Soldiering? That's soldiering! We're back again and now we start the school year! What plans does Azure have, now aware of Salem's existence? We can only dream and speculate... well, except for me.

Chapter 6: So It Begins

"Cherek-5, you're drifting. Something wrong?"

"Negative, just need to readjust my course Cherek 1."

"Copy that, just hold it for a while longer. The airship will touch down at Beacon soon."

"Yes, commander," Cherek-5 replied as he adjusted his gunship's course. He along with the rest of the 6 gunships were escorting the large airship which housed the soon-to-be students of Beacon. When the pilots first saw the craft, they were not impressed. They've seen better commercial craft than the large ship before them. They made a note to not voice their opinions to the airship's crew, knowing how they'd feel if their ship was ever insulted.

"Eyes front boys, Beacon's up ahead. We'll split from the airship when it lands and then we return to the hangar," Cherek 1 ordered as the Academy was indeed in their sights. In the courtyard, one could see 2 platoons of the 501st Foot Guards Regiment. The platoons have been arranged in their 3 rows with 12 men in each.

Captain Sixers stood at the center between the two-platoon formations, his ceremonial sword clipped to his tool belt. He, alongside his men, had newly polished armor which showed not a mark on the white and blue armor plates. On their chest plates were medals which they earned during the various campaigns they participated in. The weapons for each man had been shined to their standard and bayonets had been fixed. Sixers watched as the airship landed and the gunships who served as escorts flew away to return to their hangar. The airship's doors opened to reveal the future of Remnant in its full glory. Sixers cleared his throat before shouting.

"COMPANY! PRESENT ARMS!"

The Guardsmen, as expected, placed their rifles in their presenting stance in perfect unison. As the students disembarked from the ship, the men remained in their stance. Sixers watched the mass of teenagers and once the majority of them had passed, he shouted another command.

"COMPANY! SHOULDER ARMS!"

Just like before, his men shouldered their DC-15A rifles. He turned to his men and began to order them to their new assignments "1st Platoon will resume posts at the courtyard. 2nd Platoon will resume their original posts. Lieutenant Loch."

"Sir." Lieutenant Loch answered.

"Resume command. I am needed at the command center."

"Yes sir."

Sixers nodded in thanks before looking at the assembled platoons "Well, what are you boys waiting for? A kiss on the cheek? Go on and resume your duties!'

The men replied with a "Sir, yes sir!" and quickly resumed their assigned posts. Sixers then walked off to the command center to meet with Marshal Azure.

...

Ruby Rose was going to be sick. She had just witnessed her sister, Yang Xiao Long, leave her quite literally in the dust as the latter and her friends ran off. It didn't help that the sudden motion had left her spinning. It wasn't long before she fell due to constantly spinning yet felt something that was not the concrete floor.

"What are you doing?!" A shrill voice yelled at her.

Ruby, who finally regained her bearings, stood up and tried to apologize, yet the newcomer was not having any of it.

"Sorry? Do you have even the slightest clue of the potential damage you could've caused?!"

Ruby could only stare as she tried to handle the other girl's luggage.

The white-haired girl grabbed the suitcase "Give me that," she then opened the suitcase to reveal a series of dust vials ", this is dust, mined and purified by the Schnee Quarry."

Still being the awkward girl she is, Ruby couldn't muster a reply which earned her even more ire from the rude girl.

"What are you brain-dead?" she scolded as she showed her the vial "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

Unbeknownst to her, she had shaken the vial too hard and caused some fire dust to leak and spread to poor Ruby's face who tried to muster a reply.

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say yourself?!"

"ACHOO!"

An explosion ensured which promptly got the attention of a guardsman's squad. The guardsman had the markings of a sergeant with the triple stripes and the designation of Ord Squad on his shoulder plate. He gestured towards his men and the 5 of the men went to investigate with the sergeant following. When they arrived at the scene, they were met with a crater at the center of the courtyard. There they saw a certain Blake Belladona walk away from the mess. Gambit made a note to ask her more later to fill in his daily report. Now paying attention to the remaining two girls, Gambit made his presence known and asked.

"What happened here? Is everyone alright?"

The white-haired girl spoke up first "What is this dolt doing at this school? She's clearly too young to be here. Not to mention careless enough to cause this mess."

Gambit knew this girl's name. Weiss Schnee, he recalled, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. From what he heard, they had a bad reputation due to their business practices and questionable business partners.

"Miss Schnee. How did this happen?" The Sergeant asked as he watched one of his men tend to the other girl who happened to be in the crater.

The heiress huffed "I was walking down the courtyard with my luggage when this," she pointed towards the girl in the crater ", dolt crashed into my luggage and then blew me up with my own fire dust."

Gambit's helmet leaned to the left "And how did the dust come into contact with her?"

He then saw the vial held by Weiss. Gambit pointed at it and asked, "May I see that?"

The vial was carefully handed to him and he inspected the lid. After a few seconds, he showed the vial and explained "This is how the dust got out. The vial's lid was not secured properly. Expected seeing as this is..." he thumbed the lid's material "...this is cork. I advise that you use a better material for your vial lids. Cork is not the most ideal material for securing dust."

Weiss scowled at being told off but didn't reply, not wanting to offend the security personnel. She collected her vials before storming off with her luggage.

He looked at the other girl who refused to leave the crater. Corporal Killdane was trying to get her to stand up, but then, a transmission was received from the command center. Gambit rounded up his men who promptly left, but not without whistling over a student who was passing by, to help the red-clad girl.

The blonde teen looked over at the crater and saw the girl still sighing. Doing what he was taught, he walked over to her, extended his hand, and introduced himself.

"Hey," he began as the girl finally looked up to see who was trying to help her ", I'm Jaune."

Azure, Sixers, and the 2 of the company officers viewed Ozpin's speech in the Amphitheater from their Headquarters. So far, they were just tasked with the observation of the entire campus while most of the students were consolidated in one place. Their rotation had been fairly solid with all sectors of Beacon being under surveillance. Once they heard that Ozpin's speech was over, Azure took his hat and said "Sixers, rotate the platoons at 1400 hours. Resume command of the garrison until I return."

"Yes sir," The guard captain replied.

Marshal Azure soon left the headquarters and made his way to the Tower where Ozpin was waiting. After a lengthy elevator trip, he finally reached the Headmaster's office. There, the man in question was found sitting on his desk, talking to a hologram of an unfamiliar individual.

"Ah, Azure. Just in time. I would like you to meet a friend of ours," he said as he gestured to the hologram.

Azure took a good look at the man on the other end of the call. His garments hinted that he was military, especially the shoulders and collar. They were mostly objects which denoted rank and if Azure remembered correctly, only the Atlas military uses a standing army. He also remembers the symbol on the man's shoulders denoted the rank of General. So far, he only knew of one Atlesian General.

"General Ironwood I presume?" Azure guessed. He was probably right as the man he presumed as Ironwood looked at him with intrigue.

Fortunately, he was right "And you must be Marshal Azure. I must say, I never thought Ozpin would find another ally who is affiliated with the military."

"Indeed. I suppose you command a portion of the Atlesian Military?"

Ironwood shook his head "No. I command the entire military actually."

"Truly? That's a rather big responsibility is it not? Are you perhaps a general among generals?" Azure asked.

General Ironwood nodded "Indeed. That's the general rundown of things... pun not intended..."

...

Yang Xiao Long was taking a nap with a magazine over her head while her little sister, Ruby, was sitting rather timidly. Then, a sudden sense alerted her of a pun. She did not know where it came from, but she was now awake and eager to know who had uttered the pun. Without any word, Yang stood up and began to walk off to find the source of those sacred words. Poor Ruby was caught off guard as her sister walked away without any word.

"H-hey! Yang! Where are you going? Wait for me!"

She tried to run when she heard a guardsman's voice yell "Hey! No running in the halls!"

"Sorry!"

...

Ozpin cleared his throat to get the two military men's attention "Ahem, gentlemen. While I am glad to see that you are getting along surprisingly well, I believe we have some business to take care of."

Azure nodded "Of course Ozpin. My apologies."

Ironwood mirrored Azure's expression "Indeed. Now, I can take it from here Ozpin."

The General's hologram was then replaced by a medium-sized outpost. Ironwood then explained what the outpost was "Recently, the White Fang had gotten bolder in their attempts to attack Atlesian cargo trains. Specifically, the SDC Dust Trains. However, we have recently received a report that one of Atlas' very own military cargo trains had been attacked."

Marshal Azure raised an eyebrow "And how would they be able to attack such a shipment? Wouldn't they be heavily guarded?"

A visible scowl appeared on the Atlesian General's face, but he swallowed his pride for once and answered "They would, however as much as I hate to admit it, the Atlesian military had dismissed the White Fang as a minor danger. It seems that we were mistaken if they could pull off something like this."

"That's certainly troubling," Azure mused ", and you tell me this why?"

"I was made aware that you have men that are more capable than what you currently have in Beacon," The General began, but noticed Azure's dismayed look ", I take it that Ozpin was not meant to say this."

The Marshal sighed "If it was the first day I started working for him, I would've had him assassinated and make it look like an accident."

Ironwood paused before continuing "Anyways... as I have stated, the White Fang has taken several of our assets, namely a few armored prototypes of our latest project. We want you to send a team to the outpost and retrieve several of those assets."

"And you couldn't do this yourself why?"

"Atlas forces cannot be seen operating in the area, and if what Ozpin is saying is true, I have faith that your men can get the job done."

Azure pondered the mission he was offered, but decided to play it safe "I'll have to think about it before I deploy any of my men to this mission. I request you give me the data and that you wait until I have come to a decision.

Ozpin looked at Ironwood who was once again on the hologram "We would rather you give us an answer now-"

"Ozpin, you will get your answer when I make the decision," the Marshal held out his hand ", the information if you please."

There was still no reply, but fortunately for Azure, Ozpin gave in and handed him the drive. Satisfied, the Marshal of the Republic left the office but not before bidding the two Headmasters a goodbye. Ironwood looked at Ozpin "Do you really trust him that much?"

Ozpin shook his head "I trust him to make the right decision James. Let's hope that won't change now."

RSD Independence, Remnant's Orbit

Admiral James Vaux was bored. Never in his current life did he think he'll be in this state, yet here he was, sitting on his desk with nothing to do. Ever since Garreth Azure along with his small force went down to the planet's surface, he had done nothing but repeat the same process of trying to find a way back, organizing the fleet's logistics, and signing the paperwork for the aforementioned tasks. He knew and understood the need for such tasks, yet for some reason, the repetitive process kept nagging at him. He was a Fleet Admiral of the Grand Navy of the Republic, and one thing he loathes more than anything in life is an idle fleet under his command.

Fortunately for the Admiral, he would finally get something new in this apparent lasting cycle. His comm went off and he answered it with slight urgency "This is Admiral Vaux, what is it?"

"Admiral, Field Marshal Azure requests to speak with you. He is waiting in secured line Aurek 9," A clone naval officer informed.

Vaux, now intrigued, answered, "Very well, put me through."

Soon, the voice of Marshal Azure came to life from the Admiral's personal communicator "Admiral Vaux, are you there?"

"I am Garreth, I am. Did you need anything?"

"Yes, I do actually. Get Besh 6 planetside at 1600 hours. I have a special assignment for them."

Admiral Vaux did not expect that in the slightest. There was a reason why Besh 6 was received as overkill for Azure's first contact mission on Remnant. Besh 6 is one of the few commando units that personally serve the high command of the Grand Army of the Republic. Only members like Azure could call upon them, and when they do, it was guaranteed that whatever mission they take, the commandos would deliver with excellency.

Besh 6 was led by a certain clone commando captain that he had rarely interacted with. He had served as the unit's leader for a good portion of the Clone Wars and gained a reputation for having a success rate that nearly surpasses Clone Force 99's record.

This unit was now being called for a special assignment, and the Admiral knew he must not delay any further. He replied to Azure, "Very well, are they to be brought to the Academy?"

"Yes, that will do James."

"Very good Marshal. I look forward to hearing more from the planet."

He heard Garreth chuckle "You will Admiral. You will. Azure out."

With that, the call was ended and Admiral Vaux promptly did as he was requested.

"Commander Moris, I want Besh 6 on the next gunship bound for Remnant."

"Besh 6? Did the Marshal ask for them?"

"Yes he did, now, the commandos if you please."

"Yes sir."

...

At a quiet section of the Independence, a room filled with Republic commandos could be seen. These commandos all wore black Katarn class armor, each suit customized to their liking. One kit that stood out from the others was adorned with an assortment of accessories that ranged from a sunvisor, a kama, and several bandoliers strapped to his arms and legs. He was currently reviewing the reports that the clone intelligence officers had given them. The commando was just about to switch to the next report when his comm went off. He promptly answered it and was met by his voice, though he knew full well who the caller was.

"Captain, your team is to report to the hangar bay. You will be briefed upon arrival," Commander Moris instructed through his comm.

"Roger that Commander. We'll be there shortly," the commando captain replied cooly before he ended his transmission.

A commando with 3 vertical stripes imprinted on his helmet approached "New orders captain?"

The captain nodded "Get the men together Sergeant."

"Yes, captain."

The commandos would gather their gear and head down to a secluded area of the main hangar bay. There, they were met with the sight of Commander Moris, flanked by two 501st troopers.

"Captain Price."

"Commander Moris."

The Marshal Commander took out a datapad "Your orders. Good luck."

The commando, now known as Price, nodded before signaling towards his men "Besh 6, move out."

His commandos followed the orders and boarded their darkened gunship.

Moris and his men watched the modified LAAT/i take off and depart from the ship. One of his escorts leaned in "What do you think the Marshal has planned that needs kriffin' Besh 6 of all units?"

The Commander was curious as well but knew better than to question what the Marshal plans for the commando unit, "None of our business Silo. Let's go."

I'll leave it there, for now, I've been busy again so I apologize for the delay. This Chapter was rather random since it doesn't focus on one aspect of the story. Next chapter, we'll be observing what plans Marshal Azure has for the commandos of Besh 6, but don't say I told you that, or else I might be on the hitlist!

One thing you might notice is that Besh 6 is Bravo 6! The captain is Captain Price of all people! Guess who the Sergeant is in the reviews. Just something to note that they'll act like their Call of Duty counterparts with a few tweaks.

Now, onto the reviews!

Torn wings rising: Yes, the story goes a bit fast as I've been told previously. I'll still try to slow it down, but I can only try and not guarantee that I could put the story's pace to something more desirable. Thanks again for the review! Stay frosty!

That'll be it for me, I'll see you lot on the next one because this is where I get off. Stay frosty because that's soldiering!