"Uggghhh" Coco of Team CFVY sighed. This was going to be a drag, another boring mission. Their third one this week.
"Cheer up, Coco, maybe this one will be interesting." Velvet attempted to comfort her Team Leader as they were walking to their destination.
"Interesting? INTERESTING?" Velvet recoiled at her leaders sudden burst of emotion. "Sorry Vel, but this is the third mission we've been sent on this week! Eighth if you count the other ones in the past three weeks. And all of the 'Search this building.' Missions always end up being just some drug addict squatting in an old house."
The usually quiet Yatsuhashi decided to speak up. "Though this time, the neighbors actually heard gunshots."
Fox nodded in agreement.
"I don't know, ever since that General visited, Ozpin has been sending everyone on missions that the cops are supposed to be doing."
Coco was not an idiot, she knew that Vale's police force was one of the most incompetent, corrupt and useless organization on the face of Remnant. But even she knew that using well trained huntsmen to capture random people shooting heroin was a waste of skill and resources.
They were the protectors of mankind damnit! Their job was to protect Remnant from the grimm, not squatter drug addicts.
"Yeah, ever since General Thomas Kirkman's visit, Ozpin has put a lot of emphasis on capturing criminals, seven of our last eight mission don't even involve us hunting any grimm."
Velvets opinions on Kirkman and by proxy, the United States were mixed. Though yes, he had been dealing with the White Fang, he was doing so in such a brutal, inhuman manner. The last bit of news from the Americans was them capturing dozens of White Fang from multiple different nearby settlements. Their fates were unknown.
They turned the corner, finally reaching the long road that was supposed to lead to the building they were supposed to be at
"Something that damn general said must've riled up Ozpin." Coco on the other hand, also believed that what General Kirkman was doing was wrong, but at the current moment, she was more annoyed at the fact that he was reason for why they were being sent on many mundane missions.
It was a nice day too, the sun was shining, there were barely any clouds, and the wind was just perfect, yet they were out here in the slums rather than enjoying the great scenery and shopping centers of the commercial district of Vale.
They had just left the witness's home. She was apparently balancing a checkbook late at night when she heard loud gunshots coming from down the long road. She said the only building down that road was an old office building that had been abandoned for years.
They could see said office building in the distance.
Coco pulled down her sunglasses to get a better look. She put them back up.
"That must be it, alright, get ready." Coco pulled out her handbag gatling gun.
Yatsuhashi unsheathed Fulcrum.
Velvet just stood there.
Fox already had his weapons prepared so he just followed as they walked towards the building. Something was wrong about it; he could just feel it. His senses were tuned up to the max, the same went for his aura, and he could *smell* this building from almost half a mile away.
They walked to it, just as they were getting to it, they noticed all that was wrong with the building. The building itself looked decayed. Cracks on the concrete, broken windows, mold on the walls. It was gross, but as they got closer, the smell became evident to everyone else.
They could see the dried blood upon the pavement. It was then that they realized that this mission just became a lot more serious.
The door to the building was already slightly opened, the area where the handle should've been had a gaping hole torn through. They cautiously walked to the partially closed door.
Coco didn't want to waste any more time, she kicked it in, and the sight that they had caught…
It was gruesome.
Velvet's eyes became dinnerplates at the sight of the multiple dead bodies that filled the room. She fought the urge to puke.
Coco could not hide the shock that had spread throughout her. This was brutal, the bodies and heads had holes torn through them, the bodies were all blue and devoid of life. They were clearly dead. Blood was everywhere, though most of it had already dried up.
Yatsuhashi could usually hide his emotion well, but this… this was too much, even he couldn't bear the sight of such slaughter.
They were all wearing White Fang uniforms, so this must have been some sort of base that the White Fang had, but who could do something like this? Did they betray the White Fang? Or was it an external force that went in and killed them all?
"B- Be careful! Whoever did this could still be here!" Her voice was shaky, no amount of huntsman training could prepare one for this.
They slowly walked on, down the hallways and up the stairs, only to find that the rest of the building wasn't very different.
As they reached the second floor, it became evident that the entire building was just like the first floor, bodies littering the entire place, giant holes where the handles should be on the doors.
It was as if the dead eyes of the corpses were looking at them, speaking to them. Or at least, the faces that were still intact were.
"Who could've done this." Velvet whispered looking to her leader for an answer, but even she was speechless. They entered the 'Security' room, inside was the dead bodies of a few more White Fang soldiers, with blue complexions and the familiar crimson liquid pooled everywhere. But on the ground was something else, a lone piece of paper.
Coco picked it up. 'Good luck finding me, bitches – Sir B.'
Office of the Supreme American Commander of Remnant, Command Center, MOB Juno
1311 hours
"Wait, I'm gonna need you to go over virtual particles one more time."
Benjamin sighed at Kirkman's question; this would be the third time he would have to explain virtual particles to the man. But in order to explain his theory on what exactly Aura was, and why it emitted light, he would have to explain virtual particles.
"Alright, since you're clearly confused. Let me explain it in a way that maybe you'll understand. Forget about particles as you know them, just fuck em. They're not important here, because virtual particles as they exist aren't really particles. They're random changes of energy in a given space, they act like particles and can be considered as particles, except they are usually immediately annihilated by the opposing anti-particle, which is why they're so damn hard to measure them."
Kirkman didn't really need to understand what Aura was, as a General, his job was simply to oversee military operations on Remnant, but he too was curious as to the nature of the many things in Remnant, so he took to having Ben explain his theories to him whenever he visited to drink.
"My theory is that aura is like an electromagnetic field, or some sort of medium that electrons stay in, these electrons get excited from absorbing photons. Through this excitement, the energy from these photons transfers onto the electrons, which put them in a high energy state."
"And how does them turning into real electrons relate to Aura being a forcefield."
"Electrostatic repulsion."
The General tilted his head in confusion. "Electro what?"
Benjamin downed his entire drink in one go, and started pouring himself another one. "Electrostatic repulsion. If two electrically charged particles meet, there will be some form of electrostatic force or repulsion. Since everything is made out of atoms, and all atoms have electrons, these electrons act as those electrically charged particles, so meaning, you're never actually touching anything, what you're feeling is the repulsion between these electrons."
Kirkman was finally understanding what Benjamin was getting to. "So you're saying that these electrons in Aura cause this electro repulsion, and creates a forcefield. But where do those virtual particles you were talking about come into play."
Benjamin smiled at the fact that Kirkman was finally getting what he was saying. "Well, when electrons get extremely excited from photons, they start to release energy in the form of new photons. In this scenario, an electron resonates with a virtual proton, transferring its energy to the virtual photon, turning it into a 'real' photon."
Kirkman snapped his finger. "So then the electron loses energy?"
"Yep." He downed the contents of the glass. "That's what happens when aura 'breaks'. Once the electrons get over-excited and elevate to very high energy levels from all the energy: kinetic, heat, radiation and others. They get so excited that they resonate with a bunch of virtual photons and emit that light you see. Then they go back into a low energy state where the electro static repulsion is no different to simply touching someone's skin."
Kirkman put his hand on his chin, he kinda understood Benjamin's explanation, but he still had a lot questions, but he didn't have time to ask and discuss them, he had an appointment with Colonel Burton. Ben too, did not have the time to discuss further.
"Alright general." He picked up the empty glass and the bottle of bourbon. "Gotta head back to the lab, nice talkin' with you." Benjamin stood up and started walking out the door.
Kirkman gave him a half wave. "You too, Ben."
He looked back down at his desk, the report for Operation White Arrow was right on his desk. Written by Colonel Burton, detailing to events of the mission according to the eight men who assaulted the building.
These details included the methods of interrogation employed. Kirkman usually did not like to order the use of such methods, but he wanted to end this conflict with the White Fang as soon as possible, so he could get on to other tasks.
He was content with the results of the operation. Sure, the information could have been better, but knowing they were in the abandoned subway system was a lot better than nothing. If he had the option, he would have contacted the SOG agents' handler and recommend for them to be given a raise. He also wanted to recommend all of Team Metal for a promotion for all the stelar work they had done during Operation Forging Steel.
The problem was he couldn't cite Operation Forging Steel as a reason for promotion, as the Operation was still highly classified. Especially some of the missions conducted within it.
Nonetheless, the record would have to be destroyed, he eyed the aluminum trash bin next to his desk. He stepped on the pedal; the closed bin opened up. He tossed the report inside. He grabbed the glass to his right, there was still some bourbon from his talk with Ben inside. He tossed the rest of the rich liquid into the bin. He lightly placed the glass back down.
He opened a drawer, taking a matchbox, he half opened it. He took out a stick and ignited it, tossing it into the bin.
The papers burned, and with it, all tangible evidence within the base of the operation ever happening. He stared at the burning pile of evidence with a blank face, before releasing the pedal and letting the bin close.
The door opened.
Burton then walked in. "Saw Steele walking out, did he have some sort of report?" He had his own set of papers.
"Of sorts, he just explained to me his theory on Aura."
"Mm. Alright, anyway." He closed the door behind him "Cyber team got us some new info."
Kirkman was intrigued. "What is it?"
"There's a Fourth."
"Fourth what?"
"Authority Figure." Burton said succinctly.
"In the White Fang?"
Burton nodded, making Kirkman sigh. There were three authority figures that they were aware of.
Adam Taurus, a faunus who faced the abuse of working in Schnee Dust Company mines. When he was 17 years of age, he staged a riot, he was never seen on official records ever again. He was supposedly leading the Vale branch of the White Fang.
The next was Roman Torchwick, a very well-known criminal who only recently started working with the White Fang in Vale.
Sienna Khan was the next major figure, she was the overall leader of the White Fang, and was apparently a major reason for them radicalizing from the peaceful organization they once were.
But who was this fourth figure?
"Someone they call 'The Doctor.' He's apparently a pretty recent edition, only joining around a year ago, apparently, he makes specialized weapons for the White Fang, bombs and the such. He also occasionally plans operations for them."
"The Doctor? He has no name?"
"Nope, Cyber team's gone through just about every message on our detainees' scrolls, they've hacked into certain White Fang comms, and every time, they simply refer to him as 'The Doctor'. They say he's been working on something big for the White Fang. Something called the 'Yellow'."
Burton placed the papers on Kirkman's desk. Kirkman picked them up and began skimming through them, seeing multiple images of messages with mentions of this 'Doctor'. All speaking of him with some sort of fear or respect. Some messages mentioning 'The Yellow.'
"After interrogating Fubuki Shiro, she mentioned the Doctor is new, and only joined about six months ago. The story goes he attacked a group of White Fang for no reason, killing a dozen of them."
"That makes no sense, wouldn't the White Fang then be out for his blood."
Burton shook his head. "That's the thing, General. Apparently, an associate of Torchwick believed he could be an asset for the White Fang, apparently a survivor from the attack beat him, then this associate of Torchwick forced him to work for them. The White Fang now begrudgingly work with him."
This wouldn't be the first time Torchwick was mentioned to have a powerful associate, but all they knew of her, was her gender and her relation to Torchwick, apparently his boss. And the presence of another White Fang leader figure wasn't all too important, they had most of the information they already needed, all they were lacking now was just a specific location as to where in Mountain Glenn they were hiding.
What Kirkman was more interested in, was the so called 'Yellow'.
"Did You ask Fubuki about this 'Yellow'?" He said with air quotes
"Yes, sir, but apparently only Torchwick and his associate know about what exactly this weapon really is, but it's supposed to aid the White Fang heavily."
This worried Kirkman, though he knew that the White Fang would likely not make anything that would put an end to the American presence in Remnant. But a weapon as powerful as was being described may cause problems for the Operation.
"Tell the Cyber Team to continue efforts on finding the White Fang in Mountain Glenn, but I want them looking out for what 'Yellow' is as well."
"Yes, sir."
The Colonel promptly left the room, leaving Kirkman to his thoughts.
"Two days after the brutal and enigmatic Indigo offices massacre, police are still grasping for clues as to who 'Sir B.' really is."
Cinder frowned at the news, more White Fang dead, it seemed like there were only going to be more and more complication to her plans. First it was the United States of America, next it was this 'Sir B.' who had attacked the building that housed numerous White Fang.
"Councilwoman Wolff made remarks on the attack today, stating that 'Nothing of value was lost- '"
Cinder closed her scroll. She was starting to get annoyed. First, she needed a strategy with dealing with not only the United States but also the new threat posed by 'Sir B.'. But now that damn doctor was asking for more and more dust to make his 'Wonder Weapon' as he called it.
"This better be a good weapon, she mumbled to herself."
Cinder remembered why she recruited him.
A squad of White Fang who were prepping to assault a Schnee Dust Company truck were ambushed by a 'Wounded Man' carrying a revolver and weird vials of liquid containing what were apparently deadly toxins that killed much of the squad. The only one who was able to survive the encounter was Ilia Amatola who managed to subdue the Doctor.
Cinder had taken an interest to his toxins, the ability to kill so many so quickly was an ability that most poisons in Remnant lacked. So he was supposed to be an asset, but apparently the ones he used on the White Fang soldiers were all that he had.
Cinder told him to make more, but he kept screaming his head off saying that there was no 'Petroleum' or 'Atropine'. He was insane, it took quite a while to calm him down.
Granted, Cinder had bigger problem to face rather than her questionable subordinates. Right now, the biggest threat to her plans was the United States.
They would have to be dealt with immediately. But she was not an idiot, she recognized power when she saw it. She knew better than to believe that the fiery explosions that happened at the Emerald Forest a few weeks ago, was not Atlesian cargo aircraft accidentally dropping Fire Dust.
She knew Atlesian trade routes, and she also knew that there was no Atlesian presence in the direction the explosions and fire happened. It made more sense for the Americans to have caused it, but she did not know why they would have done it.
Of course, she could never forget the sudden destruction of the White Fang compound, she had the opportunity to see it herself, just had to bribe a few cops to see the crime scene. The destruction was unbelievable, what was once bustling center of operations was reduced to a bunch of rubble. The media did their best to hide the actual death count, saying that only eighty-eighty were confirmed dead.
But Cinder knew the actual number of deaths, and it rose to the hundreds. A lot of the dust they had robbed was also stored there, which heavily slowed down both the bomb making process for the breach on Vale, as well as the Doctor's progress on making his wonder weapon.
She had also watched them in their visit before, the aircraft they used looked strange and outdated, the same went for the uniforms and weapons of the American General's soldiers. He could tell that the General held himself with high regard.
She was disappointed that she couldn't listen in on the conversation up in the CCT. She regretted not putting the bug in their system much earlier, that would have allowed her to listen in. Oh well, she would just have to do it during the dance like as planned.
She did not like the wait though. She would've done something about the Americans much earlier if she knew where they were.
Her mistress was fully aware of the Americans, though the last time Cinder had contacted her was when she met up with Arthur Watts the week prior, and her mistress was rather adamant on eliminating the Americans as soon as possible, but she didn't have the means to do so.
Emerald and Mercury entered the room.
"Yo." Mercury waved his hand. "Why'd you skip dinner, they had pizza tonight, you missed out." Emerald rolled her eyes at Mercury's comment.
"Not hungry." Cinder stated succinctly.
Mercury simply sat on his bed and opened up his scroll.
"Any news on the squads Adam sent to look for the Americans?" Emerald asked.
Cinder shook her head. "A few disappeared, all the others turned up empty handed."
"Disappeared? Doesn't that mean they got close?"
"Yes, they disappeared North of Vale, but we already know that they're North of Vale, and in order to plan an attack, we must first know the exact location American base of operations, as well as an idea on what it looks like."
The American base was clearly well defended, she wanted to try a different approach, she was going to contact Adam and tell him to send bullheads rigged to fly silently instead of ground squads. They should do better. The Americans will probably have a harder time shooting down flying targets.
She remembered the fast-flying aircraft from General Kirkman's visit. Those were way too fast to actually hit anything with weapons, those were probably just reconnaissance planes.
And even if the bullhead method didn't work, she had many methods at her disposal that would allow her to get the location of the Americans. Radio transmission tracking and hacking into Beacon's records to see what they had on America being some of them.
The problem was, tracking where the radio transmission of America Radio comes from would take time. But she would soon hack into the CCT in Beacon, surely, she would find many useful pieces of information on the Americans there.
And the moment she got the exact location of the base, she would strike, and she would strike hard. She would make sure the United States of America would feel the wrath of the Fall maiden's power.
Barracks, MOB Juno
2004 hours
"That makes no fucking sense!" Woods yelled at Mason.
"What do you mean that makes no Sense, it makes perfect sense! Look!" Mason pointed at the whiteboard, particularly at the massive square that represented a subway station underneath Mountain Glenn.
"They're underground for a reason and isn't just to hide, they must be hiding out in this station and using some decommissioned trains there to get around the place! That's how they keep getting in and out Vale."
Woods shook his head. The four of them were in their designated room within the marine's barracks, there work within the CIA allowed them the luxuries of their own room.
"Yeah? Well, if it was that simple, how come the civvies that got trapped down there didn't just hop on a train and escape to Vale?"
Mason was stumped. But pushed on. "I don't know, maybe the White Fang repaired the trains."
Bowman finally stood up and pointed at the board, pointing at the long subway tube leading directly to Vale.
"Yeah, but if you reviewed the map, there's a barrier right here." He drew a line within the tube. "And there are no known exits outta this part, and I'm pretty sure Mr. Wizard of Oz would know if the White Fang were using old subway lines to enter his city. Not exactly hard to see people coming up from underground on CCTV" Bowman rebutted Mason's statement
Mason sat back down, defeated.
"Thank you, Sir B." Woods mocked. "Where'd you come up with that name anyway?"
"Back in boot camp we had an old drill instructor who was a bit of a weird guy, we called him Sir B."
Woods chuckled. The 'Sir B.' did a good job of throwing the Vale authorities, cause now they were focusing their attention on looking for an individual rather than an entire group. There were also barely any witness reports, just two, both with conflicting information.
Meaning their exit strategy was perfect.
"Anyway." Woods clapped his hands. "Now that Mason's theory is a no go, we're back to square one." Woods sighed.
Being CIA agents of the Special Operation Group, it wasn't exactly in their job description to be strategizing and making theories, that was the job of the analysts. But as they had no major upcoming operation and they had nothing better to do, they believed it was best they used their time to help out on the strategic side of things.
"Alright what about dust? Why do you think they stole so much dust?" Woods asked the group.
Weaver grasped his chin. "I thought it's already been confirmed that they're selling for money?"
"Yeah, but that's the thing, before we cut our deal with Torchwick because he was you know, working with the White Fang. We knew he was only offering to sell certain types of dust, didn't have fire, lightning, and gravity dust available. So why not? We studied the records; we know he stole a bunch of that shit, and he's not making bombs."
The logical conclusion was bombs. But the rate of White Fang attacks that used bombs wasn't increasing, so if they were using all that dust to make bombs then why wasn't the rate increasing like one would expect?
"What if, instead of turning them to conventional bombs, they're making a bunch of huge dust explosives." Weaver snapped his fingers. "Given what we know about fire dust, it's real explosive, gravity dust increases it's boom boom power, and lightning dust kinda acts like a fuse. If they pack all that dust together. With the amount they stole they could make a couple of real big bombs that they could just plant all around Vale, instead of making tiny ones."
Mason nodded lightly but then did the math. "Yeah but even if the explosions are real powerful, they're gonna be pretty concentrated, dust doesn't exactly got a large area of effect, at most these super bombs are only gonna be shaking up a city block a piece. So that would mean they planned for this and stole a bunch of dust for months, maybe a year just for an attack that would only kill about… a hundred."
"I mean a hundred's still a lot." Bowman brought up.
"Yeah, but all that planning and work? Look, the White Fang aren't exactly masterminds but I'm pretty even they could think of something better."
Woods was listening in and was unsatisfied with how little progress they were all making.
"Alright, alright, alright, let's do a review here. The White Fang stole a bunch of dust from a bunch of different places, 'bout a hundred fifty tons of the stuff. They're using it for something, as Weaver pointed out, possibly for a bunch of super bombs. We know they aren't attacking the US because they don't even know where we are, and they sure as hell aren't attacking anywhere else, because they finally got the means to attack Vale through the Mountain Glenn subway. So how are they going to use the Subway to attack?"
He asked the group, while also asking himself that same question. The Mountain Glenn subway had to be involved somehow, since even with the barrier it led them a direct line straight, and given how thin the ceiling was between that part of the Subway and Vale, it wouldn't take much to dig through it and…
That was it.
"I got it." Woods whispered.
"…What?" Weaver asked.
"I FUCKING GOT IT." Woods laughed "Holy shit I'm a god damn genius."
Mason was intrigued at his friend's sudden burst of emotion. "What? Woods? Tell us what you got."
Woods walked up to Mason and held his shoulder. "We gotta go to Kirkman or the Colonel now, I thought of something real good."
"Fuckin' hell Woods, you better tell us what you got first." Mason pushed woods away, which woods ignored."
Woods then walked up to the white board. "Alright, so you all know how this tube here leads straight to Vale?" He pointed at the singular tube going straight to the very heart of Vale. The men nodded.
"Yeah, but didn't we already agree that they probably aren't using it for entry?"
"Yeah, but that's the thing! They don't have to, because this tube right here is their method of attack."
The three men tilted their heads, clearly confused by Woods's conclusion.
"What do you mean?" Mason asked.
"I mean that this tube is their Attack! It's an instrument to their attack! Get what I'm saying?"
Woods could tell that they didn't.
"Alright, let me break it down for you, the tunnels aren't very deep, they aren't like back home where they're a good hundred feet below."
They all already knew this, the average depth between the subway tunnel and the surface on Remnant was around five meters, which architecturally speaking was abysmal.
"Yeah, but what's that got to do with…" Bowman trailed out in realization.
Weaver clapped his hands before Woods could continue. "I got it!" Weaver smiled at Woods who smirked back.
"Shit!" Mason Excitedly stood up, Mason too finally understood.
"They're gonna use the dust to blow holes under Vale. It'd be too easy with how little's in between." Woods finally said it out loud.
"…And that'd let the grimm in." Mason continued. "Let's take this to the General."
Woods crossed his arms. "Yep."
Beacon's library was almost completely empty, it was already 12am of course, the only students still here were those pulling all-nighters, reading up on future material, or the odd bookworm still reading.
And then there was the young Blake Belladonna, sitting in front of a computer, with darkened eyebags and the smell that would come with not showering for a few days. She did not intend to sleep or attend the upcoming dance until she was absolutely sure
'United States of America.' She typed into the search bar, and pressing the news tab in order to see all the latest news.
…Which were all about all the new songs that they played on the radio and the different things the hosts talked about. She gritted her teeth.
Couldn't they see that they were playing right into their hands? The public was getting so easily distracted by what was clearly a diversion for the atrocities the Americans had committed. The attack on the White Fang base which had killed dozens, maybe more, was just a little over a month ago. And here the public was completely forgetting about it.
The public also seemed to be completely ignoring how obvious it was that it was the United States that did the Indigo offices massacre, 'Sir B.' was just used to throw the cops off. Yet the public was eating it all up. She hated to think what CFVY had to go through, being the first to see that, and she despised the Americans even more for doing such heinous acts.
She heard Ozpin had sent them to the Guidance Counselor for a mental welfare check.
She had no evidence for her thoughts, apart from the fact that the United States was the only entity that was in open conflict with the White Fang, and they were the only ones willing to go that far. She remembered the censored images, even with all the blurring, she could see all the red, it was clearly brutal.
But nobody seemed to share her thoughts. And it seems that nobody took the threat of the United States seriously anymore, seeing only light hearted articles about music and jokes, this sickened her.
But then as she continued to scroll, an article caught her eye.
'Arrests and Suspicious activity within Cooperrwick from the…" The title was too long, it got cut off there.
She clicked on the title link, and it brought her to the article page, it was published on the website of 'Remnant Today' and written by Jesse Pink.
She read through it, skimming through each paragraph and only taking in what was important.
'…It has been reported that a few citizens of Cooperwick have been taken from their homes in recent days by what appears to be American forces…'
She gasped, how could the mayor of Cooperwick allow such a thing!
'Activity from the United States of America has been increasing in Cooperwick for the past month…'
'How could that be?' She asked herself. Then she realized, that of course, it had to be the visit, she remembered when it was news that Kirkman had visited Cooperwick a few days before his visit Beacon. Kirkman must negotiated or bribed the mayor to let him make arrests in Cooperwick, he must have tried the same with Ozpin.
With this realization she scrolled on, with more uneasiness than ever.
'The last we heard from our contacts within Cooperwick was last week, Monday, ever since, our signal seems to be unable to reach them. But before we lost contact, they sent in the following video footage, depicting the arrest of a man from within his home.'
Blake, intrigued, scrolled down to the aforementioned video. She clicked on the play button.
The video started, it was clearly being filmed from behind a window, heavy breathing could be heard from whoever was filming. On the other side, the thing being filmed was a small house, a bungalow, about twelve yards away from wherever the video was being filmed from.
The house's doors were open.
Not five seconds later, a man emerged, he was in a weird green uniform with patterns on it, she grew all too familiar to the sight a few weeks ago, she recognized it, it was the same uniform the soldiers who visited Beacon wore. This was indeed an American soldier. He was even holding the same type of gun, and had the banner like symbol on his arm.
As he exited, a man, not in uniform, came from behind him, he had bruises all over his body, he was tall muscular and had a bushy beard, he looked furious. His hands were restrained, in thick looking metal cuffs.
As he also exited, the first man took a turn, and the captured man followed, from the open doorway, five more uniformed men exited, some wielding different guns, and followed the first uniformed man. But before they go out of camera. The captured man suddenly bolted the other direction, going straight to the right.
But before he could continue his escape, the lead uniformed soldier pressed something on his hand and the detainee suddenly fell to the ground and started screaming. The soldiers moved to pick him up, but on the way to him, the soldiers went very close to the camera man, who then ducked under the window he was filming from, the video then ended.
Blake put a hand over her mouth, this was shocking, why weren't more people paying attention to this? And why was the mayor of Cooperwick standing idly by while this happened? What could the Americans have possibly offered him for the Mayor to simply let them do all this?
These questions plagued Blake's mind as she continued to read through the article.
But it had nothing else interesting to say, she exited the tab and went back to the search page. She erased her original search query. The United States, after all, was not her only worry, she also worried about the White Fang.
They were still a threat, and her Team's recent attack showed that, especially with the acquisition of powerful Atlesian tech. But now she was doubting whether or not the White Fang was a legitimate threat, because if she was right about the Indigo offices massacre, then someone else might just be the true threat.
Nonetheless, she needed to get whatever she could on the White Fang, them acquiring advanced Atlesian tech proved that they were still a major concern.
She started typing 'White Fang- 'a red dot appeared on her screen, she quizzically stared at it. It then went down to her hands, she brought it up and stared down at it. She looked around the library, annoyed, someone was pulling a prank on her. While she was doing something important, no less.
She couldn't see anybody with a laser pointer, she calmed herself down and looked back the computer screen she continued searching
'…news stolen Atlas- ' It appeared again, right on the back of her hand. She angrily stood up, with gritted teeth, she followed the red dot as it moved along the library floors, then behind a bookshelf.
She continued walking. Then she bumped into something, she looked up. She met the familiar Lilac eyes of her Teammate.
"Hello~." She sang.
Blake squinted her eyes, frankly she wasn't in the mood for any of Yang shenanigans.
"We need to talk." Her voice dipped to a low and serious tone. Yang suddenly pulled Blake, making her lightly scream.
Ozpin leaned forward, letting his head rest on the palms of his hands as he was sat on his desk. He sighed.
He was starting to get tired of reading reports on the Indigo street massacre anyway, after all, they all ended the same way. Inconclusive, unsolved, not enough information, all being terms and words he had grown all too used to seeing in the past week since CFVY had uncovered the killings.
He still remembered the moment they came back. The others were stuck in a shocked silence, Velvet's eyes were either close to or had recently gone through some tears. Ozpin had immediately relieved them of their responsibilities and even had them have bi-weekly sessions with the guidance counselor.
This was his cross to bear, should've known sending students out to investigate every little report would end badly. He shouldn't have let Kirkman's words get to him.
He'd gotten so desperate to prove Kirkman wrong that to make up for the small number of readily available huntsmen, he started sending out his second and third year students regularly. He felt nothing but guilt for what he made Team CFVY go through.
He sighed another time, picking up his mug of coffee to take a well needed sip. He watched as Glynda suddenly entered with a small stack of papers.
She laid it out in front of him.
"This is the paperwork for the materials you have ordered for the school dance."
Ozpin put down the mug, and brought the stack closer to him. Right, the school dance, with the stressful week he had been through, he almost forgot about it.
"Ozpin." Glynda called to her boss who had started signing all the paperwork.
"Yes?" He signed a paper.
"I'm starting to have… suspicions on the Indigo Offices massacre."
"Oh? And what are these suspicions?"
"I believe the Americans were the ones who did it."
Ozpin stopped signing papers.
"I admit, I've had my suspicions as well, but it makes no sense. We have to witnesses, both say that the perpetrators wore white apparel and had white weapons, and based on what we've seen of American soldiers they wear green uniforms and have black guns. And how would they have even entered without being identified; they would need identification cards to enter Vale."
Glynda shook her head. "But no person or group has been willing to go this far to kill, zero survivors. Zero! 'Sir B.' Makes no sense as well, both witnesses say that there were multiple people, meaning Sir B. is either just one of those people, or is a distraction. You've seen what the Americans are capable of, I'm sure they could forge a few identification cards."
Ozpin continued casually signing off on the papers. He sighed. "Glynda, I too shared your suspicions, in fact, my first instinct was to have the bullet casings tested to see if they contained the substance they use to propel their bullets. But after testing, it was found that the bullet casings contained Dust."
"I still think the Americans did it."
"Even if they did, what can we do about it? We have no actual evidence, just postulation. We likely also won't have support from the public, as they all seem to believe the Sir B. story."
"So, you agree with me? The Sir B. story is questionable."
"I did not say that, all I'm saying is that whether we believe it or not, we cannot prove that it was the Americans."
Glynda shrunk at Ozpin conclusion, but even she knew Ozpin was simply being realistic.
She cleared her throat. "So. What will we be doing about the distribution of missions to first and second years after the dance?" She changed the subject "I assume Team CFVY will not be required to attend?"
Ozpin took another sip of his coffee. "Yes, Brothers know they need to rest."
22 kilometers from Vale.
1955 hours
Their target flew overhead, a singular White Fang bullhead.
Truck pulled the trigger on his FIM-92F Stinger; the missile left its chamber and flew straight at the bullhead. Frost, who was wielding his own Stinger, also fired. Both hit their target. Two sets of explosions rocked the bullhead, whoever was the pilot seemed to try and stabilize it as it came closer to the ground, but there was no hope.
The bullhead came careening towards the ground. Frost and Truck slung the stinger behind their backs and went back to using their primary weapons. Sandman took point while Frost, Grinch, and Truck followed.
"Head to the crash site." Sandman ordered.
They jogged towards the direction they watched the Bullhead fall towards, holding their weapons in front of them.
Team Metal must have done at least a dozen of these interception mission during their stay on Remnant, but this would be the first time they would be doing one so close to Vale, they could even make out the CCT tower in the distance.
They continued jogging towards the crash site.
In front of them, smoke was billowing in the air, through the trees they could make out the light being emitted by the fire from the crashed bullhead. They jogged towards it.
The Bullhead was tipped on its side, two medium sized holes on its side. Three White Fang were loosely holding their weapons, limping away from the crashed bullhead, they couldn't see Team Metal.
"Weapons Free." Sandman whispered.
Every single man shot straight at the small group, breaking their auras and killing them instantly.
"Check the cargo." Sandman commanded
Truck and Grinch looked to the left, the large metal cargo container still was attached to the crashed bullhead, the two of them approached it and began removing the attacked cable.
"Wader 2-1, Hawk 3-2, Cargo secure, on standby for transport and extraction, over."
"(COMMS) Affirmative." Wader 2-1 pilot said through the radio, in the distance they could see two silhouettes flying in.
A chinook flew directly above them.
Truck and Grinch finally got the cables loose.
"(COMMS) Metal 0-1 we're dropping the cables."
As she said this, four sets of cabled dropped from the Chinook. Truck and Grinch started attaching them to the container.
"Frost! Help us out here." Frost ran over to help them attach the cables.
Sandman watched as they closed the latches on the empty ports of the container. Grinch gave him a thumbs up.
"Wader 2-1 the cables are attached, you are cleared for takeoff."
He received an "Affirmative." As the Chinook lifted up and started flying back to base with an entire cargo crate of gravity dust.
The Black Hawk then descended. After some communication with the pilots, Team Metal entered and took their seats.
As the Black Hawk took off, Team Metal relaxed, another successful mission.
"What's next? Prep for Mountain Glenn?"
Sandman shook his head at Grinch's question.
"Negative, apparently Kirkman wants us to meet the 'foreign' legions."
"Foreign legions? You mean non-Americans?"
Sandman nodded. "Yep, President told our key allies in NATO about Forging Steel, and some of them have been granted access to certain facilities."
This was to be expected, the US wasn't going to keep this secret forever, sooner or later this would've turned into a joint operation. All the extra soldiers, researchers, and material were welcome though, this just meant the entire operation would be easier.
"And good news, one of those teams is Bravo Team."
Grinch turned to Sandman in surprise. "No shit. You mean the SAS guys we worked with on Kingfish?"
"Yep." Operation Kingfish, Sandman still remembered it well, the SAS team were in charge of directly assaulting the facility along, truck tagged along with them. Sandman, Grinch, and Frost all provided sniper support.
The goal was to capture a high value North Korean Target essential in getting information for the Second Korean War. The mission was largely a success.
"And we'll be working with them on our objective."
That was good, they remembered how Bravo Team worked, they were some of the best special operation operators they'd had seen, so they were glad they were working with them once again.
"Heard Townes was coming by as well." Truck said, even Sandman didn't know this. "Army component of the Op is gonna be led by him."
"So, our old boss is gonna be working with us again eh?"
Truck nodded. Townes was a great General, they used to operate under his command prior to Operation Forging Steel, to them they knew him as Overlord.
"Townes is coming, they're bringing in Aurora Alphas from Granger, we're mobilizing a force five thousand strong, and we're being assisted by SAS. This is pretty big.
Everyone agreed.
It was clear that Kirkman was pulling all the stops for Operation White Death.
I know, that this chapter was mostly filler and may have been boring, but don't worry, next chapter is the attack on Mountain Glenn or Operation White Death.
Also, Before any of my fellow physics nerds say anything, yes, I'm aware the theory I gave for aura makes no fucking sense and is full of holes, I did my best, mkay? And again, it's just a theory, so who knows, maybe there's another explanation or maybe it really is just 'Soul Bullshit'.
Also also, I'm pretty sure that Bravo Team will be the last ground team that I'll be adding from COD. I mean we already have Bravo Team (US Marines MW1), though they only have made one appearance, so far. Hunter Team (Rangers MW2), Team Metal (Delta Force MW3), the OG BO gang, and now Bravo Team (SAS), yeah, it getting a bit out of hand. So I'm stopping at that. That doesn't mean ill stop adding people in other branches of military service, as someone suggested I'll probably be using Ace Combat squadrons for Aerial units soon.
Also also also, honestly the reader response to this story is insane, and every little review helps. Big shout out to those who go through the effort of writing those long ones too, I really love hearing your detailed thoughts on things.
fhchshEinzbern: I actually do have interesting planned for Salem that may or may not happen, just wait and see.
Crazzytony: The Ozpin and Co reaction will be featured next chapter, and thanks for enjoying the chapter!
vmoneywashere: That actually is the canon reason for how the Particle Cannon works, yes as you've seen earlier, other earth organization will be involved.
Ozzman84: TBH I really don't see a way the Atlesian Paladin can be properly utilized for military purposes even with US modification, cause lets be honest in current time, tanks are more versatile and powerful. Though they might have some use for construction
Snipervtk4: you actually guessed that yeah, it would have been revealed to NATO this chapter. But though the EU is definitely no joke, the US can handle itself, it's the #1 military in the world for a reason. While the EU is definitely is high up there in military research, the US beats them both in game and IRL (Particle Cannon in game, multiple advanced weapons programs that the EU doesn't even have plans for, IRL.) Same goes for the CIA/MI6 debate, though your average agent of MI6 are probably better than your average CIA agent, the humongous funding and resources of the CIA changes that. So just like in most real-life large-scale operations similar to this, the USA will be taking the lead but with lots of support from NATO in Operation Forging Steel. And no, I'm not counting Generals 2, it was cancelled and was set multiple years in the future. And about the whole "They could've beaten them on their own given enough intel to prepare" ye I don't doubt they could've pushed them from away from Europe easily, since honestly the GLA overrunning Europe was the dumbest plot point ever, I doubt they could've fully eliminated them once they reach the middle-east since thy don't got the resources and information network that the US does.
Guest: I agree, though I don't agree that Ironwood was in the right, what they did with him was full on character assassination, I'll still watch the show though. I still at least kinda enjoy it.
Gen. Oil Derrick: Thanks! The details of the plan will be disclosed next chapter, and it might not be what you expect.
Guest: You'll see ;)
saitama1155: you're lit fam
xjames2001: maybe
EL KAHN DE KAHN: Yes, because they are units in real life too, though actual troops from other C&C franchises that aren't in real life/Generals, probably not.
Monster King: Yes, I will.
Konstantinsen: That was the intent, so, thanks. Didn't really fully explore the fallout of what happened after Op White Arrow this chapter, but that shit will kinda be overshadowed with what happens in the next few chapters.
Arakile: I've looked at some math done by some people, but it's all dependent, we've seen it get destroyed from something as weak as a car crash, to it taking entire bombs, so I guess it depends.
anthonypodaca63: I guess I heard of them, but they ain't my thing
rama alif: here it is
Wing Zero 032: That would have been interesting, but no. I would argue that CQB is brrt brrt action, I mean that kind of shit is sick, and I think there's a lack of appreciation for single/few building raids like they did with Osama Bin Laden, Operation Kayla Mueler, Acid Gambit and more. Though I do agree that this story needs some A10 spice, and trust me I've done my fair share of research, I know what they can do, I don't know if they'll be appropriate for the attack on Mountain Glenn as you'll soon see. Though the A-10s will be making many appearances. Also, CORRECTION: as this is the Generals universe, we will be using B-3 Bombers not B-2 Spirits.
Gunfighterxy76: I might, now that I have Bravo Team in here. Maybe they will ;) As shown here, Townes will be helping Kirkman in the assault, but I don't plan on adding his laser troops just yet. As for the cut-content, some of them maybe, others not. Honestly, Atlas' fleet ain't shit, they're bulky and slow. Basically, easy ass target practice for your Navy/Air Force/Army Pilot.
Guest: RWBY having no BVR is real weird and hampers their military capabilities.
Guest: Nope, I don't plan on giving Earth troops aura.
Guest: As stated in previous chapters, Paladins are weaker than they look. And nah, while I do believe that the US alone can realistically take on Remnant, there's no way they don't use infantry, they can spam missiles sure, but they'd end up having to actually take strategic points, meaning the use of infantry.
whatsupman: Sometimes taking risks is necessary, in this case they really needed to do it for that sweet actionable intel. For what's up with NATO and EU units, see this chapter, and see my response to snipervtk4. Hope you look forward to more chapters.
Quma25: Thanks for liking that part so much! I busted my ass writing that bit to make sure it didn't get repetitive or boring, so thanks for the huge amount of appreciation. And as you just read this chapter, yes they do discover what happens. Salem's reactions are for a later, she's special. And here's to hoping you still continue to can't wait for more of this.
Wolves567: you will.
Guest: Correction: in vanilla, Alexander's cannon is really just a cheaper version of the vanilla, and Towne's cannon actually lasts longer but is conversely weaker, read up on it on the wiki.
CaptainWarhammer: Thanks! I like detailed things too! Hence why I tend to muddle myself with research just so I can get very little detail at least somewhat accurately. OCs? Maybe, maybe not, we'll see how it pans out in the future, as of right now though? Nope. As for ships, I don't even know how that would work. Most of the characters here are in their early 30s-late 40s so that eliminates pairings with the teens. As for the adults, well they don't really like the Americans at the moment, so probably not as well.
Thanks for the reviews, as always! If I didn't respond to your review/one of the questions you have on your review, it's either I don't have a good answer/too spoilery.
Next chapter will be long, so it will probably a while for me to get it out.
Bye.