First Assignment (Rewritten)
First Assignment
“Thanks for letting us hold our strategy session in here,” Rainbow said as she led her team into the SAPR dorm room. “I know it’s going to be crowded, but hopefully, people will think that we’re just hanging out instead of talking about how we can take out the White Fang.”
“Stop the White Fang’s plans,” Blake corrected her.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “That’s what I meant to say. The point is, everyone knows we’re friends, so nobody will suspect that we’re not just here to hang out.”
“Some of us are here to hang out!” Penny declared enthusiastically. “Hi, Ruby! Hi, Pyrrha!”
“Good afternoon, Penny,” Pyrrha replied, rising from her seat by the window and bowing her head to her fellow redhead.
“Hey, Penny,” Ruby said, “do you want to plan another game of Remnant?” She gestured to the game board set up on the floor in front of her.
“I don’t really understand that game,” Penny said as Ciel closed the door behind Team RSPT.
“The rules are a little complicated,” Jaune agreed, from where he was crouched down beside Ruby, “but you’ll pick it up if you play more.”
“No, it’s not that,” Penny said. “I don’t understand the point of this game. Why do we have to fight each other? Why can’t we be friends? Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to combine our forces against the creatures of grimm?”
“In real life, sure, that’s why we’re all allies now and we don’t fight any more wars,” Jaune said.
“In an ideal world, at least,” Pyrrha murmured.
Jaune went on, “But this is just a game. It’s pretend, for fun.”
“I’m uncertain what is fun about a game so riddled with basic inaccuracies,” Ciel muttered.
“We do have some other games,” Jaune said. “We picked a few up in Vale last semester.” He reached under his bed and pulled out a small pile of game boxes. “We’ve got Compost King, which none of these guys will play with me-”
“Because it sounds really boring,” Sunset interrupted.
“How about Snakes and Ladders?” Ruby suggested. “That’s fun and simple to understand… until it becomes really frustrating.”
“I can be very patient,” said Penny proudly. “I can keep playing Battleship with Twilight for hours.”
“Games of Snakes and Ladders don’t usually take that long,” Twilight said, sounding a little relieved about that. “Do you guys mind if I play?”
“Of course not,” Ruby said as Jaune put the rest of the boxes away and took Snakes and Ladders out of its box. Ruby began to put Remnant: The Game away into its box in turn. “Does anyone else want to play?” she asked. “We have room for more than four players now. Pyrrha? Sunset?”
Pyrrha put down the book that she’d been reading. “Alright,” she agreed. “I’ll join you.”
“I’m a little more interested in spying on the plans of our Atlesian allies,” Sunset said, grinning at Rainbow Dash. “Since you’re hatching them in our room, after all.”
“I guess you’re trustworthy,” Rainbow agreed as she and Ciel sat down on Blake’s bed. Rainbow’s gaze flickered towards the camp bed. “Who has to sleep on that?”
“Me,” Sunset said.
Rainbow’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“I can be selfless sometimes,” Sunset declared. As Pyrrha, Twilight, and Penny joined Jaune and Ruby on the floor around the game board, Sunset took the window seat that Pyrrha had recently vacated. Blake sat down on Jaune’s bed, facing the two Atlesians.
“So,” Sunset said, “what do we know?”
“You do nothing but listen,” Ciel informed her sharply, “while we make our plans.”
“Sunset may not technically be involved in this,” Blake said, “but I trust her.” She didn’t say that she trusted Sunset more than she trusted any of Team RSPT, but the words were there, unspoken, hovering overhead. Blake’s ears – no longer concealed beneath any bow – twitched gently atop her head. “What do you know so far?”
“Not much,” Rainbow admitted. “We know that the White Fang are stealing dust, but we don’t know why. We know that they’re working with this Torchwick guy, but-”
“But that doesn’t make any sense; why would the White Fang be working with a human criminal, and a racist one at that?” Blake demanded.
“We don’t know that either,” Rainbow reminded her.
“We do know,” Ciel said, “thanks to your friend Tukson-”
“How’s he doing, by the way?” Sunset asked.
“I’m not sure,” Blake admitted. “I haven’t had a chance to visit him.” She hesitated. “Would I be allowed to visit him?”
“I don’t see why not,” Rainbow said. “Everyone knows you’re not a threat to his life.”
“As I was saying,” Ciel declared, “thanks to Mister Tukson, we know that the White Fang is reporting to a superior – a human, reportedly, but that has not been confirmed – outside of their organisation. We can surmise that it was this superior who brokered the arrangement between the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, although we have neither proof of that nor any clue as to the identity of this individual. Unfortunately, knowing that there is a shadowy presence who stands higher than anyone whose identity we are aware of doesn’t help us to identify that person, nor to capture the high-ranking figures we are aware of. If this person is anxious to keep their identity a secret, and the White Fang follow standard containment protocols, it’s likely that the only the most senior members of the organisation are aware of his or her identity.”
“Which is why we need to find Torchwick,” Blake said. “He’s still our best chance at unravelling the truth.”
“He’s probably taken precautions after last time,” Sunset replied. “I doubt he’ll venture into a trap unguarded.”
“Do we have any other choice?” Blake asked.
“Maybe we do. Hey, Twi!” Rainbow called. “Have you had any luck tracing the source of that video that got spammed round the school?”
Twilight had a frown on her features as she got up from the board game they were playing on the floor. “Whoever sent it, they’re very good,” she said.
Rainbow looked surprised. She leaned back on the bed until the back of her head touched the wall with a bump. “Better than you?”
“Maybe,” Twilight replied. “There’s an encryption on this file to prevent it being tracked that is… this is military-level security. I would expect to see something this complicated on top-level communications between the general and senior field commanders, or the council maybe.”
“Can you break it?” Rainbow asked.
“Not with the processing power of a scroll or a personal computer,” Twilight said.
“How about the computers on the Valiant?” Rainbow asked.
The look Twilight gave her was vaguely pitying. “I’m not sure that General Ironwood would let me take all the systems on the Valiant offline so that I can run my tracing programme. I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, sorry, everyone, I know that-”
“It’s okay,” Sunset said. “This tells us something all by itself.”
Twilight stared at her. “It does?”
Sunset folded her hands behind her head. “I’m guessing that not anybody can get their hands on military-grade encryption programmes. That must take… money? Skill?”
“Perhaps both,” Twilight said. “The kind of person who could write this kind of code wouldn’t come cheap.”
“The White Fang never had any interest in computers or cyberwarfare when I was part of it,” Blake said. “Adam… he always preferred more… visible means of action.”
“Something our mystery person brings to the party then,” Sunset theorized.
“Perhaps,” Ciel said. “Although the White Fang has hit enough secure facilities that you must have dealt in access cards and security codes.”
“Yes, but we bought those from black market dealers,” Blake explained. “I doubt that any of them could create something as sophisticated as you're describing, and if they could, I doubt that they would have been in our price range. Sunset’s right; this is the work of the White Fang’s new… mistress, whoever she is. Either she brought in a skilled computer expert or she brought the money to hire one. The same goes for all those Bullheads at the docks; there’s no way the White Fang I left behind could have afforded so much airpower, even if it had a use for it.”
“Is this starting to confuse anybody else?” Sunset demanded. “I mean, this person, Lady X or whatever you want to call them… she has money, resources, and access to highly skilled individuals. She wants to work with the White Fang, okay, I’ll buy that, if you want to get involved in terrorism, then I guess it’s easier to seek out some terrorists than to start your own organisation. But why do they need to rob inner-city dust shops via a guy like Torchwick? If they need dust, then why not just buy it? It’s not like they care about money, because the money is never touched during the robberies.”
“If we look at the quantity of dust that has been stolen,” Ciel said, pulling out her scroll and flicking through a list, presumably of dust stolen at the various robberies. “Purchases of that size – so much greater than would be needed for any conceivable private use – would be impossible to hide completely from view. Robberies have less paperwork.”
Sunset snorted.
“We have some suppositions, based on evidence maybe, but they’re still supposition until we get confirmation,” Blake said, “and we have a lot of questions, and only Roman Torchwick can answer them for us. We need to find him.”
“No, we need to stop these robberies before even more Atlesian weapons end up in the hands of terrorists,” Rainbow said.
“'Atlesian weapons'?” Sunset asked; this was the first she’d heard of this.
“The White Fang haven’t just been robbing dust shops,” Rainbow growled. “They’ve been hitting trains coming south through the Forever Fall.”
“Interestingly, only trains carrying dust or useable military supplies have been hit,” Ciel said, scrolling to another file on her scroll. “Two dust trains, including yours,” she added with a significant look at Blake, “plus three military trains: one carrying small arms, ammunition, and spare parts for knights; one carrying heavy ordnance; and the last carrying prototypes of our new manned battlemech, the Paladin. However, another military train carrying machine parts for airships and vehicles made it through the forest unmolested, as did a mail train going the other way and various commercial trains heading in both directions carrying cargo that is not notable.”
“But the trains didn’t have ‘Atlas Military’ or even SDC written on the side; everyone contracts the same freight companies,” Rainbow said. “Which means that the only way the White Fang could possibly know which trains had dust and weapons on them and which didn’t was if somebody was tipping them off, sound okay to you?”
Blake nodded. “I don’t know exactly how we got all of our information, but I know that tips from sympathisers provided most of it.”
“But who is tipping them off?” Rainbow asked. “Have we got a mole in the military? Or the SDC?”
Blake stared at her for a moment before she let out a soft, but faintly bitter laugh.
“What?” Rainbow asked.
“You really did have a privileged upbringing, didn’t you?” Blake asked.
Rainbow’s look was only just shy of being a glare. “Okay, maybe eventually, after I met Twi, but I was born in Low Town, and I did a lot of growing up there too. Why does any of that matter, anyway?”
“The White Fang doesn’t need a mole in the Atlesian military or the SDC to tell them what’s on the trains heading out of Cold Harbour,” Blake said. “It’s a port town whose main purpose is to provide somewhere for Atlesian ships to offload onto the rail line south to Vale. Hundreds, maybe thousands of faunus work the docks and the railway yards, doing backbreaking work for poverty wages because it’s all the work they can get. They wouldn’t even need to be White Fang; as long as they knew somebody who was, it would only take one person to talk about what was loaded off the ship or loaded onto the train. Then the White Fang would know which trains were worth hitting and which weren’t.”
“Well, now that you say it like that, it makes sense,” Sunset said. She stood up. “Is there a new weapons shipment due to come through any time soon?”
“Yes,” Ciel said. “More of the prototype weapons that were recently stolen.”
Sunset smirked. “I think I know how we can beat these guys and maybe catch somebody with the answers we’re looking for.”
“How?” Blake asked.
Sunset leaned forwards. “What if there weren’t just weapons or Atlesian tech inside that train? What if we were there as well?”
A smile spread across Rainbow’s face. “An ambush.”
“All that we’d have to do is make sure that nobody saw us getting on the train,” Sunset said.
“How would the White Fang stage the robbery?” Ciel asked, looking at Blake. “How many fighters should we be looking at?”
“Not a large number,” Blake replied.
“Are you sure?” Rainbow said. “It seems like the White Fang has been going for quantity since you left.”
“But only used in situations where no resistance was expected,” Blake said. “Nobody thought there’d be a fight at the docks, and when it came to Tukson, Adam and Torchwick still came alone because that’s the White Fang way. Most of the White Fang’s new recruits are untrained; they’d get chewed up by Atlesian security mechs, even with their aura unlocked. A small number of elites will go in first and disable the train and the security, and only then will larger numbers come in to offload the spoils.”
“What’s a small number?” Ciel pressed.
Blake shrugged. “Sometimes it was just me and Adam. At other times… I’d say no more than eight.”
“But Adam might be there?” Sunset asked quietly.
Blake looked into Sunset’s eyes. “Yes. He might be there.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow said. “I can handle Adam, and if I can’t, then we’ve got Penny.”
“You want to risk Penny going up against Adam?” Blake asked with a touch of incredulity in her voice.
“Penny’s tougher than she looks. But… hopefully, I can take care of that guy, and we won’t have to put her to the test that way.” Rainbow fell silent for a moment. “It’s a good idea, there’s just one problem with it.”
“What?” Sunset said.
“I’m pretty sure that General Ironwood will sign off on this for Team Rosepetal,” Rainbow said, “but how are you going to get in on this?”
“More to the point, I thought that you didn’t want anything to do with this?” Blake pointed out.
“I didn’t, but judging from what happened, it seems like ‘this’ is coming to find us no matter what,” Sunset said. “I guess that I’d rather get involved early then wait for the White Fang to blow up the school or something.”
“And are you willing to risk your team on a mission of this kind?” Blake asked solemnly. “This could be dangerous.”
Sunset nodded; Blake had a point there. They both had a point, but although Rainbow’s objection might be the more insurmountable in practical terms, it was Blake’s point that bothered her more. This would be dangerous. These White Fang elites – Adam or no – wouldn’t mess around. Ruby, Pyrrha, Jaune, she’d be putting them all in danger.
Or at least, she’d be asking them to go into danger.
The image of that crimson blade, of the world turning as red as blood as he charged towards her, flashed through Sunset’s mind.
She clenched her hands upon her knees so that nobody would notice them shaking.
“We’re willing to try,” Ruby said. “We’re willing to help, just like we were willing to help at the docks.”
Sunset looked around so that she could see Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha all up and on their feet, looking their way. Ruby in particular had a face that was firm with resolve; not a trace of fear or hesitation showed in her face.
“Have you guys been listening?” Sunset asked. “What about the game?”
“It’s not a complicated game; we can play and keep our ears open,” Jaune replied.
“If this is about stopping the White Fang and finding out who tried to get Blake in trouble, then we want to help any way we can,” Ruby declared. “We’re supposed to be a team.”
“Don’t say that; we are a team,” Sunset protested.
“Then why were you sneaking out to go and do cool stuff with Blake?” Ruby said. She pouted like a six-year-old. “Fighting the White Fang, going up against Torchwick, and all without us? That’s really rude, you know.”
“Don’t rush into anything too hastily,” Blake said, “and that goes for you too, Sunset.”
“You asked for my help,” Sunset said.
“And now I have the help of Atlas, whether I want it or not,” Blake said. “You can back out now, and no one will say anything about it.”
“No one will need to say anything,” Ruby said. “We’ll know. We’ll know that when the moment came and Vale was in danger, we shrank from the call. How could we call ourselves huntsmen in training if we did that?”
Blake smiled softly. “That’s kind and generous and… exactly what I’d expect from you, but it doesn’t change the fact that this isn’t your fight-”
“Fighting to oppose evil and defend those who cannot defend themselves is what a huntress does,” Pyrrha said. “We don’t need a personal reason to get involved.”
“Although we kinda have one anyway, through you,” Jaune added.
Ruby nodded. “You’re one of us now, Blake, and we’re with you every step of the way.”
“We would be honoured to fight by your side again in a noble cause,” Pyrrha said.
Blake stared at them, eyes wide. She glanced at Sunset. “Do these three ever make your feel-?”
“Yeah,” Sunset finished, understanding the moral implications, “it’s nearly constant.”
“This is great,” Rainbow said. “Really, I’d be glad to have you along for the ride, but you’re going to have to work out how to get in on this. In the meantime, I’ll call General Ironwood.” She got out her scroll and stood up, walking towards the bathroom as her thumbs tapped the screen of her scroll.
“Rainbow Dash,” came a gruff voice, presumably General Ironwood himself.
“Reporting, sir,” Rainbow replied, “and we think we have an idea on how to get at the White Fang.”
“I’m listening,” General Ironwood said.
“Team Rosepetal and Auxiliary Belladonna will fly to Cold Harbour and hide on the next train carrying a shipment of Paladins south to Vale,” Rainbow explained. “We’ll need to make sure nobody sees us, otherwise the White Fang won’t attack. But, if we do this right and don’t board the train until after it’s been loaded, then we can ambush the White Fang when they try to rob the train and maybe take a high profile prisoner.”
“You think the secrecy element is that important, Dash?”
“We have reason to believe that civilians working in the railway yard or harbour are informing the White Fang about the contents of rail shipments, sir,” Rainbow said, with a slight glance towards Blake. “That’s Blake’s theory, anyway.”
“I see,” General Ironwood said, in an even tone. “Very well, Dash, if you want to give this a try, I’ll allow it.”
“Thank you, sir,” Rainbow said.
“When will you leave?”
“Uh,” Rainbow hesitated. “Maybe it would be best if we left early, so that it’s not obvious we arrived just in time to get on the train?”
“That sounds reasonable,” General Ironwood said, and Sunset realised that he was not so much curious as he was testing Rainbow, seeing if she could come up with the answers instead of being handed them from on high.
“Speaking of which,” Rainbow went on, “it might be good if we had some other reason to be in Cold Harbour.”
“I’ll speak to Ozpin and see if there are any training missions up that way that you can be assigned,” General Ironwood said, “and also inform him that Miss Belladonna will be absent from class for a few days.”
“Thank you, sir,” Rainbow said. “If we get the right mission, we’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll contact Ozpin right away,” General Ironwood said. “Good luck out there, Dash. Ironwood out.”
Rainbow put her scroll away. “Okay, if your headmaster comes through, then that’s us taken care of,” she said, as she turned back to face the rest of the assembled group. “Now, how are you guys going to get involved in this?”
“We could mail ourselves to Cold Harbour,” Ruby said.
Sunset snorted. “You might fit in a box, Ruby, but I’m not sure we could afford the postage on Pyrrha.”
“We could play truant,” suggested Jaune.
“I’d rather not break any rules if we can possibly avoid it,” Pyrrha murmured.
“If need be, we may have to ask forgiveness rather than permission, but let’s keep that in our pockets as a last resort,” Sunset replied. Apart from anything else, she wasn’t sure that Yang would take it very well if she dragged Ruby off on an unsanctioned mission.
“Perhaps you could all break the law and all get assigned to work for Atlas, like Blake,” Penny said from where she remained seated on the floor.
Ciel folded her arms. “Penny,” she said sternly, “the law is not a thing to be broken lightly and for personal, selfish reasons. It is the barrier between civilisation and barbarism and thus deserving of the utmost respect.”
Penny looked at her. “You mean my idea is bad?”
“Very bad,” Ciel declared. “I begin to worry that some of you are a bad influence.”
“None of us suggested breaking the law before she did,” Sunset pointed out.
“The suggestion of breaking school rules is bad enough,” Ciel replied with a bit of a glare at Jaune.
Jaune laughed nervously. “Sorry about that.”
“Why don’t we just talk to Professor Ozpin and ask him to allow us to participate in the operation alongside Team Rosepetal?” Pyrrha inquired mildly. “It does seem the simplest thing to do, and it wouldn’t involve breaking any rules.”
“It would involve us trusting Ozpin,” Sunset muttered.
“He’s the headmaster, Sunset, not a diabolical mastermind,” Pyrrha said.
“He could be both,” Sunset said, before her scroll and that of Rainbow Dash went off at the same time.
“It’s Professor Ozpin,” Rainbow said, looking at the humming device which was already in her hand.
It took Sunset a moment longer to get out her scroll and find that she, too, was receiving a call from Professor Ozpin.
The two team leaders exchanged a silent glance before opening up their devices.
“Good afternoon, Miss Shimmer, Miss Dash,” Professor Ozpin said genially, looking up at the two of them from out of the screens of their respective scrolls, even as Rainbow’s face appeared on the other half of Sunset’s screen. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, but it seemed simpler to just give you a call than to drag you all the way up to my office.”
“Thank you for the consideration, sir,” Rainbow said, and Sunset was reminded to put her on mute by the echo from her scroll.
“What can we do for you, Professor?” Sunset asked guardedly.
“Miss Dash, I’ve just been speaking with General Ironwood,” Professor Ozpin said, ignoring Sunset for a moment, “and he mentioned that you were interested in a mission to the north, around Cold Harbour.”
“That’s right, sir.”
“As it happens, there is a training mission available in that region,” Professor Ozpin replied. “It seems that a concentration of grimm has been developing nearby, and the authorities have requested a search and destroy to deal with them. You would have to leave tomorrow, but-“
“We’ll take it, sir,” Rainbow said, “and we’ll be taking Blake with us.”
“Indeed, General Ironwood mentioned that also,” Professor Ozpin said blandly, giving no clue as to what he thought about it. “Now, Miss Shimmer, as it happens, I also have a mission for Team Sapphire which I think might afford you some valuable experience.”
Sunset glanced at her team, but mostly, it was her words from a moment earlier that stuck in Sunset’s head as she said, “We’re certainly willing to consider it, Professor. What kind of mission is it?”
“I’ll send the full details to your scroll, Miss Shimmer, but in summary: the railway line that runs through the Forever Fall forest has been damaged by recent criminal activity; since that line is the main shipment route for dust out of Atlas, it is intolerable that it should be allowed to remain out of action for long, but equally, since the Forever Fall forest is infested with the creatures of grimm, the business of repairing it is somewhat dangerous. Your assignment will be to board a train heading north with a party of engineers and all necessary equipment and protect them while they complete their repairs. Once that’s done, I’m afraid you’ll have to make your own way home, using your best judgement as to how you might or should accomplish that.”
Sunset fought to keep her face impassive, because Professor Ozpin couldn’t have offered them a more convenient mission if she’d planned it herself, and it was far too convenient to be mere coincidence, wasn’t it? She might not have been so suspicious, but after the way that he had behaved last semester… and the warning from Yang’s mom, and the team make-up, and it was all just starting to stack up. What are you up to, old man?
And why are you so interested in what we do?
Nevertheless, regardless of the headmaster’s exact motives, the fact was that it was a convenient mission. They could complete it, stay on the train the rest of the way to Cold Harbour, link up with RSPT and stow themselves on board the armaments train heading back to Vale in time to ambush the White Fang when they showed up for the robbery.
Another quick look at her teammates confirmed that they were of like mind with her.
Just because you’re seeking to use us doesn’t mean we can’t use you at the same time.
“We’re in, Professor,” Sunset said.
“I’m delighted to hear it,” Professor Ozpin said. “I’ll send you both the mission details so you can accept them. I would warn you that the enemies you will encounter beyond this school will not care that you are only children… but then, you already knew that, didn’t you? So I’ll just wish you the best of luck and a safe return.”
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Ozpin may be manipulative AT THE LEAST, but god damn it is hard to argue with being given a solution to your problem with no strings attached.
It’s good idea, there’s just one problem with it
1. It's a good idea.
Let me just whip out my phone and accept this mission...
It's like working as an IT sub-contractor. Get job postings by phone app and accept as you desire hours.
Convenient mission is convenient.
You know this is amazing seeing the disconnect, because we know that Ozpin is the reincarnating big good, but to Sunset, he's a mysterious 40-odd year old (dude looks young) who seems to know way to much.
Ozpin, you genius rascal!
Time to hit the White Fang back! And even if they don't show up (which is unlikely according to the universe), that will still be a train of desperately needed weapons and equipment for Atlas and Vale that will arrive safely. For this mission, the White Fang's goal is to win... while ours is simply not to lose. That is quite the difference.
This may not be SAPR's first battle, but at last they have their first official mission! Right where they're needed most, and this time, they will be far more prepared. Which gives us the advantage, because it will be our team that makes the ambush this time. We'll be fully armed, stocked and entrenched. We'll be Combat Ready!
Also, I must once again compliment the attention to lore detail with the board game. When Volume 2 first came out, the board game did much to illustrate the advantages of each of the kingdoms through their 'abilities'.
Atlas clearly provides players with the most pieces, making it a strong kingdom from early to midgame before the other kingdoms' advantages came into play during the late game. Vacuo has its environmental hazards and units that relied on mobility and guerilla-style tactics. For Mistral, the thin strip of land it was built upon is the key to Mistral's existence as it takes away the advantage of the Grimm's numbers by funneling them into narrow chokepoints and it worked equally well against invading kingdoms who either had to take the long way around the continent and attack their harbors with the defenders having more than enough time to prepare or risk going through the Grimm for a quicker and straighter shot at Mistral's walls. Mistral relies the most on gambling, rolling the game dice for big rewards.
On a separate note, I'm not surprised that Twilight is still having difficulty with the firewall. I'm about 95% certain that Cinder's phone and the software was designed by Watts. While we still haven't seen much of the man, it's clear that he's a "disgraced Atlesian scientist," as well as an inventor and tech expert. He created a new stinger for Tyrian after Ruby sliced it off. It is especially possible that he was the one who developed the virus Cinder used to hack into the CCT tower and rig the tournament, as his signature 'W' can be seen on Cinder's Scroll. Suffice to say, any software program that can be slipped into one of the CCT Towers, manipulate kingdom communications, autonomously insert itself into General Ironwood's personal Scroll and seize control of Atlas' androids and ships... well, that is an extremely impressive set of tech skills. Ohhhhh... What I would give to see a 'hacking battle' between Watts and Twilight, between two brilliant geniuses!
And one other thing that I just realized? If Blake is currently staying with SAPR for the time... doesn't that mean she'll be there when Zwei arrives?
Aaaand Ozpin fully joins the Dumbledore club along with Celestia. ^^
I really do appreciate how consistent these chapters come out. It's somewhat rare for fanfiction to have a relatively consistent update schedule, and it's always nice when a story you really enjoy does just that.
9353052
Dumbledore, Celestia and Ozpin are the Shadow Club, very old and wise people allowed only.
And yes, I came up with it in an instant, and out of boredom.
9353179
Most impressive.
9353179
You need to make a fanfic of this. =D
9353250
Thanks, my Sith Lord.
9353179
Yep, I could see that.
I want to see Oz and Celestia play chess.
I like Blake and R.Dash interacting. That's right. No way are they getting along. lol.
This, makes a disturbing amount of sense when you think about it.
Also, can't wait to see how this ambush goes. Shall it go right, or horribly wrong? I can't wait.
Just found this thought you might like is not mine https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FX5TQ97bUQk/XBgEPR39RqI/AAAAAAADTWE/I2bcL_U2ohIWNeky8MTXaLU4maje9EAYACHMYCw/s2000/byikirunosindo1545077636586.png
"Accept Mission" button? It's like a spy thriller.
I like that fake-out with the mole. It was a good bit of misdirection.
9353434
4d chess(https://youtu.be/3wFQPSEPgWc) or long war(3x3 boards, 3 sets of pieces with only 1 king each)
9354054
YES
A question if I may? I'm trying to get a straight sense of the timeline in Equestria.
When Sunset got in touch with Twilight and heard that the Princesses were missing with giant roots everywhere, that's the beginning of Season 4 (obviously). Which did take place shortly after Sunset Shimmer 'orignally' stole Twilight's crown, and now that incident took place at the same time as the RWBY Volume 1 finale. Should I assume that one Volume of RWBY is equal to one season in Equestria, like Tirek will be making his move around the same time as the Mount Glenn invasion? Or is the pacing different?
At the exact current point, where Sunset and the others are planning to protect the train, around what point of Season 4 is Equestria right now?
like that Sunset isn't letting her guard down with Ozpin.
can't wait to see her reaction to THAT secret of his.
9354054
What, like from Star Trek?
screams Aaaaaaah Ozpin!!!11
You million year bastard you.
He is literally
a lot likeCelestiaI'm prefacing saying I like this chapter because I spent too much time being sarcastic to really offer any general approval. That said:
I can hear Twilight Sparkle huffing. Seriously, how often was her housetree actually visited as a library, anyways?
For as smart as Atlas is, I sometimes have to shake my head. I can understand RD not making the connection the faunus loading the trains are the tipoff (given Dash has all but removed herself from that circle), but that RSPT hasn't previously discussed and questioned the level of encryption... I don't know, Ceil seems to be the most forthinking of the group in this sort of manner, so it might have just been lack of exposure to the information. I do like that Sunset can put the credit to feeding her ego, yet it shows how isolated RSPT are in their thinking.
Then again, perhaps that's the point (and why wouldn't they be?)
The robot does have a sense of humor!
When the dictator asks her minions to vote
Of all the things this is, Rude is pretty far down the list. At the same time, I do like this because it shows just how Ruby being extra young gives her a more juvenile perspective on the matter: It is rude because I/we are a team and I/we want to be there with you (and because fighting bad guys is fun). She is correct in calling Sunset out for the same reason Blake's team didn't take her back, though there are mitigating circumstances in that, yes, this is Blake business, not Sunset business. Right reasoning, wrong result, or perhaps right conclusion, but wrong reasoning, given how it might fit with events to come (a bit of Sunset inversion?)
Upon hitting the button, a nearby trashcan whoop's up the team and puts them in color coordinated jumpsuits for their adventure, Ospin gives them dual purpose fashion accessories. Totally Huntress!
I can't think of when Ospin deserved such a level of paranoia from Sunset.
He deserves a certain suspicion, perhaps, but hey it's not surprising that the principal doesn't tell his newly arrived pupils above all else.
Without counting the bad faith that she does not say everything for the safety of others as well.
10832863 He operates the same way as Celestia (He is more secretive, in fact). And while she forgave the Princess out of love, she would rather not be a pawn anymore.
Because giving you the opportunity to do what you were already going to do, without getting into trouble for it, is using someone, eh sunset.
I can see this part being animated as a background event as Sunset talks about it, with Ruby hopping into a box like a cat, while Pyrrha only fits to her armpits AND has her boots visible.