It was a cold, freezing day in one of the several fjords of Solitas, far away from Mantle, where only the Ice Grimm and some unlucky Atlas scouts would live. Right next to the mountains, an Atlas Robotic Recon Unit would be wandering about until suddenly they wouldn't be doing so anymore after some loose shots traversed the wind. And out of the snow, 4 caped figures emerged, all in black capes

"So...Balisong was it?" Said the one wearing the gray mask, with only a poker club under the right eye in it

"Yes, Gallium. It's Balisong" Responded the one wearing a brand new black metallic mask, to then continue

"Well. You are a very good marksman for someone named after a knife" Replied the one wearing a white mask, which only had the lips being red, like if it had lipstick

"Shut up, Telerium" Replied the one wearing the typical theatre mask, the one with 2 expressions

"Fine...So, lets just get on with it. I'm going to end up with hypothermia here" said Telerium

After that short interchange the 4 caped figures quickly removed all the microchips and processors from the robotic units then hid the bodies in the snow. After that, they started to proceed on foot, Balisong on the back

"So. Balisong. I'm assuming you have already undergone the tradition, right?" replied the one wearing the two-faced mask

"Yes...Minerva, why do you care so much about me?" said Balisong

"Because you remind me of someone special. You may not notice but you're...kind, in a way" she responded

"How am I kind? I'm a Reaper like everyone here"

"That, Balisong, is what you're getting wrong. Tell me, what do you feel when you kill people?"

"It always depends. If it's a job...I sometimes wish I didn't have to. Others I do. It depends on how am I feeling, along with which side of...my coin I'm in"

"Well. How about...when it isn't a job?"

"I hate it. Even when I have to do so, I hate it"

"And...why do you hate it?"

"Because I'm not only...ending someone that doesn't need to. I'm ending what they meant for others. Even if they deserve to end prematurely, I just can't help it but worry about the people they are connected to"

"Then...what about these robots we just dismantled"

"They are machines. Their only connections were maybe with their field tech"

"Yeah...Only with their field tech I guess. Well...Guys"

"What? You better not stop us for foolish stuff, we're almost at that outpost over there" Said Gallium

"Well. I guess I will tell you at the outpost" replied Minerva

After that quick exchange, they would all travel silently towards an abandoned Atlesian outpost. There was only a tent and a small charging battery for the robots. The engineer wasn't anywhere to be seen, and there weren't any lights on

"Something's wrong. Balisong" said Telerium

Balisong caught up to Telerium, now being right ahead of everyone

"Something's fishy about this place. Can you scout it?" he asked.

Balisong then immediately aimed down the sights of his sniper rifle right at the camp. It wasn't empty. There was somebody crawling around towards the tent, but it didn't look like an Atlesian Hunstman or any sort of Atlas Robotic Soldier

"Must be an unlucky field tech. What should we do?" asked Balisong

"Kill him. You know the mission" said Gallium

"Wait. We could use him to try and find more intel on these new Atlesian robots" said Minerva

"What if he doesn't cooperate?" said Gallium in response

"We will get that field tech to cooperate. Let's go" said Minerva

Everyone walked straight forward, Balisong once again at the back of the group. While he caught up, Minerva passed him a folded picture

"Don't open it yet. Open it once we're all in a more...private place. Don't tell anybody" she whispered

Some minutes after, they would get a better picture. They found out that an Ice Apathy was wandering the camp. The Team immediately went into full combat stance. Balisong readied an special bullet while the rest of team GMBT went in right against the Apathy

Minerva was the first to land a hit, slashing the creature with one wide slice of a Machete then landed a second cut and dashed away. Gallium followed in with one quick punch of his Brass Knuckles, and then, Telerium would continue with one slam of his Spiked Mace at the creature.

The 3 of them would hit in perfect synchrony. Slash, punch, Slam, one after the other, quickly leaving the Grimm out of options

And then, the Apathy attacked back with a scream that made the field tech twist in pure pain, but the 4 caped figures didn't even flinch. And then...the Apathy vanished after a single shot

"Can't drain any willpower if you don't have any left" said Balisong as he caught up to the team

"Remind me to tell Team CORE that the Dark Energy fields work incredibly well" said Minerva

Minerva went for the field tech while Balisong caught up with the others

"He's still alive" said Minerva, but then was greeted by a tazer to the neck

The field tech had obviously saw a nightmarish thing after regaining consciousness. A bandit rescuing him, a glorious Atlesian soldier, after having ripped off the processors of HIS robots?! no siree

"Oh great" said Gallium, as he prepared to attack

The field technician quickly got up

"Who on Solitas' snow ridden plains are you?! Why are you carrying Atlas Military Property?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY COMBAT UNITS?!" yelled the field technician to them

"Woah, easy there. We didn't do anything. We found them adrift in the snow and decided to rip these off them since they ran out of power. If you want them back you can have them" said Telerium, holding Gallium back, as Gallium was up to kill the field tech

"Lying. You're lying! All of you Mantle lowlifes are the same, aren't you?!" angrily replied the field technician, aiming his tazer at the group

"Dude, what the hell is your problem? That's just inconsiderate, we save you from that Grimm" said Telerium

Before the field tech could respond, Minerva knocked him out with the machete's handle

"We should take him into that tent" she said

After some time, the field tech would wake up tied to a chair, while the 4 caped figures stood still in from of him

"Argh. What are you doing?! Don't you realize I'm an Atlas Field Technician, you peasants?! Release me at once!" he replied, obviously angry

"Not until you help us with something" said Balisong

"Well, whatever it is, I don't know, now let me-"

Gallium immediately throws a punch at him

"Sorry, buddy. We never said it was an option" said Telerium

"What can you tell us about Arthur Watts?" said Minerva

"Watts? He is dead! The man has been dead for years" yelled the technician

"Not quite..." she replied, after which she showed a picture of someone in a purplish attire purchasing something from an Atlesian Navy Officer

"This was taken some time after the Highway incident in the City of Vale. That's his signature on the suitcase he is carrying. What can you tell us about Arthur Watts?" she asked again, still calmed

"This isn't real. I don't know anything, I never worked with him"

"Anyone you know that has worked with him?" asked Gallium, holding another punch ready

"Yes. My superior...He is in Mantle...He reports to that...old guy, Polen-whatever, I can't pronounce his name correctly"

"And has your boss ever shared any details about what he reports?" asked Balisong

"Yes...About my research here in the Fjords about robotic performance in sub zero temperatures"

"This place can reach sub zero temperatures?!" said Telerium

"Only during certain times. This one is actually one of the warmer periods, so I was bringing my units back...until SOME MANTLE LOWLIFES DESTROYED MY ROBOTS AND KIDNAPPED ME!" replied the field tech, only to get another punch from Gallium, who was already getting angry

"Well. Now, does this...place have any means of returning to Mantle?"

"Yes...A truck. I have the keys to it in my pocket. If you want I can get you to Mantle and..."

Before he can continue, Gallium snaps his neck

"There. We have what we wanted, we can leave right?" he said

"HE DIDN'T HAVE TO DIE, GALLIUM, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" said Balisong

Balisong was going to walk up to Gallium but Minerva stopped him in time

"People..." she said to then continue

"Quit fighting...Gallium, what you did was wrong. We could have made more use of him alive"

"I apologize...I thought...we were done with him...and so I proceeded to eliminate evidence"

"Just...Take the keys of his pocket and lets just leave"

After that, Minerva goes outside to begin piling up the corpses to burn them. After that, everyone just directly heads for the truck where they start heading towards Mantle. Balisong and Minerva are sitting in the back, with Balisong being strangely calm.

"Are you-" says Minerva, but gets interrupted

"I'm fine..." replies Balisong coldly, looking away from her

"Balisong...Tell me what is wrong"

"I'm fine, Minerva, alright?!"

"That doesn't sound like fine to me. Any troubling thoughts?"

"If I tell you will you stop asking?"

"Yes"

"Fine"

Balisong pulls out an older picture. In it, there's him, but he isn't wearing a cape. He's wearing fully black combat armor and a bandana with some goggles. Next to him are 3 other people, wearing normal green military uniforms, the standard issue for the Royal Army of the Commonwealth, and helmets

He is standing left to the group, and everyone else is right of him. He has a B written above his head, while the other's initials have been underlined with said marker. Altogether they form the following team

B L S G

"I was part of one of the Huntsman teams that was sent to the Marshlands, east of the Commonwealth"

Minerva then simply places her hand on her shoulder

"Give me the picture I gave you" she says, to which Balisong complies by handing her the still unseen picture

Minerva writes something quickly and then hands the picture back to him

"I hope...you stay as Balisong...I wish...you never have to go through that again" she says with a bit of a short breath

"Yeah. I wish that too..." He replied back

And after that exchange, the truck simply continued off through the frozen plains of Solitas