welp, the doc manager won't recognize my line breaks for perspective shifts so I'm going to add them now through the editor, this will be the real repost
With three weeks gone by, ECHO unit on Earth and Remnant have established a new mission. The liberation of Remnant from the forces of grimm as well as denying Hell's forces from taking Remnant. Further intel from INDIA unit has proven that the European front has weakened enough to signal rerouting of defensive resources. No other front has seen significant bolstering of hostile defensive lines, leading INDIA analysts to theorize that Vacati or Valentine might be making moves on Remnant and as a less likely alternative, operations in deeper areas of enemy territory. Supply lines were rapidly established between ECHO unit High Command and Vale, building a specialty hub capable of delivering supplies and manpower to the other kingdoms in preparation for larger scale operations. Vale's city lines have expanded dozens of miles by now, plenty of room for new farms, industry, residential areas, as well as support facilities for ECHO unit offensives.
The contract the Valean council had been working on has been officially established. While being sheltered in Vale, ECHO unit will act as an extra military force in exchange for food and continued shelter. In that regard, they have full support from the current Vale defense force and the council in their dealings with the grimm, and any issues larger than Rennold's authority can handle alone. Ozpin's influence has been limited severely, a clear sign of a souring relationship between the headmaster and the government. In regards to a terrorist attack, Ozpin's authority shall be returned as necessary, only to take control of defense against human forces. ECHO unit shall take charge of forcing back any grimm that are involved. Outside of human on human conflict, ECHO unit shall take missions tasked to them by the council, any mission from Ozpin, SHALL, be scrutinized by the council before any action is taken. Of course the commanding officer of ECHO unit shall hold the final say over anything effecting the unit.
Remnant and Earth technology are intertwining at a rapid pace. Remnant hover craft technology along with magic energy engines are being combined into a new generation of aircraft, with TANGO, ECHO, Vale and Atlas engineers and technicians working together to make sure both worlds tech is smoothly merged. Vehicle development aside, weapons technology is practically exploding. Laser tech as it would turn out, is a match made in heaven for magic integration. A laser rifle brought in by the Atlesians was enchanted, which apparently bypasses the need to enchant the ammunition, a benefit not possible on traditional firearm platforms. Existing ECHO unit weapons are currently in the process of being modified to allow for dust ammo. Dozens of new prototypes are being rolled out, each testing a new theory of Earth magic and Remnant dust and tech interaction.
Vacuo and Mistral have begun local training initiatives, ECHO unit sent a platoon of soldiers to both kingdoms. From the reports, the training is going well for the most part. Soldiers in Mistral are noticing some oddities however, they're going to have an officer do some recon in the wilderness around the capital and beyond. Hopefully whoever they choose doesn't find anything serious. Thompson has been keeping them up to date with the classes he's leading in Atlas. From his reports, it would seem the Schnee family is snooping around to gain some info on him. Outside of dodging the family his classes seem to be learning well from him. All in all, the training of local friendly forces is going well.
Taking a sip of her whiskey, Rennold finishes reading the stack of reports on her desk. Picking up a small plaque, she can't help but grin in pride. It reads
United States Army
Lexicon Project – ECHO unit
Certificate of Promotion
This is to certify that the Administrator of the Lexicon Project, with the authority of the Secretary of the Army, has reposed special trust and confidence in the courage, dedication, valor and professional excellence of
Catherine P. Rennold
In view of these qualities and her demonstrated leadership and combat prowess, as well as continuous service to not only the Army, but to the whole of humanity, she is therefore advanced from Major O4 to
Lieutenant Colonel O5
It's pretty rare, but not unheard of for ECHO unit to have multiple Lieutenant Colonels. It came with a personal letter from Lucas himself. It's pretty much just saying that her performance during this unprecedentedsituation has warranted the promotion, and to keep kicking ass.
It's a shame Ethan won't be here for the injection ceremony. Setting the plaque down, she grabs the fancy case that houses the new higher dose of SH-S103, she pulls up a calendar and looks over it for a minute. Hopefully she can get it scheduled on this upcoming Friday, she closes the calendar. Everyone will get plenty of booze and be able to let loose after the injection knocks her flat on her ass. Not one officer has managed to resist the sheer kick of the steroid.
Storing the case in her desk, Catherine spins in her chair to face the window over looking the expanding ECHO base. Standing up with her glass in hand, she finishes the drink, wincing softly. It's gotta be some serious drink in order to phase a combat officer hopped up on super steroids. Legitimate thanks to the Lord for making it possible to suppress the regeneration just enough to allow for a woman to really enjoy the drink. Oddly enough, getting drunk is one of the few things to actually help the freshly made Lieutenant Colonel calm down. If only she had known that a decade ago.
It is absolute chaos
The area had been razed, buildings crumbling all around, fires raging, wounded men lie scattered everywhere. At the center of it all is a twenty-six year old Catherine Rennold. Her head is clouded by a fury strong enough to drive a person mad. She has a lance of stone pressed against the chest of her father.
"You've gotten... so much.. stronger" barely able to rasp out the words, he looks up at her with a demented grin. Stomping down, she earns a pained croak from the bastard.
"Shut the fuck up old man!" the end is in sight, the catharsis of piercing his heart, finally killing this sadistic fuck. All she has to do is give one final push.
Just
One
Little
Push
"What's wrong?" coughing violently, he spits out some blood and continues. "can't... bring yourself... to end it?" laughing maniacally, he's yet again interrupted by a powerful stomp to his stomach. Despite everything she's done, how far she's fallen, Catherine has managed to thus far avoid taking a life. To her, it's the last line. The only thing keeping her from truly being a monster. But him.
"You're worth killing!" purple energy arcs around her, the lance in her hands sharpens even further, sure to pierce flesh. A horn slowly starts to grow out of her head, a consequence of using demonic magic so strenuously. Just as she's assuring herself this is the right path, a set of heavy foot steps can be heard approaching. Whipping her head to the side, she glares at the newcomer. An older mountain of a guy wearing some kind of army gear. Growling loudly, she kicks her father in the face, knocking him out. With that fucker out of the game, she grabs her lance and lunges towards the new unwelcome old man.
Just as the lance is about to connect, the unknown soldier grabs the weapon's shaft, stopping it easily. Taking advantage of her shock, he palms the center of the lance, breaking it. Snapping out of the stupor, purple energy arcs, originating from her new horn. Growing stone swords from the destroyed lance, the demonic berserker goes to slash at the new obstacle standing before her. Drawing a knife, he easily deflects both blows, knocking her arms to the side. Stepping into her space, he grabs the horn with his free hand and with a speed and strength that shouldn't belong to a human, he slams her head into his knee. Dazing her, she staggers back and falls to a knee. It has been known, that sometimes a strong hit is needed to bring someone to their senses. Maybe not as severe as a knee to the face, but you use what works.
"I don't want to hurt you, please talk with me" wiping the blood from her nose, Catherine looks up at the man to see he's pulling up a chunk of stone to sit on. At this point the young warrior can barely believe the absurdity of the situation she's found herself in.
"What the fuck are you doing?" any one would have trouble making sense of a scene like this.
"I'm making a seat, I told you I want to talk" growling in frustration, purple energy flashes again, forming a stone chair under her. Since the plan has been ruined beyond repair, might as well roll with the bullshit. Taking a deep enough breath that a normal person would pass out from it, she calms down. Just a bit.
"Fine. Spit it out you old bastard" chuckling softly, he places a gloved hand on his knee. How a man can go from kneeing a person in the face to looking like some kind of youth pastor ready to give a heartwarming speech is, frankly, beyond her. And a little annoying.
"C'mon now, I'm only forty-three. Moving on. You'd be Catherine Miller right?" spitting on the ground beside her, she can't hide the disgust on her face.
"Rennold. Catherine Rennold. I'll never use his name" nodding sagely, the soldier adjusts his vest to get more comfortable.
"Right. So, Catherine, might I ask why you did all this?"
"If you know me, than you know who he is, and what he's done"
"I do. He's a horrible human being. Even calling him one is an insult to humanity. I'm not sure what line he hasn't crossed. But the question is, why is his daughter dismantling his criminal empire and attempting to assassinate him?" scoffing and rolling her eyes, she can't believe how stupid this conversation is.
"Who the hell else was doing it? Certainly wasn't you soldier boy" despite pointing out a rather hard to swallow fact, the soldier's soft smile doesn't falter.
"That's fair enough I suppose. However, I can see it in your eyes, you're not a killer" rage spikes in her like lightning strikes. Who the fuck is he to come into this and tell her she's not capable of it. Standing up with enough force to throw the stone chair backwards, she gets in his face.
"You don't know shit about me you fucking decrepit creep!" the anger keeps building and building, it's like it won't stop "he took everything from me! He's a fucking degenerate monster! If I don't kill him no one will! I have to! I have to! I. HAVE. TO!" tears of rage stream down her face as she screams in the soldiers face. Shaking in anger, her chest heaves as she struggles to get air into her lungs. Every horrible moment, every lost loved one, every line crossed flashes in her mind. Anger can only go for so long until it reaches a wall. Which promptly falls. Rage gives way to the feelings she'd buried for so long. Tears turn from wrathful to sorrowful. Covering her face, she does her best to stop the tears from flowing, falling to her knees for the second time this encounter. Standing from his own chair, he takes a knee slowly and gently takes the broken woman into his arms. It's warm, like how her mother used to hug her. Without hesitation, she returns the embrace and starts to try and control her crying.
"You don't have to cross that line, not for anyone. You're still human"
Crying turns to sobs. After all these years, hearing someone tell her that, it offered a sense of hope. Her grip on the soldier strengthens as the pain flows out of her freely now. The soldier gently places a hand on her horn, a golden light envelopes it and it disappears. Venting all those horrible feelings, several minutes pass by, eventually letting her get some control over herself.
"Thank you" smiling at her, she lets go of him, allowing the soldier to stand. Attempting to join him, Catherine finds her legs too weak to stand. Helping her to her feet, the solider begins to walk away with Catherine in tow, only for his instincts to scream at him to stop. Turning around and putting Catherine behind him, there stands a finely dressed young man, adorned with what seems to be several dozen pounds of jewelry. The mastermind he'd been hoping wasn't actually involved. Drawing his pistol, he quickly shoots Miller in the head, the last thing he needs is a known human agent of hell getting away. The blood spray from Miller's head lands on the suave man's shoes.
"For fucks sake, these are expensive!" training his pistol on the gold covered man, the soldier makes sure to keep his newfound ward behind him to stop this flashy psycho from making any moves. Taking a moment to check on her, he finds that she's shocked beyond action upon seeing the anti-climatic execution of the man she'd spent years to find and bring down.
"Let me guess, attempting to make a new Embodiment of Wrath?" rolling his eyes, the Embodiment of Greed uses blood magic to clean his shoes of blood and gray matter.
"Thanks for ruining decades of planning you fucking cunt. The current Wrath has fallen out of favor, but now we don't have a choice but to keep him. I should kill you right now"
"I was putting bitches like you down long before I joined ECHO unit, if you think you've got a shot, take it" the two stare each other down, purple goat style eyes meeting steel gray. Throwing his hands up in surrender, Greed backs off.
"Ok tough guy, calm down. We've got plans for you Luke, so consider-" a bullet rips through his jaw mid sentence, forcing a roar of pain from the demonic entity.
"Don't call me Luke like you know me" seething in rage, purple energy arcs around the pinnacle of human greed, causing the ground to shake around them. The ECHO soldier doesn't falter, keeping his sights on the enemy's head.
"You insolent piece of shit! You think you'll get away with this!?"
"Yeah"
Another shot from the soldiers pistol, this time it tears through his skull, making him howl in suffering. A wave of lead from the alleys and windows of surrounding destroyed buildings tears into Greed's body. Several soldiers emerge from their hiding, lining up beside Lucas, all from ECHO's Ultra company. All rifles trained on the writhing body of one of the Generals of hell. Starting to climb to his feet, the wounded demonic entity begins to pluck the bullets out of the wounds, agonizing over each one as the metal burns his fingers. Taking all the bullets out, the wounds heal slowly. The hellish abomination laughs it off but he's quite clearly hurt and pissed off.
"You humans really think you can do anything don't you?"
"Oh shut the fuck up, you were human at one point. You're young though, can't be more than a couple hundred years. That wouldn't have done that much damage to someone like Vacati or Apathy. You're still reliant on the curse conditions. Which, by the way, Ultra here is always armed to kill high ranks. So either run or die" snarling, Greed does the smart thing. Opening a portal and diving through it.
Looking back Catherine is just too shocked to process anything of what just happened. They'll explain it all later. It was better to scare him a bit then let him think of a way to get his target. You can never plan for something like that.
Wyatt and his Ultra squad walk the young lady to their transport truck. Driving off with her in tow.
What a shit show that day was, at least it ended pretty good. She got a new father figure and the help she desperately needed for her anger and trauma. Now she's able to control that anger and direct it to more positive avenues. Hopefully her mother is watching over her. God rest her soul.
Ringing interrupts the reminiscing. Turning on her heel, she reaches down and presses the accept call button on her scroll. It's automatically switched to speaker and feeds into a speaker near by. Councilwoman Gold's voice sounds out from the scroll.
"First off, congratulations on your promotion. Secondly, the council has come up with a new clause to the legal agreement. Speaking with the Colonel, we've come up with a new venture for furthering our collective strength" raising her eyebrow, Rennold places her empty glass down on her desk.
"I'm curious to see what you and the boss have come up with. Enlighten me"
"Allowing enlistment for Remnant natives" pouring a fresh drink, the current lead officer of ECHO's journey into Remnant hadn't exactly understood what the government official said. Taking a sip from the glass, the words process in her mind, making her nearly choke on the strong drink. Coughing loudly to catch her breath, the auburn berserker does her best to calm down.
"That's a tall order Gold. Training soldiers is one thing but establishing a boot camp regime and dragging Remnant citizens into our fight doesn't seem right"
"Now that is what's not right Miss Rennold. This fight against the grimm has been ours for long before you all showed up. You and your people can't just show up here, give us hope and then deny us our rightful piece of it. Humanity has a chance to push back the darkness, and not just by the huntsmen" groaning, Rennold fuels her developing painkiller addiction, popping two to reduce the oncoming headache. The whole point of ECHO unit is to guard the innocent from evil. Remnant already has the huntsmen, they shouldn't have to sign up against Earth's threats as well.
"Wyatt signed off on this?" the scroll pings again, showing a picture of a signed document. Yup that's his signature. Damn it old man, what the fuck are you thinking?
"may I ask why you're so against it?" inhaling deeply, Rennold holds it for a moment before letting it go.
"I was in a horrible place in my life, I was dragged into some sick plot against humanity. Ethan was born into it, he never had a choice but to fight. This fight isn't something superficial, it's not for land, politics, or resources. It's for our very souls! I have seen so many horrible things done to my soldiers. I won't stand for it to happen to your people. Remnant already has a threat like the grimm, it shouldn't have to go up against ours as well" silence reigns like a tyrannical king in the room.
"I understand. Yet I regret to inform you, I must stand resolute. I have seen the grimm tear apart families, destroy villages, traumatize people for life. Enemies against humanity will always hurt us, even if the pain from vampires might be greater. I would still rather give my people the choice to die roaring in defiance, rather than screaming in terror. Please. Think on it Catherine" ending the call, the silence returns. Running a hand down her face, the Lieutenant Colonel downs her drink in one dreadful gulp. It doesn't feel right to her. Even with their presence in this world, it shouldn't mean that Remnant natives should be dragged into the fight. Grimm are just mindless animals, they'll kill you quick while the same can't be guaranteed when dealing with vampires and their allies. It's going to be a long day.
Career choices can be tricky. Tricky in the sense that a man can sign up to be a huntsmen, only to wind up playing the part of some kind of inter-dimensional task force soldier. Wielding one of the new laser rifles ECHO unit made, Lye stalks through the tree line with an ECHO unit squad. It's a bad day for any grimm they come across. Holy laser rifles can do some odd things with the right configuration, each rifle they're using has different components, attachments, and enchantments. The one he's currently using splits the laser into a spread shot and basically wipes out an entire segment of grimm.
Don't be mistaken, he's having fun, he's just confused as to how he ended up in this situation. He'd gone to check in on ECHO unit, and their beehive of a base as per his usual routine. Everything was as normal as it can get. Then a young huntress in training giggling like a madwoman slammed into him at mach seven, scattering the pile of rifles she'd been carrying. Of course that would somehow lead to him getting dragged off into a live fire test of experimental rifles. Yeah, nothing makes sense to him anymore.
Electricity chains between a small group of grimm as a soldier fires his rifle, that one was modified with some kind of magic that changed the behavior of the lightning dust crystal inside. Thompson had attempted to explain magic's deeper theories but it was just incomprehensible to the veteran huntsmen. How can demonic and holy magic function together, its just weird. Another rifle goes off, breaking in the process, the laser was supposed to track a specific target, instead it just hits the one target and goes into the ground. The soldier switches to his standard rifle and keeps sweeping with the squadron. Back to the drawing board for that one.
The whir of a minigun spooling up and discharging a hail of lead can be heard a little ways ahead. Pushing up further, they find the little red reaper that manged to drag Lye into this test. Mowing down a small hoard, the weapons nut quickly puts the EH-3 down into a whole wagon, swapping to a gun that he'd never seen. A thump sound, and a beowolf turns to mist. Looking closer, it's a rifle with a built in grenade launcher, it's got EG-7 on the side in bold. Ruby dumps the mag into an ursa putting the beast, and every other grimm behind it, down. Gently, she sets the rifle down, grabbing another gun, this time a submachine gun with a massive mag.
Oh holy shit, she's actually just trying out guns like she's looking for a new scroll. A small break in the gunfire lets him hear the manic giggling before she cuts two beowolfs in half with a large burst from the machine gun, it's fire rate is insane. Leaning down and grabbing the wagon handle, she pulls the weapon cache behind her. Skipping and humming as she goes. The veteran huntsmen shares a look of concern with his ECHO companions.
Before long, the squad runs low on ammo for their prototypes and radios in for the extraction chopper. Putting the radio headset on mute, Lye calls out for Ruby.
"Alright ya little junkie, time to head back!" a loud and totally necessary dramatic groan can be heard beyond the trees to their left. A couple seconds later a dejected gun enthusiast comes into sight, dragging her feet as the wagon creaks ever so slightly. Rolling his eyes, he turns to the soldiers he'd been sent out with. They're all checking the condition of the rifles, most of them have some pretty significant damage.
"Well they work at least, your rifle seems the sturdiest of the bunch Lye" examining it, it does seem like it has the least amount of damage. Removing the battery mag from the prototype, he checks the insertion port. The metal inside seems to be burnt.
"How quickly did they make these?" the Sergeant of the group rolls his head side to side as he thinks about it.
"I think these were drawn up, made, and tested within about two weeks" his jaw drops, before he can comment on that, he yelps as Ruby dashes next to him. Trying to calm his heart before it gives out he snaps his finger in front of her face, taking her focus off her excitement about whatever the hell it was. Looking up at her elder, she pokes her fingers together looking extra guilty upon seeing he's upset with her.
"Look kid, I get you're on cloud nine right now, but how about not giving me a heart attack next time" the soldiers can't help but laugh at the sitcom like scene in front of them.
"...Sorry Mr. Sall" pinching the bridge of his nose, he can feel a new gray hair sprout as he does his best not to look at the pitiful face Ruby is wearing.
"It's fine, just calm down a bit" nodding along, Ruby relaxes and her cheery smile returns. Turning her focus back to the Sergeant... Sergeant Bowen, he's got a tag on the side of his helmet.
"They can make new weapons that fast!?" shielding his face, everyone does their best to protect their eyes from the blinding light of a child's whimsy... this kid has some issues.
"Yes and please stop looking at us like that, you're going to make feel warm and fuzzy, and I don't do warm and fuzzy. I only do cold and hard, like steel" the pure cringe of it smacks the stars right out of the young huntress in training's eyes. Sall fakes a gagging noise to show his disapproval.
"Alright listen sarge, imma need you to shut up with the dumbass shit" Ruby gasps and points her finger at the man.
"That's a swear!" right, while she may play the role of a reaper on the battlefield, she's still a fifteen year old daddy's girl who hasn't learned the joy and versatility of curse words yet. She'll get there, just not by Lye's hands, that's a potential smack down from Taiyang, and that would be ass.
"Ok moving on-" the noise of an approaching helicopter quickly drowns out the certified huntsmen. The extraction chopper hovers over the trees a couple feet. The side door slides open, a mounted machine gun pops out manned by a soldier, who engages any encroaching grimm. Ropes with motorized grapple devices on them drop down. Ruby and Lye go first, latching onto the grapples and zipping up to the helicopter in a flash. The remaining six quickly and professionally climb into the chopper. With everyone on board, the gunner retracts the mounted gun and shuts the door.
Plopping down in the nearest free seat, Lye passes his rifle to the Private collecting them. He still doesn't understand why ECHO unit would use such loud airships, seems a bit impractical. On the flip side of that, bullheads aren't the quietest either, still not nearly as bad as helicopters. Helicopters have one major advantage over bullheads though.
They are terrifying. They can do flips while they're technically supposed to be hovering, are way more maneuverable than the bullheads hover mode, they can carry a deceiving amount of weapons, and it's fast as hell. He's just glad that they're on the same side. The ride back to ECHO's base doesn't take all that long, touching down, the doors slide open. A small group of technicians rush into the aircraft, causing an immediate chaotic scene. They literally pick up the Private with the prototypes, who had also been the one writing the field report, and they run off with him like he's a damn suitcase. Making the situation worse, he's not even phased, looking bored as he's abducted, throwing comedy into the mix of crazy. Groaning, the other five soldiers run off after them, probably worried about the Private's safety.
Glancing in Ruby's direction, the poor girl is hugging the wall of the helicopter for dear life, weeping as the techs took her wagon of weapons as well. Standing from his seat, he peels the little red reaper off the metal with a mysterious pop. What the hell, is she a suction cup? Pouting, Ruby hops out of the aircraft and goes off in some random direction. Jumping to the ground and landing like a real pro, Lye scans the area. Doesn't seem like there's anyone who'd drag him into more random bullshit. Despite the lack of threat, the veteran huntsmen hustles towards the gate. Passing by one of the barracks building, a strong arm reaches out from a nearby alleyway, grabbing onto the fleeing huntsmen. It's like a damn statue, considering it nearly knocks him on his ass. Yelping, Lye is dragged into the alley, revealing the hunting expert, Major Alexander.
"You scared the shit out of me ya old fuck!" laughing loudly, Alexander pats his back firmly.
"Ah buck up there, you're a huntsmen, you don't get to be scared" shaking his head, Lye waves him off.
"Why'd you even grab me anyways? You're not about to do nefarious things to me are you" an evil grin quickly spreads on the older soldier's face. It unnerves Lye upon sight of it. Listening to his instincts, the veteran huntsmen lunges towards the open side of the alley. Flailing in panic as Alexander grabs Lye by his clothes, dragging him back.
"You and I are gonna have a good spar, blame Thompson for leaving the base" screaming in frustration, all Lye can do now is accept his fate, being dragged towards a gym.
Screeching through the sky, a gargoyle easily breaks into the Mistralian airship, letting out a gout of toxic breath into the ship. All soldiers inside die within seconds, bringing the militia air ship down. As the battle drags on, the entire fleet of airships is devastated, the militia scattered, the only thing saving the well established trading town is it's size. Viscountess Alivi marches through the currently annexed portion of the town, showing off her new lunar armor set that came with her higher title. Of course she knows that attacking this town will alert the livestock of their presence on the continent, hopefully they'll bring enough of the useless blood sacks to help expand their quickly growing forts. This town will also be a boon for their intelligence on this backwater world, only so much can be gained by peasant livestock with no proper communication. Searching for her desired target, she finds what the livestock on Earth would call a television. Primitive buffoonery, a magic mirror will always be superior.
Shattering the glass of the merchants storefront, she watches to see if any news of the other kingdoms will play. Her capable knights and beasts shall manage without her immediate supervision. An eerie silence befalls the town, the sign of an ending battle and the clean up to follow it. There shall be a proper feast for her men after the livestock are secured. Minutes turn to tens, turn to an hour, the human technology explodes as Alivi loses her patience and routes lightning through the useless boxes. Nothing but calls to evacuate. Of course the lesser technology of livestock would prove to be of no help to her plans.
Chimeras and ghouls are ordered into the town, using their earthen magic to start constructing the newest addition to their rapidly rising empire. Emperor Vacati has a pleasant tone to it in her mind, as a matter of course, she shall gain the title of Lady. Pondering the possibilities of it, an ambitious smile creeps onto her face. A knight hurriedly approaches the Viscountess, taking a knee before her and presenting a magic mirror to his superior. On the glass, is her leading Baron on the other side of the town.
"Ma'am, the town has fallen, and the livestock are being moved to a secure location. Shall I have the gargoyles sweep the surrounding area for deserters?"
"yes, once an adequate job has been done, have all forces rendezvous at the town center" giving a proper salute to his superior noble, the feed cuts off and the knight quickly vacates the area as to not burden the Viscountess.
Observing the wretches as they labor away, the hideous architecture is wiped away. Proper vampire stone work is erected in place of the livestock pens. Until their new quarters are established, the livestock can wait. Breeding pens can be shoddy, it's not as if the livestock of this world can even manage to rebel against them. The future of vampirism is looking rather fortunate.
Putting down the binoculars, Second Lieutenant Dannon brings out the long range radio.
"platoon leader, Dannon, (quick note, this form of communication is actually used in the navy, simply put, it's "hey you, it's me, the message") inform Valean ECHO base that opposition force has been confirmed in the kingdom of Mistral" a tense silence follows after.
"Dannon, platoon leader, report current strength of opposition force" scanning the town again, the junior officer points out what looks to be a troop of knights and a flock of gargoyles. Common signs of a search party.
"platoon leader, Dannon, a flock of gargoyles and a knight troop have been confirmed, request order to commence further scouting" it would be negligent to call it here, especially after tracking down all those signs.
"Dannon, platoon leader, commence advanced recon, fall back if needed, do not be spotted" the line goes silent, putting the radio and scouting equipment back in his bag, Dannon starts moving. Creeping through the plentiful vegetation of the swampland. Pushing closer to the occupied town, the officer expertly avoids the sight lines of any gargoyles that happen by. Enhanced speed is quite helpful, allowing the junior officer reach a nearby house for cover in record time. Making sure no enemy sees him, he pulls out a pinger. Activating it, the device alerts him that there are vampires fifty feet away, at several different directions. Turning the corner, Dannon dashes towards more cover. Lucky for him that the buildings are so dense in the area.
Dodging patrols, he moves even further into hostile territory. Delving deeper, his pinger vibrates violently, alerting him of a more powerful demonic signature. Bee lining towards the new signature, he dives toward a house adjacent to a large clearing. Should be the town center. Looking around quickly and finding no enemies watching him, he pokes his head out from behind cover. Sitting on a stone throne, a Viscountess lounges like a damn pig. Damn, that's not good. Barons are one thing, but a Viscountess means that a greater force is most likely away from the current location.
The question now, should he disobey orders and assassinate the Viscountess here and now? Or should he take this information and begin planning a solid offensive to push back hostile forces?
Vibration signals an oncoming sneak attack. Turning instantly, Dannon barely manages to deflect a savage dive attack from a gargoyle. Drawing his recon pistol, he dodges another swing, quickly putting three silent shots through the beast's head. Luckily they're dumber than a box of rocks in one on one fights, never properly using their stone flesh abilities. It's odd how it didn't screech however. Another warning from his pinger.
Throwing himself out of harms way, he rolls away and back to his feet, training his pistol on the vampire stabbing the ground he'd just been standing on. Well, fuck. The gargoyle was being piloted, great. Firing his pistol, the vampire knight manages to scream out before the bullets tear into flesh and kill him. Turning back toward the center, he finds the Viscountess staring at him, wasting no time he lands several shots on her, hopefully penetrating armor. Breaking into a dead sprint in the opposite direction, the fleeing officer lands several shots on knights trying to intercept him. Quickly swinging his recon pack in front of him, he tells the platoon leader he was spotted and is retreating. Turning the radio off, he keeps running. Side steping a grabbing fly by thanks to the pinger, he shoots at the monster, only to have it harden and crash. Rushing it, he throws a lethal haymaker to the head just as the gargoyle undoes its hardening, snapping it's neck.
Popping a mist grenade, he latches it to himself and keeps running. His plan works as the mist floats behind him, acting as a barrier from further grab attempts. Shouting from all around him can be heard, more knights coming for his head. Breaking out into the swamp lands around the trading hub town, the Second Lieutenant slings his rifle from his back. Just as his mist grenade runs dry, he dives forward out of another pass from a gargoyle. Landing in deeper waters, Dannon quickly rights himself. Shouldering his rifle, he downs two circling gargoyles from underneath the water. Thank god recon rifles are so specialized. Swimming onto more solid ground, an arrow slams into his back plates, denting it slightly. If a sniper already has a bead on him, he's got no more time to fight.
Veins beginning to glow a ghostly blue, the junior officer takes off once again, this time going fast enough to throw off the sniper. The same can't be said for the knights and gargoyles behind him. Barely noticing the warning from his pinger, he doesn't manage to fully avoid a piercing strike from a spear to his leg. Tripping and rolling, Dannon stands and leaps back despite the pain. His rifle had ended up flying out of sight when he tripped. Turning to face his pursuers he draws his pistol and loads a fresh magazine. Twirling his spear, a Baron glares at him menacingly. Knights quickly encircle the ECHO officer. Grinning, Dannon pulls his knife free of it's sheath, dual wielding the blade and pistol.
"well then? Who moves first?" the wound in his leg heals just in time to dance away from a bolt of lightning from a trigger happy knight. Foolish, he'd have managed better if he waited for his buddies. Popping off a shot, the knight drops as the bullet pierces his throat. Screaming in rage the Baron charges forward, nearly too fast for Dannon to stop the blow with his knife. Raising his pistol to the Barons head as he's recovering from his deflected attack, its smacked away by a ball of stone launched from the side. Cursing, the junior officer, has to back away from the Baron as a flurry of magic attacks fly through the air. Fine then, deflecting another thrust from the spear, he pops the safeties off a holy frag, throwing it behind the Baron. Screaming, three knights take the blast full force, some of the fragments cut straight through the leather segments of the Barons armor.
Thrown into a frenzy by the searing metal, the Baron savagely attacks Dannon, forcing him back further. A failed block swats the ECHO officer's hand away, letting the Baron impale Dannon through the leg, immobilizing him. Taking full advantage of their proximity, Dannon stabs the Baron in the chest, missing his heart by an inch. Recoiling back, the Baron pulls his spear out and falls back a bit. Ducking under one blast of high pressure water, another stone ball punches right into his hip making the officer buckle. A gargoyle swoops down and rakes his claws across Dannon's face, taking an eye. Dannon doesn't let it fly off however, grabbing the gargoyle by the tail he drags it back and stabs it in the spine. Using it's corpse as shield against a flurry of magic attacks, he throws the burning remains at a knight, smothering him to death in holy fire.
Hissing, a gout of unholy black fire erupts from the Baron's lunar armor mouthpiece, engulfing the Second Lieutenant before he can avoid it. Eyes widening, the Baron sees a blue glow approach right before a blade is driven up into his jaw, cutting off the fire. Standing before the Baron, a soldier stands defiant, exposed skin charred, his armor damaged. Agony fills both their beings', but both press on. The Baron stabbing his spear straight through the Dannon's heart. Dannon retaliates by slamming his fist down on the Baron's head, forcing the blade to pierce into his brain. Instantly, the Baron's entire body catches fire and turns to ash.
Knees giving out, Dannon rips the spear free from his chest only to be bombarded by an elemantal barrage from the remaining knights. Collapsing completely on the ground, Dannon looks up and smiles.
"I'd say see you in hell. But I'll be laughing at you bastards from heaven" several swords pierce Dannons body, with his last few breaths, he shakily pops the safeties on his last few holy grenades, dying a second later with a smile on his face.
The explosions rip through the dead ECHO unit officers body, killing two of the remaining knights encircling him. The other three are horribly maimed and screaming in pain on the ground, the sanctified metal stopping regeneration and burning through their flesh slowly. More knights come up to start rendering aid as best they can.
ECHO unit had survived the attack, the Viscountess must know.
An hour passes with no word from Dannon after his report of being compromised. Slamming a fist on the table, Second Lieutenant Becksworth stands up. Grabbing the radio he reports the status of the operation to Rennold back in Vale.
"Expedite the locals training as best as possible, I'll radio High Command to send in additional forces. I'm sending an additional contingent, you'll have a gun ship, an APC, an additional platoon, supply trucks and some artillery trucks. Good luck" she ends the communication. Making a mad dash out of the office, he calls for an emergency muster of his platoon and briefs them on the situation. A messenger is tasked with relaying information on the situation with the Mistralian council. The majority of them begin to gather local Mistral soldiers for a training session. Becksworth and Sergeant Carlson begin working on defense strategies for the capital.
The nightmare has finally followed them.
Ozpin leaves the conference call between him, Rennold, and the council. Many things were discussed. The beginning of enlistment of Remnant native citizens into ECHO unit, ECHO unit's new initiative on Remnant, the now expanding borders of Vale, the contract that has limited his influence over the kingdom. Many things, the most troublesome being the appearance of vampires in Mistral. And the disappearance of an ECHO unit officer. Knowing that Thompson and the Majors aren't exactly the most accurate for a baseline measure of strength, even the most junior of ECHO unit personnel can handle themselves in some pretty dire circumstances.
It's cause for alarm in his eyes, however the new school year is on the horizon. Painful as it is for his mind, he'll simply have to allow for ECHO unit to fight this two sided war against the grimm and now their home world's enemies. He'll put his best efforts into raising a new generation of huntsmen to aid in the fight.
A crow shakily flies up to his window, flapping its wings to stay in place as it pecks at the glass. Walking over, the headmaster opens up the window. Fluttering in, the crow poofs into Qrow.
"Well it would seem our replacements are finally integrated into society" lifting his mug to his lips, Ozpin takes a deep sip of his coffee. Qrow has been drinking more and more lately, hell he can barely stand straight right now. How the only affect on his speech is slurring, is a mystery even the headmaster can't solve.
"I wouldn't be quite so pessimistic Qrow, the world will always need huntsmen. And with ECHO unit crushing the grimm like this, we may get the chance to properly prepare against Salem" taking the flask from his hip, the drunken huntsmen drinks a fair bit of it. Finishing his swig, he scoffs.
"Yeah until the councils manage to turn the psychos into their own personal death squads" raising an eyebrow at his longtime associate, Ozpin can't help but be thrown off by that.
"Qrow what exactly is your prejudice against ECHO unit?" at that, Qrow is the one to be thrown off.
"Oz, c'mon now. Look at em! They're some other world military force who just so happens to be altruistic enough to just lend us their aid? Fuck no! I won't believe it, they're just another set of goons waiting to happen like the Atlesians!" sighing Ozpin drinks from his mug once more, seeing as this conversation has been a long time coming it seems.
"I'm well aware of your low opinion of Atlas, their military hierarchy, the ill treatment of faunus by both the population at large and the Schnee dust company, the military posturing. I would also like to inform you that James has made great strides in his attempts to fix things" Qrow's face twists with disgust, angrily finishing off the rest of the alcohol in his flask before throwing it on the floor.
"Well big fucking whoop, he's not doing enough! You, me and the rest of the inner circle are the only ones really fighting to make things better! ECHO unit and Atlas are bound to be the same sooner or later! Guys like Thompson, you can see it in their eyes, he's a fucking lunatic. Same look I've seen in Atlesian soldiers before they executed faunus in a riot!" Ozpin can't allow for that comment to slide. Thompson may come off a bit more unhinged than his fellow soldiers, but from what he knows of the young Captain it is understandable.
"That is enough Qrow! I will not tolerate this unjust hate any longer. That supposed twisted look you've seen Thompson have, has he worn it anywhere outside of combat with the grimm?" Qrow's words die in his throat as the drunk is forced to make that realization. "I have to believe that this isn't just about your place as a huntsmen, I'm inclined to conclude that your hatred of the military has blinded your judgment. Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long, Lye, and myself have been in extensive contact with this group for over a month now. All they have done is prove themselves to be a group of faithful defenders of humanity. The population of Vale send them so many gifts and letters of thanks they needed a post office! What ill will have they brought upon Remnant since their forced exile from their home world?" the drunken huntsmen had shrunk down just a bit from Ozpin's confrontational tone. However, alcohol is known as liquid courage, even if that courage is often times misplaced.
"Let's start with the big one, they've brought their own enemies into Remnant, I'm sure once that gets out they'll lose some favor. On top of that, they've knocked you down a peg, your influence has been limited by their contract with Vale's council" Qrow shrinks even further upon seeing the look on the headmaster's face.
"So then, let me get this straight. A military unit, attacked with a magic powerful enough to transport people between worlds. Against their will! Should be held accountable, when said enemy tracks them down and invades a world of humans to do it. To go further, this unit is also at fault for my choices of not trusting the council and for Atlas getting greedy in their politics. Is that the conclusion you've reached?" all the drunk man can do is stare at his employer, a headache growing slowly in his head. Suffocating from the silence in the room, Qrow can only push forward at this point.
"Maybe... maybe I'm a little biased on this"
"I'm disappointed in you Qrow. To think, a man as caring as you could judge a group of people different than you as harshly as a Schnee would a faunus" Qrow steps back and staggers as if Ozpin slammed his cane over the side of his head. Which he had done verbally.
"Oz, li-"
"No, I need you to leave now Qrow. Go reflect on this conversation. Go sober up" clenching his jaw in embarrassment and shame, Qrow turns back into a crow and flies out of the still open window. Moving back to his chair, the headmaster collapses in it, drained from the encounter. How can a man his age be so immature. It almost feels personal, which it probably is. Qrow is overly protective of his nieces, probably due to Thompson's unpredictable streak and Jenkins' appearance. Events are starting to get too serious for one of his top agents to be acting like this. Looking down into his mug, Ozpin finds it empty. He's going to need stronger coffee.
Training soldiers in magic isn't as bad as Thompson thought it would be. Sure he's pretty much busy most of the day, with three classes at three hours each, an extra three hour course with Ironwood and Winter as she had been brought in by Ironwood. It's not nearly as tight a schedule as Earth or in Vale, when his courses are done, that's it, the rest of the day is his. Which to him is a bit jarring, usually he's preoccupied with combat, developing new magic strategies, assisting in weapon development or training from the time he wakes up to the time he's asleep. Now he only spends twelve hours on work, two in training and he still has four hours to kill every day. Sure he had days off in those situations, but he was usually dragged off by one of his comrades to do something like hanging out or exploring together.
It's been a very long time since he's been alone for anything outside of work or days off. So, to remedy his new situation, he began to explore the city. Ironwood gave him a prepaid card good for, and he quotes, 'pretty much any reasonable expense he might come across'. Cool enough he supposes. Providing for himself has never been much of an issue since joining ECHO unit.
As uncomfortable as it is for him, he's heavily discouraged from wearing his full armor set out in public for fear of causing disturbances or worse, a panic. Instead, he requested a more covert set of armor so he can still roam around protected. Ironwood had delivered within two days of the request, presenting an Atlas white armored duster with a blue combat fiber weave turtleneck underneath. For pants he'd matched the outfit with a pair of black combat pants with armor plating embedded in areas that still allowed for full range of motion. Topped off with a pair of black reinforced boots, all to perfectly match Thompson's provided sizes. The General was sure to show him footage of it's testing and it surpassed the ex-paladins expectations. Since then, it's been one of his favorite set of clothes.
Thanks to his enhanced speed, the young Captain could pretty much go anywhere just by jogging. Visiting shops, buying souvenirs, eating food, sight seeing. Atlas is big enough for him to do all of it and not really get bored. Especially considering the first time Thompson had ever been able to visit a city without the oppressive supervision of the church, he essentially fell in love with exploration. Poking around a fresh new city was always exciting to him, no matter how many things might have been similar between them.
At some point, he'd come across his favorite spot. A little clearing just outside the main portion of the floating city. Probably overlooked for quite some time, there was no preventive measures from falling over the edge. With no protection from falling, he could clearly see the city of Mantle. All those dazzling yellow lights in the darkness of night gave him a nostalgic feeling from flying over cities back on Earth. Staring down at the city, it reminds him of the oath of faith he made when he granted himself magic.
To follow God's path, defending all of his children from those who wish them harm.
They had forced him to mature so fast, he ended up taking on the burden of paladin training from the other kids in the church. Seeing the children of the church play while he was being punished or during training always gave him the strength to push on. In that clearing, Thompson began to pray again. It had been so long since he'd done it, it made him feel guilty once he realized it.
Kneeling down in the outlook, he begins to pray for the night before heading back to go to sleep for the day. As he speaks with the lord in his mind, he feels the growing warmth of the holy magic within him. It doesn't always happen, in fact it's rather rare, but when it does happen, it always brings him to tears. Hands still clasped in front of his chest, he looks up at the shattered moon, tears actively streaming down his face, he begs for forgiveness. Forgiveness for all the weakness he's shown, every sin he's committed, the pain that he feels. All of it.
The moon shines a bit brighter.
The pain goes away.
In the end, everything will be ok.
Sniffling softly, Thompson ends his prayers, Thompson stands back up. A genuine smile on his face, eyes still puffy from the tears. He turns to face the way he came, silent and lonesome. No matter how lonely he may feel, how tough it may get, he has to remember. He's never truly alone, with friends and his faith. Ethan walks back to his room to get some sleep.
Alright, I feel like that's a pretty good stopping point. A lot of things are popping off in Remnant, in Mistral in particular. In that last bit I wanted to highlight the importance of the whole holy factor in this story, considering it's literally half of the original. I'm going to attempt to start switching between first and last names so it's not just Rennold, Rennold, Rennold over and over again. I'm going to try doing a weekly update schedule see how that works out working on it every night since I like this story, I just gotta quit being a lazy asshole lol. Being back on land I forgot how distracting it really is, and for that I apologize. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far, as usual I'm always open to reviews no matter if they're negative or positive, always trying to learn. I'd also like to do like a end of chapter response that I've seen some of my other favorite peeps do. Anyways
Lolz out