant at Beacon for her, ever since he had first met her before initiation. This notion had been tested, and consequently strengthened, every time Jaune had almost died. Initiation, the time Major Alpha Ursi had managed to ambush them on their second time camping in the woods, the time on the mountain in Atlas just to name a few.

She had become morbidly accustomed to Jaune getting hurt and coming back in perfect health; she was pretty sure most people at Beacon knew about this uncanny ability of his. Even when she saw his body falling towards the ocean, some part of her was sure that he would find some way to come back, smiling and downplaying the entire fight.

But the explosion… She shuddered. That had been the nail in the coffin for any hope she had. She didn't know what had caused it, but it was enough to shut the hopeful part of her mind right up. The bodies were nowhere to be seen after the flames faded, along with any notion Pyrrha may have had about Jaune's return.

The city limits flew by below them and with them came the distant sounds of fighting. The air grew heavy with the smell of smoke, the source becoming apparent as demolished, burning buildings came into view.

"We'll be landing near the highway soon. Get ready for action." Penny's voice was monotone. Ren and Nora stepped out of the back door as the Bullhead flew between buildings that were still standing in the downtown area.

The three remaining members of team JNPR leaped off the Bullhead as soon as they were close to the ground and landed on top of a three story store. The surrounding areas hadn't been overtly damaged, but there was no sign of any life.

The wind carried sounds of fighting from the West, a veritable beacon in the silence of their surroundings. The three took off on a sprint and leaped from building to building in the direction of the highway bridges where the noises were coming from. They had been told RWBY had already started fighting to secure civilians enough time to evacuate, and that their mission was to launch a rear attack to rout the Grimm.

They reached the highway and leaped onto it. Stealing their way from car to car, they could hear the individual shots and impacts of the fighting. Grimm were appearing from nearby alleys and leaping onto the bridge leading out of downtown.

Pyrrha waited for the command to attack before realizing that Ren and Nora was looking at her pointedly. She set her mouth and held three fingers up. She counted down as the surge of Grimm died down.

On zero, the three zig-zagged between the abandoned cars keeping the stragglers in sight. Pyrrha and Ren eliminated the closest Beowolves swiftly and silently before moving onwards. Nora planted grenades behind them as they went up the on ramp onto the bridge. Jaune had rigged them with a remote detonation feature in Atlas. This way, when another surge of Grimm occurred, they could scramble the ramp to reduce the throughput.

They reached the bridge proper to see the large sea of black bodies attempting to get past a blockade of cars in the middle of the road. Pyrrha nodded at Nora who smiled gleefully before pulling out her grenade launcher.

Pyrrha and Ren sprinted at the backs of the horde of Beowolves and Ursi, hacking the bodies apart into dark mist as explosives rained upon those out of reach of their blades. Ren leaped and spun through the teeming masses, emptying his gun multiple times. Pyrrha slashed and stabbed her way through the Grimm, leaving a trail of disassociating Grimm bodies behind.

Nora continued to rain down grenade after grenade, seeding chaos and confusion in the Grimm as they grew aware of the two-faced attack on their ranks. They grouped up and pushed, increasing their density around the two close-quarters fighters and slowing their progress.

Pyrrha grimaced as fluid from a particularly nasty wound on a Beowolf splashed her face. It was getting harder and harder to make meaningful headway through the suffocating mass of monsters, even with Nora's ordinance raining from above.

Thankfully there are no Major Grimm. This would be a nightmare to accomplish otherwise.

She had seen all sorts of higher-order Grimm during the flight in, ranging from Ultra Alpha Beowolves to pairs of King Taijitus. She was sure there were many others on their way in, but none had penetrated this far into the city yet.

Recognizing that the density of the enemies was growing too much, Pyrrha dropped a small bottle filled with a particular blend of Scorch, Shock, and Water Dust, along with powdered salts. The Scorch, Water, and salts would create a spray of hot electrolytic solution that would act as a conductor for the high voltage arcs generated by the Shock Crystal to penetrate skin.

Pyrrha hadn't quite understood the explanation, but Jaune had said that it would work well against a crowd of Grimm, which was perfect for her current situation. She used a Ursa's head as a springboard to launch herself into the air where she jumped off the Grimm gathered below to escape the effects of the bottle.

Leaping onto a lamppost, she activated the Dust in the bottle just like how Jaune had told her to. Grimm were thrown away from the epicenter as near boiling water scalded their unnatural skins, followed immediately by quick electrocution as the current passed through their tightly touching bodies.

Grimm stiffened and fell in a series of bright sparks. The smaller Beowolves even had their chests pop under the muscle spasms generated by the flow of electricity through their bodies. This type of experiment had been carried out years ago to prove that Grimm had internal organs and weren't just composed of corporeal mist.

The Grimm dispersed as the effects of the bottle halted, running past Ren and Nora. Nora shot a few more grenades before switching to its hammer form and smashing any of the dimmer Grimm who thought it was a good idea to get close to a hammer wielding Huntress.

Ren took care of a few defiant stragglers that still creeped around the mounds of bodies. The blockade was not visible past the miasma of the smoke coming off the Grimm corpses that lay on the bridge like heavy snow.

"This is Weiss Schnee, member of Team RWBY of Beacon Academy. Who are you?" The voice was muffled through the thick black fog, but the message was clear.

Pyrrha hopped off the lamppost and onto the body of a nearby Ursa. Ren and Nora were waiting for her at the blockade.

"Weiss! It's Pyrrha, with Nora and Ren. Ozpin sent us to help you get the civilians to safety."

Sounds of fighting could be heard from the other side, but faint, like they were at a distance.

"How can you prove you're you?" Weiss's voice was heavy with suspicion.

"Weiss?" Pyrrha looked at her teammates quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"How can we know you're not someone else pretending to be you guys?"

"If we weren't, why would we ask? We could just jump over."

"And we would attack you without question. Now, I will ask again, prove that you are actually Team JNPR."

"Err… We can answer a question that only we know the answer to?" Pyrrha was thoroughly confused with this sudden line of questioning.

"No, that won't work, we can't be sure." Weiss went silent for a moment. "Ok, how about this. Do you have any Dust?"

"How much?"

"A large crystal."

Pyrrha frowned. She didn't have any. She turned to Nora and Ren, both of whom shook their heads. Large crystals were hard to carry around, and the disadvantage their weight posed didn't make up for their power.

Pyrrha took her scroll out. The CCT hadn't fallen in the while since they had spoken with Ozpin, which was awesome. Pyrrha dialed the Bullhead using the route Penny had used to route the scroll's traffic through the Bullhead. The call was answered instantly.

"Yes Pyrrha? Is it time to begin evacuation?" Penny was ordered to park the Bullhead in a nearby location on standby.

"No, not yet. We need a large Dust crystal from the hold. Do we have any?" Pyrrha crossed her fingers.

"My search of the inventory of the ship is positive. What type shall I bring?"

"Weiss? What type do we need?"

"Any type at all. And if you guys are actually JNPR, do hurry up. It's getting..." Weiss yelled and a sound like shattering glass reverberated through the air. "A little hectic in here."

"Penny, did you get that?"

"Affirmative. ETA 30 seconds."

The call terminated and the scroll went dark. Pyrrha refolded it and put it back in its holder. Nora was chattering away idly at Ren who was watching the highway behind them for any sign of another attack. Fighting had done all three of them good; the adrenaline had refocused them and returned their mental states closer to how they had been before dawn.

A Bullhead swooped in low, buffeting the air and causing her hair to whip into her face. It stopped above the trio and opened its cargo door to reveal Penny holding a crate.

"There are plenty more of these in the cargo hold. Please do not hesitate in using any of these against the enemy." Penny released the crate which landed with a dull thud against the asphalt.

"Thank you!" Pyrrha called up at the Bullhead, who's doors were already closing. The blades whirred louder and the Bullhead flew away just as suddenly as it had arrived.

Ren crouched next to the crate and used his scroll to unlock the electronic lock on the clasp. It seemed their scrolls hadn't been removed from the Atlas Military whitelist as the lock opened without any trouble. The sunlight reflected and refracted through the transparent crystals, creating a shimmering pattern on Ren's face.

"Weiss! We have the crystals. What do you want us to do with it?"

"Remember when Jaune taught us how to release the energy of a crystal in one go? Do that, but into the air for both our sakes."

Of course I remember it. Jaune had almost burned down the target range while demonstrating with a Scorch crystal. A month's detention with Glynda… Pyrrha shuddered at the punishment Jaune had gotten.

Pyrrha had, truth be told, never had practiced much with Dust before Beacon. Her fighting skills and semblance were more than enough to beat any threat that came up, and she had focused on polishing those skills rather than learning new skills.

That had quickly changed after Ozpin had approached her about a very important mission. Most people think fairy tales were made up to entertain children and were nothing more. Ozpin disagreed. He had explained to Pyrrha that one of Remnant's most famous tales, the Tale of the Four Maidens, was based in reality.

She had been skeptical, but Ozpin had showed her ample proof in the form of a real life Maiden, hovering between life and death in a machine under Beacon. Ozpin had informed her that she was his choice to take the Maiden's powers should events take a turn for the worse. He had made her practice her skills in aura and Dust usage to ensure she could handle the Maiden's powers well.

I don't think Ozpin forsaw me using that training to prove to my friends I'm the real me. The corners of Pyrrha's mouth turned upwards in a weak imitation of smile for a second before settling back into a neutral frown.

She remembered her training back at Beacon. She drew a deep breath and released it, her aura flaring around her. She could feel the Dust crystal in her hands both physically and mentally, the energy humming in an enticing way. She shaped her aura into loops and twisted them around the Ice Crystal, which had the least potential to harm them instantly.

The aura settled on the blue crystal's surface and started thickening. The blue color was slowly replaced by purple as Pyrrha continued winding her aura. She slathered the aura thick over the sides and one base, leaving the top faces bare to the world.

She checked over her work once, twice, thrice. She could not see not feel any part of the crystal facing her, which was good. Any leaks had the potential of doing serious harm to her. Satisfied she was safe, she raised it high and activated the crystal using the inner layers of aura.

The area around Pyrrha almost instantly became damp, then wet as the temperature of the air dropped quickly below the dew point. The water droplets on every surface around her started freezing. The metal of the cars in the blockage groaned as it contracted, shaking the entire pile dangerously.

There was nothing to do but hold the crystal tightly within her aura and limit the cooling effect to tolerable limits. Her eyelids felt heavy at the sudden expenditure of aura and she swayed in place. She closed her eyes and refocused herself, ignoring the cold and her own tiredness completely. The strain against her aura lessened as the crystal's effect wound down.

She dropped the crystal and let it shatter on the ground. She pulled out a pouch of Scorch Dust and used the residual aura around her to activate that in an effort to heat herself up. She could feel her skin freezing and decaying, only to immediately be replaced with new cells as her aura tried its best to heal her.

The heat from the Scorch Dust was meager, but it was like a bonfire in relation to the chill left behind by the Ice Crystal. Nora and Ren both approached her, their skin steaming in the intense chill.

"Are you happy with that Weiss?" A tinge of salt slipped into Pyrrha's voice despite her efforts. Being asked to prove your identity to a close friend, especially in such a painful manner, it didn't feel good.

"That definitely was what I was looking for. Alright, hop on over."

With an aura assisted leap, the three clambered onto the barricade. Directly below them huddled thirty or forty people, staring up in a mix of fear and relief. Weiss was ten feet away, using her semblance and Dust to keep Grimm away from the civilians. The rest of RWBY was dealing with the Grimm that were pouring over a barricade similar to the one JNPR stood on, but the other one had fared much worse.

"More Grimm!"

Pyrrha opened her mouth to stop Nora but she was already high in the air, jumping at the Grimm. She landed on top of a Beowolf that was trying to dislodge a 3-foot-long icicle from its throat. Her hammer unfurled and smashed the monster's head like a ripe watermelon. A pull of the trigger and she was in the air again, the explosion from the head of the hammer propelling her into the Grimm horde RWBY was fighting.

"Ren, go ahead." Pyrrha smiled at him. The two loved to fight together and it was fascinating to watch Ren's surgical and Nora's explosive styles complement each other. Pyrrha leaped down in front of the row of cowering civilians who stared dumbly at her.

"You…you're Pyrrha Nikos right?" A voice piped up shakily from the crowd. Pyrrha sighed quietly before turning to face them, her trademark confident smile plastered on her face.

"You would be correct."

The group smiled in relief. "Thank you so much Ms. Nikos for coming to save us!" A young boy beamed at her from his mother's arms. She walked closer to him and bent down.

"Well, I just got here. Team RWBY also deserve some of the credit, as do my teammates Ren and Nora. We're all going to get you out of here safe and sound, alright? Rescue shuttles will be here soon. And please, call me Pyrrha." She stepped away, waving at the crowd, before turning around and running to Weiss.

The highway in front of Weiss was strewn with Grimm bodies surrounded by puddles of water as the ice Weiss had shot at them melted in the morning sunlight. All the Grimm that had gotten past the front line fighters were now dead.

Weiss bent down, hands on knees, and took gulping breaths as aura exhaustion hit her hard.

"Weiss, you alright?" Pyrrha stood next to her and set a hand on her shoulder to support the swaying girl.

"I'm…fine." She managed to pant out. "Just...exhausted. I'll be fine…in a sec." Weiss pulled a small crystal out of a hidden compartment in her rapier and let her aura flow over it. The color returned to her cheeks as her aura refilled itself from the reserves in the crystals.

"Seems like the others have the situation well under control." Pyrrha was right. What had been a close fight to keep the hordes at bay was now a winning battle thanks to the five fighters in the fray.

"I'll call in the shuttles. Keep yours as an emergency escape route just in case something goes wrong." Weiss walked over to a small satchel and rummaged inside before pulling out a flare gun. She launched it and threw the spent shell aside.

"Are these all the civilians?" There had to have been more than thirty on the highway before when the Grimm attacked.

"There were others but we evacuated them." Weiss stepped in closer and lowered her voice. "We couldn't save all of them. A few of the bridge sections were unstable and collapsed before we could reach them. We managed to secure 3 of the interior sections. The others were either collapsed or there was no one left."

"How many Grimm were there?"

"Not as many as there are here. The numbers started to swell as we started the civilians, leading up to this." She gestured at the Grimm flowing through the holes and breaches in the wall. "Only Beowolves and Minor Ursi, but I think that higher Grimm will show up within the hour."

"That's true. How long do the shuttles usually take to get here?"

"Around a minute or so. We should be seeing them right now." She looked around before something struck her. "Speaking of not seeing things, I don't see Jaune. Where is he?"

There it is.

"He perished in battle." Pyrrha's voice was devoid of any emotion.

Weiss's eyes grew wide. "How? What? When?!"

"I do not think now is the proper time to explain. It is a long story and I can't do it justice right now. Please, don't press it."

Weiss nodded swiftly. They stood in awkward, uncomfortable silence for a bit before Weiss saw two Bullhead's flying in.

"There they are! Alright everyone, please get into orderly rows and line up near the edge. There is no threat from the Grimm so ignore them; we are taking care of it as you probably can see." Weiss and Pyrrha herded the group to the edges of the highway to clear space for the Bullheads.

The door of one opened and a man dropped out, the downdraft tousling his dark red hair. He raised a hand in greeting which the two girls responded in kind. The Bullheads touched the ground and the doors opened.

The man stopped a few feet from them. "This is the last batch, correct?" His voice was slow and deep. His eyes had a cruel, passionate glint in them that slightly unnerved Pyrrha, but she ignored the prickling of her skin. She noticed his hand twitching slightly on his sheath as he looked at Weiss, which was odd.

"And the biggest." Weiss held out her hand, but the man sneered distastefully at it. Weiss retrieved it, looking hurt and angered.

"There is no time for chit-chat. Due to the rapidity with which hospitals are filling up, and the wide variety of cases, human and Faunus evacuees have been asked to load into different airships."

"Are you sure? Human and Faunus anatomy is remarkably simil…" Pyrrha started.

"Orders and orders, Ms. Nikos. Not even you are above them." The man interrupted, his condescending expression deepening.

The two girls looked at each other doubtfully. The tension in the air thickened.

"If you say so, I don't see why not. Orders are orders indeed." Pyrrha decided immediately. Even if they were separated by their appearance, they still would be treated to the fullest right?

The man smiled a thin, tight smile which made Pyrrha even more uncomfortable. He walked to the gathered group of civilians and explained the situation to them. Most of them turned to look at Pyrrha and Weiss questioningly, recognizing the odd orders.

Pyrrha simply smiled and waved comfortingly at the unconvinced individuals. They smiled back and walked into the Bullhead they were told to board.

Pyrrha noticed that the man was making no motion to follow the passengers. "Aren't you going too?"

"I'm here to fight the enemy." He patted his sheath. The Bullhead doors closed and they took off, flying low over the city.

"Well, we're fine really. Our teammates have the Grimm under control, we don't need help. We're heading to Beacon anyways as our mission has finished." Weiss's tone was cold. The man simply smiled and gripped his sheath.

"Who said anything about fighting the Grimm, Schnee?"

Pyrrha tackled Weiss aside just as the stranger's blade passed mere millimeters from Weiss's skin. Pyrrha held her shield above Weiss and herself, staring at the Faunus in front of her. She could see the black horns that were almost fully hidden in his dark red hair. His sword was back in his sheath, almost as if he had never attacked.

"You Hunters are all the same. Training and fighting, thinking that life is not going to get harder than your missions. 'The Grimm is the enemy'. All delusion. The real enemies," he reached into his black robe and pulled a white mask adorned with red designs across the eye slits. "aren't the monsters without, but the monsters inside every human."

White Fang. Pyrrha finally understood his apparent disgust towards Weiss. But how had he known about their mission? Pyrrha kept her mouth shut and continued to stare at the masked man. She could see the Grimm horde getting thinner as her team continued to fight. If she could hold out for just a little longer…

"In some ways I am a Huntsman too, but one that knows the true enemy." His hand reached back into his robes and pulled out a detonator. Pyrrha's eyes widened in horror as she connected the dots.

"There never were any orders were there?" She spat the words out with as much loathing as she could.

"None at all." Down went the button.

Pyrrha closed her eyes, Weiss's muffled complaints drowned out by the sound of the Bullhead exploding in the distance.

Damn it! Damn it all! Why did we trust this piece of shit?! Pyrrha tightened her grip around her sword and shield. She tensed and leaped straight up, using the metal under the asphalt as a springboard with her semblance.

She spun and threw her shield at the man, no, monster in front of her. He dodged to the right before striking impossibly fast at her. Pyrrha sensed the metal of his sword's handle moving through the air and met the blade with her own.

The power behind the strike surprised her. She was sent backwards into the barrier on the side of the bridge. She spun to the right as another strike cleaved in half the metal behind her ex-location.

She summoned her shield to her hand as she continued to dodge the very quick, very strong attacks sent her way. She had no idea what Weiss was doing; there was nothing to think about but sensing and avoiding each strike.

She maneuvered herself in between the White Fang aggressor and the rest of her team. He seemed to notice her strategy and rushed her bodily. She put her shield in front of her only to feel the man run over her shield and her head as if she was a simple boulder in his path.

She spun around to see him running straight towards Blake. Pyrrha crouched and spun her sword into its rifle form and started shooting. The shots pinged off the man's back. He didn't even react.

"Weiss!"

"Keep shooting!"

A red glyph appeared in front of her gun's muzzle. Pyrrha kept firing, the residual Dust in the bullets reacting with the glyph and catching fire. This time, the man reacted.

He turned and bent his knees slightly, keeping one foot in front of another. He took his sword slightly out of his sheath and stood stock still. His aura started to envelope him and each bullet created ripples.

The sword started to glow red, the color mixing with his aura like oil in water. Pyrrha stopped shooting and held her shield up to cover her body. She had no doubt that the others had heard the fighting happening behind them, but she didn't want to distract them from the Grimm. The last thing they needed was to have a two fronted fight.

Air whooshed and ice crackled. Pyrrha peeked from around her shield to see a massive ice wall mere feet from her.

"Thank you!" Pyrrha waved at Weiss. The heiress was supporting herself against a lamppost and looked exhausted, which made sense after seeing the sheer mass of ice that had appeared in front of Pyrrha.

"Go!" Weiss made shooing motions. "I'll be fine." Pyrrha nodded and started thinking about what her new strategy was going to be as she ran around the wall of ice. She couldn't let him doing whatever he just had; his aura became too strong to hurt him at that point and it was a waste of ammunition.

If this ability of his is anything like Yang's, it'll be really hard to hit him. Pyrrha knew how hard it was to defeat Yang when her full semblance decided to kick in. She had to strike him hard, fast, and not let up as to keep him from retaliating.

Pyrrha held her shield up and sprinted around the side of the wall. The red haired man was close to Blake now who was completely focused on her own fighting. Pyrrha analyzed the distances, using her warrior's instincts to find the best course of action.

He was way too close to Blake for Pyrrha to intercept him in time. She pressed a button on her sword and threw it as hard as she could straight forward. The sword transformed, a point unfolding from inside the hilt and extending into a sharp tip.

The javelin flew past the man and passed inches from Blake to skewer an Ursa straight through. Blake whirled around instinctively. Her eyes landed on the stranger. A moment passed before her eyes widened and she jumped away, leaving behind one of her shadow clones behind her.

She made her way through the crowd of Grimm, cutting them down as fast as possible to get away. Yang seemed to have noticed Blake breaking and running as she too disengaged from the Grimm to figure out what the hell was going on.

Her eyes settled on the man chasing Blake leisurely, Grimm ignoring him in favor of the more emotional, younger Hunters. A Beowolf decided to try his luck at attacking the newcomer but the sudden lack of his lower half did wonders to deter him.

She looked at Pyrrha questioningly who nodded as she summoned her javelin back into her hand. Yang punched a Ursa's throat in, caved a Beowolf's skull in with her feet, and started making her way through the Grimm just as Blake had, but with a little less finesse. Yang's hair flared yellow with each hit, her eyes growing redder as she got closed to Blake.

Pyrrha stepped into the role Blake and Yang were occupying, holding back the Grimm. The flow had lowered dramatically, leaving one a couple hundred Grimm between them and the wall. She kept glancing back at Blake and Yang just in case.

Yang Xiao Long

Blake stood in the open, her expression contorted with fear, confusion, and hate. Yang approached the man from behind. Her gauntlets ejected any spent shells and loaded new ones in from the pouches on her belt.

"Adam, why are you here?" Blake took miniscule steps away from this 'Adam' as he continued sauntering towards her casually, back erect and hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"We both know why I'm here, dearest Blake." Yang flinched as the man moved faster than she had ever seen. Blake dodged to the side, her shadow clone disappearing as soon as it was summoned into existence.

"Adam, please! Humans aren't all monsters like you think they are!" Blake kept circling Adam who had stopped and followed her with his head.

"Is that what they have indoctrinated you with after you left me? After you betrayed me on our biggest mission?" His voice grew venomous.

Blake subtly shook her head at Yang as the brawler got closer. Yang slowed to a halt and stood ready to move in case something should happen. This guy was obviously someone important from Blake's past and wanted to kill humans. It wasn't hard to make the connection with the White Fang.

"Both of us know why I left you that day Adam."

"And what is that reason, my love?"

Yang's eyes widened. My love?

"That day, I saw what you were becoming. I joined the White Fang, I fought and killed for them, not because I hated humans, but because I hated the racism. That's what the White Fang stood for, that's what we stood for!"

"Are you saying my methods are not helping end the discrimination against Faunuskind? Are you really so blind Blake? Have you swallowed these lies your 'friends' have been feeding you?"

"Adam…why are you here? There are Grimm here killing both humans and Faunus, they are the real enemy!"

"Isn't that what I did? I saved Faunus lives but punished the humans. That is what the White Fang does, Blake dear."

"Stop calling me that! Anything we had stopped long before that day."

Adam visibly stiffened. Yang readied herself and jumped at his back as his hands started tightening around the hilt of his weapon. With a fluid motion, he whirled around and slashed at Yang, who managed to block the blow with her gauntlets. The force sent her flying over him and landing behind Blake, surrounded by cracked asphalt.

Blake Belladonna

"Attacking someone from behind when they are not being aggressive; what a human thing to do." Adam bent his knees slightly and thumbed his hilt. The red markings on his mask started glowing.

Blake paled as she realized his intentions. She sprinted at Adam, slid into his legs, and dodged to right, leaving a shadow clone laced with Ice Dust behind. Adam lashed out prematurely, his sword cleaving through the clone. The clone turned to ice within milliseconds and left the sword embedded in a lifelike ice sculpture of Blake.

"There is truly no more hope for you anymore Blake. I thought we could come to an understanding and help you dedicate yourself to the cause once more; I was wrong." Adam heaved and separated the head off the body in a spray of water. "There are forces at work not even you can imagine. The White Fang is more powerful than ever, the new dawn for Faunuskind approaches!"

The White Fang are more powerful than ever? How? They're a threat to every organization in Remnant; who supports them?

"It is too bad you decided to throw your lot in with the Hunters and humans." Adam spun a dial on his sword and slashed in Yang's direction. Yang tried to dodge the swipe but the entire pavement under her feet exploded.

"Yang!" Blake tried to run to Yang but a streak of fire appeared in her path. She skidded to a halt before the raging inferno.

"You will die with the rest of your friends here Blake. I think I shall kill you last, just to teach you a lesson."

Adam readied to swipe again, but suddenly paused. Blake followed his gaze, not fearing a trap. That simply was not Adam's style. He was staring in Beacon's direction and at first Blake could see nothing in the bright sky.

Then suddenly, she saw it. What she had thought was just a cloud was something more. It was long, thin, and vertical. It was growing at a rapid pace and billowing. The sunlight glinted off something metallic at the very top, which seemed to be creating the cloud she saw.

It grew slightly bigger as each second passed, the cloud curving over the city. She could see the structure with greater clarity now. It looked like a giant white spear, but with a thick base that narrowed in stages until it reached the tip where a black cone made up the tip. The cloud it created was at least three times its width.

Her Faunus-enhanced eyesight noticed several somethings drop off the side of the thing tearing through the air. They separated, looking like scattered grains of sand against the bright sky.

Adam seemed just as lost. He stayed silent as he watched the airship pass above them, climbing higher and higher with each second. One of the specks that had detached from the flying object veered in their direction while the others moved in other directions.

Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Adam all stared as the shape descended. Atlas had been working on experimental aircraft for years now, everyone knew that. But this was something different. The cloud the oddly shaped aircraft left behind was breathtaking, the sheer speed the craft ascended into the sky was mind boggling. And it had launched from Beacon, oddly enough.

Her mind instantly went to Jaune. If anyone was capable of doing something of this kind, it was Jaune. She hadn't seen him in the battle, which only strengthened her conviction the genius leader of JNPR was behind this. The speck that had been approaching their location closer, and Blake could discern the humanoid shape of the falling object.

She tore her gaze away from the falling humanoid to scan the highway. The Grimm were mostly mopped up, with Pyrrha and Ren cleaning up the remnants of the Grimm forces. Nora and Ruby had missed the mysterious craft but noticed the falling body.

The sunlight glinted off the chestplate and helmet the figure wore. The smaller armor pieces twinkled slightly as the figure rotated slightly during its descent. Adam moved suddenly, causing everyone in the fight to scramble into defensive positions. However, this wasn't an attack, this was a defensive stance. The figure slammed into Adam with a deafening crash.

Asphalt cracked, eardrums burst and healed, and dust flew into the air. Blake was tossed backwards off the bridge, but her catlike reflexes allowed her to react quickly. She created a shadow clone underneath her and used it as a springboard to launch herself up. She tossed her gun-blade and hooked it onto the railing, using the ribbon to swing herself back onto the bridge.

Her friends had not fared any better than she had. Everyone had been sent flying by the shockwave the impact had created. Larger Grimm had been smashed against the blockade while the smaller Beowolves had been outright killed.

Red light cut through the suffocating Dust and silhouetted two figures. The first was Adam who was on a knee, holding his sword between him and the other figure on top of him. The newcomer was crouching on the blade itself, gripping it tightly.

Blake couldn't believe what she was seeing; the sight was too unreal. Adam's blade absorbed any attacks that struck it, and he used that power to strengthen his attacks. But this guy, who fell from higher than any Bullhead had flown, had landed straight onto the blade with astonishing accuracy and was now holding onto the blade itself. She had seen the blade tear through Aura and flesh like tissue paper when it was uncharged, yet it didn't seem to be doing anything to the newcomer.

Who the hell is this?

Adam Taurus

Who the hell is this? Adam's mind whirled with the same questions that plagued Blake. He could see his dumbstruck expression behind the mask reflected in the silver helmet the figure wore.

"Nice blade, by the way. Did you collect it in all the colors or was only red available?"

Adam knew that his blade had absorbed most of the energy, or otherwise both he and the armored figure on top of the blade would be smears on the ground. He could feel the energy swirling in his blade, but for the first time there was something blocking it.

He slammed his mental probes into the barrier in an attempt to get at the energy, but it didn't give at all. He was about to try again when the figure started laughing.

"You know? This is pretty goddamn ridiculous isn't it? The entire thing, you, me, this entire war. What a waste of time and effort to satisfy our petty goals."

"What?!" Adam had never felt so confused before in his life.

"Never mind that. Now I don't care how strongly you feel about anything, but a little birdie informed me you intended to hurt these wonderful ladies here."

Adam felt the temperature drop. The figure's each word dripped with menace. He desperately retried to get into the energy the blade contained. His blade was a core part of his fighting style and without it he would just be a talented swordsman.

"Heh, Aura. Don't even get me started on the bloodshed thanks to that thing. Seriously, it's ridiculous! Who knew wanting to help the little guy would lead to a full scale war?"

Adam opened his mouth but the man kept talking.

"And now I have to fight this goddamn fight just to make sure the universe doesn't unravel. But what do I see? A little shit who thinks he can hurt my friends to satisfy his own psychopathic urges."

"What are you talking about? How do you know me?"

"As I said, a little birdie told me. Well, a larger than average bird, but a bird nonetheless. Now, both of us know what's in that sword, and I think we both know it's just itching to get rid of the energy.

So where does that leave us? I let go of this sword, the energy consumes me, I die. I keep a hold of it, we can stay in this position with the mildly homoerotic undertones, which ain't good any way you cut it. So we need another option. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Answer me! Who are you? If you think you can beat me without a fight, you are sorely mistaken. The entire White Fang now answers to me, Adam Taur…"

"Yeah, yeah I literally couldn't care less. I'm going to count to three before letting go. What you do from there is your choice. 3. 2. 1."

The figure let go and dropped to the ground. His mirrored visor stared at him emotionally, his entire stance casual as could be. Adam felt the blood roaring in his ears as he put the blade back into its sheath. He had come here to humiliate and kill Huntsmen, and he had almost reached that goal. But this patronizing prick had ruined it all with his over-the-top entrance and the humiliation he heaped upon Adam.

The energy inside the blade was far greater than ever before and Adam let his aura merge with it. It was time to show this man what Adam was capable of. He concentrated the forces inside the blade into a point with his aura. His world turned black and red as his blade cut into the man's chest, only to return to its normal state as the man grabbed the blade with a free hand.

The blade had cut through the figure's shoulder and gotten to near his ribs when the man had stopped it with his bare hands.

WHAT?!

"The thing with aura enhanced attacks is that aura is a two-way street. You can always find the source of the aura given enough skill, and boy, do I have skill. So now we see a problem here. The blade wants to get rid of the energy, but I have bottled it up in your blade which is currently in my body. The energy inside has been modified with your aura, so you are part of this even if you let go of the hilt."

Adam stared dumbfounded as the man spoke about controlling aura like he had it on a leash. Even the most advanced aura users Adam had met didn't speak in such certain terms about these advanced techniques.

"What do you think will happen if I let go of the aural block I put on the blade? Why don't we find out?" The man sounded cheerful, like he was proposing a picnic. Adam felt pain lance through his bodies as the energy in his sword rebounded upon him.

He felt it tear through his body like wildfire, reaching every corner of his body in seconds. He tried to keep his composure but failed when his mind felt the flames licking at it. He howled and fell to the ground, trying to vent the rebounding energy back out.

He could still see the man standing in his position, the blade embedded deep in his chest. Flames erupted from the wound and started consuming the left side of his body. Adam gasped as the fire in him burn brighter.

His skin started splitting and peeling. The fat under the skin started to melt and he could see his hands start to lose their shape. His nerves were beyond fried, and his world consisted of nothing but a deep imprint of pain and nothing more.

Pyrrha Nikos

Pyrrha was frozen in horror as she watched the charred corpse of the armored stranger collapse onto the black haired man's body, turning them both into an impromptu pyre.

That wasn't all that shocked her, however. She recognized the armor the figure wore, it was very similar to the kind Jaune wore, and what the Promethean had worn when he attacked them back in Atlas.

She looked at Ren and Nora, the looks in their eyes confirming her suspicion. It was the same type of armor, which meant that either the Prometheans had decided to help them, or it was someone who was close enough to Jaune to get access to his armor and come to rescue the team, sacrificing himself in the process. Not likely. Then who was he?

A black feathered bird cocked its head as it stared at the scene. Not one of the fighters on the highway had noticed that it hadn't moved an inch throughout the fight, even when the figure had fallen from the sky. While everyone's attention was occupied by the slowly dying fire, the bird leaped off the lamppost and started flying towards Beacon.

AN: Yeah this chapter is a little graphic, but whatever. Any questions you guys have probably will be answered in the next chapter, so stay tuned!

What'd you think of the chapter? Anything I can fix? Anything you especially liked? Please review and PM me with this stuff, I love to get them and it helps me write better. Thanks for reading!