Shadow Company

by Mang0s

Jaune Arc was born with no aura and no semblance. For his entire childhood, he wanted to help people by becoming a Huntsman, but his lack of aura and semblance made it near impossible for him to even be considered. When private military company finds Jaune and his disability, they tell him he can do what a huntsman does in only 2 years. There has to be a catch, right?

5. Operation Overlord: 3

Author Notes: Okay so this chapter is over 18k words of pure hogwash. Originally it was supposed to be split up into two chapters, but I got lazy and just thought to throw the two together. The new college semester is coming up so expect slower updates. Thank you for all of the reviews. I read them and try and take criticism. Feel free to review.

Blake sat in a chair inside Ozpin's office, her body covered in scrapes and scratches. Her left eye was black and swollen, her vision heavily impaired. Her body had bruises everywhere, her legs being mostly purple. Her clothes were torn and ripped, her bow now long gone. Her muscles were sore, twitching every couple of seconds from the blunt trauma. She looked down at her hands, the dry blood now sticking to her skin like glue. She was too ashamed to look up knowing the consequences of her actions. Around her, she could hear the gears turning of the clocks in Ozpin's office. Each second, she could hear the gears turn. Each second, she refused to look up. It was still dark out, having just returned with the escort of a grossly drunk man. The only source of light was the single hanging light above Ozpin's desk, the light buzzing in monotony. The windows had shades drawn over them, giving the two some form of privacy. Blake could hear Ozpin tapping his foot against the floor, each tap growing faster and more impatient. Blake shifted in her chair, still refusing to look up. She could smell the faint scent of coffee coming from his desk, a small mug with the fresh beverage being placed right in front of her.

Ozpin was not the happiest right now. A little bird told him what Blake had gotten herself into, and her impromptu meeting with a terrorist organization as well his… independent contractors. He groaned, the shaded glasses on the bridge of his nose slowly falling down. He looked at Blake, who at this point was still staring a hole into the floor. He tapped his fingers against the desk, his patience wearing thin. He had been woken up in the middle of the night, so instead of wearing his usual attire, he was wearing his pajamas which consisted of short linen pants and a long sleeve cotton shirt. He sighed, leaning back in his green cushion office chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose while he sighed, Blake's ears dropping in shame.

"Miss Belladona" Ozpin groaned. "Do you mind telling me what you were doing downtown at this hour?".

Blake fidgeted in her sight, avoiding making eye contact. "I was, um, I-I was following a lead, Professor Ozpin".

Ozpin raised a single eyebrow "And what might that lead be, Miss Belladonna?".

"It was, um" Blake stuttered. "It was a met up with old friends?".

Ozpins patience was wearing thin. A visible vein popped on his forehead, not that Blake would see. She was too busy admiring the details of the plain red carpet. "Miss Belladonna, I am not playing you for a fool. So please, give me the respect I'm giving you and do the same for me. Now, what were you doing downtown at this time of day?".

Blake visibly shrunk in her seat. She whispered, "I was following the White Fang".

Ozpin was gritting his teeth at this point, unable the hear her mutter under her breath. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that again? I don't think I heard you correctly".

Blake spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper. "I was following the White Fang".

"Now why would you do that Miss Belladonna?" Ozpin inquired. "I'm familiar with your history with the organization, but why did you think this was your burden to carry?".

"They were going to hurt people" Blake whimpered. "I couldn't let them get away with it".

"Then why didn't you contact the police?" Ozpin asked.

"They wouldn't be able to handle it" Blake finally looked up, meeting Ozpin's blank eyes. "I know how they operate, how they work. If anyone was to know what they would do, it would be me".

"Because your current physical state is proof of your success" Ozpin sarcastically replied, his voice remaining level. "Better yet, why didn't you ask your team for help? They're there to help you".

"Because they don't know what I am" Blake still kept eye contact with Ozpin. It took all of her courage to not look away. "They don't have the same level of training that I do to take this on".

"Neither do you" Ozpin replied curtly. "You returned to campus battered and bruised. It might take weeks for you to heal because of your 'holier than thou' mindset. I'm grateful that we managed to get you back in one piece".

"But Professor!" Blake raised her voice. "There's something bigger going on! There were men in black that killed all of the White Fang! They held me hostage! They've been all over the city killing rival gangs! They clearly have military training! The Red Axe gang is rapidly expanding! We can just let this go-"

"Stop" Ozpin cut in. "Just stop, Miss Belladonna. While this is an issue that needs to be solved, and said men need to be investigated, this is not your problem to solve. You are simply a student, and if tonight is any sign of what you are, a student is all you will be. You got yourself in danger, put yourself in the line of fire, then cost the school a small fortune to get you back. All because of your obsession with trying to fight back a problem that is way above your size. You do NOT have the training to be taking on this problem. Leave it to the police and huntsman, Blake. It's their job"

Blake shrunk into her seat again, her eyes going back to the carpet. Her pride had been hurt by Ozpin's rant, but she had to admit that it was a little bit true.

Ozpin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and raising his glasses. "Miss Belladonna, if I catch you trying to be anything more than a student again, I will not be so kind. I will expel you and throw you to the wolves. Do not do it again. Am I understood?"

Blake paused for a bit, letting his words sink in. After a pregnant pause, Blake nodded. "Yes sir. I understand"

"Great" Ozpin replied. "You are dismissed".

Blake stood up from her chair, her eyes still glued to the floor below her. She pushed the chair back into the desk before scurrying off to the elevator. Ozpin stared her down the entire way, only closing his eyes and sighing when she entered the elevator. Ozpin threw his weight back into his chair, his head turning to look at one of the many clocks on the wall. It read '01:29'. Ozpin mentally groaned. Blake's little night out would cost him a small fortune and a stern talking to, and Ozpin didn't feel like he was ready for either. He would have to eventually face the wolves, but at least he had his peace right now.

The elevator chimed, signaling someone was entering his office. When the doors opened, Glynda Goodwitch entered. "Ozpin, Ronin is on line 4. He said it's urgent".

Ozpin's face visibly scrunched, trying his best to internalize his rage. "Thank you, Glynda".

As Glynda left his office, Ozpin pressed a button on his desk that brought up a screen showing Ronin. It was safe to say that Ronin was less than pleased. He was in an office with a bland green background and he was wearing what he assumed to be night ware. His shirt was loose and plain green, the black hat on his head read 'Ronin Oil Company' in red. There was a long pause between the two and they both said nothing. Ronin's face was getting visibly angrier as Ozpin sat in silence. After a long moment, Ronin's face relaxed.

"Do I even need to say anything?" Ronin asked.

"No, Mister Ronin" Ozpin replied. "No, you do not. I am already dealing with the issue".

"I don't think you understand" Ronin's tone grew hostile, his face now full of rage. "When we formed the contract, I remember saying something along the lines of 'Don't let your students get in the way'. Do you remember that, Mister Ozpin?".

"I do" Ozpin replied curtly.

"Then you can imagine my frustration when one of my guys tells me that the past 9 months of work almost went up in flames because one of YOUR students couldn't keep their ego in check".

"The student has already been disciplined, Mister Ronin" Ozpin replied. "This will not go without repercussion".

"I don't care if you gave her after school detention or made her write 'I'm fucking stupid' 100 times. We're done. You broke the contract, and now I'm pulling my guys out".

Ozpin stood up from his chair so fast the chair got knocked back and rattled against the floor. "Mister Ronin, please reconsider. I'm willing to do a lot to make amends".

"You're gonna have to do a lot considering a bunch of my guys almost died" Ronin responded, giving Ozpin a hard ultimatum. "Either you make some offer that is incredibly enticing, or I pull out and leave the city as is".

"How about this" Ozpin replied. "I can give you, something around the area of 500,000 lien and all the resources I have at my disposal"

Ronin paused for a moment, before speaking again. "I don't need your resources. You make that number go up to 750,000, and maybe I'll forget this little hiccup".

Ozpin considered the offer, rubbing his fingers against his chin. "Will 600,000 work?".

Without missing a beat, Ronin shot back. "You are not in a position to compromise. Just for that insult, make it a million lien".

Ozpin hesitated, then sighed. "You have yourself a deal, Mister Ronin".

"Glad we could do business" Ronin replied. "Do not let this happen again. Next time, there won't be a call. Consider yourself lucky". With that, the screen had disappeared before Ozpin, leaving him alone in his office.

Ozpin picked up his chair and threw himself back against it. He started to rub his temples to rid himself of the migraine that had just formed. All things considered, he was lucky. He just hoped something like this won't happen again.

---

The White Fang was on the back foot. Most of their supplies had either been stolen or destroyed in recent months, with the crown jewel being taken as well. Now, they were nothing more than an afterthought, a ghost of the past, a laughing stock. In a small run-down room full of Faunus, a small tv was in the right corner of the room, sitting on top of a desk. In the room, there was a decent amount of furniture. There was a couch in front of the desk full of many Faunus, the recliners next to the chairs being inhabited too. Behind the group of Faunus watching the news, there was a table with four chairs, each one being occupied. On the table was an assortment of guns, masks, explosives, and dust. The four Faunus at the table were working on something individually, whether it be cleaning a weapon, making bombs, or simply lounging.

The TV in the room blared a news program, the tv being at max volume for the entire room to hear. "What do you think about the White Fang, Lisa?"

Lisa scoffed. "Those things? They're a joke. I think the last I heard of them was a year ago. Now? They've got a tail tucked in between their legs, and it's all thanks to the VPD!".

"Now Lisa," The other anchor shifted the papers on the desk, revealing a small statistics sheet. "Before a year ago, the VPD couldn't catch a criminal if he was selling cocaine at their front door. The Vale Council says that last year, the VPD only conducted 5 raids against criminal organizations, and that includes the White Fang. Better yet, the council also says that they only solved about 50 percent of their investigative crimes. What do you think caused this change?".

Lisa laughed and threw her head back, cackling as she straightened herself. "It must be the new lieutenant. Lieutenant Arc has done a great job stepping up and catching those criminals and terrorists. Vale seems so much safe thanks to all the changes that were made. Hats off to her"

One of the White Fang members grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, the room now filled with silence. The one that had turned off the TV stood in front of it, his massive figure shrouding over it. In a moment of rage, he grabbed the TV and yanked it from its socket. He lifted the TV over his head and threw it across the room. No one dared to question it.

"We can't do this anymore" He spoke up. "We can't let those filthy human scum talk down on us like that".

There was a long silence before one of the faunus on the couch spoke up. She raised an eyebrow to question him "What do you want us to do about it? Look at us. Look around us. We're spread thin. We barely have enough supplies to last us a month. We don't have a lot of ammunition or explosives to work with. What do you want us to do?".

"She's right" One of the faunus from the table spoke up. "We are on the backfoot. Our supply lines have been cut. I really think we should just pull out of Vale and regroup back at Vacou".

"No" the larger faunus shot back, looking back at the group. "We cannot accept this defeat. If we do, we'll lose even more respect than we already did. We need to do something big. Something that'll get the White Fang on the map again. Something…" he voice trailed off as he stared at a flyer on the ground.

He leaned down to pick it up and examine it. It was for a local nightclub called the neon nightclub. "What's this?" he asked.

"A flyer" One of the faunus from the couch replied.

"No jackass" the bigger faunus shot back. "The nightclub. What is it?"

One of the faunus from the table gave him an odd look. "Dude" she raised an eyebrow. "You've been here, what, 2 years now and you've never heard of the Neon Nightclub?".

"I guess not" he simply shrugged.

"Well, it's a pretty well-known place" she explained. "They hire a bunch of a-list musicians and DJs to play music at their place. Have some top shelf liquor too. Only problem is, it's human only. Not faunus are allowed in the premise".

"Is that so?" He asked. "Where is it located?".

The faunus lounging at the table took a short look, then looked back to the faunus standing up. "Ehh, bout 30 minutes from here. Why?"

"I've got a plan," he smiled. Around him, his aura flared. Many of the faunus around him started to feel uneasy, even nauseous. "That'll strike fear into the very heart of every human when they hear the name 'White Fang'".

---

Ava's head was in a rush as she ran around her room. It was a modest room with blue walls covered in Polaroid photos and LED lights hanging from the ceiling. Her bed was in the middle of the back wall, the foot of it covered in different clothing. Her drawer was next to a white door with a body length mirror on it, the drawer holding many trophies on top of it. They ranged from 5th place to first, the first place trophy being the most recent trophy she got at a swim meet.

Ava stopped her pacing and made her way to the drawer, admiring her collection of trophies. The entirety of the top of the drawer was covered in them, all relating to swimming. Ava smiled. Swimming has always been a large part of her life. Her parents got her into it at a young age, 7 if she had to guess, and ever since then she fell in love with the sport. Now 18 and in her last year of highschool, she reminisced on her achievements. She picked up one of the trophies, the bottom reading 'Ava Chanel, 50m Freestyle, Region Champion, 21.38 seconds'. She smiled. She had worked years to get to where she was physically, and her body proved it too. Her wide shoulders and muscular legs had been a side effect of the thousands of hours she put into her craft. She looked at where the trophy was placed, a small paper being present. It read 'NCAA Swimming Scholarship to University of Vale; Awarded $180,000 to: Ava Chanel'. Ava couldn't hold in a grin. It was finally happening. For her entire life so far, college has been nothing more than a pipe dream. Her parents didn't go to college due to being immigrants and working jobs that barely got them by, and for a while, Ava thought she'd go down the same path. However, after talking to her academic advisor and swimming coach, the idea of college was put in her head. When she told her parents the idea, they were supportive and even pushed her to chase the idea. Now after she pushed herself beyond her limits, Ava finally had the opportunity to go to college.

Ava turned around and scanned the Polaroid photos above her bed before stopping at one. It was a picture of her parents smiling, posing with Ava as she held her most recent trophy. Her father's pale skin emphasized his smile as he gave Ava a side hug while her mom's darker skin was hidden as she wrapped Ava in a bear hug. Her father towered over her while her mother was at shoulder height with Ava. Her wet black hair meshed with her mother's brown hair, and her dad's bald head stuck out like a sore thumb. She chuckled at the memory. She definitely couldn't have done it without the support of her parents. Swimming has done a lot for Ava. It gave her a chance at a better life, a passion to pursue and a meaning in life, and a group of friends who had shared her passion and pushed her further.

"Mija!" Ava heard her mom calling from downstairs. "Riley is downstairs! Don't keep her waiting!".

Ava snapped out of her daze, realizing what she was doing. She needed to find an outfit! She ran back to the foot of her bed and looked at all the clothes she had taken out. They were her favorites and she was told to look nice for their night out. She snapped her head between all of her clothes, from her more stylish dresses to her more conservative tops and jeans, she just couldn't decide. Ava was in a daze going back and forth from all of the clothing before she was interrupted by her door being swung open. She snapped her head towards the sound and in the doorway was her friend Riley. She had pale skin with blonde hair and green eyes. She sported a black crop top and blue jeans with white high top sneakers.

"Mierda!" Ava screeched. "Riley you scared me!"

"Well, I told you to be dressed by 07:00!" Riley raised an eyebrow at Ava. "Take a wild guess what time it is. Go on. Guess. I'll wait".

Ava's form shrank as her best friend kept chiding her. "Ummm, not 07:00?".

"Wow," Riley sarcastically huffed. "With brains like that, you could rival the best academics Vale has to offer. It's 07:10. What is the holdup?".

"Well," Ava sighed. "I don't know what to wear".

"I figured that much out" Riley smirked. "You plan to wear that thing to the club?".

Ava looked down at her shirt. She was wearing a pumpkin pete t-shirt she won from a cereal box raffle, which she ate a lot of, and was awarded it. "Don't you disrespect my shirt. I had to grind for it. A brokie like you wouldn't understand".

Riley raised an eyebrow at Ava, then looked around the room. Some of the paint on the walls was falling off and the ceiling fan was on the verge of breaking, begging to be freed from the confines of its prison.

"Because you are drowning in wealth" Riley huffed.

"Act broke to stay rich. You wouldn't understand" Ava shot back. They both looked at each other for a small moment, before both of them broke out laughing. Ava hunched over laughing while Riley leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down. The two here hysterical for a short amount of time before the laughing died down, both coming to their senses. "But for real though, I need help on what to wear. This whole 'clubbing' thing, isn't really my thing".

Riley approached the bed and observed the clothes pile she set out. She turned her head to look back at Ava with a questioning look. "Half of these are dresses. Are you going to some prom I don't know about?".

"Yeah," Ava sarcastically answered. "Only the cool kids got an invite. I can clearly see you didn't make the list.

"Yeah alright, miss champ" Riley grabbed all of the dresses in the pile and tossed them to the side. Ava didn't fight against it, trusting Riley's judgment. Riley shuffled around the pile for a few more seconds before pulling out a brown crop top and black skinny jeans. She tossed them over the Ava who just let them fall on her face. "Wear those. It's simple enough and casual. You don't want to dress too fancy".

Ava took the clothes off her head and body and began to put them on. She heard Riley grumble as she was dressing. "What?".

"That hair is all shades of messed up, but we don't have the time," Riley walked out of her room. "I'll be in the car outside when you're done. Try not to die on your way down the stairs".

"No promises" Ava yelled back as she pulled the crop top over her head. As she finished dressing, she ran downstairs and put on a pair of white Converse sneakers. When she reached for the door, he mom stopped her.

"Mija" her mom sat at the kitchen table, her dad across from her reading the newspaper. "Ven aquí".

Ava sighed as she begrudgingly walked over. "Si, mama?"

"You are turning into a woman now" her mother started. "You are starting to make your own decisions. I understand that going out with your amigas is one of them. Just, be careful out there mija. I can't always be there to protect you".

"I know mom" Ava smiled. She started to flex her arms "But I'm a big strong girl now! I can look after myself!".

Her mom chuckled. "I know. Just, text me when you get there. I love you mija".

"Love you too mom" Ava smiled as she turned around, heading towards the door. As she opened the door, she heard her dad stand up.

"If you think he's funky, wrap his monkey!" her dad yelled out.

"Love you too Dad!" She ran out the door before her dad could embarrass her anymore.

---

As Ava and her friend group walked towards the nightclub, Ava noticed the liberal use of neon lights. The lines to enter the nightclub were divided into two lines; reservation and walk-in. The reservation line was relatively small with only a handful of people in it, whereas the walk-in. Almost everyone in line was wearing a skimpy or revealing outfit. The music that was playing inside was fast and choppy, the lights from inside spilling out. There were a few bouncers right outside the main entrance, all of the towered over the girls. There was another taller man waving a metal detector and frisking people down before they entered. In front of the bouncers was a plastic table where a man sat in a foldable chair. On the table was a box labeled 'contraband'. Inside it were bottles of alcohol as well as other items such as cigarettes and even a switchblade. She was in the back of a group of girls from her swim team when Riley approached her, most likely noticing how uncomfortable Ava was.

"Neon Nightclub. Must've taken their brightest to come up with that name" Riley rolled her eyebrows. "C'mon guys. We made reservations".

As they entered the line, Ava took a look around. Her friends were all wearing similar outfits to hers; a crop top of sorts and jeans. She then looked at the line opposite of her. All of the men were wearing simple t-shirts and pants, while women were wearing a mix of stylish shirts and tops with small shorts that stopped at their mid thighs. Ava felt a little uncomfortable, she never really showed this much skin before.

Ava was fidgeting before Riley supportively touched her shoulder. "Hey. Relax, we're supposed to have fun. You put all that work in and became Region Champ. You deserve some time to blow off steam".

"Yeah I know, I know" Ava sighed. "I've just, I've never done this before, ya know?".

"Yeah, I know" Riley smiled. "Just trust me, you're gonna have fun. Just go with the flow, and it'll figure itself out".

"Yeah," Ava hesitantly smiled. "I hope your right".

As the group got closer to the front of the line, Ava heard an argument ensue at the plastic table. Ava looked around the group she was with and spotted a faunus couple arguing with the bouncer. The man had a set of dog ears on his head while the woman had a cat tail swinging from her jeans.

"What do you mean the cost of entry is 200 lien!" The man practically yelled. "It only cost 50 for the people in front of us!".

Without even looking him in the eye, the bouncer curtly responded "Its getting more crowded. Cost more to enter".

"That's bullshit and you know it!" The woman jabbed a finger at the bouncer.

"That's just how it is. Now clear off you damn animals. Or, do you need my help finding the exit?" The bouncer, towering over both of them, stared down at them.

The man scoffed, before turning around and leaving, taking his presumable girlfriend with him.

"Of course, the animal would turn tail and run" The bouncer turned and laughed with the security guard behind the plastic table.

Ava's face visibly scrunched and scowled. When she turned to Riley, her face had the same expression. Both of them had the same idea; it was highly ignorant and downright stupid to refuse service to the faunus. On top of it being racist, they're missing out on a large amount of income. Turning to Riley, they both had the same sour look on their face.

"I think we should leave" Ava announced. "I don't like the vibes of this place".

"Speak for yourself" One of the girls in her group spoke up. "We made these reservations weeks ago and it cost a lot of money. We don't plan on leaving".

Most of the girls in the group agreed with the sentiment, being an echo chamber for the first girl. They all had front row seats to the interaction that had occurred only moments before, all of them now aware of the discrimination that the establishment has towards faunus. That didn't sit well with Ava, and by the looks of it, it didn't sit well with Riley either.

"So clearly y'all must be blind" Ava made her anger apparent. "You just saw what happened to that faunus couple!"

"And?" Another girl asked.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" Ava raised her voice, her tone more hostile. "We have team members that are faunus! You shouldn't be okay with…".

Riley grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her away from the group. She was not facing Riley. "C'mon Ava. They're not worth it. We can just go to Junior's Club. It's only a 30 minute drive".

Ava simply grunted in response, glaring at her swimming teammates. She gave them a dirty look before reluctantly leaving the line, following Riley. Once they were out of earshot of the group, they both looked at each other in mutual understanding.

"What a bunch of, and pardon my French, assholes" Ava shook her head in disappointment.

"Yeah, I know right?" Riley agreed. "I suddenly know why none of our faunus teammates were invited. You know what? Lets give them a ring and invite them to Junior's".

Ava pulled out her scroll and started looking through her contacts. "I like the way you think". She found one of her teammates and closest friends, Rose, and dialed her number.

As she her the buzzing of the dialing, a plain white van swerved off road and started backing towards the nightclub. Ava and Riley both took a few steps back to avoid the van. It wasn't moving at an alarming pace, maybe 15 miles per hour at most, but it was odd enough for them to move out of its way. The plain white van stopped maybe 15 feet from the entrance of the nightclub, maybe 10 feet away from Ava and Riley. No one really paid any attention to the van, most either on their scrolls or talking to one another. However, for both Ava and Riley, they both just looked at each other before backing up. Maybe it was extra staff coming in?

The doors to the back of the van, eight white fang members entering. All of them were armed with guns, except one, who wore a vest covered in plastic bricks and wire, beeping red. The wore the basic white fang uniform, white overcoat with the symbol and magazine pouches, and black tactical pants. However, one thing was different. They were wearing skull masks. Human, skull masks. Ava's eyes went wide, her brain trying to process what is going on. All of them lowered their weapons and aimed at the crowd. Ava's legs felt like jelly as she collapsed where she stood, her face falling into the pavement. The next few seconds were deafening. The sounds of dust rounds tearing through the crowd filled her ear, Ava moved her hands to cover them on instinct and closed her eyes. She heard the shells of spent rounds fall all around her, the side effects of the elements taking place, the sounds of fire spreading, ice shattering, the sound of electricity crackling. It all overloaded Ava, tears falling down her cheeks as her body trembled. As the shooting began to slow down, Ava slowly began to open her eyes and pry her hands off her ears. She looked to her left, hoping, no praying, that Riley was okay.

Riley's eyes were blown out, giving Ava a direct view of her brain, her body convulsing and twitching. Blood was spilling out of her eye sockets, nose, and ears. Her hair was pointed straight up as blood leaked through the pores of her head. As Ava looked further down Riley's body, she noticed blood. A lot more blood. Her chest was full of bullet holes and she was now in a pool of her own blood. Some of it had even reached Ava, coating her shoes and pants in her blood. Riley had been struck multiple times by an electric dust round. Her body seized when she was first struck, then when her aura broke, her brain was fried and her eyes were blown out.

Ava started to hyperventilate looking at Riley's body. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were just supposed to enjoy a night out after winning the regional swimming championship. This all had to be a bad dream, a nightmare. Ava needed to take her eyes off of her best friend who was still alive, she hoped. As she looked away, she was greeted with an even more horrific sight. The crowd she was once apart of was torn to shreds, evidence of the dust rounds being everywhere. People were burned to a crisp, had parts of their bodies frozen, limbs missing, and oh god, the blood everywhere. She couldn't look at it any further. She started to crawl away, her chest heaving as she hyperventilated. Her eyes were full of tears as she crawled away, Riley's blood trailing behind her. As she crawled, she stumbled upon a pair of boots. With tears in her eyes, she weakly croaked "Help. Please…"

As Ava looked up, her heart dropped. She was staring at the barrel end of a gun, a human skull behind the sights. Ava let her head down as she wept, not prepared to meet her untimely fate.

---

The police chief was speeding down the highway in her patrol car, sirens blaring. She swerved in and out of cars, barely missing accidents on multiple occasions. She was reaching well over 90 miles per hour, going over 120 when she had a straight away. It was safe to say that she was in a sour mood. After constant grinding and investigation of the strange shifts in the underground world, she had come up with almost nothing. She knew that the Red Axe gang held most of the territory, but she couldn't figure out why. Other families just either fell off the face of the earth, died, or left, and she was hellbent on figuring out why. Hell, even the white fang's presence was no longer a threat. The worst part about it is, she was receiving credit for work she didn't do. Any other police chief would've taken the credit to boost their public image and ego, but not her. She wasn't raised like that. She had to earn that reputation, and right now, some shadow force was doing her dirty laundry. She did not appreciate that. However, with the advice of her second in command, she had decided to take the evening off. She had spent too long grinding down her gears and she needed a break. There was a lot of back and forth, and eventually, there was a compromise. She would take the night off and her second in command would be in charge. Not even a few hours later, her scroll was blown up and she was told to come to downtown Vale. She was given a rough address and very few details. All she knew was the White Fang had attacked somewhere in downtown Vale, and she needed to be there five minutes ago.

The police chief took an exit off the highway and headed towards the heart of Vale. After navigating the streets, which were mostly empty, she came across a blockade. She moved her car to the shoulder of the lane, then exited the vehicle. The blockade itself was made of two armored vehicles with 'Vale Police Department' labeled on them, and the space between them was taped off with caution tape. It was only then she looked down and inwardly sighed. She was wearing her casual clothing. She wore basic blue jeans with white tennis shoes, a handgun strapped to her waist in a holster. Her blonde hair was up in a messy pony tail. She had an orange pumpkin pete hoodie, a hand me down from her only brother. Her brother had disappeared three years ago without as much as a word to anyone, and it tore her apart. The family began to search for him, not leaving any stone unturned. They had dialed his scroll countless times, only to hear the bland voicemail. They reached out to everyone they knew, hoping they caught wind of him. After two years of nothing, the searching had slowly stopped. A silent message had been sent through all of the family, he was most likely dead. While their searching had slowed down or stopped, hers didn't. She used every resource she had to try and locate her lost brother. As of right now, she had nothing. He was gone, a ghost.

"Police Chief!" One of the officers at the barricade waved at her. "Alvero's waiting for you!"

She simply nodded, ducking under the caution tape and then following the officer to her second in command. As she was walking, she looked around. There were fire trucks and ambulances everywhere. There were even more armored vehicles inside the perimeter. As she got closer, she spotted the VPD SWAT standing around, leaning against an armored truck. The four officers looked tired, all standing around looking at their feet. She was confused. Her attention was shifted away from the SWAT officers when she heard her name called.

"Chief" an average sized man called. His hair was brown and clean cut with two small horns sticking out, and he wore the standard VPD blue uniform. He had a tactical belt that held his standard issue service pistol, the VP-9. It was a large and bulky design, sporting a large grip that magazines fed into as well as a heavy front end with an integrated laser/flashlight combination. "Glad you came so fast".

"Came as fast as I could" The police chief nodded. "You were a little conservative on the details. All I heard was 'white fang attack downtown'".

Alvero sighed, his body deflating. "Yeah, and it's real messy. White Fang attacked the Neon Nightclub and took a bunch of hostages".

"Alright," The chief nodded along. "They have hostages, that must mean they have demands".

"That's the thing" Alvero trailed off. "They demand the death of all the human council and every politician the hung, then have their position replaced by a faunus. They said if that couldn't be done, they demand every faunus gets somewhere near a million dollars for all injustices done to them".

"And how are negotiations going?" She skeptically asked.

"Poor" Alvero shook his head. "We lost communication with them an hour ago".

"Then why haven't we entered and cleared the building," She asked, a hostile tone creeping into her voice.

"We tried". Alvero answered. "But according to the officers, one of them has a powerful semblance. We entered with a team of 16, over there is what's left of them".

She looked back at the SWAT officers standing around, all of them looking beat up. She sighed. "What is the semblance?".

"Something to do with nausea" He answered. "They reported that as soon as they entered, they felt uneasy. Some even began to throw up or get diarrhea. Others could barely stand. It's a fucking mess. Worst part is, we think there are somewhere around 40 dead civilians already".

Her face scrunched. She hated having to do this, and it's been a while since she had to. "Alright. Thank Alvero. Stay with the team. I'm calling Ozpin".

Alvero simply replied with a 'Yes ma'am' before walking off. She looked at her scroll and dialed a number, her finger hovering over the call button. She exhaled out of her nose and swallowed her pride as her finger pressed the button. She brought the scroll up to her hear. The phone rang a few times before someone on the other end picked up.

"Hello?" a feminine voice on the other line answered.

"Goodwitch" The chief curtly answered. "Is Ozpin around?".

"He is currently busy with a work call" Goodwitch answered in a monotone voice. "What can I help you with?".

"I need huntsman now" She answered with a hostile tone. "We have a lot of dead civilians and more are likely to die. My team can't enter the building due to a semblance, most likely an ex-huntsman, and we need help, now".

The person on the other end paused for a bit before she heard a response. "Alright. I'll patch you through to him".

The phone went dry for a few seconds, the sound of the line ringing, before someone on the other end picked up.

"Police chief" She could hear Ozpin smile. "How can I help you?".

The police chief gave Ozpin a brief explanation of the situation, expressing and focusing on the need for a good huntsman team.

"That's quite troubling news". She heard Ozpin exhale. There was a long pause, then she could practically hear the lightbulb in his head go off. "Actually, I have a better idea".

"I'm not in the mood for ideas, Ozpin" She answered, her voice full of anger. "I need a huntsman team, and I need it now!".

"But hear me out" Ozpin reasoned. "I have a team of contractors, all huntsman, who are made specifically for this job. They haven't done me wrong and are highly proficient at what they do".

"I don't like working with contract killers, Ozpin" She tried to dismiss the idea.

"It seems like the situation calls for killers, Chief" Ozpin answered, his tone serious. "And I can guarantee you, these are the best killers money can buy".

There was a long pause by the police chief. She contemplated the idea in her head. It was true. The whole situation had gone to shit and they needed to eliminate the threat. She sighed, muttering 'merde' under her breath. "Alright Ozpin, I'll bite. But if this goes woefully wrong, this is your head".

She could practically hear Ozpin's shit eating grin. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Chief".

---

Jaune was standing in front of a map, wearing a simple black flannel with the sleeves rolled up, his uniform pants, and his combat boots. His hair was combed back and shaved on the sides, his face now sporting a full blonde beard. The title of the map read 'The City of Vale'. On the map were a bunch of sticky notes, red circles, photos, and annotations. Next to all of the red circles were sticky notes, each reading a different address. Some had photos of weapons, armed guards, or a photo of the building the address described. However, one photo stood out. It was a picture of a robotic arm, about the size of the average man, inside a wooden shipping container in one of the warehouses. Jaune scratched his chin, ruffling his full beard.

"So you're telling me" Jaune pointed at the picture of the robotic arm. "That this isn't at the vacant office building anymore?"

To Jaune's right was none other than criminal mastermind, Roman Torchwick. He wore his usual attire, his white suit and black plants being the main focus. He brown dress shoes were slightly worn, and his top hat had a few scratches on it. His cane was to his side, most of his weight rested on it. He wore a little mascara, less than usual. He wasn't trying to impress anyone today. "Checked myself yellow. You spooked the White Fang and now they're on high alert. Moving all of their precious cargo around and making sure it doesn't stay in one place. Animals may be on the back foot, but that doesn't mean they'll be stupid".

Jaune rolled his tongue around his mouth. "Do you think you can get your assistant to scout out some of these places? I can't spread my men too thin".

Roman threw his head back and cackled, hand on top of his top hat to make sure it didn't fall off. "No can do Jauney boy. She's too smitten with that quiet one. The guy with the face mask".

"Really?" Jaune turned to Roman, his eyebrow raised. "Huh. I could never tell".

"Oh yeah, and it's bad too" Roman laughs. "There aren't too many people out there that can understand sign language, let alone use it. Doesn't help that they share some passions, are the fact that he's got the 'I'm mysterious and serious' thing going on. She's been stalking him for a while".

"I think I remember him saying something about that" Jaune remarked. "Anyway's back to brass tacks. Where do you think they're hiding the rest of the mech?".

"Beats me" Roman shrugged. "To my knowledge, they disassembled it, then scattered the parts on different supply routes. For all I know, the guns could be in Altas".

Jaune pinched his lips in concentration. "Well they all have to be in the same place at one point in time in order to build it. Otherwise, they just have a bunch of useless metal".

"Has your inside guy told you anything about it?" Roman asked.

"Nah. He's been too busy trying to ward off a coup" Jaune answered. "Apparently there's been a desire for a change of leadership in the White Fang, and he's competing for the number one spot. You can imagine how we'd find that useful".

Roman was about to respond when Jaune's scroll rang, signaling he was needed. "Hold that thought".

Jaune looked at the caller ID and it read 'Ozpin (putain d'idiot)'. Jaune's face became strained as he inwardly sighed. He contemplated just letting it ring out and not dealing with this fool, but eventually, he caved. "Bonjour Ozpin. What do I owe you the pleasure of?"

"I'll cut to the chase since I need to know you're decision now" Ozpin hastily spat. "There is a terrorist attack at the Neon Nightclub. There are countless dead civilians and possibly more if I don't act."

Jaune's face scowled as he exited his office, entering the main lounge of the back of the ice cream parlor. In the room lounging around were Chung, Vu, Gonzales, Morris, Smith, Roman's assistant, and O'Connor. Chung was on a couched simply laying back with Neo cuddled into him. Gonzales and Morris were also on the couch, simply looking at their scroll. Vu was sitting in a recliner reading a book, and Smith was in another recliner reading a bible. He motioned to all of them to get their gear on and get ready. All of them silently nodded and got up, heading into the bunk room to put on their gear with Neo simply leaving the parlor. "I need to know if you'll be willing to take the job".

Jaune's face scowled. "Do you have any information on the situation?".

"Outside of what I just told you" Ozpin trailed off. "No".

Jaune sighed, Ozpin hearing it on the other side. "Alright yeah. We'll do it. You said the Neon Nightclub?".

"Yes, Mister Arc" the headmaster replied. "The police are already on scene".

"Alright," Jaune nodded. "We'll get it done".

Jaune was about to put his scroll down when he heard Ozpin say 'wait'. Jaune brought the scroll back up to his ear. "Yes, Mister Ozpin?"

"What about payment?" Ozpin questioned.

"We'll worry about that later" Jaune brushed off. "First, we need to make sure the job is done". With that, Jaune ended the call and walked into the barracks. There, he found most of his men were already geared up. They all wore their standard issue black combat top, their black tactical pants, and their combat boots. They all had a different assortment of gear on.

Chung wore his usual balaclava and face mask, his K14 bolt action rifle in his hands, his K7 submachine gun on his back. His plate carrier was tan and a few magazines in it, as well as his IFAK hanging off the front. The patch on the front of his carrier stated 'A POS'.

Vu was wearing a neck gator and a black hat that had an all black flag of Vietnam, his home country. His M110 marksman rifle was behind him, on the side mount next to his high power scope was a canted red dot. His was all black and was minimal, most of his magazines being oh his belt. There was a admin pouch where he stored his notebook as well as other gear.

Gonzales was wearing his standard black helmet, patches of Texas on the side were visible, his goggles were mounted to the top. He wore a neck gator to cover the lower half of his face. His M4A1 had a red dot on the top, an angled grip, and a flashlight on the top mount. The gun was on his footlocker while he inspected his M1014 breaching shotgun. His plate carrier was a tan-brown color and had shotgun shells everywhere, even some of the experimental shells Schneider gave him. He had a few mag pouches on his carrier as well as a carabiner.

Clyde had a simple black helmet with ear protection built in, the sides of the helmet sporting black patches of scotland. His plate carrier was simplistic, only having a few magazine pouches for his L85A2 as well as chem lights and a grenade pouch. He had his breaching hammer in his back, a part of a kilt tied onto it.

Smith decided to wear a blasitic face shield that covered the lower half of his face, leaving his eyes to be covered by goggles. His helmet was all black with a cross drawn on the top, stretching the entire length of the helmet. The sides of his helmet had a patch that read 'O POS'. His plate carrier was black in color, the patch on the front was a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. This plate carrier had an admin pouch as well as magazine pouches for his new SCAR-H. It had an EOTECH holographic sight as well as a vertical foregrip and laser on the side.

O'Connor had a baseball hat on backward and a pair of shades of his face. The cocky bastard thought he was lucky enough to not get shot in the face, and so far, he wasn't wrong. 'Luck of the irish', or some bullshit like that. Jaune did require him to wear a plate carrier, however. O'Connor's was tan in color, and it had magazines for his SA80 A2, which he recently received.

Jaune had just finished gearing up. He swapped out his flannel for his combat top and his plate carrier. His plate carrier was all black in color and the patch on the front read 'O NEG'. On his plate carrier were a few mag pouches, chem lights, and a radio. He strapped his helmet to his helmet and forgo any face covering. If he was going to talk to the police on scene, he'd rather the interaction go smoothly. Jaune signaled them to mount up, all of the team heading to the black Suburbans. Jaune then called on the radio that all remaining operators arrive at the scene and work security. He didn't need some hotshot rookie to fuck over a bunch of lives.

---

As Shadow Company approached the Neon nightclub, they were stopped by a perimeter two blocks away from the actual nightclub. It was walled off by two armored cars and taped off. There were a few armed officers guarding the checkpoint, all only having their standard issue handgun. Jaune radioed to pull over and dismount, the rest of the way would be traveled on foot. As they got out, Jaune noticed that the officers were on high alert, their hands falling to their weapons at their belts.

"We're the contractors Ozpin sent" he spoke, keeping it curt. "Where is the police chief?".

One of the officers replied, his hand falling from his waist and relaxing. "She's out dealing with the media right now. We can take you to the second in command".

Jaune simply nodded, motioning his men behind him to follow. As they got further down the block, the more the area was buzzing with emergency personnel. There were ambulances everywhere, police officers everywhere, and fire trucks off to the side. Another thing they all noticed was the lines of body bags. A couple rows of bodies covered in a tarp were sitting there, a few had blood pooling out of them. Jaune then heard a cry. His head snapped to the left to see a crowd of people near a blockade. The crowd was forming around the blockade and Jaune was able to make out a few people. There were two people, most likely a couple, crying and pleading with the officer. The woman was short with brown skin and hair, while the man was taller and bald, his head shaven. They were crying, desperately trying to compromise with the officers there. Jaune shook his head and kept walking, the rest of his squad following.

As they got closer to the center of the perimeter, an officer approached them. He was wearing their standard blue uniform and had horns pointing out of his head. "You guys must be the people that Ozpin sent".

Jaune rolled his shoulders and rested his hands on the neck of his plate carrier. "That would be us".

"Great" The man was relieved. "My name is Officer Alvero, I'm the second in command here".

Alvero extended a hand to Jaune, which he gladly shook. "Lieutenant Arc. Shadow Company. I'm the only one you'll really be talking too".

"Good to hear" He started, his brain not registering his name quite yet. "So about-, wait, Arc? Like in Emerald Arc?".

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's my sister".

Alvero's face lit up like a candle. "Oh. My. God. I need to tell her-"

Jaune grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. "The situation at hand, officer".

"Right, right" Alveros ears and face grew red in embarrassment. "So, about four hours ago, a white van pulled through and a bunch of White Fang exited. They shot up the front door, killed the security guards, and forced their way in. From there, we can only assume they continued their massacre. We don't know, we can't get in or access the security footage from inside the club. We tried to negotiate for hours, but it went dry as of an hour ago. We assume they took hostages, or else they wouldn't be making demands".

Jaune nodded along, taking in the information. "Do you have any details on the weaponry? Semblances?"

"We have a small idea" Alvero answered. "We sent in a SWAT team a while ago, thinking it was the regular White Fang cronies. We were wrong. One of them has a Semblance that makes any person feel an extreme level of nausea. Our officers reported being barely able to walk, vomiting, or even a have a case of diarrhea. Sixteen were sent in, only four came out".

Jaune grimaced "Anything else?"

"Oh!" Alvero rummaged through his pockets and pulled out some black and white photos. "We managed to recover this from one of the outside cameras. It isn't that helpful, but it's all we have".

Jaune nodded and took the photos. He took a look at them, Gonzales and O'Connor peering over his shoulder. He was right, the photos were grainy and low quality. Despite that, Jaune was able to make out a few rifles, a light machine gun, and a shotgun. As for the last guy, he appeared unarmed but bulky. It was hard to tell with the camera quality.

"Это жилет смертника (That's a suicide vest)" Gonzales pointed out.

The more Jaune looked at it, the more he could see it. He could make out the plastic bricks of explosives on his chest, but just barely. Jaune gave Gonzales a nod of affirmation, before handing the photos back. "Do you have any blueprints of the building? And what's the frequency for your TOC?"

"The frequency should be 3500" Alvero nodded. "And we do have blueprints. They're over by the SWAT vans".

Alvero turned around and walked towards the SWAT vans, shadow company following closely.

"И вам нужно три недели, чтобы получить один (And you need three weeks to get one)" Morris chuckled. Jaune would like to laugh with him if it wasn't true. In order to get any blueprints to any place they were raiding, it would take weeks of heckling the city and posing as a construction company to get anywhere.

"Alright," Alvero pointed to the blueprint, which was laid flat on the hood of the van. "There's the blueprint. Let me know if you need anything".

"If you could nab the police chief, that would be great" Jaune requested. With that request, Alvero's face glowed, his smile going ear to ear. Instead of responding, he simply nodded and ran off.

Jaune took a look at the blueprint, his men horseshoeing around him. The more everyone looked at it, the more they realized one thing; it was a neon tomb. There was only once entrance, the front door, and two flights of stairs. The second flight almost always had a direct line of sight on the first floor, making it easy to shoot down. Not only that, but the only way to enter the second floor was two flights of stairs, each on the opposite side of the building. Jaune groaned the more he looked at the blueprint. It would take his finest thinking on how to tackle this one.

Without turning, Jaune asked his team "Do you think the SWAT has some leftover door wedges? I want to try to sweep the perimeter and then work inwards. Wedge off any doors we don't want open".

"Doesn't look like it" Morris answered.

Jaune grimaced. That idea was out, and he was running on time he didn't have. He looked at the legend of the blueprint, the back at the second floor. After a few seconds, a lightbulb went off in his head. The entirety of the second floor had windows that looked in, giving them access. The only problem was, the surrounding buildings were apartment complexes, and giving his snipers a vantage point would require authority he didn't have. Jaune rubbed his temples. He would have to talk to the police chief about the idea when he got here.

"Jaune?" A familiar feminine voice from behind him asked. "Est-ce que tu? (Is that you?)".

Jaune's mind only thought one thing. 'Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit'

Jaune slowly turned around, really taking his time, before his eyes laid on a familiar face. Emerald. His older sister. She still had blonde hair but had grown it out from when he last saw her. She was still at his shoulder in height, and her frame was relatively the same. However, her face had majorly changed. She looked more tired, worn out. There were bags under her blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and sneakers, a gun hanging off her waist. On her body she wore, wait a minute. "Emerald, n'est-ce pas mon sweat à capuche (Isn't that my hoodie)?".

Emerald reared her fist back and socked Jaune in his mouth, Jaune recoiling back. The sounds of guns raising and safeties being flicked off filled the air.

Jaune frantically raised his hands and got inbetween his sister and his men. "Подожди подожди! Она моя сестра (Wait, wait! She's my sister)". With that declaration, they lowered all of their weapons, select fires going back to safe.

"That was for leaving!" Emerald yelled. Jaune didn't look at her as he rubbed his jaw. Damn, she still knew how to pack a punch. As Jaune continued to nurse his mouth, he felt a warm embrace. He looked down to see Emerald now hugging him. He slowly and tentatively returned the hug.

"Missed you too Emerald" Jaune rubbed his hand against her back.

After hugging for a while, Emerald backed off. Her face was full of tears and her eyes were bloodshot red. Jaune looked down and saw that there was some moisture on his plate carrier. She put her hands on his cheeks, hands covering his beard. She sniffled as she moved his head around. Her baby brother looked older, more mature. He had an aura about him that he's been around the world and had experiences that no one else really has. Jaune had matured, hardened by the world he set out in. His face was one that was years older than his actual age. In a sense, Emerald felt proud of him. He managed to carve his way into the world and didn't need his family's help. Maybe he found a stable job to help provide for himself. Wait…

When Emerald stepped back she realized something. "Jaune? What are you doing here?".

Pssssssshhhhhh. Damn, she was asking the hard questions first.

"Well," Jaune started, looking at his men for help. All of them avoided eye contact, and Morris went even as far as to whistle. "We're the contractors, and I'm the leader of the squad".

Emerald paused for a bit, her brain processing the new information that was brought to light."...WHAT? You're the killers for hire!?"

"Killers is such a harsh word" Jaune's voice trailed off. "I prefer the term 'unaffiliated soldier for hire'".

"Wait, wait, wait" Emerald paused Jaune. "So after being told you can't become a huntsman, you run away, disappear for three years, and become a killer? What happened to becoming a doctor?".

"Well, technically I kinda am" Jaune pointed to his shoulder that a red hexagon like shape that read 'combat life saver'. "I'm a combat lifesaver. I have saved way more lives this way than I would've if I stayed in an office".

"I just, I-I- I can't" Emerald threw her hands to her head. "My baby brother is a killer for hire".

"Emerald, oftentimes in my line of work, in order to save a life, you'll need to take one" Jaune sighed. "Look, Emerald. We can talk about this later. Right now, all I need you to do is give me the authorization to go to the nearby apartment buildings. After we're finished here, we can talk about it over coffee".

"Yeah sure, fucking whatever" Emerald started to walk away in frustration. Then, the gears in her head started turning. "Wait a minute, you're not going in there aren't you?".

Jaune simply didn't acknowledge what she asked. Instead, he turned to Vu and Chung and gave them directions to enter the apartment buildings on opposite sides and get a vantage point. When once his two snipers left, he rallied his men on him and started walking towards the nightclub. Emerald ran up to him and grabbed him by the wrist.

"Jaune" she cried, tears falling down her face as she breathed irregularly. "You can't go in there. I thought I lost you once. I can't do that again now that I know you're alive. Please, Jaune. You're too fragile. I'm begging".

Jaune didn't look her in the eyes. He couldn't bear himself to do it. He loved his family, he really did, despite how they always were trying to set him back. If he allowed himself a moment of weakness, it would all come crashing down. So, he met Emerald with coldness. He grabbed her wrist and forced it off his arm and continued to walk. He never looked Emerald in the eyes.

---

As Archangel approached the nightclub, he took his left hand off his gun and pointed his thumb and pinky out, signally a wedge formation. After clearing a few more vehicles, the team was met with a horrid sight. Piles of bodies were stacked high, blood and limbs were everywhere. The side effects of elemental dust rounds were prevalent. Some bodies were charred, others had parts of their body frozen, limbs were thrown about. Jaune was about to continue forward when his foot got stuck on something. When he looked down, he was shocked. There laid the body of a girl, no more than maybe eighteen, with her eyes blown out and blood pouring out of them. It was an obvious side effect of an electric dust round.

Archangel kept his squad moving forward, shaking away the image. He ordered his team to stack the double doors. Archangel, Cowboy, and Chapel were on one side while Lucky and Scott were on the other.

Archangel pressed his radio "Vigil, Wolfeater, are you in position".

"Negative" He heard Vigil over the radio. "ETA two minutes".

"Negative" Wolfeater followed. "ETA, thirty seconds".

"Copy" Archangel released the microphone button on his radio. His men and himself would just have to sit tight and wait until the snipers were ready.

The men sitting at the door counted the seconds, each one going by at a snails pace. They kept their eyes on the door, trying to keep eye discipline, however, a noise kept distracting them. It was the sounds of scrolls going off. These people were having their loved ones try to call them, make sure they were safe. That call would go unanswered, their funeral a closed casket. There wasn't a pattern to the calls either. They overlapped with each other. One scroll would buzz, then another would join. It would always just buzz, and buzz, and buzz, and buzz. Scott tightened the grip on his rifle, the constant ringing of the phones making him uneasy. The music from inside the club hadn't stopped either, the terrorist inside using it as sound cover. The sound of the choppy dance music echoed in their ears, giving them a sense of uneasiness.

A buzz over the radio signaled that the snipers were in position.

"Archangel," Wolfeater came over the radio. "I spot two hostiles, rifles. Should I engage?".
"Negative" He answered. "There might be hostages. We can't let them know we're here yet. When bullets start flying, you two are free to engage".

"Copy" Both Vigil and Wolfeater replied over the radio.

Archangel released his radio and looked up. He signaled for a silent entry. Both him and Lucky put their hands on the door, Scott pulling security on the door. They slowly pushed the door open, Scott entering first. The rest of the squad followed behind him and were greeted with a long corridor, lit by neon LED lights. The walls were riddled with bullet holes and blood, at the end of the hall were a bunch of tables and booths, bodies filling each one. The long corridor turned left, the purple paint of the wall signaling the changing of the room. The squad had stacked against the right wall, trying to peer into the room at the end of the corridor without exposing themselves. Scott was on point, his body square with the opposite wall of him. He was leaning right, peaking into the next room. After a while he moved up against the opposite wall, mounting his L85A2 on the edge. Archangel was now the pointman. He crept forward, trying his best to not make any noise. As the corridor ended, Archangel began to shuffle left. He was pying the room, trying not to expose himself to multiple angles without clearing them first. It was a room covered in neon blue, a bar on the left. At the far end of the room, was another pair of double doors that led to the main dance room. Archangel couldn't see the right of the room, but he cleared the left side. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. He snapped his rifle to the source of the movement and spotted a scantily dressed woman hiding behind the bar. Shit. He didn't ask the rules of engagement, and he wasn't experienced in police work. He had next to no idea how to handle this.

Archangel kept his gun up but signaled for the others to flow behind him. "Hands! Let me see your hands!".

The woman shrieked in fear as more guns were pointed at her, but she complied. She put her hands in the air. Chapel approached her, his SCAR-H still trained on her body. When he got close, he took a pair of zip ties from his belt and tied them around her hands, cuffing them together.

"TOC this is entry team" Chapel pressed his radio. "Civilian arrested in main hall, awaiting evac".

Suddenly, the woman they arrested started to violently shake. She had a hard time sitting upright, and after a few moments, she began to violently vomit. Chapel managed to back up fast enough to not get any fluid on him.

Archangel grimaced. They probably heard them arrest her and now were on high alert. Jaune didn't expect a civilian to be this close to the front door. She had been an unforeseen obstacle and had just made their job a little harder. "Sniper team, you are free to engage".

"Copy" Archangel heard over the radio. After a few seconds, a loud shot rang out followed by the sound of shattering glass. He motioned to his men that they needed to move with haste. They stacked on the door, Archangel remembering from the blueprints that this door led to the main area. The second floor would have a clear shot on them, but Archangel had faith in his snipers that they took care of the problem. He motioned for a flash and clear, pulling a flashbang from his rig as Scott walked past him. Scott was on the opposite side of the door and lowered his gun, grabbing his breaching hammer off his back. Chapel had moved into a position where he'd had his gun on the door. On his motion, Scott swung the hammer back, then with all of his power, swung his hammer against the door. The door violently swung open, the door nearly falling off its hinges. Archangel threw the flashbang in, then dropped the pin in his finger and raised his gun up. After a few seconds, they heard the sound of a crack and a flash of white light in the next room. The room shook as the grenade went off. Archangel flowed into the room right after the sound of the crack, flowing in left and trying to clear his sector of fire. He trained his gun on the corner and was only greeted by a single dead woman, a drink still in her hand. After clearing his corner, he walked forward and peered into the rest of the room. The dance floor was a mess, worse than outside. There was a pile of bodies stacked on the dance floor, their bodies mangled. The music was still blaring as the DJ's body was slumped over the music equipment, a mouse head covered in blood next to him. The room had two sets of double doors that were on opposite sides of the room, one going to the left of the building and one going right. Archangel looked left and saw the rest of his team had entered the room. He looked back at the dance floor and noticed an additional body, a single white fang member with a hole in his chest. He lay face down with his rifle next to him. Archangel's eyes looked up and saw part of the glass barrier had been shattered, most likely from the man's weight. He silently thanked his snipers before turning to the rest of his men.
"Split up!" Archangel called. "Scott, on me! We're taking the left! Lucky, Chapel, and Cowboy, take right! Clear the perimeter!"

"Aye Sir!" They sounded off, taking their respective positions. He watched as Cowboy was the first of the stack on the door on the other side of the room, Chapel behind and Lucky holding the rear guard. Cowboy signaled that the door was locked, then put the barrel of his breaching shotgun on the metal door. He looked back for Archangel's approval. Archangel motioned for Scott the get ready to breach, Scott already having his sledgehammer in hand.

On his command, the entire situation at hand would get loud and fast. Without a shadow of a doubt, their presence would be known. They all waited for his command.

Archangel inhaled, then slowly exhaled. "Execute! Execute! Execute!".

Cowboy pulled the trigger and let a breaching round hit the lock on the door handle, kicking the door shortly after. Scott followed shortly, hitting the hammer at the handle, the door swinging open. Archangel flowed into the room, a single long corridor led into a bar area. The walls were lit with led lights, stripper poles at the end of the room. Jaune continued down the long corridor, Scott at his right shoulder. As they continued down the hall, they heard a volley of gunfire at the other side of the building. It was the sound of a dust rifle firing off blindly, spraying down at a door. Their firing continued for a few seconds, then was interrupted by three shots out of a rifle, the significantly louder volume of those shots proving it to be 7.62x39. Chapel had taken down another member of the White Fang.

As they were moving down the corridor and entering the new room, Archangel thought he heard something to his left. Archangel moved right, hugging the right wall, and began to pie the corner. As he shuffled around the corner, he saw the business end of a shotgun. He hadn't noticed Archangel, but he was expecting them. Archangel leaned out of the corner as fast as he could, firing three shots. The terrorist wasn't expecting Archangel to only swing with his upper body, his hesitation of pulling the trigger proving as such. Two shots went through his head, painting the wall behind him red and pink and sending his body sumping against the wall. Bits of his brain splatted out of the back of his head, covering the wall as his body fell. The last shot hit his chest, blood spilling out of the wound.

Archangel quickly entered the room so as to not line up with Scott, Scott flowed in and hugged the right wall. As they moved out of the corridor and got closer to the bar room, Archangel and Scott held opposite angles. As they approached, they cleared most of the angles leaving only the corners. With a silent nod, Archangel enters first, rushing his corner. There was no one in his corner, and judging by the silence that filled the room, Scott was the same. They regrouped and started making their way toward the bar, they noticed a set of double doors that led out of the bar. As they approached the bar, Archangel kept his gun on the double door until he got close, then he pointed his HK416 towards the bar. He shuffled around the bar, his body leaning as he peered around it. He was only met with the sight of the dead bartender, her eyes wide and colorless. She had a bullet hole in her abdomen, and by the looks of it, she bled to death.

"The human scum is here!" A voice from the other side of the door yelled. "Bruce's semblance isn't working!"

Archangel whipped his HK416 to the door, Scott already having his L85A2 trained on it. The door swung open with a bulky white fang member holding a lightmachine gun. "Die human scum!". Both Archangel and Scott mag dumped the terrorist, his aura shattered as his body was filled with bullet holes. However, before he completely fell over, he squeezed off a burst of bullets, firing from his hip. The bullets whizzed through the air, one connecting with Archangel's cheek. Archangel's body went limp as he fell back to the floor, his rifle being flung in the air and only being attached to his body by its sling.

"Shit!" he heard Scott yell. "Jaune, you alright?". Scott ran up to his back and began to pull him away by the back of his plate carrier, his L85A2 still trained on the floor.

Archangel's world was in a daze. His vision was hazy, his sight blurry. He could barely make out his surrounding as his body felt numb. His ears were ringing, a constant pounding in his ear. He felt his body being dragged. As he tilted his head back, he saw Scott holding his plate carrier and dragging him back. Slowly, he came to his senses. His vision became relatively clear, the ringing in his ears lessened, and his body no longer felt humb.

"I'm good! I'm good!" Archangel propped himself in his arms, then slowly got up. When he stood up, he put his gloves to his cheek where he'd been shot. Checking his glove, there was an excessive amount of blood on it, the blood dripping onto the neon floor. He turned to Scott. "Just a little shaken. How bad is it?".

Scott examined the wound, grabbing Archangel's chin and moving it around. "Well, you won't die, but women aren't gonna be lining up to date you now".

"They never were" Archangel laughed. He was glad his wound wasn't anything too serious. By the way, Scott described it, it was most likely a graze wound. It would leave a scar, but he would live.

The sound of footsteps came from behind them, Scott and Archangel snapped their guns to the door. Shit, had someone snuck by the other team and was trying to flank them? Archangel shuffled to behind the bar to act as cover, Scott moving to a pillar in the middle of the room. As the footsteps got closer and closer, Archangel's finger hovered over the trigger, itching to pull it. Scott curled his finger around his trigger, anticipating the enemy.

Emerald ran into the room, her service pistol drawn. She didn't notice Scott but she saw Archangel. "Jaune!".

Both Scott and Archangel lowered their weapons, Archangel approaching Emerald. "Emerald! What the fuck are you doing here!?".

"I couldn't have my baby brother running into danger without my help!" She reasoned.

"How did you sneak past my snipers?" Archangel's expression was one of pure confusion.

"They don't have a direct line of sight on the front door" Emerald explained. "I don't think they could see me".

Archangel bit his tongue, looking away. He angrily inhaled, his face becoming strained, then punched her in the cheek. Emerald was sent tumbling to the ground, not expecting to get punched. Jaune hit a lot harder than she had expected.
Archangel quickly mounted her and put her hands behind her back, zip tying them together.

"Jaune!" she yelled. "What are you doing?".

"My job," he said expressionlessly. Once he fastened the zip tie, he got off her back. "Don't go anywhere. It's not safe for you".

"It's not safe for-" Emerald was going to argue, but a wave of nausea hit her like a truck. Her stomach churned and her head throbbed in pain. She let out a strained groan as she writhed in discomfort.

Archangel didn't look at her as he walked away. He motioned to Scott, who'd watch the entire situation unfold, to follow him. He simply nodded, both men leaving the police chief to writhe in pain.

As they stepped over the dead body of the white fang member, they were introduced to a new room. To their left was a set of stairs, one of the two ways to the second floor. Archangel walked up the stairs, his rifle trained in front of him the entire time. Scott held security on the staircase to make sure no one else suck up on them. When Archangel reached the top of the stairs, he turned around and went back down. His snipers had visual on all of the second floor, making it unnecessary to clear. When he exited the stairs and met up with Scott, they continued to the next room. Scott was taking point when they entered the next room, and it was a nightmare. It was a pool like area with multiple bodies of water, each sectioned off with walls and glass. This room is already a nightmare.

As they walked up a spurt of gunfire was sent their way, barely missing the two and hitting the wall next to them. Both returned fire with a high volume of their respective weapons as they moved to cover. As they fired back, Archangel shuffled left to a concrete pillar while Scott shuffled right to a stone wall. Archangel peered out of cover to continue the suppressive fire while Scott moved right and to flank them. Archangel spotted the source of the fire, a terrorist behind a wall on the opposite side of the room had shot through multiple windows and ducked behind cover. Archangel fired at his location a few more times to keep him from leaving cover as well as being distracted.

Archangel heard a click as he pulled the trigger as his slide locked back. Shit, he spent all of his ammo. Archangel went back into cover, his entire form now hidden from the terrorist. Archangel's left hand moved away from his gun's grip and grabbed a magazine from his mag pouch. As he pressed the magazine release and was changing mags, he heard footsteps to his left. Without missing a beat, Archangel dropped his rifle, letting it hang on the sling around his neck, and drew his P226. As a white fang terrorist swing the corner, his gun at the low ready, Archangel already had his handgun trained to his location. He fired four shots, the first two hitting the terrorist chest and cracking his aura. One bullet hit his chest and the last one went through his neck. The terrorist stumbled forward, grabbing his neck where the bullet had gone through, gurgling on his own blood. He stumbled for a few steps before Archangel put one more through his head, the man's body going limp as it folded on itself.

Arcangel quickly grabbed a pistol magazine from his belt and reloaded his handgun, putting the slightly empty magazine back in his belt. He then brought his rifle back up and quickly reloaded it, dropping the used magazine. He peered around the corner, gun trained on the last known location of the other terrorist. When he aimed down his sights, he was greeted with a comical sight.

While the terrorist was distracted by Archangel, Scott snuck up to the terrorist with his hammer in hand. While he was firing at Archangel, he reared back his hammer and clubbed him on the side of the head. The terrorist was sent flying sideways, his body slumping against the ground. His aura was shattered with the single blow, and he no doubt had a ringing sensation in his head. While the terrorist was trying to crawl away, Scott got close to him and raised his hammer above his head. Using his entire body, Scott swung the hammer down and clubbed the White Fang's head. On the first swing, his skull was caved in, but Scott wasn't done. He clubbed the terrorist's head more and more, with each swing the head was getting more and more deformed. Scott only stopped when the head, or what was left of it, was nothing more than paste and brain matter on the floor.

Archangel chuckled. What he did was stupid and could've gotten him killed, but a bet was a bet. Archangel bet him he couldn't kill more than five enemies with sledgehammer before they left, and now, he owed him a beer.

Archangel walked over to Scott, stepping over the mangled body, and tapped him on the shoulder. 'Let's move', they silently communicated. As the moved to leave the room, a loud explosion shook the building and trumped over the constant dance music. It was on the other side of the building, where Lucky, Cowboy, and Chapel were clearing.

"Bravo team!" Archangel pressed against his radio, frantically asking. "What's your status?"

There was only silence as no one responded to the radio. Archangel looked at Scott, he had the same worried expression on his face. "Bravo team! Come in!". The sound of the explosion tapered off and was replaced by the dance music that was playing before. Archangel and Scott waited for the report back over the radio but were only met with radio silence. The constant base of the music was now deafening in his ear. Each snare that was hit sent a pang to his heart, his concern only growing with each second. His men might've been just wiped out. Archangel's eyes grew wide. Cowboy had pointed out earlier that there was a suicide bomber in the building. He was aware of his presence, but he expected him to be deeper into the building. Had that cowardly son of a bitch killed his men? That bastard? Shit. What would he say to their relatives? What were their bodies like? Were they turned to paste like they've done to so many enemies before them?

"Alpha team this is Chapel" Scott and Archangel heard over the radio. "We're all good over here. Dead man's trigger".

Scott and Archangel sighed in relief. A dead man's trigger. It worked on pressure. In order to not set off the explosion, you needed to keep your hand squeezed. Since upon death or severe injury the body's natural instinct is to let go or decrease pressure in the hand, it was perfect for suicide bombers.

"Cowboy is a little shaken up, but he'll be fine" Chapel reported over the radio. "I'm okay, just a few scratches. Lucky wasn't hit at all".

"Good to hear" Archangel held his radio button. "Scott and I are ready to breach the last room".

"We're a few rooms away. Give us a few minutes and we can do a dynamic entry" Chapel suggested.

"Good copy" Archangel agreed over the radio. "Holding position". Archangel looked back at Scott who was now cleaning the end of his sledgehammer, the bits of bone and blood not coming off.

He sighed and put the sledgehammer on his back. "Glad to hear they're okay".

"Me too" Archangel nodded. Both of them walked to the end of the room and to the last door they would need to clear. If Archangel remembered correctly, this was the boss's room. It was long and deep, making throwing flashbangs next to useless. Not only that, but Bravo team is on the opposite side of them could lead to a bad case of crossfire, something Archangel usually tried to avoid. However, due to the circumstance and the lack of time, they couldn't afford to take their time clearing the building. Presumed hostages' lives were on the line, and the more time they took the more in danger those lives were. So far, Scott and Archangel didn't find many hostages. He presumed that Bravo team found more than he did, at least he hoped. Otherwise, these White Fang terrorists were lying, and so far, it seemed they were.

"Bravo team ready for entry" Chapel called over the radio.

"Good copy Bravo team" Archangel stacked the door with Scott behind him. "Get ready to breach and clear on my command".

Archangel checked the door's handle, the slight turning of it signaling it was unlocked. He looked back at Scott who simply gave a nod signaling he was ready. Archangel inhaled, then with all of his power, yelled "Breach! Breach! Breach!".

Archangel kicked down the door, the metal entry falling off its hinges. Across from him, the door handle was shot out the kicked open, revealing Cowboy in the door. There were no hostiles between them, clearing their mind of any concern about crossfire. As they entered the room, they were greeted with a pile of dead bodies. The hostages, or what remained of them, were executed prisoner style. They were all facing the wall, their bodies slumped against it. A single bullet marking covered in blood above each hostage proved they had been executed. Now there was only one more threat. At the end of the room, there was a metal table flipped over, a single White Fang member holding a handgun to the head of a teenage girl. Her face was full of tears and her body bloody, the White fang's arm wrapped around her neck holding her in place. On her chest was a vest full of C4, a red light in the middle flickering on and off. There was enough plastic explosives on her chest to level a building. The vest was strapped down to her, padlocks keeping the straps in place. The straps were positioned in such a way that she couldn't just raise the vest over her head and take it off.

The terrorist was using her as a meat shield, positioning her so that only his head was visible to the Shadow Group. His finger was itching the trigger of his handgun. His whole body was glowing, an aura emitting from him.

"I don't know how you lot aren't affected by my semblance!" He spat. "But his ends her-".

A single shot rang out, the terrorist's head reeling back as blood splattered the wall behind him. Archangel looked to the source of the shot; it was Lucky. He fired a single bullet from his SA80 and threaded the needed, nailing him in the head. The terrorist must've been focusing so much effort into his semblance to make the nauseous that his aura was low. It was a skill shot but with a lot of luck involved.

As his body fell, the girl he was using as a meat shield ducked, whimpering in fear. When she saw that her capture was killed, she looked at her saviors. Her eyes stared at them, pleading in fear.

"Please! Help me!" she cried. "I don't want to die!". As she cried she started to run towards them, all of Shadow Company had their guns trained on them.

"Stop!" Archangel yelled. "Do not move!".

She froze where she stood, noticing all the guns pointed at her. Her face was full of tears, her eyes red and her cheeks were puffy. Her face had a mixture of tears, grime, and blood, all of which were dried out. Her whole body was shaking, the bomb vest on her shaking with her. Her chest heaved, rising and falling unevenly. She was hyperventilating, her uneven breathing reinforcing it.

"Let's calm down miss!" Archangel called out. "My name is Lieutenant Arc. What's your name?".

"Ava," she said between uneven breaths, her breathing becoming more erratic. "My name is Ava Chanel".

"Well, Miss Chanel" Archangel started. "We want to help you! But we can't if we know that you're going to charge us. Can you promise that you'll stay over there?"

"Yes," Ava hiccuped, tears falling down her face. "I'll stay on the other side of the room".

"That's great Ava!" Archangel encouraged. "Now, let's get you to calm down. Take deep, long breaths. Breathe in for six seconds, hold for six seconds, then breathe out for six seconds. Here, follow me".

Archangel breathed in, Ava following his lead, then they breathed out together. Ava followed Archangel in breathing patterns for a few more seconds until her breathing was in a stable pattern. They had stopped her from hyperventilating, making her more likely to listen and follow instructions.

"Alright, Miss Chanel. You're doing a good job" Archangel called out. "Do you know what kind of bomb vest you're wearing? Is it tied to a trigger of sorts, or timer?".

"I don't know" Ava hiccuped. "They said something about it being motion activated".

Shit. He couldn't send in Cowboy the defuse the vest without possibly setting it off. "That's okay Ava". Archangel called out. "Do you know where they might have put the motion sensor?".

"No" she cried out. "I don't. I think it might be all around me. There are these little devices the man set before you got here".

So she did know. "Where are they, Ava?" Archangel asked.

"One's on my chest and two are on my hips" Ava informed, trying her best not to go back to hyperventilating.

Archangel turned to Cowboy. "Do you think it's possible to defuse the bomb vest without setting it off?".

Cowboy squinted at the vest for a bit. There was a bunch of wires going across all of her body, C4 strapped to every inch of her chest. "Unless she managed to turn off the motion sensors, no".

"Do you think you can guide her to turn them off?" Archangel asked.

"I might" Cowboy answered. "Miss Chanel! Can you tell me what the motion sensor says at the top?".

Ava looked down at the sensor, reading the top. Her voice cracked as she spoke. "It says 'Schnee Information Industries MMA955'".

A lightbulb sparked in Cowboy's head. He was familiar with those types of sensors. He used them all the time at his farm to detect coyotes. However, one problem was that if they were facing a wall for a while, their calibration would go haywire and it wouldn't work. Their dog had broken many motion sensors laying in front of them. "That's great Miss Chanel. I need you to do me a favor. I need you to turn around, and face the motion sensor on your chest to the wall".

"O-o-Okay" Ava's voice cracked, the throat sore and full of nervousness.

Once she was facing the wall, Cowboy spoke again. "That's perfect miss Chanel! Next, I need you to find the wire attached to it! Can you see it?".

Ava stiffly moved her arms, her entire body still trembling. She spotted a wire leaving the side back of the motion sensor and trailed behind her. "Y-yes. I see it".

"Okay Miss Ava, I'm going to need you to do another thing" Cowboy requested. "I need you to trail that wire, and find the source. Once you find the source, I'm going to need you to wait thirty seconds. Once that's over, I'm going to need you to tear the wire at the source, not the motion sensor. I repeat, at the source, not the motion sensor". Cowboy knew that while it is still uncalibrated, yanking the sensor hard would still set it off. He didn't tell her that. The last thing anybody needed was for her to have a panic attack.

"O-Okay" Ava followed Cowboy's instructions. She followed the wire to her back, feeling a battery pack. After waiting for a few more seconds, Ava's fingers hesitantly felt the wire on the battery pack. Ava's hand trembled as it rested on the wire. Ava closed her eyes, tears falling down them, as she yanked on the wire.

After a few moments, nothing occurred. Ava made a cry of relief. She had disarmed one of the motion sensors.

"Good job Miss Chanel!" Cowboy congratulated. "You did a great job! All you need to do is do the same with the other two sensors! Once you do that, I can approach you and take that vest off!".

"Thank you thank you thank you" Ava poured out.

"Don't thank me yet" Cowboy interrupted her. "You still need to disarm those other two sensors".

"Y-Yes sir!" Ava nodded. Ava then turned her left side to face the wall, following the same instruction Cowboy gave her.

"There you go, Ava!" Cowboy cheered. "You're doing great".

Ava trailed the wire back to the battery pack. After a few moments of hesitation, her hands still trembling with fear, she yanked the wire again. The wire snapped off the battery pack on her back, and no explosion followed.

"Two out of three Ava!" Cowboy called. "You're doing great!"

Ava started crying, full streams of tears falling down her face as she faced turned her right side to the wall. She waited a few seconds, trailed the wire to the battery pack, and with more confidence, yanked the wire out. Once she yanked the final wire out, she collapsed, her entire body feeling limp. A guttural sound left her throat as she fell, relief washing over her. She started to hiccup. "O-O-Oh god, I was so scared. I thought I wasn't going to see my parents. I thought I was going to die! I saw my best friends mutilated before my eyes!"

Cowboy started to approach, Ava still a good distance away. "Everything is alright, Miss Chanel. I'm going to help you".

Ava began to wail as Cowboy approached, Cowboy still on the opposite side of the room. "Please, get this off me!" Ava wailed. "I want to live. I want to see my parents again. Please! I want to go ho-".

A loud, deafening sound filled everyone's ears, a bright flash blinding them. A strong force sent all of them flying back, Cowboy being sent flying with the most force. Ava, or what was left of her, was turned into paste, her limbs flying in opposite directions while shards of her bone added to the shrapnel. While Cowboy had disarmed the motion sensors, he forgot to account for one thing. A timer. As stereotypical as it was, it was also highly effective and caught many people off guard. Standing as it is, Shadow Company was caught off guard. This wasn't their first miscalculation, but it was going to be their most deadly.

---

Shadow Company Phantom Task Force files

Access: [redacted]

Commander: [redacted]

Base of Operations: [redacted]

Phycology Evaluation:

Name: Parker 'Vigil' Chung

DOB: April 17, 20XX

Age: 22

Place of Birth: Korea

Bio: Chung had a rough childhood growing up, originally having an older brother and a younger sister. His settlement town was a few hundred miles from Atlas, their closest kingdom. His settlement town had been plunged into civil war, one side fighting for a democratic leader while the other was fighting for a communist leader. Chung's family lived in communist controlled area but remained neutral in the conflict as his family was simple dairy farmers. However, when the Communist fighting force caught wind that the family did not produce a soldier aged male ready to fight for their cause, they killed his father in front of his family to make an example. After his father's death, the rest of his family fled the area and headed south to democratically controlled area. Along the way, his older brother sacrificed his life to fight off an Ursa while the rest of his family escape. He was presumed dead. When they did make it to the South, the controlling party did very little to support or assist the family in gaining their bearings. This left his family poor and his mother working full time at a t-shirt factory. Life was socially hard for Chung, being one of the few kids in his area that didn't have a semblance or Aura. It left him to be isolated, even his sister refusing to be near him for the sake of her own social reputation. One day, his mother had forgotten that she left the gas stove on when she left for work and the kids left for school. When they all returned home, Chung found a lighter in one of the cabinets. Out of curiosity, he flicked the lighter on setting his entire house ablaze. His sister wasn't in the house, leaving her unaffected. However, his mother was still in the house cooking. This led to burn damage on one side of his face and his mother going deaf as well as having burn damage all across her body. Both Chung and his sister blamed himself for the incident, his sister shortly cutting him off from all contact. Chung had decided to learn sign language with his mother as a way to communicate with her.

Phycology: Chung has shown behaviors similar to those of outcasts. He is very standoffish and socially inept or blunt. He often times comes off as rude or demanding while not understanding. He is often described as 'a man of few words'. Chung is ashamed of his facial scar, oftentimes wearing a ballistic face mask to cover it. Chung often times sends most of his paycheck to his mother as well as a small portion to his sister. It is his way of saying thank you or apologizing.

Phycology Evaluation:

Name: Ekon 'Tiger' Abebe

DOB: September 18, 20XX

Age: 23

Place of Birth: Congo

Bio: Abebe grew up in a poor settlement town just outside of Vacuo with a single sister and his parents. His settlement was mostly a hunting village, but frequently farmed crops to trade. His father would frequently teach him how to work the crop tools and his mother would teach him how to cook. It was a small village, a close and friendly community. They were aware of Abebe's lack of aura and semblance, but still treated him as own of their own. Abebe was always a large kid, bigger than most at even the earliest of ages. Due to his size, he was frequently tasked with moving large and heavy equipment. There was a rumor in his village that he was able to lift up a tractor and move it, easily caring the 500 pound piece of equipment. Abebe tells us that it was nothing more than a rumor at the time, but the story and fame got to his head. He frequently boasted his strength to his other villages, friends, and family. On March 11, 20XX, his village was raided by bandits. They ransacked his village and burned all of the houses to the ground. At the time, Abebe was out hunting alone, unsuccessfully catching anything. When he came back to the village and spotted all of the houses on fire, he ran as fast as he could. The bandits had left by the time Abebe returned to the village. As he went down the streets of his village, he saw the bodies of his closest friends and family. As he was walking, he heard cries from his burning house. He ran in and spotted his little sister trapped under a large piece of burning wood, the charred body of their parents next to her. Abebe ran to her and tried to lift the large burning support log, but was unsuccessful. Reports say that all of the weight of the house was on top of that log, making it nearly impossible to lift. When he attempted to lift was last time, the wood cracked from splitters caused by the fire. The full weight of the house fell on his sister as he stumbled back. According to him, his whole family had died due to his lack of strength and ego.

Phycology: Abebe is often seen as friendly and outgoing, however, our phycologists believe that it's a cover for deeply rooted trauma. Since the untimely departure of his family, Abebe has pushed himself to get stronger, to the point of inhuman strength. Abebe has shown a strong sense of responsibility and humility, his determination also being unmatched. We believe that Abebe joined Shadow Company in order to try and save others, to right what believes are his wrongs from his shortcomings. This determination led him to be one of the few and best operators to pass Juggernaut School, and one of the few that can functionally use the EE-1D Heavy armor.

List of Operators:

Name: Jaune 'Archangel' Arc

Weight: 255lbs
Height: 6'2

Race: Human

Rank: Lieutenant

Place of Birth:

Age: 20

Weapons/equipment used:

HK416

P226

Combat Knife

Advanced First Aid Kit

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Advanced Medical School

Paramedic School

Leadership and Experience School

Notes: During basic training, Jaune demonstrated leadership skill at a high level under stressful and demanding situations, earning him an officer rank. He was able to unite the candidates on multiple occasions and organized a small mutiny during a long run. He demonstrated a large desire to both be a leader and one of the team's medic due to 'His parents wanting him to be a doctor'.

Name: Alejandro 'Cowboy' Gonzales

Weight: 175lbs
Height: 5'5

Race: Human

Rank: Sergeant

Place of Birth: Texas

Age: 19

Weapons/equipment used:

M1014

M4A1

M17

Basic Hard Breach Kit

Demolition Kit

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Hard Breach and Entering School

Sapper School

Notes: Gonzales has demonstrated a high efficiency in high explosive ordinance. He was highly proficient in recoilless rifles but finds more enjoyment in 'blowing shit up'. Is trained in breaching harder surfaces such as metal or reinforced doors.

Name: Clyde 'Scott' Morris

Weight: 240lbs
Height: 6'0

Race: Human

Rank: Corporal

Place of Birth: Scotland

Age: 23

Weapons/equipment used:

L85A2

P226

Sledgehammer

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Basic Breach and Entering School

Notes: Morris has demonstrated a high level of aggression on multiple occasions. While it has not gotten out of control or clouded his judgment, he has been characterized as 'aggressive' by his peers.

Name: Parker 'Vigil' Chung

Weight: 160lbs
Height: 5'7

Race: Human

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Place of Birth: Korea

Age: 22

Weapons/equipment used:

K14 Bolt Action Rifle

K2

P226

Karambit

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Scout Sniper School

Notes: Chung has excelled in sniper school, scoring above his peers while remaining quiet. During training, he wore a ballistic mask to cover his scarred face, making him unknown to his peers. He has demonstrated team working skill, but remains quiet unless necessary.

Name: Dimitri 'Oso' Petrov

Weight: 390lbs
Height: 6'5

Race: Bear Faunus

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Place of Birth: Siberia

Age: 25

Weapons/equipment used:

PKP Pecheneg

Markarov

Combat Machete

M134 Modified Minigun

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Juggernaut School

Squad Gunner School

Notes: Petrov has demonstrated a high level of strength, higher than most of our other troops. He passed our most physically demanding school yet, Juggernaut school, with ease. It is most likely due to his genetics as a bear Faunus. His strength is nearly unmatched.

Name: Ekon 'Tiger' Abebe

Weight: 340lbs
Height: 6'4

Rank: Sergeant

Race: Human

Place of Birth: Congo

Age: 23

Weapons/equipment used:

M240B

M9

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Juggernaut School

Squad Gunner School

Notes: During Juggernaut School, Abebe passed near the top of his class. However, he did struggle to keep up at times, his will and spirit proven to be unwavering. He had proven to be stronger than any normal human. Tests could not prove why.

Name: Shane 'Wolfeater' Vu

Weight: 200
Height: 5'10

Rank: Sergeant

Race: Dog Faunus

Place of Birth: Menagerie

Age: 24

Weapons/equipment used:

M110 Marksman Rifle

M9

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Scout Sniper Training

Spotter School

Notes: During Sniper school, Vu had proven to be able to do quick calculations of advanced math in his head. While training in the field he was able to quickly measure the wind and calculate accordingly, and align his scope. He was recommended to Spotter school and passed with flying colors. He was able to run far distances due to his heritage.

Name: Vityaz 'Rat' Volkov

Weight: 190lbs
Height: 5'11

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Race: Human

Place of Birth: Georgia

Age: 22

Weapons/equipment used:

Dragunov SVD

PP19 SMG

Markarov

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Scout Sniper Training

Spotter School

Notes: Volkov had proven to be an excellent scout. His endurance was remarkable and he was able to remember pictures and places. He called it his 'Photographic Memory'. He excelled in hand to hand combat, sending him above his peers.

Name: Tobias "Bratwurst" Schneider

Weight: 160lbs
Height: 5'10

Race: Human

Rank: Corporal

Place of Birth: Germany

Age: 21

Weapons/equipment used:

HK G3A3

HK P8

Modified Flamethrower

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Chemical Engineering School

CBRN School

Controlled Burn School

Notes: Schneider was arrested at the age of 19 due to the unlawful mixing of chemicals that led to a house fire. He was given the option of a buyout from the Shadow Company, and proceeded. He has excelled above and beyond his peers and was able to mix many chemicals to produce fire.

Name: Damien "Chapel" Smith

Weight: 190lbs
Height: 5'10

Race: Human

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Place of Birth: Missouri

Age: 25

Weapons/equipment used:

SCAR-H

M19

Advanced First Aid Kit

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Combat Life Saver

Advanced Medical School

Paramedic School

Notes: During basic training, Smith was characterized by not only his strong faith in his religion but his deep understanding of other religions as well. This allowed him to connect to other troops as well, making him a strong candidate for a leadership position.

Name: Charles "Lucky" O'Connor

Weight: 185lbs
Height: 5'11

Race: Human

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Place of Birth: Ireland

Age: 25

Weapons/equipment used:

SA80 A2

G19

Karl Gustav

Schools attended:

Basic Training

SERE School

Urban Raiding and Fighting school

Pathfinder School

Air Assault School

Airborne School

Sapper School

Jungle Warfare School

Notes: O'Connor had received his nickname through acts of sheer good luck. During SERE school, O'Connor had managed to evade dogs at all times and was never captured. When asked, he simply cited his good luck.