It was by no means a quiet extraction, as it seemed the entire world had turned to chaos within mere moments of the convoy being hijacked. Avian Grimm swarmed all around, accompanied by those Grimm handlers, some of them faunas flying with their wings, others taking potshots from bullhead transports. All of them were a threat to their way of life, so the Commandos spared no quarter to any party that happened to drift into their crosshairs. Their objective now was just linking up with the convoy they'd hijacked and hightail it over to the staging ground, stave off the assault there.
It was a task easier said than done, and the MRAP's armor could only shrug off so much damage, even if they were currently only being shot at with small arms. So with that in mind, Midnight gunned it down the dirt path, gas pedal fully depressed as he focused on the road and reuniting with his comrades driving the convoy back to where everyone else was, dodging everything his armor couldn't smash through or shrug off with lightning reflexes. It was a bumpy ride, to be sure, but even at top speed, they weren't quite going fast enough for his liking. He would've preferred to use a TX-130 for a situation such as this one, but he stubbornly made do, actively searching for any short-cuts they could take to faster reunite with his comrades.
"Dad, there's a cliff up ahead on our left, if we jump it, we can get on the main road back to Alexandria without having to take any roundabout paths to get to the others!" Ruby yelled over all the noise, drawing Midnight's eyes for a moment as he identified a map in her hands. He'd pointed out where they were earlier and gave her a brief crash course on how to read a map, but didn't expect her to use that knowledge so soon, nor retain it so efficiently. It drew a small smirk that only lasted half a second, but he was proud of her nonetheless.
"Close the doors, we're about to make a jump!" Midnight yelled back towards the Commandos with an immediate response as they pulled the mechanical door back up, and their topside brother unlocked and brought down his hatch, relocking it in the downed position. Only three seconds later did he find the opening, honing in his focus as he veered towards it. The noise of trees splintering as they crashed through them was drowned up by the whirring roar of the engine as Midnight pushed the MRAP to it's absolute limit, hitting the cliff at top speed. For about six seconds they felt weightless, the commandos floating a bit in the air and both himself and Ruby in their seats, before a deafening crash echoed beneath them, throwing them all back down with a heavy THUD!
Not needing any moment to recover, Midnight had kept his foot on the gas, and as soon as they were down, they were speeding off again towards Alexandria, with everyone else in the cabin taking a few seconds to regain their bearings and get back up. In Ruby's case it seemed that the force of the impact had knocked her out, drawing some worry from her adoptive father but no action as of yet. Normally, she would've taken priority, but they had enemies on their asses at that very moment, so his unconscious daughter would have to take a number until they were safe again.
The sound of the doors opening again followed by immediate blaster fire clued him in to his brothers resuming their previous action regardless of the impact, allowing him to keep his focus on the road. Under no circumstances could they be allowed to stop now, and if it meant keeping the child and his brothers alive, there wasn't a single thing in the Galaxy he wouldn't ram straight through...
"Get the Foundlings on the Yachts and get them out of here, now! Kat, Gina, Yoko, we've got enemy foot soldiers and Grimm alphas approaching from our Northwest, take em out. Lass, we've got-"
"TANK IDENTIFIED, RANGE 2400 METERS!" His gunner interrupted, calling his attention over to the new threat. Sure enough, through the foliage, there were armored assets on approach. At least a company's worth of tanks with IFVs backing them up, also a company's worth.
"UP!" The loader roared as he pulled the lever to the upright position, arming the gun and allowing the gunner to fire.
"Fire and adjust." Rylanor returned, giving his gunner the OK to fire upon them without any further notice.
"ON THE WAY!" Within a split second, the Breech Block slammed back with a mighty BOOM!, a cloud of smoke blasting forth from the barrel behind the sabot they'd launched. Thanks to their new and improved ammunition they'd afforded with the funds allocated to them, the smoke was somewhat minimal, allowing them to clearly see as their target went up in a ball of flames, its turret popping off and gaining some impressive air time before it slammed back down upon the ground beside the burning wreck of its hull.
"Neko, fire at will. Prioritize enemy tanks and other vehicular assets before moving onto smaller targets. Snyder, listen to her and keep up with loading the gun. Santos, keep up with the berm drills, last thing we want is to get schwacked here of all places. I'll see about the status of reinforcements." He addressed his whole crew, before turning his eyes back towards the control panel and tapping away at a few buttons, eventually touching a finger back to the side of his helmet and getting back on the net to stay informed and communicate. "This is Casus, we're getting swarmed on all sides save the ocean from foot mobiles AND enemy armor over here! What's the status on reinforcements?!."
"Marcus to Casus, the convoy is inbound, ETA 7 minutes. We're under fire on all flanks, no casualties yet." Rylanor swore under his breath at the estimated time to arrival. With how much enemy armor was inbound, they might've not even had two minutes left before they'd be overwhelmed.
"Midnight to Casus, we're ahead of the convoy but don't have the firepower to help with the enemy armor. I've called in air support, they're on the net, mark targets and they'll engage. ETA 50 seconds." He had to do a double take when Midnight mentioned air support, especially since he didn't think they had any in the first place. He knew about the influx of clones, but he wasn't yet tracking aerial assets... nevertheless, whatever they were, they'd have to be carrying some big blasters if they were gonna pull them out of this fight.
"Bailey to Rylanor, we're in the skies and inbound on your location. Use your rifle's laser designator and me and my boys will begin our bombing run." The voice coming over the net was similar to Midnight's own, but sounded just different enough to differentiate. Still, if they were bringing bombers, then he was all for the support. Anything to shake up the battlefield at this point.
"Rylanor to Bailey, hear you Lima Charlie, over." With nothing else needed, he reached down beside his seat and pulled up his disruptor rifle, popping open his hatch a moment later with his free hand so he could get a look at the battlefield through something other than periscopes or a thermal imaging viewer. In any other scenario, he doubted he would've been able to see a damn thing through all the smoke and dust. The return fire was intense, and even if inaccurate, it kicked up a veritable storm of dirt and stone into the air, making seeing anything difficult... at least without his new helmet. With it, seeing through the downpour of debris was no difficult task.
Aligning his rifle with the approaching enemy armor, he turned on his laser designator and kept the laser on the tank in the middle of the formation where the most enemy assets were piled up. For a moment, he grimaced as he couldn't hear much of anything over the booming roar of battle all around him, but steeled his resolve as he kept his laser on target. The fate of the battle now rested on their air support coming in clutch, and his ability to keep their bombing run on target.
It felt like hours, but the steadily rising roar of unrecognized engines reached his ears, until eventually, he could see their approach through the ash and smoke. Four Y-shaped aircraft screaming through the air, barely even a hundred meters above the canopy, brought a wicked grin to his face as twin blaster cannons opened up from each bomber before they began to level out their hulls. Just off the mark, the bombers let loose their payloads, allowing gravity and momentum to guide their ordinance onto target.
To say the effects were devastating would've been the understatement of the millennia, as even his and the other Mandos cheers were drowned out by the cascading roar of rippling explosions that sent hundreds of foes into the afterlife, and decimated the enemy armor column. He didn't let the devastation they'd wrought distract him though, as he immediately took up a scan and looked for any more targets while getting back on the net.
"Good hits Bailey, good hits. Enemy armored column took a pounding, marking next targets." He began leveling out his rifle again, before watching two more aircraft swing around, carrying under their bodies a sort of six-legged machine. Not too far from his own tank, the drop ships aligned their walkers on line with his own tank, set the massive steel beasts down, detached and flew away without a hitch, allowing the walkers to swing their guns over the front. A grin began to form under his mask as he watched a man in armor similar the the Mand'alor's own climb up from the cabin of the walker and pull himself up into the gun and immediately start firing on the enemy.
Along side the blasts of two mass driver cannons, the four guns on the front of each walker let rip into the enemy's ranks, raking them with a violent cacophony of blasts. His grin only deepened as a sort of ramp dropped from beneath the rear end of the walkers, each departing onto the battlefield ten ARC Troopers carrying a wide assortment of weapons, some of them familiar but others he'd never before seen. Rotary Blaster Cannons, shorter carbines, two types of shoulder-mounter launchers, one slim and sleek and the other bulkier, more rounded, and another strange scoped blaster with a mid-length barrel, short grip and some sort of circular thing he couldn't identify in front of the trigger.
Whatever these new weapons were, they swiftly proved themselves to be utterly devastating on the field as they made short work of whatever their users leveled them upon. Chuckling slightly, Rylanor ducked back down into his tank and returned his eyes back to his commander's console. There was time to be gawking when there was still a battle to be won, and he wasn't keen to let these new ARC troopers show him and his crew up... though even he'd concede to being completely unable to match something like those walkers barreling ahead of him...
It was practically within spitting distance of the staging grounds when a sudden force gripped his MRAP, halting it dead in its tracks in a mere second and holding the vehicle in place. Midnight growled under his breath as even though he could see the rally point and was giving it as much gas as he could, all he was doing was flinging dirt backwards. His eyes widened somewhat as a sort of purple glow surrounded him, lifting him up, slamming him against his door before flinging him up and out of the top hatch. Even somewhat disoriented from the impacts, the Mand'alor realigned himself in midair, drawing his blade from the saya and using a burst from his boots to slow his descent just before his landing, dropping to a knee as he hit the floor.
Whipping his head upright, Midnight narrowed his eyes on an approaching figure, black and white like the Grimm, but unlike any he'd seen before, and evidently more powerful, if his semblance kicking in brighter and more powerful than ever before was any indication. This one was unmistakably feminine in posture and appearance, even wearing a void black dress with crimson lining and sporting long white hair. Her eyes were a deeper shade of red than the normal Grimm beast's, and it's figure was easily human. The figure held a single hand up, glowing a similar shade of black and purple as that which had enveloped him when he got dragged out of his vic.
A he made out a slight smirk as the figure stepped completely out of the shadows, releasing her closed fist and with it the grip she'd held on the MRAP behind him. Without him at the helm, or his foot on the gas, the vehicle shot forward a few meters at a rapid speed, before eventually slowing down to a crawl as it was carried along the road. A low chuckle brought his attention away from his vehicle, and back to the Grimm woman that had evidently been the cause of the hold-up, noting her to be sauntering his way with a certain swagger. As she approached, his semblance only boosted again, this time enveloping him in what appeared to be actual fire, blue as his plasma and bursting forth from his visor like rays from a blue sun. With just how much it was empowering him now, he had to wonder, could this opponent even be stronger than Ouroboros?
"So you're the warrior who's given my forces so much trouble. What should've been an easy victory for me, you've prolonged longer than most any siege I've ever committed to." She spoke, stepping forth into the sunlight and forming a pitch black ball of energy lined in a purple glow in an open hand, smaller orbs of similar description bleeding off from the sphere. Not wasting time with any words, Midnight whipped his disruptor up and fired upon the figure, striking her in the chest and completely disintegrating her in an instant. However, he kept his guard up as his semblance hadn't stood down, and the orb not dissipated. A mere moment later, his patience was rewarded as her body was reformed before his very eyes with a sickening sound from her pulling herself back together. "Ah, so that is how it feels to be disintegrated. How very interesting..."
"What the..?" Midnight muttered in confusion. This was certainly a first for him, and notably stranger than how the demons had absorbed his disruptor shots, but it only made him cross off one more weapon from the list of those he could use. Not wasting any more time, he kicked off to meet this wicked lady in close combat, sword blazing bright as a star in his hands. And yet, it seemed as if the figure was more amused by his attack than anything else, allowing him to slash through her without any attempt to dodge or block. A clean cut and a splatter of black across the ground as he cleanly bisected her across the waist, the two ends burning a bright blue as he passed on her right, deftly ducking under a blast of energy that arched like a burst of lightning and detonated upon impact with the ground. Eyes narrowing, Midnight threw himself to his right and rolled over his shoulder, narrowly dodging a wide slash of black energy as the lady's upper body snapped around to track him, the lingering flames he'd left behind on her snuffing out as her body snapped back together.
As he came up from his roll, he blasted her legs with a cryoban grenade, locking her into place before launching himself up and over another burst of energy, over her head as he belched flames from his launcher into her face and igniting her entire body in a blue inferno. Landing in a crouch, he swept his blade around in a close arch as he sprung upright, deflecting another bolt of energy away from himself before blasting forward and slashing diagonally, this time coming through on her left side as he split her in two from shoulder to waist. Throwing himself into a dive as he spun around to face her, he launched a thermal detonator into her body just before it could stitch itself back together, lodging it inside of her before it detonated and splattered her across maybe a dozen or so meters while he rolled over his shoulder and back to his feet, halting in a crouch as he swept his blade off to the side, casting away the couple pieces of black goop that had stuck to it.
And yet, all that black substance merely slinked back together, reforming her body again, this time with a much more amused smirk adorning her face as it came back together. Cautiously, he flourished his blade into a defensive stance and began edging around their battlegrounds about 5 meters away from his opponent, biding his time and waiting for her to make the next move.
"Most impressive, even if futile. I believe I'm getting a better picture of why all those I've sent for the girl have failed, now." The figure spoke, before snapping her fingers and swinging her arms out to the sides, hands open and palms to the sky as a raging torrent of black winds formed beneath her, carrying her up into the air as two more black and purple orbs formed within each hand. Despite the overt show of power, Midnight registered the sigils forming on his flanks, above and below him, and had enough sense to relocate before they could execute their purposes.
His intuition proved him right, as the moment he lunged out of the way, half a dozen black arms with white claws at the end of half-formed hands and limbs swiped at where he stood from the sigil formed under him, and several dozen more chased him in his movement from those formed at his flanks. Dashing back and bounding high into the air with assistance from his thruster boots, Midnight unleashed his left gauntlet's retractable blade and wielded his katana in one hand, using the two blades to slash and bat away any of the Grimm arms that dared to close the distance. Whipping his head back to the Grimm woman, Midnight burst again with his left thruster, putting a spin on himself to just narrowly dodged a blast of energy before deflecting a second to the ground with a heavy downward strike of his gauntlet blade.
Landing without a hitch, Midnight broke off into a sprint along the outskirts of the battlefield, blade held to the side as he aligned his disruptor with his foe. It was clear he couldn't kill this opponent through normal means now, all his weapons did little more than stall defeat... still, he knew well enough that an opponent didn't need to be killed to be defeated. Dropping a shot into his target and disintegrating them in an instant, Midnight dug his feet into the ground at an angle, prompting a short halt as he took the momentary break in battle the disintegration merited him.
He knew now he could deflect her magic away from himself, now he just needed to exploit that. None of his own attacks had worked, but maybe her own attacks would have some more noticeable effect. So, holding his blade ahead of himself with wide, staggered foot placement, Midnight leveled out his breathing and honed his focus in on his opponent.
"Read their next moves. A slight twitch of a muscle, alignment of the eyes and facial expression give, dead giveaways to learn what they'll do before they do it." He thought methodically, relaxing his shoulders and releasing a slow breath as he keyed in every sense he could muster, unconsciously reaching out with his aura for a more precise reading while his semblance already augmented his everything. Finally, at the apex of his breath, he kicked off in a lightning-fast flurry of strikes.
Despite the oncoming energy bolts from every direction, it felt as if his body was moving automatically in response, a swift burst up into the air accompanied by both the rapid realignment of his body, spinning around any blasts he couldn't strike and deflecting any others away in tight arcs from the blade. At the end of his movement, as he came back to ground in a crouch, deflecting and dodging bolts from all 360 degrees, a final vertical slash reflected a bolt right back to sender, nailing the Grimm lady in the face and causing her to visibly recoil.
The feeling that washed over him while he executed this action was... bizarre, but had allowed his mind a moment of almost crystalline clarity, as if all distractions had been cleared off the table. It was only a momentary sensation, but it had run its course and gone away by the time he was rising from his last strike. Still, his brow only furrowed further as her upper body snapped back upright, an almost dumbfounded expression replacing the previous amusement.
"I was not expecting that... how marvelous!" She laughed for a moment, clapping her hands as she swaggered off to the side, not even a hint of hostility in her posture as she turned to face him directly again after having given him her shoulder for a few moments. Smirking as she looked at him over her shoulder, she turned fully and sauntered up to him, an expression of intrigue and interest replacing what used to be amusement and certainty. "Your assault on Atlas, and your Lieutenant's battle with Qrow tell me well enough that you aren't with Ozpin..."
"You say that name as if I should know who you're talking about." Midnight returned, flourishing his blade and dropping into a ready but neither defensive or offensive stance, holding his blade in a single hand. It earned an audible chuckle from the Grimm lady, as she raised a hand and caressed the left tube of his helmet for a moment, her smirk deepening as he remained unflinching before her presence.
"Independent, and fiercely defiant, too. I like that." With a clack of her heels, she removed her hand from his mask and turned her back to him, sauntering off back towards the darkness in the woods. "Keep the girl, so long as she does not end up another pawn of Ozpin's I have no reason to hunt her... a word of warning though, Mand'alor. If he learns the child is in fact alive, his hunt for you and her will be far more intense."
His expression hardened at the declaration, but he didn't say a word as she seemingly assimilated into the shadows, the darkness she vanished into clearing up a moment later to reveal all of nothing. Not a single trace of the woman left behind. It was of course somewhat unnerving, but he didn't bother to question it any further, simply turning his focus back towards the MRAP that by now was maybe a hundred meters from the rallying zone.
He wasn't convinced that the pursuit would come to a close, however. Not with this many enemies still bearing down upon them. So, taking up a sprint to catch up with his ride, he cut a bloody path through cultists and Grimm alike as he caught up to his adoptive daughter and brothers, the latter of which had put the truck in park and disembarked to form a perimeter. A swift nod to his brothers, and he piled back into his MRAP, smiling as he saw Ruby had regained consciousness and was occasionally blasting cultists from the top hatch with her disruptor.
A quick honk was all he needed to tell his brothers what was going on. With how their position was getting swarmed, they'd have to shoot their way out in a steady advance to friendly lines, wherein he could see Marcus and the others had already arrived during his brief battle with the Grimm lady. Suited him just fine, just meant that the staging grounds would be that much more secure with all the newly arrived firepower. So, without any hesitation to impede his or his brothers' strides, they made their fighting retreat to the rallying point...
Within mere minutes, Midnight had rejoined his clan at the staging grounds and ensured that the perimeter had been properly secured. The foundlings were all mostly safe, and their non-combat personnel had already begun loading up the vics with all equipment and supplies, clearing up him and his warriors to press a counterattack. It was an exhilarating feeling, truth be told, finally seizing the offensive after so long on the run. With such an overt display of force, Midnight and his Remnant Mando'ade were more committed than ever to dealing out a decisive, crippling blow to these lunatics once and for all. Though their leader had left, the mob still presented an issue... however, he had aerial supremacy, as well as superior armor, troops, weapons and tactics... and he didn't to waste a single asset in slaughtering the enemy now. It was a battlefield now, a familiar environment that he was more than comfortable enough to take charge of.
"Fall into established ten man fireteams and begin a rotating assault patterns of 60 second engagements around the northern and southern flanks of the hostile presence. Rancor, Basilisk and Krayt fireteams will take the southern flank along the coast, while Arc, Dragon and Gladius take North. The newly formed "Shield" group composed of the newly arrived ARC Troopers, the AT-TE walkers and Rylanor will maintain a defensive perimeter at the staging grounds while all non-combat personnel load up supplies and equipment onto our new fleet of vehicles. Any leftover combat personnel will fall in to Shield and act as a reserve force should any assaulting fireteams suffer casualties." Midnight ordered as he got on the net, finally in a position safe enough to direct the flow of the battlefield. Thanks to the ARC-170s in the skies escorting their bombers (that had initially followed just behind them during their first bombing run), their advanced sensors allowed them to pick up an accurate reading of the terrain and enemy presence, granting him a constantly updating holomap of the whole battlefield with both enemy and friendly forces identified to include approximate locations within an 8-digit grid in terms of precision.
In total, it was his force of around a hundred Mandalorians versus about a brigade sized element of foes overall, after factoring in the Grimm. Normally, such a massive difference in personnel would've been a death sentence, but he was confident his clan could effectively crush these worms without too much trouble, especially with their air support laying waste to any and all armor and mechanical elements the enemy was revealing. Even artillery in the form of mortars, field guns and howitzers were being ruthlessly massacred by the guns in the sky.
Initially he thought that larger avian Grimm such as the Nevermore or Griffon might prove a hazard for his fighters and bombers, but the ARC-170s were simply too fast and nimble for the Grimm to keep up with, and the bombardment of feathers the Nevermores tried to rain upon bombers from a distance did nothing against their armor. As long as the 170 pilots kept up with their job, they basically had t a single thing to worry about in the aerial war, which cleared the bombers up to further support the ground battle.
"Marcus, take Gladius team and begin your first rotation across the Northern flank. Davian, lead Rancor team in the first rotation across the Southern flank. Krayt and Dragon are second in the chute on your respective flanks, Basilisk and Arc last." He finished, crossing his arms as he observed the image of the battlefield and noted enemy positions and movements. He quietly pointed out everything there was to know about making heads or tails of such an image and explained in simple terms how he best used his own assets to control the battlefield to Ruby as he worked. Much to her credit, she seemed quick to absorb the information, and by the way she leaned in intently he could tell she was rather enamored with it all. Normally, such a thing would bring a smile to his face, but now was the time for business before all else. No time to waste with father-daughter time, this was purely educational, and even that took a backseat to winning the battle.
"Understood Mand'alor, we're Oscar Mike, over." Marcus's smooth response came, drawing a barely noticeable nod of acknowledgement from the ARC Trooper calling the shots. He had to close all doors and hatches because otherwise the booming sound of warfare outside his armored truck was damn near deafening. Cultists fired upon them with all sorts of weapons, both anti-armor and small arms, bringing a wide variety of threats onto the battlefield. Sloppy execution and poor aim from the enemy, but of high enough volume that it made them a considerable threat, albeit notably more of a threat to his brothers that hadn't yet had their auras unlocked.
"No matter. Keep focused and watch for exploitable breaks in enemy defenses and formations to capitalize on. So long as we maintain steady comms, keep up with the demand for ammo and battle-winning supplies and maintain aerial superiority, this battle is as good as won." Midnight thought in a methodical, almost machine-like fashion as he continued to analyze and scrutinize the battlefront, arms crossed and standing tall as his gaze burned into the map before him...
"So that's your report? That's all you could uncover?"
"Sorry if it's a little underwhelming, but I couldn't exactly leave my niece all alone after everything that's happened, and I was already injured so the extent of my operational capacity is quite frankly, pretty damn low." He groaned in frustration but understood the man's personal issues were going to be of a higher priority to him at the end of the day, not that he'd normally disagree. Still, nothing he uncovered was necessarily groundbreaking news. These so called "Remnant Mandalorians" were a relatively small but rapidly growing group of elite warriors equipped with incredibly advanced weapons and armor that not even Atlas could hope to match. They spoke an unidentified language and were lead by an individual known as "Mand'alor the Invincible," or as "Mand'alor Midnight." His right hand man was Marcus Black, and in a fight where the master assassin got the better of him, he'd uncharacteristically spared his life, additionally, the Mand'alor seemingly had a daughter, albeit her identity was still as of yet unknown. They'd killed Ouroboros and claimed the bounty, making them a highly affluential player on the board, and had numerous veteran hunters within their ranks that had all since either cut ties with the hunter world to some extent or were outright ignoring attempts to hail or summon them. Aside from that information, damn near nothing was known about them.
"No, no, that's fine. You have your own priorities, I'm simply disappointed that we know so little about them. In summary, they're rich, technologically advanced, well equipped and connected, highly skilled, and they're secretive. Most attempts from news outlets to learn more about them have been met with outright hostility, making learning anything more than surface-level information difficult."
"Yeah, that about sums it up. They're a dangerous piece on the board, and I feel as though they're only going to grow in power going forward. Whether they're going to be friend or foe, however? I'm not sure." He nodded in agreement with the final verdict, sitting back in his chair as he folded his fingers together and gazed upon the live combat footage being taken of the Mandalorians locked in battle with cultists and Grimm. It was too early to say whether the larger group were friends or foes, but given the presence of Atlesian vehicles being utilized, vehicles he doubted they bought, it didn't exactly paint them as allies. Yet they fought their enemies, too, suggesting perhaps that the might even be able to be considered a neutral faction. A rogue piece on the board. It wasn't something he particularly liked to see.
"Return home for now, Qrow. After all, you still aren't fully healed and your niece still needs a caretaker."
"Yeah. Thanks Oz... still, it still hurts that we couldn't save Ruby. Yang still barely speaks, and it seems like nothing cheers her up anymore."
"I'll see about getting the girl a therapist, but don't lose hope yet. We're still looking for Ruby, we just haven't-"
"Don't do that, Oz. You know those freaks caught her scent, and we haven't been able to find her since. They're faster than her, and she'd never be able to hide. She's either dead or with Salem now... and I think it would be a better fate if it were the former." His tone was somber, hopeless and hollow, but he could hardly blame him. Summer's only biological daughter, he knew, was now either dead or being used as a lab rat by Salem. Both were tragic fates, but he could only hope the girl was killed when she was found, for her own sake.
"Right... again, I'm sorry, Qrow. Still, your family has been through enough. Go home, recover and be there for the child now in your care. I will continue to monitor the situation with these Mandalorians." With that, Ozpin terminated the channel, sighing heavily as he unraveled his hands and swept back through his silvery hair. First the destruction of the Xiao Long/Rose family, and now the rise of this wildcard on the board... it couldn't have come at a worse time. He was planning on grooming Ruby Rose into a powerful warrior to stand against Salem, maybe even using as a host for all four maidens... but as far as he knew now, the last of the silver eyes warriors had perished before the "warrior" part could ever be fulfilled. Tragic, but also infuriating as it ruined several plans of his.
Salem had acted preemptively, and while he didn't know whether she was aware of his plans with the maidens or not, she had ruined that plan before it could even begin. Now he needed a new Ace in the Hole, and didn't know whether or not he'd get that within this life time... not to forget, these new Mandalorians being an uncontrollable faction on the playing field could potentially throw a wrench in the works of everything... he could only hope now that they were more inclined to help him now than not, or that they were wiped out before they could become a significant player.
For hours he sat silently in his office, idly contemplating recent events but ultimately failing to tie everything together. The fact that these cultists and the Grimm following them were chasing down the Mando'ade so relentlessly meant that either they'd made an enemy of Salem in some manner or another, or there was a silver-eyed warrior among their ranks. It was possible, he supposed, but it was all theory work at the moment, and he had no way to validate of disprove either of the two. If they did have a silver eyed warrior, who could it possibly be?
Perhaps Midnight? The man sure fought like an absolute monster, which would give some credence to the theory but supposedly nobody outside of his own ranks had ever seen his eyes, and he doubted that would change any time soon. Maybe then, his daughter? There was almost nothing known about that little girl aside from her attachment and connection to the Mand'alor, but it would explain her supposed natural aptitude for fighting, if that viral video taken at Wolf's quite recently were anything to judge by. If there was one with silver eyes among them, it had to be one of the two... still, he wasn't going to commit to any overt actions until he knew for certain. For the time being, he'd hold his organization to merely observe and gather information on them, nothing more, nothing less.
Still, regardless of his mixed feelings, he had to admit, as he watched the dying embers of battle begin to fade, he couldn't help but admire just how ruthlessly efficient they were in cleaning house. In just two and a half hours, around a hundred warriors with air support had encircled and almost completely wiped out a brigade-sized element of cultists and Grimm, powerful Grimm at that, too. Now it looked as if it was only a clean up op, then they'd be on their way.
"Call it a hunch, but I doubt they'll let anyone tail them to whatever their next destination will be this time... no matter. You're on my radar now, Mand'alor, and I will learn your secrets, one way or another..."
"Daddy, all groups have checked in." Ruby spoke with a somber tone, but remained seated as her father continued to eye up the map. Very few enemy signatures remained, and all that did were scattered elements of team-size or smaller. No more significant threats remained.
"Casualty report?"
"Seventeen wounded, four unconscious, three dead... we lost people today..." Midnight maintained a steady gaze despite the news, a low sigh escaping his lips as his head dipped down a little.
"Casualties were to be expected, given it was only around a hundred warriors fighting an enemy force many time our own size. Given the odds, our attrition rate is still green... still..." Midnight paused for a moment, tapping his foot as he looked off to the side, before turning his head back up a minute later and analyzing the map. Only four or five more small enemy forces, and they were between his forward forces and the rally zone. Releasing a small grunt, Midnight jumped back on the net to relay orders. "All forces, return to the rallying zone, there's a few small enemy elements between us but they shouldn't prove any threat. Four LAAT Gunships loaded with medical supplies are enroute to bring the wounded and the dead to our new home for triage and to be laid to rest. Everyone else, as soon as the birds carrying our casualties are away, we're leaving Alexandria behind and headed for New Mandalore."
Cries of jubilee could be heard even from outside his truck, even over the net, but he paid it no mind for the immediate moment. To reduce the media's ability to track them through the night that had fallen around them, they wouldn't be driving with lights on, opting instead to utilize the Night Vision functionality of their helmets. They'd also be shooting down any media drones or birds that tried to follow them. There would be no chances taken with the secrecy of their new home.
"Get in the back and catch some sleep, Ruby. It's a long drive to our new home, and once this movement starts, it isn't halting until we're there." He informed Ruby, patting her helmet and dismissing her from his impromptu command station. She was about to protest, but was cut off by her own yawn before she could say anything g and opted to just listen to that instead.
"Mand'alor, all our casualties have been consolidated, the wounded and the dead. Gunships are inbound, ETA three minutes." It was Davian's voice, he recognized, raising a brow as he expected Marcus. "If you're wondering, Marcus is busy getting all our vehicles in line for the convoy. Our heavy armor assets will be picked up with the wounded, and the wounded have all been stabilized, as far as we can treat them in the field. Some amputations will be necessary."
"If I remember correctly, we've a few cybernetic specialist in our ranks. We'll do whatever's needed to get them back their limbs. Are you overseeing the transfer of the wounded?"
"Yeah, myself and Rikka. Aaron lost his legs from the knees down to a mortar strike, she's refused to leave his side. Still, even down two legs he provided invaluable suppressive fire to allow the rest of the team to take out that mortar battery, preventing them from taking anyone else out." A certain sense of pride swelled in his chest as he heard of his clansmen's heroism, and a faint smile crossed his lips as he heard this.
"If Aaron is still conscious, tell him he's next in the chute for a full set of Beskar armor per my order, and a custom blaster to his own specifications once we've settled down." Midnight spoke, before turning his attention elsewhere. He may have not personally participated in the fighting, but his semblance going full-blast as long and as intensely as it had, had left him exhausted beyond any doubt. Exhausted enough that he might well direct one of the Commandos or ARC Troopers to drive in his stead to reduce the risk of him falling asleep at the wheel as he had his first night here.
A look at the clock in his HUD showed him that yes, he absolutely did need his sleep, as what he thought was only a few seconds turned out to be the three minutes it took for the LAATs to arrive for the Armor, the wounded and the dead. A low groan escaped his mouth as he hopped back on the net and called for one of the commando teams he'd been sniping with to get over here to drive the MRAP while he racked out for a short bit. Not a minute too soon, one of the squads piled in, giving him a collective thumbs-up before wishing him a nice nap and allowing him to rejoin his daughter on a bed. It seemed as if the girl was almost expecting this, as she was simply sitting on the bed with the blanket pulled aside enough for him to slip in.
"Am I that easy to read?" His question drew a few quiet giggles from the little girl, simply prompting her to pat the bed and fluff the pillow for him.
"You don't have as much emotion in your voice when you're tired." He just shrugged, before slipping under the covers and holding it open for Ruby to join him, raising the guard he'd only just found out about to keep him and his daughter from falling out during a bumpy ride. A slight chuckle escaped his lips as he pulled his helmet off his head, setting it down under the bed and tucked between two duffle bags to keep it from sliding around, and action Ruby mirrored just after. They simply laid down for a few minutes, quiet even through the sound of the MRAP's engine coming to life and the feeling of the vehicle realigning to fall into the convoy.
"...you did good today, Ruby." He began in a low tone, stroking her hair back as he shut his eyes. "Held your own in a fight outnumbered five to one and won, covered our six while we covered our assault team, found us a shortcut to the rally point I'd missed, and you didn't hesitate to take lives when the situation required it. I am proud of you."
"I love you, daddy..." She murmured in response, tightening his hold around him as he continued to gently brush her hair back, a soft, honest and content smile crossing his own face as he dropped his head back and shut his eyes, yet...
"I love you too, Ruby... goodnight." With the last word of the night, he allowed his body to relax, and under the soft moonlight that bled through the windshield, the Mand'alor and his daughter fell into a quiet, blissful sleep...