Birthday month is in full swing. Celebrating with a bunch of special streams, as it's also the fourth anniversary of my Twitch channel at the end of the month. Got a lot of stuff planned, but one of the ones I'm most excited for, funnily enough, is a Bluey stream tomorrow. A good friend of mine in Florida has a nearly 2yo son who loves watching my streams and also loves Bluey, so I'm donning my Bluey shirt and playing the Bluey video game, just because I can. Not sure what I'll do afterwards, as I don't expect the game to take long (short game made for kids, after all), but have a feeling my youngest superfan will be happy.
Despite how childish and annoying they could be at times, Alpha Squad - as he'd long ago given up renaming it to something better - had become family. Sometimes a family full of whiny children that he had to corral, but family nonetheless. And just like a family, they fought, bickered, and argued most of the time, yet when push came to shove, they knew they could count on one another no matter what. As the White Fang's most capable men and women, there was no one he'd trust more by his side.
Which made blatantly lying to their faces didn't feel right.
"This is just to prove them to everyone else." No matter how many times he told himself that, Sienna's test still felt wrong. He knew she was just being cautious, but if they couldn't trust Alpha Squad, then who could they trust? They were the best of the best, handpicked to lead the White Fang to victory against whatever their enemies threw at them. They'd wholly devoted themselves to the cause. Each and every one of them had risked their lives time and time again for the White Fang.
One had even given his life.
It felt like forever since they'd lost Jakob. Life had moved on, but there was no forgetting the missing piece of their team. An empty chair still attended every meeting - a silent homage to their fallen friend and a solemn reminder that nothing was guaranteed. Any mission could be their last. He wouldn't have blamed anyone for wanting to leave the team, but not one of them had backed down, instead choosing to follow Adam into his banishment from Menagerie and keep fighting the good fight.
As payment for their devotion, they were the first to be tested.
He knew it was more recognition of their position than any doubt on Sienna's part, but that didn't make betraying their trust any easier. They'd come when he called, Yuma and Trifa arriving in a matter of hours from Nonemu and everyone gathering in the war room without complaint. All joking ended the moment he presented the mission, doing his best to make them believe they'd be going after the Head Councilor of all people. As far as people in Mistral, he might as well have been one of the most heavily guarded targets they could've chosen. Capturing him would throw the government into chaos and put a much bigger target on their backs. On top of that, going after his family would ensure every man, woman, and child across Remnant would condemn them. Fighting the SDC and Atlas soldiers was one thing, but targeting innocent civilians? Knowing the whole thing was fake and having the night to think it over, the whole mission stank of desperation in his mind.
Alpha Squad never objected. If Adam said it was a good idea, they were in. He never had to justify their plan or assuage their concerns. They knew he wouldn't lead them astray. They'd charge the very gates of Atlas if he asked them to, trusting he'd get them through whatever the odds.
And here he was, forcing himself to doubt them.
He didn't really know what to look for. What signs would a spy give that might give them away? Nag asked a lot of specific questions, but was that because she was trying to gather intel to pass on or just her usual, meticulous nature? Marcus followed along but seemed bored with most of the specifics. Then again, maybe that was a cover to throw him off the scent. Who was more suspicious?
Adam hated those nagging thoughts and tried to squash each and every one as they reared their ugly, little heads. He knew they were looking for a spy, but he couldn't bear the thought of doubting anyone in his squad. Not after all they'd been through. None of them had ever given him reason to doubt them, and he couldn't imagine even one of them ever turning against the White Fang. They'd fight side by side until the end, regardless of whose end that might be.
By the time everyone except Blake had left, Adam felt sick. If only they knew this was all a test, maybe they wouldn't have put so much faith in someone like him. Gods, what would they say when they found out? If…no, when it turned out all of them were innocent and he had to tell them the ugly truth, would they ever trust him again? How could they? He'd basically spat on their devotion to him, refusing to fully trust them in the end.
Blake could see the strain on his face clear as day. "That was rough."
"That's putting it lightly." Adam fell back into his chair with a sigh. "I don't like this."
"Lying to them?" She'd hit the nail right on the head. "I know it's tough, but we can't be too careful. If someone's betrayed us…"
"You don't think it's one of them, do you?"
"No." Her immediate answer helped. Bad enough he was here testing his own squad like this, but if Blake started doubting them? He wasn't sure the team would last that kind of division. "This isn't us accusing them. We're just…showing Sienna proof of who she can trust."
He knew that, but it didn't hurt to hear someone else say it. "Thanks."
"So now what?"
She knew. She'd been in the same briefing as him, but they were pretty much done with their part in the plan. "Now, we wait." His least favorite pastime. "Three weeks. If word gets out, they'll strengthen defenses at the target." Which Sienna's spies would notice, thus exposing the leak. "After that, we can get to work finding the actual spy."
He knew the question was coming well before Blake spoke. The pained look on her face gave her away. "What do we do if…if it turns out…"
"If the information gets out?" Neither of them wanted to even consider the possibility, but they had to plan for every possibility, even the most unlikely ones. "Then you'd better start studying up on your tech manuals."
"Huh?"
"Because there's no way I'll find the comms leak."
It took Blake a few seconds to remember there was still another possibility, but when she did, she looked relieved. "Right. It could be a comms leak. Not one of ours."
It had to be, because no one in Alpha Squad would dare betray them. Not after all they'd been through together. Three weeks from now, Sienna would report nothing had happened and he'd reveal the whole thing to his team. They might get upset at first, but hopefully they'd come around to understanding why he had to lie to them like that. Laurence would get to work beefing up their communication security, just to be safe, while the rest of Alpha Squad met with Sienna to devise a plan to track down the leak in their organization. In time, they'd all look back on this and laugh. Probably poke fun at Adam for his bad acting, too, as if they'd known all along. Things would go back to normal and Alpha Squad would grow closer in the end. That's what would happen. He knew it. No way would any of them be the spy.
Because if they were, then he'd have to deal with their mole. Personally.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Adam hated waiting.
Three weeks didn't sound long, until you were counting the days that was. Every day started with a call to Menagerie for a status report. So far, there hadn't been any changes noticed, which should've come as a relief. Instead, it just meant another day of training and deception as he and Blake anxiously awaited any news while hoping for none.
Adam needed a way to vent, and what better place than the training fields? Best of all, he had a host of unwilling volunteers to wear himself out against. Granted, he had to take them in groups, and even then, rotate through them in rounds, but the extra spars - if one could call the devastatingly one-sided affairs that - at least helped pass the time and keep his mind off other things.
Poor Alpha Squad. As wrong as it felt putting them through such torture all because Adam was nervous about proving their loyalty, at least they were seeing results. His team had gotten stronger, and the sudden trial by fire only seemed to accelerate that growth a bit. Little by little, they learned - mostly how to postpone their defeat, but any progress was good progress. Teamwork. Coordination. Communication. All useful skills for the battlefield, but none of them enough to give them a chance against Adam. He tore through them with a vengeance, proud of their progress but disappointed when the fight, and his distraction, ended.
Adam really hated waiting.
"Good work today." Adam sheathed his blade once more as he stood over his four fallen foes. The rest of Alpha Squad watched on, each of them nursing their own minor wounds from the nonstop training. Blake fared the best out of all of them, but even she hadn't escaped unscathed. "You've gotten stronger. All of you."
"I'll make sure to tell them when they wake up," Ilia snarked from the sidelines. His latest victims - sorry, trainees - were all sprawled across the training fields where he'd left them.
Oops.
"What gives?" Yuma asked as he tried to help Trifa up, only to find himself practically carrying her off the field to a nearby bench. "I mean, I know we've got a mission coming up and everything, but it's just some civvie, right?"
Trifa summoned all of her remaining strength to elbow him in the gut. "Keep it down. We've got an audience."
"We've always got an audience," Yuma complained. Sure enough, most of Reyno had gathered to watch their fights this morning, as they often did. They cheered on Alpha Squad against him, but despite someone trying to start a betting pool, no one had ever put any lien against him. They all knew the outcome before the fight even started. Still, it made for good entertainment. "Not like they can hear us over Bane's groaning."
Bane tried to mutter something in response, but whatever made it out sounded more like a pained growl than words.
"Still, our mission's on a need to know basis, and they don't need to know."
"Yeah, well I need to know why we're being put through the wringer," Yuma complained. "C'mon, boss. I saw the plans. Bunch of goons with guns. We can take them easily."
Goons with guns was a bit of an understatement. The Head Councilor's security force all had their aura unlocked and at least a basic level of combat training, not to mention automated units from Atlas, an electrified border fence, and cameras mounted practically everywhere with a direct feed to Mistral's Secret Service, who would dispatch reinforcements the moment something went wrong.
Nothing Alpha Squad couldn't handle, especially with a way in and Adam at the lead.
"We aren't training for a single mission," Blake jumped in, saving him from having to come up with an answer. "We're training for every mission."
"Well said." He'd have to see about picking up something nice for Blake for saving his bacon, not to mention putting up with all this far better than he was. Then again, maybe he ought to get her a gift just because. He didn't have a ton of experience in that field, but random gifts seemed like something he should do. "Don't train for the fight you know you'll win. Train for the one you can't afford to lose." That had to mean something deep, right? It sounded good, at least.
Not good enough. "I get that, but why the sudden increase? There somethin' you're not tellin' us?"
Urk! Yuma didn't usually push this much. He also didn't usually see through him so easily. Why were they training so much? Obviously, the truth wouldn't work. I've upped your training because I'm worried one of you might be a spy and need to burn off all my nervous energy to distract myself from the possibility of a traitor in our midst and what I'll have to do to them once they're found out. Yeah, not exactly something he could just come right out and say.
Well, he'd lied to them about the mission. What could one more lie hurt? "I'm worried."
"About what?"
"That we're not strong enough." Not an outright lie. Just a little twisting of the truth. "The attack on Paulownia worked, but only because we got lucky."
"I thought we did pretty good," Marcus chimed in.
"We survived. Well, most of us." Their losses had been low, all things considered, but low wasn't zero. "Breaching the wall went well, but if it wasn't for Raven taking out two thirds of the inner guards…" When even one of those Huntsmen had been almost too much for Adam. "The point is, things aren't going to get easier from here. If the White Fang is going to survive the coming war, we need to grow stronger. All of us." Rauch was bad enough, but he'd felt so helpless before Raven. "Including me."
As much as it hurt to admit, he was nowhere near strong enough for what lay ahead. A single Huntsman had nearly bested him, and while he was still a little shocked to learn he'd taken one down, that didn't change the fact that he wouldn't be the last Huntsman Adam might face.
They'd been lucky so far, but eventually, their luck would run out. Mistral was upping the ante, and while he'd been more than capable of leading the White Fang to victory against their previous foes, he needed to be ready for more than just a bunch of local villagers with guns. Raven was one example. If she came after them, he wouldn't be able to do a thing to protect his friends, and she was just one example. The Schnee, for example. He'd faced her once and barely escaped, nearly dying in a last ditch effort, and she wasn't even the best Atlas had at their disposal. Mistral, meanwhile, was home to more Huntsmen than any other Kingdom, though not all of them were officially sanctioned by the Council. Criminal gangs operated from the shadows, backed up by former Huntsmen who traded duty for lien. The Council had an army of Huntsmen at their beck and call. All they needed to do was put his name on the mission board instead of a bunch of Grimm. The bounty on his head from Mistral, Atlas, and the SDC kept growing. How long until some Huntsman or even a team of them decided the job was worth taking and came to claim their prize?
His strength had been enough so far, but only because he'd been playing in the minor leagues most of the time. Guerilla warfare was their bread and butter for a reason. In a straight up fight, their enemies had him vastly outmatched. Hit and run tactics worked well, right up until Mistral figured out a way around it. They'd become lazy and complacent, thinking the game would never change, only to have the rug pulled out from under them.
If the White Fang was going to survive, they needed to grow. Not just in numbers and locations - Nonemu and their fledgling Vale presence were a good start - but in strength. Mistral was looking for ways to force their hand, and it was only a matter of time until it worked. Drying up the supply caravans wouldn't work long term - the villages in the outskirts wouldn't survive without them - but it was enough to push the White Fang into an untenable situation and have to strike a harder target. This spy, whoever he was, had already compromised missions and placed people in danger. He had to know at least one base's location. Whether it was Reyno or Nonemu at risk, the clock was ticking until Mistral decided continued surveillance was no longer top priority and made a move on one of the camps. Moving them would be pointless until they figured out who the mole was, so all he could do was hold position and hope the enemy didn't show, because they'd bring more than a ragtag militia with them at that point.
For now, all he could do was wait and prepare, though looking over his beaten squad, maybe he'd been pushing them a little too hard. They needed to grow stronger, but results wouldn't happen in a day. They'd already come so far compared to when they'd first formed the team, but that had taken hard work over a long time. Intensive training had its place, but they couldn't keep that pace long term, nor would using the team as his punching bag really help that much.
"That's enough for today," Adam announced, knowing there wouldn't be much use continuing anyway. The collective sighs of relief weren't necessary. "We'll go back to our regular schedule tomorrow, but I expect each of you to push yourselves. Consider this a wake up call. The only easy day was yesterday."
"Yesterday was easy?" Adam ignored Indie's complaint. He hadn't meant it literally.
"Yuma."
Yuma flinched at his name. "Yeah, boss?"
"You and Trifa are heading back to Nonemu in two days." Their men needed leadership, so keeping them away too long wasn't a great option. "I expect you back here the evening before our mission. Understood?"
"Got it!" Geez, did he have to sound so excited?
"And remember," Adam added, intent on raining on his parade a little, "not a word to anyone."
"He'll keep his mouth shut," Trifa promised, now laying across the bench and refusing to surrender room for Yuma to sit down.
He'd run the idea by Sienna already, and while she would've preferred keeping everyone in one place, Adam eventually convinced her otherwise. Yuma and Trifa had others to oversee Nonemu when they were gone, but three weeks was a long time to have both commanders away. Better to send them back for a few days, let them check in on everything, then return in time to join the mission. If they wanted to pretend like this was a real mission, then they needed to act the part.
"Take the rest of the day off." Their cheers were more muted than usual, but they mustered up what energy they had left to celebrate the end of his torturous training. He could use the rest himself, though he'd have to make sure they didn't slack off tomorrow. Blake could help there. She'd get her own training with him later. Strong as she'd become, they couldn't afford to neglect anyone and she'd be the best at pushing him in a spar, so they both benefited in the end. Before that, though, they'd need to work on the training schedule and come up with a slightly more intensive program together.
Maybe tonight would work. With the day off, he didn't have any plans and he knew she'd be free. After lunch, they could run through some plans together, then spend the evening relaxing. Maybe they'd hit the library and claim their usual spot to unwind. It was a little weird having a routine like that. In his mind, dating always focused on new, exciting experiences. Dates were always big events that took planning and kept the focus on the two of them.
Reality turned out to be a lot simpler. Just doing something together often proved enough, even when they were lost in completely different stories. They'd tried sharing a book between them once - her idea - but she read a lot faster than he did, so she'd end up finishing a page and having to wait for him. Or starting to turn it before he was done, leaving him to either complain and force her back or give up and skip whole sections just to keep the peace.
Maybe once things calmed down a bit, they'd do something special. A picnic in the woods. Or maybe he could find a chance for the two of them to get away for the day and head down to the coast. The beaches weren't nearly as nice as the ones back in Kuo Kuana, but that didn't mean they were horrible. Plus, this far out, they were pretty much untouched by man.
All of that would have to wait until they handled their spy problem. Being the top two officers of Reyno gave them a lot of freedom, but it also came with a ton of responsibility, especially right now. Hopefully they'd find a moment to catch their breath before the next crisis hit. For now, they'd have to settle for what few moments they could find while the hunt continued. Hopefully, once Alpha Squad was cleared, they could focus their efforts and root out their little infestation faster. With their elite team on the case, finding the source of their leak shouldn't take long at all.
Assuming the leak wasn't in their team in the first place.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
The three weeks dragged by slower and slower, but despite time's best efforts, the day of the mission finally arrived. Yuma and Trifa had flown in the night before with their report from Nonemu. They'd taken Adam's words to heart and upped the training there as well. Cerco took the hint and immediately announced plans of his own for Reyno. As annoying as the current situation was, at least something good had come out of it. The White Fang would be better prepared in the future, and all thanks to some traitor in their midst. How ironic.
Adam couldn't sleep. He was sure today's report would confirm what he already knew - that Alpha Squad could be trusted - but until he heard Sienna say it, he couldn't help feeling nervous. Every report thus far had been the same. Sienna's spies hadn't seen any indication of the information leaking. That didn't stop him from worrying today.
As far as his team knew, they were just hours away from the mission and were likely doing their own pre-mission rituals even now. They each had their own, peculiar habits. Bane liked to find a quiet spot to meditate, saying it helped calm him. Marcus went the opposite way, blaring a custom playlist that mostly involved a lot of screaming that Adam could barely understand. Thank the gods for headphones. Ilia liked to take a hot bath, or so Blake had told him, while Nag preferred going for a run. Adam knew each and every one of their preparations by heart.
Just as he knew each and every one of them.
Which was why he'd always known the outcome, even before Sienna kicked off their morning call. "Nothing new to report. Looks like your squad's clean."
Adam resisted the urge to rub it in her face. "Which means the informant's still out there."
"It does." All they'd done was remove less than a dozen people from their list of suspects. That still left a lot of names for them to go through. At least he could let his team in on the investigation. "Feel free to tell them I put you up to this."
Oh, he would. One hundred percent. "Then the mission's off?"
"Not exactly."
What? She couldn't be serious. "You still want us to hit the villa?" Then what was the point in all the subterfuge? They could've just prepared like normal and kept an eye out for any changes. He'd struggled with lying to them for nothing! In the end, the only one being lied to was him.
"Actually, I have a different target in mind." The image of Sienna shrank to the side as a map took over the display. "We've received word of a supply shipment from Argus heading South to Shion. It seems Atlas is hoping to earn favor with the locals by replacing some of the supplies lost at Paulownia."
A blinking dot appeared south of Argus, the port town that Atlas practically owned up north. Despite kicking Atlas forces out of Anima after the Euryale debacle, the base at Argus was still considered Atlesian property and had been left untouched in the negotiations. A faded, red line traced from Argus all the way down to Shion. They were probably a third of the way on their journey, but he doubted they were using horses and wagons, meaning they'd be covering ground pretty quick with minimal stops.
"Any idea on defenses?"
"A sizable number of automated units backed up by a small squad of soldiers." No surprise there. The less people they sent, the less they had to account for food and rest. Plus, if something went wrong, losing a bunch of robots would always be better than losing men. Knight units were expendable. People couldn't be cranked out of an assembly line quite so easily. "More than usual, but nothing you and your team can't handle."
"Won't they expect us to hit it?" This had all the hallmarks of a trap. The caravan routes had been pretty quiet lately, so a sudden excursion by Atlas felt like bait. He'd rather not fall for their deception and find himself up against half the Atlas Army.
"This is their fourth run, actually," Sienna informed him. "We let the first three go through untouched, fearing it might be a trick. By now, their guard should be lowered, giving us the perfect opportunity." And with his team already geared up and ready to go, there'd be no time for someone to get word out that Alpha Squad was on the move. "Our contacts in Shion observed the last offloading. Numbers were consistent with what we're seeing on this one."
It always helped to know Sienna wasn't just throwing them to the wolves and hoping they survived. They weren't hurting for supplies at the moment, but they could always use more. Plus, if Atlas wanted to curry favor with the people of Anima, then that alone was reason enough to interfere. The last thing they needed was Atlas getting more involved.
"We'll set up an ambush here." A mark appeared where Adam touched the map, well south of the caravan's current location. Given what he knew of Atlas vehicles and how long it would take them to get in position, he felt confident they would have a couple hours to spare when they arrived. More than enough time to prepare for a quick strike and extract with supplies before anything could go wrong.
Going over the plan didn't take long. They'd hit enough caravans to have it down to a science at this point. A lot of broken robots and disarmed soldiers, hopefully with minimal injuries, and they'd gather up the supplies and be gone in a flash. With him leading the charge, Blake prepared to hit from the flank, and Nag on overwatch, they'd be in and out before Atlas even knew what hit them.
The rest of their discussion proved relatively tame. A report on manpower from Nonemu. Supply tracking from Menagerie. Personnel rotations. Administrative things that Adam wished she'd just handle herself. If she wanted to make him feel more involved, she could just stop. His place was in the field, not behind some desk filing paperwork. She and her team of underlings could handle all the boring stuff without him.
When she finally dismissed him, he wasted no time heading for the training field where Alpha Squad had already assembled. Blake met him halfway. "So, what's the word?"
"We're clear." Finally. Too bad they didn't have time to celebrate. "But we've got a mission."
"I thought we were canceling that."
"New mission, straight from Sienna." One that didn't involve waiting around to talk about. He'd left her in charge of getting everyone together for the mission instead of sitting in on the call with him this time around. "I'll explain everything once we're in the air."
Away from the rest of Reyno. Alpha Squad had been given the all clear, but the rest of Reyno hadn't. Anyone here could be a spy just waiting to betray them. Or maybe they were hiding out in Nonemu. Even Menagerie wasn't completely out of the question. For the moment, the hunt would have to wait, because he finally had an enemy he could actually fight again instead of some shadow that refused to show itself. When it finally did, he intended to drag it kicking and screaming into the light once and for all.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Winter Schnee had made enough reports to General Ironwood to know how these things went. "What am I looking at, Agent Mimi?" Winter scanned the contents of the report she'd been handed while she listened.
"The caravan from Argus was attacked, ma'am." Straight to the point and even a respectful address at the end, despite the fact Agent Mimi had no duty to render such honors to an Atlesian officer. She knew she'd made a good choice.
"Casualties?"
"None, though we lost all of the Knight units." Acceptable losses and on track with the White Fang's usual MO. Not that they were unwilling to kill. Wars were fought both on the battlefield and at home. The populace of Atlas wouldn't support them intervening because of some broken robots and stolen supplies, but show an image of a bunch of slaughtered soldiers and Ironwood would be mustering the Fleet within the hour.
A specific detail from the report practically leapt off the page at her. "So, Taurus decided to show himself again, did he?"
"Video footage from the Knights show all of Alpha Squad in attendance." All of them? Talk about overkill. More interestingly, they hadn't brought any support with them. Why the sudden change?
"Very good, agent. It seems we have their attention." More importantly, she had Taurus' attention. "Pause the supply runs and send a sweep of the area, then have the next caravan stop at Kesseki for shelter." They didn't want to make it look too easy, otherwise they might give the game away early. "What of your field agent? Any news from them?"
"Agent Orion reported unusual movements three weeks ago." Orion, the mythical hunter. A fitting name for someone helping them track down the head of the White Fang. "All of Alpha Squad gathered for nearly two weeks. Training exercises, but Orion thought it might be something more."
"Seems Orion was right again." Winter wished she knew more about their remarkably reliable spy, but despite her best efforts, Mistral kept a tight lock on anything and everything about their agent. A rare glimmer of competence in an otherwise barren wasteland. "Tell Orion to keep an eye out for any movements involving Taurus."
Agent Mimi hesitated, her uncertainty rare enough to warrant attention. "The Director believes we should move on their base. He's petitioning the Council to assemble a team of Huntsmen for the attack."
That spiteful little…Winter stood from her desk. "I'll handle the Council." Acting rashly would get them nowhere. They only knew the location of one of the Anima bases right now and had no guarantee Taurus would even be there. Attacking now would endanger the cover of their field agent and waste the best shot they had of capturing Taurus, all because of an insignificant man's insecurities.
The Director of Mistralian Intelligence had been throwing a fit ever since Winter cut him out of the loop. He'd blown his shot with Paulownia, proving incapable of maintaining her strict standards. There was too much at stake to bother with people like that. Since then, he'd been demanding meetings, nitpicking her reports, and working behind her back to ruin the operation and make her look bad. Politics. Bah! At least Agent Mimi had been keeping an eye on his antics and helping Winter stay one step ahead of the clown.
"Once Taurus is dealt with, we'll move on their base." With their leader captured, overthrowing the rest of the White Fang should be easy. Surrounded on all sides and devoid of hope, someone there would give up the other base's location for a plea deal. She'd drive the rest of the scum from Anima and remind the world how Atlas handled things.
But first, she needed Taurus off the board. His recent victory at Paulownia, including the killing of a fully trained Huntsman - one who reportedly specialized in human combat - showed the threat was growing. Better to nip it in the bud than risk her men against him in a direct assault. Orion would give her that opportunity, but it would take time. Little by little, she'd lure him out, then swoop in and finish what she'd started back in Atlas.
The White Fang's days were numbered.
More Winter appearances, but don't get top attached. Just need tp show brief glimpses of what's happening on the other side of the fence, so to speak.
Alpha Squad is clear, but that just means the hunt continues for Orion (obviously not their real name). Had to stop and wonder at the implication of something like Orion in RWBY. Sure, we have some clear references to certain myths and legends in real life in the RWBY-verse, but a constellation? Is Remnant a planet in another galaxy, or is it Earth in a different universe? How far away could they be and still see certain constellations in similar arrangements from their perspective? Then again, the Justice League crossover movies seemed to indicate a different universe, so what change caused Remnant's timeline to develop instead of Earth's? Does it have something to do with the Brother Gods? Or maybe the spirit of the Great Tree in V9? Could it somehow be involved?
And then I remembered this is just a random fanfic and not a doctoral dissertation on the relationship between a fictional universe and our own. So Remnant knows about Orion. Why? No idea. Just felt like it.
Anyways, Adam hunts for the spy. Winter hunts for Adam with the help of the spy. One of the bases has already been compromised. Adam and Sienna are being careful, suspecting possible traps, while Winter is busy preparing one. In the words of Studio C's Dobby, "Things are happenin'!"
Next chapter: Spy hunters.