Cinder Fall had put Mercury and Emerald on watching Jaune Arc. The fact a member of his family was now in a key position of authority over Vale's defenses meant she had to take him seriously-Perhaps even more seriously than Pyrrha Nikos.
It was annoying. Embarrassing, really, to have to approach the idiot loser and act like a fawning fangirl. Cinder though had done worse for her quest, and so she sought out Jaune Arc on a Saturday morning.
The rest of his little entourage were off busy with their own things. Pyrrha Nikos with a commercial, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren off to a diner in Vale, Yang Xiao-Long was working in the school garage on her bike, Weiss Schnee was visiting with her sister and Blake Belladonna was alone in the dorm room. No doubt reading or watching more porn.
That left Ruby Rose, and Cinder was confident she could handle her just fine.
The odd part was that Jaune and Ruby had headed off to an open air training field, number 47. That was usually reserved for large groups of students, being wide, large, and surrounded by trees-What were they doing there? As she approached, the sounds of thrusters, metal clashing against metal, and Dust blasts filled the air. She moved a bit more swiftly, before the trees opened up around the sidewalk path and she finally got a good look at the field itself.
Her eyes widened as she saw a white mobile power suit flying across the lawn, propelled by twin vernier thruster packs, wielding a green Dust Beam Saber. It clashed with a white, blue and red mobile power suit with an elaborate gold headdress and bird-like wings, wielding another green Dust Beam saber, a red shield, and a massive two-barreled Dust beam rifle it kept tucked away under the shield. Both suits flew higher and higher, their clashes like thunder across the partly cloudy skies.
Tallgeese and Wing Zero?! Cinder thought in astonishment.
Cinder spotted two figures: A tall man in a green Valean Special Forces uniform, with long platinum blonde hair and a noble visage, and Ruby Rose. Both were watching the fight, the older man with a keen expression and war weary eyes, Rose with stars shining in her silver orbs.
"I see we've attracted some attention. Come over, it's fine."
The man spoke so calmly and surely that Cinder jumped. Ruby looked over her shoulder and beamed.
"Oh hey! You're Cinder Fall! We met before, right?"
"Ah, yes," Cinder said quickly, walking over to stand next to Ruby. "The noise attracted me on my walk. You are?"
The man smiled softly.
"Milliardo Peacecraft," he said. Cinder's eyes shot open even wider. "Ah. You've heard of me, then?"
"I... Y-yes," she stuttered. Ruby grinned.
"The Lightning Count Zechs Marquise! The only human leader of a White Fang Cell that uh... Um..." She winced, "Tried to blow up the capital of the South Sanus Alliance States... Um..."
"Yes," Milliardo said, nodding.
"I... I see," Cinder managed, taking Zechs' hand and shaking it, "You were pardoned?"
"I was," Zechs allowed quietly, "but I owe a great debt to the world. One I have been working on repaying."
Ten years ago, the South Sanus war had been a dizzying conflict. While nominally part of Vale, the South Sanus Alliance had been overstepping its bounds for decades, oppressing their island colonies, which were mostly populated by Faunus. They'd even mounted a coup of the Sanq Kingdom years ago as the Sanq Kingdom had been trying to end the military expansionism. Vale itself had tried to rein them in, but the Romefeller Foundation and OZ, both mysterious organizations, had managed to keep them at bay with diplomacy, money, rumored blackmail, and assassination attempts. It didn't help that their latest advance, mobile powered suits, had revolutionized their military and they'd been selling the technology to various consumers worldwide.
The colonies had sent five guerilla fighters with the most advanced mobile powered suits ever built: Gundams, made of Gundamnium alloy, one of the strongest materials on the planet. The Sanus Alliance, in response to their attacks, had voted to make peace with the colonies and Vale... Which had led to OZ overthrowing the Alliance in a coup and taking over the colonies directly. Through a dizzying series of political reversals, Milliardo Peacecraft, aka Zechs Marquise, had gone from OZ's brightest soldier to leader of the White Fang in the colonies and taking over the air battleship Libra, while his sister Relena had been made Queen of South Sanus in an effort to make peace. It had all ended in a massive battle on Aslanmas Eve years ago, where one Gundam pilot had saved South Sanus' capital city from being destroyed from Libra ramming it, and Milliardo Peacecraft being considered dead. South Sanus had formally joined with Vale and disarmed, though its advanced military technology was still in use for peacekeeping. It had taken time to rebuild it though: South Sanus had been forced to destroy all their military technology and production facilities by White Fang, or Zechs would have detonated Libra over the city, killing millions. Atlas and Vale had both tried to intervene, but had made little contribution to the end of the fight-There had been other crises in the world at the time.
Crises Salem had been instigating.
Why is he here...? Cinder thought.
"We're watching my cousin train with my..." Zechs made a slight face, "brother-in-law."
Wait, Tallgeese is Milliardo's suit. If that's Heero Yuy in the Wing Zero, then who is...?
The Tallgeese got knocked out of the sky and slammed down hard into the grass, throwing up sod everywhere as it skidded to a halt. The Wing Zero landed nearby, pointing its Dust Beam Rifle at the suit.
"Yield," a cold, familiar voice stated over the suit's PA. The Tallgeese raised its hands in surrender. Milliardo and Ruby headed over to the downed suit, while Cinder followed.
Ruby and Milliardo knelt on opposing sides of the suit, helping him sit up. The helmet opened up-Revealing a gasping Jaune Arc. Cinder's jaw dropped.
WHAT?!
