The Town's Plight
The nevermore screeches as it goes to ram the ship.
"You guys, I got a plan but it's a bit extreme..." Says Malak.
"What is it?" Asks Ully.
"Well how well is your shooting when you're in a plane and Revan how do you feel about flying?"
"Shooting on the move is no different. All I got to do is adjust my aim."
"Don't care for it."
"Get close to me." Malak gets close to the door. Ulysses when I say so shoot at the Nevermore."
Revan moves to Malak. "What is the plan?"
"Explanation would be nice." Says Ully.
"I'm going to bring Revan closer to the Nevermore to do some damage then pull him out. Afterwards I want you and Jasper to snipe that over sized crow."
"Seems reasonable if that doesn't work then I can try something."
"Got it"
"Wait I'm going to be riding a nevermore again?" Malak opens the door then jumps out with Revan, his jet pack then activates and they head towards the nevermore. The nevermore slows down and fires a barrage of feathers at the ship. Malak gets closer to the nevermore and prepares to drop Revan
"You ready?"
"No."
"Well we don't really have much of choice at this point. Don't worry, if you fall I'll catch you." Malak gets on top of the Nevermore then drops Revan on top of it. The pilot takes evasive maneuvers to keep the ship from being destroyed while Revan lands on top of the head and starts firing at its head. The nevermore screeches in pain and does a spin move causing Revan to fall off. Malak flies down and saves Revan from his plummet and puts him back up on top of it again. Afterwards he assists Revan against the Nevermore by turning his rifle to a claymore to attack it's wings. The nethermore screeches in pain as its left wing is weakened and it tries to keep afloat.
"Ulysses shoot it now!" Malak picks Revan away from the Nevermore. Ully took aim at its head and shot it causing the nevermores eye to explode out and the nevermore falls to the ground before disintegrating.
Malak returns to the ship and once inside he closes the door behind him "Well that was unexpected..."
"Let's never fly again. I wonder where our fearless hunter mentor was at." Says Revan.
"Maybe at the back of the ship."
"Good to see he didn't even gave a shit about the sound."
"He was probably seeing how we handled it." Suggested Ully.
"Like insane people." Says Revan.
"You would think he would show up after our engagement." Says Malak.
"I let you do your job. If you couldn't" Argent emerges without armor "I would've." Revan was about to sass back at Argent but notices the grimm scratches on Argent's face and says nothing.
"Fine work out there gentlemen. I'm glad you can improvise when need be." he speaks louder "and great flying up there. I only hit my head 4 times." on the PA the pilot speaks
"Up yours sir." Argent smirks at the pilot's comment.
"You all should eat. Fighting is very calorie burning." Says Argent.
"I like this pilot." Says Revan smiling.
"I only flew around..." Says Malak.
"You took its left wing out."
"While flying..."
"And got me to location. Sometimes the MVP is the support."
"You did your jobs. All of you. Now goodnight." Everyone goes the fuck to sleep, time passes and they disembark at a village. Argent says goodbye to the pilot who takes off. "The tundra is well below 0 degrees. All right, let's start investigating. We need to see where we can find the train."
"Shouldn't be too hard to spot." Says Malak.
"You assume it's here." Says Argent.
"How hard can it be?" Jasper says as he shrugs.
"No, I assume that seeing in general shouldn't be too hard."
"The cold isn't making it any easier that's for sure." Says Vince.
Argent allowed himself a smirk under his helmet "Well you are at a disadvantage." he nods to the crowd of people staring, wide eyed, whispering to each other.
(That's the Demon of the North...Huntsmen? here? We ain't done nothing...mama I'm scared...)
"Why are these people staring at us? Because of you?" Says Revan.
"Seems like our chaperone has a reputation we haven't heard of." Says Vince.
"You seem to be correct. My reputation may be slightly inflated however. They think the Demon bit is evil. I got it from killing a whole army of grimm ranging from Beowolves to Deathstalkers. If you believe that kind of story. Besides that, these people don't have very much contact with the outside world. And it would appear Huntsmen have abused their power here."
"Well then in that case, I say we get this job finished quickly before anything crazy happen." Says Malak.
"That would be preferred. Ill back off, so I won't give you a terrible disadvantage. I'm afraid even taking off my helmet would only make it worse. You've seen my...marks." Argent walks away from them to go off on his own
"Where shall we start?" Asks Jasper.
"I say we split up. Me and Revan will scout the northern and eastern outskirts of the town, while you, Vincent and Ulysses will go to the southern and western sections."
"Aye aye captain. Let's go boys." Malak and Revan head to the outskirts of town and begins to patrol the area to find the train.
"What do you think could be on that train?" Asks Malak.
"Drugs piles and piles of drugs. Let's go get some." Replies Revan.
"Bad Revan." To the North of the two, there is the town center.
"Alright, maybe we can talk to people to see if they know anything about this train."
"Sounds like a you plan." Says Revan.
Malak approaches the first person he sees "Excuse me but have you heard anything of a missing train?"
It's a man in a parka like jacket "Train? No didn't hear nothing." he walks away from Malak. Another man walks up to Malak "Are you Atlas?"
"I am Atlesian, sir."
"I don't care if you Jamayan (complete gibberish) I need to know if you're the guards from Atlas. You don't look military, but what do I know."
"Yes we are. Why do you ask?"
"Bout damn time! You know I've had it enough with all your coverups! We know these "Grimm attacks" are lies! Now are you going to actually fix this raiding or not!? No one will send us supplies, if the trains keep getting attacked!"
"Well that's the thing sir, we've known about the attacks that's been happening for awhile now and we've tried to supplies down but they've been all attacked and stolen before they could make it here. So we tried to set up a trap by sending another train filled with guards and a tracking beacon. But unfortunately that went missing too and now we're here."
The man shakes his head "Well then I hope you have a better idea." he walks away
"That could've gone better..." Says Malak.
"It could have gotten a lot worse too I think we got lucky." Says Revan.
"Want to have a go and ask too?"
"Sure." There's an elderly woman in the vicinity of Malak and Revan
" ask her."
"I got this." Revan goes to the elderly woman. "Well hello there pretty lady. How are you doing on this fine cold day?" she looks up at Revan.
"How can I help you?"
"Well me and my friend over there are wondering about the missing trains and I think a smart lady like you maybe able to help."
"Oh...I don't know much unfortunately...*she looks down* My grandson never came back…"
"Your grandson?" Malak listens in to the conversation. She sighs and sits down on a bench leaning on her cane a bit.
"Jobs are hard to come by. After the first couple of trains were raided, Atlas started hiring citizens. Said the military couldn't be bothered with this. Rusty was trying to look out for me." she smiles weakly "He took the job. He never came back."
"Well ma'am me and my friend over there are here to stop these attacks and find every missing person. if there is anything you can tell me anything at all it will help greatly." she offers a smile to Revan.
"Forgive me I wasn't clear. Rusty came home. And I buried him in the tundra." her eyes began to water. "You probably want the depot in the East."
"I'm so sorry for your loss ma'am I'll make sure he didn't die in vain." Revan goes to malak "the depot to the east is where we want to go."
The old lady waves them goodbye takes a minute to compose herself and carries on her way.
"Alright then." Extends his arm "grab my arm."
"Don't make this weird."
"Just grab my hand"
Revan grabs his arm. "This is weird."
"I know..." Malak's jetpack activates and lifts the two up from the ground then travels to the depot. The trip doesn't take long and the group lands at the depot and he let's go of his arm
"What's up with the flying? Is walking too hard?"
"Walking takes too long"
"What ever let's go do some detective work."
Meanwhile when Vince and Jasper set off to scout their side of the town. "Lets hope nothing too much for us to handle shows up to ruin our little hunt." Says Vince.
"Oh no. You just jinxed it." Says Jasper jokingly.
"That was the plan, we can't build up our skills without combat can we?"
"Fair point. Maybe i'll find out what my semblance is today. Who knows. Shall we go West or South first Vince?"
"I saaaaaaaay...south. Chances are it might be like one percent warmer down there."
"Deal." The two make their way and start patrolling and come upon a Pub
"Hey vince looks like a nice pub. Shall we ask the locals about the train or keep lookin?"
"I mean we aren't getting anything out of the iced ground. Let's see if the locals know anything and maybe we go get some hot chocolate as well." Jasper walks in after his teammates approval and orders a small drink. He calls to the bartender.
"Hey. Hows it goin?"
The bar flies stare at them the bartender fills the orders and then speaks to Jasper "Are you looking for your friend" he thumbs to a corner.
"My friend?" Jasper says as he looks towards the corner. Argent raises his glass to Jasper and flashes him a plastic smile. A huge meal lays before him.
"Oh so that's where you are," Vincent says as he tosses his Lien on the bar counter.
"Oh. Hey!" He calls out waving towards Argent before walking over. "You already ask this bar for any information about the train?" Argent takes a swig of his ale
"Oh I'm already aware of where we need to go." he takes a bite of his food
"Awesome. As soon as you're done we can get the rest of the group and finish the mission."
"You're pretty peppy aren't you? Most people would be relatively upset if they found out they had been sent on a wild goose chase. If Revan had found me, his anger would've attracted another Nevermore."
"I don't doubt it." Says Jasper.
"So any leads for us to follow? Or do we keep on looking." Asks Vince.
"Well, I think the General Store to the West may have a good lead for you to follow up on."
"Didn't you say you knew where it was?" Asks Jasper.
"Of course I do." he sips his ale and smiles at them.
Jasper hangs his head low, "Ok... Let's go Vince and Ulysses." He says as he heads towards the General Store. At the general store, people are talking without noticing the trio walking in (I heard that it was a grimm in the skin of a man...I heard it was a man in grimm skin...It definitely ain't grimm...One conductor lasted a long time, he told me it was a group of men...)
"Aaaalright so if any you don't mind would you please tell me and my compatriots here the location any trains or train related objects nearby?" Says Vince. The crowd turns around in surprise and hurries past them. Only the clerk remains.
"Why do you want to know?" his eyes squint in scrutiny as he reaches under the counter.
"Woah man. We come in peace. We're here to stop the train attacks." Says Jasper raising his hands to try to pacify the clerk.
"And why should I believe you? if the stories are true, I hear the trains being attacked by a group of young men. Funny how such a group showed upon the day a train is due. Maybe I should end the raiding here and now."
"Two things, one if we were the ones that are raiding the trains, you wouldn't be able to stop us. Two, " Jasper shows his beacon school ID. "we're from beacon, if you know where that is."
"We pride ourselves in being a bunch of respectable upstanding students and would never stoop as low as to attack the defenseless. Maybe you might be thinking of the white fang or something." Vincent says confidently with his hands at his sides.
The clerk scrutinizes over the ID "I'm sorry." he places his hands on the counter revealing that he had a stick under the counter "It's just with the way it's all been lately, it's enough to make a man see monsters. How can I help you boys? And what are you doing up here."
"It's fine. I understand the tension. We were wondering if you knew where we could find the train?" Asks Jasper. The clerk points to the east.
"There's a depot there. The trains scheduled to stop for refueling."
"Thank you very much sir. We'll try to settle this quickly." Jasper says before he heads out.
"...be safe."
Jasper approaches the depot and sees Argent once again. "Welp finally got the info." He tells Argent.
"I would hope so. I thought it would be obvious to find the depot, but I wanted you to hear the plight of this town."
"Yeah we got the message loud and clear, let's go catch us some bad guys." Says Vince.
"Glad you could join us." Argent says as Malak and Revan arrive right after Jasper and Vince. "The train should be arriving any minute now." At that moment the train appears. "Right bad time to mention but." The staff gets off to refuel "Atlas doesn't know we're here. I may have lied about that bit. And that may involve something illegal...Ever steal a train before?"
"Come again?" Jasper asks confused
"I like where this is going." first a train then the world Revan thinks "I'm down."
"No time to explain just follow my lead. Make sure that there's no one but us on board. Ready, go!" Argent runs and leaps through the window of the first compartment.
"What the he-" the conductor says as he gets put out the window gently as Argent starts the train. It starts to take off. The staff yell and try to jump on the train to stop the thief. Malak jetpacks into a window to get on board. Revan charges in right after Argent.
"Wow when did you become cool."
"Wait...what?!" Vincent says out loud before shaking his head and jumping on to the train. (Is this what Beacon is suppose to teach its kids?). Jasper runs after the train and gets on top after Vince. None of the staff make and the train departs. Argent takes his helmet off
"Sorry for the deception. Atlas refused our help and as some of you may know have taken to hiring the populace to protect a train full of Atlas equipment from greedy murderers. We had to take it by force and pose as the staff to draw them out. These attackers are cowards."
"I agree atlas is weak." Says Revan nodding.
"Well so long as being thief stays off the record then I'm fine." Says Malak.
"Record? You actually think that exists?" Says Revan.
"We attend an academy of course we have a record." Adds Vince.
"I came from Atlas. There's a record for everything." Says Malak.
"Wow you guys still believe in Santa Claus too. Only thing they care about is if we get the job done and have no innocents killed."
"That's when you're a fully registered huntsman, as of now we still got a curfew to follow." Says Vince.
Argent sits in the conductor's chair. "You're not the only Atlesian here. You know what I was taught when I went there? You're only in trouble if you get caught." he smirks and looks ahead "Ozpin won't take any action against us. In fact, he told me to steal the train. Atlas on the other hand. May not be so forgiving." he drifts off into his thought "While we are on the subject of dishonesty, I have to confess to something. What I told you on the way over, that wasn't true. Ozpin picked you guys for a reason. He wanted to see how you guys could do under pressure. He wanted to know where your real loyalties lie. And it seems like it's to your job. Huntsmen don't have a country or a national flag. I know now you're dedicated to doing your job. Ozpin cares immensely about you. He cares about all his students. Now pull up a chair and relax. The times of the attack vary, so I can't tell you when to be ready, so be on guard always."
"And what do you think about us Argent?" Revan says as he sits down.
"Yeah, I'd like to hear your opinion on the team." Adds Malak. Argent turns to them.
"My opinion? On you guys?"
"Yes and the real honesty this time." Says Revan. Argent shrugs at the question.
"Don't know. Words are fine, I guess. I won't know until I've seen you on an actual mission. School doesn't prep you for such things."
"Yes words are fine." Says Revan. Malak takes a seat then begins to clean his rifle
"Well I guess I'll have to wait till I get my after action report," Vincent says before sitting down in a corner.
Three days pass with nothing happening.
"THIS IS SO BORING. IT'S JUST BEEN SNOW FOR DAYS." says Revan giving into his boredom.
"Do you think they know we are hunters?" Asks Jasper.
Argent rubs his temples. "Really, I hadn't gotten that from the last hundred times you've said it Revan. And I'm not sure. The latest a train was hit about a day away from their stop."
"That could explain the lack of attacks, anyhow we should prepare for anything. The wait is giving me some serious anxiety here." Says Vince.
"Anxiety is good, it keeps you on you-" Argent starts as he looks at the camera feed and quickly puts his helmet on. "We just lost the cameras."