As it turned out their rooms were nice enough. Three beds, a dock for Rex and an attached bathroom along with other furniture. Not anything great but enough for them to use when they weren't training. Which proved to be very little time indeed.
'Uhhhh. I'm starting to think they want to kill us,' Nora groaned as they left chamber four.
'I'm sure the instructors know what they're doing,' Ren replied from behind her.
'You know I agree with Nora on this. The first pillbox was hard, three at the same time seemed excessive,' Jaune remarked, pulling his helmet off.
Rex beeped in agreement as he flew alongside them.
They made for the showers to clean off. After that last drill they were all covered with paint, mud and sweat. No one wanted to experience what would happen if that combination was left to marinate.
'Same as usual right? First one out hoses Rex and the plates?' Jaune asked as they stripped off their armor.
'Sure,' Nora said. Sticking her pink plates onto a rack and walking into the women's side.
'It's what we agreed,' Ren said after hanging his own and walking with Jaune into the men's side
Stepping into the warm water always felt great. While the aches, scratches and bruises were being healed by their aura. The feeling of the strain of the exercises being washed away was still welcome.
They had been run though classes, drills, simulations then run though it all again. With just enough time between for them to eat, relieve themselves and flop into their bunks. Then it would all start again.
These short moments of peace were what they had to relax. The competition was fierce. A large score board in each room tracked each team's performance. Squad Ranger RNJR started in the middle of the rankings. Now they were in the top 20.
Each step up the rankings was a battle. Literally. At the end of each week the teams pitted against each other in mock battles. The rules changed each time. Sometimes it was a straight battle between them. Other times it was a race against time to complete some objective.
'So um Ren…' Jaune asked, feeling awkward.
'Yes?' Ren replied with a cocked eyebrow.
'Are um… You and Nora, you know? A thing?'
'We're partners. We've been together for some time,' Ren replied with the same even tone of voice.
'Yeah I know but… well... You know what, never mind,' Jaune said, turning away.
'Why the sudden interest?'
'I don't know. I guess I just feel a bit like a third wheel. You two always have each other's backs out there. And I'm struggling to keep up. It just seems like you two are good with each other.'
'I never understood that expression,' Ren remarked, shaking his head.
'What do you mean?' Jaune asked with a confused look.
'A third wheel adds more stability doesn't it?'
'I guess so.'
'Nora is quite strong when it comes to direct force. I prefer to do things more subtly. Which is why she's on demolitions and I'm training as an infiltrator. You're more of a thinker its why they sorted you as a tactician. Our skills and experience are different. But they compliment each-other.'
Jaune nodded thoughtfully, 'Yeah I guess you're right. Thanks for that, Ren.'
Ren gave a slight nod, 'Besides how else will you grow if you don't have time to practice and learn. Speaking of which, what's your next class?'
'Hoffman School of tactics apparently.'
'Sounds… Interesting.'
The two of them are excited to see Nora already changed and washing the last of the paint off their gear. With that done she pressed the dryer function blasting it and Rex with warm air. She turned to face them as they walked out.
'You two having some boy talk?' Nora asked, pulling a face.
'Just talking about classes,' Ren replied quickly.
'Sureeeee,' Nora said, drawing the word out.
'Really Nora Ren and I were just talking about class,' Jaune replied, holding up his hands.
'Hmm. Well okay. See you guys later,' Nora proclaimed. Grabbing her armor and giving them a wave as she strode around the corner.
Ren and Jaune exchanged a glance and shrugged before picking up their own equipment.
'Why don't you take Rex with you? Better than having him hang around the bunk rooms,' Ren suggested.
'Sounds fair. Besides who knows? Perhaps he'll enjoy tactical class,' Jaune said before waving to the JACK, 'Come on Rex lets go.'
The now dyed Jack beeped and fell in behind Jaune.
'See you after class!' Jaune called over his shoulder.
'See you.' Ren replied.
Ren waited for the blonde to vanish from view. Then walked around the corner to see Nora walking back.
'How is he?' Nora asked, folding her arms.
Ren sighed, 'Still nervous. Still not confident.'
'Oh come on. I was worried when he said he'd never been in a fight. Let alone when he said his aura isn't unlocked. But he's really throwing himself into this.'
'I know,' Ren replied.
'I mean we were what? Thirty in the rankings at the end of the first week. Now we're in the top twenty.'
'I know.' Ren said with more force.
'I just don't' get why h-' Nora stopped as Ren's hand landed on her shoulder.
Ren let his semblance calm her for a moment, 'I don't know why he lacks confidence. But he's getting better. We are getting better. That's what's important.'
Nora sighed letting herself relax, 'Yeah. He is. I just worry you know. This is our big chance to become Huntsmen. Real Huntsmen.'
Ren squeezed her shoulder slightly, 'Don't worry. Jaune is as passionate as us. We're a team now. Let's support each other. Okay?'
'Okay,' Nora said nodding, 'So off to more ninja training?'
'Infiltrator training,' Ren said, stepping back slightly.
'Same difference,' Nora replied before running off.
Nora reached the firing range for her class and saw the usual faces. Everyone here was like her. A big hitter with a passion for blowing stuff up. Something of a rarity given how much dust that sort of style took.
But their usual instructors had been joined by someone new. An older man in a green plate with gold trim and a cape of all things. And rather than the usual weapon racks a set of green crates were lined up by the range. The conversation died away as class began.
'Good Afternoon.' One of the teachers said clearly, 'I'm sure you're all curious as to our guest. This is Serzhánt Stancu of the UIR. He's here to provide some instruction on their equipment to you. Serzhánt the class is yours.'
Stancu walked over to a crate by the firing point and reached inside. What he pulled out looked something like a Boomshot.
'I'm not one for speech so I will get right to business,' Stancu said holding the weapon up,' This is a Booshka Grenade Launcher. The full name will be hard to pronounce so calling it a Booshka will be fine.
He lifted a magazine and slotted it into the weapon then pulled the charging handle. Now ready to fire he took up a firing stance and started firing. There were three thumps as the shells arced away.
One struck a target and detonated, shattering it. The second bounced off a wall and landed behind the second set before destroying those. Whilst the third soared through a window of a mock building and exploded a moment later.
'The rounds are smart fused. They will detonate on impact or after the round detects its stopped moving. Effective range i-' Stancu said, starting to explain the weapon in more detail.
But Nora tuned his voice out after a moment. It was perfect. Just the right amount of boom and the frame was large enough to shift into a hammer. Even as the rest of the class were invited over to pick one up Nora darted ahead first.
'Come to Momma,' Nora whispered as she scooped one up. It felt right as she shouldered the weapon. Oh so right.
Qrow looked over the room nodding to a few old… associates. Well they could fight. Provided they didn't start fighting each other. There were a lot of grudges and competition ran high in their line of work. Hell some of them might start a fight just for the hell of it.
'Hey Nova, long time no see,' Qrow said, patting one on the back.
'Not long enough Qrow. When are we getting told what this job is about?,' Nova replied with an annoyed look.
'As soon as our late comers turn up. Figured they would be punctual,' Qrow said, muttering the last part.
'What was that?' Nova asked.
'Nothing nothing. I'm just going to head out and see if they're here yet,' Qrow replied walking out.
Qrow walked out of the Huntsmen post. It was like everything else out here. Old, weathered but still standing. In ages past the Kingdoms had sought to tame the world by building posts like this.
The main building was surrounded by a sloped wall. Two stories high stone cut and built to last. Provided nothing too big took an interest the place was impregnable. And that was before they kitted it out with the latest toys.
Now the old wall had lights and motion sensors to warn of anything creeping about. A radar had been fitted to the main building to give this place some warning of air attack as well. Most citizens of the Kingdoms however didn't want their taxes spent on distant places they'd never see.
So the place had been re-fitted by the lowest bidder. Who if Qrow's experience was right also sub-contracted it to an even lower bidder. That meant most of the wiring was shoddy at best and half the time the systems sent out alerts about full scale Grimm hordes when some animals got frisky near a sensor.
Walking along he heard the airship before he saw it. Even as the craft drifted over to the landing pad Qrow sighed as the radar didn't send out an alert. What was the point in this place? Still at least James' little contribution was here.
Turning the corner, Qrow found a Bullhead settling onto the pad. The paint was fresh, you could still make out the Atlas colors on the thing. Hardly subtle but that was Atlas for you.
Its ramp lowered and the passengers disembarked. Qrow groaned as he watched them come down the ramp. They were practically at attention. Why did it have to be him? Still might as well greet them.
'Hey. You must be Jimmy's team,' Qrow said walking up to them.
'We're not at liberty to say,' The short one with the side cut hair snapped.
'Oh please you might as well have Atlas military scrawled on your face,' Qrow said mockingly.
'Hey-' Shorty started before one of the others stopped her.
'Hare, that's enough. Remember we're playing nice on this op,' The leader said.
Shorty glared for a moment before huffing and folding her arms.
'Yes, Fortune. Playing nice it is,' She mumbled.
'Really code names?' Qrow snorted, 'Tell you what I'll be Daddy if we're playing pretend.'
'Our superior would prefer our involvement be kept discreet,' Tall and skinny at the back said.
'Because flying in a Bullhead in near mint condition. And using code names is so… discrete,' Qrow said gesturing to the airship.
The "Discrete" Huntsmen and Huntresses looked at their craft and then the other ships. Most were older with signs of wear and patched hull. Meanwhile their craft was factory perfect.
'This is already going so well,' Qrow groaned, dragging his hand down his face, 'Well come on what are we meant to call the rest of you.'
'Bark,' The tall well built woman proclaimed.
'Bone,' The young man with a tail said.
'Sprout,' Skinny said.
'Great, just great. So Fortune, Hare, Bark, Bone and Sprout. Did I miss anyone?' Qrow said, folding his arms.
'No I think you got all our names covered,' Fortune said with an easy smile.
'Okay then follow me. And for Gods sake try to act like… normal Huntsmen,' Qrow said, turning and leading them to the common room.
Leading his little posy of totally not military Huntsmen. Qrow entered the common room. Needless to say the moment they entered eyes narrowed and conversation stopped.
'What's with the sellouts?' One of the others called.
'Yeah! You never mentioned this Qrow!' Another called out.
Before things could get worse Qrow walked to the front holding up his hands to calm them down. It didn't work too well since he still had to shout.
'Hey! Hey! Shut your traps!' Qrow called over the room. After a few moments he drew Harbinger and fired two shots into the ceiling. Making a few extra holes where other "leaders" had done the same. That shut them up.
'Now I don't like this any more than you do. But we have a problem and if we don't fix it then we're all fucked,' Qrow said firmly lowering Harbinger.
He hoped he was keeping his face stern and not showing the fear inside. That was the last thing he wanted to let slip.
'Now I have your attention I can tell you why you're here,' Qrow said. Walking over to a podium at the front of the room and starting a projector. It flickered a few times until he gave it a good thump. Then the image cleared up.
It showed the eastern portion of Anima and the western part of Sanus. A set of markers showed the local villages, the ones that survived at least a year.
'This is the problem. More and more missing persons. Not just lone folks. A few caravans and the odd nomad,' Qrow said. Adding a set of icons.
As more appeared with their dates alongside the Huntsmen took an interest. Each scanned the map drawing together the scale of the issue. Some were going faster than others.
'This is clearey not isolated and before anyone says it. No, it's not bandits. It's worse than that,' Qrow said, taking a breath, 'The Swarm is on Remnant.'
A round of the most colorful and inventive curses Qrow had ever heard came back. Even Ironwood's little team looked a shade off at that.
'Are you sure?' Fortune asked.
'Oh I'm quite sure. I ran into a few. Barely made it out of that fight with some help,' Qrow replied. Leaving out the other parts of that tale.
The mutterings and quiet words gave Qrow a bit of pride. His reputation wasn't great but people in this line of work knew he could hold his own. The idea of an opponent that had him worried clearly had them on edge.
'That gives us a few problems. Firstly we now have another problem alongside the usual issues. These guys are going to be a problem so we need to deal with them. Second issue is keeping this little arrangement low key. Causing a panic will make the Grimm get into a frenzy and needles to say we want to avoid that,' Qrow said looking around the room. Then he clicked the projector again.
The new icons that appeared were the COG phoenix, UIR winged bolt and the Outsider knot. A few of the others recognised them.
'Our distant cousins, and I cannot stress this enough. Can't find out about this situation,' Qrow said firmly.
'Why not? They fought these things before. Surely they'd help out right?'Amethyst asked.
'Yeah if you don't mind armies on the march and scared wasteland in their wake,' Qrow replied, 'You've all read about how they fight. Nothing held back. Everyone made to fight or left to fend for themselves. And if they can't win I'd guarantee they'd burn it all just to deny it to their opponent.'
'They can't be that crazy right?' Harkin asked from the second row.
'Can't they?' Qrow said, pulling out his scroll and sending a picture to the projector.
'I want you all to look at this. This is what the COG will do if they feel threatened,' He said.
It took a moment for the image to sink in. The same way it had for him. A rational mind just refused to accept what it was seeing.
'That is… was Char,' Qrow corrected himself, 'A city of several million. Burned to ash just to stop the enemy taking the refinery for fuel. Fuel. Apparently it was a "strategic" decision. Take a nice long look. Now think about the towns they'd deem of little to no value.'
You could hear people's minds ticking over. How many small hamlets that got by on harvests of herbs or rearing livestock did they know? How many would be left in that kind of a fight? Perhaps a small island with a few scattered houses?
'So we're going to deal with this quietly,' Qrow said gripping the podium, 'We aren't going to make a big fuss about this. And above all else. Don't let anyone with loose lips find out. Clear?'
Strangely enough no one wanted to give him any lip now. Funny how focused you could make people with that kind of threat hanging over them. Qrow shivered at that thought. He'd been around Serans too long already.
Blake heaved the last bundle of supplies up and onto the back of the truck. That was the last one. With all this their camp should be fine for another week or so.
'Thank you,' She said. Turning and nodding to the farmer who'd donated the food.
'You're welcome to it. I already lost these to the SDC,' The woman said, holding up a hand. Two fingers were missing.
'We'll do all we can to stop that from happening to anyone else. You have my word,' Blake said passionately.
The farmer nodded and smiled, 'I know you will. Your family has already done so much for us. First organizing the Fang then helping settle Menagerie. Hell. I bet you folks are thrilled about the upcoming visit.'
Blake nodded along until the last part, 'Visit? What visit?'
'Why the First Minister's state visit. Haven't you heard? Your father invited him to come to Menagerie to sign an agreement. Some trade deal they've been hammering out.'
'Wait. When did this happen?' Blake asked, blinking in surprise.
'Oh I think they started talking a few months back. Behind closed doors and stuff at first. But now they've announced it. The COG is going to help Menagerie develop. In return they want to buy a portion of the dust that gets mined.'
'So it's all about dust again,' Blake said sadly.
'Of course it is. But from what's been in the news they're paying at or a little above market price. Seems they want a whole lot of the stuff. No point turning that offer down right?' The farmer said with a smile.
'I guess so,' Blake replied, 'Could you send me the link to that report?'
'Sure thing here,' The Farmer said, pulling out her scroll.
After a moment the Farmer found the report and copied the link into a message. Blake received the message and opened it. But as the link was loading her scroll froze and reported the page didn't exist. She tried again but it still failed. Checking the signal it was still strong. Why was that happening?
'I think my scroll is busted,' Blake muttered, retrying the link.
'Really? You could check with Quartz in town. He fixes the local tower for us. Has a side business fixing and selling scrolls he could help you out,' The farmer said rubbing her chin.
'Yeah I'll give him a shot. Thanks again,' Blake said walking to the front of the truck.
'We ready?' The driver asked.
'It's all loaded. I need to grab something from town though,' Blake said shrugging.
'You want us to wait up?' The guard in the passenger seat asked.
'No no. You go on ahead. I'll make the trip back once I'm done.'
'If you're sure,' The driver said with a shrug.
'Go on. The camp needs these supplies. No point holding it up for me.'
With a nod from both the truck pulled away heading back to the White Fang camp. Blake watched it go then looked down at her scroll. Why would her scroll have broken now of all times?