RWBY is property of Roosterteeth, I only own my characters.
Chapter 35
Ruby was getting worried. After the attack on Beacon, Alex and the other members of the EDC had isolated themselves. She had asked Luna what was happening, the blue-haired security guard had apparently been kept out of the loop as well. It wasn't just them either, Firo and Blake hadn't seen Dimitri in days, and Yang had been getting anxious about Ryland's similar lack of appearance. In fact, the only people from Earth that any of them had seen were Charles, because he was recovering in the infirmary, and Arthur, who was accelerating the former's healing process with his ability.
The young girl in a red cloak wandered around outside the workshop building the EDC was holed up in. She could hear the sounds of work being done, but she had been unable to gain entry. A hand tapped her shoulder. It was Ozpin, the headmaster had a solemn look in his eyes.
"Hello, Professor..." Ruby said before turning back to stare at the building.
"Miss Rose, you will want to follow me. I've already called the other relevant parties to...say their farewells." He walked towards the workshop.
"Farewells? Professor, what-" Ruby jogged after the headmaster. The man stopped at the door to the building and knocked twice.
"Mr. Greene?" The entrance swung inward, revealing a very tired looking Alex.
"Evening, sir..."
"It's morning, Mr. Greene."
"Is it? Must've lost track again...Ruby?" Alex noticed the small girl standing behind Ozpin. Before she could say anything, the headmaster waved a hand.
"Miss Rose, perhaps you should let Mr. Green explain what's happening after the others have arrived." She nodded and stepped into the workshop behind Ozpin. The building was exceedingly warm from the accumulated heat of the tools being used. Ruby noticed a second Albatross sitting next to the other, though both were in the process of undergoing final repairs. The door behind her opened, and a group stepped in. Luna, Carbon, Firo, Blake, and Yang. Ruby assumed Weiss and her sister must be with Charles.
"They're here." Ozpin turned slightly as the group entered. "Mr. Greene, if you would..."
"Yeah, hold on..." Alex walked to the two aircraft, returning with Dimitri and Ryland in tow. He cleared his throat. "After what happened...we realized that we can't allow the people of Remnant to suffer in a war that isn't theirs. So, the EDC will fight its battles elsewhere, away from Vale."
"You're leaving!?" Luna asked. "What do you plan on doing?"
"Optimally, we'll track down the remaining members of the Order and eliminate them. After that, any of us that are left may return to Beacon."
"'Any of you that are left'!?" Yang whipped her head towards Ryland, who opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it.
"Yang," Alex continued, "the Order isn't an enemy that can be beaten without losses. We learned that a long time ago. We just want you to know that we're leaving to keep the rest of you safe-"
Shockingly, Blake was the one to shout, though it was targeted at Dimitri. "WHO DO YOU SAVE BY GETTING YOURSELVES KILLED?" she shrieked. "If you all die, then the Order will just kill all of us anyway!"
"Blake-" Dimitri started, then stopped. He was at a loss for what to say.
"Take us with you." Firo spoke up adamantly. "This is our fight now just as much as yours."
"That's right," Carbon nodded and looked Ryland in the eye, "How about it, Kid?"
"Sorry, Gramps. Not this time." The youngest EDC soldier whispered. "I wish we could, but Bossman's right. This is something we have to finish, and we don't want you guys getting hurt in the process." Ruby realized that the soldiers weren't going to budge on their decision. Looking at Alex made her heart drop. It was like watching her mother leave home for the last time. Ruby turned and ran from the building as fast as she could, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks as she sprinted.
"Ruby!" Yang ran after her. Ryland watched the blonde girl leave, looking like he wanted to follow her, but he stood still. Dimitri spoke to the remaining friends assembled in front of them.
"We won't ask you to completely understand. We know there's a very real possibility that none of us will come back. That's why we want to say good bye before we leave." Firo and Blake looked at him sadly. "Firo, you've been an amazing comrade and friend. I'm glad to have met you. Blake...when we visited your parents...I made them a promise. I vowed that I would not let any harm come to you. You're a brilliant young woman, and I want to make sure you survive to have a future." He reached a hand out to them. Firo gently took it, but Blake froze in place. Dimitri saw the dark expression on her face, a mixture of anger, despair, and betrayal.
"Harm doesn't have to be physical."
Alex fared little better than Dimitri had. Ryland was being laid into by Carbon about how stupid is was of them to go off with only a handful of people. Luna was the hardest to deal with. Unlike the others, she didn't yell or beg for them to stay, instead, the blue-haired girl Alex had come to know just stared at him and cried. Alex had been unable to remain professional, and had wrapped Luna in an embrace. He apologized for having to leave, for leaving her behind.
The other conversations came to similar conclusions. Ryland and Carbon shook hands, the latter threatening to kill Ryland if he died. Dimitri gave both Firo and Blake warm embraces as the two Faunus girls teared up. Alex wished he had seen another way. Their friends eventually filed out of the workshop, herded along by Ozpin, who threw an understanding glance over his shoulder. Once the door closed behind them, the three soldiers returned to work. Dimitri and Ryland moved with corpse-like slowness, as if the world seemed less bright to them. Alex took a moment to stare out at the broken moon through one of the building's skylights. Tomorrow, they would leave. And the war would start anew.
"Farewell, Beacon."
The next morning rolled around far too soon. Alex had barely slept, kept up by guilt. Ruby and Luna's faces were stuck in his head. Judging from Dimitri and Ryland's postures, Alex assumed the two must have been in a similar situation. Final preparations were underway. The vehicles and supplies were being loaded onto the Albatrosses and lone Dragonfly.. The small transport was serving primarily as their supply cache, while the two heavy transports were re-outfitted to function as a pair of mobile barracks. Dimitri had insisted on adding more beds and facilities to the Albatrosses than they needed, in case they somehow found any additional EDC forces. And, of course the sole Wasp fighter at their disposal would act as a scout.
Alex would be riding aboard on of the Albatrosses, along with Dimitri, Anika, Ryland, Charles, Arthur, their pilot, and any supplies they couldn't fit on the Dragonfly. The other Albatross was being commanded by the one other STRD member that had survived, Sergeant Macmillan, though everybody insisted on calling him Mac. Most of the forces were in the other Albatross, since they needed proximity to their vehicles.
Alex sighed to himself. The quarters they had made inside the large transports weren't uncomfortable, being quite roomy compared to the barracks back on Earth. At least there were walls between each "room" they had partitioned. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling like something was...missing.
Dimitri threw a glance over his shoulder as he boarded the Albatross. The plaza behind him remained empty. He sighed, picking up the final supply crate off the ground and stepping onto the aircraft. The door closed behind him and the muffled whine of the engines could be heard as they started. The Russian set the crate down with the others of its kind, then worked his way to the impromptu command center behind the cockpit.
Alex and Anika were both observing a detailed holographic map of the areas outside of Vale. From what Dimitri could see, the land outside the kingdom's walls was widely untouched, with dense forests covering much of the terrain. Ryland had set up a small workstation in a corner, where he was attempting to repair one of their last Talon drones.
"So, where do we start?" Anika asked aloud as she stared at the map.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. We're probably going to have to sweep the entire region to find wherever Vortex is hiding." Alex shrugged. "If we had better intelligence on the land, we might be able to pick out likely spots, but it's not like we can spare the manpower right now."
"So we do this the hard way." Dimitri joined the conversation. "Just like old times."
"It's what STRD was made for." Alex nodded. The command center console let out a beep. Alex pressed a button to open up the incoming call.
"Everything good on your end, Major?" the voice of Mac came over the console. "We're running fine over here."
"No issues on our end either." Alex thought of something. "Hey, Mac, you served with an EDC Recon platoon before joining STRD, right?"
"Yes, sir, that's correct."
"Any ideas where someone might hide a base in terrain like this?"
"Considering its mostly forest, it could unfortunately be just about anywhere. More defensible positions would be natural formations, like caves, but it sounds like those Grimm things like hanging around those."
"Thanks Mac, it's a start."
"No problem, Major. Over and out." The call switched off.
As the day progressed, the EDC continued their journey to their first potential location, a series of caves tucked into the side of a mountain. Alex leaned back against the wall of the cockpit, staring out at the sea of trees beneath them. The pilot turned and looked at him.
"Slow day. Right, sir?"
"Something like that..." Alex nodded.
"I'm surprised we haven't run into any of those Grimm yet. We've been out here for a whole day, but the sensors haven't even picked up a peep."
"You're right, it has been fairly quiet. I suppose it's just less ammo we have to use."
The pilot's console beeped suddenly.
"Got a call from the other Albatross."
"Put it through." The pilot complied. "Mac?"
"Uh...Major," the STRD Sergeant's voice said, "There's a mesa up ahead...can we set down for a moment?"
"Sure, what's wrong?"
"We've got some stowaways."
"Alright. Explain yourselves." Alex crossed his arms at the eight uninvited guests. Team RWBY, the three security guards, and Winter had somehow managed to hide themselves in the lone EDC tank without anyone noticing. When the vehicle had been loaded onto the other Albatross, they'd been brought on board with it.
"We just want to help..." Ruby answered nervously.
"How did you all even get into the workshop? It was locked, and the only people with access codes are the EDC and...Ozpin. One moment. D, Charles, take over the lecture for a minute. I have to make a call." Alex pulled his scroll out of his pocket and called the headmaster's number. The device routed its signal through the long-range transmitter on the Albatross.
"Hello, Mr. Greene. I would assume that Miss Rose and the others have been found, then?"
"You want to explain why you let the kids come? I can maybe understand Luna, Firo, and Carbon. Maybe I can even understand Weiss' sister, they're all adults. But why did you let Ruby and her team follow us?"
"Because, Mr. Greene," Ozpin sighed over the call, "Team RWBY has demonstrated on multiple occasions that they will break rules to accomplish anything they set their minds to. It was impossible to keep them from leaving, I might have been able to delay them, but not stop them. If they stowed away along with your forces, they would be far safer than attempting to follow all of you on foot."
Alex sighed, "We'll bring them back and-"
"No, Mr. Greene, I have made a decision. Take the eight of them with you. None of your forces are familiar with Remnant, you will need guides. I have made the necessary arrangements for team RWBY to engage in an "extracurricular mission" by assisting you. Miss Azure, Miss Firo, and Mr. Carbon are listed as their staff supervision. As for the older Miss Schnee, well, I couldn't tell her to do anything even if I wanted to."
"You're not giving me a choice, are you?"
"That is correct, Mr. Greene. This fight is not just yours as you assumed, it became ours when the Order attacked our home and killed our people. I trust you can understand that."
"...If it gets too dangerous, I'm sending them back."
"I would want you to do nothing less." the headmaster replied. "One last item. General Ironwood has pledged his aid to both Vale and the remaining EDC forces in finding the Order and bringing them to justice. If he finds anything, I will contact you."
"Alright. Thanks, Ozpin."
"It is the least I can do. Good hunting, Mr. Greene." The call switched off. Alex walked back to the spot where their eight stowaways were being stood.
"Fine. You can stay-" The group made small cheering and victorious gestures. "-but, on two conditions. First, you do exactly what any EDC member tells you. If they tell you to hide, you hide. If they tell you to run and leave them, you do that. Understood?" They all nodded. Alex turned to Ruby. "This is a war, Ruby. We're not fighting Grimm, we're fighting people. Thi-"
"I know." Ruby cut him off. "I...don't want to kill...I don't know if I can...again...but I can fight Grimm and Shades no problem." There was fire in her eyes. Her teammates nodded with her in agreement.
"Alright...Then, there's the second condition. If you're going to fight, you're going to wear armor. We have a few spare sets that we'll distribute to each of you." Right on cue, Mac carried a crate off the Dragonfly and dropped it on the ground. "We'll have to sync the armor now, while the coast is still clear.
The students and Winter each donned the metal segments of the armor, forgoing the camouflage-pattern cloth that usually sat underneath. The olive-green metal stood out against each of them.
"Um..." Yang started. "So...is there a way to make the colors..."
"I'm on it." Ryland interrupted, pressing a few buttons on the top her armor's shoulder. Yang's armor shifted to match the yellow of her clothing. With assistance, the remaining four girls' armor soon matched their normal colors. Ruby's had shifted into her shade of rose-petal red, Blake's became a dark black, and the Schnee sisters' both turned a snow-white.
"Well," Alex said. "At least for now...Everybody, welcome to the EDC. We're glad to have you."
A/N: It's a little later than usual, but I finished it! No delay after all. As usual, thanks to the awesome people who have followed, left favorites, and reviewed. You're all awesome.
REVIEW REPLIES:
Dimas15: If you mean for Roman, then yeah, he's in over his head.
Booklord1: Eventually, yes, Vortex and Charles' history will be touched upon more.
Arukune: Well said.
Nemoskull: Thanks!