40 miles outside Vale
18:22 hours
"Odin 1, this is Hammer 2-1, how copy," Sherman, the VAF infantryman standing next to Ruby says into his radio as a civilian van rolls by.
RWBY Squad, along with most of the Vale military deployed to the city, numbering at least two brigades worth of soldiers, are stationed on the road systems surrounding the besieged city, mainly Vale Highway One, the largest highway in the Kingdom, and the only major roadway out of the city. Tanks, humvees, and military supplies, crates, tents, and personnel cover most of the road, but two lanes, one for vehicles and the other for walkers, are reserved for the new refugees of the captured city. It's been an endless stream of tired and hopeless looking civilians moving through since Port dropped them off at the highway and "Standby for briefing" an hour ago.
"Hammer 2-1, Odin, solid copy," the battalion command replies.
"Requesting permission to assist the refugees, hand out extra food and water rations, and treat any wounded, over."
"Hammer 2-1, request is denied," comes the immediate response. "Orders still stand; hold position, do not interfere in evacuation, await new orders, over."
"Copy that, Odin, out."
"What'd he say this time?" Ruby asks.
"Same bullshit as before. Can't help them, just keep standing like retards until someone tells us to kill some alpha golf."
"Sherman," Sergeant Skye, Sherman's squad leader, says inside the passenger seat of a parked humvee. "Cut the shit, and give your candy bar to some kid." He wasn't the first to think of it; soldiers down both directions of the road are openly approaching the crowd, handing out food and supplies. Medics take the more seriously wounded over to a humvee to treat them.
"Sir, are you authorizing me to disobey direct orders from Odin himself?" Sherman sneers sarcastically.
"I am aware of no such order," Skye says with a smile. Sherman smirks, spots a kid carrying nothing but his school uniform and a dirty blanket and approaches him.
"How do they look so fucked up?" Ruby asks. All the refugees look like something out of a horror show; torn and bloodstained clothes with dirt rubble practically embedded in the fabric; grime covering their bruised and cut faces. Many grimace with each step they take in their business shoes, the soles cutting into their heels. Luggage carried by the ones that had time to pick up a few material goods from their lives have an unbelievable range; the smartest ones only carry backpacks and sleeping bags, but others carry shopping bags, briefcases, giant suitcases, cardboard boxes, and even a few animal kennels, all stocked with random items like books, televisions, electronics, wads of clothes, unopened packages of toilet paper, makeup, jewelry, expensive bottles of liquor, and in one case, a bent, bloodied golf club. One old man carries nothing but a cheap metal folding chair. An elderly woman pushes herself along in a wheelchair with a lamp in her lap. A pizza delivery man carries his delivery case, which has had its original contents swapped out with random electronics.
"Yo, Papa Glaze dude!" Garnett, another soldier in Skye's squad, calls out to the man. The man looks, and Garnett waves him over.
"Hey, you guys gonna help us or what?" the man asks. "A lot of us don't have any food."
"Maybe you should've thought about food while you were looting stores during a fucking invasion," Garnett counters. The man's eyes grow wide. Garnett snatches the case out of his hands, "Keep fucking walking."
The man quickly runs back into the crowd.
"The Kingdoms come under direct assault from the Federation," Ruby thinks aloud. "The city is destroyed and lost to the enemy, and people were rioting instead of evacuating?"
"Yeah, that's civilian shithead logic in a warzone," Garnett says, throwing the case to the side. "Fuck your personal safety and your homeland: riot, loot, and smash people's skulls in with golf clubs." Ruby is momentarily confused by that last remark.
"Oh,that guy makes a lot more sense now," she says. Garnett shakes his head.
"How the fuck did you get in that armor system?"
"She knows how to fuck up alpha golf," Weiss says, walking up from down the road.
"Uh, not alpha golf, just Feds," Ruby corrects nervously.
"And she's soft on the enemy, what do you know," Skye says.
"Hey man, don't fuck with the wrong foxtrotters," Sherman says. He walks over to the humvee and starts digging through a bag in the back seat. "Those fuckers can come in handy if you need them. Remember our first week in New Tango, when we were taking that first town, and we were ambushed by that paramilitary border-human group?"
"One of the few times in my career I've been shot at by a human. Continue."
"And who saved our asses?" Sherman asks. Skye rolls his eyes.
"Faunus? Helped humans?" Weiss asks.
"Dude, it was like a fucking action movie. They literally leaped out of the buildings and onto the militia soldiers. They started stabbing them with shanks and kitchen knives and shit. More militia showed up in a technical and opened fire. The faunus charged them like psychopaths, ignoring the bullets like they were nothing. Only like a quarter of them actually made it to the truck, but holy fuck, they tore them to pieces."
"Literally," Garnett adds with a smile. "Racism aside, those bastards seriously are animals. They don't give a fuck."
"Uh, where's Yang and Blake, Weiss?" Ruby asks. The sooner the conversation steers away from dismemberment, the better.
"That's why I came to get you," Weiss says. "There's a briefing for the officers at the command tent. Hunters are included."
"Alright, lead the way," Ruby says. Weiss nods to the infantrymen and starts walking back down the way she came.
"Ruby," Skye calls out. Ruby turns around, and the Sergeant exits the humvee and walks up to her. Even in her bulky AURA, the soldier is still several inches taller than her. "You're squad leader, right?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"What was your original rank?"
"...Private?"
"Holy shit!" Sherman exclaims. "Fucking grunts are SF now!? Fuck me, where do I sign up?"
"Sherman," Skye barks over his shoulder. "Check on Hammer 3. Garnett, find that hoarding fucker from Hammer 6 and get us some batteries. It's gonna be a long night, and we need NVGs."
"Roger," Garnett says, and starts walking down the highway, along with Sherman. Skye turns back to Ruby.
"You haven't been in the war for very long, have you?" he asks. Ruby shakes her head. "Thought so. Want some advice?"
"Well, you do technically outrank me, so I guess." Skye glares down at her with utmost seriousness.
"As long as you are in that uniform, put your personal feelings and experiences regarding foxtrotters aside. They are not your friend, they are not any better or more deserving than you, they are animals, plain and simple. They are pieces of shit that want to destroy everything you care about and tear you to pieces with no hesitation. Drill that into your head, because if you show even a sliver of sympathy to some alpha golf, they will not return the favor. You're a soldier, and you're here to kill Faunus. Understand?" Ruby lets it all sink in for a moment.
"But what about the Faunus fighting for the Kingdoms?" Ruby asks.
"Would you believe me if I told you I was one?"
"...Ar...Are you?" Ruby asks slowly. Skye smiles.
"Your friend smells pissed," he replies. "You better get to that briefing." Skye turns around and starts walking back to the humvee.
"Wait, I'm really confused right now," Ruby says. "After what you said, what's the difference between you and a Fed?"
"My body is a Faunus, but this uniform makes me a human," Skye shouts back without turning around. "No difference between me and a human comrade on the battlefield."
"But what about civilian Faunus in the kingdoms?" Skye reaches the humvee and turns around.
"You ask too many questions, squad leader," he shouts, then climbs in.
"Ruby!" Weiss shouts. Ruby turns around, and sure enough, Weiss is waiting for her.
"Coming!" Ruby replies, and runs after her.
Odin operations tent
18:34 hours
"Are we late?" Weiss asks Yang, who is sitting with Blake on one of the benches inside the tent, along with several VAF officers and a handful of Hunters, including CFVY Squad.
"Negative, they're letting the stragglers catch up before starting," Yang replies. Weiss and Ruby sit next to her on the bench.
"We wouldn't have been late if Ruby would remember that she's not a grunt anymore and stop trying to be friends with them," Weiss snarls.
"A good leader earns the respect of the troops," Blake says, cleaning Gambol Shroud's slide. "Not the other way around."
"I know, I outrank you, remember?"
"How could I forget."
"I was honestly just bored," Ruby says.
A VAF lieutenant colonel walks to the front of the tent.
"Alright, listen up people," he shouts. All the chatter between soldiers instantly halts. "I know you all have a lot of questions, along with your troops and the rest of Vale. The VAF will release a statement to the rest of the military tomorrow, and the civilian world might get the full story in a few days, but I'll give it to you now:"
"At approximately 10:00 hours today, the Federation launched a large scale amphibious invasion on our coastal region, code name Operation Checkmate. The majority of the infantry were transported in unmarked cargo ships. We've tracked these ships' previous voyages, and they seemed to have sailed along Federation waters since being built, despite being of Mistralian design. This plan has been in the works for a very, very long time. The cargo ships were escorted mainly by stealth submarines and Federation Stalker-class arsenal battleships, a new light attack cruiser armed with cruise missiles and artillery batteries that we haven't seen before. By the time our first paratroopers entered the city, Federation armor were rolling in the streets by the dozens."
"Meanwhile at sea, our blockade was suddenly attacked by three groups of Federation warships, many more than the entire known Federation Navy at the time. The armada consisted mostly of aircraft carriers, much smaller than our own, but more numerous. They punched through our lines and encircled our divided forces, scattering us and picking the survivors off. While the frigates and combat cruisers engaged civilian islands off of our coasts, the carriers moved in to reinforce the ground troops. As of this time, we have lost contact with our bases in Vale, Ender, and Zelena, and we believe there is Fed presence on much of our coast. To make matters worse, there has been a sudden increase in attacks in the border countries, and our lines are starting to be stretched to the limit from pulling troops to Vale."
The colonel takes a moment to stare at the floor and take a deep breath, then looks back up.
"I'm not gonna lie to you; this is a very, very bad situation, and one that we never expected to occur. But that doesn't mean humanity is going to roll over and eat Faunus shit. You and your men will be pushed to your absolute limits day after day for the foreseeable future. Many of you might not be alive to see the end of the war. But we all knew that this day could come when we signed up, and no one will stop you if you want to resign and go home. But I know that none of you will do that, because all of you know what's at stake here; your friends, your families. Your future. The future of humanity even. We must lay our lives down in order to guarantee a world for future generations to live safely. When you exit this tent, take a look at each and every man and woman in uniform. They all have someone waiting for them once they get out of service, and they're the reason they stay in that uniform. If you don't want to fight for yourself, then for fuck's sake fight for them. Dismissed."
The officers stand up and begin to file out the tent.
"Well…" Ruby says to her squad, hoping to duplicate the moral-boosting speech the lieutenant colonel just gave, but ends up with, "That happened I guess."
"This is really only a minor setback on the large scale of things," Weiss says. "Reinforcements from Atlas alone would be enough to get us to drive the Feds out of the Coalition for good, much less all four of the Kingdoms fighting them."
"It's been a four-on-one fight since the beginning of the war," Blake argues. "They wouldn't create a whole new theater if they thought it would break them."
"They're Faunus, how smart do you really think they are?" Blake glares.
"Hunter Yang?" an infantry pogue holding a stack of letters shouts into the tent from the entrance. Yang's face lights up.
"Here!" she shouts back, walking towards him. The pogue hands her a letter, then quickly exits.
"Is it from Lara?" Blake asks.
"Who else could it-yup!" Yang says with delight, reading the address. "Sent from 'EVAC POINT 104.' She must've sent it as soon as they left the island!"
"Well, good to know that the VAF were able to get the civilians out of the siege," Ruby says. Yang tries to contain a chuckle, but can't.
"I can't believe I was worrying so much," she says. "When she was safe the whole time."
She holds the letter for a few more seconds, just staring at the lettering.
"Well, are you gonna read it?" Weiss asks.
"Oh yeah, right," Yang says, and rips it open. She drops the envelope and unfolds the paper. Her smile fades slightly. "Huh, it's from my dad. That's weird."
"It's weird for a father to want his daughter to know that her family is safe?" Weiss asks.
"No, but my sister...is…" Yang trails off as she reads the letter. Suddenly, her eyes grow wide, her hands start shaking, and her lungs feel empty.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asks. Yang can't pull her eyes away from the words.
"Yang," Blake says, placing a hand on her squad mate's shoulder. Yang immediately jerks away and looks at Blake with wild eyes. She drops the paper and walks outside, collapsing to her knees a few meters from the tent.
"Well that was weird," Weiss says. Blake looks at her questionably and picks up the paper. After reading a few lines, she nods to herself.
"Her dad made it, her sister was killed when an artillery strike caved in their house," she says. Ruby gasps, and Weiss puts her hand over her mouth.
"Oh god no," Ruby whispers. Blake shakes her head as she keeps reading.
"This guy didn't take it well either," she says. "There's some stuff about how he could hear her screaming from her room when it was hit, then it got hit some more I think...yeah, I can barely read this handwriting. I'll talk to her." Blake starts to exit the tent.
"Blake, wait," Ruby says. Blake turns to her. "I'll...I'll do it." Blake nods, and Weiss flashes a faint smile.
"Roger that, squad leader," Blake says. Ruby walks outside the tent. Yang is still on her knees. The soldiers in the area give her a quick, questionable glance, then carry on with their duties.
"Hey," Ruby says, sitting down next to Yang. Yang doesn't seem to hear her. Ruby purses her lips.
"Hell of a day to be squad leader," She thinks. "Ok, don't think about it, just help your friend out."
"Uh, I think I can talk about giving us a day or two of leave, you know, while there's no solid strategy for our defense in Vale, so maybe you can visit your dad-"
"Fuck my dad," Yang says in what's practically a whimper. "I just want to get on a battlefield and die already."
Aaaand we're in a bad place.
Ruby notices that Yang is facing Vale, and moves in front of her to block the smoke. Yang moves her attention to the ground.
"I don't think your dad sent you that letter because he wanted to lose two daughters," she says.
"I don't care. Lara was the only thing I've always been sure that I've loved in the world, and now she's gone. I've got nothing."
"Remember what the lieutenant colonel said: If you won't fight for yourself, then fight for your squad. We're Hunters. That's what we're supposed to do." Yang lifts her eyes to meet Ruby's. They stare at each other intensely for nearly a minute.
Ruby doesn't see that strong, courageous, and charismatic woman that can see the good in any bad situation. Instead, she sees a scared girl, trapped in darkness.
Yang, on the other hand, doesn't see that nervous scout sniper driven primarily by anxiety, but instead of a capable squad leader who is willing to put a war on hold to help a single soldier.
Yang slowly stands up, Ruby following her movements.
"I'm tired," Yang says. Ruby laughs, prompting a weak smile from Yang.
"Yeah, I think everyone is," she says. "Let's see if we can find CFVY Squad, they probably know where to get some more MREs." They start walking down the road. Ruby turns around and signals Weiss and Blake to follow.
"What do you think she said?" Blake asks.
"I don't know, but I guess it worked," Weiss replies. "I guess she's still got some surprises in her."
Vale, Vale
Office Building, Commercial District
18:50 hours
Roman crouches down and holds up the bloodied body of the civilian that the White Fang grunt, whose name he still hasn't gotten from Cinder, blew away. His face is painted red from laying in the pool of his blood.
"Fucking animal," he says. "We had a chance to get a kill that would put three AURA suits out of commission, and he fucks it up. And he looked like a nice fellow."
He turns to Cinder, who is sitting in an office chair, foot propped on a desk. She's fishing for the bullet with a pair of tweezers.
"Don't you think he looked like a nice fellow?" Roman shouts to her, holding up the body. "Before he got gutted by the savage, I mean."
"Shut. The. Fuck. Up," Cinder snarls. Roman drops the body and walks over to her.
"What, still angry about getting shot up while wearing your little super suit?" he asks. Cinder grits her teeth and pulls the tweezers with a groan. She drops the tweezers and the bullet.
"The only thing that can make me angry is you, Roman," she says. She starts wrapping her foot in gauze.
"Why, because I was the only one in that room with any common sense?" he says.
"You can see their cloaked outline, so what? Anyone can do that."
"I also never stood still waiting to be shot. I used cover like a sane person."
"And got your pathetic ass handed to you by a Faunus," Cinder counters.
"Hey, that was no human-raised animal," he says. "That bitch grew up on the border. Probably a militia member that snuck into the Kingdoms.
"She's a former Fang member."
"...or she's a former employee of mine, same thing."
"No, she deserted long before you became leader."
"And yet, I still don't care. The point is, this should've been an easy fight; snipe one rookie, get three more rookies out of AURA, they die later on in normal uniforms. And yet, they slipped away. Wasn't that the same squad that hit Tukson?"
"Yes, same ones. And it should've been easy. You were so stupid, what were you thinking?"
"What?"
"They're amateurs, but they can still take damage. At least pretend that you don't underestimate them, I can't afford anymore of your screw ups."
"Understood. So now what?" Cinder finishes bandaging her wound, puts her boot on, and stands up.
"We can't allow the Hunters to stay in the field any longer," she says. "Let's activate our sleeper agents, see if we can't stir some controversy. If not, then at least their numbers will be cut heavily."
"Done," Roman says.
The pair walk to the roof, where Neo is waiting for them in a Kazan Ansat helicopter.
"Can I suggest an additional course of action?" Roman asks as they climb into the chopper.
"Probably not a well thought out one, but go ahead," Cinder replies.
"In case the sleepers don't bring down the Hunter Program, I'd like to, how do I say it, capture and torture a Hunter. Might kill them, might not. Depends on how annoying their scream is." Cinder thinks about it for a moment.
"When you say torture, you don't mean government sanctioned techniques, do you?" she clarifies. Roman smiles.
"I'm a fucking gangster, of course not. I don't want to just waterboard them, cause physical pain. I want to crush their soul, brainwash them. Some of the stuff I have in mind I learned from Neo." Neo turns around and looks into the cabin, still smiling.
"You want to do to a Hunter what happened to Neo?" Cinder asks. The girl looks between the two adults.
"Hell yes," Roman answers. Cinder nods slowly.
"Have any particular Hunters in mind?"
"Yes, I want that red one. She pisses me off."
"I know what you mean," Cinder says, eyeing her boot. "Alright, go ahead with planning, but the sleepers hit them first."
"Whatever you say, boss," Roman says, and signals Neo to take off. She turns around and starts turning on the engines, but keeps listening to the conversation with her heightened hearing.
"So what's with Neo, anyway?" Cinder asks in a lowered voice. "Why the smile?"
"Some experiment by Coalition scientists, I'm guessing a decade ago. They kidnap orphans and try and create new Faunus. All super secret, of course. I'm willing to bet even their superiors didn't know about it.
"That's impossible, all the data of the original Faunus were destroyed by the zealots. Nothing remains."
"Yeah, hence the smile. Apparently they did a lot of guessing, trial and error and whatnot. High body count. From what I've gathered, they severed Neo's larynx during some sort of surgery, which is why she's not much of a talker. The smile is from a bad stitch job when the scientists were putting her face back together. Very painful, I imagine."
Neo nods to herself, and lifts the chopper into the air.