And, so, after a long period of waiting, it is finally finished. Once more, I'm very sorry for the delay in chapters for this story. They are just VERY long and I get side-tracked by things easily. Thank you very much to the folks that have been patiently waiting and wondering where the next chapter is, and still stuck around. I will try my very best to have this NOT take another four months this time. I hope it all runs together well, too, as this is about four months of off and on writing here.
As well, I just want to say that this story has definitely split off from the show in a major way, so I apologize if some of the logic behind things isn't like the show or new characters aren't included. I started this series nearly two years ago. x0 I don't think that will be an issue, but just in case it is for any of you, I'm sorry about that!

Anyway! Without further ado, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy!

"Weiss had to change a diaper. That's… awesome. I would have paid MONEY to see that happen, Blake."

"I agree. I would have expected her to try and get Ruby to do it, to be honest." Blake replies to her girlfriend, a rather tired Anna nuzzling into the faunus' chest closely. As she had expected, Ruby had tuckered the little girl out to quite a degree. She fully expected an uninterrupted night of sleeping for their daughter. She would have to make arrangements like this more often. Especially since Ruby seemed to enjoy it. Weiss… less so, but she still had a smile on her face.

Yang laughs in response, glancing back to Blake slowly. "At least she's getting more used to kids, yeah?"

Blake glances over to the other woman slowly, ears giving a small twitch as her eyes watch her girlfriend carefully. "She seems to be grooming Weiss for children, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, she totally wants them. Told me while I was still preggers." Yang says with a nod. "She just knows that Weiss is busy and isn't exactly comfortable around children. She'll probably talk to her about it after that event of Weiss'."

"That's happening relatively soon, isn't it? It would have to be, she's been working on it for so long..."

"I think it's goin' down next week? Maybe? Yeah, pretty sure that's when it's happening. Gonna be a big deal, y'know. It's already a big deal and the day hasn't even come, yet. Ya got people all over either praising, arguing, or downright hating it."

"It means a great deal to me that she's this determined to grant us rights. And, she's doing it in such a way that no one gets hurt. People are going to get pissed off about the change, but… at least it's not bluntly forceful. Everything is done legally."

"I just hope people don't see it as a joke, y'know? Politicians are just snakes in suits, most of the time."

"You're not wrong."

"Wish I was, sometimes, but what are ya gonna do?" The blonde says with a shrug, then shaking her head quickly. "Nah, not gonna get like that. Not after the night we've had. This is happy night. This is 'we just went on a kick-ass date and have an awesome kid to come back to' night. Let's not talk about how heavy things are around everything."

She looks over when she feels the light collision of the side of Blake's head with her shoulder, the other woman leaning on her just a bit. "No complaint, here."

When they finally reach their front door, the door is quickly unlocked and the mothers step inside with a sigh of contentment. "Nice to take a break, but I gotta say I was missin' home a bit."

"It was good for you. You see? Anna was perfectly fine and you were able to have some time to yourself. No need to worry." Blake says with a smile, leaning up to give her girlfriend a kiss on the lips. "I'm going to go put the little one to bed. Don't go anywhere, though… I have plans for you."

"Ohh~ I like the sound of that..." Yang purrs, giving the smallest of nips back to the faunus. "I'll be here."

Blake gives her that sly, sexy expression that, quite honestly, turns her to complete goo as she walks toward the stairs. When she disappears up them, Yang lets out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Wow."

She really had to wonder how she got with such a hottie, sometimes.

Deciding to stroll around the house while waiting for Blake, she is slightly surprised when she hears the phone start ringing. With wide eyes, she bolts to where it is and quickly answers it. Though, she doesn't acknowledge the person on the other line until she's sure she doesn't hear the screaming of a grumpy Anna. When she does, her voice is almost a hiss of breath. "This better be good!"

"Oh, hey! It's Coco… Er… Sorry."

"Coco, I love you, but if you would have woken Anna up from what will be a very good sleep for her? I would have shoved your gun up your ass."

"Sheesh. Don't even buy me dinner, first. Pretty rude, Xiao Long."

Yang can't help the smile that comes to her face, despite her slight annoyance at what almost occurred. Coco was just that good a friend of hers. "So, what did ya want, anyway? And, how'd your dinner with Velvet go?"

"Great! The food was prepared to perfection and Velvs is gorgeous, as ever. Nice, romantic meal, just like my girl likes. Actually, she was getting herself all ready..."

"Ohhh, is she whippin' out the silky jammies?"

"What can I say? I'm just that smooth~"

"Well… If Velvet's whippin' out the silky jammies, why in the hell would you want to talk to me? Go jump on her, girl!"

"Well, I had to tell you something weird I just got over the phone. Apparently there's a call going out for hunter's and huntresses to deal with a situation. Specifically non-faunus hunters and huntresses. It's real a real quiet kind of job."

Yang raises an eyebrow slowly, not expecting the oddness of that requirement. "Why the call for humans, though?"

"I've got no clue. What they gave me to go on wasn't much. Subtle hints of a quarantine, somewhere.. Something about Grimm? Other than that, nothing. At least, that's what Jaune told me. Whatever it is, it must be pretty big for everyone to want to keep it under wraps so badly."

"I got ya. Hm. I dunno if I can, though, Coco. I've got Anna to take care of, y'know?"

"I know. I just thought I'd tell you about it to think about. Talk it over with Blake and, if you're interested, give me a call in the morning."

"I will. Heh, what's Velvet's opinion on you going?"

"She doesn't like it. Says she's got a bad feeling about it, for some reason. But, we agreed that I'll check it out. I get a chance to redeem not spending the weekend together by way of massages, tonight. Huh? Oh, it's just Yang. Heh. Trust me, Velvs, I'll be in. You just get your cute little butt in the bed~"

Yang smiles as she hears this side of the conversation, though she can hear the faint sound of Velvet's accent if she listens hard enough. Coco comes back to the conversation after a few moments, her voice sounding a touch happier. "Anyway, yeah. Talk it over and get back to me. Now, uh… Excuse me for cutting this conversation short, but my girlfriend is drawing patterns on my back with her fingers and it's VERY distracting. See ya!"

She hears an abrupt click, causing her to grin and laugh to herself. She really hadn't known quite how sensual Velvet actually was until Coco. Especially how much she seemed to like driving Coco absolutely crazy.

"Heh… Those two- Yaa!" She squeaks in surprise, suddenly feeling two arms wrap around her waist and tug her back. Though, she immediately settles as she feels a gentle nuzzling into her hair… along with a soft purring.

"Scared you, did I?"

"Sheesh, Blake… You'd think I'd be used to you doin' this, by now. I don't know how you manage to do that every single time..."

"I'm good at what I do. Who was that on the phone?"

"First. How did Anna react?"

"She stayed asleep. Ruby really wore her out, it seems. Not even a sniffle or sound."

"Attagirl. Uh.. It was Coco. Apparently, there's a mission calling a whole bunch of hunters and huntresses together. Some sort of quarantine area we need to get into. Catch is.. no faunus, apparently."

She can feel Blake's face moving, chin now resting on her shoulder. "Hm. Well, you did say 'quarantine'. Maybe it involves something deadly to faunus..."

"Maybe. I guess we'll get more details when we get there. Coco wanted me to talk it over with you about going… Maybe I shouldn't. Anna..."

"...will be perfectly fine with me, Yang."

"But, I don't wanna leave you two here all alone..."

"If I somehow become lonely in the presence of my own child, I can just call Velvet over. I'm guessing she'll be fairly free, too." Blake says with a gentle smile, leaning in to kiss the blonde's neck. "We'll be fine. You go make sure everything's alright."

"Okay. I'll call Coco in the morning. But, for now?"

"Yes?"

"You're mine." Yang says with a grin, spinning herself around to push Blake back. She stumbles and trips backward onto the couch, Yang walking over to her before crawling on top. Though, the black-haired woman is soon smirking as a purr rumbles through her chest. Her tail lightly curls around Yang's leg, brushing the skin slowly.

"Prove it."

"Hey, Rubes! I didn't know you'd be here, too!" Yang says with a grin, further stepping inside the main area of the building. Coco had been more than happy to drive Yang over, in the absence of Blake, both of them only getting lost once on their way here. Upon hearing her, Ruby spins around, mirrors Yang's grin, and hops up to give her older sister a big hug.

"Same here!" Ruby says with a laugh, putting her hood down and shaking her short hair out. "I thought you'd be all tired, after last night!"

"Oh, I manage. Speaking of tired, how's your ball and chain doin'?"

"She's doing just fine, Yang." An icy voice comes from just behind Weiss Ruby, the redhead stepping aside to reveal Weiss as she steps up. Wow, she looks… tired. Yang had been joking, but Weiss really looked like she could she could use a few day's more rest than she's gotten. "I'd appreciate not being referred to as such."

"Ease down, Weiss, it was just a joke." Yang says with a smile, though anyone could see the concern in it. Coco, who hadn't seen Weiss in person for a while, also looks a little surprised. "Hey, are you… okay? You look pretty overworked. And, kinda bothered."

Ruby's eye quickly flashes over to Weiss, whose own eyes just dull a bit in response. "It's nothing. I am overworked, but it's toward a good cause. I'll have a nice, long sleep when it's all over with."

"Is everything going alright with the planning? That's next week, isn't it?"

"Indeed. And, the politicians are stubborn, as ever, to come in for good reasons. Granted, some are. But, most are coming to it as a PR stunt to gain more praise without doing a thing or coming to watch it fail. Some are just scared of the backlash. I'm having far more luck with activist groups and faunus in the wealthier side of things. I finally got the differing faunus tribes to agree in coming, so that's something. It's frustrating."

"Yeesh."

"Yeesh doesn't even begin to explain it, Yang. And, now, we've got whatever this is to deal with. As if there isn't already enough going on."

"Wait, Weiss… Don't you not do huntress work anymore?"

Ruby looks back to Weiss again, though the same cool and impassive expression stays on her face. Something was up. She just got that feeling, especially with how worried Ruby seemed to be. And, when Ruby was worried, it was only natural that she was going to want to know why.

"This sounded important. And, they no doubt needed skilled huntresses, of which I am. Ruby was going, so I figured that I should go with her. Simple as that."

Yang looks between the two skeptically, not quite sure about Weiss just going because of the 'need for skilled huntresses'. Because, if she knew anything about Weiss, it was that she was rather good at hiding things. Almost as good at hiding things as Blake was. But, they both had telltale signs that something was up. For Blake, it was a very subtle twitching of her ears. For Weiss, however, it was the fact that her face became cool and let nothing pass through it.

Probably some sort of remnant of her childhood, where she had to be this way on a consistent basis.

She opens her mouth to question further when a hush suddenly goes through all the hunters and huntresses in front of them, eyes glancing over slowly to see Ozpin walking into the building. As always, Glynda is right by his side and wearing a stern expression. Both of them are obviously older, but haven't seemed to have lost a bit of their stride. Ozpin looks relaxed… while still being worried enough to bring all new concerns to the forefront of the blonde's mind.

Ozpin didn't tend to be worried by a great many things.

He smiles warmly when he sees Ruby and Weiss, giving them a nod of his head. "Good morning, Ruby. Ah, Weiss. I haven't seen you since the wedding. How have things been going?"

"With us? Just fine." Weiss says with a smile. "Just busy, as usual."

"Your plight isn't lost on deaf ears, I assure you. Things have been… quite unusual, as of late."

"Ozpin… What's been going on? Why did you call us all here?"

"It will be easier to tell you all at the same time. There is a mission that requires all our attention. Can I have everyone's attention, please?" He calls out, walking past the group and up to the front. "We've got a problem with one of the villages. I'm sure you're wondering why initial details were so scarce. That is because there is already a high amount of panic there… and we don't need more."

A murmur goes through the crowd before Glynda silences them with a shush.

"As you know, the whole town has been quarantined and the Grimm are somehow involved. All that is true. We have yet to figure out how this has happened, but the people there are exhibiting signs of some sort of disease that stems from Grimm. And, it's spreading quickly. That would be problem enough, as well as a just cause for hunter involvement. But, that isn't the only reason..."

He takes a slow sip at the ever-present coffee in his hand. "The plague only affects humans."

Yang blinks a few times in response, glancing over to Coco quickly. She's wearing a similar look of concern on her face, seemingly not liking the sound of this either.

"The problem falls between the humans and the faunus, in that region. Some humans are blaming the faunus for the plague… and some faunus are taking the state of the village as an opportunity. Innocent people on both sides are caught in the crossfire and it won't be getting any better without a mitigating hand. That will be all of you. We've asked for human members so as not make the situation more tense than it already is."

Yang can't help but speak up, crossing her arms on her chest. "How so?"

"As much as I hate to say it, sending any of our faunus hunters might cause more trouble from the human side. I don't want any of them to be hurt by someone with a vendetta placing the blame on them, Miss Xiao Long. I'm sure you understand."

She's about to say that she's sure that they could handle it with friends at their side, but doesn't open her mouth. "Yeah."

"I do apologize for the secrecy on this matter, everyone. And, for the… less than ideal circumstances. But, we will need to do what we can for these people, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in. Discover what we can about this plague and repair the village. We'll be splitting you up into small squads to send in waves. The first team will make contact with the villager leader and set up places to let the other transports land, then help out how they can. Second team will begin securing the area and lend further aid, try to find out where the virus might be coming from. When the first two teams have cooled things down, we'll send all the rest… Is that clear?"

Nods come from the hunters and huntresses, looking slightly unsure but determined in their desire to help.

"Very well. Let's split off into teams. First team..."

It was quite a long trip to this out-of-the-way village, with the squad of hunters taking short rests all throughout it. Weiss hadn't done this sort of thing in far too long, getting down in the mud with her fellow hunters and huntresses, and was getting a small measure of air sickness from the speed of the transport. She supposed that having a job in business had softened her tolerance to such things.

Ruby is humming to herself, the red headphones that she carried on every trip blasting some manner of rock music into her ears. She really wishes that her wife would take more caution with her own hearing.

Everyone here seems to have some sort of ritual to prepare them for touchdown, save Weiss. Pyrrha is doing some form of meditation, her bright red locks of hair falling over her face as she takes steady breaths. Jaune's leg hasn't stopped moving this whole time, his hand stroking his chin as he mutters things to himself.

She feels this immense need to break the silence, for some reason. Perhaps out of her own awkwardness on being in a hunter mission for the first time in a year or so… or perhaps to divert her attentions from the fiddling she's been doing.

"So… Who's watching Sophia?"

Jaune glances at Pyrrha before turning his attentions to Weiss (as the redhead makes no attempt at conversation). "We got Yatsuhashi to watch her for a bit. It's a win-win. Yatsuhashi loves kids and Sophia loves training with him."

"Why not Nora and Ren?"

"They're on a different mission. Down in a jungle, somewhere, if I'm remembering right."

"They… seem to take on a lot of missions, don't they? It feels like they're always working. I had to get them to clear out some space in their schedule ahead of time in order to have them available to guard the faunus rights event."

"That's just the way they are, I guess. It helps that they have an iron-clad agreement to follow each other on every mission. So, sometimes you're getting two professional huntsman for the price of one. They get called on a lot of missions, as you can guess."

"It makes enough sense… Hm. What's Pyrrha doing? I don't recall her ever meditating so… deeply."

"Oh, that..." He replies, taking a glance back over to Pyrrha. "She says it helps her conserve energy, makes her more prepared if we run into trouble right off the transport."

"You think we'll encounter trouble?"

"Well, from what I've heard and Ozpin has told us, this place is a quarantine zone. And, tensions between faunus and human are getting pretty strained. So… we could encounter hostile people."

"Right. Because the faunus aren't getting sick."

"Exactly. I'm hoping it won't come to that, though. We've got to do our best to get people to let cooler heads prevail. I have to tell you, I really hope that event of yours goes well. Otherwise, it looks like we're teetering on the edge of an all-out racial war. Things like this happening aren't helping, either."

"Are relations really breaking down that quickly? Great… At least those elitist faunus have all but disappeared. I was worried their ideals would latch on and find a following, for a time."

"Elitist faunus?"

"Yes. They were a small group that began to speak of things like faunus superiority and other such conflict-producing speech. They had this idea that humans were inferior to faunus, that they were the next step in the evolutionary process. So, naturally, that would do a lot to anger racist humans and bring some to unease. That's why we need everyone to have the same rights. Things like this tend to spill out, when one group is over another. It's a tightrope that is very difficult to traverse, trying to get everyone to work together."

"Well, let's just hope that more people start thinking like you. Relations haven't been this tense since the White Fang turned to terrorism. But, this time… it's like each side is waiting for the other to make a move. "

A sudden motion draws Weiss' attention, Pyrrha standing up to her full height and glancing to the door. "We are entering the plague zone. Masks on, everyone." She says, walking up to the transport door and giving it a sharp tap.

"I love it when you get all serious on me." Jaune says with a chuckle, standing slowly to his feet and walking toward the amazon with a smile. She rolls her eyes and gives him a light punch in the shoulder, though Weiss can see her smile very clearly. At least they could remain light when heading out on missions.

She turns her head back to see Ruby as she stands up to stretch, the redhead sighing contentedly at the satisfying 'pop' in her back. Well, wasn't THAT an alluring sight… "Whoo… Worst thing about bein' a huntress? The waiting on transports. Definitely. You doin' okay, honey? I know you haven't been on one in a while..."

"I'm fine. I wish the pilot would refrain from shaking the whole ship with his maneuvers, but other than that issue..." Weiss answers, watching as Pyrrha and Jaune place on their masks over their faces.

Pyrrha, naturally, only needs to lift her hand to manipulate the metal into floating in the air, slipping onto her face with little other input from her needed. Her mask has been painted with bright red and gold colorings, giving a small hiss as it clicks into place and the huntress begins to breathe through it. Jaune's mask hisses in place soon afterward, his more of a silver color, and he bangs his fist on the transport.

Ruby and Weiss make haste in putting on their own masks, each hissing as they move onto their faces. She had to admit that they were very well made and comfortable, turning the slightly muggy air of the transport into cool, crisp air fresh for her lungs. A crackle of a communication unit makes it's presence known, to be used at her leisure. Just as they get their masks on, the transport doors shoot open with a clatter and give them a broad view of the town as they fly through the air.

Pyrrha places her weapon on her back, gives her hands a quick shake (which are promptly used to give Jaune a smack on the butt as she turns away) and leaps from the transport with a light grunt. Not to be outdone, Ruby moves forward and surges from the same opening in a burst of petals. Weiss' eyes narrow a little, a low sigh hissing from her mask. "I told her to wait for me. What was the FIRST thing I told her?" She says in a mutter, getting into a crouch as she readies her weapon.

In an instant, she has shot from the transport (hearing Jaune calling out 'right… guess I'll just stick with the pilot, then!' behind her) and begins to use glyphs to slow her descent. Her glyph skills are just a tad rusty from under-use, but they are more than enough to get her around. She glances over to see Pyrrha shoot her arms out, a sort of liquid metal spraying from her gauntlets. With a wave of her hand, the falling liquid forms into a solid disk of metal that she guides to her feet.

Keeping the motions of her hands steady, she wills it to stop her fall and float into the air. With this in place, she is able to easily float down toward the ground. Weiss has to admit that Pyrrha's mastery over metal has become very efficient since she saw it last.

As petals begin to flick past her face, her eyes move toward her wife. Ruby has activated her semblance to shoot through the air with seemingly reckless abandon. Though, she knows her wife too well from missions they had done together before. Despite going at speeds that anyone would deem as dangerous, Ruby's silver eye was analyzing the area for all the different ways she could land safely.

Weiss' thoughts are only proven true as Crescent Rose is quickly taken out and snapped into scythe position, the blade jamming into a sturdy tree. The wood creaks with the force and weight before Ruby is finally brought to a complete stop. Her mask crackles as she chuckles through it, her words coming into Weiss' communicator. "Well… I'm sure re-LEAFED that worked..."

"Ruby… I get MORE than enough puns from Yang. I don't need my wife spewing them at me, too." Weiss answers, grunting as a final glyph sends her safely to the ground. She can hear Ruby's laughing in her ear, the snapping of wood ringing out as she lands next to her.

"Yang would have made, like, five by now. Liiike… Oh! 'Rubes, that landing was OAK-ay', haha~"

"Ugh."

Pyrrha floats down to their position a few moments after they land. She hops off her disk, a swish of her hand reducing it back to a liquid form. It makes an uncomfortable sloshing sound as it moves back into her gauntlets. Her mask glints in the low sunlight as she looks toward the large gate at entrance of the town.

It was undoubtedly new in it's construction, looking no older than a few days.

They can see just beyond the gate, seeing smoke billowing up from inside and fires being raging in buildings. The large town wasn't as under control as it looked in front of the gate. Chaos was still rippling around inside, that was obvious. The sounds of panic drift over the walls, as well as the moans of the injured. This is… awful, just from the distance.

Weiss really doesn't want to imagine what it looks like on the inside.

There are a few guards in gas masks standing near the entrance (human, undoubtedly), fingers held tight on their guns. Especially when the three woman begin to walk closer.

"Halt! Identify yourself." One says in a gruff voice, the other guard shaking a little as he holds up his own gun.

"I am Pyrrha Niikos. My companions are Ruby and Weiss Rose. We are huntresses with authority to land here." The amazon answers smoothly, folding her arms across her chest. "Our other member is awaiting an area to land with the pilot and the other transport is on it's way. We were called here by your supervisor."

"You're not faunus, are ya?" The guard asks with a distinct and unapologetic note of distaste, glancing between all of their masks as if they were hiding long ears behind them.

The very question makes Weiss bristle, her own reply coming out before she can stop it. "And, what if we were, you cretin? You would refuse a free offer of help, simply because of a stupid thing like race?" Her voice asks, crackling under her mask as Ruby looks to her nervously.

"Lady, I dunno what your problem is or what you've been told… But, the faunus did this to us."

Weiss steps right up to him, seeming ten feet tall despite her actual size. The other guard actually takes a few steps back to avoid her, the one her sight is narrowed in on standing his ground firmly. "You condemn them because you can't find anyone else to blame and they're the easiest target. Isn't that right? You have no other reasons to blame them. I've seen it time and again. Faunus carrying undue superstition… You're wrong."

"That so? 'Cus, I don't see any faunus suffering from that disease, lady. I also don't see any humans looting the homes of the dead. Ain't that a coincidence? Not only that, but we don't have enough people to battle them back. We're sick because of them. Letting faunus live in our town was the biggest mistake we ever made."

"The actions of a minority have no weight to the majority!" Weiss says lowly, stepping right in close. "You damn well know that it would happen the other way around, if the disease infected faunus. There are cruel, sick people on both sides… So, don't you DARE blame all faunus for this."

The man leans in, his eyes narrowed behind the gas mask. "Whatever you say, lady. I'm just stating the facts. If you're going to side with the ones killing us, maybe we don't need your help as badly as you think."

"Weiss..."

She looks back at Ruby, who's unsure voice causes her to sigh and step back. Pyrrha takes over, talking to the two guards as Ruby comes up beside her wife. "We gotta help them, Weiss. Even if we don't like 'em. Arguing isn't going to make peace between the two. Have to find the way to get both sides well again."

"I know, Ruby, I just… I am so sick of people like that. I've talked to enough of them that it leaves a very sour taste in my mouth when just ONE more tries to squeeze their way in..."

"Hey… It'll be okay, alright?"

Weiss doesn't get the ability to answer, as Pyrrha calls them over as she opens her mouth to reply. She's communicating with Jaune as they pass into the town, the heavy sound of her boots clunking along the ground. "We're in, Jaune. I'll meet with this supervisor and get us a place to land the transports. Keep a presence in the sky."

"Gotcha. Be careful, Py."

"Worried about me, already? I haven't been down here five minutes, Jaune." Pyrrha coos affectionately, Jaune's awkward cough crackling over their communicators.

"Heh. Right, sorry. How's it looking down there?"

"We're passing into the town, now, so we haven't seen it up close. It looked pretty bad from a distance, though. I can't imagine it getting any better from here. What's the status on that other transport?"

"Just got a message from them. Yang said that the pilot's making a breakneck pace toward the town. They shouldn't be too much longer, if that's any indication."

"Very good. Keep a presence in the sky, until we can authorize a landing. These people are jumpy, and for good reason. Just the outside looked bad enough. That racial war we're on the verge of doesn't seem to be cooling any, in this region. I..." She trails off as they walk inside, looking around with concerned eyes.

It was even worse, inside, than it was outside.

Small fires were breaking out in houses, the shattering of glass signaling the bandits that the guard outside had mentioned to Weiss. The remaining guards seemed to be trying to restore a semblance of order. It was a welcome sight, in the madness. As they walk forward, one of the gas-masked guards runs up to them and pants slowly. She salutes the huntresses as they come to a stop, not seeming to know quite what the protocol is for greeting them.

"Hello, Ma'ams! Welcome to hell."

Yeah, that really wasn't a good start.

"I assume you're here to see the supervisor? I was tasked with leading you there." The woman says, glancing back as another shattering sound rings out. "We'd better hurry. In addition to the vandals just in this town, bandits are somehow getting past the city walls. We've posted guards at every entrance and we still can't stop them! These poor people have already suffered enough… The sooner you get to him, the sooner we can get you pointed where they're hurting the most."

Pyrrha nods, glancing around carefully before letting out a sigh. "Of course. Lead the way. Though, if I could inquire about a place for our remaining members to land?"

"What channel are they on? I can blast the coordinates to them from here."

As Pyrrha talks with the guard, Weiss is glancing at a nearby building as it burns. No doubt the work of rowdy bandits carelessly smashing things or fanatics trying to burn whatever places they feel the plague might arise from. She's really not sure which option she finds more horrifying. The few amount of guards still left means that there isn't quite enough of a presence to stop them or fix the fires. With a frown, she looks back to Pyrrha and Ruby.

"Pyrrha, you go on ahead and meet with the supervisor. See where he wants us and we'll meet you there. Until then, me and Ruby will try to get the some of these fires under control."

Pyrrha nods, quickly gesturing to the guard assigned to leading her. They take off toward the heart of the town, Weiss gazing at the burning building in front of her with narrowed eyes, walking steadily toward it. She can feel the heat against her naturally cold skin even from here, causing a small amount of discomfort. "Ruby, I'm going inside to stem the flames. I still hear people inside, I think. Get them out of there as soon as you can."

Her wife nods, body beginning to hum with semblance energy as Weiss moves to the main doors. Cloaking herself in an icy aura, she slices the doors open with her rapier and kicks the pieces away with her boot. Upon immediately being greeted by a lick of flame, she growls and shoots a thick blast of ice into the orange heat.

It pushes back, allowing her to step fully inside with delicate steps. Her body glowing white, she spreads her arms out and sends a wave of cold shooting through the room. The action extinguishes the flames in this particular room and Ruby speeds in to scan the room for people, whisking them quickly out of the area. Weiss continues up the building, freezing over any of the spreading fire that she comes across.

Ruby ends up back outside, holding a woman and some guy over her shoulder. The guy looks awful, skin blotchy and pale, with eyes that are so irritated that they almost glow red. He's wheezing as she sets him down. She winces and lays a hand on his back, rubbing it as her mask crackles with her voice. "Hey, it's alright… Gonna be okay..."

He makes a sort of odd gurgling noise, suddenly coughing up a rather thick, black goop onto the ground. The huntress actually jumps a little at the action, eye widening as his body becomes racked with coughs. So, this must be what the plague looks like… definitely Grimm in origin, as Ozpin had said.

It looks a great deal, to her, like what happened when Grimm blood was ingested. It's poisonous compounds had a nasty knack for twisting blood and, if ingested in large doses, coagulating it into solid masses throughout the body. It was an exceptionally painful way for a person to die, if left untreated for too long. In this man's case, it must have affected his lungs, somehow…

But, this was also worse than simple blood poisoning. Vale and the other kingdoms knew how to cure blood poisoning from Grimm. Otherwise, hunters and huntresses would be dropping like flies from the Grimm blood they were exposed to on a daily basis. Yang, in particular, had to take a lot of shots for it, with how up-close her fighting style was.

Another blast of ice shoots from the window, seeming to put out the fires above. She winces and takes one last look at the suffering man. "I'll be right back, okay? I've gotta get everyone out and then I'll get ya to a doctor or something..."

She has to take herself away. There were still people inside.

"Well, this simply won't do. Reinforcements being sent in to help that town cannot be allowed. In order to test effectively, we need chaos. Not huntsman and huntresses calming everyone down and causing them to think rationally. Ursa. What is the status?"

"Three huntresses are in the town, the huntsman circling around for clearance to land. We have reason to believe that the second transport carries Yang Xiao Long, Glynda Goodwitch, and Coco Adel. At least, that's what the scouts have told us. They're most likely trying to ease the situation and re-build. A few more transports are carrying others, as well, but they're farther away."

"Mm… I see. Shoot the second transport down. Aim for the engine. We don't want them killed in the blast, do we? And, Ursa?"

"Yes?"

"I want you to take a little welcoming party down there to greet them. Test some of the new technology that Nevermore is so hard at work on." Beowolf states simply, rising from her desk and looking around the dwelling. Thing were coming along quite nicely. "Engage them. Fight well… But, don't be reckless. This is a learning opportunity for us all, not a bloodbath. Do I make myself clear?"

The large man nods, slowly bringing his arms to cross his chest. "Crystal. It'll get done, Beowolf."

"Then, go, old friend. Let us see what those huntresses are made of."

Yang looks over at the fellow blonde on her team, the older woman adjusting her glasses before glancing to her. "Is there something I can help you with, Yang? You're certainly staring at me enough to make me wonder such."

Yang perks up immediately, smiling a bit in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, Miss Goodwitch, Ma'am. I just didn't expect you to be on this mission, as well. Because you're..."

"Are you trying to say I'm old, Miss Xiao Long?" Glynda replies, taking on a bit more authoritative tone in her voice. "Far too old to keep up with the young women I trained myself?"

"I-I, no… No, that's not it! I thought you weren't going out on missions, anymore, is all… Ma'am." Yang says with a small wince, causing Goodwitch to smirk in the most subtle way possible. The blonde wasn't even sure if she actually HAD smirked.

"It's fine. And, I've told you to just call me Glynda."

"Sorry. I guess, even after all these years, I can't help it." Yang gives a small laugh, leaning back in her seat. "So, Glynda… Why are you here?"

"These are… exceptional circumstances. This village is particularly far gone. Heavy damage. They'll need me to help rebuild more quickly. To add to that, it never hurts to have a senior huntress keeping an eye on things. As confident as I am with your abilities, it's always good to have someone watching your back."

"That makes sense."

"I could say the same about you, as well, Xiao Long."

"Huh?"

The older woman adjusts her glasses slowly, looking toward Yang carefully. "You have a child to look after… I did not expect to see you back for quite a long time."

"Well, this sounded bad an' I thought some help might be needed. Plus, it gives Blake some alone time with Anna for a while. I guess I'm a little smothering, sometimes."

"I suppose it would be hard not to be, given the way the world often is." Glynda comments, though is now looking out of the window of the transport sternly. She's glaring out at it with such an intensity that even Coco is now looking over toward her with slight concern.

"Everything alright, Glynda?" Coco asks as she looks over her shades, glancing between the window and their glaring teammate. The blonde doesn't answer either of them, instead shushing any of their words and closing her eyes slowly. Something really wasn't right about this situation and the senior huntress knew it.

Battle-hardened as she is, her listening skills become her greatest weapon. And, when she closes her eyes… a soft whistling can be heard getting closer under the hum of the transport. Her eyes suddenly flash open.

"Get down."

"Wha-"

"Get down!" She repeats in a yell, her semblance coming to life as she forces them both to the ground. It's only seconds before a heavy impact violently shakes the ship, a loud series of beeps ringing out as it floods with red light.

"What the hell was that?!" Yang yells out, head poking up as Glynda makes her way over to the comm link and taps it furiously.

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Pilot, what's the status? What's happening?"

"We got hit by some sort of anti-air missile, Ma'am! Whatever they were, the scanner didn't pick them up… Half the systems are fried, up here!" The pilot responds through his comm, the tapping of buttons heard with the frantic sound of his voice. "Hang tight. They haven't taken us out of the game, yet."

Goodwitch nods, casting her eyes backward and to the transport door. "Yang, get that transport door open. The pilot can't pick up what's hitting us from the scanner."

Yang quickly follows her lead and moves to the emergency exit button, smashing it with her fist… only to have the doors not open. Cursing and hitting the button a few more times, she spins her head around toward her former teacher. "The circuits must be fried, 'cus this door ain't opening!"

"You know perfectly well how to make a door, by now, Xiao Long."

Yang's eyes widen for a moment, then narrow as she nods and walks back to the center of the door. After rearing her hand back, a powerful right hook sends the door flying off it's hinges and out into the air. All three women have to brace themselves as a powerful suction of wind whips through the transport. "What, now, Glynda?!"

"We take down whatever is tailing us." Glynda says calmly as she slowly makes her way over the opening (heels clacking on the metal). Curling an arm around what she can of the transport and gripping her riding crop tightly in the other, she leans out of it and looks around slowly as the wind sends her neatly-composed hair into a flurry of activity. Her eyes can see nothing in the air behind the transport, but narrow with the knowledge that something must be out there.

What's out there? It must show itself, eventually...

Suddenly, as if an answer to her prior question, there's a blast of fire and that eerie whistling sound again. She can see that the fire comes from just beneath and to the left of them, eyes widening when she sees a missile heading right toward the bottom of the ship. With a grit of her teeth, she whips her riding crop outward and sends the missile careening off course. It explodes very close to them, causing the ship to rock despite taking no damage.

"There's a ship with some manner of cloaking shield after out transport. Coco, I could use some spreading fire to draw it out of hiding." The blonde orders, snapping her fingers and pointing next to her.

Coco clomps her way over and sits herself down on the edge, pulling her Gatling gun out of it's transportation form and clicking it into place as she puts her shades down. "Any place in particular you want it?"

"Bottom, left."

The brunette smirks and her shades go back up, her weapon whirring as it heats up. "I aim to please."

Her weapon shoots a barrage of bullets toward the point that Glynda had pointed out, looking like they're heading toward nothing… until they spatter solidly against that same nothing. She can see a sort of shimmering that reveals a bit of a form moving around in the air, Glynda making a sound of affirmation.

"Nice shot; keep up the pressure!"

Coco seeks out the light shimmering she can see in the air and focuses her fire on it. It's tricky, considering the fact that cloaked ship keeps trying to evade the hail of bullets slamming into it. But, one particular burst causes a volt of electricity to surge through it. It flickers back and forth between cloaked and visible, a loud shuddering sound coming from the ship below them before it comes into visibility.

It's a rather sleek ship of quite unknown design, none of the woman recognizing a brand. It certainly didn't look like an Atlas military craft design, not even looking of a make similar to what Schnee Dust once made. Once it loses it's cloaking, it fires off two more missiles in their direction. Glynda holds her crop steady, holding the missiles in place before easily turning them around to fire back at the attacking ship.

An explosion at each wing of the ship sends it spiraling downward, disappearing from sight as all three breathe a sigh of relief. Yang looks to Glynda with a serious expression, gesturing out the opening in the transport. "What the hell WAS that? Even the dumbest criminal out there would know not to take down a hunter transport ship!"

"I don't believe this to be simple criminals, Yang. That technology was vastly unfamiliar to me… I will make sure that Ozpin is informed of this. Whatever it was, they appear to be gone for the time being-" She says, only for another explosion to rock the ship once more. This time, they can feel the ship plummeting.

"Shit! How many of 'em are there?!" Yang growls, clicking Ember Celica into place as Glynda rushes back to the opening to look out of it hurriedly.

"I get the feeling like we're going to find out whether we want to or not…." Coco mutters, pointing out of the opening as more of the shimmering shapes appear in the sky. At least four are in their sight, with an unknown number likely at their other side.

Glynda takes a deep breath before letting out a wispy sigh.

"This ship is going down. So, why don't we take a few of them with us?" She says smoothly, heels clicking as she steps over to the communication button and tells the pilot to evacuate himself. "Perhaps they caught me in a reckless mood, but I do not plan to go down with this ship. Let's go down with theirs."

Yang can't help but grin a little, liking the sound of this plan. "Whatcha got in mind, teach?"

"Oh, you'll like this, Xiao Long. Of that, I am certain. Stand in front of the opening in your fighting stance. Remember to take out as many as you can. Land safely." The blonde says, adjusting her glasses and watching as Yang assumes her position. She rears back before sending her crop forward, blasting Yang out of the transport at a high speed.

The sound of the woman whooping is quite loud.

Glynda looks at Coco and gestures her head over, causing the brunette to sigh. "Shit. I just bought this hat."

"I'm quite sure you'll manage, Miss Adel. Now, quit complaining and let me shoot you out of the transport."

"Velvet was right… Should have stayed home to cuddle." Coco mutters under her breath as she assumes her position… launched out of the falling transport a few seconds later.

Yang has already hit one of the ships directly, a powerful haymaker reducing the glass to nothing but powder in the air. The pilot inside looks up at her in surprise, smirk coming from her. "Hey, you're the one who shot us down, right? No, it's cool. Just let me return the favor!"

She swings her arm down hard, smashing into the controls and bring a handful of wires with her when she pulls it back up. "Thanks for travelin' Air Xiao Long. Have a nice day!" She grins and tosses the wires away as the ship begins to plummet. Lining her gauntlets up to the center, a single blast from Ember Celica launches her backwards. It's pretty much by luck that she lands onto another nearby ship and even better that she manages to elbow drop it in the process.

It heavily dents the metal, causing the ship to lurch to the side with her weight. She can see off to her side that Coco has landed on one of the ships, her handbag turning into it's minigun form. She is gritting her teeth and furiously blasting streams of bullets all over the air, the blonde able to see the reason for this when she sees brunette hair flowing freely… and a distinct lack of hat.

Oh, boy.

She can also see Glynda as she lands on another ship, herself, flicking her crop towards the shimmering forms that are appearing around them. Just how many of these things were there? And, who's sending them? She's going to have to make sure to interrogate one of them when they land, seeing as they appear to be ejecting when their ships are rendered useless.

They're making short work of these ships, as they appear to have focused all the energy they hold into the cloaking systems. Bad choice, when dealing with experienced hunters. Bad choice. Especially now that they knew how to seek out the ships.

They may have brought the transport down, but they weren't going to bring these three down.