Finally, writing this section took longer than I expected. Regardless, Part V's out and I hope you all will enjoy.
-Sda.
Ruby and her teammates briskly followed behind Lieutenant Salisbury through the cleared street. An air of tension and anxiety followed behind everyone as Ruby found herself wondering what the current situation was. If a group of huntresses-in-training were needed for this, something was definitely up.
"Negotiations haven't been going well since we trapped the terrorists at the food court," Salisbury said, his pace brisk. "They've refused to come out quietly with the hostages unless the government guaranteed the release of several prominent human supremacists."
Yang scowled. "Cowards. They're basically begging for their lives while they're using the hostages as bargaining chips."
"Of course, we didn't exactly want that, so we continued the negotiations when they've recently made an announcement."
Ruby and her teammates looked at him curiously. "What kind of an announcement?"
Salisbury's gaze became a frown. "They made a demand: We both let the bastards go and release their political prisoners and they'll free the hostages. We don't comply: In the next hour, two of the hostages are going to die. They've already killed someone to show that they're not kidding."
Blake frowned. "That's terrible. There must be something we can do."
"At this point, we're running out of options," Salisbury said, sighing. "Either we comply with their demands, or we storm that building and free the hostages. I don't like the idea of the former, because that's probably going to make the Purity League and other similar terrorists groups bold and confident in their attacks, and the latter I don't like either because from my experience, whenever situations like this goes hot, the life expectancy of the hostage tends to fall really, really low."
Weiss hummed. "I can confirm from my own experience myself, being the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
"I heard that you were a survivor in the Schnee Quarry Massacre. Sorry to hear about that."
"It's alright, I'm over it now." Weiss touched the pommel of Myrtenaster. "Besides, I'm far better prepared now than I was when it happened."
Salisbury chuckled. "Good, because we're going to need all the help we can get."
Ruby, her teammates, and the lieutenant finally arrived at the cordon. There, she saw several STAR APCs parked in front of a barricade of flashing police cruisers and sandbags, along with rows of officers and STARs teams pointing pistols, carbines, and assault rifles at the right end of the food court. Across it, there was another cordon with their own STAR teams and officers, which had effectively cut off the Crusaders' escape.
The food court itself was fairly big like a plaza. There was a big and extravagant fountain built at the center of the court with tree decorations planted at four corners to make it look like a square was surrounding the circular fountain. There were rows of upturned and overturned chairs, tables and patio umbrellas everywhere, along with some dark bodies of faunus civilians. From the way the cordons looked, to Ruby it seemed that the right side of the food court must've been where the terrorists were at.
"See that restaurant over there?" Salisbury pointed at a particular building bearing the neon-red title of Atlesian Delights; the windows were shattered open and Ruby could barely see furniture stacked on top of each other like some kind of improvised shield. "That's where they're holding up."
Yang gazed at the restaurant, her perpetual scowl becoming a fiery crimson. "What the hell are we waiting for? We can't just let those bastards get away with a lot of people dead!"
"And it would foolhardy to rush in now," Weiss said, crossing her arms. "I know you want to storm that restaurant and kill every last Crusader, but you know that it'll just get the hostages killed."
"I know." Yang gritted her teeth, her growl barely a scream. "Which is why it's pissing me off so much! Argh, we're basically stuck between a rock and a hard place!"
Blake frowned as she held Yang's shoulder. "Don't waste your energy getting angry. Save it for and when we'll storm that restaurant."
Yang relaxed, but she still had her scowl.
Ruby turned to Salisbury. "So, any reason why you brought us up here in the first place?"
"Standby, mostly," he said, sighing. "If things go to shit, you, your teammates and the assault team will be the first to go in. Besides, maybe you're kids, but you're the kind that kills a bunch of scary-ass nightmare monsters for a living; we might have a use for you here yet."
Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "Well, we're huntresses-in-training, but that doesn't mean we have never killed a bunch of dangerous Grimm before!"
"That may be, but," he shrugged, "I don't think the academy taught any of you four how to effectively deal with hostage situations like this now, did they?"
Ruby frowned, shaking her head. "Actually, no. Although, if that's the case, why are you having us stick around then?"
"Can't be too careful," Salisbury said. "Besides, I heard that you guys almost cleaned up all the Crusaders for us, so we know at least that having you around should things go hot makes things a little less tense for the rest of us."
Yang scowled at Salisbury. "So we're just sitting on our asses here even more?"
Salisbury frowned. "That's about the size of it. But at least we have you all here and ready to go if we need to."
"Don't you have a plan or something to bust out those hostages or something? There has to be something we can do!"
Salisbury pursed his lips, humming. "I've discussed this over with the commander of this op before, but it's more of a last-resort contingency than anything, really. Our first priority are those hostages after all, and it seems more and more like we're just gonna have to comply to those bastards' demands."
Blake frowned. "What about us? Couldn't we attempt to save those hostages along with the assault team?"
"I've already discussed that with the commander too, but like I said you guys have no trouble wiping those Crusaders out―it's the hostages that we're worried about, and we don't want to do anything that could seriously risk the lives of twelve hostages. Still, the plan to storm that restaurant isn't out of the table―it's just not something the commander recommended based on our current state."
Weiss stepped up, her expression solemn. "Lieutenant, are you familiar with the concept of semblances?"
"They're essentially someone's biggest weakness turned into a physical force, aren't they?" Salisbury raised an eyebrow.
"Well yes, that, but are you aware that we four huntresses-in-training possess semblances?"
Salisbury hummed. "Well, that was a point I brought up to the commander, but she's not sure about leaving this last-resort contingency to a bunch of 'inexperienced huntresses-in-training.' You're all here now though, so might as well tell me at least what your semblances are now for the record."
Ruby smiled at him. "I can run really fast and leave rose petals in my wake." She gestured at Weiss. "She can summon glyphs, although I think you knew that already." She gestured at Blake. "She can leave afterimages of herself to take blows from incoming attacks." She then gestured at Yang. "And the more you kick her butt, the stronger she gets."
"Okay," Salisbury rubbed his chin. "Super speed, patented hereditary Schnee glyphs, shadow clones, and a damage sponge that becomes even more powerful the more hits she takes." He began nodding, eyes focused and narrowed. "Yeah, actually, hold on, we can make something like this work."
Ruby's eyes gleamed as she gasped. "Really?"
Salisbury nodded. "Yeah, really. I'll have to run this with the commander though and see what she thinks. Hopefully her stick won't be too far up her ass when I get to her, so excuse me for a moment."
And so the lieutenant left Ruby and her teammates at the cordon, where Ruby saw him heading over to a particular STAR APC that looked far more set up than the other APCs around. There was a lot of equipment, tables, and chairs set up around the APC along with what looked like technicians and high-ranking people working and talking with each other. Among the workers was a mean-looking and grizzled woman, who looked a lot older compared to Salisbury. Apparently this must have been the command center for all efforts concerning the terrorists and hostages, which, now that Ruby thought about it, looked distinct from the police's own headquarters back at that cafe. She wondered if these two were coordinating well.
"So," Blake said, leaning on a nearby STAR APC. "If we get clearance for this plan, how are we going to bust out those hostages?"
Yang growled, cracking her knuckles. "As long as it gets me to break every last of those Crusaders' legs, then I don't care what it'll take."
Weiss sighed. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we would be better off if we can come up with some sort of plan to rescue the hostages. We should consult with Lieutenant Salisbury when he returns from discussing the contingency with his commanding officer."
"Yeah," Ruby nodded at Weiss. "When the Lieutenant's commander tells us we can help, we can figure out our next plan of attack. So just be patient Yang."
"Lieutenant, I'm not having it."
"But Ma'am the clock is ticking! A-And there are civilians inside that restaurant who are scared and in fear for their lives–!"
"And do you think risking their lives by letting four inexperienced huntresses, who are only first-years of all years, handle the rescue operation will help them?"
Ruby and the others turned to the source of the arguing, where they spotted Salisbury engaged in a shouting match with his superior at the command center. Oh no. Ruby bit her teeth. The way that argument's going right now doesn't look good for them.
"Huntresses who nearly took out every last Crusader after the initial attack!" Salisbury gazed harshly at the commander. "They can certainly deal with the Crusaders themselves, we just need to figure out a way to implement their skills and abilities in our rescue operation so as to ensure the safety of the hostages–"
The commander scowled. "Lieutenant Salisbury, those huntresses just got lucky! It's not every day for those Purity League terrorists to be suddenly beset by four huntresses all at once. Listen to yourself; they're just a bunch of Beacon Academy kids without any formal training whatsoever in hostage situations or counterrorism! Huntsmen and huntresses ought to deal with the Grimm only; terrorism is the territory of STAR, HRAN, and the Royal Guard!"
"Commander, listen, I've consulted with the huntress team about their semblances and I believe, based on their responses, we can formulate some kind of rescue operation based around those huntresses. We'll coordinate: My platoon and the huntress team will scale up the rooftops and assault the Crusaders from the top while the rest of the ground troops are on standby. We'll secure the top and then let the huntresses go in and rescue hostages with their semblances while my platoon along with the people on the ground storm that restaurant and take care of the Crusaders for them–"
"I'm not having any of it, Lieutenant."
Salisbury's eyes widened, surprise stark in those brown irises as he stared at her. Then he locked eyes with Ruby and the others.
He pointed towards them. "Commander, look, the huntresses are here. Ms. Rose! Tell her that you and your teammates can help."
Ruby swallowed as she approached the commander. She looked really grizzled and experienced even compared to Lieutenant Salisbury, and she was scary-looking too. Still, if they didn't get the approval of this woman, then there's no way in heck that they were going to save the hostages now.
"Erm, Ma'am–"
"Commander Indigo, huntress." The commander's voice was stone-cold. "Please refer to me as that."
Ruby stammered, "C-Commander Indigo. Um, we would like to, err, request permission to assist in the rescue operation, um, Ma'am."
"That won't be necessary, huntress." Indigo shook her head. "There won't be any need to spill more blood today, and certainly not by the likes of yourselves. I've been discussing the release of the political prisoners the Crusaders requested with the government and we've been leaning considerably towards meeting their demands."
Yang gritted her teeth. "So you're just going to let those bastards get away with a massacre of innocent people, just like that? By giving in to their demands!?"
"With their recent current demands involving the death of two hostages every hour, I'm afraid we may have little choice in the matter."
"That's bullshit!" Yang shook her head, growling curses. "What kind of commander are you?!"
"The kind that looks after the hostages first and foremost, huntress." Indigo looked down on Yang―and the rest of Team RWBY―with the turn of her lip. "Need I remind you that it was you four that were directly responsible for the deaths of two hostages?"
Yang glared back and her hand balled into a fist. "You want to say that again to my face, asshole?"
Blake snatched her wrist. "Yang, don't!"
"I recommend listening to your comrade, huntress." Indigo shook her head as she looked down on Yang. A glance behind her and a gesture, then four STARs, armed with assault rifles, came towards her and saw Yang being held back by Blake. They gazed at Team RWBY, guns slightly raised but not pointed.
Indigo scoffed. "You huntsmen and huntress riff-raff ought to be hunting the Grimm, not terrorists. This is not for you to preside over, and certainly not the domain of the huntsmen and huntress academies. Let the people with the training and ability deal with situations like this and your people with the training and ability deal with situations involving the Grimm. Now, run off."
She looked at Salisbury. "Lieutenant. Under no circumstances will I permit the huntresses to be involved in this rescue operation. Contingency Ruin probably won't be needed to be initaited. The situation is currently being handled right now and soon this will all be over."
Salisbury's scowl became firm and he nodded slowly. "Ma'am. Yes. Ma'am."
"Bitch," Yang muttered, breaking out of Blake's grip. One last glare, then she turned around and stomped away.
Ruby just stared at Indigo as she joined Yang and the others. That didn't go as planned, not at all. So Ruby and her teammates were now not even part of the rescue operation. Now what? Was the government going to just let those terrorists off the hook to rescue the hostages? Well, sure, the hostages' safety should be everyone's number one priority, but what about the crimes of the terrorists themselves? Surely they cannot go home unpunished.
Team RWBY gathered in the middle of the street, away from the cordon but certainly close enough to respond if there was a need. Ruby crossed her arms and glanced at everyone: Yang was breathing hard through her nose, scowling at Indigo; Weiss was pinching the bridge of her nose, shaking her head; and Blake was crossing her arms, pursing her lips.
Salisbury soon joined the huntresses, face sullen. "My apologies, huntresses. There's not much you or I can do at this point."
"I can't believe her." Yang shook her head. "I can't believe that commander of yours. I bet she's some kind of human supremacist and sympathizes with the Crusaders. Wouldn't that be perfect?"
Weiss sighed. "Whatever the case, it's clear that we're not welcome here. Besides, that commander had a point. Huntsmen and huntresses aren't supposed to be involved with political affairs. They're supposed to be independent to kingdom allegiances, after all."
"It doesn't mean that what they're doing is right," Yang muttered, voice low with anger.
Blake frowned. "Yeah. I don't like this at all."
Salisbury looked at them all, shrugging. "I guess that HRAN relays the demands to the government and we let the Crusaders go free in exchange for the hostages." A sigh as he held his head. "Yeah, this really is all a bunch of bullshit. The worse part though is that I can't do anything about it now."
Ruby, in the meantime, had been mulling over the plan for the assault team. Salisbury did mention something about them and her team scaling the rooftops above where the hostages were.
"What was the plan?" She looked up at Salisbury, who looked back curiously. "I mean, what was the plan for Contingency Ruin?"
"Well," Salisbury held his hips and began pacing around. "Contingency Ruin involved my platoon and you huntresses coordinating with the other STAR and Royal Guard units; you and a squad of mine scale the rooftops and head over to the roof of the restaurant building where they're holding the hostages, surprise the Crusaders and take them all out before they could harm any of the hostages. The whole thing relied on the Crusaders being present all at the same room at once and we know for a fact from the negotiations that the restaurant itself is a two-story structure."
Weiss held her chin. "Meaning that either the hostages are in one of the two floors, and that the Crusaders were spread out."
"Yeah. If Contingency Ruin was to work, the Crusaders ideally all have to be concentrated at one place, at least if we're using flashbangs. Otherwise, things would be hell of a lot tougher. But," he looked at every single one of them, "with you huntresses in the plan, and after hearing about your semblances, we could've just had you rescue the hostages while the assault team and the rest of the units outside coordinated what's virtually pincer on the Crusaders."
Ruby nodded, taking in the information. Okay, so that was Contingency Ruin. Perhaps if…? Ruby hummed a growl. They couldn't just take matters into their own hands now, could they? The very thought was enough to make her spine tingle with anxiety. Still, with the demands the Crusaders were dishing out, and Indigo's unwillingness to consider alternatives, they may not have a choice if they still wanted to assault that restaurant.
All of the sudden a STAR ran up to Salisbury, panic in his eyes. "Lieutenant! We got a situation developing at the restaurant."
"Oh shit." Salisbury turned to the huntresses. "Stay here until I return. Let me see what's going on."
No one said anything as they saw Salisbury running off with his subordinate. Ruby and the others looked at each other, curious and somewhat worried at what had caused the good lieutenant to be called up at the cordon. Then they started hearing yelling and shouting, but it was hard to tell if they were STAR or Crusader.
Then Lieutenant Salisbury came back, assault rifle and combat helmet in hand, face grim. "The Crusaders are panicking. They think that we're going to lay a trap for them. Said they're not going to release the hostages unless we guarantee that we won't shoot at them."
"And their demands?" Ruby swallowed, hoping against hope.
Salisbury stared into the void. "Still the same. Only, they changed it to five minutes."
Ruby looked at the others, and they were looking attentive as ever. Ruby's face became serious as she gazed at him. "Lieutenant, about Contingency Ruin…"
"I can't spare anyone to help you scale the rooftops, but officially I can't stop you from taking the topside route either. You're completely on your own, at least until you all rescue the hostages. Somehow. Can you do it?"
It was either now or never. Ruby glanced at Yang, Blake and Weiss and they all nodded. Good. Ruby then looked back at Salisbury and nodded.
"Yeah we can do it. And properly, this time."
"Alright, I trust you." Salisbury put on his combat helmet. "We had a drone survey the rooftop of the restaurant earlier and it seems like they don't have that area covered at least. I don't know about the second floor, but since there's only nine terrorists they might have everyone only covering all the exits and stairs, as well as the hostages. Proceed with caution."
Ruby nodded, then turned to her teammates. "Come on Team RWBY, this'll be our first real job as a huntress team. You all ready?"
Yang cracked her neck and knuckles. "You kiddin'? I've been ready!"
Weiss loaded new dust vials into Myrtenaster's chamber. "Ready."
"Same here," Blake said as she loaded a magazine of dust rounds into Gambol Shroud.
Ruby smiled, then withdrew Crescent Rose before looking at Salisbury. "Tell us the quickest way topside!"
Salisbury pointed at a series of metal railings and stairs that were hung off to the side of one of the buildings in an alleyway, which was near the cordon. "Up there through the fire escape. Good luck, we're all going to need it!"
Ruby shot a thanks and ran for the fire escape. "Let's go, Team RWBY!"
