August 24, 2021

At 8:00 in the morning, Weiss called to order a lineup on the apron of the fire station. 38 of the remaining 67 volunteers, plus 2 of the remaining 5 paid personnel, lined up, wearing their gear and awaiting orders for the day. Ruby was with Delwyn for the day. Blake was still in the hospital from her extensive injuries. Yang was given time off due to her pregnancy and had met up with Raven and Qrow earlier that morning, with George accompanying her. Ren and Penny were able to show up.

Weiss, wearing her brand new red Captain helmet, said to the lined-up firefighters. "Yesterday, we lost 15 of our volunteers and 3 of our paid firefighters. I know that you are all still torn up about this. I am, too. However, that does not mean that our job ceases. Headquarters has requested manpower for rescue and recovery efforts down at the Union Square Centre site. By now, all 6 of the skyscrapers there have collapsed, and 84 people have been pulled from the rubble alive, with the most recent being just an hour ago. You do not have to fear about missing your day jobs, ladies and gentlemen. The law protects us. Anyways, there are two shifts available for us: 1000 Hours to 1600 Hours, and 1600 Hours to 2200 Hours. If you want to do both, you can, though you do not have to. I want each shift to have a crew of 8. Everyone else will stay at the station and cover our first-due."

The paid lieutenant said to Weiss by raising his hand, "Me and Firefighter Johnson will do both shifts, by the way. Do you have any medics that will cover for us on the ambulance?"

"We do have several volunteer medics, Lieutenant," Weiss replied. "Also, the military has a 4-man crew stationed as well with 1 medic. Due to losing our apparatus, we decided to pull out our antique rigs from the citywide apparatus repair shops." She then pointed to the open apparatus bays, revealing the trucks Weiss was referring to. Truck 201, for now, was an antique 1952 Knebworth 85' wooden tiller ladder that originally served from 1952 to 1966, the last wooden ladder and the last tiller ladder purchased by the company. Engine 201, for now, was an antique 1955 VMC pumper with a 1000 GPM pump and a 300-gallon water tank that originally served from 1955 to 1970. Engine 201B, for now, was a 2013 Juliet/Avex pumper with a 1250 GPM pump and a 500-gallon water tank. Ambulance 201, for now, was a 2003 Juliet/Avex ambulance pulled from the VCFD's spare apparatus pool. The brand new Avex-built Rescue 201 and Engine 201, both ordered well before the attacks, were to be delivered on September 5.

At the Royal Palace, Ruby had been given intelligence briefings about state secrets since yesterday due to her new position as Queen-to-be. They had been tiring and often repetitive. After an intelligence briefing on the attacks, Ruby said to Delwyn in the now empty meeting room, "Is it just me, or are most of these briefings repetitive and boring?"

"It's not just you," the young king replied. "When my father died and I was crowned, I felt the exact same way."

Ruby then sighed. "I should be down there with the fire department, not stuck here."

"You will be, soon." Delwyn then showed her a schedule. "There's nothing on your schedule after noon. You have your gear with you, right?"

"Yes," Ruby replied as she nodded. "It's in the room now. I had to wash all the dust off of it. After this, I gotta run to Patch first, then I'll go down to the site."

To Delwyn, it was odd seeing the normally upbeat Ruby so depressed. "Love, this is a tough time. I know." He then hugged his fiancée and kissed her forehead. "Trust me, we are gonna find the people that did this to us. All of us."

At 1:30 P.M., Ruby walked into her father's home in Patch. In the kitchen, Qrow, Yang, George, and Raven sat down. Raven said to Ruby, "Long time, no see, Ruby."

"Same here," Ruby replied as she went over and hugged her. After they split, she sat down.

Raven said, "Qrow caught me up to speed with what I missed." She then sighed. "I should have been down there with him."

"We know," Yang replied. "So, are you gonna go for it?"

"I don't know," Raven replied.

Ruby, confused, asked Qrow, "What are they talking about?"

"Raven is considering taking your dad's 1st Captain position in the Patch First Aid Squad," Qrow replied. "We already visited PFAS and SFC. Raven had life membership in both, so all we had to do was sign a bunch of paperwork yesterday, and effective today, she's a firefighter with both companies. We already talked to Patch's remaining officers, and they say they're on board with it."

"Oh," Ruby replied, not knowing how to reply. "That's odd..."

"You know what," Raven said. "I'm gonna do it."

George said, "Are you sure, Miss Branwen?"

"Hell yes, I'm sure," Raven replied, determined. "Patch First Aid needs a leader. I was a 1st Lieutenant there when I left. Sure, it was 24 years ago, but I'm not amnesiac." She then pulled her cellphone out to talk to a lieutenant from PFAS as she walked outside to drive to the station in Taiyang's Captain Car, which had miraculously survived the collapse of the USC buildings alongside Qrow's with only a few scratches.

At Patch First Aid Squad, 10 volunteers and a military crew of 4 were standing by. Of the company's 3 ambulances and 1 rescue, only 1 ambulance survived. They had to use a military ambulance, their antique 1980 ambulance from their collection, a military pumper, and their antique 1965 heavy rescue. Patch had lost 5 of their own, 3 of whom were also members of Signal Fire Company, which lost a further 4 people.

A volunteer noticed the Captain's car pulling up to the station. Out of it stepped Raven, who then walked into the building through the open apparatus bays. Another volunteer who recognized Raven said to her, "So, have you made your decision, Branwen?"

"I have," Raven replied. She then cleared her throat and turned to the other 9 volunteers. "Effective immediately, I am the 1st Captain of the Patch First Aid Squad." She was gloomy about the whole ordeal, missing Taiyang.

The volunteer that recognized her said, "Good choice. Tai's stuff is in the Captain's office. I assume you filled out all the necessary government paperwork and stuff since you... Uhhh... Came back from the dead?"

"I still don't really know, either," Raven replied as she walked into the office. "Well, there's no point in fussing over that. Let's get started."

At 4:45, Ruby showed up at the station. Penny and Ren had just gotten back from doing a shift at the site. Ren had to go back home, while Penny stayed at the station to cover the company with Ruby. Weiss had left to go down to the site.

In the rec room, everyone was quiet, still traumatized by yesterday's events. Ruby and Penny talked to Theresa and Denis, who were especially traumatized due to their younger ages. "You didn't get any sleep, huh?"

"Nope," Theresa replied to Ruby. "Me and Denis went to my place after the attack and tried to fall asleep, but we couldn't." She had bags under her eyes and her eyes were red. "Every time we closed our eyes, we were right back over there."

"I heard you both lost peers at your school," Penny said. "That's gotta suck."

"It does," Denis replied. "Our school lost 20 students who were junior firefighters." He then hung his head low. "This didn't have to happen."

Penny asked Ruby, "Who's gonna be filling the empty officer's positions?"

"It's on a board in the apparatus bay," Ruby replied. She then changed subjects. "Anyways, I heard that a bunch of SDC executives came over earlier."

"Oh yeah," Theresa replied. "There were like 10 guys from Vale and 5 guys from Atlas that came over. They're gonna transfer all of Hermann's stocks to Weiss to make her the CEO, and then the board is gonna appoint her as the chairman. She's gotta go to Atlas to meet with more execs on the 28th. She'll be back on the 31st."

"Damn," Penny replied. "She's getting handed all sorts of responsibility because of this."

"Nothing compared to me," Ruby replied, making sure she stayed as vague as possible to not reveal any state secrets. "I had to sit through several hours of intelligence briefings with Delwyn. I can't discuss what was said any further, for obvious reasons."

Then, a military firefighter ran in and said, "There was an assault outside!" Ruby, Penny, Theresa, and Denis stood up and all ran outside.

Outside, a paid firefighter and a volunteer were restraining a man who was trying to fight them, and a military firefighter was tending to a bloodied dark-skinned faunus man who Ruby recognized as a volunteer with Goodwill Hose Company. The restrained man kicked and screamed, "LET ME AT THAT DIRTY FURFAG!"

Ruby shouted at him, "Get the hell away from here! You attacked a firefighter!"

"Bullshit," the man yelled before spitting in the face of the paid firefighter restraining him. "He's a traitor! He's a mole! All these animals are moles! You saw what they did to Vale! And to top it off, he's a nigger too!"

Then, 2 police cars pulled up at blazing fast speed. 4 officers stepped out with their guns drawn and ran over, taking the combative suspect away in handcuffs as the paid firefighter wiped the spit off of his face. The volunteer who was attacked yelled, "Serves you right, piece of shit!"

The attacker told a police officer, "Why are you arresting me? That nigger furfag was the one that killed your friends."

The police officer angrily replied by punching him in the face and yelling, "Shut the fuck up!" He and another officer then threw the man in the back of a police car.

Another police officer walked over to the attacked volunteer, asking him as he took notes as another police officer took pictures of the scene, "What happened?"

"He...," the man stuttered as he began to cry. "I was jus- just visiting and th- then he came out of no- nowhere and started calling me all sorts of names." He then tried to regain his composure. "I tried showing him my Goodwill Hose Company t-shirt, but he ignored it and began attacking me."

"Alright," the officer said. "Were you stabbed or shot?"

The volunteer shook his head. "All he used were his fists and his feet."

At 10:15, King Delwyn prepared to give an address to all three houses of the Valeanian Parliament and to the world about joint Valeanian-Mistralian-Menagerian military airstrikes in Menagerie that had just begun 15 minutes prior. By his side was Ruby, who had to hastily leave the firehouse about an hour earlier, and several of his top advisors. The 21-year-old king was being put to the ultimate test with this attack, and so far, he had excelled.

"Mrs Speaker of Commons, Mr Speaker of Lords, Mr Speaker of the Governing Council, members of Parliament, and my fellow Valeanians, on a normal day, Kings and Queens come here to report on the State of the Kingdom. However, tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by the people of Vale. We have seen it with the pilots of those hacked planes, who messaged air traffic control and tried their best to gain back control of their aircraft. We have seen it with the thousands of firefighters, police officers, and EMTs, far too many of whom have paid the ultimate price. We have seen the unfurling of flags, the saying of prayers of all religions, and the giving of blood."

"We will not forget the thousands who have died from all nations. Every single nation in Remnant lost at least 5 of its citizens in this attack. Truly, this is a crime against us all. The White Fang has shown that it is the enemy of all nations by attacking us, Mistral, and Menagerie." As soon as he said that, several conservative members of parliament began to feel uneasy. "They have also shown that they wish to stir the pot and antagonize humans and faunus. Already, I have heard of attacks on faunus citizens of our kingdom. Anyone who commits these attacks is only playing into the White Fang's game, and is giving them a victory. They want us divided by race. We cannot allow them to do this."

Immediately, a conservative member of parliament stood up and shouted at the king, "Your majesty, this is not the time to give concessions to the radical faunus terrorists!" Numerous other conservative members stood up in support. "You are insensitive to the victims of these attacks by these radical faunus!"

The king, flabbergasted at being interrupted, replied, "Sir, this is not the time for YOUR actions!" As the conservative member tried to interrupt the king, he continued, saying, "Anyways, pardon the interruption." He then gave a hand signal to cut the offending MP's mic. "As I was saying, we have launched airstrikes in response due to these horrid attacks in full cooperation with Menagerie and Mistral in the western half of Menagerie, which has seen a full-scale civil war break out between the White Fang and the government in the span of just a day. I wish the brave men and women of our military, Mistral's military, and Menagerie's military the best of luck in hunting these terrorists down. We will not rest until the men and women that did this to our country are brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I have already filed a motion to the International Criminal Court with Mistral and Menagerie to begin proceedings against the leaders of the White Fang. We will also be hunting down the alleged hackers that we believe could be responsible for hacking into those five planes, and we will try them in domestic courts."

Ruby was disgusted with the interruption, thinking to herself, "This is no time for this bullshit. Such disrespect is not okay."

"My fellow Valeanians, the White Fang will not divide us. We cannot let them divide us. Racism will not win. Thank you." Most people in Parliament cheered, save for about half of the conservatives in the Parliament. After Delwyn left the podium, he hugged and kissed Ruby before the two left together.