As he ran along the walls of the prison, Yatsuhashi wondered how this had become his life. His teammates beside him, it shouldn't have felt so strange. Together, they'd all been through their fair share of strangeness and trouble. He'd been through some even before that first day, at the initiation ceremony, since the day he'd first discovered his Semblance, for all the trouble it'd caused along the way. Though that, at least, he knew he was the one wholly at fault. Everything that came after was poor judgment on the behalf of himself and his teammates. Not that he would complain about it either. Despite having matured since he'd first discovered his Semblance, he was still very much the boy he once was. There was some part of him that got a thrill out of pushing boundaries and skirting trouble. Even if he was smarter about it than he once was.
They say boys grow older, they don't grow up. He'd technically done both, but only literally.
Getting put together with Coco Adel hadn't changed that either. It was also more on her than either of his two other teammates. Fox, he knew to be serious to a fault, and Velvet, long suffering as she was, put up with all three of them. He couldn't have asked for a better partner in her, even if they'd had a rocky start. The two of them, and their teammates together, had taken Beacon by storm, something he'd have never thought about when first leaving Mistral to hone his abilities. They'd built a reputation for being the top team in their year, and carried that title with them. It'd been a close contest between them and team LZLI, but they'd won it, mostly through Coco's insistence that they needed to. Fittingly she was also the one with a fan base to maintain. Not that he complained about the attention he received either.
But had Yatsuhashi been told a year ago he'd be storming one of the most fortified places in the kingdom, racing to stop terrorists from stealing military hardware and freeing the inmates, he'd have been gobsmacked. He hadn't expected a quiet school life, but he hadn't expected such madness either.
Though, as he ran along the prison wall, he couldn't help but admire the view of Vale. However brief such admiration was.
"Y'know, when I first enrolled, fighting terrorists wasn't the first thing on my mind, right?" He grunted as he followed in line with his teammates. Coco and Fox ahead, Velvet and himself at the rear.
"Because obviously we were expecting it too," Velvet said, rolling her eyes. Yatsuhashi assumed she was as well, though he didn't spare a glance at her.
"Just another quirk of the job," Coco answered coolly. "Can't say it isn't exciting."
"Wasn't going to," Yatsu answered, hearing the gunfire echoing ahead of them. A feeling of apprehension tugged at his stomach. They'd all been trained, and continued to train with Fox, to properly use their Aura. To face the creatures of Grimm, they had to know how to use all of their abilities to stand against them. But they were not about to face the creatures of Grimm. They were about to face the White Fang. Armed with guns, explosives, and a numbers advantage. His team, meanwhile, had one regular gun to their name, and three melee combatants.
Yatsu trusted and favored his sword arm, but even he could do basic math. Dodging Grimm was a lot easier than dodging bullets. Most of the time.
Though there was one small advantage he was silently grateful for. Even if he didn't appreciate where it came from.
"Think it was sweet that your boyfriend lent you that weapon of his," Yatsu smirked, looking briefly at Velvet.
"OH MY GODS CAN YOU NOT!?" Velvet squeaked as she ran. "I get enough of that from Coco, I don't need it from you too."
"You've got to admit, it was pretty nice of him," Coco needled, briefly spinning around to look at Velvet. "At least he pays attention enough to lend a hand. You should thank him later, maybe he'll finally get the hint."
"Yeah, sure," Velvet said, rolling her eyes. "Hey, how's that back-brace working, haven't heard you complaining about it recently, maybe you should thank him too."
"It's feeling better," Coco answered coolly, turning back around. "You can tell him while pouring your heart out."
"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM!"
Yatsuhashi stifled a laugh, he knew Fox and Coco were too. They all cared about Velvet, really they did. He knew best out of them that Velvet could take care of herself as well. She was just rarely put in a position to do so, both because of the nature of her weapon, and because they watched over her. Something that had only started to change recently, after spending so much time around the Courier. Yatsuhashi could still recall the conversation that'd transpired between the Courier and Coco. It was rare to see her lose her unflappable façade like that. It was appreciated as well.
Just like, as Yatsuhashi could tell, Velvet appreciated it. Both the support, and the gun she'd been lent. He could see Velvet was unaccustomed to the extra weight, but she hadn't denied the weapon either. Despite being her partner, and one of the people in her slowly expanding circle of close friends, even he couldn't tell what the truth was. He wondered if Velvet could either. She was easily one of the smartest people he'd ever met, and the smartest he'd ever gotten to know. But that didn't mean there weren't times when even she was stumped by a question. Just because she got straight A's on every test didn't mean she knew all the answers.
But he also knew pondering on it in that moment was nothing more than a distraction from what was coming next.
Their team continued to race forward along the walls of the old castle, feet gliding over paths long worn smooth over countless patrols and untold soles, easily following the path and the sounds of gunfire that pointed the way ahead, and echoed behind them. They passed a few guards on the way, some of whom were holding their own lines, and nursing wounds. They were sporadic, and few paid them mind. The ones who did, questioned it only briefly. All that mattered was they weren't White Fang, and they weren't attacking them. It meant the wall was still secured. That mattered to them, at that moment.
Slowly, their destination came into view, curving around the wall. The gunfire grew ever louder and omnipresent. Below them the battlefield rolled out, as the White Fang began to hunker down, turning vehicles into barricades, firing on the wall with guns that seemed more like cannons. In kind, the upper walls belched fire back at them. The shouts and calls of the guards manning them were lost in the roar of battle. Only the occasional clamor of voices escaped the noise. Like bubbles rising from the foam of crashing waves.
"Looks like this is it!" Coco shouted, unfolding her bag, Gianduja, into its rotary-gun form. She scanned the upper wall. "We can double check with whoever's in charge after the shooting stops."
'Sounds like a good way to get shot,' Fox thought
"Bun-bun will stay up here and try to make an opening for you guys," Coco continued, motioning to Velvet and the weapon locked at her hip. "See if that gun's actually worth something."
'Sounds like an even better way to get shot,' Fox thought, scowling.
"And to get blown up," Yatsu agreed.
"Quit complaining, it's not like we've got a choice," Coco groused, as Velvet began to move to the wall. She knelt beside one of the parapets for stability, as Coco continued. "I'll make my way around the other side and drop down. We come at them from both sides we should be able to push them-"
Coco was interrupted, as Velvet fired her new weapon for the first time. It was followed by a deafening explosion below them. A ball of fire rose into the air as one of the vehicles shattered under the impact.
There was a half-second lull in the action, as all sides took note of the spectacle.
"…" Velvet began to pull the trigger rapidly, sending another four grenades down into the kill-box below. "GET SOME!"
Explosions rang as her teammates all shared a look of amusement. Without another word, however, Coco ran further down the wall, determined to do as she said she would.
"She's going to get us killed one of these days," Yatsuhashi said, looking off the wall.
'No arguments there,' Fox nodded, stepping up next to Yatsu. 'In my experience though, life kills you anyway.'
Another grenade fired from Velvet's weapon, eliciting a laugh from her as it went off. She sounded like she was enjoying herself, and Yatsuhashi liked that.
'… You should talk with her, man,' Fox said.
'… I will when I know how she feels,' Yatsuhashi thought back.
Without a moment's hesitation, he levered Fulcrum from his back and threw himself off the wall, plummeting towards the battle below like a meteor, sword in hand. Fox followed immediately after him.
He could deal with that more easily than his own feelings
…
We ran through the courtyard in near silence, able to follow the telltale signs of combat to guide ourselves. Namely, all the shouting and intermittent gunshots. Unlike the wall behind us, and the massive gunfight happening beyond it, the prison interior was far quieter, at least as far as explosions and gunfire went, anyway. Made it easier to determine where we needed to go, just had to follow the noise. Which meant keeping to the roads that were haphazardly paved between the buildings and gates, a heady mix of centuries old paved stone and modern asphalt, haphazardly melded together in patches and splotches of thick tar and stone. What lighting should've been active to try and help us was either knocked out or redirected.
Ruby was moving ahead of the group, and I was doing my best to keep close behind her. We were followed closely by Penny, Jaune, Weiss, Nora, and Ren. Blake, Sun, Yang, and Pyrrha took up the rear, and were actively making sure trouble wasn't about to come at us from behind. We passed through another abandoned checkpoint, a simple chain-link gate, and passed into what I assumed was the main yard of the prison. Maybe a hundred yards between us and where the convicts would be allowed time under the sun. What little light was available was directed here.
Same with the fighting.
The main yard was a massive square of chain fence and barbed wire, only two ways in or out. I could see one fed directly into the prison itself, the other out into the retaining area we found ourselves in. The whole area encompassed the largest part of the actual prison structure to be outside. The massive exterior wall enclosed the retaining area around us, no means to climb out from inside. It was still only barely lit in this area, only the dim amber lighting of emergency power.
Within the cage of chains and wire, I could see the inmates rioting. They were dressed in vibrantly orange jumpsuits and white undergarments, impossible to mistake in any other way. A good number of them were assaulting the second exit point, the one leading to the retaining area. The first, the one leading into the prison, had already been torn open, spilling outward towards us. Clearly they were fighting to get out. But it wasn't uncontested. At the exit into the retaining yard, I could spy two dozen guards in black and blue uniforms, each armed with heavy clubs, shields, and at least some form of firearm. Most of them were tight knit at the exit, forcing the convicts into a chokepoint. Something the convicts should've easily been able to overrun in numbers alone.
But they weren't. I had a good guess why before Ruby confirmed it.
Ruby raised Crescent Rose and peered through the scope, frowning. "Why are they all fighting each other?"
"Gang-shit," I answered. "They've all got their own allegiances inside the prison. Can't imagine everyone here is White Fang."
"They're using the chaos as a chance to settle things," Blake noted.
"And will probably focus on escaping when they're done," I added. "The White Fang is here for its own ends, they just knew they could count on everyone else to do what came naturally to them."
"I'm guessing we need to get through that?" Jaune asked, gripping the hilt of his sword as he looked at the Yard. "What then?"
"We need locations," I said. "Comms room, arsenal- probably the prison armory too if there is one. If the convicts get into that, things will get worse."
"Why don't we ask those nice guardsmen for directions?" Penny asked, motioning to the chokepoint guards, who were endeavoring to switch people out as they sustained injury. One notably got beaned in the head with a half-brick-inna-sock.
The offending convict promptly disappeared beneath a tide of clubbing and truncheons.
"… Well if we don't address them, we'll probably be the ones getting the short end of the stick," I said.
"It's either that, or we try to climb the fences," Ren said. "Don't think getting tangled in barbed wire will be fun."
"Then let's stop talking about it and get to it!" Nora squawked.
Without missing a step, Nora promptly broke off from the group and ran ahead, making a bee-line for the choke point like it was Pancake Day in the cafeteria.
"…Do we really want to let her do the talking?" Sun asked.
"… I mean, Ren survives talking with her," I said, shrugging.
Ren shot me a sideways look, but promptly went running after her. Unfortunately, going to them first was the fastest way to get an idea of how things were laid out. Then we could piece out how we were going to tackle everything. I had a pretty good feeling I knew how things were going to need to happen, and I didn't like it. But I'd sooner focus on what was happening in front of us than what was awaiting further ahead.
We started across the retaining yard after Ren and Nora. They hadn't gotten much further ahead of us in the few seconds we'd waited, and we caught up with them shortly after they'd reached the chokepoint in the prison yard. The guards had managed a decent rotation, and had pulled at least two of their number back that'd taken a beating. The one who'd taken the halfbrick had blood running down his face, so his Aura must've been down when he got hit. The ones not currently holding the line or tending the wounded were double-checking their firearms, rifles and shotguns. They were paying attention to one of the guards in particular. He didn't stick out much from the others, his uniform was the same as the others. But, now that we were closer, I could make out most of them had name plates plastered to the front of their gear. The one they were listening to was one 'Basil'.
About the time Nora and Ren reached them, he turned his attention towards them, looking them up and down briefly. Then he asked "Who in the Gods name are you supposed to be?"
"We prefer to be called reinforcements," Ruby said, as we stepped up. "Something you look like you need right about now."
The chief guardsman turned towards Ruby, and saw the rest of us approaching as well. I could tell that the other guards were apprehensive at our sudden appearance as well. But they didn't dive head first into trying to fight us, so already a good start, situation withstanding.
"Reinforcements?" Basil asked, looking at us curiously. "You don't look like VPD… You're a little young to be Huntsmen as well."
"Well, we are. Sorta," Nora chirped.
"Your people on the wall let us through," Blake said. "They're currently holding the west gate, we've got more people moving to help them."
"They did?" Basil asked. "We hadn't heard anything since the riots started. With all the gunfire we assumed something was happening. We've been stuck out here since, haven't the foggiest what's happening inside."
"Tseren said your communications are down," Penny explained. "Whatever they're doing inside, they're making sure you get as little outside help as possible."
"We assumed as much, but we're hardwired to most of the surrounding precincts," Basil added. "There's no reason they shouldn't have been here by now-"
"I'm gonna cut you off there chief, we've had this conversation already," I said, earning a confused scowl from Basil. "You're under attack by the White Fang, and they coordinated a mass attack on Vale's judicial system. No one else is coming to help unless we get the comms working again. On top of that, the Bullhead that flew in before was likely ferrying people in so they could access the arsenal you've got out back behind the prison."
Basil didn't respond, instead just focusing on me.
"If you've got questions, ask them, but the longer we spend here the more likely it is things will get a whole lot worse," I said.
"… By the gods, you're Crazy Steve," Basil said, shaking his head. "Bugger me, we really are cooked."
I sighed heavily through my nose. Of all the things we needed to focus on, this wasn't it. Which became obvious once another knot of prisoners began to rush the chokepoint. The sounding chain-link fence buckled under the impact, followed by the audible clatter of the prisoners colliding with the guards.
"You've picked a right good time to show up then," Basil said, turning back to the chokepoint. "But how do you intend to help? We can't even get back into the prison."
"That's step one," Ruby said. "We keep trying to 'get inside' but we keep running into roadblocks."
"I don't think we'll be getting inside any time soon," Basil said. "If we don't keep the barricade up here, these miscreants will be over the walls before we can do anything else."
"Is the door unlocked?" Jaune asked. "We'll worry about getting inside and figuring things out, we just need to know that we can."
"Lockdown would've kicked in when the riots started. Emergency power would've kept the locks functioning," Basil said. "For all the bloody good that did…" He reached beneath his uniform and drew out his Scroll, extending it out. "Which of you are going in?"
We all raised our hands.
"Don't be dense, who's leading?" He corrected, annoyed.
"Me, Si-Steve, and um… Blondie," Ruby said, motioning between herself, me, and Jaune.
"Right. Scrolls out then," Basil said. We complied, and he briefly motioned his Scroll over ours. A brief message flashed on our screens, 'Access Granted'. "You've been given clearance to enter into the prison and some of the command offices. Whatever it is you're going to do, that should be enough to grant access to what you need. Not as though you could make things any worse."
"Here's hoping," I said, looking down at Ruby. "Once we're inside, we need to get the power back on, that should help with a good chunk of our problems."
"Then let's get in there!" Nora cried out, rattling at the fence like it was suddenly going to reveal a gap in itself.
Basil simply nodded and stepped aside. He motioned for anyone who wasn't already holding the line to do the same, and gave us as clear an opening as possible. There was still a knot of guards and prisoners blocking the way, but that was going to be our problem to get through, not theirs.
My hands worked over Clark's Rifle, double checking the mag, bumping the forward assist to make sure the bolt was chambered. As I did, I could hear the others readying their weapons, Ruby's scythe unfurling, Jaune's shield expanding. The look Basil gave us showed that he figured now would be a good time to get out of the way.
"Make a hole!" he shouted, stepping aside.
We charged forward before they had a chance to respond. Ruby broke away first, flying through the chokepoint and over the heads of the guards and inmates. Easy for her, she could actually fly. She was followed quickly by Penny, who launched herself over the knot, practically slamming through the inmates as they came back down. Even as that was happening, Nora and Yang flew forward at the knot of guards and inmates. The opening Basil had ordered only barely began to form as Yang and Nora slammed into them, bulldozing the people in their way. Inmates flew back out the other side as Nora whipped her hammer upward and Yang's gauntlets rang out. A concussive shockwave blew through the air, scattering the convicts and blowing a fifteen foot clearing into the knot of them. It was enough to gain the attention of the rest of the yard, but not enough to distract them from their own squabbles.
Ruby circled back and landed in that opening, then dashed forward into the crowd with Nora, spring-boarding off Yang for the added momentum. Together they crashed into the crowd and began to cleave a path through them. Anyone not smart enough to get out of their way was smashed aside. Anyone who tried to actively slow them down was given a boot to the face or slashed by Ruby's scythe. Nora's hammer swung in powerful and heavy arcs around her, while Ruby's scythe danced and spun. A blur of red streaking with a meteor of silver began to cleave into the yard. The trail they left in their wake momentarily remained open, threatening to close as the inmates regained their sense and began to fight. Before that could happen, the rest of us charged in after them.
Weiss and Ren moved in after them, effortlessly and gracefully sliding through the gap in the guards, hot on their heels. Weiss's Semblance batted people aside as she fenced and struck with her toothpick, making the whole thing seem effortless. Ren managed much the same. He lacked Weiss's power, but he made up for it with skill and finesse. Where Weiss metaphorically danced, Ren did the literal. Every swing that came for him was slipped and spun past. Countered swiftly by kicks, slashes of the knives of his weapon. They'd hook his opponents, and with a twist he sent them to the ground, then twist at the waist and shoot his pistol at another, moving deftly and with practiced ease.
Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake, and Sun charged in next. Pyrrha threw her shield and connected with a prisoner that'd been about to brain Ren. The disc of metal bounced back to her as the inmate slammed backward. Jaune rushed past Ren and bashed another with his shield, bringing his sword around in a slash that would've gutted an Aura-less man. Blake and Sun moved past even Jaune as they moved to catch up with our teammates, Blake's weapon lashing out, wrapping itself around an inmate's leg, pulling it out from under them. As they hit the ground, Sun bounced off their head and scissor-kicked another in the head. One of his clones spawned out and decked another in the groin. Yang then returned to the fray herself, grounding the inmate that'd taken the groin-shot, before rocketing off. She followed closely to our teammates and cleared the way as she went, forcing the path to stay open as the inmates all suddenly began to realize that there were people carving through them moving with all the ease of a hot knife through warm tallow.
Me and Penny were still at the gate, watching the way open before us, and the guards.
"Cor blimey," Basil said, watching the display.
"I haven't a clue what the fuck that means, but you're welcome," I said, motioning to Penny. "We'll be going ahead. I suggest taking control here while you can."
Basil nodded, and turned towards his men. Without wasting a moment Penny and I spared a glance at each other before taking up the rear behind everyone. I swung Clark's Rifle around front of me as we swept forward, Penny's blades rising in their array. The inmates stayed back at first, as we kept pace with everyone. But as they managed to get about half-way across the yard, a couple of them found their courage and decided to get in front of me and Penny, trying to separate us. I shot the first one in the face, and the 12.7mm round planted them firmly onto their back, Aura shattered. Didn't bother pulse-checking him, the bullet would be enough of a warning if it didn't do its main job. The next person who tried, Penny blew aside with her swords as we built forward momentum, closing the distance. Somebody tried to leap at me from the side, and I swung the butt of my rifle up to catch them under the chin, followed with a light tap to the chest from the Cow Puncher. Someone from the other side of the gap charged at us, and one of Penny's swords caught him. It slammed downward, point-first, digging into the ground through their shoe, pinning them. I twisted at the hip and double tapped him in the chest, Clark's Rifle roaring like a cannon. The inmate crumpled backwards and we kept running. I rattled off another pair of shots at two inmates who looked like they might take the chance, and nailed them both. I know at least one of them had their Aura broken in the first place, a massive wound tore itself through their chest where the bullet hit.
12.7mm intermediate had been made to be used against lightly armored vehicles. To crack engine blocks and reactor casings. It'd been relegated to use against large and dangerous game when it couldn't make the cut.
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It excelled at the latter. Especially when put in a rifle.
We caught up with the rest of our group about three-quarters of the way through the yard. As we did, the inmates began trying to encircle us, closing the gap as me and Penny moved in. But I could see, and hear, from the gunfire behind us it wouldn't stay that way for long. Basil was trying to move his men after us to keep the momentum up. Given time he'd probably be able to catch up to us inside, we'd bought him the opening he'd needed to start moving again.
As Yang hit another inmate with a one-two combo, another tried to come at her from behind. She spun and heel kicked him, sending him back towards me and Penny, which ended with Penny slapping him out of the way with her swords. I snapped VATS open for a second and nailed one who'd been about to jump Jaune and Pyrrha's flank. Caused him to crumple onto his back despite carrying forward with inertia. Ahead, I could see Nora and Ruby continuing to press forward, but getting bogged down in the melee. They needed a push.
I slapped Penny on the back, motioning to the front of the pack. "Push them."
Penny nodded wordlessly and shot forward as her blades swept behind her. Turning her leap into a thrust-assisted long jump. She crashed down into the front-brawl like a bombshell, clearing at least five inmates from in front of Ruby and Nora, unclogging things. The two-turned-three continued to surge forward, Penny splitting the way like a wedge. While she did, I spun open VATS briefly to scan the area, noted the three inmates that'd been about to jump us, and emptied the mag on them. Turning back around, I reloaded and closed the distance between me and Yang as she took down another two inmates, punching one in the face, kicking him in the stomach, then using him as a step-stone to bring a crashing fist down on another. Two more surged to take their place, and I nailed them both in the face, coming up behind her as Yang sprang to her feet.
"I didn't need you to do that," Yang said darkly.
"You're welcome," I told her, smacking another inmate in the face with the Cow Puncher. Felt that weakness in the mechanism resurge again. I folded it away, needed to be careful.
"I can cover myself," she said, sweeping the legs out from someone else and hammering them into the ground.
"Didn't say you couldn't," I added, kicking another in the balls, before kneeing him in the face. I then twisted and bumped off a trio of rounds into another inmate rounding on me with a pipe.
Yang grimaced, before catching another inmate with an uppercut that threw them fifteen feet into the air. Yang and I moved in step, pulling back in with the group, closing in on Jaune and Pyrrha. Yang bolted past them, catching two inmates that'd been about to pincer Sun. She caught one on the side of the head, sending them towards Jaune, who backhanded them with his shield. The other she sent at me, and I stiff-armed him, slamming him with a Ranger Takedown. My hand quickly returned to my rifle, and I shot an inmate that Blake had just narrowly avoided.
"This isn't the time to be talking," Yang said, casually launching another inmate into a knot of them, before reloading her gauntlets.
"No, it's not," I said, firing four and nailing three in the knot, before reloading. "But if something's bugging you, don't let it linger. Stewing on things rarely helps."
Yang's scowl deepened, and she roared as she butterfly kicked another inmate in the head. She didn't say anything more as we pushed ahead.
I'd noticed how uncharacteristically quiet she was being. If it was about what we'd talked about the previous night, then I'd clear the air with her when we had a moment. But she actually needed to be willing to talk with me too.
Maybe it wasn't a problem I could actually help with.
I shook it off as we reached the wall of the prison building. Nora blew the door off the hinges with a blast from her grenade launcher and we ran inside. We were funneled into a tight corridor. It lead to another set of secure doors, and there was two-way glass in the wall. Checkpoint of some kind, probably necessary. Penny kicked the doors off the hinges at the other end of the hall.
"Thunder Thighs!" Nora cheered as she charged through with Penny, the rest of us just trying to keep on their trail.
We found ourselves moving into shadows and dim light. The same emergency lighting that'd illuminated the yard outside filled the air within as well. Unlike outside though, the noise level was much higher. More space for the sounds to echo and bounce off any available surface. There was plenty of it too. Screams and manic, insane laughter melding with shouts of orders and panic. Gunshots ringing distantly in the mad gloom. The dull and wet sound of metal striking soft tissue, battling the ring of metal against metal. The air smelled of humid sweat and a rapidly warming temperature. Couldn't hear ventilation, could only hope it was running.
It was a madhouse. We had to find our way through it.
"Ok, we're here, what now?" Yang asked, scanning the darkness as a trio of inmates blew past us. They were riding a janitor's cart one of them had set on fire. Swear at least one of them was singing something.
"Dunno, but we need to get to the arsenal," Ruby said. "If they're already back there, then we need to get back there and stop them."
"I'm going to guess that they are, but things don't look good here either," Jaune said, beginning to step out into the darkness. He stopped a few feet out, not wanting to get grabbed by a Grue.
"Getting the power back on will help everyone, and it's the first step to getting comms open," I said. "Place like this should have a backup generator running, so someone's actively knocking the power out."
"Three different directions doesn't make this any easier," Weiss snipped, turning her Scroll's light to help see the corridor better. It was a long stretch, cut down into a hallway further on.
"But all three of them are important," Ren said. "Unless we feel like trying to fix this entire mess by ourselves."
"Hard pass," I said. "I volunteer for enough crap already, I'm not cleaning this mess up."
"Then I guess that means we're going to have to split up even further," Ruby said, pacing quickly, drumming her fingers on Crescent Rose. "We can all focus on getting the power back on, then take care of what we want. Me, Yang, Weiss, Blake, and… Sun?"
"I'll go wherever Blake's at," Sun nodded, leaning on his staff.
"-and Sun will go to the arsenal. Jaune, you and your team can focus on trying to get everything back under control in here. Six, you and Penny can focus on trying to get in contact with people outside the prison. Hopefully that'll be enough."
"I think we can manage that," I nodded. "We'll come running after it's squared away."
As I said the words, my Pip-Boy made its ground-out noise, signaling its newest set of instructions. A nostalgic sensation to have it happening as frequently as it had been that night.
-Objective Completed: Run Damage Control
-Objective: Get the power back on
-Optional: Locate a diagram of the Prison's electrical grid
"Now we just need to know where it actually is," Weiss said, scanning the corridor. Could've sworn I saw something moving myself.
"Maybe we can ask someone for directions," Penny said helpfully.
"Who would be dumb enough-" Weiss started to say.
Then a figure lurched out of the darkness behind her, gangly arms wrapping around her. One arced over her shoulder, wrapping around her chest and gripping at her coat with a bony hand. The other came up and around from the opposite side, angling itself beneath her neck.
The shiv in his hand rested against Weiss's neck.
"Hello pretty lady," the inmate hissed, face looming over her shoulder.
No sooner did he announce himself, than a glyph appeared underneath Weiss. Within half a heartbeat, Weiss rocketed backward, slamming herself and the inmate into the nearest wall at the speed of Mach-fuck. She immediately rebounded, spun and back stepped towards us, drawing her sword. The inmate stayed dazed against the wall, clearly not expecting to get thrown aside like a sack of flour.
As he came back around, he found a dozen different blades, gun barrels, and hammerheads hovering scant inches away from him. Not a word shared between any of us on how we were going to handle this. I liked that.
"On a long list of dumb motherfuckers, you're easily the dumbest motherfucker I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Congrats, that's not easy," I said, angling Clark's rifle at his head.
"Any of you get the number off the truck that hit me," the inmate said, scowling.
"Rude," Weiss said.
"But you've also managed to come at just the right time to avoid getting lynched for that stunt. We need directions," I told him. "Tell us where we can turn the power back on, and we'll leave you with your bits intact."
"Man, you ain't got-" the inmate started.
Then Ruby buried the tip of her scythe into the wall next to his head. The concrete wall next to his head.
"Temper, temper," I told Ruby. "You'll ruin her cutting edge like that."
"I can sharpen her," Ruby replied, trying to mimic my tone. "Needed to test the edge anyway."
The gravity of just how badly he fucked up began to settle in on the inmate. He didn't try to move, but I could tell he wanted to shrink back in on himself enough to disappear.
"You were saying?" I asked the inmate.
"… Take the corridor down that way, hook a right, go straight, then make a left into the main atrium," the inmate said "You can find the directory in there. Pretty sure I saw some other guys heading for the maintenance wing a while ago, so that's probably where you're looking to go."
A moment passed as we let our weapons linger on him. After it passed, I angled my muzzle upward and away from him. "Now, was that so hard?"
A relieved smile began to work across the inmate's face.
I slammed my boot into it, cracking the wall behind him. He went limp.
"Let's go," I said, turning to move down the corridor. The others followed silently behind me. Though I'm pretty sure I heard Weiss call him a 'creep'. It was the lowest on the list of words she could have used, and I would've applauded her restraint at a different time. Or maybe scolded her for having restraint. Hard to tell, given the time.
We ran down the corridor at a brisk pace, cutting hard to the right at the intersection. As we went, we only passed a few inmates. Most of them still seemed more focused on settling grudges, or tilting vending machines, than they did in us. There was really only one guy who tried to take a swipe as we went. A quick pop from Clark's Rifle put an end to that. Far enough down the corridor, we hooked a left down another hall and kept going. The tiling in the floor and paint on the walls changed. We were moving away from the yard, and the architecture was pointing towards something more formal. There were a pair of security doors we had to go past. They'd already been forced though, and given the sounds coming from the corridor ahead of us, it was easy to surmise why and how.
We approached the end of the corridor and entered into the main atrium of the prison. The place was pure pandemonium. The emergency lighting had been enhanced by burning trash bins that the convicts set about. Reminded me somewhat of the wasteland. Orange and yellow flames licked over the lips of them, thick plumes of smoke rising towards the ceiling, leaving the air thick with the smell of charred cloth and burned hair. You learn to identify the two after long enough. The inmates were congregated in their own groups, handling business among themselves, whatever that entailed. There were some that were just actively breaking everything they could find, or breaking into whatever they felt like. Such as a secured office built into one of the walls, separated by security glass, which they promptly threw a chair at, the glass crackling out in a spiderweb. Others were busy shaking, or beating, each other down for one reason or another. Then there were the ones who were just partying. Celebrating the first bit of freedom they'd likely had in a long time. There wasn't much separating the groups. Some were Faunus, some were human, some were mixed. Some looked like they'd come from white-collar work, others looked like they'd been pulled straight from the wasteland and given a bath. There were stories of bandits and other criminal elements outside the Kingdoms, classic Raider nonsense. If they weren't being put down, they'd have to land somewhere.
But I didn't see anything that immediately identified anyone as being with the White Fang. Either they were keeping a low-profile, or had moved to other parts of the prison. Both were probable.
None of the inmates paid us any mind as we moved out into the atrium. My eyes scanned over the walls. Searching for some kind of directory. A place this size would need one, even if it was just a few signposts.
After a moment or two of searching, I spied one halfway across the atrium, one of the interior walls. Looked like sign postings alright, and a map.
Cracking my neck, I walked calmly out into the atrium. After a moment, the rest of the group followed me out. No shooting, no quick or sudden movements to attack. The inmates were busy handling themselves, phrasing, and that would have to stand. We didn't have the time to deal with them when it was just each other they were eating. I could tell at least a few of them were acknowledging our presence, but otherwise stayed back. If they were just looking to cause trouble, they'd be out in the yard, kicking the shit out of each other and the guards.
"I don't like this," Ruby said under her breath, looking around. "Should we really just be letting this happen?"
"On a good day, no," I told her. "But today isn't one. Unless you see them trying to attack you, or going after prison personnel, leave them be. Like it or not this place has its own code for handling business. Most prisons do."
Ruby stayed silent for a moment, hesitant. "… I still don't like it."
"Never said you had to," I agreed.
It'd been like that with the NCRCF and the offshoots from the Powder Gangers. Criminal scumbags or not, they handled their own business inside the prison. It was part of why they could be left alone for as long as they were. Even if they were terrorizing the surrounding area, they were good about keeping their internal problems self-contained. Never would've discovered Cooke and his crew if I hadn't been chased through the area by a sniper. If the prison system was anything like the one back home, most of the inmates had their own way of handling things. Riot or not, gang business came before personal. Few of them would've had a reason to bother us either. Guys like the one that'd tried to grab Weiss were the exception. They didn't tend to last long.
We managed to make it to the directory and map without further incident. But Jaune and his team kept watch on the atrium while me, Sun, Penny, and my teammates began to dissect the map.
"Looks like we're right about 'here'," I said, running a finger over the map until I found the yard we'd come from, tracing it back to the atrium. "But we need to be… 'there'." My finger followed the map, using the directory to guide my finger through the printed paths of the map to one of the maintenance corridors. It was large enough to count, and it appeared there was more than one. Likely to handle plumbing, ventilation, and electrical separately as needed. Place was big enough to warrant it. Each was marked to show which was meant for which, making it easy enough to see the paths we need to take to get there directly.
"We also need to find the communications room… right 'here'," Penny said, pointing to one of the upper corners of the map. It was partway into what was identified as the Administrative, or Willowby, wing. What the importance of the name was I couldn't tell. But each of the wings seemed to have one. Hickorie, Pinesall, Oakholme, and others. Bit of a tree bent to it.
"This should be the exit out to the arsenal too," Jaune said, tapping a point midway between the comms room and power room. It was at a crux between the Oakholme and Willowby wings. Made some sense that Administration might need quick access. "We get the power back on, Six and Penny can split off from us at the door, and we can make our way over to the Arsenal."
"Then we'll join back up with you when we're done," I agreed. "We've managed to get this far, but we're running against the clock here. The ones making a go at the arsenal are our priority. We don't stop them, tonight's going to be a bust."
"Then let's stop gabbing and get going!" Nora squawked, drawing the ire of a few inmates, more of whom were starting to give us the stink eye.
I almost wanted to dare them to try something, but we had bigger ants to deep fry.
Though I noted the way one of the inmates was eyeing us. He was a faunus. Big guy, hairy, round ears poking out the top of his head. Kinda reminded me of a yao guai. He was looking at us intensely.
I measured the odds of the White Fang having one or two guys hanging around the prison keeping an eye on things. Didn't particularly like them, but if I just randomly started taking potshots, I'd be setting off a powder keg. Didn't need the extra distractions right then.
We turned down the corridor and left.
…
The Power Room, Maintenance Room, Breaker Room, or whatever it's called, was bigger than expected. Maybe it shouldn't have been unexpected, the room was funneling power throughout the entire prison. Which made it appropriately big then, but still bigger than I'd have thought.
The room was newer than the rest of the surrounding structure. I could tell by the way the stone looked, plus the presence of the obvious steel beams being used to reinforce the room. Reminded me somewhat of the turbine rooms inside Hoover Dam, mixed with the substation the White Fang had tried to corner me in. It was an open space, set inside near the heart of the prison. Banks of breakers ran along the walls, converters bunched together on the floor. The space was more neatly organized and planned than the Dam or substation though. The guys tasked with maintaining it had been doing their job. The wiring was properly squirreled away and marked to make sure they couldn't be confused and crossed. Any piping that had to be run through the room was also carefully kept to the walls and color coded. Whoever was tasked with it probably understood they were in a building built over a century ago and tried to keep things running smooth. As smooth as could happen, anyway.
There was a small ante-room between the breaker room and the hallway, an office the chief electrician or engineer worked out of in case something required their attention, leaving two doorways between us and the breaker room. The extra space came with the bonus of having large windows, at least. Gave us a good view of the room and its occupants while still keeping well out of sight.
I crept to the edge of the office doorway, double checking to make sure I had my numbers straight. There were a number of inmates scattered through the room. At least one group of three near the furthest wall, a group of two along one of the walls running adjacent to the office, perpendicular. A lone one at the parallel wall. Another group of three out on the floor near one of the converters. Then a final group of three along the wall across from the door out of the office. That last group wasn't all inmates. Two of them were, but the third member of that group was wearing a guard uniform. What I assumed to be one anyway. Button up shirts, vests, and slacks weren't a prison jumpsuit by any count. Even beside which, they were quite obviously tormenting the guy.
Everyone present, inmates and guard, also had the distinction of being Faunus. Which held well with this being the White Fang's doing, another piece of their grand plan. My guess: knock-out the power as a redundancy to make sure communications stayed down.
Keeping low to the office furniture, mainly a desk and a few chairs, I crept back out of the office into the hallway. The others were waiting there as I stood up, out of view of the doorway.
"We're looking at about a dozen people total," I said. "One guard, about eleven inmates total that I can see."
"We can rush in there and take them," Nora said, grinning. "Should be easy enough."
"Would be," I agreed. "But we can't risk wrecking the room any worse than it is. We need the power on, they don't."
"Then we need to handle this quietly," Blake said, peeking into the breaker room through the office. "I've done this before, you have too, right Six?"
"Always option one in my book," I agreed. "But complete silence is going to be impossible in a room that small, and we need to move quickly. If there's going to be any fighting, it can't last more than a few seconds. Lucky for us we're dealing with one-to-one odds. Plan this out, we each only need to take out one."
"What are we looking at then?" Jaune asked, moving to the wall. He quickly marked out a rectangle on the wall using his sword, then motioned to a corner of it. "This is the room, the corner is the door, where is everyone?"
I moved over to the improvised map and began marking out where the inmates were from where I'd seen. Along the walls, on the floor, and the space between. I also marked where the hardware was we needed to avoid. We didn't have long to come up with anything fancy, but the way I saw it, things didn't need to be either. We needed the power back on, and we, probably, didn't want the guard to die. That was it. Property damage and what got broken along the way wasn't our concern. We could worry about that after we weren't running against the clock to stop that whole mess. We quickly divvied up things, and everyone was more or less in agreement on their part in things. Not like we had room for arguments anyway.
Rough plan made, we all slipped quietly into motion. Yang, Nora, Penny, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Jaune moved into position in the outer-halls, using the crude map for direction. As they got into position Blake, Sun, Ruby, Ren, and I moved back into the office and began to stack up on the door to the breaker room. None of the White Fang seemed to be paying attention to the only obvious entrance to the room. Likely figured they'd notice if anyone was approaching. Rookie move, should've left at least one guy on watch.
"Are we sure this is going to work?" Ren asked impassively, looking out at his target. "There's a good chance they'll notice us."
"Always a chance," I told him. "But we've got surprise on our side, and with even numbers, I think we've got a training advantage that'll tip the scale. We hit fast enough they won't even realize what's happening."
Ren nodded, quickly scanning the room again.
"We ready?" Sun asked, more furtively glancing around the room, tense and ready to go.
"On your mark," I said. "You know the signal."
Sun shot me a smile, ready.
Wordlessly, Blake moved into motion, followed by Ren and Sun. With the entrance unwatched, they slipped silently into the room and swept into the shadows, moving onto the converters and banks of equipment, almost silently across the room, or at least quiet enough that the White Fang paid them no heed as they crossed to the far wall, towards the group of three the rest of us wouldn't be able to get to. The tricky one was the guy waiting in the middle, around the converters. He seemed to notice some movement, but didn't react fast enough to actually catch any of them. But I knew what I was looking for. Their silhouettes stayed in the range of my low-light vision. They lingered in the shadows of the machinery as they approached the distant group, waiting for Ruby and me to make our play.
Everyone was in position.
"You sure you can make the shot?" I prodded, pulling Clark's Rifle around front of me.
"Pff, easy," Ruby whispered, smirking as she carefully shifted Crescent Rose into its rifle configuration. She eyed my weapon. "What about you? You've got iron sights."
"Child's play," I smirked back. "Kinda like needing a scope to hit a target less than thirty feet away."
Ruby gave me a shocked look. Clearly incensed, her off-hand swept back against the small scope on Crescent Rose, catching it sideways. The scope folded sideways against the receiver, out of line with the sights. Should've been annoyed she might try to sandbag herself at a time like this, but we had bigger things to worry about. Besides, that close a distance, the scope would've actually been more a burden than a help.
Everyone in position, I silently began a countdown I relayed to Ruby through hand gestures.
Three.
Two.
Go.
We both swung up and out from the doorway, muzzles of our rifles rising as we did. It'd happened so fast that the White Fang hadn't even reacted as we moved. Just for success's sake, I opened VATS and made the shot clean. I squeezed back on the trigger the same time as Ruby fired.
Both shots nailed their respective target in the head. The unexpected shots struck home, already more than enough to nearly bypass Aura on their own, the two White Fang dropped like sacks of potatoes. The thunder of the gunshots echoed in the cramped walls of the room, drawing the attention of the other White Fang, all of whom began to whip about, trying to figure out what happened.
They had maybe three seconds to figure it out.
Then the walls came caving in as everyone else leapt into motion. The two exterior walls bust inward as Penny and Nora both made their moves. They hammered through the masonry with ease, Nora's hammer practically flattened one of the White Fang against the floor, while Penny's energy blast blew her group apart. As Ruby and I moved out of cover, Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Jaune moved through the newly formed openings. Without missing a beat, they set upon their groups, slamming and hammering them as they made their way in. Easy for Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha, they had the shields, or gauntlets in Yang's case, to make it happen. Weiss, on the other hand, had been tasked with the guy waiting in the middle of everything. Right as he was about to get some meager form of bearing, a glyph appeared beneath his feet and he was rocketed up into the ceiling. He crashed against a girder hard enough for it to ring throughout the room, then fell a dozen or so feet back to the concrete below. Even before he hit the ground, Blake, Ren, and Sun had practically swamped their trio of people. Instead of a three-on-three, Sun and Blake's clones turned it into a six-on-three brawl.
They were practically just kicking the White Fang for fun by the time everyone else was inside the room.
Just as quickly the fighting was done.
We were left standing in the room surrounded by incapacitated White Fang and a lone guard, who looked completely out of it.
I slung Clark's Rifle back over my shoulder and began quickly scanning the room. Everyone began to regroup as I went, slowly moving gathering near the guard.
"W-who are you people?" he asked, an olive skinned faunus, horns jutting out of his head like a Bighorner's.
"Reinforcements," I answered, still searching, flipping breakers as I went. Seemed they'd been thorough about throwing as many of them as they could. "As close as you're getting to them anyway."
His eyes narrowed briefly on me. "Wait, aren't you-"
"We're here to help," Ruby cut him off. "We're kinda in a rush so there's no time to explain, do you know how to get the power back on?"
"Uh…" the Guard thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, the power got cut out and I got volunteered to come get it back on. Warwick was supposed to be on duty here tonight, I don't know where he went when the fighting started."
I elected not to tell him there was a body crammed in between two of the converters and kept working. "It seems like they were just throwing the switches. Safer than trying to break everything, the kind of current this place probably runs, they wouldn't want to risk electrocuting themselves."
"It's not as fun as it sounds," Nora piped up, slapping the guard on the back. "So, what're ya in for, bub?"
"What am I in for?" the guard asked, incredulous. "What're you here for? How'd you even get past the gate?"
"Tseren let us through, she and the guards at the gate are trying to hold the line against people pushing in from outside," Ruby explained. "You guys have a full-scale raid going on right now."
"… Oh… Well, that explains a few things," the guard answered, scratching his cheek, before sobering up. "Since you know what's going on, can you fill me in? I have guys I need to get back to."
"The White Fang are trying to raid the arsenal conjoined to the prison," Blake explained. "They've got several riots going on inside Vale right now trying to keep everyone distracted, on top of cutting power and communications."
The guard let out a whistle. "Ok, yeah, wow that's bad. We were wondering how they were able to rush the armory like that."
"Armory?" Sun asked, drawing everyone's attention, excluding mine. I was paying attention while trying to get the switches flipped. Penny had moved to help get things moving again as well, motioning to which ones were more necessary than others.
"Me, Jameson, Chrome, and Pewter were on armory duty tonight," the guard answered. "When the riots started, we were supposed to hand out equipment, but a bunch of the inmates rushed us and tried to take everything. We had to lock the room down, so we couldn't get supplies out. We tried to radio in what was happening, but things got out of hand fast. Last I heard most of the available officers had to set up inside the cafeteria, the rioting basically has them boxed in."
My hand rested on the last of the switches to be thrown, and I looked at the rest of my group. I could see the looks on their faces, troubled. People were in danger, and they wanted to help. But we weren't there to save everyone, we had much worse problems to deal with. But that didn't change the fact that they wanted to do something about it, I just knew.
I flipped the switch, and sounds began to echo through the room, the click of the breakers and converters re-energizing. A dull hum and whirr could be heard as the ventilation slowly began to circulate air throughout the building again. Penny and I went to rejoin them. Right about that time, Jaune spoke up.
-Objective Completed: Get the Power back on
-Objective: Re-engage Comms
-Optional: Provide support to the trapped Prison Guards
"I guess this is where we'll be getting off then," he looked towards the guard, whose name tag read 'Thistle'. "Can you show us the way?"
"But what about the arsenal?" Ruby asked.
"You girls can stay focused on that," Ren answered. "Six and Penny were going to split off and help get communications reopened, we're just doing like they are."
"We can't just leave them behind when they're in danger," Nora added. "They're, like, supposed to have everything under control anyway!"
"Helping them regain control of the prison means help can arrive faster in the long run," I said, nodding but not necessarily agreeing. "But long-run isn't the name of the game."
"Then I suppose we'd better hurry," Pyrrha said. "We're all running behind as it is."
I shared a look with Ruby, and I could tell she was unsure about the decision. All of us were capable in a fight, but getting spread out in a situation like this was asking for trouble. We'd already lost CFVY at the gate, and the split for comms repair was unavoidable. This though, this was just taking on more trouble we might not be able to handle.
Despite that, I also knew she wasn't going to shy away from it either. People needed help, what more needs to be said?
She looked back at them, nodding. "Be fast, ok?"
"And if there's trouble, say so," I added. "We might not be able to come running, but knowing if things go south is better than not knowing."
Jaune nodded. "We'll do our best," He then looked at Thistle, nodding. "Can you show us the way?"
Thistle nodded quickly, stepping past them. "It's this way, if we hurry, we can get what we need from the armory and help the guys in the cafeteria."
He hurried to the doorway and rushed out, quickly followed by JNPR, who saluted and waved at us as they disappeared into the prison. As they did, the lights began to properly blink back on, replacing the dim, emergency red with a vibrant and full yellow glow. The light illuminated the halls and corridors as we worked our way back out into them. It wasn't much better looking in the better lighting, but at least now I could see without needing my helmet turned on.
"This is where we'll be parting, too." I said, before pointing down the hall. "If you girls keep to this hall, you should have a straight shot to the door that leads out to the arsenal. I've got no idea what you'll find out there, but I'm almost certain it's not going to be good."
"We'll deal," Sun said. "We've made it this far, right?"
"This has been the warm-up," I told him. "What's out there, is going to be everybody they had prepared to raid this place, now moving to better arm themselves."
"It's only going to get harder from here," Blake agreed, pursing her lips. "We can only hope that whoever's out there isn't going to be prepared for us either."
"Personally, I doubt they are," Weiss said. "We might not be prepared for this, but having seen what they're capable of, frankly, I'm not impressed."
"Keep fighting smart and it'll stay that way," I said. "Remember, I care more about all of you making it home than I do any of them." I motioned to the still incapacitated inmates. "Do what you've got to do. There's no shame in it."
I noted the way Yang cringed as I said that. Nobody else did.
"Right," Ruby nodded. "Then I guess this is it. See you in a bit?"
"Hopefully," I agreed. "I'll let you know if anything goes wrong."
She smiled, then turned and took off down the hall, followed by our teammates and Sun. There wasn't much more that could be said than that. We all had our own tasks that needed accomplishing now, if tonight wasn't going to turn to hell in a handbasket. More than it already had, at least.
"I feel like everything has gone well so far, don't you?" Penny asked brightly.
"…Totally," I said, shaking my head. "Come on, let's see if we can't get the phone working."
We turned and followed after Ruby, the way illuminated, but no more certain than it was in the dark.