Pyrrha stared into the barrel of the blocky, matte black handgun. Somehow, the way that Levi's gloves strained over his knuckles and were almost entirely coated in Grimm blood, made it look scarier than it should be for her. He recognized her and lowered his weapon. The Grimm was still writhing between them, occasionally snapping at his black armoured form, even though he was far out of its range.

Levi started walking over to her and casually put two rounds through the skull of the creature, which started to dissolve immediately. She stood up too. No use keeping herself hidden.

He took off his helmet as he crossed the five meter line. His face was coated in sweat and his hair was dishevelled and stuck to his forehead. He stopped two meters from her. Pyrrha's heart was pounding so hard, she was sure it would jump out of her chest.

"I'm... um... how much did you see?"

Him propping the cuffed Creep up on a wooden cross? The cuts, the stabs? The packs of Grimm closing in? And the way he had slaughtered them?

The clearing still looked as if one of Atlas's gunships had raked the area with fire from their naval artillery. How could he still be alive?

"Everything." She wasn't able to voice anything more than a whisper, but apparently he understood.

"You weren't supposed to. I thought nobody was here."

"I... I come here to practice sometimes. Or to... get a break from the people."

He nodded. Then he walked across the clearing, picking up his rifle, as well as the discarded magazines and his knife, which was still embedded in a tree. He yanked it out with no big effort and sheathed it, before he walked back to her.

"Why a break from people?" He started again, after a few moments of rather uncomfortable silence.

"Well..." Pyrrha unconsciously shifted her weight. Normally, she would be unwilling to talk about her celebrity status. Part of why she valued her team, Jaune to a larger extent even, was that they didn't care about her fame. They saw her as a normal girl. She thought Levi might fall into this category as well. He knew nothing of her, except what she told him and what had happened between them while she unlocked his aura. She regretted losing composure back then, even though she was unable to place why.

"I get recognised sometimes. I've been a tournament fighter back in Mistral amd had a bunch of brand deals."

"You're a celebrity then?"

"Please don't..."

"I get it." He cut in and produced his pack of cigarettes from his vest. "I know how heavy reputation can feel on your shoulders."

"You were famous?" She asked with genuine curiosity. Levi loved this about the people here. No one he had met had been as calloused or apathetic as the people back on earth. Part of the reason for this could be that most people here were ripped right out of high school animes, but he enjoyed it. It took his mind off the morbid memories and horrible truths that slowly gnawed away at his sanity. Now that he thought about it, Sixty Six had been silent for a long time now. Hopefully it was not a calm before the storm. Hopefully the fact that he and not the voice in his head, had decided to slaughter almost sixty Grimm, was not another representative of his mental health.

"Infamous, might be a more fitting term."

"Oh... What did you do?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

She nodded, he sighed and took another drag of his cigarette.

"I was leader of a killteam. Somewhere towards the end, the foundation had realised that they had neither the resources, nor the manpower to reliably contain all the anomalous entities. You know, some of them had the potential to end my world on their own. In the end, most of them broke containment anyway. Earth... Zero never had a chance... Sit down with me." He pushed the burned down cigarette against the sole of his boot to extinguish it and put it in one of his pockets.

"We were sent out to destroy all those entities, skips we called them, which the Foundation deemed to dangerous. Well and while futile in the end, me and my team were actually quite good at it." He stopped to let Pyrrha sort the information out herself. After a while she spoke.

"There is a Foundation here on Remnant, right? Does this mean, this might happen here too?"

"Well, apart from the Grimm, the aura, the semblances and this world's weird fascination with airships, I haven't found anything yet that I would say was anomalous enough to be worried. Everything is different here."

"What were you doing with the Grimm?" She asked suddenly. Levi was taken aback by the sudden change in her tone. Normally she sounded calm and friendly, before, she had sounded unsure, just now, her tone had been sharp. Almost accusing.

"I was... venting." How much more stupid could that have been phrased?

"Why? Why would you do this?" She sounded pleading now. The accusing tone was almost gone. She wanted to understand. Her initial shock was apparently overcome and Levi felt he owed her the explanation. Not like everyone he knew here didn't already know about the Foundation and what happened to earth.

"You need to know... I wasn't born. I was, well, cultivated. In an artificial womb, with the genetic material of other... people."

"Oh." Pyrrha cast her gaze to the ground, apparently thinking about something. "So you don't have parents?"

"No."

"Where did you spend your childhood? Who took care of you?"

"When I was activated, my body was already on a development standard of a sixteen year old. I don't remember my childhood, because as much as I can remember, I've never been a child."

"That sounds terrible."

"You can't miss what you never had. However, I wasn't the only one. I think I had several... I don't know... biological siblings? Others who were made from the same, or at least similar information as me."

"What happened to them?" He noticed her voice was wavering. Undoubtedly she was not far from crying. Another thing he liked about this world. Everybody seemed so innocent, well the younger ones at least. He would also have to exclude Blake from this sentiment. She seemed as if she had seen her fair share of misery before.

"They died. Most went insane and became violent. I only know of myself two others who were able to stay sane. The day they woke me up, the last of our kind went mad. They got me out to kill him, before he could kill one of my sisters, but thy were too late. I didn't make it in time."

"She was... normal?"

He chuckled. It felt nice talking to Pyrrha about things. He had the impression that she genuinely wanted to know.

"As normal as possible, given the circumstances. I didn't know her. She was just another casualty back then. However, when they explained everything to me, it felt weird."

Somewhere between now and the start of their little QA, Pyrrha had scooted closer to him. Levi had just now realised it. The warmth that her body radiated was unfamiliar, though not unwelcome.

"What happened to the other one?"

"Sixty Seven?" He thought back to that day. Weird, how he now remembered his very first day as if it was yesterday. The smoke, the concrete beneath his bare feet, the sickening squelching as he waded through the remains of several staff members, torn apart by this madman, this... monster. The triumphant feeling as he stood over the cooling corpse of Sixty Seven, several of his own fingers bent and broken and his arms covered in blood up to his elbow. The fear as he saw the young woman lie in one of the corners, a piece of metal through her abdome and blood running down her chin. She had smiled at him then, the expression etched on her face permanently as she passed away.

"I killed him. It was the first thing I ever did. Somehow I've felt like this was an omen for how my life would be."

Again, both of them said nothing. Levi feared that he maybe had shared too much too fast. He knew that his history could seem bleak and brutal to "outsiders", but he had never known a different life. Perhaps now was his time to become someone else. A somewhat happy person, even though he had a long way ahead of him.

Pyrrha held back her tears. She was, had always been, a very empathetic person, able to see the other point of view, but how could she even try to understand Levi? He still had not answered her question as to why he had sought the battle with these Grimm, but she felt the answer slowly dawning on her. If most other siblings of his had gone insane, then maybe there was a tendency. Maybe Levi too had this disposition, only that he had been able to control it. Would be able to control it, hopefully indefinitely. Was there something they could do? Some way they could help? The others? Her team? She?

"It is nice here." He suddenly said. "I don't remember ever feeling so much at peace. Even now." Levi started to fiddle with some of the straps on his vest.

"What I just did... well, I'm not made for peace, even though I like it. My mind starts running amok when I have to stand down. It starts to... trick me. It's for the best like this."

He almost jumped as he felt Pyrrha's arms wrap around him. She was now quietly sobbing into his shoulder, which confused him. His whole story didn't concern her directly. Everything was in the past now, irrefutable and unchangeable and even though he knew that it had a rather negative impact on people unfamiliar with the matter, he wouldn't have expected such an emotional response from the red haired girl.

Tentatively he returned her embrace, his gloved hand resting idly on her shoulder. He enjoyed this, he realised with a slight feeling of guilt. He knew that he was supposed to keep everyone else at an arm's length. His dangerous disposition, as well as the inevitability of his to end up in some kind of mortal danger, warranted such. In the past, he had always managed. He knew that Karin had at some point shared his infatuation for her, but he had managed to keep their relationship one of friendly professionalism. Then again, he had been at war back then, as well as her superior officer.

"Everything is different here." He repeated and reassuringly patted her back. "You guy's have enough going on as it is. No need to Break a sweat over someone like me. But I appreciate it. It feels good to talk about it."

She whiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she disentangled herself from him. Then she slapped him lightly against his head. There was a smile on her face, even though her eyes were still red from crying.

"You know how stupid that sounds, right?" He gave her confused look.

"We're your friends you dumbass!" She pushed him playfully, laughing and now he couldn't suppress a small laugh either. "If you need help, we will help you. You can talk to us. To me."

LXVI_

Cinder grinned. Everything was going according to plan. The preparation for the festival were in full swing, the council in their unending paranoia had effectively occupied Vale with their airfleet and her and her team's infiltration of Beacon had been a full success. Ember and Mercury had managed to procure a base of operations and had established contact with the local White Fang cells and Torchwick had made astounding progress procuring the dust reserves necessary for their plans. The only possible hindrances for her plans were the few new unknowns.

The new student, the untraceable paramilitaries and Ozpin. The latter had been an enigma for her since she had started her efforts. By now she had accepted that she probably would never be able to uncover his whole nature. It didn't matter though. As soon as her plan was in motion, he would fall, together with his school.

The new student, Levi Able, was a much more recent mystery. There were no records of his existence prior to a few months, which was peculiar. Had she not been so adverse of preemptive speculations, she would have thought him to be some kind of covert element. Maybe inserted by the council to monitor the headmaster, or even placed there by Ozpin himself to uncover conspiracies within his own area of influence. However, this seemed unlikely.

Levi Able had been far to showy in his demonstrations in combat class to be able to move somewhat undetected among the student body. He also didn't seem to have any connections outside of Beacon.

The paramilitaries were a different brew altogether. This organisation, whoever they were, seemed to be highly competent, secretive and ruthless in the pursuit of their goals. Cinder had received reports of several raids which could be loosely connected to the white choppers and faceless soldiers. Apparently they mostly moved in at dawn, struck hard and fast and vanished before any reaction could be orchestrated. Sometimes though, their operations were completely nonviolent. Numerous reports told of police forces belonging to the respective kingdoms, locking down whole living areas while personnel in heavy protective equipment and most of the time even hazmat-suits performed all kinds of strange procedures. Most of the time, their departure was marked with a some kind of transport moving off. What they were carrying, nobody ever knew or couldn't remember.

The supposed raids of the Foumdation on White Fang positions were always carried out with astounding speed and brutality. It was uncommon for the attackers to secure a site completely. Their goal seemed to be primarily to extract something or someone and pull back before reinforcements could be organised. However these raids were far between and not of much interest for Cinder. She couldn't care less for the death of a few faunus. Not that she harbored any ill will towards their kind in particular, but for her, they were a tool. Like a gun or a wrench and as such, would sometimes take a hit.

"But what if he gets in our way? People say he is on par with the Nikos girl." Mercury was arguing with Emerald in the back of the room. Where Emerald was following Cinder with almost fanatical zeal, Mercury tended to take a far mor sceptical approach, even though he wasn't any less loyal. She hated yo admit it, but she valued both of them as much for their fighting prowess as for their character traits.

"He is just a mindless brawler. Much like the Xiao Long girl or this one with the hammer. If you throw enough punches, some are bound to hit."

"If you say so. I'd remain careful. The stories you hear are impressive."

Cinder decided it was her cue. "If you think it necessary, you can keep an eye on him, Mercury. It can't hurt to be in the know about the second best fighter in Beacon."

"Third best!" Emerald piped up. "After you and Pyrrha Nikos."

"Probably." Cinder muttered. She would never tell them, but if the stories she had heard were true, he could pose a serious problem.

LXVI_

"And you are sure? You certainly fulfil all the requirements. We are sure that we could find a way to let you participate in the single rounds."

"I'm sure. It's fine. Im perfectly content with watching from the sidelines."

Glynda Goodwitch eyed Levi for a second before turning back to her scroll.

"Very well. But then we would have to postpone your integration into one of the teams until after the festival. The rosters are currently full and we would like to avoid any switch ups during such an important event."

"Of course."

There was a moment of silence while Professor Goodwitch typed something on her scroll. Then she sighed and looked at him.

"Mr. Able, I have to ask you. What is your ambition here? You scored full marks across the board and your combat skills are exemplary. If unbound by tournament or practice regulations I would even rank you among the top fighters ever attending Beacon, but I am unable to see a drive there. Don't you have any goal?"

Levi hesitated. His whole life (even until his death), his sole existence had been based on fighting and killing. War was part of his character. He had never even wasted a thought on becoming something else than the perfect soldier. He spent his time practicing his shooting, martial arts and tactical awareness. When Ruby had at one point challenged him in a game of "Urban Brawl", something that she had called a beat-em-up-game, his mind had been blown. Sure, he had seen computer graphics before, but he had never had time to actually try a video game. All his virtual experience boiled down to augmented reality tools to aid him in combat and scientific and strategical applications. The occurrences where he realised that a civilian life, or even a period off duty was a completely alien concept for him, where piling up. Now Glynda asked him for his drive, his goal in life. How could he explain that?

What is there to explain? We are a machine. Fine tuned to destroy the enemies of mankind... well and faunuskind now.

Great. Now here I was, thinking I got rid of you. Don't think I have forgotten about the trouble you caused in the club that other night.

Trouble? I think we were on the same page back then. Don't try to deny it, man! Besides, who's decision was it to go into the woods to rough up some of these Grimm things?

Shut it.

Tell her what we are. I mean, I'm pretty sure she already knows, but maybe she needs to hear it from you. Like that hot ginger girl yesterday.

"Miss Goodwitch, since I can remember, my purpose was to either protect those who can't protect themselves, or when this was no viable option anymore, to strike at those who mean harm. I am a soldier. That's all I know. I have no interest in prestige or fame."

Listen! Not a single attempt at self deception here. Progre-

Shut the fuck up!

Glynda again regarded him for a moment, before speaking.

"Very well. How are you feeling otherwise? Have you been able to visit the forest?"

How everyone seemed to dance around the topic that he needed to kill something sometimes. It was tha piece of Able in him, he was sure. 076 had been described as the incarnation of destruction in the file Dr. carter had given him.

"I have destroyed the elements the headmaster has pointed out to me. And yes, I think it helped."

"That's good to hear. If we have anything it's an abundance of Grimm for you to hunt. Maybe next time, we'll attach you to one of the third or fourth year teams when they are dispatched for a mission." Again she typed as she spoke. Levi had the suspicion that everything he said was compiled and sent directly to the headmaster, who in turn would report to Carter, or somebody else within the Foundation.

"Mr. Able, I am glad that you have agreed to these weekly meetings. I think we are done here for now, unless you want to tell me anything else."

He shook his head.

"Very good. However today, we have someone else her who would like to meet you. I'm sure you can sacrifice a few more minutes of your free time?"

They had been here for thirteen minutes now. Surely these conversations would become longer the more often they would conduct them, but for now, Levi had nothing to complain about. Also, Goodwitch, Ozpin, Port, Ooblek and anyone from the staff were essentially superior officers for him. If they told him to stay, he would. He nodded.

The doors behind him opened and a man in a white officers uniform, as well as a young woman in a military styled dress entered. He was tall, broad shoulders, neatly and practically styled hair and clean shaven. She was almost a carbon copy of Weiss Schnee, apart from her being taller and the minimal difference in their hairstyles. He would be damned if the two werent related. They even smelled alike.

He had a piece of metal above his eyebrow, Levi suspected it served some kind of prosthetic use and radiated an air of authority only typical to individuals in leading military positions. A general most likely.

Levi immediately stood up, his back straight, feet apart shoulder wide and his arms at his side. His eyes straight forward. That was until he heard a deep chuckle from his right.

"At ease, soldier." He felt a hand on his shoulder and complied, relaxing his stance and clasping his hands behind his back.

"My name is General James Ironwood, commander of the Atlesian military." Levi noticed the hand he presented and shook it deftly. It felt strange. If this was a prosthetic too, it was very advanced, since the General seemed to have precise control over it. Maybe Remnant was further developed than he gave it credit. Such augmentations had been usual on earth back then, still he found it impressive.

"This is my aide, Winter Schnee. I believe you might be acquainted with her sister." He knew it! He almost felt proud of his combinatorial abilities, until he thought about how obvious the connection had been.

"And you must be Levi Able. I've heard much of you. A formidable fighter I hear."

"One among many, general, sir."

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Able. Killing an adult Nevermore in unarmed combat is something that not many people can take pride in, let alone live to tell."

"I didn't really tell anyone, sir."

"That's what social media is for, son. You obviously don't use too many of the platforms, otherwise you'd know of your reputation here at Beacon."

Great. Another thing to keep tab on. As if the discussions with his own schizophrenic pet personality wasn't enough.

"Well, we also had a little conversation with headmaster Ozpin this afternoon. Since me and my forces are responsible for the security during the festival, we managed to get a short brief out of him. Your arrival was part of it too, obviously. However we are not just here to chat, I'm afraid. Specialist Schnee!"

The young woman stepped forward, a scroll in her arm. This was going to become a briefing, Levi was sure.

"Foundation contacts have vouched for your confidentiality and preliminarily clearecleared our request, so we'd like to ask for your assistance in observing, identifying and if necessary disrupting White Fang operations during the festival. You would be acting as a covert asset, primarily focusing on reconnaissance and support." She swiped at her tablet and a map of Vale appeared between the four present. It showed the city, some areas outside the walls, Beacon Forest as well as the red Forest (Levi still needed to ask for it's name) and the opulent floating stadium that would serve as a collosseum for the Vytal Tournament. Levi noticed several diagrams and three dimensional models which either displayed a simulation of motorised and foot traffic, or actually showed live fed information. He had to admit being impressed.

"Of course, prime locations for attacks by the White Fang would be the stadium, the airports and the numerous markets if they wanted to maximise the damage done." She cropped these locations out and enlarged them. Levi had already entered his analytic mode.

"Has the White Fang conducted attacks like this before? With the goal to cause as many casualties as possible?"

"Not often. However they try to demonstrate their superiority over humankind, as well as over the international council. If they wanted to show the people that we are powerless, they'd do it here."

"Ozpin has specifically discouraged the presence if the atlesian military and I can understand him. However I still think, a large scale show of force is the best course of action. We can show these terrorists how powerful we actually are." Ironwood said, his back even straighter then before, but somehow a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Hm." Levi was still pacing around the 3D model. "Zealous fanatics can't be deterred by posting battleships and soldiers everywhere. Their advantage is that they are virtually invisible and ready to die for their cause. But having a quick reaction force on site is certainly advantageous. Having air superiority when anybody can have an airship helps too."

"We are posting automated sentries at all strategically important spots and will implement a thorough inspection of everyone who enters the stadium. That way, we can minimise the risk of explosives or weapons getting to close to these areas." Winter commented as she slowly rotated the 3D stadium and highlighted all exits as well as possible entry points.

"You're using automated drones?"

LXVI_

AN: Sorry for the weird cut here, but my crappy phone isn't capable of processing any more words within a single document, so I'll continue this in the next chapter.