A/N – Seems we've officially got a troll in the review section. That's a milestone for any form of media.

Our resident dweller seems to like using Guest reviews to cover up who they are. The most recent set asking why I deleted their last posts, which I detailed the reasons for in my prior A/N. And one now claiming to be a new person agreeing with them, having had the same technical issue who apparently only posted to agree with them, not you know to report the same original issue in the past.

As before I've replied to those who've chosen to engage with the story. One poster who I contacted apparently saw this story with far more reviews then I've seen it with. The most real ones being five before the troll showed up, now up to six with the most recent named one.

Whilst I'm fine with constructive reviews like spelling and plot hole spotting, people who've opted to keep posting misinformation about problems with the site just to get a hit out of "rocking the boat" are just taking up bandwidth that could be put to better use. But for now it seems I'll need to start checking the review section for more troll posts to keep it clean regularly. Ministry of Public Sanitation to the rescue.

'Blake… You're…' Yang started to babble, her usual bluster gone.

A round of "Er" or "Um" went around the table. But Blake was looking at Weiss. The white haired girl looked right back with wide eyes.

'I'm sorry,' Blake snapped before turning to run, someone tried to grab her hand. But she used her semblance leaving only a shadow as she sprinted out of the room.

Through bulkheads and along passageways she sprinted. Dodging, ducking and diving past any crew or androids she came across. She had no idea where she was going, just that it had to be better than back there.

After what felt like a marathon she came to a stop above deck looking out over the sea. Beside her some sort of multi barreled gun pointed out towards the horizon. For the first time in the last few minutes she took a long breath and exhaled.

It had been going so well. They'd all treated her like a friend and now they'd see her as a liar. Where was she mea-

'Blake!' Wiess called out from one side.

Snapping around she saw the heiress striding towards her with a frown on her face. Blake was about to make another run when she felt a wave of cold air on her back. Glancing over her shoulder a wall of ice now blocked the path behind her.

'You can't pass through walls are you going to go anyway? We're on a ship. Now stop running and explain what is going on.' Wiess said, folding her arms.
Blake took a few deep breaths, anger building before erupting, 'Tell you what! Isn't it obvious? I'm a faunus Wiess. Don't pretend that doesn't change how you see me.'
'It does change some things. And I should... Apologise for some of the things I've said. But you seem to be taking this out of all proportion.'

'Am I?' Blake said, clenching her fists.
'Yes. We're teammates Blake. Even if Yang is your partner we're both still part of team RWBY. The same team that just fought our way off an island controlled by a mad scientist. Who kidnaped us and made us fight an army of mutant Grimm. I'd say if you wanted to do some harm to me or anyone else you missed your best chance,' Weiss said, folding her arms.

'Those words might sound nice now. But if you knew what I was when we first met would you have even spoken to me?!' Blake said, shaking her head.
Weiss took a breath and then lowered her arms to her sides, 'No. But it wouldn't have been because you were a Faunus.'

'Wait… What?' Blake asked, trying to process that statement.
'You're Blake Belladonna. The Blake Belladonna. Daughter of the Chieftain of Menagerie and former leader of the White Fang, right?' Wiess said, holding up a hand.
'Well um… yes.'

Weiss sighed, 'Then if we'd have met and you have been honest from the start. I would have refused to speak with you. Because I would have spent the whole time wondering how my father arranged it.'
'Your father… What? Why would he do something like that?' Blake asked, shaking her head.
'Because that's what he did, for years in fact. Introduce me to the children of people he wanted to build connections with. Or in two cases suggest an arranged marriage whilst I was still fifteen. All done to help the "family" he'd say when mother confronted him.'

Blakes ears went flat against her head, 'That's… Horrible. But why would you think he would arrange for us to meet?'
'Oh he's been trying to get at Menagerie for years now. But every time he's tried your father refuses to let the SDC run the mines there. So what better way in his mind to try and work his way closer to your father then us meeting?' Weiss said with a solemn tone.
'I haven't spoken to my father in… quite a while.'

Wiess tilted her head, 'Hmm. I haven't spoken to mine either. But then he made me fight a modified Grimm just to attend Beacon. So it's more that I don't want to speak with him. And you?'
'I… Didn't leave on the best terms.' Blake admitted.
'Well it seems we've got that in common at least. Have you calmed down now?'

Blake sighed, 'Yes. But the othe-'
'The others are looking for you as well. We all are. You left before anyone could speak. Did you really expect such a bad reaction?' Wiess asked.
'Why wouldn't I? I lied to everyone. And you're a…' Blake felt the word catch in her throat.

'A Schnee,' Weiss said with a hint of venom.
'Yeah,' Blake admitted, looking down sadly.
'Do you know why I chose to go to Beacon?'
'No.'

'Because I want to be proud of my family name. It used to be a name known across Remnant. One considered a mark of quality and integrity. And my father has nearly single handedly ruined it,' Wiess said, banging her first on the handrail next to her, 'To the whole world I'm just another "Schnee". I'm not going to accept that. It's not who I want to be. So I'm going to get my licence, I'm going to show that I can lead the SDC better than my father and then I'm going to get the stain off my family name. And if I can kick that smug, clip-tie wearing snake out of my family first I'll drop him off the edge of Atlas.'

Blake let out a snort, 'I can think of more than a few people who would be happy to see you do that.'
Weiss coughed into her hand collecting herself, 'And what about you? You said you left home too. Why do you want to be a Huntress?'

Blake closed her eyes and let out a breath, 'I… I made mistakes trying to do something like that. Restoring my family's honour I mean. I thought I was making a difference and I was. Just… Not for the better. People got hurt, innocent people. And the people I thought I could trust told me it was necessary. Or even the right to hurt those people. For a while I accepted what they were saying. But then I realised just how much we'd become what we'd set out to stop. Just angry, scared or jaded people lashing out because we'd been hurt.'

'You joined the Fang then?' Weiss asked in an oddly understanding tone.
'Yes. I got trained and went on missions. To start with we were doing good. But then it just became about retaliating for any slight against the faunus. Looking back I can see how wrong it was. But in the moment,' Blake said, holding her head in her hands.
'In the moment it all seemed so right. Everyone was doing it and you wanted to be a part of the group? Just like how it was in Atlas. Anytime there was a kidnapping, bombing or anything bad happened people would blame the faunus. Even those who never did anything wrong were judged by their appearance and not as who they were. I'm sorry for the things I said before about the faunus. I guess part of my mind was still stuck in the past,' Weiss said her head lowered.

The two of them stood for a few moments looking out over the sea. A thought occurred to Blake.

'So do we need to worry about your sister? Will she tell your father about our meeting?' Blake asked.
Weiss let out a sharp laugh before covering her mouth, 'That won't be an issue. The only way Winter would want to be near father is if she's the one dropping him off Atlas. Now come on we should get back be-'
'BLAKE!' Ruby shouted from behind Weiss.

She leapt into the air shifting into a blur of petals as she barreled towards them. Blake tried to backpedal to avoid a collision. Weiss held out an arm like a falconer catching Ruby mid-air.

'Ooof,' Ruby grunted, reforming as she struck Weiss's arm.
'Ruby you can't just bar-' Wiess started.

The icewall behind Blake shattered revealing Yang standing at the ready. One fist still forward from the punch that must have broken the barrier. Her eyes took in the sight of her teammates before settling on Blake.

'Yang!' Blake shouted holding up and hand, 'I-'
'Blake!' Yang shouted, dropping her guard and running forward tackling Blake over. The two fell to the deck.
'Nora!' The red head's voice came from above as her head peeked down from the deck above.

'I got her!' Yang shouted as the two struggled for a moment.
'Yang!' Wiess snapped.
'What!?' The blond replied wrestling with Blake.

'We were just about to come back,' Wiess said, covering her face with one hand and Ruby's eyes with the other.
Yang stopped trying to pin Blake for a moment, 'Ohhh… Sorry. Figured you might uh… have needed a time out.'
'It's um… fine,' Blake replied, trying not to think anything inappropriate about the situation. This was just a misunderstanding. There was nothing at all to read into here.

'Oh come on. They were just getting to the good part,' Nora called from above.
'Nora,' Ren sighed as the rest of JNPR arrived alongside her.
'Everyone alright?' Phyrra asked with a look of concern before she noticed Blake and Yang's positions and politely looked aside.

'Oh please let me die,' Blake whispered.

After they'd managed to regroup properly, with Ren refusing to let Nora jump down to save time. They headed back to the food and sat down to eat. To start Blake was still a little withdrawn but as they ate and swapped their own memories of the day's events she felt more relaxed.

Soon enough though someone had to ask a question they'd been holding in. Thankfully it was Ruby. Blake knew she was never going to upset someone intentionally,

'So Blake,' Ruby asked tilting her head, 'Is the whole tuna thing like aaaa…'
Blake signed more amused than upset, 'No, it's not because I'm a cat faunus. I used to go fishing for tuna with my mom. She used to cook whatever we caught so the taste brings back better memories.'
'Ohhh. So it's like me and cookies?'
'I guess so in a way yeah.'

That brought on its own series of questions. What was it like in Menagerie? Did she need to use another shampoo on her ears? Most were just harmless rather than anything pointed.

'Just remember when we get back if Cardin gives you any trouble let us know,' Nora said before leaning over, 'If I borrow Ren's cloaking unit I can make it look like an accident when his legs break.'
Ren pulled her back to her seat, 'She's joking about the leg breaking and borrowing my cloaking unit. Though if you have some concerns you can come to us for help.
'Yes. We're not on the same team but that's no reason we can't help each other,' Pyhrra said with a smile.

There was a knock from one side of the room. Turning they saw Qrow leaning against the doorway. Winter stood behind him, her arms at her sides.

'Okay kids hope you don't need to go before we head back,' Qrow remarked looking at the stack of plates.
'Have they got us a ride out of here?' Yang asked cocking her head.
'Nothing on the ship. But apparently they're sending an airship to pick us up. Should be here in a few minutes so come on,' Qrow said waving for them to get up.

They all headed along to the hanger area at the rear. Even with the loss of four aircraft and the others out looking for the ship the place was busy. Technicians and engineers were moving about shouting to one another.

After being spotted by one of the senior personel they were herded onto a lift which took them up to the flight deck proper. As the platform came to a stop they looked out trying to spot the airship. It should be visible by now if it was a few minutes away.

'Anyone see it?' Yang asked, holding a hand up to her eyes.
'Nope. Are we sure they said the next few minutes?' Wiess asked, looking at Qrow.
'Yes. Thank you very much,' Qrow replied, squinting out over the sea.
'Oh! I see it! But wait… it's so tiny,' Ruby called pointing.

In the distance a faint speck appeared just above the water. A faintly odd white haze kept flicking into existence before vanishing around it. Some sort of reflection or effect of flying close to the water no doubt.

'It must be bigger close up. But its mile-' Qrow started to say before pausing. The speck had grown to a blob and was still growing, fast.

Within a few moments it was almost right on top of them. It snapped its nose off sharply to one side as a pair of wings folded forwards to help it slow. Ahead of it a wall of air rushed over them with an echoing boom. The craft looped around the ship bleeding off speed.

'What in the world?' Qrow muttered.
'A shockwave,' Winter uttered, 'Caused by supersonic travel.'
'You mean that thing goes faster than sound?'
'Yes. Now keep quiet,' Winter whispered, keeping her face natural.

The airship now at approach speed turned to come in sideways giving them a better look at it. In place of the last COG airships design this one had no windows, just a slit going around the outside of the front. A chin turret poked out from under the cockpit armed with a single gun.

Its body was much bulkier and the engines a size up compared to the smaller one from before. The wings slid back as it hovered over the deck going from straight out to streamlined like an arrowhead. A large sliding door was set into its body, a small hatch sat alongside it. As the large one opened they could see the arrangement was mirrored on the other side.

'You folks here for a lift?' The crewman shouted from the doorway.
'That's us, if you're heading to Vale?' Qrow shouted back.
'Sure thing orders are to drop you back at Beacon. Come on, the navy is already mad at us using their deck.'

They hustled abroad finding folding seats set facing each other. The door was closed over. Even as they buckled in, the craft lifted off and turned. The kids, barring the ones in full COG gear, were looking at the mix of markings and objects mounted around the compartment.

Qrow and Winter scanned around taking in the details. Much larger interior, seating for at eight likely more if passengers stood. The two smaller doors had gun turrets of their own sitting waiting to be deployed.

This wasn't strictly a transport that was clear. The pilots called back as they started to accelerate. The feeling of being pulled backwards as the craft built speed followed by the dull boom was disorientating.

Once it had abated, Qrow turned and looked out of a window set into the door. Below the ocean shot by like a set of rapids. The mainland was visible and getting clearer by the moment. This trip should have taken a lot longer yet the COG didn't seem to care about the dust they were-

But that was it wasn't it? They weren't using up their dust supply. They didn't need to worry about how much it cost to push a craft to these speeds and hold it there. To them the advantages must have outweighed the costs.

'This is awesome,' Ruby said as the kids peeked out of their own window.
'I didn't know there were Dragonflies stationed in Vale,' Nora muttered.
'There aren't,' Ren replied as the pilot warned they were about to start slowing down.

This time the feeling was being pulled towards the front of the craft. But thankfully it was brief as they settled once more. They were passing over Vale now heading towards Beacon. But they weren't the only foreign airship flying in the kingdom's skies.

A set of Atlisian airships were holding formation over the city. Flights of smaller craft flying between them and the ground. Qrow turned to Winter with a glare.

'Any ideas as to what they're doing here?' He asked.
'I'm guessing something to do with those,' She replied, her eyes staring off at something below.

Qrow tracked her gaze and cursed quietly. They were passing the COG airfield. There was the usual mix of craft parked around. But now there were some new arrivals.

Four of the COG airships were somewhat like the one they'd seen in the news. These ones however did nothing to hide their weapons. Rather than yachts these were more like gunboats. They alone would have been bad enough.

The craft three times their size parked in the centre of the others was downright terrifying. Its forward section had two large turrets on top that were a near match for the ones they'd seen on Aquanox. The barrel of a third poked out from the underside.

It had more of those smaller multi barreled guns placed across its hull and a large landing bay set to its rear. One with six more Dragonflies like the one there were riding in visible. The whole scene was like someone had plucked a set of ships from the sea and left them on display alongside the runway.

Off to one side was something else. It lacked the scale of the larger COG craft and in place of the laters blue painted hull this one was green. The shapes were also different, much less curved and more angular. In place of the COG multi barreled turrets this one had twin cannons studded about it. Stretched hexagonal panels covered its top and sides, some sort of hanger or hatches perhaps.

The outward lack of any large weapons did not make Qrow feel better about it being there. It was clearly military and was sitting alongside the COGs own ships. No doubt it was from the UIR and the fact they were so cosy made him worried.

'That's the Honor,' Jaune said as they passed over the landed craft, 'But what is it doing here?'
'And why is it sitting alongside a UIR airship?' Ren asked, confirming Qrow's suspicion.
'I'm sure we'll have the answer soon enough,' Qrow replied, wondering if they'd known about this beforehand.

Reaching Beacon they found a small crowd waiting, being held back by a cluster of soldiers in Atlas uniforms. Ironwood was there along with Glenda.

'Welcome back,' Glenda said nodding as they disembarked, 'Students please follow me we need to do after mission interviews.'

The kids shrugged and left with her. James gave a slight nod and led Qrow and Winter through the crowd. They headed for the express lift as they stepped inside Qrow and hit the button for one of the upper offices.

'Qrow what are yo-' Ironwood started as the lift started to move.

Winter coughed into her hand and held up the helmets they'd "borrowed" from the COG. Ironwood eyes flicked between them before he nodded. Qrow took the helmets and dropped them into a filing cabinet in an unclaimed office before locking it and returning with the key.

'Okay. What the hell is going on James?' Qrow hissed once the doors were closed.
'What does it look like? We're trying to contain the situation,' Ironwood replied, flexing and unflexing his hand for a moment.
'Really? Because not only does the COG have a little fleet here. But you've also brought your own. What part of that is containment?'
'I don't have to explain myself to you Qrow,' Ironwood said as the doors opened behind him.
'Perhaps not. But I would like to know why you thought it best to drop in yourself James,' Ozpin said from behind his desk.

They filed into the room. Qrow stood off to one side of the desk whilst Ironwood and Winter took the other. Ironwood reached into his pocket drawing out his scroll and placing it on the desk. A series of files appeared on the projector.

'The COG is on alert. So is the UIR. In the last few hours they've put their entire military in a state of readiness,' Ironwood announced standing hands behind his back.
'So? We found the kids. Tell them and let's get this all stood down,' Qrow replied waving his hand.
'We did and they've disagreed.'

'They what?' Qrow asked in shock.
'They've refused to stand down. Apparently finding out that Merlot was running what they called a "biological warfare" lab right under our noses has put them on edge,' Ozpin replied, sipping his coco.
'What's our plan of action?' Winter asked.

'We're going over Merlot's records again. With the hindsight that not everything missing might have been lost,' Ozpin replied, 'They're trying to get the Council to let them search Mountain Glenn. Merlot Industries had its headquarters there and they wanted to see if any clues might have been left behind.'

'That what explains their ships outside but what are you thinking Jimmy?' Qrow asked turning to Ironwood.
'I was trying to prevent the COG from marching in unopposed,' Ironwood replied, his gaze narrowing.
'Well that's great because now we've got the COG, Atlas and even the UIR all sitting on top of Vale. People are going to get worried as to what the hell all this is for. Can we just let them search the place so they'll leave? It's not like there's anything to find out there!'

'This is less fortunate then we'd hoped,' Adam said to the display before him.
'Yes. Having this much security around this early has complicated matters. It seems we'll have to delay the attack for now,' Cinder replied, her image cracking slightly.
'Fine. I'll see that we're prepared but once we stand down it might take some time to get ready for the attack again. Don't expect us to be ready at the drop of a hat.'

Cinder simply gave that smug smile and ended the call. Adam sighed and held the side of his head for a moment, another migraine was starting. He'd never had this much trouble before, was it something to do with the tunnels? Or was it just the pressure of events sinking in?

Ever since his last discussion with her, Sienna had been trying to put pressure on them. Cuts to their funds. A hold on any members transferring to join them. Constant requests for details and updates.

It had reached the point Judith had headed back to Anima to try and drum up more backing. They were trying to make up their numbers with new recruits from Vale. He'd ordered Ilia to head to Menagre and ask the Fablian brothers for some of their people. Hopefully that would make up for the shortfall.

Not that having a pile of lien and new blood would help the recent dissertations. There were up to twelve missing now. None had objected any more than the rest had with their current plan.

They just went out on patrol or supply runs and never reported in. Not here at the main camp in the railyard or at one of the tunnel entrances to the surface. It was like they'd just disappeared.

Some part of his mind throbbed as he thought about the missing. Once again the idea of ordering them to be punished if they were found arose. He groaned and pulled off his mask for a moment massaging his temples.

That was pointless. If they were gone then they'd either fled or been caught by Grimm. In either case giving an order to chase down people who'd lost the will to fight would just risk undermining his position.

Adam sighed and re-donned his mask before he left the command tent. As strange as it was setting up a tent inside a cavern it did help with privacy. Looking out over their forward base he saw things were going well.

Torchwick, despite any misgivings, had proven quite useful. He was getting them container loads of dust along with anything else they needed. Parts, food and other supplies, some bought some stolen.

Right now he was assisting with overhauling the trains they'd need to blow the tunnels. By assisting of course he was standing on a crate shouting orders. Not that he'd refuse to do anything if he thought he could do it better.

Behind the workshop two of the Paladins were moving more cargo around. Which was good practice for when they were put to use. How Judith's backer had managed to net those was something Adam had tried to ask about a number of times. Each time he thought about it though he remembered it was less important compared to the weapons themselves.

Soon Beacon would know what it was like to be hurt. The whole of Vale would learn that the faunus were not weak. Forge was walking over the chainsaw on his back poking over his shoulder.

'Signal still messed up?' Forge asked, nodding to the tent.
'Yes. But I don't want to send anyone to check it out. Not without a good reason,' Adam replied looking over the camp. An odd feeling of being watched made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
'I know what you mean. Still things are going well. Bombs are ready and with the humans' help we've almost got the train ready. Vale has no idea what's about to hit it.'
'No. No they don't.'