Nyx continued to look at the screen with a furrowed brow on her face. Her hands were covering her mouth as she thought about what to say next. When she finally does speak, it isn't in the happy tone Ozpin was expecting.

"So… let me get this straight," She started. "You want me to approve of you sending two teams of first years, over here to Shade for a joint mission." Ozpin was about to answer but Belinda continued talking. "All because they can't handle the fact that Jaune Arc, now officially one of my students, isn't talking with them?" She emphasized the word "my" because from the way Ozpin talked about it, he still viewed Jaune as his student.

"Belinda, these are children who just saw their friend, whom they haven't seen in months, get in a bar brawl," Ozpin argued. "When they were able to reach out to him, to them it seemed as if he didn't want to talk. Now I know Mr. Arc and his family. He isn't one who would make his friends worry." Nyx let out a low growl, one that Ozpin didn't hear. She hated when he did stuff like this. He always made sure there were rules they had to follow like no first years going to other continents, and yet he could break those rules whenever he wanted.

"Ozpin they have to get used to the fact that they won't get everything they want in life!" Nyx's voice rose as she said that. "And from the way you were talking about it, it almost seemed to me that he didn't want to talk with them. Is there something you are not telling me?" Ozpin's expression was stoic, but when you work enough years with him, you can see small subtle changes. For instance, he grips his mug a little tighter whenever he's nervous about something. That's exactly what he was doing here. Ozpin didn't tell Belinda the details Ruby told him, and it showed. Belinda didn't push but she knew she was right. She let out a long sigh. "Ozpin, you can't keep playing favorites."

"I care about all of my students, even ones who I've had to expel."

"Maybe you do, but you also play favorites all the time. Like STRQ? How'd that work out for you? One dead, another who went back to her bandit tribe, one who was so depressed he won't fight unless he has to anymore, and a drunken fool who will follow you no matter how much you put him in danger!"

"Belinda, enough." Ozpin's tone was threatening. In fact, if he used that tone on any of his students they probably would have stopped talking altogether. Belinda was not one of his students.

"No Ozpin!" Belinda slammed her fist on her desk. "You want to play favorites with your own students? Fine, but the minute you put my students at risk is where I draw the line."

"If you would calm down you would realize that I want a joint mission not just for the sake of my own students Belinda." Nyx clicked her tongue as she sat down in her chair again.

"Okay then, enlighten me." Ozpin took a sip from his mug and took a deep breath.

"If I recall, Mr. Arc was captured by bandits during his initiation, yes?" Belinda nodded her head. While she remained silent and stern inside she knew that Ozpin formulated a plan already. One that would get her to agree. "Tell me, do you think those bandits would just let that go so easily?" Dammit. "This is a perfect learning opportunity for our students to not only learn about international relationships with a joint mission, but depending on the mission you send them on it can give them the experience to be great huntsmen." As much as Nyx wanted to say no, deep down she knew she couldn't. Ozpin was right, for all she knew they were planning on sending someone after her students, or maybe something worse. She wouldn't give in so easily though.

"Fine, you want a joint mission I'll allow it." She sees Ozpin smile and he was about to say something but she put her finger up. "On two conditions. One: you give me a month to gather intel. I want to be absolutely sure a joint mission is needed." She put up another finger. "Two: You do not send any first years, if the mission is necessary. Are we clear?" Again, Ozpin's grip around his mug tightened. After being reincarnated so many times he's used to being the one in control. Belinda is one of the very few that disagree with Ozpin being in control the entire time. She expected him to try and come with a counter argument but to her surprise he nodded his head.

"Very well, that sounds reasonable." He takes out a pen and paper and writes down something. "Please keep me informed if anything comes up." Belinda took a moment to think. Does Ozpin really trust her or is he planning something else? She shook her head. This is what Ozpin was good at. Whether it was directed at their enemies or allies, Ozpin knew how to mess with people's heads.

"I will… thank you for letting me have a little time Oz." Ozpin flashes her a smile, and the two hang up. When she did Nyx let out a tiny groan and let her head hit her desk. She respected Ozpin. Sure, he was a reincarnated wizard, but he was still doing what's best for the world. Yet at certain times, it seemed like he was only doing what's best for him. He always wants to grow the huntsmen and huntresses into an army to defeat Salem, and over the years Nyx began to think it was also beause he wanted power. Sure, it wasn't "rule the world" or "destroy humanity" power. Yet there were times were Ozpin let recruitment for his little faction get in the way of the bigger picture. It was what caused his last death in the first place.

Still, Ozpin did bring up a good point about the bandits. They would want revenge against Shade not only for having students escaping, but destroying their base as well. She needed to get info just to be safe. Getting a couple of huntsmen to tail the bandits won't be too hard, it's just whether or not they succeed. In cities tailing someone is easy as they have corners buildings and distractions. In the desert it's nothing but openness, hot air, and sand for miles which made tailing ten time harder. Still she trusted her huntsmen to do their job well.

She'll have to make a few calls and see who's willing to do the job, but after that it should be smooth sailing. Right now she needed to focus on her headmistress duty. For instance the missions she needed to send the operators-in-training on for the coming week. Which also meant Jaune's first mission.

She sighed. After getting Michael's report about how Jaune acted during combat class today, she wasn't sure if he was ready for a mission so soon. She instructed Michael that he is to not let the blonde fight for the rest of the week, so hopefully that will be enough for Jaune to rest a little bit.

She also had to figure out who would be the best supervisor for him as well. Operator or not he was still a first year and the rules state any first year missions needs an expert huntsman to supervise. Maybe she'll have one of the teachers go with him, since he'll probably feel more comfortable working with someone he at least knows.

All of these thoughts were her main focus, but there was at least one that kept nagging her. If Ozpin was right about the bandits, what are they doing now?

Somewhere in the Vacuan Desert:

A shoddy looking ten foot metal fence was in the form of a ring. Two gates were placed in front of the town and up top were three snipers in a decent sized nest. They were wearing black unzipped sweatshirts with a grey t-shirt. They also wore grey track pants and black sneakers. They all had caps and bandanas around their face to protect it from the hot blazing sun. Around their nest were chairs, ammo crates, beer and soda bottles, some food wrappers and plates, sunscreen for their shift, walkie-talkies and of course their rifles. Two were relaxing in their chairs while the other one was actually doing his job. The three have a system where they trade out every so often so that it wasn't one person doing it the entire time.

The one on lookout saw a big dust cloud rolling up on them. At first he thought it was just the wind but the dust cloud kept coming closer and closer. He took out his binoculars to get a better look at the dust cloud. He was expecting it to be a hoard of grimm or something but he got something better… or far worst. It was a bunch of shabby vehicles from buggies to cars and trucks all coming towards their town.

"Guys we may have a problem…" He said. The other two stood up and looked to where the first one was pointing to see the dust cloud. He handed his friend the binoculars and hard her hum. "You see the buggies and crap right?" the guy asked.

"I also see the yellow flag on most of the vehicles," She said as she adjusted the binoculars. Yellow flags often meant they wanted to trade. Normally that would be okay but the thing is you don't need an army for a trade. The girl adjusts the binoculars again and lets out a stifled groan. "I also see a purple flag."

This caused the two males to look at her with disbelief in their eyes. A purple flag meant that the leader of the group was with them. This practically spelled trouble. One of them grabs a walkie-talkie they had around the nest and talks into it.

"Guys we got a problem at the front gate," The sniper said calmly. He let go of the button to wait for a response from the boss's house. About three seconds go by before they get a response.

"What did one of you pass out on the job again?" the female voice on the other line joked. Normally they would poke fun at how her job is literally sitting on her ass doing nothing too, but this was too serieous.

"We got an army of vehicles heading our way with the yellow flag on them."

"How's that a problem?" The sniper took a deep breath.

"They also have a purple flag flying as well." There is about five seconds of silence before the joking tone in the communications girl is replaced with a serious one.

"How many are there?" The sniper with the walkie talkie turned to the female sniper who was counting the vehicles. She then snatched the walkie and spoke.

"Jess there's about fifteen and they're all filled up!" She practically yelled that into the walkie. "Tell the boss!"

"All right all right!" there was panic in jess's voice. "Keep your sights pinned on them but keep your finger off the trigger. Don't shoot unless they attack first understood?"

"Yeah we got it," the three snipers said in unison. The three of them look at each other and nod their heads. The two guys climb down the ladder and leave the nest and run along the wall to stay spread out. Despite being a shoddy looking wall, it was still wide enough for people to traverse it and go to different towers.

The three of them line up their snipers and just wait for anything to signal that they can open fire.

A few minutes later

All of the vehicles slowed down as they get closer and closer to the town. All of the vehicles power slide to a halt as they get about fifty feet from the metal wall. Most of the people who had their windows facing the wall didn't bother getting out of their seats and just pointed their weapons out of their windows. A couple did get out but kept their guns pinned at the people on the wall and the guards in front of the gate. Some of them took cover behind the hood of their vehicles while others sat on the windows and peered over the roof of their vehicles.

The people that were standing guard in front of the gate kept their guns aimed at one or two people, waiting for the one bullet to set it off. The people on top of the wall did the same. The tension in the air was so thick that it felt like breathing would be the thing that sets someone off.

Three doors from the middle truck open up, and three figures reveal themselves. One was a giant behemoth of a man who went by the nickname Roadhog. The other one was a smaller man with a peg leg and metal arm, was hunched over, and went by the name Junkrat. The third one was a threatening man with black buzzed cut hair and tattoos of skulls on his right arm. When everyone saw this man they felt a twinge of anger. This man was Julian Fruda and he had a history with this place.

"Hello mates!" Junkrat greeted. "Mind gettin' your boss for us? We got a bit of a business plan for him!"

"Why are you here Junkrat?" one of the guards asked. Junkrat and his crew turned slowly to him with the dumbstruck look on their faces.

"He just said why dumbass," One of the other guard commented.

"Well I'm sorry but that's what you're supposed to say when they roll up on us like that!"

"Not when they explain why they are here!"

"Enough," a voice full of authority said. Everyone turns to the new voice to see a man with dark red hair and a full dark beard. He had a tattoo of a cross on his left cheek and had silver stud earings. He was a short man with a skinny build and had a cane with a dragon as the handle gripped in his right hand. He was wearing a light blue robe that covered his entire body. He was also wearing sandles.

This was the town's leader, Adam Tior.

Adam took a step forward and Junkrat and his posse did the same. Both parties gangs kept their sights on the other gang. They were ready to fire the minute something happened. The two leaders walked up to each other and stopped when they were only two feet apart. Adam had a stoic look on his face while Junkrat had his usual manic grin.

"Adam!" he said as he stuck his hand out. "It's been a while." Adam smiled back at the blonde.

"Jamison," he said as she shook the robotic hand of the explosives-obsessed man. "Now you're giving me mixed signals here old friend."

"How so?" Adam pointed at all of Junkrat's men.

"Well for starters you have an entire army at my wall." He then points at a yellow flag with his cane. "Yet you also have the trading flag up. Not to mention you are here as well. Last I checked you don't send the leader and an army for a trade." He then points at Roadhog and Julian. "You also brought your body guard here with you, along with one of my best lieutenants." Julian gives a nod to Adam.

"Hey Boss," he said. Junkrat could still hear the respect and admiration in Julian's voice but he couldn't blame the guy. Adam's been in the bandit business far longer than any of them have. That's why Junkrat respected him so much. The only reason he had his guys pointing guns at Adam's guys was for safety reasons. Even if the leaders respected each other, bandits will always be bandits.

"I see Jamison is treating you well." Julian let out a tiny chuckle.

"I became his left hand man after Eric went and left us." Adam quirked an eyebrow.

"I thought I noticed someone was missing. Jamison what happened to the pervert?" Junkrat let out a scowl. Adam noticed a lot of Junkrats' men were sharing a similar expression.

"The bastard got kicked out," Junkrat said.

"Why?"

"Impatient," Roadhog muttered. Adam looked at the big man and then back at Junkrat, waiting for an answer.

"He didn't want to wait out this plan I had," Junkrat explained. "In fact, the plan involves you and every one of your mates." Adam's eyes widen in surprise. Junkrat has a plan that involved him? He's known Junkrat for a while and he doesn't usually plan things out. Not unless it's something big.

"What is it?"

"Boss are you sure?" one of the guards asked. Adam held up his hand to silent the guard. He nodded his head and took a step back.

"What is this plan of yours?"

"Now hear me out on this. You know how a few years before we were kiddies that Shade got attacked by bandits and nearly succeeded?"

"You want to try and replicate that? Why go through the trouble?" Junkrat took a minute to think. This caused Adam to raise an eyebrow. If he was so sure, why would he be scared to tell Adam?

"I won't lie, it's mostly revenge," Junkrat answered. "It started when those Shade brats burned down our home. So now I'm thinking we return the favor." This caused Adam to let out a grunt.

"I don't deal with revenge plans Jamison." Junkrat held his hands up in protest.

"I know that, but think about it. Vale was taken by surprise with both attacks. That means it's not impossible to take out the cities. Once we bring down Shade, we don't have to worry about any huntsmen and huntresses messing with us anymore. No more Laws that punish us for trying to survive!"

Adam could see where Junkrat was coming from. For the past few decades Shade's slowly been trying to turn Vacuo into a more… proper country is the best way to put it. That meant more laws were put in place to keep people under control. Laws such as giving Shade some of the dust that was mined up in towns to supply the huntsmen, paying for having professional huntsmen protect your town when half the time they are drunk off their ass and can't defend anything, and so much more. That was one of the reasons Adam turned to banditry. His town had paid for some of the best huntsmen ever to protect the town. Yet when the grimm attacked, the so-called "Professionals" were either nowhere to be seen or were too pissed off their rocker to do anything.

Adam saw the town he grew up in die that day, and he had to learn to steal to survive. Slowly but surely he met others who turned to thievery for one reason or another and eventually grew into the giant bandit tribe he had today.

Adam looked down at the sand. His crew saw this and began whispering to each other. they were wondering what their leader was going to choose. They would support their leader no matter his choice, but that doesn't mean people were going to agree with it.

"What do you need from us?" Adam asked. Members of both sides looked at each other and slowly lowered their weapons. Some kept their weapons up but everyone was a little less tense.

"We'll need your help recruiting more people to the cause," Junkrat started. "We'll also need a new place to call home. You mind if a bunk with you lot?" Adam began to chuckle and walk up to Junkrat.

"Welcome to your new base James." He stuck out his hand again and Junkrat smiled. The two shake hands and the tension in the air was relieved almost instantly. Junkrat motioned Roadhog to come over to him. The big man did as he was told and Junkrat turned to face him.

"Roadie can you make sure no one kills anyone?" the masked man nodded his head. "Cool. Jules!" the tattooed man looked at his current boss. "I want you to help Roadie out, got it?"

"You got it boss." Junkrat smiled and turned back to continue his conversation with Adam. As he did Roadie motioned everyone to get moving while Julian shouted orders. The two leaders walked towards the town. Adam pointed at one of his guards.

"Treat them like they are one of our own. Understood?" he asked them. All of them nodded their heads.

"Yes sir!" they called out. Adam smiled as everyone began to move and work on the new situation.

"Let's grab a drink at the town hall James," Adam said. "In honor of our new partnership." Junkrat chuckled maniacly.

"Well, you can't have a war plan without being pissed. There's no fun in it!"

To be continued.

Beta: TheShadowOfZama