RWBY: Shadow Company
Chapter 11
They entered the last car, a two-story carriage with a second-floor walkway overlooking the first floor. Stacked crates filled the interior in various sizes. Some of them listed
from different kingdoms, but most of them branding the Schnee logo.
But there weren't any androids around to defend it, and that alone felt strange as they always placed at least a dozen of them in each car.
Adam knew that this sign might already be a trap that they just walked in. If they don't turn back now, then everyone who is with them may lose their lives. Sure it was a risk that everyone took, and they knew what they were doing, but they needed the dust now more than ever. And they were that desperate for it.
It looked safe enough. There isn't much time to lose. "Get down here." He instructs the others. Reily was the first to enter, followed by the rest, "Here we go."
Once there was a decent number of them inside, Adam briefs them, "Listen up, look for crates branding the Schnee logo, go for those first. Remember, we're only here for the dust. Everything else is later, go." He said.
Everyone scattered and started opening up the crates from their locks.
Adam runs ahead to the door leading into the next car, "Blake, get over here." Blake runs over to Adam and positions herself on the other side of the door.
"The rest will be busy getting those open. We need to move up and secure the rest of the cars to buy us some time. You ready?"
Blake nods, "I'm ready."
They braced themselves as they entered the next car together, weapons drawn and ready to strike anything in their path.
Only to meet with silence as the car was empty of staff and androids as well. The sight of no one inside again began to fill the both of them was paranoia.
"I don't like the looks of this," He said, rushing to the next door, "Stay alert and stay close to me, Blake. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this place."
"What if coming here was a big mistake? Maybe we should've waited a little longer for a better opportunity. If something bad happens, then we can't save all of them." Blake said as she followed him.
"They knew the risk, Blake. We knew the risk. We're out of options. But we have to do something for them. Everyone back at camp is counting on us."
Of course, they did. Before Blake left the camp, she could still remember the others who stayed behind. The weak and the injured, waving as they depart, almost saying goodbye, knowing that the mission had death hanging on their shoulders. They wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. If she didn't give her speech, then it would just be the two of them instead.
They stack up against the door, "Ready?" Adam said.
Blake nods and opens the door, letting Adam through first. Immediately he felt a rush of air blowing at him. They reached the flatcar, "This is as far we can go. We need to barricade the last door and head back to the others."
He went back inside and grabbed a few crates to barricaded the door, "It won't be long before they notice that we're here."
To give it a good measure, he smashes the door controls as well, rendering them useless.
"Will that be enough to hold them?" Blake asked.
"It's better than nothing, but let's hope so."
They quickly make their way back to the first car. Reily and the others have successfully managed to open the crates and are stuffing their duffle bags with dust.
"Looks like we've hit the jackpot. Look at all this dust, high-quality too. Hurry, get more bags over here." One of them said as he grabbed another empty duffle bag to fill up.
All of the creates in the last car were almost empty in a few minutes. Some were grabbing canned food and other supplies as well.
They entered the second car and began looting it as well.
Adam continued to check around the train car. The back door will be their exit point, and so as the hatches above them.
The doors ahead were locked and barricaded to stop anyone from coming through, "You men, keep watch on those doors and keep them closed. We don't want anyone coming through here." Said Adam.
"Alright, we're on it."
"There's so much dust in here. Why is that?" Reily asked.
"The SDC must have found another massive dust deposit, and they are harvesting them like crazy. They always dump most of their dust cargo in the rear car. The front is where all the passengers and staff mostly occupy, leaving the back almost devoid of anyone," Blake answered. She finished the crate and moved on to the next one.
She noticed that some of them don't have the Schnee Logo on them.
She got closer to get a better look at it, and she was immediately startled by it.
It wasn't an SDC crate or anything. But instead, it was a black military case hidden among the others, branding a different logo.
It branded a black centurion helmet on the case.
Shadows. Blake thought. She knew it had to belong to them.
She gets closer and hesitantly opens it, and inside the case, revealed weapons. Weapons that she doesn't recognize, she picks one up and examines it. It looked brand new and fresh from the factory.
"Hey, what you got there, Blake?" Reily said as she walked over and saw the weapons, "Holy shit, look at these guys! Atlas must be making new toys over here." She exclaimed as she took another out of the crate.
"Keep your voice down, Reily." Someone whispered.
It was indeed a beautiful assault rifle, no doubt. Its design looked pretty advanced. Atlas always loved to arm themselves with the best weapons money could buy. But Blake noticed something else on this weapon. It had a different brand on it, 'ARC' it read.
The others had joined in to see the weapons, "They always get the best shit, and what do we get?" One of them said.
It made them envy, even to the point of jealously. It was one of the reasons why they kept failing against the shadows. Their current weapons and armor were like toys compared to theirs. Blake was lucky to have her Gambol Shroud.
"Well, guess we should take these too then. I mean, we are short on weapons," said Reily as she puts it back in the crate.
Suddenly, the lights went out, and everything went pitch black.
"What the hell, what happened?" One of them said.
"The lights just went out. Relax, we can still see in the dark." But the rest started to panic.
"It's the crew, and they must've known we're here. We are already out of time. All of you grab whatever's left that you can and move, now!" Said Adam.
Everyone moved with haste, "Come on. Let's go, move it."
They grabbed whatever was left, hurling their bags over their shoulders, and climbed out of the hatches. Adam kept watch of the doors with his hand at his blade.
"Unauthorised personnel inside the cargo. Identify yourselves," A low vocoded voice said through the train's intercoms. Everyone was alarmed when they heard that voice, that voice that all of them recognized.
"Shadows! The shadows are here!" Someone screamed in fear.
The intercoms began to speak again, "Confirmed, unauthorized White Fangs personnel on the train. Dispatching Butcher squad to location for extermination."
"Butcher Squad!? I know them! They're elite soldiers!" Another one panicked. "We're dead! We're going to die here!"
"Shit, this is worst than I thought. All of you, don't just stand there. Evacuate the train now!" Adam shouted.
The darkness did little to slow them down. Being able to see in the dark was a beneficial trait to have in these types of circumstances. But Blake knew one fatal flaw that could throw that benefit away in a flash.
Outside the train, Riley was already outside with some of the others, "Alright, come up here," She said as she grabbed the bags handed over to her. When the next person was climbing out halfway, the hatches suddenly slammed shut on itself, closing it on her as it crushed her, locking her tight, "ARGH! Help me!"
"What the fuck?" Riley said as she tried to pry it open again. "Argh, it won't budge! What's going on?"
Suddenly the train stopped abruptly, sending everyone off balance and in disarray.
"Why did the train stop?"
"What the hell are we going to do now?"
Adam tries to calm them down, "Everyone, just stay calm-"
"Ow! Hey, what gives? Watch where you're handling them." He yelled at the person above him as he nurses his head.
"What? But I wasn't holding anything."
Blake tensed.
"Well, what was it then?" He said as he leaned down and picked it up. It was an odd-looking cylinder crystal. While they can see what's around them, the color, however, is absent. The moments he picks it up and inspects it, Blake quickly yells, "Wait! Stop, that's a flash grenade!"
"What, oh shit!"
FLASH!
Blake couldn't see, and her ears were ringing from that loud blast.
"Blake?" She can hear someone calling out to her.
"Blake, are you awake?"
Huh?
Blake wakes up and finds herself sleeping on a bed, with Reily sleeping beside her.
"Ahh!" Blake screamed, moving away and falling out of the bed and landing hard onto the ground, thus causes Reily to wake up. The sudden pain in her back hit her like a train, and she realized she was dreaming about that train raid again.
"Ow." She moaned.
"Blake, why are you screaming so loud in the morning?" Reily said, rubbing her eyes.
"What's going on right now? Why am I in this room, and why are you sleeping with me in this room?" Blake asked. But Reily was busy yawning and stretching herself on the bed.
Blake sighs as she rubs her face when she suddenly remembers the night before.
She gasped, "Wait, last night. Reily, what happened?" She asked.
Reily scratches the back of her head, "Oh, well, after your dad told you about your mom's conditions, you fainted. Luckily your dad was able to catch you before you hit your head, or you would have woken up with a painful headache right now." She said.
Blake looks around the room, "Where am I?" She asked.
"Oh, this is your room. Well, when your family moved in. Your dad brought you here and told me to look after you until you wake up. It's a nice room too. Very spacious, a private bathroom, big soft bed, and there's a balcony over there with a nice view of Kuo Kuana and-"
Blake puts her hand over her mouth, "Reily, please, this is not what I want to know right now." Blake said as she searched her pockets, "Uh, where's my scroll?"
"Oh, they took it away in case you try to contact anybody. I'm fine because I don't own one," Reily said. Great, her only means of communicating is out of reach, and now she is stuck here on the island.
Blake looks around her new room, noticing the fancy bed and furniture in it. She wasn't in her old tent anymore that she used to sleep in, and sleeping in a room again felt a little wired.
Suddenly her eye catches something familiar.
She saw her old possessions placed on a shelf, "They left a room for you in case you come back," Reily said. "They must have loved you so much." But Blake didn't respond. Instead, she was troubled at the thought of that. She takes the old doll resting on the shelf and hugs it tight against her chest. Her old memories began to flood her mind.
Back when things were much simpler at times.
But the moment was cut short when someone was knocking on her door.
"Blake, are you awake? I heard your scream just now, is everything alright?" Ghira asked.
Blake opens the door and instantly sees Ghira standing there, her father.
"Uh, I'm alright, dad. Just had a bad dream, is all." She said. The silence that followed after was too awkward for her to handle.
"Miss Belladonna, it's so nice to see you again. You've frightened us greatly after your father gave you the news of your mother. He regrets to inform you with no warning." Li said as he approches them.
"Yes. I'm sorry, Blake," Ghira said.
Right, mom. Blake thought. The news was a bit too overwhelming for her to grasp and ultimately collapsed. "Do you want to see her, Blake?" Ghira asked.
Blake hesitated. She felt that it wasn't right to see her in her current state. Blake left when Kali was still awake, and Blake wouldn't want to see her sleeping. You could say that she's in denial, but seeing her now would only make her feel even more distressed. Her imagination of her mother wasn't helping her either.
"No, not now. Not until I'm ready. I still feel like I'm part of the reason that mom is like this right now." Blake said.
Ghira nods.
"Shall we continue this in the dining room? I'm afraid there is something else that we need to discuss further on with you and your friend." Said Li, gesturing Reily to step out of the room and standing close to Blake.
The shadow, he said he a Captain-General? Whatever that means. "Sure, we can discuss this over breakfast," Blake said warily. While the shadow seemed trustworthy enough, she hasn't fully trusted him just yet.
Li escorts everyone to the big dining room. With food already prepared on the table, Reily's stomach began to grumble. Blake wasn't sure if she could get used to this lavish lifestyle. It made her feel like an Atlesian citizen already.
They took their seats at the long table, with Blake and Reily sitting on one side while Li and Ghira sat on the other.
The food was simply marvelous. It was better than anything Blake had back at camp, obviously because of the limited supply they had to work with at the time.
There weren't other shadows in the room or inside the house for that manner. But the mercenary before was being kind until now.
Blake finishes her meal silently while Reily burped as she finishes hers.
"So what's this about that you wanted to discuss," Blake asked.
Li puts on a concerned face, "It is about your affiliation with the White Fang," He said.
/-/
"Wake up, Jaune," Will said as he leaned towards him.
Jaune's eyes slowly open. He could see the sun already out and shining brightly into the room. He looks at the clock on the nightstand, "We still got at least an hour before training, but we should get ourselves ready before that." Will said.
"Are you always an early riser?" Jaune asked.
"No, when you're the son of a Military General, you can't afford to be lazy, most of the time. But, hey, at least now you won't be late because of me. I'm your alarm clock."
Jaune gets up and goes to the bathroom to wash up. "This week is initiation, so we're not going straight to training?"
"Well, initiation week is because of civilians. But it's still training, from what my dad told me about it before I left."
"How you are fine with waking up so early is a mystery to me," Jaune said.
"I wasn't always that early. When I first entered the academy, I was always the last one to get up. One morning my whole class came and woke me up. And that was embarrassing." Will winced at the memory.
Jaune exits the bathroom, still wearing his civilian clothes. They didn't give him a uniform yet, and Will had already dressed in his Atlas uniform. Jaune had seen that uniform many times already. Lots of students would walk around the city, usually during lunchtime.
"Qrow wants us to report back to the hangar. Are you ready to go?" Will asked. Jaune nods, "I'm all ready. Time to be shadows, I guess."
Will chuckles as he exits the room first as Jaune follows, closing the door behind him. "So, I'm guessing breakfast will be starting after the briefing?" Jaune said.
"Probably."
As they walked down the barracks, they could see the others coming out of their rooms. Each of them having their little conversation among them. Jaune noticed some of them were the Faunus recruits from yesterday. But they're not paired with a human partner.
Odd. Was that intentional? There must be a reason for it.
Jaune decided not to voice that question as he didn't want to stir up trouble on the first day. Or the second day. Whichever makes sense.
They entered the hangar to see the other shadows repairing and maintaining the various vehicles in their possession. Jaune noticed a few tanks in here. He's already seen the helicopters and ground vehicles, but he didn't know that the shadows had tanks as well.
"Look, tanks. They got tanks here." Jaune said excitedly.
"Well, yeah, they do. How else would you need to take down the bigger Grimm?" Will smirks.
"Oh, right."
The chairs from last night were still there. They sat down and waited at the same spot as last night. "Do you know anything about the Faunus recruits?" Jaune whispered.
"Not really, they weren't with us on the ride from Atlas. Maybe they're just from Mistral or Vacuo."
"We're actually from Menagerie." A voice said from behind them. Making Jaune and Will to jumped off their seats simultaneously, looking behind them. The voice behind them was two Faunus who seemed no older than 20 years old. One of them was smiling while the other looked annoyed at them.
"Uh, hi?" Will said awkwardly.
"Hi. I'm Milo, and this is my partner, Knox."
"Don't get too friendly. We're not here to make friends."
"Don't mind him. He just had a rough night's sleep. He's a lot nicer back home." Milo said, causing Knox to blush. "That's enough, Milo."
"Hey, didn't you told me to be more open before we left? Now you're telling me to stop?"
"That was after I realized that you're talking to them, Milo."
"Stop being such a loner. Anyways, who are you guys?" Milo asks.
"I'm Will, and this is Jaune. We're both from Atlas." Will said as he shook Milo's hand. Knox smirks, "Already knew that. Your uniform gave it away. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
"Knox! I swear, he isn't always like this." Milo apologizes.
"The sentiment's neutral," Will said. He suspected that it was going to happen sooner or later. Jaune noticed that Milo is a rabbit Faunus just from his ears and the whiskers on his face. And while it did look a bit bizarre. His friend, Knox, did have a few impressive features himself.
He could see his skin covered in a thin layer of white and brown fur, and the antlers on his head clearly show that he's a deer Faunus. Knox noticed Jaune staring at him.
"And what do you want?" Knox asked, glaring at him.
Jaune puts up his hands in defense, "Oh, uh. Nothing. It's just that I've never seen anything like you guys before. Normally, they only have one Faunus trait." Jaune said.
"Well, that's what happens if you mix a human and a Faunus. That newborn would have a likely lesser chance of having more than one trait," Milo explained.
"Ugh, is that captain going to be here yet? This conversation is sickening as it is." Knox said.
Right on cue, Qrow walks in, with Bell at his side. "That was crazy. What were those kids thinking doing something like that? The younger huntsmen nowadays are getting more and more reckless. And the General called us that too." Qrow rants.
"Can't blame them, captain, all these stories that the older huntsmen have been giving them lately, they're getting the wrong idea in their heads. All that talk of honor and glory, one day it's going to bite them back."
"Recruits! Attention!" Shouted a shadow. Everyone stood up from their seats, "Good morning, everyone, and sit down. I hope you all had a good night's sleep because today, we're going to start with briefing you all about your new gear and uniforms that you all will be using for the rest of your time here. So, let's begin, shall we."
End of Chapter 11