August 7, 2020
Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss all reported to their Regiment Headquarters at Beacon Academy at 7:30 AM. The military had excused them from their civilian jobs from August 7 to August 15 and reimbursed the businesses for revenue lost. Their entire regiment, the 18th Hunting Regiment, was to be deployed alongside 3 other regiments from the 3rd Hunting Brigade, consisting of at least 6,000 hunters. They were to be assisted by the 18th Wing of the Valeanian Air Force, consisting of 86 aircraft, and the 8th Combat Aviation Brigade of the Valeanian Army, consisting of 110 helicopters and 4,000 soldiers. It would be the largest hunting operation to date.
After a 3-hour-long briefing by several military generals, Team RWBY and Team JNR met and talked with Glynda, Oobleck, and Ozpin. Ruby said, "So, Doctor Oobleck, or should I say Major Oobleck, how are things at Beacon?"
"The students are as active as ever," the green-haired man said, wearing a military uniform. "Ironwood is gonna be substituting for me while I'm off fighting. While you guys all get to go home on August 14 and 15, I have to stay until September 1 to oversee the rotation of hunting groups. I don't get why they just don't have all the hunters stay with the operation until it's finished like they used to 10 or 15 years ago."
Ozpin then said, "It's because most hunters have civilian jobs, and in the case of Team RWBY, are volunteer emergency personnel. They want to have cooling-off period, especially for younger hunters."
Jaune said, "I wholeheartedly agree. Being a lieutenant is a stressful job. It's a good thing I have friends who can help me out, like Sergeant Rose over here." He then pointed towards Ruby.
Nora said, "Too bad I can't go on the front lines 'cause of good ol' Ren or Nora junior." She then rubbed her belly. "I'm stuck back at the supply and command post with the officers."
Then, Ruby saw Delwyn IV walking amongst the crowd, talking to several generals. "Hold on a sec, guys, I'm gonna go talk to someone."
Yang replied, "See ya later, sis."
Ruby then walked up to Delwyn and saluted him, saying, "Greetings, your majesty."
Delwyn turned to Ruby and said, "At ease, Ruby. So, are you a little nervous?"
"I'll admit, I am." Ruby shrugged. "Then again, who wouldn't be? I imagine you are too."
"Oh you have no idea. I was a big part in planning all this, and my legacy rests on whether or not this operation succeeds or fails. I'm gonna address the kingdom in the morning tomorrow when the attack begins. Good luck, Ruby."
"Thank you, Delwyn. By the way, do you have a nickname?"
"Why yes I do." He then giggled. "My mom, the Queen before my dad, the King, died, called me Delly when I was younger. She says she used to call my dad that when they were younger, before my dad ascended to the throne."
"Delly, huh? That's a cute nickname... Delly."
Delwyn then laughed before seeing some generals look at him. He then changed demeanour. "Hey, Ruby, can you keep a secret?"
"Uhhhh... Is it a national security one, because if so, you probably shouldn't tell me."
"No, no, no, it's a personal one. You see, I think some of the generals here don't respect me because I'm like 20, and they're all like 50 or 60. They see us giggling and shit, and they think I'm too immature to rule a kingdom. It can really hurt when the people that swear allegiance to you and the kingdom you lead and protect with your very life don't even like you or trust you for such a petty reason."
Ruby paused. "That... That must suck... You have no idea how I can rate to that. I joined Beacon 2 years early. Despite this, I was made the leader of my team in school. I was a very competent and good leader, but I could tell that some did not respect me simply because I was younger, despite my long list of accomplishments at Signal Academy, such as building my signature weapon, the Crescent Rose, all by myself."
"Wait, you built that all by yourself? How old were you?"
"Uhhhhh... I started it when I was 13 and I finished when I was at least 14."
"Holy... Oh my God... Whoever doubted your leadership can go... Well... You know..."
"Same for you, your majesty." Ruby then hugged him.
Delwyn blushed. "Uhhhh..."
"I gotta go back to my team. I will see you later, Delly." She then smiled and walked away. "Bye!"
August 8, 2020
It was 5 AM, and Jaune met with his platoon at the supply and command post. He laid out the battle plan, which would involve taking out a nest of boarbatusks. "A scout copter using night vision says there's at least 8 of these bastards in the nest. It shouldn't be too difficult for the platoon. Ruby, you will take Ren, Yang, Weiss, and Blake to approach from the east. I'll take the others and lookout for any other Grimm that may charge on us. The attack will begin when I give the go-ahead on the radio. When that happens, launch a green flare and strike."
The platoon then split up. At 5:09, Ruby's team quietly walked through the woods. Ruby was armed with Crescent Rose, a flare gun, and 3 grenades. Yang had her Ember Celicas and a SchneeDefense AR-7, an assault rifle. Weiss had the Myrtenaster, a Koteas P-26 pistol, and a combat knife. Blake had the Gambol Shroud and a Koteas RPG-4 rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Ren had 2 StormFlowers and a Koteas P-26. Overall, the team was very well-armed.
Ruby said, "Blake, when I fire the flare, aim at the boarbatusks and fire the RPG. I'll then use my semblance to move in and slice a few up. Weiss, use your glyphs to teleport to the centre of the nest. Ren and Yang, kill any boarbatusk that makes it out of there."
Weiss said, "Can you see them yet?"
Ruby, looking through a pair of binoculars, said, "I can see them alright. I'll radio Jaune and tell him we're ready to roll."
As Ruby radioed Jaune, Weiss heard footsteps behind her, causing her to turn around. "Oh great, it's your dead ass."
Pyrrha's ghost stood in front of her. "Hey, no reason to be rude, Schnee. Just checking in on you guys to see how things are doing. Good luck with the mission, by the way. I wish I could go, but, you know, death."
Ruby then fired the flare into the sky and shouted, "Blake, aim and fire!"
Blake took a few seconds to aim at the general direction of the nest before she said, "Backblast!" The view was then illuminated with a flash of light as the RPG round was fired and then hit the nest, causing the boarbatusks inside to panic and charge at the team.
Ruby then fully unsheathed Crescent Rose's scythe form and charged at the beasts, slicing 3 and killing 1. "1 down, 7 to go!"
As a boarbatusk charged at Ren, he fired both of the StormFlowers at the beast, injuring it. He then sliced the weakened beast up with the blades of the guns, killing it. "That's 2!"
Blake activated her semblance and created 2 stone statues of herself to slow down 2 charging boarbatusks. She then stabbed one with her Gambol Shroud. Weiss froze the other boarbatusk with her Myrtenaster. She then decapitated it. Blake and Weiss together said, "That's another 2!"
Weiss then used a glyph to teleport to the centre of the nest, where 2 boarbatusks remained. They immediately charged at her. Then, Yang stopped one dead in its tracks with a blast from both of her Ember Celicas while jumping down from a tree. Weiss then fired Red Dust onto her sword, setting it on fire. She charged at the 6th boarbatusk and killed it with a stab to the underside, also setting it on fire. Yang said in response, "Nice kill, Weiss." She then looked behind Weiss and screamed, "Holy shit! Look out!"
A boarbatusk was charging at Weiss from behind. As it jumped up to trample her, Weiss froze in fear. "How did I not see that one coming?!"
Then, it fell to the ground, just short of Weiss, as Ruby stood on top of it. "I jumped on the thing and stabbed it a bunch of times with the combat knife Weiss must have dropped." She then got off and handed Weiss the knife. "I believe this knife belongs to you."
The final boarbatusk then began to run away. Blake shouted, "Don't let it get away!" She and Ren then ran after it. Blake then caught up to the beast and leapt upwards, Gambol Shroud pointing downwards. She then landed on the beast, the katana going all the way through the boarbatusk and almost into the ground.
Ruby cheered, "Wooohooo! Go Blake!"
At 12:30, the platoon met up back at the supply and command post. Jaune said, "Kills?"
Ruby replied, "My squad killed all 8 boarbatusks and 3 other assorted Grimm."
Cardin Winchester, a sergeant in Jaune's platoon, said, "My squad killed 2 nevermores and all 4 beowulfs."
"Good, good," Jaune replied. "My squad killed 2 ursas, a boarbatusk, and 3 death-stalkers."
Blake asked, "What are the initial reports from other groups like?"
"Very good, actually. So far, no fatalities have been reported, and I think the number of kills we have for Grimm are 102 including us. I'll check later for more updates."
Weiss said, "How many Grimm are out here?"
Yang said, "I think someone said there's at least 3,000 in the operation zone, if not more."
Blake said as she grabbed a cigarette from a pack, "It's gonna be a while before we kill all of them." She then grabbed a lighter and offered it to the group. "Want a smoke?"
Ren said, "Wait, you smoke, Blake?"
"Uhhh... Yeah... I've been doing it since I was like 14. I know, I know, it's bad for the lungs, don't do it, and all that shit, but with my lines of work, I have a greater risk of getting killed here or at a fire, especially with my former White Fang association. Plus, didn't we discover a vaccine for non-small cell lung cancer 2 years ago?"
"Oh yeah," Cardin said. "Pass me one."
Blake handed Cardin a cigarette and lit it for him. "So, Jaune, what's next?"
"Well," Jaune replied. "We've been given orders to rest until about 5. At that time, we'll receive another mission. I don't know what it is yet."
Yang called George on his cellphone at 4, around the same time he got off work.
George spoke first. "Hello?"
"Hey, George. How was work?" Yang smiled, feeling comfort hearing his voice.
"Went well enough. How about you?"
"The first mission we had was very successful. In about an hour, we'll go on a second one. How's the fire department?"
"You guys missed a fire at 3 in the morning. It went to 2 alarms and destroyed a 4th-floor office in a building. It was going good by the time I got there on Engine 202."
"Awww man! Anyone hurt?"
"No, surprisingly. When are you coming home, again?"
"August 15. I'll be sure to make up for the lack of love-making when I come home, Georgie." She then giggled.
George laughed as well. "Oh, I bet. I can't wait." Then, he heard his pager beep in the background. "I got a medical call to go to. Call me later?"
"Of course, my love."
"Bye, Yang."
"Bye, George." Yang then hung up. She then smiled and said to herself, staring up at the clouds, "I love him soooo much."
Suddenly, a scream was heard in the camp, followed by the roar of a Grimm. Doctor Oobleck, who was in the camp, ran up to Yang and shouted, "3 large nevermores are attacking the camp!" He then ran off in the direction of the nevermores.
Yang soon followed. Ruby, who was talking to Weiss before, shouted, "Kill them before they get one of us!"
As the gang ran to the nevermores, Oobleck and Jaune attacked one of the nevermores. Ren ran to the radio tent to guard Nora and their unborn child.
Oobleck said to Jaune, "Make it immobile! Kill its wings!"
Jaune nodded and jumped onto the right wing of the nevermore. He then climbed up to the joints in the wing and began stabbing them with a combat knife, causing the nevermore to scream in pain. He then thought, "Wait! I can attach a grenade to the wing joints!" "Oobleck, get off! I'm gonna use a grenade on the right wing!" He then grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin with his teeth, attached it to the right wing joints, and jumped off the beast just in time to avoid the shrapnel of the explosion.
The nevermore fell to the ground flat as Yang then used her Ember Celicas to destroy the left wing joints. Oobleck finished the job by firing several fireballs at the head of the beast, killing it. "Nice job, fellas. Let's get the next 2."
Then, Weiss pointed up and screamed, "Doctor Oobleck!"
A nevermore suddenly grabbed Oobleck with its claws, impaling him several times over. His trademark glasses fell to the ground, bloody and broken. The nevermore then proceeded to pick at Oobleck's body, seemingly unaware of the humans near it.
Ruby fell to her knees and broke down in tears. Yang suddenly activated the final stage of her semblance in anger, shouting, "I'LL GET YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She then charged at the nevermore and jumped up, tears falling from her eyes in fury and sadness. She then fell down towards the nevermore, her right fist striking the murderous beast's head, smashing it into pieces.
The resulting blast knocked everyone around the beast down and could be felt and heard for over a mile. After the smoke dissipated, Yang stood up, breathing heavily. She then ran to what remained of Oobleck's body, which had been blown to bits by the explosion. As she walked over, she looked down and saw his head severed from his body, missing a part of the skull. Then, she heard the third nevermore fly away, scared off by the explosion.
Ruby said, "Oh my God... Yang..."
Ren and Nora ran out to the site. Nora shouted, "What happened?!"
Weiss, who by now had developed a thousand-yard stare, just looked at the 2 of them silently. Blake said, "Oobleck... Oobleck's dead..."
Yang then walked over, carrying what remained of Oobleck's head. "Find the rest of his body. We need to bring it back for burial."
Ren gagged and turned around to throw up. Nora covered her mouth and began to cry. She said to herself, "No... It can't be him..."
Cardin, who had just returned from a mission with his squad, said, "I heard a loud explosion. What the hell happened?!" Yang simply showed him Oobleck's head. "What the fuck?! What happened to Oobleck?!"
Jaune said, "Alright, listen up! Everyone, we're gonna get together and clean all this shit up. Then we're gonna call in a medevac copter to transport Oobleck's body parts. Now, go look for them. We need every part we can find."
A lieutenant colonel, the commander of the camp, then said, "Lieutenant Arc, I'll file a report. Jesus, this place looks like hell. I still can't fucking believe Major Oobleck was the one who would die. Are you still gonna do that mission at 5?"
"Can you try to push it back to 5:30, sir? My platoon might need some time to think this over."
"I totally understand. I'll have it pushed back to that." The lieutenant colonel then walked to the radio tent to file the report of the battle and Oobleck's untimely death, still shaking his head over what just happened. "Jesus fucking Christ..."