Back at home, the news had immediately spread like freaking wildfire about the new arrivals. With cheers and dancing greeting them, Vic, Ves and the squad of the FRR happily joined in. Dismounting from their IFVs, the group was greeted by Samantha, who was standing there with a grin on her face and her arms crossed.

She waved the Russians off, letting them join their Major, before walking up to the two engaged folk and telling them, "Hope you kids know you're gonna have to write every single thing that happened in that report, right?" before handing them her Scroll Tablet specifically for that purpose. Both of them nodded, then walked off.

Sam looked to the left, watching Paul and the others approaching, the former with a ciggy in his mouth. She told them, "Heard the news through the Radio, I assume?" as she saw them all smiling. Paul gave a nod, taking in a deep drag from his cigarette, before looking at the rest of the crew. Even Robert had cracked a smile in the background, watching them.

"NATO scout missions are here," Paula quipped, grinning ear-to-ear, "Which means either that an entire force and their Drones got wiped out and sent to us… Or…" and she let the words hang in the air for a moment as everyone realized what the second option meant. She spelled it out, however, with a melancholy in her voice that bordered on tear-filled joy, "We might have a way home…"

As the realization struck, Sam almost felt her knees buckle. She smiled a little at the thought, then shivered, realizing that they were all pretty much dead to the entirety of their families and old friend groups. How would her mother and Sister take her just suddenly returning from the dead? How would anyone?

She could see those same thoughts cross Paul and Paula's minds as they frowned. Yeah, they all had some form of family back home save for Victor and Victoria themselves, the latter of which was busy welcoming a whole new unit into the fray of the Misfits. A squad of lost US Marines from the early Global War on Terror, presumably even Fallujah 2.

They were elderly men, but they could make for good officers for the ramshackle force that the Misfits were trying to reshape into a proper armed force for the defense of this Kingdom. The pay was a nice bonus, but the fact that they had a second lease at life where they could teach a generation a century departed from wars against their fellow sentients how to defend themselves and supplement Huntresses and Huntsmen was a good feeling.

Many of those men also had families that were being moved in here. Several of them were Faunus, too, with human spouses. Their gear looked old and worn, but it was still good. Including M16A2s and the whole shebang. She sighed deeply, scratching her chin and wondering just how strange the world was gonna get when they had a way between the two planets open.

She felt Katja's hand land on her shoulder, then looked at the Pole and told her, "Go. You, Paul and Paula need to think about a few things in regards to our incoming buddies. I'll go chat up Headmaster Ozpin about the situation, tell him he should expect mass reinforcements, but not to worry about building that much more infrastructure."

"Alright," Kat spoke, her voice soft. She smiled.

"Did you ever tell Paul what happened to you and Robert?" The now-second-in-command asked and immediately saw Katja's smile vanish, her face dropping. She shook her head, to which Sam whispered, "And Rob probably didn't wanna do anything to worry him… Go. Tell them. Best they know now…"

"Understood," Kat nodded, then called out, "Hey, Pali, Paula. I gotta talk to you two back at home… We can think about the revelation we might get to go home there," to which the two nodded, surprised. Sam, meanwhile, let the celebrations continue as she, too, walked toward Ozpin's office. Dushman's platoon and the GWOT Marines met in the middle and started talking about the situation in the meanwhile, while Hassan and Jim were busy being 'forced' to help Robert.

Beside them, Alex, Anja and Saila were also dealing with stuff. Alex himself was dealing with a wounded soldier from the battle, who only had a few scratches, thankfully, while Anja and Saila helping fix the soldier's armor. Saila herself had a sewing kit with her, courtesy of being a hunter that was always prepared for just about everything.

They were getting injuries in combat, to nobody's surprise, she thought as she decided to move on, marching toward Ozpin's office. Part of her thought about how Paul and Paula would take the news Krakow was a bit irradiated right now, but she was sure they were alright, regardless of whatever was going on…

Well… Maybe not…

Having entered their house and unequipped their gear, leaving themselves only in their BDUs, the three sat themselves down, with Kat facing the two of them like this was some kind of intervention. Regardless of that, the young woman knew them very well, to the point she was sure they wouldn't over-react. Right?

She breathed in, then breathed out and said, "Right, well. I found out you guys don't know how I, or Robert, funnily enough, passed," as she scratched her cheek. The two nodded and Kat immediately realized they hadn't pried into her business or Robert's for different reasons:Hers was her business and she would've shared it when she was ready and Rob was…

Rob. He didn't talk much about what ailed him. She chuckled at that, then said, "Well… Surprise. I and him died in the same clusterfuck event," before gently pulling her shirt's collar down to reveal radiation burn scars on her neck. The two immediately paled, to which Kat nodded and said awkwardly, "Yeah… A nuke that hit Krakow… I think maybe around the same time you all got blown up in Omsk? If not earlier by just a bit."

She saw them stare at her, eyes wide and full of empathy, before she smiled sadly and said, "The Nuke wasn't… Bad, I guess. It was just a flash and I'm gone and here. Worst part is probably the fact that I still have Krakow's main square and all the hundreds of people there burned into my retina from the briefcase nuke blast."

"... Who did it…? Do you know?" Paul asked, his voice low.

She nodded, "... I spotted the bastard last minute, same as Rob apparently. It was a Chernaya Liga patch," only to pause as she felt the temperature in the room genuinely drop into the negatives. Paul stood up, causing Kat to swallow as she felt that chill. Though his face remained impassive, she could see just cold fury behind his eyes.

He sat down next to her and wrapped her into a hug, gently telling her, "Those bastards will pay… Don't worry," which was… Honestly kind of scary to hear. Paula stood up next, giving a pat onm the girl's shoulder, then sighing deeply and rubbing her eyes. He sighed and gently moved back, before noticing she was tearing up.

He told her, "It's gonna be alright… Give it enough time and the image will fade," before he pulled aside the shirt's collar and looked at the burns. Paula smiled sadly, noticing that Paul was ever the same with Katja as he had always been, a caring childhood friend. Meanwhile, Katja blushed heavily, much to her own chagrin.

He sighed and smiled at her, "Glad you're alright and around, though. Guess I should chat up Rob, now, too, eh?" before grinning. Kat's blush immediately faded and she scoffed, before giving him a gentle slap on the chest and grinning, too. He laughed and asked, "What?" but still seemed to retain that burning fury deep down.

"Dork," She grinned, then sighed, mildly disappointed and stood up. She walked over toward Victor and Ves's bedroom and gently propped it open, before smiling and waving them over in hopes of calming both vengeful Hungarian siblings down. As they approached, they poked their heads in, to see yet again a wonderful sight of the fiances in each-other's embrace, Ves with her head on Vic's chest, ears listening to his heartbeat. She was smiling, while Vic himself was seemingly blissfully asleep, hand wrapped around her waist.

Kat, meanwhile, paused as she recalled a certain something from her and Paul's childhood, face immediately going flush as she took a step back and gently closed the door. They looked at one-another again, with Paul raising a brow at Kat out of pure confusion. She waved it off and walked to grab her gear for the patrol…

Outside, on another patrol vector, Alexi and Ayesha walked together for a change, both completely quiet as they surveyed the Courtyard and the training recruits. Cardin was leading the formation this time, from the looks of things, with the rest of his team having joined him on the training ground in hopes of earning some cash.

There had been a join-up bonus decided of some 1,300 Lien per week. 5,200 per month for new recruits that increased if they were accepted into the Unit. With Cardin pulling his own weight, he seemed like he was gonna be one of the first Beacon Students to actually tag in with the Misfits' Private Military Company.

"You're awful quiet," Ayesha pitched in to start the conversation, causing Alexi to blank and look at her, face slightly red. She smirked and said, "What? I'm serious, man, you've been sittin' there all quiet and shit while we're on patrol. Usually, people talk to pass the time when on these things… As far as I recall, anyway?"

"Sorry," He sighed deeply, "Guess I'm just a bit uh… Surprised we wound up getting paired, or that you didn't refuse it."

She shrugged, "Why would I refuse it? We're both as much part of this unit as anyone else and we know each-other, dude," before looking at him and raising a brow, "Seriously, what's the deal? You're usually the quiet guy, I get it, but this is pushing it to a degree that makes it seem like ya don't like me or something."

"Yeah, fair," He sighed deeply, then chuckled and said, "I'm a bit worried not to say anything that might offend. I'm also thinking about how I can help or… Shit," He shrugged, visibly awkward to the point Ayesha couldn't help but giggle. He told her, "Hey, can you blame me? Seeing you of all people down in the dumps is weird."

"Hehe. Fair enough," Ayesha chuckled. In Alexi's mind, all he could think of was just how nice her laugh always was. How pretty her smile was… Basically, yes, the young man obviously had a crush on her, which was sadly not reciprocated. She, however, answered to him, "Thanks for trying, at least… It's kinda sweet."

The man blinked, face red beneath his balaclava. She giggled and asked, "Oh, what, did I embarrass you on that one as well~? What is it with ya?" as she crossed her arms, "You seemed like a tough guy back during the KFOR days and always got up to bullshit with the other fellas. Hell, I saw you had a tattoo on your neck."

"... I was in a bike gang before I became military," He sighed, "So I guess I kinda was tougher."

Ayesha's eyes widened, then she laughed, a little awkward and replied, "Heh… Very funny, Alexi…" only to pause as she saw him turn and stare her down, lifting his balaclava to show his deadpan. She blinked and a faint red glow appeared on her cheeks. She whispered, "Oh, holy shit, you're dead serious," before asking, "What the fuck happened?"

"Not all Bikers are good kids or good people," He quipped, grinning, then fully took his balaclava off and shoved it in a pocket on his rig as they walked. He continued, "I got grabbed by the Cops when we were doing something illegal and my partner snitched on my ass. Small time drug deal which that specific buddy came up with."

"Holy fuck," Ayesha snorted, "And why are you a soldier!?"

"It was either the Military or Jail. And Sofia jails, pretty much like any other ones, ain't a nice place to be in," He quipped, causing the girl to grin, cupping her own chin in a thinking pose. He opened his arms and asked, "What? Like you can tell me Dushman didn't get dragged outta jail to be a Marine. That or kindergarten."

She laughed, then said, "Nah, you just never talked about this stuff before, blyadh. It's so odd to hear that at least one of us was nearly convicted and tossed in Jail over an actual crime…" before she cast a sideways glance as she saw Robert staring at them. Or more-so giving them both a Death Glare. Alexi grinned and waved.

Rob rolled his eyes, then turned away, while Ayesha was laughing a lot more heartily, which Alexi was glad about. Honestly, though, he did just realize he never talked much to anyone about his own life, did he? Oh, well, who cared anyways, right? He was only there as a backup weapon for the gang, after all…

… In the meanwhile, Saila had gone away from the medical team, leaving Anja and Alex to deal with matters regarding medical care for the soldiers present. Alex himself, cat tail wagging, gently wrapped a bandage around one of their troopers' wounds, stating, "Next time, try to keep the Beowolf at a distance, man. I'm not sure how I'm gonna treat any claw that pierces Aura and armor."

"Tak-toychna, medik," Chuckled the soldier. He grunted as he felt the Air Force Pararescueman tighten the bandage, then give him a pat on the shoulder and the okay. He put his uniform shirt back on and walked out, equipment in hand while Alex and Anja watched him leave. As they moved on to the next few members, most of which thankfully had very light injuries, they got to talking.

"... Don't suppose you can tell me what you and Saila have been up to while you were back in Finland, right?" Alex smiled as he looked over at the girl. She smiled back and nodded, before stating, "Cool! Can't wait to hear it!" and he seemed his ever-excited old self. Anja, however, wasn't stupid. She could see that, much like everyone else, Al was battling his own demons.

Still, she chose to do the same thing everyone else was doing, even to her and the others, starting with telling him the story like nothing really happened and engaging in trying to slowly help him recover. So, she started, her voice gentle, low, "... We were deployed along the Eastern Border immediately after we joined NATO, expecting a Russian attack. Obviously, it never came."

She bandaged a girl's arm and tightened it a bit, then smiled and allowed her to leave. Turning to Al, she then continued, "We went into Russia. Karelia namely. Secured it and seized all our old pre-World War 2 Territories back. Tali-Ihantala was avenged and that sated the Nationalists, so we went on to keep the peace from the League in the Northern territories."

"And I assume you guys got caught up in a bunch of stuff there," He quipped as he put their tools away and threw away anything that wasn't reusable. Said tools were then moved to be disinfected and cleaned only to be used to treat the next guy as they talked. Anja gave a nod of confirmation, to which Alex snorted. He told her, "Any chance your unit can tell us more?"

"We were in separate units," Anja replied as she set her stuff aside, "Saila was Jääkäri while I was stuck with a company of regular infantry. We did keep in touch," and she showed him her phone, which still had the texts from Saila visible. The girl was surprisingly much more emotive with her texts than in person, but that was normal, considering her whole psychic ability.

"Ooh, gotcha," He answered happily.

Anja hummed, then looked at him and asked, "Are you okay, Alex? And I don't mean physically… I mean mentally," as she stood up and walked over to his side. His eyes widened as she sat down next to him, looking him in the eye. His smile momentarily vanished, replaced by a slight twinge of surprise. It soon returned, though slightly more strained.

He nodded, "I'm alright… Just glad to see everyone back together after everything is all…"

… Anja wasn't stupid. She put a hand on his shoulder and, calm and collected as could be, she asked, "When did you die…? Out of all of us, at what point did you pass?" almost as if she knew the answer already. She saw Alex's eyes shoot wide open as he stared her down, to which she frowned and narrowed her lips.

She hated bringing this kind of stuff up this late, but she'd seen him like this beforehand. She watched a small frown form on his face as he avoided looking her in the eye. He stared down at the table they were sat on, then mumbled, "... I think I was the last one out… I saw all of you wink offline one after the other…" his voice low, almost cracking.

That almost snapped Anja's heart in half. She swallowed, then, without hesitation, pulled him into a tight hug, surprising him. She waited for a few agonizing seconds to see if he'd hug her back, only to smile when his arms finally wrapped around her and he leaned his head on her shoulder. She spoke softly, "I'm so sorry… I can't imagine what being the Last must've felt like…"

"It wasn't easy…" He whispered, voice audibly shaking. She pat him on the head and began to whisper softly into his ear of how kind of a man he was, how sweet he was and how glad she was they met again, all in an attempt to soothe what must've been several horrible thoughts that had flashed in his mind. She saw Saila at the flap of the med tent, eyes slightly wider. She smiled and waved, to which Anja nodded, letting her leave to other parts, help there. She needed to help Alex right now.