A bullhead takes off from Shade Academy in Vacuo, two teams of students on board given a mission to investigate a ship that had been missing for two days.

"ETA to the target location is about 3 hours" the pilot said, "Take the time to double check your equipment, plan and get some rest."

The two teams exchanged glances and nods, while they haven't worked together before they were familiar with each other, Team NDGO an all girl team led by Nebula Violette and Team BRNZ led by Brawnz Ni.

"Search and Rescue with the potential for Search and Destroy" their headmaster told them before they left, "The ship that went missing recently began transmitting again, we need to find out what happened. The ship was located several miles away from an offshore oil rig which has also gone dark. I'm sending both teams because I want both the ship and the oil rig searched. Any survivors are to be brought back and any threats eliminated. Good luck and please come back alive."

The eight students were bothered by those last words, the headmaster was expecting them to encounter danger, but this is what they trained for.

"I know we're all scared" the leader of BRNZ said to all of them, "At least I know I am, but there may be people that need our help, we have to find them."

Octavia Ember replied, "This is what we've been preparing for. We chose to be hunters" despite her tone being confident she tightly gripped her weapon trying to keep herself from shaking.

Gwen placed her hand on Octavia's shoulder, "It will be alright, as long as we stick together we'll make it through this" she smiles at her teammate reassuring her.

"Well that's why there's eight of us" Nolan said crossing one leg over his knee, "We can all watch each other's backs, I'll watch yours if you watch mine."

The words sounded friendly, but the way Gwen saw his lips curve clued her in to the other meaning, but before she could say anything Nolan's teammate May slapped the back of his head.

"Focus you perv" she says calmly before turning to NDGO, "You get used to him."

Roy chuckled, "It might take a while, but you do. Don't worry though Nolan knows how to keep his hands to himself and he'll be focused once we touchdown."

Nebula smirked, "That's fine, let him talk. If there is trouble he'll draw all the attention to himself" her team laughed with her.

Brawnz calmed them down, "Alright, everyone check your equipment and rest up."

Their weapons ready, dust counted and survival packs accounted for the students tried to get comfortable inside the belly of the steel bird. They were all expecting to find trouble, a ship that just stops in the middle of the sea and fails to transmit something was up. The ship was found because the nearby oil rig also went silent, failing to give a daily check in an airship was sent out to check on it and spotted the missing container ship as it flew over and reported it, but when they made a pass at the rig they saw them, infected everywhere.

That report was another reason why Shade's headmaster sent two teams instead of just one and yet he still worried it may not be enough. After sending his students off he sat at his desk contacting the headmasters of the other academies to explain to them what was going on, thankfully Ozpin was able to keep him calm understanding his fear having lost multiple students at Beacon over the past months. General Ironwood sent a few ships to provide backup, but reports of a severe storm delayed the flight forcing them to turn around.

When the container ship came into view the pilot roused the students, "How's it look?" Brawnz asked the pilot.

"Can't see anything on the ship" the pilot replied flying low, "Hopefully someone is still alive, should we give the rig a pass?"

Nebula nodded, "Yes, we already got the reports of infected there, but I want to see it for myself."

Passing by the offshore rig they confirmed it, hundreds of infected on the rig platforms alone and who knows how many more inside.

"Looks like the seas are getting choppy" the pilot said seeing the waves, "The ship's position is different than the coordinates we received, it must have drifted" he swore after checking the radar, "It's because of that storm, it changed its predicted course, damn that means I won't be able to stay. I'll have to drop you off and come back when the storm passes."

"That's fine" Brawnz told him, "Get the ship somewhere safe, we can take care of ourselves and any survivors until you get back."

The pilot nods as he flies back to the ship and hovers down close enough for them to repel onto the deck, "Good luck" he tells them before the disembark.

Once their boots hit the deck the two teams spread out forming a perfect circle as they scanned the area around them ensuring there were no hostiles.

"Some of these containers are open and damaged" Dew noticed, "Claw marks, we've got grimm."

Brawnz looked at Nebula, "The crew roster listed twenty-five people on the ship right?"

Nebula nods, "Surprisingly ships these sizes only require around twenty people to run it. Hopefully they managed to hold out somewhere."

Brawnz looked at them, "Alright, I'll take the front, Roy you and Nolan cover the left, May I want you in the rear keeping a watch on our six. Nebula stay in the back with May, Gwen and Octavia on the right once we're away from the rails and Dew you hold the middle of the formation, your spear will let you reach past us in case we get attacked."

Nebula smiles, "A solid formation, not bad."

The two teams move falling into a cross formation with Brawnz taking point, leading them through the rows and stacks of shipping containers, thankfully no signs of any enemies yet, but frighteningly multiple signs that grimm were here.

They moved slowly at first to avoid attracting attention, but once the rain started they began moving faster. The storm wasn't just getting closer it was getting worse. The moment the rain started falling it began pelting them, heavy torrential pellets of water beat down against the ship and them. Making it to the bridge platform they climbed the staircase and checked inside finding the first signs of the crew.

Slowly pushing a door open Brawnz whispered back to his group, "We've got a body" stepping inside the room he crouched next to the body and turned it onto its back, he already knew the sailor was dead from the dried blood all over him, "One of the deck officers" he said seeing the uniform.

"We should check each room" Nebula recommended, "Then we make our way to the bridge."

Brawnz agreed taking the lead once again, every room was empty until they reached the bridge and found another body once that was torn open at the torso and it's head looked like it exploded. Covering their mouths the team backed away the stench of the ripped open corpse overpowering their sense of smell. Pulling his shirt over his nose Brawnz moved closer, he could see inside the poor man's rib cage, bite marks all over his body and some of his organs ripped apart as well, there was no doubt he had been eaten by the infected.

"These bites aren't from grimm" he told the group.

Nolan checked the consoles around the bridge, "So we've got infected then, great."

Brawnz stood up, "That's not what's bothering me right now. Look at what's left of his head, it looks like it was blown off with a high-powered shot."

Octavia checked the windows on the starboard side, "You think someone shot him?"

"Maybe" Brawnz answered, "Maybe he shot himself, prefering to kill himself instead of being eaten" he looked around, "There's no weapon, if that was the case then someone else must have taken it."

"Or they panicked and turned on each other" Roy suggested, "We've seen it happen before. Maybe someone else shot him."

Nebula opened a hatch leading down one deck, "Either way we need to stay alert, the ship still has power so let's start checking the lower decks. Once we do we should check the engine room."

Dew looked at her, "What about the captain's quarters?"

Gwen recalled, "The door was barricaded, but no one answered. We may find someone in there, but if they may not be alive."

Nebula said, "Forcing our way in would cause too much noise, we can't risk it. We'll check and see if there's another way in. Let's check the next deck."

Brawnz nodded, "Agreed, keep formation and stay tight."

"Stay tight he says" Nolan chuckled once they descended to the next deck, "With how cramped these halls are we couldn't loosen up if we wanted to."

"We'll move two by two then" Brawnz ordered, "Let's move and keep the volume down."

Nolan fell in line next to Gwen, "Well it's a tight fit, but if it's you I'm not going to complain" he joked only to feel something sharp poke against his arm.

Gwen was holding the tip of one of her knives against his forearm, "Hands to yourself."

The teams moved and another deck cleared, no bodies anywhere, but distinct signs of struggle and panic in each room. Blood smears on the floor and walls, overturned furniture trying to barricade the corridor or rooms and one of the walls was broken down as if something had just crashed through it into the next room and the opposite wall that led back to the outside of the ship. The rain was still coming splattering the floor near the hole in the wall soon followed by the deafening sound of thunder, the storm was almost on top of them.

Reaching the staircase leading to the next deck they found the stairs collapsed, "Looks like we'll have to drop down" Nebula said, "It's only about two meters."

Brawnz nodded, "I'll drop first and watch the open door, you drop after and watch behind me."

Jumping down the collapsed stairs Brawnz raised his clawed gauntlets and slowly advanced on the open door while Nebula dropped in behind him her sword raised as well as she checked the hall waiting for the rest of their group to follow. Two by two they all made sure to stay within sight and arm's reach of each other as they checked the deck. The door to one room was smashed in and inside the body of one of the ship's crew, ripped in half at the waist with only the intestines still connecting the upper and lower halves of the body.

Covering his mouth Nolan turned to a nearby waste bin and emptied his stomach the smell too overwhelming for him. Bracing his hand against the desk and wall Nolan continued to hunch over with each expulsion, the horrid taste and acidic feeling left in his mouth making it worse. Backing away from the room he met Gwen's gaze giving her a silent thumbs up to let her know he would be alright.

Sweeping the last of the deck the next body they found was a ghastly white, an infected and not just one. Just around the corner were three more, from the looks of it some of the crew fought back, broken furniture and debris and a few bullet holes in the walls and an empty bracket for a fire extinguisher. Kneeling next to one of the infected Gwen took one of her throwing knives and slowly pushed it into the skull of the corpse ensuring it would not get up again. Studies of the infected showed that if one was killed, but the brain was left intact there was a chance it could revive after a period of time where it went through a dormant mutation, the infected's fingernails would grow longer and sharper becoming claws and their teeth became more pointed and their skin tougher. With each infected body they came across they made sure it would stay down, not wanting to take the chance of one getting up behind them.

Finally reaching the door that would lead them toward the engine room the group paused to make sure they were all ready.

Roy checked behind them, "I don't like this. We've found half a dozen bodies, but haven't encountered anything yet survivors, infected or grimm. What are the chances that they're waiting for us in there?"

"Pretty high" Nebula answered, "Unless a lot of them fell overboard, either way we have to check the whole ship."

Roy looked out one of the viewport windows, "Storms gotten pretty bad, looks like we're right in the middle of it now."

Brawnz said, "It's better that we're inside. We can see better and if we encounter anything we can funnel it in these halls. Let's get moving Roy."

The dark skinned hunter-in-training nodded falling in behind his leader as they entered the engine room. Closing the door behind them to make sure nothing could follow them they navigated the partially collapsed catwalks until they reached the office overlooking the engine room encountering a pair of still living infected. Brawnz runs into the room startling the two infected who react to the sound by hunching down and turning to face it only for the first one to be gored by the young hunter's claws to its temple. Pivoting on his foot and shifting his weight Brawnz hurled the dispatched infected into its mate stumbling it and giving Nebula a clear headshot with her crossbow.

The leader of BRNZ complimented her, "Nice shot."

Nebula returned his gesture, "Nice hustle, clean kill."

May kneeled down at the office window resting the barrel of her sniper rifle on the ledge as she scanned the room and its far corners, "I see thirty-six down there right now, but there's most likely more" her scope rests on a pair of infected that were attacking each other, wildly swinging at one another in a blind feverish rage.

The behaviour of those infected was the most documented part of the virus, after succumbing and turning humans and faunus would retain some reflection of their former selves, albeit in a primitive state. They would wander or stumble about like any sick person on the move and when they tired they would either lean against a wall or sit or lay down on the floor. Some would occasionally still react to what infected them sometimes hunching over and vomiting, and sometimes they would begin attacking one another. Caused by the hysteria inducing fever the infected still suffered from, sometimes the fight was caused when one infected stumbled into another and other times it seemed unprovoked, it wasn't long before researchers determined it was because of the fever likely they were still hallucinating and just began lashing out and attacking what moved.

Nebula spoke up, "Alright let's move, May stay up here and provide cover, Gwen, Dew stay and back her up in case something happens."

The three girls nodded with May maintaining her position with Gwen and Dew behind her watching her back while the others descended the stairs into the engine room to clear it. Before their feet even touched the final step one infected spotted the group and snarled before rushing toward them at a full sprint, Nebula raised her crossbow and fired the bolt going right into the center of its face causing enough trauma to kill it. Retrieving her fired bolt she stabbed the infected through its skull to confirm the kill.

Clearing the massive engine room the ground team split up to check around, Brawnz with Nolan and Nebula with Roy and Octavia. Checking the head they found another infected inside one of the stalls feasting on the body of one of the crew, swiftly dispatched by Octavia when her kriss pierced the back of its skull. Exiting the restrooms they regroup with the rest of the team to confirm that everything was clear, contacting May to confirm from her vantage point.

Given the all clear they began to wonder if Nebula was right and the infected and grimm went overboard into the sea.

"Possibly" Roy said, "Hopefully, it's creepy enough in here without having to deal with all of that."

Nebula's scroll pinged she was receiving a call from Gwen in the office, "Yeah Gwen? Did you find something?"

"Yeah" Gwen replied, "We found a scroll under one of the desks up here, someone tried to send out an emergency broadcast, listen."

Playing the message and holding it up to her scroll for her allies to see they all watched the screen as a frightened crew member appeared, "This is the cargo ship Pollux, our ship is being overrun with infected and grimm. They were inside some of our containers, thousands of them, we need help, someone…" the sailor's words were interrupted by a roar the students recognized to be an ursa before he began yelling at someone offscreen to block the door, "Is anyone reading? I'm broadcasting on an open channel, our ship is being overrun with infected please, anyone respond!"

The sound of steel twisting and another roar and the crew began screaming before the sailor was knocked to the ground and swarmed by infected while his shipmates fled in fear, the scroll sliding across the floor and under the desk where it laid continuing to record until its battery depleted.

"Did you hear all that Neb?" Gwen asked her leader, "Thousands of them. We should have seen way more by now."

Brawnz suggested, "Maybe it wasn't that much, maybe they were just that panicked" he turned around to face a sealed door leading deeper into the engine compartments, "Then again there's still parts of the ship we haven't searched."

It was then the ship rocked, loud impact sounds echoing around them causing them to stumble and lose their footing tossing them all to the floor.

"May report" Brawnz yelled.

May called down to them, "I'm alright, we all are."

"Did we hit something?" Nolan wondered.

"The oil rig" Roy said, "The storm was pretty bad and the anchor wasn't dropped. The storm must have pushed the ship into the rig, it's the only thing within hundreds of miles from us."

"Well at least we won't have to swim there" Nolan said before May contacted them through her scroll, "Quiet, there's movement above you."

She saw something move near the large vents, turning her scope towards it she saw the glowing red eyes and called down to her team, "Watch out!"

The ground team looked up at the black half of a king taijitu appeared raising up to look at them before opening its mouth and hissing. Thick strands of saliva dropped from its maw right before it lunged at them scattering the team. Their fight began and between the five on the ground and May's sniper support they were able to make short work of the serpent, but as they waited for its other head to appear they heard the howls of alerted infected. The sound of battle and gunfire alerting the horde to their presence and they began pouring in from vents and the corner offices at the top of the collapsed catwalks.

Preparing for battle the teams readied themselves, but their focus was drawn to the sounds of groaning steel and heavy impacts, the shutter that separated their room from the other side of the engine compartment dented inward a roar heard from the other side before another impact knocked the shutter down and a pair of ursa along with a pack of beowolves rushed in.

"Stick together!" Brawnz yelled as they began fighting.

From the office May provided sniper support while Gwen ran out onto the stairs flinging her throwing knives trying to help her team, neither them nor Dew noticed over the sounds of battle the hissing sound coming from the vent behind them. The white head of the king taijitu burst through the vent sending both Dew and May to the floor below landing a heavy blow on their aura levels. Slow to get up Dew was almost swallowed by the king taijitu before Roy intercepted its attack, firing one of his saw blades at its face slicing through its eye. The snake head flailed and recoiled before turning its attention to Roy who ran the opposite direction successfully baiting the monster away from his comrades. Leading the king taijitu toward the shut down engine pistons Roy slipped through them the giant serpent weaving itself through as it gave chase.

As he slipped through the opposite end of the pistons Roy looked back at the trapped monster giving it a mocking salute only to leave himself open as an infected tackled him pushing him back toward the machine. Struggling against the diseased faunus Roy managed to get his foot on the infected's stomach and kick it away sending it right into the control panel restoring power to the engines in the room. Hearing the pistons hum Roy hurried to remove himself from between them only to be crowded by more infected pushing him further against the engine as it started moving.

"Roy!" Brawnz yelled seeing his trapped teammate.

Nebula yelled, "The emergency shutters are closing, we need to run!"

Rushing to save his teammate Brawnz fought his way through the infected, but he was too late as the engines started and the piston made its first rotation. The piston went down bringing its beam with it causing Roy to drop further into it as the infected rushed him and they all watched as the piston made its curve and came down on Roy and the infected crushing him his aura unable to stand up against the pressure. Nebula yelled at Brawnz as Nolan ran over grabbing his stunned leader's shoulder and pulling him away, the team retreating through the closing emergency shutter cutting them off from the pursuing infected, they were safe, but Roy Stallion didn't make it.