Disclaimer: I'm not that well versed in military settings, but I tried my best.
I hope you enjoy!
A raging snowstorm covered the housings of an enormous metropolis amidst the dark hours. Flying over the buildings and factories, three VTOL tilt jet aircrafts headed into what seemed to be a run down district toward an abandoned warehouse far in the distance, barely noticeable through the thick curtains of snowfall. The vehicles' slide hatches on the sides opened, revealing military personnel in white armored uniforms loading various firearms while observing the display with their mission briefing.
"Approaching drop off point." Said one of the pilots through the shared communication system.
"Do not forget; this is a search and rescue mission. Target is the son of Councilman Nemetz, Eugene Nemetz. Last contact was made almost twenty-four hours ago and intel from his personal computer made allusion to a cult which has been under investigation by Specialist Schnee. Remember your RoE. Lethal force is authorized solely on the suspects of the kidnapping. Civilian casualties will not be tolerated."
Followed the voice of a woman as the aircrafts lowered to the ground in the middle of an open street.
"Shouldn't we be landing a bit closer, Lieutenant? The AO is still a few streets away." Asked one of the soldiers, pulling on the charging handle of his firearm as they left the aircraft.
From another VTOL, a group of individuals stepped forward. Their attire, while white in nature, was distinctly different from the ones worn by the other soldiers. They were lighter, less armored, more unique in design. Leading the group, two white haired women, similar in appearance down to their light blue eyes, approached the other soldier.
The tallest of the two responded to the man. "Our first priority is to rescue the target. We cannot risk provoking these… fanatics before getting eyes on them. The storm covered our approach to a certain degree, but we must still hurry. Follow your team lead and report any complications, understood?"
"Yes ma'am!"
The military unit proceeded to march toward their objective, ushering any civilian that peeked at their approach back into their homes. The lieutenant gazed at her lookalike who observed with disheartenment the impoverished populace mainly composed of faunus.
A subtle sigh escaped her nose before addressing the other woman. "Is something on your mind, Specialist Schnee? This rescue operation is only possible thanks to your… independent research. You should be proud of providing the biggest lead to finding the rescue target."
"Proud?" Muttered the specialist with rising animosity. "I've been sending reports on them for multiple weeks. Each detailing any visible activity down to the very breath they take and repeatedly asking for an intervention for the safety of the civilians. Every single one of them? Rejected, yet now that it involves the son of a Councilman, we get dispatched not even according to regulations!"
"Well if they sent us, it must mean that they took your reports to heart. So would you quit bitching already? I swear nothing makes you happy." Chimed in one of the other specialists behind them.
A dark-skinned young woman with platinum blond and brown hair shaved on the sides. Her pink eyes stared exasperatedly at her white hair colleague while she crossed her arms behind her head, effectively displaying the exoskeleton arms she wore over her short-sleeved uniform and shorts.
Seeing the glare sent their way by their lieutenant over her shoulder, the man standing beside her intervened. "Come on, Harriet. No need to be like that. I'm sure you'd be frustrated too if months of work went unnoticed for a while." He said, teal eyes filled with kindness while a nervous smile graced his lips.
Harriet stared back at him for a few seconds before gazing away with a pout. "Whatever." She mumbled to the amusement of the three other members behind them.
With a chuckle the man ran a hand through his short brown hair while subtly nodding his head respectfully at the lieutenant who focused back on her lookalike.
"Look, I know you wish for the best of this country and make a difference, but that's not something you can do on your own. Being promoted into the ace operatives is your best chance at doing so. If those complaints matter this much to you, you can insert them in your report once this is over." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Only for them to be promptly ignored like all the others…" Quietly huffed the specialist in response.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Lieutenant Schnee."
The white-haired taller woman exhaled in irritation before noticing that they were approaching their objective. Not wasting a second, she swiftly directed each assault team to various entry points while making sure that each had their scrolls connected on their encrypted short range communication network.
"How did a warehouse this big even get abandoned?" Wondered the teal-eyed specialist, loading a pistol while sticking close to the wall near one of the entrances.
A soldier who stood on the opposite side of him scoffed. "You seen the critters living around this place? It ain't rocket science." He replied, earning a few chuckles from his peers.
The specialist stared at them for a moment before focusing on the entrance. "Right…"
Standing a few meters nearby, the two white-haired women observed each team before facing one another.
"The roof should have plenty of access points we can use for entry. As per usual, we'll take opposite sides and scout for the target before signaling the others to breach." Said the lieutenant, unsheathing a slightly curved saber from her hip along with a long-barreled pistol.
"You could have just said that we'd do as usual." Deadpanned the specialist, reaching for her hip to grab onto a rapier along with a pistol of her own. "Let's get this over with."
"W-wait, Weiss!" Exclaimed the lieutenant before the younger woman could leave. She seemed surprised to be called by her name, visibly wondering what would warrant such an act. "Just… be careful. Ok?"
She stared at her superior for a moment until a subtle smirk raised the corner of her lips. "Come now, Winter dearest. When have I ever been anything but?" She said before a black glyph formed under her, subsequently launching her toward the roof.
Lieutenant Schnee sighed, sending a worried glance at her retreating sister before forming a black glyph of her own which launched her on the opposite side.
Once she landed, Weiss immediately raised her pistol toward any potential assailant with her sword crossed defensively. Only to be met with an empty rooftop. With a wary gaze, she raised a finger to her earpiece.
"The roof's clear. That's unusual, we should hurry." She warned before dashing to the nearest door.
"Understood. Heading in." Replied the lieutenant.
The moment she even slightly pivoted the entrance opened, her nose was assaulted by the scent of blood and rot, causing her to feel temporarily nauseous. With a deep breath, she rushed in while overhearing her sister report the smell over the comms. The sight waiting for her was… gruesome. Corpses of cultists laid in various places, torn apart by what she assumed to be some kind of wild beast.
She immediately reached for her earpiece. "Lieute-"
"All teams, multiple DoAs. Breach and clear. Harriet, searching for the target is your highest priority." Ordered Winter which was followed by multiple blasts and the marching of soldiers.
Down below, Weiss spotted streaks of electricity bolting through the entire warehouse, exploring every nook and cranny of the building, starting from the walls and progressively approaching the center.
Walking along the scaffolding walkways, the white-haired woman observed the various bodies along her path. While those below were mostly mauled, these people seemed to have died from self mutilation. She knelt next to one and picked up the odd knife it had stuck in its stomach. It had twin blades twisted in a circular manner, serrated in various patterns which made it rather obvious this was meant to be stabbed into people, causing immense pain.
She opened her scroll and took a few pictures of the bodies and the weapon when Harriet's voice came through the earpiece.
"Lieutenant? I… found the VIP. At the center of the warehouse, DoA… along with many… others. Fuck…"
Cursing under her breath, Weiss jumped off the scaffolding and made a pathway in the air using white glyphs toward the center. In the corner of her eyes, she noticed that Winter had done the same, both of them running at full speed to their destination.
The first thing she noticed on arrival was that there were multiple corpses, arranged in a circle around what seemed to be a defiled altar. She approached Harriet, who simply stared downwards where a familiar figure laid.
"Damn, that's the target alright." Mumbled one of the soldiers while examining another corpse.
Winter reached for her earpiece with a frustrated demeanor. "VIP is DoA. Mission failed, investigating the scene before exfil."
Inspecting the man's body, Weiss noticed that the stab wound was in a downward manner from the man's nape. "Execution? Sacrifice?" She wondered out loud, observing the horrified expression of the corpse. Her gaze wandered toward the cultist's body laying a short distance behind, the same odd knife she found earlier lodged in his neck. Judging by the position of his arms, it seems to have been a self-inflicted wound.
If this was a sacrificial ritual, what could have mangled the other bodies to that extent?
A gasp escaped her, attracting the others' attention when her eyes landed on the other corpses forming the circle. "These are…"
"Weiss? Was it it?" Asked Winter, kneeling next to her sister while she examined the face of another body. A child.
The specialist suppressed a sob, replacing it with a growl as she tightened her fist before meeting the lieutenant's gaze. "They're all people I've seen enter this place, never to return. Still, no matter how many times I mentioned it in my reports, they refused to intervene. Even the police dismissed my requests." She closed the child's eyes before standing up. "And now we stand surrounded by the consequences of that ignorance."
The lieutenant stared at her with wide eyes. "W-what? What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that the council has ignored my warnings for too long! What else do you think I-"
Winter faced the surrounding soldiers and dismissed them with a swipe of her arm. "Don't just stand there! Search the place!" She then grabbed her sister by the arm and brought her closer. "Weiss, which report are you talking about exactly?"
Confused, the specialist glanced at her colleagues, who seemed as confused as she was, before meeting her superior's gaze. "At least eighty percent of them. I have copies on my work computer. Why?"
The older Schnee's breath hitched, her eyes hyper focused on her sister's before replying. "I've requested to read all of your reports, none of them included any mentions of missing civilians."
"Lieutenant?" Interrupted one of the specialists, kneeling next to the broken altar in the center. "You might want to look at this." He then stood up, taking a few steps aside to reveal a gigantic claw mark slashed into the floor, filled by the surrounding blood.
A monstrous scream echoed through the warehouse, accompanied by the dreadful screech of soldiers, making all of them freeze in place.
"A whole bunch of us got fucking hacked down by… fuck! Something, I don't know! We need support!" Screamed a soldier through their earpiece. His cry for help was followed by a beastly growl and a screech which was abruptly interrupted.
They immediately sprung into action, using whatever terrain they could to quickly dash toward the endangered team, following the echoes of gunfire and screams. Unfortunately, when they finally reached them, they were greeted by a soldier coughing on his own blood while trying to prevent his entrails from falling out of his stomach before falling dead on the floor. The other soldiers were long dead.
"What the fuck…" Mumbled harried, arms raised at the ready while analyzing their surroundings. Her eyes stared intensely at every dark area surrounding them.
"Whatever's out here, it's incredibly powerful. Stay alert." Warned Weiss when she noticed the used aura booster injectors on the ground.
A myriad of footsteps caught their attention. The remaining soldiers could be seen heading in their direction, firearms attached with flashlights which were pointed in various directions in an attempt to cover every possible angle.
"There!" Screamed one of them, firing somewhere out of sight from the specialists swiftly followed by his fellow men.
"Wait! Stop! Cease fire!" Shouted another. The specialists' heart fell when the body of what seemed to be a faunus civilian fell into their line of sight, riddled with holes which were profusely bleeding.
One of the soldiers scoffed. "Damn, just a critter. Where's the fucke-"
His sentence was cut short when he and a few other soldiers were crushed against the wall from behind by a large creature. The remaining troopers raised their rifles to fire but were swiftly laid to rest by a single swipe of the beast's oversized clawed hand.
Winter began to fire her pistol at the creature, followed by the ace operatives while they took hold of their aura boosters on their hips before injecting it in their neck. They were unnerved to discover that shooting its head had minimal effect.
"What the fuck is that!"
"Just shoot, dumbass!"
They had to jump away when the creature rushed at them, some barely dodging in time to avoid its claws. Standing on their glyphs in the air, the Schnee sister's reached into their waist satchels and took out a container of light blue dust. They then aimed their swords toward the creature and conjured glyphs of the same color as the dust they held, from which a torrent of large ice spears rained down on the creature. Some of the shards pierce through and effectively anchored the deformed being to the ground. Seizing this opportunity, one of the specialists primed an explosive which they threw at the trapped monstrosity before taking cover.
Immediately following the blast, Winter used pale green dust along with her glyph to create a gust of wind strong enough to clear the rising dust, allowing them to observe what exactly had assaulted them.
Standing at twice their size at least, this monstrous bipedal creature had a massively oversized arm, bulging with an impossible amount of overgrown muscles bubbling out like some kind of mutation. It ended with elongated, razor-sharp claws, dripping with the blood of its victims. It seemed as if the creature's inner skeletal structure had been forcefully dragged out and paned along its members like some kind of exoskeleton. Its hide-like outer layer was pitch black, darker than the night with streaks of red laid as if in an attempt to outline the general shape of the limb and its joints.
Similar features could be observed on its legs and torso. However, while the existence of such a monstrous creature had never been recorded before, what truly shocked the military officers was something of a much more sinister nature.
The monster's other arm, shoulder and head were those of a human man. Skin, eyes, hair and all. The only two irregularities being how the man's head had been covered from its top around to the other side by his mutated arm's growth in a seemingly protective manner, albeit incomplete. The other odd occurrence was the black sludge leaking from all of its orifices, evaporating into nothing as it fell to the floor.
The ace operatives and their lieutenant stared in disbelief and disgust, then swiftly dismissed their shock when the creature began to twitch.
"That thing's still alive?!"
"Oh, and the fact that it didn't explode to bits didn't give that away?!"
"Harriet!" Screamed Winter, reloading her pistol while still in the air. "Sass later. Focus on taking this thing down!"
The monster, now freed from its cold tethers, roared before attempting to swing his massive arm toward the closest specialists. Fortunately, its strike was interrupted by a tall muscular woman with medium brown hair in a ponytail who took hold of the appendage, using her aura to keep herself safe from its claws. Around her feet, roots made out of aura were firmly planted into the ground, securing her in place for a better grip. She along with her colleagues were left surprised when she found herself struggling against the creature's strength.
"Bit of help here?!"
A tall man with shaved gray hair and a third eye tattoo on his forehead raised his arms forward as two large vines made of aura extended out, forming into hands before grabbing onto the mutated being. Even with the two operators using their semblances to hold the creature down, it still managed to thrash around, bracing its legs to apply greater pressure onto the muscular woman.
Harriet turned to the teal-eyed man and pointed at the bladed whip on his hip. "Clover! Let's knock this thing down!"
He nodded in response, reaching for his weapon and unrolling the thong toward her. Thanks to her exoskeleton arms and aura, she managed to grab onto it without causing any harm to herself. Her eyes then began to glow golden as lighting bolts surged from her body before she took off running at blinding speed.
In an instant, the serrated weapon was wrapped around the creature's legs before being tightened by the two specialists with enough strength to trap both of its legs together. Now deprived of its anchor points, the monster fell to the ground. The two Schnees raised their swords, preparing to dive towards its head, but were held back when it released a piercing screech loud enough to force them to cover their ears.
The sludge pouring from its head increased in volume before sinking into the man's jaw. His flesh then began to twist, morph and swell until it took shape into a large maw with pointed teeth, his skin darkening into the same dark hide covering most of its body. It stood up, shattering the whip in the process, before releasing a roar of anger and pain while bone plating surfaced to cover its jawline.
"Oh come on!" Lamented Harriet before raising her arms defensively just in time to block a strike from the monster, sending her crashing into a wall, her aura flashing then vanishing into the air as she lost consciousness.
Her teammates called out to her in concern, but were swiftly brought back when the monster rushed at the shaven man, ramming into him in an attempt to crush him against the wall. Using the last remains of her ice dust, the youngest white-haired woman brought forth a layer of ice in front of the rampaging mutant's path while the oldest used black dust to create a glyph which managed to launch the man away from the falling creature's grasp just before being crushed underneath it. She then landed behind the fallen monster before running a canister of red dust along her blade which, with the help of a glyph, morphed into a large sword made out of flames. She gracefully spun in place, swinging her sword behind its knees. While it hadn't sliced completely through the limbs as she hoped, it easily went a third of the way which was enough to incapacitate its legs.
Weiss faced the tall woman who had retracted the aura roots from her feet. "Elm!" She shouted, eyeing the large war hammer strapped to her back while grabbing a vial of gravity dust.
The brown-eyed woman nodded, taking hold of her weapon before being launched into the air when a black glyph appeared underneath her. She noticed the shaven man regain his bearings from the corner of her eyes, prompting her to call out to him! "Vine!"
His eyes flickered between the soaring woman and the fallen mutant then extended his arms, using his semblance to grab his colleague's legs and tug her toward the monster's head.
With a powerful roar, she brought her hammer down, gathering aura into her arms to strengthen them. The impact formed massive cracks in a large area around it, even causing a shockwave powerful enough to push the other specialists a few distances back. Shockingly, its head had only been crushed partly and the creature still managed to squeal and whine while attempting to thrash around. Elm grunted in frustration as her aura roots planted themselves into the broken ground. She then raised her hammer, empowering her arms as much as she could before finally smashing its skull flat onto the ground.
With heavy breaths, she dropped her weapon with trembling hands from the sheer force of the strike, resting them against her knees to keep herself up. The other ace operatives, excluding Weiss, approached her, Clover carrying Harriet in his arms while they observed the dead creature.
The younger Schnee approached her elder sister who had been staring at the wound she had inflicted behind its knees.
"What is it?" She asked, putting her weapons away.
Winter raised a hand to point toward the sliced dark flesh with a glare. The laceration had almost completely healed and the aftermath of the burns had fully disappeared. Weiss' eyes widened in bewilderment, however, before she could make any comments, all of them leaped backwards frightfully and pointed their firearms toward the corpse when it began to dissolve into the air. Their confusion only increased once it had fully vanished while they lowered their weapon before exchanging lost gazes.
"Lieutenant? What… what are we supposed to report?" Asked Clover, setting the unconscious Harriet against a wall.
Elm approached Weiss, arms crossed with a hesitant expression. "You've been watching these… cultists for how long?"
The white-haired specialists tightened her fist before walking away, sending a regretful gaze toward the fallen soldiers and the shot civilian before heading for the center where they had found the sacrificial site. "Long enough…" She took hold of her work scroll and took as many pictures of the premises as she could.
When she reached the broken altar, a glint on the screen caught her attention. Upon closer inspection, she found a broken ornate vial which had some kind of black thick liquid at the bottom.
"Found something?" Asked her older sister kneeling next to her.
"Doesn't it look… familiar?"
The lieutenant's eyes narrowed, inspecting every visual aspect of the liquid while digging through her memories when her pupils suddenly widened. "It looks like the substance that dripped from its head…"
Weiss nodded silently then reached for one of the pouches on her belt and took out an oval container in which rested a long cotton swab. She swiped a sample of the sludge then secured the swab before storing the vial with the remaining liquid in a plastic bag.
Winter nodded then ordered the muscular woman to secure their target's corpse before reaching for her earpiece. "Bullheads, clear to approach for exfil. We're going home."
The younger Schnee gazed at the bloody sacrificial dagger on the ground, focusing on the eye insignia surrounded by dark tendrils on the pummel.
"Weiss?" Called out the lieutenant. She motioned for her to follow while walking toward the nearest exit. "The cleanup crew will take it over from here."
She took a final glance at the object, taking a picture before leaving this rotting disaster behind.
In an Atlesian military base, Weiss entered the women's communal showers once done with her briefing. She sighed in relief when she noticed that she was the only one present, supporting herself against the wall with both of her hands as she let the droplets flow along her figure. Head held low, she couldn't suppress the image of all of those innocent lives painfully taken from her mind.
Her muscles seized when the sound of another shower turning on reached her ears. She crooked her neck just high enough to peek over her arm with an unintentional glare, meeting the uncertain gaze of her older sister while she scrubbed her arms.
"Something on your mind?"
Weiss huffed as she stood up. "What isn't at this point? You've faced the council, right? Did they say anything about what happened tonight? Did the general?"
"Barely. They made all of the information classified. The lowest rank that has access to them is the general and he's been unreachable since we came back. I have a meeting with him in thirty minutes, however." Her eyelids narrowed, glaring into the mist filled air. "Something's afoot. This and your apparently altered reports? The council is definitely attempting to cover something related to this cult; if not the cult itself. Question is why?"
The younger woman gripped her hair that she had been washing. "Could simply be that they're a part of it or, as you mentioned, related to it." A crestfallen expression formed on her visage as she lowered her head. "I shouldn't have waited for a damn warrant."
"Don't say that. If they had hidden their illegal activities when you'd have intervened; not only would they have gotten away without a hitch, but you would have most likely been imprisoned for your actions if not worse." Chastised her older sister, leaning back into the pouring water.
Weiss shut off her shower, combing her hair back and wringing the water out of them before heading for the lockers. "I'll copy my reports on my scroll before heading home."
"If you get caught, I can't help you out of it." The lieutenant's expression seemed impassive, but the specialist could sense the worry in her tone.
"I won't." She replied, finally leaving the showers while her sister's anxious gaze lingered where she stood.
The door to her personal quarters slid open, revealing a small room with a single bed made in an oval opening in a wall. A work desk could be seen on the other side where sat her assigned laptop computer that she opened while hanging her towel to dry. She entered her password and began to browse through her files in search of her reports. She took hold of a USB stick and plugged it in before copying her desired files onto it. With a scowl, she hid the small device under her uniform and closed her computer.
It was then that a knock at her door made her jump in fright.
"Specialist Schnee. You've been requested by the general."
Weiss stood with haste, heart beating from the sudden knock before answering. "Y-yes! I'll be right out."
Her mind raced as she followed the private sent to retrieve her. Has she already been caught? Were they monitoring the activities on her computer? How could she escape from this situation so deep inside a military base? Her thoughts blurred her consciousness until they reached their destination.
The private knocked on the door. "General Ironwood. I have brought Specialist Schnee as requested."
"Let her in." Came the deep authoritative voice of a man as the door slid open.
The soldier saluted Weiss before leaving while she entered the office. "You've asked for me, general?" She asked, standing at attention.
She then noticed that her older sister stood beside the general with carefully hidden anxiousness, causing her nervousness to increase.
"I have. Lieutenant Schnee and I had a quite… enlightening conversation." He said, combing his gloved right hand through his short black hair, graying in a few areas.
She could feel her heartbeat in her ears yet she found herself confused more than anything. Her sister would never tattle on her. So why did the general call for her?
Ironwood dusted his white overcoat before straightening his gray undercoat then approached her. "Unfortunately, as the lieutenant informed you, most of the information about tonight's events have been classified. However, we cannot ignore the danger posed by this new threat." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Seeing as you had the remarkable insight to observe these cultists; I request that you make a document of every important detail about these individuals and send them directly to my scroll whenever possible."
The specialist sent a hesitant gaze at her older sibling who nodded in reassurance, contrasting her tense expression. She then reached under her uniform and took out her USB stick which she handed to him.
"This contains my original files for each of my reports related to my observations."
He raised an eyebrow curiously while picking the drive from her fingers. "You just… had that on your person?"
"I believe that the lieutenant must have given you all of the information needed to justify my action."
The general huffed humorously as he headed for his desk. "That she has. You certainly have great initiative, specialist Schnee."
"Thank you, general."
He joined his hands while leaning onto his desk as his expression darkened. "Now, for the true reason I have called you over."
Her posture faltered for a brief instance while she stared perplexed at the two figures before her.
The dark haired man sighed. "I'm sure you're aware of our dependence on the trade deals between Atlas and Vale. A week from now, a cargo of materials and dust will be transported by train to their capital. We already have personnel on the continent and multiple outposts built along the area. Yet, the council has decided to send you to lead the escort; today."
"W-what? What about the cultists and that mutant… thing!? Are they seriously going to pretend nothing happened?"
Winter stepped toward her, softly taking hold of her shoulder with a determined expression. "The general and I will do what we can until you come back, but stay vigilant. I doubt your exemplary performance is the only factor in the Council's decision. I'll update you on what we find whenever I can." She hugged the younger woman and whispered in her ear. "Who knows? Maybe you'll have the opportunity to make the difference you were looking for out there."
Weiss stared hesitantly at her older sibling as they separated, meeting her gaze which seemed to pierce through her. Her eyes flickered toward the general who simply nodded at her, then faced the lieutenant once more and nodded reluctantly.
"U-understood. I… I'll prepare right away then." She saluted her superiors then left the room, none of them knowing what the future held in store.
A few hectic days later, she sat beside a window on the cargo train, an electronic pad in her hand while cycling through the reports of recent events she had requested before they departed. The further she read, the more she felt herself struck by waves of dismay. The various outposts mentioned by the general had been constructed way further than she expected; which she feared could send an unwanted message to the kingdom of Vale should they begin to feel uncomfortable about their reach. Then there was the presence of the White Fang throughout the East, ransacking any outpost they could overcome and increasing their threat for both nations present on the continent.
Yet, despite these two problematic situations, what caught her eyes were a series of reports surrounding a specific individual: A figure covered by a red cloak. They had assaulted, kidnapped and slain multiple soldiers over the past few weeks; often trespassing onto their outposts to do so, yet no connections had been made between the victims nor the identity of the assailant.
Her eyes rested on a footnote suggesting an investigation on a remote town named Fortuna. A name to keep in mind should she be forced into an extended stay in the kingdom. Although, she found herself skeptical about a nation letting mercenaries conduct their business so freely.
To each their own she supposed.
However, the red figure was certainly an entity to remember as well. Estimated to possess multiple devices of advanced technology along with a semblance, their files had been left confidential. Only able to be accessed by ranks higher than hers. Thankfully, she had managed to get permission courtesy of her older sibling.
A soldier patrolling the carts smirked in her direction as he approached.
"So, they sent us a specialist to help us this time." He said with a smug grin while sitting opposite of her. Weiss slowly raised her gaze toward him, an eyebrow raised in disinterest.
The soldier whistled as if impressed then chuckled. "A pretty one at that." He sat opposite to her, leaning onto the table as he laid his rifle onto his lap. His eyes suddenly narrowed into an aggressive expression. "So what's the deal, huh? We've been escorting these trades for years without any problem. Does the council have a problem with our staff itself then?"
Two of his colleagues hurried over to him and dragged him away while one of them bowed to her. "W-we're very sorry, miss Schnee!" She said, her voice dripping with worry. "He's not this aggressive usually I swear!"
Weiss' gaze floated toward the two faunus ears peeking through both of the soldiers' helmets. It was an odd sight she had been subjected to ever since she landed on the continent. Faunus rarely had the opportunity to rise to any position in Atlas, making them an uncommon occurrence outside of the… indigent neighborhoods. However, her sister had recently mentioned a canine faunus which could potentially climb the ranks into the ace operatives.
When the soldier's ears fell flat, the specialist realized she had been staring silently for too long.
"It's fine. I've had to deal with similar individuals back in Atlas. You simply spared him the pain." She replied, lowering her gaze back to her pad.
The restrained soldier growled at his colleague. "What are you doing? If anything you two should be more pissed off than I am!"
"I'd rather keep my job, man!" Mumbled the other, trying not to attract the Schnee's attention.
The woman standing next to her chuckled awkwardly when her expression brightened in realization. "Oh, I almost forgot." She said, reaching behind her and taking hold of an injector which she laid on the table. "I've been told that you had not brought a booster with you. Better safe than sorry, right?"
Weiss reached for the item, inspecting it before narrowing her eyes. "The solution seems off."
Confused, the soldier blinked a few times before answering. "I've been told that these are reused injectors. The local R&D made a new strand based on the boosters made in Vale."
"Did they now?" She wondered out loud, then set the injector aside while nodding gratefully at the woman. "Thank you. Would you happen to know of our progress so far?"
"We're about halfway through the Maple Sierra which coincidentally means that we're halfway there!" She replied cheerfully with a chuckle.
Weiss found herself smiling back at her while she picked up her pad, intending on resuming her reading. A curious hum escaped her when she noticed the text in the corner of her screen displaying the message: "No Signal"
"Is this norm-" she attempted to ask when the sound of multiple explosives deafened them.
This sudden interruption was immediately followed by their train car getting thrashed around for a few moments, forcing the specialist to activate her aura, before finally dying down. Shaken, Weiss stumbled to her feet, leaning against the nearest surface while observing her surroundings. Needless to say, everything was wrecked beyond repair, however, the most tragic sight was the still bodies of the three soldiers she had just interacted with.
Ears ringing, she fell to her knees near the talkative faunus whose neck was twisted in an unnatural way. She leaned against the corpse's armor then searched her pockets sluggishly until she found the woman's identifiers. She did the same for the other two and pocketed the three items before standing back up. Her hearing had been slightly restored, allowing her to hear soft rhythmic drumming in the distance. She stumbled toward a nearby storage compartment from which she took out her rapier and pistol then swiftly attached them to her waist. Still slightly dazed from the crash, she reached into her pocket and fished out her scroll only to find it broken, earning a frustrated sigh from the specialist as she stored it back. She took a few steps toward the nearest exit, stepping onto the broken injector she had been given before empowering herself with her aura to dislodge the door from its crushed hinges.
Miraculously, her hearing recovered just in time, allowing her to duck to safety when the sound of impacting bullets came from her side. Next thing she knew, a figure stood in front of her with the barrel of their firearm pointed right at her head. She sent a kick upwards, forcing the gun away as it fired, spun around while using her other leg to trip her assailant to the ground, then straddled them and stole their rifle before firing straight through their skull.
Aiming preemptively toward where she assumed one could appear, Weiss took a few deep breaths as she lowered the gun to her side. With a groan, she stood up, taking the time to observe her assailant. She found herself glaring when her eyes landed on the mask they wore.
The mask of the White Fang.
She turned away to help her fellow men while inspecting the remaining ammunition in her newly acquired weapon. Vale weaponry was unfamiliar to her but nothing that she couldn't easily adapt to. It was a firearm like any after all. She barely had the time to take a few steps when the thunderous roars of engines in the distance reached her ears.
"Better be friendly reinforcements…" She mumbled in frustration before heading straight into the fray.
Finally done with Weiss' chapter. Definitely shorter than Blake's one as some might have noticed, but still of a length that I find acceptable.
Once again, sorry if those of you who are military buffs were disappointed in my attempt at military fiction. I'm aware that it's not my best work.
Next chapter will be Ruby's and the last one I make before going back to my main story for a while.