The radio call was enough for Bill to know that Monte was deep in shit. He had found the survivors of the town, but they were not prepared to fight the Grimm in this manner if they were helpless and not supported. Another issue which got in the way was the fact that artillery support was out of the question since no one had enough time to bring the big guns out. Rather than waiting for support from the base camp of that bridge between worlds, Captain Edwards had decided to choose the alternative over the 'traditional' artillery pieces. That alternative were tanks armed with dozens of rockets attached to the turret for mobile artillery support.

Sitting in his seat, the driver had moved from the side of the road to follow a convoy of halftracks armed with his cavalry riflemen. As the vehicles closed the distance, Captain Edwards looked to his adjacent sides to see that there was a battle line of tanks plowing through the snow in full force. It had reminded the officer of the days during the German offensive when his Shermans were moving in to secure a corridor for the paratroopers at Bastogne.

He turned his head from the road and shifted to see the radio operators sitting behind him. "Lieutenant, anything I need to know?"

The radio officer glanced at him and nodded. "Yes sir, Fox Company is stuck in the town and they're fighting back the monsters. They want to know if you can knock the giant snake out in the open."

"Does he still have my men under his command?"

"Yes sir, but they lost a Stuart to snake." The officer answered. "Though Captain Durante is telling me that his men are growing low on ammo and the monsters are beginning to find a weakpoint in the building and proceed from there."

"Alright, you tell Durante to hold the fort. We're moving as fast as we can."

"Affirmative." The lieutenant replied. "Sir, the captain is calling in coordinates for artillery fire."

"Then you tell him he can bring it down."

The town hall was surrounded by the Grimm as Captain Durante looked up from the room to see that there were plenty of windows for the Grimm to come from. Even though the door was blocked and reinforced, it worried him that more than fifty men were going to fight hard.

Standing in the meeting room, he walked up to one of the walls occupied by his men. They looked outside to see the monsters starting to proceed their way towards them as a Ranger beside him had begun to get everyone alert. "Stand to, they're coming from the East!" The sergeant shouted as the men laying around in the room had gathered their weapons and joined the captain at the windows.

Durante saw that they were a street away from him, but they were growling and barking their hatred at him with their snouts and animalistic roars. More of the wolf-like creature had come in force as one of them stood up on its back legs and howled a charge.

Then they crossed the streets as a private looked out the window. "Holy shit, they're everywhere!"

The call to arms had come. "Everyone, stay back from the windows." The captain ordered. "Those damn things are here for those people and we're here to hold out against them. We hold the line men." Durante said as he stepped down from the windows and readied his Thomspon. "Prepare to defend yourselves!"

Immediately, the GIs had begun to organize their makeshift defense by turning over the tables and blocking off external routes from the beasts to take hold of. Every room turned into its own fortress as captain Durante made his way over to the stairs. Here, he was met with the elder.

"Bones, once you hear the gunfire. Lock those doors and don't open it unless that person is me or Edwards." He requested of the older man.

He nodded as he walked down the steps. "What happens if you don't make it?"

"Then wait for Edwards, he'll be here to get you and your people out."

Then a GI shouted from a room. "Here they come!"

Gunfire followed as Durante turned to him. "Bones, get going. I want you and your people safe as possible." Turning away from the Elder, Captain Durante heard the doors shut behind his back as he ran to the main entrance.

Passing by each room, he could see the monsters climbing on top of each other in order to get their hands into the window to claw the defenders falling back.

When he reached the main entrance, he was met with a sight of chaos. The doors were broken down, but the men were lucky enough to reinforce it with furniture to keep the Grimm from getting through. Ten men, it took ten men to hold the monsters from using their weight to crush down on the Rangers and the cavalry riflemen. "They're trying to get through the doors." One of Edward's men stated. "Stefano said he's going to find Captain Edwards and get him to us as quick as possible!" A roar from one of the monsters had gotten through as the men budged harder to get into the building. "Captain, do you mind if you can hand those fuckers a pineapple!"

"No problem." The captain began as a grenade was produced from his chest of ammunition. He pulled the pin and immediately tossed the grenade through the small opening where he could see the Grimm try to force their way through. "You boys are doing a hell of a job." He began. "If the Grimm start breaking through the windows, you'll have to start running to the meeting room immediately." He ordered. "I can't make any guarantees you'll make it, but we'll try to hold the fort there."

"Got it, we're fucked." He said with a smile before Durante turned his back on them.

There were three rooms where the Grimm would break through thanks to the fact that designing a building was completely different than designing a fortified bunker with kill holes for machine guns. What mattered was that those three rooms held their ground.

Going into the room across from the meeting room, Captain Durante slipped into the room to see the Grimm kept at bay by the furniture as the machine gunner with the .30 Cal placed the barrel of the gun on top of the drawer and started firing his weapon. "How are things doing here?" He asked.

The gunner glanced his around an gave him the thumbs up. "We're good sir. Once they try clawing their way into the room, I'll give them a belt or two to the face." He began as he one of the creatures of the Grimm had begun to show its eyes to the gunner. "You want some too!" Then the gunner pulled the trigger down and unleashed a barrage of .30 Cal rounds into the wolf.

"Good to hear, try to hold this room as long as you can. If we lose you, everyone else is going to be cut off from the meeting room." Durante stated. "You hold there."

"Yes sir. I'll do my best."

Two more men slipped joined the gunner with more belts of ammunition strapped to their chests before Durante made his way out of the room and joined in the men in the second room next to the first.

This time, he saw Miller spray his BAR at a hand of the beowolf as he stabbed the barrel to keep its grip from pulling the furniture out of the room. "Fucking hell, I just die!" He said before tossing his empty mag to the side and loaded the next one, but he immediately took notice of the captain's presence. However, there five more men firing outside of the small openings the furniture gave to them. "Captain Durante, we might need something to tie this stuff together. The fuckers are pulling out the furniture piece by piece."

The captain nodded at his request, I'll get a rear echelon to take care of that."

"Thanks, captain." Miller replied before he loaded in his next mag and begun to fight the monster trying to get its way inside.

He immediately slipped back into the hallway to see men running back and forth with boxes of ammunition. However, he was met with Jack who seemed to be distressed. "Captain, one of your men told me to tell you that the Grimm are breaking through."

Durante took notice that the man was sweating this hole time. "Who told you?"

"Um, I think it was-"

A soldier broke out from his position and shouted. "They broke through! Everyone to the meeting room, now!" Durante looked down the hallway to see an ocean of soldiers turning around the corner while the rear guard fought back.

"Oh no." Jack began.

Then Durante had begun to take command. "Jack, I want you to get to the main entrance and tell those men to start hauling ass."

"I uh..." Jack roughed through his hair trying to get a hold of things. "The Grimm will take over the hallways. I have to go with Bones and protect everyone there."

However, the captain had no time to worry about it. He grabbed his shoulders and assured him. "They'll be fine!" He began. "Go get those men and we'll cover you in the hallway."

As the men retreating into the hallway had found themselves at the entrance of the meeting room, Captain Durante stood in their way.

"Everyone, we have to hold this hallway!" He ordered.

Miller took the chance to speak up against him. "Sir, the fucking things are getting through."

"And we have ten men holding the main doors. We are not losing them."

It was to their surprise, everyone in the hallway turned their heads to see ten soldiers sprinting through the hallways as fast as they could. This time, Durante saw the man in charge of holding those doors. "Captain Durante, Edwards and his boys are here to pick us up." He began. "They're waiting."

"Alright, we need to hold this hallway." Then Durante turned to the only civilian in the group. "Jack, tell Bones I sent you to get everyone to the front. They're getting a ride from here."

Jack seemed surprised he was being given this level of responsibility. "But what about you?"

A smile fell on Durante's face. "I'll be here to keep these fuckers company."

Bill Edwards brought his Thomspson to bear as he began to fire his weapon at the monster trying to take on the convoy. The wolf-like beasts were being put down to the armor-piercing or their high-explosive rounds of the Sherman tanks. Even then, it was not enough to stem the tide as the the CO had to receive help from 3rd Battalion in order to hold back the wolf-like beasts from getting closer. If anything was less than a 20mm cannon, the bullets were useless and probably pissed the Grimm off more than they imagined.

As he stood in the front yard of the building that Stefano had lead him to, the Captain was praying to himself that they would be able to get out on time. Away from the mess he brought himself in. Now he was glad that he was just helping people out like what those army recruiters said, but this time he was doing this in another world with the support of the OSS.

He was brought away from reality when he heard a his friend call out to him. "Edwards, we're ready!" Bill saw Monte step out of the building as he began to gather the civilians out from the building. "Jack, you take care of them. I'll see if we can hold them back." The civilian behind him had done what he was ordered to do as Durante met him.

Edwards smiled at the fact his friend lived long enough. "I take you were worried about us?"

"You have no idea, Durante." Replied Edwards as he ran up to the halftrack behind him and looked to his fellow men. "Alright, keep those engines hot."

The civilian named Jack grabbed the Ranger captain's attention. "Captain look out, its a Taijitu!"

Edwards looked to see the snake-like Grimm charge towards him with a speed he couldn't imagine as he dropped down to the safety of the halftrack's passenger seats. A great force met the vehicle as he fell out of the passenger seat and onto the pavement. The hard-hitting smack onto the ground was enough for him to scream into pain as Durante ran over to him. "Shit!" He swore to himself as he tried to get up.

At the same time, Durante looked up to see that the Taijitu was staring straight at him and Edwards as he brought his Thomspon to bear. He gritted his teeth at the stupid thought which came into mind. "Hey asshole, over here!" The captain shouted as he ran past Edwards with his Thompson firing. The sub-machine gun had begun to pepper into the snake while the officer grabbed its attention.

The taijitu turned to see the willing participant as it began to go for the killing blow. Its vicious eyes bringing the inevitable moment for the captain. Here, the officer's weapon had jammed. Well Monte, it was good knowing you.

Suddenly, he heard the spinning rotation of machinery before he heard gunfire similar to that of the MG42. However, he was surprised to see the storm of bullets immediately strike down the snake creature before it began to turn towards its assailant. Turning to see, Durante saw a piece of machinery which he could have never expected.

"What the hell?" He asked himself. A ramp was dropped from the rear as he saw a white lithe figure standing on the edge as the flying transport flew close to the ground, allowing the tall woman to step out... with a sword and dagger.

She happened to walk next to him with a cold glare before she spoke. "A group of armed soldiers, the Grimm, and a town underattack." She began. "I would dislike writing a report about this."

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I should be asking that question, but you will know me as Specialist Schnee." Returned her answer before turning to the fazed Taijitu. "A King Taijitu, something that could ruin someone's day."

Watching her, Specialist Schnee begin walking towards the monster before she leapt forward as she flew towards the monster which recovered from the machine gun attack. The woman flew close to the monster and struck it with her blades as it hissed in pain. However, the specialist landed safely onto the ground which was impossible for any person in the eyes of Captain Durante.

Soon, he heard someone call him out. "Captain Durante, I got some Calliopes here!" Turning his head, Monte saw Stefano standing from behind his turret as he pointed towards the three Sherman Calliopes with their rocket launchers.

It seemed stupid to use rocket artillery for this moment, but since his men were fighting monsters it was an option he was willing to use. "Stefano, tell them to start firing!" When he returned to see Specialist Schnee strike down the monster with quick and precise attacks around its head. It was not the fact that the woman was fighting a monster, but it was a fact that someone was capable of fighting monsters like these with bladed weapons. However, he forgot one matter when he remembered she was standing in the kill zone. "Schnee, get out of there!"

He saw her turn her head when the rockets had started firing. Immediately, she leaped away from the monster before she summoned runes mid-air and allowed herself to hopscotch away from the Taijitu before the monster turned to see the barrages. The captain planted his hands on his ears watching the monster succumb to the three streams of rockets smashing into its body.

When the rocket barrages were finished, he looked up to see the open cratered ground and removed his hands from his ringing ears.

. . .

After having a game of Rule Remnant with Persinette, Vastano laughed at the thought of his real military experience actually being useful some children's game of ruling the world of Remnant. It was to his surprise that he managed to win even though Persinette was complete expert at the game. If there was one thing his old man told him, never show the tricks inside your coat.

Persinette's laughed at the fact that her Atlas Knights were defeated by the dice instead of tactics. "I... I don't know what to say." She began. "You defeated me."

Johnny grinned. "I'm sure it's rookie's luck."

"I call bullshit!" She cried out.

Away from the table, Velvet was sitting on the couch in their dorm as the two were surprised to see her interrupt. "Everyone, shut up I'm watching the news!" She cried out as her attention was glued to the television screen across from her.

"Velvet, what could be so interesting about the news that you would find interesting?" She asked as she began to walk over behind Velvet. "Is there something about Coco making a fuss at some clothing store again?"

Vastano rose from his seat and began to take a seat besides the bunny girl. "I don't know." He answered. "The news can be full of surprises." His gaze looked to the television screen to see something which grabbed his attention. What is she doing there? He wondered.

The news reporter had begun to meet with Specialist Schnee who straightened herself in the woman's presence. The reporter began. "Excuse me Specialist Schnee, is there something you would like to say about the incident-here if you can?"

The military specialist shook her head. "No ma'am, I cannot." She answered. "This is top-secret Atlas Secre-ma'am, you can't talk to them!"

Specialist Schnee was interrupted when the news reporter had begun to bring her camera man over with. However, Vastano was shocked to see the sight of two familiar faces as his eyes stayed glued to the screen. "Excuse me sir, I would like to have a question or two if you can?" She requested.

However, Schnee immediately pushed the woman back as the two officers whose green uniform was covered in snow. "Ma'am step back from them."

One of the men smiled and spoke up. "Sure, what's the question?"

"Is it true that you were the first ones to respond-" Then Specialist Schnee pulled out her knife and stabbed the lenses.

Velvet pouted. "Aw, I just read on them from a friend of a friend that those guys there weren't Atlas soldiers."

Persinette chuckled. "Well, we better get to sleep. We have a big test tomorrow." However, she also took notice of Johnny's shock. "Hey Johnny, something wrong?"

The two girls turned to their friend who stared into the television.

"Johnny, something wrong?"

Then he shook his head as turned to see them. "Oh, no. I just happen to blank out occasionally."

Velvet commented. "Well that's the first. I never seemed to notice you to do that."

"Its very rare for people, trust me."

That night, she was only hidden because she was around the corner and his back was turned to her. Ever since Johnny had watched the news, he was acting strange and it somewhat disturbed her. Did he know something about those men on the news that she didn't? Persinette kept her movements and sound to the minimal as she heard him trying to call someone.

However, he seemed frustrated that the call wasn't coming. "C'mon Jackson, pick up the god-damn phone." His words sounded tense. She heard the automated response. "Shit, shit, shit. Jackson, you better pick up the phone."

Taking the risk, Persinette had begun to move and cross her arms. "Alright Johnny boy, start spilling it." She didn't want to shout since Velvet was sleeping in her room. Plus, the faunus girl's ears were sensitive to sound compared to regular humans. "What's with calling someone at this hour of the night."

Vastano lowered his scroll as he turned his head to see her waiting for a response. It was clear he had been caught red-handed. He brought a weak smile as he stood up to confront her. "I... uh... I don't really have a good way to explain this to someone without getting laughed at."

"Johnny, I noticed you acted strange earlier. No one acts like that and there is no fucking condition that someone like yourself would blank out for no reason." Persinette explained. "You knew something about those men and you are going to talk to me about it."

He sighed. "Well, time to spill the beans." Johnny began. "Those men are my friends... and we're from another world."

She raised her eyebrows. You've got to be fucking kidding me. However, she needed more out of him. "Come on, you're going to tell me everything."

"See, here is the problem. I don't know how I got here, but Durante and Edwards seemed to have a way here."

"Go on."

"Well, I happened to go through a portal at some fucking German town in the middle of the night, drunk as hell, but managed to walk my way through the street." He answered. "Thing is, I don't know why the hell I'm here."

"So you're telling me that you are from another world?" Persinette questioned. "And you want me to believe you?"

He weakly smiled. "Well... yeah. I'm throwing my luck on it."

"Do you have any evidence to prove you are not a fucking insane?"

He scratched his head. "Would my journal count?"

Yeah, get this over with it. "Yeah, show me that."

Immediately, Vastano walked into his room as she waited for him to return back with a small book in his hand as he opened the pages to her. "Here it is." He began.

The two went over to a table as she was met with the sight of the words in... cursive as she noticed there were attempts at sketching as she tried to read it. However, the sketches seemed to have more value as it showed some sort of diagram about some town called Marche. She would call it evidence, but it seemed like this was something out of some fantasy book where the Grimm do not exist.

"What do you think about it?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, it would make an interesting fictional story. I'm sure of that." Then she noticed that Vastano's expression was different from before as he began to turn the pages.

"I don't want you to start thinking that I'm a psychopath, but I have some of these papers here." Vastano commented as he turned the page.

This time, it was different. Very different. His journal consisted of photographs, an age-old way of getting photos. However, these photos seemed to be real life of Johnny in each picture. It was very life-like as she noticed that he was standing next to two men who she realized were on the news. Then he brought out a folded letter to her as she took hold of it and opened it up.

Persinette read through it, every line of it. It seemed very unbelievable that this man and those on the news were on television. She immediately placed the papers back on the table before she turned to him. "I don't know if you seem to believe that you are dreaming in some other world, but you are going to have to convince me real hard than this." Then she shoved his journal away. "Now get some sleep, you got a test tomorrow."

Sitting in a chair, Jackson was looking straight up into the lamp above his head as blood was dripping from his face. Someone had the galls to kidnap him in his sleep as he heard footsteps coming to him from the shadows. However, he couldn't see much as he lowered his head to face the interrogator. "Well look who it is?" The colonel began. "Mind you telling me why I'm here, shitbag of the White Fang?"

The man was dressed in black as his face was hidden away by his mask. "No." He said when he stepped forth into the light while holding his sheathed sword. "I won't tell you anything, but you will tell me everything."

Jackson began to chuckle at the man trying to intimidate him. "Fuck you!" He said before spitting blood all over his suit. "I ain't telling you shit!"

The man brought his sheathed sword to bear and smacked him in the shin. "This isn't a game."

However, a feminine figure had stepped forward to reveal herself to the light in her red dress. "Adam, no need to hurt him." She began. "I need him alive."

"Whose this, the bitch's wife?" Jackson wondered. "I ain't telling you shit either."

"I know that." The brunette with burning eyes told her. "However... your mind is going to tell me everything." Her shoes clicked when she took her first steps.

Jackson tried to pry his hands out of the chair, but they were locked tight by metal cuffs. It would seem that the White Fang didn't want anyone to leave this place. He tried to avoid her prying hand when she brought it out from her side, but with little room to maneuver he couldn't avoid her touch. Then her fingertips made contact with his hair.