Sam jumped awake, cold sweat beating down his forehead. The nightmare he had about Weiss's death had been haunting his sleep again. He wiped the sweat off and laid his head back onto his pillow. He almost went back to sleep when he heard a knock at his door. Reluctantly, he sat up, and called to the visitor that the door was unlocked. He wiped the last of the drowsiness out of his eyes and looked to see Seth standing in the doorway.
"Sorry to wake you so early, sir, but I wanted to get a head start on today," Seth said, sympathetically. Sam tilted his head in confusion, and noticed it was still dark outside. He looked at the clock on his bedside table and saw it was 2:45 AM.
"Talk about an early start, Seth," Sam relaxed again. "Okay, is your team ready? Has Tom been cleared for duty?"
"I'm all ready to go," the sound of Tom's voice called from behind Seth.
Sam sighed and put his head in his hands, muttering, "Of course you are…" Standing up next to his bed, he spoke again, more clearly saying, "If that's the case bring your team to the briefing room. I'll be there momentarily."
Seth nodded his head and then turned to leave the room. As he left, Tom's large black form behind him appeared and he entered the room, closing the door behind him. "How have you been, Sam?" Tom asked softly, sitting down in a chair next to Sam's desk.
"I'm fine, Tom, really," Sam responded, wiping what was left of the drowsiness out of his eyes.
"Sources say otherwise, sir. Sources as reliable as that girl you're with," Tom shot back.
"And did Weiss say?" Sam had not known she had been concerned about him.
"Something to do with nightmares, that's the extent of it," Tom answered.
"It's nothing, really," Sam tried to avoid the questions.
"Now that is a load of horse shit and you know it. Don't lie to me, Engle. Now, what's up?" Tom replied forcefully.
"It's been around for a while, ever since I knew Weiss. I've had nightmares about losing her, okay?" Sam stared at the ground.
"How long have you had feelings for this girl?" Tom asked.
"Ever since I met her, really. I might not have known at the time that's what it was, but I figured out by the time we had been separated that it was true. I just have these nightmares, then the scare at the restaurant, it's all just piling up and I can't help but feel it's going to come true. It's the same dream, and it feels just as real every time," Sam explained.
"Any ideas why this keeps happening?" Tom asked softly.
"I can only think it's a sign; like a warning," Sam sighed.
"Or maybe it's just because you're scared of losing her…?" Tom countered.
"Of course I'm scared of losing her! I love her, and we're dealing with monsters who are naturally stronger than everyone else on this planet besides me!" Sam flared.
"You're letting that fear control your emotions, Sam, can't you see that?" Tom reasoned. "You know she will want to fight, and you can't deny her that chance."
"Of course I can! She is safer at Beacon, with her teammates," Sam shot back.
"No she isn't, Sam! She is safer with you!" Tom finished.
"And how is that?" Sam refused the idea.
"If she is with you, at least you are there to protect her. If she were to be attacked by one of those monsters and you weren't there to save her…she would die," Tom reasoned.
"If Weiss comes with me, so do her teammates, and I can't take care of those four at the same time," Sam countered.
"You don't have to, Sam. You've seen them fight, you know they can handle themselves, and can save each other if need be," Tom said, standing up and walking to the door. "You might want to get suited up, we'll be waiting in the briefing room," he said, closing the door behind him.
Sam sighed, punching the wall, and then walked over to his closet to put on his armor for the day ahead.
"Alright gentlemen, listen up! Your mission today will be to find out what is going on in Mistral. Communications have gone dead, and we have heard no word from them since this all started. Fly to Mistral, discover their situation, and recruit their forces for the coming war. Any questions?" Sam finished as he stood before Seth's squad.
"Yeah, what happens if Mistral is under attack?" one of them asked.
"Then you assist in the fight and bring their communications back online so we can send reinforcements. I trust you men to be more than capable of taking on some White Fang scum," Sam responded.
"And if Mistral is already gone by the time we are there?" the same man asked.
"Listen, we don't even know if they are under attack, but if they are we are taking the necessary precautions. Mistral will still be there when you arrive, don't you worry about that," Sam replied. "Any more questions?"
"None, sir. All clear on our end," Seth answered, gathering his belongings.
"Good. Get to your airship, you leave in 10 minutes," Sam ordered.
Seth's team of 30 began packing up their equipment and ammo, with the only ones not moving being Sam and Tom. After the rest of the team left, Tom came up and sat down next to where Sam was standing.
"Thought any more on what we talked about?" the muscular black man asked.
"Yes, I did. You're right that she would be safe with me, but at the same time I can't guarantee she will be coming with me. Ozpin won't just allow me to take his students to a war they aren't ready for," Sam responded
"I guess that's a better reason than you gave me before. Just talk to Oz, I'm sure he'll understand," Tom stood up, looking at his watch. "Gotta go. See you guys when we get back."
"See you, my friend," Sam waved as Tom left the room.
"This way, Anselm," Ironwood lead the head Schnee to his lab in Atlas.
"Is she ready?" Anselm asked.
"Yes, and I think the boys did a rather good job. Take a look for yourself," Ironwood pointed to a tub where a replica of Weiss was floating in the liquids of the tub.
"Incredible…" Anselm looked at the clone with awe. "It's an exact copy!"
"Not quite, sir. Unlike your daughter, she does not have a scar," Ironwood pointed to the clone's eye. Anselm looked closer, and then nodded his head in acknowledgement. "She is ready to come to life, if you wish, sir," Ironwood offered.
"Alright, let's see what your scientists were able to create," Anselm nodded his head again, watching the tub. Slowly, the tub drained out the liquids inside of it and the Weiss clone inside began to stand on its own. Once all of the liquid had been drained, the tub slowly opened up, allowing the clone to walk outside of it.
She walked out, eyes still closed, and stopped just a little bit in front of Anselm and Ironwood. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked over to Anselm, and smiled, saying, "Hello, father."
A knock on his door brought Ozpin's attention away from his book, and he looked up just in time to see Sam walk in to his office. "Mr. Engle, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Ozpin asked, putting his book down.
"I need to talk to you, Oz," Sam sighed, sitting in the chair across from Ozpin's desk.
"I think I may know what this is about," Ozpin shared a knowing smile.
"You do?" Sam's shocked expression served only to make Ozpin chuckle.
"I've already been speaking the other professors about the war, and Beacon will be alongside Vale's new army for the battles to come. What that means is that Team RWBY and any other team you wish will be able to accompany you for your missions," Ozpin took a sip from his mug,
"Who told you?" Sam questioned.
"Who was the only other person to talk to you about this?" Ozpin smiled again.
"I swear, when he gets back I'm gonna punch him," Sam folded his arms across his chest.
"And why would that be? You got what you wanted," Ozpin chuckled again.
"Never mind. So what's you plan then, Oz?" Sam asked.
"Well, when your army is ready, I will assign teams and professors to each of your divisions. That way we can keep up with the status of everyone in Beacon," Ozpin replied.
"Glad to hear, I'll let you know when everything is ready," Sam stood up and turned to leave.
"Mr. Engle," Ozpin called before Sam could leave the room. "You might want to go talk to Weiss, she has been worried about you."
"And how do you know that?" Sam asked incredulously.
"I have my sources," Ozpin smiled, "now go." Sam turned to leave again, and headed towards where Weiss's first class of the day was.
"Sir, were about to enter Mistral air space," the pilot called back to Seth.
"Understood! Find us a place to land in the city," Seth ordered.
"Um, sir, that's going to be a bit difficult," the pilot hesitated.
"Why is that?" Seth asked.
"Come see for yourself," the pilot unlocked the door into the bridge. Seth's jaw nearly hit the floor as he watched Mistral. The city was under heavy attack, with fires everywhere stray shots shooting up into the sky.
"Try and get in contact with Mistral command and find us an LZ," Seth ordered, heading back out into the passenger cab where his team was. "Alright boys, Mistral is under heavy attack. Our primary objective is to get their outbound communications back online so we can alert Sam of what's going on. We help where we can and make sure Mistral lives to see another day, understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!" the team shouted back.
Suddenly, the ship began to shake violently, throwing the team to the floor. "Pilot, what's going on?!" Seth yelled to the cockpit.
"We've been hit! We're going down!" The pilot shouted back, from the sound of his voice he could tell he was struggling with the controls.
"Everyone, brace for impact!" Seth ordered. Just as Seth cried out the order, the ship crash landed into one of Mistral's buildings.
Sam entered Grimm studies just as the automated bell rang out for Beacon's classes to start, and began looking around for Weiss. He saw her sitting with her teammates, and made his way down to them. Before he could sit down though, Professor Port came into the room and saw him in the aisle.
"Well look who it is! It's Sam Engle!" Port's voice bellowed throughout the hall. Sam stopped, looked over at the professor and smiled.
"It's good to see you, Peter," Sam called back, walking down to shake hands with the teacher.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Engle?" Port asked, lifting one of his eyebrows.
"Just came to watch, see if you've changed any," Sam laughed.
"You should know, I never change," Port laughed back. "Find a seat, I'm sure you could use a refresher on things." With that, Sam made his way back up to Team RWBY and sat down next to Weiss, watching as Port began his stories.
"Fancy seeing you here," Weiss whispered, nudging Sam with her elbow.
"Well, I figured you were worried about me, so I decided to come and ease your fears," Sam replied, leaning back in his chair.
"So how is everything?" Weiss asked, trying to make it look like she was paying attention.
"Better now, since I'm here," Sam smiled, and nudged Weiss back.
"Ugh, please tell me it's because of me and not Port's stories," Weiss sighed, and put her head into her hands.
Sam laughed quietly and patted Weiss's shoulder. "Yes, it's because of you." Weiss hummed to acknowledge what he said, and leaned over on his shoulder as they sat through the rest of Port's class.
Seth tried to look around, but all he saw was darkness. He could hear a faint knocking, and it had been getting louder. Suddenly, the door that led out of the ship flew open, and a single figure rushed inside. Seth could see figures around him begin to stand and make their way towards the exit, meaning more than just Seth survived the crash. Almost every figure had left, but the lone figure that knocked down the door had stayed. She began looking at the other bodies, checking to see if they were alive. Seth wanted to call out, but when he tried, his voice was lost. Thankfully, she heard his feeble attempts and ran over to where he was.
"Can you stand?" she asked lightly, or what seemed lightly to Seth at the time. He still couldn't talk, but he nodded his head. "C'mon, I'll help you up," she offered a hand. Seth took it, and with all of his strength he lifted his body up. The woman helped him find his balance, then let him stand on his own.
Suddenly, he found his voice, "Wh-Who are you?"
"My name is Chaney. Chaney Ashcroft. Come on, we need to go," Chaney said, trying to push him to the exit. Seth managed to walk over to the exit, looking out from where they crashed. From what he could tell, the battle was still going on, and he could see his team picking up their weapons and securing the area.
"Now it's my turn to ask. Who are you?" Chaney followed Seth out of the crashed ship.
"Sergeant Seth Gates," Seth managed to say, getting better control over his body.
"Where did you guys come from? One moment the battle was just going on like normal, then all of the sudden this ship comes out of nowhere and crashes," Chaney questioned as they walked over to Seth's team.
"We're from Vale, we were sent out here to see why Mistral's communications went down," Seth replied, picking up his own weapon.
"I see. A couple of your guys died in the crash, about 5 or 6, if you include the pilot," Chaney told him.
"Alright. Do you know where Mistral Command is?" Seth turned to face her.
"It's just down the block. Follow me," She said, running past Seth to the far street. Seth signaled to his squad to follow, and they began marching to Mistral Command to begin cleaning up this huge mess.
AN: I'm back and I'm alive! I'm sorry I made you guys wait this long for the chapter update. With the suicide of someone who was like a sister to me, I'm still struggling through everything. But, I've made time to write and have finally gotten back into the swing of things. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and if you have any questions about anything, just shoot me a PM or leave a review. Thank you guys so much for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!