Trailer 3

The Commander

oxoxoxo

The Vale City Prison, home to the most dangerous or important of the kingdom's criminals, many of whom had been sentenced for life. Today, they were receiving a new inmate, a man who, without a fight of any kind, was marched through the corridors of the prison by the AK130 droids, his long brown hair dishevelled and his vacant green eyes glued to the floor. He appeared to any he passed to be dead inside, and how right they were for this man had lost everything in the last few days, kept alive only with the knowledge that what he fought for was not lost. Other prisoners could only look on as this man was led to his cell, wondering with a sense of dread just what the droids had done to him to.

Little did they know that this man had been in that state even before his arrival. But then, the prisoners didn't need to know that as he took a seat in his cell, looking every bit the walking corpse as he ever did. One of the security droids approached him and spoke in its robotic monotone. "You may now have your phone call prisoner 59610."

The man looked up into the faceplate of the machine. "I have a name you know." He muttered.

The droid didn't miss a beat in its response. "So long as you are here you are here, you are prisoner 59610. Choose who you wish to contact or forfeit the call."

The prisoner merely sighed. "Put me through to Erik Fantine." He mumbled.

"Acknowledged." The robot replied, producing a scroll and activating its video call function. The man spent the precious seconds as the call connected desperately trying to collect his thoughts and put together just what he would say. After all, his last conversation with this man hadn't ended well at all.

Before long, he was jerked out of his mind by the masked visage of Erik Fantine appearing on the screen. There was a silence as both men simply stared into each other's eyes. The prisoner broke the silence first. "Hello Erik."

The phantom nodded. "Curtis."

Marolw sighed and stared at the ground. "Erik, I... I just wanted to apologize for what I did. It was the wrong thing to do, I should never have done it and-"

"Enough, Curtis." Fantine said, cutting off his former colleague. "I think you're paying for that little incident enough as is without having to debase yourself like this."

Marlow sighed as he turned back to the masked professor. Erik could sometimes be infuriatingly cryptic, but when it mattered, the man was blunt as a hammer.

"You obviously didn't call me just to ask my forgiveness." Fantine said, reminding Marlow of the ongoing call. "You could have just sent that in a letter or waited for me to visit you. No, you want something from me, I can tell."

Marlow let out another sigh. "I never could hide anything from you, Erik." He said weakly. "I need a favour. In my office, if they haven't already cleared it out, there's a set of keys on my desk. Hanging on its own key ring is the key to the bottom drawer of my desk, and in that drawer..." Marlow opened his mouth to say more, but was unable to continue. The thought of what he was about to say choked him inside, making the once proud huntsman into a terrified mute.

Erik watched as the former professor desperately tried to come up with an answer. On one hand, he only had so much time for this call, but on the other, the man had been through enough without him snapping to spit it out. "Curtis, I can't do what you ask if I don't know what you want me to-"

"It's Jaune's inheritance." The former huntsman blurted out. "It's... Well, you can see for yourself what it is." Marlow was silent as he remembered the last time he saw it. "In just over a week it'll be the anniversary of Arthur's death and... I think that would be a good time to give it to Jaune. Can you do that for me?"

Erik immediately nodded. "I can do that, Curtis."

Marlow felt like the weight of a planet was taken off his shoulders. "Thank you Erik. You're the only one I can really trust with this."

"Consider it done old friend. Goodbye."

Marlow sighed and pressed the end call button on the scroll. The AK130 took the communicator and stepped out of the cell. Marlow had already retired to his bed when he heard the clapping sound. HE turned to the source, the cell next to his, to see that the dog eared faunus inhabiting it was giving him a sarcastic applause. "Well that was certainly dramatic." He commented. Marlow didn't respond. "What are you in for? And what did they do to you? You look dead."

Marlow gave what could be mistaken for a bitter chuckle. "You certainly ask a lot of questions. Why don't you tell me first?"

"Whatever, human." The dog-man responded. "What do you think I'm in for? I'm a White Fang member. I was captured on a mission and now I'm here. What about you?"

Marlow gave another snort of bitter laughter. "You make it up, it'll be more interesting that way."

The faunus grumbled something foul under his breath. "You might want to tell me soon, human. I won't be here long. My brothers in the White Fang will have me out of here any day now."

Marlow was about to respond when the AK130 on guard duty did for him. "Silence, prisoners. No one will escape this prison."

The faunus scoffed. "Do you know how many White Fang members are in this facility alone? I don't need to escape, someone's coming for us. The only question is how long I need to wait."

Marlow rolled his eyes and lay back down on his bed. He'd be here for quite a while after what he did, so he may as well get comfortable.

He was just closing his eyes when a series of gunshots were heard from outside, followed by the blare of alarms raging across the prison. The veteran rose from his bed and stepped up to the guard. "What's going on?"

"The facility is under attack. Remain in your cell, Prisoner 59610, or you will be shot." The guard responded.

Another mass of gunshots were heard from outside, the screams of civilians and the AK130s outside returning fire rang through in the cell, but to Marlow, one sound was heard above all others. The veteran strained his ears to see if he could recognize it, the distinct sound of one of the weapons firing from outside... Where did he know it from?

... No. It couldn't be!

Was he hearing another ghost?

oxoxoxo

Minutes earlier, an armoured personnel carrier thundered through the streets of Vale. The unmarked outside drew a few glances, but not nearly as many as would be garnered by the vehicle had it borne its true colours. The White Fang, after all, was not usually welcome in public.

Inside the back of the carrier sat a dozen men in blue coats lined with gold trim, each one bearing the symbol of the White Fang in white on their shoulders, their faces covered in the traditional masks and their heads bearing black army caps. Each one was armed to the teeth, a dust powered carbine in hand, a large pistol at their sides and a long, thin blade strapped to their hips. None spoke a word as the vehicle kept going, each one merely staring into the mask of the man in front of him. They knew their jobs, so there was nothing to say. These men were becoming some of the most feared operatives in the whole White Fang, their unit name becoming known and almost respected amongst humans.

However, if it weren't for one person, the name they have today would never have existed.

The door to the cockpit opened, and in stepped a towering woman in a blue greatcoat with gold trim and cuffs. Atop her head, covering the top of her mane of golden hair was a black, gold trimmed tricorne hat, and slung across her back was a rifle nearly as tall as she was, a bayonet like a spearhead topping the massive weapon. She radiated an aura of authority so strong that a lesser man would be pushed back, but these men had grown used to her by now. After all, one didn't last long in an elite force without learning to deal with their commander. She had brought them this far, through countless battles and operations, and now they had reached near mythical status, the mere mention of their name being enough to make humans shiver. Until now they had worked from the shadows, raiding human camps and supply lines, leaving none alive as they left. Today, however, they were to strike in the light where all could see, fear and respect them.

They were the Caroleans, and today they would make their existence known to the world.

"You all know the mission." The giant of a woman stated, unslinging the rifle and slamming home a fresh clip. "The Vale City Prison lies ahead of us, in it, a dozen of our brothers and sisters wait for us to free them. This is why there remain empty seats in our transport. Our brothers and sisters will need somewhere to ride when they are freed from their chains. Some say it's impossible to break these walls. Some say what we face today is suicide. Those who say that obviously don't know who we are." She said, marching down the aisle of the vehicle, ignoring the pace it set. "I, for one, do know who we are, and we've never fallen before, have we?"

"NO MA'AM!" Was the resounding chorus from the men.

"So will we fall today?" The woman asked, her voice rising as she spoke.

"NO MA'AM!" Echoed the men.

"Today we free our brothers and sisters." The woman said, growing louder with each word. "Today, we reveal to the humans that we deserve to be feared!" With that, the APC stopped, and all was silent. The woman looked over her soldiers, as they all looked expectantly back to her. "I won't lie to you, this will be our most difficult mission yet, but I believe in you, having stood by you through many another campaign. Now, will you stand with me?"

Not a word was spoken as the soldiers rose one by one, some looking proud and confident while others seemed more nervous, hands shaking as they held their rifles. Still, all of them rose at the word of their commander.

The woman nodded to them and from behind her mask a deep blue light could be seen, the light spreading to masked eyes of her troops, one by one, each one standing taller as their face became completely vacant, visible features set in a line. The woman looked to them, her face and all of theirs bearing the same flat affect. "Take up positions in a firing line and strike." She said, voice as flat as her face. "We fire as one, we march as one, we fight as one, we die as one."

"We are the Caroleans." The soldiers responded, their emotionless voices joined as one.

The door to the APC opened and as one they marched out, quickly forming a firing line and raising their rifles. The AK130s on guard raised their weapons in response, but before they could fire, the entire faunus line shot, the rounds tearing through every machine in the courtyard, the sound of the commander's rifle echoing over all the others.

The sounding of the alarms didn't even phase the soldiers or their commander as they advanced as one on the facility, a round of shots tearing through any machine that emerged. Before long, they had made it to the facility door, where two soldiers stepped forward, the first shooting off the lock with two shots of his rifle, the second bringing her boot back and kicking the door in with a mighty blow, both of them immediately raising their weapons and firing, two AK130s falling as they did.

Unfortunately, those machines were not alone, several of them were stationed through the lobby of the building, and each one opened fire, the Caroleans just barely getting to cover in time as they did.

"Ma'am." One of the soldiers said, turning to his commander. "How do we get in now?"

"Don't worry." She replied. "I have that covered." With that, she activated her communicator.

oxoxoxo

Atop the building behind the prison sat two girls in identical snake pattern robes, the robes themselves were marked with a scale pattern, and the hoods had twin points resembling fangs protruding from the front. The first girl was taller, towering over the other as she looked through the scope of a long rifle at the facility. The second was much shorter with crossbows mounted to her bracers on her wrists.

"What do you see Micca?" The shorter girl asked impatiently, arms crossed.

"The attack has begun." The taller girl stated. "We should be getting the order any minute now."

As if on cue, both girls heard a voice in their ears from their communicators. "Cobra, Taipan, this is Lioness, you are cleared to proceed with your objectives." Came the voice of the commander. "My men and I have most of the tin cans distracted. You know your mission, you know the goal. Move out."

The taller girl put a hand to her ear and responded. "Lioness, this is Taipan, Cobra and I are moving in now."

"Acknowledged." Came the monotone response.

The shorter girl sighed. "Caroline is always such a joy to work under."

"You have a problem with the commander, Wun?" The taller one responded.

"No, but with that semblance of hers she just doesn't seem to enjoy anything." Wun said. "Oh well, we have our assignment, let's get a move on."

Micca nodded and checked her rifle again. "No guards on the outer wall, looks like that's our target."

Wun nodded and both girls produced grappling hooks, twirling them before throwing them up to the top of the wall. The snakes made great time as they scaled the ropes, making it quickly to the top of the wall and clambering over with ease before raising weapons again, Micca's rifle transforming itself into an axe as she drew it. Seeing no enemies in site, the two girls secured their grappling hooks once again and scaled their way down the inside of the wall, landing inside the walls of the prison before making for the nearest door, Micca kicking it open and Wun firing one of her crossbows into the head of an AK130 on guard duty before leaping upon the other, a blade emerging from her bracer and embedding itself in the machine's face.

"Do you have to be so dramatic?" Asked her sister.

Wun shrugged. "It gets their attention if their toys are destroyed rather than just broken."

"Point taken." Micca responded. "Now, which way to the control room?"

The shorter snake girl pulled out a digital schematic of the prison and pointed down the hall. "This way. Come on, let's move."

Micca nodded and the two sisters took off, silently running through the halls of the facility, swiftly executing any machine they found. Finally, they reached a large door marked Control. The sisters exchanged a nod before Micca used her rifle to shoot the lock off the door and kicked it in, Wun leaping through and landing on the lone human in the room, delivering a bite to his neck. The man gasped in surprise and fell off his chair to the ground. As soon as Wun did this, however, all six AK130s in the room aimed their blades at her.

"Intruder, surrender and you will be spared." The lead machine said.

Wun never had to give it an answer, because with a swing of Micca's axe its head flew off. Wun immediately leapt upon another machine, sinking both her blades into its chest and head.

Each girl was then confronted by two droids, each one levelling its bladed arms towards their vitals. The machines flanking Wun struck first, one slashing at her head and the other at her legs. The snake, however, jumped in between the attacks, firing her second crossbow bolt into one machine's chest. Knocked back by the force of the bolt, the machine was easy prey for the snake, who leapt upon it with her blades before hurling its metal carcass at the other, jumping on it and driving her blades through its face as it fell.

Meanwhile, Micca blocked the blades of one droid with the shaft of her axe before juking out of the way of the other, using the momentum of her dodge to raise her axe and chop the machine in two. The second machine was easy after that, a swing of her axe severing its arms before she embedded the weapon in its head. "That was easy enough." She said as she pulled her weapon from her adversary's head.

"Less joking, more searching." Wun said as she searched over the human's console.

"What did you do to him?" Micca demanded, suddenly noticing the man.

"Relax, it was just a knockout poison. He'll wake up tomorrow in a lot of pain, but he'll wake up." Wun said, eyes never leaving the console as she searched for her objective. "More than he deserves." She muttered darkly.

Micca could have said more, but Wun cut her off before she could even open her mouth. "Found it."

oxoxoxo

Caroline and her men had made it into the facility and now controlled the main exit, securing their escape as soon as the plan went into effect. The commander would have felt pride if her semblance would allow her to do so.

"Lioness," Came Wun's voice through her earpiece. "This is Cobra, we've reached our objective, awaiting your order."

Caroline put two fingers to her earpiece and responded. "Perfect timing Cobra. Do it."

"Copy that commander, releasing all prisoners but the target's cell block."

The second the words were spoken, all hell broke loose. Alarms blared louder than ever before as the sound of a thousands of doors opening could be heard. Caroline would have smirked if she could, but for now, that wasn't an option as she turned to her men. The lot of you, hold this position and await our brothers. When they're all here, get them to the transport and get out of here."

The soldiers all nodded as their commander turned down the hallway and took off at a breakneck pace, any machine she encountered either taking a bullet or her bayonet. "Cobra, Taipan, meet me at the target's cell."

"Copy that, Lioness." Wun and Micca responded as one.

oxoxoxo

Marlow was beginning to grow annoyed with this faunus.

"I knew they'd come for me." He said, snarkily.

The veteran rolled his eyes. "The alarm said that cells are opening, why hasn't yours?" The dog-man opened his mouth, but said nothing as he realized that Marlow was right. He was about to tell him to shut up and not get his hopes up when another door was kicked down and two robed girls entered, one hefting a large axe while the other wore a pair of wrist-crossbows.

This seemed to finally phase the man, but not in a way Marlow expected. While he did instantly recognize the masks on the girls' faces as being White Fang masks, that didn't explain the look of abject horror on the faunus' face. The shorter of the two girls walked up to his cell and giggled at his reaction. "What's the matter Luke?" She asked, voice sickeningly sweet. "Is it because you know who we are?"

"Can't say I do." Said the bored sounding Marlow as he made his way to the bars of his cell. "Let me guess, you'll now tell me?"

"Let's just say the White Fang has us remove problems for them." The shorter girl said in that same tone. "Problems like Luke here, who sold out his brothers to humans and got all these innocent faunus locked up here." With those words, the girl suddenly turned serious. "Micca, watch his cell, make sure he doesn't interfere."

The taller girl nodded and approached Marlow's cell, axe ready in case he tried anything. To her surprise, the human barely even moved as she approached. The dog-man, on the other hand, freaked out. "You gotta help me, man, you don't know who these two are! You don't know what they'll do!"

"That's enough out of you." The shorter girl said, the dog suddenly growing silent at her words. "We know just what you did Luke, and we can't just have you doing that again, now can we?"

Luke desperately tried to stammer a response, the taller girl turning to the shorter one as he did. "Enough, the commander wants to see him personally."

"Th-the c-commander?" Luke stuttered, obviously terrified.

Before either one could respond, Marlow erupted into a blur of motion, grabbing the handle of the taller girl's axe, spinning her around and holding her by the throat with the shaft. "Alright, nobody needs to get hurt here. You back out of here, and I let her go, understand?"

"I think you should just let her go, now, human." The shorter girl said.

Marlow was about to reply when he realized he couldn't. The girl was making a surprising amount of sense... What was she doing in his head? How was she there? Marlow knew he needed to get her out and quickly. He needed to go down to the dark place... Back to Ognoc... Back to the deaths... "I think I'll keep her until you leave." He muttered darkly, the tone of his voice sending shivers up the spines of the room's occupants.

The shorter girl hissed in anger and raised one of her wrist-bows. Marlow tightened his grip on the axe as he snarled in response. It seemed this had become a standoff.

That's when the last figure entered the room. Tall, proud, draped in her blue and gold coat was Caroline, rifle raised and ready. That's when Marlow's eyes widened as he realized just why that one gun sounded so familiar to him before. His grip on the girl's axe loosened as he fell to the floor, two words repeated in a disbelieving mumble as he did: "Shining Roar..."

Caroline heard the words, surprised that any human would know them. She marched up to the cell and looked down to the shocked man on the floor, pushing past her subordinate as she did. "How do you know that name?" She asked in a low, menacing growl. Marlow, still shocked, didn't respond. Behind her mask, Caroline narrowed her eyes at this man. Just who was he? And How did he know the name of her father's rifle? "Who are you?" When she still didn't get a response she turned to the disgraced dog next to him. "Luke, who is he?"

"Well, uh, ma'am, I think they said he was-" Luke stuttered.

"Any day now, Luke." Caroline growled, her masked eyes never leaving his.

"They said it was Marlow!" He blurted out.

"Marlow..." She replied in a mutter. "You served with my father, didn't you? You were on his team." Before any other words could be spoken, the distinctive firing of Shining Roar could be heard again, and Luke fell to the ground, a hole in his chest. "You were a friend to my father, so I'll spare you this time, Curtis Marlow. But know this: Caroline Leon, daughter of Gustav Leon of Team AGTM, and inheritor of his legacy does not make the same mistake twice. Should you threaten someone under my command again, I will kill you."

With those words, Caroline gestured for the snakes to follow her, the three of them quickly left the room, Marlow still trying to comprehend what he had just seen. The daughter of one of his teammates had joined, no, was commanding the very kind of organization he spoke out against, and by the way she invoked his name, she probably thought she was doing it in his honour.

oxoxoxo

And thus, we have our third and final trailer, introducing the Commander: Caroline Leon. A profile will go up for her pretty soon, as well as ones for Marlow and Fantine and any other characters I create. As for the characters other people have leant me, I may post them, as long as their owners are okay with it.

Now, I should have said this earlier, but I've unfortunately been busy recently.

As you all know by now, Monty Oum has tragically passed away recently, and this has struck a blow among many, to have lost not only someone of his talent and potential, but a role model and to some a close friend. My heart and sympathies go out to Monty's family and friends as well as the entire staff of Rooster Teeth as they deal with his loss, he was taken from us all far too soon.

In the wake of his death, I seriously considered whether or not I should even continue writing, whether I should lay down my pen and leave his creation where it lay. Then I imagined saying that to him, and his reaction. No, I decided, I had to continue, if not for you guys who read this, then for him. Monty always encouraged creativity, be in fanart, cosplay, or even fanfiction, the man even gave out a guide on how to make a RWBY OC. He would want not just me, but all of us to continue writing. A friend of mine asked me if I thought RWBY would still continue even with Monty's death, my response was that even if Rooster Teeth decided not to continue, RWBY will live on through us, so in Monty's name, we should, no, we must continue to be creative and write stories.

Now, I can only ask of you to continue what you do best in his honour. If you're a writer, then write great stories. If you're an artist, draw great artwork. If you're a cosplayer, make the best costumes you can make. While Monty may be gone, together we can keep his spirit alive.

And Monty, I don't know if you'll see this in between choreographing action scenes for God himself, but if you do, know that your friends, your family and your fans will never forget you.

In Dedicatio a
Monty Oum
1981-2015
Requiescat In Pace