Chapter 20
Expansion
The rumbling of thunder and a few flashes of lightening marked the arrival of morning. Persistent rain had started the previous evening, and by all indications had no intention of stopping any time soon. The grass was sodden and the access road was a muddy pit. The once gentle rumble of the river was gone replaced by a louder sound. Visibility was reduced by the sheet of reen
Thanks to a suggestion from Fox they had parked the scout on top of several planks. If not for his idea the vehicle would have been stuck completely, the road to the train depot was a churned up mess. The twenty students huddled closely together in the leaking roof of Red Teams camp waiting on their teacher to finish her call in her tent
Moody eventually made her appearance, and as she dashed over to them the group shuffled to make space for her. She flipped the hood of her poncho off
"I have several pieces of news, so listen up." Moody said
Moody made eye contact with them making sure she had their attention.
"The situation at Magnus just got more complicated, the two herds are much larger than previously thought, the good news with that is, is that the herds are moving slower giving us more time to reinforce and evacuate the area. Now closer to us, we are being reinforced. We are getting another two teams and I will receive help as well. Professor Port will also be coming out with three senior teams for deep scouting of the area."
"Will we be assisting with that?" Cameron asked
"No, your mission stays the same. Patrol the area, cull any Grim we find, keep the road open. However they will be operating from here as well." Moody replied
"Mam, then I suggest we abandon this area and establish a new camp." April said
"Explain please." Moody said
April squared her shoulders.
"Mam we are twenty one people here already with the other teams we will be at forty two. We have some space but we will become cramped very quickly. Plus if this rain continues we may have to consider that the river may rise sharply and this area may get flooded."
"The water level has already risen." Yatsu said
He pointed to the river and more particularly piles of rocks
"I set up three sets of markers when we came out here. The first markers are nearly submerged. April is correct there is a risk of flooding." Yatsu stated
" And what about your patrols?" Moody asked
"Mam we can fly in this, but with visibility this poor, we will be wasting fuel trying to do air patrols." Katya said
"And with the road being like it is now, the scout will be stuck frequently and it would be too dangerous for the motorcycles. Due to the mud foot patrols will be slow and ineffective as well, we could move quicker overland but I do not think the locals would like us walking through their lands." Cameron said
"To be honest I do not think that even the trucks would try and move in this unless they have a way to plough the road smooth." Jaune added
Moody nodded
"Well reasoned, and you are correct. Till the rain diminishes or settles there will be no convoys, and patrols would not achieve much. We have already been given a few sites we can set up by the mayor. So once we break this meeting up, the team leaders and myself will give the areas a look. The rest pack up and prepare to evacuate here. Don't bother to break down the structures you built unless it can be easily moved or reused, the locals will either use it or break it down for us. Make sure to pack everything and then check again that everything has been packed."
An hour later they landed at the third site and walked around for a bit
"Not here." Ruby said
"I agree." Jaune said
"As do I."
Ruby pointed in the direction of the road before Moody could ask for an explanation
"We are too far from the road and thanks to all the trees here we can't see the road clearly either." Ruby explained
"No easy access to water." Jaune said
"This place also puts us further away from the town as well, if it brought us closer to the station it would have offset that disadvantage but the train station is not closer either." April added her input
"They are right." Cameron added her vote
"The second spot looks a lot better. It is on higher ground than our current spot, the road is closer than here by far and we are close to the town and factories. The only downside there is access to water, since we are further from the waterbank." Coco said
Cameron thought for a moment
"Would the group coming here be able to get hold of a pump of some sort and three or four fire hoses?" She asked
"Possible, I assume you want to draw water from the river with the hoses?" Moody asked
"Yatsu's pool gave me the idea, it will work well enough for immediate needs and topping it up would be fairly easy. A bigger pool might work better: Cameron replied
"Are we keeping the two teams and two camps?" Ruby asked
"The teams yes, separate camp no. It would just be wastefull at this point. So the five of you will design the camp. Present me with a decent plan and previous bad marks may be mitigated
"What resources will we be given?" Coco asked
"The brickyard, timber mill and flour mill have decided to donate cargo damaged in a grim attack once we pick a spot. By curious "coincidence" the delivery scheduled for today had been damaged by a lone Nevermore. It was terrible as it was double the size of the last convoy" Moody said with a smile
"And nobody managed to hit the Nevermore as it targeted the cargo yards. Such a tragedy" Coco grinned
"And clearing out the yards will obviously be a priority now to make space for a replacement shipment." Cameron added
" Well the Councill will just have to pay extra to have their order made up I guess." Moody shrugged
She looked to the five leaders
"Are you in agreement for second site then?"
They five shared a quick glance among themselves before nodding
"We are." Cameron spoke for them
"Is there anything else you think that could be useful from either Beacon or the factories?" Moody asked
"Some riversand would be nice. Filling sandbags from a pile of sand will go quicker than digging for it." April suggested
"Some extra fuel for the vehicles would be useful, I am guessing we will be flying and driving more." Jaune suggested
"Where do you get fuel for your Bullhead?" Cameron asked
" They can contact my father, he knows where we stored more fuel containers in Fort Freedoms Vale warehouses." Jaune added
"Call him and see if he can arrange to have some delivered to Vale, also send me his scroll number so that Professor Goodwitch can arrange to take delivery once I forward the number." Moody instructed
"Might as well ask for extra ammunition and grenades then." Jaune said
"Extra dust and ammunition for all of us too, I think." Coco
Ruby was silent as she was sketching. She tore the page off and presented it to the group
"This my suggestion for the camp." She said
They took a closer look at the rough draft
"I would separate the ammunition and fuel storage and move the fuel storage away from the camp." Jaune said
"A central kitchen is nice but I would scrap the separate wash areas and move it to the opposite end of the kitchen area." April said
"I am guessing the central area is for eating and briefings?" Coco asked
Cameron was the next to produce a sketch and present it for comments
"Vehicle and Fuel depot a short distance away, I see. Why the four areas marked for setting up tents and shelters?" Coco asked
"The teams are together in their area so the first two blocks are for them, the back two blocks are for the professors and the teams coming in with Professor port. Each team has an area dedicated for their ammunition by their block. Kitchen on one side and washroom and latrines on the other end. Meeting and eating are in the middle." Cameron replied
"Making it square makes it easier to set up, and would be more defensible You can even set up platforms outside the areas to create watchtowers." Jaune replied
"That can work but a watchtower would not really be useful at night, not everyone can see in the dark clearly." April pointed out
"Car batteries and those small spotlights you get on fire trucks. Quite a few hardware stores carry those, or the ones in Patch do." Ruby said
"That would work, and you can charge the batteries when driving patrols." April nodded
"Add it to the list?" Jaune asked
"Yes. Any other suggestions?" Cameron asked, drawing in the watchtowers
" Setting up platforms under the tent areas and the wash areas, if this rains persists it will be a mudpit otherwise." Juane added
"Good point, also use timber to make paths between the areas." April broke in.
"To make roofs for the areas we will need more groundsheets than what we have." Cameron pointed out
"Then add it to the list of things they need to bring. Add nails, rope, more saws, a few more shovels and pickaxes." Coco replied
Peach was seated in the door of the bullhead as they approached the camp. a Pink smoke marker appeared and shortly after that two green markers. The bullhead dropped lower and hovered for a few moments, chains rattled as their cargo was unhooked. The bullheads lifted and flew in a circle before lowering to landing height. The co pilot came from the cockpit. Peter easily walked across the swinging deck to the woman. She spoke hurriedly and turned back to the cockpit
Peter whistled and got everyones attention
"Rapid exfill! The ground is too wet to land, gather your gear and prepare to jump!" Peter called
The Vacuo team exchanged looks before shouldering their packs and weapons before approaching the door. The Atlas teams were slow in moving
"Today, Atlas!" Peter called out
Peach hid a wince, clearly Peter was still angry at the late departure. Not that she blamed him. Their departure had been delayed as Ironwood had decided to assign two full platoons of Atlesian infantry and several squads of Atlesian knights without having the courtesy to inform Peter as the mission leader. That Ironwood had unilaterraly added two senior teams to the search groups did not improve the situation. When it came out that the teams had not been prepped for a prolonged deployment had Peter reaching for Blowhard
Only intervention from Ozpin had stopped Peter from ripping Ironwood a new one. Apart from the extra teams the Atlas contingent would not be in camp with them. As far as Peach knew they would be setting camp up inside the factories
They came in for a second approach and Peach led the way out of the doors. She grimaced as mud splattered over her clothing. Muffled thumps came as the rest jumped. The bullheads lifted and moved in the direction of the factories. She looked around and saw no sign of the camp. Peter came walking up
"Let us move, the pilots dropped us a distance from the camp."
Looking around Peach spotted a trail of the pink smoke. They trudged along, various muffled swears came from those who decided that high heels were a good idea. Peach noted Peter hiding a smirk. She realised the detour was deliberate.
They crested a small hill and the sounds of construction carried up to them
"What a dump." Anne Greystoke of CLAP commented
"That dump will be your residence for the next few weeks, I suggest you get over yourself and quickly." Peter remarked shortly
Peter looked over his shoulder and turned to speak again but stopped. The team from Vacuo was looking behind them. Their faces were lit up in wonder as they stared at the River and the trees that abounded
" Come on ladies, you can look at it later. The trees and river is not going anywhere." Peter said more kindly
Anastasia was waiting for them. Her students were still hard at work building their camp, like her students she was showing the signs of having been hard at work. She walked over her weapon slung over her shoulder as they approached
"Pete, Peach. Welcome to Camp Mudhole, name pending for now." She greeted them
She looked over to the teams
"NDGO?" She asked
"Here." Dew Gayle replied, lifting a hand
"You are with blue team, right corner. That is the one with the half built watchtower. CLAP red team, left side. Go ahead and meet your teams and get to work. The quicker we are all done the quicker we can take a break
Moody dismissed them
"Peter, Peach. We are in the far left corner. You can drop your gear there. Senior teams far right corner, you will find tools and supplies in the centre of camp, we had a plan for your section but that went out the window thanks to Jimmy Irondick. So now you get to build your own section. I suggest you look at what the other teams are doing to give you ideas."
Moody pointed to where the bullheads had dropped the cargo they had brought in.
"Your gear and the supplies you brought in are to the left of the vehicle pallet"
Peter looked at the activity and chuckled for the first time that day
"It has been some time since I last had to build my lodgings, but first I think I have to go and inspire my students to greater effort."
"With tales of how you single handedly built a bulwark that stopped rampaging hordes. I am sure." Moody replied blandly
"No, I was thinking of the time I built a dam wall that saved a valley settlement, though I might through some grim trying to hamper me in there." Peter grinned
"Don't be too enthusiastic in your tales, we still need them awake to built the washroom and kitchen." Moody responded
"Are you saying I am putting my students too sleep with my tales?" Peter lifted a bushy eyebrow
"Yes." Moody and Peach echoed
Ruby was hot and sweaty, she dropped the next set of cut planks onto the pile and paused to wipe her brow. She and the rest of her team were dressed in the coveralls they were forced to buy, though Yang had already modified hers immensely, the sleeves being the first to go. Speaking of which, was enthusiastically digging in the large pile of sand that had been delivered her, she had her coverall unzipped exposing a boob tube, Blake had stripped the top part down and tied the sleeves across her body, the purple shirt she wore sweat stained. Only Ruby and Weiss was still fully dressed, Weiss was having too much fun hammering nails into planks to pay attention to the fact that she was sweating buckets.
Ruby was about to talk to her about it when Rebeccea thrust a water bottle into Weiss's hands and motioned for her to take a break. Ruby wiped her head again and looked in disgust at the wet sleeve.
"Darn it." She muttered
She looked over to where Blue team were dressed in shorts and shirtless and seeming to be having no trouble with the humidity. Huffing she stripped the coverall of revealing her t shirt and thigh high shorts. Relief was almost immediate. She jogged over to her pack and deposited the coverall on top of it. She pulled her water bottle out and raised it
"Friend Ruby!"
She was tackled by a solid mass and she and her bottle went flying as they were bore to the ground
"Penny, Why?" She groaned breathlessly
She was pulled to her feet and glomped again and had the life nearly squeezed out of her again
"Friend Ruby, it is spectacular to meet you here." Penny enthused.
"Care to introduce us?" Cameron said walking closer
Penny released Ruby
"I am Penny Polendina. I am combat ready." Penny proudly stated
"Not much use for it now, but are you construction ready?" Cameron replied
"Penny, how many times have I said to nit rush ahead." A precise voice broke in
Her team had arrived with Ciell Soleill in the lead. The rest of red team drifted closer to greet the new arrivals. Cameron took the lead
"Seems Penny already knows Ruby. I am Cameron Branwen, my team Rosalie Royce, Hermoine Walsh and Rebecca Olson. That is team RWBY. The one gasping for breath is Ruby Rose, team leader, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xio Long and Blake Belladonna."
"Charmed. I am Ciell Soleill, my team Anne Greystoke, Leonard Marks and lastly Penny Polendina."
Ciell hesitated to shake hands, something that the others noted quickly. Both Marks and Greystoke showed hesitation, though of course Penny did not in any way shape or form. Cameron pointed to a spot
"You can drop your gear there and split up to help with building. Just so you now we have a bet with Blue team as to who finishes first, and I am nor paying for their beer."
"And the teachers are aware of this bet?" Ciell asked disapprovingly
"She is holding the Lien and will be the judge in case of dispute." Rosalie replied, tossing a hammer up and down in her hand
Cameron cleared her throat
"I am about to start on our watchtower, who is going to help?"
"I will." Penny said cheerfully
"Me too." Ruby volunteered
"Then grab some shovels and a pick axe and we can start digging the holes to plant the poles. Yang you ready to lift weight or are you still playing in the sand?"
"I could use the change." Yang shrugged
They looked to the side as cheering broke out and a blue flag was raised over the constructed watchtower. A rather ribald work chant was started as the blue team started to shovel sand into the bags at their pile, soon a chain gang was moving filled bags and placing them in place around the base of their watchtower, while two of their smaller members were slowly climbing up the tower hammering planks into place creating a ladder. Cameron whistled
"Right people back to it, they are not winning!" She called out
Team NDGO found their spot easily enoughand stood by a pile of rucksacks and other gear. A catgirl was walking over from where the larger group had raised a watchtower, they tried to hide their surprise on noticing the multiple animal traits she was displaying
"See the Remnant Enquirer does tell the truth, there are true catgirls! Pay up!" Octavia said triumphantly
"Here, just shut up" Dawn replied
Both Dawn and the other two handed over Lien cards to the happy Octavia. The girl was now close
"Hi there. I am Hina Ichuru of team KHYA. The others would have come and greeted you but we can not fall behind. We have a bet with Red team and because we are a larger group we have more tasks to finish."
"What is the bet?" Gwen asked
"The losing team has to pick up the tab for the winning team either in the tavern here or when we get back to Beacon, and I for one am looking forward to seeing their faces when they realise they are paying for more than our beer" Hina grinned
" Are we included in that bet?" Gwen asked
"The moment you stepped into blue camp." Hina said
Gwen dropped her rucksack
"Then we can not let red get ahead." She said
Peter looked up from where he was hammering nails into the planks for the deck area for the tents. Blue team had started up another rude work chant, this one about lazy teachers, as they were setting the poles for the watchtower by the teachers camp. What surprised hi was how easily the Vacuo girls had joined in
"They seem very enthusiastic." Peter chuckled
" There is beer on the line, so of course they will be eager." Moody replied with a grin
"A bet I assume or are you giving out a prize to the most effective team?" Peter asked
"Both, red and blue have a bet, but I will add a case as well to both teams." Moody replied
"And you are not going to say anything about the rude chants?" Peach asked
" No rules against it either here or in Beacon. And if it motivates them why not? And before you ask, there is nothing prohibiting them from having a drink as long as they stay sober." Moody responded
The three looked over to where the senior teams were not making much progress and to Red where they seemed to be slowing down, even from where they were standing they could see the Atlas teams struggling all still dressed as per Atlas regulation, though one of the Atlas girls seemed not to be struggling
" At this pace blue will easily win." Moody said
" I wonder why they are struggling so?" Peach asked
" Unused to perform physical labour, not willing to get comfortable to work, unwilling to perform menial tasks. Take your pick." Peter replied
Peter pulled at his sweat stained shirt
"Speaking of getting comfortable…"
"No, you are not taking off your shirt, no one is prepared for that." Peach replied
"True my manly physique will be rather distracting." Peter stated
"Let us just go with that and drop the subject." Anastasia pleaded
Nebulla looked sceptically to the primitive boiler in front of her.
"Are you sure it will work?" She asked
"It sure does, hot water all day long as long as the barrel is kept full." The girl named Yara replied
" We also found it warms up the bath area in the morning. Sure the shower bags stay warm through the night but there is some windchill." April Miller added
"And no one cares how much water you use?" Nebula asked eagerly
"No, as long as you refill the boiler or the bags if you should finish them."
April bit her lip before turning to Nebulla
"Shade is in the desert right, so I am guessing you have water restrictions." She said
"Three minute showers only." Nebula nodded
"Then I think you are going to like this." April grinned
April whistled sharply and the boys came staggering up carrying an honest to the Brothers bath tub, they gratefully dropped it onto the deck
"We will go get the other one now." The blond, Jaune said
Nebulla ran a hand along the bathtub
"You actually got a bath." She said
"We found two in the junkyard outside the town, got them for cheap, we were about to fit them in the washroom at the old camp but then we moved here."
"Can't wait to finally get to use one. Only the really rich can afford baths in Vacuo" Nebulla said
" There will be a bit of a wating line for it, though the boys will not really care for it." April replied
" Fair warning we are sharing the washroom with the boys." Yara added
"We already share at Shade so that does not bother us." Nebulla shrugged.
" The only ones who will really have an issue with sharing is RWBY. BROW has a lot of experience, not sure if the atlas team." Yara replied
"To be fair Ruby is fifteen and I think we should try and accommodate that." April said
"The sooner she get used to it the better, now we better move this tub before the others get back with the other one and figure how to anchor it, Yatsu is likely to tip it over climbing in."
NDGO were settling in their newly purchased tent for the night when they heard scratching at the canvas. Gwen pulled back the zip and Katya made her appearance. The girl handed over a note
"Guard schedule for the following three days." She explained
The girl looked at the floor of the tent
" There are still a few groundsheets left, you can use it for padding and insulation. The tent floors get rather cold early morning and no offence girls you may want to sleep dressed here for the same reason."
Four figures were seated above the camp in one of the watchtowers. If anyone had bothered looking up they would have noticed a light glow that frequently changed colours. The four broke apart from holding hands
"You all felt that?" Velvet asked
"I did, but it does not make sense, how can that Atlas girl feel both alive and not" Pyrrha remarked
"The closest I can think of is cyborg." Hina said, biting a finger
"If she is one, someone worked hard to hide that fact." Jaune pointed out
"What is a cybirg?" Velvet asked
"Cyborg, it is droid that has organic parts fused to it, usually a brain. The things are usually short lived and hawkbat shit insane. It is not to be confused with beings with replacement limbs or droid organs. The Senate was actually planning on outlawing their creation." Jaune explained
"Though that was more of a knee jerk reaction to General Grievous, I think" Hina added
"Why would anyone do something like that?" Pyrrha asked disgusted
"Chasing immortality or a serious lack of ethics." Hina answered
Hina clapped her palms on her legs
"We can worry about it later, we need a place to practice force techniques. We are all doing well in connecting with it but we need to start using it as well."
"Also we have to start practising combat as well." Jaune added
Hina ruffledin her bag and produced two holocrons. She lifted one, instead of the usual blue backlight this one was a deep purple and was made from a dull silver metal that seemed very heavy, judging from the light tremble in Hina's hand
"You have all seen the other one, it has Master Jacarda as the gatekeeper. This one was given to me by Pride Elder Shiro of Pride Ichuru."
Hina looked to Jaune
"He gave it to me before we left for Remnant. From what he said this may be one the holocrons created by the First." She said
"The First?" Velvet asked
"The First was a girl who was strongly force sensitive but she was not content with the Jedi way, not that she went to the other side. She was said to be in the direct middle using both light and dark equally. To make it worse from the Councill of the times viewpoint, she was a Mandalorian that practiced her culture as well. She created the Mandalorian towns on Arkaxis at the same time as the fist Yuki colony was created." Hina explained
Hina coughed and took a swallow from her water bottle.
"Long story short, before she disappeared she allegedly left a bunch of holocrons with the Choir of the colony. They had been kept in the crypt of the Founders in the Catacombs where she had a sarcophagus that was never used. From what Gramps said her holocrons had an unusual feature." Hina stated
"That being?" Jaune asked
"That if you meditated with one you could allegedly be taught what it contained through the force itself."
"And you believed him? Old Tom Shiro, a serial prankster by his own admission" Jaune replied sceptically
"Yes, he was very serious when he handed it to me." Hina responded
"Can it hurt to try?" Velvet asked
"Not that I can see." Hina replied
Pyrrha looked at her watch
" We have an hour before watch duty starts, let us try it then."
Hina shrugged and placed the holocron between them and shrugging of her shoes, touched it with a toe before taking a hand of Velvet and Pyrrha each
"Might be best if do it having some form of skin contact with it." She said to their curious looks
Ciell looked to the other two human members of her team
"Perimeter check, we have to report in."
The two picked up their weapons and left the tent. Ciell produced a lapscroll from within her backpack and switched it on. She extended a cable that she passed to Penny. Penny taking the cable inserted the pin attached to it inside her ear. Letters and numbers were visibly running across Penny's eyes as she connected and downloaded. A window popped up and Ciell could see the bulkhead of an Atlas cruiser in the background, the image shifted and she saluted
"Cadet Soleill and Special Project P.E.N.N.Y. reporting Sir."
"Good evening Cadet, what is your status?" General Ironwood asked