AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. Thank you all for the patience and support with this one. This is the chapter where the original events of Volume two and the events of this story really diverge into heavily different plotlines. Here is where Tanya does what she hates to do but needs to do it. Hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you thought or if you have any suggestions, and have a nice day.

Chapter 7 – An Explosive Sound

The sun hangs well past noon. Clouds decorated the sky, cased shadows over the despotic land as they move with the wind. As one cloud passed over a small building, a lone white fang grunt stands guard near the door. He held an Atlassian assault rifle as he looked down the middle of the road, sighing at the emptiness. "Where are they?" He muttered to himself, "They should be back by now."

Suddenly, a red flash passed horizontally by him. As he had a look of shock, he noticed that his hands were empty. He looked to his right to see nobody there. He turned to his left to see Yang standing next to him with a smile. Before he could make a sound, the blond teenager unleashed a devastating right hook to his face. He made one hundred eighty degrees turn before he hit the ground face first.

As Yang cracked her knuckles, her sister stood next to her with the taken rifle in her hands. The two turned around to see Tanya walking over to them, "Impressive." She said as she took the gun out of the silver-eyed girls' hands. A grimace appeared on her face as she checked the gun as ejected the magazine, see a large buildup of grease and hardened dust, "These soldiers have no discipline. They cannot even take clean the weapons they steal."

"Yeah well, you can take it up with their manager," Yang said as she looked at the building.

Ruby turned to see the building and had a look of misunderstanding, "Uhh, are they all in this small store?"

"No," Tanya said as she reloaded the gun and pushed open the door. Inside the building was a large hole that coved almost the entire floor. A ladder near the edge of the hole into the pit of darkness. Ruby and Yang looked down the hole before turning back to Tanya, "This leads to an area near their base. Tread carefully." The major said as Yang let out a bored sigh. Ruby got on the ladder first, followed by her sister.

The major watched the two descended, "They seem more relaxed now. Not wanting what has happened to affect their performance. Or just want to ignore what has happened already." Tanya thought as a slight smile formed on her face. She was about to follow the two until she heard a slight grown behind her. She turned to see the White Fang grunt twitch and try to get up. Tanya walked over and lifted the gun over her head. She struck the down towards the back of his neck. A snapping sound was heard on impact, the grunt suddenly stopped moving. Tanya looked down at the White Fang member before turning back the hole. She walked over the hole, hovering, as her Type 95 pedant glowed.

As the major and the two sisters descended the long ladder, they looked the underground city. Holds in the roads above gave beams of light to the land below. The building where even more eroded and torn down than the ones above. A block away, the team saw a large train station. Multiple paladins were aboard the train as White Fang guards lifted a large metal box on top of the train.

"So, what now?" Yang asked as the major they continued to go down, only halfway down the ladder. Tanya glanced over to a three-story building near the ladder. She pointed to it before redirecting landing on its roof. Yang shrugged before jumping off the ladder and onto the same building. The blond teenager turned to her sister, still on the ladder and held out her arms. Ruby jumped from the ladder and into the hold of her sister. The meet with the major, who was knelt at the edge of the roof looking at the White Fang base through binoculars, "So what now." Yang asked again.

"We are at the base, but we need to formulate a plan of attack," Tanya answered as she looked over the area.

"What plan, you said we need to do an assault?" Yang said before she hit her fist together, "We go in. We kick ass. We find Roman. We kick his ass. We complete the mission, go home victorious, and get Blake to a hospital." She said with a smile as Tanya sighed.

"Then tell me what they are doing down here?" The major inquired, "What is the enemy's plan?"

"I do not care." Yang said nonchalantly with a smile, "It will not matter what their plan is if we stop them right here and now?"

"I understand why you were not assigned to be the leader of your team" The major replied with Yang having a disenchanted look on her face.

"I am sure we can pull it off," Ruby reinforced, "Just leave it to us."

"Under different circumstances," Tanya said as she continued to look over the enemy base came, "I may not be a professor at your academy, but I can teach how to read a situation properly." She then looked over at the silver eyed girl, "Ruby, take out your sniper and tell me what you see."

"Uh okay," Ruby answered as she pulled out her Crescent Rose. She walked over to the edge of the roof, looking over the base with the major. Tanya scanned as well as Yang had a bored look on her face. As she looked through the scope, she conveyed everything she saw to the major, "I see a lot of White Fang Members carrying wooden crates." Her gaze focused as she notices a large, snowflake make on the boxes, "Is that Weiss's symbol?"

"Those crates might be the stolen dust shipments." Tanya answered, "They must be using it to fuel their equipment. However, if the reports are correct in the amount they stole. They should have a large amount of extra for an operation of this size." She then looked back to the train, seeing the metal box opened, "Ruby, look over to the train."

Ruby turned towards the train carts seeing a wired device with a small timer in the center. The White Fang grunts loaded the machine onto the back compartment on the top of the train carts. The silver eyed girl had a look of confusion as she turned the major, "I...I think those are bombs."

"Why would they try to blow up your own train?" Yang commented.

Tanya looked back to the tunnel the train was leading to. She then took out her scroll and looked at the map of the area, highlight the tunnel to Vale, "That is their plan."

"What?" the blond teenager said as she looked over the major's shoulder. She saw the large patches of Grimm overlapping the tunnel towards Vale, "I do not get it."

"They want to use controlled explosions to destroy the tunnel over high populated Grimm areas and brake through Vale defenses. The Grimm flood the tunnel and make their way to the kingdom," Tanya said as she put her scroll away, "All while they have a militia ready to add to the carnage."

"How do we stop them?" Ruby asked.

Tanya smiled as she looked over to the enemy base, "My order is we destroy everything."

"What!?" Ruby said as she looked over the base again through her sniper scope.

"Their set up is too cluttered to try and avoid collateral damage to the military equipment and dust." Tanya articulated, "However, they set their army right next to multiple explosive devices. With such a poor set up, I can eradicate all of them in an instant."

"Really?" Yang said with Tanya turning to her with a sadistic smile. Her confidantes form her gaze caused the blond-haired girl to become mute in the conversation.

"Hey, I see someone," Ruby said as she looked near one of the paladins. She noticed a man with orange hair and bowler hat look up at the machine with a smile. To his right stood a short girl with pink and brown hair, "I found Roman and his bodyguard!"

"Do you have a clear shot?" Tanya said turned back to Ruby.

"I guess?" the silver eyed girl said in confusion, "But what do I need to shoot?"

"Roman," Tanya answered, "If we can confirm he is dead before the assault, it makes our job that much easier."

"I…" Ruby said as she looked at Roman walk away from the machine, "I mane, do we have to kill him? Could not I just shoot him in the arm or leg and you could instigate him for information." Her sisters commented caused Yang to flashback to the image she saw before of Tanya's type of interrogation.

Tanya shook her head, "It would be detrimental to the operation if he realized the attack and got away. Records show he is very adept at escaping under chaos. Kill him now, and I will take care of the rest."

"I…" Ruby said as she saw Roman talk with a bulky White Fang member. They were too far away to hear, but she saw the orange haired criminal laugh in overjoy.

Tanya looked at the hesitation in the silver eyed girl's stance, "Ruby, do you know what is evil?" The major asked her.

"Grimm." The silver eyed girl replied, "It is why I wanted to be a huntress, to eliminate the evil in this world." She said with determination with her sister giving a slight smile.

Tanya sighed before continuing, "Grimm is the embodiment of ill will and negative emotions. That in mind, you have no remorse killing them because they have no soul. But Roman is a person, a human like you and I." Her comment caused Ruby and Yang to look to the major directly, "Grimm act on nature, not an intent. They have no choice in killing, it is all they desire." Tanya looked over the whole base as she continued, "Human and Faunus, they are beings that have the capacity to act outside of their nature. To act in a way to suit their wants and desires. It is one side that defines the other as evil and interne define themselves as good." Tanya turned back to Ruby, "If you want to be a huntress to purge the evil from this world, what do you define as evil?"

Ruby looked back down the scope of her sniper rifle, a line of sweat running down her forehead. She relocated Roman and looked directly at him. Her breathing became louder as she hands began to shake. Yang looked over at her sister in worry before turning to the major, "Cannot we try something else?" The blond teenager said with Tanya turning back to her.

Before the major turned to reply, Ruby continued to look down the scope. She continued to stare at Roman talk to the White Fang member as his bodyguard stood next to him. Suddenly, Neo turned towards the direction of the team. She smiled as she changed the orientation of her pick and brown eyes. Ruby had a look of panic as she looked over to her sister and the major. "I think they see us."

"What!?" Tanya said as she looked over the base. Ruby looked down the scope to see Roman having a look of anger as he shouted to the large White Fang member. He turned to point to other grunts, who started to board the train and get in the paladins. The orange haired criminal stated to run to the train as Neo continued to look towards Ruby with a smile. "Damnit, we need to stop them before they start the train." The major said as she put down the assault rifle and grabbed her own gun.

"I am sorry," Ruby said as she turned to the major, "I think they saw the glint from the scope."

Yang got up and walked over to her sister, "It is okay Ruby, we will still get them." She said with a smile before turning to the major, standing still as she aimed at the train. The blond teenager had a look of confusion as Tanya's blue eyes turned a golden yellow, "Hey, you okay?"

Tanya did not acknowledge the girl, her focus only on the base. The Type 95 pedant glowed brighter than before. Her rifle glowed as well as she took a slight breath, "O Lord, give me the power to wipe away these fools that threaten the Kingdom of Vale. Let the flames of retribution scorch this accursed land and cleanse them of their sins." She said right before she pulled the trigger, unleashing a round form her weapon. The bullet left a yellow trail of energy as it traveled to the top of the train, colliding with a recently placed bomb. The locomotive cart exploded into an inferno. The subsequent carts caught fire, causing a chain of premature detonation followed down the track. The whole train turned to a burning pile of scrap, the nearby tunnel collapsing over the scorched metal.

Ruby and Yang looked at the White Fang base in horror. The silver eyed girl held her right hand over her mouth as she heard the screams of agony from the Faunus. Yang's breathing became sporadic as watched the carnage.

Suddenly, three piloted paladins ran through the flames towards the team. Tanya looked over to the machines as smiled. She readjusted her aim and unleashed another shot. As the round was halfway between the two groups, the bullet split into three separate projectiles. Each one impacted the cockpits of the paladins, stopping their movement before they exploded into shrapnel that embedded into the ground and nearby buildings.

Tanya turned her gaze to the base as she noticed a handful of grunts trying to run into the despotic city, fleeing in terror. However, they passed the large wooden crates of dust. She aimed to the boxes and fired one more time. Upon contact, the dust reacted and erupted from the crate. The blast wave's size was large than the others, the mixture of smoke and fire passed over the remaining faunus. The screams echoed through the underground city with the cracking fire unable to drown out the noise.

Tanya lowered her weapon as she turned back to Ruby and Yang, "Well, that puts an end to their mission."

"You…you." Ruby tried to speak as she lowered her hand, but her gaze was transfixed to the massacre that was the White Fang base.

Tanya sighed again before picking up the assault rifle, "Ruby, we still have to confirm if Roman is dead. Save anymore of your comments until we find him." She walked away from the sisters and Yang held her sister.

"Come on, you should not look at this anymore?" The blond teenager said as tried to pull her sister away from the sight. However, Ruby was unmoving as she watched the burning base. Tears started to form in her eyes as she still heard the screaming.

AN: There you go, no train sequence in this story. Personally, I did not like that part volume two. It was just so much confusion and mayhem it became hard for me to understand the sequence of events or tension of the situation. I am not throwing shade on the writers or animators, but I think that part of the story was not heavily planned or looked over for audience comprehension purposes. That also in mind, Raven is not going to appear in this story as she did in the original, (it seriously bugged me she came out of nowhere on a moving train). However, Tanya does not let the enemy get the chance to start their plan. She can do a lot of damage thanks to a little praying, destroying everything. Now we see Ruby and Yang see just what the major is capable of and why this is her saga now. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.