On the sixth floor of the building, Penny walked through the halls, coming to a stop in front of the door that led to the employee lounge.
Her vision shifted to X-ray mode, allowing her to peer through the door. On the other side, several people lay on the ground, bound with rope and their mouths taped shut. They were awake but barely moving, clearly exhausted.
Hmm, looks like they really are hostages.
She reached for the door handle but, after a few tries, found it locked.
Penny stared at the door for a moment before tilting her head to the side. As she did, four of her blades, still hovering behind her, moved in perfect synchrony, cutting through the door in four directions—creating a cross shape.
The moment the door began to collapse, the hostages inside stirred, sitting up at the sound.
Stepping over the broken door, Penny waved cheerfully.
"Greetings! My name is Penny, and I've been sent to save you!"
"Hmhm?" One of the hostages hummed through their taped mouth, their eyes shifting between Penny and the hovering blades, clearly confused.
"Don't worry, I'll have you all free in no time," Penny assured, extending her hand. One of her blades hovered closer, its handle within reach. She approached the hostage who had hummed and knelt down, carefully bringing the sword to their bindings. The hostage shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the blade so close to them.
Penny smiled reassuringly.
"I'll be careful. Just try to stay still."
The hostage nodded slowly, and Penny began cutting through the ropes. Unbeknownst to her, one of the other hostages, who had been watching her with growing concern, had a change in expression. The ropes that had bound them weren't even tied, and they quietly stood up, reaching for a gun tucked into their waistband.
The other hostages, including the one Penny was helping, saw this and their eyes widened.
"Hhmmh! Hmmhmh!" The hostage Penny was working on began to shake, trying desperately to tilt their head to point behind her.
Penny frowned.
"Hey, if you keep moving like that, I might accidentally-" The moment the man pulled the trigger, all the hostages flinched, their eyes squeezed shut at the deafening bang that rang through the room.
Afterward, the man ripped the tape off his mouth, wincing from the pain before muttering, "What the hell are those idiots on the lower floors doing, letting a teenager get all the way up here?"
That's when he heard the impossible sound—the young girl's voice.
"Huh?" Penny's confusion mirrored that of the hostages. They slowly opened their eyes, and to their surprise, Penny was still standing there, unscathed.
Reaching up, Penny tugged at her ginger hair, digging for a moment before pulling out a flattened piece of metal from against her skull. It was the bullet. She looked at it for a brief moment, then turned to the man who had fired. Her eyes narrowed, and after a beat, she noticed his Faunus traits, letting out a sound of realization.
"Ohhh... Are you a member of the White Fang-" Penny didn't finish her sentence as the man, panic rising in his eyes, started firing again. Gunshots rang out, one after another, as he emptied the magazine.
The hostages flinched with each shot, but Penny remained kneeling, unaffected as the bullets struck her. Even when one hit her eye, she didn't flinch. The bullet flattened and fell to the ground, harmless.
The pistol in the disguised White Fang member's hand was smoking by the time the last shot was fired, and a heavy silence settled over the room. Both he and Penny glanced down at the bullets now scattered across the floor, each one distorted and useless. Penny looked back up at him.
"I'll take that as a yes," she said, her voice calm, before swinging her free arm toward him.
Her swords moved in response, two arcing through the air and plunging into his body. They impaled him, then slammed him into the nearby wall. A moment later, the man was sent crashing through the wall with the same force.
The swords dislodged from his body and spun through the air to clean themselves before returning to Penny's side.
"Alrighty, where were we?" Penny mumbled to herself as she went back to cutting the ropes of the hostage she had been working on. She freed him, then moved on to the remaining nine, cutting them loose one by one.
"Thank you, thank you so much! We didn't know what was happening when we saw the police outside. Then, suddenly, some of our coworkers pulled out guns, saying they were part of the White Fang, and they separated us from the others," one of the female hostages explained.
"I see. Well, you don't have to worry anymore. You're safe now," Penny said, her tone friendly and reassuring.
It seemed to calm the former hostages, and just a moment later, Penny heard Asher's voice come through on the communications channel that linked both her and the team overseeing the operation in the Command Post Tent.
"First and second floors are clear."
Penny responded over the same channel, "I've cleared the sixth floor as well. All of the hostages are safe, and I can confirm only one of them was a White Fang member in disguise."
Back at the Command Post Tent, situated at the heart of the operation, Lieutenant Colonel Saff and the police chiefs listened to the communications from both Asher and Penny, their expressions filled with disbelief.
From the beginning, they had thought the plan—just Asher, Penny, and two Atlas soldiers—was a fool's errand. They were sure it would end in disaster, and despite assigning the responsibility to Asher and Penny, they were certain General Ironwood would hold them accountable for any failure.
But now, it seemed they'd been wrong.
"They actually managed to do it..." Chief Cornel muttered, still stunned.
"How the hell did they pull it off? The first, second, and sixth floors were the most heavily guarded," Chief Cedric added.
Everyone in the room shared similar disbelief. But after a beat, Saff spoke up, her voice firm.
"It doesn't matter how. The point is, they did it. Now we need to move fast and stick to the plan." The others in the tent exchanged glances, nodding in agreement as they quickly began issuing orders.
The plan was Asher's own design, and it was simple enough to follow. The first part was straightforward: He and Penny would breach the building. While he and the Atlas soldiers handled the first and second floors, Penny would head to the sixth and clear out any hostiles there.
Once both floors were secure and the hostages' identities were verified, they would move on to the next phase. As for what that second part involved? It had to do with the orders being sent to the various units stationed outside the Pale Dawn Initiative building, who had been on standby without knowing the full plan.
The airships that had been hovering in the sky, awaiting orders, were the first to receive communication: "Attention all aerial units, deploy airborne breach teams. Target: the sixth floor!"
"Roger that, command," the pilots responded, glancing toward the rear of the airships they piloted.
"We've been cleared for fast-rope insertion into the sixth floor. Get ready," the pilots called to the soldiers in the bay. The soldiers nodded, quickly getting up and securing themselves to the rails above their heads near the bay doors. As the airships moved closer to the Pale Dawn Initiative building, the bay doors slid open.
Three manta airships were prepped for the drop, each carrying eight soldiers—one ship for each side of the building.
Once the airships were in position and stable, the pilots gave the signal.
"Drop!"
Four soldiers at a time began rappelling out of the airships. Their heavy boots thudded against the stone side of the building as they jumped and descended in repeated leaps from window to window. When they reached the second floor, they launched themselves harder, shattering the glass and landing inside.
Once on the ground, the soldiers unhooked themselves and immediately took cover, raising their guns in preparation for combat. But when they reached the sixth floor, all they found was the aftermath of Penny's earlier fight—the carnage and the bodies of the White Fang, all taken care of.
It was then that sixteen of the twenty-four soldiers, who had entered the office area of the sixth floor, spotted Penny as she rounded a corner, appearing in full view with the hostages trailing behind her. She had put away her swords, sensing that their presence had been making the hostages uneasy.
"Oh, you're here, perfect. These are the people who were captured and need to be escorted to safety," Penny said, gesturing to the group of hostages following behind her. The hostages tensed for a moment when they saw the guns, but they quickly relaxed once they realized they were soldiers here to help.
"Understood." A few of the soldiers who had come in were still attached to the airships, specifically to escort the hostages to safety. Penny told the hostages to listen to the soldiers' instructions, assuring them they'd be okay.
With that taken care of, Penny began walking toward the window where she had initially breached the sixth floor.
"Huh, what are you-" One of the soldiers began to ask as he saw her heading toward the broken window, but it was too late. Penny leaped out the next second, causing alarm to spread across the floor. The soldiers hadn't seen what she'd done earlier, and they were all confused as to why a girl her age was even here.
A few of the soldiers rushed to the windows they had come through, watching in disbelief as Penny plummeted toward the ground. She had a smile on her face the entire way down, even as she landed, the sidewalk cracking beneath her from the impact.
Penny stood up without a scratch, brushing off her skirt before turning and walking back into the building. The soldiers above watched in stunned silence. Even the officers and soldiers stationed at the barricades outside felt like they were experiencing a fever dream, despite seeing firsthand what Penny could do.
When Penny re-entered the lobby, things were much quieter. All the White Fang operatives had been dealt with on the first two floors. Aside from two Atlas soldiers, who were still checking for any stragglers, the only other person in the lobby was Asher, standing on the second floor.
As Penny looked up at him, Asher returned the glance, his voice coming through his mask in a mechanical tone.
"Things go well on the sixth floor?"
Penny gave a bubbly nod.
"Yup! The hostages are safe, and the soldiers made it in without any issues."
Asher vaulted over the stone railing of the second floor, landing heavily on the first.
The tile cracked beneath his weight as he responded, "Good. That should mean everything's going according to plan with the other floors."
The second part of Asher's plan was straightforward. Once he and Penny cleared the first, second, and sixth floors, the hostages' identities and conditions would be verified. At that point, soldiers would move into the sixth floor, while on the ground, the various units stationed outside the building would begin to advance.
Asher glanced over and saw it was already happening. Soldiers and officers were coordinating movements beyond the barricades.
Once the first and second floors were secure, they would work with the soldiers on the sixth floor to clear the third and fifth floors. Afterward, they'd execute a pincer sweep of the fourth floor. Once that was done, they could regroup and take care of the floors above the sixth, securing the entire building.
Of course, all of this depended on Asher and Penny getting their foot in the door first—if they hadn't, it would have turned into a bloodbath on both sides.
"We're heading to the subbasements now, right?" Penny asked, and Asher nodded.
"That's right." Asher gestured for her to follow him, giving a quick head nod to the two Atlas soldiers accompanying them. While the military and police took care of the rest of the building, the idea was for Asher and Penny to handle any remaining resistance in the subbasements.
After all, that's where the White Fang's base was located.
They walked down the leftmost corridor branching off the lobby. At the end of the corridor was a set of stairs leading to the second floor, but it also descended, heading toward the lower levels.
Asher glanced back at the two Atlas soldiers.
"Stay here and guard the stairwell. If you come with us, you'll just get in the way." The soldiers didn't take offense. They simply nodded and positioned themselves at the top of the stairs while Penny and Asher began their descent.
As they made their way down, they received a communication that connected to a private channel between the two of them.
"Uh, is this working... Penny, can you hear me?" The voice was instantly recognizable—it was Pietro.
"I can hear you, Father," Penny responded, her tone bright with happiness at hearing from him.
"Ah, good, good. I just wanted to check on you, make sure you're alright," Pietro said, his voice laced with concern as Asher and Penny turned to head down the next flight of stairs.
"Oh, I'm doing great. I managed to save a bunch of people, and I stopped the bad guys," Penny answered, clearly pleased.
"Yes, she did great. Thanks to her, we've secured multiple floors of the building. Now, we're heading to the subbasement," Asher added, offering praise. Penny glanced at him with a smile, appreciative of the words.
After a brief pause, Pietro responded.
"I see. Well, actually, that's another reason why I contacted you two. James reached out not too long ago, saying they've gotten more information from some of the White Fang they've been interrogating. It's worrying, and something you two will need to be cautious of."
Asher raised a brow beneath his helmet.
"What kind of information?"
"The kind that tells you what to expect down there," Pietro replied.
"First off, the Huntsman you encountered during the hijacking? He was a dropout from Mistral. And he's not the only one. James contacted Haven Academy and found out at least two others dropped out with him—both Faunus, both sharing... similar viewpoints." Asher didn't speak, but he understood what Pietro was getting at.
Of all the Kingdoms, Atlas and Mistral were the ones with the most discrimination against Faunus. It wasn't surprising that Faunus attending academies in either of those places would be radicalized enough to join the White Fang.
"They may not have finished their training at Haven, but they're still far beyond the level of most students," Pietro continued.
"Also, I got word that among the weapons smuggled to the White Fang, some of the recent shipments included anti-material rifles and anti-tank weapons—things that could be dangerous for both of you." At this, Asher's eyes narrowed.
Pietro was right. His armor could handle some types of anti-material weaponry, but anti-tank weapons were a different matter.
"Got it, we'll be careful," Asher responded over the comms.
"Yeah, don't worry, we'll be super vigilant," Penny chimed in, her tone as upbeat as ever, despite her father's warning.
Pietro sighed on the other end.
"Alright... but remember, if things get too dangerous, I want you out of there." After reassuring her father once more, the communication ended, and Asher and Penny reached the bottom of the stairs.
There, they were met with a thick steel door—something that seemed out of place in the subbasement of a company building. It was clearly added to keep people out.
Almost simultaneously, without a word, Penny and Asher switched to X-Ray vision, scanning through the door.
"Hmm, the door's booby-trapped," Penny commented.
"The moment anyone tries to force it open, they'll be blown up." Asher nodded in understanding, quickly switching to thermal vision. He immediately spotted the White Fang down the hallway beyond the door, positioned and ready the moment the door was breached.
"Narrow hallway, about five by seven meters," Asher muttered, his eyes scanning the scene.
"About fifteen meters from the door, there are eight White Fang members, all armed. Looks like they've set up a barricade. They know we're coming." As for how they knew, Asher could only guess they either monitored the cameras or someone had managed to get a communication to them through their jamming.
But either way, it didn't matter.
"In that case, I'll handle it," Penny said, stepping forward, positioning herself in front of the steel door. Asher took a step back as he watched her backpack split open, her blades flying out in perfect synchronization. Holding her palms out, her blades began to move.
They spun in a circle in front of her, pointing directly at the door, like a cyclone. In the next instant, the blades shifted, transforming into rifle form. A blinding green light began to condense at their center.
Asher blinked, surprised.
"Oh? Her weapons can use raw energy from hard-light dust as well?" As Penny's blades charged up a glowing green sphere of energy, Asher recognized the pattern. The concept was similar to his own Breaker Pistols. The green light flooded the entire landing, filling the air with the hum of spinning blades and gathering energy.
Hmm... Oh, I see. The blades must be capable of generating their own magnetic fields, which grow stronger when they're all spinning like that. It helps contain the energy, keeping it from going haywire or overheating like my Breaker Pistols do. But there is a downside—without a barrel to direct the energy, it takes longer to charge.
If he had to guess, it wasn't a move intended for close-combat, and seeing the way Penny was concentrating, it clearly wasn't something she could do easily. But with the White Fang waiting for them behind a blast door, it was the perfect moment.
After a couple more minutes, the sphere of energy seemed to reach its limit. The blades stopped spinning abruptly, and Penny thrust both her hands forward, closing them into fists.
The next instant, a high-pitched hum filled the air as a green beam shot forward. The door didn't last a second, melting straight through the metal with ease.
On the other side of the door, the White Fang stationed there only had time to see a flash of light as the beam rushed down the hallway. It swept through everything—walls, ceiling, and floor—melting them instantly. Finally, the beam hit the far wall, burning a hole straight through it before it finally died out.
Asher let out a low whistle, his eyes fixed on what was left of the door.
Now, all that remained was molten metal and a hallway that looked as if it had been carved out, with the melted stone glowing an orange-hot hue.