Here's chapter two! Enjoy!
Present Day:
An Atlesian Manta dropship flew over the mountainous terrain of Sanus. The ship's two pilots remained attentive to carefully maneuver the ship through the mountains while the passengers in the back remained quiet. There were four humans, one of which was deathly pale, and a faunus seated in the passenger seats. They were comprised of three males and two females. They were clearly a team judging by the matching white combat uniforms they wore. They were, however, not the only passengers. Further back there stood three armored humanoids. If there was one word to describe them it would have been…
Massive.
They all stood at over seven feet tall, each just slightly taller than the other. The uniquely colored, fully encompassing armor they wore looked heavy to say the least, but it didn't look too clunky on them for their size. The armor was clearly made of metal, but due to the paint schemes on each set, it was impossible to determine which sort of metal exactly. In between the main sections of their armor, they appeared to wear black bodysuits of an unknown material. On each set of armor there were a series of numbers etched in white paint on the upper left sections of their torsos. Barring the different color schemes and the different helmets, the armor they wore was identical.
The shortest of the three was adorned in orange colored armor with the numbers 011 etched onto it. The helmet he wore had a very large yellow visor that encompassed most of the helmet, leaving only the jaw and rear-cranium sections free of the visor's envelope. Zero-One-One was armed with a large polearm that was attached to his back and a belt of grenades and other explosives slung across his shoulder.
The second tallest had the numbers 037 etched onto his dark grey armor. His helmet seemed to jet out a bit at the jaw section and it was adorned with an electric blue colored, T-shaped visor that appeared to only cover the area of the helmet where the eyes, nose, and part of the mouth would be. Zero-Three-Seven had a sword attached to the back of his armor a high caliber pistol on his right hip, and a combat knife in a boot sheath.
The tallest had the numbers 069 etched onto his green armor. His helmet's visor was red and was larger in overall area than Zero-Three-Seven's, but smaller than Zero-One-One's. His visor looked the most normal of the three. Zero-Six-Nine had what appeared to be a three-sectioned staff on his back. He wore a gauntlet on top of his armored hand and carried a large pistol that looked more akin to something resembling a shotgun on his right hip.
The polarized visors on their helmets prevented anyone from seeing inside their helmets. One of the female humans, the shorter one, caught sight of the three armored giants staring silently at her and her team.
"You got a problem?" She asked with a frown on her face.
The three armored giants looked at each other briefly before the orange one labeled as 011 replied.
"It's just that we've never directly worked with regs before," he said without any emotion in a digitally disguised voice.
"Regs? What's that supposed to mean?" The larger female asked with a raised eyebrow. The rest of her team took notice of the situation.
The grey one labeled as 037 replied. "He means we're not used to working with regular Atlesian forces," his digital voice spoke with a similar lack of emotion.
The short female growled in anger. "Who the hell do you think you three are?! We're the Ace Ops, the best huntsmen in the world. That hardly qualifies as a regular force you smart-mouthed sons of-" a hand on her shoulder stopped her from finishing her sentence. She turned to see that the hand belonged to her brown-haired, green-eyed leader who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry Clover," she said.
The man known as Clover gave her a nod. "Remember Harriet, we're all on the same team."
The one clad in green labeled as 069 was quick to speak up. "They meant no disrespect. We're used to working by ourselves is all."
Clover nodded in understanding. "I get that. I hear you guys don't socialize much so I can see why you might not be big on the idea of working with others. My name is Clover-"
"Ebi. Your semblance is good fortune," the green-clad giant replied before he pointed to the tall, muscular woman. "Elm Ederne. Your semblance allows for your feet to be planted to the ground for greater leverage." He pointed to the faunus, "Marrow Amin. Your semblance allows you to freeze specific targets in place." He then pointed to the small woman, "Harriet Bree. Your semblance is super speed." Lastly, he pointed to the pale man, "and Vine Zeki. Your semblance allows you to extend your limbs. We know exactly who you are."
Clover and the rest of the Ace Ops blinked in surprise. To think that these three knew so much about them and yet they knew absolutely nothing about the three armored behemoths.
"Since you know us, why not introduce yourselves?" The faunus known as Marrow asked with a bit of optimism.
The one in orange replied. "Our names aren't important. Results are all that matter." The members of the Ace Ops looked at each other in confusion. Marrow cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Uh...ok...let's try something else then. Where are you guys from?"
This time the one in grey responded. "Classified information."
Before Marrow could try asking another question he was cut off by Harriet. "Don't waste your breath Marrow. These guys are machines, not people. They don't interact with regs." She used her hands to emphasize the word "regs." The three armored individuals were unfazed by her words.
With that said the two teams ceased their interaction and went back to a somewhat comfortable silence. Not five minutes passed before the voice of one of the pilots earned their undivided attention. "We're approaching the target. Remember your mission specs and good luck out there!" The ship's rear door opened and to reveal a ten-foot vertical drop. The Ace Ops had since stood from their seated positions and walked over to the rear door to join the three armored giants. A green light signaled the huntsmen to exit the aircraft. The Ace Ops jumped down first followed by the three unknown soldiers whose landing sounded with a heavy thud, earning brief looks from the Ace Ops.
"Alright Ace Ops, you know the plan," he said before he turned his attention to the three soldiers. "Good luck. We'll wait for your signal."
The three simply nodded in response.
Harriet had her arms folded across her chest and stared at them with a frown. "Just don't mess this up. Remember, this is our mission, You guys are just here to perform reconnaissance."
The three walked past her without acknowledging her and walked into the woods. The Ace Ops remained behind and waited patiently under the moonlit sky for the signal. They remained silent for a few minutes before Marrow broke the silence.
"So," he said, "why exactly did we get these guys as backup? And why is it that no one knows anything about them?"
"Beats the hell out of me as to who they are," replied Harriet. She was leaning up against a tree with her arms crossed. "As to why we got them as backup, apparently there weren't any other teams available to assist."
"I've heard rumors," said Elm, earning the attention of her teammates, "I've heard that they're some experimental robots with advanced AI or something."
"I've heard that too, but that's total BS," replied Marrow, "I've seen them walking out of the dining facility a few times and robots don't eat."
Marrow's comment got a few raised eyebrows from the Ace Ops.
"Did you see their faces?" Asked Elm.
Marrow shook his head.
"Nope."
"They are a relatively new addition to the kingdom's military, are they not?" Asked Vine
"If they are let's hope they're not as new as Marrow." Elm quipped, earning laughs from Harriet and Clover.
"Oh haha. Real funny Elm," the faunus gave her a half-annoyed glare.
Elm's tease wasn't untrue. Marrow replaced Tortuga not more than three months ago and before that, the dog faunus had been out of Atlas Academy for only a year. Marrow had distinguished himself as the top Huntsman in his graduating class and his record in the field wasn't one of an amateur either. Despite knowing his trade well and being a good soldier, he was still the team rookie which meant that he would be the center of all teasing and friendly harassment.
"Not quite Elm," said a now composed Clover, "but yes they are new as far as I know."
"What else do you know" Asked Vine.
"Not much else but I'll tell you what I do know," replied Clover. The other members of the Ace Ops looked at their leader with interest. "Their official team name is Special Mission Unit 117, but apparently they call themselves the Bad Batch. Not sure what that nickname means, though. I tried digging into their individual files and service records, but it was like I was chasing ghosts."
"Their files were blank?" Asked Harriet with a bit of skepticism.
"No," replied Clover, "their unit's name didn't even register in the system so there were no files to begin with."
The leader of the Ace Ops shrugged at the confused looks he received from his teammates. Their confusion wasn't unfounded. They were a special forces unit, but even they had files. Everyone had a file. General Ironwood had one, Special Operative Schnee had one, and so did everyone else in the armed forces of Atlas. But those three didn't have any files or anything of the sort and it was a bit strange as well as disturbing. The sound of Clover's voice got the attention of the group again.
"I asked General Ironwood for more information before we were to be sent out here. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to get an idea of who my team will be working with. I don't want them working with someone that'll get them killed."
The four gave their leader nods of gratitude. There was a reason Clover was so respected by his teammates. He was a servant-leader who always put his team before himself.
"Did he tell you anything?" Asked Vine.
"The general told me that they were the furthest things from amateurs," replied Clover. "He also told me that they'd been on over five hundred missions with a one hundred percent success rate."
There was silence among them. The four had looks of complete disbelief on their faces.
"Over five hundred missions?" Asked Elm.
"One hundred percent?" Asked Harriet.
Clover merely nodded.
"That…that can't be right, can it?" Asked Marrow. "I've never seen them on the mission registry. I mean there's no way they could have gone on that many missions without anyone else knowing."
"You'd be right if they were in the regular chain of command," replied Clover, "but those three aren't. They report to General Ironwood and him alone."
Harriet, meanwhile, was still processing what her leader just said. To say that she wasn't impressed would have been a lie. She had them pegged as amateurs but apparently, they were something else entirely.
"Hold on one second," said Marrow, "Special Mission Unit 117…does the 117 come from adding up the numbers on their suits of armor?"
Clover looked at him with interest before he replied.
"I'm not sure Marrow, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Good observation."
The faunus gave a cheeky smile, happy with his deductive skills.
The five remained silent until their attention was drawn towards the sound of an explosion followed by the sounds of both weapons firing and screams.
"Uh, was that the signal?" Asked Marrow.
"They were supposed to radio in before they engaged the enemy," said Elm.
Clover nodded with a frown. "Let's go Ace Ops!"
The five ran off in the direction of where they heard the noise coming from. It didn't take them more than two minutes to reach their destination. Along the way, the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and screams abruptly ceased leaving the only sounds coming from their accelerated breathing. Upon reaching their destination, the Ace Ops were met with the sight of a destroyed camp with a few fires raging about, generating a blanket of smoke that obscured visibility.
"Be on your guard," said Clover as he drew his weapon, King Fisher.
His teammates merely nodded as they too readied their weapons. They moved through the camp in a stack formation with Clover leading, Marrow acting as the rear guard, and Vine, Harriet, and Elm in the middle. As they continued to move through the camp their visibility began to improve as the wind dispersed the smoke. Clover suddenly stopped, causing Harriet to bump into him.
"What is it, Clo-"
Harriet didn't finish her question. She looked ahead to where Clover was looking. There, no more than a few feet from them, was the head of a White Fang member. The body, or at least what remained of it, was a few feet away. Its legs and arms were mangled and there was a gaping hole in its torso.
"What the hell?" Asked Elm.
"It looks like things got really ugly here," said Clover.
"Uh…Clover…"
"What is it Marrow?"
Marrow didn't say anything, but instead, he pointed to where he was looking at. His teammates looked in that direction and soon found themselves looking on in terror. Before them was a scattered mess of mangled corpses that littered the blood-stained ground. These White Fang members had most definitely fallen to some sort of explosive. Some of the bodies that could still be recognized as bodies were severely burned and charred. By that point the wind had dispersed most of the smoke, giving them greater visibility. Their eyes wandered about and saw that everything was destroyed. On top of that, there was no one alive among the carnage. Marrow briefly looked as though he would vomit.
"What the fuck is this?" Asked Harriet who was looking around for any potential enemies, though she knew that was highly unlikely.
The sound of footsteps shook them out of their stupor. They turned their heads to face the source. They saw the three members of Special Mission Unit 117, indifferent to the chaos around them, walking towards them. Zero-One-One carried a struggling, tied-up lizard faunus by the back of his shirt collar before he effortlessly tossed said faunus at the feet of the Ace Ops.
"Done," said Zero-One-One.
The Bad Batch walked past the members of the Ace Ops and back the way they came. Harriet decided to break the awkward silence. "Ok. What? The Hell. Was that?" She spoke between consecutive pauses.
"I'm not a detective, but I think they slaughtered every single White Fang member in this camp except for the target here," said Marrow with a subtle cheekiness in his voice. "It also looks like the camp is on fire." That last comment earned him a slap on the back of the head from Elm.
"It…it was them…"
The Ace Ops looked down at the leader of the camp. He looked absolutely terrified, and he was shaking uncontrollably. His eyes looked as though they were looking beyond everything in sight; it was as if he wasn't there.
"What'd you say?" Asked Clover.
"It's them. I never thought they were actually real…I was always thought they were just a legend…" The lizard faunus' face was drained of color and his breathing became more frantic.
"What are you talking about? You never thought who was real?" Asked Marrow.
"The Harvesters…"
The Ace Ops looked at each other in confusion.
"The Harvesters?" Asked Vine.
The faunus didn't reply. He remained silent, but his blank stare remained. The Ace Ops ignored him. Clearly, he was traumatized by what the Bad Batch had done, and honestly, they couldn't blame him.
Clover surveyed the carnage in front of him before he signaled the dropship pilot on his communicator. It wasn't long before the ship arrived to pick them up. One of the pilots exited the aircraft to survey the damage. "Damn. That's a hell of a way to send a message. You guys work fast," he said to Clover.
"Not us," he replied, "them," he pointed to the Bad Batch. A visible sweat drop formed on the pilot's head. It didn't take more than a minute for everyone to board the aircraft.
The ride back to Atlas was a silent one. It didn't take terribly long for the dropship to land at Atlas Academy. The ship's main door opened to reveal General James Ironwood himself and his assistant, Specialist Winter Schnee, waiting patiently for them. The Bad Batch exited and made their way over to the two with the Ace Ops following suit with the lizard faunus in their custody. The three members of the so-called Bad Batch stopped in front of the general and his assistant and stood at attention. Zero-Six-Nine brought his hand up to the top right corner of his visor and saluted.
"Sir, Guardian Zero-Six-Nine reports mission accomplished. Awaiting further orders," he said in a firm voice.
The general returned the salute and smiled. "Excellent work you three. We'll take it from here, go and get some rest."
"Thank you, sir," they said in unison. The three saluted the general before they turned and left. Ironwood and Winter watched them walk off before they turned their attention to the approaching members of the Ace Ops. Clover and the general exchanged salutes before Ironwood addressed them.
"It looks like things went smoothly enough."
"That's one way of putting it, sir," said Vine. "I think they forgot the part where they were supposed to signal us to approach when they were in position," the sarcasm wasn't lost on the general.
The general sighed. "Yes, I apologize for that."
"Was there really no other team that could have helped instead?" Elm asked, clearly disturbed by the three soldiers.
"Unfortunately, no. They were the only ones available." Winter answered.
Elm frowned at that statement. "I see," she said.
Vine pushed the White Fang prisoner forward and into the custody of Winter. Clover saluted the general before he and his team took their leave. Marrow glanced over his shoulder and shot a smile to Winter, which she returned with one of her own.
"Get this trash to an interrogation room at once," said the general to the former Schnee heiress.
"Yes sir!"
That was fun! As always please share your thoughts/concerns/critiques in the reviews section.