Chapter 7: Miscommunication
Several days earlier
"What do you mean they 'absorbed' your rounds?!" As the soldier backed away from Winter, simply seeing her rage building he responded.
"I-I mean they were absorbed by their armour. We saw them make contact and simply fizzle away." Having his commaning officer step towards him, fists formed and anger in her eyes made him prepare for the worst. What he didn't expect to hear was an annoyed sight. Looking up he saw she had begun to rub her eyes.
"Do we at least know where they are?"
"Yes, ma'am. Sector 143-009." She broke her gaze with the soldier as he said this and walked towards the window, staring out into the night sky.
"Shall I send a combat detachment ma'am?"
"No" She replied. "We were lucky to have had no causalities the last time we faced these... what did you call them again?"
"At this moment in time ma'am we have no name. But I caught wind of some of the men calling them 'Reapers' ma'am."
"Reapers?" she replied, turning to face the soldier.
"Yes, ma'am. Only because with one combat engagement, they scare the shit out of the men. " Winter quietly pondered to herself on this for a moment, before dismissing the soldier. With a quick salute he turned on his heel and left the room. Winter continued to gaze out the window, looking upon the hundreds of stars filling the black void. She thought about how to take care of this newfound threat, these 'demons'. A few moments of thought were interrupted by the door opening, this time it being General Ironwood.
"You wished to speak to me about a new threat, Winter?" Her whole body turned to face him, standing stiff and strong as if on the parade ground.
"Yes sir, and I think I've also figured out a solution for it."
Present day
"So these 'Grimm' are creatures that have roamed this planet for centuries? Ever since the first records of your kind?" Barry and I were sitting in the mess-hall with the civilian we had saved from that creature from earlier. We were discussing various things about her world, mainly current events, factions and world status. So far we had information regarding the planet itself, names of countries and governments, species that dwell on the planet and some current events.
"Yes, they have. We don't know where they came from, what they want or even why their hostile. All we know is we need to combat them on a daily basis in order to survive, and, well, it seems Beacon lost that fight." I saw her head tilt downwards, saddened by said event. I did the same in a show of respect, but still continued to ask her questions.
"And you say this event a Beacon triggered Grimm worldwide to become even more hostile to humans? Even going as far as to attack large cities in greater numbers?" She nodded and began to speak once more.
"Yes, it's as if it was a wake up call, one Grimm telling them all that we were weak, vulnerable. Ripe for the picking at their whim." She then stooped back into silence, indicating she didn't want to speak about this subject anymore. Before I could think of something to say Barry taped my shoulder, holding up a data pad with a logo on it. The logo of the soldiers we had encountered. It was a large cursive A, followed by wings on either side. Below it was S.D.C, we assumed it was part of the logo, so we included it.
"I have one last question for you, this one a bit more important." She raised her head to look at me, still saddened by the memory of recent events.
"Do you know what these are?" I turned the data pad to show her the logos. She looked at them for a short moment before speaking.
"That's the logo of the Atlesian Military."
"Atlesian? You mean the continent Atlas?" She nodded.
"Yes, they have the largest military in the world, and the strongest. Without them we'd have only the Hunters to defend us, along with the small military forces used by the other continents." I glanced over at Barry, the mention of 'hunter' being new.
"Alright then." I said, moving things along.
"Do you know what this means?" I said, pointing at the S.D.C. Once more she glanced at it and quickly responded. "The Schnee dust company."
"Shcnee dust company?" "Yes," she said, nodding once more.
"They are the primary exporters of dust, the substance I mentioned to you earlier."
"Indeed. Your planets main power source, correct?"
"Yes, and the Schnee Dust Company is on very good terms with the Atlesian military, powering many of their machines and weapons." I looked over to Barry who had finished recording what she had said and nodded.
"Alright, I do have another question now, but this one seems to be equally as important." She sat in silence, awaiting me to speak.
"What are these 'Hunters' you speak of?" She gave me a confusing look as I said this, a look similar to a child who was trying to listen to adults.
"You people really aren't from here, are you?" Barry and I exchanged glances before she started speaking again.
"The Hunters are... more or less the only thing keeping the Grimm from destroying the human race." I saw Barry stop recording notes for a minute as we both had a sudden sense of deja vu.
"They are quicker, faster, stronger and more skilled than any human on the planet. I don't know how they do the things they do, only that if you get in their way, your not going to be fighting against them for long." She remained silent for a moment, forcing me to get her talking again.
"And how many of these 'Hunters' are there?" She shrugged her shoulders.
"I have no idea, but I'd say at least a good three hundred. After the school here was destroyed the numbers may have dropped." I looked over to Barry who gave me a quick nod. Guess we knew what that broken down castle was.
"Alright, well is there anything else you can tell us about the Hunters?"
"Not really" she replied. "As you know I'm only a civilian, so we know little about the hunters, other than their obvious aspects, such as their young age and more odd abilities."
"What do you mean by young age?" She placed her hands back on the table and began speaking.
"Most, if not all hunters begin training at ages around eighteen and nineteen. I do believe there are some cases where they start young, such as a young girl from the school here who was about fourteen when she began." I sat on this topic in my head for a moment. The thought of starting such a program at a young age... seemed all too familiar.
"Right, well I guess that's all we can ask you. Thank you immensely for your time, and we'll have a pelican take you back to your home." She gave me a confused look as I stated my offer. She was quick to reply however.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine walking. I only live about an hour away from here." I looked over to Barry who, once again, shrugged.
"Well, would you like an escort? I'm sure one of my men would be able to get you home safely." She shook her head at this.
"Thank you once again, but I'd rather not. I know this area well and I know what to do if other Grimm come after me." With that she stood up and began walking out of the mess.
"Well, she certainly seems a bit odd. As if she's trying to get out in a hurry." Barry's words did ring true. She seemed on edge for the entirety of the conversation.
"Keep an eye on her until she leaves, when she does get Katy and Franklin to trail her home, just in case." Barry nodded and went off to carry out my orders. I sat there thinking for a few moments longer, about everything we had been told. No matter what, it was clear that we had to create a positive relationship between the UNSC and the governments of this planet, as a war between us could possibly lead to the deaths of most, if not all UNSC personnel on the planet and the Tip of the Spear. That is if these hunters are as good as they are made up to be.
Two hours later
"This is Raven Temporary Actual to Eagle, how copy?"
"Eagle to Raven, read you loud and clear, what's your status, over?"
"Raven to Eagle, we're closing in on the approximate location of the females home, will inform when we have eyes on, out."
"Affirmative Raven, Eagle out." Franklin switched the radio in his helmet off and turned to Katy who was sever meters ahead.
"We getting close, sharpshooter?" She shrugged.
"Close enough. Should be able to see her house in a few minutes." Both Franklin and Katy were now lying down atop a small hill, watching the woman walk quite quickly in the direction she said her house was. Their gazes never left her, right up until she climbed atop another small hill nearby, then walking down it.
"We'll have to move to get a better view. Let's go." Franklin put his binos away, following the already moving sniper to their new viewing location, a larger hill next to the one the woman had gone over. They soon reached their view point, seeing a more flattened version of the terrain they were on now.
"Got eyes on K?" A moment of silence later she responded.
"Ya, and your gonna want to see this as well." Franklin looked over and saw her lying down next to a small bush, big enough to hid three people behind it. Crawling up next to her he pulled out his binos and saw in an instant what she was looking at. Under his breath he let out a soft,
"Holy shit."
