Maria faked a glance at her wristwatch, looking over past her cap at the Schnee building across the street. Two SI Guards, both carrying what looked like .45 ACP handguns in holsters, stood by the glass front door, gazes sweeping over the crowds that walked by. A bus stop across from the Schnee Building was Maria's best cover for now. Beside her, she had Erwin and his sister playing rock paper scissors on her right and Matt with his features hidden and faking a nap...

"See anything, Countess?" Erwin asked in whisper.

Maria's eyes locked onto the pin on one of the guards' chests. "Just the two..." Before her gaze swept past him and she locked onto a trooper inside, who was escorting a pair of civilian workers... This one was wearing heavier armor and wielded an Old Earth gun... He also didn't have the same patch. The Romanian smirked "Bingo... It was quick, but a Shadow Doctrine Soldier just passed the main door. Saw the patch on his arm..."

"Think they're trying to be spotted?" Matt whispered, barely moving his mouth, but worried...

"Could be, Matt... Could be." Countess leaned forward, rubbing her eyes. "Though we've got the intel we were looking for."

She noticed their escape-more specifically, a bus, moving into the station. Standing up, the woman showed the kids to follow her. The trio followed quickly and they vanished into the alleyways, before taking a short detour to their Safe House. Matt arranged his clothes, then said to Countess "Think they were suspicious of us?" to which the woman shook her head.

"I think we're fine for now... I'll ping Sue back at base and ask her what she thinks we should do, though our best bet to gather more intel on their involvement with the Schnees is to actually infiltrate the building at night, when there's just the Security Guards inside." She explained to him. "If we start taking Heat, we'll have problems then." and she looked to the holster on her hip. The weapon had yet to be fired...

The woman looked back behind them, squinting... She'd heard or seen something moving... And she saw Matt's second set of ears perk up too. The Spartans turned their heads... And all four soldiers caught a simple glance of a black cat as it knocked down a trash bin and ran in the opposite direction. Countess sighed in relief;clinically paranoid, she was. But so was her team. She waved to the Spartan-IIIs and they peeled away from the troop, going somewhere else...

After returning to the Safe House, Countess had taken the time to step into Matt's Room, to see the boy attaching a pair of silencers to his SMGs and stowing them under his coat. She hummed, then said "The barrels are gonna be poking out of the back for a bit... Might want to turn the holsters to have the barrels pointing down... If that's possible." before stepping inside "How're ya holding up, kid?"

"I'm good." Matt gave a nod, smiling. "Can't actually wait to have my first try at an infiltration mission, to be honest... I've done them in the past, but never in coordination with a team."

"Stick with us and we'll show ya how it's done." Maria said, sitting down. "And if shit hits the fan, we've got a pair of Spartans in our squad and a quick 'Get the fuck out' button with bombs and a dropship."

"Speaking of those two... Where're they?" Mat asked, leaning back onto his bed.

"Told them to give me RECON on the building. Entry points, cameras, patrol patterns and all that..." The woman nodded "They went in with SPI suits, presumably." before sitting herself down in a wooden chair and saying "We've got a lot of stuff to deal with and considering the latest events, we-" She paused as she heard the thrum of her radio... Standing up, the woman walked to the kitchen, now followed by a surprised Matt. She leaned forward, took the transmitter and receiver into her hands and waited for a line... The static that came first soon cleared as the line was secured... And she heard a familiar voice utter "We felt the rain, wind and hail..."

"Then the thunder and lightning came..." Maria answered in whisper "'Sup, Frostbite?"

"Got some food for you... Sad Day actually passed through Mistral, apparently. Went after Seven past Eleven and the Blue Water. Knew the exact hour." Sue spoke, maintaining the code that the ONI trio had set up a while ago. So not even Sue was aware if this line was properly secure, despite the system double and triple-checking. And apparently one of Shadow Doctrine's troops knew the Chief's ID Number...

"Thanks Frostbite, sounds like we'll be busy... I'd maintain that the Sad Day is not gone yet. Gonna be looking over my shoulder for a bit... Wanna ask, you Saw Day of Crows?" The woman hummed, looking over toward the street that led to the Schnee Dust Company building. She heard Sue sigh, then a single mic tap, before the line went dead. Maria stepped back and scanned the room, squinting. Matt wanted to speak, but the Romanian ONI agent raised her index at him. 'Keep quiet', she showed him. 'Place could be bugged'.

He nodded...

... And yet, Maria didn't see, nor had she heard anything to ID a possible bug after a quick Electronics sweep. Shaking her head, she said "All clear..." and drawing her pistol. She felt her standard-issue Scroll vibrate, then looked to it. She nodded to Matt and said "Grab your weapons. We're going in now." as the sun began to set on the city of Vale... A while later, the duet of Human and Faunus met up with the Spartans... And Matt froze for a moment as they were almost... See-through.

"Holy-"

"I see the SPI Suits are working still." Countess observed, smirking. Matt seemed surprised... So he regained his composure and gave a nod to the Spartans. They nodded back and approached the duet, their M7 Mag Silenced SMGs on their thigh mounts. They opened up a paper map and started pointing out entrances. One back entrance used by staff to dump useless papers, the front entrance and some side entrances in the form of windows. The inside layout was basic... Three offices on the right, bathrooms on the left and the reception in the front and center of the First Floor. Second floor had several more offices, including the corner office that served as the CEO's as well as the Break Room and the Guards' and Security rooms... Multiple cameras were marked on the makeshift map by the Spartans, with their interlocking Fields of View also outlined.

Maria whistled "Nice work, kids."

"Thanks." Erwin gave them a nod, before drawing his SMG "I'd recommend getting to the Security Room first, to disable the Cameras. We'll give a signal once we're done so you two can come inside."

"Got it. Matt, with me. We're finding a nice spot to hide in." The woman waved the boy with her... The Spartans strolled off, their SPI suits powering on. The duet vanished in the night, only visible to each-other via their IFF tags on the Heads-Up Displays. Slowly, as their Motion Trackers powered, the two Spartans strolled to the back door and pushed it open, before sweeping the area ahead with their SMGs and going in... The Cameras, thankfully, couldn't see them. The new Infiltration Systems of the SPI suits made sure that any electronics would have a hard time in spotting them.

Two pings showed up on their MTs. Two guards strolled past them, exchanging small-talk. They were SI Guards wearing simple uniforms and the usual kits... Erwin urged his sister on, past the Offices and toward the main stairwell that led to the Second Floor. A single guard was seated behind the reception desk, playing a game on his Holo-Computer and every-so-often looking over the counter to see if anyone tried to slip inside... Poor bastard...

Mary took point, sweeping the second floor. Her MT picked up more guards... Two of which she saw moving past them on the stairwell. They worked in pairs, but none could see properly. Walking down the stairs and saying hello to the guy behind the counter. The two took a turn and moved toward the Security and Guards' Rooms... The trip was quick, silent and went almost unnoticed...

Mary's MT picked up three guys inside the room. She raised two fingers and her brother nodded, readying his SMG... The two stacked up behind the door and Mary raised three fingers now... Countdown:Three... Two... One... Go. They breached the room, their SMGs coughing. Five guards, one of which was seated at the CCTV control station, all fell dead. Erwin closed the door behind them and went to work on the CCTV, shutting off all cameras.

After giving a signal to Countess and her new protege, the Spartans went to link up with them down below... They saw Maria knock out the guy behind the counter and drag him out of sight, before forming up with them, her M6 SOCOM at the read. With a nod, the woman looked to Matt, who had both his SMGs at the ready... The Spartans strolled up with their aides and moved toward the Corner Office... No movement inside.

They walked in and closed the door... Maria smirked, then took out her scroll and went to the computer, before saying "Well, we've got intel to nab, boys and girls... Let's get to it. Find any files you can take, anything that seems the least bit important, Matt. Mary, Erwin, go to the Guards' room and see if you can find the Shadow Doctrine op we saw on the stakeout."

"Roger." Erwin gave a nod... And the two once again disappeared outside...

Matt started pulling files from binders and books, looking through them and searching for any mentions of Shield Industries, Schnee Dust Co. and Shadow Doctrine... A few files matched a few lines, but nothing conclusive so far... He handed Maria binders which she photographed and slid back into their places as her Scroll's systems worked to hack into and link with the CEO's computer...

"Nothing conclusive so far..." Maria said, looking over a binder. She slid it back into place, then took out another and looked into it... Huh... 'Dust Shipments'... She looked over the Data and saw some of them didn't match addresses in Vale. More like outer Villages and such... Flipping a page, she saw... A conversation Transcript...? She read through it quickly... It had... Codenames on it... Hmm... Why the hell would a Schnee CEO keep a Transcript here? And especially of a convo like this...?

[TRANSCRIPT-016, SD-0091312;SD EYES ONLY, ID:[REDACTED]]

Charon(Calm):Hope you got good news for me, Slender. I had a shit day today, what with [REDACTED] being away...

Slender(Lax, ignoring, working on Computer):Shipment you asked for's being sent toward the local Militia in that village at the ass-end of the Kingdom. Why's that place so important anyway? It's just a (INAUDIBLE)hole where the people would steal your wallet faster than you can say 'hello'. And that Sustrai guy doesn't feel like a business partner I'd want. Much less so for Big Daddy. If he finds out all the way back in the Ice Kingdom, he may pin any mishaps on me.

Charon(Calm, sounds of typing in background):Calm, Slender, calm... It's a place meant to allow us to stock our supplies for whenever Fender decides to start more in-depth operations. A penniless Village in need of defenders is a pretty (INAUDIBLE) good cover story, don't ya think?

Slender:Whatever... Doesn't mean Schnee Dust Co. isn't happy. We're getting paid after all... Any news about Big Daddy's daughter?

Charon(Audible Sigh):No, we haven't found her yet. Rumors are she's in AO:Flare, but Mauve and [REDACTED] are actively working on it. Same for tracking down Catalyst. They did find Catalyst though... Seems he's protected by quite a few lines of armed men and women. [REDACTED] gave him a bit of a wake-up call as far as I heard, during the [REDACTED] operation to deal with [REDACTED] and her Mutts.

Slender(Irritated):Well... (INAUDIBLE). Any word on [REDACTED]?

[REST OF TRANSCRIPT REDACTED]

"Huh..." Maria pursed her lips. Bastard must've slipped. The Transcript was in a folder called 'To Burn Later'. She took a photo of the Transcript and said "Let's move it... Got some info Sue may want." before seeing she also acquired several emails that were of seeming importance. She copied them onto the Scroll, slid it out and showed Matt to follow. The two slipped out of the Office and noticed that Erwin and Mary had just stepped out of the Guards' room... Erwin made a slicing motion 'No Joy'. The guy must've left before they'd come in... She sighed, then showed them to follow.

And without anyone knowing, the four slipped out of the back door again, unnoticed. And in the night, after the mission was accomplished, a Black Pelican slipped into the back area of the Safe House and vanished just as quickly, returning the crew of the intelligence team back to the Spirit. Just more information to add to an already convoluted enemy, it seemed...

Ozpin's Office. A few hours earlier on that day.

Sienna found herself flanked by multiple Spartan Supersoldiers as she waited for the elevator to climb up to the top of Beacon Tower. She shifted uneasily as she scanned the ironclad infantry, feeling a pit in her stomach. The man that rescued her, the Master Chief, and his team, were kind enough to fill her in on what had been going on in Beacon since after the assault upon the White Fang bases here.

She looked back toward Ilia and Vermilion and nodded to them... The elevator dinged and the door slid open. The Spartans marched outside in a formation and split to allow Sienna to see the man and woman behind the desk. Headmaster Ozpin smiled as he leaned back into his seat and welcomed Sienna with a friendly nod. The woman beside him, clad in a Labcoat, looked at the woman with a poker face... This was Doctor Halsey, if Sienna recalled the vids correctly.

"Lady Khan. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Beacon... I trust your flight here was... Less eventful than your extraction?" Ozpin spoke with warmth, standing up and extending his hand. Sienna gripped and shook it, then said "A bit cramped, Professor. But nothing I and my guards could not handle... Thank you for such a rapid response and forgive the... Erm... Trickery. I doubt the Spartans would've come if it was the White Fang asking for help."

Ozpin hummed "With this new threat, 'Shadow Doctrine' at our doorstep, Lady Khan, I don't doubt they'd have understood the gravity of the situation." And his gaze shifted to Halsey, who nodded.

"Indeed." The Doctor spoke calmly. "Do you or your soldiers have any injuries, Lady Khan?" She then asked, giving the woman a once-over... Sienna felt chills simply staring at the blue-eyed, black-haired Doctor. Like something was completely off with her... That or she held high respect from the Spartans and the Professor himself... She didn't want to get on her bad side, she felt.

"None for now, Doctor... All thanks to your Spartans." Sienna respectfully nodded...

"Good... Professor, do you mind if I ask my question now? I may need to go help miss Rose out soon with her project." The woman's brow quirked up.

"Certainly, Doctor." Ozpin nodded.

"Ask away." Sienna gave the woman the courtesy... And froze as she saw the woman faintly scowl...

"Who was the commander of the Vale Branch that ordered the terrorist attack in which Chief Petty Officer Daisy was caught?" The woman spoke with almost as cold and dangerous a tone as you'd hear in any seasoned veteran that someone managed to piss off... Sienna felt a lump in her throat, but spoke in answer "Adam Taurus... May... May I ask why you want to-"

"Because my Spartans need a target, Lady Khan." Halsey stated with a hidden venom in her voice "And I think the man that injured one of their sisters and killed dozens of civilians with a single order would fare pretty well as far as targets go... I trust and truly hope he was not given that command by you, unless you want to give them... And myself... Something to work out our anger on..."

Sienna swallowed, pursing her lips and shook her head "N-No..." She stuttered. "I may be a more... Violent... Leader to the Fang... But not even I would go as low as bombing innocent civilians, Doctor. As for Adam, I fear getting to him may be a little harder than you might expect." She looked to Ilia and gave the girl a weak wave forward. Ilia stepped up and handed her leader a black Scroll... She extended it to the Doctor and Professor and said "He's with Shadow Doctrine now... I know not what he was promised, but... I fear he may use the events in Mistral to take power in the White Fang, align them with whatever this agency is and..."

"Use all of the Fang's available assets for their clandestine operations..." Ozpin sighed. "May I suggest using the CCTS to send a message, Lady Khan? To Menagerie."

Sienna nodded. "I was planning on making sure that the Belladonna family were okay as was..."

"A good plan." Halsey gave a nod. "I'll be off. If you need anything, Lady Khan, ask one of my Spartans to guide you to the Laboratories and Workshop." and with that, she walked off. Sienna watched the woman leave and noticed even Ilia and Vermilion had chills shoot up their spine as she looked at them. The Spartans seemed calm, however... And 117, most of all.

Khan looked to Ozpin... "She's scary..."

The Professor snorted. "That she is... Shall we continue the debriefing, Lady Khan? You're a guest of ours now..."

"I see..." Sienna sighed. "I want to help fight the Shadow Doctrine. Is there any way?"

"There's always the Covert Ops." John suggested. "Or the Marines... Headmaster, we'll head off and stow our gear for now. Good day." And they got a nod from Ozpin. Stepping off, the armored giants all somehow fit perfectly into a second elevator and left the White Fang members and Headmaster to their own... Sienna's debriefing went about as expected, with the woman learning many new things about the Spartans, the UNSC and SWORD... And many more things such as the Spirit of Fire and what it now served as...