Enjoy.
xXx
The first thing Jaune feels when he regains consciousness is the throbbing pain that rakes across his entire body. Everything from his head to his fingers aches in agony with no sign of stopping anytime soon.
Recognizing the touch of dirt as he lies on his back, Jaune slowly pushes himself up to a sitting position while almost collapsing again, due to the pain that throbs across his sore and weak muscles. Once he's fully sitting up, Jaune rubs his eyes to rid himself of his blurry vision and soon sees why he is in so much pain.
Surrounding him are the remains of what use to be a Bullhead. The destroyed remains of the vehicle lay in ruins across the trench in which Jaune finds himself in. Most of the destroyed pieces of the Bullhead are also on fire, providing Jaune with more warmth than he naturally desires. Slowly and painfully, Jaune pushes himself up to his feet and inwardly cheers, having only fallen back down twice. A personal best!
Once on his feet, Jaune looks down on his person and sees that his body is mostly intact, although his clothing has definitely seen better days. What armour he is wearing is beaten and scratched so badly that he can only compare them to a piece of scrap metal. His pair of jeans is a bit burnt at the bottom with a big cut going down his right leg, but to be fair, it's the most intact of all his clothing. His Pumpkin Pete hoodie is covered in cuts and it's obvious to the former Beacon student that no amount of stitching will be able to repair it. The sight is enough to nearly bring a tear to his eye, remembering all the Pumpkin Pete cereal he had to eat to earn enough box tops to get the hoodie.
Although, the smell of burning flesh has Jaune suck up his inner pain to instead, cover his mouth so to avoid spilling the contents of his stomach across the floor.
Looking for the source of the smell, Jaune soon finds it when he sees a burning figure which is sitting on a mostly intact chair. While the corpse is burnt so badly that it's difficult to recognize the person, Jaune remembers the burning piece of metal on the corpse's head which use to be a helmet to belong to the pilot of his Bullhead. Having never seen a dead body, let alone smell one while it's burning, Jaune loses all self control and throws up the contents from within his stomach. When he runs out of vomit, he begins to retch for a moment before managing to get himself under control.
Wiping the remnants of his breakfast from his lips, Jaune offers the pilot a silent prayer before he looks around his surroundings. He sees no sign of forestry whatsoever, only pillars and cliffs of rocks. "I can't be in Vale. There isn't a tree for miles" he said to himself with a frown.
Furrowing his brows in thought, Jaune attempts to remember how he has gotten himself into this position in the first place. He recalls having got on the Bullhead after being expelled from Beacon while trying his best not to cry during the trip home. However, after an hour into the trip, the pilot called out to him, saying something about a missile? Next thing he knew, an explosion erupted by the back of the Bullhead and flames engulfed the vehicle as it crashed.
"Why didn't I die?" Jaune asked himself, wondering why he isn't a burning corpse like the pilot. While he rather prefers to be in agonizing pain than dead, he is still curious about how he of all people could have survived such a terrible crash. The answer to Jaune's question soon comes to him when he sees his hands glow white for a brief moment. Glancing down at his hands, Jaune watches as the white light flickers for a moment before shattering into nothingness. "Aura. So that's how I survived." Still, it looks like his Aura has reached its limit as it has shattered after protecting his body from a majority of the damage from the crash.
Unfortunately, Jaune's bad luck continues to cause him problems once he hears the sound of growling Beowolves.
Feeling his blood turn cold, Jaune slowly turns around and widens his eyes in horror when he sees a trio of Beowolves as they climb over a pile of rocks while drooling. Obviously, they were attracted by his current negativity and decided to get a snack out of him.
Having taken off Crocea Mors from his person after getting in the Bullhead, Jaune quickly looks around the Bullhead wreckage to hopefully find his family's ancestral weapon. A slimmer of hope creeps up in his chest when he sees the familiar shine of Crocea Mors from beside a piece of melting metal a couple of feet away from him. Unlike the metal that made up the Bullhead, Crocea Mors looks to be completely intact, showcasing to incredible durability of the unknown metal it's made up of.
While he may have found his weapon, Jaune still needs to retrieve the weapon before fighting three Beowolves. If that's not enough, he has to do so with his body in agony and his Aura having shattered, leaving him completely defenseless. Still, if there's one thing that Jaune Arc is, it's determined.
So when the leading Beowolf steps forward, Jaune immediately makes a run for the sword. However, his first step causes a sudden sharp pain to erupt from his ankle, causing Jaune to collapse forward. Not one to give up so easily, Jaune goes with the momentum and tilts his head down while falling. This has him roll forward across the rocky floor before jumping towards his weapon when he gets back onto his feet. Reaching out to his weapon, Jaune grabs a hold of Crocea Mors handle and with a swift pull, manages to unsheath the weapon.
Quickly turning around, Jaune attempts to swing Crocea Mors, but widens his eyes in horror when he sees that the Beowolf is a lot closer than he originally thought it would be. That's why when he sees the Beowolf raise and drop one of its sharp claws down on him, he has no way to defend himself.
Jaune can only watch in horror as the claw descends down towards his right eye...
xXx
Waking up in a cold sweat, Jaune pants in mental exhaustion as he looks around his surroundings to make sure he is still in his bedroom aboard the Mother of Invention. Once he regains control of his racing thoughts and pumping heart, Jaune sighs in exhaustion. Pushing off his covers, Jaune throws his legs to the side of his bed, revealing that he sleeps in a simple pair of briefs. "That dream again" he muttered while leaning his elbows against his knees.
Pushing himself up to his feet, Jaune walks into the bathroom that is connected to his bedroom. Twisting the cold tap on, Jaune pools the cold water into his hand and throws it up into his face to help himself wake up.
As he leans against the sink, Jaune looks up at the mirror and sees his exhausted face stare back at him. "Hey handsome" he muttered with a dry laugh. His gaze soon focuses onto his right eye and he touches the scar running down it, feeling the phantom pain of having his eye gouged out by that Beowolf. The phantom pains never truly do fade away, but they do lessen in time. The same can be said about his missing arm, as well as the numerous other scars that litter his body.
The only upside is that he gave those Beowolves more than they could chew.
Jaune looks down at a clock beside the sink and sees that it's just over 5 AM. While it's still a bit early to get up, he knows that he won't be able to get back to sleep after having that dream.
So, after taking a quick shower and getting himself dressed, Jaune leaves the privacy of his bedroom and steps out into one of the many hallways of the airship. Walking down one direction, Jaune decides to get some breakfast from the Mess Hall. As he has Freelancers working in all hours, the Mess Hall is always stocked with food and is open at all times. He doesn't want any of his men and women to starve, just because they are unlucky enough to get the night shift.
Walking through the sliding door, Jaune sees that the Mess Hall is mostly empty, but is quite surprised to see Washington, North, South and Felix sitting by one of the tables near the doorway. All of them, except for Washington have their helmets off and since he can't see them on their person, he guesses that they all left them in their lockers.
North is the first one to notice his arrival. "General? What are you doing up this early?"
"I could ask you the same thing" remarked Jaune, walking towards the occupied table. "I don't recall having any of you on security duty tonight."
"You didn't, but Commander Jensen did" answered Washington while he sucks a carton of apple juice through his helmet with a straw. "Had to take over security duty over at the CCT. He said something about how we can't always have the same people on the same security detail every day."
"Which is bullshit, by the way" stated South, uncaring of her bad mouth while in the presence of the General. She usually makes sure to keep control of her bad language when the General is around, but she's off duty right now and so, she doesn't give a shit.
That doesn't stop North from shaking his head in disappointment.
"Why the hell are you drinking juice from a straw with your helmet still on?" asked Felix with a perplexed expression on his face as he stares at Washington's weird eating habits. It's not the first time he has seen it, but Locus stopped him from asking about it before.
"York says that the helmet waste disposal is out of Beta. Said that it'll make my eating more efficient" answered Washington before taking another sip from his juice.
Jaune hides his laugh by coughing into his fist, but South and Felix aren't as willing to pretend they find Washington's naive personality funny.
"And you believed him?" laughed Felix. "You're so naive!"
"Washington's eating habits aside" spoke Jaune, getting another laugh from everyone by the table, except for Washington. "You should all rest up. You all must be tired."
Felix stands up from the table and stretches his arms over his head. "That's an order I can get behind" he said before heading towards the door. "Later losers" he exclaimed while waving over his shoulder.
Chuckling at Felix's antics, Jaune walks to the food so he can get something for breakfast.
While Felix leaves the Mess Hall, South watches him leave with a longing gaze. She tries to look discrete, but she has the unfortunate luck to share a Semblance with her brother. So while she may pretend to not be staring at Felix, North uses Mind's Eye to see through his sister's eyes and much to his disgust, her eyes seem to be focused on Felix's ass.
North waits for Felix to be out of the room before rounding on his sister. "Will you just ask the guy out already? It isn't like Felix is going to say no to you."
Caught off guard by her brother's sudden statement, South suddenly wishes that she her helmet on so to hide the heat that she can feel creep up on her cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about! I won't sit here and listen to you make up stupid lies about me liking a prick like Felix" she exclaimed while glaring at her brother. Violently pushing off the table, South storms out of the Mess Hall and shoves aside another Freelancer who gets in her way.
Said Freelancer says nothing, knowing all about South's bad temper. In fact, the entire ship knows about South's bad temper, hence why they all try to get in her way. She may not be the best Freelancer, South is still one of the better ones.
"Where's South?" asked Jaune, having returned to the table with a tray of food on hand. He places the tray down on the table and sits beside Washington, waiting to know about South's sudden whereabouts.
"North teased South about her crush on Felix and told her that she should just ask him out and I agree. How Felix doesn't see her discrete glances is beyond me" replied Washington. He has been sitting in front of South before she left so he has seen her ogling Felix as he left. He'll admit that they do make a cute couple, only for the fact that they're both mean, arrogant and beasts on the battlefield. "Oh no, they're children are going to be killing machines" he thought, inwardly groaning at the thought of the two of them reproducing.
"What do you think we should do with them, General? I say we just lock them in a closet and let them have at it" asked North, looking towards his leader for guidance. Having lived in a small frontier town in the west of Mistral, he has always thought that his village elder is the smartest person there is, but then the General showed up to town with the Freelancers, although they weren't as big as they are now. While his town elder was wise, the General is smart. Smarter than anyone his age should be.
Jaune nearly chokes on the sausage in his mouth and after hitting his chest, manages to swallow it down. Once his airways are free, Jaune chuckles over North's question. "Believe me, I am the last person you should be asking for romance advice."
"Really?" asked North, feeling a little bit skeptical about that. "The guy who has women from all across Remnant chasing after him doesn't have any romance advice to share?"
"Sounds like he's being selfish to me" joked Washington, managing to somehow eat his scrambled eggs through his helmet.
Jaune chokes up once again, but not on from food. He can't deny North's statement, seeing as it is mostly true. It turns out that by saving their lives and offering protection to the frontier towns, many of the resident women have attempted to repay him back in kind. While he accepted some of their generous repayments, that was years ago when he was a hormonal teenager and the Freelancers were nothing but a small group of people with limited training and weaponry skills. Now, he tries his best to ignore such offers whenever he visits the frontier towns.
The door to the Mess Hall opens, revealing a very heavily armoured Freelancer who's armour is painted a mix of steel and maroon trim. The Freelancer's most noticeable feature is his helmet which has the design of a shark, therefore, earning him the name, Sharkface. A few have mocked him for his name and the design of his helmet, but Sharkface always reminds them why they shouldn't by sending them to the Medical Bay.
( Sharkface - Red Vs Blue )
Standing up to greet the Freelancer, as well as avoid the current conversation with North and Washington, Jaune smiles in greeting. "Sharkface. How was your mission with your team?"
"Boring" grunted Sharkface in what sounds like annoyance. "Nothing but a pack of Beowolves with a couple of Ursai. There was no challenge." Honestly, with his heavy Mjolnir armour and powerful Flamethrower, there is nothing that can give him much of a challenge lately, especially when he's fighting with the rest of his team.
Jaune visibly perks up, knowing a mission which he can supply Sharkface and his team. "If it's a challenge that you're after, then bring your team to the Bridge in 1800 hours. I have a mission that might provide that challenge you seek" told Jaune.
"Really? Well then, I guess I'll inform my team of the good news then" answered Sharkface before he turns and leaves the Mess Hall. He has a team he needs to find so he can inform them of their newest task and if what the General says is true, it might actually be a good challenge.
Jaune turns back to Washington and North. "It has been fun, but I must return to my duties. Remember to rest up and try not to aggravate South anymore than you have" he told before stepping out of the Mess Hell. Good thing he does so, because more Freelancers are starting to arrive for breakfast.
North shakes his head with a small smirk. "You know, I've seen the General fight bandits, androids and hordes of Grimm without so much as a flinch, but I've never seen him run away from a conversation about romance before."
"I think we just found his one weakness" said Washington with a grin hiding underneath his helmet.
North laughs at Washington. "Don't let him hear you say that about him. He'll have you cleaning toilets before you know it."
( Beacon - Ozpin's Office )
Three days have passed by since the arrival of the Freelancers and Ozpin will admit that having them in Vale has been a great decision on his part, no matter what Glynda says.
Almost immediately, all thefts on Dust stores in the city has stopped and it's most likely because of the squads of armoured Freelancers who are constantly patrolling the streets of Vale. Not only has the Dust thefts come to a halt, but signs of gang violence has also stopped as well. That is likely because of the Freelancers who managed to completely wipe out the entirety of the Black Void gang who occupied the southern side of Vale. All in one night as well.
Ozpin knows exactly what happened, having attained the arrest reports from his friends in the Vale Police Department. Within minutes, the Freelancers invaded the street gang's headquarters and killed any who fought back while taking back the rest as prisoners. From the reports given by the prisoners, all of their firepower merely bounced off the Freelancers armour and didn't even leave a scratch. While the gangsters didn't possess Hunter weaponry, it further proves to Ozpin that their technology is more advanced than even Atlas's own. Discovering that one of the biggest gangs in the Kingdom have been beaten so easily likely made the other gangs too afraid to act out.
While he reads the arrest reports, Ozpin hears the sound of something tapping the glass of his window. Turning to the window, Ozpin sees a crow tapping its beak against the glass. Standing up, Ozpin walks over to the window and opens it up for the bird which then flies in before transforming into Ozpin's greatest operative, Qrow.
"Sup, Oz. I noticed that you've got a bit of an infestation going on. Want to tell me about it?" asked Qrow, referring to the Freelancers as the infestation. Having flown around Vale for a bit, Qrow didn't fail to notice the hundreds of Freelancer men and women who are patrolling the streets. The giant airship floating in the sky might have also caught his sight.
Ozpin smirks at Qrow in a playful manner. "You noticed them, did you?"
Qrow's brow twitches in annoyance. "Yes, I noticed the giant airship in the sky so quit it with the games and tell me what's going on" he said before dropping himself onto one of the seats in front of Ozpin's desk.
"I guess I should explain" sighed Ozpin. For the next fifteen minutes, Ozpin explains the situation to Qrow and for every minute that passes, Qrow's eyebrows rise a few millimeters higher. By the end of Ozpin's explanation, his brows are nearly hidden underneath his hair.
"So what you are saying is that you convinced the Council to hire the Freelancers to take over security for the Kingdom until the Vytal Festival tournament takes place? At which point, Jimmy will show up at the last minute to take over?" Once he sees Ozpin nod, Qrow sighs and takes out his hip flask before taking a deep pull of its contents. The burning sensation in his throat has Qrow sigh in satisfaction before he rounds back on Ozpin. "And you're okay with having a group of mercenaries walking around the city with their guns and heavy armour?"
"What makes that any different than the Huntsmen and Huntresses who walk the streets?" remarked Ozpin, quirking a lone brow.
Qrow opens his mouth to retort, but finds out he has no defence to Ozpin's remark. "Point taken. Still though, you must have another reason for having them here and it's not just because you want to host the Vytal Festival."
Ozpin nods to Qrow's question. "True. While I am delighted that the Vytal Festival is allowed to continue, that isn't the main reason for bringing them here."
"And that reason is?" asked Qrow, leaning back against his chair.
Ozpin leans forward and crosses his fingers together while planting his elbows on the desk. "We're losing this war, Qrow. I know it and you know it."
Qrow flinches, knowing that to be very true. More Grimm are swarming the Grimmlands and more settlements are being destroyed nearly every day. Honestly, if not for the Freelancers being located in the Grimmlands, the Grimm would've destroyed most of the frontier towns by now. They can't even send Hunters to fight off the Grimm from the frontier towns because they're being used to deter the Grimm that are near the Kingdom's walls. Grimm numbers continue to rise while the lives of Humans and Faunus continue to dwindle. The activities of the White Fang aren't helping matters either.
Ozpin continues to speak. "More Hunters die every day while fighting off Salem and her cohorts. Every day, we take a step backwards while she takes a step forward. In time, the Grimm will eventually overrun us all. That's why I have the Freelancers here."
Qrow's eyes widen as everything clicks to him. "You want to bring them into the fold?" Qrow said as more of a statement than an actual question. It's the only plausible reason that makes sense, at least to him anyway.
"They're highly trained and heavily armed men and women with technology that will make even James jealous. If we can have them as allies, it could be the push we need to finally get one over on Salem."
"Then why not just hire them? They're mercenaries, right? They'll do anything for money."
Ozpin sighs as he leans back against his chair. "Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be that easy."
"Why not?" asked Qrow with a shrug of his shoulders. "What's stopping you?"
"Ten years ago, their General was once a student at Beacon who was then expelled for faking his transcripts" deadpanned Ozpin. "Might I add that Glynda was also a bit harsh on him when doing so."
Qrow pauses as he tries to take in the information Ozpin has just dropped on his lap. "Well shit, that doesn't sound good." And he means that to the extreme. He knows what Glynda is like when she's harsh and it isn't pretty.
"Doesn't sound good indeed" stated Ozpin before sighing. "I was hoping that his bond with his team would've stuck with him, but while there isn't any hostility between them, there isn't a close enough bond there either."
"So then, what's the plan? How are we going to get into the General's good books?" asked Qrow, hoping that Ozpin has an answer. If Ozpin doesn't have an answer, then nobody in Remnant does.
Luckily for him, Ozpin does have one. "We hold an event. Nothing too big like the student fighting tournament, but something similar."
"So what type of event are we talking about here?"
( Vale )
The entirety of team RWBY can be found walking down the busy streets of Vale so they can see the many stalls that have been set up for the festivities of the Vytal Festival.
"Wow! There's even more people here than last time" exclaimed Ruby as she notices the large amount of people who are viewing the many stalls. She remembers her first year in Beacon Academy when the Vytal Festival took place in Vale and she doesn't recall there being so many people in the city before, especially this early in the festivities. There's still a couple of weeks before the fighting tournament between the four Hunter Academies and that's usually the time when everyone shows up.
"That's because half the people here are Freelancers and I'm not just talking about the ones in suits of armour" remarked Blake, using her sharp eyes to spot the Freelancers who are dressed in civilian garbs. It's not so hard to find the Freelancers as quite a few of them have tattoos of the Freelancer symbol on visible parts of their bodies. She also doesn't miss how they are all carrying a weapon on their person, mostly a pistol.
"What the hell are you looking at?" asked Yang, glaring at an armoured Freelancer who has been staring at the group while leaning against the wall of a nearby building. Said Freelancer continues to stare back at Yang, seemingly undisturbed by the glaring Huntress. "You got something to say?"
"Maine, get over here! We're on patrol!" shouted a Freelancer from down the road.
The Freelancer turns to his squad before turning back to Yang and growls. Pushing himself off the wall, Maine walks after his squad, ignoring the glaring Huntress who drills a hole into the back of his head with her eyes.
"That's right, runaway" egged on Yang, only to be stopped by Ruby who pulls the back of her jacket.
"Stop it, Yang. You said you'd be good" said Ruby, fearing the chance of Maine and Yang fighting. She has seen Maine fight before and can honestly say that she has no idea who would win in a fight between them. Both of them have similar fighting styles and while Yang has an advantage with her Semblance, Maine has his suit of Mjolnir armour which could even things out.
Yang growls, but eventually sighs in defeat. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm still a little pissed about Raven and the Freelancers. To be honest, seeing so many of them around is starting to annoy me."
"I understand, but you have got to chill. Last thing we want to do is anger the Freelancers" stated Weiss, having no desire to anger the dangerous army.
Just as Yang opens her mouth to reply, they all hear a commotion coming from one of the nearby stalls.
"What the hell?! That's nearly three times the original price you gave to the person before me!" yelled a Freelancer at the unapologetic food stall owner. Said Freelancer is in civilian garb, showcasing the patches of green scales that litter her arms and face, indicating that she's a Faunus. The Freelancer symbol can be seen etched into the right side of her neck.
"You don't like it? Then go get your food somejwere else, Faunus" remarked the stall owner, glaring at the Faunus in disgust. "I can charge my food any way I like."
"You racist little shit" cursed the Freelancer who looks like she's about to pummel the stall owner. The four members of team RWBY don't miss how the Freelancer is slowly moving her hand towards her holstered pistol.
Just as team RWBY are about to interfere, nearby armoured Freelancers begin to step up to the stall, having noticed the commotion. "What's the problem here?" asked a Freelancer who Ruby recognizes as Felix who's in his suit of Mjolnir armour.
"This racist bastard is overpricing his goods to me, simply cause I'm a Faunus" remarked the Faunus without a second thought.
The five Freelancers who are surrounding the stall quickly turn to the slowly sweating stall owner. "Really?~ We can't have that now, can we?" stated Felix and from the tone of his voice, everyone is sure that he has an evil grin hiding underneath that helmet of his.
While intimidated by the heavily armed and armoured soldiers, the stall owner stands his ground. "N-Now listen here, I run this stall. Not any of you so I can price my goods whatever way I want!"
Felix nods in response. "Of course you can. I wouldn't want to disrespect you in how you do things. We're just here for security purposes. However, I'm a bit worried about the state of your stall."
"Worried over the state of my stall?"
"Yep. How can't I worry when it's made of such flimsy wood." To prove his point, Felix swings his foot into the front of the stall, making a sizeable hole in the structure. "Look at that. There's a hole in your stall. Don't you realize how dangerous that is?"
"What the hell did you just do!?" shouted the stall owner in horror.
A female Freelancer in silver-coloured armour walks to the left side of the stall. "There's a hole over here as well." There actually isn't any until she swings the butt of her Battle Rifle into the side of the stall, breaking the wood as easily as swinging a hammer onto thin ice.
Another Freelancer kicks out the corner of the stall, causing it to collapse to one side and make a lot of food to fall to the floor. "It's collapsing on itself. That's a very dangerous safety hazard to have. In all good conscience, we can't allow this stall to remain open until you have fixed all the terrible craftsmanship."
Felix wraps an arm around the unarmoured Faunus Freelancer and sighs. "Looks like you can't buy any food from him today, Olive. Who'd buy food from a stall that's falling on itself anyway?" Felix leads the satisfied looking Faunus down the road. "Let's go see what food the other stalls are selling. Food that I'm sure they'll all sell at a reasonable price for all races." The surrounding people quickly make space for Felix and Olive, as well as the other intimidating Freelancers while the nearby stalls make sure to sell to all races without any problems.
They don't want to end up as the poor smuck who's crying in his destroyed food stall.
Team RWBY sees the events take place and each member are unsure to what to think.
"I feel like we should've dine something about that" said Weiss. The Freelancers may be in charge of security, but she knows that they just abused their power.
"I don't know. Guy had it coming if you asked me" shrugged Yang, seeing no actual problem with what the Freelancers did.
Blake is unsure what she should feel. As a Huntress, she finds what they did distasteful. As a Faunus, she finds what the Freelancers did enlightening and is happy to see Faunus and Humans stick up for one another.
Ruby just sighs, believing that the more open racists should keep their mouths quiet when in the presence of any Freelancers. If there is one thing she learned from staying on the Mother of Invention, it's that they all have each others backs, no matter what race you are. It's actually one of the things she highly respects them for.
( Mother of Invention - Jaune's Office )
"He's joking, right?" asked Jaune as he looks down at the message on the Scroll that Adam is showing him.
Just a few minutes ago, he has been working on gathering information for the mission that Sharkface and his team will be undertaking for him. While they may not know it, they're mission will be of vital importance and he can't skip on any of the details for the mission. Misinformation could cause the deaths of any one of his Freelancers.
Yet, that doesn't stop Adam from walking into his office and presenting him with a Scroll with a message from the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. A message that he finds to be too crazy to be legit.
"I'm afraid not, sir" answered Adam, looking as stern as usual, although the way the edges of his lips twitch show that he is finding the message strange as well.
"A mini tournament between Freelancers and Hunters? What's his game?" asked Jaune as he looks over the long and winded message.
"It could be that he wants to learn some secrets about us. I do recall that time he sent his right hand man to dig for information" spoke Adam, remembering when a dusty old crow flew into a few of their territories to search for information about them. Luckily, the Freelancers are more loyal than Ozpin's group thought and they got word to the other Freelancer territories about the nosey Qrow.
Jaune nods, remembering that as well. "True. It could also be a means for the Hunters and Freelancers to get to know each other. I haven't failed to notice the tension between my troops and the local Hunters" he stated, knowingly.
Adam can't deny the tension as it's so thick that he can probably cut it with a knife. While there are some Hunters who don't seem to mind the heavy presence of the Freelancers, the majority holds them all in contempt. Some have even attempted to get into brawls with a few Freelancers, but none fall for their attempts. The Hunters would probably force them into fights with them, if not for the Freelancers overwhelming numbers. Adam believes that they do this because of their pride and knows that it will be the death of them someday.
"What should I say back to him?" asked Adam, waiting for his leader's response.
Jaune offers the Scroll back to his Commander and shrugs his shoulders. "Tell him to wait for my response. I'll need time to think about this." Honestly, he doesn't want to waste the time and effort to placing his men and women into a mini tournament for Ozpin's entertainment, but he also doesn't want to keep avoiding Texas and Carolina for spars. There are other Freelancers who are craving for some action and he knows that if they were to find out about Ozpin's offer, they would be begging him to accept.
Still, he'll wait and see how the situation pans out for the Kingdom. If there is a lack of dangerous elements within the Kingdom, he'll agree so to sate the thirst of his more violent Freelancers. p
xXx
Roman Torchwick is one of the greatest criminals in all of Remnant and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.
While Roman prefers to keep himself in Vale, his infamous exploits are known from across the four corners of Remnant. Everyone knows that if there is anything that can be stolen, Roman can get his hands on it, no matter what it is or how much security is placed on it.
With this skill, Roman has managed to swipe a few Atlesian Paladins for the White Fang to use when the time is right. He has also been the one who has been stealing from the Dust stores in Vale so to supply the terrorist organization with the craved substance. For the past few months, he has been doing a good job in gathering Dust, as shown in his current hideout which is an abandoned warehouse with large boxes filled with the dangerous substance.
However, for the past few days, Roman has been forced to stop his thieving ways and not because he wants to.
Obviously, he hasn't failed to notice the giant airship that hovers over the city, or the hundreds of armoured soldiers who are patrolling around the city in all hours. He also hasn't noticed how many of their patrols leads them near the Dust stores, making it near impossible for Roman to gather any meanwhile Dust unless he wants to find himself on the other end of their rifles.
That is why he is in his hideout and not on the streets, stealing any Dust.
Leaning against the wooden table which showcases a map of Vale, Roman sighs. "These Freelancers are becoming a great pain in my ass" he muttered in the empty warehouse.
At least, he thought it was empty.
"Oh~ Roman. I do hate to see you mad."
Tensing up, Roman turns around and sees the woman who has been forcing him to help the White Fang with their Dust problem. While she may look beautiful with her smooth skin, luscious black hair and form fitting dress, he knows that she's nothing more than an ugly witch in disguise. It makes sense as she's somehow capable of conjuring those flames out of nowhere and he doubts it has anything to do with her Semblance.
Of course, Roman isn't someone to show his weaknesses so easily. "Cinder! How good it is to see you. What's this? Didn't bring the kids with you?" he asked, referring to the two young ones who usually follow after her.
Cinder smirks as she steps forward with each step making a loud noise in the tense silence. "Unfortunately, Emerald and Mercury have business elsewhere. Tying up loose ends that you were suppose to handle."
Roman tries not to flinch, having forgotten about the White Fang's traitor which he was tasked to deal with. He has been so focused on gathering Dust that he has completely forgot. "You know, it's nice to get the kids out there doing something these days. Besides, I've been a bit busy, gathering the Dust you so desperately need."
Cinder glances at the many boxes in the warehouse and frowns in disappointment. "Yet, I don't see anywhere near enough."
Roman raises his arms in defence. "Can't blame me on this one. What you see here is all the Dust that wasn't sent off to Mount Glenn. I can't exactly go robbing the stores anymore since the Freelancers are hanging around every corner."
Cinder nods in understanding. "Yes, the sudden arrival of the Freelancers have surprised even me. However, their presence will not stop or slow down proceedings. You will get me more Dust."
"And how am I suppose to get this Dust if I can't steal them from the stores?" asked Roman with a tone.
Cinder doesn't miss the tone and offers a playful smirk. "Collect the Dust before they arrive to the stores, Roman." She turns and walks to the exit, missing the surprised and annoyed expression on Roman's face. "You're the thief, Roman. Stop having me do your job for you."
( Mother of Invention - Bridge )
While standing in front of the holographic table, Jaune looks out of the wide window and sees Vale in all its glory. Jaune mostly ignores the noise that the scientists on the consoles are making and turns around when he hears the doors open. He sees eight Freelancers step into the Bridge and just like the Carmine brothers, they are all wearing similar suits of Mjolnir armour which are also painted with the same colours of steel and maroon.
The one leading them goes by the name, Michael Joplin, but he is simply called Leader by his team. His armour is painted steel and maroon while a capsule emblem is displayed on his chest plate. Jaune knows of Michael and likes him, not only as a team leader, but also as a Human being. He's a compassionate man, especially to all of his teammates while also being ruthless to the enemy, no matter if they're Grimm, White Fang or even the Schnee Dust Company. Michael is also dating C.T. and is one of the only people who can actually bring out a smile from her. That puts him in Jaune's good books, seeing as C.T. is one of those people who doesn't like to smile at all.
( Insurrectionist Leader - Red Vs Blue )
On Leader's left is Demo Man. His name is self-explanatory since his role in the team is mostly demolition as he states that there isn't anything he can't blow up. He adorns a belt of shotgun shells across his chest as his preferred weapon of choice is his Shotgun, but the Demo Man's most noticeable feature is his robotic left arm which was the result of an explosion that was caused by bandits. While some may be too damaged either physically or mentally after losing an arm, Demo Man is actually one of the few who managed to get over the loss of their arm rather quickly. It makes Jaune a little jealous, seeing as he was anything but calm after losing his own arm.
( Demo Man - Red Vs Blue )
To the Leader's right is the muscle of the group who simply goes by the title, Sleeveless. This is likely because he prefers to wear his armour without sleeves, therefore showcasing his large muscular arms, similar to how Clayton Carmine those so. Similar to Maine, Sleeveless doesn't speak, but it's actually because he doesn't want to than being unable to like Maine. Instead, he prefers to let his fists speak for themselves as he is proven to be a very skilled fighter, especially in hand-to-hand combat. The last time Jaune heard, there's a sort of rivarly between Maine and Sleeveless with a score being made for every victory they have in their weekly sparring matches.
( Sleeveless - Red Vs Blue )
On Sleeveless's right is one of the only two female members on the team, Girlie. On her chest plate is an emblem that details a kiss mark inside a heart. Just like Sleeveless and Maine, Girlie has a sort of rivalry with Carolina, although everyone knows that Carolina doesn't think of her as much as a rival. Not that Girlie isn't a big enough challenge for her, but Carolina prefers to keep her focus on surpassing Texas. Not like that has stopped Girlie from sparring with Carolina who more than welcomes the chance to spar. While skilled in gun play, everyone knows not to fight Girlie in close range, unless they want to be cut up by her two knives.
( Girlie - Red Vs Blue )
On the other side of Girlie are the twins of the team. Just like Sharkface, they adorn heavy suits of Mjolnir armour with similar colouring. Each of their visors has a face painted on it, but the male has a smiley face while the female has a frowning face. Those face are also painted onto the turret barrels of their Heavy Machine Gun Turrets. Similar to Maine, both siblings are Faunus who were found in a Schnee Dust Mine and even more like Maine, they can't speak. The reason why is unknown, but it has been discovered that they can communicate with one another through their giggles and weeps. Since they can't tell anyone their names, they've been dubbed as Chain Guy and Chain Girl.
( Heavy Machine Gun Turret - Red Vs Blue )
( Chain Guy & Chain Girl - Red Vs Blue )
Beside Demo Man is the sniper of the group, although everyone calls him Snipes. While wearing the same armour as his teammates, Snipes's own suit of armour appears to be less bulky than the others, due to him needing less armour as he is the sniper and prefers speed over defence. Covering his helmet is a visor which allows Snipes to expand his vision even farther than his Sniper Rifle will allow, making him a very dangerous Freelancer who can headshot a target from hundreds of feet away. On his chest plate is a crosshair emblem, signifying his role as sniper for the group.
( Resistance Sniper - Red Vs Blue )
On Snipe's left is Sharkface himself in all of his bulky glory. However, his large appearance seemingly looks bigger because of the large Flamethrower he is carrying with him, as well as the large canister on his back which he has filled with Fire Dust. The large suit of armour and shark painted face makes the man an imposing and dangerous looking individual.
Jaune smiles as he sees the team with their weapons on hand and fully armoured. While most Freelancers tend to stick on their own and await to be placed on temporary teams for missions, there are those who prefer to stick with the same team at all times. Jaune encourages such behaviour, knowing that it'll have each member bond and bring them even closer. It's why the team in front of him is so skilled while also having loss no members.
Still, he wishes that they could've picked a better name for their team than Red Team.
"Red Team" greeted Jaune as each member quickly steps around the holotable so they can be debriefed for their mission. "From what Sharkface tells me, you're all bored."
"Damn right" remarked Girlie, getting a chuckle from Sleeveless and Demo Man.
"Well then, let's rectify that" said Jaune before a holographic image of a city in ruins appears on the table. "What you see before you is Mountain Glenn. As I'm sure you're all aware, Mount Glenn was an attempt to expand the Kingdom of Vale and to take back some land from the Grimm. As you can all tell by the image, it didn't go so well."
"So what then, we're going in to rid it of the Grimm?" asked Snipes, failing to see the so-called exciting mission he has been expecting.
Jaune answers by shaking his head. "No. Red Team will be hunting bigger fish tonight. Thanks to the information gathered by our informant, as well as what our former resident, Ruby Rose has told us, we know that the White Fang have gathered by Mount Glenn in droves." Jaune doesn't miss how the team seems to focus more on the holographic table. "We have also gotten word that the White Fang are planning something big within Mount Glenn. What it could be, I don't know. That is why I want you all to go to Mount Glenn and find out what they're planning and if you can, stop it."
"And the White Fang, sir?" asked Leader, although he already knows the General's answer.
"Exterminate each and every one of them. No survivors."
( Mount Glenn )
In the middle of the night, a Freelancer Bullhead can be found flying above the clouds which hides it from any prying eyes in Mount Glenn.
"We'll be above Mount Glenn in two minutes. Get ready!" shouted Leader as he stands in the middle of the Bullhead while all the sitting Freelancers triple check their weapons and ammo.
"Finally. Something fun to do" grunted Sharkface as he lies his Flamethrower on his lap.
"Remember, we go in quietly. We don't want you to rush in and burn everything in sight" told Girlie, making sure that Sharkface knows his place. She makes sure to cast a warning glare at Chain Boy and Chain Girl as well since they tend to get very loud when fighting. Obviously, they reply to her by either sobbing or giggling. She has no idea if they understand or not so she can only hope that they do.
"Yea, yea. I got it" remarked Sharkface, waving off his teammate.
"One minute!" shouted Leader as he pulls his Battle Rifle from over his shoulder. The back panel of the Bullhead soon opens up, causing a gust of wind to flow into the Bullhead. A normal man would have been blown out of the Bullhead, but none of the Freelancer have to fear that happening to them, since their Mjolnir suits of armour uses Gravity Dust on its boots to stick themselves to the platform.
Each member of Red Team stands up and lifts their weapons up, wither it be Demo Man's Tactical Shotgun or the Chain twins Heavy Machine Gun Turrets. After a few seconds, Leader turns back to his team and nods. "Let's move out!"
Without a second thought, Leader runs and jumps off the back of the Bullhead, even though it's currently flying hundreds of feet in the air. He's soon followed by the rest of Red Telam who jump out after him. Once they all free fall through the clouds, Leader begins giving out orders. "Snipes, land on the highest building there is and provide recon."
"Right!" agreed Snipes before he dives away from the rest of Red Team and heads towards the tallest building which looks mostly intact. He doesn't want to be aiming down on his Sniper Rifle, only for the floor underneath him to collapse.
"Sleeveless, take Chain Guy and Girl with you to the east side. Inform the rest of the team if you make contact" ordered Leader.
Sleeveless nods and dives to the east side of Mount Glenn with the giglging and sobbing Chain Guy and Chain girl following close behind.
"Demo Man and Girlie will take west side while Sharkface and myself will take south. We'll all meet up in the centre if we haven't found anyone yet."
"Yes, sir!" shouted the rest of Red Team before everyone dives to their respective destinations.
After free falling for a few more seconds, Leader and Sharkface see the ground getting awfullly close. Just as they're about to hit the ground, Leader and Sharkface activate their jet boosts to decrease their descending speed so they can land without having to end up splattered across the pavement. Once their feet hits the floor, both Leader and Sharkface make sure to take in their surroundings so they don't get blindsided by any White Fang or Grimm.
Once they're positive that they are no enemies of any kind near them, both Leader and Sharkface begin their trek through the deserted streets of Mountain Glenn.
( Mother of Invention - Bridge )
While on the Bridge, Jaune watches Red Team's movements through the holographic window which shows the footage from the cameras in all their helmets. The General frowns as none from Red Team makes any contact with the enemy, except for Sleeveless and the Chain siblings finding a small pack of Beowolves. Said Grimm are now nothing more than Swiss cheese, courtesy of Chain Boy and Chain Girl.
"This is strange. Weeks ago, the White Fang had a very heavy presence in Mount Glenn but now, it's completely deserted. Was Tukson's information false?" Jaune thought, wondering if the Freelancers might have a leak of sorts. Those thoughts quickly come to a halt when he hears Snipe's call out.
( Mount Glenn )
"I've got eyes on the enemy!" called out Snipes as he looks through the scope of his Sniper Rifle at a pair of White Fang members. From his perch on the rooftop of a desolated skyscraper, he has the perfect view of the pair who are three blocks away from his position.
"How many?" asked Leader as he and Sharkface follow the direction where Snipe's landed.
"There's only two of them. They're currently three blocks away from my position" informed Snipes.
"Could it be a trap?" asked Girlie, running towards Snipes position with Demo Man following close behind her.
"Doubt it. They look more like scouts to me. Probably to watch out for intruders" stated Snipes, noting the lax state of the two White Fang members. They look too relaxed to be bait for a trap.
"Intruders like us" chuckled Sharkface.
"So what's the plan?" asked Demo Man, waiting for word from either Leader or the General who they all know is monitoring the mission. He never does so unless the mission is of vital importance, such as when they assaulted the Branwen tribe.
"General?" asked Leader, waiting a response from the highest authority among the Freelancers.
"I trust your judgement, Michael. You make the call" told Jaune through the comms system.
Leader slowly nods as he pushes his back to a wall of a building. Looking around the corner, he sees the pair of White Fang walking up a deserted street while making idle chitchat. From his position, he can see Girlie poke her head from around the corner of another building. On top of a nearby rooftop, he sees Sleeveless and the Chain siblings watching the White Fang members while crouching. "Girlie, you're the fastest of us. When I give the signal, I want you to disarm the both of them and do so quietly."
Girlie nods from his position. "Got it."
Leader reaches to the back of his hip and pulls out his collapsible hatchet. Nodding to Sharkface, Leader throws the hatchet at an angle. While it doesn't head straight towards the White Fang members, it manages to curve in midair and stab into the shoulder of the Faunus terrorist in the right. Due to not having his Aura up, the Faunus can only cry out as the hatchet sticks itself in his shoulder.
The second Faunus turn to his partner is shock and before he can figure out what to do, he feels something kick the back of his leg, causing him to collapse to one knee. A hand pulls back his neck, exposing his neck to a knife which is held by Girlie.
Once the two White Fang members have been dealt with, the rest of Red Team runs over.
"Good work" Leader praised Girlie before he looks at the Faunus who Girlie has taken captive. "I think it's time that we got some info from our new friend here."
"I'll tell you nothing" spat out the terrorist, but stops when Girlie pulls back her knife to his throat. If not for his Aura, her knife would have pierced his skin.
Beside them, Sleeveless stomps on the neck of the injured terrorist, killing him instantly. The sound of his friend's neck snapping has the defiant terrorist choke up in horror.
"You now have a choice. You can tell us what you know or..."
"Or?" gulped the Faunus.
Leader smirks under his helmet. "Or, I hand you over to my friend here." He waves his arm to Sharkface who hoists up his Flamethrower which is emitting so much heat that it's causing the air around the weapon to ripple.
The sight of the very intimidating man with the very intimidating weapon has the Faunus terrorist shiver in fear.
Page 17 of 17