With full support from Ozpin and his group, the ECHO unit battalion had set up an impressive base in under two weeks. It took them another 3 full weeks to make repairs and run check ups on gear and vehicles as well as fully adjust to their new life. In those few weeks, ECHO had finished their crash course introduction to Remnant. Learning more about aura, huntsmen and huntresses, humans and faunus and their strained history, technology such as the CCT, dust and the grimm. Everything they would need to function properly in this new world. Now it is a waiting game to see when Ozpin will task them with a mission. In the mean time, Ruby and Yang began spending even more time in the ECHO base. So much time in fact that they were beginning to seem like normal parts of the base life. Another person who popped in on a regular basis is the man who first found them in Remnant. Lye Sall.
"well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're acting like Ozpins informant" sighing softly the veteran huntsman turns to face Major Alexander. Rolling his eyes, Lye figures out the Major isn't being serious as he's got a smug grin on his face.
"I'm no spy, just curious to see what craziness I've brought onto Remnant"
"well I wouldn't say craziness, if anything, you've brought on a great boon to Remnants safety" a massive truck rolls by them on its way towards one of the larger warehouses, followed by a group of excited Remnant and ECHO engineers. As well as Ruby, zooming off and leaving Yang behind. Yang rolled her eyes, finding herself alone she decides to scan the area for something to distract her. Her lilac eyes fell upon Alexander and Lye. Waving at them, she approaches the two.
"I see you guys already have fans?"
"fans? I think you mean a couple of nosy kids" the two were clearly joking loud enough for the huntress in training to hear. Coming to stop in front of them, she places a hand on her hips.
"well excuse me, anyone would be kids compared to you old farts" the two older men share a laugh at the comeback, Yang joining in a second later.
"so you and Ruby are still sticking around huh?" raising a hand to her chest, Yang does her best to look offended. She makes a fake sniffle even.
"I'm hurt, it sounds like you don't want such a cute and bubbly girl like me around" Lye decides not to engage any further in this conversation and goes off to find another person to talk with. Alexander simply lights a cigarette, takes a drag, blowing a smoke ring as he levels Yang with a bored expression "well fine then! Where's Ethan at? I wanna bug him" while Alexander does like the idea of seeing Thompson squirm, it wouldn't be cool to just send Yang to him. It's just a fact that Thompson attracts spunky young ladies, a type of woman he struggles to deal with. Ava is a bit of a special case cause she and Thompson have bonded through fighting in Lycan and ECHO unit joint operations. Yang would have to to hunt him down on her own.
"sad to say blondie, we're fresh out of paladins" raising her eyebrow, the blond huntress in training takes a stance that screams boss bitch, forcing Alexander to suppress a laugh.
"is that right?" it was torture trying not to laugh at the ridiculously sassy pose the blond is striking.
"eh, he's training probably. Hell if I know" sighing a bit, Yang looks around before spotting her younger sister speaking animatedly with the engineers. Waving her goodbye to the Major, she runs off to join her sister. With her absence, Lye comes back. "running from young women are we?"
"no, I just didn't want her to bug me about Beacon"
"what, you some kind of huntsman celebrity?" cringing at the comparison, Lye shakes his head adamantly.
"ugh, not at all, it's just well known that I work with Ozpin quite often. So sometimes aspiring students when given the chance will bother me, asking me if I can get them in if they win a spar with me"
"I can see how that would get annoying" taking a longer drag from his cigarette, Alexander finishes it and flicks it to the ground. Snuffing out the butt by grinding his heel into it.
"you should really give those up ya know"
"what are you, my fuckin mom?"
"I don't know, I've been told dads are quite attracted to me" the odd joke earns the veteran huntsman a small chuckle. "so hey, I was wondering something"
"go on"
"how old are you?" running a hand through his graying hair, the older fighter looks up to the sky.
"fifty two" Lye looks at the older man in disbelief. In an earlier visit to the base, he had seen the soldier fight Thompson. It was savage, their speed easily rivaled his own, every strike had bone breaking force behind it. It had ended in Alexanders victory over a soldier easily three decades younger than him.
"the hell is your secret man?" grinning at Lye, Alexander simply remains silent and takes out another cigarette. Lye throws his hands up and walks off shaking his head. He'll find out how that old bastard can move like that. It shouldn't be too hard. "how's an old man like you get into the game so late anyways"
"well first off, not old yet, middle aged" a snort from the huntsmen "secondly, its one hell of a story, you got time?"
"I'm here aren't I?"
"fair enough I suppose, let's wind the clock back"
Trudging through thick marshlands, a decade younger Ryan Alexander tracks what is to be a trophy alligator. A high caliber rifle slung on his shoulder and a massive bowie knife on his hip, he happily pictures the mount in his study. Honestly, decorations and money seemed to be the only things keeping his passion for hunting alive. He'd been in the game for a good thirty or so years after all. Every type of animal in the state had already fallen prey to him, at this point it's either find a hobby or save up enough for an exotic hunting expedition or something. If need be he's got plenty of silver jewelry to sell, all hand me downs from his dad. Much of which he's wearing now.
Groaning as he drags himself out of the thick mud, the tracks are still nice and fresh, meaning he's on the right path. Soon enough, he finds the reptile lying in some tall grass. Grabbing his rifle, he swings it around and takes aim, popping off a perfect shot that downs the beast immediately. Grinning, he goes up to the carcass. Beginning to skin it, a voice rings out a ways behind him.
"you humans and your guns, no honor in a fight" whipping his head around he finds a man standing in the shade in some robes. His skin is sickly pale and his red eyes are unnatural as hell. This dudes entire presence unnerves the hunter.
"the fuck are you supposed to be" the pale guys face splits in a menacing smirk.
"your demise" it all happened in a blur. The robed weirdo was on Alexander, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up with ease. Alexander holds onto the mans arm so his neck doesn't break. Struggling against the ridiculously strong asshole, Alexander punches him in the jaw, his rings digging into his assailants face. A sizzling noise and a grunt of pain, Alexander finds himself released. Wincing and rubbing his neck, the two nurse their wounds for a moment, only for the hunter to sucker punch the albino asshole in the nose. Making it even more flesh burn "gah you fucking mortal!" zipping off into the woods, it looks like the fight is over.
The hunter however is pissed. Looking down at his rings. Silver. Pale skin and red eyes. Super strength and speed. Memories of stories passed onto him from his grandmother come to mind.
Vampire.
Fuck it lets roll on this dipshit. Gathering as many branches and sticks as he can, Alexander begins fashioning stakes and spears. Taking some lace from his boot, he jerry rigs a bayonet to his rifle and starts tracking. It was easy really, his super speed tearing into the ground. Finding him was easy, he's sitting there catching his breath apparently. Actually killing the bastard however.
That was the challenge.
Thrusting a spear forward in a sneak attack, it pierces the vampires flesh only for it to miss his heart by an inch. Roaring out, Alexander gets backhanded into a tree as his prey rips the spear out. Grunting and raising his rifle, he finds his arm seems to be some kind of fractured. Not that it would stop him from popping a shot off. It slams into the unholy menace, but doesn't pierce as expected.
"you filthy mortal! I'll feed your body to the hell hounds!" charging forward, a super strong fist slams into Alexanders arm as the hunter dodges, breaking it easily. Screaming in pain, Alexander draws a stake and drives it into the vampires chest again. It earns him a brutal round house, sending him flying and breaking a rib or two. Struggling onto his hands and knees, a rough hand yanks him to his feet by his hair, coming face to face with his foe "you're going to die today, and it'll be painful" letting out a manic cackle, the hunter draws another spear with one hand and the other latches onto the demons robe .
"at least I'll die feeling alive!" the vampire grabs his human enemy's wrist to stop a stake from killing him. Fire erupts from the vampires mouth, looking down, the human had switched hands without him noticing. A wooden stake deep in his heart "you forgot about my other hand dick!" all the strength left the undead monster. It stumbles back as more fire erupts from his body. He turns to ash a moment later, leaving behind a skull with fangs. Collapsing to the ground, Alexander pants roughly as he grabs the skull. Chuckling down at it, the spark is back. Face planting into the mud, the sounds of a giant fan can be heard as his consciousness fades.
"well what happened after that?" Lye was heavily intrigued in the story, it would be like a civilian managing to slay a grimm.
"well the ECHO squad that was investigating the area finally caught up with him, finding me there, they patched me up and offered me a job. Of course I took and holy hell do I love hunting demons" the veteran huntsmen couldn't help but be a bit thrown off by the sadistic look in the middle aged hunters eyes.
"so wait how did you kill him so easily? Aren't they like the ultimate baddies for you guys?" shaking his hand in a so-so manner, Alexander cracks his neck a bit.
"they get cocky and pissed, when they thing they've got you they lower their guard, it happens with ECHO soldiers too. Just a normal thing that happens in battle honestly"
"makes me curious about how the other officers got involved, like Thompson, he's pretty young" wincing loudly, an uncomfortable look grows on the older Majors face.
"yeeeaaah, Ethan's entrance into this world is ugly" understanding the meaning behind it, Lye doesn't press the topic any further.
"where is he anyways?"
"training"
General Ironwood and Captain Thompson officially began their training sessions. Using Beacon facilities allowed for the two to have some bit of privacy. It would be a very difficult thing to explain why the General of Atlas was training in Vale with some random guy in knight like armor. To the Generals surprise, the much younger Captain is something akin to a jack of all trades, knowing multiple combat forms and magic styles. So many magic styles. Learning magic seemed easy enough at first, the fundamentals being the three schools.
Schools being the overall classification like the differences between animal and plant kingdoms. Holy, human, and demonic. Each school having a wide variety of powers under their banner. While magic may seem somewhat rigid, that is only after hundreds upon hundreds of years of making and perfecting spells that make up the current schools. The reality of magic is like having a massive budget for building a house, but without the knowledge to put it together. It's complicated and difficult but the possibilities are virtually limitless, given enough time. Making a spell is leagues more difficult to do than casting a long standing spell. One takes months to years of study, multiple mages worth of mana, while the other simply takes a fair amount of mana and a bit of knowledge
Holy magic, granted to humanity by the lord himself. It revolves around healing/enchantment/curse dispelling and summoning, such as weapons and armor. Holy weapons and armor make the foundation and climbs towards more advanced levels, eventually leading to mimicking legendary weapons and armor. Such legendary weapons being made through holy magic much earlier funnily enough. Summoning can also include calling upon divine beings to act as something of a massive middle finger to any evil being standing in your way. Holy magic is the easiest to learn and master, relatively speaking. Humans have been able to use holy magic so effectively, even with demonic forces being so powerful, the masterful use of and study of holy arts evened the playing field for ages.
Human magic, discovered by monks praying for what seems to be their whole lives. It allows for the most diverse range. While the presence of magic doesn't enhance your body on its own, you can use it to fortify your being. Strength, speed, intelligence, endurance, senses, any aspect of your being can be brought to new heights albeit temporarily. Human magic acts as a bridge of sorts, many paladin magic arts splice together holy and human magic, and for the forbidden arts, human and demonic. Human magic is unique in the sense that its not energy manipulation like holy and demonic, human magic works like chemistry in a sense. Taking out bits and pieces of spells of other schools and supplementing them with human spells, where as human spells enhance the body by injecting mana directly into the body. Splice spells consume massive mana due to the cost of the of the other schools cost and the nature of human magic, but for that trade off, splice spells can be created somewhat on the fly. On the fly splice spells can be quite a bit unstable however.
Demonic magic, flowing freely and guided by Satan himself is the most powerful of the three at its most basic. Elemental manipulation, blood magics, mental manipulations, curses. Allowing for beings like vampires to come into existence is proof enough of the powers of demonic magic. In a strange turn of events, curses can be used as a form of powering up, several powerful beings exist in the world due to curses. Vampires, Lycan warriors, undead, all of these creatures have potential to become extremely powerful. Demonic magic is so powerful due to its simplicity, there's not much to really understand about throwing around lightning or breaking into someones mind.
In short, Holy and Demonic magic are forms of energy manipulation in the world, just different sides of it where human magic is manipulation of ones own mana.
"one question about all this Thompson" the much younger officer raises his eyebrow at the General, motioning with his hand for him to continue. "the hell do I need to know all of the of this for, wouldn't it be easier to just show me how to use it?" sighing, Thompson leans on the wall of the classroom that Ozpin had reserved for them, since not all professors were clued into the current situation.
"well General, while it may be an easier route to jump straight into practice. I believe that the theory and history are just as important. Think of it like this, you're in the field in battle, sure you have the already existing spells and techniques. But what of the scenario where you need something a little more specific or powerful. For instance, the paladin art known as holy savior, conjuring a brilliant holy armor set with a long sword and shield, further strengthened by stacking as many body enhancements as possible. The result is a near unstoppable tank capable of out thinking and out maneuvering most enemies. In reality the art is heavily dependent on the situation because throwing on too many enhancements would lead to mana fatigue" realization dawns on the General.
"which would mean I would have to know the idea of splicing magic and how to do so" nodding his head, Thompson allows a small smile to grace his face. Teaching may not be such a bad deal after all. Well as long as he has students as sharp as Ironwood. "so you had said something about human magic acting like chemistry?"
"something like that. You're essentially doping yourself up on mana directly" a thoughtful look adorns the General, clearly trying to piece together a better understanding of magic.
"so wait, if the presence of magic doesn't do anything for the person, why did I feel so strong?" at that the ex-paladin reveals a notebook from a pouch on his waist. Flipping through it, the Captain finds his notes.
"I did some thinking on that. I believe it to be one of a few theories. One, it could very well be the way Earth magic interacts with non-native users in particular. Two, it could be magic directly linking with your soul through aura, as in your soul is as much as a physical part of you as your skin, unlike earth. Three, my knowledge may be off, when I learned the effects of magic I perceived it the way I explained it. Maybe my prolonged exposure to magic makes it feel like I've always been this strong" shrugging, Thompson puts the notebook back.
"well now, you sure seem to be a regular scholar" rolling his eyes, the younger warrior stretches out a bit, letting bones settle back into place.
"nah, I wouldn't go so far as that. I can splice spells pretty good, but other than that, I have no idea how to make spells. Hell, I got beat so many times for not being able to understand spell crafting" a darker look appears on the Atlesians face.
"beat?" a deep sigh escapes from Thompson's mouth, jumping up on a nearby desk to sit on.
"yup, to be specific flogged and wailed on with blunt instruments"
"how old are you Ethan?"
"I'm nineteen" a fist slams into the odd extended desk of the stadium like seats of the room. Thompson takes note of the odd sound of it, like metal striking wood. A cybernetic arm perhaps?
"so you're telling me that these people in the church beat you for not learning well enough?"
"not just for that, they wanted a prodigy. Any time I under performed I'd get beat, starved, isolated, sleep deprived. You name it they did it. And whats worse, it worked. Fear of failure has one hell of a motivator"
"that's insane! Those bastards! Is every church like that back on Earth?"
"no, but its not a very good count for how many engage in practices like that" he'd never seen a stranger seethe in rage on his behalf before. It's an odd feeling to see anyone upset over his mistreatment, even with everyone in ECHO doing the same. Their scrolls start beeping, taking them out, its a call to muster in the base for their first operation on Remnant. Guess it's fair to say Rennold was discussing things with Ozpin today. The two officers rush out to get to their respective positions, Ironwood to join Ozpin and Thompson to gear up at the base.
Yang groans as she has to help pry her gun nut sister off of the armored truck that rolled into their new hang out spot. Its quite clearly a kind of military base, but they haven't kicked her or Ruby out yet, and they all seem friendly enough, it's now their new chill spot. Ruby has plenty of weapons to gush over as well as dozens of younger soldiers to befriend, and for Yang, she has Ethan and Diane to mess with. Now Yang is far from stupid, she knows that Diane is trying to play match maker with her and Ethan. The blond brawler isn't opposed to the idea, he's a brutal fighter, he's cute, and laughs at her cheesy puns. Of course he denies laughing. On the contrary he's a bit on the moody side and seems to do his best to avoid her when he can. Actually he can be pretty damn cold sometimes, if it weren't Diane and Catherine, she'd be sure he would straight up fight her. He's completely fine with Ruby though, that would be cause for alarm if she didn't notice how he looks at her. Like a brother looking at their baby sister.
Its a pretty complicated situation.
Carrying the red reaper like luggage Yang does her best to keep her from bugging the engineers any further. They seem pretty busy with something. An alarm blares out and the base turns into a veritable beehive of activity as soldiers begin preparing for something. Probably some kind of attack based on how much weaponry is being moved. Ruby starts flailing and squirming even harder as her excitement reaches new levels. The blond brawler has to use both hands to restrain the gun maniac. Ducking off into a nearby alley as multiple armored vehicles roll out into the open.
It's probably about time to head back home for now. Sneaking off to get onto a bullhead nearby, Thompson runs past them from the bullhead, sending a small wave her way as he passes. Boarding the bullhead they head back towards home.
It didn't take ECHO unit long at all to mount up a proper offensive force. IFVs and trucks galore, as the bases mass communication system calls for a muster at the center clearing. Everyone involved with the preparations circle around Rennold who stands there proudly. Once everyone who can be there is there, she begins speaking.
"ladies and gentlemen! Today we get to fight!" a loud and raucous round of cheers "we are to form a large from to the north of Vale! We will clear out a good ten miles out, twenty miles wide! To do this we'll be utilizing gunships and armor, as well as something we've come up with!" pulling out what seems to be a beacon, she holds it above her head "a functioning grimm lure! We'll hook these up to the IFVs and form moving defensive positions! It'll be a hoard survival mode! Lets get to it!" more cheers and morale rising even higher. Rennold goes on to explain the full plan and formations before they all head off. Everyone is ready for a good slaughter. Not even thirty minutes later, the assault force is ready and driving out to exit at the north of the city, the sight brings a huge number of onlookers. Most people were curious over the construction happening over the past weeks, but not curious enough to approach armed guards. Now with the convoy rolling through the streets, observers don't have to go too far to get a good view. It would be an hour or so to reach the outskirts and begin the sweep.
One very interested civilian rushes to make a call to a specific contact.
Answering her scroll, Lisa Lavender seems pleased at the caller ID.
"Topaz, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"that group that popped up is starting to move now, get the airship now!" the tanned skin woman hangs up to send coordinates to reporter who is already running off to get the ship from the port by her news station. Grabbing a small camera crew as well to get footage. Hopping onto the airship, the reporting crew takes off and blasts off toward the convoy.
The convoy arrives at the outskirts and starts spreading out, pushing further from the city toward grimm wilds. Making it far enough away from the city, defensive perimeters form around the armored troop carriers, the comm center fortifies itself at a central position ahead of the artillery trucks but behind the IFV line. Reinforcing the IFVs and their perimeters are several roving squads and a full infantry line headed by Thompson and Rennold, where Alexander and Jenkins took their own separate platoons to scout ahead and act as their own form of "artillery" strikes.
The grimm lures activate and swarms of the evil beasts start rushing the positions. Gunfire sounds off, suffocating the air with their sound waves. Mounted machine guns, snipers, rifles, LMGs, shotguns, the grimm don't stand a chance as walls of holy lead wash over them. As the numbers dwindles the offensive front pushes forward. Following behind the front, engineers begin setting up auto turrets to reinforce the cleared zones. Multiple news airships hover at a safe distance to record the brutal culling. It's ruthlessly effective, any grimm that manage to push past the gunfire are met by an even more lethal melee battle. Artillery barrages blow open the forest ahead of them, clearing out a massive group of grimm that had congregated due to the lures. Nevermore start to gather so much that the sky is getting blocked out. An artillery truck refitted into an anti air battery opens fire on the swarm.
Flak cannon fire and minigun spray make short work of the nevermore. The small campaign is televised live, some of it being pre-planned by Ozpin, others more opportunistic. What was a definite is the gobsmacked public reaction to seeing Vales wild lands being reclaimed by some unknown military force. The campaign on Ozpins side is to set up temporary defensive walls if ECHO unit delivers its promise.
They provided in spades.
Forty five minutes, thousands of rounds and shells, dozens of replaced exo blades, a ten mile wide twenty mile long grimm free zone, which is now being defended against more oncoming grimm until its a good time to turn off the lures. Valean construction crews work into overdrive to start walling off the new zone, a lot could be done with this space. It needs to be secured first however.
Ozpin can't help but smile at the scene, a great new patch of land just secured for the taking, it's got so much potential for good and when its fully built, ECHO can clear even more area. It serves two fold, clearing grimm and showing the people of Remnant how much good these new mercenaries can do. However he could do without Thompson throwing magic around like its going out of style. It will be hard to explain what kind of semblance allows for blindingly bright golden weapons as well as blasting out beams of golden energy. Something to worry about another day.
For now, its sweet victory.
Alright, I'm sorry this took so long. The schedule is hectic as fuck right now. I'll start work on the next chapter as soon as I can. I'm a bit terrible with the pacing to be honest, but I do want it to be fast paced. Get to know the characters and see how they got involved in this centuries long war. I've got Salem and Ozpins dynamic worked out 100% now, of course Salem won't be the only big bad to lurk in the darkness. Alright, I'll get back to you all when I can.
Lolz out