"A common tactic is to conduct an ambush as a means to set up ambush(es) of enemy forces that respond to the original ambush. Multiple and nearly simultaneous ambushes can be conducted along likely avenues of approach to the area of the initial ambush."

-TC 7-100.3 Irregular Opposing Forces, Chapter 7: Functional Tactics

Chapter Seven: Reconnaissance, Part 1

"Ready for our first contract? Or mission, shit we're just honestly on a permanent contract from the Council aren't we? Running around cleaning up their messes, and protecting their borders from Grimm." said Thistle, sitting on a crate of supplies, loading rounds into his rifle magazines.

Jaune took a bite out of his cookie, before continuing to load his magazines, "We don't even know what our mission is exactly. All the warning order said is that we're following up on a village under our protection. Their CCT tower might have broken down for all we know."

"Fat chance that is," Thistle snorted. "We'll probably get there and the whole place is cleared out by Grimm."

Vi kicked Thistle, sliding a magazine into her vest, "And that negativity is exactly what will attract all the Grimm here! Keep positive, and don't pass out in the bar, lightweight."

"Well, I'm not the one who trashed the bar."

"You both got blackout drunk and trashed the bar together. Did you guys not remember that?" piped up Jay from the side, lifting up his hat to look at the pair. "I had to drag both of you out before the owner shot us."

Thistle growled and scooped up a rock and threw it at Jay, "Crazy asshole had a rocket launcher and everything. Also, all his goons started pulling guns and shit, what was I supposed to do? Not try and fight them?"

Jay ducked the rock coming his way, "Yes, and not get blackout drunk with Vi. Razz didn't appreciate being called out to deal with our shit. Place was shady anyways, since they let Jaune, Lav, and Finch in. All of them underage as fuck."

"That was actually the first time Vi ever went to a bar," said Lavender, scrolling through something on her scroll. "Never much disposable lien to toss around."

"Oh shut up sis," Vi shouldered her sister, bumping her off the crate roughly and drawing a yelp from her. "I'm a natural, right Thistle? You're the party animal here."

Thistle rolled his eyes, "That's because I'm just about the only one who parties here. I can't remember if it was you or me that started that fight anyways. Who was it Jaune? You're probably the one with the best memory here."

"It was you Thistle."

"Oh come on! Couldn't you have just lied?"

"I still need to destroy the rest of your self esteem, there's too much of it in there for your own good," Jaune started to tune out Thistle's retorts, and just hummed in agreement to whatever he had just said. His mind was wandering to other things that night. A flash of striking yellow hair, and a familiar voice. Jaune had ushered his drunken section away from the nightclub as fast as possible, disappearing into the poorly lit streets with two heavily inebriated teammates. And not a moment too soon, as right after Yang Xiao Long had walked past in the light, and no doubt would have seen him if he hadn't moved away.

It was a close call for him, unknown to the rest of his section. He sure didn't know what would be her reaction to him, but he didn't want to find out. Especially after seeing her reaction to his transcripts…

"Jaune you there?" asked Lavender, kicking him in the leg, jolting him from his thoughts. He looked around quickly, no one but her had seen him. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, drawing a raised eyebrow from Lavender. "Just saw some old friends last night, nothing you need to worry about."

"Doesn't look like that," she said, setting down her magazine and looking him dead in the eyes. "You've also had this weird reaction whenever someone mentions Beacon. It's been at least four months and you haven't talked to whoever your friends were yet? Eventually, this will catch up to you Jaune, and it won't be on your own terms."

He waved dismissively, "It's nothing you need to worry about Lav. I'll make up with them once I do this mission and prove them wrong."

Lavender continued looking into his eyes unnervingly, before leaning back and breaking away, "Hmph. Still, Jaune, don't leave it until it bites you in the ass."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jaune stood up suddenly, eager to escape Lavender's probes, and walked over to Finch. "Your drones working again?"

Finch continued fiddling with something on his backpack for a second, before flinging away his screwdriver in anger, "Drone factory isn't working right now. Something's broken and I can't fix it, so I'll need to go make some new parts before I can fix it. We'll be stuck with one surveillance drone, and about five compact explosive ones."

Jaune plopped down on a nearby crate, rubbing his forehead with one hand, "So instead of being able to destroy the entirety of Vale with only scrap metal, we can instead destroy a small horde of Grimm."

"About it."

"Still pretty good then," he grunted, before standing up and grabbing his smallpack. Razz had told him to do an inspection of the LAV before they stepped off to make sure everything was serviceable and ready. "I'm off to check the LAV, if Razz comes by tell him I'm over there."

Thistle insulted him again, and Jaune good naturedly jabbed him back. Grabbing his bag and started walking towards the LAV, Crocea Mors rattled against the side of the compact assault bag. Its sheath was repainted the same dull green like everything else to avoid detection. Alabaster had looked at the sword and decided Jaune would need to repaint the sheathe so the gleaming white metal wouldn't give away his position in a flash. It had pained him to do it, but the necessity had been pounded into him, particularly by Alabaster's sword pommel. Or the time Alabaster decided it necessary to toss him in a stalking exercise against his section with Crocea Mors. The painful welts on his back were a lasting reminder of his mistakes.

Reaching the LAV parked just outside a Bullhead, he strapped his bag onto the side on the LAV. There was no room inside for it, so they would attach their bags to the outside of the vehicle, and grab it on the way out. He climbed on top of the LAV and started idly running through his checklist while his mind went elsewhere.

Lavender was right about him freezing up every time Beacon was mentioned. He had tried so hard to avoid his old friends from Beacon. His scroll was always a painful reminder that his old friends were still there, and they wanted to know what he was up to. The messages had slowed down after a while, but Ruby's name always kept popping up, asking where he was, what he was doing. Pyrrha had done the same. He didn't respond to either.

Why was he such a coward?

If he couldn't face his old friends at Beacon, what did that say for facing anything else?

He caught his hand starting to tremble while checking a sensor. Willing his hand to stay still, he reached his other to grasp his wrist and freeze it in place. He let out a long breath and leaned his head on the LAV, dejected at himself.

He needed to sort this out.

"Hey Jaune!" Jaune spun around to face the new voice, it was Razz. "I'm briefing the section right now, get back over there."

He nodded, picking up his rifle, "Yes Sergeant."

Jogging past Razz, Jaune stowed away his previous doubts at the back of his head. Whatever laid ahead needed his full attention. He took a seat next to Thistle, who slid his last magazine into his vest, patting Jaune's shoulder as he sat down.

Razz walked up to the group, "Alright guys, our mission is going to be reconnaissance and checkup. We lost contact at a village that was under our protection three days ago. We didn't receive any distress calls beforehand and they had just sent an all clear message, so we assumed that their CCT tower broke. Command's gotten antsy and wants us to move in and check up on them."

"I'll be real with you," Razz sat down with a sigh. "This will most likely turn into a search and recovery. It isn't likely that they don't manage to break their CCT for that long, nor a Grimm attack that happens so fast that they can't get a message off. The tower they have isn't the type that can be easily jammed either, so whatever we're facing, we have absolutely no idea who they are. Do any of you object to this?"

They shook their heads.

"I'm forwarding the area maps to you right now," Razz tapped a button on his scroll. Their scrolls dinged with a notification. "Any questions? None? Good, get to the LAV and load up your kit. We're leaving in twenty."

They got up to haul their rucksacks over to the LAVs, before Razz waved Jaune over, "Arc, mind if we have a word?"

Jaune walked over to him, slinging his rifle behind him, "Sure Sergeant, what do you want to talk about?"

"For most of these guys, this will probably be their first contact with Grimm. You've fought Grimm before right? Even as the guy who faked his way in, I think you fought some," Razz pulled out a cigarette, stuffing it in his mouth.

Jaune winced at the casual remark, "Yeah, this won't be my first time fighting against them."

"I won't be on the ground with you," he puffed out a cloud of smoke into the cold air. Jaune shivered and wrapped his scarf tighter around him. The Grimmlands snowed quite a bit in the winter in some areas, specifically the area where they were going. "I'll be commanding up in the LAV, so I'll be relying on you to make the calls with the guys, you okay with that?"

Jaune laughed harshly, "That's my job, isn't it?"

"Well, I don't think you've ever seen a dead body before, have you?" his laughter stopped. "There's a decent chance that we'll be seeing an entire village that's been massacred, either by Grimm or our fellow man. The bandits are likely long gone, but there's also a chance we'll be fighting against them." Razz's cigarette drooped to the corner of his mouth, "Some of them will probably not have Aura."

Jaune stood stock still, the information filtering through his head, "I knew what I was getting into when I signed up. At least I thought I knew what I was going into..."

"The point is Arc," said Razz, gripping his shoulder. "Even though you're younger than most of them, they'll be looking to you for guidance, just because of your position. Try to hold back whatever emotions you feel at the moment. If you feel like puking, don't. Just do what I do, hold it all in then, and let it all out in private." Razz winked at him, "Our little secret eh?"

"You always look so confident whenever we were doing anything..."

"Pah! Should've seen me on my first contract. Nearly shit my pants, but no one ever knew and thought I was a badass. Isn't so bad now that I'm used to it."

"Inspires me with confidence that my Section leader nearly shit his pants."

Razz punched his arm, "Yeah and you better shut it before I toss you in the sea. Go load up with the others, I'll follow behind."

He nodded and walked down the tarmac towards the fleet of Bullheads. Two aircraft stood out among the fleet of five. Sleeker than the rest, their tandem cockpit and cannons attached in a turret underneath the nose. Weapons racks lined the wings, all sorts of missiles and rockets attached. The LAVs rumbled onto the Bullheads, which were modified to have a larger cargo bay, each would fit two of the armoured vehicles.

Lavender stepped up next to him, "You nervous?" she said, voice barely a whisper.

"Razz would say anyone who said they're not is either a liar or crazy," he replied back, tossing on his helmet.

She giggled, "That's probably the most cliché thing ever said. I remember Moss hammering that into our heads."

"Well, it's true isn't it?"

"I guess it is."

Both of them stood in silence, watching the two LAVs load up on the aircraft in front of them. Jaune quickly fished out a pill from his vest. Motion sickness wouldn't do in this line of work. He'd forgotten them when he arrived at Beacon, which had resulted in an unfortunate incident for him…

Swallowing it, he stepped towards the Bullhead and took a seat on the bench. Thistle slid down the bench next to him, jabbing him with an elbow in his customary greeting.

"Hope that motion sickness won't come up again, the first time you forgot it everyone wanted to kill you."

Jaune groaned into his hand, "I took my pills this time, don't worry."

Razz stepped into the Bullhead, looking at the loadmaster strapping down the LAVs, then taking a look at the two of them sitting on the benches, "We'll be taking off in five. Mind as well get some shuteye for now, it's a long flight."

Everyone else started filtering in, taking their seats on the fabric benches. The veterans fell asleep almost immediately, getting ready for the flight ahead. Jaune leaned back and gave a thumbs up to Razz, who turned away and took his seat. Jaune closed his eyes slowly, letting sleep take him.

"What do you think we'll find?" whispered Thistle, crossing his arms.

Jaune opened one eye, "Hm?"

"Bet it'll be fucking nothing, just their CCT is broken."

Jaune wished that would be it. He didn't relish looking through a destroyed village any more than anyone else, "Yeah, I'll take that bet. Go get some sleep. Like Razz said, it's a long flight."

"Okay, Dad."

"Say goodnight to your mom too."

"Fuck off!" retorted Vi beside Thistle.

"Goodnight mom!" said Thistle, leaning sarcastically on her.

Vi shove him off her, throwing him on Jaune, "I said fuck off guys." contrary to her words, a small smile crept on her face.

Jaune chuckled and pulled out his scroll, flipping to the information Razz had sent over it. He nearly forgot about it, which wouldn't have boded well for him. Sleep was important, but knowing the terrain he was going to was better. So Jaune kept himself wide awake as he flipping through the various maps and schematics he had been provided.

/ - /

"Jaune, get up. We're five minutes out," Jaune blinked, jolting upwards to wake up to Thistle slapping his face lightly. "God, you're a heavy sleeper."

Jaune rolled his eyes, "Not that it really helped me in training," he quickly tossed on his helmet, turning on the headset and going through a mental gear check.

"Hah, Moss always had a good time beasting the shit out of you," Thistle moved back and started climbing on top of the LAV in front of him. "You'll be helping secure the landing site after we land, and I'll stay in the comfy LAV right here. Go pound dirt Jaune, death before dismount."

The cargo bay light turned red, all the other lights in the hold turning off, bathing everything in an ominous red tinge. Lavender slid over to him, taking the space Thistle had taken up before. Across from him sat Jay and Finch, also getting ready to dismount. Razz and Thistle quickly clambered into the turret of their LAV, which would be the first one to drive out when they landed. He fiddled with his radio for a second, switching the platoon net to his left ear and the section net to his right, just so he wouldn't get confused who was speaking at a time.

A voice buzzed in his ear, the radio crackling to life, "All stations, this is Snakehead 1. We've got a Grimm horde approaching from the western side of the LZ. Moving to engage, over."

"Snakehead 1, this is Raider 3 Actual. Acknowledged, clear out those Grimm and don't let them get close, over," came the voice of Alabaster over the radio. Of course, their company callsign was Raider, and them being the third Armoured Reconnaissance platoon, and the only one equipped with the LAVs.

"Roger that, out."

Razz looked at the four Contractors seated on the sides, before reaching up to his radio, seated in the LAV turret, "Alright guys, when the ramp drops, move off to the sides. I don't want Vi to accidentally crush you by accident."

A muffled "Hey!" came from the driver's hatch, a middle finger sticking out of it.

The loadmaster's voice back over the Bullhead's intercom, "thirty seconds until we land, Grimm hordes are being dealt with but Snakehead 1 expects there to be stragglers."

Jaune spoke into his headset, "This is Jaune, Lav's on me. Jay and Finch head out right. We'll secure the immediate area around."

The Bullhead jolted suddenly, the airborne sensation ending as the redlight turned green, and the ramp dropped down to let in the blinding midday sun. Jaune leapt out of the cargo hold, Lavender following close behind. He came to a knee on a small hill and scanned around the immediate area. Grimm horde ahead of them, the LAV rolling out of the Bullhead behind them.

The most noticeable thing were the two Snakeheads circling overhead, swooping in and thinning the approaching horde with rockets and missiles, cutting swaths in the Grimm. They took turns carving chunks out of the already depleted Grim.

Lavender dove to the ground next to him, unfolding her bipod and going to work with her rifle. Jaune took a knee and started squeezing off shots. It wasn't long before the LAVs behind them started blasting their cannons at the horde, reducing the already thinned out horde from little to nothing. Soon all that remained was the disintegrating bodies of the Grimm.

Alabaster came over the radio, "All stations, this is Raider 3 Actual. Mount up on the LAVs and assume a column formation."

Jaune turned back to head towards the LAV, the ramp already dropped. He ducked down and took a seat on a bench. The rest of the section entered and took their seats behind him.

"Everyone in?" Razz asked, leaning down from the turret to take a look at them. "Ramp's going up."

Jaune leaned back in his seat, clutching his rifle to his chest. For his first engagement against Grimm with Striker Group, it had sure gone swimmingly. They wouldn't be getting the Snakeheads for the rest of the missions, who would stay at their landing zone guarded by some other Contractors they had brought along. All that remained would be to wait in the LAV until they got to their destination.

Thistle's voice came over the radio, "How'd you guys like that? Your puny rifles can't hold up to this baby."

Jaune scooted over to the exposed legs of Thistle and punched them sharply, "I'm just waiting for when you get hit with an RPG in the village."

"I'll raze the thing before I go in, problem solved."

"Would you two calm down on net?" Razz growled above him, voice breaking through on the radio. "Keep the net clear, you're close enough that you don't need the radio. Let Redwood do his job Arc. If there's anything we need to bash here, it's Vi's driving."

"Hey! I'm a good driver!" yelled Vi from the front of the LAV, barely heard above the rumble of the engine.

Jaune moved back beside the others, "Fat chance..."

Alabaster's voice came over his headset, "Raider 3 Tango Alpha, this is Raider 3 Actual. Deploy your drone overhead and have it follow the convoy, over."

Finch keyed his mic, "Actual, this is Tango Alpha. Acknowledged, drone going up, over." The small teen grabbed a small metal box off his belt. The air sentry hatch above him was pushed open as Finch stood up. The Tech Specialist threw something up in the air before ducking down, slamming the hatch shut above him.

"What was that?" grunted Jay, looking at his friend from across the LAV.

"The surveillance drone," replied Finch, pulling out his ruggedized scroll. "Captain wants eyes in the sky for now, so the drone will just loiter above."

"Sounds nice," said Jaune, taking a look at his tactical scroll. "At least forty kilometres until we get there. What are we going to do until then?"

Jay fished a speaker out of his slimpack, a small bag attached to his vest that could compress down if it needed to, "Figured we would listen to something on the way there, set the mood or something."

And so they rode into potential combat, listening to Jay's rock music in the crew compartment of the LAV, the vehicle bumping its way towards the village.

/ - /

"All stations, this is Raider 3 Actual. Dismount and form three-sixty, out."

Jaune stepped out of the LAV, looking around to see what was around him. Hidden in a copse of trees and thick vegetation just outside the village, camouflage nets were draped over each LAV. In the distance, it looked like a speck, until you realized that half of the village was destroyed and burning. It had to be Grimm that did that, bandits usually didn't try to destroy such a village so thoroughly. It was just a waste of time and energy to do it, not to mention added risk from military forces trying to hunt them down.

"Hey, Lav, set an overwatch position while we wait for orders," he motioned for her to come up to him. When she didn't, he turned back to see her white face and horrified expression. "Lav, you okay? Snap out of it!"

Lavender jerked away from him, startled. She whispered under her breath, "The whole village is gone..."

"Hey Lav," he set a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Look, we all know it's gone. We're here to check it out. Chances are that there are some survivors left in the vault or something. We need you here and now, and not paralyzed. Got it?"

"Y-yeah," she said, moving past him. She laid down quickly and started scanning with her rifle.

Try to hold back whatever emotions you feel at the moment.

They'll be looking to you for guidance.

Razz's words had certainly rung true enough. But inside Jaune was numb, puke being constantly fought down. The knowledge certainly didn't help calm him down any bit.

Alabaster walked up beside him, "Hey Arc, where's Gold?"

"Uh, over with Jay sir," he pointed towards the two, taking a moment to remember Finch's lastname, who had started scanning the village with a pair of binoculars, and Finch's drone flying silently overhead.

"Thanks. Chances are we set up a LAV here and push everyone else down towards the village in any situation." Alabaster waved him away and made his way over to Jay and Finch.

Jaune watched Alabaster walk off, snow crunching under his feet, his radioman following close behind. Not much he could do besides keeping watch and so trudged through the pure white snow beneath him to Lavender and laid down next to her. Bringing his rifle up to his eye, he tilted his head to look at her, "What do you see?"

"Half of the place is destroyed. Completely razed to the ground." her voice was cold and level, an imperceivable crack present. "I don't know how anyone could have survived. If this attack came three days ago, how have none of the survivors come out yet?"

"They're probably stuck in an underground bunker somewhere, and are waiting to be rescued by us."

"Yeah, they're waiting to be rescued and are just trapped," she echoed back, seemingly just to comfort herself with the fact.

He patted her shoulder again. Physical contact helped ease fears, or so Jaune had read somewhere in a book, "Don't stress about it, we'll be in and out fast, and with the civilians loaded up with us." He didn't even believe himself saying it, each word rang out more hollow than the last. What did matter was that it consoled Lavender, what little it did.

"Thanks for that," she said, looking back into her scope, colour returning to her face. "Thanks for snapping me out of that."

He lifted himself up from the ground, taking a knee and looking down on the village, "I don't even know what I said Lav. But you're welcome, because I just start saying random cliché motivational quotes when I'm confused."

She giggled into her sleeve, "That's exactly what I needed. You being stupid."

"Alright then," he snorted, before turning away to walk back to the LAV. Alabaster had just jumped off the LAV turret chatting to Razz, before jogging back to his own. "What did he say Sergeant?"

Razz lifted himself out of the turret, "Well Arc, he's outlined a plan for us, so gather the section here, because I'm only going to explain it once. Come on, let's get on with it."

The whole section moved back to the LAV, and gathered around Razz, who had pulled out a map, "Alright, let's make this brief. We're here, and the village is right there. What's going to happen is that Victor Four is going to set up here with the Logi Victor and set up an overwatch position over the village. Everyone is going to follow the tree line here," his finger traced a path in the wooded area to the village. "We'll break concealment there and move into the village. The drone didn't see anything but cold bodies and rubble everywhere, but that doesn't mean let your guard down. Got it?"

"Roger Sergeant," nodded Jaune. The rest of the section nodded along with him, raising no objections to the plan.

Razz turned back to climb up onto the turret again, "Load up, we'll be moving fast to the staging point in the woods, so don't get left behind by us."

The section climbed into the back without another word, staying silent the short ride to the staging point. There was no turning back now, as if there was ever a choice to turn back for him.

"Everyone dismount," Razz said over the radio, before the ramp dropped behind them. The four Contractors rushed out in a practiced dismount movement, taking up position on the flanks of the LAV. Just at the edge of the town, they were only a short stroll away from the nearest building, which was less a building and more a pile of rubble. A singular tower stood suspiciously undamaged in the middle. It was the local CCT tower for the village.

Alabaster came over the radio, "All stations, this is Raider 3 Actual. Start movement into the village on my go, 3-3 head to the main building to look for the vault. All other stations are to start searching the rest of the village and maintain security, out."

The LAVs rolled forward into the field, the dismounted Contractors trailing after the armoured vehicles. The snowy field soon turned to pavement as the LAVs rolled over the destroyed walls, which had done little to stop whatever had passed through the village. The cold wind bit at his exposed cheeks, making Jaune tug up his scarf in an attempt to cover his face.

A feminine body laid face down on the pavement, no visible wounds on her, Jaune nodded to the rest of his section, "Move on ahead, I'll catch up."

He knelt, beside the body, and flipped it over with one hand. He gagged at the sight. The stench of rotting putrid meat hung heavily in the air, while the body itself looked like it had belonged to a young woman, at least before her internal organs were eviscerated and ripped out by claws and the maw of a Beowulf. The most nauseating thing was the blanket she held, clutched tightly to her even in death's embrace.

Jaune already had an idea of what it was, but peeled back the blanket anyways. The only thing he could see a bloody mess and a bright blue pacifier, stuck in what used to be a mouth.

He pushed back the blanket to hide the body, before bringing a hand up to his face, "I'm sorry..." he whispered before getting up to get back to his section. Eyes dry, nothing wet rolled down his face. No snot ran out of his nose, nothing. Razz's words came back to him again. He instead had to fight off the puke climbing up his throat, and battle the storm of emotions raging through his head.

Coming up to just behind Lavender, he let out an involuntary sigh. He certainly didn't envy whoever else had the sad duty of hunting down destroyed villages. Lavender shot a worried look behind her, which he waved away quickly. There were more bodies littered around the road, all torn apart with claw marks and other signs of a Grimm attack apparent. A bell tower was just ahead, nestled in between two stout buildings. Still in line of sight of the main building it would provide a nice angle on the entire town for anyone on it.

"Hey Lav," he tapped her shoulder. "Think you can get on top of that?"

She turned her head to look at it, "Yeah. I was taught bell towers usually have a way to access the very top of it."

"Alright, set up an overwatch position on top of it. Keep watch for anything that comes close."

She sprinted over to the tower, her long braid bouncing up and down on her back.

"Don't you think she should have someone else with her?" asked Jay, moving behind the LAV at a walking pace.

Jaune pushed away the niggling doubt at the back of his mind, "She'll be alright. It's still in sight of the LAV, so if she gets into any trouble she can call on the radio."

"Whatever you say boss."

Boss, it was a strange word to hear. People older than him listening to his commands? Well, that certainly was a surprise, and not one he ever expected. His headset was suddenly filled with Razz's voice, "We're here. Move in and breach, the LAV will stay here and provide security."

Jaune thumbed his radio, "Roger, we're moving in."

Jay tapped his shoulder, the trio moving in a column towards one of the few buildings still left standing. He reached forward to try the handle, before it swung open when he touched it. A feeling of dread filled his stomach. Grimm would've just broken down the door, not taken the time to pick the lock. He pushed it open and leapt into the doorway without another thought.

The room was shrouded in darkness, and Jaune couldn't make out anything more than vague shapes in the room. Flicking on his rifle light, he swung it around for any threats. Nothing but dead bodies and a destroyed reception area. Jay and Finch filtered in behind him, also taking a look at the scene of death.

Three armour clad Contractors laid before them, their bodies' punctured with holes and chunks torn out of them. Jaune ignored them and pushed forward further into the building. He needed to make sure the place was clear before they did any sort of field autopsy. He made sure to turn on his helmet light, to make sure everything he looked at was properly lit.

Moving through the building, the trio systematically cleared the building, passing dead bodies riddled with bullets, and doors broken open, barely hanging on a hinge. They eventually came to the security room, its door blown off its hinges, and the flickering monitors showing scenes within the building still on inside.

"Finch, you're trained with this stuff right?" he asked, lowering his rifle to look at the displays.

Finch seemed to already know what he wanted, setting down his rifle and pulling a chair from the desk, "Yeah, that's sort of what the name of my job implies."

"Keep watch on the security cameras, and try to find out what happened here and just who we're dealing with," Jaune bent down to the dead Contractor on the ground and started looking at his wounds. All bullet wounds, and what looked like a slash across the chest from a sword. This wasn't any work of Grimm, but of bandits with guns and swords. Maybe they had come just after the Grimm attack, and scoured through killing anyone they found.

"Jaune, if you don't mind," asked Jay, keeping an eye outside the hallway. "I don't think poking around a dead body is very respectful."

"These guys were definitely killed by bandits, gotta relay that to Razz," Jaune stood up and pressed down on his radio. "Razz, this is Jaune. You read?"

"Roger Jaune, I read, send it."

"It looks like the guys in here were killed by bandits of a sort. Haven't found anyone alive yet, over."

There was a pause, "Roger, I'll relay that to the Captain. Keep sharp in there, and get out if there's any sign of trouble."

"Roger, Jaune out," he turned to Jay. "I want to check out the vault in here, there's still a chance of someone surviving. Will you be okay here Finch?"

The young teen simply grinned, while fishing for something from his backpack, "Don't worry, I'll set up some traps so if anyone does try to sneak up on me, I'll have plenty of warning."

"I have the feeling it's going to explode."

"Yep."

"Isn't Jay supposed to be the explosives guy? Whatever, let's get going," Jaune tapped Jay's shoulder and he led them out of the room.

"Also! It detects friend or foe!" shouted Finch at the disappearing duo. Finch just grunted and continued to pull out his traps. He would get to work going through all the footage, going through each clip and searching for just who they were facing. It would be dull work ahead of him. He still found all this detective work interesting, there was just a certain quality to it he had taken to.

He unpacked the laser tripwire from its package. Well, there was also the explosive part of his work he liked. It was a bit more fun than the investigative part, but both parts were cool. Maybe the explosive part was cooler though, he admitted to himself.

/ - /

"The security vault is just around here..." Jaune said, trying to recall the maps he had memorized on the flight there before falling asleep. Rounding the corner, they found themselves faced with a huge metal door, and four fallen Contractors just outside it. "And I think we found it."

"God, this is a fucking mess," said Jay, walking towards the bodies laid out of the floor. "They're all dead, but it looks like whoever's outside that door might still be in there. Gah! This smells fucking terrible."

Jaune sniffed, and the already all too familiar smell of death reached his nose, "Try not to focus on them. We'll get a recovery team to get their bodies out of here once we're done. There's nothing we can do for them now."

Jay knelt one last moment at the dead man, before standing up again, "Man, that's pretty cold of you. Ever really think about what lives these guys had in Vale? And now they're all gone, snuffed out like a candle..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Jaune felt sick to the stomach just standing next to them. There was a ring on the man's finger, slick with blood and nearly unnoticeable. "I'm just comforting myself with the fact we may save some lives today."

Jay knocked against the metal door, "Maybe, but how the hell are we going to get through this door? Can't exactly blow it up if we're expecting people on the other side. Anyone there?" he yelled out, bashing his hand against the metal.

No response.

"Worth a try," Jay said, shrugging.

"We do have Finch in the control room," Jaune pressed down on his radio. "Finch, Jaune. Do you read?"

"Roger Jaune, coming in good and readable. What do you need?"

Jaune watched down the hallway, keeping watch for anything coming their way, "I'm in front of a huge metal door I can't open with explosives. Is there any way you can open it from the control room?"

"I need to find you first, wait out," the transmission stopped before it picked up again. "Gotcha, give me a second. It's a closed circuit apparently, with no connection."

"So you can't open it?" he looked at Jay warily. If it came down to it, his explosives would have to open the door.

Thistle snorted at the other end of the radio, "There's a backdoor connection between here and the vault. Just give me a second."

Jaune brought up his rifle and walked to the opposite side of Jay, "Get ready."

"Pft, not like you needed to say that," Jay hefted his machine gun up at the ready. "What happens if whatever one the other side shoots at us?"

"Tell them we're with Striker Group, That's my best gu-" the metal door jerked an inch open, before opening to reveal a man pointing a pistol at them.

"Freeze!" the man yelled, his shaking arms evident, and terrified expression painted on his face. "Who the fuck are you!"

"Blue! Blue! We're with Striker Group," Jaune lowered his rifle, and raised a hand up in an attempt to calm the Contractor down. He motioned for Jay to do the same. "Hey, I got an ID tag for you even." Jaune fished out his identification out of his vest and handed it over to the shaking man. "We're legit, okay?"

The Contractor's upper lip quivered before he burst out crying, or laughing, Jaune couldn't really tell, "My fucking god, how long did you fuckers take? We've been here for fucking forever when those fucking assholes came. Bandit fuckers weren't even bandits, they were something else I tell you. When I get back, I'm going to fu-"

"Woah! Slow down man, breathe," Jaune took the man by his shoulders. "What was that about bandits? Who else do you have with you."

The man started into Jaune's eyes, taking a breath to think, "Everyone who's left is in the saferoom. The bandits, well they were something else man. They didn't act like bandits at all, more like a trained military force. Assholes came after the Grimm, I think they had a jammer of some sort because we couldn't contact you guys ever. It was fucked man." the Contractor shook his head, "Let me get the survivors."

As the Contractor walked away, shaking his head, Jay turned to him, "Military trained? That's definitely new. The intel weenies will probably want to take a look at this place to find out more about these bandits."

"I would say that's a chance for us to meet Cedric and Iris again, but I don't think they're the type of person to do that sort of stuff," he snorted at the thought of Cedric and Iris stuck in an office doing analysis.

Jay chuckled, "Well that would be an interesting thought, would it?"

"Come on out guys, help's here," the Contractor walked out of the saferoom, leading a group of six civilians out. Jaune's mouth gaped. Out of everyone there, only six and a Contractor made it out? The village was large enough to accommodate something like five hundred people. So that many dead? Five hundred snuffed out souls, never to continue on. The image of the pacifier in the bundle of blood flashed through his head. He gritted his teeth and focussed on the people in front of him. At least these people he could save.

The young man looked at the two in surprise, then anger, "Is this it? Is this the fucking force you send to help us? Two fucking pimple faced boys with rifles, is this what the town paid for?" the man stormed up to Jaune, seemingly ready to punch him in the face.

Jaune sidestepped the young man and as gently as he could, tripped him onto the ground, "Dude, don't make me do this."

The Contractor rushed over, hauling the young man back onto his feet, "Sorry about Tanner, he lost everyone he knew here."

"I understand," he motioned over to Jay. "Take them back to the LAV, I need to ask our friend some questions about the bandits."

Jay nodded and coaxed the small group of civilians out into the hallway, while simultaneously speaking to Razz over the radio about the civilians.

He turned back to the Contractor, "So, sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Laz, and yours?"

"Jaune," he shook Laz's hand. "So you said something about a jammer?"

Laz grimaced, clutching his pistol in his hands protectively, an empty rifle slung on his back, "Yeah, first attack the Grimm came at us, the CCT was jammed. We couldn't get a message back to you. Continued for the rest of the attack, but none of us could get a message out even when we got down here. We thought it was safe to come out when the assholes ambushed us in the building. I was the only survivor left there. Couldn't get another message out, they probably destroyed the tower."

Jaune frowned because he was certain he had seen the CCT tower still standing when they had arrived, "You sure? Because I'm pretty sure I had seen that thing still standing."

"What?" Laz's eyes narrowed, and darted over to the terminal next to him and turned it on. "It says it's online now..."

The terminal flashed red, showing a message saying that it had lost connection.

"No fucking way," Laz whispered.

Above, explosions ripped through the building.

/ - /

Finch scrolled through the security footage aimlessly.

His job had gotten boring fast, what was so glamorous about going through footage that anyone else could've done?

So he nearly didn't catch a shimmer of light in one of the feeds outside.

Leaning forward, he studied the screen with squinted eyes. What the hell was that?

He reversed the footage and kept replaying the same clip over and over again. A shimmer there, and a shimmer there. Someone could've chalked it up to a hot day had it not been below zero. So Finch kept watching the shimmers in the air, at least before a shimmer started moving.

Then five shimmers started moving. All of them closer and closer to the LAV.

Finch nearly fell over for the radio, snatching the object he had set down on the table and starting to yell into it when an explosion ripped through the outside. Finch watched as those shimmers turned into men. Each man donning a ragtag assortment of gear, but a definite military look to them.

"Finch! Turn off these fucking mines!" came a voice from the hallway. Finch snapped back and quickly thumbed a switch on his wrist.

"You're good to go!" he yelled back. A figure dashed past the doorway, followed by a line of civilians holding each other close by each other. Grabbing the USB he installed the footage on, he tossed on his kit he had laid around the room. So there were survivors so, at the very least, this expedition hadn't been for nothing.

Another pair of people sprinted past the door, one of them stopped at the security room. It was Jaune, leaning back to look at him, "Finch, get all your kit packed up and meet us at the main entrance, got it?"

He gave Jaune a thumbs up, "Got it. I'll be okay here, move ahead."

Jaune nodded and disappeared from view. Finch sighed and began shoving the rest of the hard drives into a black bag. The USB hadn't gotten all the footage, so Finch had to manually grab all the drives. Hopefully, these drives would be useful for the intel weenies later, and not be a wasted effort.

Finch swept the last one in and exited the room, bag in one hand, rifle in the other.

/ - /

"Laz, is there any other way out of here?" he asked the Contractor next to him while they sprinted down the hallway.

He shook his hand after a second, "There are, but we tried those when they first attacked. The fuckers had everything covered. The only way out of here is by fighting our way out of here."

"Well that sucks," Jaune slowed down when they finally reached the reception area, the walls pockmarked with all sorts of bullet holes. "Laz, keep the civilians down and safe. Jay, on me."

Jaune peeked out the entrance, at the other end of the road stood a group of enemies hiding behind some cars and odd pieces of cover. A sharp crack, and dust scattering onto his face forced him back into the room. The place his head had just been was soon shredded with a fusillade of bullets.

"There's no way we can get the civilians through that unscathed," he said, turning back to the group behind him. "If we send the civilians out they'll get shredded by the fire out there."

"So what do we do now? Leave us here to die?" yelled out the hotheaded man from earlier. Laz pushed him back and his fellow survivors tried to calm him down. Jaune shot an irritated look at him.

"No one's going to die," he said, looking outside the door again. An idea formed in his head, they just needed the LAV just outside the building. He quickly keyed his radio, "Razz, this is Jaune, do you read?"

He looked at the LAV just outside, blasting its cannon against the unknown enemy. It could seat six scouts in the back, but usually it carried three to four. Six civilians with no aura, they could fit and drive out of danger, leaving the Contractors to fend for themselves outside the vehicle.

"Jaune, this is Razz. What do you need? I'm a bit busy!" the voice came through staticky and rough even at such a short distance, likely from whatever jammer their enemy was employing.

He quickly explained the plan to him, albeit through heavy static and gunfire.

"Alright then, we'll go with that. Make way for us!"

Jaune ushered the civilians out of the way, just before the doorway was smashed open by the fifteen tonne armoured vehicle backing up into it, still firing its cannon at the enemy. The ramp dropped and the civilians were practically pushed into the back by the Contractors. Jaune breathed a sigh of relief as the LAV rolled back out, just outside the doorway.

"Now that's very much well and good, but what about us?" asked Jay, poking his head around to let off a burst from his machine gun.

"Stay behind the LAV and retreat back," he frowned when he remembered Lavender was still up in the belltower, likely still engaging the enemy around the village. "Lavender, this is Jaune, you copy?"

He repeated it again for good measure, "Lavender, this is Jaune, do you copy?"

No response, must have been that goddamn jammer. He punched Jay in the shoulder quickly, grabbing his attention, "Take charge of the team for a bit, I need to go fetch Lav from the tower. Looks like the jammer is taking her radio out. Pull back using the LAV as cover. Lav and I can exfil the town by ourselves."

Jay looked like he was about to object, then just nodded acceptingly. A rocket flew past to reinforce the unspoken point. They were too exposed out on the street, the LAV needed to pull back soon lest the next rocket hit its mark. Jay turned back and started ordering the two other Contractors to commence a break contact.

He peeked outside to the bell tower. It was a short sprint to the other side of the street. Jaune keyed the radio, "Razz, this is Jaune. I'm going to go fetch Lavender, pretty sure her radio is jammed."

The response had even more static, the quality worsening the more it went on, "Roger Jaune! The signal is getting really shit, I can barely hear local traffic. Platoon is regrouping at staging point one. Meet the rest of us there. Fire is getting a bit too intense for us to stick around, especially with the civis in the back."

"Roger, we'll get moving after."

Jaune breathed in, and launched himself into a sprint. He barged through the wrecked wall, bullets skittering on the pavement around him. A few rounds stung his arm, but his Aura held as he dove through the bell tower door just across from the main building.

He stood up and dusted his pants off, and glanced around, a long staircase lined the inside of the tower, going all the way up to the top. Jaune just sighed and started running up. The staircase only led to one place, and so made his job of finding her ever so easier. His legs already started burning up climbing the stairs, even in the cold air inside.

"Lav? You there? We're getting the fuck out of here," he yelled, slowing down as he neared the room. Sighing when there was no response, he walked to the door. Instead of a response, a gunshot rang out, or rather a series of gunshots. "Lav, we're getting the fuck out, let's go-"

He stopped when he heard her yelp, and his blood ran cold when he heard her scream out a warning.

"Get the hell out of here Jaune this craz- MMFHP!"

He did the opposite, and dashed inside the room. Raising his rifle to his eye, he centred it on the first target that came into view. What he saw did not paint a pretty picture for either him or Lavender.

She stood with an arm wrapped around her throat, a blade tickling an artery. Her rifle laid discarded on the ground, shell casings spread all across the floor and a knife laid at her feet. What struck him most was the man holding her, his eyes were crazy and wide, a manic grin spread across his face. A scorpion tail swooped around and tickled Lavender's throat ever so slightly. The psychopath pointed his wrist at Jaune, which of course had a gun, while a crazy cackle erupted from his throat.

The stinger waved around Lavender's cheek tantalizing, her eyes wide with fear, "Well well well, this day has gone from very boring to interesting!"

Aaaaannnndddd cut!

Oops cliffhanger.

Anyways this chapter is long enough at this point. You'll just have to wait for how Jaune figures out how to get back this little obstacle.

This is my longest chapter to date so far. Honestly had a hard time trying to write this one, so I apologize if this came out a bit rough. Also if you noticed the quote, it certainly fit the chapter well enough...

Honestly not sure what else to say, but have a nice quarantine and stay safe.

God is a Serb.

A Top Hat slowly being consumed by Oxide.