Chapter timing: AGW 71, December 19th

MEGA CHAPTER for me, 4119 words.

My take at some action, and ACTION.

Chapter 12: The Bared Fang

WF Hideout (Splinter Group), near Mantle

Despite its proximity to the newer and more prosperous Kingdom of Atlas and lack of Grimm due to the cold climate, Mantle is a hotbed of crime and poverty, especially the edge. A shadow of its former self after Atlas separated from it around 10 years after the Great War. This place was perfect for a White Fang hideout, a place where they could easily watch the shadow of Atlas and be perfectly concealed amongst all the other inhabitants. Mantle was also the home to the majority of all Faunus on the northern continent of Solitas, and many were disillusioned by just how bad things were below, which allowed the White fang to grow in number as more and more Faunus took up arms against Atlas. The negotiations after the Great War and the Faunus Rights Revolutions were less than satisfactory to the current generations of Faunus who lived in Humanity's shadow once again. The SDC may have improved their conditions for all workers, but none of that has been publicly reported in Mantle, and if so, none are willing to believe that the SDC was different from the other rich, prosperous, and prominent dust companies.

Adam sits in a chair of the Fang meeting hall, the majority of the White Fang in Atlas converged with the splinter cell, due to their matching priorities. Other men and women loitered around the area, smoking or chatting with each other, all carrying weapons of some type. Their food and armament supplies were dropping, and they needed to get some that would be able to support their growing movement. The leaders of the splinter cell were astonished at first when hundreds of Faunus had creeped their way here, looking for a chance to crack at humanity, but they rolled with it, now at least a thousand Faunus in terms of numbers. There was a moment of silence when a small bell chimed, and a hushed movement began, people picking up weapons and lining up at the exit ports. Bullheads in groups of three departed from the base, and they rushed towards the designated location.

They hit the unsuspecting COAL dust company freighter with the speed of and numbers of a wasp's nest, making pass after pass on the ship, dropping Faunus on with each pass and damaging the steering equipment. Onboard, they incapacitated the crewmen onboard, tying up the humans and locking them in the compartments of the ship. The Faunus crew members were also tied up, but instead of being thrown off they were tossed into the bullheads and taken back, some of them crying out as their backs hit the steel bottom with force. They seized everything of value inside the ship and took command of it, steering it towards one of their bases in the remote section of Solitas. The captain of the ship lay slain beside the steering wheel, her blue and black clothes stained red as they turned the ship hard to starboard, bringing with them men and women who could only struggle and prepare for the worst.

Private Transport, Mantle Airspace.

ANOTHER FREIGHTER VANISHES!

Authorities suspect White Fang involvement.

Tai looked at the paper and sighed, closing it and setting it down. Another freighter? Things have been pretty bad his week, with an attack on the SDC Former, an old trading vessel, and the recent attack on the newly built COAL had caused a new level of paranoia in Atlas. There were reports of almost fanatical witch-hunts for White Fang, any Faunus who were suspected had been thrown in jail and interrogated for evidence on the Fang. Right now they were sitting on a private transport, Ruby playing backgammon with Weiss and Yang in the back of the airship while He, Hivern and Jacques sat at the front, discussing about convoy security. The Schnees had decided to pay a visit to relatives who lived in the Southern tip of Mantle, and decided that they would bring one of their most trusted friends over with them. It was almost Winter Break for the kids, so going a few days before the break out to a friend's relative's house was not too much of a big problem for them.

Usually it was supposed to be a fast trip over, but the weather was being unpredictably stormy over Mantle, so they took a detour around the outskirts. He reclined in his seat closing his eyes and letting the thrum of the engines pull him to sleep. The White Fang wouldn't shoot a transport out of the sky, since they apparently avoided civilian transports and only raided the coast and remote areas. Little did they know that they were flying closer to the enemy than expected.

A ping ran out as White Fang radar operators noticed a blip nearby, unidentified. They signaled the flak turrets around the base, worried that it was an Atlesian scout craft, pin pointing their location. An eagle Faunus looked into the binoculars and saw that the vehicle was painted white and was marked as Atlesian. Fearing the worst, the radar operator ordered heat seeking missiles be fired at its coordinates. The eagle Faunus' eyes widened when he recognized it as a private civilian transport, and he quickly yelled into the comms to belay the order. It was too late, and the missiles flew into the air.

Tai was jolted awake when a high pitched beeping sounded at the front. The pilots yelled something about missiles handing in their direction, telling them to buckle up, and the aircraft banked left sharply, whooshing sounds sounding to their right. The kid's game of backgammon fell to the floor, pieces clattering loudly as they looked out the window, confused why the ride wasn't smooth anymore. They were answered when three sleek missiles entered the corner of their view, attempting to make another pass at the vehicle.

The eagle Faunus desperately yelled to disengage the missiles, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. They had exposed their position to an Atlesian aircraft, and now they had to get rid of it. Anti- aircraft guns began to open up on the aircraft as its evasive maneuvers brought it even closer to the base. He watched on as trails of smoke appeared on the vehicle, before it split in half, rear end falling to the ground as the front end still evaded fire to an extent. He sullenly put down his binoculars and called up a search team, getting medical supplies ready to treat the wounded, if they survived that onslaught.

Tai yelled for the children to get close to him as the missile got closer, watching as they looked around wildly with terrified eyes. Tai tried to reach them, taking off his seatbelt and summoning his semblance. A shield began to form around them, protecting them from the missile that hit the airship and split it in two. The last thing he saw was Ruby reaching out for the seat in front of her, only managing to grasp her bag before falling with Yang and Weiss, a missile hitting him square in the face, knocking him out. Hivern managed to hold on to Tai and keep him on board, and she watched in horror as Ruby, Weiss and Yang plummeted to the earth, Tai's shield no longer protecting them. A few bullets pinged off the side of the hull, forcing her back. The copilot screamed as a round pierced his thigh, and he let go of the controls. The pilot Daniel Boi, However, managed to regain control of the aircraft, steering and dodging projectiles simultaneously as the airplane flew to the closest hospital.

Weiss and Yang screamed as they fell, clutching each other as they fell towards the dark green forest. Ruby tried to reach them, shouting for them to hold on to her. Yang got what she meant and grabbed Weiss, managing to hold Ruby's hand. Ruby let them hug her, and she started putting all of her energy towards her core, hoping for the gravity dust to slow them from hitting the ground. She saw warning signs on her HUD on the lowering power reserves as she exerted all of her power to combat gravity. She started powering her leg thrusters as well to but as much upward thrust as possible, and succeeded in getting them into a slower falling state. However, Ruby's power was significantly lower, and she couldn't do it for much longer. Her arms began to give out as they hit the grassy floor softly.

"Yang… can't… move"

Yang started rummaging through Ruby's pouch bag for any gravity dust cells, her logic telling her that she needed new batteries. There was a full set, but she didn't know what to do with it. She looked at Ruby, who laid on the ground with her face buried in the dirt, and flipped her over, asking her how to fit the cells inside.

"Open my back," Ruby rasped, feeling woozy from the low energy: "Password is 3927, switch some of the batteries and put the things in in dash side first." Ruby had done this sort of procedure twice before, so she knew how to translate it into a basic sort of English, with no fancy "negative charge," "rechargeable gravity dust cells," and "hidden compartment."

Yang fumbled with cell, lifting Ruby's shirt and swiped the small panel on the back. She typed in 3927 and the back folded out, 6 cell compartments full. She took out one of the cells and placed in the new one, shutting the compartment. Ruby's eyes lit up a pit after, and she gave a thumbs up to Yang. Weiss looked in horror as she saw a familiar insignia in the distance.

A group of White Fang members approached the area where pieces of the aircraft had fallen. They noted the occasional shirt and tie strewn about the place, more evidence confirming it was a civilian transport. A cheetah Faunus knelt down and inspected a piece of clothing, eyes narrowing when he spotted a familiar name, SDC. He quickened the pace, motioning his brethren to join him as he picked up the smell of humans on the wind. He stopped at a clearing, not believing his eyes at the sight in front of him. In the grass, lay Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, with two other girls. A low growl sounded in his throat, and his companions saw why.

"What do we have here…"One of the men drawled, looking at the three girls. "A little heiress, away from her castle, Goldilocks and… hmm, a wolf Faunus, haven't seen one of you in a while. Take them to the base, we'll decide what to do with them later."

The men approached the girls, approaching them with their arms stretched forwards. Ruby was first to get up, pulling Weiss and Yang up as they got up to run. The men ran for them, trying to intercept them as they fled. The cheetah Faunus slammed into Ruby knocking her into the ground and tried to knock her unconscious. A mean right hook from Ruby sent him flying off, taken by surprise by the child's swing. Weiss and Yang turned back, hesitant to leave Ruby. When they saw some other men coming they realized that they would be caught if they stayed any longer.

They took off, other men noticing and giving chase. Ruby turned around and fired her ice dust cannon, unable to miss at such a close range. The shot landed around the man's foot, knocking him over has he tried to get rid of the dust. Unfortunately for them. A pair of Faunus had already circled back, and they pounced on Weiss and Yang, quickly subduing them and tying them up. Ruby was holding her own against the group, too strong to be held by the other Faunus, combining raw strength with basic martial arts by Tai, but she was being overwhelmed. She was kicked in the back of the head, and lashed out with her fist, rewarded by a crunch and a gasp when it connected with the man's groin. She launched towards another Faunus, tussling with her as they rolled around, snapping and clawing, other people jumping on until it was a chaotic pile of limbs. A whistle sounded, and a man's voice cut through the clearing.

"Get down on the ground, or your friends will get hurt, do it NOW!" He was holding Weiss and Yang by their shoulders, not letting them run off. Ruby hesitated a first, still under a mountain of people, but complied, letting the men bind her wrists. She noticed that they were relatively soft compared to her arms, but she couldn't escape now, not when the bad people had Weiss and Yang. They we're slowly led towards a hidden complex among the trees.

Hospital, Atlas

Tai woke up with a start, feeling his head to find bandages covering it. A man sat beside him, thigh wrapped up in similar bandages. He looked at Tai and spoke:

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to visit people in Mantle, right? Flew right into that White Fang ambush, same as us, and that woman over there. It was a good thing that Pilot Boi was able to control half an aircraft by himself."

Hivern sat with Jacques, both looking worse for wear as they listened into the radio of several search aircraft that had been sent to find any evidence of the girls, so far all they've found was scrap and burning wreckage.

Tai immediately reached for his scroll and texted Qrow, marking the message as extremely urgent. He also sent one to Dr. Polendina, hoping that he would be able to track Ruby's location. This was a dire situation, he would need all the help they could get to save the three kids.

Please be alright girls He prayed as he saw ellipsis (…) coming from both Qrow and Polendina.

WF Hideout (Splinter Group), near Mantle

Weiss and Yang were tossed into a cell with only one window, facing away from the sun. They let out a small "oof" when they hit the ground, unable to catch the fall with their bound hands. Weiss bit her lip, trying not to cry as she landed awkwardly on her hand. Ruby expected herself to join them, but the man holding her closed the door and locked it, leaving with her instead. Ruby panicked when she realized she was being separated from them as the man led her out of the holding cells and into a series of winding halls. The man grunted with annoyance as the little girl began to squirm in his grasp, so he held her hair and shook her, telling her to stop moving, other Faunus now looking with curiosity. Ruby's only response was to struggle more, earning an angered grunt from the man as he raised his hand to knock Ruby out.

He swung his fist, and dealt a sharp blow to Ruby's forehead, but she only struggled harder, this time getting out of her binds and grappling with the man, other Faunus rushing to assist the man in handling the small angry girl. Ruby returned the favour the man gave her previously, her fists striking his forehead repeatedly, until someone jumped on her from behind.

A camera operator called for reinforcements as she watched the carnage in Camera number 12. It was a dogpile situation again, but Ruby wasn't about to get caught. She called up her cloaking field and let the other men fight it out, the one holding her shoulders looking around in confusion before someone hit him, mistaking his dog ears for Ruby's wolf ears. It became a brawling balderdash when others moved in to beat the crap out of whoever was in that circle.

Ruby shot into one of the vents, closing the door and hiding behind it as she wondered how to get back to Weiss and Yang, the shouts and screams of a brawl below her getting quieter as she crawled away, her experience of hiding now paying off.

Hospital, Atlas

Qrow, Tai, and Professor (DOCTOR) Polendina sat around a circle with the Schnee Patriarchs. They had asked to use one of the private conference rooms and now were trying to find Ruby and the others. Doctor Polendina placed his scroll on the table, the device displaying a blue map of the map of Solitas, a red blip near a lake. Qrow placed his, and a hologram of General ironwood appeared, flickering on Qrow's scroll.

"This map shows Ruby's current location, the tracker in her chest still intact." He took the scroll, and typed something before putting it back down. The map was now a geographical map.

"The area they landed in is an extremely thick forest, with cliffs located next to a lake, and right under Atlas. It appears the Fang has established a new base around this area, right under our noses. Greetings, General Ironwood, this map development is good news for you, isn't it?"

"It's good to see you again Professor, this is indeed good news." The General arranged his suit before speaking again. "This base must be destroyed immediately, its mere existence threatens the safety of citizens of both Atlas and Mantle, especially if it has armed missiles and is concealed perfectly. I shall begin informing my lieutenants." A hand made him stay for a moment, coming from Polendina.

"General, it is advisable to enter the base with discretion, my guess is that there are human prisoners located in there, as well as intelligence from other bases. There have been matching trends of ships disappearing approximately 5 kilometers from this location recently. The SDC Former and COAL Newfield lost contact with their companies when they came closer to 3 kilometers from this base."

"Ever the sharp eye, Polendina, and just what i had in mind. Any other Intel that you could pass to the specialists I'll send in?"

"Yes, look out for the Schnee heiress and Tai's daughter, they fell off the plane with Ruby."

"Alright then, goodbye Professor, I am hoping to see the progress you've made with Project PENNY."

WF Hideout (Splinter Group), near Mantle

Ruby crawled around the vents, looking for a way back to Weiss and Yang. Her current situation reminded herself of a game she played a while back, Steel Cogs Solid, a sneaking game. However, it was nothing like the simulations. Weiss and Yang were in a cell somewhere and Angry Faunus were looking for the "wolf girl on the loose." It was only thanks to her cloaking capabilities that she stayed hidden, but they could smell her, leading to very awkward situations sometimes. She bumped her head for what she thought was the sixth time now, and froze when she heard voices right underneath her.

"Are you sure you checked everywhere in the base?"

"Jeff, I helped build this base asshole! The only place I haven't checked yet is the vents, and no ordinary child would've been able to jump into those."

"Alright, alright, chill it man, there are people who are very high-strung in the base right now, clamoring that Atlas is at their doorstep, fear mongering I tell ya. It's not like one of the kids came with a beacon attached right?"

The voices faded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She detected Yang's scent and crawled towards it, hoping it would bring her to the right place. Her face fell, disappointed when all she saw was a white wall and a steel door with a lock. Agitated that she couldn't reach Yang and Weiss, she growled, and immediately regretted doing so when voices sounded from below once again.

"What was that noise?"

"Damn, check the vents, our little friend may have gone up after all."

Ruby scrambled back into one of the other passages as the vent entrance under her was being screwed open. She went next to a closed vent and put her wolf ear to it. When nothing was heard she pushed out with all her strength and bent it open, seeing a room with cardboard boxes. Eyes adjusting to bright light again, she shook off all the dust on her before diving underneath a box and staying. There were footsteps before a man came up very close to the box, whispering to his comrades.

"I think she's right here, around these boxes. The opening is bent open and there is dust." A shuffling sound was heard as he lifted one of the boxes.

"Alright, she's gotta be around here somewhere, lift this one. Huh? Just a box. Next."

Fingers came around the edges of the box, and it came up. To the man's perspective, there was nothing underneath, in truth, there was a petrified girl in a fetal position, desperately praying for them not to find her. The man kicked the box away, angrily murmuring, leaving the area with his chums. Ruby immediately got under another box, the close shave taking the wind out of her sails.

Yang and Weiss lay in the cell, waiting for Ruby to come back. Attempts to escape had only tired them, and they now lay exhausted on the cold floor. Yang had tried pushing against the door, put she only slid after pushing with her body. The cell guards were long gone, set on chasing a much more elusive target, leaving them utterly alone. Coughs and groans were heard from other cells, other people present in this nightmarish place. An eagle Faunus came close to the cell, looking at them, before turning away again, his face one of sadness, or was it guilt? Yang was too tired to think about it, eyes slowly drooping.

A click woke her up, and the eagle Faunus came back in, with cloths in his hand. He slowly approached them, footsteps echoing softly on the floor. Weiss realized what this man was probably trying to do, and opened her mouth to scream, trying to get away from the Faunus. The man put his hand on her mouth, shushing her, and she relaxed when he backed away speaking quietly.

"Please be quiet, we don't have much time." Yang opened her mouth, only to be shushed again.

"Please, the others are looking for your friend, but I need to get you two out here first." Yang however, had a question she needed to ask.

"What are they going to do to us?"

"Nothing good, the higher ups are still deciding on what to do, but I heard the word "kill" being tossed around, it isn't safe here anymore. You need to wear these cloths over your mouth, lest something happens and I have to make a cover story."

He put the cloths around their mouth and led them outside. He gestured them to get in the container. They got in, and he covered the top, making it look like an ordinary dust crate. He prayed that no one was watching the camera as he moved out, if he got caught, he would be dead.

When he found out that the Schnee heiress was captured and at their mercy, he had felt pretty good. But when he saw that crying girl inside of the dirty cell with her friend, he saw just how wrong he was to think that the girl would hate Faunus like most of the humans he had met, that she would be just like the ones who cut off one of his wings. No one deserved death because of their lineage.

The man made a beeline straight for the vehicle bay, offering apologies when he ran into other Faunus. He was sweating profusely, pressure building on as he continued to walk towards the vehicle bay. He entered the facility, and put the crate onto a small van, opening it a tiny bit for the girls to breathe. He got the truck started and pulled it out of its parking spot, slowly leaving for the outside. Weiss and Yang looked on hopefully as the truck went for the light.

"All units beware, we have 3 escaped prisoners and all three are at large, the base is under lockdown until further notice!"

Shit.

Snake, answer me! Snake? SNAAAKE!

*Professor Polendina is an old and trusted friend of Ironwood, and the Professor does create military equipment, so he can play tactician for Ironwood.

TLDR

The C-RYW (crew) experience abduction first hand. Shit hits the fan, tell me how i did this time around.