Chapter 28: All hands on deck

Vale Shipyards: 1900 hours

"Rojas, we've got company." A mercenary sitting behind a computer screen called out. Rojas looked over the mercenary's shoulder at the security feed that kept watch over the shipyard and saw the movement of Atlesian soldiers moving about near the eastern entrance.

"Hmph, I was wondering when they would strike. All right ladies and gents, it's showtime." Rojas shouted out to everyone. He turned back to the mercenary. "Radio the boys outside to hold their fire until they get past the gate. We need to get as many of them out into the open."

"Sir, more Atlesians have been spotted near the southern entrance." Another mercenary said. Rojas looked at the camera feed to see a five-man squad preparing to breach the southern fence.

"The Ace-Operatives? Figures Ironwood would send his lapdogs here. Have the snipers concentrate their fire on the south. What about the northern gate? Any unwanted visitors?" Rojas asked in an annoyed tone.

"Uh, negative, all clear in the north."

"All right, keep watch but concentrate fire on the east and south. We need to do some last-minute preparations before the tankers and our subs can set sail."

Ace-Ops.

"Aren't we supposed to wait for Captain Vert's signal?" Marrow asked as the others were hoping the fence into the compound.

"Marrow, do you want Specialist Schnee and those funny talking psychos she calls soldiers to get the credit for taking down Rojas?" Harriet quipped back.

"But the Generals orders…" Marrow tried to reply but was interrupted by Elm.

"When we have Rojas and take down his goons, he'll understand why we needed to move now." She reassured the Faunus.

"Look, I know you guys aren't too fond of Alex and his men, but we're all on the same side, right?" In all honesty, Marrow didn't have a problem with the Russians and found that once you sit and talk with them, they're actually pretty cool guys.

"Of course, we're all on the same side. It's just something about those guys rubs me the wrong way. Ever since they interrogated that Cinder woman, things have been more tense and secretive lately." Clover responded. Marrow still looked unconvinced. "Look, we'll chat more when we're not trying to capture an international arms dealer in a shipyard full of armed goons." With that said, the Ace-Ops were now in the compound, getting ready to push towards Rojas. The five of them were taking cover behind some old wooden crates, unaware they were being watched through rifle scopes.

"All right, standard plan: Marrow and I will flank to the right, Elm and Vine will flank left, and Harriet cuts right through the middle." Clover quickly explained. "We clear a path to Rojas, grab him, and leave the main force to mop up the rest. Questions?" He asked. No response. "All right Ace-Ops lets mov- ". Clover never finished before the crack of a sniper rifle echoed through the shipyard and a bullet passed right through his head. The rest of the Ace-Ops were in shock as they watched their leader collapse to the ground dead. There was a follow up of explosions and machinegun fire coming from the eastern entrance that managed to bring them back to their senses.

"Clover!" Harriet cried out before she went down with a bullet hitting her right in the chest. Soon enough, small arms fire was upon them and Vine went down after getting hit in the leg, leaving Marrow and Elm to figure out what the fuck is happening. With no other choice, the remaining two Ace-Ops were forced to take cover behind the crates while machineguns and sniper fire kept them down. Vine managed to crawl behind cover, but Harriet was too exposed, so she was unfortunately left to bleed out.

"What the hell was that?! How did they take us down so quickly?!" Marrow shouted, shocked at seeing the other three taken down with such ease.

"I don't know, but we need to get the out of the kill zone!" Elm shouted back. Right as she did, another machinegun concentrated fire at the crate she was hiding behind and sent several rounds into her midsection. Marrow could only watch in horror as he became the last standing Ace-Operative. He wanted to help his comrades, but the machineguns and sniper fire kept him pinned down. Whatever they were hit with, must've been something bad if they ripped through their Auras. He wanted to use his semblance but that would require exposing himself and the gunfire was coming from multiple directions, rendering it useless.

With no other choice, Marrow had to dig in and keep alive.(1)

Rojas' control room

Rojas watched with glee as the first wave of Atlesians were immediately cut down by their own new weapons, coupled with a rigged explosive trap that left none standing. He looked over at the other screen to see the Ace-Ops either dead or bleeding out. This was going better than expected.

"All right boys, keep that main assault force pinned down." He radioed to the men out in the main yard.

"Rojas, more Atlesians approaching from the north gate." A mercenary called out. Rojas looked at the screen and furrowed his brow.

"Now who are these guys?" He asked. There was one female, who Rojas recognized as Specialist Schnee, but she was accompanied by four men who weren't dressed like normal Atlesian military. "Whatever, shift fire to the north."

"It's them." Crucifix answered, eyes glaring at the screen.

"Friends of yours?" Rojas asked.

"They're the ones who led the assault at the wall and destroyed our forces." He said with bitterness. Neo glanced at the screen and recognized the soldiers as the ones who defeated the Atlesians in a training simulation awhile back.

"Easy there, big guy. Focus on the task at hand. You'll have your petty revenge in due time." Rojas replied, dismissing the arrival of the Russians.

"I want blood." The ANTIFA leader said with intense malice.

"And if you and your crew want to live to get your revenge, you'll get on these subs. Or I'll leave you all behind. I don't care." As much as Crucifix didn't care for the annoying little man, he needed to think in the long term.

"Fine." He reluctantly said. Rojas nodded then turned to another mercenary.

"Activate the radio the jammers. We don't need them calling in reinforcements or warning the blockade of our ships." The mercenary nodded and typed some commands into his computer to start up the radio jammers, blocking all comms throughout the shipyard.

"Rojas, the tanker ships are loaded up and ready to set sail." A voice radioed.

"Excellent. Tell those lackeys outside that if they want a ride out of here, they better start falling back to those ships. Otherwise, tough shit." Rojas replied over the radio before turning to everyone else in the room. "As for the rest of us who are actually escaping, pack it up and load up onto the subs." With that said, everyone in the room began grabbing anything they could for their journey to Vacuo.

The Russians

"We're pinned down! Need reinforcements!"

"My whole squad is dead!"

"Is anybody out there!?"

"We need medics out here! First wave is down! I say again first wave is down!"

"What the fuck is going on out there?" Greg asked. There was an explosion, followed by gunshots. Next thing they know, the radio is going crazy.

"Sounds like enemy resistance is stronger than anticipated." Ivan commented.

"That doesn't make any sense. How can a bunch of hastily armed thugs take out an entire platoon of soldiers?" Winter asked.

"You'd be surprised." Nick replied. Before anyone else could speak, another radio call came in that left everyone momentarily speechless.

"This is Marrow, anybody copy? Clover is dead! Harriet and the others are seriously wounded! The enemy cut through their Auras like nothing. I'm pinned down and need immediate assistance!" The squad shared equally shocked glances at each other. While the Russians may not have thought much about the Ace Ops, the fact that they were taken down so easily came out of nowhere. Winter looked especially distraught at the mention of their elite forces suffering heavy casualties.

"Cut through their Auras like nothing? You don't think…"

"Contact front!" Nick shouted, interrupting Greg. Several enemies appeared out from the maze of shipping crates and opened fire on them. Unlike the Atlesians, the Russians were trained for these situations and immediately took cover while returning fire. The enemy combatants were spraying wildly in the general direction of the Russians, but lacked the training and discipline involving leaving themselves exposed and covering each other while they reloaded. One by one, they fell to the deadly well-placed shots that constant training and battlefield experience could only achieve. The enemies thought they could get a better angle from atop the shipping containers but were quickly disposed of by Greg. The sound of a vehicle and more shouting indicated that more hostiles were coming in.

Even though the enemies somehow managed to drive a pickup truck with a mounted machine gun in the back to bring more firepower, they didn't anticipate Ivan's own machine gun turning the truck into Swiss cheese…or Atlesian style as it's referred to on Remnant. Sure enough, the enemy reinforcements were also dropping like flies. Seeing many of them being quickly cut down, the untrained thugs suddenly began to lose their nerve and fall back. However, Nick and Alex made quick work of the retreating hostiles.

Winter was ready to spring into action when the enemies appeared, but found herself thrown to the ground by Alex, who promptly told her to stay down. She attempted to protest and give him a piece of her mind, but he shouted at her to shut up in a rather harsh tone. With the initial confrontation over, Alex immediately ran towards one of the fallen enemies. Winter watched as he kicked over the body and reached down to grab his weapon. Alex gave it a quick look over, removing the magazine in the process to look inside. When he finished, he turned back with the weapon in hand and headed straight for Winter. Despite most of his face covered by that mask, she could tell he looked pissed. Her assumption was correct when he forcibly shoved the rifle into her chest.

"Ironwood is a fucking idiot!" He shouted.

"What's the matter with you?" She shouted back.

"He knew the danger and the risks involved. I warned him, and now the blood of all those soldiers are on his hands!" He continued to yell. Caught off guard by Alex's outburst, Winter took a good look at the rifle in her hand and immediately realized what he was alluding to. The rifle was an exact copy of the AK-12 that Alex and Nick used with the only noticeable difference being the outer finish. She inspected the ammunition that was still in the magazine and realized that they looked a lot like the Aura Piercing rounds that the Russians used.

"No fucking way." Nick commented, looking over the rifle. Greg and Ivan quickly followed suit.

"The serial number is 0021. Massed produced and fresh off the line." Greg added.

"We have to warn Captain Vert and the rest of the attack force." Ivan pointed out.

"I'm trying but there's too much static on the line." Nick replied. Winter and the others tried their comms but were all met with static.

"They must be jamming our comms." Greg concluded.

"Fucking great." Nick deadpanned.

"What do we do now?" Ivan asked to no one in particular.

"Push forward and take Rojas." Alex answered. Everyone turned to face him.

"This situation got fucked up real fast, but we still have a mission." He then turned to look at Winter. "I'm still pissed at Ironwood, but maybe Rojas can fill us in on how he got ahold of Aura piercing ammo." He then tossed a couple of magazines to Winter. "You know how to use that right?" Alex asked, pointing to the rifle in her hands. Winter nodded in understanding. Her normal fighting style will be of no use here. All it would take is a lucky shot by some untrained fool and she could end up like the Ace-Ops. Speaking of which…

"What about Marrow and the other Ace-Ops? Ivan asked.

"It's a shitty thing to do, but we can't do anything for them. If Rojas gets away, then we lose our only chance at finding out who's apparently planning to flood the black market with Aura piercing weaponry.' Alex explained. He felt terrible for this decision, as he actually kind of liked Marrow but he knew what would save the most lives.

"All right. Guess it's up to us to un-fuck this situation." Greg commented.

"On me." Alex said, motioning for the others to follow him.

As expected, the shipyard was one of the worst places to be caught up in a firefight. So many blind corners, choke points and hiding places thanks to the shipping crates and dock equipment that littered the area. Fortunately, the Russians remained calm and focused as they navigated their way across the yard, taking out any resistance along the way. While Alex and the others worked perfectly in sync, Winter was out of her element. Despite some training with Alex and her experience fighting ANTIFA at the wall, fighting from behind cover and using small unit tactics was still a foreign concept to her. She mostly stuck back and provided support fire as the Russians rushed the enemy positions, but with the fact that she's now incredibly vulnerable to actually dying in battle, her natural instincts for survivability are kicking in even more so.

Eventually they managed to make it towards the end of the shipyard where they saw three large tanker ships docked, as well as the wharf master's office that connected to the dry docks. They encountered more resistance from the wharf master's office, although these enemies seemed more competent compared to the random thugs they fought in the yard. They wore black fatigues with gray and white splotches giving the appearance of a camouflage pattern suited for urban environments, and a tactical harness that carried an assortment of grenades, explosives, knives, and extra ammo for the new Atlesian weapons. No doubt these were the mercenaries that Ironwood mentioned that were protecting Rojas. The mercenaries were dug in good around the wharf master's office, hitting Winter and the Russians with everything they had. An Atlesian version of the Pecheneg machinegun kept them behind cover while the riflemen followed suit.

Three loud horns rang out and echoed throughout the yard, momentarily gaining the attention of everyone in the area. Alex popped his head out long enough to see that the three large tanker ships were underway and heading full speed out of the harbor.

"Do you think Rojas is on one those ships?" Winter asked while reloading her rifle. Alex finished firing a grenade, killing two mercenaries before answering.

"I don't know, it seems too obvious. These mercenaries are fighting hard to keep us away from the wharf master's office." Alex replied.

"Also, I doubt those tankers will get past the blockade." Greg added.

"Right. So, we need to get into the wharf master's office." Alex concluded. If there's any clue on what Rojas is actually planning, then it's surely inside that office. He then turned to Winter. "We need to get the jump on these guys. Can you summon something to distract them?" He asked. Winter nodded.

"Cover me." She replied. Winter thrusted her sword into the ground where a large glyph appeared. She took a deep breath to focus her Aura for her summoning technique. While this occurred, Alex shouted in the Russian language for the others to prepare smoke grenades and flashbangs. Suddenly, several ice form Grimm appeared from the glyph, ready for Winter's command. She simply pointed to the entrenched mercenaries and the summoned Grimm complied. The mercenaries were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Winter's summoned Grimm forms. At the same time, smoke grenades and flashbangs came flying out behind the Russian cover and towards the mercenaries. In a literal flash, the mercenaries lost control of the situation between the summoned Grimm, loss of visuals, and complete disorientation of their senses.

"Move, move, move!" Alex shouted. The five of them immediately ran out from behind their cover and fought their way through the smoke. It didn't take long for the remaining defenders to be put down. The superior training and tactics of the Russians combined with Winter's powerful and versatile Semblance made for a deadly force that the mercenaries were no match for. "Greg, plant a charge on that door! Everyone else, stack up!" Alex ordered. Nick and Ivan positioned themselves on the right side of the metal door while Alex and Winter took the left. They did a quick weapon and ammo check to prepare for what was on the other side. Greg quickly planted a breaching charge on the door before stacking up behind Ivan. He looked at Alex, detonator in hand, signaling he was set. Alex simply replied with a nod.

Submarine bay

Rojas and his crew were in the final preparations of setting sail in their subs before a loud explosion was heard in the distance, followed up by gunfire.

"What the hell was that?!" Rojas shouted.

"The Atlesians have breached the inner compound!" A mercenary radioed before a hail of gunfire took him down.

"Dammit! We just need a few more minutes!" Rojas yelled out. He needed the tanker ships to clear out of the shallows from the docks, so his submarines have enough space to maneuver and get in formation behind them.

"I'll hold them off. Besides, I'm positive it's them." Crucifix said, readying the rifle and his personal weapon. Rojas gave him a serious look.

"Fine. I need at least five minutes before those tankers are clear of the shallows and the subs can get underway. Sub 1 and 2 will immediately set sail. Since you've been so helpful, I'll give you an extra two minutes to get your ass back to the last sub. Otherwise, you're getting left behind." Rojas explained. Crucifix smirked under his mask.

"Don't wait up, this is personal." He replied before making his way towards the distant gunfire. When he was out of sight, Rojas turned to his first mate.

"Alright get ready to set sail as soon as those tankers are in position. Form up behind them and keep a steady pace. The harbor is too shallow for us to dive, so we'll have to use the tankers for cover until we reach deeper waters. Bad news, the deep waters are right at the blockade. Good news, those tankers are the perfect bait for the Atlesian Navy." Rojas said as he waved a remote detonator in the air.

"The men on the ships are fine with being the bait?" The first mate asked.

"They don't know that. As far as they know, all those crates that were loaded below deck are full of drugs and weapons, not explosives. Not to mention they think the subs are going to torpedo the Atlesian ships and clear a path for them. Idiots. All of them." Rojas and his first mate chuckled while Neo rolled her eyes. As much as she finds the arms dealer annoying and obnoxious, she'll admit he is quite clever and good at coming up with elaborate plans on the fly. But she also didn't like the way he or his men were eyeing her up and down like a piece of meat. The thought of being in a cramped submarine with Rojas and his crew for several days made her shudder internally. Then again, getting captured by the Atlesians wasn't ideal either. She only needs to tolerate Rojas for a few more days until they reach Vacuo. And then…well she'll figure it out after she gets there.

Control room

The door was blown from its hinges and flew across the room, catching the remaining mercenaries by surprise. They didn't have time to react as they were swiftly cut down by the Russians when they entered the room. With the room clear, they took a moment to scan the control room for anything useful. There wasn't much, however, as most of the intel was either taken or destroyed. All that remained were maps of Vale and the other kingdoms, some old shipping manifests, and a couple of computers that were left behind.

"Greg, anything useful on those computers?" Alex asked.

"Not really. These are just perimeter camera feeds." He replied. Alex furrowed his brow. This was clearly Rojas' base of operations. Perhaps he did board one of those tanker ships. Just then, one of the mercenary's radio began to stir.

"Anyone in the control, come in." A voice called out. Thinking quickly, Alex grabbed the radio and cleared his throat.

"Go ahead." He replied, doing his best to mask his accent.

"We heard the explosions. What's the situation?"

"Hostiles eliminated." He simply replied.

"Awesome. Get your asses down to the dry dock, the subs are leaving in a few minutes."

"Copy." Tossing the radio aside, he turned towards the others.

"They're leaving on submarines? That means those tankers are a distraction." Greg concluded.

"You heard him, to the dry dock!" Nick exclaimed.

It didn't take them long to find the access route from the control room that lead to the dry dock. From the entrance, they saw the three large submarines that Rojas and his men were going to use to escaped. The first sub was already underway with the second one not far behind. The last one had a few stragglers standing next to the entry hatch about to board. Even from this distance, Winter recognized one of the men as Rojas himself.

"There's Rojas!" She called out. Standing next to him was another familiar face.

"Neopolitan!" Alex called out. Upon hearing his name, Rojas turned and went wide eyed at the sight of the Atlesians. In a haste, he pulled out his pistol and fired wildly at the entryway that was shortly followed up by the few men atop the sub. Neo also took to shooting towards the Russians. Right as she was about to reload, she felt herself getting pushed out of the way, and was now sliding off the side of the submarine, surprised painted across her face. As she fell, she caught one last glimpse of Rojas climbing down the hatch and yelling for the submarine to set sail. Luckily, she regained control of herself and landed gracefully on the ground instead of the water.

"That son of a bitch! He's dead if I ever see his sorry ass again!" Neo angrily thought. But in all honesty, she wasn't really surprised that Rojas would do something like push her aside to save his own skin. But now here she was, standing on the dock as the sub was sailing away, her ticket out of Vale. The remaining mercenaries were either dead or got into the sub, and she was stranded with a bunch of Atlesians.

"We need to stop those subs!" Winter shouted.

"With what? We don't have any way to attack them." Nick replied as the third sub was now underway.

"Not to mention comms are still jammed." Ivan added.

"And there's also Neo to deal with." Greg pointed towards the small woman at the edge of the dock.

"Alright, we need to split up again. Greg, see if you can locate and disable the jammers We need comms back up ASAP. Nick and Ivan, I'm going to need you both to make your way back to Captain Vert and let him know of the situation. Those subs will slip right past that blockade and Rojas will be long gone." Alex explained before turning to Winter. "Help me subdue Neo." She replied with a nod. With the other's running off towards their new objectives, Alex and Winter approached Neo, weapons at the ready.

"It's over Neopolitan. Come quietly and make it easier on yourself." Winter called out. Neo just tilted her head and smirked. Winter was aiming for her leg should Neo try something, and it looked like she was about strike.

"Torchwick asked me to bring you in." Alex suddenly called out. At the mention of Roman, Neo went wide eyed in surprise.

"He's alive?!" Knowing that Roman was alive lifted a heavy weight from her chest.

"Surrender, and we'll take you to him." Alex said. He noticed that Neo looked conflicted and was weighing her options in her head.

"Don't listen to them Neo! He's already dead." A new voice called out. All three of them turned to face the large, masked man stepping out from the shadows.

"Do we know you?" Alex asked. He had no clue who this guy was, but he did recognize the ANTIFA logo on his jacket.

"No, but we have met before. At the northern perimeter wall if you recall." Crucifix answered.

"Ah. I guess you were one of the lucky few who evaded capture. Guess your luck ran out since Rojas left you behind." Alex replied. Crucifix chuckled.

"You're either very brave, or very foolish, boy. What makes you think I'm going to leave Vale without avenging my fallen brothers?" He said while glaring daggers at Alex, trying to intimidate him. Alex was unfazed though.

"Do you have a name?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes, and getting ready to fix his weapon on him.

"Many have taken to calling me Crucifix". He replied, readying his own rifle.

"Cute name. But I don't have time to deal with you." Alex was ready to put a round through Crucifix's head, but he saw a pink blur from the corner of his eyes. Quickly changing directions, he brought his rifle up just in time to block Neo's blade from her parasol. He tried to kick her away, but she gracefully dodged his kick and did an impressive flip over his head. While in the air, she used the hook end of her parasol to grab hold of his rifle and rip it from his hand. Alex watched in shock as his rifle flew across the sub bay, far away from him. He turned around to see Neo looking smugly at him, getting into a fighting stance.

"Guess we're doing this." He said, drawing his pistol and knife, and getting into his own fighting stance. Crucifix was about to capitalize on the moment and aimed his rifle at Alex…only for it to suddenly be split in half by a powerful sword slash. The ANTIFA leader turned to see a determined Winter in front of him.

"You'll have to get through me if you want him." She said, readying her sword and dagger. Crucifix tossed the destroyed rifle aside and reached into his jacket to draw out two metal rods. He pushed a button on each of them, revealing them to be a pair of spiked maces. Another push of the buttons caused the spiked balls to detach from the main rods, only held on by chains. The two Morningstar flails he wielded burned a bright red, indicating they were infused with fire Dust.

"Then you shall die alongside him, Specialist Winter Schnee!" Crucifix exclaimed.

A/N:

(1) I'm probably gonna get a lot of flack for that, but I, for the life of me, cannot get myself to like the Ace-Ops. They were clearly made as Ironwoods generic storm trooper bodyguards as a counter To Ruby and the gang. The fact that I killed them off so...lazily is how I feel about them. Sorry if you hate it but, that's life. Harriet can fucking die. Marrow's the only one I kind of tolerate.

******Spoilers Below******

I doubt they'd kill off Yang as the backlash from the fandom would be unimaginable. Everyone wants their bumblebee ship to come alive. Maybe because their lives are so empty that they have to invest into the lives of fictional characters to make up for the fact that their lives lack any real meaning. Or maybe they want it as a way to "relate" to them in terms of LGBT or being woke or whatever.

But if they do it, hats of to RT for a ballsy move.

******End Spoilers******

I've had mixed feelings about this volume. I don't hate, but I don't like it either. I don't know, I feel like they just need to wrap it up, otherwise it'll end up like Red vs Blue. I would've been fine if they ended it after season 10, but I stopped watching after season 13 and few episodes from season 14. At this point, I'm just watching to add and update elements to the story.

Anyway, hard to believe I'm only a little over a month away from getting my Bachelors in Accounting. It's been rough, and still is. Motivating myself for the final push is hard, mostly because I don't feel like I've learned anything due to everything being online and I can just use Chegg and Quizlet for my class work. I'm also a firm believer that on the job learning is the the way to go. Easier said than done though.

Thanks again for your support and take care.

Hawk out