Chapter 35
Breakout Part 2
Night was falling over Vale and the regular night life started. Qrow was leaning against the bar counter at his favourite bar or what had had been his favourite bar. He was in his usual position at the far end of the bar in the shadows and apart from a few sips his drink was ignored. There was movement at the entrance and a now red haired Derrick entered the bar, a human male and female cat faunus with him. The last two split up and the male took up a casual position allowing him to keep an eye on the room and the door, the woman going to the bar. Derrick made his way over to the pool table and set up for a game.
Taking his drink Qrow sauntered over and collected pool cue. Derrick broke the stack and sank a solid. Qrow waited his turn and lined up on a stripe before shooting
"We still on?" He asked softly
"We are. How many extra hunters are coming along with your group?" Derrick replied
" My brother in law and Hebert, a retired hunter who was in charge of the bullhead docks in patch, his daughter is in Beacon. Why did you ask for extra hunters?" Qrow replied
"My people are getting split a bit thin, with all the operations we are running tonight. Not all of us are field operatives" Derrick answered
"And I am guessing your bosses don't trust our island friends." Qrow remarked
"The less they know about us, the better for all. Just because they are the enemy of my enemy does not make them my friends. They have an agenda and till we know for certain what it is we will not involve them unless truly necessary"
The Faunus woman sauntered over, a glass of wine in hand, dressed in the quintessential little black dress, swaying her hips provocatively . She leaned against Derrick acting like a possessive girlfriend and he embraced her. She gave a fake laugh as he apparently kissed her neck
"Qrow this is Sparrowhawk. For tonight she responds to Pansy as a name." Derrick said rubbing her back
"Nice to meet you. Why are you telling me this?" Qrow missed his shot
"She will be with you meeting our friends from the lighthouse. I have another meeting I must attend to at the same time." Derrick said
"Our friends from the island?" Qrow asked
"No meeting my in law and a bit of debt collection." Derrick shrugged
Sparrowhawk pouted as Derrick stepped out of her close proximity to take his turn at the table. Derrick sank another two balls before missing.
"By the way, two tables to the left. Blue shirt, red tie. You know him?" Derrick asked, chalking his cue stick
Qrow walked to the far side of the table and measured his shot. He moved once he sank a ball
"Vale PD. He was part of the Fang raids. Never saw him here before." Qrow answered
"Cops come here often?" Sparrowhawk asked, rubbing against Derrick
"No this is a Hunters Bar, they only come here to try and break up the fights." Qrow replied
"Then he is working. The question is working on what." Derrick said musingly
"Or he could be relaxing." Qrow pointed out
" Cop by himself on a Friday night drinking light beer to relax when there is a cop bar close by. Don't think so." Derrick sank the black
"What now?" Qrow asked
"We have a fight and Pansy makes certain he takes a nap." Derrick replied
The room looked up as the red hair vaulted the table and punched Qrow. The other hunters stood up to address the newcomer attacking one of their own. Qrow got in a shot knocking the man back
" No way am I the only candidate as the father, your sister fucked every man in this room." Qrow spat out a bit of blood
" Screw you Branwen!" The man rushed forward
"No thanks. Already did your sister and she was a shitty lay." Qrow retorted
No one paid attention to the woman who had been with the red hair make her way from the table. Nor did they notice as she jammed a syringe in the arm of the man still seated at his table. The barman and bouncers made their way over to the two men grappling on the ground and separated them
"Qrow you know the rules. One week ban. Red two weeks. Sort your shit out between yourselves outside."
"Come on Eric. I did not start this" Qrow objected
"I don't care. Boys take them out back and get their tabs settled." The barman turned around to return to his duty.
The barman snorted as he spotted a man lying across the table his bottle of light beer knocked over.
"Lightweights." He chuckled, already planning on padding the tables tab
Qrow straightened up after being evicted by the back door. Derrick was already making his way deeper into the alley. Qrow spotted Sparrowhawk, no Pansy,standing by the street edge of the alley and the other man heading towards Derrick
"First time I am getting thrown out while sober." He remarked
"Fun isn't it." Derrick replied over his shoulder.
"Considering it would have been the last time I drank here for a while I wanted to finally get that waitresses name." Qrow complained
"Her name is Natalie, her day job is as the bank manager for local VISA branch and she works here as Eric is her brother and he is too cheap to get extra help. She has two kids, divorced and her ex has custody of the children. The ex works for Winchester who pulled favours to let him get custody, something that will change pretty soon" Pansy informed him
"That something would not include Winchester's head on a pike would it?" Qrow asked
"I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you." Pansy replied with a smile
From around Vale fireworks erupted into the night as four loud explosions rocked the city shattering glass along the wake of the explosions. Multiple smaller explosions followed deeper in the Vale business centre. Conversely the lights to the Fort Freedom residence blacked out. Minutes later a series of blinding flashes preceded the chatter of automatic rifle fire. Jonathan was standing in front of Juniper. The family sword and shield deployed before him as he faced the door.
The lights returned and the door opened. Derrick strolled in clad in black with a black balaclava pushed up on his face. He carried and automatic rifle in his hands
"Time to go, your daughters are driving me mad." Derrick told the couple
"I need to send a message before we leave." Jonathan said
"Already send the bug out message to Doc at Fort Freedom via our asset there. That as well as the kill order for the Winchester stooge who decided to move into our home." Derrick replied
"Then let us go. I assume we are torching the residence as well?" Jonathan said
"Good thing you kept up the insurance payments." Derrick smirked
"What were all those explosions?" juniper asked
"Fireworks that were kept for the Vytal festival. Pity Winchester's companies did not follow safety precautions when storing them inside Vale warehouses."
Moody stopped as she spotted the shadowy silhouettes right at their extraction point. She lifted her hand in the signal to stop. The slight larger group than previously planned for crouched down and Tsune and Peach made their way forward from the middle of the line and the rear. One of the figures lit a torch and briefly illuminated their faces before killing the light. Cautiously Moody went forward towards Wilkes and Colt. The two men nodded to her
"Don't have much time before someone realises the mess in Vale is a distraction." Colt said
"Why are you here?" Moody asked
"Oz send us. Wilkes and I will join you, Oz reckons you could use a weaponsmith and a security expert wherever you and the kids are going. He said to tell you good job for avoiding detection so far but you can do much better with your hiding places for your scroll." Colt replied
"What about the others?" Moody asked
"Peter and Bart will be looking after those that remain as will the others. We are the ones who were likely to be shipped of both for our skills and our potential to derail whatever these bastards are planning. He also wants an independent group from the Huntsman structures and the kids you have there and us will be it." Wilkes replied
Colt smiled at her surprised expression and gave a dry chuckle
"Oz has more than the surveillance system the Imperial idiots are controlling in place here, some are a lot older but still working. We are just waiting for one more before you can go."
"What did you mean with an independents structure?" Peach asked
"He would not go into details but he said he believed these Imperials meant nothing good for Remnant. He said we will need more than just Hunters for Remnant to see it through, we will need a new type of leader and these kids are our best shot at that, they will be the ones needed for when Remnant becomes free again. He was not clear as to how they were supposed to do that." Colt replied
"He also said we were to look beyond Remnant for allies. Again how was not specified and I think it will be hard to do since Arc and his sisters are the only ones we know that are not from here that is an Imperial." Wilkes added
"My impression was he wants us to start a resistance." Colt said
"With thirty kids and five teachers against a galactic Empire. Is he nuts?" Peach commented
"I would say desperate." Colt replied
They froze as two white armoured figures stepped into view and played the lights of their rifles over the group. One reached towards his helmet. Purple light enveloped them and they were thrown up and forward hitting the wall of the cable car cable house with sickening crunches. Goodwitch stepped forward. Moody was not alone in staring at the headmistress. Gone were her white blouse, long skirt and glasses, here she was dressed completely in black, a pearl handled sidearm was on her hips providing the only colour. It was clear that the clothes were not worn recently as they were a bit snug with the shirt buttons showing some strain. She cleared her throat
"I do believe we are on a schedule." She said testily
A very familiar scene was playing out in the master Control room of the Vale CCT tower. Technicians were taking cover under their terminals after armed individuals had breached the steel reinforced doors to the section. A black clad woman made her way to the master terminal unslinging a backpack as she walked. Expertly she connected two lapscrolls to the terminal and booted them up. She logged out the current operator and brought up the log in screen. She typed in a series of numbers and gained access to the system, moments later the two lapscrolls finished booting up and connected to the main terminal.
Warnings started appearing on the screen and the woman closed them of and disabled the antivirus software that was starting to run. A message appeared asking whether the new data being received was authorised and she accepted them as valid. Two loading bars appeared on the lapscroll as they were now authenticated. A new image appeared on the master screen. A black flag with a skull and crossbones was now being shown, one corner of the flag had tow golden crescents. Below the flag a countdown was started. The woman looked at the senior operator who had scrabbled away from underneath the master terminal on her approach
"Consider this my resignation." She said.
With a few final taps on the keyboards she unplugged the lapscrolls and packed them in the backpack. She walked past the two figures standing by the door and stepped over the white armoured bodies laying motionless by the door, red discolouring the pristine white of the armour. The two figures fell back from the door covering the interior. It took minutes before the technicians gathered courage to look up from their hiding places. The master screen had a new message being displayed with the countdown in single digits now. System Purge starting.
The master technician looked at the name displayed on the log in. Terra Cotta Arc. Then the screen started distorting as the master purge went to work disabling the entire planetary CCT network.
All across Remnant similar scenes were being played out in various government offices as central databases were hacked and purged of data directly from the towers they were told were impregnable by the builders of the CCT network. The only place that the system deletion was observed was in Vacuo where the various government offices were opening for the days business, to a being they merely looked at the screens shrugged and sat down waiting for IT to start fixing it. A few walked to the doors and placed placards on the doors before closing them. The messages were all variation of systems down come back later.
Not all of the nights activities were of a violent or spectacular nature. All across the various cities cars, trucks and busses drew up to houses and apartments and groups of people left these structures and got into said vehicles. Athena Nikos closed the door to her home for the last time. Sadly she looked at the once pristine gardens were garbage had been thrown over the wall, rocks with rude messages attached to them. All of the messages aimed towards her daughter. The person who helped her into the car had distinct Valean accent.
Yularen was rudely woken from sleep by Mathers. The old officer was up in moments and starting to get dressed. Mathers looked at his datapad and started reading aloud
"Multiple large explosions in Vale. The civilian data and communication network is down planet wide. Various units are not responding to comlink messages." Mathers reported
"Anything else?" Yularen demanded
"No incidents from Menagerie or Vacuo. Mistral have had several explosions reported, as per the Council there all are from known criminal locations. Atlas has several SDC offices burning along with recruitment centres for the Army and one SDC dust depot blown up." Mathers read of from a datapad
"Is Lord Vader aware of this?" Yularen asked
"He has already ordered the Executor to disperse units to reinforce those below. His shuttle is being prepared to go to Beacon. He has ordered the units still responding below to gather the various Council members and bring them to him there."
"Then we should be there before he reaches his shuttle." Yularen said finishing dressing
Amelia wanted to swear as yet another group of stormtroopers trundled past the alcove she was in, for some reason a general alarm had been called. The door to the cells opened and an officer exited at the head of a group of stormtroopers. The officer stopped before the latest group that had gone past. The blue shoulder plates indicating that one was an officer.
"Be warned that I will be laying a complaint about this. How am I to maintain the cells with only half of my trooper allocation." He snippily stated
"Forward your complaints to the unit commander. All available troopers are to be dispatched planet side." The trooper officer replied
Amelia after taking several deep breaths, stepped from the alcove and ignored the salutes from the two junior officers and the troopers.
"Who is in charge here?" She asked
" I am, Lieutenant Wester." The grey uniform replied
"I was ordered to report here under command to the senior officer and reinforce the guard." Amelia stated through gritted teeth
She noticed the moment that the officer connected who she was to the rumours of her disgrace. The junior officer eased slightly from his stiff attention stance.
"Of course… captain. Are more reinforcement coming." The lieutenant said
"I was not informed of anything else." Amelia said
The junior officer led the way back in and the door closed behind him. He took position by the control terminal and once she noticed that there was no one else around pulled her blaster from its holster. The officer slumped backwards as the stun bolt enveloped him. Amelia stepped up to the terminal and activated the cameras. No stormtroopers appeared on the viewscreen and she unlocked the cells. All of them.
She quickly rushed outside and collected the backpack she had secreted in the alcove before going back inside using the command code cylinder of the downed lieutenant. She made her way to the cell of the female prisoners and threw several bundles at them from the backpack. The ex prisoners shook them out revealing grey uniforms and caps
"I had to guess at your sizes." Amelia said
They stripped down and doffed the uniforms quickly, Katya and Yara grumbling about the lack of tail holes.
"What about the boys?" Coco asked
"Sorry could not get anything from there. There is a barracks close by where we can see of we can find clothes for them. It should be empty there is a massive deployment in affect. It won't surprise me if it is a drill so we have to hurry." Amelia said
Keira hid a fond smile as she saw who was in the lead of the jailbreak party
"You know you just shot your career into the garbage tubes." She said
"Well associating with a rogue force user already saw to that. Plus I heard bounty hunting pays a lot better" Amelia replied
"Assuming you don't get a price on your head first." Keira countered
"Then going mercenary will be as good. Or I might start looking up Rahm Kota and his group." Amelia stated
"Escape now, talk later." Katya hissed
The flight deck was still a flurry of movement as two female officers approached the deckmaster accompanied by a slovenly looking group of stormtroopers. The one in the lead looked at her datapad.
"Is this shuttle Four Four Five One?" She asked
"No captain, this is Six One Two Four."
"This is deck two?" The officer demanded
"Yes, mam. However the shuttle you want has already been dispatched." The deck master was apologetic
"I must get down to the Menagerie tower immediately." The officer insisted
"Mam, I have no clearance for that. Nor do I have pilots available." The deckmaster stated
"I have a pilot, half drunk as she is. Now I need a shuttle urgently." The officer said
"I am sorry mam. I can not release the shuttle without proper clearance"
The dock master felt guilty as she let out a stifled sob.
"Kark it, I should have known it was to good to be true." She muttered turning her back on him
He placed a hand on her shoulder and she spun around. The pulse from the stun shot went unnoticed contained by his body. He was gently lowered to the ground behind a pile of packing crates. The group strolled over to the last shuttle and embarked. Minutes later the refuel lines retracted and the shuttle lifted off and joined the stream of craft heading for the planet.
Keira leaned against the doorframe of the shuttle dressed in the black bodysuit of a trooper the white chest armour discarded by her feet rubbing her chest
"Next time I dress as an officer or we find female armour. The girls are probably bruised." She complained
"As is our tails, so stop moaning." Katya reported from where she was piloting
"So what is next when do we go for hyperspace?" Amelia asked
"We don't, we go in with them and ditch this crate. We have another way off planet." Katya replied
"Your ship is not where you left it, before my access was revoked I saw a report from the stormtroopers. They found the warehouse you hid it in but no ship." Amelia informed Katya
"That is because our droid followed orders it was given in case the Empire showed up and we can not get to the ship. We had an alternate hiding place for it close by." Jaune replied
"You know we can land nowhere near the other craft and stay undetected. And they will be on us in minutes as soon as we break from the formation" Amelia pointed out
"We know, we just have to figure out how to teach you a landing strategy in the minutes we have left." Jaune replied with a smirk
"Landing strategy?" Keira asked
"First let us see if we Aura is restricted to Remnant only, if it is we need to find the parachutes." Hina replied from behind them.
Derrick had gone to the temporary command centre with Jonathan and Juniper to see if he was required for any further missions. On his return to the safehouse under the Continental hotel he found the place was packed to the rafters with the refugees from Beacon and the Arc girls. Curiously all were clearing a space from the one bedroom with the door closed, a mattress was duck taped in place across the doorway. He cocked an eyebrow.
"Terra came back from whatever she was doing and she and Sapphron has been in there ever since." Sapphire reported
"Can you call them for me?" He asked
"No! Not going back there." Jade cried out
"Yeah, not happening. The sounds coming from in there was bad enough not willing to go take a look." Sapphire stated
"That explains the mattress then." Derrick
"With the television down and no one able to play music over the noise it was all we could do." Sapphire said
Sparrowhawk chuckled from where she was leaning against the wall
"Post mission horny. They will be a while" She informed her superior
"I guess we can give them an hour then, I know they were successful considering that no one has any scroll signal." Derrick shrugged
"They have been in there for hours already." Sapphire said
"Then they will need to come out for water sometime soon unless Terra took water in with them." Derrick countered
Jonathan and Juniper was shown in next and Derrick stepped well out of way of the Arc girl mob storming towards their parents. The doorway was blocked for quite a while before the Arc parents were allowed to proceed further into the room.
The shuttle slowed down significantly as its boarding ram lowered while still in air, Katya rushed from the cockpit ignoring the frantic messages coming through the coms unit calling for the shuttle to fall back in formation and dropped down the ladder onto the deck. She was close to last in line as the hunter trainees jumped out into the night. Yatsu grabbed the retreating Amelia as she backed away from the boarding ramp and ran forward jumping out. Her cry of fear echoing above the sound of the rushing wind. Keira followed them a moment later.. Katya pressed a few commands on the shuttle slave controller before jumping out, Jaune slapped the button to close the ramp and jumped out.
Above the group of hunters the shuttle suddenly accelerated and tried running for the atmosphere on an angled approach that would take it away from the main group heading to Beacon. A blue flicker surrounded the shuttle as the delayed commands started going of in sequence first activating the shields. Next the afterburners ignited causing the shuttle to rocket away. The air was filled by the screech of Tie Fighters as they hared of in pursuit of the rougue shuttle. Thanks to the dark no one had seen the figures that had rapidly dropped from the shuttle. One by one they dropped into the ocean. Jaune surfaced close to where Sun was supporting an unconscious Neptune, the only one who needed a parachute to disembark. The hydrophobic boy had been knocked out by Yatsu once he started freaking out when they were told how they were getting of the shuttle. He made his way over to Sun and helped him as they made their long way back to shore heading towards the light marking the position of the Vale Public beach lighthouse.
"You lot actually routinely jump from moving vehicles like this?" Keira asked, making her way over to them
"Standard deployment technique for Hunters for places you can not safely land." Jaune replied
"You got a thing against parachutes or jet packs?" She asked
"Second is not known here. As for the first it is to prevent from becoming an airborne snack for Nevermores and Gryphons. Better to get down to ground quickly." Jaune explained
Even Yatsu was starting to feel tired when they finally washed up on the beach. Coco stood on her knees as she got upright to scan the building that was becoming visible in the dawn light, breathing deeply in exhaustion. She pointed to a building with a trembling finger
"Over there. It belongs to a model I know. Nobody should be there, last I heard she was doing a shoot for Hunter Girls in Mistral" She said
"She a Huntress too?" April asked.
"No. All she has to qualify for posing for that magazine is a beautiful rack and a tight ass. No aura or hunting experience required." Coco snorted
"I am assuming it is a clothing optional news media thing." Keira remarked
"I guess some things are universal then." Coco nodded
"Hope she has food in there, I am starving." April said
"Not likely. Model remember." Coco replied
"Whatever, we need to get out of these wet clothes and get dry. More importantly we must not be seen." Jaune said
"First get your boots off. We can not leave imperial footprints leading from the water in the sand. These boots leave a very distinctive pattern. They are likely to have trackers coming after us soon." Katya ordered
Coco lead the way to the building. She showed that she had been a frequent guest before by locating the hidden spare key quickly and leading the way in, pausing only to disable the alarm system with a code.
"Just how well do you know this model?" Yara asked
"Well enough to say she is finger licking good." Coco smirked in reply
"Less noise, we do not want to alert the neighbours." April said.
"They are used to loud parties and noise coming from here at all hours, plus the next neighbours are rarely home. The one to the left is SDC owned for visiting executives." Coco said
"do you know where the DB board is/ I want to switch on the geyser." Fox asked
"Check in the kitchen, for all we know she might actually not have switched it off. Towels will be in the cupboard in the passage." Coco replied
"I guess you truly know her well then." Hina remarked
Coco closed the doors behind them and moved deeper into the house. She started opening the curtains.
"It would seem suspicious not to have the curtains open with people in the house." She explained
Velvet returned with a stack of towels and the students started stripping of the stolen uniforms.
"Are you really doing this in mixed company" Amelia gasped in surprise.
"Not much place for modesty in the wilds or enough space for separate quarters" April shrugged of their behaviour.
"Right now we have more to worry about than body issues. Hypothermia being one of the major ones. Aura will only protect you so far." Velvet added
"Found some food. Some tinned soup and a crap load of instant noodles." Katya called from the kitchen
April started lifting the cushions on the couch and looking underneath them. Her hand came up triumphantly holding a fifty lien card.
" People always lose money in the couch." She said
"We can check her handbags as well, Tiffany is notorious for not emptying them properly. So we will likely find more cash there" Coco suggested
"Tiffany. Do you mean Tiffany Greenstone?" Sun asked
"Yes. Why?" Coco replied
"Are you telling me I am in Tiffany Greenstone's house?" Sun asked, a high pitch in his voice
"Dude, not the time to go all fanboy." His team mate Sage said
"Got three hundred out of the couches and chairs." April reported
Coco led the way to the main bedroom and started searching through the cupboards. She had been joined by April and Katya.
"Would have thought a model would have more clothes in the cupboard." April remarked
"Depends on your contract. Not every fashion company lets you walk away with the shoot wardrobe. And well considering who she mostly works for, clothing is optional for her shoots." Coco replied
Their pile of cash grew by a small amount and Coco knowing the area very well went out to a small supermarket that serviced the area to get more food. The second most important thing was to find news from outside as the television networks were offline and they could not find a scroll in the house. She came back with a depressingly small amount of food.
"The entire CCT network is down since last night." She reported
"Anything else?" Yara asked
"The guy at the checkout mentioned something about several large explosions before the network went down. They have also not received the daily newspapers yet." Coco added
Fox took the food to the kitchen and started cooking. Coco sat down on a chair by the counter
"Where is everyone?" She asked
" Jaune, Velvet, Pyrrha, Hina and that Keira girl is getting some sleep, whatever was done to them had them running on fumes. Sun and his team has decided to go and check out the SDC place next to us and see if there is anything usefull, Sun comes from Vacuo so breaking and entering is not new to him." Fox answered
"April and Katya are keeping an eye on Nora, she has not taken the news about Ren well." Yatsu added softly
"And that Amelia girl is reading her way through all the magazines in this place. Something about studying the culture to blend in." Fox completed the report
They all ducked involuntarily as the air was filled with a screeching noise as a Tie fighter flew along the coast line. Coco stood up
"Finish cooking fast. We need to get deeper into the city fast. If they are doing flybys ground patrols must be coming soon." She said
Police Chief Darius Stone stepped from the Vale PD bullhead the moment it touched down at the Beacon docks. Dark rings lined his eyes and his usual well groomed appearance was well and truly missing. He had not been surprised by the demands for an update on the ongoing clusterfucks in the city but doing so at Beacon was highly unusual. Fire Chief Daniel Mycroft stepped out from behind him, the fire chief was still dressed in his turnout gear. The bull head lifted of immediately after they stepped of when it was directed to do so by a white armour.
"Good thing we are carrying our radios or we would be stranded here." Mycroft remarked
The tarmac of the landing field showed severe damage and the cause became clear as a very large craft touched down and disgorged several platoons of white armour. Both men suppressed a shudder as a grey skinned male with sulphurous yellow eyes approached them followed by a platoon of white armour
"Your presence is requested in the dining hall." The grey male announced.
They were led to the dining hall and was directed inside., this was after Stone had been relieved of his service pistol. Two long tables had been set up and the Council members of the various kingdoms were seated in lines along it. The Vale contingent had numerous gaps. Their attention was drawn to the large black figure standing at the head of the table. His loud mechanical breathing filling the air. The second smaller table held the Headmasters and the teaching staff of the Academies, Once again Stone noted some people missing. Chairman Oaken rose up and addressed his two chiefs.
"Before we start I do not believe you have been introduced to Lord vader yet. He will be leading this meeting." Oaken informed them
"What of Winchester, Lark, Thrush, Goldman and Bronzewing. They were not at the emergency shelter." Councilor Mavis broke in.
Stone ignored her and gave his full attention to the figure at the front. In his peripheral vision he saw Mavis being pushed back harshly in her seat by Oaken. Behind him he hear Mycroft breathing in deep, most likely spotting the same. The figure crossed his arms
"That question is one I want answered too." The figure rumbled
"How do I address you? Sir or Lord?" Stone asked
"You may address me as Lord Vader. Police chief Stone."
Stone felt a momentary tightening of his throat and he coughed before speaking
"The first explosions was at an estimated twenty two hundred in four separate locations. Following standard protocols in case of major incidents in the city. Units were dispatched to collect the Council and bring them to a central location. The officer responding to the Lark, Bronzewing and Thrush residences reported that the staff on site claimed they were at the Winchester estate. The unit dispatched to the Goldman estate confirmed that they too were at the Winchester estate. The unit at the Winchester estate reported no activity at the estate and that the gatehouse was apparently abandoned." He said
"Proceed." Vader said
"As per protocol no police unit can enter the residential area of a Council member without a duly notarised search warrant or the order of my command structure or myself. Once I was contacted I rerouted available units to the location and gave permission to enter the premises once they arrived to secure the Council members."
Stone reached over the table and helped himself to a glass of water, Taking a few deep swallows he continued.
"On entering the residence they found no sign of staff or the guests. The lieutenant in charge called for reinforcement and proceed to search the residence. The staff were found incapacitated in the kitchens. The second dining room contained the family members of the families who were not of age. They too were incapacitated. The main dining room contained the off age family members. All of them were restrained in their seats and had been executed."
Silence reigned in the room
"At which point all CCT network coverage were disrupted. We had been operating on old radio systems and the Hunter radio network since. Prior to being summoned here I had been in a briefing with my Crime Scene Investigation unit. Preliminary testing of the food found in the kitchens and on the plates in the dining rooms showed the presence of a drug named Nightshade in it. To those not in the know it is a very powerfull narcotic and is used by pharmaceutical companies in its refined form in sleeping medication. Four staff members are unaccounted for." Stone reported
"Apart from the tainted food what else was found?" An elderly male in a black uniform asked
"Several potted Lorien trees were found on the table of the main dining room. As well as several paper cups filled with cheap cool drink mix also tainted with nightshade" Stone replied
"Does this have a cultural significance?" The same male asked
"No, but it provides a possible motive. Several years ago there was a group who had settled in the farming areas. They called themselves a commune. However they were in a place where expansion of the farming region had been planned and they were asked to leave the area. They refused. Winchester and his allies had them declared as a sect and had mobilised the police and Hunters to evict them once their property rights had been suspended in a separate new law declaring all property belonging to sects forfeited to the Council." Stone continued
"It did not end well." The man stated
"The entire commune was pacifist and had barricaded themselves into their main building. Orders were given to breach and the entire commune was found dead inside, they had commited suicide by nightshade. The children had been poisoned with it by giving them the poison mixed with a cool drink mixture, The Lorien trees are significant because the commune was planting the trees all over the area they had owned prior to the seizure and they had used it as a symbol of their commune."
"A couple of months passed and Bronzewing Farming won a tender to develop the area." Mycroft added
"A powerful motive then. I assume this Lorien commune incident is part of the current dissatisfaction among your faunus populace?" The man nodded as he processed the information
"Actually they were all human, and even if there was a faunus component they would not have been able to gain access. Winchester was a xenophobe of the highest order. Neither he nor his allies employed a non human in close proximity to them or their families. That included companies that rendered services to them too, no faunus was allowed on their premises" Stone replied
The black figure that was Lord Vader turned to face Stone. Stone felt sweat running down his back as he stared back at the figure. Stone decided to move on to the next topic rapidly.
"The explosions were started in four warehouses belonging to the deceased families. No fatalities have been reported at those sites. The warehouses were being used to store Fireworks and Dust to be used for the Vytal festival. The smaller fires could very well be opportunistic events, According to organised crime division they were at sites suspected to be linked to the Vacuo, Atlas and Mistral Crime sysndicates and cartels. In the last month the Crime Famiies of Vale had been ruthlessly cleaning Vale of foreign competitors. No update is yet available as to casualties from those fires."
"Correction. As per my latest update a few bodies had been found inside one of the premises by firecrews." Mycroft spoke up
"We have had confirmed the presence of bodies at the site of the Fort Freedom residence. We have been unable to enter the site as the fire engine in attendance consider the site as still too hazardous to enter." Stone continued
"What of Arc and his wife?" Oaken interrupted
"Unknown at this time. The captain on site is convinced the fire is an act of arson." Mycroft replied
"How so?" The older male asked
"The fire was spread too evenly to be natural and had to be suppressed with special chemicals as water seemed to cause the fire to accelerate. The crew on site had reported that the flames had turned green on water being sprayed on it." Mycroft responded
Stone noted that Oobleck started on the description. Nor was he the only one to notice that reaction. The elderly male turned to Oobleck
"Professor can you expand on that?" He asked
"Doctor, thank you very much. The last report on green fire was eight hundred years ago, The Mistrali legions was reported to have used a substance called Brothers Breath when besieging fortified positions. The last time it was reported to have been used was during the Mistral occupation of Vale." Oobleck lectured
"Any more recent use?" The man persisted
"No, the recipe was thought to be lost once the Mistral Shoganate was overthrown by his subjects after they had lost Vale when we rebelled and forced the Mistral occupiers back into the sea." Oobleck answered
The man turned away from Oobleck and turned to face the two chiefs, he studied them while stroking his mustache before addressing them
"Do you believe the warehouse explosions were accidental?" He asked
"One maybe, there had been citations issued to the warehouse for violating safety procedures in storing hazardous material, something Chief Mycroft can confirm. The chance of all four goining up in flames at once. No, this was deliberate." Stone replied
"Neither do I believe it was accidental. We will only be certain once we can investigate the area as per my crews on site the fires are still ongoing at two of the sites. A sympathetic fire had started at nearby warehouses One was storing paper for the press and the other large amounts of alcohol for a chain of liquor stores. Both fires will have to be allowed to burn themselves out as it is too dangerous to try and extinguish them. Even then the sites will be declared of limits for days in case of flare ups. As my collague mentioned they had been cited for safety violations and till we can obtain accurate records of what had been stored, we must assume it is a hazchem zone " Mycroft added
"I do believe Vale Fire department is in possession of several Atlas Knight units reconfigured for Fire fighting can they not be used to enter the sites?" James Ironwood asked
Ironwood was seated at the front of the table close to Lord Vader instead of with the other Headmasters or the Atlas Councill. Stone was certain it was significant but could not place why.
"Yes, we are possession of said units, However they only operate on software that links to the CCT before they can be used and with the CCT down they are just useless hunks of metal." Mycroft replied
"Which brings us to the CCT. When the System went offline I dispatched a SWAT unit and several cruisers to the tower. My officers were denied entry by Atlas troops on site. Before being escorted from the site by a an officer claiming diplomatic privilege a patrolman had reported the presence of several body bags visible from the front door" Stone said
"The towers contain propriety software belonging to Atlas and the towers themselves are considered to belong to Atlas in the same manner as an embassy or consulate." Ironwood spoke up
"Your reports have been noticed, you may return to your duties once we complete this gathering. Your actions and that of your staff thus far are within acceptable levels of competence." Vader said
Stone and Mycroft were pointed to empty seats at the teacher table. The door to the rear was opened and Winter Schnee marched in at the head of several dressed in modified Atlesian specialist uniforms , behind them was freckled face young redhaired girl dressed in a rather older fashion. Ironwood stood up and nodded to Vader
"I believe we will have answers soon as to the CCT network." He said
"For your sake I hope so." Vader replied
Winter came to a stop and came to attention. She saluted briefly before going to parade rest before starting her report
"Internal communications in the tower had been disabled at twenty two hundred fifteen and an internal lockdown had been initiated. We have recovered the log book of the officer in charge of the tower. He had dispatched four soldiers to investigate the lack of communications, the internal controls were situated in the basement level. Four bodies were found in the basement level, they were positively identified as the four dispatched soldiers. All died from close range gun fire. The ground floor guards were killed in a similer fashion. Once the soldiers failed in their task the officer had called for the remainder of his unit to barricade themselves up on the final level of the tower. His log book indicates that both his scroll and radio were being jammed. He then directed his sergeant to try and attract attention by firing flares from an open window. As a precaution following the previous breach of this installation a unit had been posted inside a nearby hotel with orders to keep remote observation of the tower. By firing flares the hope was obviously to attract their attention and alert command."
"Why did this second unit not respond?" The elderly man asked'
"We found the entire unit dead in their hotel room, multiple gunshot wounds. As no disturbance was recorded by the staff of the facility we surmise silenced weapons were used." The man behind Winter spoke up
Winter nodded to the man
"As commander Ebi stated the second unit had been killed. A service trolley was found in the room and we suspect they were killed by whoever delivered the trolley to that room. Management stated that no delivery had been ordered to that room. Security footage is not available for the time frame as the camera had been disabled. Returning to the Tower, The officer and his remaining men had been killed while maintaining their position. We have recovered two gas grenades on site, on the surface they appear to be standard tear gas canisters. Further testing is as of yet not completed."
Winter shifted subtly before proceeding
"Also killed in action were the four soldiers stationed there from the 501st legion of Lord Vader. As to why they did not contact their command prior to being killed I can not speculate. The doors to the master control room were breached by explosive charges. Following standing orders the technicians did not offer any resistance apart from securing their stations by logging out. The security system log that was not linked to the mainframe showed that the silent alarm had been activated at the time of the breach, but thanks to whatever disabled the internal communications the signal did not get out."
"How did the attackers gain access to the system?" The elderly man asked
"The attackers gained access by using a valid employee login. Our cyber specialist managed to retrieve the log in details. It belonged to one Terra Cotta Arc. The same person had been involved in the previous breach of the facility." Winter reported
"And why was this persons clearance not scrubbed after the first incident?" The man demanded
"That is currently under investigation, once we had retrieved the manager of the facility he claimed that he had been unable to block her access as she was not under contract to his station. With the network down we can not contact the manager of the Argus branch at this time." Winter answered
"There is more." Vader intoned from the front
"Yes. Lord Vader. They did more than crash the system and disrupting civilian communication, our cyber specialist detected traces of virus programs being uploaded prior to the system purge. She had been unable to ascertain their function as the virus started attacking her data stream and I ordered her to disconnect." Winter continued
"You did not wish to endanger your android." Vader corrected
"That is correct, the android is currently the only one we have and is still in prototype phase. Losing the asset is not an option. I ordered the terminal to be disconnected and isolated till it can be investigated by someone with higher levels of technology and more experience in dealing with rogue programs. I took into consideration that Cotta Arc was both a high level operative before her recent treasonous acts as well as a highly skilled programmer. She had in fact written most of the security software we have in use." Winter stated firmly
"How long till functionality can be returned to the system." The elder man asked
"The senior technicians had already opened the secure safes with the primary software to reinstall the primary operating systems. However till we know the nature of the viruses that had been uploaded I ordered them not to proceed with the installation till a thorough destruction of all viruses in the system can be completed. We can not risk losing the primary operating systems." Winter concluded
The elderly officer stepped away as his comlink started chirping urgently. He turned his back on the assembly and answered the device.
"Find them immediately, search house to house, search the streets and alleys. Search the sewers. I want them found before the end of this day at latest. Then I want whoever contributed to this kark up in interrogation immediately" He ordered sharply
"…"
"I do not care. Till you either produce their bdies or them I believe they are alive and you will find them." He snapped back to whatever was said
He secured his comlink and approached Vader.
"My Lord Vader. I require a moment of your time in private." He stated firmly
The two walked to the far end of the room. The cry of rage Vader emited chilled them all to the bone. Ozpin showed a small smirk which was shortly smothered
"Well done mister Arc." He muttered softly.