17

Author's Note:

I tried, but it seems Alloy is destined to be put in a robot body. I really didn't want to go that route, but oh well. I guess it's pretty obvious to everyone reading, myself included, that that is what was going to happen.

General James Ironwood

Empty. How did the bottle get empty? With how much of me is still flesh, a single bottle is twice as effective in getting me drunk. That is just one of the many reasons I rarely drink.

Alloy. That's why the bottle is empty.

It started with a question.

'Why didn't the fleet shoot Monstra out of the sky?'

They were just following orders. From what Alloy can remember, as well as my own understanding on how I would have acted, I hadn't given the order to fire.

She didn't stop asking questions after that, and every answer I gave made her more and more... Disgusted.

Not that is the word she uses.

'Napoleonic.'

That is. Surprised at first, then disgusted afterwards. An ancient era of combat to her.

So I asked her my question.

'What would you have done?'

She went silent.

A minute had passed before she replied.

'I have a choice to make,' she said, full of hesitation.

I thought she was hesitating for tactical reasons. That whatever she might tell me might somehow make things worse.

It did, but it wasn't tactical. 'As much as this might alter the balance of power, Atlas cannot fall again.'

Justification. 'You will need to know how dangerous what I am about to tell you is.'

Then the truth. 'This is how Terra conducts war. I'm sorry.'

It started as a history lesson. The history of a world without Grimm, of hundreds of countries in a complex web of alliances, of warfare so like what I am trained on.

Then an Archduke got assassinated. I immediately see the parallels with Remnant, how a small incident started the Great War.

'They called it the Great War. The War To End All Wars. The World War.' She hesitated. 'These days it's known as World War 1.'

Gas. Trench. Tanks. Bombing planes. Machine Gun Emplacements. Artillery.

Each new technology made things worse, each new technology drove the death count higher.

Then it stopped.

Then it started again, almost immediately afterwards, and I can tell she is lumping the two conflicts together.

Things are much worse the second time around.

Total War. A concept she only touched on before, when she tried to get me to rally Vale to fight.

Now I am subjected to the fully horror of it.

'There are no civilians in Total War. Everything is subsumed by the War. Everything is a military target.'

With the new war comes improvements to technology, to the means of spreading death. Millions dead.

That was when I started drinking.

'Japan had a deep warrior culture one second, then two bright flashes later and they didn't anymore.'

Fat Man. Manhattan Project. Chasing The Princess. She won't use the real name, it is a hint of how to make a weapon that could kill a Kingdom.

She called Specialist Winter and Qrow for emotional support, and for a brief moment I thought it was over.

Then she kicked me in the stomach. 'I'm not done.'

Cold War, that would end every Kingdom on Remnant. Then Proxy Wars.

All of it built on Mutually Assured Destruction.

Two superpowers with extinction a button push away stare down eachother, each one posing like they will end the world if the other makes a move. Other countries adding their own Weapons of Mass Destruction to the storm.

How the world sits on a needle. How a flock of geese have been mistaken for enemy aircraft flying in formation and have almost ended the world. How proxy and false flag operations continue to aggravate the tensions that lead not to War, but to sudden extinction of all life on the planet.

How it would only take 60 seconds for some politician to decide to end the world.

.

Finally she stops.

Specialist Schnee asks the question she and Qrow have, "What did you show him?"

"War," a single syllable that fails to encompass the horror that now sits in my head, eating away at my mind.

I breathe. I wait.

{Hello. I am from Earth. The time there is One Minute to Midnight. It has been One Minute to Midnight for as long as I have lived. Do Not Walk Our Path.}

She looks up at the terminal, still showing Atlas' command structure. "Throw it all out. We are starting again."

Decades of Atlas Culture and Tradition is discarded in a moment.

She starts with a Squad.

Alloy

I think we need a break. Redesigning the entire Atlas military is harrowing. James has been driven, and I see more of that man I respect. He didn't need a push, but I have given him one. A big one.

I just hope I haven't pushed him too hard. Atlas...

I finally understand why Atlas has a military when nobody else does. Why their tactics are so out of date. I kept thinking back to the Siege of Atlas in the OT, of blocks of soldiers standing in the open waiting for the Grimm to charge, of battleships around the city doing nothing.

It's culture. Tradition.

After the King of Mantle purged all culture, and then the Great War ended, Mantle had no culture. They had some 'useful' traditions, mostly part of the military, that they were allowed to keep and that became the basis of Atlas' way.

True, while they have grown beyond that in the past 80 years, the colourless is still there. Even technological developments haven't changed much in the Atlas military. Drones and aircraft, automatic weapons and Specialist squads, they're treated like addons rather than the fundamental shifts in how warfare is conducted.

Not anymore.

Speed, versatility, overwhelming local power and adaptability. The past month I have pulled every drop of memory from Earth, extrapolated every hint of jargon, worked my mind until it feels like mush only to keep working it.

The past month James and I have been writing a book.

If either of us had the creativity to spare, it would get a name. Unfortunately, we spend everything on this. He has even cancelled going to appointments so we could work on this.

"Again." James mutters aloud.

He hits the button and the simulation resets. How many simulations have we run? How many virtual lives have we spent?

Not enough. Every simulation saves future lives, and we are far from perfect. Someone, sometime, will die because we weren't good enough.

I take control of his robotic arm and begin issuing commands while he does the same with his left.

It's a videogame. It's a terrible, horrible videogame. It's a game I must win, because James must have a difficult opponent.

I issue my order, a plan already forming on how to deal with the forces under James' control.

My head is full of noise, it has been ever since- has it been a month? I don't know, I lost track of time. James cancelled all but the most important of appointments and we have been spending most of our time in his office, working.

Heavy machine gun teams leap frog over eachother, each providing coving fire while the next sets up before moving forward.

James doesn't stumble, but he is close. The break room next to his office is something I have become intimately familiar with. Coffee to James liking forms in his hands without much of my thought, I am fronting right now to give him a break.

Fully integrate armor with infantry. Comms officers in a squad can request air support, supplies or enemy targets for command to organise and allow.

The chair creaks under his weight, the old wood holding up his half steel body. James takes over and sips the coffee while I turn off my sense of taste with barely a thought. He half smiles at that, my distaste of coffee is a bit of a running joke at this point.

Pillboxes, concrete miniature forts or bunkers with heavy weapons emplacements. For Grimm, I don't think a trench is much help. All it would take is a Sabyr or Beowolf to get in and turn it into a blood river. Walls with automatic weapons sticking out is better, a canon or something on top to target larger, bunker busting, Grimm.

Qrow turns up, sitting and kicking his feet up on the table. It's glass, Qrow, like the last one you broke doing that. "Today's the big day, huh?"

I roll James' eyes. We are done. Stop thinking about it. The massive document is complete.

Assume that anyone in command can die or be unavailable for any reason. Assassination, heart failure, a bad cough that turns out worse than previously thought. Everyone is replaceable. Promote based on need and skill, not preferences or connections.

But I can't. Even during the little breaks between working, where I gave a few techs to Blake, got asked a few questions I can't even remember by... someone. Uhg. At least global secure communications is back up, Blake has been working on Menagerie from here.

I have an understanding of a very good encryption schema. Right, so, lattices. Create a grid, put 'data' somewhere, and then have two paths to said data. One path is much longer than the other, and the data is slightly randomised in position. You give the longer path out, it's lattice of points, and keep the shorter one. Simple, right? Well, let's add a thousand dimensions and see how easy it seems.

I'm glade Blake has been talking to her parents, starting the process there. They've apparently got good vacuum distillation set up, and have reverse osmosis tested and working but it's not implemented for the city yet. Though, her parents aren't a fan of Whoosh.

I considered starting them on electromagnetism but, it's one of the fundamental Dustless techs and I have already altered the balance of power with Atlas enough. I wonder how long it will take to get a grid online.

Delegate. Everyone works on different levels. You do not tell a squad how to get from point A to B, you command a sub commander to move this many troops with these specialisations to take these objectives. Warfare at this level is far too complicated for a single mind, and if someone needs to be replaced, a lot less is lost from one person. It also helps information security.

"That tired, huh?" Oh. Qrow. He's been sitting there waiting for us to reply...

"Yes." James speaks and takes a sip of his coffee. It's gotten noticeably colder. Not cold, but between warm and hot rather than the hot I poured it at.

"You two alright?" Qrow asks, worry in his voice.

Grimm are drawn to destroy artificial structures, and hunt down negative emotions. Unlocked Auras draw them more intensely. So we can control the flow of Grimm using specialist squads and draw them into killboxes and weapons fire. Though, Salem will make that harder, depending on the degree of control she has. Do not stop moving, our forces must be fluid, unfixed, striking constantly and exploiting every weakness while others create weakpoints for further exploitation.

"Exhausted." I state. "Deeply exhausted."

Grimm do not tire. So we will need to keep rotating the people in and out. The human mind can only maintain concentration on a single task for so long, and fighting requires a lot of concentration. So, take frequent breaks, keep moving your forces so that they are always fighting even though a single squad is only fighting a fraction of the time. This won't solve it, but it will greatly lengthen the amount of time a squad can keep fighting.

The door opens, and we look up. It's Specialist Clover.

"You wanted to see me sir?" He looks worried.

Oh right, we look like shit. James slides the table sized scroll across the table, too tired to get up.

Qrow chuckles as we watch him open it, read it, and his eyebrows go up. "Sir? This is..." Insane.

"I'm aware of what is on the scroll, Specialist." He doesn't quite snap, but there is a firmness in his voice that he wants this done.

"Of course, Sir. I was just worried how," Hahaha. He's looking for the right word. Who are we pissing off with this? "everyone is going to take this."

James nods. "That is why I am assigning you and the Ace Ops to the task."

Clover straightens up at the implied compliment. "Yes Sir. We will get it done."

"That is all, dismissed."

Clover nods, takes one more look at the massive document, and leaves.

Qrow cracks up laughing. "Everyone?"

I nudge James over. "Dear Atlas. You suck. Here's one thousand reasons why. Yours sincerely, Alloy."

James chuckles along with Qrow, who takes a moment to stop laughing to rub it in. "Oh Atlas, proud military Atlas, getting put in it's place by a little girl."

Pfft. I'm not little.

He picks up the second scroll, the one we were using for last minute changes, and gives the document a glance over. It's hardly classified, before the day ends everyone in the Atlas Military, and beyond, will have seen it.

All the joy flees Qrow's face.

"This is how Terra fights?"

All the joy flees us too.

"From what I can remember, minus the obvious." Grimm, drones, Dust, lack of satellite imaging.

Qrow, who saw how affected James was, can see the real origin of the fundamental change in Military doctrine.

How at it's root, this is for killing people.

I spot a shiver running down his spine as Qrow puts down the tablet.

Still, that is the price.

No longer will two armies stand in a field and charge eachother.

It's an hour later when Winter comes in, with her own copy of the frankly massive document.

I am slightly worried, but it looks like she's not pissed or anything that she was excluded from the writing and from implementing it. I guess she understands that she has other tasks, even if this is monumentally important.

What she does do is 'suggest' we take a shower. Qrow laughs at that.

James... doesn't shave. At my confusion. {You do keep telling me how good I look with a beard.}

{Yeah, but it's also a sign of Mettle.}

"A reminder." He nods to himself in the mirror. {And you are right. It did look good.}

{Going full Irondaddy, are we?} I immediately groan as I realise what I said. {Sorry, sorry. Fan nickname.}

Another sign of how tired I am. At least he chuckles at that, which I guess shows just how close we have become after...

Yeah. Tired.

We hang in silence, not awkward.

{Thank you.} I say after a few minutes. {If you...} I meaninglessly wave my mental hands around. {For helping me get out of my funk. Um.}

He doesn't interrupt, just lets me flounder as I try to speak. {For letting me cry and... Listening.}

Listening. That sinks in. {Listening. Not just the whole 'reshape Atlas Military' thing, but letting me...}

I drift off. I can't find the words, even now almost a month later. Feels like so much longer.

{I understand.} James returns once it's clear I'm done. {And thank you. For the second chance.}

I want to refuse it, say no, claim I'm cheating or something.

But I don't. Just take the thanks and move forward. At least I'm no longer getting irrationally angry at any positive stuff sent my way.

Or maybe I'm just too tired.

Instead of discarding the compliment, I change the topic. {We need a break.}

{I think I have something that might help.} Oh, have you been keeping secrets from me?

After a long night, thankfully this time asleep, some of my tiredness has gone. As we walk into the meeting room that has been consumed by Team RWBY and JNPR I get to see what he means.

Penny.

She's... Walking around and talking. Whole again.

I can tell, using my amazing powers of deduction, that she even has arms again.

Because Ruby seems to be attached to one of them half the time.

Kinda weird to see actually. Not Ruby holding Penny's hand, but that Penny is whole. The last I saw her was over a week ago before James and I abandoned the outside world completely to work ourselves to death. Back then, Penny was still just a half torso and a head.

I suppose that's the difference between Synths and Organics. Making a new part and putting it on is a lot easier than totally regrowing a limb.

Ruby and Penny perk up from the table she has a disassembled Crescent Rose on, looks like she is upgrading it. Or showing it off to Penny. I ship it. "Alloy! Um, General." Ruby flounders a second. It has been ages since we last 'saw' eachother.

What about- I suppose Penny would be allowed to know about me. Pietro knows, and between the study of my Semblance before she came back online, and the mass of Aura monitoring equipment that got moved into James' office while we were binging tactics.

James nudges me into control. "Hey Ruby. And hello Miss Polendina."

"Salutations!" Oh yeah, James was right. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you! Please, call me Penny."

"And you too." I smile. Finally? "Sorry for not meeting you before, but I have been busy. Ruby, have you been telling stories?"

"Kings." She says.

Ah.

So, that's it then. Another child to add to our war. Fuck you Salem. Why couldn't you just lay down and fucked off?

Gah, I am tired. I'm using common swears, far too exhausted to come up with my own.

"Secure then?" I ask. Ruby and Penny nod. {I suppose you know about this.} I ask James.

{Among other things.} He nudges back control. "Would you please go and get the others?"

Ruby and Penny break out in grins and I think Ruby starts vibrating. {Well, that's not ominous at all.} I sarcastically comment.

Pietro's lab is faded out from my perception, all of my mind consumed by this one thing.

I have spent the last two minutes just looking at it.

.

.

still looking at it

.

.

"Well?" Ruby asks when the silence is too much for her.

"It's not a pony." I reply.

That triggers a bunch of laughter, especially from Pyrrha and Yang. Nora snorts and mutters "Ponybot."

"I'm afraid I didn't quite have time to redesign a fully equine body." Pietro smirks. He looks healthier. A lot healthier. "It was also much easier to build them both side by side."

I was joki- oh he knows. He is just tired. I am too.

"We'll be like sisters!" Penny exclaims.

And there is that familiar flare of aggression towards any positive input. I stamp it down. "Half sisters, technically."

"Hey, what's wrong with half sisters?" Yang jokes and grabs Ruby in a headlock.

"Yaaannng!" Little half sister mock-tries to escape as she groans.

{I hate all of you.} I sigh the words. {Especially you, James. I'm far too tired to fight back, and you know it.}

He internally chuckles. {I did just spend the last couple of weeks studying the art of wearing down an enemy.}

{Oh, so I'm your enemy now? I'll be sure to tell...} Who will help me... {Qrow. He'll back me up.} Another chuckle. "Is it safe?"

Pietro again nods. "Your Aura started regenerating weeks ago, albeit slowly. Everything that I can see says it should be."

{The statue.} I realise. When I had a breakdown. I groan in James' head. {Aura is part of the soul.}

I still just stand there, looking at it.

Looking at it.

I shiver internally. {I don't think I'm ready.}

The words ring deep in me as I confess a secret fear to James. That I might... He is looking at me.

I sigh.

{But I'll try.}

The girl stands in the glass.

Perfectly still.

She's short. Her feet are black almost-boots with a trio of little silver nubs on each back. Boots that go up and widen far more than is necessary. Higher they go, past the knees where the illusion of boots can't be maintained and it's revealed they aren't boots at all, but robotic legs.

Robotic legs that meld with pale skin, so perfect it's impossible for me to tell it synthetic by looking at it. A loose black skirt with thin silver circuit designs growing up from the hem slightly further destroys the idea that she's organic.

By skirt's side are human shaped hands covered with black gloves, white metal plates where the knuckles would be if she were to curl her hands into fists.

Then more black and white as the clothing goes up and covers her small breasts, though the white is only used sparingly to accentuate the black. Above her bare neck is a face I don't recognise, randomly generated. It is soft with hints of sharpness that I expect will shine through when her expression changes. The nose is a bit small, almost cute, and her lips only a slight shade darker than the skin around it.

Around all of this is neck length straight black hair, it too perfectly still. A slight smattering of freckles sit below the only source of movement. Eyes, obviously synthetic and coloured the rare colour of silver.

A second mirror sits behind her, the double reflection showing her back. Flat, unlike the other synthetic who stores her weapons there.

But the second mirror isn't the only thing behind her. There are people.

A man in a chair with his daughter looking hopeful.

His daughter's friend excited as much as the copper haired girl is.

To the father's other side is a man, stiff, formal and controlled, though hints of kindness bleed out between the cracks.

A white haired woman stands formally, ready for any request or to intervene in the event something goes wrong.

A second white haired woman/girl stands next to her, and the Mirror-Girl sees just how similar their posture is.

A blonde haired boy is next to her, curious and self-conscious of his curiosity.

His girlfriend seems oddly unsteady, and slightly worried, as she sees the girl in the Mirror not smiling.

Dark hair with a pink streak is next, and I wonder if that is natural. He is calm, relaxed, but his eyes sweep and listen to the world.

Energy flows off the next one, a grin and alert alive eyes that mask something deeper. An understanding of the people around her, and a fierce protectiveness.

Blonde again, though this one's hair is like a waterfall of gold. Perhaps she would exude sex appeal or a fun playful expression, but right now there is concern.

The second to last one is frowning much harder, her golden eyes partly hidden by her eyelids as she does so. Long straight black hair flows down from a pair of cat ears. She has two sets of ears, her hearing must be amazing.

The last is slack man with stubble darkening the colouring of his chin. His relaxed expression is a mask I can see through, he is also concerned.

I look again at the Mirror. She has a mission. Cleverness and kindness over a ruthlessness to do whatever it takes to win. Skills and knowledge to do so. Most of all though, She isn't alone. She has friends and allies more than her enemies and obstacles.

So why does she look so sad?

.

She's suppose to be me.

.

It's not me.

.

Mirror Mirror who is staring back at me?

.

She just stands there, perfectly still in the glass. Even her eyes have stopped moving.

.

Suddenly she smiles and waves. A playful wink and her tongue sticks out for just a moment. She's Bright, cheerful, alive.

Happy.

Fake.

Suddenly she stops and returns to stillness.

The white haired girl's composure breaks and she strides forward and hugs the Mirror Girl.

"I don't recognise her, Weiss." I speak, the Mirror speaks. "It's all wrong."

The Mirror is crying. Did Pietro add that due to my changes? Or were they always there in the OT, just never used.

.

The Mirror smiles again. Once, twice.

.

I don't feel it. "It's not me."

.

Other's are moving forward now, waterfall of gold first, wrapping their arms around her.

.

How can she be me, if she has friends, if there are people who care about her?

When no-one cares about me.

It's not possible.

.

Look at that group of people around the Mirror.

Odd questions I was asked while I was with James suddenly make sense. They have been planning this for a while, and when it became clear I wasn't really thinking about it, they turned this into a surprise for me.

It's everything I 'asked' for. But...

I retreat.

The warmth of the hug fades away, my ability to move the body stops, the world goes silent and gains an extra layer of unreality.

Nobody takes over.

{Hello?} I call out.

Silence.

{Please?}

Nothing.

{Anyone?}

It's been so long since I died. I have gotten used to being... not a person. Just a voice in someone else's head. Like I'm still a ghost.

'Come on.' Golden waterfall says and grabs Mirror's shoulder.

I watch as the girl gets pulled away, her face still looking sad.

Qrow Branwen

I hope Yang knows what she's doing.

The room is empty. Atlas Academy might be closed for the holidays, but that doesn't mean it's empty. Still, the training room was free. Or Ironwood had it cleared, hard to say.

Hard light projectors hum barely audibly as Yang leads Alloy and sets her in the middle of the empty room. The rest of us stand up in the booth, a bit crowded, but no one is going to leave her alone.

She stands where Yang let go of her.

"Come on." Yang turns and raises her fists in front of her.

She just stands there. She can walk, talk, and we all saw her use her arms before. Has she ever sparred with anyone before?

I don't think she has. Paradigm Shifts, learning how to hold a blade, that little fight when Nora threw lightning at her, though she cut that off pretty quick.

No, she's clever, she understands.

She's just... Numb. Disconnected.

Ruby is frowning. The Half Schnee is too.

"Alright, I'll go first." Yang moves up and slowly throws a punch.

Though it is still a punch.

Fist meets fake skin over super expensive (Ironwood really threw a lot of Lien at her, huh.) nanolaminate alloy and Alloy rocks back slightly. Her head turns and looks down at the point where it impacted, where she felt a hit.

Other than that, she doesn't react.

Yang throws another punch and it impacts again. "Alloy?"

"Why isn't she fighting back? Blocking? Anything?" The little Tai lookalike says. Ha, I'm just glad he isn't the lady killer type, or Yang and I would wreck him for being too close to Ruby. "She can move, right? We just saw her walk in there."

"She can. But she can't." The half Schnee sounds like she's been in this place before. "She's disconnected, in shock. Numb."

Half Schnee sighs, the breath full of pain. "She doesn't know who she is."

Shit.

Seen a Semblance do that to someone, once. Erased his memories mid fight and he had a breakdown right there and then. Had to break the bitch user's Aura for the effect to stop. Even after his memories came back, it still took him a few weeks to get over it.

The Alloy's head rotates up to look at Yang, though she doesn't speak.

Yang gives up with the direct approach, and grabs her arm and moves it into position. Step by step she teaches Alloy how to block, mock punches only just touching the 'guard' she has up.

"Now move it to the side slightly, in the way of this next one."

Alloy's arm doesn't move. Not for that punch.

Nor the next.

Or the next.

"Please Alloy." Please. Yang is begging her now.

Trying to get her to react.

.

It isn't working.

.

"I do not understand. Why is she just standing there?" Penny asks. "She should be combat ready, she has all the same upgrades and features that I do."

"It's not a matter of ability, Darling." Her father, (huh, I'm thinking of him as her father now.) tries to explain. "She's just not ready for it."

He's given up on Alloy. Ruby looks ready to cry, and that isn't stirring her to action.

'Dream. Not of what you are, but of what you want to be.'

'So, what are you gonna be?'

'Tenno.'

What is a Tenno? I asked her that, when she was with Yang.

'I'm not perfectly sure, to be honest. I suppose it's like a Huntress, but... different.' She snorts. 'Wait, when I said I wanted to be a Tenno, were you expecting me to say Huntress?'

'A little.' I admit. She sticks her tongue out. 'Okay, maybe more than a little.' It's strange to see Yang like that and know she's not Yang, act not like Yang. Though, I think Yang is being a bit of a bad influence on her.

Alloy has been punning recently, apparently. She never admits it and claims Yang is lying, thought it's pretty obvious she's the one lying.

'So, the game, Warframe, is about space ninja who- Yes Yang, Space Ninja. As in Ninja in Space, though they aren't really Ninja, more like Huntresses. They take missions, get loot to make and upgrade weapons, fight against the two empires that are at constant war with eachother across the solar system, as well as other threats, and protect the civilian places.' Alloy looks thoughtful for a moment. 'Maybe think of it as two kingdoms across Remnant, at war, and you are a Huntress in a team of up to four with a cool ship who drops down into hot spots and tips things back into balance.'

'What, so they keep fighting?' That doesn't sound very Huntress like.

'Yeah. One side is a brutal clone army that values domination and everything 'Grineer', that's their faction name. The other is a single massive corporation that only cares about profit. Literally only cares about profit. Land, lives, time, all with a numerical value on them. One of the civilian factions you help is a group of 'indentured servants'.'

I wince at that. Slaves. It's like the SDC, but worse. Yang speaks up. 'So you sit in the middle and make them fight eachother so they don't take over the world and enslave or kill everyone.'

'Pretty much. Over the years the Tenno faction has grown, getting allies and stuff, so there is a growing resistance movement. Corpus, the megacorp, who realise that constant war isn't actually a good business strategy long term. Grineer who were either cloned bad or realised war and domination isn't everything in life, that other people's cultures and perspectives have value. A few civilian groups, like the Ostrons, who just want to be left in peace but will trade with the Tenno services for special equipment.'

She sighs. 'The story isn't much, it's mostly a gameplay game until you sink enough time in, then the story comes out of nowhere. The worldbuilding of the game is very slow. Frustrating actually.'

Alloy shakes Yang's head in that way she does when she's clearing her thoughts. 'Tenno are powerful half magical, highly trained warriors who fight for those who can't fight for themselves. Lore wise, anyway. A lot of mission are done for loot and cosmetics. Oh, and cool weapons.'

She tries to summon up a blade with her magic. I chuckle as she frowns, Yang does too. 'Oh right. Forgot about that.'

I think I know what we need to do. A Tenno is like a Huntress, not exactly, but...

A Huntress protects.

"We need someone to attack Yang. Someone Alloy doesn't completely trust. She'll see through Grimm projections." Who would work? Real Grimm, sure, but I doubt Ironwood just so happens to have some on hand.

Said Ironwood nods and pulls out his scroll. "'Hacked' Knights?"

"That should work." I signal to Yang that we are starting an exercise, Alloy's back is to us. She gets the message. "Though that might not be enough of a threat to Yang for her to step up and defend her."

I might be a little proud, or I might be rubbing it into him how stupid his drones are. "Ace Ops then."

I look at James and wince. He's going to play up going Mettle.

"It's alright." He states, and I realise he deliberately hasn't shaved.

Of course. Alloy talked to him, like she did Yang, and me, and the Bastard Ozma. Called us an idiot and pushed us to be better.

Guess it's our turn to call her an idiot.

Alloy

Why can't I move?

I can, but I can't. I just need to move the arm to the side, stop the attack with it. Yang is asking me to, so why can't I move it?

It's not mine. I don't have permission.

Mirror isn't me. She can't be me. She is loved.

'Nobody has ever loved you.' Cinder's song sings.

The door behind me opens. They'll probably store the body, have me jump across to someone else and ride shotgun. Keep this body in storage.

Better that way. I might lose it like I did Amber's.

That's a lot of footsteps. Turn around to look at them. Please? Just turn the neck, find out why there are three people. Five people.

"Yang Xiao Long, you are under arrest." A flicker of fear runs up my spine.

No. Why? James wouldn't go Mettle, not now. "Please come quietly."

"What? What for?" Yang protests and pulls up her fists. Of course she won't go quietly.

"To prevent leaking of sensitive information. It's for your own safety." Clover half pleads. He doesn't want a fight.

Fuck. Whoosh.

I pushed James too far. World Wars, nukes, genocide of the Jews. Then I taught him how to do it. How to conduct War on a level so far above that...

He wants to secure Whoosh, TNT, RDX, anything to fight back against the immortal.

He was vomiting when I showed him White Phosphorus, when I showed him the 'shadows' on the walls in Hiroshima, when I showed him people coughing blood as the gas sets in.

He is desperate to protect Atlas.

He won't allow me to go to Menagerie and help them, because Adam, because the White Fang.

He will start a pre-emptive invasion, maybe not military because I taught him better than that, but anything to stop Whoosh, TNT and RDX production.

I did in two months what Salem took two years to do. Anything to keep Atlas safe.

Yang cocks her weapon.

They don't need to arrest me. If James went Mettle, then he did so when my body was being made. Which means there are safeties in place to prevent me from leaving. He can shut me down at a moment's notice.

"Stay!" I hear Marrow command.

And just like that the fight is over before it has even begun. I see Yang looking to me, silently pleading with me.

James won't hurt her, right?

Except.

How will they contain her? Especially with her Paradigm Shifts.

Clover walks up and restrains Yang. Silent Yang.

I'm just letting this happen.

Move. Please.

Please.

"Well, that was easy. What about her?" Harriet is our third person.

"Orders are only for Xiao Long." Clover states. Does he know about the failsafe in me? He doesn't need to, I suppose.

Harriet walks around into my field of view and waves her hand in my face, "Doesn't look like she's working anyway."

The locks are in place. It's a damm straitjacket. Metal bands run through it, heavy locks, what looks like lightning Dust ready to shock her either for the pain or to disrupt muscle control.

Not just her arms, but legs too. Gravity Dust hovers her slightly above the ground, taking the remainder of her mobility.

It's brutal and effective.

They drag Yang away, out of my sight.

That's it then.

I'm useless.

"Ruby! Please, Alloy, get Ruby!" Yang pleads, her mouth finally free. Marrow must have released her.

Ruby. They will be after her nex- Would James go that far? To 'farm' Silver Eyes?

A shiver runs up my spine. James wouldn't, but...

Mettle would.

Come on, fight back. Move.

Anything.

Anything...?

I'm a synthetic.

They take Yang away.

I log in. I take control. I see through the arena's cameras.

"Hey, why aren't the doors opening?" Harriet complains for a moment before she elbows Clover. "Isn't your Semblance suppose to stop things like that?"

"It is." He turns around and readies his weapon, the other two doing the same. "You are interfering with Atlas Military business."

I'm not listening anymore. What I am doing is taking control of the hardlight projectors. The observation booth is tinted, James must have ordered that so I can't see inside of it. So I wouldn't notice everyone else is gone.

Harriet rolls her eyes and speaks, before bumping her fists together.

Calculating. If she were to rush me, she would go... there.

"Last warning." Clover announces as he and Marrow begin to fan out, weapons up. "Fine. Harriet."

"Finally." Harriet smirks. I smirk.

She rushes forward and trips as I spring into action, still unmoving. The floor is no longer safe.

Fishing hook is thrown at me only to be snatched mid air as I load Grimm programs, a large Nevermore snapping it in it's jaw and flying upwards.

Marrow gets a wall. In the face. Pushing him backwards into the other wall.

The other two turn to face me, backs to Yang and I set a Sabyr to slice its way through the restraints on the jacket.

I turn around, slowly, my hands curling to fists as they come up to the small of my back. I'm and idiot. That isn't the Atlas At-Ease pose. All this time I have been taking the Darksied pose.

Yang pops free. "Finally!"

Idiot, you just gave away that you're-

"Prisoner loose!" Elm announces as she spins on Yang, Vine almost in sync.

Calculating.

There.

Walls spring up and uppercut the both, knocking them back. They slide down smooth ramps I made to catch them, pushing them further away from Yang.

More Grimm spawn and I direct them to restrict Harriet's attack vectors. Yang grins. "Never fought with the Grimm before, this'll be weird."

I speak. "No Yang, go get the others. James has gone Mettle. And he knows about Farming."

All cheerful animate life in Yang's movement halts and the blood drains from her face.

The door behind her opens, and before she can protest or move, I push her out and close it with hardlight.

Qrow Branwen

The doors snap shut as Yang leaves the training room beneath us. Tinted dark glass hides that all of us are up here in the observation platform, that James has not in fact 'gone Mettle'.

I watch as Clover's eyes glance around. "If she has control over the doors and hardlight, we will need to incapacitate her before we can continue."

The other Ace Ops nod as the stakes are set, odds stacked against Alloy, but I catch her smirk. Behind us the door opens and closes as Yang steps in.

"20 on Alloy." I bet.

Ice Queen snorts. "Against all the Ace Ops? You are deluded."

"Not going to take me up on it then?" I bite back.

James does though, subtly giving permission to the Ice Queen. "I stand behind my men, of course."

Got her. Ice Queen is hooked.

"Alloy!" Ruby announces her throw in the pot.

Would Summer kill me for getting Ruby involved in gambling?

Na.

"Ruby!" the Half Schnee scolds. "You ca-"

Ruby sticks out her tongue which cuts off her partner. The half Schnee glares for a moment. "Fine. Ace Ops."

Said Ace Ops are slowly spreading out, taking advantage of their numbers over Alloy.

"5 on 1? That hardly seems fair." Alloy taunts.

"You could always surrender." Clover offers.

"I meant fair on you." Alloy smirks back, "I suppose I can try to balance things out."

Alloy rolls her shoulders to bring attention to her arms, "Let's see if you can push me to use my hands."

Pyrrha throws her vote in. "Ace Ops. They have far too much experience and have excellent teamwork."

"Pfft, those guys?" Nora bites. "Alloy's got this. Right Ren?"

Said boy narrows his eyes, focusing on Alloy, before a subtle smirk comes up on his face. "20 yes? Alloy."

Ah, the joy of being the cool uncle, now expanded to corrupting a bunch more kids.

I watch the Ace Ops. Not long now, they have been cautious, slowly surrounding her.

Yang's maybe girlfriend speaks. "She's allowed them to surround her, and they all are out of eachother's firing lines. Ace Ops. Alloy is in the worst possible position."

Harriet, the fast one, takes up her line from the never-future. "We are the best Huntsmen in Atlas!"

Alloy's smirk never leaves. "Strange. I don't remember teaching you."

Heh. Great confidence. She's probably got a trick up her sleeve.

It starts.

"Sta-" Marrow opens up with his Semblance, only to freeze mid word as a hardlight mirror springs up in front of him. In the glass, he sees himself, pointing at himself.

Shit. Alloy just turned his Semblance against him.

Lightning flashes across Harriet for a moment, only for her face to kiss the ground as a bar locks her foot down.

Then come the Grimm.

Hard light Grimm emerge from the walls and from around Alloy, and suddenly the advantage of them fanning out is turned against them. They are the ones surrounded and isolated.

Did they think she could only control a couple, like before? Now there are around 40, plus some tiny Nevermores around Alloy. My eyes pick out three types. Sabyrs, Centinels, and Nevermore. Common, numerous, but deadly.

Not too deadly though, not against a full team of Huntsmen.

Though, with Harriet and Marrow incapacitated and the sudden change of events, the Ace Ops are off balance.

Yang whoops and high fives Ruby while Nora chocks out a laugh as she comments. "Wow it's strange to be rooting for the Grimm."

"Regroup!" Clover calls, and they slowly begin moving as they crush the Grimm. Grimm that keep coming, just like real Grimm.

"Already on the back foot." James frowns.

I chuckle. Standing beside his men, huh?

The Ace Ops move, leaping and shifting as they fall back together. Marrow only took a moment to unfreeze himself, but that moment was all it took for him to get hit with a couple of nasty blows.

Amid their retreat, a few rounds fly towards Alloy, only to be caught by a swarm of tiny Nevermore serving as a defensive screen.

All the while she has not stopped smirking. I can tell it's getting to the big girl, Elm I think she's called.

"She's letting them regroup." Ice Queen notices.

She's right. There is resistance, she isn't just letting them regroup, but the Grimm in the direction that each Ace Op wants to go is less. Hard to see from the ground, but up here it's obvious.

Still, she must have a plan. One that Jimmy Irondick must know, because the moment the Ace Ops group together, he sighs.

The Grimm change tactics.

And a shiver of fear runs up my spine.

Gone is the feral mess of normal Grimm behaviour, now they flow. A circular whirlpool of teeth and claws forms around the Ace Ops while the roof of raining razor feathers cuts into them while the unceasing flow of acid is lobbing in, covering the gaps.

They are pinned inside the eye of a storm made of sharp edges and hostile intentions, lured into grouping together, and now they are suffering from it. Huntsmen might be fast, capable of deflecting bullets from automatic fire.

But this isn't an automatic weapon. The air if full of blades. Every cubic inch of space is sharp, and their weapons can only be in one place at a time. Above the nevermore circle, never diving, always firing. Around the Sabyrs circle, never rushing in, always sprinting around. Behind the Centinels circle, never burrowing, always lobbing.

The 'best Huntsmen of Atlas' pinned and hammered by three common Grimm types. Not even a massive amount of them, but the Grimm aren't fighting like Grimm.

"Killbox." James mutters.

'Do you even know what a killbox is?' Alloy asked.

'We do now.' James had replied.

He didn't. We didn't. The tactic she showed us during the Siege of Vale wasn't a killbox.

We do now.

Despite the endless flow of attacks, the Grimm aren't attacking. None of them are lunching in for the kill. They are not behaving like Grimm at all.

Not that the Ace Ops are giving up. "Now!"

"Stay!" Marrow calls.

The sky goes still, long enough for the others to act out their parts of the plan. Glowing Aura arms sweep the air around them, blocking the acid blobs coming their way. A hammer comes down and cracks open the ring of Sabyrs allowing a lightning coated woman to sprint out.

She doesn't go for Alloy, but instead- ah.

A crack, as her fist impacts the wall in a very specific place.

The hardlight constructs flicker as a normally meaningless blow on the projector just so happens to cause some critical damage. So that's what it looks like.

The Grimm fade away as the projection is disrupted. Clever.

Still, Alloy hasn't stopped smirking.

Grimm begin to reform as the Ace Ops fan out in a loose but near formation, ready to help eachother in a moments notice. Not going to repeat their mistakes.

Though, said mistakes have already cost them a lot. Aura is low, and I can see them panting.

Panting? Just how brutal was it in the storm?

The group rushes Alloy, who all this time has just stood there, hands behind her back.

Controlled. Taunting. Smirking.

Harriet arrives first, fists begin impacting hardlight hexagons that form and shatter with each blow. She's fast, but Alloy doesn't need to move to defend herself. She just stands there as the room itself follows the commands of her glowing silver eyes. Smirking.

It's damm creepy.

The others are around her and fighting through Grimm projections a moment later, though said Grimm fade in and out with every flicker of the damaged projectors.

Ha, Alloy can't killbox them again, something that the Ace Ops exploit. Between jitters of Grimm and the frequent flickers of hardlight shields fading, they get hits in.

Or try to. Only then does Alloy move.

Even then, she doesn't actually fight back. She simply steps aside or leans. Never does she punch or grab. She bobs around the attacks but does no more.

"Pfft, they're getting tired," Ruby says and sniggers.

They are getting tired. They're panting hard now, too hard. So much so, that Harriet collapses after a punch that Alloy sidestepped, kissing the ground again.

"Harriet!" Vine calls out and his glowing arms reach out to grab her.

Only for a Sabyr to leap onto them and break them. His Aura with it.

Hardlight sweeps him away, Harriet with him once her Aura breaks a moment later.

"What is happening?" Little Miss Champion sees it too, "They shouldn't be this tired."

"I don't know. Semblance maybe?" Blake asks.

"Does she have two Semblances?" Pietro Robolegs leans forwards a moment.

Some of us laugh. Paradigm Shifts, her hosts Semblance, or some other bullshit she has invented.

"If anyone could have two, it would be her." Ren explains.

Elm collapses and is swept aside with the others. Vine and Clover lose their Aura a moment after that to the Grimm and fall to the ground.

The Grimm go still, then fade.

Alloy stands there, with her hands behind her back, still smirking.

"Well, that's it then," I turn to the Ice Queen, "Pay up."

Alloy

I tweak the atmospheric controls and allow oxygen back into the room.

I realised this was an exercise a moment after Yang left the room, my mind expanding outwards as I took control of more systems only to see everyone in the observation platform watching. It's a big platform, larger than the one in the OT training room.

"Congratulations! You are all dead." I announce to the best Huntsmen of Atlas.

I shouldn't have beaten them, but cheating and exploiting their arrogance made it easy. My smirk finally fades, it having served it's purpose in winding them up and making them sloppy, in distracting them.

"The Ace Ops are dead. James is targeted by a team of rouge Huntsmen, and to top it all off, you failed to secure not just your target, but you also failed to remove the singular opponent who could subvert all of Atlas' software systems."

I rub in their failure. Time for another lesson. Damm I am feeling better with my own body. Tired, true, but this has really helped.

They slowly get up, realising I have realised this was a training exercise. "If this is the 'Best Huntsmen in Atlas' then you may want to consider moving to Vacuo. Or not, that might be a bit too hard for you."

I might not be smirking, but the bright and cheerful, mocking, tone riles them up.

"You cheated!" Elm mutters.

"How did you beat us?" Vine asks, already eager to learn. Good boy. Even if I don't like your tattoos.

Clover takes another deep breath and stands. "Semblance."

I frown at him. Wrong answer. "Elm is correct. I cheated. In this case, the room is sealed and atmospherically controlled, so I removed the oxygen from it."

Watching their eyes widen is pretty funny. I should humiliate the high and mighty more often.

"Arrogance. You entered this room believing you are the best. That you knew everything there is to know about your opponent. That you had the home field advantage. You dismissed me as a threat. You let your guard down. You relaxed while on mission. You let me take control of the battlefield." I stress.

"And then you failed," that stings them hard.

"I respected the threat you posed. The numbers and teamwork you have. I knew that I could not beat you as a Huntress. So, I did not. I looked for a way to win, and did not stop until you were helpless at my feet."

My cheerful tone of voice ends suddenly. "Even then, were I an enemy, you would all be dead. At least two rouge Huntresses would be free and rallying others to attack from within. Atlas would have lost some of it's best, and by the time anyone realises that, it would be too late."

I glance around the room, into the eyes of each of the five people in front of me. "The only lesson arrogance can teach you is failure."

I grin again, and my voice perks up. "SO! Each and every one of you is going to walk up to James, and tell him personally that you failed. That Atlas was destroyed from within because you relaxed. That everyone you care about is dead. You will not ask for forgiveness. You will get on your knees before grovelling and demanding to be put through as intensive training as your bodies and minds can handle."

The Ace Ops don't like that.

"Is that understood?" I lean forward, as if to question them, dare them to refuse.

"Yes Ma'am!" Hmm, but I do like that.

Shame I'm going to Menagerie. I think I might quite like Atlas.

"Good. Any questions?" Probably a mistake, but whatever. I'm not actually military, I can't order them around.

Clover steps forward. "You are Alloy, aren't you Ma'am?"

"I am." Whoa, okay.

That suddenly changed the tone of the room. Any hesitancy they might have had being ordered around by a no name bitch who kicked their asses by cheating is gone. I think they are standing at attention now.

Ah.

"Dammit James. I told you not to put my name on the book." I mutter under my breath.

Someone giggles. I snap my head back up and it stops before I can track who it was. "Any other questions? Good. Dismissed."

They leave.

I generate a hardlight chair and sit down, ignoring the fact that the observation booth is tinted and no doubt James is watching me dress down his men. Uhg, he'll get over it. I had fun, and they made a stupid mistake. That's all that matters, right?

Qrow's grin as he walks through the doors does cheer me up. I call up a chair for him, and then the others behind him.

"Welcome to my domain," I mutter tiredly and gesture at the chairs, "Have a seat."

Which is, of course, when the hardlight fails and I fall on my ass. "Dammit Qrow!"

He throws his head back and laughs, hard.

I push myself up and try to salvage what dignity I can, but it's too late. I cheated my pants off to humiliate the Ace Ops, I suppose this is what I deserve.

"Nice win. I never doubted you," Yang holds her hand out and pulls me up.

"Oh, and who did?" I ask, glaring at everyone here.

Weiss, Pyrrha, Blake, Jaune. Huh, a solid half. Winter would probably stand by Atlas, as would James. Except James would only do it because he has to, he would probably guess I would pull something out of my ass.

"Not me!" Nora announces, "Hey, it is safe to breathe in here, right?"

"Yes." I roll my eyes. "I turned the air back on the moment I was done."

Ah, here comes Pietro. I suppose we should go, he is slow and this really isn't his kind of room. Would be strange to see him in the training room. Though he is looking at the hardlight projectors, maybe assessing damage?

Doesn't matter.

I'm moving again.

Author's Notes:

Real life continues to get worse, but I managed to push out this chapter. I'm going to have to ask for another month to sort this nonsense out.

I'm tired. Very tired.

It probably shows in the writing.

On top of that, I rewrote this chapter a few times trying to get it to work, but right now I just want it done.

Oh, and for those who can't read, no, Alloy cannot beat the Ace Ops in a fight. She can barely hold a sword, nevermind fight at that level against multiple opponents.

Good thing she doesn't play chess.

Did I do the Ace Ops justice? I hope so, they aren't pushovers.

FFNet still hasn't updated my views, though reviews are updating. Good thing I'm not writing this for you but for myself.

Speaking of which, I've started to shift my formatting, as it's apparently wrong. You'll probably notice the inconsistencies, especially with how tired I am. I just don't have the energy to change everything right now.

Oh well.