Chapter 22
Bandits in the woods
Cheap Hotel Vale
Emerald shot awake , hands going for her weapon as she heard the door slam. She relaxed slightly on seeing that it was just Mercury. She paused as the asshole did not greet her with his customary demeaning or sexist comments. Instead he was throwing his possession into a bag
"We have to move now." He said tersely
He was using the same tone he had used when they had escaped from Torchwick's warehouse. The last of her sleepiness disappeared in an instant.
"Explain yourself, Mercury." Cinder demanded
Cinder had been seated at the cheap table in the room, various notebooks strewn around her. Mercury tossed over a balled up piece of paper to Cinder
"We are fucked. Beacon is on to us. I got that from the cop I bribed when we arrived."
Cinder unravelled the piece of paper and opened it up, Emerald scampered to look over her shoulder. There were four people on the picture in the centre of the notice, one crossed out with deceased written over it. Above the picture was the logo of the Vale Police department, between that and the picture was an instruction to report and observe if spotted, they occupants of the picture were listed as White Fang collaborators as well as linked to a Mistrali terrorist group. A special number to contact Beacon had been added to the form.
The picture was theirs from the team photo Lionheart had insisted all teams must provide for the Vytal Festival. Below the main picture four smaller individual pictures appeared again with one crossed out. The paper started singing as flames flickered in Cinders hands
"I just spoke to Lionheart and he assured me Beacon has been placated in regards to us." Cinder snapped, dropping the form
"Either the fucker flipped again or he is being given the mushroom treatment." Mercury shrugged, grabbing his toiletries from the bathroom
Mercury paused in his packing for a moment before zipping up his bag and tossing it over his shoulder
"Either way does not matter, places like this is one the first ones that will be searched. So unless we want to make it easy for Ozpin and his boys we need to be gone."
Cinder stood up and moved to pack the few belongings she had left unpacked. She paused for a moment as she was collecting her notebooks before looking closely at her minion.
"This cop can be trusted to be silent. I trust." She stated
"He can be now. He just had his last payoff." Mercury replied
He lifted his hands and they could see a darkish brown stain under his fingernails.
"Where will we go from here?" Emerald asked
"There is a perfectly good apartment in Torchwick's warehouse basement. I had a quick look on my way back, I could not see any surveillance. It will have to do till we find another place, sooner or later they will come looking there too." Mercury replied
"Can we bribe someone to hide us?" Emerald asked
Mercury gave a short bitter laugh
"Right now we are too hot too handle. It is not just Beacon and the cops we have to worry about the Families of Vale know Torchwick worked for someone or did you forget the message Junior gave us. The only reason we are still moving and breathing is that they don't know what we look like exactly. Anyone willing to hide us for cash will sell us out a moment later for more. And trust Taurus to hide us? Not happening, even if he had a miraculous change in heart. Three humans in the faunus ghetto, we will be picked up in minutes. Trying to slip out of Vale will not work either, they will be looking closely at the ways out of the city both official and unofficial."
"Where would you hide ideally?" Cinder asked
"Me? I would look for a crazy cat lady. Find where she stashes all her bills, properly interrogate her then kill her and her cats and take her place over and keep paying the bills, in the unlikely event someone cares to look for her. I can claim to be a nephew taking care of her place till she gets back from visiting a relative in some buttfuck settlement well away from Vale."
"Why a cat lady?" Emerald asked
"They usually know everything around the people around them and no one misses them." Mercury replied
Mercury led the way from the room minutes later. Disabling the fire alarm he opened the fire door and led the way down the fire escape.
An hour later the door to the room was kicked down by a man in dishevelled clothes a curved sword gun combination in his hands. He was flowed into the room by a perfectly dressed woman holding a rapier in her hands
"It seems we are too late." She said
The man knelt down and picked up a notebook and the remains of the police notice
"And now we know why. Vale PD is leaking like a sieve again. Though they did not get away clean."
The man looked at the designs drawn in the notebook. There was two distinct handwritings present. The one who drew the designs had a precise and evenly spaced handwriting, the other who had added multiple notes and question marks was more elegant
"Now what I would like to know is what is the technical plans of Ozpins terminal doing in a flophouse in Vale." Qrow asked
Winter took the notebook. She pointed to the first set of handwriting
"I have seen this handwriting before somewhere." She said
She flipped a few pages
"This looks like schematics from the CCT network. A bit outdated I would say but still recognisable as that."
Qrow started reaching for his flask and stopped himself.
"Best get this back to Oz and Jimmy and let them look it over." He said
"I agree. The Ace Ops should be arriving soon as well. We will be able to cover more ground then." Winter nodded her head
"Better update Oz, see if he can get the police commissioner to get a CSI unit to do a full forensic here."
Winter lifted her scroll, Qrow grabbed her wrist and pointed to the router in the corner
"Best do it downstairs, we do not want our scrolls to be marked on the record when they pull the data."
Winter broke free and walked to the narrow staircase. She would call Ozpin as requested, she will also inform the General that Qrow is acting out of the ordinary. Sure he was still rude, shoddily dressed, but what he was, was sober. Something he normally is not. Any anomaly is suspicious right now and should be investigated.
Luckily for the sanity of the entire camp no one had been in the washroom when Peter Port had gone for his morning shower. Freshly clean and after more comfortable sleep than he had anticipated he was looking forward to breakfast and several cups of coffee before he began his day. He paused as he heard the sounds of wood on wood and moved in the direction of the sound.
He found Anastasia leaning against the pole of the watchtower watching the clearing before her. Teams KHYA, JNPR and CFVY were sparring. The sound of wood had come from Misses Nikos, Ichuru and Scarlatine along with mister Arc as they were sparring amongst themselves with wooden blades reminiscent of Mistrali honour blades. Mister Daichi found himself to be under attack from the other two Ichuru sisters, whereas Mister Alistair was exchanging blows with Miss Miller. Mister Lie was seemingly teaching Miss Adel some form of unarmed combat. He was missing one for a moment till he spotted her. Miss Valkyrie was slowly crawling into position behind mister Alistair and preparing to attack
"That is not going to work." Anastasia remarked
"Mister Alistair is fully aware of the fact that she is there." Peter agreed
"Has anyone actually tested how far he can extend his senses when he is using his semblance?" Anastasia asked
"I believe he can sense three hundred and sixty degrees up to a metre and a half and up to fifty metres if he concentrates in a direction." Peach said joining them
The cat faunus was still dressed in her sleepwear and yawning. She hid a smile as her sister was downed by the pouncing Miss Valkyrie as mister Alistair performed a move rarely seen outside of breakdance videos. He was on top of the two struggling girls in a moment and managed to pin them to the ground. They signalled their defeat by tapping out.
Nora whistled and they all stopped
"Say it." Fox said
"I, Nora Valkyrie, the queen of the castle have been vanquished, I and my team will cook breakfast." She said looking down
"And?" Fox prompted
"Do I have to?" Nora whined
Fox crossed his arms, unimpressed, he started tapping afoot. Nora sighed deeply
"Pancakes will not be served. Instead we will attempt to make the heathen dish waffles." Nora ground out
Still looking downcast Nora led her team in the direction of the kitchen area, muttering dire threats against waffles and those that enjoyed them, Team KHYA following them to help. Peach looked to Anastasia
"I am curious, just how are they going to bake waffles? it is not like we brought any camping ovens and hotplates out here." She asked
"The kids ran into a veteran from the Faunus War, they learned quite a lot from Stripes, You may want to go take a look later they have quite the setup in there." Anastasia replied
Her scroll started ringing and she stepped away as she answered it. A few minutes later she hanged up. She turned to Peter
"I know you wanted to start searching the forest but I am going to ask you to hold off for a day. That was the mayor, one of the largest food producers for the town has reported that there is something close that is spooking the live stock." She said
"Grim do not bother with livestock." Peach replied
"Precisely, but bandits do. I believe we should check it out. Right now we can not afford any loss of production from the factories and should the towns food supply get impacted that is precisely what will happen."
"Not mentioning that the rising negativity will draw the Grim and reduce that even more." Peter nodded
He thought for a moment
"We can begin with close perimeter searches and go wider as we go. You are right securing the farms takes precedence."
"Who are you sending out?" Peach asked
"Team JNPR is on flight patrol with a member from another team as mister Arc will be the pilot, I think BROW will do well with whoever does the investigation on the ground."
"I will go and investigate, I need to see the area I will be operating in." Peter said
Peter surprised the students with his nimbleness as he climbed up onto the cockpit easily from the outside ladder. Jaune climbed in and lowered the canopy over them before he started his pre flight checks. Once done he started warm up sequence
"Pilot to all stations, check in." He said over the internal coms
"Front Guns, active and loaded." April reported
"Rear guns, active and loaded." Ren
"Left door, locked and loaded." Nora stated
"Right door, active and loaded. Passengers are strapped in and secure." Pyrrha completed
"Nora, do your thing." Jaune said
What could best be described as bubblegum pop started as Nora started playing the latest offering from a girl band she had downloaded before leaving Beacon filled the ship and played in the camp through a wireless router
They lifted off smoothly and Jaune steadily increased height. He switched to a secure channel.
"Sir, do you wish to go straight to the farm and investigate or can we do our usual fly bye of the town and factories first?" Jaune asked
"What is your usual routine?" Peter asked
"We fly out to the flour mill, turn head over the brickyard and timeber mill before verring over the town and going along the main road upt to the train station before checking up the tracks. If we go straight to the farms we will be flying over the train station." Jaune replied
"Take the usual route before going to the farms, I need to see as much of the area as possible." Peter stated
"There is a set of binoculars in the compartment on your left, It is set for normal viewing, the red button on the top left corner will let it cycle to heat vision if needed." Jaune informed Peter
"Can you please inform me if we are approaching areas that you have encountered Grim in as we move?" Peter asked
"Can do, I can also hover over it if you need longer to inspect the area."
"That would be useful."
They spotted nothing up to the flour mill and flying a circle they turned around, Jaune dropped low enough that the workers outside the mill could see them clearly as he moved over them. Several waved at them as they passed. Port looked around as much as possible with the aid of the binoculars and without. He looked up from the binoculars as he pressed the red button twice
"Mister Arc, why am I seeing silver outlines coming from the factory?"
"That is the third mode, professor. It shows electrical and electronic signatures. If you press the red button again it will go back to normal view." Jaune replied.
"And I assume the symbols on the sides is the language you were using out beyond the frontier."
"One of them, sir. That is the common language in use between the clans and the other Kingdom, though they prefer to be called the Republic or now Empire since there was a regime change."
They passed low over the town and the other factories before heading to the train station.
"If you look to the right you will see our first camp, that is also where we fought the first pack and Nevermores." Jaune said pointing
Peter looked out in the direction and saw the remanants of the camp, a large portion was now flooded by the rising river. Only the old blue camp seemed untouched
They flew over the churned up road to the trainstation. Following the tracks for a while Jaune diverted to the farms. The farms were easy to spot as they had cleared large sections of the forest for crops and grazing. The animal yards were built against the thick wall that was at least three metres high surrounding the farm buildings themselves were solid looking structures built closely together, access given by a single gate. The housing units were built on top of the barns. Flying over the wall they noticed that several figures were walking on top of the wall, cradling rifles.
Jaune hovered over a small clearing between the buildings, before slowly starting to lower the LAATi. He paused as he sensed Darkness coming from the forest. He kept his height and extended the sensors on the craft. A light started blinking on the small tactical screen, followed by two more to the east and west.
"Sir, we have three groups using devices not using standard Vale frequencies for radios and scrolls." Jaune reported
"Take us in mister Arc." Peter said calmly pulling his scroll out
He had zero signal, something that should not be possible seeing a relay antenna on top of the roof of a residence, the blinking green light of the relay showing it was operative. They landed and exited the craft. An older woman briskly walked up to them, a rifle slung across her shoulders. She seemed disappointed on seeing their numbers.
"Peter Port, teams JNPR, BROW." Peter introduced them
"Mary Macintyre, farm manager, welcome to the triple seven ranch group." She said shortly
"How long has your communications been cut off." Peter asked
"Two hours now, shortly after I got hold of Serenity town." Macintyre replied
Jaune pointed to the walls
"Nora, Ren, east wall. Thermal scan of the trees. April, Pyrrha west wall. Sir I will need those binoculars again."
Peter handed it over and the three groups sprinted to the nearest ladders to get vantage points.
"Are your people in your shelters?" Port asked
"Those unable to fight, yes. We have twenty five children, three pregnant women and three elderly with two inured in the shelter. Another fifteen are on the walls" Macintyre replied
Jaune extended his senses as he looked into the distant treeline. He could sense the emotions of the group gathering there, bloodlust, malicious excitement, viscous anticipation. The infrared showed a large mass of signatures, looking to the side he saw more suddenly appear from nowhere and join the group. He activated his coms and Port answered promptly
"Professor. I had forty to fifty signatures by rough count, however the number just grew by a lot suddenly." Jaune spoke rapidly
" West wall. We have twenty signatures, no make that more, they just suddenly grew as well." April called it in
"East wall, about forty as well, no increase in numbers." Ren reported
"Mister Arc, fall back. BROW will replace you shortly." Port ordered
Jaune jogged back to the ladder and putting his feet outside the rungs slid down and jogged back to where Port was, BROW passing him readying their weapons. There was no sign now of the egotist that Port had portrayed in his classes, a professional Huntsman was in his place.
"Sir, let me check the South quickly." Jaune suggested
"There is nothing there but the wilds, our main road out is on the North." Macintyre said
"Check it anyway, Mister Arc. We can not assume anything." Port replied
A quick climb and scan with both the Force and the macrobilnoculars showed nothing and Jaune returned to the teacher. Cameron had been called back as well. Port turned to the team leaders.
"We are dealing with at least a hundred Bandits out there by your counts. I suspect we are dealing with the Branwen tribe. We are well and truly outnumbered here. There will be no chance for reinforcement should we somehow manage to get signal out." Port said bluntly
"The walls are all well and good for Grim, but against bandits they are near to worthless, there is no cover on it. We will be forced to fight inside the walls." Cameron said
"That is correct miss Branwen, we will be forced to set up a defensive position outside the shelter."
"Branwen?!" Macintyre snapped
" Yes, I believe that if the professor is correct that is my aunt out there." Cameron shrugged
Port jumped in before the woman could respond
"Miss Branwen has my complete trust. As do all the young Hunters here with me." He said firmly
"My team and myself fully trust Cameron as well, as does her team." Jaune added
"Does not really matter now does it." Macintyre breathed out harshly.
"It does not. There is another option, surrender." Port said
"No thank you sir, neither I nor my team wants to become slaves or be turned into drug addled prostitutes." Cameron replied
"Neither does mine." Jaune added
Port nodded
"Though that would be your answer, but I had to give you the option. You can still surrender your people misses Macintyre." Port said
"Like the kids said, not an option. We will fight."
"Pull your people of the walls, we set up a defensive position in front of your shelter." Port decided
"Sir there is a way to get word out, the ship carries a distress beacon, it can be fired like a rocket, once it gets above the jamming field it can send the message to both the camp and Beacon. And keep on doing till it crashes"
" Do so mister Arc."
The comms unit crackled
"We have movement from the trees. A group of ten is approaching." Megan Royce reported
Port looked to the two team leaders
"Let us go and see what the scum wants, then." He said curtly
Raven Branwen took a nice stroll towards the visible gate of the farm compound. Her raid leaders in position behind her in order of seniority with Vernal in the very rear. The gate to the compound opened and three figures stepped out. A portly man, a figure in white and gold armour and a girl , all three were armed
"What is fatso going to do? Have a heart attack in front of us?" One raid leader scoffed
Raven back handed the man without hesitation
"That fatso is one the best Huntsman Vale has, because of your incompetence that compound had time to get a warning out and now are better defended. This the last time you fucked up Shay." She snarled
Shay D Mann was on his knees in a moment. Raven pushed on without giving him a second glance. Vernal kicked him in the back as she passed. Raven stopped as the other group came closer. She waited till they were close before speaking
"Port I am giving you a one time offer, you and your students can walk away." She said magnanimously
"I was about to offer you the same." Port replied
"You are outnumbered and no one knows where you are, this is not the time for false bravado." Raven replied
Port turned to the armoured male beside him
"You got their faces recorded?" He asked
"I got it sir." A metallic voice replied
"Send it." Port ordered
" You know you are being jammed, there will be no transmissions and we will find your recording and destroy it." A burly Bandit said, picking his nose.
A plume of smoke rose from within the compound and a rocket came into view and rapidly gained height
"Too late, the message is already being transmitted. Both the town and Beacon will be having a close look at your mugs." The girl remarked with smirk
"You think you are clever bitch." Vernal snapped
"A lot more than my dear aunt and her unwashed lackeys." The girl replied, yawning
The girl's smirk widened on seeing the shocked reaction at her words
"Oh. I forgot to introduce myself. Cameron Branwen, daughter of Qrow Branwen, team Leader of BROW. Obviously you know professor Port and this is Jaune Arc, team leader of JNPR."
Port stepped into Ravens space
"Now are you going to do the clever thing and slink back to Mistral?" He demanded
Raven looked at Cameron
" You I am giving a chance. Leave these weaklings and I will teach you how to become strong." She said
"You call attacking poorly armed farmers being strong? Go look up the word in a dictionary, assuming you can read of course." Cameron scoffed
One of the Bandits stepped forward angrily raising a bastard sword but stopped. He dropped his sword and grabbed his throat. The armoured figure had a hand raised in a claw like gesture. The bandit dropped to his knees coughing harshly. The man dropped his hand and the bandit could breathe again
"What is your decision? Raven." Port asked in a bored tone
"You doubt our strength. I will have you kneeling before me." Raven spat out
"If I had a lien for every time some bandit said that." Port chuckled
Raven turned around and marched off. She lifted her arms up and dropped them sharply. Bandits started making their appearance from the trees, several carried RPGs. The three walked back to the compound.
"Pyrrha, warm up the LAAti. Nora, April, sniper posts. Target the rocket carriers. Ren set my rifle in sniper module by the ladder" Jaune ordered
"Trying to fly in that would be suicide." Cameron pointed out.
"LAATis have a few features for dealing with rocket attacks. One being able to lift much more rapidly than a normal take off. The bandits have no idea what that ship can do and take. They probably assume it is a new model bullhead." Jaune replied
"What is going through your head, lad?" Port asked, lighting a cigar casually as they walked
"The obviously brought the RPGs for dealing with the gate. By sniping them I want them to fire on the wall at the snipers. Every rocket fired is one less to deal with. Drop a few and fall back to the ship. With them out in the open they are vulnerable to air attack, and for every rocket fired at us is one less for the wall and gate."
"It still sounds very risky." Cameron objected
"It is, but it comes down to numbers, the more we remove or distract the less are available for the frontal assault they are planning."
Raven reached the largest group, a gazebo had been set up for her. She spun to face the compound before dropping into a chair set up for her. She took a wine bottle from the side table and pulled the cork out of the bottle before taking a deep pull from
"Attack when in range, keep the girl and Port alive, kill the rest." She ordered
Stepping through the gates they could hear that the engines of the Laati was fully warmed up and ready for ignition. Pyrrha jogged over to Jaune her rifle in sniper mode. She followed Jaune up the ladder and dropped beside him as he went prone beside Nora and April
" Fire when in range, make sure of your shot." Jaune ordered
The rocket group marched forward cockily. They were certain they were out of the range of the rifles the farmers carried, Like many times before they will be able to wreak havoc on the defenders while being safe. Their leader was walking slightly ahead of them. Shay D Man had a rangefinder in hand and he kept a close eye on the reader. Once he found safe maximum range he stopped and the first line took position and shouldered their weapons
Pyrrha caressed the trigger and gave a little extra pressure. The gun slammed back into her shoulder. The red bolt raced forward and another three bolts soon joined hers.
Shay wanted to scoff as he saw the red bolts coming. His comment died on his lips as he was flung in a spin by the bolt slamming into him. He was copied as three more were felled. The rest hesitated before another four dropped. The remainders hurriedly fired at the location of where the red shots had come from, before falling back to reload. Panicked rocket fire streaked towards the wall. Most were too high or too low. More bandits dropped as they were gunned down by precision fire.
The four on the wall jumped up and sprinted for the wall edge, using the smoke from the missed rockets as cover and jumped. They ran for the LAAT and got in and got into position strapping in. Jaune lifted from the ground and hovered arming the emergency booster repulsor coils. More dust and smoke rose as the Bandits fired on the wall. He punched the repulsor button and the LAAti rocketed up. Opening the throttle fully they sped forward. The heavy chatter from the repeater started as Ren started scything into the trees.
Raven threw her bottle to the side as the ship rushed forward.
"Shoot them down!" She screamed
The ship banked and advanced on the east position, machine gun fire ripping into the trees as it did. Several bandits were struck down as the ship passed. The east group was caught out in the open and were mowed down
"Since when are bullheads armed?!" Vernal cried out from outside the gazebo
Raven was about to reprimand her chosen successor when Vernal stepped back repeatedly her Aura flashing. Vernal stood still and looked down at her chest where three holes had appeared. Mutely she looked at Raven before a torrent of blood escaped from her mouth and she dropped forward.
Jaune pressed a button on the controls and mini fireworks erupted from the short wings as the chaff dispensers activated. He banked to start attacking the main camp and the west group. The bandits out in the open fired at them as they ran for the safety of the trees. Jaune pressed a button on the weapons control panel and a soft hissing came as a compartment slid open on the underside of the craft. He pressed the fire button as they flew over the main staging area of the bandits. A soft thump came as the gravity mine deployed. He pulled the column back to gain height and opened the throttle fully to get space
Raven looked up as the craft flew over them, her bandits trying to shoot up at it through the trees. An object fell from underneath it before a panel closed and the craft pushed away gaining height, She pulled her sword and opened a portal and dove through.
A blue flash erupted in the area and pulsed out before seeming to pull back into itself. Pulling trees and bandits closer indiscriminately.
The defenders in the compound were thrown from their feet as the explosion blast caused a ground tremor, Port regained his feet quickly and dealt with the bandits that had managed to break through when the wall had fallen. Thanks to JNPR's efforts those had been few in numbers. He heard a gurgle to his side and noticed Rebecca pulling her daggers from the throat of a bandit. A bandit crashed to the ground as Megan Royce cut his leg off with her cavalry saber, short rifle combination
Using the scanners the group in the LAATi noticed when the surviving Bandits started running for their lives. They kept circling as they scanned for the electronic signatures of the jammers. Concentrated fire from the repeaters decimated those positions.
"Got signal on the scrolls again." Pyrrha reported
Jaune went in for landing and set the craft down. They stepped down from the craft and joined the rest as they approached the breached wall. Pyrrha ripped her helmet of and started retching as she saw the devastation they had a hand in creating. Jaune cradled her rapidly and turned her to face away from the carnage. He saw Nora was tending to April, the latter looking rather pale but coping for now. Team BROW was pale and looking a tad green themselves but were handling themselves. Port closed his eyes for a moment before squaring his shoulders
"Hunters, secure the area, prepare for Grim." He ordered.
Ozpin tiredly rubbed his eyes before replacing his glasses on his face. He accepted the call and the face of his senior huntsman appeared on the screen
"Peter I trust you are well. Chuckles is missing you." Ozpin greeted him
"It would be a bit hard for him to do it, seeing as my ex took her in the divorce settlement." Peter replied
Ozpin relaxed a bit as Peter gave the correct counters to the security question. Pressing a button he added Ironwood to the conversation, a small window popped up and Ironwoods image appeared dead centre in it.
"What is your situation?" Ozpin asked
"The bandit attack has been repelled without any casualties on our side." Peter reported
"And the bandits?" Ozpin querried
" Killed, captured or running for their lives. Most of the last is probably Grim fodder by now." Peter replied
"Do you have numbers?"
"We have captured six who surrendered, as to the dead we do not have a total number, a lot were vaporized." Port stated
"Vaporized." Ironwood broke in
"A weapon on mister Arc's ship. He called it a gravity mine. I am sending you the images. We counted thirty dead outside the blast radius."
The two headmasters looked in amazement at the large charred area and the crater that had been created by the charge. Port broke in with grim chuckle
"The farmers are very happy with their new pond, though some less so that they had lost half of the produce in two fields adjacent to their main road and will now have to built a bridge over their new pond to connect to their road."
"You said mine as in singular." Ironwood demanded clarity
"Yes, singular. From what Mister Arc said it was a last resort weapon and before you ask they only had the one."
"I don't know whether I should be relieved or upset that they only had the one, we could really use something like that especially at Magnus." Ironwood remarked
"Finding that lost Kingdom is becoming more important by the day." Ozpin said
"I agree, though arming our bullheads would be a good interim measure, we have been fools to ignore the value of air units in combating grim." Port said
"I agree wholeheartedly but the politicians is where the problem lies. Most will start screaming about violations to the old treaties." Ozpin replied
"Sometimes I wonder whose side they are really on." Port remarked
"Getting back to the bandits, how large a force did Branwen deploy?" Ironwood interrupted
"We guessed at between one hundred and thirty to a hundred and fifty." Port replied
"And I am assuming you can not account for Branwen herself?" Iron wood asked
"She was within the blast range, but we can not confirm her as killed in action. Considering her semblance I would say it is likely she escaped." Port answered
"With the casualties she sustained the Branwen tribe has been neutralised for a while at least. How are the students holding up?" Ozpin said thoughtfully
"BROW is rattled but functional. Miss Nikos and Miller have been affected more than the rest. Mister Lie is the one worrying me." Port reported
"How so?"
"Both Arc and Valkyrie are coping, from what I gather both have killed before, they are not happy but are functional. Mister Lie has been using his semblance continuously, I would recommend counselling and therapy for all of them but with his muting and locking his emotions he is the most at risk."
"I am missing something here." Ironwood said
"Mister Lie's semblance allows him to suppress all his emotions and all those he touches in effect making him undetectable to Grim senses, with the downside that he does not feel emotions during or after use thereof. We are uncertian as to how long the suppression of his emotions last after use." Ozpin explained
"It is very similar to my semblence then. I can see why you would be concerned, at the very least he is emotionally stunted." Ironwood replied
Ozpin sighed, taking the glasses from his face he rubbed the bridge of his nose
"As much as I would like to pull them back to Beacon I can not. We estimate the first herd will reach Magnus in three days, all resources are being kept for supplying the Hunters there. And at the moment we need doctor Gaines here. Best I can do is send Tsune with the next train to Serenity and psychiatry is not her speciality."
"I will take whatever help I can get." Port said shortly.
Port signed off and the Ironwood's window enlarged to cover the screen completely
" I will be contacting Lisa Lavender And Vale Central news. The civilians of Vale needs a morale booster." Ozpin said
"I can see the benefit of that. I would also suggest taking a very close look at the equipment that came from beyond the border with or without their consent." Ironwood replied
"That will still be their choice and that is final. Being hasty willultimately cost us more than we gain." Ozpin said firmly
"I do not agree, but it is your decision. How is the hunt for the fugitives progressing?"
"No changes since the last update, we have however found and neutralised another White Fang cell. Has the CCT management given you more information on the technical readings found?" Ozpin responded
" They confirmed it is a match for their network, and more worryingly it is the work of Arthur Watts. Handwriting analysis confirms it is his handwriting. It seems Polendina was correct when he called Watt's death suspicious and convenient. We are searching our databases to see what exactly Watts had access to, but as a senior scientist it is a considerable amount of data to shift through."
"So we have to assume our networks are compromised." Ozpin summed up
"We have to. I have some good news though, there is a senior CCT technician available in Vale, her specialty is in securing and maintaining data networks. Technically she is on maternity leave, I will send you her information to handle contacting her."
"Her name?"
"Terra Cotta Arc. The address is the Fort Freedom residency in Vale."