The Games We Play

Chapter 183: Strategizing

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

Strategizing

"With that out of the way, let's get down to business," I said, still smiling. "Let me seeah yes, you wanted help with the Paladin's, didn't you? Very well then."

Reaching out, I clicked a single claw against the surface of the metal table, causing a fluid ripple to spread across it. At once, the table's mass began to reorganize itself as various shapes began to rise from its surface. It was a building minus the exterior walls, with each floor clearly shownas well as everything inside. In place of each person within the facility, there was a tiny, animated figure of liquid metal, moving in real-time, and I marked out every object and machine I thought to be of note. To make it easier to see, I separated each floor and placed the side by side so they could be seen from above as well, and I numbered them accordingly. Then, just because I could, I wrote the name of each person inside the facility in a curved semi-circle at their feet, moving it along with them.

"This is your target as it currently stands," I explained casually, as if being able to see the exact details of a specific facility on another continent were nothing to me at all and as if displaying it like this was as simple as breathing. "As you can see, there are a total of thirty-seven people within the facility at present, twenty of which are security personnel. Keep in mind, however, that it is approaching midnight; from the number of offices, desks, and lockers showing signs of recent use, I would estimate that there are upwards of four hundred employees in the facility during normal hours, along with as many as fifty security officers. In addition, there are approximately five hundred Atlesian Knight within the building, counting those in storage which could be activated in an emergency; they are primarily composed of the 130 models, but there are a number of 200s present. As you can see, there are a total of thirteen Atlesian Paladin's in working condition, with two more presently under construction; they seem to be the primary focus of this particular facility. If you wish to get to them, however, it is worth noting that they are kept under lock and key and behind a reasonably comprehensive security system. Nothing that couldn't be bypasses in any number of ways, granted, but most of them would likely draw unwanted attention to you."

I kept my tone matter-of-fact, if not outright bored, speaking as if reciting obvious details before a classand, needless to say, everyone in the room was staring at me.

To be honest, this was a move that I'd given quite a bit of thought to in the two or three seconds before I did it. It did, after all, reveal some of my abilities, if in a deceptive manner, and if I couldn't get my enemies in 'incompetent' then I'd at least like for them to come in 'uninformed.' For someone like Cinder especially, revealing the breadth of my senses was a risky move; after all, I was watching her constantly and now she knew it. There was always a chance that she might slip up and monologue her entire plan to an empty room while I was watching after all, but now that she knew I was keeping tabs on her, that was unlikely to happen.

But quite frankly, after nearly a month of steady observation, I'd accepted that that just wasn't going to happen anyway. Cinder wasn't going to explain anything to anyone unless she was forced to or needed to do so because of her plans; whether because she was paranoid, competent, or somehow aware that she was being watched I didn't know or care.

And if she wasn't going to just tell me her plans, I'd settle on driving her as far towards paranoia as I possibly could. Hell, if I gave her enough of an impression that I see all and know all, there was always the chance that she might let something slip under the belief that I already knew, and she might have second thoughts about betraying me. Not great odds, granted, but I'd given quietly looking at her a month to work and it was time to see if there was anything more effective. If necessary, I'd hammer the point home in other ways.

It was better than nothing as far as I was concerned.

Almost a minute passed before anyone in the room recovered enough to speak and when they did, they seemed kind of afraid to. Nonetheless, they pushed themselves to try and assist me and show a united front of strength. They understood how this game was played to at least some extent and so tried to pass this off as an everyday thing as well.

"W-what kind of locks?" One of the White Fang commanders, a man named Patstsa, asked. With a gesture, I displayed a life-sized version for him to look at, opening it up to show the inner workings as I did so.

"Then, umuh" Another one blinked rapidly, nearly flinching under the looks sent his way. "Do we know who's in charge of the facility?"

"In a technical sense, Ironwood," I replied, looking through Raven's portal at his office. "But as a general and a headmaster, he often delegates things to others. Polendina has a hand in some aspects of the process, but the head scientist is a man named Luntian. This one."

I reached out and tapped a particular model on the head with the tip of a nail, smiling at the slight clinking sound it made.

"Head of security is a man named Trang," I continued. "Skilled enough as a soldier, I suppose, but he's no fighter. He is however experienced in piloting the Paladin, as part of his trainingas is the rest of security. Worst case scenario for their potential theft involves the security officers reaching storage and piloting the suits against invaders, as removing them without damaging the Paladins could be a touch annoying. Given the number of people currently inside the facility, however, I'd estimate that a night attack would be fairly simple."

"Could you do it?" Cinder asked abruptly, and while her gaze was still cold, it seemed that she was having a harder and harder time keeping it that way. I could feel her Aura moving, the reactions less muted now, closer to the surface. "Alone?"

I sighed as if I'd expected the questionwhich I had. Hell, I'd been hoping for it.

"Naturally," I said calmly. "It'd be easy enough for me to run from here to Atlas, break into the facility without being detected, and steal all the Paladins. If Raven was willing to offer up a bit of assistance, it would be trivial, in fact. Of course, in that case, it would be less that we had assisted you and more that we'd done everything myselfan impression that I'd thought you'd wish to avoid, given as it has started to become a trend."

Cinder fell quite again, almost luminous eyes focused intently on me as I continued.

"I admit, your plan is certainly an interesting one," I mused aloud. "Done properly, it has a great deal of potential and would provide a number of opportunities that would be somewhat difficult to obtain otherwise. But at present, it's nothing more than a plan and while I'm quite confident in my own abilities, yours remain to be seen. If you can't even do something like this, how can we possibly believe you capable of all that you claim? Infiltrating Beacon, breaching Vale, seizing control of the very tools used to protect itcertainly, that sounds impressive, but it's nothing but sound until you provide results. I'm willing to assist you when needed, but if it comes to the point where I must hold your hand and clean up your messes, I may begin to wonder about your place in all of this. I'm sure you understand."

At that, the room fell silent again, but all of the eyes were on Cinder. Slowly, she closed her eyes and exhaled before opening them, at which point they were as calm as ever.

"I understand," She confirmed without the slightest trace of annoyance or bitterness. "True, such a one-sided relationship can hardly be called a partnership. Very well then, I shall see it delivered to you in a timely manner."

"I'd like that," I said with another smile. "This should work out for you too, no? If I'd stolen all of the Paladins purely through my own efforts, I'm afraid I might be tempted to use them my own way, rather than how you intend. But if it's a gift from a dear friend, then I suppose I can put such a thing off to another time. And of course, I'll be there to help should anything untoward happen"

The unspoken 'should you fuck this up' was obvious to everyone in the room.

"I'm simply hopeful that such a thing doesn't become necessary," I finished.

'Because it would reflect poorly on you and we might change our minds.'

"That's reasonable," Cinder agreed blandly, eyes almost distant even when she looked at me. "After all, such a partnership is a fairly big investmentwanting some assurances is only natural. I shall do my best to see that you are not disappointed."

"I appreciate that," I replied. "Will you be able to get to Atlas yourself, despite thedifficulties you mentioned? Or will you be requiring assistance in that regard?"

"I've already made arrangements," She answered, gaze and expression unchanging. "Though I thank you for making such a kind offer."

"Then I wish you good luck, Ms. Fall," I replied with another smile. "And a good night, of course."

Raven and Adam shifted near the wall. The motion was slight, without anything as obvious as putting a hand on a swordbut at the same time, it was enough to draw attention and add emphasis to the unspoken message.

'Talk's over. Get out.'

"Did everything go as you planned?" Raven murmured as I appeared beside her. After the meeting ended, we'd all gone our separate ways, with Raven retreating through a portal and me vanishing into Naraka, but we'd met up as planned afterwards. Currently, we were atop a building our usual building again, overlooking the city below.

"Hm?" I wondered with a hum, raising an eyebrow her way. "Whatever do you mean?"

"What you said to Cinder in the meeting," She clarified.

"Ah," I answered as I understood. "In truth, there was a fair bit of improvisationit can't be helped because I was only able to put the pieces together from what she had revealed. Nonetheless, I'm quite pleased with the results, yes. Aren't you?"

Raven inclined her head, a slight smile creeping onto her face beneath the mask.

"Indeed I am," She replied. "I take it we will be observing from a distance?"

"Of course," I said with a nod. "This is a good chance for us to gather information as well. However limited, Cinder can't do something on such a scale without revealing at least some of her hand. It should be a learning experience."

Raven nodded as well.

"I'll watch her until she makes her move," She stated. "I assume you will as well?"

"Naturally," I answered. "Even just knowing how she goes about making arrangements could be useful. She'll most likely try to make use of this weekend, but putting anything into motion will likely take longer. With her need to keep appearances at Haven, it'll be interesting to see how she handles it. Will she delegate this task? And if so, to whom? Torchwick remains preoccupied in Vale, Emerald and Mercury remain at her side, so who's left? Or will she finally make a move herself? Whatever happens, I'd like to know."

"She'll know we're watching," Raven noted, no doubt recalling my little display.

"Good," I answered. "We don't have the time to waste on waiting for her, so let's force her to act. Whether she tried to hide something or attempts to put on a show, it makes no difference to methe burden is now on her."

"I suppose I have gotten weary of endless, pointless stakeouts," She mused aloud. "Such things are wont to be dull and tedious, but"

I nodded at her in agreement.

"Cinder has been very cautious," I said. "No matter what, she's been careful not reveal anything. I can't be sure whether she's naturally paranoid or simple suspected she was being observed, but we weren't getting any results by leaving things as they were. Now she knows she's being watched at all times and we can see how that knowledge affects her. She doesn't know how much of her plans we are aware of, either, so she will most likely assume the worst. One way or another, it should be of use to us."

Raven nodded and then fell silent for a minute, pursing her lips and looking faintly embarrassed.

"How much of her plans are we aware of?" She asked in a quiet voice, looking away from me.

"Significantly more now," I replied, making a point of not drawing attention to her embarrassment. "We were quite fortunate to make her reveal what she did."

"How much of it is a lie, though?" She wondered.

"Quite a bit," I admitted. "But most likely not in the way you're thinking."

"Oh?"

"Part of the reason I exposed some of my knowledge and observational abilities was to put her on-guard. She can't be sure of how long we've been watching or how closely, and so she can't be certain of whether or not we'd pick apart her lies. As such, it's likely that she kept as closely as possible to the truth and simply lied by omission when it came to the reasons behind her plans. I assume it goes without saying that she's not doing any of this for us or for the Faunus."

"That much was obvious within milliseconds of our first meeting," Raven answered dryly. "So that means"

I nodded again.

"It's likely that the breach will occur as she stated," I said. "I believe she's concealing several sources of information simply because a great deal of this rests on Ironwood's shoulders and it seems unlikely that she would gamble so much on someone if she wasn't certain of more than she claimed. Nonetheless, what she said about him and the Council sounds fairly plausible and I believe she can do what she's claimed. The question is then, what does she get out of this?"

"Perhaps she'll simply take command of the machines herself when the time comes?" Raven proposed, too which I gestured dismissively.

"That's an obvious betrayal that anyone would see coming," I said. "Naturally, we'll make sure to take measures against such a thingI'll pay close attention to whatever Cinder does to the CCT while we're in Beacon. No, if there's a knife in here, then I think it will be a bit more subtle than that. I think she will give us control when the time comes."

"To make us scapegoats, then?" She asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"Perhaps," I mused. "But I don't think so. Certainly, none of the Kingdoms have a particularly high opinion of us, but there'd be a number of ways for us to reveal her involvement if it came down to it. Besides which, if she intends to bring us down, I'm not certain that would be able to do it. For a long time, the White Fang has been limited by a number of factors, the most noteworthy being its size and powereven if many Faunus agree to the idea behind our cause, they don't think that ruining storefronts and making threats will actually solve anything, whether as an objection to pointless violence or because they believe it's too minor."

"For obvious reasons," Raven added, to which I inclined my head.

"Indeed," I said. "Though it's been steadily growing as a movement and getting bolder as it went, actions on such a scale simply aren't large enough to matter. It may frighten or harm individuals or small groups, but the Kingdoms can ignore pretty much everything the White Fang is capable of without any effortthere's simply that large of a difference in scale between a terrorist organization and a nation. We can anger them in various ways, do some harm in others, but under the present circumstances, we couldn't win if it became any kind of serious fight. Should they see through the masks and corner the White Fang with a group of Hunters, most of us would fall. That's simply how things are for the White Fangbut not necessarily for the Faunus as a whole."

"We won the Revolution," Raven murmured. "If only be pushing people far enough that it was too costly to continue."

"Just so," I replied. "While the Faunus are a minority, we're sufficiently large enough to oppose the major groups if united. All that would be truly needed is a rallying point, like the one provided by Menagerie. If the White Fang were able to prove that we could threaten a Kingdomthat we could win against Vale when it was at its most guardedimagine the message that would send to the masses. Instead of being a loose organization made of members who'd simply been pushed too far, Faunus all over the world would believe another victory was possible. And after the Revolutionslimited results and years of resentment, membership would bloat tremendously."

"Because everyone loves a winner," She understood. "If we can do something so large, win so utterly, then a number of people would be willing to take a second look. Certainly, countless Faunus in Atlas alone would be quick to rise up, especially if we humiliate Atlas' General in the process and prove we can take command of their machines. And if we honestly could"

"It would be the rise of the White Fang," I said before heaving a slow sigh. "And the start of another war in the process."

"Is that what she's after?" Raven asked.

"I can't be certain," I told her honestly. "It's possible. She might also just be after something else, something a war would make easier to obtain. Or perhapsperhaps she simply wants the chaos such a thing would bring."

"The Grimm," She said. "They're always eager to involve themselves in such a thingthat was part of how the Revolution was won in the first place. The Kingdoms were larger, but the war itself turned those numbers against them with a greater number of attacks to fend off, forcing them to divide their forces. If Cinder is a Rider"

"Mm," I agreed quietly. "And more than thatTorchwick has been going after Dust for months now, hording it and sending prices through the roof. It's enough to affect the citizens, but no so much to bother the Hunters or the government yet. But if she has something planned, a way to strike at the heart of things"

Raven looked over Mistral, silently gazing upon the city lights before closing her eyes.

"I once had to deal with the aftermath a blackout," She mused. "Whether the result of an incredibly stupid accident or sabotage, I never found outbut a third of Vale lost power for twenty minutes. No time at all, when you think about it, but the sun was already setting and things got darkand people got scared. Such a simple thing, but the Grimm came in a horde the likes of which I'd never seen. I saw seven Hunters die that day, just trying to keep the Grimm out of the city, all because of twenty minutes of darkness."

"Many things are more fragile then they appear on the surface," I whispered, following her gaze with a slightly saddened half-smile. "If one little thing goes wrong in the right place, at the right time, cities can fall as a result."

"What do we do, then?" Raven asked just as quietly.

"The same thing we've been doing," I answered. "We watch and we prepare. We'll see what Cinder's up to and stay close enough to act. Her plans could be useful to us, but from the very beginning I've intended to be close enough to stop them if they weren't. If we're lucky, perhaps things aren't as bad as we might fear. We still don't know for sure what she's after and it could be something relatively harmless; she doesn't have to be a monster in human skin hell-bent on destroying life on Remnant, after all."

"But if she is?"

I clicked a nail on the railing of the building and shrugged.

"Then we'll just have to kill her," I said calmly. "Nothing's changed on that front. In the end, we're Hunters, after all; if she's a monster, then we'll stop her like any other monster. Whether that means killing a Rider within her or tearing off her head, we just have to do our jobs. Right?"

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