Chapter 17

Whiskey Outpost

It was thirteen thirty and Moody was starting to get irritated. CFVY and JNPR were ready to go. The modified skip waste container neatly packed with their gear and ammunition. KHYA had been there at one, had passed the inspection she did on their gear and they were busy packing their gear in another container.

Initially the bullhead pilots had been sceptical about slinging the containers underneath their craft by cables, It had necessitated a test flight with a loaded container and intervention by Ozpin for them to accept clipping the cables to the underside of the bullheads for transportation of the goods. Frankly Moody thought they were just being difficult as bullheads routinely carried cargo crates slung underneath their craft, but then again these pilots were not commercial pilots like those employed at the docks

There came the pounding of footsteps and teams BROW and RWBY finally arrived. Moody took one look at the piles of luggage that was being pushed on a dumbwaiter and felt her blood pressure starting to spike. Taking a closer look she saw three cases of dust, multiple suitcases, three backpacks and what looked like two tents. A second dumbwaiter arrived with several boxes piled on it.

Moody was about to tear into them and do a very thorough inspection when Goodwitch took her arm and led her to the side

"Professor Moody are your group ready to depart?" Glynda asked

"Glynda, you can see for yourself that those girls are no where near ready for their mission." Moody snapped

"Then let them learn from their mistake, Make a list of what they forgot and we will send it on an available bullhead in a week or so, of course this will affect their scores and their ultimate mission pay. As much as I too would like to send them back we have the bullheads on a very tight schedule."

As the two professors were talking Wilkes approached the new craft along with two fifth years dragging a cart. Jaune jumped from the pilot seat and moved over. He whistled sharply and the rest of the team joined them.

On their initial landing they had been required to strip their heavy weapons from the craft to have it secured in the armoury. They carried them back to the ship and quickly mounted them, before returning to the cart where two light machine guns and several ammunition boxes were, Nora produced two pipes and removed the tripods the weapons were equipped with, tossing the tripods on top of the extra ammunition. She clipped them onto the special brackets added to the pipes which in turn were added to new holes that had been made by the doors and secured by a simple pin pushed through the receiving bracket and pipe. Coco opened up an ammunition crate and loaded one with Fox taking the other. There were some involuntary flinches when the blind man operated heavier weapons. The extra ammunition in tripods were added to their container.

Moody stalked over and chucked her gear into the container with JNPR/CVFY's gear. She climbed up into the cockpit and settled in the co pilots seat with Jaune showing her how to buckle in. The two teams mounted up bit not before Yatsu double checked the line attaching the pallet containing their new vehicle and two motorcycles to their craft. Nora and Coco taking position as door gunners, clipping lines to mountings and attaching belts to their hips anchoring them. Finally Pyrrha and Ren took position with the fore and aft guns Leaving Fox and Velvet sharing a seat as Yatsu took up the rest of the available space.

"Let us see what your crate can do Mister Arc." Moody spoke

"Jaune Jaune, music please." Nora called

Jaune placed his scroll into a receptacle and music started pumping. He had chosen a song used in several movies from the sixties, a period where dramatic Huntsman movies were in vogue, Paint it Black started pumping in the vehicle. Though old and cliché Moody found it fitting for the moment

Nora, being Nora had gone a step farther and had wirelessly connected the craft with the relay system on the docks and music started playing over the loudspeakers. Jaune quickly boosted power and lifted off deliberately not looking into Goodwitch's direction, The cupola lowering itself into place on lift off. There was a moment of hesitation as the cables they were towing tightened and strained before the pallet lifted from the ground.

"Directions. Mam?" He asked

"Head due north for now keep it slow till the other bullheads catch up. I will give the final coordinates as we go." Moody said slouching in her seat

Goodwitch shook her head at the departing craft, She suppressed her smile as ruthlessly as she had the urge to tap a foot in time to the beat. She motioned for the girls standing there to hurry up and get situated. The two bullheads moved off after the departing landing craft and Glynda was able to tick of another successful departure on her schedule.

A large crowd had gathered to observe the happenings at Beacon. There had been no hiding of the large numbers of Huntsman And Huntswoman gathering at the bottom of the bullhead docks nor the large amount of equipment that was piled in the cordoned of parking area, Bullheads landed frequently and took on cargo before lifting of towards the Academy, the Hunters going up in the cable cars. Despite the frequent landings and loadings the pile of equipment did not seem to diminish.

Interest was increased as a convoy of the wall's militia unit arrived and started offloading ammunition crates after the area had been reinforced by Vale's SWAT units and several police cruisers.

Adam Taurus kept himself at the back of the crowd, hiding deeply in his hooded jacket. He barely kept himself from snarling as most of the gathered watchers were humans. Cries and pointing fingers had him looking towards Beacon. A trio of bullheads were departing all of them carrying underslung containers. Looking closer he noticed that one of the bullheads looked considerably different. To the crowds delight the three craft dropped lower and flew over them. The front craft was definitely a design he had not seen before. He also noted that this one was well armed looking at the visible barrels pointing out from it not mentioning the Huntresses manning light machine guns in the door, one dressed in pink armour. What had gathered the crowds approval was the fact that Music was being played as they flew past, one of the machine gunners tipped a box over and candy rained down to happy squeals from the children in the crowd.

Adam pushed back through the crowd heading towards a cheap hotel close to the dock. He ignored the board advertising daily and hourly rates and pushed to the counter

"I have an appointment with miss Burns, which room is she in?" He snapped

The elderly faunus manning the desk barely looked up

"Room two oh five, since you are going up tell her she missed check out and it will be another two hundred Lien." The woman said returning her attention to the small tv

Adam moved to the stairs and started heading up.

Several hours later the three Ships touched down at a refuelling station. The LAATi still had sufficient fuel but due to string headwinds and the extra weight the bull head pilots felt it prudent to land and refuel. Judging from the stampede to the bathroom facilities some agitation to land had probably also occurred. Coco, Velvet, Nora and Pyrrha joined the general scrambling. The boys merely went looking for the nearest bush. To their surprise this was an action Moody followed. The boys quickly returned to the ship to let the professor have her privacy.

For lack of something better to do the boys went around to check couplings and lines on the pallet and containers. Returning to the LAATi they opened one of the crates they had kept inside and pulled several meals ready to eat and water bottles from it. They ate it cold watching bemusedly as Moody pulled their four from the line and pushed them into the mens room before she returned to the craft. Moody helped herself to food and water

Moody waited till the girls had returned before producing a map

"As you had noticed you are four short on your team, to make up or lose points that the others may get through larger numbers, the deployment area will be picked by your team. In order to do this we will go ahead while the others wait here and refuel. Adell you will be joining Arc in front and the two of you will pick an area to set up. Once you have an area I will send the coordinates to the other bullheads. We will land but nothing else will be done till the others catch up." Moody instructed

Moody pointed to the map

"We will set up adjacent to the river route, as you can see there are several logging tracks running along the area.

Jaune and Coco shared a look before nodding their heads

"Pyrrha can you please loan Coco your helmet preset it with binocular view." Jaune requested

Pyrrha handed her helmet over.

"JNPR, CFVY mount up, Velvet take up door gun in Coco's place." Jaune ordered

"Give me five minutes to relay the plan to Miss Branwen amd let her know she is in charge for now." Moody said.

They were flying along the riverbank looking for a good spot to set up camp. Jaune and Coco having decided several spots were not good enough already. They noticed that the road running along the river took a turn, Jaune pointed to a clearing.

"That looks promising." He said.

"Nice flat area, but I do not like that little hill and sharp drop to the side." Coco stated.

"Good for setting up a defensive position being higher ground and good for drainage if it rains. Also high enough of the river rises if it rains." Jaune countered

"Okay this is probably the best we can get for now, I don't know about you but my ass is dead from all this sitting." Coco replied

"Be thankful you are not in the back, their seats are worse than up here." Jaune chuckled

"Let me go get Prof and we can go and land." Coco agreed

"Let me circle first and check for Grim." Jaune suggested

"Might as well drop our cargo if we are doing a patrol first." Coco said standing up from her seat

Coco opened the door and motioned to Moody to come up. Moody moved closer.

"We found a spot we are happy with and we are going to drop our load before doing a small air patrol before landing" Coco informed Moody

"Are you both satisfied with the area? Think hard on it before I activate the beacon and send our location." Moody cautioned

Coco paused

"We agree this is the best place we have seen so far. It is close to the roads, have clear landing areas and enough space for a camp. There should be no to minimal Grim activity in this area." Coco reported

"Then why the air patrol?" Moody asked

"To make sure of the area before we land. Plus we need to do something till the others catch up, scouting the area from air seems like a good idea."

Moody took out her scroll and send their location to the senior Bull head pilot at the airfield. She activated a beacon and dropped it from the open door before heading to the cockpit. And retaking the co pilot seat.

Jaune looked in disappointment to the sloped area in their landing area

"I did not think it would be that sharply sloped." He said with a sigh

"Live and learn, it looked much different to me too." Coco shrugged beside him

Behind them they heard an engine revving hard and the sound of spinning tyres. Jaune turned to see what Nora was up to now but was surprised to see that it was Fox behind the wheel of the scout. He looked back to the area he had hoped to turn into a camp before shrugging it of.

Yatsu looked into the distance before he scrambled onto the LAATi holding a pair of binoculars. He focused on the adjacent road.

" Convoy under Grim attack." He called out

"Talk to me Mister Daichi." Moody called out, shouldering her weapon

"Multiple trucks, four Nevermores, I can not see any ground Grim!" Yatsu called back

"Assume they are there. Mister Arc, Miss Adell your orders." Moody replied

Jaune pointed to the top of the craft

"Pyrrha, sniper, Nora back her with suppressive fire. Shoot one of your smoke grenades into the road, let the truckers see there are friendlies ahead." Jaune called

" Yatsu. Velvet set up a firing line with the machine guns, the rest prepare for a firing line and close quarters. Jaune prep the engines in case we need to take off." Coco added her orders.

They scrambled to their positions and the Laati whined as its engines were restarted. Yatsu had taken the light machine guns and their stands from the craft and had simply driven the stands into the ground anchoring them securely. Coco stepped up between the two and had her miniguns barrels spinning. Jaune jumped from the cockpit and took position next to Velvet with Moody taking a spot next to Yatsu. Ren and Fox took postion behind them, preparig to jump forward to take care of close defence.

" Five trucks, four Nevermores and a pack of grim running behind." Nora called from her position

"Pop the smoke." Jaune called back

There came two soft plops as Nora fired Magnhild. Two plumes of smoke rose in the middle of the road. One green one pink.

"Since when is pink a signal colour?" Moody called to Nora

"Green means safe, pink means there is awesome girl power present." Nora called back

"Cant argue with that." Moody stated dryly.

The sounds of the engines came closer and much louder as the drivers clearly were pushing the vehicle for all they were worth. One the Nevermores flew over the convoy and banked to turn to set it up for a frontal run. However it put it in range of Nora and her rotary blaster and the pinkette did not hesitate to let her gun sing the song of its people. Bolts slammed into the avian and it tried to move away with a screech of pain, but Nora did not let up her weapon strafing the bird relentlessly. The bird dropped disintegrating as it did so. Nora whooped in triumph as she reloaded. Pyrrha had gone prone, her rifle spat a red bolt and it struck another Nevermore, her shot did not kill but it caused the bird to abort its attack run. Nora opened up again with Coco adding her fire as well as the second bird was now in range for her weapon. The cracks of Moody and Pyrrha's rifles added to the din.

The first truck left the road and rushed to them. Jaune frantically waved at the driver to clear their line The driver complied and the truck veered to move behind their craft. The second Nevermore died in a hail of plasma and dust rounds. More trucks entered the area and started pulling to screeching stops. The chatter of the light machine guns started as the pack came into range, Jaune quickly swapped barrels for the grenade attachment and send three rounds of high explosive into the pack, He then swapped back to his shorter barrel and started firing into the pack. The grim charge stalled in the face of the heavy fire the front line dying in droves with the rear running into them. Nora fired several grenades from her position with Magnhild into the pack. Multiple explosions and pink smoke rose into the air. A cry came as the third Nevermore's existence ended. The ground assault did not let up as the pack congested. Ren threw two grenades into the pack. The flames from the thermal detonators engulfed the pack and various screams came from the Grim as they were immolated. The last Nevermore tried to flee brought down by relentless fire

The defenders looked over the remains of their battlefield as black smoke rose like a pyre from their defeated foes.

"JNPR, sound off." Jaune called

"Pyrrha, clear."

"Nora, I am good."

"Ren, no injuries."

"CFVY?" Jaune called

"Coco, fabulous as always."

"Velvet, no injuries."

"Yatsu, no injuries."

"Fox, I can see nothing."

The rest groaned at the blind mans pun.

"Moody, I am good." The professor added

The truck drivers had jumped from their trucks and were checking for injuries among their numbers, before checking their vehicles. The group then approached the Huntress and her students

"You bunch saved our hides, you have our thanks." One spoke up

"You all good?" Moody asked

"No injuries, though Brent snapped a CV joint on his truck, we called for a tow, we will unhook his trailer and dump his load somewhere." The trucker replied

"Why do you abandon the cargo?" Pyrrha asked

"Standard procedure under Vale law. Anything happens to a truck except a normal breakdown, grim attack accident, the load is considered as damaged and has to be returned to the sender. Out here, we just dump it and go back for another load. The rednecks make sure nothing gets wasted though"

Yatsu was looking at the truck. Multiple feathers from the nevermores had skewered the cargo but none of the feathers had struck the trucks or their trailers

"Does this include the loads of undamaged vehicles?" He asked

"If struck by Grim, yes. Why do you ask?" The trucker asked

" Could you leave some of the timber poles and some of the planks here?" Yatsu asked

"Sure we can dump it here as good as any other place." The trucker shrugged

Coco pulled Yatsu to the side

"What are you planning big guy?" She asked

"I heard you and Jaune complaining about not being able to use the little rise and cliff face. I have an idea to fix that and now we can have the materials to do so. I know the instructions said we have to use what we bring in, but nothing said we can not use what we find here." Yatsu replied

"Okay, we will follow your lead." Coco replied

Moody's scroll went of and she answered

"Yes miss Branwen, the landing zone is clear. All grim have been dispatched. Tell the pilots there are multiple trucks on sight turning our camp into a dumping ground."

The Bull heads were forced to drop their loads before landing in the roads disgorging their passengers one after the other before turning around and heading back to Vale. A tow truck arrived for the stricken truck and hauled the damaged truck of followed by the other now empty trucks as they headed back to their pickup depots. Thunder rolled overhead. Moody looked at the assembled students.

"Right set up your tents for the night, it is too late to start building your camps. I want at least four people on watch and patrol for the entire night. You start building your camps bright and early. KHYA, RWBY, BROW, you are to take the majority of the watch." Moody instructed

"Why are they getting special treatment?" Royce mouthed off, pointing to the other two teams

"Because they already fought Grim while you were sitting pretty." Moody snapped

Moody looked up

"I suggest you hurry it will start to rain soon. Arc I will be sleeping in your craft. None of you are to disturb me unless it is an emergency."

Dawn came and none of the students were in the happiest of moods after being in stuck in tents during a thunder storm not mentioning being on watch standing in the rain. The only one looking happy was Pyrrha as she had convinced Jaune to share their sleeping bags after complaining of being cold. On the other end Yang was extremely upset as her glorious locks were frizzled from the damp and rain. As such Moody's happy declaration that they can now start constructing their camps was not received very enthusiastically.

Blue team assembled at their container after a breakfast consisting of meals ready to eat.

"All right, Yats. It is your show." Coco said swallowing a piece of mystery meat with a grimace.

Yatsu pointed up the slope

"My home village is an area that consists of valleys and deep slopes. We produce both rice and wine as the area is ideal for rice paddies and grape vines. Our homes are built on scaffolding above the ground as we have to worry about flooding and mudslides. When I heard that the lumber was to be dumped I though it would be better to use it." Yatsu said

"So how do we proceed?" Fox asked

Yatsu produced a notebook and drew a roughsketch

"We use the round timber as upright supports and we use the planks to make the living area level. We start by digging holes to plant the poles, and then once we have a basic frame cut the poles down to size to set up a deck. We then set our camp up on the deck." He explained.

"What about our fire place? it is a wooden structure after all." Pyrrha asked

Yatsu pointed to a pile of bricks that had been left behind with the lumber

"We built our fire place with that. We can use clay from the riverbed instead of cement to bind the bricks. And in front of the fire place we lay a patch of clay to prevent a fire starting up in case there are sparks." He continued

"Why not cover the entire deck?" Jaune asked

"We can, but the clay will take long to dry and if it rains like it surely will it will become very slippery, The lumber floor will be enough."

He drew another structure on the side and Nora pointed to it

"What is that for?" She asked

"An outhouse and latrine pit, I think we all will find it preferable to using the bushes." Yatsu chuckled

"Can we build a separate platform to create a bathing area or will we be reliant on the river for that." Coco asked

"We did get some camping shower bags we can use that." Jaune spoke up

"I would kiss you for that if I did not fear Pyrrha beating me up." Coco remarked jokingly

"If Jaune was a girl I would have felt threatened, so go right ahead." Pyrrha replied

"At least the rain softened the ground for us." Ren remarked

"A small mercy we will be thankfull for." Yatsu replied

Jaune picked up a shovel and a pick axe from the tools they had brought with.

"I will dig the hole for the latrine, as leader I should do the shitty job." He said

" Bad Jaune Jaune, No. No more hanging around Yang, we do not need lame puns." Nora stated crossing her arms.

"Agreed." The other echoed

Moody was seated in the LAAti waiting to give her twice daily update to Beacon while keeping an eye out on the two teams. As senior Hunter, Peter Port had been chosen to act as overall supervisor to the field teams. At the designated time she connected her scroll and was connected

"Good Morning Anastasia, I trust the Serenity Forest is living up to its name." Peter greeted her

"Morning Peter. It is lovely out here, fresh air, lots of trees and we got to wipe out a pack of Grim shortly after landing."

"The wonders of camping out. How are the students?" Peter chuckled

"They survived their first night and they are building their camps." Anastasia replied

"And how are they progressing?"

"Blue team is struggling but they are making decent progress, they were a bit ambitious with their idea but it seems to be working for them at this point. Red is a disaster." Anastasia reported

"How so?"

"KHYA is prepared and ready to work, RWBY and BROW are the problem. So far all they achieved is setting their tents in a circle and are arguing about what to do next, I think KHYA is close to mutiny and setting up their own camp and leaving the others to be cold and miserable. I am afraid that the load of equipment that will need to be brought in next week will be rather substantial."

"That bad?"

"Yes, that bad. Okay So for the official report we are on site, had engaged a pack of grim and all students are accounted for. Now I need to go kick Red teams asses and go keep an eye on blue. I just saw mister Alistair walking past with a small chainsaw and Miss Valkyrie has been too quiet for my liking."

"Be careful and have fun. Next check in is at seventeen hundred." Peter signed off.

Mid afternoon saw Blue team calling it quits when they pitched their tents on the platform they had built. Groundsheets were used as a screen for their bathing area. Three shower bags were tied to a piece of timber running between two pools, a sole children size inflatable pool set below a shower head for those who preferred bathing. The latrine was also screened of by groundsheets having been unable to cut timber to size to build an outhouse. Their equipment and ammunition was stacked underneath the platform , a secondary platform having been built between the support poles by tying planks to the support beams and lying planks down to make a base. By common agreement each of them had bought a single comfort item, Yatsu's was the most surprising. He had bought a family size inflatable pool, it took up a near third of the bathing platform, Jaune, Velvet and Yatsu were currently filling it up by dropping a bucket tied to a rope and pulling the water up.

A fire was crackling in their brick fireplace baking the clay dry. Coco was sprawled out in front of it her comfort item having been a lounge chair. Ren was waiting for the fire to diminish his tea kettle ready for instant use. Nora was inside her tent atop a large pool lounger/ slash mattress. All were trying to ignore Fox playing a harmonica very off key. Pyrrha was standing on the edge of the rise and indulging in an activity she had not done since before the death of her father, fishing.

Down on the other end of the clearing things were not looking as great. A single pole was strung across two A type frames containing tow solar showers. A latrine pit was covered by a wall of bricks that had been stacked atop one another. Team KHYA had planted poles at the corners of their tent and by tying planks to it had created a platform. Their equipment was stacked on top of this platform underneath groundsheets covering the items. Camouflage netting from locker in the LAATi was on top of this. Crudely made benches lined their brick fireplace. Teams BROW and Ruby had their tents out in the open and that was pretty much it. Yara was angrily eyeing the other two teams making up Red team

"We did all the work and those hussies are still arguing." She spat

"I say we put a guard on our supplies and camp before they start getting ideas." Katya stated

"No need to get worked up." Hina shrugged

"Why is that? We worked our asses off and they did nothing but bitch." April retorted

Hina pointed to where Moody was approaching the area. Even from a distance they could see that the teacher was pissed. More importantly she was talking into her scroll as she was approaching the area in which they had set up.

"Moody will make sure they get the message, all we can do is to hope that she will take our effort into consideration. If not we mutiny and go give Blue team the kitty eyes to let us join them." Hina answered

Moody whistled sharply and the twelve girls assembled before her in their separate teams. Moody panned her scroll over the area. She held up a hand for silence

"Before I give my judgement I want the opinions of Beacon's senior huntsman and the deputy headmistress." She said

Moody returned her attention to the scroll and switched the audio to loudspeaker

"You have your close up of the camp as well as the footage taken during the day. Professor Port your decision?"

" Team fail, I will give team KHYA fifty percent as their assessment. Girls I expected more from your team, what went wrong?" Port stated

"Before we get to that, Professor Goodwitch?"

"I agree with professor Port, team fail. However I will give team KHYA sixty percent. They tried their best to cover the all basics but with no help their results was substandard."

Moody looked at them

"This sorry camp is the worst kind of clusterfuck it has been my displeasure to see. Who was in charge? Clearly no one. Did you even try and plan ahead? Clearly not."

April extended her scroll opened to the message centre

"Mam, we did invite teams RWBY and BROW for a planning session in our room, they did not respond. We send them a list of what we thought we required and what we would obtain, no response to that either. I tried again this morning but I was ignored. I and my team then decided that we would look after our own interests. Professor Goodwitch is right our work is sloppy and we should have coordinated better between the four of us and given more attention to results than getting our list done." She said contritely

Moody filmed the messages displayed before handing the scroll back.

"I see you also consulted with Blue team and shared ideas. Care to explain as to why?" She asked

"It was my idea. Mam. I thought it would be better if both teams were properly equipped, no points is worth being unprepared in the wilds." Hina admitted

"A very valid point miss Ichuru." Port broke in

"I will take this into consideration. Teams RWBY and BROW now would be a good time to answer." Moody stated

Silence ruled the area.

"Nothing? Surely you have something to say, both teams sure had a lot to say while four of you tried to work." Moody said softly

Moody straightened

"Very well. Red team group fail. KHYA gather your gear and supplies, you are moving in with Blue. The rest of you, I had better see an improved camp by morning or you will both get a semester fail in my class. You will each also write a minimum five page report detailing where you went wrong as it seems you have become mute. Now fall in and let us see if you can actually learn by looking at what teamwork can achieve."

Velvet was the first to see the moving group

"Guys. Moody and Red is coming and no one looks happy." She called out.

Jaune and Coco stood to the front and the rest fell in behind them. They were silent as Moody recorded their efforts. Moody lowered her scroll slightly

"How would you rate your efforts?" She asked

"There is still a lot we need to do, but we missed some equipment in our planning." Coco admitted

"The most important thing we forgot was a saw, followed by more groundsheets and nails. We completely forgot to add Hessian bags." Jaune admitted

"This is why we had to leave some things unfinished, overall we consider our efforts a fail. As you can see we left a lot unfinished" Coco concluded

"Walk us through what you consider failure points?" Ports voice came

Coco pointed to where the tents were set up. Eight poles were standing out over the platform

"We need a saw to cut timber for a roof for our shelter and to add sides, as well as more nails and groundsheets to waterproof our roof." She said

"Were you planning on building a cabin then?" Goodwitch interrupted

"No mam, we were planning to keep on using the tents but we wanted to create windbreaks with siding and have a roof against rain and nevermore attacks. We also wanted to build a proper outhouse but again not enough nails and no saw." Jaune answered

"Why would you want Hessian bags?" Port asked

"To create sandbags and create fox holes for shooting positions, we could still dig foxholes and use the ground to make embankments but the first rain would have the ground being washed back into the hole." Fox answered

Moody pointed to the bathing area

"I assume you wanted a roof and siding there as well. What is with the two pools?" She asked

"The smaller pool is for those who do not wish to shower, the larger pool we use as a water collection point for the shower bags, What we need there is some sort of pump system, we are currently filling it by bucket and rope." Coco explained

Moody lifted her scroll again

"Professors your input?" She asked

"Overall a very good effort, that you recognise where you could improve is also good. I would mark them as a pass." Goodwitch said

"A good effort in building and planning ahead and I would also grant a pass." Port said

Moody looked to Blue team

"Congratulations on passing, now I need you to make space for KHYA to join you. They will now join blue team with a mark of sixty percent in stead of your seventy percent. They can make up extra points with improvements. They will also have to submit a report as to why their first team failed. I want you to make a list of what supplies you need and a patrol schedule by morning. You twelve will be doing patrols till Red can sort themselves out. You will not be helping them or lending them equipment, if they are short of food I want a full list of what you are giving them for reimbursement. Red get going."

A bedraggled red team walked away. Moody looked to the twelve that remained

"Keep an eye over them, their emotions are likely to draw any close by Grim." Moody instructed

"Mam, we have space, they could be moved in here too." Jaune offered

"That is generous of you Mister Arc, but doing so will negate the reason for this exercise." Port spoke up

"Planning and teamwork are essential for all Huntsman as are accepting responsibility for failure." Goodwitch added

"Then we should be down there with them." April countered

"Miss Miller, your team did everything that could be expected of you in terms of what was needed, that your other team members failed to grasp the essentials is not on you. You met the parameters required, they did not and failing you for their failure is not an option." Moody said firmly

"What are you calling your position?" Port asked

"Whiskey outpost." Fox answered

"Why that name?" Moody asked

"In remembrance of another thing we forgot to bring, we forgot to bring alcohol." Fox replied.

The eight girls in red team were assembled in a rough circle in their area, Cameron noted Royce glaring at Blue camp and the four carrying their equipment up to their camp, nor that she was the only one to look angry

" That is it. Stop blaming KHYA and stop glaring at blue. We were the ones to screw up." Cameron snapped

"But…" Weiss started

"But nothing! KHYA did try and get us to work together, they tried at Beacon, they tried here. But we were too busy being bitches demanding to be in charge too listen to them. We, no I, blew them off because what do first years know. I disregarded the fact that they are infinitely more experienced than I am in this regard and for what my ego. All I achieved is to sleep in a cold tent tonight and have a shit load of making up to do to keep from failing. Now we are going to do what we should have done the first time and work together." Cameron spoke

She looked to the rest

"First we pitch our tents under that platform KHYA built. Then we unpack our equipment and see what we have to work with. Did anyone see what Blue did to get their fireplace from falling apart?"

"They used clay instead cement. Then I think they are using the fire to dry and bind it" Blake said

"Can we do that to make a wall with the bricks left in that pile?" Yang asked

"Go on." Cameron replied

"We use the bricks and make a wall around the platform and dry it, we can say it is our perimeter defence. Also we can make a fireplace for cooking in one corner" Yang explained

"We can try, good idea Xio Long." Cameron nodded

"What are going to do for washing? KHYA took their shower bags." Ruby asked

Cameron pointed to a forgotten bucket

"There you go. Any more questions or can we actually start working now. I do not think Moody will be as lenient as she was now again tomorrow, not mentioning Port and Goodwitch as well."

"Failing and humiliating us before blue team was lenient?" Weiss stated incredulous

"Yes it was, and the humiliation was of our own making. All three of them have kicked students out of Beacon for less. And for bitching you are the one to start digging for clay." Cameron replied

Weiss was handed a camping shovel and pointed to the riverbank. Cameron looked to the remainder.

"What do you think, dig a small trench to create a foundation or do we build on top of the ground immediately?" She asked

"Build a foundation, it will be more stable." Royce said scratching her dog ear absently

"Well we heard the builders daughter. Let us get going then.

Olson, a bear faunus, had already climbed up the platform. She leaned down

"Go round the back, where Moody can not see clearly. KHYA has left us some stuff to use." She said softly

"What did they leave?" Cameron asked

"A shovel, an axe, some rope and several MREs and a pot and kettle. They left a packet of tea, condensed milk and a can opener and a fishing rod lines and lures. They also left two groundsheets"

Cameron looked back to the other position

"Thanks girls, sorry for nearly screwing you over as well." She said