Chapter 2. Meet and Greet.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As the team made their way to the rally point, they came across a clearing before a large wall that closed off a large valley between two mountains. Pyrrha's scroll chimed to inform her she received a message from the Headmaster. The message was just a number with one line of text saying, 'Your contact. Call immediately.' So she did.
A stern female voice answered, "Am I speaking to Pyrrha Nikos, leader of team Providence?"
"Yes, sir, to whom am—"
She interrupted, "I am Commander Palmer, head of security for the Facility… you are not cleared to know the name of the facility. Follow the wall due east of your current position for half a click, and you will find a security gate. You will be met by a security force, who will grant you entrance to the facility. Do Not, I say again, DO NOT attempt to engage the security team, or you will be treated as hostile and dealt with accordingly."
"I understand, ma'm, I will inform the remainder of my team to stand down once the gate is in sight and to trust those with your insignia." The Mistral champion affirmed.
There was something that gave her some concern about the new mission they were being sent on. Even though they were being called in to help, but were being left in the dark. What information that she could gather from the quick scrollnet search as they made their way over, was that WeylandArc was a massive corporation which heavily invested in mining and space research.
This was a wealthy organization that they are dealing with. When they got back from the mission, she would have to research this company in depth to see what made them so important.
Something that was curious was that they had just gotten sight of wall, so how did Commander Palmer know where they were? She wanted to ask, but the celebrity could tell that the Commander wouldn't answer any questions she didn't believe pertained to the situation at hand.
"You probably won't see an insignia, but we will identify ourselves when we see you."
The line went dead a moment later.
"Understood," Pyrrha said to no one. She then turned to the waiting faces of her team and relayed the information she had been given.
There were rounded turret structures that protruded along the wall with mounted guns. They seemed to be automated, as they followed the huntsmen before going back to scan the tree line.
"It seems kind of creepy that each one follows us as we walk by." Nora mentions after the fourth one they pass.
"As long as they don't shoot at us, then we have nothing to worry about, right?" Orion stated
"That may be true, but the amount and type of defenses along this wall are equivalent to what you'd see protecting a large settlement." Ren points out. Growing up in a frontier settlement, he was quite familiar with the different levels of defenses that settlements could have.
PROV stayed along the tree line, which seemed to be maintained at a hundred yards from the wall.
They spotted an area where the wall extended outwards, as they got closer, they could see a road leading up to it. Pyrrha made the decision that her team should approach the gate from the road, as not have any chances of misidentification. As they approached, a commanding voice called out to them.
"Halt where you are and identify yourselves!" The voice that gave the order to them called out from… behind them. Only there was no one there…
Three members of Team PROV stopped and took up combat stances, but immediately Pyrrha ordered them to stand down, reminding them that they were not to provoke the security forces of WeylandArc.
It was the right call, as several heavily armed and armored soldiers appeared from the surrounding woods, rifles aimed at them, their armor had almost perfect camouflage patterns that blended into the background surrounding them.
Two stepped out from behind trees on their right…
Two stood up from bushes on their left…
Two dropped from the trees behind them…
And one just appeared right in front of them… One moment they were looking at an open space between a few trees, and the next he just appeared. Pyrrha guessed that he probably had his aura unlocked and had an invisibility semblance for him to just appear. If PROV had been hostiles, even with aura, they would have been killed before they could react to the ambush.
Their armor faded out from camouflage patterns into black with white highlights except for the one standing in front of him, his armor was still primarily black but instead of white highlights, they were gold.
The armor looked like it provided substantial protection, even from the gaps of the armor, they could see a thick black bodysuit underneath. Sleek round helmets with a large visor that had covered the jaw and a camera mounted on the side of the helmet. Further protection included a bulky three-piece chest plate, long shoulder pauldrons, thick plates on the outside of the thighs, and greave boots that extended cover to the knees. They wielded identical rifles that Pyrrha identified as MA5C rifles, with machetes on their hips, and another weapon on their backs that signified what each soldier specialized in: a sniper, grenade launcher, shotgun, LMG, rocket launcher, and a very high-tec rifle that she guessed from the coils and channels was a handheld rail gun.
The one who had called out to them looked to be the leader, he had the rank of Lieutenant painted on both his shoulder plates. His armor had slight additions to it that made it stand out a little more, he had extra fin plates on his helmet, he wore what looked to be an armored backpack instead of a weapon, and the armor was painted slightly different as well, with gold highlights instead of white, there was also am emblem painted on each one of their armors, a flaming skull with the word "Helljumper" under it over a shape that she recognized as a 'Drop Pod'.
Single unit landing craft, designed to be dropped from tens of thousands of feet in the air and deliver the soldier alive to the battlefield.
To call them security would definitely have been an insult to them. They were a new breed of elite military shock troopers, ones that dropped from tens of thousands of feet in atmosphere onto the battlefield. They were some of the best trained, and these in particular were well armed.
"We are the huntsmen sent from Beacon. Headmaster Ozpin said that-"
The leader raised a hand, "Save us the time and hold up your scroll ID."
The leader of PROV obeyed and opened her scroll to her Beacon ID.
He pulled out a small rectangular object and held it up to the scroll, and a laser light came out of it, scanning the scroll ID. It flashed green, signifying that the ID was valid. He nodded to the rest of his unit, who visibly relaxed and lowered their rifles.
Orion was giddy, just about as giddy as when he found out that he was going to be on a team with Pyrrha."This is so cool. We get to work with Helljumpers. So, who's taking point on this op? It's got to be us, since you guys called US for help."
The lead Helljumper barely spared him a glance before turning back to PROV's team leader, Pyrrha, and handed her four earpieces. "Your team is going in alone, our mission is to stay and patrol the outer outside the facility and make sure nothing inhuman escapes."
Nora did not like the sound of that, "Hey! What is that supposed-"
"I am not talking about Faunus for fuck's sake!" he took off his helmet revealing a square face with slightly tanned skin, brown eyes, brown hair neatly combed to the side, but parted at two points to reveal a pair of horns, identifying him as a bull faunus. He pointed at them with his helmet, "Your job… telling you that way is going to be so cryptic. Fuck it. Mikes off!"
Each of the soldiers in the squad, reached up and press the button on the side camera of their helmets. "Eyes are off, sir." The one with the LMG on his back states.
He nods, "I am Sergeant Buck. Look, you're not supposed to be briefed on the specifics of what's going on here or anything of usefulness despite the fact that you're the rescue team; but the moment you step foot in there, you'll see why the Company's heads don't want you to know. If you were one of our specialist rescue teams you would be briefed in full, but being uninformed will get you killed. Here's a simplified quick brief so you know what you are getting into.
There are fucking aliens, from outer space, being studied in there. Shit went wrong, we don't know why, there was a massive containment breach, and you were the fastest possible responding force that could be called in to form a rescue team for the survivors. Primarily the head researcher is the VIP of the operation, he's about your age, believe it or not. He was able to barricade himself inside the Master Control Monitoring and is trapped inside, and much of his personal security detail is dead or incapacitated."
There was silence as the team processed the seriousness of the situation before. Nora became ecstatic, exclaiming, "Aliens? Fuck Yeah!"
A couple of the soldiers laughed at her reaction, and commented that if she wasn't a huntress, she would have fit in with them.
However, Orion scowled at her, "Nora watch your language!"
Nora just stuck her tongue at him in response.
While one bickered and the other poked fun, Ren decided he needed clarification on the situation.
"If this is classified to the point where we can't even be 'officially' briefed on our mission. Why don't your own forces go in to rescue him? And how do you know he is still alive?"
Sergeant Buck grunted, "You have valid points, but we got orders from up high, and I mean HIGH up. I believe it's because we currently don't have the manpower, and Huntsman are considered super soldiers because of aura. All surviving security forces have been pulled back to the walls to prevent an outbreak, but that is less than a quarter of the original force.
We are struggling to control this containment breach even with ten ODST squads dropped in, and we can barely maintain coverage of the walls. Reinforcements are enroute, but it will take a few more hours to organize the forces and equipment necessary to fully secure the facility and longer to reclaim it. By then, we know that he WILL be dead."
Orion looked, disappointed, which was surprising since he had been the one the most excited to meet the Helljumpers. "You're telling me that you can't deploy forces to stop something in your own territory? So much for being the best of the best."
His other teammates looked at him, shocked at what he actually said. But the Sergeant wasn't having any of it. "Fuck you BOY. We are the quick response forces that can be deployed anywhere in this world in under 6 hours, 100 of us have already been deployed but this is a large area. It is impossible to mobilize an actual army in such a short notice, which is why we are calling for assistance from anyone who CAN help."
He hands a tablet to them, on the screen are a dozen fluctuating lines with a heart symbol next to a name, indicating it is a heart monitor. Several of them had flat lined, a few are normal, but a few showed a weak pulse. "This is connected to the watch he is wearing and is monitoring his vitals so we know that he's alive and that he isn't dying. Last contact into the facility was 2 hours ago, because communication has been inconsistent, I am sharing access to you so that you can monitor him. If he dies before you can reach him, your mission is void and you need to get the hell out of there."
Another soldier with a grenade launcher strapped to his back stepped up to them. "There isn't much we can do to back you up, but you will want these, I can only spare a few since we will be here longer." He reaches into a pouch on his hip and pulls out two very technological looking grenades.
"These are sound grenades. These will hurt and only temporarily disorient the Aliens, the outer shell is tough and as long as you don't shoot or throw them into a pool of acid, they can be thrown again if you can retrieve them, but use them sparingly."
He then takes grenade shells off of his chest rig and holds them out, "These are also sound grenades, but designed to be shot out of a grenade launcher and because of your mechashifts, I believe one of you have one?"
Nora tossed Magnahild up into the air, while activating its shift feature so that when she caught it again it would be in its grenade launcher form, resting it on her shoulder.
"That would be me!"
"That would be her." The rest of her team echoed.
He nodded and handed the two to Nora.
0-0-0-0
"Let's fucking rock 'n' roll!" Nora shouted once they had been reequipped and briefed by Sergeant Buck and his ODSTs.
One of the soldiers elbowed another, "I like her. She's like the Energizer Bunny on steroids. Hey, E Bunny, smash hard and don't die in there."
"It's Nora, and I always said it would take something out of this world to take me down, so let's see if it lives up to the hype!"
The Helljumpers looked at the hunter in green standing next to her, who just sighed in confirmation, "Yes, she really did."
0-0-0-0
The ODST's opened a small heavy-duty gate for the Hunters, as they stepped to the other side of the wall, they were met by a three armored vehicles convoy. All three of them were a patterned green camouflaged, two of them were an open canopy three-man vehicle with a triple rotating machine-gun mounted in the back that required the user to stand, while the third was a massive four wheeled armored transport with a smaller machinegun mounted to the roof.
The team leader had to inquire about how they were obviously being given assistance, "You are providing vehicle escort... you were quite clear that you were short on manpower, is this wise?"
Buck sighed, "They are on patrol to cull whatever numbers they can. The other side of the Valley is secured by a wall like this one, from Barrier to Barrier, this entire place is designated as X-44, and there is a breach somewhere in the walls and the facility as we are seeing both grimm and the aliens at large. The facility building itself is about two miles from the gate, so they will be taking you to the front door so you don't get bogged down with killing monsters."
"Your two escort vehicles are called Warthogs; tough, nimble, and are packed with firepower. The big one is called the Marauder, it's a heavily armored troop transport that can brush off anti-material rifles. This is your escort to the actual facility, they will also provide you the security clearance to get in."
"Can I drive it?" Nora asked
"And no Pinkie, you are not allowed to drive unless the driver is killed."
"What if he runs off?
"He won't."
"But what if he does?"
"Then he will be dead, and your team leader will decide who drives the Marauder."
That ended the argument.
0-0-0-0
The Marauder was not a comfortable ride, it was a troop transport that was designed to traverse some of the most extreme terrains and keep its passengers safe from outside forces. It should not have been a long ride, but the convoy was moving with caution. There was an alarming frequency in which they would hear one of the escort vehicles peel off and unleash a barrage of gunfire on a target.
However, three of the occupants were not paying much attention to that, focusing on their scrolls, trying to understand who they were working for with the time they had on the short ride. The fourth was playing games on his scroll.
The main facility building was visible from the inside of the wall, and it was impressive. Pyrrha could only compare the height to the skyscrapers she had seen in Vale and Atlas, with Mistral keeping the older architecture style, and Vacuo being a poor example because it only had its capital city with the rest of the Kingdom being nomadic.
0-0-0-0
"Something that I do not understand," Pyrrha started, talking to no one in particular, "We have seen the walls and defense of this facility, I understand something escaping and causing internal havoc, but how is there are grimm in such large numbers roaming around?"
The others started to make statements or express ideas, but they stopped as their driver cleared his throat. He took a moment to continue, clearly hesitant to divulge more information, but in the end, necessity won out. "The problem that we are facing is that there are underground structures and tunnels that connect to the main facility that are right next to subterranean caves. We aren't sure if the breach occurred from the caves into the facility, or from the facility into the caves."
"So we will have to deal with grimm as well. That is fucking wonderful." Orion remarked sarcastically
"Hey, at least we are trained to kill grimm, we don't know anything about these aliens. They could be much deadlier, for all we know. I would take a threat I know how to deal over an unknown one any day." Nora commented,
After that, the team fell into an uncomfortable silence as they went back to looking at their scrolls.
0-0-0-0
The Champion's attention was brought back to her team when Ren spoke up,
"This place is not on the map."
"You really expect classified building structures to be shown on a world map? I thought you were smarter than that Ren." Orion asked as he leaned back into his uncomfortable seat.
Ren took a breath, trying to ignore the comment but it was Nora who rebutted him, "WeylandArc isn't part of any governmental body, they aren't even listed as a military contractor. And if they are a PMC, they would only be allowed then only a few blocks of land to be blacked out, while the rest of the area they could fortify would be transformed into a city to prevent rapid expansion and consolidation of a purely military power. Most PMC's become a home-guard of the city that surrounds them.
"I am not referring to the structures, according to our GPS location we are traversing up a mountain, not driving through a valley."
The four were perplexed and a little worried at that. If this was a PMC base, then there should be settlement structures for civilians within the vicinity to prevent it from becoming an unrestrained military power with no one to answer to.
"Driver. Are we about to enter an illegal PMC base and give assistance in violation of Sec.538?"
The driver glanced back at them, but his face hidden by his rounded helmet, "No. This place predates the Clause of PMC-settlement security. Even currently, this place has been registered as a mining operation, with enough financial investment and risk to warrant a security force."
"That doesn't explain the valley."
"This valley was dug out decades ago, the excavators that we have, we don't sell to the public, and are not the same ones that you see in our advertisements, and yes, trees were replanted through to make it more visually appealing."
"In case you haven't realized, WeylandArc own the satellites that are used to map the world, we don't map our own areas for corporate and public protection. I will not elaborate anymore on what I mean, and the only way to get the clearance to be told, is to join the Company, which I will not advocate for or against."
Providence was left to think about what to do next.
As they got closer to the facility, Pyrrha could spot a gaping hole around what she would assume was the fourth floor. She couldn't tell what could have caused such an explosion, but she could see black quadrupedal figures crawling along the outer ends of the building much higher up.
She was not able to focus on them for too long as they scattered in all directions and even going back inside when the machineguns of their escort vehicles opened fired on them, which succeeded in killing several, causing them to fall.
Once they had arrived at the inner wall of the facility, they came across a group of grimm fighting with pure black arthropod creatures with curved heads. Both tearing at each other with a ferocity that surprised Pyrrha. and made it hard to distinguish between the two or who was winning.
The creatures were so focused with each other that they didn't notice the convoy driving near them. It wasn't until the weapon systems of the vehicles opened up on them that they attempted to scatter. The gunners left nothing survive.
The convoy did not stop where the bodies fell, so Pyrrha did not get a look at the other creatures which she had to assume were the aliens. The only thing she could see was that their blood was green and their bodies were covered in spines.
Right before they left the vehicle, the driver handed her a black key card, mentioning that it would open any door with an ID scanner.
0-0-0-0
When they made it to the heavily secured door, a rather cheery voice greeted them.
"Welcome to Xeno Facility Number 44, I am your host Jaune and I will be your guide for the foreseeable future. You four in particular are welcome to come in and leave as you please, for now. Please keep your weapons on you and loaded at all times, and I hope you won't be staying long."
The voice was much softer than one would expect from soldier, in fact he sounded like someone relatively young. They looked around, the voice came from the speaker on the door, but how did he see them? Ren was the one to spot the camera, far down the wall on their right, and up the wall about 15 feet upwards, a small black ball.
"If you could please walk closer to the camera so that we can verify your identification before entering the facility that would be greatly appreciated."
"The ODST's verified when they met us at the gate. That's how and why we are here." Orion stated, refusing to look up at the camera.
Jaune's voice became more stern, "They made sure that you had the right scrolls and looked similar. They didn't... you know what, yes, yes they did. Welcome to facility X-44, a facility that doesn't have a real name. Please look at the camera, so I can print you each an ID badge that you will get once you are inside."
Each one looked up at the camera as it individually focused on all of them as well as a light that scanning them from head to toe. Once the scan was over, they heard Jaune speak back up again, however it wasn't directed to any of them. "Yes I know it's a shitshow right now, I am following whatever security protocol is left to make sure that it's not Umb- well you know, sending people inside our facility. Oh, shit the mike is on! Uh, ignore that, I just, well..."
Ren decided to save him from any further embarrassment, "Excuse me sir, but I don't believe we got your proper name or title."
There was a moment of silence before Jaune spoke back up, "Wow, I really did forget to properly introduce myself, didn't I? I am Jaune Arc, the Head Researcher at this facility, son of... Well, you don't know a Sonya Arc probably, at your service."
"I am Pyrrha Nikos. These are my three teammates, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Orion _. It is a pleasure to meet you Jaune, though I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances. We have been sent directly by our headmaster as the rescue party."
"It's nice to meet you as well, Ms. Nikos. I have three members of my security detail here with me right now, we can coordinate all other surviving staff to meet us at secure locations on the way out."
The door in front of them opened. "Come on in, Amazonian Angel, Thunder Hammer, Modern Assassin, and... Midrolled Paladin."
"Midrolled Paladin?!" Orion was outraged. "Why do they get all the cool nicknames but not me?"
They heard the crack of knuckles from the door speaker, "Because your armor is all wrong, and I can see it clearly on my cameras, they're 4k. It's too thick at places where it's not useful, too bulky where you need flexibility, and too thin where you need the most protection. Whatever combat style you are going for, your armor is too mixed to work well with it. Gods around Orion, do you have to be an asshole to everyone who doesn't treat you like royalty? I think the grimm clawed your sense of humor out of you."
"What do you know of combat styles, you're a scientist not Huntsman." Orion's retort was full of his snarky attitude.
"I don't know you and you don't know me, but I actually have hobbies outside my work. That and seven sisters who are trained in a variety of combat styles that you never heard of. If you challenge me on this, then I will recite a list of everything you COULD have done to make your armor better or at least make sense, try me, I dare you, especially since you have a finesse-like-weapon while wearing quote, 'heavy armor'."
Nora laughed, Ren had a sly grin, Pyrrha covered her mouth and looked away.
However, Orion didn't back down. "Why don't you shut the fuck up so that when I get in there to rescue you, nothing bad happens to you."
"Oooo, the big, tough huntsman trying to intimidate a civilian without aura, with violence. I've already been through a lot today, it not people that scare me, it's monsters."
This time Pyrrha stepped in, "Orion, stop it. We are here on a mission you need to be professional or at least act like it since he is the VIP of our mission."
Orion's fists clenched for a few seconds before releasing, "Fine. But only because you asked Pyrrha."
0-0-0-0
The door opened up into a small hallway and another security door. Upon the door opening, they were hit by a wave of warm air. "You'll have to forgive the heat, we have been having problems with our air conditioning units throughout the entire facility, among the other long list of problems." Jaune joked. It was in poor taste, and there was nothing for them to say as they stepped through to another closed off section.
His voice changed into a much more serious tone, "I need to warn you, you are entering hell. You are going to find bodies that have been savaged. Once you go through those doors, all of you need to stay together, from where I am, I will do my best to keep these things away from you, but I will only be able to do it on the path I am directing you."
0-0-0-0
Jaune directed them to what he called, 'the mini armory' which contained a vast amount of weapons, though none of them mechashift. This was understandable since WeylandArc did not have Huntsmen.
Jaune's voice came from the back corner where there was a camera, "This is some of the highest tech that you will have ever worked with, I would strongly recommend that you take some of the equipment or weapons here. If you need clarification on what anything does, the terminal will give you the details... let's see if I can disable login..."
Pyrrha held the black key card over the terminal, and it unlocked.
"Oh, you have THAT... that is a lot of trust they have given you as a second year huntress."
The walls were lined with several rifles of different models and calibers, there were also several crates with markings for different types of ammunition. As well as different gadgets and communication equipment on the walls.
"Take whatever gear you want, you will probably use everything you take at some point, this place is... expansive." He was quite for a moment before suddenly saying, "Hey guys, we are getting rescued by an Angel and her entourage today."
0-0-0-0
"Ooooo, looks like someone has a CRUUUSH." Nora called out loudly towards the camera.
The speaker picked up the laughter of a few other people in the background before Jaune came back to the microphone.
"I'll talk to you in a bit, here's the map of the facility." And then it cut out.
Orion had a sour expression on his face, "He really thinks he is such a smooth talker that that could impress Pyrrha like that? I'll bet that-"
"Shut it Orion, He's just happy to be rescued by the AMAZING NORA!"
0-0-0-0
On the other side of the camera, head researcher Jaune Arc was sporting a heavy blush, which he tried to keep hidden by putting his head in his hands.
A tall reaching 6'1" with blonde hair with cerulean eyes, healthy complexion, He was wearing tan cargo shorts and a black tactical vest that his security detail had insisted was more useful and made him look a lot more badass.
They were right, it had a lot more and bigger pockets than the normal lab coats that his colleagues; who likely were all dead at this point, wore.
0-0-0-0
The containment breach had happened suddenly. It had been a normal day, and then all hell had broken loose.
The only warning they were given were the screams of the Xenomorphs as they tore through one of the elevator shafts doors and started tearing into people. Someone hit the panic button and had caused the building to go into lockdown, but by then it was already too late, the Xenomorphs had already breached multiple floors without being detected.
Instead of panicking and trying to run for an exit like everyone else, Jaune had hidden in his laboratory. He knew that he was in a location that could not be secured, with the large ventilation shafts inside the lab. Even though they were used for venting away toxic fumes, they had seen the records of how often Xenomorphs used areas like ventilation to get into 'secure locations'. However, it was the first place his security detail would go to locate him.
They had made it to him, fighting through numerous murderous aliens.
They had then fought their way down to the lower levels, trying to reach the armory, but were unable to make it, instead they rerouted to the Monitor Master Control. Out of the ten members on Jaune's security detail, only a few of them had managed to stay together with Jaune and make it. Some had been dragged off by the Xenos, some had been separated by suspiciously malfunctioning doors, but one had pulled the pin on a grenade when the aliens had ambushed him.
It was here that they waited until he saw the most beautiful woman standing in front of the door to the facility.
Yes, he thought she was as beautiful as an angel, and yes, unfortunately he had actually said it out loud. He had another one of those moments where his mouth was faster than his brain, and it happened all too often.
He was snapped out of internal screaming by the laughter coming from the three other people in the room with him.
0-0-0-0
Of the three Remnanian contractors and two faunus in Jaune's detail, Doreen Allene, was the only one left in their group, she had been given the nickname Squirrel because of the fact that she was a squirrel Faunus who sprouted a big bushy tail and her usually chipper attitude. She was as tough as the rest of the mercenaries and quick on her feet. They had relied on her instincts on several occasions when they were tracking in the outdoors. Right now, she was in shock after seeing two of her teammates die in particularly gruesome ways; she was going in and out of responsiveness.
Her weapons, twin M7 SMGs, which were strapped to her thighs.
The highest officer remaining was Lieutenant Simon Riley; virtually his entire military career was blacked out excluding his first year of service, which was why The Company had sought him out. He had earned the nickname Ghost because he wore a skull mask and had never shown his full face. Even when he slept, (and he slept lightly) he still wore a mask. Jaune had tried to take off his mask once while he slept and learned how lightly the soldier slept, both had received reprimands; Jaune for not respecting the privacy of one of his security members and Ghost, for breaking his arm.
Ghost's primary weapon was a modified BR55, battle rifle which currently hung from the sling around his shoulders.
The third soldier who was with them was the oldest and most experienced soldiers Jaune had ever met. He was in his fifties with greying hair, but outperformed soldiers 20 years younger than him. His name was Petty Officer Master Sergeant Jack Francis Morrison, a well decorated soldier who had done practically everything you could do in Special Forces. He also had a red patch on his uniform: 76, that Jaune had asked about but never got the full story of. Even with how old he was, his body had lost little of the muscular frame.
Sergeant Morrison had a custom weapon that he had built himself, it was a Heavy Pulse Rifle with a 55 round magazine and an underbarrel grenade launcher.
The thing that stood out the most were the tactical shorts he wore, showing off his advanced cybernetic legs. For everything that Jack Morrison had done, he had made many rivals and enemies, and one of them, an assassin by the name of Reaper came back for revenge. Both had been severely injured, with Reaper fleeing and Jack losing both his legs. The Company had stepped in to get him state-of-the-art replacements in exchange for a mercenary contract, which also had clauses written in to assist him if he should find himself hunting down Reaper.
"That was really corny... You do think she's beau-ti-ful don't you?" Teased the only female in the room.
Squirrel had a large grin on her face, Jaune was glad that she had come back to reality but he could only sigh.
"Yeah, but she's way out of my league."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that. You have a lot more grit in you than you give yourself credit for and you don't become a nerd unless it is actually something interesting." Jack answered. This made Jaune perk up a little, Morrison was never one to lie for someone's ego.
"But that's where the conversation will end up going, I don't know what else to talk about other than what I am good at." Jaune
"Then listen. Ask about her. Get her to tell you about herself."
It suddenly dawned on Jaune the subject that they were talking about. "Why are we talking about how to get a girlfriend when there are literal creatures that have been genetically engineered to kill and seed themselves rapidly, all around us?"
"Because it's either girls or the fact that we are risking genetically superior Remainians soldiers to an enemy that they have never heard of, that are far more dangerous than most of the beasts they normally deal with".
Jaune started to think about the implications of what that meant, but his thoughts were immediately interrupted by James Morrison, "How mad would PETA be back on earth if they found out that there was a planet where the human in inhabitants had to kill the 'native wildlife' because the 'wildlife was the biggest threat to human settlement' and it 'living in peace' with everything that didn't unlock its aura?"
They all laughed at that. The irony was just too funny for them to not as well as the fact that it was the strictest and usually humorless person, Morrison, made that joke.
"They probably would say that it is a justifiable case that the grimm keeping respawning, even though people have been around for just as long."
The laughter ceased immediately when they heard scratching sounds coming from the vents above them. Two of them raised their weapons ever so slowly, as if they were concerned their very movement would reveal them. Squirrel sat down in a corner and covered her ears, rocking back and forth, moments away from panicking. Jaune knelt down next to her, pulled her head into his shoulder and stroked her hair. The scratching continued and moved along the vents, continuing to get farther away until it wasn't heard anymore.
Even though there was no change in her posture or on her face, what he did helped. Which she proved by hugging him at the end.
"Sir, we may not be hidden in this location for much longer." Ghost commented, two fingers drumming on the trigger guard of his rifle. "This is the third time one has come by in an hour, and you know more than anyone here that concealment means safety."
"I know, we just need them to not doing anything for a bit longer. The Huntsmen team is here, and they are already equipped to deal with grimm, and we've just armed them to be able to kill Xenos. And if Headmaster Ozpin sent them, then they are going to be cleared to enter the facility."
"They were vetted over a year ago by Beacon, them entering isn't the problem. Weyland won't forgive if they learn corporate secrets and release it to the media. This goes beyond our technological advancements. The WeylandArc branch may be more forgiving, but the headquarters will know about this incident and may response rashly to protect its secrecy. And that could put our huntsmen 'friends' in jeopardy once we get evac." Jack stated,
Ghost added onto that, "You know the protocols that are in place for those who would expose any crippling truths to the public or our competitor. Huntsmen still go MIA from their missions. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but the Company will protect its interests."
"Which means that Headmaster Ozpin would have sent people who aren't expendable." Jaune countered, "He is on our side, I've met him, and I assure you that he is not a fool. If he is going to be sending his people to aid us, then he will be sending capable and trustworthy huntsmen. These would be the type who would be more trouble to remove and more likely to be recruited."
Ghost pulled out a butterfly knife and started to flick it around with it, "I'm not saying that The Company WILL try and get rid of them. The best and most likely scenario, should they survive, would be that WeylandArc will recruit them to ensure the secrecy and to replace the losses of your security detail. Now, putting aside what COULD happen to our rescue team, we should talk about what went wrong and why there was a containment breach on that level AND we were caught with-" he stopped talking as the sound of claws scrapping against metal echoed above them.
Squirrel immediately curled into a ball and started rocking.
The Ghost's fingers danced as he spoke in sign language to Jaune, 'They found us. This one is just playing with us and testing for easy entrances.'
Jaune signed back, 'I think they found us an hour ago, and you are right.'
Ghost tugged at his neck guard before going to sit down next to the faunus soldier and gently pulling her into a side hug and whispering comforting words into her ears.
Jaune sat down at the control counsel and waited for the scrapping to stop. Looking over the routes and available paths for the Huntsmen to travel down. There was no easy or safe path, just ones where the danger could be more mitigated than others. But he'll be damned if he just sat here and waited to die. He got on the intercom system for the room, the Huntsmen occupied.
"Alright Huntsmen, there is no direct path to Master Control and that is by the design of the building, and with everything going to hell, it's even more of a mess. But I do have a route that should be viable for you to make through. First make it to the elevator shaft at the end of the hall..."
0-0-0-0-0-0
AU:
I would have pushed this chapter 2 story back for a long time while I continued on my other stories if not for a DM request from someone I am working with.
Shout out to JeremyMosher, who wanted to see some Grimm vs Xeno action. He is a good writer, I recommend that you check out his work on FF and A03. Sorry JeremyMosher that I couldn't give you a more detailed Xeno on Grimm fight in this chapter.
Changing the name of the Company to WeylandArc, instead of Weyland-Yutani. This doesn't mean that the Arc family were the ones originally responsible for human-Xenomorph bioweapons testing. Think of it from a business model, where the Sonya (Blade) Arc is the District Manager of Remnant space, and the larger heads of the company are Regional Managers etc., which means they have some control over what The Company does in this area.