Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat, RWBY or Time Crisis as they are all owned by their respective copyright owners.
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-Vale, Beacon Academy, Headmaster Ozpin's Office-
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The main courtyard for Beacon Academy was absolutely bustling with people, with Bullhead and Airships delivering more and more every hour. The Vytal Festival was less than a month away and already more and more students were showing up to the point where there were some at Beacon who were wondering if they would even have enough room to house all of the students that were coming in. Of course it wasn't only students that were arriving at Beacon Academy. There were a number of Atlesian military airships that were flying around the area. Apparently General Ironwood, the headmaster of Atlas Academy had not only decided to travel with his students, but also brought several platoons worth of soldiers with him.
In the headmaster's office two individuals were watching three Atlesian military airships deposit their cargo of visiting Huntsman and Huntresses in training, while several smaller Mako class dropships flew escort (A/N: I couldn't find any information as to what the Atlesian dropships were called so I'm just going to call them Makos). The first was a man who appeared to be middle-aged, with tousled hair and brown eyes with a small, round pair glasses resting on his nose. Right next to him was a woman in her early to mid-thirties. She had blonde hair that was done up into a neat bun but still allowed some curls to hang on the right side of her face. Her dark green eyes were set in a stern expression behind her thin ovular glasses.
"Well it seems that Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." She grumbled at the spectacle that was taking place right in front of her. Ozpin took a sip from his mug of cocoa and said "Well, running an academy and a military makes him a very busy man, but those are a bit of an eyesore."
Glynda looked like she wanted to continue but before she could make mention that Ozpin's comment was more than just a little bit of an understatement there was a small beeping noise coming from his desk. The headmaster of Beacon Academy walked over to it and saw that someone was requesting entry into his office. Given what was going on outside, it was very obvious who was awaiting permission to enter.
Sure enough the instant that Ozpin said "Come in," a very familiar individual walked through the door. It was James Ironwood, headmaster of Atlas Academy and General of the Atlesian military. He was well dressed in a white overcoat with a grey undercoat, a black sweater and red necktie. Conspicuously enough Ironwood also had a white glove that covered his right hand but not one over his left. The man's hair was black with more than just a bit of grey on the sides of his head. His dark blue eyes were focused and hard but most interestingly of all was the fact that there was a small strip of metal that was implanted in his forehead just above his right eyebrow.
Almost immediately upon entering, Ironwood gave his fellow headmaster a friendly smile "Ozpin," he said in relatively warm greeting. Ozpin gave the good General a respectful nod "General," he said in a slightly more curt tone.
Ironwood however never lost his smile "Please, drop the formalities," he insisted as the two walked up to one another and shook hands. "It's good to see you again Oz. It's been too long." Ironwood then turned his head to look at the approaching Glynda Goodwitch and his smile became even more pronounced "Glynda, it has certainly been far too long."
At that Glynda looked directly at the general and gave a saccharine smile that looked utterly out of place when compared to the complete and utter annoyance that was in her eyes "Oh, James." She said, her voice filled with nothing but sarcastic cheeriness before her expression shifted into one that expressed deadpan annoyance as she turned to look over at her boss "I'll be outside."
Once Glynda had exited the room, Ironwood turned his head back to his friend and sighed almost dejectedly "Well, it seems she hasn't changed a bit."
Ozpin ignored the comment and instead decided to get straight to business "So what brings you all the way from Atlas. After all, headmasters don't normally travel with their students for the Vytal Festival." Ozpin reached for a second cup of coffee and handed it to the general who took a few sips from it.
"Well I do love Vale this time of year. Besides, with you hosting I thought that this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up on a few things."
Ozpin gave a small smile as he took his seat behind his desk "I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends. However that small fleet outside of my window has me somewhat concerned."
Ironwood looked at his fellow Headmaster with a look of mild confusion "Well, concern is what brought me here," he explained. Ozpin took another large gulp of his coffee and sent a questioning gaze to the General "I understand that travel between Kingdoms has become increasingly, difficult as of late but-"
Ozpin wasn't able to finish that sentence as the General gave Ozpin an almost apologetic look as he continued "Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men."
Once again Ozpin drank from his mug and looked somewhat disheartened by the fact that it was almost completely empty "We are at a time of peace," he said before gesturing to the sight that was present at the disembarkation docks "Shows of power like this, are just going to give off the wrong impression."
Ironwood set his mug down and put both of his hands on the table "But if what Qrow said is true then-" this time it was Ozpin who didn't give Ironwood a chance to finish as he held up an index finger to interject. "If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it. Tactfully. It's the Vytal Festival, a time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you don't' scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent." Judging by the expression on Ironwood's face, that clearly wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"I'm just being cautious," he defended.
"As am I. Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can."
"Believe me I am," Ironwood insisted before he started to make his way towards the office's exit. However before he could make it there completely he turned slightly to look Ozpin directly in the eye and asked "But ask yourself this. Do you really believe your children can win a war?" Without waiting for an answer he turned back and continued on his way out.
Once the door fully closed behind the General, Ozpin steepled his fingers together and let out a sigh. "I hope that they never have to."
For a time Ozpin just sat there and pondered recent events and what he could do to keep the fallout from such events from getting any worse. It was true that they were living in a time of peace and relative prosperity, on the surface at least. But once one looked beneath it, people would realize that the world was as it always was, balancing on a razor's edge.
Ozpin was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his scroll start chiming, indicating that a text message had been sent directly to him. Curious, the headmaster of Beacon Academy opened the message and saw message from a certain dusty old crow.
"Found something, I'll be at Beacon soon"
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-Vale, Commercial District-
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The break after the first semester at Beacon had come and gone and while it hadn't been the best break ever as Ruby had hoped, they still had some fun together as friends. Especially with that little food-fight that they all got into the day before. Thank the gods that Ozpin had showed up or who knew just how bad the detentions from Professor Goodwitch would have ended up being.
Ruby all but shuddered when she remembered the look on the Professor's face that morning. It wasn't the same stern yet kinda scary and kinda fair expression she had when Ruby first met Ozpin and was invited to Beacon two years early. No it was instead more along the lines of someone who was stern, angry, and barely holding back the mind numbing rage at their students. Glynda was always kind of scary but in that moment, she was truly terrifying.
The red hooded huntress in training pushed those thoughts from her head and continued to walk down the crowded streets of Vale along with the rest of her team. With the Vytal Festival getting closer and closer every day, more tourists were showing up but more importantly, more Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. This meant that there were sales on weapons, equipment and various parts at almost every shop that specialized in selling items that Huntsmen required for their jobs.
She had first heard about the sales from her sister Yang, who just a few hours ago had asked why she hadn't decided to go on a shopping spree now that just about everything related to Huntsmen and Huntresses was on sale. Yang, her big sister –and current candidate for best sister in the world- let her know of a golden opportunity to make sure that she and the rest of her team had to improve their weapons or as Weiss wanted (but still denied), a chance to scope out some of the competition for the Vytal Festival.
As the group continued to make their way towards some of the weapon stores that were having their sales, it was at that point that Blake looked over at the team's cloaked leader and said "You do realize that with all the Huntsmen and Huntresses here for the festival it's likely that a lot of the stores are going to be picked over right?"
"Nope," Ruby bluntly stated. Blake looked at her friend and said "But there are hundreds of hunters here and-"
"Nope."
"Are you even listening?"
"Nope,"
"Wait, are you s-"
Blake didn't get a chance to finish as her team leader started to erupt into childish giggles before she stopped walking and turned around to look right at Blake, a huge smile on her face "Sure it's unlikely that we'll find exactly what we're looking for but if nothing else, walking around and having some fun."
The disguised Faunus resisted the urge to sigh. They didn't have time for shopping or sightseeing; Torchwick and the rest of the White Fang were still out there. Sure Blake, Sun and the rest of Team RWBY had managed to stop the massive theft of Dust at the docks but that still wasn't enough. That smug bastard was still out there and they were just going to sit around and do absolutely nothing about it. Gods only knew what Torchwick and the White Fang were planning on doing with that amount of Dust but whatever it was it couldn't be anything good.
Still though it didn't look like she was about to get out of this anytime soon. If she did try to ditch the group and go off on her own then eventually they would find her and Ruby would give her the 'look' which was half sadness, half disappointment.
All in all whenever Ruby pulled that look on someone, they always felt as though they had just kicked a kitten. Blake didn't know if Ruby knew she was capable of that but somehow, Blake wouldn't put it past her. Behind her cheerful demeanor and…enthusiasm when it came to weapons, Ruby came up with some pretty good ideas when it came to leading their team.
"This is still boring and pointless though," Blake muttered to herself. Why didn't they see that finding and stopping Torchwick and the White Fang was far more important than any asinine shopping trip-
"Excuse me!" a voice called out, driving Blake's thoughts right out of her head. The members of team RWBY turned around to see a man that was walking towards them.
The man who had just gotten their attention had short greying hair but other than that seemed relatively young. It was something odd and Blake took a note of it. He had a small smile on his face and was wearing what appeared to be makeshift combat armor, with a couple of bandoliers slung over his shoulder that contained ammo. She also noticed that underneath the jacket he was wearing he had a rather large and fearsome looking pistol on a holster. Sure it wasn't unsurprising to see such armed individuals in Vale during this time as it was the Vytal Festival. Thousands of people including many Huntsmen came from all over the world to take part in the festivities. It came as no surprise that some of them would come armed as there were several armed Huntsmen in the area.
The man with the strange greying hair gave team RWBY a friendly smile or at least he tried. To Blake this man seemed, off. If that made any sense. He reminded her of some of the older guard in the White Fang, ones who had seen too much during the Faunus Rights Revolution and were haunted by it. Several of whom had left the White Fang after they started to turn to more extreme measures, not wanting to go back to the war again.
Eventually it was Weiss who spoke first "Can we help you?" Weiss asked.
The greying haired man kept his smile up "Yes, I haven't been to Vale in quite some time and I was wondering if you could give me some directions. You see I was going to meet up with a couple of friends at a local club but I've been having quite a bit of trouble finding it."
Ruby and her team looked at one another for a second or two before the youngest of the group spoke up "Sure I guess. Where are you headed?" she asked.
The grey haired man then said "My buddy said he was going to meet us at the 'Three Bears' but I'm not entirely sure where it is as his directions were, for lack of better words completely awful. Would you by chance know how to find it?" There was a brief pause as the four huntresses in training looked at one another before Yang got a big grin on her face.
"Oh yeah, I know exactly where it is," with the grin on her face Ruby more than just suspected that Yang had probably pulled something at the Three Bears.
Blake however looked at the man and asked "So who are you exactly, a Huntsman?" Her tone was indicating that she was at least somewhat suspicious about the three strange men. Though given her background it was more than understandable that she had some trust issues.
The individual in front of them just gave a friendly smile as he responded "Yep, the name's Tanner. My friends and I figured that with the Vytal Festival coming up we'd see if there was any room for guys like us looking for work here. With so many people in one place we thought that it would probably be a good idea to kill a few monsters."
Ah the Grimm, that would make a lot of sense for more hunters to arrive in Vale. Honestly it was something that Blake should have expected, but still there was something that just didn't seem right. Maybe it was her past experience with Adam and the rest of the White Fang talking but it felt as though there was something 'off' about this man.
"So, you mind if we show you where it is?" asked Yang who still had that grin on her face that told Blake that she and maybe Weiss were the only ones who had concerns in regards to spending time with a strange man that they had only just met.
The man simply held his left hand out in a "slow down" type of gesture, "While I appreciate your eagerness to help, I really only need some directions."
Weiss looked as though she was about to get out her scroll and look up said directions when she heard Ruby speak up again. "No, no it's no problem. Right?" she asked seemingly innocently while looking at her friends.
Personally Weiss didn't really have any issue with giving the fellow information or making sure he arrived at his destination, it wasn't as though they had anything that was really pressing going on so she was fine with it. The heiress nodded while Blake simply shrugged, knowing that at this point no matter how much of a fuss she pulled, it wouldn't have mattered. Besides they were already out and about might as well do something while out in Vale.
The three others in team RWBY gave their own affirmative answers and the quartet began to lead the man towards his destination.
A few minutes in however Ruby piped up once again "So, Tanner." She started trying to fill in the silence, "I don't think I've seen you in Vale before, you come here often?"
Tanner cocked an eyebrow but he decided to indulge the girl "Unfortunately no. I mostly do my work outside of the cities. This is actually really my first time in Vale, and judging by your friend's reaction when I mentioned that club I take it the Three Bears isn't an establishment to conduct business?"
Yang just grinned at that last comment "Oh, It's more of a place to…party, rather than discuss business."
At that Ruby let out a small sigh. If that wasn't an admission that Yang had done something crazy at that club then she wasn't sure what was. The guy they were helping find his way however seemed to have more than an inkling of what she was talking about if the way he arched his eyebrow was any indication "So I see. Judging by your tone, it would seem as though you've had something of a 'party' there yourself."
Yang's grin went just a little bit wider at that "Maybe…" she trailed off leaving everyone to draw their own conclusions. However Tanner simply quirked a brow before shaking his head "Somehow I get the feeling I really don't want to know."
Judging by the man's tone he almost seemed amused, perhaps even nostalgic. For a moment or two he just kept silent, as though reliving a memory long since passed but that look vanished and he addressed them again "So I take it that you are all students of Beacon then or are you here visiting here too?"
Ruby shook her head "No, we're all students from Beacon." She then started to look…twitchy, especially when she spotted his weapon and couldn't really help herself as she tried to get a better look at it. Tanner looked at her with a cocked brow "Is there something you wanted to ask me?"
Almost immediately Ruby erupted into a barrage of questions "What kind of pistol is that? It's huge! What does it fire? Does it have a secondary form? What other weapons do you have?!" She spoke so quickly that everyone around her honestly couldn't keep up with how fast the words came out of her mouth.
Yang looked at her sister with an amused expression and seemed to be fighting back snickers judging by how her shoulders shook and how the fact she had her hands over her mouth. Weiss and Blake meanwhile simply looked as though they had seen this sort of thing several times before.
Tanner blinked, barely understanding a word that had come out of the little reaper's mouth "I'm sorry I didn't really catch that."
Immediately Ruby's cheeks turned the color of her namesake and she began pushing her two index fingers together all the while averting her face from his gaze in embarrassment "S-sorry I kinda have this thing when it comes to weapons."
Their new acquaintance just shrugged almost nonchalantly "Everyone needs a hobby I guess." He then gave another friendly smile "What do you want to know about it?" He asked.
At that moment, Tanner swore he saw Ruby's eyes start sparkling, and wondered just what in the hell he had unleashed. "Everything!" she all but squealed in a strange high pitched voice.
Tanner looked over at the Ruby's friends for some kind of answer but he only received looks that told him that it was probably best to just go along with what the girl wanted. "Okay…the weapon is called a Desert Eagle, it's a pistol that fires high powered rounds at high velocity. The bullets can punch through most body armor like paper and seven rounds in a standard clip but I've managed to acquire some with expanded capacity. The only problem with the Eagle is that it has one hell of a recoil, earning it the nickname: the hand cannon."
Immediately Ruby looked at her sister, her eyes still sparkling "'The Hand Cannon!'" she repeated to which Yang just patted the top of her head affectionately. Soon though Ruby managed to regain control over herself somewhat before asking another important question "What about the recoil? I mean a weapon like that would probably have a lot of recoil whenever it fired."
At that Tanner smiled, "An excellent point, it takes quite a bit to deal with the recoil but I've added a compensator to the weapon's barrel, so it is easier to aim and fire multiple times without having to deal with as much kick." At that Ruby seemed to have stars in her eyes "Okay where and how can I get one of those?" she asked almost begging.
Tanner seemed to think on the answer for a moment, still somewhat unnerved that Ruby could be so…into weapons "I'm sorry to say that most Desert Eagles are rather difficult to find, as the company that created them only made a handful because they were so expensive, I got mine from a secondhand source and had to modify it very extensively in order to make it work properly. Aside from some of the frame, it's not really like the original models, and I'm afraid this one isn't for sale."
Ruby immediately deflated at that "Ah, phooey." However, she didn't seem to be down for long as her face took on its bubbly expression once again "Still though at least I got a chance to see a new weapon!"
Tanner chuckled at the girl for a moment or two before he asked, "So just out of curiosity, what made you decide to become huntress?"
Ruby immediately beamed at the question "Well, I wanted to be a hero!" she blurted out before her cheerful expression changed. Usually when people who heard her say she wanted to be a hero, they clearly thought it was childish, but it was what she always wanted ever since…ever since mom…
However, the guy they were showing around didn't seem dismissive of her reason to become a huntress as childish. In fact he seemed concerned, horrified even. While he quickly managed to compose himself, everyone had clearly seen the look on his face, even as he tried to shake it off.
By chance or fate, that was the moment that Tanner saw the club that he was meeting his friends at in the distance. "Looks like we're here," he said softly, not eager to answer any of the uncomfortable questions that may arise given his reaction.
However he was unable to keep his facial expression from changing one last time. His expression changed to that of one that was both wistful and full of regrets. It was the look of someone who had lost something or someone and had for a moment been taken back to the past momentarily to relive a memory that they had once. It was a look that Ruby and Yang had seen before on their father and uncle's faces several times.
"Well, good luck to you kid, and stay alive. If not for yourself, then for everyone you care about."
Not giving the girls a chance to respond, Tanner made his way into the club.
Ruby and the others however each had very confused expressions on their faces. "Ooooookay," said Yang her brows arched, and a questioning look on her face. "Anyone have any idea what that was about?"
Ruby shrugged, "Maybe it was his way of saying goodbye?"
Blake however seemed to find it more than just a little bit suspicious "Weird way of saying goodbye," she muttered. Weiss just sighed, annoyed with Blake's seeming paranoia. "Come on everyone let's just get going."
With that team RWBY set out once again, although one particular member couldn't help but dwell on the final words that were said to her.
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-Vale, Beacon Academy, Headmaster Ozpin's office-
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It had only been a couple of hours since Ozpin had received that message from Qrow, and it was actually pretty surprising when he heard a tapping noise coming from one of the windows. The headmaster of Beacon turned and saw that there was a black crow fluttering about one of the windows tapping on the glass every few seconds. Ozpin cocked a brow before walking over to the window where the bird was fluttering about.
When he was close enough, Ozpin opened the window and allowed the bird to fly into the office and it quickly morphed into a man who clearly didn't care much about being presentable and also smelt of alcohol. Ozpin looked at his agent "So you said that you had found some-"
Qrow held up his index finger as he fished out his flask and began to drink vigorously from it. Ozpin resisted the urge to sigh and instead waited for the man to finish his swig. Eventually Qrow took the flask from his lips and let out a satisfied "ah" before attaching it back to his belt.
"You said that you found something."
Qrow nodded "Yeah, I was on my way back from Mistral cuz I got some info that our mutual friend may have come into Vale and I came across something really screwed up." Qrow looked like he was about to take another swig out of his flask but managed to restrain himself.
"There was an old rundown settlement that the White Fang had turned into an outpost, I found out about and figured that it might be somewhere I can find some more info. Unfortunately someone else had already been there and they had torn it and everyone inside to pieces, literally."
Ozpin leaned in on his seat and asked, "The Grimm?"
Qrow shook his head "At first I thought that with some of the bodies but the Grimm don't line people up against a wall and gun them down, nor do they make very liberal use of high explosives."
"A strike team from one of the other Kingdoms, or someone hired by the SDC."
"Nah, it was too brutal, way too brutal. I not a big fan on how Jimmy and his boys do things but they never committed any war crime level stuff and as much of a bastard as Ice Queen's daddy is I don't think he'd go to this extreme to get rid of the White Fang." Qrow pulled out a blood stained scroll from his back pocket and placed it on Ozpin's desk, causing some of the less dry blood to partially stain it. It was little things like that that reminded Ozpin that Qrow's semblance was always on.
"I found this little fella in a room in one of the buildings that hadn't been blown up or torched. Apparently whoever was there had decided to use it as a torture chamber for some of the prisoners that they did take. All the info on it was wiped except for a single audio file."
Qrow punched in a few commands on a scroll and someone's voice, presumably the one responsible for what happened to the White Fang, came through "Dear Adam, when we finally meet, please remind me to ask you what exactly made these men and women so loyal. My first assumption was that it was fear of a slow death. So I decided to test that theory on your friends here, and while it's impossible to prove a negative several hours against what I put them through makes a pretty compelling case. If by some miracle someone else manages to pick this up, maybe some law enforcement from Vale, a stray Hunter, or even Ozpin or James Ironwood themselves, I have one thing to say to you. Stay. Out. Of. My. Way. My men and I don't discriminate between those that we hunt and those stupid enough to get in our way. So I strongly suggest that you stay out of it."
Well that was certainly something and Ozpin knew exactly how badly that Ironwood was going to take all of this. He would likely want to launch an investigation and that could potentially make an already complicated situation even more so. But still he was going to get the information eventually anyways and they would need to be ready to make sure he didn't do anything too…rash.
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-Earthrealm, Special Forces Headquarters, Briefing Room-
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The briefing room for Earthrealm's Special Forces was much like any other briefing room in most modern day militaries, it was built not for creature comfort but for efficiency and as such, many were not liking the extremely uncomfortable chairs they were forced into. In front of the group was General Sonya Blade, the head of the US military's Special Forces. She wore blue colored combat fatigues that had markings that signified her rank on her shoulders. Her hair was done up into a ponytail braid and her eyes radiated focus.
The group she and two others were addressing was a…unique one. Although there were several members of the United States Special Forces in attendance there were also several that weren't from that particular organization. Among the most notable Special Forces officers there was Lieutenant Cassie Cage, Sonya Blade's daughter, she took after her mother in most of her looks but had her father's personality through and through.
Another was Sergeant Jaquelin "Jacqui" Briggs. She had dark skin, and her black hair was in a cornrow style. Her father was Jackson "Jax" Briggs a retired military officer and Sonya's former commanding officer twenty years ago. Both she and Cassie were both eighteen years old and had been friends since childhood.
The third was a new transfer, a Corporal by the name of Alex Stone. Alex's pitch-black hair was closely cropped in order to keep it at regulation length and had brown eyes. Though he hadn't been at SF for very long, he had been noted to be rather eager to prove himself.
The last one who was sort of part of Special Forces was Johnny Cage, the father of Cassie Cage and ex-husband of Sonya Blade. Johnny was once an egomaniac of a Hollywood actor who found himself as part of the Mortal Kombat tournament after his agent advised him to go there in an attempt to boost his nosediving popularity. Of course he got far more than he bargained for as he found himself as one of Raiden's champions. He was one of those who barely survived the war with Shao Kahn and ensuing Neatherrealm war two years later.
Johnny had come a long way since the tournament. He wasn't nearly as egomaniacal and self-centered and had become a caring and responsible father towards his daughter. Many would describe him as the uncle they never had that was always willing to help them out but at the same time was full of too many pop culture references and terrible jokes.
There were of course those that weren't part of the SF in attendance. First and foremost were those that represented the Lin Kuei and the Shirai-Ryu. Both were clans of assassins that had an intense and very hate filled rivalry with one another that went back centuries. Fortunately though in recent years, both clans had undergone something of a reformation and the new Grandmasters of both clans decided that it would be better to…put aside old grudges, especially in the event that another attack on Earthrealm occurred.
The Lin Kuei's representative was a warrior known only by the code name of Glacier. He had repeatedly refused to reveal his real name due to an old tradition of the Lin Kuei to never speak their true names to outsiders. Unfortunately the point was rather moot considering that now everyone knew the name of the Lin Kuei's current Grandmaster, Kuai Liang aka Sub-Zero. So it seemed as though Glacier was simply trying to keep old traditions alive.
Behind his mask Glacier was a young man of Asian descent and was roughly nineteen or twenty years of age and had kept his black hair in a relatively simple bun. His most distinct features however were his eyes, they were a crystal blue that almost seemed to be glowing. To those that knew, it was a symbol of his being a cryomancer. Cryomancers were individuals with the ability to shape and control ice through the manipulation of the moisture in the air around their bodies.
The representative from the Shirai-Ryu was another young man roughly the same age as Glacier, but unlike Glacier, Takashi Takeda always went by his real name. Takashi had shorter black hair than Glacier and kept a bandanna around his forehead with the Shirai-Ryu's insignia on it. There were many in the unit who found that of the two ninjas, Takashi was the one who was much easier to approach given his more laid-back personality, in contrast to the rather…stoic demeanor of his foster father, the Shirai-Ryu's current Grandmaster: Hanzo Hizashi or Scorpion as he used to be called.
The next was a representative from the White Lotus Society, a sect of the Shaolin Monks cofounded by the Outworlder Bo Rai Cho and Raiden centuries ago to be defenders of Earthrealm. This one went by the name of Kung Jin and was the cousin of one of Raiden's fallen champions during the war against Shao Kahn, Kung Lao.
Kung Jin was, as his name suggested of Chinese descent. He had long black hair that was done up into a ponytail and wore the traditional garbs of a member of the White Lotus although he also had a metal headpiece that had a golden color on his head. It traveled down towards the chin in sharp edges.
Then there were those from an agency under the auspices of the UN. Three agents of the VSSE (Vital Situation Swift Execution) were in attendance. Wesley Lambert and Alan Dunaway, two operatives of the VSSE. Wesley Lambert was in his mid-twenties and had short blonde hair and blue eyes while his colleague Alan was of the same age but his had had mid-length slicked back brown hair and had a pair of sunglasses mounted over his forehead.
Just a few months ago the pair had all but singlehandedly thwarted the insane dictator of the Zagorias Federation from taking control over a Mediterranean island and using it as a staging area to attack a rival Mediterranean nation known as Lukano. The only problem however was that when NATO arrived to dismantle the missiles that the Zagorias army had set up, they found that the chemical warheads that the missiles were supposed to have been armed with were gone.
Now just about every single intelligence agency on the planet was scrambling to find out just where in the hell those chemical weapons had gone.
The fact that they were here in the briefing suggested that whatever this new mission was, it probably had something to do with the missing chemical weapons. Especially since one of their higher ranking members was also in attendance, an older fellow who was wearing what appeared to be a business suit. He a man in his fifties and his hair was greying and starting to thin but he had the air of someone who had seen many things in his life and as a result wasn't nearly as effected by them.
The last one in the group was the Thunder God Raiden. Although as a god, Raiden generally formless and ethereal he was able to take the form of a middle aged man wearing a predominantly white robes and a blue vest. His face was partially obscured by a straw hat but one could still make out his glowing blue eyes, signifying his ethereal origins.
The first one to speak to the group was General Blade "I'm sure you're all wondering why you've all been gathered as training was scheduled to continue for another week. I'm also sure you're wondering who our guests are, Well, I'm here to tell you that training has been canceled for the foreseeable future. This unit will be undergoing what could very well turn into a long term mission."
That caught everyone's attention as everyone save the VSSE operatives started to look at one another, as if trying to gauge if one of their number had more information on what was going on than the others. Everyone seemed completely clueless. The general then elaborated further "Just a few days ago, Ambassador Li Mei from Outworld contacted gave a rather disturbing report. Apparently the deposed Kahnum Mileena had just made an attempt on Kotal Kahn's life, and she apparently had some assistance from some new allies."
The screen behind the general changed from completely blank to that of a corpse. A corpse with animalistic features, more specifically a pair of dog ears on his head. Immediately upon seeing the body Johnny cocked an eyebrow behind his sunglasses and asked what many were already thinking "So Mileena's got anime cosplayers working for her now? I knew she was desperate, but this is a bit much."
No one made any real response to that except for Cassie who gave a small snicker much to her father's delight. His ex-wife however, simply sighed and massaged her temples. "Cage, could you please just keep the jokes to a minimum for right now?"
Johnny held up his hands in mock surrender but that didn't mean that he wouldn't try again later if he saw a perfect opportunity. The general then continued to get right back to the point and explained how this group was apparently known as the White Fang and they came from a Realm known as Remnant. Apparently it was one that was so remote, that even Raiden was unfamiliar with it.
Of course, there were those who were wondering what in the hell any of this had to do with what they were being briefed on. So Mileena had got her hands on a few new allies, so what? She had just made a failed attempt on Kotal Kahn's life apparently not even lightly wounding him during the attempt. To make matters even better for Emperor Kotal, apparently she had not only lost even more of her remaining Tarkatans as a result but also one of her remaining lieutenants. True Mileena might have managed to escape with her life but it was likely that they were in the process of tracking the psychotic bitch down. She was living on borrowed time at best and if her allies had any sense, they would sell her out the first chance they got.
It was clear that Sonya knew the unasked questions on everyone's lips "This is very important due to the fact that during this little assassination Mileena attempted to use an amulet to kill Kotal Kahn. The description of which perfectly matches Shinnok's amulet."
That got everyone's attention, for the last twenty years Shinnok had been trapped within his own amulet ever since his failed invasion of Earthrealm. It was the fallen Elder God's most powerful weapon and even if the amulet was made only to work at its full potential when Shinnok wielded it, it was still an extraordinarily dangerous piece of jewelry.
Knowing the full implications of this, every single person in the briefing room had about a billion questions they wanted to ask. Mainly how in the hell did Mileena get her grubby little paws on a Shinnok's amulet when it was supposed to be secured in what was quite possibly the most secure military facility in Earthrealm?!
It was at that point that Raiden spoke up "I confirmed that the amulet that is currently in SF's possession was a fake, a well-constructed fake but there was no hiding the fact that it possessed none of the power that the original has."
And everyone knew that the only one who was both crazy and had the balls to pull off such a heist was Kano.
It was at that point that Alex raised his hand and asked that everyone had on their lips but was afraid to ask, especially when the answer might be something that none of them wanted to hear. "Lord Raiden, what exactly are the odds Shinnok gets released if someone decides to do something stupid with it?"
That was something that no sane individual would want to see happen. The amount of destruction that Shinnok caused when he was running around was insane. It took the combined armies of Earthrealm and Outworld to start pushing him back and even when that happened he was still able to launch an effective assault on the Jinsei and came within a hair's breadth away from corrupting it.
"I don't know," said Raiden "This has never happened before. Shinnok may remain trapped within his amulet, but at the same time he may find a way out if it is used repeatedly. This is one of the reasons why it was decided that Shinnok's amulet would not be destroyed, we had no way of knowing whether or not destroying the amulet would release him."
Great. So not only did they have to find an amulet that contained a psychotic Elder God, they also had to find it before someone inadvertently let the bastard out. Fortunately, Raiden went on to explain that only Quan Chi had the necessary spells and incantations to properly let him out and it was unlikely that even someone as Mileena would be psychotic enough to try and be reckless with something that contained someone as powerful as Shinnok.
It was at that point that General Blade spoke up again "You'll have multiple objectives on this mission. You are to retrieve Shinnok's amulet and bring it back to Earthrealm, period. At the same time there are a list of targets that you will be required to either apprehend or terminate; Mileena and her inner circle are at the top of the list.
It is also imperative that unless you receive prior permission directly from command you are not to let the indigenous population know that you are from another Realm. The people of Remnant have no knowledge whatsoever of the wider realms and there would be a shitstorm of problems if they found out about us through a military action. There are numerous reasons for this and right at the top of the list are the Grimm."
Sonya went on to explain that the Creatures of Grimm or just Grimm were entities that were attracted to negative emotion, hate, anger, fear etcetera. If the people of Remnant were as ignorant of the wider Realms as they seemed, then finding out about their place in the universe would have caused them a lot of problems, especially if it was done poorly. She also went on to inform the group that most of the information was gathered through hacking into Remnant's version of the internet, the Cross Continental Transmit System or CCT as it was more commonly called. The VSSE representative gave a small chuckle and muttered something about how the CCT was "easier to hack into than an I-phone."
With that having been done, Sonya continued "During your mission none of you will be wearing SF or VSSE uniforms, instead you will all be working undercover as a PMC unit called Nimbus Security Solutions. Officially Nimbus Security Solutions or NSS is a rising star in Remnant, according to the CCT webpage we created. They are a private organization that takes jobs to eliminate Grimm, safeguard against bandits, that kind of thing. As far as the general population is concerned, Nimbus has mostly been working in relatively remote areas but has been making inroads towards the primary cities in this Realm. As for our Shaolin, Shirai-Ryu and Lin Kuei representatives you won't be part of NSS, you'll be part of your own reclusive groups that have been fighting Grimm but now want to step out into the spotlight by working with Nimbus. If anyone in a position of authority asks why you are in the area, you are allowed to disclose that you are on a mission from a client about retrieving stolen property from a weapons company."
At that point General Blade stepped to the side of the stage and finally the VSSE representative took the helm "Kotal Kahn has also given us information that his new attack dog, a former member of the United States Special Forces by the name of Michael Tanner is in the area with several Outworld forces along with a mercenary group called Wild Hunt. Apparently they are after Mileena and her allies as well." A picture of Michael Tanner was brought up and several individuals in SF immediately recognized him. Johnny Cage looked at the picture and seemed particularly depressed with the list that was right next to it.
Interpol's Most Wanted:
Tanner, Michael, J.
Former United States Special Forces Lieutenant
Crimes:
Treason against the United States Government
Theft of Military property
Usage of Chemical Weapons
Execution of surrendering soldiers
Torture of prisoners of war
Considered armed and extremely dangerous.
"Former Lieutenant Michael Tanner has been responsible for most of the recent victories against Mileena and as you can see here, has committed more than just his fair share of atrocities in the process. The UN is currently seeking an extradition to have him sent back to Earthrealm to stand trial but Kotal Kahn has made it clear that's not going to happen and that if we attempt to capture or kill him, he'll consider it a breach of the Reiko Accords and a declaration of war. I recommend you familiarize yourself Tanner's file because it is likely you may encounter him during the mission."
"For those who are unaware Wild Hunt is essentially an organization of terrorists-for-hire. It is comprised of various criminals, former disgraced military personnel from various nations and most recently deserters from the now dissolved Zagorias Federation Armed Forces."
Two picture came up on the wall behind the representative, one was a slightly older man while the other was a man who seemed to be in his late twenties, both of which had a much longer string of crimes and atrocities attached to their names "These two individuals are known only as Wild Dog and Wild Fang. Other than that they are the two in charge of Wild Hunt we have no information on either of them, no other known aliases, places of birth, nothing. All we have is conjecture with them at best. Be warned though, these men are extremely dangerous and they don't distinguish between an enemy and someone who gets in their way."
It was then that the representative switched off the projector and sat back down, allowing Sonya once again to take the stand "Here are the rules of engagement, when it comes to the Grimm, White Fang or Mileena's rebels you are free to engage however you see fit, but try to engage outside the confines of the city whenever possible. Prisoners are to be taken whenever possible for information. Members of the White Fang however are to be turned over to Outworld after the interrogations are finished as a show of cooperation and goodwill."
It went unsaid that Outworld would likely torture and eventually execute said prisoners the second they got their hands on them. Ordinarily the UN would be reluctant to hand over prisoners of war over to someone who would just gruesomely kill them and likely without even a trial but given the now rocky political situation with Outworld, it was an unfortunate necessity. They had just lost Shinnok's amulet to a psychopathic rebel who was using as a weapon in her attempt to reclaim control over Outworld. To say that Kotal Kahn wasn't happy with Earthrealm was an understatement.
"When it comes to Tanner and the Wild Hunt, you are not engage them unless you are first fired upon, period."
It was a bit of a shocker that everyone was expected to let a traitor go like that but they wouldn't question their orders especially when there were more important things to worry about.
"We have detailed files on Remnant, the Grimm and the White Fang. I suggest you review them before you head out in one week's time. Any questions?" Asked Sonya.
When no one said a word, the general gave a nod, "Dismissed."
.
.
To be continued.
A/N: I know, there's not a lot of action this time but next chapter we finally get to see everyone in action including some of Ruby and friends.
