February has been hectic, and we're barely over halfway through. Massive migraine pretty much knocked me out for the entire weekend. Also going through a bunch of medical appointments recently. Had an ultrasound of my heart after they detected a slight arrhythmia during a physical. Waiting on the follow-up, but report indicates I've got a slight deformity on one of my heart valve flaps or something. They call it trivial, as it shouldn't really affect me much, but it's hard to consider anything heart-related as trivial. And in a little over a week, I get to have them take a bone marrow biopsy. Not looking forward to having them shove a needle into my bone. Asked if they could put me under for it, but the best they'll do is local anesthetic, which means I get to be awake for the whole thing. Thankfully, that'll be on a Monday, so shouldn't affect my writing. Taking that day off, though. Pretty sure I'll be in a foul mood the rest of the day.
On the bright side, I'm doing a late Valentines Day stream tonight. Playing a game I love from my childhood (Donkey Kong Country) and maybe the sequel if I have time. Never played 3 though, so may have to come back to that later. MrsTheGoose is also making some chocolates for me with all kinds of fillings. Some will be nice. Others less so. Between the awesome games (with some of my favorite video game music), the funny redemptions, and a slew of stories about me and my wife, I'm looking forward to a really fun time.
When had planning missions become so…professional?
It wasn't all that long ago that an upcoming meeting meant a quick one-on-one with Sienna. Maybe the Albains would join in from time to time. Adam would get a target, some random request from Sienna on a specific detail or two, then he'd be off to prepare for a long voyage. Part of him missed the simplicity of those days.
But he couldn't be too upset at the improvements. Gone was the table with outdated maps. Instead, he and his chosen few gathered around Sienna's latest toy - a holographic display showing the continent of Anima that Sienna could zoom in and out of with the press of a button. Nag and Trifa leaned closer to watch while Azure poked his finger through a live image of Cerco all the way in Reyno.
"Gifts from our Atlas contingent," Corsac explained.
Where one brother spoke, the second was almost sure to join in. "Sister Felicia has been busy of late."
Apparently. Atlas wasn't exactly keen on giving away their tech, and they'd been cracking down on faunus activities recently from Sienna's reports. They'd arranged a few protests in Mantle against both the military and the SDC, only to be harassed by humans and dispersed when things turned ugly. It was all "for their safety" or so the authorities claimed. Would've been a lot safer to deal with the human attackers.
If Atlas thought the heavy handed approach would stamp out the White Fang, they were sorely mistaken. All they were doing was driving more faunus toward the White Fang. Numbers in both Atlas and Mistral were on the rise thanks, strangely enough, to the Kingdoms' stubborn fight against the White Fang.
Which made their next mission all the sweeter. "Atlas is spreading their forces throughout Anima in their search for us," Sienna began, typing something into her terminal. A red dot in the northern corner of the map began to glow. "Argus has become a staging ground for their operations, serving as a sort of headquarters for the various teams they've deployed." Five red circles grew on the map, scattered across the region.
"They've already spread that far?" The coverage was huge, dominating nearly half the map! One of the areas even covered Reyno.
"These are suspected areas of operation," Sienna explained. "We don't know their exact locations, but our spies report seeing troops visiting villages in these areas regularly." Ah. What a relief. For a second Adam thought Atlas had taken over most of the Kingdom already. "Striking against any one area would be difficult, as we do not yet know where they are stationing their search parties."
Azure raised his hand. "But you said we've seen them in the villages."
"We have," Sienna confirmed, "but never for more than a few days at a time."
"Meaning they're not based at any of them," Adam continued. "They must be setting up camp somewhere outside the villages, making them harder to track. If we could pinpoint where they're hiding, we could dismantle their operations a lot faster."
"Yes, but an army marches on its stomach."
"That it does." Okay, now the brothers were just messing with him.
"The supply lines," Sienna said as brown tendrils spread from Argus to the heart of each circle. "We take out the supplies and starve them out while securing the supplies for ourselves."
An idea popped into Adam's mind. "Couldn't we track one instead?" They'd be heading right for one of the camps, which would lead them right to it as well.
Evidently Sienna had already considered that option. "Too risky. All it would take is one slipup for them to know we're there." Then they'd have to not slip up. "And if all goes according to plan, we might just narrow down our search area as well."
It was kinda funny to realize both sides were looking for each other in the riskiest game of hide-n-seek ever. Atlas wanted to find Reyno and destroy it. In turn, the White Fang sought to dismantle the Atlas camps and hinder their search.
"Want us to interrogate the guards?" They had to know their destination. All Adam had to do was convince them to give it up.
"No. We don't want Atlas to know we're looking for them. Not yet." Did Atlas really think they'd ignore all this activity. Everyone knew exactly who the target was. They'd have to be idiots to not have some sort of answer. "Think. When one of their camps are suddenly short on supplies, what will they do?"
"Send more?" Trifa guessed.
Incorrectly. "Takes too long, and there's always the chance we hit their convoy again."
"Buy more?"
Sienna liked Nag's answer more. "They'll buy more. And chances are, they'll go to the nearest village to resupply."
"Narrowing our search area considerably," Adam finished for her. Scouring the massive red area would take more time and manpower than they could afford. But if they could narrow things down a bit? "So which route are we hitting?"
"This one?" Nag tried, hoping to redeem herself from the earlier failure. "It's closest to Reyno and presents the biggest threat."
"True, but we don't want them to know that." Atlas might assume they'd gone for the closest target, which would only have them focusing their attention on the area even more. Then again, if they could turn the eyes of Atlas away from Reyno toward some empty area? Sienna instead highlighted a route much further west, the other four options fading away to focus on their chosen target. "Here. Their route takes them directly south. We suspect they're based somewhere west of Shion, but we can't be certain." Sienna looked up from the display. "Adam, I believe you're familiar with this area?"
Was he ever. "I am." He'd passed through those villages a million times. "There isn't much south of Shion, but that means there's a lot of space for Atlas to hide." Sienna zoomed the map in on the red area as Adam spoke. "You have the fishing villages on the coast, Shion, Katai," saying the name left a sour taste in his mouth, "and Higanbana. Those three are your biggest settlements in the area. If I was Atlas and I needed supplies in a hurry, I'd go to one of those." The smaller villages like Shizukana might not have enough to spare, while the bigger towns would have extra and be able to restock faster.
"Since you know the area, I'll let you take point."
"Whatever their destination, odds are they'll pass through Shion to get there." The major roads intersected at Shion, making it a sort of hub of trade and activity as it connected the coastline and the northern territory with the trade highway. "But we don't know how far they are from Shion. For all we know, they may be camped a day or two out."
"So we hit them before they reach Shion," Trifa offered.
"Right. We have to assume they'll signal for help the moment we hit. The longer it takes their reinforcements to arrive, the longer we'll have to get away."
"Halfway, then." Azure decided to get in on the fun, pointing to a region well north of Shion. "Maximize the distance between Argus and this phantom base near Shion. That should give us plenty of time."
What was the point in having Adam lead if everyone tried to make decisions for him? "Further south. Here." Adam pointed to a seemingly random area along the trail almost three quarters of the way to Shion.
"Isn't that a little close to their destination?"
"Yes, but it's further away from Kesseki." With how confused his team looked, Adam figured he'd better explain. "It's a prison colony between Shion and Argus. High security." He'd done some research after narrowly escaping that fate. Kesseki was where Mistral sent some of its worst offenders, banishing them to the far side of Lake Matsu so the capital could forget they ever existed. That Mayor Barnes had almost sent Adam there as a kid meant he must've had some connections beyond the walls of Katai. "They deal with everything short of Huntsmen there. If Atlas puts out a call for help, the last thing we want is for Kesseki to answer."
"We don't want Mistral getting involved, either," Sienna added, bolstering Adam's decision. "I'm told the Council is already on edge about Atlas and their operations. As long as we focus on Atlas, some in Mistral will start to question whether having Atlas on their shores is more trouble than it's worth."
"Didn't we attack their capital?"
Rather than be annoyed at Azure's question, Sienna nodded. "We did, but people have a way of forgetting the past when faced with the present. We just need to hold out long enough for the average idiot to get sick of seeing Atlas armor in their towns. The Council will sense the shift in opinion and demand Atlas leave. Ironwood won't risk starting a new war."
Even if Atlas would probably win. They already had boots on the ground and an established foothold in Argus. Still, a protracted fight in another Kingdom was never appealing, especially when they were already busy with the White Fang.
"We hit them here," Adam restated, waiting to make sure no one else decided they somehow knew better. This time, no one tried. "The forest is densest in this area, so we should be able to get close before they spot us. We'll arrive at least two days in advance and set up camp, then ready our attack."
Adam laid out his plan in detail, from their arrival all the way up to their extraction almost an hour south, where the treeline broke and gave them a decent landing area to swap to a waiting airship. From there, they'd head west and follow the coast to a refueling point before making the long flight back to Menagerie.
"If Atlas has any way to track the supplies, we can't risk heading straight to Reyno. We'll bring it back here and have our techs look it over before shipping it out."
"Or we could bring Laurence. He could take a look on the flight."
Tempting, but Adam had already chosen the team, and Laurence didn't make the cut. But that wasn't the only reason. "There won't be room for all his scanning equipment, and we can't risk missing anything." Not when a signal might lead Atlas straight to Reyno's doorstep. "It's the long way this time around."
"I'll have a team in position for the refuel," Sienna promised without any hesitation. They'd work out a specific location later. "Maybe have them leave some gear behind for Atlas to find. Make them think we had to abandon the site before they got there."
"Sensors, too," Adam recommended. He didn't know the specifics but trusted Sienna to fill in the gaps for him. "Might be useful to check their response time."
"And their strength." Sienna was already running with the idea. "I'll see what the boys can whip up."
"Um, excuse me?" Sienna and Adam turned as one to face Azure. "Not to interrupt or anything, but how are we gonna stop a military convoy? Our training was nice and all, but we're talking militarized trucks with trained guards. If we start shooting, won't they just floor it and run us over?"
"We could take out the driver."
"Doesn't Atlas have some sort of bulletproof glass on their vehicles?"
"You think they'll bring those all the way from Atlas?"
"You wanna risk it?"
The back and forth went on and on, the three of them debating ideas until Adam finally silenced them. "We're not shooting the driver." And not just because of the bulletproof glass. Their goal was to have a bloodless mission for once.
"Then how do we make them stop?"
"I have a plan for that." A stupidly simple one, but effective. "I might need to bring someone else along to help, though."
He had a feeling a lot of people were about to get angry.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
He was right.
"What?!" Blake's scream threatened to blow out Adam's eardrums, especially with how it harmonized so well with Jakob's protest. "But he didn't pass your stupid test!"
"Ouch." Both her scream and the insult to his methods.
"I thought only the winners got to go!"
"They do, but Bane's already got experience." And not just on missions, either.
"So do I," Jakob reminded him.
"That's not-"
"You said these missions were to introduce us to the field," Blake continued, ignoring them both as she focused her ire on its usual target. "Then Bane shouldn't get priority."
"Yeah!"
"Or Jakob."
"Hey!"
Adam sighed, having fully expected the blowback when he announced the change to the team. Bane stayed quiet through it all, wisely deciding to stay out of it and let Adam deal with the enraged teen. "I didn't choose him because he's been on missions before."
Naturally, Blake jumped to the wrong conclusion. "So favoritism?"
"You know that's not it." She was just lashing out. "I chose Bane because we need someone to help with the roadblock."
"A tree? He gets to go because he can cut down a tree?" It sounded a lot less impressive when she put it that way. "With a chainsaw."
"Yes, but-"
"Any idiot can cut down a tree with a chainsaw." Bane looked like he wanted to protest but decided against it. "Heck, even I could do it."
"Did you just call yourself an idiot?"
"Can it, Jakob." Even Jakob's stupidity provided only a brief distraction. She didn't even break eye contact. "Take me with you. I..I can help."
"No."
"I can! I'll…I'll help topple a tree. Or act as lookout in case the noise attracts Grimm! You can never be too safe when Grimm are around."
"We'll be fine."
"But I can-"
"No, Blake." To her credit, she heard the moment he was done playing and clammed up immediately. "Bane is coming. End of story."
"But why?"
"Because I don't just need a tree knocked over." If he did, he could've just done it himself. Lest they forget, Bane wasn't the only one on the tree clearing team at Orostachys. "I need it felled across the road and maybe dragged a bit. More importantly, when we're finished, I need it cleared so we can drive away before reinforcements arrive. Unless you think you can clear a downed log faster than Bane?"
No one even pretended they could. Bane had his own chainsaw - the massive one he'd brought from the mining camp - and regularly helped fell trees near Kuo Kuana with ease. Between his skill with the saw and his raw strength, he'd be the perfect addition for their plan. Anyone else would just slow them down.
"That's what I thought." It felt a little childish to lord his victory over them, but they had it coming. Mainly Blake. Blake had it coming. "Don't worry. The rest of you will get a turn. Eventually," he added, knowing it would probably be a while for Blake and Ilia. He already dreaded taking young teens out on a mission, no matter how skilled they might be. "If all goes well, we'll be back in no time with a fresh load of supplies courtesy of the Atlas military."
Yuma, Jakob, and Marcus cheered the announcement, which helped defuse the tension in the room. Indie, on the other hand, wanted more. "So…what sort of mission are you guys going on?"
Adam saw the chance to finally throw someone else under the bus for once. "Why don't you ask the mission leader?"
Several sets of eyes widened, only to zero in on a suddenly nervous Azure. Adam slipped away before they mobbed him with questions. Technically, Adam was in charge of the mission, but he wanted Azure and his partners to take the lead as much as possible. He'd be on hand to fix any mistakes, but if all went well, he'd barely even be involved in the mission.
The problem was, nothing ever went that well. Maybe he'd become paranoid after Mistral, but it seemed like every mission threw some sort of curveball at him lately. Adam dreaded what this one might hold and planned to be overly prepared for anything. They'd get there early, just in case the convoy passed ahead of schedule. It would also give Adam time to scout the area and clear out any Grimm he found. He could just picture it now. A Grimm attack in the middle of the mission. Monsters rushing from the trees to attack his team and give Atlas a chance to escape. Or maybe they'd kill the Atlas soldiers his team detained. Heck, maybe Winter freakin' Schnee herself would be hiding in one of the trucks and pop out for a rematch. It sounded ridiculous, but fate always seemed out to get him. Better to be over prepared than under.
Whatever happened, he'd make sure everyone got back safe, no matter what. It was just a simple raid. Not even a raid. A heist. All they had to do was stop the trucks, detain the guards, load all the supplies on their getaway vehicle, then ride off to safety. No muss. No fuss. He'd make sure to disable the other vehicles so they couldn't be followed. Even tie up any prisoners to buy them time. Naturally, he'd leave one free to untie the others after they left. Wouldn't do to serve them up to the Grimm like that. Then again, if he left them with no weapons and no escape, they'd probably die before help arrived anyway. This was getting complicated.
Just kill them. They can't follow you if they're dead. While true, jumping straight to murder seemed a bit much. There had to be a way to keep everyone alive but still cover their retreat. Leaving the prisoners any weapons would be foolish. All it took was one lucky parting shot to take out one of his men. Maybe he could just cut one tire. They had to have spares. Or he'd disable all but one truck near the back and cut a few of those tires. I'm sure changing tires on a military truck doesn't take much time. Definitely faster than the Grimm can attack. Okay, so he'd leave them the rear truck untouched and block the road with another tree or something. There. Any issues with that plan?
No mocking voice came to poke holes in his latest version, so he had to assume it would hold up. Planning a mission and accounting for both sides could be a real pain, but going in unprepared would be worse. His team's safety came first, followed closely by getting the supplies back to Menagerie. Keeping the Atlas idiots alive came in at a distant but still very real third, even if the annoying voice in his head argued it shouldn't even make the list.
The worst part was, he knew she was right. Killing the guards would save them a lot of time and effort. Not only that, but it would mean less manpower to continue the search for Reyno. Unfortunately, a pile of dead bodies would also have Atlas pouring troops into the region to tear up the countryside looking for him. Those white-clad morons might not bat an eye at a faunus death, but he refused to stoop to their level. He could do better. He had to be better. Only then could he hope to expose the evils of Atlas and the SDC to the rest of Remnant. No one would listen if his hands were just as dirty.
Some lines were never meant to be crossed.
They still had a few days to prepare, and Adam intended to take advantage of every second. He'd put his four underlings through the wringer, rehearsing each and every step of the mission before he'd let any of them off the island. Whatever cruel twist fate had prepared for him this time, he'd be ready. His team would be ready. He'd do everything in his power to make their first mission a success. More importantly, he'd make sure they lived to tell about it, no matter what it took.
He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
"Team Ant for the win!" A displeased grunt had Azure apologetically adding, "Sorry, Bane. Team Bant? Ant and friend? The fearsome foursome?" Even Azure cringed as he realized what he'd just said. "We'll work on the name later."
Adam should've been happy, landing back in Menagerie with a full load of supplies and a very much alive team. Everyone waiting in Menagerie sure was. Even those rushing to offload the spoils and follow Laurence to scan everything for trackers cheered their return. Not only had they managed to get the drop on Atlas and escape without any bloodshed, but the convoy had been even more loaded than expected. Dust. Weapons. Equipment. Food - if you could call it that. He'd denied the request to jettison the crate of bland rations on the way home. They even had a few mostly-intact Atlesian Knights piled in the back, their robotic corpses ready for study. He could almost imagine the excited squeal Laurence would let loose on seeing them.
Everything had gone according to plan. Better, in fact. The convoy had stopped, Adam and his team had swooped in and captured the human guards, holding a few hostage and forcing the rest to surrender. The robotic units deployed but held their fire, programming preventing them from endangering the captured soldiers until one of the officers gave a shutdown command in exchange for a guarantee that he and his men would not be harmed. It was a breath of fresh air to have a reasonable conversation with an Atlesian. There were no tricks. No double crosses. The officer and his troops proved as good as their word, and Adam held up his end of the bargain, leaving all but the driver with their hands bound and a single working vehicle to let them escape to safety after the White Fang left. All in all, the perfect mission.
So why wasn't Adam happy?
He knew why, of course. It sounded petty, but he'd been expecting his bad luck to continue and been on guard the entire time .Even if he wanted to give Azure the chance to lead, Adam had been the first into action. He'd hovered nearby throughout the entire mission, ready to intervene the moment things turned sour. Every sound had him jumping at shadows.
And then, nothing happened.
They loaded up and left. No one intercepted them on the way to the rendezvous. In no time at all, they'd gotten airborne and started for home. The refueling stop was so quick he barely had time to scout the perimeter, refusing to let his guard down for even a second. Even once they got airborne, he half expected enemy airships to chase them down. Or maybe some flying Grimm. Anything.
Nothing. They'd encountered nothing. They'd even gotten home ahead of schedule thanks to a generous tailwind. The rest of the team had shown up to celebrate the victory, and already Jakob was insisting they go commemorate the moment with some drinks. It was exactly what the team needed - a solid mission with real results to prove they could live up to Sienna's demands.
Adam waved the team off, insisting he'd catch up with them later. He couldn't get away without promising to buy a round for everyone when he finished his debrief. He probably could've waited. Sienna would understand. In reality, he just didn't want to spoil their moment with his dour mood, even if he did his best to hide it.
Sienna noticed immediately. "Why the long face?" she asked as he entered her office. "You do know the mission was a success, right?"
"It was." Even if it turned out Atlas had trackers on the equipment, it wouldn't matter. Not like they didn't know about the White Fang being based in menagerie or anything. They just weren't willing to risk a second Faunus War by attacking the island.
"So what's eating you? Something happen in the field?"
For once, no, and that was the problem. "Is there something wrong with me?" Sienna didn't have an answer for that one. "Every mission I go on, something goes wrong. But the moment I put someone else in charge, suddenly it's smooth sailing."
"Is that what's got you all worked up?" Yes and no. "Adam, did I ever tell you about my first mission with the White Fang?" He shook his head. "It wasn't anything special. Just a supply run to some village out in the middle of nowhere. It was my first time being in charge, and I wanted it to go perfectly."
Adam could imagine. The pressure of having others rely on you could be crushing. Every decision you made could affect everyone around you, and anything bad that happened would be your fault.
"You never forget your first." Adam had a feeling she'd worded it that way on purpose, just to mess with him. "This was years ago. Ghira came along, but only to watch. Told me I could use him if I wanted, but that I had to make all the decisions." Sort of like what Adam had done with today's mission, only it sounded like Ghira actually stayed out of the way. "All we had to do was drive to the village, give them the supplies, and head home. What could be easier?"
"What happened?"
"Everything," Sienna moaned. "We got a flat tire. Two of my men got sick. We even took a wrong turn and wound up at the wrong village! Had to ask the guards for directions." Adam couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. "And then when we got there, I tried to rush everyone because we were so far behind schedule. Ended up spilling a crate of food right in front of everyone. I wanted to just curl up in the truck and die."
"That does sound pretty rough."
"You have no idea." Somehow, he thought he did. Hers ended in embarrassment, not a fight with a Specialist, an ambush, or murder. "Ghira told me it was fine, but I promised myself it would never happen again. I planned the heck out of the next run and made sure nothing could go wrong."
That certainly sounded familiar. "And did it?"
"We had extra fuel, a second spare tire, detailed directions…I even brought extra men, just to be safe. And you know what happened?" She waited, but he didn't answer. He could imagine a dozen problems, though. A Grimm attack. Bandits. Bad weather. The possibilities really were endless. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing," Sienna repeated. "Everything went fine. A little slow thanks to all the extra stuff I brought, but we didn't have any trouble at all. I kept expecting something awful, but it never came. By the time we got back, I was so exhausted from worrying what could happen that I went straight to bed." A nap did sound nice right about now. "The point is, I spent so long expecting problems that I couldn't actually enjoy our success."
"Are you saying I should loosen up?"
"I'm fairly certain that would be a waste of my time." What was that supposed to mean? He wasn't that bad. Was he? "What I am saying is that you can't go around looking for failure. Be prepared, of course, but don't think that you're some sort of bad luck charm. Things happen. Hope for the best but plan for the worst. And if you ever figure out how to balance that," Sienna leaned forward with a smile, "let me know how."
"Alright, I get it." Relaxing didn't come naturally. Now that he was looking for it, he could still feel the tension from the mission through his body. His legs were ready to run while his hand still kept resting on his sword when he wasn't looking. Here, sat alone with Sienna, he still seemed to expect an attack. Adam shut his eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths as he tried to force himself to relax.
It only helped a little.
"Better," Sienna assured him. "Now, I'm assuming everything went well out there. Any issues with your new team?"
"They did great, actually." He'd say surprisingly so, but he felt kinda bad for having such little faith. "I barely even got involved." And he probably could've stayed out of it altogether, but that would be a hard habit to break.
"Glad to hear your training is paying off."
"Those four deserve the credit."
"As does their trainer," Sienna rushed to add. "There's a reason I put you in charge of them. No one gets results quite like you, Adam."
"I do my best."
"And the White Fang is stronger for it." Talk about laying it on thick. "Now, unless you have anything else to add, I believe your team is waiting for you. Make sure to tell them I'm pleased with their progress."
"You could always tell them yourself."
"Why, Adam, are you inviting me out for a drink?" He knew better than to take that bait. Not panicking ruined her fun a bit. "This is your moment, not mine. Another time, perhaps?" Fair enough. Before Adam could leave, though, Sienna made sure to add, "Make sure to raise a toast to their success. It'll really raise their spirits. To Alpha Squad, and to the future of the White Fang."
/- - - - - - - - - -/
The future of the White Fang.
It was something Ironwood thought about often, even if no one else did. To most of Atlas, a ragtag group of faunus weren't that big of a problem. How could a bunch of untrained animals hope to stand up to the might of Atlas?
That sort of thinking is what got them into this mess in the first place. They'd underestimated the faunus once before and fought a long, bloody war as a result - one they'd lost. Changes were made, but promises were only as good as the men who made them. Now, years later, he could already see the warning signs reappearing.
Contrary to the White Fang propaganda, Ironwood held no ill will toward faunus. If anything, he wanted more faunus in the military, not less. Their night vision advantage alone could make for skilled soldiers, but more than that, Atlas needed numbers if they hoped to survive the coming war. Alienating and even fighting against a significant portion of humanity only served to weaken them while their enemy grew stronger. He'd already made waves adding a faunus to the ranks of the Ace Ops. Some in Atlas had called Tortuga a diversity hire, but Ironwood stood by his decision. In fact, he hoped to add another faunus to the elite team in the near future. Alsius had some promising candidates, but those were still a few years out. Instead, he'd tracked down a few recent graduates of Atlas Academy and was busy putting together a proposal to bring in an additional member to his team.
Speaking of teams, the recent report he'd been flipping through had his brow furrowing in concern. So the White Fang had finally taken notice of their movements in Anima, had they? He'd expected it to happen sooner. Still, a single supply convoy looted without a single casualty wasn't exactly a fatal blow. Already his fellow officers were holding it up as proof that the White Fang couldn't contend with Atlas.
The report painted a much different report to Ironwood's seasoned eyes. Recordings from the Knight units showed the initial encounter, and while some were calling for the head of the officer who surrendered without a fight, Ironwood had already put in paperwork for a commendation. As far as he was concerned, the man's cool head had saved lives. The attack had been quick. Organized. Disciplined. Practiced. That last bit concerned him.
He knew the reality of military OPSEC. Information leaked out all the time. You couldn't plug all the leaks. That didn't make knowing that the White Fang had intel on their movements any better. His elusive prey was adapting and getting smarter.
Adam Taurus was there. He'd been surprisingly quiet as of late, much to Winter's frustration. Neither of them wanted to see more victims, but the more active Taurus was, the better their chances of catching him.
Despite his presence, it looked like Taurus wasn't calling the shots this time around. He'd have to get his men looking into these new players. One he recognized - another escapee from Orostachys. Bane, if his memory served him right. An odd name for a massive man. The other three were unknowns as of yet. They moved with a purpose, though, and the blue-haired man seemed to be the one giving orders. Some might think Taurus had been replaced in leadership, but the way this new lieutenant kept looking to Taurus for approval spoke of something much more worrisome.
This wasn't just a raid. This was a training exercise. Taurus hadn't been hiding - he'd been training new officers. This, coupled with the fact the White Fang hadn't been completely silent with Taurus off the field, spoke of growth. The White Fang were spreading and increasing their capabilities. This might just be the precursor to a major expansion in Anima. Or maybe even beyond. Were they hoping to infect Sanus next? Would Oz take them seriously when the masked monsters showed up on his doorstep? Ironwood trusted Ozpin, but the man had a terrible habit of ignoring the present for the sake of the future. A good leader had to keep an eye on both.
A great leader controlled the present and shaped the future, which meant Ironwood had work to do. First, he'd root out whatever hidden bases the White Fang had in Mistral's lands. A lot of the activity focused on the west, but it was too obvious. Either the White Fang were complete imbeciles, or they were trying to keep the focus in the wrong area. Ironwood refused to underestimate them. He'd increase searches in the area for now, but only so the White Fang would think he'd fallen for their trick. Meanwhile, Winter would start focusing on the southeast. That's where he would go in their shoes. He just needed to figure out where.
The sooner he purged that cancer from Mistral's shores, the better. Their trackers had proven useless, going dark after arriving in Menagerie, but he'd expected as much. Mistral might hate the idea, but what they really needed was an entrenched monitoring station in the south. Something that could monitor air traffic and communications in the region. He signed the order then and there, ignoring the latest complaints from Mistral's Council on his so-called overreaches. They'd thank him someday for doing what they didn't have the guts to do. Until then, let them run their mouths all they wanted. He'd get the job done, with or without their help or their approval.
The White Fang weren't the only ones who could adapt. Ironwood had cut his teeth rooting out dissidents in Atlas and bringing them to justice. No matter how organized they might become, every terrorist group made the same mistake in time. They'd overcommit and make a mistake. All Ironwood had to do was watch and wait. Sooner or later, the White Fang would slip up and reveal where they were hiding.
And when they did, he'd end this little game of theirs once and for all.
Ah, Ironwood. I really should find an excuse to write him more. I love the possibilities of the character. Still one of my favorite adults in the entire series.
Love the idea of Adam getting mad that things work out for other people when he gets crapped on all the time in this story. That's what you get for being an MC in one of my stories. Decided not to waste time showing the actual mission, as something going according to plan isn't as exciting and it would've dragged the chapter out needlessly. Probably going to summarize most of the other missions next chapter, as they won't have a huge impact on the plot and I've got more important things to get to. Will likely be a bit of a timeskip as a result, but only a few months I'd wager.
Also got a bunch of ideas for future chapters, but such is the dilemma of every writer. I can clearly visualize things that won't happen for dozens of chapters, but when it comes to the here and now, I get stumped. Instead, I sit here doing my best Spaceballs impression. "When will then be now?"
Next chapter: More missions!