Emmerich was overseeing a review of the latest quarters production results when the call came. His PDA played the tone he'd chosen for emergency calls. The other ministers went quiet as he checked it.
It was a message from Myers; [Arc's Squad MIA. Distress beacon activated. No contact since. En route.]
'I must apologise, something has come up,' He said nodding to Evangelina, 'Please take over for me.'
'Of course,' She replied calmly with a curt nod. Her eyes were full of concern. All those at the table knew the First Minister wouldn't just walk out a work half way unless it was important.
He stood and left the room. His assigned guards for the day falling in around him. Gone were the day's he had the luxury of knowing all his bodyguards. It was a brisk walk to his office from the meeting room. The whole way his mind was turning.
Rex uploaded his logs routinely. The fact that seven of the people they knew were key to future events had arrived at Beacon had been a shock. That they were all grouped into two teams made him wonder if someone else had a semblance that allowed foresight.
The last report said they were scheduled for a joint assignment. Chance? What were the odds they'd all be together? A thousand to one? A million? Random chance had its limits.
Ahead the doors opened and the guards stopped turning to see off any visitors to the office. Myers was standing there at attention. Emmerich walked around his desk and dropped into it, took a breath then nodded.
'What happened?'
'Sir. Squads JNPR and RWBY were dispatched on patrol earlier today. Approximately,' Myers checked his vambrace, 'An hour ago we received a distress signal from Arc's armour beacon.'
'Have we contacted Beacon. Surely they weren't sent out without some kind of oversight?'
Myers nodded, 'We did. They seemed both shocked and somewhat pleased we had confirmation they were in distress. Apparently they'd lost contact over three hours ago. But took no action since the area was known to have issues with communication.'
'Three hours?' Emmerich hissed, 'They lost contact with their students three hours ago and didn't send someone to check?'
'Apparently their staff were monitoring all the teams and assumed that all was well until our call. They sent an airship out as soon as they could. But they weren't able to find anything beyond tracks leading to an old harbour which showed signs of use. The moment that came in I messaged you.'
Emmerich paused for a moment. Using his ability had its risks but this clearly called for every edge they could get. He opened the draw where he kept the Stim injector.
'I'm going to see what I can see. Remember thirty seconds. That's the limit,' He said, rolling up his sleeve and strapping the armband on.
'Copy that,' Myers replied, standing at the ready.
Leaning back Emmerich closed his eyes and thought of the command. Options?
A sharp pain shot through him. It was like a pressure on the inside of his head. Why? What made this time different?
Opening his eyes he found this place changed. The vast sea of threads were coming together. First into stings then cords before joining into ropes.
The sheer brightness of that structure's heart was blinding. Reaching out he wasn't able to pull on a thread to see the events within. Something was going to happen. Whatever it was inevitable, unstoppable and his view was blocked.
He reached in clawing at the golden weave but it refused to yield. Each time he tried the pressure got worse until he snapped back to the real world. His vision was tinted red and the injector was beeping urgently.
'Sir! Are you alright!' Myers asked, holding his shoulder.
'What?' Emmerich asked his mind, fuzzy and sharp all at once, 'How long?'
'Twenty eight seconds. You look bad.'
Emmerich became aware of the warm, wet feeling running down his face. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve his eyes widened at the blood stain that came away. Myers held up his PDA with the front facing camera on. Emmerich's left eye was full of blood from a burst blood vessel. The trickle of blood from his nose seemed to be slowing at least.
'Fuck. I need to clean up,' Emmerich cursed and tried to stand. Almost falling over before Myers caught him.
'Sir. You're not thinking clearly. Give yourself a moment,' Myers cautioned, lowering him back to the seat.
'Ah,' Emmerich held a hand to his head, 'You're right. It was different. Normally I can pick out parts of what's coming. But this time. It was like a single point with everything leading to it. Whatever it is, it's going to happen soon. And I don't think we can rely on tilting the board.'
'Sometimes the suck comes in a drizzle, other times it's a razor storm. Regardless we can take precautions,' Myers said, stepping back and going into a side room.
When he returned he had a clean set of clothes for Emmerich. The blood on his face was cleaned away and the Stim was fixing up the eye nicely. Calmer and more aware Emmerich closed his eyes, sighing before sitting forward.
'Okay. Our squad is missing. We don't know who's taken them or why. But we know they were alive. Something large is going to occur in the near future and we know that people key to it are now out of our view. What do we do?'
Myers shrugged, 'Consider it enemy action until proven otherwise. Go to alert status. Don't kick up a fuss just say it's a readiness check.'
'I'll have to call around the houses to warn them about the reasons. The last thing we need is someone thinking we're preparing for an attack on them.'
'Sounds like a plan for the world. Regarding our missing personnel I say we send a search party,' Myers said with a nod.
'Agreed and that all means we need to speak with O'Connor,' Emmerich said, returning to his desk and dialling the general.
He answered swiftly, 'Sir? Is this about Arc going off the net?' O'Connor asked.
'Yes. I've been updated on the situation.'
'I have to ask, do we know what kind of situation this is? If it's a civil matter then we'll go to readiness… Or should I open a file?' O'Connor asked, slightly worried.
'No. Not as of yet. If it is thought that that changed I'm guessing Obsidian or Proustite' Emmerich replied recalling the war-plans' code names.
O'Connor nodded but seemed somewhat more relaxed, 'I'll send it down the chain. We'll step up but won't point fingers till you give the order or someone starts something.'
'Good. Now what do we have in the area that won't cause a panic?' Emmerich asked.
'Start up your holo-table. I'll have an update sent over.'
Myers walked over to the table and activated it before panning to Vale. A set of icons appeared showing COG forces around and in the Kingdom's borders. More steady Emmerich stood and joined him.
'We have Onyx in Vale?' Emmerich asked, pointing to the icon over the embassy.
Myers nodded, 'Escort for Fisher he's meeting their council for another round of talks. I wanted to keep an eye on him and Day offered her platoon. It's another milk run and we can pull them off if needed.'
'Let's leave them be for now. Having them race out now might cause unwanted attention.'
O'Connor's face appeared over the table as he linked in,'Lets see. We have the CNV Aquanox and the rest of its expeditionary unit heading back from their joint drills with the UIR navy's north fleet. They've got a marine battalion embarked. Lots of firepower and they can fight on land or water.'
'We might know they were around the water last. But what if they were transferred to another craft? Our people might have been moved inland,' Myers pointed out.
'Hell if you're giving me a blank check let's send the CAF Honor and its air group. They've just finished their resupply. If we send them now they can be over the mountains north of vale around the same time as Aquanox reaches the last point of contact.'
Emmerich pinched his nose in thought. 'That should be able to take anything on. But they're both not going to be able to get there for several hours. We'll need forces ready to respond if Arc's signal comes back up.'
'Then let's call up the Air Corps. The 8th can have a QRF airborne unit over that airspace in a quarter of the time. The moment we get a blip they can home in on it and support as they're able.'
Emmerich thought for a moment, 'That should work. We'll need to sell it to the locals though.'
'I have an idea. If they ask, tell them it's a search and rescue mission,' O'Connor said conspiratorially.
'But it is a search and rescue mission,' Emmerich pointed out.
'Of course it is. But just stress that part if they want to know what we're sending,' O'Connor said in the same tone.
'Very well. I'll make the calls. Keep me updated,' Emmerich said before hanging up,'He's enjoying this isn't he?'
'Oh absolutely. Three years of being asked to scrap everything and stop expanding. Now he's got a chance to show what kind of army he'd been building.'
'Let's hope this is all just an over reaction.'
What followed was over an hour and a half of calls. Emmerich called and spoke to each Council. Vale seemed only half surprised they'd not been and were happy for them to do anything as long as it didn't cost them. Mistral were almost too happy to let them do whatever they wanted. Altas were upset but agreed they had a right to look for their people, though Ironwood seemed tense. Vacuo was so passive he might as well have been talking to himself.
Premier Široký offered the full support of the UIR. Likely since he wanted to be seen matching the COG. But Emmerich made clear that he had some suspicions about the source of the threat. Široký agreed and assured him the UIR would be on its own guard, also implying they'd keep an eye on them too.
Speaking to Chieftain Belladonna was rather pleased he'd been contacted and whilst he wasn't able to offer any assistance did make it clear he'd warn people not to panic. There were enough COG elements on Menagerie now that people would notice the change in posture.
Which brought him to his last call, Ozpin. The connection took a moment but then the man himself, sat at that odd glass top desk was looking back at him.
'First Minister Emmerich. To what do I owe the pleasure?'
'Headmaster Opzin. I understand that some students are missing. COG personnel among them,' Emmerich replied.
'News travels fast. I've only just sent out a search party. I'm sure we'll find them in good time.'
Emmerich shook his head, 'I must disagree with that assessment. Arc activated his armour's inbuilt distress beacon but the signal was blocked for upwards of five minutes. After which it was cut off again. The only thing that could cause that would be localised jamming.'
'Ozpin tilted his head, 'I wasn't aware that Mr Arc had such a device.'
'He's a member of the armed forces and a junior officer. We tend to prefer being able to find them.'
Ozpin let that comment pass, 'So this signal he's broadcasting. You're able to track it?'
'Provided he's able to boost his signal or overcome whatever is blocking it, yes. I've spoken with General O'Connor and he's coordinating a search and rescue response. A QRF from our 8th division should be over the area within the next few hours. Other units join the search as they arrive.'
'I don't see any reason for this to become a military matter. We have more than enough skilled Huntsmen that we can send. If you can provi-'
'I'm sorry you seem to have misunderstood the purpose of this call,' Emmerich said, cutting him off, 'We're not seeking your assistance in this matter. I'm advising you as a courtesy. This is no longer a school matter. The situation could snowball into an international incident and I plan to nip it in the bud. The general is already confirming it with his opposite number in the Vale armed forces. And I've spoken to the Vale Council to appraise them of our intentions. They have already agreed to this course of action.'
Ozpin sat quietly for a moment, 'I see.'
'Excuse me?' A voice out of the camera view asked.
A man walked around into view standing behind Ozpin. Black hair, red eyes and a face with quite a bit of stubble. Why did he seem familiar?
'I'm Qrow Brawnwen. I'd like to ask if I can join your team as a liaison. It might help to smooth things over with everyone.'
The name gave Emmerich's memory a kick, 'Ah yes. You were part of the exchange program when we were first getting established.'
Qrow's eyes widened slightly at that, 'Yes. Yes I was. I'm surprised you remembered me.'
He must be worried. Qrow was a spy of some sort and being recognized clearly riled him. Well better to keep him guessing and in view otherwise he'd likely follow them anyway.
'I get quite a few reports across my desk. I see no issue provided you're willing to reach the airstrip at Vale. I can have the QRF divert there and pick you up.'
'I'll be there,' Qrow replied, nodding and walking away quickly.
'It seems that everything is well in hand. Thank you for calling, First Minister,' Ozpin said, his voice calm and level.
'You're most welcome,' Emmerich replied in his politest tone before ending the call.
Qrow was marching up to the lift and already hit the button. The light above was already moving along as the high speed lift rose.
'Qrow,' Ozpin said clearly from behind him.
Qrow spun, holding out a finger accusingly, 'Don't. Just don't. I won't tell them anything they don't need to know. But I'm getting my nieces back.'
'Good hunting,' Ozpin sighed.
The doors opened and Qrow entered, hitting both the ground floor and door close buttons. It was a brisk descent but enough time for him to call ahead and have a Bullhead waiting for him. He stepped out and cursed, spinning around to hit the door close button.
He froze mid-motion. A young man with silver hair and eyes in a Haven uniform. It was like he'd appeared from thin air in front of the lift. Qrow's hand was about to hit the kids.
'Sorry,' The kid said, stepping aside, 'I know we're not meant to use this one. But one of the teachers asked me to drop some homework in. Oh there he is. Professor Port, I have that assignment.'
Qrow turned and saw Port walking through an archway. Not good, he needed to leave now.
'No harm, no foul. Just don't let anyone else catch you,' Qrow replied all but running out to the landing pad. The moment forgotten.
"Port" walked up to Mercury and did something very un-Port-like. He didn't start talking. Instead he gave a twirl of his moustache before bowing far further then his build would suggest he could.
Emerald flicked into view stepping out of the lift, 'What are you doing?'
'It's not my fault he was in a hurry,' Mercury whispered back.
'Let's get back to the room. No point risking another near miss.'
"Port" nodded and turned to lead the way.
The three of them retreated back to the dorm. Inside Cinder was examining a map of the school. Parts were crossed out or had notes listing off routines of staff and students. Once the door was closed Neo dropped the illusion of Port and stepped out of the shards.
'Anything to report?' She asked, her eyes flicking between them.
'Yeah. Branwen was here,' Mercury said, walking over and looking out the window.
'Was? He's leaving?'
'Yep. Bullhead just lifted off. Something must be up.' Mercury said, turning back to the others.
'What makes you say that?' Cinder asked intrigued.
'Where to start? That he was meeting with Ozpin? Or that they weren't quite friendly? I'd say it was the fact he was in such a rush he didn't notice us in the lift. Em's good but not that good. But mainly the fact he smelt like a bar last time. Not a whiff on him now. My dad only got sober when he got serious.'
'Do you think they know?' Emmerald asked.
'No. If they even suspected they'd have taken some action against us. But him being gone might make things easier,' Cinder held up her scroll, 'Watts came through. All we need to do is plant this in the CCT server of the tower. Any device that is connected to it will be infected.'
'That will let us use the lifts. That's the fastest way into and out of the basement right?' Mercury asked, looking over the plans.
'Yes. And the Maiden has to be there. We've checked everywhere else. We'll find an opportunity then we take what's mine,' Cinder said clenching her fist.
A pair of taps sounded as Neo clicked her heel on the ground. With their attention she held up her hand and created a mini Bullhead. It swooped off her hand and settled onto the map by a rear door to the main tower.
Cinder nodded, flicking the illusion to shatter it, 'Yes. You'll need to have Torchwick bring the airship. Have him stow it somewhere close by. We'll need to leave fast. I'll call Adam and let him know we're moving the date up.'
The flight was only a few minutes. The COG had insisted on building an airstip of their own on the south side of the city. The space it took up had been old run down stuff so no one minded. They'd even helped build new housing for anyone who was displaced.
A silver shape shot past the Bullhead. It was an Atlesian sky yacht. Clearly breaking flight regulations by forcing its way into their approach by the sound of cursing from the cockpit. It was kind of a high end luxury craft you could imagine some bigshot flying around in. Strange thing was it was flying the Atlas Academy colours.
Qrow was sure James wasn't going to run down here himself. Well not that quick. The Ace-Ops were out playing whack-a-Swarm. So that left…
'Hello Icequeen,' Qrow muttered as a white haired figure lept from the back and used a glyph to slow her fall. Catching movement he looked back at the rear ramp to see a student in Atlas uniform with red hair waving at Winter.
His pilot at least followed the rules letting Qrow step out before taking off again. Winter was of course already at attention and glaring at him. Qrow pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
'Who's your little friend? She was not invited to this party?'
'She isn't. This is a military matter and she's a student,' Winter replied briskly.
'Must be some student to get you as a chaperone.'
'She is visiting Beacon ahead of the Vytal festival. It made sense for her to travel with me,' Winter said, turning away from him.
'The festival isn't for another year,' Qrow pointed out, 'What's James game sending you down here?'
Winters fist clenched, 'No games. My sister is one of the students that went missing. Or didn't you check that information?'
Qrow nodded slowly, 'Right. I didn't make the connection. I apol-'
'Save it,' Winter turned to look out over the parked aircraft, 'Which one is the search team's?'
'Don't know. I think we might have beat them here.'
Both their scrolls beeped with an incoming call. The icon of a winged cog wheel flashed on the caller ID. Both pulled earpieces from their pockets and accepted the request.
'Huntsman Branwen and Specialist Schnee. This is Air Corps Control,' A voice announced, 'VB-06 is on final approach. Once it's landed it will be turning around and taking off again so please proceed to runway zero three. The Pilot has been given this channel for communication.'
'Affirmative. We'll be ready,' Winter replied before setting off with Qrow behind her.
'Hey. What does VB mean?' Qrow called as they ran.
'I'm not sure. I know CO is for Condor, KS for Kestrel and KR for King Raven. But I've no clue what VB stands for,' Winter shouted, not looking back.
'This just gets better and better.'
They reached the end of the runway. The large painted numbers 03 confirming it in case they were stupid. At the other end a plane was lined up and descending.
'That thing must be our ride,' Qrow replied squinting, 'Looks sort of off.'
'I thought the same. It's not a Condor that's for sure,' Winter said as she focused on the craft.
As it came closer the details became clearer. It was larger than the Condor by at least three times. Both in terms of its wings and body. It had four propeller engines like the smaller craft but these were contra-rotating with two sets of blades spinning in opposite directions.
It also wasn't just a transport. Under each wing were three sets of twin-gun turrets. They were locked in position but were clearly able to move and aim at anything on the ground. Its wheels touched the ground with a shriek of rubber and its engines switched to reverse.
'What the hell kind of rescue craft is that?' Winter muttered.
'This is a Combat Search and Rescue craft ma'am,' A voice called back over their earpieces, the pilot most likely.
'You're kidding right?' Qrow asked as the craft slowed and throttled back.
'Nope. You better be ready. I'm leaving the moment the nose is pointing back the way I came,' The voice said.
The craft had slowed to a stop ahead of them. Its engines shifted in pitch as half turned their propellers to forward thrust. Much to their shock it started to turn on the spot letting them see that there was a jet engine side set into each side of the main body. The rear ramp started to drop once the craft had turned around.
The ramp was wide enough you could drive trucks up into it side by side. Both of them ran up the ramp before it could scrape the runway. As their feet touched the deck inside they saw its cargo.
Rack's of DeeBees a lot of DeeBees. Rack on rack stretched along the vast cargo bay. The androids legs swung slightly as the plane stopped turning.
'You'll want to come up to the cabin and strap in for take off,' The voice of the pilot called from a speaker on the bulkhead, 'Head to the end it's the stairs on your left.'
'How many of these things are back here?' Qrow asked as they walked past the inactive machines.
'Full company. They don't send for a heavy like this unless they want something properly handled,' The Pilot replied.
Winter leaned over whispering as she pointed to the upper racks, 'Those are Sentinels and Guardians. We've never seen those outside COG territory.'
'What do they do?' Qrow asked, glancing at the folded shapes.
'They're flying weapon platforms with some kind of shielding.'
'Seems they are pulling out all the stops for us.
They'd just passed the last of the machines and turned to the stairs when something caught Qrow's eye. The middle portion of the hold had a large rectangle marked out with black and yellow hazard markings. It was the words stencilled onto it that had drawn his attention: [Warning! Bomb Bay Doors! Keep Clear!]
'Oh shit,' He whispered, looking up at the racks above it. He'd thought those were some kind of fuel canisters. Half this thing was robots and the other half was bombs. Winter was right. What kind of rescue was this!
Reaching the top of the stairs they found an airlock and cycled through it to the crew space beyond. A small hallway led from the airlock to what must be the cockpit. Rooms split off each side. They passed them seeing one with a set of bunk beds, a small galley with folding chairs and a table and a toilet with a sink.
The cockpit was large. Rather than just a pair of seats for a pilot and co-pilot there was a set of stations set behind them. Each had a seat facing a bank of screens half of which showed the outside whilst the others flashed with: Sleep mode.
There was only one pilot in the cockpit, his hands moving over his controls and speaking to the ground controller. He turned and leaned over as they entered. That let them see the small rounded ears atop his head the flight helmet had been modified to protect.
'Welcome aboard Vulture 06. I'll be your pilot for this flight, call me Smokey. You'd better get seated. This is going to be interesting,' He said, giving a mock salute and pointing to the chairs at the back.
'You're not what I expected,' Qrow remarked, dropping into one seat and buckling in.
'What? You thought you'd get a DeeBee up here. Naa. Command is worried that jamming might come up again. Figured it was better to have some blood to go with the metal,' Smoky replied, turning back to his controls.
Winter sat down and adjusted her own straps, 'Time may be of the essence. I hope this thing can move with all this extra mass.'
'Don't you worry Ma'am Six can go as fast as he needs to,' Smokey said, reaching for the main throttle, 'Tower this is VB-06. Performing rapid jet assisted take off. Thanks for having us.'
He slammed the throttle forward. Qrow and Winter were pushed back into their seats as the four large turboprops and two jet engines went to maximum thrust. The craft tore down the runway like it had been kicked from behind.
About half way Smoky pulled back on the yoke and despite its sheer bulk the plane rose into the were on their way. Two questions remained stuck in Qrow's mind. Where were they going and would they get there intime?