The chamber was totally silent, save for the buzzing of the holomap in the middle of the room and the clicking of mechanical fingers against the keyboards of terminals. The room was dark, only illuminated from the hologram and the screens of the monitors, though that didn't bother them, no, not in the slightest. The fourteen in the room were no strangers to environments like these, and while twelve of the inhabitants blankly observed the map laid out before them and prepared themselves for their deployments, the other two busied themselves with the strategizing for the separate operations.
Ozpin, being one of the two strategists, was pinpointing primary objectives for the operatives to hit, while the other, Glynda Goodwitch, was doing the same for secondary objectives. While normally, they would send teams of hunters for each operation, these weren't missions they could trust hunters to accomplish, and even if they could, keeping details meant to be blacked out from arising was always a problem with hunters. No, these operations were dangerous, too dangerous for hunters, too delicate for Hoots Troopers, too. While Hoots Troopers were effective one-man-armies, their trail of destruction was always a little too evident.
Fortunately, the Atlesian Military had foreseen this situation, and prepared teams of clones unlike Hoots Troopers, yet still far superior to their lesser sisters. Each one being a fourth of a whole person, all coming together to form one elite squadron with stealth, sabotage, assassination, subversion, and elite reconnaissance being the name of their game. Their war was not on the frontlines of massive battlefields, but slinking through the shadows behind enemy lines. They were the knife that slit the throat, the bullet that buried itself in the enemy's heart.
Specters, they were hence dubbed. A fitting name, Ozpin thought, for warriors such as they are. It was for these operations that he'd had three Specter squads awoken, and discreetly transferred over to Beacon. There was nobody else he could trust to accomplish such tasks and still keep the whole thing quiet. Hoots Troopers, while he doubted couldn't butcher everything that opposed them if given the missions, lacked the subtlety. Hunters, while he could trust certain teams to be subtle when completing the objectives and the missions at large, he couldn't trust to actually survive the mission, or if they did, to keep silent about it afterward. Though they may not be as individually lethal as Hoots Troopers, Specters hunted in packs to bring down larger prey, in this case, missions, and so silently lived up to their namesakes. The perfect match for the operations Ozpin was having them conduct...
"Echo Squad." He began, garnering the attention of one of the Specter squads' four members. "Your insertion point will be two kilometers east of the oil rig. Your gunship will have the equipment stowed for you to make an amphibious approach. Your objectives have been uploaded to your suits' internalized computers, and your handler has been given the details of your operation. She will guide you through your operation from twelve kilometers up, though expect interference from the storm." The squad nodded, before turning around, snapping their helmets on, and walking down towards the hangar.
"Whiskey Squad," Goodwitch called, the four clones looking over to her, "your target is an ancient missile facility that was abandoned millennia ago. The White Fang have moved in, and we believe they're attempting to reactivate the facility. If they get that facility operational once more, they will have access to a cache of long forgotten nuclear warheads. You will deny them this, and secure those warheads. Radiation leaks from improper handling of radioactive materials drove the original owners out, and still resides. Your suits will protect you from this radiation, but your shields will be deactivated and communication systems will not respond while lingering in the radiation, so expect communication to be sporadic at best... now, report to your handler, she guide you during your op." Contrary to the previous squad, the team simply executed an about face, and marched out of the room.
The two turned to the last squad, nodding solemnly to the soldiers as they awaited their debrief. "Finally, Bravo Squad. Your mission is the assassination of a White Fang Captain by the name of Yūsuf Sabbag. He keeps a small army of White Fang Elites with him at all times. Get in there, silence everything that moves, eliminate Sabbag, and extract from the facility without setting off any alarms. You'll deploy alongside Whiskey, and move three kilometers East from your insertion point to your area of operation. Go now, your handler is waiting." Ozpin quickly explained to the last squad, who like the last two before them, silently filed out of the room, not a word said.
Finally, with the room to themselves, Glynda let out a sigh, letting her arms dangle as she took a seat and let her head roll back. She never did like the idea of this clone army... it just seemed so inhumane. The clones weren't being given citizenship, they were simply bred to fight and die, and they were all, to be frank, just little kids despite their early accelerated growth. The thought of sending what was basically children only nine or ten years old to fight and die in war was just so awful to her, even if the treatment of clones outside of this secret army was markedly worse.
Maybe it was because she herself was one, at least secretly so. The only person who actually knew she was a clone was, after all, Ozpin himself, so she really didn't have to worry for herself. As far as the world knew, she was naturally born, and she had no intention of letting the world know that she wasn't truly so. But that aside, she just wished that this army just wasn't necessary... but alas, it was. Desperately so.
"Hmm... Chin up, Glynda. After all, the army will likely lead the world to be a little more tolerant of clones after they've driven the Grimm of the face of Remnant, and ground the Empire to dust." Ozpin attempted to cheer her up. The woman looked up at him and sighed once more, before casting her gaze to the map.
"These... these aren't even teenagers we're sending out today. Not even young adults... the oldest among these Specters, cryostatis notwithstanding, isn't even ten yet... it's not right." She sighed once more, looking down to the squad markers for each squad on the terminal on the table. "Hunters... I don't have a problem sending hunters out to fight, they chose this path, but clones? They're just child-soldiers fighting a war for kingdoms that despise their very existence without any say in whether they do or do not fight... it's slavery... a slave army of child-soldiers."
Ozpin sighed, before taking a seat next to the woman. "Desperate times call for desperate measures... and before the year is up, things will have never been so desperate." He looked around the room, making out three new figures who stalked in the shadows, watching the two of them with blank stares playing across their visors. Sighing, he gestured for the three of them to step forward and come into the light where he could better see them. He already knew who they were, why they were here, but it simply came down to the thought of just how long they had actually been there. "Hoots Troopers, come forward. We've much to discuss for the assembly tomorrow."
"I don't understand why you want so desperately to reveal us Hoots Troopers so early. Seems contradictory to this whole "secret army" thing." Gaz spoke up, taking a step forward. "Nevertheless, my sisters and I are ready to do our part. I'll do the talking for the three of us, since I'm best with talking to people."
"Understood, Captain. Commander Diamond, will you be overseeing combat simulations?"
"Senior Year, sir." The commander spoke up, taking a step to join Gaz front and center. "Lieutenant Domino will oversee freshman, and Captain Gaz will handle Sophomore and Junior Years."
"Very good." Ozpin affirmed, reclining back into his chair and pressing his fingers together, a smirk playing across his features. "Are the Siege Simulation Arenas prepared for usage yet?" The Vice Headmistress cut in, garnering the attention of the blue-clad Hoots Trooper.
"Yes, they were finished two days ago, but that being said, not all the simulation modifiers are finished yet, nor will they be ready until 0800 tomorrow morning." The trooper, Domino, answered monotonously, crossing her arms as she looked directly at the woman.
"Excellent. Well, I suppose this is as good as we're going to get in one night." Ozpin once more interjected, before looking to all present in the room. "Everyone, you're all dismissed. We'll meet at the auditorium to prepare the stage at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning, three hours before the assembly." The Hoots Troopers shrugged, uncaring about the whole thing, before stalking out of the room without so much as a goodnight...
The four members of RWBY had arrived back at their dorm in good time, not a few minutes behind schedule like they usually did from their morning workouts, which had put two of the four members of RWBY in rather good moods. The morning training hadn't gotten much easier on Blake or Yang, on account of Ruby and Weiss always cranking up the intensity, but they'd at least finally started taking notice of their improvement, which always improved their mood a little. Aside from their morning workout routines, they'd sped up their times in the bathroom, giving the team a decent twenty minutes to get down to their classes before the day started.
Four weeks had passed since they had come into the Academy, and though Ruby wouldn't say she wasn't having fun, quite the contrary truth be told, she WOULD say that thus far she really hadn't learned anything worth mentioning. It disappointed her, to say the least, but she was also actively aware that the year was far from being even a quarter over, so maybe she'd set her expectations a little too high.
As far as how she stood with her team, though, that was a more complicated problem than she'd originally anticipated. Weiss and her were still close as kin, so there was really never any problem there, but Blake and Yang? Well, Yang was still an enigma to Ruby, and though it was obvious that they stood on neutral ground, old habits die hard, Yang was no exception to that rule... but, at least she didn't blatantly disregard orders, unlike a certain other teammate. Blake, she knew was still very against her, and nine out of ten times, she just outright would ignore commands coming from her, much to Ruby's chagrin. Any time she needed to order Blake to do something, she'd have to relay the order to Weiss, first, who would then relay said order over to Blake, who THEN would follow the order, consuming precious time in the field and lowering the team's overall efficiency rating, something both Ruby and Weiss despised.
Fortunately enough, Ruby and Weiss thought so tactically similar, that most times the only reason Weiss would be behind Ruby a little in tactical decision making was due to Ruby's enhanced mind. Thanks to this, their overall ranking wasn't impacted too harshly, only dropping their team to second place in school year division ranking below JNPR. The biggest difference between the two teams is that one of JNPR's guys sucked in combat as opposed to everybody being able to hold their weight in combat in RWBY, and that all of JNPR could actually work as a team, something Ruby truly envied.
Looking over at her teammates, she cracked her neck back and forth, before hopping off her bed. It was Friday, meaning that they had an assembly today after a match. She already knew who was fighting, and she already knew who was gonna win, so she wasn't holding her breath. That boy didn't even pay attention to his aura in combat, so she really hadn't the slightest clue as to why the hell he was even there...
The fight went about as poorly for Jaune as one could expect, with his opponent, Cardin Winchester, utterly mopping the floor with him. It was embarrassing, to be perfectly honest, and Ruby could only sigh in relief that he wasn't on her team. As she'd expected, Jaune hadn't even paid attention to his aura, and didn't once swap out from a (rather poorly executed) aggressive approach. He telegraphed every strike, which made him incredibly easy to counter, block, or simply dodge. She was, however, glad that it wasn't herself against Jaune. No need to embarrass him any more than he already was.
"Now, remember everyone! The Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to participate in the tournament will be representing all of Vale, and all of Beacon!" The Vice Headmistress announced, before three more figures, all armored akin to Ruby and Weiss's armor yet in different colors and pattern choices, marched on stage from behind the curtains, standing shoulder to shoulder. To Goodwitch's right, the soldier had blue markings, an X over the front of her helmet and an upside-down triangle over the entirety of the supplementary armor over her breastplate, and another X on both sides of her waist-cape.
Ruby and Weiss instantly ID'd her as Lieutenant Domino, and were more certain by the blue markings, signaling her rank. Behind Goodwitch, it was Gaz, and to her left was Diamond. They were utterly shook to see the Hoots Troopers being paraded in front of the entire school like they were, considering their very existence was supposed to be a secret outside of mere rumor. Beside Yang, however, Blake looked on with an uneasy stare, knowing quite aptly that those three monsters could literally wipe out everyone in this room, armed or not.
"That being said," Goodwitch continued, "By raise of hands, how many of you have heard rumors of the legendary warriors known as 'Hoots Troopers?'" Glaring around, she saw a surprising number of students actually raise their hands, filling up about nine tenths of the room. "Here today, it will be revealed to you that those are no mere rumors or legends. Here behind me stands three such Hoots Troopers in the flesh! I want you all to meet Captain Gaz, of the 125th Panzergrenadier Battalion!" Idle chatter echoed throughout the room at the mention of the unfamiliar battalion, it's designation, and the reveal of Hoots Troopers.
"I want you Hunters to remember, that against the Grimm or any other foe, we are shoulder-to-shoulder on those battlefields! Brothers and Sisters in arms! And sometimes we may find our own way, but no matter what, We Stand United!" Gaz declared loudly, seizing back the entire auditorium's attention, marching up as Glynda stepped aside. "The first rule, whether in a military force or a team of Hunters, is that We Fight Together!" She brought her fist up to her chest, before pacing back across the stage. "Today all of you will face a combat simulation test. You will not be fighting Grimm, but you will be facing foes that you may well expect to see in direct conflict with yourselves in the near future!"
Some looks of worry etched themselves across many of their classmates faces, but Ruby and Weiss didn't let that phase them. "For this, we'll start with the year that's run all combat simulations so far in record time! Hoots Trooper Time!" She looked back and forth, before setting her gaze on JNPR. "Team JNPR, step up!"
The mentioned team did so as asked, and some confidant smirks played across most of the team's faces. "Lieutenant Domino will lead you, and the rest of your Freshman year to your simulation bay. Show a Hoots Trooper how it's done!" Gaz ordered, and JNPR filed out as Domino passed them by, waving her hand for them to follow. As they passed, the rest of the Freshmen made their turns, and filed out behind JNPR to the simulation arenas.
"C'mon, team. Maybe some of us can learn a thing or two!" Weiss teased, getting a groan from yang and a small growl from Blake...
"Shut up, Weiss." Blake groaned, filing in suit behind Weiss as they followed the herd to their test...
Ruby could only laugh internally as she saw they were using the Siege Simulation. It was a classic simulation, at least to her and Weiss, that every squad of clones had to pass before they could truly be troopers and not just cadets. They had run it dozens of times together, though having two more in the mix might complicate things, especially when they weren't using uniform equipment. They saw Domino alongside Professor Port in a sort of balcony overlooking the battlefield, with the former nodding her head over towards the aptly-named professor.
The simulation started with a loud, metallic bleep and a flash of red lights over the elevator that dropped the team down. They were all wearing a sort of sim-suit, so that the shots fired by the holographic bots would actually affect them, and their weapons ever so slightly altered to be able to have an effect on the holograms likewise. Holograms appeared at specific points on the arena, all resembling soldiers in uniforms that nobody in the room were quite familiar with.
It didn't matter. Team JNPR, through having three competent warriors and one that was at least a decent tactician, managed to cut through the battlefield swiftly and efficiently, and climbed to the top of the citadel after disabling the guns in the walls, and retrieved the "flag," it's light switching from a red light to a blue one. They managed to do this effectively, with minimal wasted time, and no casualties, much to the surprise of some in the room that Jaune actually got through unscathed.
"Huh, would you look at that." Domino said from up on the balcony as the team passed easily. "Remind be to hit them with version AUX variable 22-72 Gamma next time. Кто следующий?"
"That would be Team RWBY, Ma'am." Professor Port sighed, letting his head drop slightly.
"With Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee? Would be a cakewalk for if we did any normal variant, but what about the others?" Domino inquired, only receiving silence as her reply. "Hmm... Lets not take it easy on them, then. Start the simulation, Version DCX, Variable 92-91."
"Uhm... Might I inquire as to why you're giving them a senior level challenge?" Port asked, bewildered by the Hoots Trooper.
"Ruby and Weiss can handle this without an issue, they've run the challenge on much harder versions and variants without much problem... But I wanna see how their teammates hold up." The professor could only sigh, before complying with the order from the child and sending RWBY on their way...
"Good luck guys! There's nothing to this one, it's actually really easy!" Jaune encouraged them as he and his team passed RWBY on their way back to the top. Ruby rolled her eyes under her new training-sim helmet, an action Jaune and JNPR could easily see this time, but chose to ignore.
As soon as they'd left their company, Ruby looked back and forth to her teammates, before cracking her neck and bringing up her twin blasters. "Alright guys, fight as one and this'll be a cakewalk. Weiss and I have run this countless-"
"Just shut up and focus on the mission." Blake groaned, receiving a glare from both Weiss and Ruby, but the two just rolled their eyes and looked to the battlefield.
"Weiss, I see you're packing an XA-22A this time around?" Ruby asked, getting a nod from the girl in question.
"Yeah, thought we might need the range."
"Good thinking... Now, ready up..."
They all waited in battle-ready stances as the lights shifted from blue to yellow, signaling that the hologram projectors were adjusting to the new pattern selected. If the span of a few seconds could ever feel like a few years, it was then as they were waiting for the light to shift from yellow to red. The seemingly endless bout of passed time had Blake and Yang slightly worried, but they didn't dare outwardly show it.
Finally, the light turned red, with the shield closing behind them as the field began shifting and holograms began generating. A hail of fire roared after them, but all four girls managed to find cover before they could get hit, each claiming a few kills on their way.
Ruby found herself behind cover with Blake, likewise Yang with Weiss, and they looked around or over their cover to start shooting holograms as they appeared. Their test was markedly more intense than JNPR's, as the holograms were both more accurate, trigger-happy, and numerous than the previous team's, though that only went noticed by two of the team.
She kept her head on a constant swivel as she ordered her team from cover to cover, with Weiss always having to relay the order back to Blake before she would actually listen. This, much to Ruby's chagrin, did not go unnoticed by Domino...
With a few swift hand signals, she had ordered Yang up onto her side and for Weiss to cover her as she and Yang moved to trade sides in more forward positions. Weiss and Blake swiftly moved up to close the gap, now with two Hoots Troopers on one side and two non-Hoots Troopers on the other, but that didn't keep Ruby from signaling them move orders and covering their six.
"Relaying Orders: Storm the Citadel, Retrieve the Flag." An announcer above told. Ruby nodded and sign a order to Weiss, who then relayed back to Yang and Blake, getting the two to advance in tandem with the two.
Ruby and Weiss quickly sprinted past a guard tower, rolling behind cover as Weiss popped her sights up and blasted a gunner out of the tower, before looking to the other side of the field. They were fortunate that there wasn't a tower on that side, because Yang was totally focused on what was ahead of her, and not watching her flank. Blake was slightly ahead of her, and Weiss could only swear under her breath as the girl had advanced too far and left Yang exposed.
Blasting a few holograms mid-field along with Yang, Weiss looked back just so much as to see a hologram form behind the girl just as she had to reload. "Yang, Hologram behind you!" She yelled, but the girl didn't react quickly enough, as the hologram blasted her three times in the back.
Ruby had noticed, and blasted the hologram in the face, and looked to Yang. Both she and Weiss were too far to effectively see to her, and she had a feeling that this would be the breaking point of the simulation...
"Man Down! Blake, Get Yang into cover, we'll cover you!" Ruby Yelled at the girl, getting a very unkind hand gesture from the girl involving one finger.
"Forget her! I'm breaking for the citadel!" She roared back, rolling forward and slashing out three holograms.
"That IDIOT!" Ruby thought angrily as Blake slashed another hologram... only for the hologram to dissipate on it's own, along with every other hologram on the field. Ruby and Weiss immediately knew what this meant, and both cursed the damned cat's name as they regrouped, the sim-suit giving Yang a shock to revitalize her so she could join them.
"Ugh... that hurt..." She moaned, getting Blake to shrug and the two sisters to simply cross their arms.
"We were so close... what happened?" Blake inquired, taking a small step away from the sisters glaring daggers at her.
"What happened," A new voice cut in, sending chills down everyone's spines, "Was that you broke formation, disobeyed orders, and you left a man behind! You broke Rule Number One." It was Domino, who looked to the sisters. "I am disappointed with both of you, but extremely so in you, Ruby. This is your squad, your responsibility. Your subordinate's failure is your failure." The declaration nearly brought tears to the young girl's eyes, who quickly shut them hard to whisk them away as she clenched her fists in frustration and hung her head in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, girls." Professor Port cut in, lightly brushing past Domino. "But this an inexcusable error for any team of hunters. This is an automatic failure." Ruby and Weiss's already pale complexions if possible turned even paler, and their expressions turned to ones of grief as the words echoed in their heads. Yang lightly pat Ruby on the back, and Blake could only shuffle her foot back and forth and gulp silently as she saw the rest of her team's reaction to the news...
"DAMNIT!" Ruby roared, punching her locker hard with her bare fist and leaving an indent in the metal door. "The hell is wrong her?!. We failed this because of HER insubordination!"
Weiss sighed as she stowed her own equipment back in her own locker, before looking to Ruby. "Honestly, I've half a mind to request a teammate transfer to replace her. Hell, I'd even take Cardin over her at this rate, at least he's not so blinded by hatred that he'd disregard your orders."
"No kidding." Ruby seethed, growling through grit teeth. Finally, breathing out deeply, she eased her shoulders a bit as she opened her locker door and stowed her own equipment. "But how am I supposed to lead an effective team if one of the members of it never listens to ME specifically? It's infuriating!"
Ruby continued to rant on about how much she despised their faunas teammate while Weiss idly listened to her sister vent, not commenting much overall. However, a few isles down, Blake and Yang listened with some interest. Blake rolled her eyes at the place of blame as herself and Yang stowed their equipment, the former mocking her leader with one hand making a sort of sock-puppet.
"She's kinda right, y'know." Yang said, garnering the raven-haired girl's attention.
"How so? Our failure was hardly my fault." Blake tried to reason, though the blonde shook her head and sighed heavily, rolling her shoulder as she did.
"She ordered you back to help me, and you disregarded her order because she's a clone. I get it that she was trained by Hoots Troopers, and that Hoots Troopers have... well... slaughtered many of your kind, but this is ridiculous, and this is coming from someone who really doesn't like clones herself."
"Ugh!" Blake groaned, pushing past Yang. "She's. A. Clone. Trained by Hoots Troopers. Their very name is a mockery of an ancient Hero, how can I not hate her?!. Quite frankly, I can't wrap my head around how you seem so okay with a monster like her LEADING you!"
Yang was silent for a few moments, before breathing in deeply, and out slowly. The last thing she needed right now was to get angry. "Their title is hardly a mockery. Warriors like them, I'm sure the Hootsman would be proud to know are bearing his name, but... I get it, really, I do. The idea of following a clone, to be perfectly honest, still does miff me, and I would much rather Weiss lead, since she's naturally born." This left a somewhat sour taste in her mouth. She wasn't lying, of course, about her opinion on Ruby leading, but she didn't quite hate her... not anymore, at least. "But that doesn't matter. We're a team. If one of us fails, we all fail. Like it or not, she is our leader, and nothing you do will change that matter. So, please..." Yang pleaded, getting the girl to stop and tense up. After about ten seconds of silence, She looked back to look Yang in the eyes.
"I lost loved ones to those Hoots Troopers. I've lost loved ones to rogue clones. You don't know the pain of hearing that one person butchered six very close friends of yours one day, and the next to hear that a rogue clone killed three more with a car-bomb." A small tear escaped her eye, but she swiftly wiped it away before it could make itself too noticed. "A single one, I can overlook for the sake of teamwork... but both? My hatred for them isn't unfound-"
"I don't know that pain, you're right. But that doesn't excuse how you've treated her! Whatever I had against clones doesn't excuse how I've treated her... how I still sometimes treat her... But she is not the one who wronged either of us! Your reasoning behind hating her is like to say if Weiss hated all faunas because the White Fang specifically has targeted her family!" Yang snapped, getting up in Blake's face. "I'm hardly a role model to look to for this. Hell, sometimes I still discriminate... I guess old habits die hard... But that doesn't mean I let that get in the way of working as a team! So please! Please... Just... Even if you hate her as a person, don't let that get in the way of working as a team. We'll get nowhere if we aren't all in."
With a loud sigh, Blake relented, before running a hand down her closed locker. She thought about it in her mind for about a minute, before moving her gaze to Yang who was locking up her own locker now. "Alright... I suppose you're not wrong... I suppose I've been a bit of a hypocrite too, towards her kind... But, I'll relent, and follow her orders." she strained to growl out those last words through grit teeth, before doing an about-face, and stalking out of the room indignantly...
A/N: Wrote while half-asleep. Might Polish later. IDK.