The entire Atlas training center was on lockdown. Both the Atlas soldiers and the trooper machines began their patrols and checkpoints in every hallway. All of this, just to find a single man who escaped General Ironwood's grasp.

Captain Durante crawled through the small, but warm ventilation shafts. He took a slow pace as he passed by each vent entrance, only to see another patrol of Atlas soldiers stop him from kicking himself out. "Damn it." He swore to himself before he proceeded to continue through the maze.

After the accusation that he was a suspect for a kidnapping, he had to leave. Whenever people began blaming on other people, he did not want to be caught in the crossfire and three years in the army was enough for him. It seemed like it was no different in a new world. At each crawl, his mind kept thinking who would simply try to take the time to get him in trouble and why. These questions only made him speculate who, but there were few people who wanted to get rid of him or maybe it was just a coincidence that Weiss Schnee went missing while he was busy training.

He stopped his thoughts from going any further as he noticed a vent gate below him. However, the problem was that the vent had another path ahead of him. The only problem that presented itself was that there was a little mouse drone that came across from him. "What the hell?" He wondered to himself.

Then he heard a cry echo from behind. "He's in ventilations!"

"Shit." He swore to himself as he smashed the vent open as he slipped downwards.

If there was a mistake he made, this was one of them.

The captain found himself flying down from the ceiling as he flew downwards and into the pool below him. A great splash was made as he found himself succumbing to a great weakness that he once had on the very day he had to trudge through water. I don't know how to swim. He thought to himself as he tried to stay afloat as soon as he could.

Because he didn't know how to swim, he tried to climb out of the water. However, he was in the middle of the pool as he tried to look for the nearest place to climb out of. The problem was, he could not keep his head out of the water as he slowly sunk to the deep end of the pool.

A British soldier shouted from the rear. "Thirty seconds, lads."

Many of the soldiers sent to the beaches knew they were facing the best defenses the German Army could build up. However, the Rangers understood that they would be given the task of climbing a cliff and finding the coastal guns before the Germans made use of them.

Lieutenant Durante looked ahead to see hundreds of landing craft fire grappling hooks from launchers before arriving onto the beach. He silently prayed to himself as he heard a whistle crash into the waters on the left side of the landing craft. Due to its disturbance to the water, the craft turned over as the Rangers and their lieutenant were tossed into the sea.

Monte found himself in the water as he tried to make his way towards the beaches. At each attempt, he noticed blood and bloodies floating at the top while he looked below to see his fellow man drown from the weight of his gear. They fell into the abyss as the lieutenant felt helpless in their fates.

He tried to reach to the surface, but it did very little as his body was slowly sinking towards the bottom. Monte saw an angelic figure reach out for him, someone he knew… and loved. "Annette."

Captain Durante gasped for air as he rose his head up and spat out the water that choked him. "Annette!" He shouted without consideration. Once the water was out of his body, he looked down and saw a trail of water come out of the pool. He looked for his rescuer, only to see Specialist Schnee sitting beside him as she squeezed the water from her snow-white hair. "What the hell just happened?" He asked.

The drenched Atlesian was quick to answer his question. "I saw you drowning in the pool. So I swam to get you out and did CPR on you."

The American sat up from the floor as he unstrapped his helmet off his head. Then he dumped the water out to a nearby drainage. "Fell from the vents and landed into the pool." He replied as he shivered in the cold. "Okay, I think I'm done running for today. I'll just go talk to Ironwood."

His comment only confused Winter. "You ran away from the general and now you want to go back to him. Are you crazy?" She wondered. "Now he will think you did kidnap my sister and were trying to run away."

"I just fell into a pool of water and if I do get out of this building, I am going to be freezing my ass off in the cold. I doubt I could dry up with all those patrols coming after me." The captain explained.

The specialist shook her head. "I expected that you would think outside of the box and do something about it."

"I am not going to go into the middle of a freezing city just to escape. Besides, it's not worth getting sick over it." He said as he breathed heavily. "Winter, do you think I did kidnapped your sister?"

"What kind of question is that? Why would you ask me that?"

"I don't know how you could be so calm when General Ironwood is telling you that your younger sister is kidnapped." He answered. "It is just so strange to see you be careless about your own sibling."

"I do care about her." Winter replied. "But she was taught at Beacon Academy. If she can be taught at one of the finest academies on Remnant then I know she could defend herself. I also trust that she wouldn't be easily taken down by you and it would go against your motive. After all, you did tell me you only stole weapons not people."

"You just misquoted me. I steal weapons, not the hearts of people." Monte answered before he laughed at his own words. "I can't believe someone actually remembered that."

Then an unexpected question was given. "Captain, you were shouting for someone named Annette when I saved you from drowning. Who was she?" She asked.

It was now that Monte expressed his serious tone. "I don't like to talk about her. So I suggest that you don't ask any questions about it."

"Monte, you mistaken me for this person." She replied. "I don't want to be confused with someone else."

The captain lowered his head. "Everyone has their first true love in life… she was mine." Then his hand reached into his jacket as he pulled out a beret into his hand. "It's a long story, but I fought alongside her during the first initial days of the D-Day invasion. Then I fell in love with her and at one point, I lost her."

"I see. I'm sorry for asking."

"No don't be. I wouldn't want someone else to mistaken me for someone else. I just have a history that is really hard to talk about."

"Then we'll talk about it on our own spare time." Winter said. "We should go to the general as soon as possible."

"Okay." He said before he rose from the floor; however, he noted a simple detail whenever water and white clothes came into the mix. "Nice undergarments."

Winter gasped at what revealed underneath her clothes before she took a swing at the captain.

General Ironwood stood at the front entrance of the training facility, only to see the Atlas soldiers and their mech troopers bring in the two suspects for investigation. However, he raised an eyebrow when he noticed his specialist and Captain Durante drenched in water. Yet, it was not an eye-opener compared to what was seen on the captain's face. "Captain Durante, what happened to you?" Ironwood asked.

The American officer smiled before he could answer that question. "There are some things you should never tell a woman." He stated. "I kind of broke that rule with Specialist Schnee and should have saw it coming."

Some of the Atlas soldiers snickered at the thought of the specialist hitting the captain, but they were quick to regain their professional composure in the presence of their superior. However, General Ironwood did not care about them when he began asking the questions directed towards the captain. "Durante, I would like to know why you ran? If you say you were innocent, then why did you choose to run."

Captain Durante shrugged his shoulders. "Ironwood, I have a history of causing trouble. I should at least live up to that reputation, even if its infamous." He stated.

"As much as I would like to have a nice talk about your professionalism, I know you wouldn't have kidnapped Weiss."

"Wait-what?!" Wondered the confused American. "Then why did you come over to tell me that I was a suspect."

"Because I talked with Colonel Strudwick." He replied. "Turns out that they have kept an eye on you since you are part of the OSS and would want to inform you immediately in case the situation turns south."

"So, what are we going to do from here on? Are we going to stand here?" The captain asked of the Atlas general.

"As of right now, I can cross you and Specialist Schnee off my list of suspects. However, I am going to postpone this investigation for matters that require my full attention. As for Ms. Schnee's disappearance, I am sure she will turn up since she was taught at an old friend's academy."

The captain glanced to his surroundings. "Okay then. I can leave, right?"

He was answered with a simple nod from the general before he departed from the room. "Stand down, the situation is fine. We can both rest easy."

Monte shivered in his wet uniform when he was finally alone with the specialist. "Winter, is there a place where I could get a spare uniform?"

She answered with shake of her head. "In the training facility? It's not going to happen." The specialist replied. "We'll pass by to my place and see if I can get our clothes dried up there. There is a laundry mat and a clothing store nearby."

"You don't have to do that for me." He commented. "I just want some dry clothes."

Doctor Amsel stood in the presence of his patron, as she sat in her seat among her council. It was a small group of people, but they were her top servants and now Salem desired results. "Amsel, please tell me you have something worthy for our cause?"

The scientist grinned with joy underneath his lips as he took his seat across from his new master. "I do." He answered. "Doctor Watts and I have developed a bomb."

Salem displayed that she was unimpressed with his news. "A bomb?" She scoffed at the simplicity of the weapon. "You and Watts developed a simple bomb. This is something we don't need."

"Ah, there is nothing more afraid than a bomb that contains a nerve weapon." The German replied. "In my country, we call it Tabun. It is a weapon my fellow people desired to create, but never had the chance to use when the Allies stole victory from the fatherland."

On his right, one of the men of the council had his feet in his chair as he gave the German a psychotic glare. "So what?" He asked. "You make some simple bomb to do what?"

"Terrorize my lady's foes to submission. While the hunstmen and huntresses are difficult to fight in force, nerve weapons merely weaken their ability to fight all of us and the Grimm." He explained. "Even if these defenders of man hold a resistance to it, deploying it on the civilians would strike fear into their hearts. After all, all the Grimm need is fear, correct?"

She smiled at the new information as she placed a hand on her chin. "What an intriguing weapon you have developed? I am sure that the White Fang would enjoy harming humans in their own living spaces."

"If Cinder is to give this weapon to the White Fang, I suggest they show a bit of precaution. The nerve gas cannot distinguish the user from its victim." He advised. "Hopefully, they can make some great use out of it."

Then Salem had begun to change the subject. "Doctor Watts has informed me that you are also working on something new in regards to the Grimm. What could that be?"

Amsel chuckled at the question. "I believe that the colonel should introduce himself to all of you." Then he glanced over his shoulder. "Colonel von Falkenrath, please do come in."

The doors creaked open as Salem and her council watched with curiosity as the newcomer slipped into the room. A man dressed had arrived in the room with his great coat covering his full military uniform. Then she noticed a scar coming down from his left cheek as he wore a monocle on his left eye. However, he was no such mere man as she noticed the burning rage in his eyes. "Amsel, could you please tell me what is going on?"

"The subject is a new breed a Grimm. I have smuggled a few blood vials from my country and brought them for testing." Like any inventor, he was proud at what he created. "It turns out that the results were better than what I expected."

Colonel von Falkenrath merely growled in irritation. "Amsel, you brought me back from the dead and promised that I would kill that son of a sub-human whore." He stated.

"That I did, but I believe it would be wise to introduce yourself to the woman who will now support a cause that will bring much change to both this world and our world." Amsel explained.

Then Salem was quick to ask the newcomer. "Colonel, you mentioned someone in that little roar of yours." She began. "Could you tell me who it is?"

The German colonel looked to the witch. "He is one of the Americans who has entered this world. He is a nemesis of mine."

"Intriguing, but as much as I would like to watch you take this man's life. What can you offer me that could benefit me in the future?"

Colonel von Falkenrath straightened his back as he placed his hands behind his back. "My dear, I suggest that you look outside your very window."

"Very well then, it better be worth my time."

The witch rose from her seat as she did what he told her to do. A sense of curiosity came to her as she began to notice the small pools of darkness begin to produce something far more intriguing. Rather than the prideful beasts the huntsmen and huntresses have fought throughout the ages, Salem noticed figures of men rising from the pools in their uniforms.

From the dozens of soldiers that were being produced from her very power, they wore the masks of anonymity as their eyes were as red as blood. As their numbers rose, they pulled out their weapons like machines as they all turned their gazes towards their new master.

Once the pools were done producing, the human-Grimm hybrids had begun to form ranks and columns like a professional army. Their willingness to accept was something greater than she had ever imagined. Of all things Salem did not expect from this man was an army.

They all raised their hands as they left it out there to salute her as their leader. "Heil Salem!"

Then the witch heard a voice spoke from behind. "We are yours to command." Commented Colonel von Falkenrath. "What will you have us do?"