"The United States is well within its right to occupy an unclaimed, uninhabited island for the sake of its security. Under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, the United States formally annexed the Unorganized, Unincorporated territory of Contact Island and as such may exercise military force of arms to enforce that claim." the U.S. representative to the U.N. countered after an accusation of Imperialism from the Russian delegation.
The Chinese representative signaled for her turn to speak and when given it said in measured English, "Under U.N. resolution 1962 regarding the use of Outer Space, such claims are null and void."
The U.S. representative took off and cleaned his glasses, replacing them on his face. It was a delaying tactic, one he had learned over his years in diplomacy to give him a break to think. It wasn't like he actually needed glasses, he just thought they helped emphasize his age, putting people more at ease.
He sighed and spoke, "That has been considered and while the United States doesn't consider Remnant to legally be a different world, because of that, and ongoing issues concerning the Lunar, Asteroid, and Martian bases, has lead our current administration to see the Outer Space Treaty as antiquated in its current form. For this reason the United States is formally withdrawing from it."
There was silence as computer aids translated the message to those that didn't speak English and then the Hall erupted in noise.
The next day began as normal for Williams, or as normal as it could get if one were to have just gotten their souls pushed from the inside to their outside. That was until Hashimura arrived to inform the unit that they were just assigned to a mission on Remnant.
"Already?" Poole asked, now somewhat lucid after his run-in with a headache that most would charitably call "absolutely fucking excruciating" the previous day as a direct result of his aura activation.
"Already." Hashimura confirmed.
"Fuck." Poole swore.
"Aren't we due for training? Are we doing a joint operation, what's the deal?"
"Pack your things and head down to the armory by 0920. They want us ready to go by 1200. Reno, I sent you the briefing, I want you to read that and be up-to-date on what's happening on the other side of The Anomaly" Hashimura said, and left.
Reno nodded at the request and went back to getting ready.
They ate and walked, or stumbled in the case of Poole, to the armory. Sending his item numbers from his tablet Williams got back his rifle along with some extra ammunition.
It was a SCAR-MX, a SCAR-H rechambered to fire the military's 6.8mm cartridge along with a few modifications to the charging handle and gas piston system that improved ergonomics and reliability respectively. The Cartridge itself was made by SIG Sauer, as the military designation for their .277 FURY cartridge, which itself was just a necked down 7.62 NATO cartridge with a stainless steel base to facilitate higher chamber pressures. This made the rechambering of SCAR-Hs, which were previously configured to 7.62 NATO, to the new cartridge a relatively simple task.
The result was a zippy round that was deadly out to long ranges and could penetrate most body armors out there. The latter part was especially useful when dealing with Russian PMCs that ventured south of the DMZ. Combined with the integrated fire-control unit sight that connected to his IVAS smart goggles Williams could regularly hit targets out to those long engagement ranges.
Williams finished inspecting his weapon, making sure everything was in place and watched as the others got their weapons.
Similarly armed, with the exception of a couple grenade launchers and pistols scattered throughout their ranks, they donned their plate-carriers, helmets, and rucks, which contained some MREs, other snacks, extra ammunition, various other gear such as batteries and some of the new graphene solar panels, and their personal items, and headed out to the front gate.
They were dressed in all their kit as a couple of JLTVs pulled up to the front gate. They got in and were driven out into the Arizona desert.
Hashimura got in over their team comms, "We're going to be escorting some representatives on the far side of the anomaly. Should be no combat so weapons tight, Reno."
"Uh, yeah, recent reports of Grimm activity are low. After a major attack on the island a couple days ago with a large Cthulhu type thing that got pounded by 155s and Missiles until it was dust, things have been quiet. Locals are having a festival of sorts. Think like The Olympics but with sport fighting." Reno said, adding onto the briefing.
"Sounds fun." Michael chimed in.
"Well we aren't there for the fights. We're escorting the VIPs to watch the fights, along with representatives from a couple of the governments from the other side." Reno continued.
"Great, babysitting duty." Ward remarked.
"Aren't there better uses for our skills? This is about as far from what we do as is possible." Michael remarked.
"Yes there are Mike, but some politician insisted that they must have the best and they see special forces as just simply good soldiers. They don't understand our skills and mission-set. Command probably wants to get on their good side so they just caved." Williams mused.
"I understand the sentiment and I agree but make sure you lock that down in public. I don't want to deal with the shit from said politicians when they throw a hissy fit about you saying that stuff." Hashimura said.
"Wilco." Williams simply responded.
They arrived at a dried-out lakebed which was quickly turning a proper base with roads, the start of a runway, and other ancillary facilities around it. They drove up to a well fortified area next to the newly forming airstrip.
The first JLTV rolled ahead onto a stone circle. A person in a white uniform ran up to the circle, put their hands on it, and in a flash of light the JLTV disappeared.
"Guess this is The Anomaly." Reno said to the others in Williams' vehicle.
It was their turn and the transition was abrupt, if anticlimactic.
Williams instantly felt lighter and his lungs felt more full of air. Around the JLTV was a similar scene to the other side.
Construction vehicles and crews were preparing an airstrip and fortifications on the island.
He could smell the sea-breeze and see the ocean but didn't have much time to enjoy it as he wished.
The JLTVs drove up to a waiting V-280 Valor with several men and women in suits with official looking pins and acoutremon.
Hashimura was ahead of them and got out and greeted the VIPs.
Williams could overhear him say, "I'm Captain Hashimura and I will be the CO of your security detail."
"Excellent." one of the women said, "We'll be leaving shortly."
"I'll get my men in order." Hashimura said with a smile.
That smile faded the instant he turned away and started talking to the team. He got out his backpack and dug in it a bit and pulled out some Balaclavas, handing them to each Green Beret.
Speaking softly he said, "There's probably going to be lots of cameras. Wear these and remove name tapes and other identifiers."
They complied and well sanitized their gear of patches, name tapes, and everything else that might give away who they were. After they donned the Balaclavas, their IVAS goggles, and their helmets their faces and heads were completely covered.
From there it was onto the V-280. They took off, transitioning into level flight, heading out over the water.
Williams watched the depths below, half expecting some leviathan creature to emerge and swat them out of the sky. Nothing came and he settled down to watch the new, pristine world flow past underneath him.
The representatives were discussing… something. He didn't really care but there weren't exactly a lot of things to listen to.
"We need to establish economic inroads with them, offer something other than just military support." The one that looked to be in charge said to the others.
"It would be best to focus on the Vale Council, they represent the civilian governance more than anyone else that we'll be meeting." The man said.
Williams went back to tuning them out. His opinion of politics was best left unsaid especially after seeing some of the effects of it on people and populations firsthand.
The V-280 was approaching a large city, Williams stared out at it, taking in the alien yet familiar sight.
On cursory inspection it would look like a normal city, maybe out of Europe or North America, but once you started paying attention that illusion would be quickly shattered.
The place was walled, setting it apart due to the defensive posture it took. Additionally air traffic was decidedly more common with VTOLs and strange floating craft moving through the sky.
To top it off there was a gigantic floating island suspended above the outskirts of habitation, not far from a massive, ornate spire that invoked Lord of The Rings esque images.
The V-280 angled towards that spire, it's rotors tilting to the upward position as it slowed itself, lowering the collective and tipping up slightly on final approach. The landing pad was perched dangerously close to the cliff near the building and they were buffeted by winds coming up.
The pilot had to wave off and approach from the land side to land and by then the unique aircraft, loud racket from its blades, and undoubtedly rumors about the whole situation had spread and a significant crowd was amassing.
Looking at this Hashimura said, "Remember weapons tight, we're here for show."
Calls of acknowledgement sounded among the Green Berets just as the Valor touched down. The Crew Chief quickly moved to open the door and Hashimura led the other Green Berets out, forming a loose semi-circle.
The ambassador and her retinue followed and the downwash of the rotors messed up their immaculately ordered hair.
Williams cracked a small smile underneath his balaclava at the consternation displayed. Sure suits were important but their attitudes could often leave something to be desired and seeing them deal with just a tiny fraction of field conditions was a bit satisfying.
The crowd parted as a tall man with silver hair and a mug in hand followed by one with green hair and thermos.
Williams concluded that Remnant people must like their hot beverages.
The V-280 spun down and normal conversation could finally be had.
"Ambassador Richards I take?" the man with the mug asked.
"Yes, that's me." The flustered ambassador said, "I presume you are headmaster Ozpin?"
"Yes but my job is much more than just that." He said, taking a sip.
"I'm sure I will find out. Lead the way." Richards said, gesturing with her hand.
Ozpin led them through the crowd with Hashimura and his detachment forming a perimeter around the VIPs.
Williams constantly scanned the crowd, wary of anyone charging or trying to muscle their way to the front of the crowd. He didn't think there was a serious risk of a suicide bomber but old habits died hard. He just saw kids and a few news crews, not that it helped put him at ease.
"So could you explain the huntsmen academies to me?" Richards asked.
"Well the huntsmen academies are where we train warriors to defend humanity against the Grimm and other threats. We've mostly moved beyond soldiers because we believe they can corrupt governments and are a sign of war." Ozpin explained.
"And how old are initiates to these academies?" Richards asked, more to build rapport than to get an answer.
"Oh well that varies. Most admits to Beacon are around sixteen, which is roughly equivalent to sixteen of your years as well, but most start training well before that, say ten to thirteen years of age." Ozpin said.
Ward shot Williams a look at that statement. They both had a pretty nasty op where a unit of Iranian Revolutionary Guard tried to take the outpost they had been stationed at. They sent children and teenagers in front of them as meat shields in emulation of the Iran-Iraq war. It did not end well for the Revolutionary Guard or the kids after a B1 dropped about a dozen JDAMs all over their formation. That, and especially the cleanup was still in the back of Williams' mind as he saw some of those young faces crowd around their group.
Fortunately he and Ward didn't have to say anything as Richards spoke, "I'm going to be honest a lot of people are going to be uncomfortable with that on Earth. They'll see those trainees as child soldiers."
"Well then they'll be wrong." Ozpin said simply.
"That doesn't matter." Richards said, "They will still see it that way and it will be harder to make diplomatic efforts with that in the way. The populace won't look kindly upon our government providing aid to a nation that trains and recruits children."
Ozpin stopped and said, "Let me make it clear, Beacon Academy is not affiliated with the Vale Government, nor are Huntsmen, my stake is in ensuring their education and success against their foes Grimm or otherwise."
"Then how should we treat your academies? As private institutions or as branches of government? Because as it stands a mercenary organization that recruits child soldiers is a cause people would be willing to send a military intervention over whereas a government recruiting children would just result in international condemnation and sanctions." Richards said, staring down Ozpin.
Ozpin frowned and said, "We should go meet with the Vale Council and General Ironwood." and continued walking towards the main spire of Beacon.
Williams fell in next to Ward and mumbled after selecting him for a private voice channel over his IVAS goggles, said, "I kinda like her now."
Ward just said, "It's politics, I wouldn't be too excited yet."
"Yeah I know." Williams said, shifting his gaze.
They entered the front of the building and turned off to a side hallway. They continued down until the Ambassadors and the Headmaster entered into a meeting room. Before she went, Richards said, "Wait here." to Hashimura.
He complied, saying, "Yes ma'am." and motioned for them to take up positions outside the door.
They weren't alone as a couple of the local soldiers "Atlesian" as Williams' HUD helpfully identified were standing there, looking very uncomfortable at the sight of heavily armed, expressionless soldiers.
One spoke up and in a somewhat shaky voice asked, "You're the Earth- uh Terran- uh…"
"Americans." Reno helpfully supplied, "We identify with our nation not planet."
"Uh yeah, what's it like?" he asked.
"Depends on where you're at." Ward said. "Baja California is pretty nice, Qazvin province, Iran is not."
"Are you uh, going to elaborate on that?" he asked.
"No." Ward said.
Williams sighed, saying, "It's a mixed bag. It's pretty nice not having the constant threat of Grimm but sometimes I kinda wished that I was fighting mindless monsters."
"You guys fight a lot?" The other Atlesian soldier asked.
"Depends on who you ask but wars are not uncommon." Williams said.
The first soldier paused mid-thought and asked, "What is it like having so many people on your planet?"
Reno took this question and said, "Probably not unlike what it's like to live here given how densely packed you guys are in cities."
They stood there in silence for some time until Ambassador Richards left the room, bidding the Vale Council farewell along with the headmaster.
Speaking to Hashimura she said, "We're heading to the temporary embassy." and started back down the hall.
They fell in-step behind her and her staff as they left the building, only to find a couple local car equivalents waiting for them.
They were driven to an ornate townhouse in the upper-class district that was apparently to serve as the U.S. Embassy for the moment. They got out and formed another perimeter as onlookers watched The Ambassador and her staff make their way into the building.
They spent a couple hours sitting around as it grew dark with nothing to do when they heard cars pull up outside. Williams and Ward quickly looked out and identified the uniforms as U.S. Marines.
"It's the Marines." Ward called to Hashimura.
"Probably the Security Guard." He said, having gotten a radio message from Ward earlier about them being en-route, and moved down to the front door, opening it.
"You're a little late." He said to them as they hefted their bags in place and brought them inside.
"Thanks for holding down the fort." The CO said, "Why are Berets here in the first place?"
"Who fucking knows. Has Special Operations sent anything with you guys? Like orders or maybe some more gear." Hashimura asked.
"Uh, nothing that we know of, granted they probably want to keep that hush-hush." The officer said.
"Ah figures." Hashimura said, scratching his chin.
He was interrupted by Ward shouting from inside the house, "Boss, we got some news."
"I assume that would be SOCOM." The officer said, grinning.
"I guess it would." Hashimura said, following him inside.
The Green Berets held a meeting in a small side room.
Reno was presenting for them. "SOCOM just assigned us to the newly constituted 21st SFG. Furthermore we are, and I quote, 'Supposed to aid in the training and operations of local units against Grimm, especially when familiarizing them with combined arms warfare while at the same time learning more about aura and its applications.' end quote."
"So we're going to be training up those child soldiers back there?" Williams asked, voice bitter.
"Among other things, yes." Reno said, levelly.
"Hey, at least it fits our MO more than guard duty for an ambassador." Michael said and the sentiment was reflected among the other operators sitting around him.
"So where are we going to be bunking?" Poole asked. "Or are we going to be operating out of the Embassy?"
Reno tapped through his tablet to a different page and said, "We will be staying on the Beacon Academy Grounds. Apparently their Headmaster suggested the whole thing, something about fostering cooperation and command ran with it because they're all too happy to sink their claws into a golden opportunity."
"So normal SOP?" Poole asked, "Train up the locals into a coherent fighting force so the pressure is off of us."
"For now, yes." Reno said, "We don't have the sealift or airlift capability to land a sizable force on the mainland and Command doesn't have a ton of faith in the combat structure of the locals."
"It seems to have worked out for them so far." Poole said, shrugging his shoulders.
"'So far' are the operative words there. Command, and I personally, think the locals have been lucky. They haven't faced massive grimm concentrations and frankly couldn't at any given point. To me it's not a question of if, but rather of when such a swarm event will occur and send their teetering civilization off the edge." Reno said coldly. "The Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, imagine if a 9/11 happened here."
He let the group think about it and Hashimura took over.
"We're moving out at 0700 our time tomorrow, which is about mid-morning these parts if I am correct. We'll sleep here tonight and head there tomorrow." He said.
Discussion done they broke apart to do various things. Michael cleaned his gun, a Knight's Armament AMG, which was, similarly to their rifles, chambered in 6.8mm. Ward and Williams ate with Reno who was discussing some of the facets of local society that they were keen to pick-up on. Poole was fiddling about with a battery brick, trying to get it connected to his various electronics along with Ward's long range radio. He settled on just charging them one or two at a time. Hashimura was looking through the copies of their orders and some of the attached documents that Reno had flagged as important.
They slept early and rose early, eating and getting their stuff in order as the sun started climbing above the sky.
"I'm letting command know that I want at least one of the local devices so we don't have to keep jumping through intermediaries." Ward informed Hashimura as they waited for the ride that was promised to them.
"Get one for me." Reno said, as he sat on the Embassy steps.
Ward nodded, got out his radio and made a quick call to the E4 mafia. There still wasn't enough of a SOF presence on Remnant to get a quartermaster over so Ward worked his magic on the local enlisted ranks whenever he got the chance over radio. As if their ride was a Grimm attracted to pent up frustration, it arrived after just Ward finished his call. They got in, heading back to Beacon.
They were greeted by a different scene from the previous though The Headmaster remained a constant. The grounds were practically devoid of life with the exception of the occasional student wandering to the cafeteria.
Hashimura greeted him, shaking hands saying, "I'm Captain Hashimura, these are my men."
"Pleased to meet you, Captain." Ozpin said, though a twinkle in his eye said he recognized them from yesterday even though they were now devoid of their face coverings and their goggled-helmets were attached to the sides of their rucks.
"I trust you will lead us to our accommodations before we get to business?" Hashimura asked.
"Of course." Ozpin said and led the way.
As they went he explained various aspects of the school, a near carbon-copy of his spiel to The Ambassador.
After he finished Williams asked, "How are we going to integrate into your pre-existing training structure?"
"Ah well I was planning on including you as guest teachers for a few sessions per class, do you think that should suffice?" Ozpin asked.
"Well that depends to what level I'm teaching first-aid. I will need some of your own material on the matter by the way so I can properly integrate your resources into my lessons but they could easily take around 25 of your hours to teach." Williams said, estimating the time off the top of his head.
Ozpin nodded and said, "That can be accounted for."
They were shown to an unused dorm room with three sets of bunk beds already inside. Ozpin handed them a couple of the local devices, "scrolls" he called them, to use and for him to contact them.
They unpacked, storing their gear in various spots around the room and went about various tasks.
Williams familiarized himself with the terminals built into the desks of the room and proceeded to access the various medical texts, reading up on what technology they possessed.
One of the most interesting items was the various applications of growth dust. Originally it had been relegated to just fertilizer but with the industrialization of dust production it had been refined into a number of products. Notably it was used in some bandages and injections to aid in healing. A more marginal but also interesting use was as a pseudo steroid if configured properly. It was found to significantly improve muscle and bone growth when paired with certain aura techniques similar to human growth hormone (hgh) and other anabolic steroids.
Williams took out his tablet and typed up a quick report for central command, sending it both to Reno and Ward for proofreading and transmission.
The local version of English was a bit of a hassle to learn but it was mostly just some Old English letters used in the written form along with a few differences in idioms, phrasing, and terminology.
Reno was reading up on their religions, which focused exclusively on The Brother Gods. From what he could gather there was some historical precedent for their existence, with archeological reports showing a drastic depopulation event in the anthropological record where humans went from dispersed across the globe to isolated to a few spots at the fringes of their civilization seemingly overnight.
Religious texts described this as "The Shattering" in reference to the broken moon. These had been corroborated by artistic depictions found on Pre-Shattering ruins. All had implied that The Brother Gods had exacted this apocalyptic judgement on humanity for some transgression as of which was currently unknown.
To say Reno was deeply concerned by the possibility of Genocidal Gods existing would be an understatement. He hadn't thought magic existed a month ago but here he was, flung across the galaxy on a distant world with an alien sun.
He typed out a report encouraging research and extreme caution in regards to the subject. Given the Black Swan event that was this whole shitshow the existence of deities wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility now.
Additionally while the fervor of religious institutions had reduced in recent history, Earth never having contact with these "Brothers" could lead to unexpected and potentially dangerous results. Reno speculated that the more religiously inclined of Remnant could view Earth Humans as either untainted by sin or as cast out by The Gods due to the lack of documented cases of aura within Earth's history.
Michael was researching their weaponry, especially their directed energy weapons which were based on hardlight dust but still had a number of desirable qualities such as large charge capacities, variable damage, and low recoil impulse at the cost of low fire rates and at best mediocre destructive capabilities.
Ward was desperately trying to maintain his communications equipment and resorted to hanging a couple solar panels outside their window to try and recoup some power loss, seeing as his stuff was acting as a relay for the entire team and the FOB on the island.
He also got out a larger collapsible aerial and brought it up to the roof, securing it and threading a wire over the side and down into their room for better reception and to act as a better relay.
Poole established a basic lesson plan with input from each of the specialists. He broke them up into three different topics. Casualty treatment and Evacuation, as was to be taught by Williams with help from at least one other operator, squad tactics and combined arms operations as to be taught by Hashimura and Ward, and utilization of weapons, which focused on teaching people how to think around certain weapons systems and how to use several crew-served weapons as would be taught by Michael.
He forwarded that to Ozpin and a separate copy to command for approval and for the requested materiel on the part of Michael.
They started to get hungry and decided it would be best to head to the school's mess hall. Hashimura consulted the "Remnant Meal Plan" PowerPoint that he had been sent prior to assignment and agreed that now was about the proper time for lunch.
Days here were a bit longer so that needed to be accounted for when it came to caloric intake as well as when dealing with sleep schedules and jetlag from the mismatched day/night cycles.
The group left, locking the door behind them and taking some of the more sensitive equipment with them. They were under no illusions as to whether or not they were being observed so some prudence was called for.
The mess hall screamed "Prep school" to Williams with gothic arches with stained glass windows and ornate stone carvings adorning the exterior. The inside was markedly more humble with wooden tables and benches lining the interior with a simple buffet at one end.
There was more activity inside as students ate and talked, having a late breakfast or early lunch after sleeping in that morning.
The operators quickly headed over to the buffet, loaded up some food, and moved to sit. They ate quickly and quietly, learned over skills that remained from various training exercises. Efficiency was key because being able to take time was a luxury that wasn't often afforded.
There were a few hushed whispers about them as they brought their trays back and left but they ignored them. Apparently six heavily muscled men in identical fatigues weren't exactly common on school grounds, especially those that didn't look like they belonged to the Atlesian Armed forces.
They spent much of the afternoon finalizing lesson plans and requesting more resources either from Joint Base Contact Island (JBCI) or from local entities like Ozpin.
Hashimura organized PT that evening as they did a light run around much of Beacon's grounds as a warmup and headed to the gym to do some practical testing of aura in a physical environment.
They stretched and began.
Starting with deadlift they found the beefiest looking deadlift bar they could find as well as some straps as just because their legs could lift around 4000 pounds didn't mean their hands could hold onto it.
"Lets not push past 1000 pounds today, I don't want someone to fuck themselves up bad enough to get a heli ride out of here." Williams said, checking their aura levels. They were pretty much full after the run, just working up a light sweat.
Ward went first. He started slow with some warm up with only a couple of the local 70 pound plates on either end of the bar. They were marked 5 stone but the conversion was simple as Remnant just used some old English measurements. Something more for the eggheads to work out.
Ward focused on his legs, back, and stabilizing muscles, and could feel the muscle constricting more rapidly. He felt his blood flowing and the energy that it took to lift. He could feel the connection into the floor to the bar and he felt every breath he took as he raised the mass of them both and brought them down.
He passed 590 pounds, his previous pr without even slowing. Higher he went, meeting each increased weight with more flow into his muscles. It was a feeling unlike any he had felt before.
He passed 800 pounds. He felt better than ever.
He looked at the bar, loaded up with 1,020 pounds, took a deep breath in, wrapped the wrist-wraps around it, got a solid hook-grip, and lifted.
The bar strained under the weight, he straightened his body, and he let it down slowly.
He didn't drop it, he slowly lowered himself and the bar down until the weights kissed the ground silently.
The group of other operators just stared at him. He didn't even really feel tired, he just had a grin a mile wide as he saw their expressions.
Williams checked Ward's aura and found it had gotten fairly low.
Quickly he said, "That's probably enough of that Ward, your aura is low so focus on lighter exercises for the rest of today."
Williams woke up the next morning feeling like he got run over by a train to the sound of their alarm. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he thought back to their "exploration" of what aura could do.
He nearly had a heart attack when Hashimura clean and jerked around 750 pounds but taking ques from Ward their team leader deftly lowered the floor-cracking weight to the ground.
Then they all ran sub 4 minute miles without even really tiring and then it was obvious that any semblance of reason was to be cast out.
Sure it was unprofessional. Sure they probably should be building a better rapport with the locals. Williams however figured that the wide-eyed students that walked into three guys doing muscle-ups with another operator holding onto their feet meant that they were having a positive impact.
"Maybe it will encourage them to be better." Williams mumbled.
"Ah Jesus Christ." he heard Hashimura groan as he got out of bed.
They'd all ended up with very low auras, not to mention very sore muscles.
Williams got out of bed and stretched, running through a little routine. Ward, Poole, and the others joined in and soon they were mobile enough to stumble to the mess and eat breakfast.
It was a quiet affair except when Poole said, "We probably shouldn't have done that." and everyone just nodded.
Sure that was fun but they did have a job to do and Ozpin sent them a message to meet him at 1530 local time, which translated to just after mid-day.
Williams typed up their findings and experience and submitted a report, explaining it as an exploration of local Remnant aura manipulation techniques. Hashimura approved it and Ward sent it on.
They actually got a response from the CO of the units stationed at JBCI praising them for their proactive approach to learning about aura.
Hashimura nodded at this and carried on. He wasn't in charge of their group but his reaction might be a litmus test for those actually in charge.
They ate a quick lunch and traveled over to the central spire where Ozpin's office was. The elevator ride was quiet and they walked out into his office.
Ozpin was sitting at his desk looking through files on his terminal. "Come in." He said, not looking up.
"Not really much of a door." Hashimura quipped.
"Yes, it's just a formality." Ozpin said. He looked up and said, "Thank you for being on time. That frankly shouldn't be stand-out but some of those under my employ are less than reliable."
"We're professionals." Hashimura said.
"Oh yes, especially after that show you put on yesterday." Ozpin said, smiling.
"Simply familiarizing ourselves with the capabilities of aura." Hashimura said, face neutral.
"Of course. I wanted to discuss your training programs. We are in the run-up to a major sporting tournament, as you may have heard. I believe this is the perfect opportunity for cooperation between the kingdoms and the United States, especially when it comes to training." He paused, taking a sip of hot chocolate by William's guess, and continued, "Normally this sixday would involve practice sparring and while that will continue a large portion of it will be given over to your training program. The only thing I do ask is that you don't run my students into the ground before competitions."
"I don't think that will be a problem." Hashimura said, casting a sideways glance at Williams.
Williams just shrugged. He wasn't going to run them into the ground but he wasn't going to make graduating his class easy.
A V-280 arrived later that day with the requisitioned materials onboard it. They spent a lot of their evening moving the equipment and weaponry to a secure location.
Team RWBY walked into the lecture hall. Having heard they would be having guest teachers for the rest of the sixday they were ready for playing on their scrolls, doodling in their notebooks, and overall having a relaxed time of it.
When they saw two men in disturbingly familiar fatigues their hearts sank.
The figures waited until people had finished filing in and the bell rang. Introducing themselves one stepped forwards, saying, "I'm Medical Sergeant Martin Williams, you may address me as Mr. Williams or Sergeant Williams." Gesturing to his side he said, "This is Intelligence Sergeant Reno L. Clark. Address him similarly." He took a deep breath, "As you may know The United States, the group we represent, is pursuing an outreach and training campaign with local Remnant governments. Together over the next few days you are going to be receiving more extensive first aid training based on our experiences. At the end of this you will be faced with a combat evacuation scenario. You will not be graded on homework, we will not call on you to make sure you are paying attention, we will not remind you of anything, we will not praise you for taking notes. You will be assessed and you will either pass or you will fail. There is no in-between. Your performance is entirely up to you."
He looked over the faces of the students. Ruby felt like shrinking into her boots when his gaze passed over her.
She heard Sun whisper to his team, "Aren't they the guys in the gym from yesterday."
Williams ignored the comment and continued, picking up an object and holding it out to the class. It was a kind of bundled up strap with a rod sticking off to the side. Speaking slowly he said, "Do you all see this? If you take absolutely nothing else away from this course, take away how to use this. This is a tourniquet. If used properly it will cut off the bleeding from a limb. This is the easiest way to save someone's life that I know of so by God listen. Now it does this by cutting off the blood supply to the entire limb by constricting around its base. This will eventually kill the cells within the limb but that process will take several hours at least and with aura is even less of a concern. When in doubt, use a tourniquet."
He gestured for Reno to come over and said, "Now this is a purpose made tourniquet but you can improvise one and I will show you how later. I am having some shipped over for you but they are not here yet but the principle for application will apply for both."
He unclipped two parts and attached it around Reno's arm and cinched it down with the strap. "First, secure the tourniquet around the base of the limb. Make sure it is away from any major lacerations and that it is tight."
He then rotated the bar a couple times, tightening the tourniquet a bit. "Then rotate the bar, ratcheting down the device until you basically cannot tighten it any more and secure the bar." He said, tucking the bar into the holder for it, securing it in place. He turned to the class, "Now this is going to really hurt for the bastard you're applying this to and it will be painful. You need to be ready for that as they may attempt to rip it off but it will easily save their life. This is about as easy as it comes. Each and every soldier in the United States military carries at least one and you should too when they become available. Now it's recommended to record the time at which you applied the tourniquet but obviously it's combat and playing fast and loose with certain rules is alright so that shouldn't be a priority."
He took a deep breath, "Now that I am done with the tourniquet spiel, let's go over the role of a combat lifesaver and steps of combat casualty care..."
Team RWBY was relaxing in their room after an arduous day of learning various doctrines, weapons systems, and how to deal with a crushed rib cage.
"Maybe they aren't so bad." Yang said as she deposited her notebook bag on one of their desks.
"Yeah but they could maybe tone down the language." Weiss said, working on her nails.
Yang rolled her eyes and asked, "The medic showed a video of someone who had their arm blown off and you're concerned about their language?"
"That's the exception because I did enjoy seeing Jaune throw up." Weiss said, smiling a little.
"Oh vomit boy, where would we be without him?" Yang quipped.
"Probably not where we are now. It was his team that discovered Merlot's operation." Ruby said, not looking up from her comic book.
"It was still satisfying to see Sergeant Williams tell him that he should've picked a different profession if he wasn't prepared to see that." Weiss said with a distant look.
"Wow there Weiss I think you might be falling for the mysterious Sergeant." Yang teased.
"I am not!" She exploded, "Way to ruin the mood Yang."
Yang's grin grew even wider. "How could I help, lover girl? Should I get a bouquet of flowers or some scented candles?" She asked.
Weiss turned away and said indignantly, "You're absolutely insufferable."
Yang chuckled and said, "Besides between him and Neptune-"
She was cut off when Weiss exclaimed, "Ruby, remember the cool gun that Sergeant Smith showed off?"
Yang just crossed her arms and looked on at the clever distraction.
"Oh you mean Michael?" Ruby asked, looking up, "You're going to have to be more specific than that."
"Uh the big ugly one. Shaped like a metal brick-" Weiss said thoughtlessly.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL IT UGLY!" Ruby exploded, "IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MACHINE EVEN IF IT IS OVER ONE-HUNDRED YEARS OLD."
Weiss cowered in fear as she managed to only worsen her situation.
"Your mind is your weapon, it is your armor." Winter called as she observed the trainees engage in exercises. "It can be used to help you or to hurt the enemy. Sharpening that is as important as any physical blade."
They were currently undergoing the unenviable task of punching through a solid brick wall.
"Do not fear the impact, embrace it. Meet it with all your strength and overpower it." She said, pacing. The first operator took that necessary plunge and struck his barrier, breaking through it. The others followed.
Winter showered up. She and the other Atlas liaisons still retained their old uniforms which were not exactly great for the weather of North Carolina in the summer. The AC was refreshing as she finished up some paperwork in the quarters she had been assigned along with another female Atlas enlisted.
Speaking of the Dark Brother and he cometh, she walked through the door, in a similar state to Winter when she got done with the day's training. She also headed straight to the shower, taking the opportunity to cool off.
When she came out she was dressed and was talking about her own trainees or something. Winter gritted her teeth and ignored it.
"Well brothers, you should've seen them. I swear you could smell the sex right off of them." her roommate said.
Winter bit back a comment of that being due to Rosa being a female dog Faunus but she didn't need to be reported for racial insensitivity after the colossal fuckup that was her current position.
"And I mean seriously who could blame them. I remember my first time doing it with aura. Godsdamn that was good."
Winter couldn't take it, "Will you just shut up for the love of the Brothers I swear I will make The Shattering look like a fucking slap on the wrist if I have to put up with your Grimmshit for one more fucking minute!" She stopped, breathing hard, and composed herself. "I don't want to hear about your trainees screwing, I don't want to hear about you screwing, I want to do my Godsdamn job."
Rosa chewed her lip, "Well after what you did to get here, you've got quite the task on your plate."
That was it. Winter got up and left, slamming the door behind her. She needed to blow off some steam so she got a ride off base to one of the local bars.
The place was crowded with soldiers on leave but she managed to get a quiet enough spot and sipped at a local brew.
It wasn't quite as good as the Atlesian stuff but it was good enough.
She sighed, people watching when she was pulled out of her trance by a coughing sound.
A man was standing next to where she was sitting and asked, "Is that taken?" Motioning to the seat next to her.
"Uh no." She said, taking another drink from her stein.
"Thanks." He said, sitting down. He looked familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
"It's kinda nice places like this." he said, watching the crowd with her, "Lets you get away from all the bullshit."
Winter rolled her eyes. "Are you going to ask me out or what?" she asked, irritated.
"No, I got a wife and kids, I ain't gonna hurt them." He said, taking a sip, "But I know when someone isn't doing great and you've got that written all over you. Guess some things translate across worlds." He turned to her and asked, "So what's bothering you?"
Winter unloaded and he nodded along, providing commentary or personal experiences. They laughed and joked at some of them and held wan smiles at others. The night was long but she didn't have any duties tomorrow. She went back to her room feeling refreshed and managed to hold her desire to gut Rosa like a fish after a few lecherous comments on her part.
Mays walked out of the bar and took a puff of his E-Cig. It was just chance that he met that Atlas woman from the earlier session at Davis-Monthan AFB but he learned never to turn down chances. Some of his own tension about Poole, Ward, and Williams was lifted. He'd be damned if they managed to catch it even while not under his command. He walked out into the night, heading back to his life.
Understanding the Genetic History of Remnant.
Abstract: Since informal contact with the humans of Remnant there have been numerous genetic samples taken from both Human and "Faunus" persons. Given the recent genetic testing of a significant sample size the hypothesis for panspermia from Earth to Remnant at least in regards to human habitation is most likely. Genetic testing has revealed traces of all Haplogroups with the notable exception of the entirety of Haplogroup Q-M242 and its subclade Q1, which arose through mutation approximately 17,000 years ago. This, and other genetic markers, allows us to put a rough date on the initial panspermia event as around 19-25,000 years before present. It is notable that rare cases of admixture have been recorded in individuals indicating further crossovers between the population of Earth and that of Remnant on small scales though the current historical record does not provide any conclusive explanation for this.
The Lack of Genetic Explanation for Faunus Traits.
Abstract: With genetic testing of both Human and Faunus populations on Remnant there as of yet is no genetic explanation for the phenotypic traits they display. When tested, Faunus posses DNA that would indicate normal human development, with computer simulations not displaying any abnormal characteristics throughout development of the fetus through puberty. Because of this research must be shifted from the area of biology to the emerging field of Aura analysis.