Nora was the last one to wake, despite Ren's constant attempts. Though it did make sense that one would be a heavy sleeper if they were as hyper as Nora. Ruby and Jaune were currently going over the route they were taking to reach the coast. There was at least one village in their direct path towards the coast, but still relatively situated in the woods. "We can stop for supplies there and maybe the night as well," Jaune said pointing to the village on the map. Nora was still a bit drowsy so she just nodded sleepily. Ruby giggled softly to herself but then regained her composure as if Weiss was standing next to her. "It's at least a 6 hour walk to the village so if set out now, we can make it there by…..what? One o'clock? Two?"
"Close. We'll get there by three," Ren said.
"So long...as we can still have pancakes before we go...I'm ok with this," Nora said still half-asleep.
Ruby and Jaune just smiled at that. Always count on Nora to bring some humor into the situation, no matter how dire. Even when facing a giant scorpion with armor as thick as that of an Atlesian Paladin, if not thicker, she would still crack a joke or exclaim "Smash!" when she brought her hammer down on the head of the monster. Even Ren still found it a bit humorous though he hid the emotion well. The four huntsmen began packing shortly after, Nora slowly waking up, mumbling about how she could really use some pancakes right about now.
Once everyone was packed and ready, the four set out to the village. Each of them had their weapons at the ready in case of Grimm or any other dangers. It's the unexpected that's always more dangerous though. As the four young warriors headed towards the village, three hours into their trek, they began to hear voices from somewhere off in the distance. "You guys hear that too right?" Nora asked the group, slowly reaching for her hammer.
"Yes...I hear it as well," Ren replied as he drew Storm Flower. Similarly, Jaune drew his sword and Ruby prepared Crescent Rose.
"Ok...you two go left. Me and Jaune will go right. And keep quiet ok? This just became a stealth mission," Ruby said, with as much confidence as she could muster.
"Trust me, stealth is my specialty!" Nora stated proudly, receiving looks of doubt and amusement from the others. "What?" the red-haired girl said confused.
"Nothing. Just...make sure you don't get spotted," Ruby said with a light laugh. Nora smirked and went with Ren to circle around to the left of where the voices were coming from. Jaune and Ruby did the same to the right. When the two groups reached a good position for a crossfire in case it was White Fang, their eyes widened with shock and horror when they saw a small force of soldiers in advanced armor. Each of the soldiers wore a jet-black dome shaped helmet with two gas-mask like vents on the front. The eye slits were two pairs of glowing red line-shaped visors. Some of the soldiers have gold and white helmets, denoting ranks of captain, and all of them were armed with powerful assault rifles, shotguns, and grenades. But the scariest thing about them wasn't the fact they were armed, it was the fact they had a tank. A massive vehicle that had no treads, seemingly floating there, and armed with a massive central cannon and two smaller outer turrets with two barrels each.
"Oh...my...god…," Jaune said as quietly as he could, "That's a tank. THAT is a tank...with guys who look more well armed than a soldier from Atlas. I think we should just...turn around...and leave them to their own devices for now." Ruby looks at him but before she could say anything, a third voice spoke out. "Drop your weapons...huntsmen," it said, accompanied by the reading of rifles.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Ruby said with a sigh. Two of the armor-clad soldiers had both of their rifles pointed at her and Jaune's heads. "One wrong move...and we pull the trigger," the second one stated in a gravelly voice. Slowly, Ruby and Jaune lowered their weapons onto the ground.
"Now...kick them over to me," the one with the gravelly voice said. The two of them begrudgingly obliged. One of the two soldiers then turned on his built in wrist-communicator and spoke into it, "Sargeant, this is Sentry 4. I've got two huntsmen on the eastern perimeter. Orders?" The commlink beeped after a while and a third voice spoke out of it. "Funny...I just got a report from Sentry 6 that we had two on the western perimeter. We have a full team on our hands. Bring them to me at once. I wish to have a word with them. Also um...small detail….do these two have a hammer as well?"
"Sir?" the soldier asked quizzically.
"According to Sentry 6, one of the two huntsmen they captured had a massive hammer...which they used to strike Sentry 6-2 in a very...critical...area. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again because he's going to be in the hospital for a long time from that."
"Oh...I...see...well...maybe then you'll be glad to know they're armed with a scythe equipped with a high-caliber sniper rifle and a sword and shield."
"Oh good...it's only the one."
"That's Nora for you. Always aiming for a weak spot," Jaune said with a chuckle and received a hit to the back of the head with the butt of one of the soldier's guns.
"Shut up huntsmen," the second soldier barked at them.
"Anyway," the voice on the commlink continued, "bring them to me at once. Bring them to me UNHARMED." The second soldier heard that and instantly face-palmed because, no doubt the reason for such emphasis on "unharmed" was because the sound of the gun hitting someone was audible through the receiver.
"Yes sir. At once sir." The soldier ended the call and motioned his gun to the two young warriors. "Both of you, on your feet. You're coming with us." With that, the soldier brought out a pair of handcuffs with a hard-light tether connecting the clasps.
A/U: And thus the first arc begins! Team RNJR is captured by a new unknown military force and they have a tank. Hopefully Nora doesn't get in the driver seat. As always, read, review and enjoy.
