Captain Durante felt very drowsy as he continued to hold on to the Grimm bird. He had just been wounded and now he was all by himself once more. The officer didn't complain about it, but the lack of company didn't really suit him very well. He looked around, noticing the world below. There was so much wildlife that was untouched by man that Monte wondered about the age of those trees.

Then he noticed the signs of civilization. A concrete road went through the forest with signs, but that was not what the captain was looking for. Where there were roads, there were destinations, and there were destinations there were places. Realizing that the nevermore was continuing its flight in the same direction of the road, the young man looked forward to the destination.

Monte finally realized that he could no longer see the world as usual. His hand reached over to his covered eye as he lowered his head. "Well mom, looks like I'm not going to keep that promise we thought we could keep." He said to himself, knowing that it was just him with his thoughts. Now he remembered Doctor Sauer and how he was telling him to go on a journey to find Qrow. Why? When did Qrow get caught up with someone like him? He didn't seem to be the kind of person to affiliate himself with such people.

Perhaps that reason was why Qrow was part of this area of secrecy. Few would expect it.

The young man walked in the streets of the empty town with his sidearm drawn. However, the silence and the loneliness was killing him. Where were the people who lived her? Monte looked at his surroundings, only to feel nothing, but silence. It irked him that this place was not thriving as it should be.

Then his head felt the burning pain originate from his left eye. "Son of a bitch." He quietly swore to himself as he dropped to his knees and placed his hand over his missing eye. At this moment, he shouldn't be thinking about it, but it was not proper for an officer to cry in pain. Yet, he couldn't resist the pain that fucker inflicted on him. He screamed in agony, knowing there was nobody nearby… until he heard a creak.

Monte looked around despite the tears in his eye, he knew there something watching him. As he removed his hand from his covered eye, he loaded his service pistol and immediately sprinted to an abandoned wagon on his right. From his cover he did his best to conceal himself, but trying to muffle his pain was very difficult to do. While he looked over the wagon, he noticed two people walking in the distance. One was wearing pink-colored clothes and the latter was wearing green-colored clothes.

Compared to the white outfits the officer had seen back at Atlas, these two teenagers were all by themselves. However, their moving heads told him they were exploring their surroundings. Perhaps they were simple travelers? Despite their appearance he noticed their weapons on their person. They were too armed to be simple travelers.

He lowered his head and rested his back on the wagon, but as he did so he noticed two people standing over him. There was a girl in a red riding hood and beside her was a young blonde man with clear white chest armor and a sword at his hip. So much for concealment and hiding. "Uh, hello." Captain Durante said with a slight smile. He hoped these people would have been nice.

The short girl returned the nice gesture with a wave of her hand and a smile on her face. "Look Jaune, we found someone. I never thought we'd find someone in this place. So mister, what are you doing here?" She asked.

He slipped his service pistol into his holster. "I honestly have no idea. I was with someone who was trying to help me out and he told me to meet someone here in this place."

"Are you sure that was right? This town hasn't been inhabited in a long time." The girl replied. "Oh no, what happened to your eye?"

The officer forgot the most obvious detail. His hand reached for his eye, soothing it with his hand. "I was… attacked. Acquaintance told me to come here to get some help. Thing is, I doubt you kids would know where or who he is, do you?"

"You can tell us his name. I don't know whether I'll recognize it or not."

Technically, this was supposed to be a covert meeting, but Monte had to take the risk. He was in the middle of an abandoned town in the middle of nowhere. "Qrow. His name was Qrow. Do you know him?" After he finished his sentence, the girl's face changed to a blank.

The girl took a step back. "Wait, Qrow? Qrow Branwen?" The girl asked. "How do you know that name?"

"I… I had a drink with him awhile ago. How do you know him?"

The strange red dressed girl smiled. "He's my uncle." Then she gave out her hand. "I'm her niece, Ruby Rose. It's good to meet a friend of my uncle."

Durante couldn't believe what had just happened. Had fate decided to save him at the worst possible moment? If that was the case, he was grateful things were going decently for him after these past few hours. "Likewise, my name's Captain Durante, but you can call me Monte."

"Captain, are you in the Atlas Military?" Ruby asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. I couldn't trust myself wearing a uniform so damn white."

The young man beside her seemed to express his twitchiness around him. "Weird, how did you end up here?" He wondered. "No one should be living this far from a settlement without being attacked by the Grimm."

Monte turned his head towards him. "What's your name kid?"

"Jaune, Jaune Arc. Why do you ask?"

Then he gave a faint smile. "If I told you, both of you wouldn't believe my far-fetched story. Maybe I can explain when I'm somewhere safe. Say, why are you kids here in the first place?"

"My friends and I are heading to Mistral and we were passing by before we stumbled upon you. Maybe you should come along, you don't look too well."

"Not too long ago, I just took a bullet to my left eye. So I think I'll accompany both of you there since they are no doctors here."

Ruby began to look past the man and waved her hands towards the duo behind him. "Ren, Nora, we have company. Say hello to our new acquaintance. This man looks like he needs help."

"Thank you Ruby, I appreciate you doing this for me." The captain said as he glanced over his cover to see the girl and the young man join this group. Perhaps he shouldn't have worried too much about the matter. As the duo closed the distance, Durante looked to the sky to see two black birds flying past him. He didn't know why, but there was a strange feeling that they were here for him. Why? He would never know.

. . .

After the casualties were cleared with Captain Derby, he found himself standing at the defenses, admiring his work while noticing the clothes and weapons of fallen German soldiers. He had to report this to the command post at base camp. This new development about them needed to be told in case they did appear in Germany. Despite the defense of the town holding, Kurt watched the wounded be carried off from the ramparts and onto the Vale medevac.

There were rumors amongst the civilians that the consensus about staying alive was to abandoned their home and readjust to the city life in Vale. Kurt sympathized with the people who were forced to leave their homes because of a threat. No one deserved to deal with detaching themselves from the place they grew up. Still, the pragmatic choice was still enough for Derby to worry less about them and more on his men. After all, they were leaving and he was not.

A voice cried out from behind the veteran officer. "Captain Derby. Captain Derby are you okay?"

Kurt turned around and began to confront the person looking for him. It was time he stopped laying around in this shindig and get moving before more of those monsters returned in greater numbers. "Professor Goodwitch, I see you're here to talk to me about something."

As the blonde professor confronted him, her hands went behind her back. "Yes captain. Oobleck, Port, and I were quick to come here as soon as possible when we heard you were under attack by the Grimm. However, the reports about the Grimm are quite… concerning." Goodwitch stated. "Apparently, you recognize these Grimm soldiers."

He nodded his head in approval. "Yes indeed. They look like humans, but the way they die is a bit disturbing." The captain explained to him. "The krauts wear gasmasks, I don't know why, but they do. However, the problem was that they're hard to kill with regular bullets. Well, our regular bullets. That blonde gal with the shotgun fists somehow had enough punch to kill them immediately. As for the uniforms, I don't like how familiar they look."

"Familiar? You have actually seen these uniforms yourself."

"Yeah, it was almost a year ago, but it was back during the Ardennes Offensives. These guys we fought were wearing OKW uniforms. We killed plenty of these huns when the Allies got its shit in gear. Not many survived when we broke their defensive line into Germany."

"Captain Derby, you mentioned that very few survived. What did you mean by this?" Her eyes were skeptical at the thought.

"I meant it. They took so many losses that they ended up disbanding their groups and started to integrate them with other units lacking veterans and manpower." The officer answered. "I hate to say it, but the odds that these people attacked us are very low."

"Are you sure? I need you to confirm."

"Yes. The remains of the OKW were killed to the last when the Soviets were taking their capital, Berlin." He answered adamantly. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Then I have to do a PR damage control on my part. It's one thing for the Grimm to make a different kind, but to tell Vale about what happened here? We can't risk any chaos in the streets and fear is the last thing people of Remnant need."

"If that's the case, brace for the impact." Derby replied.

"Excuse me."

"You can hide something for so long until one day, something happens that you can't control. I know this is going to happen and I think I better warn you about this since you choose to do this."

"Thank you captain, I appreciate the advice." The professor commented as she turned away from the officer. "We could use more people like you."

Kurt shook his head as he quietly spoke. "No you don't. Dogs like me should rest… permanently. It's going to be like last time."

. . .

Johnny Vastano opened his eyes as the first thing that escaped from his mouth was simple. "Ow." He slowly sat up as he looked at his surroundings. There were beds filled with wounded paratroopers and the defenders of Menagerie. Then he looked at his wound and found his shoulder covered with blood-stained bandages. The young officer slipped out of his bed as he began to walk to the exit on his left. The sunlight was slipping in, but he had to know what had occurred during the night.

After leaving the tent, he raised his hand for the sake of his eyes while the civilians of Menagerie and his paratroopers mingled within the city. Johnny was quick to be confronted by the large man who rescued him. "Captain Vastano, what a pleasant surprise to see you finally awake and alive." He began with a cheerful tone.

The captain took a quick glance at his appearance, only to find out that while he was still wearing his pants, there was no shirt on his person. "Mr. Belladonna, mind telling me what happened to my shirt. I don't like being this exposed."

Mr. Belladonna laughed at his situation. "You don't like the ladies to see you like this? I thought you would appreciate it after what happened last night."

"No sir. Officers shouldn't be seen without their uniforms, hell, I shouldn't be seen without my service pistol. Do you know where is my stuff?" Johnny asked.

"My wife is getting the other wives around to wash out the blood out of other people's clothes so if you do see a man half naked, their clothes are being washed."

"Sir, you didn't have to do that."

"With all due respect, captain, I think you and your men earned it. Humans are not well-liked around these parts, but the consensus goes that because you joined in the defense we welcome you."

"Well, thank you for doing this for me and my paratroopers." Johnny commented. "However, I do have a question for you."

"You do? Then tell me."

"How did things go last night?"

The smile from Mr. Belladonna's face changed. "The Grimm were repelled, but at the cost of heavy losses. Though it might not happen again for some time."

A curious thought occurred to the paratrooper. "What makes you say that? Wouldn't the Grimm find a way to attack this place again?"

"Yes, but after the losses we inflicted on them they'll probably bide their time trying to get their numbers again." He explained to him. "Until then, I can probably develop some defenses around the beaches before they return."

"I wish Derby was here."

"Who?"

"Captain Derby. He's someone I look up to and he specializes in defenses. Now I wish he was here to help you out with that."

"If you have the time, perhaps you can introduce him to me another time."

"Yeah, I can see you and Kurt having one hell of a conversation." Johnny commented. "Well, I better find a place to hide before anyone sees me like this."

"Of course, I will let you enjoy your time to yourself." Then Mr. Belladonna turned away from the officer to his own devices as he began to inspect the entire dockyard himself.

After Johnny was all by himself, the man walked to the beaches of Menagerie, only to find his men enjoying their unexpected R&R. Thankfully, they still had their underwear on. As he admired the sunny sky, he began to think about the next order of business. "Next stop, Mistral."

. . .

Thanks to German experiments, the place livelier with more Grimm soldiers guarding the areas. Compared to the creatures of Grimm, which ran off into the wild, the lair was filled with patrols of soldiers. Cinder wondered whether this was a benefit or a liability. They were useful at protecting the important areas, but were useless as target practice in the dungeons. They acted just like regular humans in this regard, but talking to them was a waste of time.

As she walked into the main hall, the young lady remained alone as Salem was sitting in her seat. "Cinder, I have a mission for you and you only." She began.

Cinder straightened her composure as she raised her head. "Yes, what is it?"

"Seeing that you have a specialty for this, I believe you can handle this matter instead of Tyrion." She explained.

"What did Tyrion do?"

"He failed in his mission. I still plan to have his services, but I expect you succeed where he failed. The target goes by the name of Captain Durante, I am sure you have heard of him. So I expect that you head over to Mistral and find him." Salem ordered her. "However, I do have an additional task that you must do. Meet with our informant. Dr. Watts was supposed to meet with him, but he's busy taking care of the experiments Dr. Amsel was supposed to handle."

"I see. What are my companions supposed to do as I am away?" Cinder questioned.

"Perhaps they can find work with Colonel Falkenrath? After all, he could use some assistance when dealing with huntsmen and huntresses."

Cinder nodded her head in acknowledgment. "I will immediately head out to Mistral."

"Good. Now return what was once was mine."