"Tests and agents have all shown the same conclusion: Huntsmen and Huntresses in training at the Four Kingdoms' academies are not ready for the real world. They kill only when it is a last resort. This lesson can't be taught and learned in a classroom, it must be learned the hard way in a fight." -Unknown Attentäterkorps Agent

Beacon Airpads

Ozpin was a man of many things, and he had seen many things in his lives. But nothing, nothing, could prepare him for what he saw when he found a blood-covered Edler helping Yang out of a Bullhead, with Adam carrying Blake while she nuzzled him.

"What is going on here?" Ozpin asked, walking towards the Bullhead.

"Oh, good evening Headmaster." Edler said, letting go of Yang. "As you can see, Adam and I went into town. Blake and Yang decided to join us."
"Mr. Adler, you're covered nearly head to toe with blood. You smell like gunpowder and death, and your weapon still has bits of flesh in it." Ozpin said, pointing out everything that was sticking out about Edler. "You also are wearing your helmet. I didn't even know you had a helmet."
"Uh…"Edler scratched the back of his helmet, his visible eye not looking at Ozpin. "So, you see, the thing is...we got caught up in the middle of a fight…"

"With?"
"White Fang members...Atlesian Branch White Fang." Edler sighed. "You know how much they like talking."

"I see." Ozpin said, arching an eyebrow. "It's good to see you all are in one piece. Something tells me that the Fang members are not so lucky."

"Of course they weren't." Edler waved his hand dismissively, like he didn't just admit to killing White Fang. "They attacked first."

"And what were they doing exactly?"

Adam spoke up this time. "They were trying to get their hands on some very dangerous weapons. As Huntsmen, we had to intervene."

"Did they get any of the weaponry?"

"I don't believe so." Edler said.

"Very well." Ozpin finished. He looked to Yang, who was looking rather green. "Is Ms. Xiao Long okay?"

"I'm fine…" Yang mumbled. "I'm okay…"

"Mr. Adler. What exactly did you do?" Ozpin asked.

"He...uh…" Yang struggled to describe what exactly she saw.

"I was brutal and efficient." Edler answered for her. "I was outnumbered, but as you know, I am never outgunned."

"I have a feeling you painted the town red." Ozpin said. "Should I be expecting calls from the police department about suspicious blood stains?"

"No, sir." Edler answered back. "Now, if you would excuse me, Adam and I have to get Blake and Yang back to their dorm room and Team RWBY."

"Actually, I believe Ms. Rose and Ms. Schnee ran to where the fight was." Ozpin stated.

Edler looked to Yang. "Did you call Ruby?"

"Yeah…"
Edler sighed, and turned to Adam. "Can you get these two back to their room?"

"Yeah, you gonna get the other two?"

"I have a feeling I'm gonna have to explain some things to those two, so yes." Edler answered. "I'll be back, keep those two safe." Edler got back into the Bullhead, and motioned for the pilot to take him back to Vale. The Bullhead lifted off, leaving the group on the airpad.

"He's interesting, isn't he, Mr. Taurus?" Ozpin asked.

Adam nodded. "More than you'll ever know." He mumbled under his breath.

Vale

Ruby and Weiss ran towards the Club, hoping they weren't too late. They knew Edler was capable of handling himself, but Atlesian White Fang were dangerous, probably more dangerous than Grimm.

This thought was abolished immediately as they turned the corner.

Ruby and Weiss could barely believe what they were seeing. Corpses, all over the ground, burnt to a crisp. Nothing was there to show a sign of who it was, not a single shred of evidence. The smell of burnt flesh and gunpowder was overwhelming. Ruby tried and failed to resist the urge to throw up. Weiss went over to her partner, half comforting her half trying to ignore the scene.

The sound of a Bullhead made the two turn around, the vehicle landing and the door opening to reveal Edler. "Ruby, Weiss!" He shouted over the engines. "Get in here! Yang and Blake are back at Beacon!"

They ran over to the Bullhead, grateful to be away from the 'scene'. Edler closed the door when they got in, and the Bullhead took off.

Edler turned to the two girls. "Okay, I know you have questions-"
"Did my sister do that?" Ruby asked. "Did Yang burn those...people...up?"

"No, she did not." Edler said. "If anything, they weren't burnt up when we left the area."

"But you do admit that you were there, on the scene, and killed those Fang grunts?" Weiss asked.

Edler scowled slightly. "Where are you going with this?"
Before Weiss could say anything, Ruby mumbled "You killed them."

"And?" Edler had heard her.

Ruby looked up at him. "They didn't need to be killed." She said meekly.

"They were shooting at me?" Edler seemed confused. "It was self defense."

"You could've knocked them out!" Ruby countered.

"There was no chance of that."

Weiss looked to Ruby. "Ruby, the White Fang is not a force to be trifled with. Knocking them out is never really an option."

"Especially since they're Atlesian White Fang." Edler added. "White Fang forces in the other kingdoms are largely peaceful." Weiss nodded in agreement with that statement.

"What's the difference?" Ruby asked.

"The Atlesian White Fang is violent, since Atlas is the one who is less likely to be 'nice' to Faunus, and since Atlas has that large military of theirs, the Atlesian White Fang has to be better. Thus, they're more violent compared to their counterparts." Edler explained. "Atlesian White Fang also tend to be more racist to humans as well."

"So...the only option is...killing them?" Ruby asked fearfully.

"Yes." Edler said with finality. "There rarely is one of them that will put down their arms in the face of Huntsmen and Huntresses." Edler seemed to become slightly agitated by this, leading Ruby to stop in furthering the subject matter with him. The rest of the ride was in silence.

/-/

"Some people think the wall is to keep the Grimm out of Hammond lands. In reality, it is to keep the HTC out of the Grimmlands." -A joke shared amongst the KoHA soldiers

/-/

Edge of Grimmlands

Grimm prowled, looking at their target in distaste and fear. They so badly wanted to tear it to the ground, to rip it to shreds. To see the life drain from the eyes of the soldiers on the hill. They wanted it more than anything else.

Except that everytime they got close, missiles rained down on them. They were strangely accurate as well. No matter the Grimm type, the missiles would kill them. If it took one, it took one. If it took more than one, then they rained down until they were killed. The Grimm couldn't figure out where the attacks were coming from. One second the attacker would be there, the next minute the Grimm was engulfed in an explosion.

It was only yesterday that a horde was wiped out, Beringels included. A few King Taijitus also were blown to smithereens. Two entire clans of Beowulfs met an unfortunate fate at the hands of these missiles. Grimm now were wary of the wall, or even getting close to it.

Thus, the Grimm's current predicament. That damn wall that the enemy built. Unhindered by the Grimm due to the massive casualties the Grimm took during the last Hammond expedition.

Suddenly, the sound of afterburners could be heard, and all around the small group of Beowulfs explosions rained down on Grimm hordes. Explosions rippled the air around them, and Grimm were thrown from the ground and into the air. Exhaust trails from multiple amounts of missiles from the air led to the ground to the remnants of the explosions.

In the air, contrails from fighter planes criss-crossed as they patrolled the air. These aircraft were much different from the Hornet Fighter, they were sleek and had very slanted wings. On the sides and the bottom of the aircraft were missile pods, some of the pods empty. This was one of the newest aircraft in the KoHAF, the CFA-44 Nosferatu fighter class. Armed with the All Direction Multi-Purpose Missiles (ADMM) weapon and two 30mm autocannons.

The plane banked to the left, its targeting computer locking on to more targets. The missile pods fired, and missiles flew into the air, impacting multiple Grimm on the ground and several Nevermore in the air. The newest terror of the Hammond Military roared over the land of Fear itself, unopposed. In its wake, fires burned from its destructive power, Grimm cowered in fear and roared in anger, and still the wall stood.

KoH Wall, Section 2A-9

Private David Fesseler looked out at the Grimmlands, staring at the purple and dark red region with contempt. He had watched the destruction of the hordes from his position on the wall, and was amazed at the new fighter jet his Kingdom had designed. There were rumors about it as well, people saying that it was supposed to be used on some kind of new airship class. That had caught Private Fesseler's attention. A new airship, coming in just in time to help in the first offensive since the Faunus Revolution.

Speaking of the offensive, the 50th Expeditionary Force was pulled to deal with something else in the Four Kingdoms. The 50th would have been a great addition to the attack, especially since the 99th Division would have been with them, but the problem in the Four Kingdoms was more important to the overall mission goal. Especially since the entire existence of Hammond was to protect the Kingdoms.

Fesseler's blonde hair was suddenly ruffled by the wind, subconsciously reminding him he should probably put his helmet back on. As he slipped on the helmet, he heard the sound of artillery fire. He quickly latched the helmet on, and turned around to see what the artillery battalions were up to now. Every day, it seemed like it was something different. From them test firing their cannons with blanks to loading the stupidest shit into the barrels with a load of igniter under whatever they stuffed into the howitzers.

"Jenkins! When I said 'test fire the howitzer', I didn't mean 'load the pizza into the barrel', you fucking idiot!"

"I'm not seeing the problem, we were gonna fire it anyway!"

"Yeah, but we were gonna fire it last! Now there's fucking sauce all over the cannon!"

Fesseler looked down at the two arguers, just in time to see them both get slapped in the back of the head by an armored soldier. "Will you two just shut up? Jenkins, go grab a private to get this cleaned up. Murphy, go grab whatever it is you want to fire at the Grimm and get it ready to be loaded." The armored being said. "What the hell are you two firing anyway?"

Murphy rubbed the sore spot on his head. "We got new shells from command, they want us to fire them. We were gonna fire them first and then the pizza the mess hall gave us-"

"Why would you fire the pizza?" The armored figure asked.

"Because they used moldy cheese to make it! Why the hell would we eat that?" Murphy answered. "But Jenkins over here, in his infinite wisdom, fired the stupid pizza first!"

"Okay then...wait, new shells?" The armored figure asked. "What's wrong with good ol' HE and AT? Or better yet, APHE and APFSDS? Sabots kill Colossus Grimm with ease."

Fesseler leaned in to listen in more when he was grabbed by the back of his shirt, and pulled back. "Whoa there, Grimm Cowboy. Whatcha up to?"

Fesseler looked back to see who pulled him back. It was his platoon mate, Private Heather Ansley. "Ansley, what are you doing here?"

"I saw your dumbass leaning over the wall, listening in on the Arty Bat team down there." She answered. "You were about to fall."

"Oh. Well, thanks for saving me then." Fesseler rubbed the back of his head. "You wanna listen in on the conversation down there?"

"Hell yeah."

They both leaned in to listen in on the artillery team's conversation with an armored being.

"I'm telling the truth!" Murphy said.

"There is no way in hell that the R and D Department developed...what the hell did you say? Quantum Disruption Shells?" The armored being looked down at the shell pile next to its feet. "What would those even do?"

"We don't know! That's why we need to test fire them." Murphy explained. "Once Private Yilon is done cleaning the barrel, we can fire the shells. I'm wondering what they do, too."

The armored being picked up one of the shells. "This is pretty light for an arty shell."

"Yeah, that's what we're saying. We can load shells a lot faster with these."

"Well, fire the damn thing." The armored being said. "I want to see what the fuck it does."

"The barrel is still dirty." Murphy deadpanned. "Where the hell is that private?"

A private showed up, and began cleaning the barrel.

Ansley leaned back. "Well, quantum shells would be devastating to the enemy. Even more than we already are."

Fesseler looked at Ansley. "But what would the Four Kingdoms say? These shells would be classified as a war crime."

"Really? These shells? Not the other things we have? Not the nuclear detonation upon death Titans? The double barrelled Paladin tanks? The CFA planes that are currently patrolling our airspace armed with multi-lock missiles that can oblitarate a city with one or two flybys? The Kraber that we have the balls to call a sniper rifle, of all things?" Ansley pointed behind her to a section of the wall that was far away.

It was a circular portion, with a large railgun on top, aiming out into the Grimmlands.

"Or, get this, the fucking railgun that fires nuclear tipped projectiles at near mach 1?"

Fesseler slightly shied away. "Uh...all of the above?"

Ansley smiled. "Correct, 'cause that's how this kingdom rolls."

/-/

"The Kingdom of Hammond has several defense plans against Grimm incursions. It also has many plans to fight against full scale Grimm attacks. We have only one plan to fight the Kingdoms: Shock and Awe." -Unknown Attentäterkorps agent

/-/

Beacon Airpad

Edler, Ruby, and Weiss stepped off the Bullhead. The two girls were still not talking to Edler about what they had seen in the seedier part of Vale. Several times, Ruby had looked towards Edler, but the armored man was still silent. Weiss hadn't, but now she had gathered the courage to do so.

"Since when did you have a helmet?" Weiss asked. "I thought you were armor and nothing else."

Edler turned to look at the heiress. "I've always had the helmet. I just don't wear it around campus."

"You didn't wear it around when you arrived, but you were wearing the rest of your armor then."

"I mean, first impressions are important. It would be weird if the first thing you saw about me was a broken helmet." Edler responded.

Ruby looked at him. "Why is it broken still?"

Edler looked at Ruby, his visible eyebrow was arched down as a visible sign of anger. "It serves as a reminder."

"Of?"

"You wouldn't understand." Edler looked at Weiss. "You would, though."

Weiss traced her scar. Edler nodded, and began walking away.

"Wait." Ruby said. Edler stopped, and turned around. "You killed people today."

"And you haven't?"

Weiss put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby…"

"No!" She shook off Weiss's hand. "You didn't need to kill them!"

"We've been over this-"

"You killing them is a crime! Edler, you could've knocked them out, stunned them, anything not lethal!" Ruby tried desperately to think of more things Edler could've done instead of killing them.

Edler walked towards Ruby, his armored hands shimmering.

"They may have been criminals, but they were misguided! They were just doing-"

"Sounding like a true sheltered child, Rose." Edler said.

Ruby stopped talking, realizing that Edler, all six feet of him, was standing in front of her. "W-what?"

"These walls have made you people soft." Edler sneered, as his helmet unsealed itself, allowing Edler to take it off. "You wanna know why this thing is still broken? It's broken still because it reminds me that enemies are always a threat until they're ready to be put six feet under." He put the helmet right in Ruby's face. "I was stabbed by an enemy who I had knocked out. I lost an eye because of this naivety that you call a fighting strategy. The real world works on the basis of reality, and that means enemies are people that have to die. Do you know what that means, Rose?"

Ruby looked up at Edler.

"It means you will have to kill them, or they will kill you without a second thought." Edler said. He turned around and began walking away. "Your sister and Blake are back at your dorm room."

Ruby watched him go, the sight of his angry face and the broken helmet burned into her mind. She barely registered Weiss rubbing her shoulder. "Ruby…I-"

"Is he right?"

Weiss froze.

"Do we have to kill?" Ruby looked up at Weiss, tears forming in her eyes.

"I...I'm not sure." Weiss answered. "He's not from a Kingdom, so his world view is a bit...different. And considering his history with the Atlesian White Fang...I'm not sure he's had a good life in general."

Ruby looked back at the armored figure that was Edler. She watched as he put the helmet back on and walked into the main building. "Edler…"

RWBY Dorm

"Blake, not to be rude...but were you always this frisky with White Fang members?" Jaune asked. "Because you are very...friendly with this one."

In the room with Yang, Blake, and Adam was Team JNPR. They had heard from the newest addition to the little group, Adam, about what had happened. They also noticed there were some flecks of blood on Adam's body.

"Nope, just my boyfriend." Blake responded.

"Blake...has a boyfriend…" Yang mumbled, realizing this day was getting weirder and weirder by the second. "Edler is a killer...and Blake's boyfriend is on his team…"

Edler kicked open the door, his armored boot destroying the lock. "Oh shit, I'm sorry."

"Welcome back?" Pyrrha seemed unsure how to respond to that kind of entrance. "How was...downtown?"

"Oh, you know, hectic." Edler responded. "Traffic, cops, White Fang trying to kill me and steal a weapons cache."

"Jeez, sounds like a great time!" Nora said. "Except the traffic part."

"Nora, he was sarcastic about the traffic." Ren deadpanned.

"Ruby and Weiss are on their way here. I left them at the airpads." Edler said. "I'm going to bed, tonight has been quite the mess."

Blake arched an eyebrow. "You can say that. You're covered in blood and your weapon-"

"Still has flesh in it, I know."

"...Regardless, when were you going to tell us you had a teammate?" Blake continued.

"Adam and I were paired today." Edler answered. "We were going to tell you guys today, but we were called into Vale to deal with the Fang."

"Ah."

"Goodnight guys." Edler left with that. As soon as he was gone, Professor Goodwitch looked at the door's damage.

"Adler?"

"Adler." Everyone answered.

Air Base Helios, Northern Hammond Territory

"Helios is related to the Sun, right?" A soldier asked.

"Yeah, it's what the first Hammond's astronomers called the Sun." His partners responded, dusting some snow off his shoulder. "Why?"

"Why the hell did we name our furthest north base after the Sun? It's always fucking snowing here!" The original responded.

"It's more of a comedic thing."

"Yeah, I'm having a laugh as I freeze to death."

They were interrupted by the sound of a Supercarrier roaring overhead, followed by several smaller Andromeda carriers as they landed in the air base.

"So that's the last of them?" The original soldier asked.

"Yeah, the last of the big ships. The rest of the 487th Armored Division and the 58th Infantry Division should be here already." The partner said. "I think that was their command structure."

"Amazing, a whole Supercarrier for them."

The partner's comm device suddenly lit up. "Patrol Group 32-F, recon drones report a large group of Grimm coming from the southeast. Confirm sightings?"

The original took out a pair of binoculars and looked southeast. He saw nothing a mile away, but switched to a more powerful zoom. "Ah, they were right."

The partner activated her comms device. "Command, we confirm the sighting."

"Understood. Confirm if Colossus are present."

The original soldier looked again, and raised three fingers.

"We confirm three Colossus."

"Understood, confirm location on map for artillery support. CAS will lend support after initial barrage."

The comm device shut off as the original soldier pinged spots on a digital map. "Fun stuff, huh?"

"Yeah, more attacks from the frozen Grimm." The partner responded. "I wonder how Captain Adler is doing?"

"You mean Specialist Adler's brother? Yeah, me too. Younger Adler's pretty ballsy, going into Beacon like he did."

"Well, hope it pays off." The partner said as the first shells streaked overhead.

Beacon, the next day

Edler walked into the dining hall, grabbing a tray and entering the line to get into the serving section. "I swear, if Ruby tries to apologize to me…"

"Edler!" Edler turned around to see Pyrrha walking up behind him. "You're up early."

"I was gonna train for combat class on Monday, then maybe catch up on the homework that I missed. What's up?" Edler responded.

"You mentioned on the first day that you wanted to spar, and we never did that." Pyrrha smiled. "Perhaps we can do that today."

"Sure, and grab Jaune, will you? I want to test something." Edler smiled. "I'm guessing he would want to see us fight so he can gauge where you would fit in with his strategies."

"That's a good idea." Pyrrha responded. "He should be up soon, he was up late studying."

"Even with Adam and I returning late?" Edler arched an eyebrow. "And he still studied...impressive."

"He's hard working when he wants to be." Pyrrha defended. "He's just...unmotivated sometimes."

"Fair enough." Edler got his food, and walked to a table with Pyrrha in tow. "Anything specific you want to work on?"

"I want to work on my Semblance control. I think I know just the thing." She smiled mischievously at Edler as the two sat down at a table.

Edler smirked back. "Very well. Good luck trying to move this armor with me in it."

Pyrrha snuck a hand behind Edler, touching his back. "I think I could."

Edler ignored the hand, deciding to eat his cereal instead. 'She doesn't have a chance in hell.' He thought to himself.

Beacon Arena Six

Edler kicked a shin piece into place with his heel, and tightened a wrist plate. "This is gonna be fun. You good, Jaune?"

Jaune, who was in the stands with his scroll at the ready, gave Edler a thumbs up.

Pyrrha walked out, her weapons at the ready. "You know, no one has beat me."

"I am acutely aware of that." Edler responded, rolling his shoulders. "But have you beat me?"

"This is the first time we've met." Pyrrha twirled Miló. "I'm sure this won't be our last."

Edler pulled out Hell Diver's Wrath. "First fight, let's start."

"What? What about a countdown-" Pyrrha didn't get to finish as Edler rushed her and slammed his chainsword into Pyrrha's shield.

"Life doesn't give countdowns. Fight on your own terms." Edler summoned a Wingman revolver, in his free hand. "Fight unfair." He shot Pyrrha in the midsection, causing her to recoil. "And fight as dirty as you can."

Pyrrha jumped away from Edler, holding her side. "That was quick. Already giving me tips?"

Edler dispersed the revolver. "Perhaps. Or maybe I'm giving you a refresher." He summoned a Spitfire LMG. "Dodge." He opened fire, letting loose a torrent of bullets. Pyrrha blocked most of them with her shield while she began running a circle around Edler. Edler followed through, shooting until the clip went dry. He dispersed the rifle, and charged the Spartan girl. He swung the chainsword, the unnerving noise it made threw Pyrrha off, slightly.

She wouldn't admit the six foot soldier wielding an overpowered chainsaw for a weapon was scaring her.

She knocked the shot off course with her shield and stabbed with her spear. The spear bounced off the armor. "Huh?"

"Oh right, forgot to turn my shields on." Edler said, before grabbing Pyrrha by the arm and throwing her to the side of the arena. "But...I think I'll keep those off for now."

"Show off." Pyrrha got up, shaking off the throw. "You don't fight like a Huntsman would. I needed a good challenge like this." She forced her Semblance on Edler, gripping his armor with her Polarity.

Edler could feel it, but he dismissed it. He decided to play along, and pretended to start being constricted. "Sonofa-"

"Guess I'll fight dirty, too." She tried to move her hand to rip off a piece of his armor, but couldn't move her hand. "Huh?'

"Oh right...this might be too heavy for you." Edler smirked. He felt the tendril of Semblance around his left arm wrap a little tighter. In a daring feat of strength, he jerked his left arm so that Pyrrha flew towards him. Edler swung his chainsword at Pyrrha, but he wasn't able to respond in time to Pyrrha's Polarity, and missed her as she flew by and landed behind him. He turned around, but recoiled as Pyrrha shot him with her rifle configuration of her weapon. "Damn."

She lunged at him, slashing his chestpiece. She slammed him with her shield, but the shield bounced. "What?"

"Armor is heavier than the shield." Edler jabbed her with a left hook, knocking her back. Edler spun around and slashed Pyrrha, who dodged it by jumping above Edler and throwing her shield down at him. Edler wasn't wearing his helmet, and his Aura meter lost a solid chunk from the hit.

"Sonofa-she powers her hits with her Semblance." Edler mumbled, seeing that the hit brought him down to 86% Aura Strength. "We're doing this, huh?" Edler put his chainsword into his right hand, and summoned a broadsword. He gripped the hilt, and the blade became electrified.

"Oh." Pyrrha said. "He has more swords." She used her Semblance to call back her shield.

Edler smirked, and jumped up, his swords coming down in a downward slash. Pyrrha raised her shield above her, crouching down to take the impact of the weapon. She could feel the weapons leave marks on her shield, taking her by surprise. She jumped back, firing her rifle form of her weapon. The bullets pinged on Edler's armor, leaving scratches and dings on the green plate.

"Okay then…" Edler said. "Time to finish this-" A lucky shot from Pyrrha's rifle hit him in the side of the face, knocking him off balance.

Pyrrha saw her chance, and leapt at Edler. As she brought her weapon down on Edler, she was suddenly overcome with the urge to dodge. Edler's blue eye suddenly changed to red, and began to glow.

"Laser core, online." He said, and a laser beam shot out of his eye, hitting Pyrrha in mid-air. She was slammed into the side of the arena, her Aure fizzling out and failing.

Edler's eye turned back to blue, panting. "Dammit, I forgot how much energy that takes. Oh shit, Pyrrha!" He ran over to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha! Are you okay?"

Pyrrha coughed. "Jeez, really went at it there…"

"Sorry…" Edler scratched the back of his head apologetically. He looked up, and saw that the two of them had an audience. "Oh…"

Pyrrha looked around, too. "Uh oh…"

Edler stuck out his hand, and helped Pyrrha up. "We should go."

"Yes, let's." Pyrrha looked up to the stands. "Jaune!"

"On it!" The blonde stood up and ran towards the doors. Pyrrha and Edler ran to the arena exit as the crowd started to clamor towards Pyrrha.

/-/

"The Vale Branch, like others, has failed and betrayed us. We have to resort to desperate measures. Prepare some of our younger recruits to be drafted into Atlas's Science and Research Corps. If Hammond wants a war, they'll get one." -Commander Yolin, Atlesian White Fang Leader, two years before Edler's entrance to Beacon

/-/

Icarus Armories, Atlas

Researchers milled around a large hangar as they prepped datapads and computer programs. Guards stood at every doorway, and several high ranking officials from the Atlas government were watching from a protected viewing area.

One of them, a major general, turned to one of the present councilmembers. "Mr. Harling, are you sure these weapons are wise?"

"Please, Major General Hoffnung, have some hope in our choices. Our best researchers and strategists say these new vehicles of ours will win wars against Grimm and Kingdom. The Super Taurus and the Super Hornet are two new toys we can use to deter our enemies from attacking. But we're here to see the Super Hornet, aren't we?" Councilmember Harling waved off the question. "The technology we used here will help power the machines to build the final project."

"Ah yes, that." Hoffnung smiled slightly, thinking about the next step of Atlas's Doctrine. "The ISEV will overshadow even the Amity Colosseum."

The two were interrupted by the doors at the back of the hangar opening. From the darkness behind the doorway rolled out two grey vehicles. They were arrow shaped, with triangular wings, two smaller back wings, and two diagonal tails sitting on top of two jets. The cockpit had two seats in it, and the aircraft had two square-like intakes on the bottom.

The small group in the viewing area turned their attention from the aircraft to a pale man with jet black hair, wearing clothes indicating he was a General.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I, General James Ironwood, am happy to show you today the culmination of our researchers' efforts. Today, the aircraft you see down in the hangar is one of the newest vehicles that will join Atlas's arsenal. What you see down there is the newest multi-role fighter for Atlas's air forces." General Ironwood announced. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet!"

The crowd applauded, watching as pilots stepped into the jets. They watched as the jets started up, the aircraft taxied out of the hangar and onto the runway.

The jets were clear for takeoff, and the afterburners were heard by the crowd inside. A video screen appeared behind them, showing the jets take off from the landing strip outside. What surprised the group was that the two joined a massive air fleet composed of other Super Hornets and Atlesian Battlecruisers.

General Ironwood cleared his throat, calling attention back to him. "As you can see, many of these jets are already produced, but they come with two impressive functions. One of them is that many of them are automatic, similar to our combat androids. This in itself is a stopgap while we train more pilots." General Ironwood explained. "The other function is...controversial."

Major General Hoffnung arched an eyebrow. 'Did he?'

"This vehicle, along with the others that have been created, can bypass the electrical field on Dragon Island."

The crowd gasped. Murmurs rippled throughout the guests, many becoming excited by the possibility that they could reclaim their rightful territory.

Ironwood smiled, knowing he just secured his position for a long time with this move. He pulled out his Scroll, taking advantage of the excitement. "Ozpin? It's James. I just got you your ticket to Dragon Island."

Radar Station Juliet, Eastern Edge of Hammond Territory

Operators read through the report, some of them sighing as they read deeper and deeper. A few of them even crumpled them up and threw them at a wall. One of them even took a lighter out and burned it.

Atlas had a new fighter, and it was able to cross into Hammond borders. HIGHCOM was sending out reports about how to deal with the new forces, but what the report had was a second main point.

Atlas now had the technology to cross into Hammond Borders. It was only a matter of time until they found Hammond, but Atlas was still a ways away from developing the tech to cross the EMP field.

"Operators, it's time." The lead operator started. "Power up the AA weaponry. We're gonna stop anyone from getting into our Kingdom."

"Ma'am?" One of the operators asked. "Wouldn't it be beneficial to us if we helped the Four Kingdoms?"

"If they saw the hordes we fight, they would collapse immediately. They don't know how many Grimm are actually out there in the world. Now, power up the damn AA."

The operators nodded, and went to their stations. On the giant screen in the radar room, white triangles were merging on Atlas's West Coast.

The lead operator looked at the screen. "Stryker help us."

JNPR Dorm

Edler, Pyrrha, and Jaune were all in the JNPR dorm room. Edler was pulling bits of Pyrrha's shield out of his chainsword, while Pyrrha inspected the damage done by Edler's strikes. Jaune was reviewing the footage from the fight.

"Edler, how come there are three scratches in my shield but you used only two swords?" Pyrrha asked.

"Ah, the sword I summoned is a special kind of broadsword. It slashes twice in one swing, in addition to the electricity it can deploy." Edler explained. "So that's why there are three slash marks on the shield."

Pyrrha looked down at the shield. There was no dent, but the scratches would have to be repaired.

Jaune looked up from his Scroll. "I'm surprised no one videoed the fight. Well, besides me, but still. Any fight Pyrrha does is recorded by at least someone."

Edler looked to Jaune. "Jaune, I'm gonna be frank with you. Someone definitely recorded that fight. They may have been invisible to your eye, but they saw the entire thing."

"Really?" Pyrrha looked up.

"Yep. All your fights have been recorded. Trust me, the video will show up on the Internet soon enough." Edler sighed. "If that won't bring hell on me, nothing will."

"Why?" Jaune asked.

"Because, Jaune, they will find any reason with any evidence to disprove his victory." Pyrrha responded. "My fans are particularly ruthless when it comes to my fights and to people who almost beat me. Imagine what they would do if they found out that I was beaten?"

Jaune looked to Edler, who nodded in agreement with Pyrrha's statement.

"Well, at least no one saw it-"

Edler's phone went off. He pulled it out, and read the message that was displayed: Code EMP, report to commanding officer immediately. Edler paled. He turned to the two. "I gotta go. Something has come up."

"Does it involve more fights in Vale?" Pyrrha asked.

"Not this time." Edler responded. "Watch the footage with Jaune. Adam and I need to deal with something." With that, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"He seemed kinda shaken up, you think he's okay?" Jaune asked.

"I'm sure it's nothing he can't handle." Pyrrha waved it off. "Now, why don't we look at that footage?"

"Sure, can't hurt."

In Edler and Adam's room

"And you're sure?" Edler asked.

"I am sure. Our spies in Atlas confirmed it. Atlas has developed an aircraft capable of fighting our Hornets. Though that is a stretch, to say the least." The hologram of a Hammond officer responded. "They were also capable of developing tech to get past our EMP field. They can now attempt to colonize our lands."

An officer appeared behind the original. "Spies also report that a new vehicle has also been developed."

The officer disappeared and were replaced by a hologram of what appeared to be a giant Zumwalt destroyer with giant tank treads. "Colonel, what the hell is this thing?" Edler asked.

"This is what Atlas calls a Super Taurus Land Battleship. It is armed with railguns, AA, and SAM turrets." The colonel responded. "They might also have triple barreled 5 in cannons and other smaller armaments, but these are either prototypes or AA variants."

"Great." Adam sighed. "Atlas spending huge amounts of resources to scare the other Kingdoms? No surprise."

Edler nodded. "Militarism like this is the reason the Great War started. The fighter?"

The Super Taurus was replaced by the diagram of a fighter aircraft. "This is a F/A-18-E/F Super Hornet. Not related to our Hornet in any way, shape, or form."

Edler whistled " 20mm gatling cannons, AAMs, ATGMs, UGBs, the whole shebang."

"There are also reports of them developing multi lock missiles." The secondary officer responded. "Similar to the 8AAMs or the ADMMs."

"Great, just what we needed." Edler sighed. "Surprised they developed railguns and didn't stick it on the damn plane itself."

"Don't push our luck." Adam said.

"Correct." Edler nodded. "Gentlemen, what exactly do you want us to do?"

"Atlas has always prioritized the other Kingdoms over themselves, at least when it comes to Foreign Policy."

"Because if there's no other Kingdoms, the SDC loses profits?" Adam guessed.

"Correct, Commander Taurus. It is imperative that you two cause as much chaos in Vale as possible." The colonel answered. "Two new outfits have been sent to you. When you get them, you will wreak havoc. Join up with criminal outfits, attack the trainees, I don't care if you have to set off bombs in Vale, just get Atlas off our backs. It is imperative that they don't find out about us."

"I don't see why they shouldn't." Adam arched an eyebrow. "You guys could beat them hands down."

"It is because only one person in Beacon besides Adler actually knows how much Grimm are out there." The colonel made a grim face. "If the Kingdoms actually knew how unrelenting the Dark Tide was, there would be panic, making our job much harder. Doesn't help that Air Base Helios was attacked yesterday."

"Grimm?" Edler asked.

"What else? They were repulsed, of course. Though, the amount was staggering. 18k Grimm units, thank Stryker we had CFA-44s on standby."

"I wasn't aware that you were a follower to the Warrior Gods Church, boss." Edler responded.

"Warrior Gods?" Adam asked.

"I'll explain after this." Edler waved it off.

"You have your orders team, get brainstorming." And with that, the transmission ended.

"So…" Edler pulled a chair from his desk and sat in it. "You wanna know about the Warrior Gods?"

Adam opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Scroll going off. He pulled it out, and read the message that was on the screen. "You beat Pyrrha in a fight?"

Edler stayed silent for a second. "Are you SHI-"

/-/

"The Brother Gods are cool and all, but lemme tell you about the Warrior Gods. Stryker and Inferno, two gods who went to war with the Brother Gods and tied with them. They created us, while the Brother Gods created the ones that exist in the Four Kingdoms. Inferno MAY have created Faunus, though. Even if he didn't, Faunus would still be equals with us." -Doctor John South, researcher in Theology