Palagin sighed. He told them, "I'd have said it is hard to believe if I didn't see the scars in the eyes of the Chechen and the two Russian girls there... Whatever brought us back should really see itself going to hell, because I did not want to learn that my Motherland decided to do exactly the type of shit your people," And he pointed at an Ayesha who snorted as he continued, some muted anger boiling over in his voice, "Would do to civilians. I fought against the crap terrorists pulled in Beslan, saved the boys who were paying those animals back... Not invading a brother country and destroying our home in the process..."
"It is how it is, comrade," Nikolai shrugged, then sighed, "And don't blame junior sergeant Dudiyn for her people's woes. She gave us all a brief on the two Chechen Wars and... I'll be damned if I'm not glad we died earlier than that. Even the First Collapse might've been too much for some of the girls I'm serving with on board the BMP." And he looked over to the girls. Anya seemed the most calm out of them.
"So..." Palagin sighed and took a moment to look back to his crew, all of whom stood there, either disheartened or angry at the situation. He asked the team as he turned back to them, "With that bullshit in mind... What can we do? We have nothing beyond our helicopter and each-other..."
The entire group seemed to pause for a moment and consider these men's options. Ves was apparently very quick on the draw, stating, "We could use light infantry airlift capabilities. Provided you want to join a multinational PMC of the Dead, Comrade Palagin. The pay's good." and smiling kindly at the elderly pilot. He paused, thought for a moment, then looked to his men.
Vic whispered to Ves, "Smooth, honey," and pecked her on the cheek.
Ves giggled happily and leaned her head against Vic's shoulder like a schoolgirl with her first love, while Palagin, who noticed this as he turned, got a small smile on his face. He told them, "Damn, is that how good NATO relations are with Russians nowadays? Because that was a rather adorable sight to punctuate the otherwise crazy situation we all find ourselves in..." And the worlds made those who understood Russian chuckle.
"They're almost diabetes-inducing," Ayesha quipped, crossing her arms to her chest and grinning.
Palagin's crew gave nods of approval to him. He turned back to them, looking straight at Sam and said, "Well, if the pay's good, I think I and the boys can provide the airlift your troops need. Just gotta make sure we can get the replacement parts necessary for the old girl. That and the missiles for our pods." as he took a moment to regard Sam. The young Lieutenant smiled and gave a nod. He also told them in broken English, "And someone to teach how to speak this western language. Need understandings with eachother..." His accent making it a bit funnier than it should've.
"We can arrange that, comrade," Vic snorted, smiling. Palagin nodded, then watched as Sam pulled up the contracts for him and his crew on her Scroll Tablet. After a moment of widened eyes and mirthful awe at the technology, the men were told the salary they'd be getting as crew for the Bratishka and were given the contracts to sign. With little pause or regard, they signed.
"Well, with that in mind..." Sam sighed, "We'll need to be moving within a day at least to reach the Village that the Headmaster requested. Flying in the Bratishka should make this much easier for us, but I'll be taking a team with a light load. Bandits reported to be attacking the village are carrying light weaponry, too, so..." and she turned to Vic and Vesna, "You two are getting to work together on this one."
"Gotcha, boss..." Vic nodded. He watched Vesna tell Palagin and his men what they needed to know, then looked over to Paul and Katja, both of whom spoke to each-other about the new development. He smiled at them and, noting this, they smiled back, too. Vic then turned to Vesna and touched the fox ears on her head, gently petting her as he did so. She seemed in bliss the moment he put his hand on top of her head, her fox tail instinctively wrapping around him.
For some reason, everyone in the room, aside probably from Palagin and his crew, had forgotten or outright lost the plot where Vesna had these animal traits. Similarly, Sammy's wolf ears twitched, tail slightly wagging. And yes, two animal girls. Everyone in the room forgot about said traits, ironically enough. Palagin facepalmed and murmured in English, "Too old for this shit..." before showing his men to follow along. He yelled to Sam, "We'll be tending to Bratishka while we wait for deployment orders, comrade Lieutenant!"
"Understood," Sam nodded, then stood up. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, then said, "Hope Ruby's not killing herself making my rifle, not gonna lie..."
Ruby Rose was, in fact, 'killing herself' while making Samantha's rifle, however. Noticeable being the fact that Yang was coming over to talk to Sam. She knocked on the door, then paused as she saw a group of men walk out, before murmuring to herself, "Well, that's more peeps, I guess..." and entering the house. She waved and said, "Heya, everyone!"
"Oh, hey, Yang," Sam waved, "What's up?"
"Came to talk to ya. Ruby's been getting real busy working on the gun, but uh..." Yang chuckled awkwardly, "Girl might actually pass out in a mo, considering..."
Sam let out a sigh, then told Yang, "Go tell her she doesn't need to throw herself through hell just to finish it. I can sit out the op if need be, seeing as I trust my Sergeants and staff to actually do the work we're all paid to do..." to which the blonde simply gave a smile and put her hands together, bowing to Sam real quick. She looked over to Ves and Vic and gave them a wave, to which both waved back with smiles on their faces.
Yang then walked out, rubbing the back of her neck and murmuring to herself, "Man, speak of happy couples..." before pausing as she saw one of the young Soviet women who came with the BMP standing between the new arrivals and a trio of men from the whole Walkure corporation. She stepped in-between them as they yelled at each-other in their native languages, pushing the Walkure operative to the side and asking, "The hell's going on here, guys?!"
"None of your concern, local," Shot back the leader of the trio of men, glaring at Palagin.
"Tell her," Palagin shot back, his accent heavy, voice filled with anger. The officer glared back at him, while Yang extended her shotgun gauntlets with an audible click. He looked at her, then at Palagin, then back at her, seeing that she was scowling at him, then waved it off and puffed smoke in Yang's face, before ordering his men to leave. Yang grit her teeth, eyes glowing red for a moment as she was about to go after them for the sheer audacity of him blowing the smoke of his cig in her face, but Palagin's hand landed on her shoulder, staying her wrath. He spoke, "Not worth. Incident too likely... Spasibo."
Yang breathed a sigh, then looked up at him and smiled, "No problem, sir. Any Misfit's a friend of mine and my team's... And nobody's gonna mess with'em. Not even some jumped-up Atlesian Mercs with a chip on their shoulder," and she retracted Ember Celica into their bracelet form. She extended her gloved hand to the man and said, "I'm Yang, by the way. Hi, or... Privyet?" She then greeted with an almost awkward demeanor.
Palagin gave another quick nod and chuckled, then shook her hand, "Privyet, Yang. I'm Palagin. Sergey Palagin."
"Good to meet'cha and your boys, Sergey," She smiled again, then said, "I'm gonna be going. Team stuff."
"Okay. Do svidania, Golden Dragon," He nodded to her, then turned with his boys to leave. Yang chuckled and crossed her arms to her chest, then left for their dorms. So, not all Russians were assholes. She knew that much was obvious from Vesna, Ayesha and Lita's existence. As she strolled back to her dorm, she eyed two more Walkure security members, both of them young women who gave quick smiles and waves to Yang. She waved back to them.
Entering the dorms, she stopped and greeted, "Heya, Nora. What're... You...?" She paused as she saw the Ginger standing at one of the windows in the hallway, peering through a pair of military standard-issue binoculars. Nora turned toward her and showed her to check it out, which Yang did. Taking the binoculars in her hands, she looked at where Nora was pointing, to see a pair of Walkure personnel. One of them was the officer that Yang had just told off for messing with Sergey and his men.
They were talking to someone in a jet-black uniform, hidden in the shadows. She blinked, lowered the binoculars and told Nora, "Let's not get involved. I'll go let the Misfits know about this later, a'ight?"
"Sure..." Nora grinned, "This is starting to feel like a spy flick..."
"Oh, yeah," Yang snorted. She patted Nora on the shoulder and said, "We'll give you guys a proper intro to the Misfits tomorrow, just before they head off for their next job. See ya, Nora." And, at that, Nora gave a quick wave of the hand and walked back to the JNPR room. Yang entered theirs and found Ruby standing proudly, lifting a matte-black firearm with an anchor inscribed into the side of the receiver.
Ruby laughed heartily, the bags under her eyes noticeably large as she said, "Hahaha! I DID IT! And I even test-fired a full mag!"
"... Holy shit, sis," Yang murmured, while Blake giggled and Weiss rolled her eyes, smirking. Ruby showed Yang the complete rifle, Pic Rails and all, handing it to Yang to feel the weight of. She hummed, shouldered the weapon and pointed it at the floor, looking through the iron-sights while maintaining the standard gun rules of 'Don't put finger near trigger unless you intend to shoot'. She gave an approving nod and said, "Okay... Wow."
"I know, right?!" Ruby was giddy as heck, "Imma go get it to Sam, then I'll..." She slumped forward, "Collapse into bed..."
The blonde gave Ruby a pat on the head, then said, "Want me to take it over...?" which made Ruby glare at her. Obviously, the little Rose wanted herself to be the one to deliver the rifle to her proud new owner. Yang shrugged and said, "Forget I said anything..." before gently handing the weapon to the girl and giving her a hug. Ruby groaned, but hugged Yang back, before she dashed off, leaving a trail of petals behind her.
"I dread when the rest of the Misfits will request an upgrade..." Murmured Weiss... Both Yang and Blake paused at that, with Yang blinking rapidly and murmuring a short prayer for Ruby as she climbed into her own bed. Ruby pretty much opened the Pandora's Box of requests for weapons from the Misfits and she was gonna lie in it for her own benefit. Obviously, though, Rubes was probably getting money for this commission, so, not like it was for nothing. They knew the Misfits, the gang paid relatively well when it came to anything that involved themselves and their equipment...
... She just prayed they were gonna be alright, now. She knew they had a job coming up...
Next Day
Airspace Grid C40, overhead of the village of Mulberry
The Bratishka flew in, its rotorblades chopping through the air as it approached the Misfits' upcoming AO. Riding aboard was Sam at the front, next to the front door's machine gunner, Vesna, Ayesha and Lita beside her to the right, plus a pair of Walkure members. On the other side were Vic, Paul, Jim, Diana and a trio of Romanian riflemen, followed by the rear ramp gunner of the Mi-8.
Sam was jovial, checking over her new assault rifle with a smile as she made sure her sights were zeroed. She'd added an ACOG that Hassan had brought over as she gave them the briefing, yelling, "The Village of Mulberry, a major supplier of some highly-sought-after agricultural luxuries in Vale, has been coming under attack from bandits for the last week! According to the Chief's reports, the Bandits call themselves 'Scavs'! Ring a bell!?"
Vic nodded as his comrades from the Romanian platoon element showed their widened eyes. He told Sam, "Our platoon dealt with them before! If they're the same Scavs, which I wouldn't be surprised about, they're Russian civilians that decided to go a little feral when their homeland collapsed! They could be Skinheads, they could be Neo-Soviet supporters, or they could just be random morons with access to Saiga carbines, 9mm Semi-automatic pistols and Sub-guns, VPO semi-automatic AK rifles and hunting weapons!"
"Should be easy kills, then!" Commented Vesna as she checked her rifle.
Ayesha shook her head, "Not as easy as you'd think! Some of'em managed to steal actual armor and equipment off of retreating Russian forces! If it's our Scavs, then we're in for a slightly worse fight than you'd have with any random high-road bandit!" And she hefted her own AK off her back. Lita remained silent as the vehicle continued its advance, pulling back on the pump grip of her thermobaric launcher just enough to see if a shell was loaded. With an approving nod, she slammed it back into place and slung the weapon over her shoulder.
Jim, meanwhile, checked over his XM rifle, making sure the scope and rangefinder computer were powered, before elbowing Paul and offering him a cigarette. Paul shook his head and waved it off, stating, "I'm cutting myself off! Katja's here and I can't risk anything if I wanna stay by her side for as long as possible!" Which got both Victor and Vesna to beam.
"Whipped!" Diana laughed, however. Her comrades and the Walkure soldiers echoed the sentiment.
"Nah, just genuinely serious about quitting!" Paul smirked as he racked his Famas's charging handle. Diana gave an approving nod, then pulled her canteen off her belt and chugged two swigs, before capping it and sliding it back into its pouch. Palagin's face appeared in the round window of the door to the cockpit. He lifted his middle, ring and little fingers.
Sam called out, "Three mikes out!"
"How's the gun?!" Lita asked Sam as they prepared. Sam gave a thumbs up and a grin, her clear-cut approval, to which Li stated, "I should really get my shit together and start helping Ruby and Hassan! I feel like helping design us some new heavy weapons will give us a nice boon until we get any more reinforcements!" having chosen her words carefully. If Walkure knew NATO was coming, they might prepare or accelerate their plans, neither of which was good for either the Misfits, or the School and its inhabitants.
"Ruby's gonna appreciate it! I'd stake my pay for a month on it!" Sam called back, grinning. She stood up and knelt beside the door gunner, peering out. She saw they were flying fairly close to a cliff face, below them being a whole vineyard full of plants containing luscious, dark-colored grapes. She murmured, "A winery...?" as she finally felt the scent of fermenting grape juice, wafted up into the sky by some force. She snorted and looked back as a thought came to her, then gave voice to it, "Hey, Vic, Ves! We found the winery to buy the bottles for your wedding from!"
While Vesna blushed, Vic chuckled and raised his middle finger at the Lieutenant, who stuck her tongue out as the rest of the team laughed, including the gunners and the Walkure members. At least, they knew how to take a joke. Sam fed a round into the weapon's chamber as the Helicopter began its descent into the walls of the vineyard town. Clouds of dust were kicked up as the aircraft's rotors pushed to half-strength to allow it to gently glide in, only to touch down with a slightly tooth-rattling thunk.
Sam gave a thumbs up to Palagin and descended first through the door, before slamming her hand against the side of the helicopter twice. The group descended as they were lined up, with Sam's row of seats emptying first as the soldiers formed a perimeter, followed by Victor and the others coming out next and helping finish said perimeter. Sam walked up next to the window of the chopper, lifted a thumb and moved it upward twice. She then extended her index and did three circular motions with her hand, showing him to orbit around.
Palagin gave a nod and lifted off again, the rocket pods on the side glistening in the sun as the chopper's loud rotors grew ever quieter. The sound stabilized once the chopper got far enough away, while Sam turned to greet the incoming representative of the village. A young woman with glasses and a fairly royal-looking robe stepped up and greeted with an eerily heavy Italian accent, "Welcome to Mulberry. You must be the Private Military Contractors my father ordered."
"Indeed, ma'am," Sam nodded, then saluted and introduced herself, "I'm Lieutenant Samantha Lee, field commander for the Misfits." and then she motioned to the two Valkyries present, stating, "We're also here with a sister organization from Atlas under the guise of joint training," and she gave another quick once-over to her firearm. The woman looked over to the Valkyries.
The lead of the two Walkure said, "Group Valkyrie PMC. Corporal Baradin," giving a quick salute.
The woman nodded, "My name is Liza, eldest daughter of the Rosa family. If you'll follow me inside, please. My father awaits you..." before giving a quick smile to Sam.
Sam confirmed with a nod, a hint surprised, then rallied her team up. She looked to Diana, Ayesha and Lita and said, "Security checks. Watch the walls, make sure no Scavs try to kick in the door while we're chatting. Even with the split fare, we're getting a big payoff from this... More than enough to keep us supplied for at least another few months," words to which her Sergeants affirmed their commitment, taking Paul and Jim up for a security check.
The others either stuck outside, or, in Ves, Vic and Sam's case, entered the main mansion, a two-story building with a basement that was presumably the vineyard's main storage area for barrels of wine. The scent of said wine, a somewhat sweet, yet still alcoholic smell, permeated the halls. The place seemed eerily similar to what you'd see in a winery in Italy, including, but not limited to drawn portraits of the family members and previous heads-of-the-house.
Beautiful furniture, guards armed with some familiar-ass firearms and even pictures and images that resembled certain things that looked just familiar enough for the Misfits to want to ignore them as they walked in with the young daughter of the Auburn family. Entering the study, walls lined by bookshelves filled to the brim with both books and various trinkets greeted them, the two sources of light in the room being the window behind the main desk and the chandelier up above.
A man with wolf's ears and silver hair sat at the desk, looking over various Scroll screens and even the holographic screen of a laptop-like device. He wore a black suit with a red undershirt and black tie, a rose red as blood in his left breast pocket. A pair of scarlet eyes peered over the interlaced hands. He greeted his daughter with a kiss on the cheek and the young Wolf Faunus female whispered something to him. The two looked to Sam, who suddenly felt way out of her depth here, then the daughter smiled, her auburn eyes locked onto him. She crossed her arms to her chest and leaned against the bookshelf behind her father.
"Greetings," Spoke the father of the house as he stood to his feet slowly. He extended his hand and added, his voice smooth as butter, "I'm Michel Rosa. Patriarch of the Rosa famiglia. E un piacere conoscenti, Tenente Lee..." to which Sam stared at the hand for a moment. She gripped his hand and shook after a moment, then bowed her head respectfully.
"The pleasure is all mine, signiore Rosa..." She replied kindly, with just as much respect behind her words.
"I suddenly feel like I'm in a mob movie..." Murmured Vic, holding onto the strap of his LMG. Ves let out a short giggle. It was tense, but less than she'd have thought. Sam silently agreed with Victor on the matter of this being like a goddam Mob movie. She could actually hear the Godfather theme playing in the back of her head. A short chill shot up her spine as she saw Liza eyeing her.
"I see you're a Wolf like us," Commented Michel. He motioned to her and her comrades to take a seat on the couch ahead of the desk. Sam warily nodded, showing everyone to accept the seating and taking her place closest to the man. He told her, "Well, let's cut to the chase, then... Since we're here..." And he motioned to a servant to bring something, then continued, "These bandits, these 'Scavs', that have been assailing our city seem coordinated, if barely... Their leadership seems to know we provide a fairly substantial monetary boost to whatever their needs are, not to mention the loose bonus of an entire underground storage of the finest wine in Vale."
"And they're intending to take over because of it," Sam shrugged, "Simple as..."
"Quite," The man replied jovially as the servants brought actual wine and seemingly Italian dishes, like pizzas from various regions. He showed the Misfits to eat and drink at their own leisure, pouring himself and his daughter two chalices full of the stuff. She took hers with a quick thank you in clear-cut Italian, then took a step back and gingerly sipped from the drink, as did the father. He smiled broadly, then watched for the team's reactions as each drank.
Ves blinked and had to force herself to remove the alcoholic drink from her lips, murmuring, "Delicious..."
"Damn, that's good..." Vic snorted, looking at the red liquid swirling in his glass.
"Grazie, mi amici. It is our specialty, after all," The man spoke jovially as he took a bruschetta with garlic and cheese. He looked to Sam, watching for the young woman's reaction and saw the same satisfied look as from her comrades, before continuing, "We want to ask you how you intend to deal with these Scavs. We hear from many more neighboring villages that they, too, have fallen under attack from similar groups."
Sam hummed, then stated, "We intend to let them initiate a small assault. Our air support is orbiting over the village as we speak with a full payload of unguided rockets they can fire into the forest..." And took another sip of her wine glass. She told them, "Once we blunt the attack? We chase them into the forest and strike at their main camp... End the threat then and there. We'll be splitting into fireteams to do this job, tracking and pincering them as we move..."
"Sounds meraviglioso, hehe. When are we going?" A female voice spoke from behind the Misfits, sharp and excited. Michel and Lize both smiled, Michel himself standing up and walking to the woman as the group turned to see her. Messy silver hair and stains of blood on her clothes, wolf ears twitching happily, her eyes a burnished silver-yellow and a scar similar to Weiss's on her left eye, though hers was much older. Michel went to the beautiful woman and hugged her. She hugged back and said, "Buongiorno, mio amato. E mia amata Lize, come to mama."
Lize chuckled and said, "Si, mama," Only to walk up to her and hug her too. The gang noticed she was less dressed to impress and more for the kill, almost a huntress. A black jacket draped over her shoulders, a tube tank top, shorts and combat boots. She had two blades clipped to her back on some sort of magnetic-style lock like Ruby had, one of which had a seeming 'throwing' blade attached to it.
The woman, the seeming Matriarch of the house, spoke next, "And these must be the Misfits. Buongiorno, amici. Proficient killers are welcome all the time here."
"Buongiorno, signora Saluzzo-Rosa. A pleasure to meet the Matriarch of the Rosa famiglia as well," Sam greeted as she and her team stood up. She paused, while Vic and Vesna seemed to stare at the woman with a dumbfound look. Lize whispered something to her mother, who in turn grinned, baring sharp teeth that seemed almost custom-made, yet still looked normal enough at a glance.
Miss Saluzzo-Rosa chuckled at her Daughter's statements, then said to Sammy, "It seems mia amata figlia has an interest in you~..." Which caused both Vic and Vesna to stagger, the latter snorting so loud it almost sounded like a rifle's crack. Meanwhile, Sammy blushed and stared as Lize leaned her head on her mother's shoulder, staring at her with a soft smile...
Fuck...