As Vic and Yang patrolled, the blonde looked to the young man. She could tell he was out of it today, simply due to the blank stare he had as he swept around the place with his eyes. She probably couldn't understand the feelings the poor guy had for that girl. She'd only heard and seen nitpicked interactions between them, so the fact of the matter was simply her not really being aware. She narrowed her lips, then sighed and asked, "Hey, Vic?"
"Yeah?" He arched a brow at her. Okay, he was paying attention.
That made things a bit more awkward. Meant he must've seen her staring. Sighing and suppressing a blush, the girl inquired, "When did you meet the gang? Y'know, your troops." as they passed by the Library. She knew the answer to it. KFOR or something. She'd seen the video with the girls, but she was just trying to make convo, honestly. Get to know the guy she had a crush on a bit better and whatnot.
He hummed and chuckled fondly as he remembered, "KFOR. The NATO peacekeeping operation in the middle of a disputed hot-zone country in my neck of the woods, Eastern Europe. Serbians, our neighbors on the great big shithole that is the Balkan section of Europe, decided a while back to pull a bunch of things and NATO was asked to peacekeep the place after the wars in the '90s died down."
He saw Yang's head was metaphorically spinning. At that, he hummed and explained, "To go over the basics, NATO is a military alliance that involves a lot of nations from across the North Atlantic, which is an ocean separating our continent of Europe, among others, from a large pair of continents to the West known as the Americas. The leader of NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is the United States of America, the largest country on the North-American continent and also one of the biggest armies in the world."
"Oh," Yang nodded, slowly understanding.
"As for Eastern Europe, the territory I and a bunch of my friends, like Paul, come from, it has been, for well over a thousand years, some Empires' backyard. My country included," He then told Yang, watching as the girl started piecing things together. He nodded to her and said, "Only in the last hundred-twenty years did people finally get to form their own countries. And we all ferociously hold to every last scrap of land in those countries. Such was the case with Serbia here."
Yang nodded, smiling as she listened to him talk, "Serbia, formerly the Republic and even before that, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War 1, held a good chunk of land with a lot of coastline and mountains. A beautiful place I visited during my and my friends' tenure was Kosovo. Home to a lot of ethnic Muslim Turks, Islam being another religion that's similar to our own that I won't get into... And Serbs, who are ethnic Orthodox Christian Slavs, consider it their land."
"Oh..." Yang blinked, then realized, "Oooooh. So KFOR. Kosovo Force!" She smirked, then paused, "Wait, why Peacekeep it?"
He winced, "Do you have the concept of Genocide here, Yang?"
Yang blanked for a moment. The answer was probably a clear-cut yes. Vic didn't say anything, letting poor Yang figure it out. She seemed a bit horrified when the realization struck, for good reason, too. He sighed and said, "Yeah, without the Grimm, we do some pretty nasty things to each-other, eh?" as they walked. The paling blonde nodded, to which Vic switched the subject back to the main thing they were talking about, "Me and my friends met in KFOR... During 2019. It was a special year, because Russia and China, two of the biggest nations in the world and supposed rivals to the USA and NATO, decided to send their own troops to KFOR on a goodwill mission."
Yang hummed, "Huh. Thawing cold relations?"
"Heh, yeah. Best they could, anyway," The boy replied with a smirk, "You met Sam. She's Chinese. Samantha Lee. Lieutenant in the People's Liberation Army Navy Marines-"
Yang snorted, "Holy crap, that's a long name for an org!"
"We all said the same about those pompous Chink fucks," Vic chuckled, "She's our Team Lead, though. PLANM or not, Sam was always the Lieutenant of the team. She took care of us, made sure we weren't messing with each-other too much and, somehow, managed to instill a sense of camaraderie in the most eerily diverse and lunatic group belonging to the joint Project KFOR troop... She's a great friend," He then stated rather absentmindedly.
"Heh," Yang chuckled, "You care a lot about everyone, don't you?"
"They're the only family I really had," He replied with a melancholic smile. Right, Yang remembered that the poor guy was an orphan. He sighed and said, "I know it's probably not healthy, but I'd willingly go to hell and back for any of them. They're the brothers and sisters I never had, the people I basically grew up with, whether they like to believe it or not... And, honestly, I don't care if they feel the same."
"Going by the way Paul and the others acted when they saw you, man, I think they feel the same," Yang shot back with a smile. Vic didn't seem to want to believe it, but Yang patting him on the shoulder and telling him, "Y'know I'm right, man." to which he could only nod. Honestly, why deny the truth, Yang thought. He was a good friend for them and they were good friends to him in return. She hummed, smiling, then thought about asking it. She sighed and did, "Did you have any Russians in your team?"
"Yup," Vic nodded, his smile reappearing, "Three of them. Girls. Ayesha, Lita and..." His shoulders sagged and a glint of sadness glowed in his eyes, "Vesna..."
Yang frowned. No, he did still love her. Very much, from the looks of things. She asked, "How were they?" as they marched by the food court. She almost felt like she was digging her own grave, for some reason. Some part of her knew it'd be selfish to, but still wished that Vesna never really showed up. It was the stupid teenager mind crushing on a guy five years her senior probably.
"Where to even begin..." The boy rhetorically inquired, voice a murmur. He smiled as he remembered, "Lita was the hardass of the group and a Muscovite. A real piece of work, she was, heh. A Junior Sergeant like Vesna and Ayesha, though she was unusually uptight about rules and regulations. She and Sam got along like a house on fire because of that, though she'd always soften up when she was around Jim. You know Jimmy, our resident Latino."
"Yeah," Yang chuckled, "He's something."
"Man's after any pussy he can get," He snorted, then covered his mouth as Yang blushed. He ignored that and continued, "Point is, we all kinda figured Lita was really into him. All of us except for him, the dumbass he is. I think he's after Sam, so there's that. Ayesha was... Well, she was our resident Chechen who ditched Islam. I think she had a lot of trouble with her family because of it, too... God only knows why. She joined the Russian Army to escape from it. She and I were fighting for top honors in terms of swindling the PX... Heh, man, she had a sleight-of-hand that was something fierce."
The blonde snorted, then covered her mouth, "Oh, my."
"She and Hassan also hit it off. Similar hatred of their old religion and the idea that they'd be better off together, though Hass is a bit too much of a weapon system nut, knows every bolt on an Abrams if you'll ask him, but talking to women is out of his prerogative," The man laughed heartily, garnering one laugh out of Yang as well. He then sighed and smiled melancholically, "And, of course... Vesna. She was... I don't even know how to describe her."
"Try, I guess..." Yang rubbed the back of her neck as they walked. She felt like this was gonna be a goddamn gut punch, but it was better to know.
The two began to slow their trek, turning back toward the cottage as Vic explained, "Vesna Novikova... Junior Sergeant in the Russian Armed Forces and, well, the brightest bout of sunlight I've ever seen. She was always this peppy, heartfelt girl who loved helping others. When we first met, I swear to you, I thought the worst things possible about her and her friends. That they were your usually stuck-up Instagram type pretty girls who just joined the Army for the Internet points, or for something or other. Vesna especially struck me as that prissy princess type. Acts all nice, hasn't seen shit of the world..."
"Oh, boy, don't I know that type..." Yang murmured, thinking back to their early days with a certain white-haired Heiress. She had to admit, Weiss had gotten better with time. She was much less of a bitch than she had been to the team originally. Sure, there were still kinks being ironed out, but Weiss Schnee, Ice Queen and Heiress to the SDC was slowly opening up. Yang motioned to Vic to continue and the boy took the advice.
He smiled, stopping next to a fountain and looking at it, then spoke softly, "I was wrong. Especially about her. Norilsk was apparently a fairly shitty city to live in, even if she was middle-class. She'd seen some things, but she dearly loved her country because she lived the way she did with her family, in a sort of glass bubble. That just meant she had a genuine kind heart in there. Beautiful, with a heart to match, whenever I stayed by her side and we were on patrol together, we'd laugh or just... We would be cooking for the team from time to time when the company cooks allowed us... She'd always make a mistake and we'd laugh it off..."
He walked to the fountain with Yang slowly walking behind him, that melancholic smile still on his face, "She actually joined out of some silly sense of patriotism and thought she'd probably have a lot to deal with thanks to us NATO folks, but even with that in mind, she kept being that open girl, that warm light..." He fiddled with something in one of his pouches, an empty one. His voice became low, quiet as Yang approached, "She was amazing. Like a fucking unicorn, a beauty with a heart of gold..." and he absentmindedly whispered to himself, "I fell in love with her from the first day..."
Yang had heard that. She felt her heart sink. Vic stared down at his own reflection... He stared on, fingers wrapped tightly around what seemed to be a box in the pouch, the smile now replaced by that same tired look Yang had seen when they first recovered him, fury, loss of hope. He whispered to himself angrily, grip tightening around the box, "She didn't deserve to die like that... She should've been home with her goddamn family..." And he grit his teeth, biting back fury and tears, "I should've been there to save her... God damn it all to hell..."
Yang's lips became razor thin as she stared at the man, heart racing. She swallowed empty, walking up to his side and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey..." She spoke softly, causing him to turn toward her. He frowned and sighed, shaking his head, annoyed at himself due to his weakness, but Yang's grip on his shoulder tightened. She told him even as her heart hurt a bit, "If you're here, if your pals are here and dropping in, I'd like to think there's some chance she shows up, okay?"
"Right..." He sighed deeply, then let go of the pouch. He looked to Yang and offered a friendly smile, stating, "Thanks, Yang. Sorry for being a bummer there, but uh..." and turning back toward the fountain, to stare at himself. Scarred, older than he was when their little group began three years ago. Yang patted him on the back, smiling, too, but deep down, some feeling told her she had no chance...
A while later, Yang had returned to their dorm room, stating, "I'm home..." with half a mouth. She paused as she saw only Weiss within the room. The girl was studying, but looked up from her books. She was about to greet her team-mate, but paused upon seeing the sad smile on the blonde's face. Yang said, "Hey, Ice Queen..." with half a mouth. She pulled back a chair and sat herself down at a desk.
Weiss blinked, then stood up and said, "Hello, Yang... You okay? How was the patrol with Corporal Victor?"
"I'm alright, I guess... Patrol was cool," The blonde sighed, leaning onto the desk. Weiss wanted to give one of her usual dismissive responses, but she'd learned throughout the few months of her stay at Beacon that it was better to talk to your comrades. They listened to her when she voiced problems and she would, by extension, listen to them when the need arose. So, the white-haired girl walked up to and leaned her back against the desk, arms crossed to her chest.
"Yang," The heiress started, "I think it was you who told me that we ought to talk things through when we don't feel well. What happened?"
Yang looked up at Weiss and pursed her lips, then chuckled and sighed, "Guess I'm really obvious, eh?" before getting a nod from Weiss. She sighed and straightened up in her chair, looking at Weiss. She began, "I made the mistake of asking Vic about the Russian gals he and the others worked with. Y'know, Ayesha, Lita and... Well..." she hesitated, suddenly finding her knees far more easy to look at than Weiss's eyes, "Vesna."
Weiss frowned, "Oh. His old flame..."
"Man still fricking loves her," Yang sighed deeply, slumping in the chair, "I could see all of it, all his feelings just laid out bare in front of me."
The Heiress could only hum at that, listening to Yang vent, "Because, of course, the guy still loves her. Here he is, revived after dying a nasty death in the middle of a warzone just after finding her dead. His buddies are all coming back from the dead around him, his team is reforming in our little school and maybe there's some hope of her coming about. I couldn't find it in me to tell him that there wasn't, because that's just some selfish crap I believe because I have a crush on him, so I went on and comforted him, told him to wait... Uuuugh!" She covered her face and screamed, "Why are crushes so fucking annoying, I swear!"
Weiss smiled, then chuckled at Yang's antics. Yang arched a brow at Weiss, a bit offended, before Weiss waved it off and clarified, "It's rather sweet to see you so concerned over someone, Yang. I have to admit, I've... Never had a crush in my life..." then shrugged as the dumbfound blonde stared at her. She stated, "You've clearly got a kind hear in there, though, if you actually comforted the man."
Xiao-Long let out a sigh, then looked to Weiss, who chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, "Relax. Maybe you still have a chance, my dear, usually-irreverent blonde," before walking back to her bed and picking up her study materials. Yang blinked and was about to ask what the heck 'irreverent' meant, but she figured it was best not to. Weiss had a knack for backhanded compliments.
Instead, she just smiled and said, "Thanks, Weiss." before casting a sideways glance, "I guess..."
"No problem," The white-haired girl replied, "Now, c'mon. Professor Port's test is tomorrow and I'd rather not fail..."
Yang scrambled out of her chair, "Holy fuck! THERE'S A TEST!?" and she tripped. Thankfully, the blonde was well-balanced, managing to strut to the bunks in two long strides instead of flattening her nose on the floorboards. She walked up to and sat beside Weiss, all while Blake and Ruby walked in. The two girls greeted their friends with smiles and the four got to studying together...
... A while later, in the Misfits' Cottage, Sam got a ping on her Scroll. She hummed and opened it, then looked over the details. She licked her lips, grabbed her QBZ rifle and said, "Jim, Hassan, Paul, with me. Dushman, keep the house clean and tell Vic we went out. We've got a small job, ten-k Lien, so we'll only be tackling it with a smaller unit. Saila, you... Cook dinner, I guess...?"
Saila gave a thumbs up and Dushman groaned, "Boring, but roger that, El-Tee," and murmured to himself, "Always fuckin' get stuck babysitting..."
Sam smirked, "If you don't like it, you can take it up with your assigned officer," and slid her helmet, plate carrier and vest on, then checked her ammunition. Thankful she had enough, she watched Hassan and Jim hefting their XM5 rifles and shouldering them, each man donning their specific equipment. Paul, meanwhile, grabbed his scoped M249 and sidearm, leaving the FAMAS at home for today.
The group marched over toward the landing pad, sliding their balaclavas up to cover their faces fully. Night began to fall around them, so Sam fished through her pouches and pulled out a monocular device. She slid it onto the lock position on the front of her helmet, pulled it down and rolled it toward her eye, then turned it on. Hassan whistled and asked with the faintest hint of worry in his voice, "Chinese Military finally getting that good shit?"
"Been upgrading for a while for a near-peer confrontation with the US," Sammy replied absentmindedly. She nodded approvingly at the device's work, then looked at her upgraded QBZ's side rails and flicked on the IR Laser. A clean line went from the side of the gun's barrel to very far away, confirming that the IR Laser-Illuminator was, in fact, working properly with her NVG. She turned it and the monocular off and pulled it up onto her helmet. Looking back to Hassan and Jim, she could see the worries in their strides despite the balaclavas covering their masks. Body language. Jim's told enough. She told them calmly, "Don't worry. I and my sister would've deserted the first chance we got if it came to blows..."
"Good to know. Not exactly the only thing I'm worried about," Hassan replied with half a mouth, "The Chinese upgunning for a possible Peer-to-Peer war with us means they're planning to hit Taiwan soon..."
"And when they do, all of Asia goes up in flames," Chuckled Sammy, though she, too, was aware of the implications. The group arrived at the landing pad once more, boarding the drop-ship that was to take them forth. Once they sat themselves down, Sammy told him, "Stop spending so much time on r/NCD and you'll see we're a bit of a threat. That's coming from someone who viewed the PLA as weak when I first tagged in with intent to serve."
"Duly noted, ma'am," Jim quipped. He did a press-check of his pistol by pulling it out and slowly pulling the slide back. Giving a nod, the California-born Latino slid his pistol back into its holster. Following that, he press-checked his rifle, pulling the bolt back and looking at the chamber. Sam smiled, then looked over to Paul, watching their more professional member already poking his LMG out to the side and toward any possible target.
Sam hummed, then radioed the Pilot, "We're probably gonna be seeing attempted shootdowns. Keep your distance and shut off your lights. Let's go into that abandoned construction site stealthily." As she checked her own guns, she got an affirmative grunt from the pilot. The aircraft dived to lower altitude, near the rooftops. The pilot also shut down the ID lights of the vehicle.
"So, what's the job?" Paul asked.
"Same as prior:Kill every gangbanger on-site," Sam replied, then stood to her feet and added, "We've also got intel to gather, though. You fellas remember seeing the news about Dust robberies, right?" and she got nods from the entire team. She hummed and stated, "Turns out this place is a deal site for whoever's been arming the Fang. So, we've got intel to gather, targets and the likes. Hope you fellas packed enough mags, cuz we might meet a lot of resistance."
"Roger," The boys replied. They stood up as the aircraft approached the intended target. Sam thumbed the safety off her weapon and gave a quick motion of the hand to the pilot as the aircraft's engines adjusted and powered on. They felt the vehicle begin its slow-down, before several ropes deployed from the side. Clipping onto them, the four-person team descended via fast-rope onto a side road next to the site.
Paul lead the way with his LMG as the team switched from coms to hand motions. Taking cover, the group eyed the construction site for a tall building, presumably another factory, in the industrial zone. They crossed the street in a column, Paul and Sam in the front, while Hass and Jim brought up the rear, Hass peering through his IVAS's systems. He powered on the Thermals, while Jim flipped down his quad-NODs.
The group took cover by the fence. Paul looked to Sam for confirmation and the girl gave him a pat on the shoulder to confirm, before lifting her rifle and scanning the roads and other such targets. Paul, meanwhile, pulled out a pair of pliers for wire-cutting and got to work giving them a way in. Sam felt a tap on the shoulder from Hassan. He lifted five fingers twice, then made a 'round motion with two of his fingers and pointed at the tower.
Sam nodded. Ten targets in the skeleton of the building alone. Dozens more probably inside. Once Paul finished cutting the wire, the group pushed inside, night-vision on as they swept the place. They'd entered next to the workers' barracks, so they were partially shielded from the building if any of the hostiles had NVGs. Doubtful, considering the White Fang was a ragtag group of lunatics and terrorists with little-to-no outside support.
Paul noticed the first target immediately. He gave a quick motion of the hand toward a White Fang trooper talking to a guy in a suit. Sammy noted that there was a generator running farther in the back and motioned to Hassan to go take it out while the group prepared to wipe out the two bastards quickly. Hassan gave another series of hand signals, 'Counting twenty more, lower levels, all around us'.
'Take out objective, then engage at will', Sammy replied with her own hand signals. She drew her knife and waited. The flood-lights of the place died the moment Hassan and Jim each put two rounds into the generator. Sammy put her blade into the first man's throat as confusion spread throughout the ranks. Paul followed up with his own knife in the suited bastard's neck, before both of them drew their firearms and zeroed in on the first bastards.
Sammy ordered, "Fire at will..." In a whisper over the radio.
The M249's belt rang as 5,56 rounds spat out of the muzzle. Her own 5,8mm rifle barked in semi as she swept around, seeking targets. Meanwhile, the two Rangers' rifles coughed silently, bullets piercing the next ten men that came to see what the shooting was from. Sam lifted a balled fist and elbowed downward, before sweeping over beside Paul and engaging the targets on top of the building.
Her laser sight helped her zero in and kill the bastards around them. Automatic fire echoed from the top and from around them as the enemy, a combination of what looked to be Mafiosos from old movies and White Fang regular troops engaged them with assault weapons and pistols. Jim and Hassan joined up with the team, Jim covering the rear. He switched to automatic fire and opened up in two-shot bursts at the enemies hiding behind corrugated steel. The rounds pierced the cheap, thin cover easily.
The group moved up toward the building next. The two Rangers with their silenced rifles took the flanks, shooting at any other Fang or Mafia boy that appeared. Two rounds to the chest, one to the head for each. Jim removed the empty semi-transparent plastic magazine, slotted it into the empty mag pouch on the side of his vest, then pulled out another one and reloaded, all within the span of half-a-second. He lifted his rifle and put two rounds into the chest of another White Fang bastard that charged them with a sword.
"Keep an eye out. Top of the building's where our objective is," Sam reported as she looked over the briefing, "Laptop. We'll bag it and look at it back home, then deliver it to our client..."
"We checking client intel nowadays...?" Paul asked as he lifted his LMG. They approached a stairwell that he soon lit up as a pair of White Fang troopers came charging down. Both their bodies tumbled down the concrete stairs, cracks and snaps and pops of bones breaking filling the air. The corpses settled at the base of the stairwell, one on top of the other. The four-man squad pushed through, Sam now bringing up rearguard.
The Chinese lieutenant replied, "It's intel we need, too. After reading up on the White Fang's descent into madness, I fully intend on leaving these assholes in the dust. They're like ISIS Lite, after all..." as they marched. They ascended up the stairs, throwing grenades and clearing floors as they went. Thankfully, the enemy was spread fairly thin in the buildings, so it meant only one or two targets per floor.
"Copy that, ma'am," Jim replied, "Hey, Hass, you still got an M67?"
The Malaysian-American handed the fragmentation grenade to his fellow Ranger. The group took cover as they approached the rooftop, where the biggest concentration of enemies was. He primed the grenade, pulled the pin, let the handle go and counted. At three, he threw the frag and heard it blow. Sam made a punching motion twice and the team pushed through with Paul as pointman.
The boy was forced to duck under a sideswipe from a massive drill. A tall, buff White Fang female glared at him from behind a full-face mask. Her scale-covered muscles and neck bulged as she revved the repurposed drilling tool. Paul hefted his LMG and opened up on her, bursts of automatic fire striking her 'Aura'. They'd read up on that shit, too. A soul shield. They never figured they'd need it.
"Fuckery! She has Aura!" Paul stated as he stood to his feet and continued pelting the woman with automatic fire. It didn't seem to stop her, or even stagger her. She charged headlong toward the four-man team of armed personnel and forced them to scatter as she swung the running drill at them. Sam dodged and ducked under a swing, then gasped as the beastwoman thrust the weapon forward.
Sam yelped as the drill caught her shoulder. A gash appeared in her armor, sending her staggering back while the other two men focused fire on the Fanger. Jim swore to himself and said, "God damn, she moves fast! I can't get a good bead on her, man!" before receiving the butt of the weapon in his face. He doubled over and reloaded his rifle quickly, switching to full auto as the woman tried to kill him next.
Sam patched up her shoulder with a bandage and murmured, "Maybe we should awaken our Auras..." before standing up and firing at the WF Lieutenant. Hassan moved back as he fired his weapon, while the WF Lieutenant swung at him. One hit caught him across the chest and scraped against his body-armor, the diamond drillbit sparking against the plates.
He swore to himself in Malay, then ducked, rolled to the side and body-slammed the Fanger with his full weight. He then threw a punch and hit her square in the face, sending her staggering as he opened up into her back, rifle coughing, silencer glowing scarlet. He stopped firing, dropped the spent magazine and watched as Paul rammed head-first into the bitch next, his spine slightly compressing as he sent her doubling over.
Jim and Sammy followed up next, firing on full auto into the bitch, spent casings clanking onto the floor. The White Fang Lieutenant felt the impact of the rounds, her Aura flaring teal, a flow of energy around her body that began to flicker. She approached the edge of the building as it broke, with Sammy dropping an empty Magazine. She yelled out, "Fucking get off my roof, you crocodile dumb-dee-looking BITCH!" and delivering a round house clean to the back of the woman's head. A roaring scream filled the air as the Lieutenant went over, followed by a muffled thud-crack as she landed on the floor.
All four members of the Misfits looked over the edge at the corpse that still twitched, with Sam murmuring, "Ouch..." and rubbing her shoulder. She looked to her team and said, "I guess she took the quick way down..." and smirked. Paul and Hassan groaned, while Jim chuckled at the joke. Sam snickered as she turned around and walked up to the laptop, which lay on the floor next to where the Lieutenant had come from. She took a knee, popped it open and started reading the data. She gave an approving nod and tossed it to Paul, who caught it mid-flight.
"You okay, Sam? Shoulder looks bad..." Jim asked, worried, as the girl tapped a button to send for backup. She pulled her NVG up and her balaclava down, then smiled at Jim.
"I'll be alright, Jim. It's just a scratch," She replied, keeping the smile and causing Jimbo's heart to flutter. She hummed as she tugged on the bandage she wrapped around her shoulder, then thought for a moment and ordered, "Just a note, everyone. We're getting team RWBY, or someone, to awake our Auras. That was cutting it too close right there..." and she got several affirmative grunts.
Hass, however, mock-complained, "Aw, man, soul shields. My plates are doing just fine..." which garnered a few laughs out of the team just as the Bullhead arrived, stopping right next to the floor they were on. The team all jumped aboard, Paul patting Jim and Hass on the back. They all sat down together as Sammy motioned to the pilot to bring them back to Beacon. Back home.