Rwbybomb21: brilliantly-written? Wow, thanks! I hope this chapter contains enough fluff for your tastes?
Suspiciouscook: I see what you did there. Without spoiling, that's actually pretty close to the truth :p
Mattie-boy: Thank you.
Sierra110: Come to think of it, there is indeed a similarity. Unintended though. Anyway, you're completely right. In the grand scheme of things as Beacon knows, the good doctor's death makes no sense. In the grander scheme of things that other people know though…,
Tuutje07: Well, you know what they say. 15 is generally the age where teens have exploding emotions and stuff…and that's also the age where girls start...experimenting. And stuff. I think.
Let's see…bumping this story up to M-rated, as the sexual tension of past chapter, coupled with coming scenes, is too…graphic.
"As of today, the Kingdom of Atlas will resume communications with the Kingdom of Vale, both to counter the growing Grimm activity and to celebrate the continuation of the Vytal festival. Our Cross Continental Transmit System has been fully reinitiated after decades of dormancy and we can only hope that not only the rest of Vytal, but also the other continents will follow in our stead."
-General James Ironwood
Day 54 –Information broker Junior's night club- 22:49
It was with the exaggerated sigh that of a man who had way too much things to worry about that Hei 'Junior 'Xiong slumped against the comfy chair in his office. It had been a month and a half since anyone had come to mess his night club up and he would have thrown a big party to celebrate that, were it not for the fact that things were getting harder and harder to celebrate about in the city. He could barely get enough Dust for his installations because its prices were going through the roof and he couldn't use any of his contacts to get his stuff the cheaper way, as a recent murder had seemed to kick the Vale Police Department into overdrive. Not only that, but there were these soldiers running around the city too. Not the kind that he knew from Atlas, oh no. These idiots looked and behaved a lot shadier than people thought he did. Normally he wouldn't give a rat's ass about things that the military did, but he had heard some very nasty stories and rumors. Like the young snitch who had come to him looking for Roman Torchwick, who had allegedly murdered about two to three dozen people in one go when he wasn't much older than the freaks at that Academy. Of course, rumors were rumors and it was his job to pick out those rumors that were not rumors but in fact facts.
And so far Junior knew of a handful people he had to watch out for: Roman Torchwick, that blonde bitch from Beacon, that Greyhound or whatever he was called, to name but a few. But recently it had come to his ears that there was someone else he should be keeping an eye on; a person who had both the police as the military on his ass. Junior did not know why he should be worrying about someone who had half the city looking for him though. There was only one person who had gotten to him in the past and that person had been about to enroll in the prestigious Beacon Academy, together with all those other super powered freak teens. And he had upped his security since then; now half of his men were outfitted with firearms instead of blades and Melanie and Miltiades had done some extensive research and practice on how to deal with foes with superior physical prowess. If blondie decided to show her pretty face again, she'd get it bashed in pretty quickly
Hei grabbed his glass and poured himself another drink while eyeing his own weapon, which stood polished against the red wall of his office. It had been recently repaired and he had gotten one of the last badges of red Dust for it, empowering the already impressive firepower of its rockets.
He downed his drink and focused on the beat of the music. Tonight was a damn nice evening. The police was busy, Beacon was busy and he was free to do whatever he wanted to.
Then, he heard someone screaming. It wasn't a shout of exhilaration, or the cry of someone who had gotten turned down violently by one of the Malachite twins. It was a ragged scream that cut through Junior's chest and sent shivers down his spine. Without hesitating, he snatched his bazooka from its position and rushed to the balcony in order to get a better view. Was it blondie? Had she returned? Or was it someone else who had gotten cocky and received a face-full of axe in return?
But he saw no twirling masses of blonde hair, or fiery explosions that were knocking his men all around the interior of his club. His people were discharging their guns at a black mass that was dashing through their ranks with all the ease of an Ursa in pottery shop. It lashed out with a dark leg and smashed a shotgun-carrying male into a wall, punched another man and painted the ground with a thin spurt of blood. If moved with an elegance that was only outmatched by its ferocity; with its bare hands, the figure tore Junior's group completely apart. He snapped one guy's neck simply by hitting him with its elbow, spun around a machete-wearing goon and broke his back with a single kick and then used a discarded axe to dismember two men in one sweep.
Junior felt his supper rising to his throat, but he made no effort to keep a hold over himself. The scene was so utterly confusing that it took Junior a full ten seconds before he fully understood what was going on –and those ten seconds were all that it took for his entire group of well-armed and well-trained men to be utterly destroyed and that was before the twins could even get to the monstrosity that had infiltrated his night club. The ground was slick with blood and even as Junior managed to regain control over his limbs and lift his bazooka, his last four men –all of them armed with submachine guns and crooked knives- were dispatched in the time it took him to blink. Two fell to ground and the other two were launched a dozen meters through the air before their limp bodies impacted through the glass pedestals and into the metal wall on the other side of the club, farther than Junior had been launched himself.
"Bastard!" He growled and fired off three rockets in quick succession, but the black figure leaped forwards without as much as looking at the projectiles and effortlessly dodged them. For such a giant person, it sure moved quickly. The rockets impacted behind him and created a large explosion, creating enough shrapnel to incapacitate any other person.
The shards pelted the bastard with enough force to blow clean through any limb, but they merely bounced off of what had to be very tough armour. But whoever it was, he –for no chick had such a posture- was shit out of luck now. Melanie and Miltiades were going to utterly beat his ass and after that was done he, Hei Xiong, was going to personally make the bastard pay with his blood.
Even as the large guy casted the broken body of his last victim aside like a ragdoll, Junior knew that the twins would be successful. They had assured him countless times that no scoundrel was going to assault his club with them watching over it and he fully believed them. They would turn that bastard into shish kebab and they'd look for survivors.
The armoured guy exploded into movement and sprinted towards the two girls faster than any ordinary human could move.
"Come one Miltia, let's get this guy!" Melanie managed to boast before the intruder was upon her. She jumped at the large intruder, intent on slicing him up with the razor-sharp blades at her heels. She slashed at him three times in quick succession in one jump, but the brute blocked her strikes her strikes with one arm as if he could read her every movement and when she ducked and lashed out at his legs with a powerful swipe, he simply spun around on his hind leg and delivered a roundhouse-kick at her frail body, missing her only when Miltiades interfered and pulled her back. The intruder stood at least two feet taller than the two girls, but his size would only 'work against him', as Melanie had once said about those big and muscular people you encountered on the street.
Miltia savagely slashed at the big guy, easily reaching eight blows in two seconds. Like before, the male moved with unhuman speed and blocked all of her attacks with only one arm, which he moved in every direction as the girl desperately tried to find an opening.
Then Melanie leaped at him from behind and the intruder did…something. The next thing Junior knew, the girl lay on the ground six meters away, her body curled in a ball as if she had just been hit in her stomach.
Miltiades got distracted for just a second and then noticed her mistake, which could have been fatal. She performed several elegant backflips in an attempt to remove herself from her attacker, but the monstrous fighter moved once more with a speed that eluded Junior –and Miltia too. He didn't even need to hit her; he struck at her with blinding speed, to which she responded by leaning backwards to prevent the fist from turning her head into pulp. Then the other hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her close and up.
The entire fight had taken only a few seconds and Junior had been completely unable to spot a single opening during the conflict to fire his bazooka. And now, while the intruder took his time to carefully haul Miltiades up by her arm, he still couldn't do a damn thing safe for blowing them both to hell with one shot.
And he didn't want to harm the girl.
Miltiades responded like a cat driven to a corner; with her free arm she slashed and beat at the helmeted head, but there was no reaction. No flinching, nothing. As if she was fighting a mountain.
The armoured fighter then increased his grip on his captive´s arm, producing several audible snaps as he broke her wrist at multiple places. Miltia screamed at the top of her lungs and started thrashing even worse than before, but she quickly ceased and broke down in a heart-renting sobbing. Still the guy did not release her, instead observing her reactions with a morbid curiosity. His helmet made it impossible to see what he was feeling and that made it many times worse.
Junior gritted his teeth in fury and tried to think of a way to get his people out of the mess they had gotten themselves in. "Hey! Bastard! Over here!" He shouted, hoping to catch his foe's attention. "Come and get me! You think you're tough, taking on girls?"
It didn't work. But he did catch Melanie slowly moving and regaining her wits, so if he could just distract the intruder long enough for her to stab him in his back or…or better yet, to crawl away and get help. Police no police, this wouldn't end pretty if they didn't get some help soon.
"M- Miltia!" Melanie coughed. "L-let her g-go!"
Without even bothering to look at the fallen girl, the son of a bitch tore Miltiades claws off her wrist and threw the three sharpened blades at her. The red weapons impaled Melanie through her legs and pinned her to the floor; one in her left calf and two in her right thigh and foot.
Melanie shrieked so loud that Junior thought she was going to shatter the remaining glass pillar into pieces. She quickly broke down into sobbing and moaning and tried to remove the remainders of her sister´s claws that had pinned her to the ground, but she couldn't bend deep enough to reach them.
The monstrous fighter threw the crying girl in his grip to the ground and then moved towards the second girl. He took two large steps forwards –and that was as far as he got.
Junior roared in rage and fired a rocket that he had treated with Dust should he have had the bad luck of running into that blonde again. When he fired it, the extremely-fast moving projectile flew straight and true and impacted dead-center on the bastard's chest, creating a large cloud of obscuring Dust and probably blowing him into little pieces.
The club was calm for three seconds, the silence only broken by the Malachite twin's tear-jerking and agonized sobbing. But on the count of the fourth second, a large piece of metal got flung at Junior with roughly the same speed as his missile. The balcony shattered on impact and he lost his balance, tumbling at least three meters before he impacted on the debris-covered floor.
Not a second later, a giant fist closed around his neck and he felt himself being roughly hauled upright. The person who had nailed him turned him around and Junior, dazed and bleeding from several wounds he had gotten after his rough landing, found himself looking into a pitch-black visor that was covered with scratches and dints. His enemy towered above him, leering at him with a visor that was so damaged that the only reflective image he got resembled a garbled mess.
Which was what this guy should have been turned into. How the HELL had he survived a rocket to the face?
"Do with me…what you want!" He grunted, fully aware of the fact that he sounded completely cliché. But he didn't give a damn about how he sounded. "Just…leave the girls…alone…"
The black figure –for that was Junior's best attempt at deciding how to describe him in his head- slowly turned its head sideways, as if he was curious. Then he reached into a pocket with a gauntleted hand and pulled a piece of paper out, which he roughly pushed at Junior's face.
"Who-" he muttered, but the grip around his throat increased and small stars exploded in front of his eyes. Breathing was becoming so painful that he thought he would choke. He didn't want to choke; he didn't want to die. Not here, not like this.
Again the paper got pushed at him and this time he realized that it was actually a picture, though he could not tell who it was. Vaguely remembering his position as an information broker, Junior did the first thing that came to mind. The only thing that might safe the twins now was giving this thing what it wanted. "Y-yes! Y-yes!"
It worked. He felt the crushing grip on his throat lessen and he was able to form coherent sentences once more. Only he now sounded like he was an old man who had spent his waking life smoking cigars. "I recognize…" he felt a jab of panic when he realized that he had no idea whether the person on the picture was a boy or a girl. "Beacon! I know this…let me…go and…I…can tell you."
"There! It's Brawler!"
"Blackwood confirmed, engage engage!"
Junior's heart leaped at the sudden voices and he realized that the Police must have heard all the ruckus. They were coming to safe him!
…what did they call this guy?
The large fighter swiftly placed the picture back into his pocket and then delivered a crushing jab at Junior's back.
Pain. Excruciating pain. His entire world exploded into one sensation of mind-numbing, sense-obliterating pain. His limbs cramped up and his legs suddenly felt like they were on fire. Junior felt vaguely aware of his head hitting a solid object and he felt something cold touching his face. But he didn't care about that; the torturous agony that shot through his back was enough to cause him to break down in tears and soon, even his vision was reduced to a blurry mess. The music that he had once enjoyed was now painfully pounding away on his mind and he only heard the discharge of automatic weapons as through a hazy dream.
After what felt like hours, he heard the human voices again.
"Send word to Lieutenant Yale that the Brawler got away again."
"Captain, the girls are alive. What do we do?"
His sensation of joy that the twins were still alive was somewhat numbed by what happened next. "A live one here too. Confirmed as Hei Xiong, information broker and low-class gangster."
These people sounded wrong. Unconcerned…emotionless.
"Call an ambulance."
"Sir? They've seen too much."
"If we off them now, anyone'll know that it wasn't him. And I won't recreate a Brawler-kill, we got teen girls here."
What? Were they seriously talking about them like that?
"And the male?" Junior felt someone touch his side and he cried out in pain. "He's got a broken back."
"That's a negative. Stop that girl's bleeding first. Agent? Call that ambulance."
"Captain , sir."
Someone patted the back of Junior's head and he closed his eyes. Even though he still didn't know if he was going to be safe, at least the Malachites would live to see another day.
Day 56 –Tuesday- Beacon dormitories- 7:12
Grace Auburn lazily stretched and suppressed a yawn. It was so early in the morning…why did it have to be so incredibly early? For five days Beacon had postponed that stupid excursion to the North and now, NOW of all super-early mornings they had to get up early to prepare? Some people might consider that bullshit.
And Grace counted herself among those people.
She reached for her scroll and saw (much to her frustration) that it was just past seven. Well an hour before they were supposed to get up. Sighing in frustration, she ran a hand through her messy brown hair and climbed out of her bed. She was awake now and she couldn't go back to sleep. She might as well take advantage of the early hour to grab a shower and properly wake up.
With half of her mind still numbed by sleep, the brunette silently made her way to the bathroom and went for the door. The problem was that she wasn't the only one who had that idea.
Just when she was about to grab the handle, the door was flung open from the inside. Her reflexes kicked in and she quickly stepped backwards to avoid a very nasty headache, but what she then saw was enough to make her head spin anyway and she remembered that there was one member of their team that always got up early to shower without having to worry about other people.
Alessa was standing in the door opening with left hand on the doorknob and her right hand holding a towel that was draped over her shoulder, allowing Grace a completely unobstructed view of her very naked body. Her clothes were scattered in the bathroom behind her, so the girl had probably (and falsely so) that she could safely go and retrieve it. Her white hair was moist, so she must have just gotten out of the shower. That would explain her towel…and other things. "Eh…" The demolitions expert muttered, not really knowing what to do. Alessa appeared to be as shocked as Grace was, judging by her wide open eyes.
Her eyes…Alessa wasn't wearing her blindfold! Her eyes were completely unobstructed by the normal piece of pale fabric and even Grace was finally able to see what lay beneath it. Alessa's eyes looked different in a strange way; they held an intricate, red pattern that seemed biologically off to Grace. An uncanny sensation spread through the brunette's body and she realized that Alessa was in no way amused by their sudden meeting.
Alessa recovered faster than Grace could and pulled the door close –probably in a harder fashion than was reasonable at that hour. Jason Cho shot upright and mumbled something about Ruby scything through the door, but he probably realized that there were no little redheads attacking them at the moment. Lisa simply turned around in her sleep and while Cho carefully climbed out of his bed, as if any sudden moves would make the room explode, Grace felt that she was heavily blushing. It would probably smart to not show that to anyone.
"What happened?" He groggily asked. He too looked like he was half asleep.
"The uh…bathroom is occupied," Grace softly replied. She still couldn't believe what had just happened; she still felt all strange and awkward inside and even when Alessa left the bathroom again –fully clothed this time- things did not return to normal. Grace grabbed a quick shower, brushed her teeth and went back to the dorms to collect her specially prepared outfit. In thinking that a new 'era' was approaching Vale, Ruby had approached Lisa and Jaune and asked them about what she had called a 'fashionable makeover'. While team JNPR had kindly reclined, team LACG hadn't. It had resulted in dramatic changes in most of their combat attires and because the entire morning was dedicated to preparations, they had every opportunity to ogle each other's choices for the very first time.
If only Alessa would share in the cheerful mood.
"Hey Cho," Lisa laughed, "You look like a gangster working for Onyx!"
Grace had to admit that Lisa had a good point. Jason had donned impressive looking boots, a leather trench-coat that had several purple streaks over the shoulders and a vest that looked like it had been directly stolen from the Vale Police Department. All in stylish black, of course. His cargo pants did have a rather military look to them though.
"Police experimental ballistic vest," Cho explained. "It has several thin plates that are composed of silicon carbide ceramic combinations."
"Meaning?"
"It stops blades and bullets, to a certain limit. We've all been training with Aura defenses, but I won't risk a thing."
"And the cape?"
"Coat."
"That too?"
"A Cho has to remember to be fashionable," Grace smirked.
"And what do you have there, Grace?" the Cho in question then asked, carefully polishing his stun baton.
"Yang helped me dig up a few articles of these highly trained soldiers used to destroy big Grimm infestations during the Great War. They were called ´Sappers´ or ´Demolition Experts´. The temptation was too powerful."
"How many pockets are those?" Lisa asked.
"Easily a dozen," Grace replied. She was wearing a brown combat vest that was specially designed to not catch fire in a big explosion. And to hold as much explosive devices as possible. "I've got reinforced elbows, internal pockets in the reinforced elbows and shrapnel-proof gloves."
"Looks like you sacrificed defense for offense," Cho remarked with a disapproving look.
"Oh well, I love offense. I'm our designated demolitions expert; what do you expect? I´ll just use your faces to distract the bullets."
"Yay…" Cho said without a hint of humor. "Speaking of defending against bullets…what happened to armour, Lisa?"
"Glad you asked," the blonde replied with a smile. A many hints of humor. "This gal has had a hearty talk with her grandfather and he said that Hunters should be nimble enough to dodge bullets. I can't dodge bullets with heavy vests or ten-thousand grenades stuck up my-"
"Watch it!" Grace growled.
"-pajamas. So I chose the simple temperature-holding tank top-"
"You mean isolating?"
"- that can hold combat gear and possible communications equipment. Also, I got this baby!"
Lisa pulled a heavy belt out of her bed and Cho whistled softly.
"That's some good gear," he commented. Then he looked at Lisa and frowned. His eyes didn't change one bit, as he was always frowning on the inside. "It's also a museum piece. Where did you get it?"
"Grandpa Adamant used it when he was young," Lisa explained. The heavy-looking belt had been dyed green –as was the rest of the girl's outfit- and it had room for at least a dozen extra rounds for her weapon. It looked badass, but also very old fashioned. "That man is a fashionable disaster –Matt got his genes- and when he was called upon to serve, he pulled a new style out of his behind."
"So this comes from your grandfather's behind?" Cho remarked. Grace snickered and threw a look at Alessa. She was quieter than normal, which could be attributed to the accidental peeping scene from before. Her outfit had not really changed a lot; like the rest of them, she had dyed her combat outfit in a specific colour (dark blue) but she had the same clothes as she had before.
Lisa glared angrily at her partner and then smiled cruelly. "Let's go over the plan one more time."
Alessa groaned and threw herself backwards on her bed, Grace sighed explosively and tried to think of something to distract her teamleader, while Cho did the only sensible thing and hit himself in his face so that they didn't have to do that for him.
"We'll be gone for a good month," Lisa said and loaded a few oversized rounds into her rifle. "Headmaster Ozpin said that we can travel to the northern-most point of Vytal in little more than a week, but we'll have to use Beacon's resources to do that. Johnson and Matt have procured vehicles for us and I think that our lovely Operative will be sharing in the pool. If we want to cross the ocean-"
"Onyx will have to assist us," Grace said.
"-and we don't know if it will be a-"
"A boat or a plane," Cho muttered.
"And once we have arrived in the North, we won't know for certain where to go and what to do. All in all-"
"We'll be in the North for approximately two weeks," Grace finished. "Lisa, relax. Teams RWBY, JNPR and LACG are among the best teams of Beacon Academy. You said so yourself!"
"The shit we have done is some serious shit indeed," Cho quoted.
"But we have done some serious shit!" Lisa exclaimed. "We hunted down terrorists, beat the shit out of crime syndicates, killed Grimm and beefed up our vehicles!"
"That can be considered a normal Tuesday for the guys who are supposed to support us," Cho replied. "Remember that Greystone's coming with us? That guy's killed more people than the entire Police Department put together. At age fifteen."
"Still not letting that particular ass-whooping go huh?" Grace told him, remembering how the young Operative had nearly bashed Jason's head in against the floor. And how he had then nearly killed Alessa, put Lisa up in a position to be captured by Torchwick's men and let Grace deal with her nearly destroyed team.
…now that she thought about it, his reservations against the Operative didn't seem weird at all.
"We'll let Nora break his legs if he pulls anything," Lisa waved his concern away. "Besides! Ruby said that they've pretty much tamed him, so things will be alright."
"And what are we supposed to do in the North if everything goes alright?" Grace then asked, hoping to end the argument. She wanted to go to the main Dining hall and have breakfast; she was hungry and thirsty and she wanted to see how the other students had prepared themselves for the coming weeks.
"Matt told me that we would hear that today."
"We've heard that before…"
After they had grabbed all the ammo that was convenient to hold, the four of them moved out. They had prepared most of their normal combat outfits should the new ones be damaged in a fight, but being away from Vale for more than a month warranted some other ideas. Ideas that may or may not have to be copied from other teams.
Upon entering the Dining hall, it became clear that they weren't the only ones who had been having trouble with planning their departure. The lessons for the other students had just started, so teams JNPR and RWBY were currently the only ones residing in the hall. Greystone was nowhere to be found and there were no teachers anywhere.
"Morning," Ruby greeted them.
"Morning," Lisa replied. "So…what's up?"
"We're figuring out who needs to carry what and why and how."
"And that's not going so well?"
"No," Jaune said, getting himself involved in their conversation. "We can all carry our own clothes and things…but most of us also carry munitions and Dust and the like. That will be hard to take with us."
"Not to mention food and water," Blake added.
"Or camping stuff should we need to sleep in the wild," Yang said.
"We might even need medical supplies," Weiss then finished.
"How much cars do we get for this?" Jaune asked Ruby, who shrugged.
"No idea. Someone was supposed to go and explain things to us, but nobody has shown up thus far."
Grace shrugged and took her place at one of the empty tables. "So, got anything to eat here?"
Yang gestured to a large pot of coffee and a can of tea. "No breakfast though. No idea why."
So team LACG joined the other two teams and silently enjoyed their leisure breakfast. Finally, half an hour later, the door opened and three people entered the Dining hall. One tall man clad in military fatigues, who had to be Mister Yale, was following Headmaster Ozpin. The smaller person walking behind the two men had to be the Operative. Awesome…
"Students," Ozpin greeted them. "Despite a noticeable delay in the plans, we have managed to procure transports for you to utilize. These transports will be your responsibility –if you lose them, or if they are damaged beyond repairs, you will have to find your way to the North on your own."
"Professors Adamant and Johnson were so kind as to allow Beacon the usage of their vehicles for this particular excursion," Yale continued. "Furthermore, Onyx has appointed one of our armoured Light Reconnaissance vehicles for usage. These three vehicles should allow up to fifteen individuals and their baggage to be transported to the northern region of Vytal. There, Onyx will supply additional transport, the nature of which remains to be seen."
"And how do we carry our supplies in the North?" Ruby asked. Jaune remained deadly silent.
"Each one of you will be assigned flexible, light-weighing backpacks to carry all the clothes and ordnance you need," Ozpin replied.
"And food?" Lisa asked.
Operative Greystone stepped forwards and showed them a small bag that looked like it held some sort of powder. "MRE; meal ready to eat. We've got enough field rations for two months and water is abundant."
Yang grunted in disgust, but she was the only person who responded negatively. Ruby beamed and Weiss rubbed her hair, while Jaune and Pyrrha high-fived.
"Cool," Grace said with a smile. "Insta-food for months!"
"Now then," Ozpin commented. "As you all know, the purpose of this operation is to determine whether the people in the north need help…or not. We don't know if there is anyone left alive in there, or how bad the situation is. This expedition will be dangerous beyond the things most of you have undertaken. There will be no support from Beacon and no support from Onyx. If you run out of food or water, or are not fast enough to get under cover when a storm hits, you will die."
"The land outside the Kingdoms is a hostile area for human and Faunus alike," Yale added. "If it's not the roaming Grimm groups, it will be civil wars or hostile cities. Don't presume that every human on your way will help you."
They looked expectantly at Greystone, who looked hesitant at the sudden attention. "The uh…MRE's are a pain to clean during travel. Don't tear them."
And just like that, the tension was gone.
Ozpin flashed a very faint smile, but the Onyx commander looked frustrated. "As the Operative was so intelligent to point out, the materials are not easily replaced. We can supply you with two seven-person tents, which should be enough to protect you against the wind. Be very careful of what you find in the North…and good luck."
"Of course, watching your teammates during the night in the North is the most important thing you can do as a leader," Ozpin commented. "The Grimm invasion started from the North, after all. There is no telling what they have been doing there all that time. Good luck indeed."
It appeared that the backpacks that Ozpin and the Commander had spoken off had already been placed inside of their dormitories, which made packing a hell of a lot easily. After that, the thirteen of them –the Operative had finally joined them- made their way to the outer staging areas of Beacon, where three large vehicles had been assembled. Grace recognized one of them as Professor Johnson's jeep, but the other two were completely new. One of them was big and beige, while the other one was just as big, but black. Still, Grace had no problem identifying the black one as an Onyx vehicle. Those guys sure loved their shady colours, after all. So the other one was Professor Adamant's?
…who was supposed to be driving these things? Headmaster Ozpin and Commander Yale hadn't even considered seeing them off, let alone telling them how they were supposed to be getting to the north part of Vytal.
"So…" Ruby then said with an awkward expression. "Anyone have a driver's license?"
Ah…that might be problematic.
"Nobody on my team," Jaune commented. "How's that even possible when you are only allowed to start driving when you are eighteen?"
"You haven't met any Adamant's then, I suppose," Lisa grinned. "My father's been forcing Matt to drive since he was fourteen."
"That's a special case," Weiss replied. "The Adamant family has always been ignoring the rules."
"Can't you drive then?" Blake asked.
"Well, I can drive…but my father told me never to do so. Said the world can't handle my driving skills yet."
Cho snorted. "I've seen her drive before. Once. A raging Nevermore would be better for the infrastructure; at least that thing can't damage the road as much."
Lisa was shocked. "When did you see me drive?"
"Are all Adamants so good at prioritizing?" Yang asked.
"Two times; a year back and six months back. It wasn't a pretty sight."
Grace had to admit that Jason was having an excellent point; Lisa could not be allowed to drive. Permanent. And as her best friend, it would be Grace's job to threaten to blow then all to kingdom come should the Adamant try to take the drivers position. "Cho's right. Now way that we're going to let any Adamant get behind that steer. But that leaves us with a big stinking problem…no 'one 's old enough to drive!"
"Not neccesarily," Pyrrha then said. "If I remember correctly, all Police personnel are trained extensively in vehicle-mechanics and advanced driving methods, no?"
"Correct," Cho said and crossed his arms. "I can drive. Legally so,"
"Well whoopdie freaking doo, one man can drive one car!" Yang exclaimed. "Figured out how to drive three cars at once by any chance?"
"No," Cho replied. "Not legally."
"I learned how to drive a while ago," Ren then spoke up. "I don't have a license though. And neither do I really deserve one. But I can drive well enough."
"That's two people who can drive for two teams," Weiss said. "We just need one more to get this thing going. Who's volunteering?"
" You know Yang…this jeep here reminds me of something…" Ruby muttered. "A certain black car…stashed away in a certain hangar bay…occupied by a certain Onyx soldier who already seems to think that rules don't exist…"
Once again, Grace found herself staring at the young Operative along with the rest of the group. He hadn't chosen to radically change his appearance like the rest of them had, but his suit still looked a bit different than before. Had he made some other changes? Apart from replacing the molten slag with actually functioning armour plating?
The soldier looked over his shoulder, realized that nobody was there and then still failed to make the connection. "What?"
"Can you drive a car!" Ruby asked him with the same intonation of someone asking a celebrity for an autograph.
"Yes," the boy replied.
"Then why didn't you say so?" Yang angrily exclaimed. "And don't say because we didn't ask-"
"You didn't ask."
"DAMNIT!"
"Well," Jaune commented and hauled his backpack to the nearest car, "let's get going then."
Unidentified road in Vale- 10:14
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"How much closer are we now?"
"About an hour closer."
"Is that much?"
"No."
Ruby sighed and resumed staring out of the window. She was so bored! She had expected this road-trip to be awesome and funny and amazing, but instead she was sitting in the back of a large jeep, watching the land go by. And she wasn't even in the front-seat! Yang had yelled "shotgun" and for some reason that had granted her the right to take the passenger seat. Sure, sitting in the back with Blake and Weiss was cozy and all, but…Blake sat in the middle. So no touching Weiss.
"Oh cheer up sis!" Yang said as she twisted around in her seat. Will was currently driving the car and because he was actually capable in doing so, the car wasn't shaking or trembling or even wobbling. It was boring and dull. "It could be worse!"
Ruby glanced behind the large jeep, peered past the large gun-turret at the back and spotted team JNPR's car. Ren was having trouble keeping the vehicle straight and it was constantly alternating between the left lane and the right one. That looked like so much fun, why couldn't the Operative drive like that?
"And it could be more fun…" She muttered. They had been driving for more than an hour and the boring highway was boring. Ren's abysmal driving was actually the only interesting thing that happened, since Blake was lost in her thoughts and Weiss was fast asleep. Even Yang's normal cheerful attitude couldn't seem to cheer her out of her boredom. It wasn't t like Will could do anything to make the trip more fun, as he had been silent the whole time. Although…perhaps he needed a bit of persuading?
She looked at Blake, who was still staring at the window without really seeing anything. Then at Weiss, who was still very deeply asleep. "So…got any cool stories to tell, Will?"
"Seconded!" Yang yelled.
"No," the soldier brusquely replied.
"Oh come on, one little-"
But it appeared that the Operative had very little patience. "Not now!" He snapped, his voice sounding remarkably angry.
"There's no need to shout like that," Yang was quick to reply. She sounded angrier than Will did and Ruby immediately felt Weiss jolting awake. "She was just asking!"
"Right," Will said and focused his gaze on the road again. "My bad."
"You sound awfully stressed lately," Ruby then carefully told the soldier. "Are you still bothered by that crowbar thing?"
"Doctor Azure."
Yang frowned. "The doctor that helped team LACG after you beat their ass? Did she bother you?"
"She's dead."
"That's…part of life I guess. Does that bother you? Did you know her?"
The Operative left the highway and took the next road out of the Kingdom. In just a few minutes, they would finally leave the Kingdom.
"What in the world is wrong with you two?" Weiss barked. "Why are you two shouting like that?"
"Huh? What?" Blake mumbled. "Sorry, what?"
"Not you. Them."
"Doctor Azure was confirmed KIA. She was also affiliated with Onyx at one point."
"Excuse me?" Yang asked, looking surprised at that revelation. "What would Onyx want with a Doctor?"
"She was with Onyx at one point?" Blake asked. She looked suspicious. Why would she…? "Do you think they killed her because she left? It's why they're after Alice."
Ah, Ruby thought, so that´s why.
"Negative," Will replied. "Blackwood killed her."
Ruby groaned. "Seriously? Why is he killing random people in Vale? What is he even after?"
"You're being paranoid," Weiss told him. "The news said that she was accidentally killed by some teens when she wouldn't give them drugs-"
"And Vale's government was murdered by terrorists," the soldier interrupted her. "Don't believe the news."
"Onyx controls the Vale News Network?" Weiss said, sounding shocked. Ruby had to admit that the thought of a paramilitary organization with enough influence to cover up their own mistakes via the news was frightening indeed.
"If word got out that an ex-member of Onyx was killing Vale's citizens," Blake said, "they would be in trouble. So they cover it up."
"Why would Blackwood do that?" Ruby asked. "I mean…what use is killing everyone? If he wants to make a point or…or ask for help…couldn't he just approach a friend?" But even as she said those words, she remembered the words of someone else. A woman who had managed to inspire fear in one of the most battle-hardened guys she knew. ´No Operative will find a friend…`Was this what she had meant?
"Onyx Operatives don't have friends," Will replied. Then his voice softened and he added: "Until Beacon."
Ruby smiled and patted him on his elbow. "So why do you think he did?" Yang asked.
"Doctor Azure was involved in some of the more…questionable operations of Onyx. Why he would go after her though…"
"Questionable? Her?" Yang asked. "What, she helped you engineer a killer-virus or something?"
"Yang, not funny!" Weiss exclaimed. "And if Onyx controls the VNN, why would they reveal one of their darkest secrets like that?"
"Not control, influence. Someone had more influence."
"More than Onyx?"
"It seems."
"Meh," Ruby muttered. "Everytime we talk about Onyx, there's this tension…let's talk about something else. Like…like how awesome this expedition is going to be!"
"Now now Ruby, this is a scientific and diplomatic journey," Weiss tried.
"I know!` Ruby gasped with joy. "No teachers, no adults telling us what to do, no military surprises wherever we go!"
Blake disagreed though. "This is hardly going to be easy," she said. "There will be Grimm, lack of food and shelter, no back-up if things go wrong and not all humans we will encounter are going to be as civilized as those in Vale."
"Oh Blake, relax!" Yang laughed. "This is a vacation! We have enough supplies and if we go hungry, we can go hunting or something like that."
"I still think that-"
Whatever Blake was thinking, the group never found out. Will suddenly hit the brakes and the jeep lurched to a halt, nearly choking them all to death.
"The hell!" Yang yelled.
"What?" Weiss wheezed, rubbing the red streak in her neck.
"Will!" Ruby shouted –and immediately had to cough like her life depended on it, as talking was beyond her throat's ability to handle. "W-w-why!"
"Something crossed the road," he explained and drew his sidearm.
"What, Grimm?"
"Can't be, we're still inside of the Kingdom. No Grimm can get to us here."
"Not Grimm. It was smaller…nimbler…." The soldier peered out of the window with an expression that was unusually focused, even for him. Ruby thought his statement was a bit weird, as she had been looking at the road too and she hadn't seen a single thing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing had moved.
Ren and Cho pulled up behind them and JNPR's car ended up at their left side. Jaune, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, made a questioning gesture.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Possible hostile contact," Will replied. "Stay frosty."
Ruby giggled. "Frosty…north…heh…"
"Uhm…we saw nothing," Jaune said. "Like, really nothing."
"Just go," Blake groaned. "And can we switch seats soon? I don't like sitting in the middle."
"Fine!" Ruby and Weiss simultaneously said. Yang looked over her shoulder and gave them and odd glance.
"That was…synchronized?" She asked.
"Yeah," Ruby blurted out, "I like synchronizing. With Weiss. In the team."
The Schnee Heiress sighed exaggeratedly, but Yang refrained from commenting on them.
"So…were moving again?" Jaune then asked.
"Affirmative," the soldier replied and before soon, all three of the vehicles were on the road again. It was a really positive thing that they were currently using a road that not a lot of other people used, as they would have most likely ended up with a tailgater smashed against the backs of their cars. Which would be a shame, as the backs of team RWBY's car basically existed out of really big gun. LACG's car –which they had borrowed from Professor Adamant-, had a dome on top of it, but JNPR's car had the same sort of turret in the back. The military must really like their big shiny guns. But at least it was roomy, so there was that. On the next stop where Yang felt like she needed a break, Blake and Weiss switched seats. Ruby intently focused on keeping her enthusiasm to herself, as she felt like her happiness would completely betray that she and her partner had a thing going.
It wasn't that she felt ashamed of her relationship with Weiss…it was just that she didn't want her team to find out. While Yang would be completely willing to accept it and Blake would never think of disliking someone because of their preferences, there was still a large risk involved in openly admitting that there was something going on. Ruby had never expected to really fall in love with a girl…and that was sort of what she had with Weiss. She knew it was more than a crush or an infatuation and that made it risky. They were on the same team and if things went wrong, everyone could get distracted from their work. Besides; Ruby knew that Weiss wouldn't want people to figure it out. Her opinion on how people saw her was completely different from Ruby's and she could totally see how the Heiress would be having trouble with being seen as…well, as a lesbian.
Oh well. Ruby still enjoyed being that close to Weiss and because of the fact that it was now Blake's turn to be snoozing against the window and that Yang was wrapped up in an extremely one-sided conversation with the jumpy Operative, there was no need to worry about being seen.
"Excited?" Ruby softly asked.
"Depends," Weiss said and pressed herself against Ruby, making good use of the roomy backseats of the jeep. "For lots of snow and ice? Not so much." Then she continued on a softer tone: "Spending more time with you? Always."
Ruby gasped when the girl in her arms reacted so openly towards her subtle method of flirting and quickly attempted to recollect herself. In the absence of the awkwardly phrased words that were sure to come out of her mouth, she heard Will ask: "You drive a motorcycle?"
"I…" she muttered, feeling her cheeks sting with another dark blush. "We're in a car now, Weiss. With people."
"I'm not saying anything," the Heiress smiled. "Just answering a question that you asked, remember?"
"Well, the feeling is mutual," Ruby declared and placed her head against Weiss', as she liked the feeling of her partner's soft hair against her skin. And she smelled so nice; faintly mint-ish.
"So," Yang said after another thirty minutes of silence. "Got any music?"
"Music?" Will replied, sounding honestly confused.
"Ehm…you do know what music is, right?"
Ruby remembered how, at one point, Weiss had thought Will to be mocking her because he hadn´t known what a weekend was. "What's this weekend talk about?" He had asked. Ruby had already considered it strange at the time, but that statement seemed even harsher in hindsight, as she now knew that the soldiers from Onyx truly did not know what things like weekend or vacation were. However, even the brainwashed soldiers from Onyx had to know what music was, right? You had to be an utter Grimm for not knowing that.
"Using instruments to create sounds considered pleasant. Also…singing."
"Weiss sings," Ruby said. Then her brain decided that she wasn't obvious enough with her feelings. "She's really good." And she knew that, because she had accidentally stumbled upon a showering and singing Weiss a few weeks back.
She felt Weiss' cheeks grow hot and realized that there was a possibility she had made a very big whoopsie. Schnee people couldn't read minds, right?
"I always liked it when people sang," Will said absentmindedly as he stared at a sign that they were rapidly approaching. It appeared that they had officially left the Kingdom now.
"People sang for you at Onyx?" Weiss asked, getting upright so that she may have a better view of the soldier. "What, you never heard music but people did sing?"
"Probably army songs," Yang joked.
"I never said I was sung to. I said I liked singing."
"At least you are not completely devoid of cultural sense," Weiss then sighed. "What sort of singing?"
Ruby really wanted to pay attention to Weiss' preferences and knowledge when it came to something as beautiful as the vocal expression of emotions, but she got distracted when she saw Yang pull a small chip seemingly out of nowhere.
"Time for an education then," the blonde said and started searching the various buttons and slots for something.
"Wait a minute..." Ruby muttered and she narrowed her eyes. If her dearest sister was doing what they were both thinking she was doing…"Yang…loveable Yang…what are you doing?"
"Me? Nothing," Yang replied, but then she uttered a satisfied "ah!" and moved her wrist towards a very suspicious looking slot.
"No!" Ruby shrieked. "Stop her!"
Weiss poked her in her side. "What are you yelling about Rubes? You'll wake-"
And the very next second, the car was completely filled with the sounds of one of Yang's favorite metal bands: Metal Maiden. Ruby liked metal when it was soft and melodic and filled with subtle messages, but Yang had the tendency to like everything between soprano to trash-metal and right now, the music tended to go more towards the extremely trashy metal.
And of course, Blake screamed loudly and nearly bumped her head against the ceiling when she jumped upright. "What? What!" She exclaimed. "What's this noise? What did –Yang!"
"Relax?" Yang said and did just that, resting with her head against the window. "It's just some music. I'm getting bored."
"I was sleeping," Blake growled. "Take it off!"
Will silently complied.
"Hey!" Yang exclaimed. "I was listening to that! Put it back on!"
Will silently complied.
"This isn't music!" The Faunus snapped. "Seriously, couldn't you just wait until I had woken up by myself?"
"Yeah," Yang said and awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "I sort of forgot about you sleeping…and the sensitive hearing thing…sorry."
Yang did have the courtesy to lower the music to a reasonable level though, so that lowered the tension that was threatening to ruin the perfectly harmonious…non-tension…they had been having.
"Where are we anyway?" Blake then asked. "Outside of Vale, I take it?"
"Take a look on the map," Weiss told her. "We did bring a map, right?" That last bit was directed at their extremely oblivious driver, who naturally didn't respond. However, he was once again distracted by something that was going on with the road. They had exited a large forest not long ago and now they were driving in a rather desolate area. Lots of stones and sand all around…which was curious, because Ruby couldn't really remember having seen such dry areas before.
"We got something," The soldier said stopped the car. Two cars were standing on the road ahead of them, right in front of a railroad track. Supplies and bags were scattered all around the two vehicles and the dusty sand was covered with all sorts of curious marks.
"I know this place," Blake said and exited the car. Ruby decided that it was best for all of them if they followed the Faunus' lead, so she mentioned for the rest of her team to exit the car and follow her.
"Been here before?" Ruby asked her.
"No…not neccesarily here. There's supposed to run a train between Vale and other cities, but it hasn't been active for two years."
"And this?" Yang asked, gesturing at the two cars.
LACG and JNPR saw that they had stopped and followed their lead, exiting the cars and taking up positons at the left and right flanks respectively.
"What's wrong?" Ren asked. "Why are we stopping?"
"This smells like a trap…" Blake muttered.
Yang sniffed the air. "Don't smell anything. Wait, unless exhaust gasses count? In that case…nope, still nothing."
Ruby noticed how Will was staring at one of the rocks with a very concentrated expression. Except…there was nothing there. Nothing that should warrant a concentrated expression. What was he seeing?"
"I don't get what the big deal is," Jaune said and walked towards the two cars –despite Pyrrha reaching out to stop him. "The people probably left it."
"We can see that," Grace remarked.
Alessa looked around and then looked up, as if startled by something. "Ambush!" She cried and not a second later, the entire team LACG had taken up a defensive position. The speed with which Alessa's team responded to her warning made it obvious that this wasn't the first time that the blindfolded girl had sniffed out an ambush. But how? How did she do that?
The ground shook and then, all of a sudden, an enormous Death-Stalker erupted from underneath a series of rocks, moving to engage Blake. The beast was as large as the one they had encountered back in the Emerald Forest. It was covered with white, bony plates and its shimmering stinger was unusually bright, even in the sun.
At the same time, two Beowolves jumped at Jaune, who barely had time to bring his shield up and defend himself from their blows.
"Stalker! Move!" Lisa shouted at her team and while Jaune's friends came to his aid, Ruby shifted her attention to the giant Grimm that was now striking at Blake. The Faunus was easily dodging its claws, but the giant stinger whipped out with more speed than most could follow and she only barely managed to jump out of the way fast enough.
Ruby swung her scythe at the Grimm as it dashed past her, intent in slicing its legs off. But much like its predecessor, its armor was way too thick to damage with simple blows. They needed something stronger, much stronger.
She heard multiple yowls of Beowolves and understood that the twin wolves hadn't been alone when they chose to attack team JNPR.
Yang jumped at the thing and grabbed a hold of one of its bony protrusions, bracing herself. "Hey," she shouted. "Lure it!"
Will jumped into action too. He started sprinting towards the Stalker, only to nearly crash headfirst into one of its pincers. At the last second, he jumped over the appendage and unfolded his black rifle. Weiss made perfect use of the opportunity to thrust her Myrtenaster at the Death-Stalker's attacking claw, freezing it to the ground. The Operative landed on the Grimm's back even as Blake unleashed a series of blows at its eyes, distracting it from the two humans on its back.
Ruby moved her weapon to its sniper form and opened fire on the Grimm's face, helping Blake in further keeping it busy.
"Lisa," she shouted at LACG's leader. "Gun-turrets! Use them!"
"What do you think I'm trying?" The blonde shouted back. "It's Matt's car! It has a billion buttons!"
"Try the other ones!"
Operative Greystone fired a long burst of shots at the Grimm's shimmering stinger, none of which seemed to miss its target. Multiple bullets entered the holes made by other bullets and doubled the damage, even though that damage was still negligible.
But the attack served its purpose. The Death-Stalker noticed the humans on its back and lunged at them with its stinger –only for Yang to grab the stinger in midair, stopping its attack dead still.
"Those turrets won't crack its skin," Lisa told them. "Not at first. But if you can weaken it enough-"
"On it!" Grace snapped and changed her weapon to its strange, spoon-like form. "Gonna need some room for this."
"Right!" Ruby snapped and jumped backwards. Blake followed her example and Weiss, after blocking another pincer-attack with one of her glyphs, she too moved to a reasonable distance. Never before had Ruby heard of someone with the physical prowess to keep a Death-Stalker pinned like that. Yang was making history here!
The Death-Stalker noticed Grace and, deciding that she represented the biggest threat at the moment, started attacking her with both of its pincers. Ruby, fully knowing how much damage such a Grimm could cause to an unarmoured human, didn't want to leave the demolitions expert all on her own. But as soon as she stepped forward to assist her, Cho tapped her on her shoulder.
"Lisa figured the turret out," he softly spoke. "I can man our car, Alessa can man the other. Damage it and we can finish it off."
"Done," she whispered back. The Death-Stalker had officially set its eyes on Grace and even as the demolition expert softly exhaled to calm herself, it struck.
Grace moved with the trained speed of a fighter; as soon as the monstrosity struck at her, she brought her weapon to bear and deflected its double strike with little difficulty. No, she didn't actually deflect it, as that would be way too hard to do. She seemed to guide its limbs away with her weapon, not actually going in against the blows but more brushing them aside. And with each strike she performed, she struck the enemy limbs twice, once with each side of her weapon. Every hit dispensed one grenade, which would then stick to the Grimm's carapace.
Impressive.
Eventually, after having warded off six blows in quick succession, she seemed to have run out of grenades. That was their cue. "Now!" Ruby shouted and Grace jumped backwards even as Weiss and Blake both lunged for the Grimm. The Heiress performed an intricate move with a canister of red Dust, after which her weapon unleashed a fiery storm of blazing energy, detonating all the grenades that had been placed on the Death-Stalkers pincers.
The blast threw both Greystone as Yang off, but both of them stabilized in mid-air and landed safely. Blake used her cleaver to get the Grimm's attention, heaving large cut into its damaged armor. Ruby joined her and delivered a flashing salvo of scythe-strikes, causing deep but small cuts on its face. It appeared that its eyes too were armoured. If someone were to shoot them out, it would be a sitting duck for Lisa's turret-squad, as they couldn't risk firing into the fray without hurting anyone now.
"Will!" She yelled, getting the Operative's attention. One of his less funny nicknames was the ´Marksman´, so if anyone could make that shot, it would be him. "Go for the eyes!"
Blake got the message too, as she started moving away from the beast without letting up in attacking it, moving it towards the young soldier.
Will then jumped towards her, rolled underneath a sudden pincer-swipe and brought his assault rifle to bear. Perhaps the Stalker knew what was going to happen next, as it started moving its large claws in front of its face, as if to ward coming blows off.
A desperate gesture and not fast enough. Greystone opened fire, ten shots rang out and ten eyes were destroyed by uncanny accuracy of the Operative.
Death-Stalkers generally possessed ten eyes and this one was no exception.
"Get it!" Ruby shouted and team LACG opened fire with the trio of turrets the very moment team RWBY had gotten out of the way. Hundreds upon hundreds of high-caliber, armour-piercing rounds slid into the many cracks and wounds of the Death-Stalker. It screamed and died.
Ruby screamed with victorious joy and watched as Pyrrha killed a Beowolf with a well-placed thrust, Ren and Nora beheaded a particularly large Alpha and Jaune stabbed another Beowolf in its heart.
"All clear," Will called and lowered his weapon.
"Alright guys," Jaune replied with a grin. "Grimm are dead. We rule."
"Were we just ambushed by Grimm?" Blake asked.
"Ambushed?" Jaune repeated with a quivering voice. "By Grimm? No way, those things can't think like that…right?"
"Proffesor Adamant said that they might have been developing," Pyrrha said.
"And Ozpin warned us for the things that waited for us in the north, remember?" Yang said.
"One problem with that," Lisa said as she and her team returned to the body of the fallen Death-Stalker. "We're not even in the north right now. We're just north of Vale and the Grimm pulled a human fast one on us!"
"I think," Ruby said, carefully measuring her words, "that the Grimm has slowly been recovering for a long time. These cars were perhaps ambushed, but the creatures could have also been lying dormant. There is no way to tell."
"Either way," Lisa added, "we should keep moving. We wasted a lot of ammo today and we're not even near where we need to be."
"She's right," Ruby said. "If they're getting smarter, there's nothing we can do either way. We have a mission…and we should keep to that. Right?"
Of course they agreed with her. Everyone knew the importance of their expedition to the North and nobody wanted to waste the little time they had.
Yet, when everybody returned to the jeeps, Ruby couldn't help but notice that Blake looked extremely uneasy. So when Yang had called shotgun and Weiss took her position in the middle on the backseat, Ruby quickly beckoned to the Faunus-girl.
"Everything alright?" She asked.
"Just a feeling…" Blake replied in a soft voice. She looked really, really bad.
"What sort of feeling?"
Blake looked away, glancing at the train tracks. "The bad sort."
"Dear Onyx representative,
Your interferences in Vale businesses have become a troubling item indeed. I do hope that your involvement in the death of the city's government was merely a fluke, and that this situation can be resolved as quickly as possible. With that in mind, what exactly is this "Blackwood" and what are your plans to deal with it?
With the kindest regards,
General James Ironwood, military representative of the Atlas Military Forces.
Next time: Velvet Scarletina visits one of the White Fang recruitment events, while our party runs into a war-infested country, with the only way of advancing being "through". Not everything is as it seems.
Also, it's funny how the new volume of RWBY fits perfectly inside of my plans. Monty Oum, if you read this, you are seriously awesome.
As always, leave a review and until next chapter!