Merry Christmas everyone! Or Happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas!

I had this chapter laying around and I just finished it up. Figures I add this one as a holiday extra.

Enjoy! Vinny out!


Village of Serenity, outside the Kingdom of Vale.

The next day, early morning.

"Hey Autumn? We're here." a voice from her side said out loud.

Amber groaned and shifted in the surprisingly comfortable front seat of Amas's car. Looking out of bullet proof, she saw they were in a parking lot of somesorts.

"Ugghh, where are we?" Amber moaned.

"Village of Serenity. A few Dozen Miles outside of Vale. We entered last night but you were asleep so we slept in the car." Amas stretched out his arms and legs. Despite the relatively soft car chairs, sleeping in the Senator was not the greatest.

"Did Salem's associates come back?" Amber trying to massage the knot out of her muscles.

"This close to Vale? Unless they want to practically invade the kingdom, I doubt it." it was then both of their stomachs growled and the two looked up at each other. "Though I can think what we should do next."

"Yeah, come! There's a good inn with some good food here. Then we talk" Amber unbuckled herself and pushed up the senator's passenger door before hoping out, only for a slight pang of pain to slow her down.

"Don't push yourself too hard. You did just get stabbed, Aura can only do much. Also you're not wearing a shirt." Amas said from the otherside of the senator. Amber looked down and immediately her face turned into the same hue as tomato sauce as she remembered that Amas had cut away.

"Hang on." Amas ran around to the back of the Senator, unlocked the back door, and pried it open before rummaging through the tons of supplies he brought. "Here, put this on." Before tossing Amber a spare t-shirt. The Fall Maiden promptly puts it on, her embarrassment fading.

20 minutes later.

"Ok, spill."

"Hmm?" Amas leaned back, sipping a cup of heavenly and freshly made coffee. The two of them had finished consumer a whole platter of breakfast:eggs, bacon, hash browns, eggs, pancakes, etc. Food that wouldn't be alien outside of an American diner.

"Spill. How do you know about the maidens?" Amber said, trying to stare into his soul.

"….sslllliiiipppp." Amas just took another sip. "Tell, your familiar with that maiden's fairytale right? The one with the four maidens, correct?"

Amber's eyes narrowed but nodded. "Tell me, do you know how many maidens there are?" Amas continued.

"Four. Spring, summer, fall, winter." Amber replied.

"And tell, where are they? Actually, I can answer that. Fall is sitting in front of me, I'm guessing Summer is somewhere in Vacuo, and Winter is in Atlas. But did Ozpin ever tell you what happened to the Spring Maiden?"

"No, this is to not compromise the secrecy of the others. Why-" Amber froze. "You have the Spring Maiden don't you?"

Amas just smiled as he took out what seemed to be a larger scroll, but didn't have the fold-up feature or the clear see-through screen. That was when he passed the side button, it turned on. One swipe and it suddenly revealed a picture of a girl not much younger than Amber.

"Maia Blossom Ross. Formerly last name Blossom. Spring Maiden. She was under the tutelage of the bandit queen Raven Branwen. You probably heard of her." Amas said.

"Former Beacon student. How in the brother gods did Raven get her hands on Maia!?" Amber exclaimed.

"Spring ran away from Haven Academy. Raven took her in. Tried to train her. Then we raided her camp to rescue a captured comrade. And then we found Maia, and two of our leaders took her in as their adopted daughter." Amas shrugged. "Don't tell Ozpin though."

"Oh?" Amber looked at Amas.

"Seriously. I know he wants the maidens for his war on Salem but the only thing I fear more than the Grimm are Maia's adopted parents. Raven tried to kidnap her, Maia's mother bombed her camp in response. Maia doesn't want to fight, and everyone at NOD respects her decision."

Amas leaned forward. "So Ozpin asks, don't tell him about Maia. Or within a week, Beacon's gonna be a smoking ruin. I'm serious, Maia's parents are that protective."

Amber nodded. What was she going to do? Fight one of the three most heavily armed groups outside of the hunters? And also the one not many knew about?

"Also that begs the question? You have the maidens powers, some very bad people wants them, why the hell did the senile old man not send someone with you?"

"Hey, I like to travel a lot! It gets stuffy in the cities!" Amber threw her hands up and protested.

Amas raised an eyebrow. "You have magic, something only 4 other Humans have, you know there's a faction out there that wants to kill Humanity, and you are under trained so you decided the best course of action was to travel outside of the city?"

"Fine, fine, maybe not one of my best decisions." Amber's arms slumped, and her face changed to that of horror. "Oh shit! My horse!"

"Horse?" Amas looked confused. "Oh right, much of Remnant doesn't use cars outside of the cities."

"Shit, I need to find Sugar! He's all alone out there, poor girl." Amber moaned.

"Well, I suppose we could find her." Amas drank the last of his coffee. "Though not until you've recovered. You were just stabbed. I can, however, put out a request for our people to look out for a horse. I'd say she's still in the same county or one of the neighboring ones."

Amas made a mental note to see if Ram or Pelayo could give him a hand. If his team couldn't come to Beacon yet, perhaps finding a horse was something they could do.

"Say, you're a magic girl who's…19?" Amber nodded. "I'm a Nod Marine. We just battled the great evil of Remnant and we're bonding over breakfast. I don't even know where you've come from."

"Oh, trying to spy on this poor defenceless girl?" Amber giggled. "I didn't even know NOD employed stalkers and perverts."

Eventually, the conversation devolved into talking about their childhoods and backgrounds.

"And they just abandoned you…like that?" Amber looked horrified at what she heard.

"Us and dozens of others." Amas sighed. "I'll tell you, the Atlas cell isn't the greatest place to be if you aren't a hardliner like Spilaro. Most of us got caught by the SDC, thrown into a mining camp, and then accidentally abducted when NOD invaded. Most of the underaged former WF then joined up with armed youth programs. And that's how I became a marine. At least your life is more….. peaceful."

"Peaceful. Yeah like being selected by some wizardry magic and now being hunted by assassins." Amber did the quote-one-quote gesture.

"I'd go more into what I did as a marine bbbbuuuutttt….." Amas trailed off. "We're being watched."

"Wa- who?" Amber shifted around in her seat, looking out the inn.

"From my guess, a dusty old crow." Amas placed a dozen lien on the table. "Let's head back to the Senator. We'll need to be ready to head to Vale."

The two got up, paid off their meals, and left the inn. A few of Serenity's residents did bat an eye at the pair, a seemingly normal girl and a Faunus carrying enough munitions to level a building, but the villagers just shrugged it off.

Returning to the Senator, Amas opened the back door and placed his M5 onto a weapons rack before turning to Amber. "So Amber, where should we head next? Is there somewhere you need to be?"

"Preferably back at Beacon." a gruff voice from the side said. Amber jumped and Amas turned his head to the right to see a certain drunk crow-I mean elite veteran Huntsman leaning against the side of the Senator.

"Jesus Qrow. Where in the brother gods were you?" Amber growled.

"Watching you and your boyfriend having breakfast out in the open." Qrow said, eyes narrowing at Amas. "So you're the one who saved Amber. Interesting gear. Where are you from kid? Drop out from Atlas?"

"From Atlas, never went to the Academy. Got picked up by Nod a few years back. Haven't been to Atlas. Too…..hedonistic for a plebian for me." Amas shrugged. "I take it you're Qrow Branwen right?"

"Oh, I'm Famous. Glad to know." Qrow just kept looking at the kid.

"I mean, we do keep track of the Senile Old Wizards employees. Caught you once stalking our boys once. Somewhere in Mistral, I think? How were the electric Dust bullets by the way?"

Qrow growled. "Lovely. But I think it's time we stop beating around the bush. What-"

Amas leaned back as Qrow whipped out Harbinger and the blade was just mere centimetres away from Amas's neck.

"-Is Nod's deal with Amber?" If Qrow's eyes were laser beams, Amas would have two holes in his head. All the Faunus marine did was raise an eyebrow.

"One, that's just rude. Two, what's your deal?"

Harbinger inched closer to his neck. "Don't dodge the question!"

"Why? Do you have a warrant or a restraining order against me?" Amas simply pushed harbinger to the side. "I could say why, but this is kind of an open place. And I don't have to legally answer you, Branwen."

"Qrow! Put Harbinger down! He's friendly!" Amber placed a hand on Qrow's shoulder.

"How would you know? He's NOD! The very elusive organization that has a tendency to shoot everything in its way." Qrow turned back to Amber.

"That's a lie, you know it." Amas corrected. "It's with missiles, not bullets. And also a taser in your crotch."

"Wait wah-" Qrow didn't have a chance to react as Amas jabbed a handheld taser into the man's very precious jewels.

(You can probably guess what happened next).

Undetermined amount of time later

"Was it really necessary to….violate his jewels?" A distinctly female voice was heard saying.

"He held a synth to my neck. What do you think I was going to do?" A familiar male voice said.

Pain, was all Qrow felt as his body tried to stir itself awake. One groan later and it came out muffled. It was at this point he realized something was in his mouth.

Qrow's eyes shot open to realize he was both tied up and blindfolded. He tried yelling, only for more muffling to reach the ears of the pair in the front seats.

Both Amber and Amas looked back, with the former looking somewhat sympathetically at the tied-up and blindfolded Huntsman with a pair of smelling socks in his mouth. "While I find this funny, I don't think tying him out and gagging was necessary."

"Look, at least give me a warning next time. Seriously, a synth to my throat. Could have at least tried to de-escalate first." Amas grumbled as the Senator rolled down a street in Vale.

Serenity was only an hour drive from Vale so both Amber and Amas decided to just head there first. After Amas tied up Qrow and covered him with a blanket so border security wouldn't question it.

He had to admit, the Kingdom's border security sucked compared to both the EU's or the Canadian-US border. He and Amber got in, with little fuss.

While carrying enough munitions to level the entirety of Beacon and an abducted huntsman.

"Anyways, we'll drop him off at Beacon and then see the old man." Amas turned down the road that led straight to Beacon.

"HMMHMMHMHHHM!" Qrow struggled against his restraints.

"I'm going to uncover him." Amber pulled the blanket off Qrow, who looked pissed….or going into alcohol withdrawal. Maybe both.

"Mister Branwen, play nice with the Nody." Amber admonished. Qrow just stared back, screaming into the gag.

Ugghhh, this was not what I thought I was going to be doing when I joined the marines. I hope the others are doing alright. Amas thought as the Senator rolled to Beacon.

Somewhere over Southern Sanus.

When the NATO-Allied forces began operating on Remnant, they soon discovered that their weapons were extremely effective. But their weapons are extremely expensive to use. Take the Javelin for example. Could it pretty much kill any Grimm on Remnant? Including ones like the Leviathan and Wyvern if used correctly? Hell yes!

Did it cost an arm and a leg to use? Also yes. One could be firing a 200,000-dollar missile. 3 to 4 times what it takes for someone to make in a year.

On Earth, it made sense for weapons like Javelin ATGMs or NLAWs to exist. After all, you were firing missiles at things like T-72 MBTs, which costed 1.2 million dollars to operate and that was excluding things like crew, upgrade, and maintenance costs. 200 thousand dollar missile for a 1.2 million-dollar tank seemed like a fair deal.

But Grimm really didn't have to deal with economics. So NATO spent the last 7 years trying to figure out how to kill Grimm without bankrupting themselves.

They developed a myriad of weapon systems or upgraded old Cold War designs. One old design was the Swedish Carl Gustav or Israeli B-300/American SMAW Recoilless Rifles. A variety of new shells for combating Grimm, including laser-guided HEAT and Flak rounds, were developed and mass-produced.

A number of old Gepard and Soviet Eastern European Shilka SPAAGs were the first vehicles pushed into service to hold Grimm flyers off. Then the American Stryker Directed Energy Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (DE-MSHORAD) was finalized and put into service, replacing their cold war counterparts in offensive operations. But the Swedish managed to get in on the action with their Luftvärnskanonvagn (lvkv) 9040 CV-90 SPAAG variant. 40mm cannon rounds, stingers, and high-powered lasers proved more than a match for the Grimm.

As for killing Grimm ground targets? Well, the Germans worked out the kinks for their Puma IFVs and it proved quite capable of killing Grimm. It was much cheaper to use 40mm rounds than to spend millions on rockets or missiles (and it was remodelled to fit a 40mm cannon to ease logistics). And so, it became the de-facto IFV for European forces. American Bradleys IFVs and Griffin MPFs, along with British Ajax AFVs, saw action under their respective nations.

Naval warfare was thankfully on Earth's side. Though it could not send toooo many ships to Remnant, British Commonwealth Type 26 Frigates, supported by American Aegis-equipped Burke destroyers suppressed and destroyed Grimm sea Feilongs and Nevermores. This allowed a few French Mistral class Assault ships to run raids on either the White Fang, SDC, or Salem's few major supporting organizations.

That wasn't even counting the 6 old Atlassian sea-going dreadnaughts they found rusting in New Mantle. Formerly a Kingdom of Mantle island settlement pivotal in the Great War, New Mantle was an important ship-building site (rivalling the size of Bath Iron Works shipyards) and metal mining before Atlas made the transition to air fleets in AGW 30. The entire city, capable of housing up to 40,000 people, was left rotting because it was too expensive to operate, the new combat doctrines, and too isolated for any future use. And eventually, everyone forgot about it.

At least until the NATO nations came looking for places to build bases. It was Southeast of Solitas or Northeast of Mistral. So isolated it was no longer worthwhile to use. But NATO, being Terrans, found this place quite useful for their needs. As such, New Mantle became one of NATO's primary industrial sites and one of its gateway sites to Earth.

Soon New Mantle's shipyards were brought back to life and with technology 'borrowed' from Atlas or derived from Earth sources, the Terran nations could construct and operate a sizable naval force without drawing on their home forces. Those 6 old dreadnaughts, oddly similar to the British Vanguard battleship, were restored, upgraded with railguns, fitted with nuclear reactors, and flew the banners of Earth nations as it went bombing Grimm nests.

The air was a different matter. Terrans ruled the waves but it could not hold ground. As such, its focus was on the air. Sure, Terran jets like the French Rafales or American F-35s could win any fight, but they really could only do that from carriers or dedicated airbases. Older attack helicopters like the Tiger or Apache gunships worked at holding Grimm off but they were too slow and didn't carry enough weapons to stay long in a fight.

So a bunch of NATO engineers came together to build a new gunship under the Next Generation Airborne Assault Program (NGAAP) but commonly nicknamed the Pelican Program.

Which was why Flight Sergeant Amelia "Deadly" Pelayo of the British Royal Army Air Corps was flying something out of Call of Duty Black Ops. It was Terra's first VTOL-Gunship/Assault transport that used jet engines instead of propellers (discounting hovercrafts or VTOL jet fighters). Well, technically hybrid Gravity Dust/Terran jet engines. The AV-14 HammerHead

To put it simply, it was an enlarged Osprey that had room to carry 16 fully equipped soldiers or a few tons of supplies. It could act as a lifter of equipment like a Chinook. A scout likes a little Bird. But it had another role.

It's role was to kill things. Those things are Grimm. This was why in the nose of craft was an M230 30mm chain gun in the nose. Perfect for long-range Grimm hunting.

Did Pelayo need to mention the three GAU-19s on the side doors and rear ramp? Gunners operating the Rotary Cannons could tear into infantry and light air vics. 50 Cal for life.

But the designers of the Hammerhead decided it need more dakka and ways to kill heavier Grimm so the Hammerhead Pelayo flying had twin anti-air missile launchers, each capable of firing 6 Star Streak missiles, mounted on the sides of the Hammerhead's chassis. She also had 4 Nineteen-tube Hydra 70 rocket launchers filled to the brim with laser-guided variants of the rockets and 8 Hellfire missiles mounted under the main wings.

That wasn't counting the chaff and flare launchers she had access to.

"Pel! Melo here. I see a pack of Beowolves and Ursa at 11 o'clock. 90 meters down, 2 klicks away."

From the cockpit of the HammerHead, Pelayo scanned the area they were flying over before noticing the distinctive black and white figures of Grimm.

"I see them. Should we do a weapons test?"

"Heck yeah we should! We brought Hydras along and they're not around civies."

"Overlord, this is Deadly. Got a pack of a dozen Ursas and 2 dozen beowolves. In Grid Reference Tango Oscar 209385. Requesting permission to engage with Guns." Pelayo spoke through her comms.

"(Comms) Deadly, Overlord. Solid copy. You are cleared to engage."

"Wilco, moving to engage Grimm. Deadly out." one quick push of a button and all of her weapons were engaged. "Ok Melo. You got your wish. Going VTOL now."

The engines of the Hammerhead rotated vertically and the craft slowed to a crawl. "Rotating."

Melo Eremy, pilot of the United States Air Force but also acting crew chief and side gunner, leaned out of the left side hatch right behind one of the GAU-19s. "Sis, could you rotate the bird right a bit? I want a crack with the G-19s."

"Copy." Suddenly Melo had a clear view of the Grimm who suddenly turned at the Terran craft.

"They're looking at us. Firing!" Melo's itchy finger pull the GAU-19's triggers and suddenly a light BBBRRRRTTTTTT erupted from the gun as a line of tracers streaked toward the Grimm.

A Remnant Dust round, despite being the size of a 50 Cal, would simply bunch off a Grimm hide due to lacking AP power.

A Terran Round? No less one meant to cut through light armoured vehicles and one refined through a century of war? Well….

A Grimm Ursa screamed as one of its front legs was shredded by a glowy light that swept across the entire pack.

"Melo, keep them suppressed." Pelayo turned on both the autopilot and the weapon controls. "Ok boys. Chew on this." She said smugly as she pulled the trigger.

RATATATATAT. While the M230 didn't have the same rate of fire as the GAU-19, it made up for it with its 30mm rounds as they effortlessly rounded away at the Grimm horde.

In hindsight, the M230 was overkill to mount on the Hammerhead but hey, Pelayo wasn't complaining.

50 Caliber and 30mm rounds effortlessly swept through the pack and within a minute, all the Grimm lay dead as they melted into dust.

"Woah! I love this thing!" Melo whooped. "Thanks for letting me tag along Pel. Brass wouldn't let me take a hog to hunt these suckers down."

"You do realize that you would be flying a 40-year-old plane against Grimm right? Of course AirCom wouldn't let you do this. Anyways. Overlord, this is Deadly. 36 Ursa and Beowolves KIA." Pelayo said into her comms.

"(Comms) Affirmative. Wait. Deadly you have two radar contact heading towards you. Heads up."

"Copy that." Pelayo took back control of her bird and switched to her identifier. "Looks to be Grimm Lancers. Medium-sized. 6 klicks out."

"We still haven't used the missiles yet," Melo commented. "And I still got plenty of ammo!"

"Hell no Yankie. This is a 60-million-pound bird. I'm not getting into a dogfight with Grimm lancers when I can do this!" Pelayo activated the Hammerhead's Starstreak missiles and pulled the trigger.

WHOOSH WHOOSH! Two Starstreak missiles shot out of their launchers before their second-stage motors activated. At Mach 4, they suddenly (and temporarily) became the fastest man-made objects on Remnant as the Starstreaks rocketed toward the Grimm Lancers.

The Lancers didn't even stand a chance as the laser guided munitions rammed into their targets and utterly obliterated the Grimm fliers. In their place were two massive explosions.

"...oh come on! Those weren't even Nevermores!" Melo complained.

"Suck it Yank! My bird."

"I'm Atlassian."

"Atlassian turned American. Still American." Pelayo shot back.

"(Comms) Deadly, this is Overlord. RTB to New Misawa ASAP. NASOD Actual wants you, girls, back for an OP."

"Overlord, Deadly. We are RTB right now. Be advised we scrapped two Grimm Lancers in the area." Pelayo shot back.

"(Comms) Thank you."

"Wonder what Mister Papa Wolf wants." Pelayo wondered as the Hammerhead turned South.

"Probably my dumb ass brother got himself in trouble again," Melo grumbled.

"I can pop a Hellfire up his ass if you want.

"Hell no. If he dies, who does my Chemistry Homework or entertains me for fun?"

"Syd and Ren?"

"You know how much pressure Syd's under with Hereford? And Ren needs to control Nora. I'll take dealing with my dumbass but adorable little brother over dumping more burdens on those two."

"Yeah fair. Ok, New Misawa here we come!"


United Nations Database…Fortress Cities

Officially known as Allied Strategic Operational Supply Settlements, Fortress Cities refer to the dozen or so major settlements under control of NATO or Allied-aligned nations. They are characterized as being heavily defended settlements that house over 10,000 citizens of either Terran or Remnant origin. Like most settlements on Remnant, Fortress Cities make heavy use of coastal positions and well placed natural barriers to ease defenses. However, NATO's superior long range air forces, air assault infantry battalions, and transport units are in an unique position to acquire territories the Kingdoms have chosen to forgo. Each Fortress city is constructed in a circular pattern with a regional command center that not only houses a city's governing body, but also vast underground shelters in the case of emergencies.

Fortress cities are originally under the governance of whichever nations constructed them. However as more fortress cities sprung up, all were eventually consolidated under the Allied States of Remnant, a NATO supported confederation of all Fortress cities that is an attempt to grant these cities a sense of autonomy.

The first 5 Fortress cities were: Buckler (Constructed by the United States of America and Canada, located in Sanus), Bastion (Constructed by several Mediterranean states with US support, an Island between Solitas and Sanus), Mist (constructed by the European Union and located on an island between Menagerie and Anima), New Misawa (sponsored by the State of Japan, United Korean Republic, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand, located in southern Sanus near the coast), and Sahayog (constructed by India and the ASEAN nations, located in Western Sanus). These five cities are considered the core 5 cities of Terran presence on Remnant for their strategic locations, remoteness from the Kingdoms, proximity to natural resources, and most importantly: Home to the 5 of the 6 gateways that link Remnant to Earth. Without them, communications with their Home nations, military reinforcements, or Terran industrial power would be cut off. As such, each city is heavily defended with a regiment worth of troops defending each city and complemented with large drone swarms, adjacent walls dotted with CWIS turrets, long-range missile batteries, airfields with dozens of armed aircraft, retired or disillusioned Hunters that joined NOD, satellite surveillance, reserve armour battalions, and in the case of island or coastal cities, carrier and battleships strike groups.

Add to these first five cities is a dozen Fortress cities that have been established to either secure natural resources necessary for operations, Havens for escaping/defecting SDC and Whisky Foxtrot members and their families, strategic bases for military forces, or in the case of New Mantle, industrial shipyards to aid in upkeep and expansion of military power. This has reduced the economic burden of Terran nations which can now rely on local industries instead of shipping from Earth. New Mantle is considered the most important as without its shipyards, NATO fleets would just be confined to a few dozen ships scurried away from Terran fleets.

A total of 19 Fortress cities under NATO control exist on Remnant and house over 200,000 civilians. Many of these are ostracised Faunus seeking safety and accidentally stumbling upon NATO forces, rescued SDC workers liberated from slave camps, betrayed or defected White Fang operatives, refugees from destroyed villages, and even a number of huntsman and their families seeking more permanent safety from the Grimm. Over 50,000 Faunus call these Fortress cities home, a taste of equality only seen in Vale, Vacuo, and frontier villages. True fortresses in a dark world.