Chp. 25: Arrival Pt. 1

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chicago International Airport

Airfield

It had been several hours since everyone had departed from Mountain Glenn. Jesse, Jacket, Azumi, Mercury, Kelly, Justin, Jason, Flynt, Neon, Genji, Roman, Neopolitan, and Hazel were all boarding off of the C-17 with their luggage and were all wearing facial masks covering their mouths and noses.

"So this is America?" Neon asked.

"Yep," Jesse answered.

"And Chicago is really your hometown?" Genji asked.

"Yeah, this shit hole of a city is our hometown," Jacket answered.

"Alright you brats. Let's go get to our hotel," Roman said.

"But after that we all have to see the mayor of this city," Hazel said.

"Something that I'm not looking forward to," Jesse said.

"Why is that?" Fox asked.

"I think it's best you guys see for yourselves rather than me explaining it," Jesse answered.

"Somehow I'm not gonna look forward to this," Mercury said.

"Trust us, you might not," Jacket said.

"Come on," Hazel said.

Everyone then starts to make their way off of the airstrip.

City Hall

A while after finding their hotel and dropping off their luggage, the group had made their way to Chicago City Hall. They were walking through the hallway admiring the interior.

"These people know how to live," Roman said.

"A little more color here compared to Atlas," Flynt said.

"You should check out the Green Roof. It's amazing up there," Jesse said.

"Where I really want to go to is that large casino this city has," Roman said as Neo nodded in excitement.

"We're not here to gamble, we're here on Huntsman business," Hazel said.

"Though I wish it were the former," Jacket said.

"I see you've arrived," a new voice called out to them.

Everyone turned to see old woman with a dark complexion, black graying short hair and sunken in dark brown eyes. She wore a blue dress coat with matching pants, a white dress shirt under her coat, a pair of diamond earrings, and a pair of black dress shoes.

"I'm Lori Lightfoot. I'm the mayor of Chicago," the woman known as Lightfoot introduced herself.

Roman and Mercury both snickered upon hearing her name.

"Lightfoot? What kind of a name is Lightfoot?" Roman asked in stifled laughter.

"White people," Lightfoot muttered under her breath as she shook her head.

"So why have we been asked to come here?" Hazel asked.

"I've brought you all here because I want the citizens here to feel safe and protected since you all are Huntsman. Hopefully you'll do much better and be more compliant than the police department," Lightfoot answered.

"And you didn't ask the police to do this because?" Azumi asked.

"The people of Chicago are protesting and demanding that the police force be defunded after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis from police brutality," Lightfoot answered.

"To be fair, George Floyd was under narcotics at the time and that and had a criminal history. He even held a pregnant woman at gunpoint," Jason said.

"That doesn't change the fact that the officer put his knee on his neck," Lightfoot said.

"Yeah, what he did was wrong, but George Floyd was also in the wrong as well. He did try to resist arrest if you haven't seen the full video and I have to say he asked for it. Not to mention the narcotics he was on was what really killed him, not the officer. If he hadn't done drugs, then he still would have been alive today," Justin added.

"If anything, he pretty much deserved it. That was karma coming back to bite him in the ass," Jesse said.

"I'd rather not get into this argument now. Can you do your jobs?" Lightfoot asked.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll do it," Roman answered.

"Good. Tomorrow you will all get to work and make sure everything runs smoothly. "I expect you all to be out on the streets tomorrow," Lightfoot said.

The Chicago mayor turns around and walks away as the group watched her leave.

"Well she was... something," Fox said.

"I think she might be a racist," Kelly said.

"Probably after we all heard that 'white people' comment," Genji said.

"And the way she looks kind of creeps me out," Roman said.

"Let's get back to the hotel," Hazel said.

Everyone then turned around and began to leave to head back to their hotel.

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu International Airport

Meanwhile in the middle of the pacific ocean, it was now night time in the Hawaian state city capital of Honolulu. Ruby, Oscar, Ronin, Rin, Bolin, Allen, Sage, Neptune, Yatsuhashi, Reese, Dove, Sky, Penny, Cade, and Maria had all just arrived in Honolulu International Airport. They were all boarding off of the C-17 and were greeted by a group of Hawaiian natives with leis dangling in their arms.

"Aloha, travelers. Welcome to Hawaii," one of the natives greeted as she put one of the leis around Ruby's neck.

The other natives all put the other leis on the other visiting students and Maria.

"It's nice to receive some hospitality like this," Maria said.

"What are these flower garland necklaces for?" Penny asked.

"They're called leis, Penny. It's a common symbol of love, friendship, celebration, honor, or greeting. In essence, it is a symbol of Aloha," Cade explained.

"I find this all to be quite fascinating!" Penny said.

"It's great to be in O'ahu," Ronin said.

"It feels like were takinging an early vacation," Rin said.

"You two seem very excited to be here," Reese said.

"Our parents got married here," Ronin said.

"And me, Ronin, our mom and dad come here every summer for a vacation," Rin added. "Somethines we'd stay in our mom's childhood hotel in Maui."

"That sounds fun," Ruby said.

"It is!" Rin exclaimed.

"This is good and all, but can someone tell me why we're all here exactly?" Sky asked.

"We've got reports of Grimm activity around the city of Honolulu. Basically, search and destroy," Qrow explained.

"So tomorrow we're all going to go out Grimm hunting?" Rin asked.

"That's exactly it, kids," Maria answered.

"Let's get to a hotel and get settled," Qrow said.

They all started to walk out from the airfield to get ready to find a hotel to settle in.

Bagram, Afghanistan

Bagram Air Base

October 6, 2020

Meanwhile the next day in Afghanistan, Jacob, Nora, Robert, Liberty, May, Uzra, Nabir, Kobalt, and Team NDGO, Sergeant Alex Barker, and the Ace Operatives had all just arrived at Bagram Air Base. They all looked around to see three Atlesian Airships and several Mantas stationed across the airfield.

"Welp, we're here," Jacob said.

"Yep," Robert said.

"So where to now?" May asked.

"We all need to report ourselves in," Alex answered.

The group then started to make their way into the base. As they continued to walk, Nora turned her head to Uzra.

"We heard you're from this country. How did you end up coming to Beacon?" she asked.

Uzra was silent for a moment before she finally spoke.

"Days after the merging of Earth and Remnant, the Taliban had kidnapped me in an attempt to force me to marry one of their own. Eventually, I broke loose, but then I got shot. But strangely, I wasn't wounded and the pain was brief," she explained.

"Your aura," Marrow said.

"Yes. Allah had looked out for me that day. Soon after, the Taliban attacked and tried to kill my family. I grabbed a sword which became my weapon, and fought back, and won out in the end and saved my family. The Taliban would refer to me as ساحرة كابول (Sahirat Kabul)," Uzra said.

"What's that mean?" Harriet asked.

"The Witch of Kabul," Uzra answered. "The U.S. military discovered what I did and explained about the gifts I have. And Professor Bellrose offered me a spot in Haven Academy."

"What about your family?" Marrow asked.

"They've been moved to a safer location," Uzra answered. "I'm hoping to see them again during my stay here."

"Who knows? Maybe you would," Jacob said.

"Only time will tell," Kobalt said.