11:00 PM, Vale Standard Time. Forward Command Post Alpha.
Commander Engle debriefs teams for mission against the White Fang Encampment
.
.
12:00 AM, Vale Standard Time. Forward Command Post Alpha.
Commander Engle and assault teams leave the post to get into positions for attack on White Fang Encampment
.
.
"Charlie, Echo, Kilo, Mike, you're with me. Foxtrot, Sierra, Tango, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, you head for the south. Dig in and don't move until I give the order, understood?" Sam ordered.
"Sir, yes sir!" Each of the men responded.
"Good, now move!" Sam called to them.
Six of the ten squads there began running off towards the south, and the rest of them waited in a clump of trees for a signal that the six squads were in position. They waited about an hour, and finally Sierra leader called over the radios and reported they were in position. Sam motioned the remaining squads with him to begin moving, since they split movements to attract less attention.
After about a half an hour of marching, they had arrived at a spot due north of the vantage points where they could hide and spy on the four looking posts from a distance.
"This is where we split up," Sam told them. "I'll go with Echo to the one on the far right. Kilo, take the middle right. Mike, take middle left. Charlie, you've got the far left. Move."
At once, each of the squads broke off towards their assigned targets and began to stalk through the woods. Soon, Sam and Echo had reached the base of the tree that their assigned post was. One by one, with Sam leading, they filed up the ladder to the station. Sam gave a call over the radio to begin the takeover, and jumped up into the post, tackling one of the soldiers inside. The rest of Echo followed, shooting the others with their silenced rifles as Sam slit the throat of the soldier he tackled. Sam wiped some of the blood that spit at him as he ripped the flesh as he stood up and looked out the window to observe the other looking posts.
Everything is going to plan, Sam thought to himself as he saw friendlies on each of the other vantage points. Three all clear calls came over the radio from Kilo, Mike, and Charlie teams, and Echo responded with their own.
"Orders, sir?" Echo leader called to Sam.
Sam checked his watch. 2:00 AM. "We wait and lie low. I'll call over to the airfields and tell them the skies are clear for their bombing run. I'll even call some choppers in for air support," Sam told them. Echo nodded their heads and the leader gave the orders over radio.
Sam did as he said he would, informing the pilots that they were clear to begin their approach. It would take them about an hour to arrive, so they would take off in two or three more hours. Sam called over to the six squads in the south and told them to sit tight, and that it would be a while. Each of the squads had seven soldiers, so Sam ordered two men from each squad to be on watch for enemy soldiers, both in the south and in the vantage points. Sam and the other five soldiers of Echo team went into a back room so they could talk if they wanted to without being heard.
Each of the soldiers had heard about their famous commander, but knew little about him. They took this down time to ask some questions.
"Commander, sir?" one of the corporals asked.
"Drop the formalities, what is it soldier?" Sam responded bluntly, taking a seat in one of the rooms only chairs and reclining against the wall.
"Sorry, sir, force of habit. How did you even get to be a leader, you're like, sixteen," the man asked, looking him over.
"Because I worked my ass off to get here," Sam told them.
"How did you and Ozpin get involved with each other?" another soldier asked.
"That's getting a little personal there, private. He was one of my babysitters. My family worked with another family and Ozpin as huntsmen. So, naturally they all took care of me and the other kids," Sam explained.
"What got you here?" Echo leader asked, having set his helmet and heavy equipment to the side.
Sam chuckled darkly at his question and looked up at him with a blank expression, "Hell."
"E-excuse me, sir?" Echo leader was taken aback by his look.
"Listen boys, there's a lot of stuff out there you don't need to know, much less want to. This is one of them things," Sam told them, looking out the window in the room.
The group broke apart from their questions and into their own conversations, trying to pass the time. Echo leader was still shocked by Sam's answer, and decided to ask him again one on one.
"Sir, what happened?" he asked Sam, sitting next to his chair.
"Like I told you, hell. You people aren't too friendly to my kind," Sam retorted.
"Your kind?" the leader looked at him, confused.
"What's your name, soldier?" Sam looked him dead in the eye.
"Sgt. S-Seth Gates, sir," Seth responded, shrinking a little under Sam's gaze.
"You wanna know why I'm capable of being a commander? You wanna know why it took hell to get to where I am, sergeant? I'll tell you, it's because I'm fucking Tetharan!" Sam spat at him, allowing anger to flow freely.
"The boys didn't know that, sir. I'm sorry," Seth told him, going very quiet at his comment.
"They aren't supposed to, sergeant. No one is," Sam responded, anger dying down.
Before Seth could respond, Sam got up from his seat and walked out the room, leaving the other five soldiers to their own conversations.
.
.
.
Time passed by, and Sam checked his watch again. 4:00 AM. Pilots should be taking off any minute. As if on cue, the pilot called over the radio telling the squads that they were inbound. Sam acknowledged the pilots, then called out over the radios, "All units, begin moving towards the camp. Close to within 250 meters and await the airstrike. Is that understood?"
A chorus of "yes sirs" came out as an answer to him, and he ordered them to begin moving. One by one, they filed down the ladder, making their approach towards the camp. On the way towards their position, Sam noticed movement in the trees ahead of them. Those aren't friendlies… "GET DOWN!" Sam whispered to Echo team. Immediately they fell towards the ground and moved for cover, as a White Fang patrol walked out into a clearing in front of them. "Drop 'em," Sam ordered. They fired their weapons, watching as each of their enemies fell to the ground, lifeless. "Move up."
Echo continued their approach, meeting up with the other three squads at 4:45 AM.
"Just a little longer boys," Sam said, looking towards the camp in front of them. This is it, the first step in taking down the White Fang, Sam thought. Time began to slow, everything began to blur, and breathing began to become heavier. The worst part about a battle was the wait before it. Once the battle was started, you did what you were trained to do, but the wait made you second guess; made you nervous. The wait was often what broke soldiers the most, besides the deaths of their comrades. Sam looked around him at the squads. Each of them looked like their nerves were getting to them, some making signs of the Holy Trinity, some curled in a ball and waiting for the call, some stared blankly at the camp in front of them, waiting for the call that would bring them to life in battle.
This battle will be the first of many; they must be ready. There will still be much more to accomplish. Sam thought, memories of previous encounters with faunas coming into mind.
Several explosions in the distance brought Sam out his thoughts. Looking up, he just caught the bombers flying overhead. "CHARGE!" Sam shouted over the radio. Above them, several helicopters appeared and began pouring machine gun fire into the buildings of the camp. Each of the four squads came out of the trees behind Sam, giving their own battle cries as they began unloading their weapons into any White Fang soldier in their way. Sam broke his way through a barrier between them and the camp, and they began to file in, firing as they went. "GET TO COVER, NOW!" Sam ordered, White Fang soldiers picking up their own rifles and returning fire. Sam began slowly moving up, taking out White Fang soldiers as they came up. Eventually, they came up to a building that had a machine gun built on it.
"MG!" Sam called to the squads behind him. They ran for cover just as the machine gun began sending in a storm of bullets. The gun had gotten five of them pretty badly, several holes could be seen on their bodies.
"Damn," Sam said to himself. "I NEED A CHOPPER ON THAT MG, NOW!" he called over the radio.
"I hear you," a pilot responded, showing up a second later. The pilot launched a series of rockets at the building, leaving it in ruin. "All clear," the pilot called.
"Move up!" Sam ordered, and they began the rest of their assault on the camp.
Blake was sitting in the front room of the command center of the White Fang camp, already ready to move out for the train. She was waiting for Adam so they could wake everyone up and get them moving. Soon, Adam walked in with signature look on, and walked up to the window by Blake.
"Ready?" he asked, looking down at her.
Before Blake could respond, the ground shook and they could hear multiples explosions from the south.
"What the hell was that?" Adam shouted to one of the soldiers there.
"I-I don't know sir," the soldier replied timidly.
"Then find out!" he ordered, pointing towards the door.
"Yes sir!" the soldier shouted and ran outside.
Blake turned to Adam with a look of worry and fear, "You don't think that Vale found our base, do you?"
Several soldiers were grabbing their gear and running towards the south, and Adam could hear helicopters flying in overhead. "It certainly seems to be that way. We can't let this stop us," Adam responded.
"What are we supposed to do? We've been ambushed in our own territory!" Blake shouted at him.
"I'm working on it!" he yelled back at her.
Blake fell quiet and looked out the window as the battle raged on elsewhere.
Cleaning through some more buildings, Sam and his squads continued to march onto the center of the camp, where the command center would be. There wasn't much word from the south, and they had heard some White Fang POWs say that most of the troops headed that way after the airstrike came in. Hearing this made Sam push him and his squads forward, wishing to take some heat of the southern forces. They had taken few casualties, but they kept the pressure up. They needed to reach the command center quickly, and Sam knew why.
About an hour into the battle, the White Fang had lost several of its troops, as well as territory. If the battle kept up the way it was going, there wouldn't be anyone left to catch the train. Adam gathered what was left of his commanding officers together for an emergency meeting.
"Sir, what the hell are we supposed to do out there!? They're tearing through us like a hot knife through butter!" one of the officer called as he approached the meeting.
"Put in every reserve you have. We're going all in on this," Adam ordered.
"Sir, what about the train? The White Fang needs that dust supply!" another officer said.
"Leave that to me. I'll be taking Belladonna with me, and we shall take it alone," Adam responded.
"Sir that's suicide! You can't honestly think that will work?" another officer spoke out.
"We don't have a choice! Get back to your men and defend this command center to the last. We will need all the time you can give us," Adam ordered.
"…Y-Yes sir," The officers responded, knowing their chance of survival was almost nonexistent.
"Move out, NOW!" Adam yelled to them, and watched as they ran to their positions.
Blake was waiting for him around the back of the command center. "Do you think that we can do this?" she asked as he walked up.
"We have to. I know your skills, and with you and me working together we can take it over," Adam responded, confidence clear in his choice.
"Then let's get moving," Blake said, and they began to run off into the trees.
A helicopter pilot was checking the ground for any White Fang trying to get away, and spotted two figures heading for Forever Fall. He decided that Sam needed to know, and picked up his radio to give him a call.
"Sir, I've got two stragglers, over," The pilot called.
"Can you identify them?" Sam responded, staticy.
"There is a black haired woman, with gold eyes. The other is a tall man with red hair. What are your orders, sir?" the pilot reported.
"Stay on the camp. We will head after them once we have the camp cleared," Sam ordered.
"Yes sir," the pilot responded, putting up the radio.
The White Fang didn't hold out long after Adam and Blake had left. With constant helicopter strikes, as well as the constant pressure from the VDF soldiers, they were defeated and surrendered at the command center. Some of the commanding officers Adam had spoken to were no longer living, but three of the seven remained. Sam had them gathered up in a clearing in front of the command center.
"Where is your leader?" Sam asked the three officers.
"We are the commanding officers, sir. There is no other…" one of the officers was cut off as Sam shot him right between the eyes.
"Wrong answer! I know your commanding officer was Adam Taurus, so where is he?" Sam asked again.
"In Forever Fall! He and one other are about to attack the train!" one of the other officers yelled, mortified looking down at the dead body of the other officer.
"Thank you very much gentlemen. You have served your purpose. Take them away," Sam ordered to the guards he had placed on them. The guards nodded their heads, and carried the officers away as Sam radioed the command platoon.
"Eagle 1, I'm going to need you to come pick me up. We've got two White Fang stragglers that we need to take down," Sam ordered.
"Coming in now, sir," the pilot told him, and a chopper appeared above the clearing. Sam moved to where the helicopter could land safely, and joined the nine soldiers that were already inside.
"Head for Forever Fall. Find and follow the Schnee Dust Company train," he ordered the pilot.
"Sir, yes sir," the pilot responded, and then took off to join the other four choppers of Eagle team.
This is where the events of the Black Trailer take place.
The five Eagle choppers watch the scene from overhead, waiting for orders from Commander Engle to attack the two White Fang soldiers.
As Blake severs the train into two, Sam makes his move.
"Eagle 1, follow the girl and land on her train car. Eagles 2 through 5, get the other half of the train," Sam ordered the pilots over radio.
Each pilot responded with a "yes sir", and moved to their respective positions. Eagle 1 landed where Sam had told it to, and ordered the squad of nine with him to jump off into the train to help secure the girl. They walked to the end of the train car with weapons raised, aiming at Blake as she stood motionless, staring off at the other half of the train that was no longer in view. Sam motioned to the squad with him to lower their weapons, and when they saw, did so reluctantly. Sam carried his rifle to his side and decided to call out to Blake.
"Ms. Belladonna!" Sam called.
Blake turned to face him, having seen the choppers as she and Adam assaulted the train. "Commander," she responded.
"Am I to assume that this action was you literally cutting yourself off from the White Fang?" Sam asked her.
Blake giggled a little at his comment, "Yes, I suppose it is. What are you going to do with me now, Commander? Shoot me?"
"No, I'm not going to shoot you. I told you that the White Fang was going about getting change the wrong way, and I know you want change. I'm going to bring you to the right way," Sam answered.
"And what might the right way be, commander?" Blake looked at him quizzically.
"I'm taking you to Beacon Academy, to train as a huntress," he told her.
"W-What?" Blake staggered a little after hearing that. What on Remnant is he talking about? What is that supposed to do?
"I'll answer your questions on the ride back to Vale. Eagle team, secure the train. Eagle 1, take us home," Sam ordered. "Any word from Eagles 2 through 5?"
"Yes sir, they secured the other half of the train, but Adam Taurus was nowhere to be found," the pilot reported.
"Tell them to hold their position with the train and that we will send Atlas and Schnee Dust people out there to fetch it," Sam ordered.
"Yes sir," the pilot responded, and began the trip back towards Vale and Beacon Academy.
AN: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Took lots of time, but it is finally complete and I think it turned out alright. Also, I have found a theme song for the story Forsaken. It is called "Already Given Up", by BobGmbH on YouTube. If you have a chance, you should look it up! It's pretty amazing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and let me know how I'm doing! I'll see you guys in the next chapter!