The crisp, cold air carries with it the laughter and music from the base, where one of the hangars has been converted into a ballroom, colorful streamers hang across the top of the doors and people mill about.
Cassie, Lucas, and Jason meet them in front of their house, shortly followed by Kimberly and her husband. They all walk down the road together, and Amelia notes the extra amount of guards scattered around the base. The wind scatters a thin layer of snow over the tarmac as they cross the open space.
The rattling of metal tracks on pavement brings Amelia's attention to a pair of MBT's identical to the IDF Merkava Mk IV. They rattle past and head out the main entrance, both tank commanders giving Amelia a brief salute as they ride past, their faces obstructed by their full-head helmets.
"Go get 'em boys!" Kimberly cheers, giving a salute of her own as they ride by.
The Merkava style tanks were one of two vehicles in the company's arsenal too heavy to be airdropped, and thus were mainly used for hunter in distress missions in small numbers. They could carry six troops in a compartment in the rear of the vehicle, and were heavy enough that they could shrug off a charge from a small Goliath. Fitting for their weight the tanks also carried a heavyweight punch; a 120mm smoothbore cannon capable of accurately hitting targets at three miles, making it the deadliest and most versatile vehicle in the company's arsenal.
They were Kimberly's pride and joy, and they were only issued to the most experienced of tank crews.
Amelia grins in satisfaction as she observes the vehicles and weapons at the disposal of the company, the fantastic troops mingling in front of her, and the military base that had essentially been torn down and then built from the ground up.
She's broken from her pride-instilled daze by Jackson, who nudges her in the ribs with his elbow. "Hey, you alright?"
She nods, looking around once more before straightening her cap.
"Yeah, just marveling at how far we've come."
He chuckles and takes her arm in his, leading her towards the hangar. "Yeah, it's kinda surreal. We aren't a bunch of lost twenty year olds fresh out of a conflict we didn't belong in. We've got what is essentially our own standing military capable of taking on anything and everything that Remnant can throw at us."
Amelia nods and takes a glass of fruit punch from a nearby table, sipping it thoughtfully as her and Jackson make their way up to a podium.
He steps up onto the podium and looks out over the crowd of men and women under his command, many notice him and Amelia standing there, and turn their attention to them.
Jackson turns on the microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please."
Those who were caught up in conversation stop talking and turn towards him while one of the mechanics turns on a light, highlighting him up on the podium.
"Wow. I cannot believe how far we have come. It seems like only last week I was a twenty-two year old, scared shitless and acting as flypaper for SAM's with a handful of friends and family. But look at how far we've come. Not only have we set up bases on all three of the major continents, but we've also become better equipped and trained than the leading formal military on Remnant. Having said that, allow me to introduce those who have never done this before, and remind the old geezers where they're at. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, to the twentieth anniversary of Taijitu Contracting Company!"
The crowd breaks into cheers and applause, and Jackson waits for them to calm down before continuing.
"Having said that, our second in command has some things to say before we pop the cork on this party."
He steps back from the podium and Amelia takes his place, she turns off the microphone and simply uses her projection to be heard.
"First off, I would like to say that it is amazing knowing that this is only a fraction of the troops we have. I would like to thank each and every one of you for making this milestone possible. You all have accomplished great feats, and in the future I hope you all can manage to keep surprising me. I've also been made aware of some matchmaking that has been happening in the air corps. Congratulations to those who have chosen to marry, and good luck to those who are dating. Very soon there is a solid chance that we will embark upon a mission from which we will help humanity as we know it, not just humanity, but everyone, excluding the Grimm of course. I expect you all to be ready for anything, and if you give it your all, every last one of you may come out alive. That is all, now back to the commander."
She steps back from the podium and Jackson steps forward again, raising his glass after he turns the microphone on.
"And with that! Let the party commence!"
The crowd bursts into cheering, and the music resumes as Amelia and Jackson step down from the podium into the crowd.
They grab a few small snacks and head out onto the tarmac, where a HMMWV is waiting to take Amelia back to the house.
"So what's the deal today?"
Amelia opens the door and steps in, flashing Jackson a smile as she settles into the seat.
"Ruby's coming into town, I'm just going to make sure she stays out of trouble."
Jackson leans in and kisses her before closing the door, allowing the vehicle to drive off.
When she gets back to the house Amelia gets dressed in a black plate carrier over her fatigues and grabs her rifle, stashing it under her cloak before heading back outside to the HMMWV, which takes her out the front gate and into the city.
"This is fine, thank you."
The HMMWV rolls to a stop around the corner from the docks, and Amelia climbs out, pulling her cloak around her before flipping the hood up.
This part of Vale is completely void of snow, the city's climate control system moderately helps with that. But the air still carries still carries its sharp winter bite.
She watches in silence from the evening shadows as Ruby walks out of the airship, a pair of red headphones over her ears with her hood up. Amelia follows her from a distance, even utilizing the rooftops where permitted. As always when she does this she feels sort of bad for essentially stalking the child, but justifies it easily and carries on, noting Ruby's unobservant nature as she walks down the sidewalk.
Ruby spends plenty of time cruising through weapon shops for any possible upgrades for her weapon Crescent Rose, but soon she finds herself in a dust shop, reading a weapons magazine. Amelia stands on a rooftop across the street, her black cloak blending in with the ink-black sky as she scans for threats.
After another five minutes of standing in the cold, movement in an alley catches her attention, and using a night-vision upgrade to her robotic eye she almost instantly reaches for her rifle.
Roman Torchwick, one of if not the most wanted criminal in Vale, steps into the street lights, flanked by five men in tuxedos and sunglasses, despite it being well past sundown.
She thumbs the safety on her rifle and pushes aside her cloak, preparing to aim at him, but she hesitates for too long, and soon he enters the dust shop. She tries her best to draw a bead on him, but the shop owner is directly on the opposite side of him, if she fires the round might over-penetrate and hit the shop owner.
With a frustrated huff she puts her rifle back underneath her cloak and waits, watching the henchmen disperse throughout the small one-story shop and start stealing dust from the large canisters lining the walls. Her adrenaline spikes when she sees one of the henchmen pull a sword and advance towards Ruby, again she pulls her rifle and aims at him. But it's the same situation, if she fires the round may pass straight through him and hit Ruby, so she holds her fire, patiently waiting for Ruby to do something to the threat.
She just about busts out laughing when Ruby kicks him clear across the shop, sending him crashing into a glass display of books on dust mixing.
Amused to see how this will turn out Amelia puts her rifle back in her cloak and watches as another henchman approaches with a Dust pistol in hand, and Ruby quickly sends him flying through the front window of the shop.
A small grin appears on Amelia's face as she watches the girl unfold, and then expertly twirl her scythe around, ending in her turning off the music blaring through her headphones.
I would've brought some popcorn if I knew this was going to happen.
The following asskicking that ensues makes her wish she'd trained with a scythe at Beacon, and she watches in amusement as the sixteen year old girl single handedly takes out all of the henchmen, without killing a single one.
When the last henchman lands near him Amelia hears Torchwick mumble something about being worth every cent right before aiming his cane at Ruby. Amelia pushes her cloak aside to grab at her rifle, but it's too late, and in a flash of light and dust he disappears. Ruby looks around and finds him climbing a ladder down the street, and goes after him in a blur of red, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake.
Amelia jumps down to street level, letting a very capable Ruby chase after the villain while she cable-cuffs all the unconscious henchmen and polices their weapons.
The store owner gets off the phone with the police and flinches when he sees Amelia knelt by one of the henchmen, but when she pulls back her cloak revealing the patch on her left shoulder he calms down and helps her drag the men against the wall.
One of the men wakes up roughly thirty seconds later, and strains against the cuffs while trying to stand up. To remedy this Amelia sticks the muzzle of her rifle in his face, noticing her uniform he quickly sits back down and stops resisting.
The telltale whistling of a Bullhead's engines brings Amelia's attention to the sky, where the battered craft flies off in the direction of the warehouses, blue ice crystals jutting out of the upper fuselage.
I've seen those crystals somewhere before...Oh shit, Glynda?!
She stands guard over the henchmen until the police arrive, where she then turns them over to the officers, claiming she was out to get some dust, and walked up, finding the store trashed and the henchmen unconscious.
Once finished giving her statement she waits around and Ruby is walked down the street by a familiar woman.
"Well hello Glynda, a surprise to see you again."
Ruby's eyes light up when she hears Amelia, but she keeps her mouth shut until an officer comes to take her statement.
Once the two give their statement Ruby hugs Amelia and cowers against her side as the two older women talk.
"So how has Beacon been since I last visited? Any new teachers?"
"Yes, a few, however all the teachers that you had are still there teaching."
Amelia raises both eyebrows. "Even Peter Port? Geez, the dude was old when I was going there, call me impressed."
Glynda lets out a smirk and nods before pointing to Ruby.
"My apologies, but I'm going to need Miss Rose to come with me."
Amelia smiles before putting an arm over Ruby's shoulders.
"Of course, as long as I am allowed to come with. After all, I am missing the anniversary banquet to spend time with her."
Glynda ponders for a minute before shrugging and waving them along, where she leads the two to a car around the corner.
Ruby climbs in the back seat, and Amelia takes the front passenger seat, leaving Glynda to drive them to the police station.
The car has a fresh pine smell, and the leather seats seem to curve around Amelia as they weave through the streets. Despite receiving a glare from Goodwitch she keeps her rifle in her hands, constantly scanning the dark alleys and side streets as they drive past. Several times she glances over her left shoulder, checking to see if they're being tailed and checking on Ruby, who is nervously staring at her hands in her lap.
She tries to think of comforting words, but she'd been in similar situations with Glynda before, she knows that they'll fall on deaf ears.
As soon as they reach the police station Glynda herds Ruby into an interrogation room, leaving Amelia to sit on the other side of the one-way mirror and watch as Glynda angrily paces, giving Ruby an earful on laws and authority. Amelia rolls her eyes and sits down in a folding chair, kicking her feet up onto the counter with an audible thud.
Glynda shoots a piercing glare at Amelia through the mirror, causing her to grin and give her the finger, knowing that the woman can't see through the glass.
And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.
POV switch-Jackson Ellis.
The banquet was fun, and Jackson got a chance to speak with people he normally wouldn't be able to. But he had more important things to do, and after a few hours of mingling he rounds up the girls and heads to the house, leaving the girls to do nearly whatever they want while he works on the bane of his existence as company commander; paperwork.
The small stack on his desk has a note on it from Amelia, simply reading 'Safe before reading'.
He reaches under his desk and punches out a code on a keypad before the picture of the founders on the wall slides to one side, revealing a small safe. He carefully turns the dial, finally opening it with a 'click!' and pulling out a large folder from inside.
He flops back down in his chair and opens the folder, revealing an SDC crest on the front page. Suddenly he gets an uneasy feeling, which is odd, considering he'd dealt with this crest at least a hundred times in the past. Nonetheless, he turns the page, reading the header of text before turning the page again to reveal a pair of pictures.
He freezes, staring at the face of a person in shock before reading the mountain of text below the pictures.
"Holy shit... Alright..." He mumbles to himself as he turns the pages, revealing another set of pictures and more text.
He reads through the rest of the pages, only getting more and more irritated with every page before finally closing the folder and placing it back in the safe.
"So that's what she meant..."
POV switch- Kimberly.
"Alright Dawn, start her up and let's get this show on the road!" Kimberly yells down into the hatch of her Merkava as she climbs in, the fighting compartment smells like a mixture of iron, cordite, and sweat. The padded seat seems to leech all the heat out of her backside when she sits down in it, causing her to give a shiver before there's a rumble of the engine starting.
[Engine started, give it a minute to warm up and we'll be off.]
The driver calls out over the vehicle intercom as she revs the engine a few times, idling it at a higher RPM to warm the cold Diesel engine.
"Roger that, our dismounts are on board and comfortable. How are we looking for ammo Christie?"
The bear Faunus loader flips a switch to open the partition separating the ammunition from the rest of the turret and looks at the ammunition storage.
[Let's see here... our usual twenty four Sabot, ten HESH, ten canister, and four guided missiles.]
"Excellent, let's keep the tube empty for now. Amanda how are the systems going? All booted up?"
[Almost, the sensor system is being temperamental as always, I've got eight out of twelve so far, mostly on the turret.]
The shy panther Faunus reports through the intercom, a hint of irritation in her voice as she drums her fingers on the side of a screen.
"Of course it is...keep working on it. Christie get the coax loaded and put it on safe, I'll get my roof gun loaded and yours too if you're not done by then."
[Sure thing, I appreciate it.]
Amelia grabs a can of .50 caliber from a rack next to her and heaves it out the hatch, placing it on the roof of the turret as she opens the feed tray for the large machine gun. The green ammunition can fits perfectly in a box on the side of the mount, and she feeds the belt of ammunition up into the weapon before slamming the tray closed and roughly pulling on the charging handle. The gun makes a clatter as the bolt inside pushes the round into the chamber.
Kimberly then ducks back down into the hatch before heaving a smaller ammo can out the hatch. She follows it out and kneels down on the roof of the turret while she loads Christie's weapon.
When she finishes she looks towards the other four tanks in her platoon, who have all started their engines, and are in various stages of readiness.
The nearest Merkava commander gives her a thumbs up and drops down the hatch, closing it behind him as the next tank down the line, an exact copy of the Striker MGS, traverses its turret at various angles while the gunner checks the traverse.
Even further down the line is an exact copy of the Leopard 2A6 (confirmed to be ready by the commander), and yet another Leopard, whose commander also gives the signal that they're ready to go.
Kimberly climbs back into the hatch and swings it closed over her.
"Alright, everyone else is ready to go, how are the sensors looking?"
Amanda glances up at the screen and taps on it a couple times.
[Alright, we're all set. The last one on the back of the turret is being a pain in the ass, but it'll warm up on the drive.]
Kimberly pats her on the shoulder reassuringly and turns on her command radio.
"All tanks report in, Razor one is ready."
[Razor two, standing by.]
[Archer, ready.]
[Razor three, ready.]
[Razor four, standing by.]
Kimberly grins and gives her driver the order to move out before switching back to the command radio.
"All tanks, fall in behind us, we'll adjust formation when we get closer to the target area."
The tank eases forward, picking up speed as the heavy treads clatter on the pavement. The five tanks roll out the main entrance, their engines all giving a throaty rumble as they pass through the checkpoint and head down the road into Vale.
The white/gray/brown camouflage of the vehicles looks absurd in the center of Vale, and they do get some strange looks for it, but once they get out of the city walls the camouflage blends in perfectly. The heavy vehicles take on the deep snow no problem, pushing it out of the way without a care in the world as they head down the road to a village, which had been getting attacked by Grimm regularly over the last few nights.
When they pull into the village the streets are lined with people, both human and Faunus alike, and are cheering.
Kimberly opens her hatch and raises her seat so half her torso sticks out, quickly ordering a halt.
An elderly man walks up to the side of her tank, and she calls out to him over the sound of the crowd and the engines.
"Which direction do the attacks usually come from!?"
He turns around and points towards some foothills, where a large clearing sits in between the village and the trees.
"Alright, don't you worry, they won't get past us!"
The man nods in response, a smile spreading across his face as he steps back from the tank.
Kimberly gets on the radio and describes their plan of action, having Archer (the Striker MGS) set up on the ridge overlooking the village from the opposite direction of the suspected attack.
She then has her vehicles move into position on the edge of the village, overlooking the four hundred or so yards to the pines at the other end of the field. The infantry in the back of the Merkava's dismount, setting up behind the low stone walls to either side of the tanks.
They lie in wait for hours before Kimberly's radio crackles to life.
[Razor this is Archer, confirmed Nevermore's on the horizon, requesting permission to fire.]
She raises the hatch slightly so there's an opening to look out of without completely opening it.
"Negative Archer, load canister, wait for my signal."
She raises a pair of binoculars to her eyes and looks at the tree line.
Dozens of pairs of red eyes stare back at her from the shadows.
"All units, load canister, standby to fire on my mark."
Out of the corner of her eye she watches Christie pull a canister shell out of the stowage and slam it into the gun breach effortlessly before flipping a small lever above her head.
[Gun ready!]
Amanda looks through the gun sight and slowly slews the gun onto target before flashing Kimberly a thumbs up over her shoulder.
Kimberly looks at the screen linked to the camera on her roof MG and takes aim at one of the pairs of eyes.
[Razor two, ready to fire.]
[Razor three, ready.]
[Razor four, on target.]
[Archer, ready to fire.]
Kimberly watches the Grimm slowly emerge from the trees, the moonlight washing over them as they advance.
"Company, command fire."
She waits for them to advance a little further before closing her hatch.
"Company...Fire."
The canister shell in the breech is best described as a gigantic shotgun shell, holding dozens of ball bearings varying in size from a blueberry to a golf ball. Capable of shredding anything in its firing arc.
The four tanks all fire canister shells at the Grimm, making a wall of high-velocity steel that flies across the field and slams into the Grimm, ripping off limbs and tearing flesh in an outstanding display of firepower before the infantry opens fire, sending green tracers flying across the field.
Kimberly grins as several Nevermore fall to the ground in front of them and dissolve into a black dust that is spread by the wind, having been shot down at long range by Archer.
[Round up!]
She grabs the controls for her roof MG and starts shooting any Grimm that survived the initial salvo, but just as quickly as the first wave had fallen the second wave rushes out of the woods, getting mere feet out of the dense pines before Amelia chuckles.
"Company. Fire."
The four guns of the platoon thunder, once again shredding the Grimm before they make any progress.
"All units, engage at will."
The gun fires again, and Christie pulls a HESH round out of the stowage, once again effortlessly slamming it into the gun breech.
[UP!]
The coaxial MG chatters, the spent casings from it falling into a large canvas bag below it as Amanda slowly traverses the turret, mowing down the dozens of Grimm like blades of grass. A Beringel lopes out of the woods and Amanda fires the main cannon at it.
The high-explosive shell hits the large Gorilla in the chest and detonates, leaving nothing behind but a smoking crater.
The one-sided fight carries on for several minutes before everything falls silent.
Kimberly watches out over the cratered and shredded tree line for several minutes more, but nothing moves.
"I do believe that's mission accomplished.
[That's affirmative Razor, no signs of anything, we killed them all.]
She fully opens her hatch and sticks her head out, scanning the trees once more.
"Alright! Infantry, saddle up!"
All of the infantrymen leave their various positions and walk around to the back of the two Merkava's, where a hatch opens and they climb in, laughing and joking as they move.
"Archer, return to the village, we're packing up."
[Archer copies, on the move.]
Christie opens her hatch and relaxes, pulling a thermos out of a rack behind her.
"Hey Cap', you want some coffee?"
Kimberly nods and grabs a metal coffee cup out of a bag on the side of the turret.
"Sure, why not."
Christie pours her a cup of the hot black liquid, and she happily sips it as the infantrymen finish loading up.
"Alright Dawn, start her up."
[You got it boss.]
The engine roars to life easily, and all the other tanks start their engines as well.
The rumble of the vehicles moving again soon draws the villagers out onto the streets, where they cheer and clap as the vehicles leave, one of the Leopards in the lead, followed by the Striker, both the Merkava's, and the other Leopard taking up the rear.
"Alright folks, first round is on me, excellent work. Let's go home."
POV change- Cassie
As she paces the floor of her office Cassie listens for the sound of tank tracks outside, nervously waiting for Kimberly to return with a dozen of her best paratroopers. She had another mission for the elite squad, one that she trusted very few to take due to the sensitive nature of it.
Finally after an hour of waiting impatiently, the silence of the night is broken by the clattering of tank treads and the growl of Diesel engines.
Cassie heads out to welcome the force back, and waves to each of the tank commanders as they roll past.
She grabs one of her guards and sends him as a runner to retrieve the squad, and he comes back several minutes later. "Ma'am, the Lieutenant said they will be here shortly, they just need to rearm first."
"Thank you, you may head home now."
"Yes ma'am. Have a good night."
"You as well."
The guard leaves, and Cassie sips patiently at a cup of coffee behind her desk as she waits, soon there's a knock at the door.
"Enter."
A dozen men and women walk in and stand at parade rest in front of the desk before a muscular bear Faunus steps forward.
"You called for us Captain?" His deep voice reflects his size, she'd watched this same man roll a HMMWV off its side on his own once.
"Yes I did, I've got another mission for you all, and this one is very important."
He grins at 'important' and nods, the rest of his squad look just as enthusiastic.
"I need you to head to Atlas, there is supposedly a person of great importance to all of the founders there. I need you to find her, collect evidence that she is there, and report back. She disappeared fourteen years ago, and if she is indeed there, we're going to war."
At 'war' everyone's grin widens, and they all nod to each other in agreement; they're going to do their best on this mission.
"You got it boss. Where should we start and who's the lucky lady?"
Cassie pulls a large folder out of a desk drawer and plops it on the table, laying her finger on a face in a picture.
"The SDC Dust mines, and her name is Summer Rose."
[A/N: Oh yes, I'm going there, but the big show won't be for a while. I actually put some more thought into which vehicles I've chosen for the tanks and APC's, though keep in mind when I say 'exact copy' I'm being rather generic; Yes, the vehicle looks and operates like the real deal, but fire control systems, optics, etc. are different since they don't have the actual blueprints.
No I'm not adding the M1 Abrams, Bradley IFV, or Linebacker IFV, because compared to other vehicles they just aren't quite up to what I'm trying to accomplish. However, if there are armored vehicles that y'all want added (such as the French Leclerc MBT), leave a request in a review!
As always, hoped you enjoyed, and stay tuned on all of my stories!