Chp. 24: Drafting
Auditorium
October 2, 2020
It had been a couple days since the matches. Everyone was gathered inside the auditorium for a special meeting that is taking place. The academies' headmasters all sat behind their desks with Keaton standing behind the podium. He then began to address the audience in front of him.
"Students, we have gathered you all here today for an important announcement. In a couple days, on October 5th, you will all be drafted into different locations around the globe to help bring and keep the peace."
The students all murmured in surprise amongst each other. Keaton raised his hand gesturing everyone to quiet down, to which everyone did.
"And now Professor Ozpin would like to say a few words," he said.
Keaton steps away from the podium as Professor Ozpin walks up to the podium. He then began to speak.
"Today we stand together united. From the four kingdoms of Remnant, to the many nations of Earth. The world has grown much bigger now, and you all will face your greatest challenge yet. Those of you from Remnant, we have had some great conflicts in the past, but Earth had suffered much more and greater in its past. And to those of you from Earth, you may boast about your world being older and more experienced with great conflicts, but most of you have never faced the surprises and trivials that will await you. And that's what makes it all that important to everyone. For As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort."
Everyone listened with interest at Ozpin's speech as he continued.
"Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman, Huntress, or militia on a mission. Most of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for a couple weeks. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the time being. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."
Everyone applauded the headmaster of Beacon's speech as Ozpin walked back to his desk as Keaton stepped back up behind the podium.
"The missions you've all been assigned to will be handed out to you on your way out. you are all to meet up at the airstrip in a couple days. Do not be late. That will be all. You're all dismissed," Keaton instructed.
Everyone began to get up from their seats and began to leave the auditorium and get their assigned missions on their way out.
Barracks
Later at night inside the barracks, the team leaders consisting of Ruby, Jaune, Jacob, Britney, Coco, Sun, Oscar, Nebula Violette, Jesse, Flynt Coal, Arslan Altan, Genji, Brawnz Ni, Hera, and Cardin were all sitting on chairs in a circle, each with a piece of paper in their hands. They were all going over the assigned missions for themselves and their own teammates.
"So where are you shipped off to, Ruby?" Britney asked.
"I'm heading off to a place called Hawaii," Ruby answered. "Blake and Yang are both heading to Menagerie for an event happening there, and Weiss will be heading Rwanda."
"That's where Allen is going too," Jacob said.
"So is Yatsu," Coco said.
"And Reese and Bolin," Arslan said.
"Ivori is joining you guys too," Flynt said.
"Dove and Sky are going there too," Cardin said.
"Looks like I'm going to Hawaii with you guys too," Oscar said.
"So is Rin and Ronin. Lucky bitches," Hera said, whispering the last part under her breath.
"Sage and Neptune get to go there too. And this Hawaii place looks fun to go to," Sun said. "Oh well. At least I'm off with Blake and Yang."
"And Ilia would be happy to head back to Menagerie, even if it's temporary," Oscar said. "And Emerald is going there too."
"Ren will be going there too from the looks of my paper," Jaune said, looking down at his paper.
"Rebecca too. And it sounded like she really had some fun there," Britney said.
"Watson's going there too," Jesse added.
"Great, I'm going to that island of animals and freaks," Cardin groaned as Britney then slapped him in the back of the head, making yells out in pain. "What the fuck was that for?!"
"Racism is intolerable to everyone in this room, asshat!" Britney answered.
"Yeah. I don't even know why you've been drafted there, with your racist history with the faunus and all," Arslan said. "At least I'll cut off going to Menagerie off of my bucket list."
"Same here," Brawnz said.
"I'll have Rebecca make sure Cardin doesn't do anything stupid," Britney said as Cardin growled in response.
"Me and Pyrrha will be heading to Rwanda with Weiss," Jaune said.
"Looks like me and Kendra going with you guys into Rwanda as well," Britney said.
"Really?! I'm gonna be stuck with you there?!" Hera asked.
Britney placed her hand into her face as she sighed in frustration.
"Velvet has been drafted there too," Coco said.
"So is Nolan and Roy," Brawnz said.
"And Scarlet apparently," Sun said.
"Ricky too," Jacob added.
"Looks like Jacket, Azumi, and I are heading to my home city of Chicago. Look at that," Jesse said.
"So is Mercury," Oscar said.
"Me and Neon too," Flynt said.
"So is Russel," Cardin said.
"And Kelly," Jacob added.
"As well as Me, Jason and Justin," Genji said. "What's it like there?"
"A high crime rate and some gang activity. I should know because Jacket was a gang member and I was a pick pocketer. And the crime rate continues to climb thanks to the city's current mayor and all those riots and protests performed by the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa," Jesse explained.
"I guess that's why we're drafted there," Genji said.
"What about you, Jacob? Where are you being drafted?" Britney asked.
"I'm being shipped off to Afghanistan," Jacob answered.
"Isn't that place a warzone from what I've heard?" Arslan asked.
"Yes," Jacob, Britney, Jesse, Coco, Oscar, Ruby, and Jaune answered in unison.
"Nora's going there as well," Jaune said.
"So is Robert. Kendra's not gonna like this," Britney said.
"And me and my team are apparently going with you," Nebula said with an eye roll.
"So is May," Brawnz said.
"And Liberty," Hera added.
"As well as Kobalt. Sound's like he'll need luck where he's going," Flynt said.
"Uzra will not be happy to go back there," Genji said.
"Go back?" Ruby asked.
"Afghanistan is Uzra's home country," Genji answered.
Ruby, Jacob, Britney, Jaune, Jesse, Coco, and Oscar all cringed upon hearing Genji's answer.
"But on the plus side, she might get to see her family again," Genji said.
"Yeah. I guess that's something," Ruby said.
"So who will be with us all while we're out there?" Jesse asked.
"The Ace Operatives will be with us in Afghanistan. I'm betting General Ironwood is sending more of his troops there too," Jacob answered.
"It also says that our drill sergeant is joining us in Afghanistan," Nebula said, looking down at her paper.
"Maria Calavera and Uncle Qrow is coming to Hawaii. Probably teach me, and the Ferrer twins more about our silver eyes," Ruby said. "Oh, Penny and Cade are joining!"
"Professor Roman Torchwick and someone called Trivia Vanille will be going to Chicago with us," Genji said.
"Trivia Vanille?" Jaune asked.
"Who's that?" Britney asked.
"I don't know," Oscar shrugged.
"Along with that big dude, Hazel," Jesse added.
"Professor Oobleck is joining us in Africa, alongside recently promoted Staff Sergeant Henry 'Steel' Simon," Coco said.
"If he heard you call him 'Professor', he'll definitely correct you by saying 'Doctor!'" Britney said.
"Yeah, he definitely would," Jesse said.
"Looks like a team known as Team _ will be meeting us in Menagerie, along with Sergeant Cassandra Rogers," Sun said.
"I wonder who this Team _ is," Ruby said.
A knock on the door was heard as everyone turned their heads to face the door. The door opens and walking in was Alex holding a cylindrical package the length of his forearm.
"Mail call for Ruby Rose," he said.
Ruby stood from seat as Alex walked over to her. He then hands her the package.
"It's from dad," she said.
Ruby opens the cylinder and dumps out another cylinder, hairy and black, falls out onto the floor and starts to shake. The object suddenly transforms into Ruby's pet corgi, Zwei. The corgi barked twice as Ruby jumped up in the air in excitement, while the others looked on in shock.
"Zwei!" she exclaimed.
"Your father sent a dog?" Arslan asked
"In the mail?" Jesse added.
Ruby drops the cylinder and picks up Zwei into her arms as the dog proceeds to lick her face
"Yang stated that he does this all the time," Jacob said.
"Her father or the dog?" Brawnz asked.
"Yes," Jacob answered.
Jaune picks up the cylinder and pulls out a note.
"He sent a letter," Jaune said as he then began to read it.
"Dear girls,
I've got to leave the island for a couple weeks, so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need.
Love you both,
Taiyang."
He flips over the cylinder and dozens of cans of dog food spill out of the small package, piling up on the floor.
"I probably will not understand how your dad does that, Ruby," Britney said.
Daniel Air Force Base
Airfield
October 5, 2020
A couple days had passed, and it was morning as the sun was beginning to rise. All the students had been gathered to the airfield where they were carrying duffle bags and their weapons and were boarding on to several Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircrafts. Kendra was crying onto Robert's chest as her boyfriend embraced her in comfort.
"Please be careful out there," Kendra sobbed.
"I promise I'll be back. Just take care of yourself when you get to Africa," Robert said.
"Call me or text me whenever you get the chance," Kendra said.
"I will," Robert said before kissing her forehead.
Teams RWBY and JNPR and Zwei were all grouped up together.
"Well' it's back to being split up again," Ruby said.
"But we'll still keep in touch through video chat whenever we can," Yang said.
"And we'll be all out for a couple weeks," Pyrrha said.
"Nora, please be careful when you go out to Afghanistan," Ren said.
"I will, Ren. Besides, this could be a good chance for me to sort out who I am without you," Nora said. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah. It's definitely okay,"
"Flight to Rwanda leaves in five minutes. Last call," a man on the P.A. called out, catching Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha's attention.
"We'd better get going," Weiss said.
"Yeah, or we'll miss our flight," Pyrrha said.
As Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha turned around and began to walk over to board their flight, Zwei noticed Doctor Oobleck boarding onto the plane. Zwei barked a couple times catching Ruby and Yang's attention. They looked to see he was looking over at their history teacher.
"You want to go with Doctor Oobleck?" Ruby asked.
Zwei responded with a saddened look on its face. Ruby and Yang smiles down at their pet.
"Okay. Let's go talk to him," Ruby said.
She runs after Oobleck as Zwei follows behind her. Several feet away from the group, Jacob and Britney were both embracing each other.
"You be careful out in Afghanistan," Britney said.
"Same to you in Rwanda," Jacob said.
"Yeah, but your situation is pretty much the short end of the stick," Britney said.
"True, but I promise you I'll be careful," Jacob said.
"You better," Britney said before kissing Jacob. "I love you."
"Love you too," Jacob replied.
An hour had passed and all the C-17s had taken off. Ozpin, Bellrose, Theodore, Ironwood, and Keaton watched as the aircrafts fly away. Keaton gave out a salute to the departing aircrafts.
"Good luck, kids," he said.
Author's Note: Next chapter will contain some politics. Not much though.