Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY - it belongs to Rooster Teeth.

It was one of Vale's quieter bars – not the sort of place one would frequent for dancing, spirit mixes and loud music, but rather a place to wind down, and enjoy a cool, refreshing drink. This relaxing atmosphere, coupled with its' proximity to Vale's docks ensured that it was a favourite among the dock-workers after a hard days' work.

Which was why several of them were there right now, with friends, toasting the beginning of the weekend.

"Here's to two days off," one boisterous man called out, "May they last for all eternity!"

A round of cheers echoed through the pub.

"I'm telling you, man, the kid works harder than anyone else here," another complained, "It's not right, the foreman being so hard on him just because he's a Faunus. It's not like he's a member of the damn White Fang or anything."

"Sounds rough," his friend commiserated, "But there's just no changing the minds of some people, Cole."

"Yeah, you've got the right of it there, Shaoqing," the worker, Cole, sighed, "They say that old bastard is a vet from the Faunus war. He hates 'em, no matter what they do."

"So, you're looking pretty tired," Shaoqing noted, "They been working you hard?"

"Don't you know it," the other man shook his head in disbelief, "We've been grafting like there's no tomorrow. Clearing out a load of space for a huge load coming in next Tuesday. Those damn 'security guards' don't help, either – mulling about the place, bossing us all around, scaring the crap out of good, honest workers."

"They're bringing in security?" Shaoqing asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know, I'm looking for some work to do on the side at the moment, some extra beer money, you know what I mean? And you know I've done security work before. Are they hiring? It sounds like you could do with having at least one guy watching your back who isn't a total ass-hole," he grinned.

Cole laughed. "That we would, that we would – but I don't think it's a freelance job, sorry. These guys are big company guys, some kind of private security firm. Standardised uniforms and all that. We both know you couldn't pull off an armour vest," he laughed.

Shaoqing chuckled. "Yeah, I guess not. Well, it was worth a try. So why are they bumping up security now, you think? Is it because of the robberies? I heard they'd died down."

"Could be," Cole shrugged, "I just hope there's no need for 'em. Our job's hard enough without some terrorists busting up our docks and stealing our cargo."

Shaoqing nodded. "I hear that," he checked his watch, "Looks like it's about time I left. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Sure thing," Cole nodded, "You look after yourself, now."

"You know I always do," he called over his shoulder as he left the building, before dialling a number on his scroll. "Hey, dude. Can someone pick me up? It's just, I've had a few drinks, and I think I've got something the Boss will want to hear."

From: anon434 .atl

To: phoenix .hv

The information you requested.

Attached: Schedule

Cinder hummed thoughtfully as her eyes scanned the attached file.

This was exactly what they needed. She rose to find Adam.

"Now, according to my pal who works at the docks, their workload has gone through the roof, recently," the man began explaining, "They're clearing out space for a really big shipment, due in next tuesday."

"That could mean anything," Melanie pointed out.

"It could," Roman mused, "But a huge shipment suggests that it's something that there's a lot of demand for at the moment. And what do we have something of a shortage of at the moment, thanks to our friends? But still, it's circumstantial evidence at best."

"Dust," Miltia said in realisation.

"Go on," Junior nodded at the man, "I'm guessing you got more than that."

"I did," he agreed, "My friend said there's private security there, too. Not freelance security guys, an actual firm, standardised gear and such."

Neo looked up. "..."

"That, we can use," Roman translated, as the girl indicated what she was trying to get across, "Big companies tend to have preferred, 'reliable' security firms they like to contract – if we can figure out which firm it is, we can cross-check them to see if it's a group that the Schnee Dust Company tend to use."

"That's smart," Junior said appraisingly, "Shouldn't be hard to find out who the guards are, either."

"Well, well," Roman stood up, "I have to say, I'm almost impressed. This sounds like exactly what we need. And also," he mentioned as an afterthought, "Your men did some nice work with the car. I don't think it's been this clean since someone legally owned it."

"Yeah, yeah," Junior rolled his eyes, "We'll get to work on finding that firm."

"Good," Roman said as he and Neo left the room, "Call me when we know more. I've got some important business of my own to attend to."

After waiting until he was sure they were gone, he turned to two of his men. "You've got the recordings?"

"Yeah, boss, like you asked," the one on the left nodded.

"Good," Junior grunted, "I want volunteers. Pay and a half for whoever is willing to go through that footage."

"I'll do it, boss."

"Me, too."

"Count me in."

"Right. You three, get on that," he ordered, "If you see anything you think I should know about, you tell me right away. Got it?"

A round of nods answered him.

"Good. Now get going."

"Next Tuesday," Cinder informed him, "A Schnee Dust Company freighter is coming to offload a large amount of dust at the Vale Docks. They are hiring extra security, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle."

Adam grunted. "The source?"

"It's an inside man at the Schnee Dust Company," Cinder assured him, "Believe me - he knows better than to lie to me."

"Good," Adam nodded, "That gives us about a week to prepare..."

He turned back towards his troops.

"Plenty of time."

From: whistleblower3214

To: thebigcheese

Subject: Congratulations.

Message:

You know, 'the big cheese' is clearly a fitting title for you – because apparently, you completely goddamn stink at planning a successful operation. One huntress and some school kids? What part of 'you can take out the brains behind the White Fang' was particularly unappealing to you? Because if you'd sent even one more team and a hunter or huntress? You would have had them. Well done on fucking that up spectacularly, though. I would be impressed if I wasn't so angry.

Now, this might be a foreign concept to you, apparently lacking in intelligence as you so are, but when an informant gives you information, they usually expect you to actually do something with it.

Also, that blithering moron in the beret nearly killed me with that oversized monstrosity she has for a gun. That didn't exactly improve my opinion of your competence.

The next time I get a location, you'd better take me seriously, or the only thing I'll be telling you in the future is where you can stick that damn cane.

Yours with the utmost sincerity,

A Person with a Brain

Ozpin blinked as he finished reading through the email. "Oh, my," he muttered, "It seems our mysterious whistle blower is rather irritated. Though," he mused, "That does give us a clue as to their identity. Perhaps I could ask Miss Adel to recant her actions that day."

He then realised that he was going to have to ask Coco Adel to provide a list of how many people she had shot at during a mission.

He resolved to get some more paper, first.

A/N: Smaller chapter this time - the following chapters should be significantly larger, however. Also, it's annoying that FF doesn't let you add made-up email addresses to a document, but meh, first world problems.

For those of you asking about Team RWBY - Look out for the next chapter, because they're about to make their appearance...

LongSean22: If you'd believe it, when I was prototyping this, I actually wrote a prologue chapter that had Roman and Neo stealing 'The Third Crusade' from Tukson's Book Trade, mainly to get some feedback on the tone I was setting, etc. The characterisation was off, though, according to the feedback I got, so it never made it into the fic. Still... he's there in spirit.