RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 75: It Goes On

The dingy apartment was dark; located in a district of Lower Atlas that was of no real importance to anyone whose attentions could be deemed inconvenient it was a sparsely decorated single bedroom accommodation whose threadbare and mismatched furniture and peeling wallpaper spoke of the utter disregard its' sole inhabitant held for it. The man that Ozymandias Eldritch had once been had previously lived in a suburban home far more in line with what his peers would most likely expect of him; that had been sold and discarded as the voice in his mind which whispered the plan to reshape Remnant into his very psyche grew stronger and more insistent, the more Ozymandias's newfound powers as the Wizard grew the more the vaguely feminine voice had pushed him; his previous employers had been deemed unsuitable for the cause, his family an unnecessary hindrance and distraction, his home far too open and visible and so over the course of more than a decade he had slowly morphed into the ruthless and calculating schemer behind several intertwined plots, orchestrated with a grandfatherly smile and warm demeanour. Currently he sat cross legged amidst a plethora of computers and their mass of attendant wiring in what could best be described as an improvised command centre; the dozen or so screens casting enough light on his while his eyes shone from within as he tapped into his time warping powers just enough to comprehend the stream of information he was subjecting himself to; he spoke in a series of disjointed and distracted mutterings, his voice echoing unnaturally, its' pitch and speed seeming to shift at random until his eyes returned to normal, his entire being seeming focus on a single piece of information before him

"Curious" his voice was a satisfied purr and he took in what he had found, rereading and cross referencing several times before deciding that it was time to act; using one of his many monitors as a camera he began a transmission, secure in the knowledge that his activities would go unseen from his current base of operations regardless of the scrutiny he had found himself under within Poly-Tech. After a short wait his transmission was received and answered, the masked and armoured form of Celeste Lupus came into view

"Going anywhere special? You've gotten all dressed up" Ozymandias couldn't help the snide joke; his alliance of convenience with the head of the New White Fang did nothing to detract from how frankly idiotic and counterproductive to their own goals he found them to be, not that their goals would mean much in the future he planned to create.

"Eldritch, a test of my patience as always" Celeste answered, her tone even yet barely masking her distaste at having to tolerate working with a human "You have something for me?"

"On the contrary" Oz smiled "I've given you weapons and information; now it's time for you to do something for me….this arrangement of ours is supposedly mutually beneficial after all" Celeste fought her natural urge to bristle at notion that she serve his interests, remembering that he had thus far at least, honoured his end of their arrangement

"What do you need from me?"

"Your continued aggression towards my employers at Poly-Tech" Ozymandias gave an unsettling smile "A device by the name of Project Snare is being transferred to a top secret location-"

"And you wish for the White Fang to retrieve your work" Celeste surmised

"Absolutely not" Ozymandias chortled, amused by how linear her thought process seemed to be "That iteration of Project Snare is a prototype which is currently already being improved upon. No the site itself is of interest to me, the delivery there is merely a way for you to find it….I've been searching for this location, it's known as 'The Toybox' for years and now I've found it"

"And what do you want us to do with this facility?" Celeste asked, clearly annoyed at Ozymandias's theatrics

"The Toybox is a storage facility, it's where Poly-Tech buries its' secrets; failed experiments and military projects that never saw the light of day, a holdover from when Geppetto Polendina owned the company. You'll find it near the settlement of Geheimnis, whilst I don't have a precise location I will send you the details you need regarding the shipment of Project Snare which you can follow. I want the White Fang to attack the facility and once inside there is something I wish for you to recover for me, again I shall send you the information you require through our usual sources. Feel free to have your people to take anything else they desire from the facility, my only concern is for my own interests"

"I understand" Celeste nodded "And what is it that you need so badly you would have the White Fang attack a secret Poly-Tech warehouse for?"

"A container roughly five and a half feet tall which you will not be able to open and whose contents I will not disclose" Ozymandias answered, fully aware of how much this would infuriate the Ram Faunus.

"It will be done" Celeste answered simply, keeping her emotions guarded "Though I will require some excuse to be fabricated as to why my people are to be risked for this. The attack on Gerat-Handlung was understandable, there were traitors to our race present; this is different"

"I will see to it that Poly-Tech dismisses several of its' Faunus employees and gives you the provocation you need. I'm sure they'll find a home in your ranks….how is Kuro by the way?"

"Better for being free of your influence" Celeste shot back calmly, the tarantula Faunus whose ties to the previous iteration of the White Fang had shown a great deal of promise, Ozymandias had been loath to hand his considerable expertise over to Celeste as a show of good faith but ultimately it had been deemed necessary.

"Glad to hear it" Ozymandias answered simply "Do be sure that whoever you send is capable, this is of great importance to me….and well if I fail to see a return on my investment in your cause I will have to cut my losses I'm afraid" whether or not Celeste was concerned by or even believed the delicately delivered threat Ozymandias was unsure, the Ram Faunus merely gave him a twisted smile

"Rest assured human, my most favoured will be glad of the chance to strike another blow at our enemies"

Team FADE's dormitory was currently occupied by Arctus who was occupying himself by texting Athena-Jade, his sister telling him about her day at school and both of their parents promising to start teaching her basic self defence and martial arts as the first step towards one day becoming a Huntress herself; he was also keeping some attention of the movie that Eagle and Hellion were watching whilst bundled up in a mass of blanket with a large bowl of popcorn between them whilst Marauder perched on Felix's bunk, plucking at some dried meat.

"If you two want some privacy then just ask" Arctus offered; with Hellion confined to the academy alongside her team mates she and Eagle had been making do with improvised dates such as this, something which the rest of Team FADE along with the rest of Eagle's friends had found utterly adorable, though it hadn't stopped them from teasing her until her cheeks had almost glowed with embarrassment.

"Don't leave, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable in your own dorm" Hellion answered, the Dragonfly Faunus was genuinely grateful for Team FADE in the weeks following the Arc families' collective backlash against Eagle for their relationship, they had made sure that the blonde knew she always had a family with them; Felix even going so far as to call home and have Yang Xiao Long verbally confirm it.

"Okay if you're sure" Arctus shrugged, the Bear Faunus was at something of a loose end; the rapidly approaching doubles round of the Vytal Tournament meant that Felix and Diamond were almost constantly training, the Lion Faunus currently using an extensive workout to distract himself from the fact that Team CLIR had been deployed on a mission and the usual nerves and worry that came with it; as Arctus continued his textual conversation with sister whilst mentally tallying up which of his friends were likely to be available to hang out Hellion returned her attention to both the movie, something Eagle had correctly guessed she would like and to Eagle herself, planting a trail of kisses along her girlfriends' freckled and muscular shoulder, left bare by the tank-top she was currently wearing which caused Eagle to give an involuntary shudder and nuzzle closer into the Dragonfly Faunus whilst a sound somewhere between a whine and a surprised squeak escaped her, which Hellion found herself smiling like an idiot at

"I love you" Eagle murmured as she reached around and took Hellion's hand in hers, the words had been increasingly common from her since the first time she had said them

"I love you too" Hellion assured her, honestly unused to the words; the Shadow Cadre and the Frost River Tribe at large had all known that they were a large extended family and that they had each loved each other, though it had always been shown through actions and rarely simply stated so honestly; Hellion found that she liked this way of doing things.

"As much as I love staying in with you like this I can't wait until we're back in New Vale" Eagle murmured "There's so many places I want to show you" Hellion didn't answer and Eagle was immediately aware of how rigid the girl currently holding her from behind had become

"What's wrong?" she asked gently as she paused the movie and turned to face Hellion who seemed determined to look anywhere but at her

"I hope that happens" Hellion answered, needing to take a breath to steady herself before she continued "But I don't know what will happen to Team….to my people when we leave Atlas. We were only ever allowed into the academy to help deal with the White Fang; Carcharodon may decide that it's time for us to move on….Even with what the Scavenger Guild told us he might still have hope that some of the Frost River Tribe still live" Eagle's expression seemed to crumple, though her crimson eyes seemed to hold one lingering shred of hope as she asked a question she desperately needed to hear answered, her voice trembling with fear at what the response may be

"What about you….what do you want, do you want to stay?"

"More than anything" Hellion answered without hesitation "Being with you feels like….it feels like home"

"Then stay" Eagle struggled not to sound as though she were pleading as she held Hellion close to her; Hellion melted into the touch

"I will do everything within my power" she promised "Carcharodon may be hard to convince but he will see reason eventually….we don't have a ship and there are only three of us left; we'd be dead within a year if we went back to our old way of life" the realisation hit Hellion as she spoke, the culture and way of life she'd been born into was essentially dead and the knowledge that she would see her tribe fade into nothing but a memory passed on in stories that Mistrali sailors used to scare their children left her suddenly sombre. Eagle picked up on this and kissed her forehead

"I'm sure Professor Goodwitch wouldn't just kick you out of the Academy….you're good at being a Huntress, really good"

"I learned those skills hunting people instead of Grimm"

"And now you can put them to a better use; you could be a hero" Hellion's pale jade eyes met Eagle's deep crimson and saw the hope and determination there and the Dragonfly Faunus pulled her lover into a tight embrace

"I don't know what will happen next for my people Eagle but I want you to be here for it" Eagle ran her hands through Hellion's hair and gazed at her lovingly before answering

"I'll be right here" hearing that Hellion pulled Eagle into a slow kiss which left the blonde red-faced and panting for breath as they broke apart; only to realise that Arctus was no longer present, having obviously decided to give the couple some privacy and left without interrupting them. This realisation brought a wicked smile to Hellion's lips before she took Eagle's lower lip between her teeth and ran her hands along her toned body, eliciting low moans of pleasure while the movie they had been watching was left completely forgotten about.

Antonia Arc pursed her lips, double checking that the information she was reading was correct before frowning. She had hoped that she had been wrong in her suspicions, that there was still a slim chance that the aid the White Fang were receiving had not come from within her own company and much less from someone who had been a great many things to her, a partner, confidant, lover and friend. It seemed such hopes were misplaced which left only one course of action; hardening her expression she entered a series of commands into her computer that would render her office within the Poly-Tech headquarters both inaccessible and all but impossible to eavesdrop on, a moment later she was stood before the wide screen mounted on the wall and making a subconscious effort to straighten her clothes and make herself seem larger, more in control and more intimidating than she actually was; the rational part of her mind scoffed at the notion that she would stoop to such a primal display, whilst her baser instincts all but screamed into her subconscious that appearing weak or compromised in front of General Winter Schnee was simply not an option. The visage of the ivory haired military legend in question soon appeared on the screen, hands clasped behind her back and wearing a stern expression

"Arc, report"

"One day you will remember that I am not your soldier" Antonia growled, refusing to let any trace of petulance slip into her voice as she raised her chin; Winter nodded in understanding

"My apologies Antonia, I mean no disrespect….has there been any progress in our operation"

"There has" the blonde woman nodded "I've arranged for the previous iteration of Project Snare to be transported by land to a storage facility in the Geheimnis settlement; all of the documents are presented in a way that makes the routine shipment seem far more secretive than it really is, reading it one would assume that the Geheimnis site is a classified location"

"I see" Winter said simply, the General had no need to ask whether or not there were any of the more dangerous or damning projects that Poly-Tech had collaborated with the Atlesian Military on at the Geheimnis site, her station made her privy to the locations where all the proverbial skeletons were buried and the site that Antonia had chosen was responsible for nothing more complex or threatening than surplus automated cleaning systems.

"And I am to understand that our target has fallen for this ruse?" Winter asked, already surmising the answer

"Someone certainly has" Antonia answered simply before elaborating "Minutes ago we detected a cyber-security breach, someone accessed our shipping logs externally….judging by how easily they homed in what they were looking for it would seem that they were familiar with Poly-Tech protocols"

"And the fact that they risked doing this from a private computer rather than simply doing so whilst at work inside a Poly-Tech facility is telling" Winter noted, sapphire eye narrowing as she considered her next move "I'm loathe to simply make Doctor Eldritch simply disappear without concrete evidence. I suspect that tracing this security breach back to him will take time, it would be much more expedient to apprehend whoever makes an attempt to target your facility….though I highly doubt Eldritch will be present, having someone who can positively identify him in custody will be beneficial" Antonia took a moment to process this information before the thought of just who could be counted among the ranks of Winter Schnee's 'Operatives' occurred to her

"As long as it isn't the same pawns you have posing as students in the Vytal Tournament" she snapped hotly "I assure you they will never set foot in another Poly-Tech premises again without being fired on regardless of who they work for….I lost my previous P.A to them; she resigned while I was absent, PTSD" Antonia kept her own sleepless nights, plagued by memories of rampaging Faunus bandits to herself and decided that even broaching the subject of one of their number fraternising with her daughter to Winter would be foolhardy; Eagle was eighteen and could make her own mistakes.

"No" Winter answered bluntly "Team GORE have their own objective. I have someone else you're familiar with in mind for this operation; one of the best the Specialist Branch has to offer….You recall Specialist Asteri?" with that a form seemed to emerge from the shadows behind Winter as if they had been part of the darkness itself; crimson hair, amber eyes and a face partially obscured by a respirator, the woman was clad in the uniform of her rank, personalised with additional armour and modified to accommodate her prosthetic left arm, the Cybernetic grafted to the flesh above her elbow intended to replace a limb lost to the same Faunus that had kidnapped Antonia; if the official reports were to be believed this same Huntress had been present when the White Fang had attacked in Gerat-Handlung and had fought the leader of the terrorists personally

"Miss Arc" Kafsi Asteri intoned "You have my assurances that your employees will not be harmed during the course of this operation" Antonia looked into the cold yet fierce eyes of this Specialist and saw nothing but simple ruthless pragmatism there; she found herself believing that Asteri was indeed as capable as Winter claimed and that she would keep her promise

"Thank you; I'm not what you would call a people person but my staff mean a lot to me….all of them, they're the people that make our visions for a better Remnant possible" Antonia admitted before steeling herself "Although I would like to make one request"

"Name it" Winter replied and the scientists' expression turned fierce as she thought of the extent of Oz's betrayal of her trust

"If and when you move to apprehend Doctor Eldritch; take him alive if at all possible….and be sure to ask him why"

Carcharodon burst from the ground, his body still reforming from the protean liquid state his Semblance converted it into as he launched himself at Onyx; the Puma Faunus defended himself well, sheathing his axe across his back in preparation for the onslaught of knees and elbows at close quarters the Shark Faunus would doubtlessly unleash. Onyx's predictions were proven correct as Carcharodon threw a right cross into his knee with enough force to buckle the limb and send Onyx staggering forward a step, the Shark Faunus followed up by weaving under around the frantic left that the taller fighter lashed out with and drove his left elbow into his bottom rib; as Onyx was left sputtering and gasping for breath Carcharodon kept his momentum going and delivered first a backhanded left into the base of Onyx's neck and then a knee to the gut which landed with enough force to lift the Puma Faunus from the ground and sending sailing through the air, only to land in a roll and position himself in a crouch; his whole body tense and coiled in preparation for the next exchange, Carcharodon knew that if he were to try and charge now Onyx would simply barrel through him. Their sparring session had gone on for hours as they alternated between armed and unarmed combat, throwing in scenarios where one was unarmed in order to prepare for any eventuality; had Carcharodon been on speaking terms with any of his fellow students he would have asked for those not competing in the doubles round to attack Onyx and himself in droves in order to truly prepare himself.

"Gonna make me wait?" Onyx grunted gruffly before simply charging forwards, clearing half of the distance between them in a single lunge; Carcharodon expected a running right handed blow or a swing of his axe and so made to go low, only to find himself directly in the path of an oncoming kick; Onyx's shin connected with Carcharodon's side and sent him clattering to the ground where he promptly righted himself, leaping into the air with a flying knee strike intended to halt any follow up attack Onyx made before landing and readying himself in an open handed stance from which he could redirect the Puma Faunus's blows. The two regarded each other in grim silence for a moment that lasted far longer than it should have, each of them tense as they waited for the other to make their move; eventually Carcharodon's bottomless black eyes seemed to soften, a difficult feat for the inhuman orbs

"Enough" he rasped out as he made his way to the edge of what had been defined as their training area and sat himself down on the cold ground, reaching for a bottle of water. The Atlesian night air was cold, most would find the biting winds inhospitable but Carcharodon and Onyx were native to climates equally as frigid and found themselves feeling somewhat at home.

"I've spent too much time on dry land, my balance is slipping" the Shark Faunus noted with clear distaste while Onyx made no comment. The Shadow Cadre, like all children of the Frost River had begun their training as fighters and raiders when they each turned five years old; being woken before the sun rose each morning and drilled by a curmudgeonly old master at arms who was also one of the tribal elders on the deck of the ship that they had been raised upon before being given their own vessel; balance was paramount as it was made perfectly clear to the young raiders that they would be training whether their ship was docked, on the Frost River itself or on the open sea and should any of them fall or be knocked overboard they would not be rescued; merely remembered fondly as a warrior of the tribe who died in single combat. Onyx made his way over, silently judging Carcharodon's mood before broaching a subject with his leader that since the Shark Faunus's official instatement as leader of the tribe it was no longer Onyx's place to question.

"You're being moody again" Carcharodon noted, easily picking up on his oldest friends' demeanour "You've been different since…." the rest of the sentence went unsaid, there had been no discussion of Raffia's fate between the three of them; while Carcharodon hadn't gone to the extreme of expunging their former ally from the tribes history, a moot point considering the circumstances, it was simply too raw and too painful to discuss.

"It's not me that's changed" Onyx sighed sitting down next to Carcharodon "Everything's changed"

"If something's bothering you then speak" Carcharodon rasped out with some annoyance "Things haven't changed so much that I don't still value your input" Onyx nodded but took a moment to compose his thoughts

"When we first set out for Atlas there was a mission, we followed Mizu and then you because we planned to avenge our fallen and gather our scattered people….and now we can't truly do either, the Scavenger Guild have won and our people are dead. Car, we never discussed what we intended to do afterwards; you're the Council of Elders now, just you….I don't think you have a plan" Carcharodon's lips peeled back from his countless sharp and serrated teeth as a furious hiss escaped him; a moment later he seemed to fold in on himself as he buried his face in his hands with an admission that was clearly painful for him to make

"There is no plan" he let out a shuddering breath, fighting to keep some semblance of composure as as Onyx gently squeezed his shoulder with a meaty paw of a hand "My sister had a plan; I had grief and hate and rage….and you all followed me anyway"

"And I've never regretted that decision" Onyx assured him bluntly "But now we need to look to our future and I feel like a traitor to our people for saying this but we can't go back to raiding….I think we should stay and train as Huntsmen" Carcharodon recoiled away from him and fixed him with a truly baleful glare

"I will never join the ranks of-"

"We're already here Car!" Onyx snapped, the new boundaries between them imposed by Carcharodon's status suddenly forgotten "We are already training to be Hunters….and they're already in Hellion's head; if we leave here we'll be leaving her behind and we both know it. Car I can't say goodbye to anyone else" Carcharodon halted, whatever retort he had planned to make dying on his lips as he heard the tremble in Onyx's voice and was forced to face the crushing realisation that the Puma Faunus was right; their way of life was over and without the support of his most staunch ally the Shark Faunus could no longer continue deluding himself.

"You're right" he finally said "Better what few of us remain stay together and if don't find an alternative we'll spend the rest of our lives running and hiding, scavenging what little we can….These Hunters; frankly they're a bunch of imbeciles more concerned with looking impressive than actually surviving. No wonder the Hunters on Anima were so viscious, they must have been all that was left"

"So we're staying?" Onyx visibly perked up, a spark of hope igniting

"The Grimm are a problem that both the Kingdoms and those outside them need to face; we can get their official paperwork and live our lives killing Grimm free of the Kingdoms' interference….we're staying" Carcharodon nodded, a frown forming on his face as a thought occurred to him "If it's possible to do so at least. When we return to New Vale I will make our case to Professor Goodwitch….though I can't recall seeing any teams that are permanently missing a member"

"Oh" Onyx's mouth hung open as Carcharodon delivered the punchline of the cruel joke that fate had seemingly played on them

"Which means if we want to train as Hunters we need to find Raffia"

Arctus perched atop the wall of the ramparts around Atlas Academy's walls, the corners of which were largely inaccessible due to the artillery pieces mounted there and thoroughly secured and protected against whatever malicious or simply mischievous hi-jinks the students could throw at them. As the Bear Faunus waited he kept a small Glyph active, no larger than the size of his palm and glowing scarlet with the Fire Dust infusing it, he kept his hand and the Glyph positioned directly above a yellow styrofoam container that the canteen staff had provided him with when he asked for a meal to go; a toothy grin spread across his face as he considered what his predecessors would have thought of the Schnee Semblance, the iconic sign of their illustrious family, being used to keep his girlfriends dinner warm like an improvised microwave.

"Hey big guy" a familiar husky voice which never failed to make his smile just a little wider no matter how often he heard it called out to him; he turned and saw Diamond making her way towards him clad in the sweatpants she wore while working out and a matching hoodie, currently only half zipped, allowing the light to catch the necklace Arctus had bought for her before the dance and make it stand out against her skin

"Hey beautiful" he murmured as she reached him, releasing his Semblance and handing over the food he had procured whilst leaning down to meet her kiss

"You're a treasure y'know that" Diamond beamed as she took the food gratefully "But how come we're eating out here?"

"Eagle and Hellion were having a moment" Arctus answered as Diamond casually made her way onto the wall to sit beside him "Felt like I was interrupting….besides this is nice, it reminds me of hanging out on the roof at Halo" Diamond shrugged as if to concede that their current location did have some of the same appeal, whilst also promptly chewing her current mouthful of food and swallowing rapidly to follow up with

"They were making out weren't they….Sweet Oum's it's good to see her finally having some confidence"

"They weren't" Arctus replied, causing Diamond to blink and widen her cherry red eyes in surprise until he amended "But I could tell they really, really wanted to"

"Good for them"

"Yeah, besides the conversation they were having was kinda private anyway….but by the sounds of it Team GORE might actually just carry on as students after the tournament"

"Huh….didn't see that coming" Diamond noted "But good on them having a plan for the future….whatever we think of the rest of 'em Hellion's been good for Eagle"

"As crazy it sounds I don't even really mind any of them that much" the Bear Faunus paused at his words, taking in just how absurd they sounded when considering everything that had transpired over the course of Team FADE's first year, up to and including his being stabbed by Raffia Dirge

"I know what you mean" Diamond agreed as soon as her mouth was empty enough to do so, pausing for a moment before adding "Do you ever think about what the future's gonna be like for us?"

"How do you mean?" Arctus asked, suddenly cautious for reasons he couldn't articulate even to himself

"I don't know dude, I'm just thinking….when we get back to New Vale we're half way through being students. I'm just wondering what's gonna happen after that"

"I mean us getting work as Hunters isn't gonna be hard" Arctus grinned "With the experience we've got we could probably get some jobs already if we had licenses….whatever happens we'll still be together though"

"Good" Diamond laughed as she playfully nudged him "I'm in this for the long-haul dude….it's nice to hear you say it though"

"Me too Dee" Arctus answered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders "I wanna…." he trailed off as he realised that this was a subject that had never been broached between them; Diamond gave him a curious look

"What?" Arctus met her eyes and answered in a voice that was now a little more quiet and cautious than it had been

"Dee I wanna marry you some day….I really can't imagine my life without you in it" there was a moment of silence where an unbidden thought crept into Arctus's mind and he wondered if he had said something wrong; that was alleviated a moment later when Diamond flung her arms around his shoulders and kisses him forcefully before burying her face in his neck

"I love you much big guy, y'know that right?"

"I love you too" Arctus answered simply, Diamond gave him a playful poke

"Although if you're throwing words like marriage around I think you've gotta meet my parents at some point"

"I would love to, maybe over the summer I'll be able to visit Mistral?" Arctus suggested. He had a single encounter with Diamond's father, the duration of which could be measured in seconds and had never met Emerald Sustrai; as he felt Diamond adjust herself and get more comfortable against him the Bear Faunus decided that there was frankly nothing he wouldn't do for her; even if it meant meeting Mercury Black, a prospect which he was privately terrified of.

Dijon Harrier was an alumni of Atlas Academy, having graduated six years previously along with his team-mates who formed Team COLD and had, regrettably gone their separate ways. In the intermittent years Dijon had been an individually enlisted member of Atlas's Hunter corps which, along with having no spouse or children to relocate made him a prime candidate to be seconded to the police in one of the settlements beyond the Hive Cities where the line between law enforcement and Hunter were even more blurred than they typically were within the icy Kingdom. Dijon stood at roughly six and a half feet tall and sported a well muscled physique which bordered on bulky and contrasted oddly with his crew cut blonde hair and boyish face, the lower half of which was currently hidden behind a black scarf clearly intended to obscure his identity; he also wore all black attire, practical clothing suited to the Atlesian climate with tactical armour painted a matte black to make him less visible to enemy combatants and kept his weapon fastened to his chest by a combination of shoulder strap and electromagnetic clamp for easy reach. Dijon had quickly rose through the ranks of the militarised police department he had found himself appointed to and was now the leader of a small patrol unit consisting of a dozen officers and himself who transported themselves through their jurisdiction in a pair of well protected, all terrain armoured personnel carriers. Currently those vehicles were parked on a long desolate road leading towards the settlement Dijon was appointed to, one in front and one behind of a pickup truck which judging by its' bumper stickers was clearly a family car belonging to proud parents. The pickup truck had been pulled over by the first of the armoured vehicles first as a precaution, a tail-light was broken and the pickups' tires didn't seem to gaining enough traction on the surface which had turned icy during the night; upon realising that the driver was a Faunus man with his human wife and their three children matters changed and the family felt an unmistakable sense of dread when the officers began covering their faces as the second vehicle arrived and Dijon stepped out, demanding that everyone exit the pickup truck, including the children.

"License and registration" the Huntsman barked as he stepped into the Bull Faunus's space; the man complied whilst making a point to avoid eye contact and do nothing that could be considered threatening, he was old enough to remember pre-war Atlas and understood the situation he found himself in intimately.

"That's a nice truck" Dijon noted, before handing the offered documents over to one of his underlings who produced a lighter and without hesitation set fire to the paperwork "It's a shame you don't have a license or registration"

"You can't-" the mans' wife began only to fall silent in horrified silence as Dijon delivered a punch to the mans stomach which left the Bull Faunus doubled over on the floor struggling not to vomit

"Up" Dijon ordered

"Please, take the car just-"

"Up, now!" Dijon lashed out with a kick "Get up and stop resisting!"

"Not in front of my kids" the Faunus pleaded only to dragged back to his feet by two of the officers

"Fuck your kids" Dijon spar "White Fang used kids in their last attack….in fact until I'm convinced otherwise you, your litter of fleabag kids and your Faunus fucking whore of a wife are a terrorist cell"

"Please" the wife pleaded, desperately trying quiet her now crying children "What do you want" Dijon stared at her coldly

"I want to secure the existence of my people and a future for human children...that can't happen if our women are degenerates getting fucked by-" the ground beneath him exploded and Dijon landed several feet away in a crumpled heap, Aura flickering visibly around him the force of the attack he had just been subjected to

"OPEN FIRE AND WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT WAS!" he bellowed as he sprung to his feet and readied his weapon in its' assault rifle form

"Sir behind-" what the officer had been warning him about hit Dijon before the words could leave his mouth and he hit the tarmac face first with a clearly audible crunch, weapon clattering across the floor, an armoured boot connected with his gut flipping him over and a weapon was pressed against his forehead, the owner of said weapon snarling out

"That would be me" Dijon found himself staring up in anger that was suddenly muted by dread as he took in the sight of a Huntress clad in a battle-suit sporting four wings spread out behind her and boasting weapons that would have been more at home on an Atlesian Paladin, the exoskeleton allowing each heavy weapon to wielded single handed and while her face was hidden behind a featureless helm the cold fury radiating from the woman was undeniable

"I am Corvid Xiao Long of Team CLIR" the woman informed them "I have direct orders from General Schnee to investigate the abuse of power by Hunters and law enforcement in this area and act accordingly. You are all under arrest….boys, cuff 'em" at her instruction a pair of young men, one with pale lavender hair and clad in an immaculate suit, the other rough and rugged looking made their way into view from flanking positions with their weapons drawn and in the distance Dijon could hear the engines of a Bull-Head, meaning that they had air support

"You're not cuffing anyone!" one of Dijon's men exclaimed, levelling his weapon at Corvid. The air around the Huntress suddenly took on a charged quality, as if a thunderstorm were approaching

"I have two rail-guns and a forcefield generator. Stand down" many of the officers, realising that a confrontation with the Hunters would only end one way lowered their weapons and allowed themselves to be detained; the one pointed a weapon at Corvid was not among them, the air rippled as a salvo of bullets failed to reach her

"Rusty, deal with that one" her tone was icy, as close to outright murderous as any of her team could recall hearing her; Rusty grabbed the barrel of the mans' weapon and brought his Semblance into life, causing the weapon to rust and corrode into nothing within seconds; he then followed up by leaving the officer on the ground unconscious with a single punch in the face. Seeing that the threat was over Corvid stepped over to the family who had been the subject of the Hunters' malice

"I'm gonna get you home safe, you can make a statement and report what happened tonight right now or wait until you've taken care of your kids….I can promise you that they'll go to prison for this"

"Thank you" the Bull Faunus croaked out, still seeming as though he couldn't entirely believe what had just happened "I wanna take care of my family first" Corvid nodded in understanding

"Lux, Rusty we're not taking them back to their own station; find somewhere to leave them until they can be picked up….somewhere cold" she then opened a comm channel to Iris who was currently circling overhead in the Bull-Head Atlas Academy had provided "Find somewhere to land and make your way to their station, inform them what happened today and that they will now be answering to me until General Schnee ships in new people….I'll talk to Aunt Winter myself and explain that we didn't even need to go covert as soon as I've gotten these people home safe" within minutes the officers who had been placed under arrest had been thrown in the back of their own vehicles along with Dijon Harrier, whom Corvid had knocked out cold both to be sure he wasn't a threat and also simply because she felt he deserved it and Corvid had taken to the skies, maintaining a position almost directly above the pickup truck as it led her towards what she supposed she could consider her jurisdiction for the time being; the settlement of Geheimnis.

Authors Notes:

Okay first off let's address the big old mastodon in the room shall we; I have a new username….for the second time in two years.
Tumblr in its' infinite wisdom has decided that as of the 17th December 2018 NSFW content will be banned on their platform and considering a) what this will do to the RWBY community on the website and b) the usual level of incompetence that Tumblr staff have I decided it was time to get off of a sinking ship or at least make plans (Considering that my blog has already been marked as sensitive I can see this was the correct choice).
The Alolan Charmander username was taken on Twitter so now I am FandomPariah on Twitter, Tumblr, FF Net and Ao3 as well as FandomPariah #0370 on Discord should anyone wish to contact me; rest assured though I will continue to write and post
I'm also considering signing up to Pillowfort or any other sites people can suggest.
FandomPariah works as a handle, it's not tied to any one fandom like my old username and frankly considering my reputation it fits me.

Anyway, let's summarise shall we:
The vaguely feminine voice whispering to the Wizard….If you read Downward Spiral you can see the long game I'm playing here.
Also with his age, Ozymandias would have been an adult before he became the Wizard….I felt like giving a little glimpse at just how much the change has taken from him; he was a normal man with a family once.
These White Fang leaders keep allying themselves with humans who have absolutely no respect for their grand crusades; first Adam and Cinder and now Celeste and Oz.
"The Toybox" from Atlas, the same Kingdom that had an extrajudicial prison called "The Chasm" they do like their code names.
Now I wonder what Geppetto Polendina could have hidden in the Toybox that Ozymandias would have an interest in.
Geheimnis = Secrets; I'm not subtle.
"A container roughly five and a half feet tall which you will not be able to open and whose contents I will not disclose" is Oz speak for shut up and mind your own business.
Kuro is the Faunus who modified Neon's armour for Celeste's purposes; the fact that Kuro and Oz worked together explains how the suit integrates with Celeste's prototype synthetic spine so well.
Yep, we're getting more Cult of Taurus action….which means Gamma and his new arm are coming out to play.
Athena-Jade is gonna be a Hunter like her parents and big brother.
Team FADE most definitely rallied around Eagle the moment they heard about her family.
Felix and Corvid still worry about each other when one of them is on a mission.
The idea that Team GORE come from a background where telling people how you feel is rare just make sense.
Hellion is starting to think of "Her people" as Team GORE first and not the Shadow Cadre.
Yeah Arctus made the correct choice and got out before he became a total third wheel.
Winter and Toni are playing Oz and the White Fang; there's nothing in Geheimnis for them to find.
Antonia tries to be detached and logical and pragmatic….but the fact is she genuinely hates Team GORE.
Kafsi is back ladies and gentlemen.
Carcharodon and Onyx's fight scenes are always fun to write.
A little insight into exactly how tough life was in the Frost River Tribe; they were Pirate Viking and Spartan all mixed into one.
I feel like Onyx feeling that he can't joke and talk honestly with Car any more due to his position is something that hurts both of them.
Not as much as that Raffia shaped hole does though.
"My sister had a plan; I had grief and hate and rage" Car gets all the good lines.
So yeah Team GORE are gonna be a part of the story for the long haul….If they can find Raffia.
Arctus utterly abusing the Schnee Semblance like that was funny to me.
I'll admit the whole Polar Bear scene was just self indulgence on my part.
Being scared of Merc is probably a sensible choice….even if he is wrapped around Diamond's little finger.
I feel like I've used the name Dijon for a minor character in Atlas already….Oh well, there are only so many colours; we'll just say Dijon is the Remnant equivalent of John.
Was the whole scene with racist and heavily militarised police on the nose; yes, yes it was. At the end of the day we've all scene the footage of police abusing their authority when dealing with minorities, yes the "Stop resisting" line was intention and yes Dijon having a line that was an approximation of the "Fourteen words" used by Neo Nazis was intentional as well; I want to make clear exactly the kind of people Team CLIR were being sent to remove.
So yeah, Team CLIR are now the only real Hunter presence in Geheimnis….the same place the Cult of Taurus are about to roll up at….Oh boy.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, iSassenach, Funlander, Ferrous, Garthraxxus, FleetOfWarships and FluffyFirefly for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh god, I feel like the Arc family has special contingency plans for if Nora and Aunt Hell ever get drunk together.
I feel like a lot of people have predicted how Gang and Coral would interact.
I feel like the talk would be one sided, Antonia would rant at Qrow and he would promptly ignore her and let Eagle make her own choices.
Snot? Ever washed dried blood out of a stuffed animal? I had a nose bleed when I was a toddler and one of mine end up bloodstained from the shoulders up….It didn't wash out so I just had this one stuffed animal that looked like Carrie.
I feel like if the Frost River Tribe wasn't reduced to almost nothing Carcharodon would wear the crown more often, as it is it'll most likely only ever be worn for special occasions.
Yeah, Corvid probably meant for it to be a one time thing but….toe-beans; and since some people are iffy about the pair, look Corvid dated a nice girl who worked at a coffee shop, that girl broke up with her; let Corey have her 'bad-boy' phase.
I mean Helios has already beaten Onyx once and Nyanza's Semblance makes everything hard to judge….can't flatten him if everything just misses him by an inch.
Okay I will alleviate some fears right now; Coral is not a sleeper agent.
I feel like I want to hold off on the Battle-Cat family scenes until third year, when Helios can be introduced to everyone.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.