Chapter 15:
1 week following Operation Rail Grind, Military base Schwarze Ritter, exact location unknown
"-And last week, a train carrying supplies to several cities between Atlas and Mistral came under attack by multiple forces, the most numerous being the creatures of Grimm. Thankfully for both the cities and the passengers onboard, the soldiers of Atlas managed to defend the train, preventing any loss of civilian life, at the loss of some of their own."
"When asked about the human threats, Atlas High command refused to give out the identity of those involved in the attacks, stating 'divulging such information is a security breach, and could endanger those that partook in the defense of the train, either through retaliation or a follow-up attack'. This is reporter Lisa Lavender, signing off."
Lisa watched as her piece finally made it through the censors and became a part of mainstream news. She had wanted to be more exhaustive, but when it was revealed that the VNA were a part of the attack on the train (and wasn't she glad Jaune prioritized civilian protection over the cargo), the high command wanted to completely shut it down.
But thankfully both Jaune and Ironwood managed to convince them to release a non-descript version for scroll audiences and a slightly more detailed one for the VNN's website. Lisa glanced over at Jaune, who was going through a report, sighing as he shook his head.
"Is something the matter Jaune?" Lisa asked. Jaune shrugged.
"Well, you know how we captured Raven Branwen?"
"Yes, but alas I wasn't able to disclose that information, despite how it would've gained you a lot of supporters in Mistral," Lisa said, still bitter she couldn't report capture of the self-proclaim bandit queen of Mistral.
"That wasn't my decision, and I understand why General Ironwood would want to limit that tidbit of information; imagine all the bandit tribes, upon realizing the strongest of them was ousted, began fighting amongst themselves. Nature abhors a vacuum, and sadly the same applies to criminal elements."
Lisa nodded, understanding that rationality, but still bitter at the circumstances. This could easily have been a major PR win for Jaune's unit, and with her reporting it, her status, already high for a reporter, would only increase.
"But that wasn't what I was getting at," Jaune said, continuing. "It appears that Ozpin has been trying to get Ironwood to release Raven."
"What?!" Lisa asked, shocked that the headmaster of a Huntsmen Academy as renown as Beacon would call for the bandit-queen to be released.
"My thoughts exactly," Jaune said, rotating his chair to grab two glasses and a bottle of apple-cinnamon schnapps. "It's not without reason, but myself and those in Atlas disagree with Ozpin's reasons."
"What're his reasons?"
"The general wouldn't tell me everything, but apparently Ozpin is concerned that if the news of Raven Branwen's capture is revealed, it would hurt the huntsmen-society relations, as well as causing the aforementioned bandit-war. Personally, I call bullshit on that, Ozpin is hiding something, and the General either doesn't know or can't divulge."
"What reasons would Ozpin have you think for wanting Raven to be free?" Lisa asked. Jaune sighed.
"These reports are from Mistral, describing the situation of bandit related activity, ranging from raids, to hostage situations, to even murder, and you want to know what all of them have in common?"
"Raven Branwen?" Lisa guessed.
"Close, but no. Rather, they were 'cleared' if you want, by Raven's tribe. The other bandit tribes follow the Branwen tribe, out of fear, out of a pursuit of their personnel power, whatever, but they don't conduct their operations without going through Branwen first," Jaune explained. "If I had to guess, Raven is Ozpin's piece to preventing anarchy in Mistral, as Mistral has the weakest centralized government, and therefore only a token force to preventing chaos."
"If Raven were to be taken out, my guess is that Mistral would be ripe for the taking, including the VNA."
"What, but Mistral wasn't involved with the invasion of Vacou," Lisa said. Jaune shook his head.
"Not in any military capacity, but it was clear that Mistral doesn't approve of the regime shift, and the VNA will look to target the next weakest kingdom," Jaune pointed out. "That means either Mistral, with its weak central government and bandit problem, or Menagerie, small population with a generally negative outlook towards the other Kingdoms. It's a toss-up, and while I am trying to get more men trained up and equipment ready, Ironwood is trying to get Atlas's council to begin forming a coalition to protect the remaining kingdoms against further VNA attacks."
"I see," Lisa said. At this moment, the door open, revealing Winter Schnee, looking tired.
"Hello Ms. Schnee, did the General send you?" Jaune asked. Winter briefly nodded at Lisa, before looking at Jaune.
"No, rather I came to inform you of the delivery from Stahl Arms," Winter said. Lisa saw Jaune nearly smile, before adopting a calm façade.
"So the first shipment has arrived?" Jaune asked. Winter nodded.
"Excellent, are the men assembled to see the new hardware they'll be operating with?" Winter nodded. "Good, then let's go see what Stahl has brought.
It had been a week, a week since her assistant gunner August Rot died, sparing her from Raven's blade. Angela thought of how close to death she came, how if she hadn't reacted to her instincts, if she had hesitated, she would be lying in a pool of blood on the top of some train. She hadn't gotten out of her head the image of Raven's red eyes gazing upon her as though she was an insect, the screams of the men who were viciously cut down by Raven's terrible sword, and their blank faces devoid of life.
She tried to bury herself with work, with training, but she could not erase the images of that day from her mind. But no matter how often she patrolled the perimeter with her new squad, no matter how many times she spent at the range getting better with her service weapon, she couldn't get rid of the events of that day.
But today something special was happening, as the entire unit (except those chosen for perimeter defense) was ordered to formation. She saw a convoy of large trucks with massive trailers carrying something covered by camouflage tarping, although the Stahl Arms logo was present. Whatever were under the tarps were heavy, as even with the trailer having five sets of dual wheels on each side and the truck itself being a 8x8, the suspension was quite low.
She saw an armored limo pulling in behind the convoy, and stepping out was the CEO of Stahl Arms, Jorhan Stahl. Whatever was going on, it was big, as she knew that Mr. Stahl was rumored to be one of the most powerful men in the world, beaten only by certain councilors, the various headmasters of the Huntsmen Academies, Mr. Schnee, and General Ironwood.
"What the hell is the CEO of one of Remnant's largest arm's manufacturer doing here?" asked her new partner, Private Walter Grun. Angela sighed.
"Not a clue, however I bet the colonel knows," Angela answered.
"Yeah, but if this was merely a supply delivery, the colonel wouldn't need us grunts to assemble," Walter said. Angela nodded, but she saw the colonel, Specialist Schnee, and the VNN reporter coming forth. She saw Jorhan approach the colonel. She could hear them, as the people around her had quieted down.
"Ah, it's good to see you are well Col. Maximillian," Jorhan said, shaking hands with Col. Maximillian. She saw the colonel nod.
"I trust that the initial delivery is as expected?" Col. Maximillian asked. Jorhan chuckled.
"To be honest, while you are getting what you are expecting, we managed to finish one of the designs earlier than expected."
"Really? But I thought-"
"Yes, but there was an older arms company based in Mantle that went under, and when we got your specifications, I had some of my staff review their files more in depth. Turns out, they had the machinery needed in an abandoned factory. With a little help from the General, we were able to retrieve and relocate the machinery in our factory, and have been building the first run. There are four in this delivery in fact."
Angela could tell that her CO was resisting the urge to smile. Whatever the arms magnate was delivering, it was something the Colonel was wanting. However, the Colonel, with Jorhan, Specialist Schnee, walked to the front of the formation, with the VNN reporter standing off to the side, her cameraman standing nearby. The Colonel began speaking to the formation.
"Soldiers of Atlas, I know a week ago we lost 23 of our own. The mission took its toll on us all, but we have to march on, for the betterment and safety of Atlas," Col. Maximillian began. "Prior to Operation Sandstorm, I had been working with various contractors to fulfill our mission, and one of them is Mr. Sthal's arms company Stahl Arms."
"I won't sugar coat it; the future will bring dark days, as the VNA's influence spreads. The VNA is a rouge state, the doesn't follow conventional rules of warfare and will show no mercy. Our purpose is to be the tip of the spear, to shatter the regime that sees murder and violation of human rights as legitimate ways to establish their powerbase!"
"But to do that, the army must undergo reforms, in its training, its culture, and its equipment. The weapons the Stahl Arms Corporation have delivered will go into making our mission possible and prevent unnecessary loss of life. This shipment is the first of many, and is the start of the reformation for Atlas's military!" At this point, the tarps were removed, revealing what they were concealing.
Angela first saw a strange, tracked vehicle, with a twin-cab configuration, with the same MG-3 LMG they had been training and fighting with. The front cab was probably for a pilot, navigator, and gunner, with the rear cabin if she had to guess was a squad compartment. As for armor, well it wasn't an armored train, but it certainly had more armor than most vehicles in Atlas's inventory, outside of airships. At this point Jorhan began speaking.
"This is the Lynx armored personnel carrier," he stated, his voice stern and clear. "With a squad complement of 6 in the rear cabin, the Lynx was made to be rugged, reliable, and able to go anywhere. Fully amphibious, able to ascend a 45-degree slope, armored to resist 12.7mm armor piercing rounds, and sealed to prevent any chemical or biological agents from entering the cabin, the Lynx can be adapted to accommodate most weapon systems, from the MG-3 to the heavy GMG-40."
The next vehicle Angela observed was a 6x6 armored car. With some mounting a turret with an autocannon, some with a long barrel GMG-40, others a unique launcher that seemed to accommodate four Panzerfaust warheads. She saw that above the wheels was a band of rubber, and the chassis was heavily sloped. Jorhan continued his explanation.
"Next is the Pandur infantry fighting vehicle. Designed as a amphibious, modular infantry fighting vehicle, the Pandur can fulfill the role of light anti-tank, long range sniper support, mortar carrier, recovery vehicle, frontline medic vehicle, and finally anti-infantry with either a 20 auto-cannon or a grenade machine gun. This vehicle is easy to convert to your needs, reducing the logistical hurdle of maintain a massive fleet, and can be operated by a crew of three."
Then finally was a vehicle many, Angela herself, were looking at in amazement. She and the rest of the men at Schwarze Ritter had seen the combat fottage of the VNA's 'tanks'; vehicles that were laden with weapons, protected by heavy armor, and propelled on armored tracks. They looked crude; hell some seemed to have come from a scrapyard, but to the shame of Atlas and Vale they dealt a massive blow against the liberating armies. Angela knew that was why weapons like the Panzerfaust 3 were built, to combat them, but everyone who used them knew that they were cumbersome and really intended as a last resort against tanks.
But these tanks, in front of them, were on a different level. Larger than the 'Scorpion' tanks, yet sleeker than the 'Marauder' tanks, these tanks, painted in a three-tone grey, white, and blue fractal pattern, they had sloped armor, a large cannon mounted in an angular pike nose turret, with a cupola-mounted MG-3 and a series of short tubes on either side of the turret, this tank was made for war.
"This," Jorhan said, waving towards the tank, "Is the Panzer Leopard. Armed with a 120mm smoothbore cannon that is stabilized to allow accurate fire on the move, a MG-3 for protection against infantry, and a close area defense system that will prevent the VNA's suicide bombers from taking you out, it far exceeds anything previously fielded before the VNA insurrection. It is protected by a new composite armor that was made to minimize the threat poised by the RPGs the VNA has in drove, and while not the fastest, it has enough grunt to keep up with the Lynx APCs.
This Panzer, Anglea thought, would be the envy within Atlas. She knew how some Atlesian units were getting outfitted with the heavy mech suit Crusader, but they were clunky, slow, and much, much less armored than this panzer. She could imagine the envy that the mech-users would have when they rolled ou-
She paused, realizing that this wasn't some weapon to be fielded against the mindless Grimm, but against the VNA, who had shown the world that they were not to be taken lightly. There was no point really to have inter-service rivalry and envy, not after the disaster of Operation Sandstorm. She gazed at the Leopard, and realized that this Panzer was meant to be the armored anvil that the VNA would crash upon, only to be pushed back. But would this be enough to crush the VNA's insurrection?
"As you can see, these vehicles will be outfitted through the entirety of Atlas, but they are given to you as you are to be the spear that Atlas will use to pierce the VNA's grip on Vacou," her commander Jaune said. She looked at him and saw that his face was grim. "Even with these powerful weapons of war and with the improved training you have, the VNA will fight tooth and dagger, street by street, using whatever underhanded tactics to resist. But we must stand firm, for we cannot allow the VNA's poisonous influence reach out and infect the rest of Remnant."
"We are but the vanguard of change amongst Atlas and her allies, and we cannot afford any significant setbacks, not after the losses that occurred during Operation Sandstorm. We lost too many fellow brothers in arms to let things rest, and Vacou will only suffer under the authoritarian rule of the VNA. Therefore, starting tomorrow, all units will report at 0500 to begin learning how to operate and work alongside these vehicles, as I have no doubt that soon we will be called on for more than escort duties. Dismissed."
Angela and the others moved out of formations, getting a closer look at the various. Her partner Walter whistled as they approached the Leopard.
"Damn, this thing's a damn beast," he said. "Seriously, a 120mm cannon, that dwarfs the train mounted 100mm guns. Does he expect that the tank will have to deal with something more than the Scorpion and Marauders?"
"What do you mean?" Angela asked, a bit thrown off by Walter's question. Walter sighed.
"I had a few pals that were apart of Operation Sandstorm, and they talked a bit about the Scorpion and Marauder tanks. They note that while both tanks had considerable firepower and mobility, armor protection on most frames weren't as well armored; whenever they picked up the enemy rocket propelled grenades, they were usually able to damage the Scorpions pretty quickly."
"The Marauders meanwhile have the armor to stay in the fight, but unless they had the those weird blocks of armor that blow out whenever struck, they tended to fall back before they took too much fire," Walter explained. "It's like either the tanks had thin armor or the insides weren't well designed for crew safety and thus risked blowouts."
Angela thought on this, and looked back at the Leopards. It seemed heavy, mounted a fearsome cannon, and was designed for war. But war against the VNA? She seemed confused by its sheer size and power if what Walter had said was accurate. The other vehicles, made sense if one needed to be mobile in the deserts of Vacou, but the Leopard, if it could take on the likes of the Scorpion and Marauder with such ease, what was it designed for if not such relative lightweights?
"Well, I must say I hope this reaches your expectations," Johan said. Jaune nodded; it was good to see some of the vehicles he had spent years fighting with back under his control. He wasn't much for infantry fighting, but give him a formation of Panzers and he felt at home.
"Yes, it is good to see these vehicles, especially the Leopard," Jaune said. "Although I prefer the Jagdmammut, the Leopard should prove sufficient against the VNA's tanks. That being said, I was expecting if anything the Gepard before the Leopard. Has its development run into trouble?" Johan chuckled.
"Well, when we were testing the tracking capabilities of the Gepard, we first had problems linking the RADAR to the turret's traverse system," Johan said. "Then when we solved that problem, we had a bit of a…SNAFU."
Jaune winced, wondering what had gone wrong. But before he could asked, it was Lisa that asked the dread question.
"What went wrong?" Jaune could hear the air get sucked between Johan's teeth.
"Shhh, well, when the RADAR was turned on, it locked onto the first thing it picked up, that being the control station where the engineers were at." Jaune groaned; this sounded like what happened with the M247 Sgt. York, a US AA tank that when it was unveiled had done the exact same thing, except it had aimed at the crowd of officers and reporters.
"At least it was unloaded right?" Winter said, and Jaune knew from Johan's nervous chuckled that, no, no it was not.
"Well, kind of hard to test the gun's ability to track a flying drone without ammo, right?" Johan said before sobering up. "But seriously, we had thankfully put in a system that allowed us to turn off all systems to the Gepard. But since then, we have been dealing with teething issues getting it combat ready. It should be ready soon, but until then, we'll ramp up production of the Starstreak missiles."
"I see," Winter said, looking over to Jaune. "Are you sure that the Gepard will be worthwhile?"
"Just because the first prototype ran into issues doesn't mean that the platform won't perform, and we need a dedicated SPAAG if we are to keep our convoys alive against VNA airstrikes. The Starstreaks are good at dealing with helicopters, but against fast movers they tend to suffer. Plus you can use chaff and flares to confuse missiles, neither of which does anything to stop a wall of flak from ripping a plane apart, let alone Grimm."
Jaune turned his attention to Johan.
"It's good to see that Stahl Arms is able to meet the demands I am asking," Jaune said. "But while I would like to stay and talk, I need to prepare for tomorrow's operation."
"Understandable Col. Wolfgang, well in any case I need to head back to my facilities; we are going to need to expand should your vehicles prove themselves in the field."
As Johan left, Jaune, Winter, and Lisa began to head back to the HQ building.
"So how much will these vehicles actually help against the VNA?" Lisa asked. Jaune yawned, he could feel the mounting paperwork that his new formations would require. Mechanics to repair and maintain them would need to be brought in, fuel and ammo requisition forms filled out, contractors would be needed to assemble hangars for them when not in use, and a loading zone for airships to pick up and drop off the vehicles for operations outside of Atlas, if they weren't going by sea and using cargo ships.
"Well, they will provide Atlas with much needed mobile armored support," jaune said. "With the Leopards being well protected and the Lynx and Pandur providing go anywhere support, Atlas won't lose mobility because of the VNA's air defenses. I'm just concerned that without a SPAAG of our or local air superiority, their air force will descend upon the convoys and bomb them to hell."
Jaune remembered watching a documentary of the first Persian Gulf War when he was attending high school in Germany, and the road of death, where retreating Iraqi units were destroyed beyond recovery by the US air force. The images of burnt-out wrecks lining the singular highway, it was shocking to Jaune, who only had the bitter experience of guerilla fighting against the GLA in Berlin. To see a large convoy reduced to scrap metal was mind boggling to the Remnant native, who only had the tales of Remnant's Great War to go off of.
"What makes them so dangerous?" Lisa inquired; while she had seen the VNA's Air Force in action, something about the way Jaune spoke meant he had concerned beyond what she could see as a civilian.
"Well, while the aircraft may not be the most capable, they do outperform Bullheads and Arrowheads in certain areas; mainly firepower and raw speed. Take for instance the planes that bombed several of the Valean naval ships, the Stuka bomber, and their air-superiority fighter, the Hyena Interceptor."
"In terms of speed, the Bullheads can do about 500 km/h at altitude, and the Arrowhead can do about 600. The Hyena meanwhile has been clocked doing about 1800 km/h, over three times as fast. Sure, it pays for this in not being as agile as either of those two craft, but they have such paltry armaments. A nose mounted machine gun or a tri-barreled gatling cannon is nothing compared to the Stuka, which can come with 2 machine guns, along with the option to take 2000kgs of bombs or pair of auto-cannons that can use AP rounds. The Hyena meanwhile has dual 30mm cannons and rocket pods."
"Also, the pilots aren't afraid to use their aircraft as a form of munition. Some even use old, out of date aircraft strapped with enough explosives to level a building and slam themselves into the middle of a convoy," Jaune said. "This means standard methods of disabling an aircraft are less then effective, as so long the human pilot is able to maintain control, he is able to land his plane on target. Thus total destruction of the airframe is required."
"I…see," Lisa said, a bit disturbed at the thought of suicide units. But she had heard about the bomb trucks that were used to break the Valean defenses during their evacuation, and she thought it bullshit, for who would be so willing to kill themselves just to kill their foe?
The video she saw from a fellow reporter put those thoughts solidly six feet under as she watched numerous armored dump trucks explode in a fashion she had only seen occur at dust mines or industrial accidents. The thought that the VNA would be so willing to kill themselves for their uprising, it was a bit disheartening. Lisa began to wonder how exactly you were to get such a fanatical group to throw down their arms, as she doubted using rational reasons would work.
"So what's the next step?" Lisa said. Jaune sighed.
"Getting the troops used to mechanized warfare, which means more training, which means that our deployment window is pushed back," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in visible frustration. "I know that our unit is itching to get back at the VNA for their efforts, but we have to be certain we can use our new weapons to their maximum potential. This however buys time for the VNA to plan their next operation, which we may not have the time to react to., depending on where it is."
"Well, couldn't the unit send its none mechanized elements off to supplement other units?" Lisa asked. Jaune shook his head.
"Alas, as we stand, we are too small to afford such splitting of the forces," Jaune said. "Not until we are an integrated part of the Atlesian military and have a larger flow of recruits would such a thing be possible. However, I do know the General is pushing for the adoption of several of the weapon systems we used, but how the council takes it is anyone's guess."
Jaune looked up to the sky, his eyes showing fatigue as he gazed upon a incoming storm cloud.
"This maelstrom is only just beginning."
Vacuo Nationalist Army's Capital HQ, Ankara, Vacou
"So let me get this straight," Qahira began, looking at Sean Nubs, who was sweating, partially from the sheer heat of Vacou's weather and partially from the fact he had just given his after action report to the leader of the GLA detailing his failings. "You along with a platoon of your men inserted via the Hook gunship onto the train, where you not only were injured, but failed to capture the equipment that you were sent for in the first place, and on top of that lost a Plague Duster to a MANPADS that the Atlesian haven't been seen using elsewhere."
Qahira went silent as Sean nodded, before curling his fingers into a fist.
"Tell me exactly why I shouldn't simply beat the ever living shit out of you for failing your mission and letting the Atlesians know we are not afraid to operate outside of Vacou?" It was quiet for a minute, before Qahira sighed, his fist uncurling. "No, that's unfair, from your report along with your men it was clear this wasn't your typical Atlesian military unit. The new weapons, the fact they were mission oriented, and the fact they could take down a plague duster makes it clear you were jumping in blind."
"Sir, if I may speak," Sean said, with Qahira motioning him to continue. "It seemed that this unit took orders from some officer, who wasn't your typical Atlesian officer."
"How so?" Qahira asked.
"For one thing, he didn't use some complicated mechashift weapon, like almost all of the Atlesian officers carry, and instead used a saber and a machine pistol," Sean said, which Qahira shrugged off.
"Could be a matter of preference, we did capture a few who carried a simple pistol during their ill fated invasion of Vacou," Qahira argued.
"But most of them were rear-line officers; this officer fought me personally in the front, and he wasn't afraid to fight dirty, or throw his weapon away if it bought him a moment to take the upper hand," Sean pointed out, to which Qahira hummed as he drummed his desk.
"That I'll admit is odd, but-ah Imani, come, we were just discussing the mission that Sean had been forced to abandon," Qahira spoke. "What bring you in?"
Sean looked over at Imani, and nodded briefly. He, like Qahira, was a ghost before the rise of the GLA, but unlike Qahira he was more…down to earth. Well respected among the GLA soldiers, led from the front, and well used to the hardships of a harsh life, Sean could respect Imani as a fellow soldier.
"Our interrogation of the various POWs we captured both on the invasion sites and the huntsmen incursion wielded very little in the way of leadership or organization that we didn't already have via our spies and informants," Imani began. "However, the vast majority believed that this war would be a quick victory for them, and many feel betrayed and abandoned by their leadership."
Sean smirked; Imani was practical, and while others might simply move to 'remove' the POWs from the equation, Imani instead sought to argue a case for integrating them.
"How many do you think would be amenable to fighting for the GLA?" Qahira inquired. Imani rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment.
"Right away, about 10%, but if we use that 10% and present to the others that life in the GLA is better than being a POW, then we could convert another 40%. We could use the rest as slave labor to build up our infrastructure, especially in the Grimm infested territories."
"And does this include the few dozen Huntsmen we captured?" Qahira asked. Sean saw Imani sigh.
"Alas no, they are all too indoctrinated by the belief that they 'fight for all of Remnant', and not even torture was able to show any break in their resolve on this particular subject," Imani answered. Qahira barked a life.
"'Fighting for all of Remnant', what a load of horseshit. They make thieves look like paupers with their ransoms that they get away with as the people are afraid of dying at the hands, claws, and teeth of the Grimm," Qahira said, his voice taking a steel-like tone in how he spoke. "Very well, we might as well use those hunters to illuminate to the people of Remnant about the lies that the Huntsmen Association has been feeding them. We also could use them to inspire terror amongst their ranks, showing them what the GLA does to those who act like saviors when they're nothing more than vultures."
"That can be arranged," Imani said. "But back onto the Sean's mission, do we know what caused the failure?" Sean was about to reply when Qahira spoke.
"Apparently some new Atlesian unit led by some officer who isn't afraid to get his hand's dirty wielding some new toys," Qahira replied, before looking over at Sean.
"Did we manage to get any photos of the weapons and the officer in question from your men's gun cams?"
The gun cams in question were something Sean thought of and had been approved almost universally by the GLA high command. Basically, it was simply a side-mounted camera that recorded what the gun saw. The reason was simple; in the event of a mission failure, the GLA could go through the gun cam footage, examining them for any new weapons, the faces of officers, and to clear the confusion that might arise in after action reports.
Sean's unit were the first to receive them as they were abroad and thus any defeats or setbacks needed to be addressed as quickly as possible. Thus, several of his men had gun cams on their weapons, and the surviving Plague Duster and Hook gunship had a couple as well.
"Yes we did," Sean said, presenting a folder that he had set down moments before the meeting had begun. Qahira opened the folder, and began examining the first set of photos, which covered the new weapons. Sean wasn't sure what he was expecting from Qahira, but recognizition wasn't one of them.
"The hell, Imani, do you see what I am seeing?" Imani walked over and gazed upon the photo.
"What? What the hell is a HKFN-22 assault rifle doing here?" sean was confused; these weapons weren't new? But if so, why was it causing these two to react in this way.
"What else have they got; GMG-40s, Starstreak MANPADs, Panzerfausts 3, MP-57s, AW-50s, what the hell is this collection of weapons do-" Qahira went silent, and he lifted a particular picture up. Sean saw Imani's eyes widen in recognition.
"That can't be, we should've been-" Imani began before being cut off by Qahira.
"Silence Imani, I need to verify this; Sean, is this the officer that caused you trouble?"
Qahira turned the picture around and Sean saw the blonde-hair, blue eye officer that stabbed him in the arm staring back at him.
"Yes Qahira, that is who stabbed me in the arm and was leading the Atlesians in battle," Sean confirmed.
At first, Qahira was silent, turning the picture back around to look at the officer. Then, to Sean's mounting concern, he began laughing. Not a soft chuckle, or a bitter laugh, but one filled with mania and hatred.
"He, hehe, HEHE, HAHA, KEHAHAHAHA! FINALLY, someone that can present a challenge! My long-time, no, life-time rival, Colonel Jaune Arc, he's here! Yes, this defeat makes sense now, hell the attempted evacuation during the Valean-Atlesian invasion makes sense now! KEHAHAHA, just you wait Arc, wait until I rip apart all you hold dear once more, I wonder if this time you will become monster?!"
"Qahira," Imani said, putting his hand on the shoulder of the raving war-hungering man. Sean was concerned for a moment that Qahira would attempt to cut off Imani's arm (he had seen him do it to a drunk soldier that didn't know his place), but after a tense moment Qahira calmed down.
"Ahem, apologies, it just it's not often you see someone you thought you wouldn't ever get the pleasure of facing wits against making their presence know," Qahira said, clearing his throat once again. "Anyway, this clarifies a lot of things, and means that the GLA will have to begin preparing for this new threat."
Sean, who for some reason was trying to wrack his head on why Jaune Arc sounded familiar, frowned.
"How is he a threat sir?" Sean inquired. Qahira put the photo down before staring into Sean's eyes.
"He is a threat because he knows of my capabilities, he will have access to weapons that can put ours to shame in certain areas, and its clear he has the backing of Atlas, the most militarized and industrial of the 4 major kingdoms," Qahira said.
"I will have to gather the other leaders, but you have a new mission Sean; find out everything you can about Jaune Arc. He's probably going under a different name, but regardless, I want to know how entrenched his is with Atlas. I want the names of those he associates with, the companies that he has made ties with, how large his unit is, how well equipped they are, anything that you can think of as important I want, and I want it in report as soon as possible. We are going to do our damnedest to keep him on his toes, we can't afford him to get too much influence, especially in Atlas."
Sean saw how serious Qahira was and nodded quickly. If nothing else, this was a chance for Sean to redeem himself after his failure, and he wouldn't lose it.
"At once Qahira," Sean said, snapping a salute and walking out. As he walked he heard Qahira speak.
"Colonel Arc, lets see how I shall break you this time."
Author's Note: Well shit, sorry for the delay. I said sometime in July August, and its October. Just had some shit occur at work that had me stressed out, and only now got my head in the game to finish this chapter. So let's go through the reviews;
-Crazzytony: Glad to hear you are enjoying the story, and I intend for the other faction in Rise of the Reds to show up, in due time.
-Janny092: Sorry it tooks months, but between the gas station I worked at being shut down for about a month for a remodel, with me having to go in a couple of times a day for three or 4 days a week to deal with outside trashes, one of our managers quiting so I had to cover my coworker while she covered the vacancy, and generally dealing with the heat of Nevada Summers, I was either stressed or tired to really work on this.
But yes we begun to see the first of the 'toys' Jaune's unit will be using. Raven's situation will be brought to light soon (maybe not the next chapter, but definitely the one after if not the next). Bitch will be in for a surprise.
-Quma25: Thanks, and the technology that Jaune brings may not be as fantastical as airships, it is it more grounded, reliable, and in the case of fighting the GLA powerful. Can't wait until I get to use WMDs in the story, the sheer shock to Remnant will be great to show.
-Warmachine324: And more you shall see, but to answer your question Jaune, being a ECA commander, won't be using an aircraft carrier. Superheavy tanks on the other hand…
-Alaxbird: Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and sorry about the site not notifying you, don't know why it wouldn't.
-Angmar: Glad you enjoyed the shifting perspectives, and Raven would be caught off guard. As to your question about Saphron, sadly she would be dead by my own logic. See I began this story almost 2 years before Saphron's reveal, and while I could try retconning it, I think that it is better that Jaune is the last Arc in Remnant. So she died with the rest of the family, and the memories of that loss will weigh on Jaune, especially when Qahira begins to personally make Jaune's life a living hell once more.
-SilentKnight: The GLA hasn't found the Vault, mainly because the Academy was badly damaged, and right now it is rubble. Part of the reason they haven't begun cleaning the rubble away is because they have larger concerns (creating tunnel networks, ammo dumps, getting the country running on its own two feet) and the other reason is that it serves as a monument of the failure of the old regime. Kind of hard to ignore a central pillar of the old government as it lies in ruin. But it is a ticking threat, one which could be a threat if the wrong sort found out what lies inside and how to get access.
-Guest#1: Salem's reaction to the GLA will be seen soon, and as you note, it would be a useful ally for her. But here's the thing; the GLA is made up of Fanatics of all sorts, not just religious fanatics. And Qahira has his own goals, ones that don't align with Salem's apocalypse. So just wait and see.
-Guest #2: Yeah, Qahira and the GLA aren't about to allow a couple of punks attempt to restore a monarchy. But the things is one day's radical can become a useful tool against a regime you hate even more, just putting that out there.
-Guest #3: Not a king, but I appreciate the cheer.
-Face yourself: Then don't read it if you don't like it. I disagree with what you said, but it's a matter of taste, to which nothing can be done about.
-x-x TheBurnedMan x-x: The GLA is going to run riot over Remnant, and much like you said; 'its going to get worse'. It won't be long before the wake up call is made, and the people of Remnant learn what kind of monster the GLA is, but sadly for them it won't be coming from Jaune, but from Qahira, who will be doing his best to inspire dread and awe amongst the people of Remnant, whereas Jaune would show what it takes to bring down the Hydra. And I had contemplated letting Sean extract his pound of flesh from Raven, but decided it would be better to give her a more fitting judgement. What does Raven value, power and freedom? Then lets see her when she is deprived of both.
Now onto some notes about this chapter. The first is Ozpin wanting to have Raven released and the subsequent conversation. This is partly based on what happened in the wake of several notorious people dying, the one that I can best draw parrels to is Pablo Escobar, who ran the Medellin Cartel, which was powerful. But in his death, it fell apart and the various cartels and gangs that were once kept in check began vying for control.
As Mistral is a volatile kingdom, it would make sense that Ozpin would want Raven, however terrible she is, to remain in power, as it's 'better the devil you know than the one you don't'. However he won't be winning this case, as she is too well known, and hated, to simply let go. I'll go more in-depth in the chapter Raven's judgment is brought up.
The last point that might make people question what's going on is the introduction of the Leopard 'Panzer'. I'll explain very briefly. In Rise of the Reds, the Leopard tank the ECA has is the Leopard 3, but of course, for Remnant, the Leopard 3 would appear to be a new vehicle. Thus I decided to make the Leopard 3 the Leopard Panzer, owing to the German influence in Atlas's design and making it seem like it's a new tank. They're the same vehicle, just a new name for Remnant as to not raise eyebrows, as why would the tank be called the Leopard 3 when it's the first of its kind, right?
Well, that covers what I want to discuss, so until next time, please read, review, follow and favorite, and I'll catch you guys next time.