Had a nasty stomach bug last night. My wife and I were both up several times as a result, so I took today off to recover. Feeling a bit better, but didn't want to risk it.

Had to keep stopping to make corrections today. My s key is acting up on my keyboard and just randomly skipping the letter. At one point, I had every s missing from almost a full paragraph. Some of them were easy to fix thanks to spellcheck, but other were less obvious, like when it was on the end of a word. Think I caught them all, but if something looks off, there might be a missing letter. Sorry in advance if any slipped through.

All things considered, Alpha Squad took the big reveal rather well.

"There's a spy?" Lying hardly mattered to them, at least for now. Instead, the idea that someone had betrayed them stole the spotlight. "But, why?"

"We're not sure." Was it someone specifically trained to infiltrate their ranks? If so, they had to be a recent recruit. But it could just as easily be an experienced member who turned on them. Assuming one or the other would only limit their search. Better to assume all options. "All we know is that Mistral has been getting intel on our operations. It's probably why a lot of our recent missions haven't gone well."

"Is it, like, a fake faunus or something?"

"Unlikely." Faking faunus traits wasn't impossible, but the options were limited. Fake ears would be a dead giveaway, since real ones tended to move a bit. A rigid tail wouldn't fool anyone. Some sort of skin trait might pass the sniff test, but that wouldn't do anything for their night vision. How long could a human pretend to see in the dark surrounded by a bunch of faunus? "Odds are, we're looking at a faunus traitor."

"Or a breach in comms," Blake added optimistically.

"Or that." Adam hoped she was right, but his gut told him differently. "Laurence, I want you to look over the comms at each location. See if you can beef up security a bit."

"Can do." Better safe than sorry. Even if there was a spy, having more secure comms wouldn't be a bad thing. "Assuming you want this done quietly?"

"As quiet as you can." So no team and nothing too obvious, if he could help it. If their spy saw them making major improvements, it might tip them off that they were on the hunt. "Can you monitor any outgoing transmissions?"

That way, they could turn the tables a bit. "I'll see what I can do, but it'll be tough not knowing what sort of transmitter they're using."

"Can it be done?"

"Maybe, but with multiple locations and too many options to guess at, I wouldn't hold my breath." Rats. So much for an easy win. "We don't even know how far they're sending it, so the possibilities really are endless, and that's assuming they're not just piggybacking off our own equipment to-"

"Just…see what you can do." Adam didn't really care for a lesson in communication technology. All he wanted was results. "Start with Reyno. Once you're done here, we'll head to Nonemu and try again."

"What about Menagerie?"

"We'll do them last." It wasn't impossible, but the odds their turncoat was back in Menagerie seemed low. There'd be no escaping if their cover was blown, where a spy in either Anima base might have a shot at sneaking away or even being rescued if they felt they were in danger. That's how he would do it.

Actually, how would he do it? He'd spent all this time trying to figure out what Mistral would do that he hadn't really considered how he'd infiltrate a spy. Maybe he needed to stop thinking about how to catch a spy and focus on thinking like one instead.

That could wait. Right now, he had bigger fish to fry. Specifically, regaining his team's trust. "We didn't tell any of you because we needed to prove to Sienna that you could be trusted." Which somehow sounded even worse when he said it. "I told her we could trust you, but-"

"Better safe than sorry," Nag interjected. "We get it, Adam. We can't risk letting emotions get in the way. Not when people's lives are on the line."

"Yeah. It'd be pretty stupid not to be sure," Yuma agreed.

"Can't be too careful."

"I would've done the same."

"I dunno. Azul looks pretty sus to- ow! Hey!"

Really? That easy? They could just accept being lied to and suspected without a care in the world, even after all they'd done for the White Fang? He would've been furious in their shoes! He would've raised hell when he found out. How dare they even question his loyalty?

Instead, Alpha Squad acted like nothing bothered them, falling back on their usual antics as the twins wrestled and the rest egged them both on, more interested in the fight than who actually won. Being the first people investigated for a potential spy didn't change a thing in their minds. And why should it? They knew they were innocent. Not one of them had reason to doubt their fellow squad members. Someone might as well have said Adam was the spy. Nonsense. Alpha Squad was made of sterner stuff.

"So what's the plan now?" Indie asked after Azul finally claimed victory. "I mean, assuming Laurence doesn't find anything."

Adam doubted it would be that easy. "Sienna's working with the Albains to narrow down our list of suspects. That's where we come in." Adam pressed the button for the projector. Nothing happened. He tried again with similar results. Ilia reached around the device and did…something. Immediately, the map he'd been trying to bring up displayed.

Forget the spy. The real traitor was this damned projector.

"Anyways, as I was saying…" The map zoomed in on the northwestern region, right around where they'd hit the supply caravan yesterday. "Atlas is working to move supplies through this region. Supplies that we could put to better use." A few chuckles answered his joke. "We believe they are using these convoys as bait to draw us out."

"So we're just going to ignore them?"

A logical plan, but not the route they'd be going with. "No. Bait or not, it's still a chance to bolster our supplies and weaken Atlas' presence in the area." While also minimizing their attempts to restore the locals' good will.

Trifa asked the obvious question. "Won't they know we're coming?"

"Absolutely. What they don't know is when or where." The display shifted to show a few recent convoys that hadn't been hit. "We've let a few go through to minimize the chances of them predicting our moves. If they don't know when we're coming, they can't prepare." Before anyone could pipe up, he made sure to add, "On the other hand, if they reinforce all the convoys, they'll be wasting resources on the ones we don't hit. Either way, they lose."

Adam turned in time to see Azul's hand lower. It seems he'd answered her question already, though he really wished they'd stop with the hand raising thing. Especially when he saw Nag's hand still in the air. "Yes?"

"How does this help us find the spy?" Nag questioned, mind always on the big picture.

"Simple," Adam answered, even if he knew they might not like the next bit. "We're going to tell them we're coming."

He could've heard a pin drop in the resulting silence. That was, until they all exploded at once.

"What?"

"You can't be serious."

"Are you crazy?"

And about a hundred other outbursts that merged into a chorus of confusion as he stood defiantly against it all. He'd had a similar reaction at first to Sienna's plan, but eventually, he'd come around. Hopefully, he could convince them to do the same.

"We're going to tell them we're coming," Adam repeated, "to catch the spy." Adam had their attention now, along with their silence. "We'll let word slip of our attack, but only to one of the camps. Then, if Atlas responds, we'll know where the spy is hiding." Well, once they verified it by trying the other camp, making sure that one didn't leak, and then repeating the exercise with the first camp again. "After that, we'll see about narrowing the list down further and flush the traitor out."

"Knowing which camp they're in would help with my counter surveillance," Laurence said, already planning ahead. "We might even be able to trace the signal and find out who they're reporting to." Mistral, obviously, but Adam knew better than to stand in Laurence's way when he had an idea. And who knew? If he could find an exact location, then they might even be able to do something to whatever building housed Mistral's intelligence agency down the road. Sneaking into Mistral wouldn't be easy.

But it was the last thing they'd expect.

"For now, we carry on like nothing happened. Yuma and Trifa-"

"Yeah, yeah. Back to Nonemu."

They knew their place, and that place was Nonemu. "I'll contact you once Laurence is finished here. We'll investigate Reyno first, then move on to Nonemu if we don't find anything." Best to have the increased comms security in place first. "I'll be leading any and all raids personally until we find our leak." Because if they were risking a prepared enemy, he'd make sure he was there to deal with the consequences. "Any questions?"

Just one. "What do we do when we find them?"

The only thing they could do. "We show them what happens to traitors."

/- - - - - - - - - -/

Laurence's upgrades took a lot less time than he'd expected, but far longer than he liked. Every day that went by felt like an eternity. Thankfully, Laurence wasn't the type to let gear go untended and had been pretty consistent with upkeep, so their equipment didn't really need much work. He'd found a few minor things to improve, but that mostly had to do with the transmission quality. The only real security updates he did was changing their encryption and adding in some sort of code for monitoring their own message traffic. Something about logging data bits and comparing them against past logs to find any notable discrepancies or something. Pure gibberish to Adam, but Laurence assured him it would ferret out any abnormalities, like a hidden message piggybacking on their own transmissions.

Just to be safe, Adam kept Laurence around an extra week to personally monitor the comms. It didn't take much to let word spread of an upcoming caravan raid. Not that he needed to keep it quiet. They'd be taking some of Cerco's men with them, so he needed them prepared in advance. He gave them three days to prepare - more than enough time for their spy to let his superiors know what was coming. What the spy wouldn't know was that, in addition to Adam, Blake, Marcus, and Azul, there'd be a secondary squad deployed as backup. Nag would be in charge, with Ilia, Bane, and Azure in support. They'd leave ahead of Adam's main force and set up camp near the point of attack. If things went south, the extra muscle might just tip the scales in his favor and let his team escape unscathed.

Then again, if Atlas brought enough to challenge him, they were already in trouble.

He tried to stay calm as they took off from Reyno, but hiding his nerves wasn't easy when he knew he might be walking straight into a trap. Heck, one of the men in his airship might even be the spy, coming along to make sure the job was done or just unlucky enough to get volunteered. There was no way to tell, really. Not yet. He just had to keep reminding himself that they were making progress. Little by little, they'd close in on the traitor until there was nowhere left for them to run.

The plan was simple, as it always was. They'd run this drill a million times and knocked off plenty of caravans before. He'd even attacked some when the enemy knew he was coming, albeit without knowing at the time. The problem was, ignorance was bliss. Knowing Atlas might know made everything feel ten times more tense. Atlas had already diverted the path of the caravans recently, stopping near Kesseki for added protection, even if it added time to their journey. A reasonable precaution. Adam wouldn't dare risk an attack anywhere near that place. A defensible position. Extra security. A direct line to call in reinforcements. The additional travel time also meant less openings for the White Fang to attack, which was a real pain. Hitting them before Kesseki would be tricky, so the longer leg south was their only real option. Even if Atlas didn't know they were coming, they had to know the plan, which still left them more vulnerable than ever.

The White Fang needed something other than supply raids. Before Paulownia, it'd become a bit of a necessity, but they had enough now to branch out again and cause some trouble elsewhere. An SDC mine attack. Something outside Anima. Anything to get them out of this rut they'd dug themselves into. If it wasn't for the spy problem, they'd probably be changing things up by now, but the repetitiveness of the supply raids should help them find their leak. Then, once that matter was settled, he'd find something a little more suitable. Something their enemies wouldn't expect.

Because doing something they did expect royally sucked.

They got in position a day in advance, setting up further south than usual. With any luck, the caravan's guard would be down, considering how far they'd made it unchallenged. Hopefully, they'd be sloppy and hesitate, which would give him more than enough time to get in close and do some damage. If there really was a trap set for him, he'd rather trigger it prematurely and ruin it.

The next morning, Blake reported in from her scouting position. The caravan was right on time. Five trucks, though what each contained, she couldn't tell. Usually, they did 3 supply trucks in the middle with an escort on either end, but he'd seen them change the configuration before. For all he knew, all five trucks were loaded with soldiers and AK units, waiting for him to show his face. He'd heard rumors of Atlas developing larger autonomous units, but they sounded too big to hide in a truck and hadn't even been confirmed yet. Still, who knew what sneaky tricks Atlas had up their sleeve?

Only one way to find out.

As the trucks drew closer, Adam tried to keep his attention on both the target and his men. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Would a spy be more confident, knowing it was a trap? Would he be on edge? Watching Adam? Well, that wouldn't work. They were all watching him, waiting for his signal.

Adam waited, letting the trucks draw ever closer. The rumbling of engines grew louder, but still he waited. Not much longer now. Just a little closer and…

There!

Adam didn't say a word. Didn't have to. The moment he moved, Azul triggered the remote bomb they'd planted near the road. Notably, on the other side. The blast shook the lead truck and nearly toppled it as the rest of the convoy ground to a halt. No amount of training would keep them from at least briefly looking at the blast, which meant they didn't notice Adam until he'd covered half the distance. A cry went up from the convoy, and as expected, Knight units spilled out of the rear truck. More toppled from the lead vehicle, some already damaged while others fell rather than land on their feet. Drivers leapt from their seats and opened fire, a few managing to score hits on the approaching threat before Adam could reach them.

He crashed into the lead unit of Knights like a meteor, leaving a trail of spare parts and wreckage behind him. Rounds pinged off his aura, but with trucks and robots forming a loose wall around him, the damage was minimal. Adam kicked the legs out from under a Knight - a move that would've probably shattered his toe if not for the flare of aura at the last second. His sheath barked a single shot as it transformed, blasting the metal heap away and knocking its fellow down. Adam swung, cleaving a head from its body before diving through the new opening.

Straight into the face of a very panicked driver.

So far, nothing stood out. Standard detachment with mostly Knight units. Drivers with nothing more than pistols - shooting anything larger from inside the truck would be difficult. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. An airship loaded with reinforcements. A Huntsman team springing into action. Anything! Instead, all he had was a bunch of unprepared transporters and a future garbage heap of Knights.

Adam snatched the driver before he could run, holding his blade against the man's throat as he turned, making sure all eyes were on him. "Stand down, or he dies!" The Knight units held their ground, still aiming at him but protocols preventing them from shooting when a friendly was in the way. "I said," Adam pressed the sword harder, causing the man to yell, "stand down!"

The silence dragged on as Adam waited. Did they really think he wouldn't do it? The monster of the White Fang? Surely their propaganda painted him as some sort of psychopath who would tear their throats out with his teeth if provoked. With nearly half their force already down and him showing no signs of slowing, they had to know they were already beat.

"Last chance!" Adam called out, knowing their procedures almost as well as they did. "One of you deactivate these units or Private…" Adam leaned over to read his nameplate, even if it took a few seconds upside down like that, "Hopkins here goes home in a body bag." Adam waited, watching the handful of living enemies shoot each other nervous looks. He tried to ignore the sudden change in color of the man's pants. Really? This was the best they had? With a reluctant sigh, Adam announced, "Fine! If that's the way you want it-"

"Wait!"

Adam did just that. A few moments later, all of the Knights lowered their arms, returning to a more passive state. Better, but not what he'd asked for. "I said deactivate them."

"I'm working on it!" came the muffled reply. Eventually, the lights in the robotic units' eyes dimmed as they slumped forward, still standing but faces toward the ground. Just to be certain, Adam nudged one over and watched it fall with ease. The rear truck jostled as a shorter man hopped out of the back and came around with his hands raised. "I did as you asked. Now release the private."

Gladly. This guy was starting to stink. Adam gave him a gentle shove - apparently enough to send him to the ground. The man scrambled away before Adam could change his mind. As if he wanted to be anywhere near the pisspot. Instead, Adam leveled his sword at the…sergeant, by the looks of him, and demanded, "Now tell your men to surrender. Do it, and none of you will be harmed."

"Stand down, men!" The sergeant ordered. Not that he needed to. Most of them had already surrendered. "There. We surrender."

"Good." Adam's blade returned to its sheath. "We're taking the supply trucks. You can keep the other two to get your men to safety." Far from the heartless fiend the world portrayed him as, Adam didn't see the point in useless bloodshed. "No one needs to die today."

"Interesting." The sergeant came closer, well within striking distance. Not because he trusted Adam, though. If Adam wanted them dead, they'd all be dead and he knew it. "Shame you didn't feel the same at Euryale. A lot of good men died because of you."

No, a lot of good faunus died, including Jakob. "Atlas started this fight. They can end it any time."

"Oh, and how do you suppose that would work? Just lay down our weapons and let the White Fang take over? I'm sure General Ironwood will be thrilled to hear the news."

A wise guy? From Atlas? He'd thought they'd outlawed senses of humor in that frigid wasteland. "We don't want to take over Atlas."

"Then what do you want, Taurus?" the sergeant questioned, feeling a lot braver now that the fighting was over. "Anarchy? Enslavement of all humans? Jacques' head on a silver platter?"

"We just want equality," Adam replied. Why did they always assume he just wanted to watch the world burn?

Right now, all he wanted to burn was this arrogant man's pedestal. "Equality, eh? And what exactly does that look like to you? Fair labor laws? We already have those. Anti-discrimination acts? Been around longer than you've been alive. Or maybe endless investigations of every single mishap in the most dangerous field in the world? Because gods forbid some careless faunus might've accidentally gotten themselves killed in a mine full of explosive dust!"

That one hit a little too close to home. "The SDC is hardly innocent. As long as Atlas protects them from justice, you and I will be enemies."

"Oh, so you don't want equality. You just want to topple the entire world's economy by tearing down the biggest supplier of dust to the Kingdoms." Adam could hardly believe anyone would be so ignorant, but then again, he was wearing an Atlas uniform. "Shut down the largest employer of faunus in the world. That'll make faunus lives better."

"I don't have to explain it to you, human." He was just wasting time and making Adam reconsider his stance on not killing enemies. "The SDC is corrupt. They don't employ faunus. They enslave us. Torture us. Kill us. If humans won't hold them accountable, then we will."

For the deaths of his friends. For the hell they'd put him through. But most of all, for all those faunus who dreamed of escaping the clutches of those monsters.

"And who made you judge, jury, and executioner? What gives you the right to decide what's fair for the rest of us?"

What gave him the right? Adam couldn't tear his mask off fast enough, revealing the proof of the SDC's guilt in three, scarred letters that he'd wear for the rest of his life. "Your precious SDC gave me that right when they took my eye! When they tied me up and held a burning brand to my face for protecting an old man, they proved they were beyond redemption! You ask me what I want? I want them to pay for what they've done to us!"

Not just to him, but to every faunus who endured the crushing weight of the SDC's boot. People like Axol, who had his leg cut off, just for a chance at tasting freedom. For Jakob, who'd spent practically his whole life in punishment for simply being born. For families like Ilia's, torn apart and forgotten. For them and so many more. The SDC's ledger was dripping with the blood of faunus they'd oppressed and killed.

And it was time to pay up.

Not that he expected some Atlas sycophant to understand. He'd been raised to see the SDC and their allies as infallible. This sergeant and all his men had been raised on Atlas propaganda, baptized in their supremacist views, and now proudly bore the mark of the enemy. So it was no surprise when the sergeant ignored the truth before him and defiantly claimed, "And yet you're the one who was ready to cut some boy's throat, just to make a point."

"We're done here," Adam spat, completely fed up with the blind man's vision. "Men, take the supplies. We're moving out." They'd load an airship further out, then ditch the trucks. He wouldn't put it past Atlas to have trackers on their vehicles, and with Laurence back in Reyno, he wouldn't risk taking anything like that with them. "As for you, human, get out of my sight before I change my mind on letting you live."

"Gladly." The sergeant began barking orders, getting his men aboard the two remaining trucks and pulling away. Whether he was just stupid or didn't value his life, he couldn't help getting one more barb in before the trucks pulled away. "We all must pay for our sins. Even you. I just hope your day of judgment comes soon."

"Not until my work is done." That was his purpose - to bring judgment upon those that deserved it. He'd fight them to the bitter end and make them pay for all the lives they'd ruined. Then, once he'd set things right and forged a path to a better future, he would face death willingly. He had much to pay for, but his punishment would have to wait.

After all, he had many more sins to commit.

/- - - - - - - - - -/

Never had a successful mission felt so disappointing.

They secured the goods without a single loss on either side. Laurence reported no message traffic detected at Reyno. He'd even made sure to destroy every single Knight before they left, just to make sure Atlas couldn't come back and reclaim them. Not that they couldn't crank out hundreds more with ease, but it still felt good to stick it to them where he could.

All in all, their raid had been the perfect mission from start to finish.

Except the real aim had been exposing their spy. He should've known it wouldn't be that easy. The spy could be in Nonemu. Or maybe they just decided not to take the bait this time. After a big attack like Paulownia, maybe they figured they'd better lay low for a bit. Had they seen Laurence working on the comms array and decided not to risk it? Heck, for all he knew, they'd still gotten a message out without them detecting it. The possibilities really were endless.

Talk about infuriating. With Adam already on edge from his less than pleasant chat with the Atlas sergeant, coming back without results hurt. Even worse when everyone else cheered it as a victory. The supplies were good, but he hated the idea that they were no closer to catching this traitor than when he started, despite Sienna's insistence that this was a step in the right direction. He didn't want a step. He wanted results.

Which meant more missions. More risks. Every time they went out, he felt more and more exposed. By the third supply caravan, Sienna felt fairly confident they could focus on Reyno, but the first two still resulted in silence. Adam worried they were falling into a trap of their own making. How would they even know if the spy was involved when any idiot could see a pattern? If they did nothing but hit caravans in the same area, either Atlas would up security or Mistral would start sending out patrols. Either way, they didn't need a spy to gum up the works. Their enemies would figure it out on their own and throw a wrench in the entire plan for nothing.

"Good point," Sienna agreed during yet another debriefing. It really felt like something he could hand off to a subordinate. Let them suffer through endless meetings in his place. Unfortunately, Sienna also liked to use that time to discuss bigger matters - ones that required his attention - which meant there would be no escape. "It seems our attempts have yet to yield fruit." So he wasn't the only one growing impatient, then. "Perhaps we underestimated what they would report on."

"Exactly." They needed something a little more tempting than a simple supply raid. Better bait for a bigger fish. "I was thinking something a little bigger. Maybe something like Romu?" The farming town outside Mistral would be a rough hit, but they could pull it off. It would definitely bolster their food supplies for a while. They might even be able to do a little farming themselves afterwards.

"Too big," Sienna replied. "It wouldn't take much for them to have reinforcements in waiting with how close Mistral is. We don't want to bite off more than we can chew."

"Something in Atlas?" A target rich environment. Mining camps. Refineries. Military posts. He could pretty much point to any spot on Solitas and find a worthwhile objective.

Again, Sienna shot him down. "We can't be certain they'll share info outside Mistral." They probably would, but why take the chance? "Besides, that gives them far too much time to prepare. I'd rather we stay local for the time being."

Well, that limited their options. Guess it was time for the old tried and true. "An SDC camp." Inflicting pain to the SDC, rescuing workers from horrid conditions, and maybe even snagging extra dust before it shipped out. Pretty much the ideal target and one that would be tempting to report for their spy. "I can have the men scout one out." From what he recalled, there were a few operating in the west, but that would put them in the same area as the caravans. Maybe they could head north, above Lake Matsu. A little further away, but still manageable.

"No need. I already have one in mind." So why bother letting him suggest things if she was just gonna overrule him? "But not a mining camp. Something a little softer."

Softer? "How soft are we talking?"

"A recruitment office in Shion." Very soft, then. "Mostly civilian workers with minimal security. Nothing you can't handle."

"So we go in, tear the place down, spray some graffiti, and leave?" It would hamper their recruitment in the outer settlements, not to mention a larger town like Shion would ensure media coverage. "You want us to check their systems for any intel?"

"Bring Laurence." So yes. There probably wouldn't be much, but they might find some proposed mining sites. Future targets for them to hit before they were fully established. "But Shion handles more than just recruitment." Oh? "They oversee payrolls for the southeastern camps. Sort of an intermediary for Argus."

Suddenly, Shion sounded a lot more interesting. "How much lien?"

"Most of it's handled electronically, but they typically have a few thousand on hand for emergencies." A rounding error for the SDC, but still a nice reward for knocking over an office. "I want Laurence to look at their accounts. See if there's any way to siphon the funds. Send it to a charity." A faunus charity, no doubt. If they tried to reclaim the unexpected donation, they'd face a PR nightmare. "Even if not, he should still be able to halt payments to their employees. That should give them something to worry about."

"Let's see how they like working for free." It wouldn't take them long to correct, but the outcry from their camp staff when they woke up without a paycheck would be a big hit to morale. Why work for a company that can't guarantee payment on time? The unions would have a field day with management. "Anything else?"

"Get the word out at both camps," Sienna instructed. "I want to make sure their spy catches wind."

Wasn't the whole point to narrow down the location? "How will we know which camp they're in?"

"I'm more interested in making sure they're still active at this point," Sienna explained.

"You think we scared them off?"

"No. There's been no desertions, so whoever they are, they're still with us. Maybe Laurence's upgrades have robbed them of their ability to report." Meaning all they'd done was force the spy to go to ground for now.

"Isn't that a good thing?" If they couldn't report out, then they were essentially useless. Instead of curing the cancer, they might've forced it into remission.

"Not if they've already given away our location. If their cover is no longer useful, then they'll have no reason not to attack." And they had to assume the spy had already outed their base by now. This wasn't just a leak anymore. It was a ticking time bomb. "We need to force their hand, or we risk losing one of our locations."

The question was, which one? Would Nonemu be in danger, or had they learned the location of Reyno already? Possibly both. Moving wasn't an option if their spy was still active, so all they could do was sit there and wait to be attacked. If nothing happened this time, then Reyno and Nonemu were in trouble. On the other hand, if the report did go out, then they could work on some new plans to hunt the spy down, content in the knowledge they still had time.

"I'll get the team ready," Adam assured her. "But if nothing happens, what should we do?"

"If our spy has been silenced?" Sienna paused, knowing full well what that would mean. "Then we prepare for war."

/- - - - - - - - - -/

Adam wasn't sure what he expected a reinforced office to look like. Would they warn all of Shion and have the guards reinforced? Hide ambushes in nearby buildings? Rig the place to blow once Adam was inside? He could think of at least a dozen ways they could turn the mission against the White Fang with a little time to prepare.

An empty office with a single night guard asleep at his desk didn't make the list.

They made short work of the place. The lien was in a safe, but that wasn't too hard to open. Especially when Nag found the combo written on a sticky note in the manager's desk. Laurence tore through their flimsy security with ease, and while he couldn't redirect the funds, he did manage to stop payment on all paychecks for the next day. More than that, since most of their employees used the SDC as a sort of bank, Laurence was able to zero out all their personal accounts. There'd be a whole lot of bankrupt employees in the morning. Instead of getting their wages, it would look like the SDC had erased everything. He even managed to wipe the account histories, saying it would be difficult for them to prove how much money had been lost as a result. Each person would have to argue directly with corporate on how much they were owed with practically no proof.

Blowing the place up seemed pointless and loud, so they marked a few spots with the White Fang logo using one of Blake's stencils, smashed every electronic device they could find, then beat a hasty retreat. The night guard would wake up later, tied to his chair with a massive headache but otherwise unharmed.

Another flawless mission. Another crippling disappointment.

If word had gotten out, the SDC and Shion had done nothing to prepare. Getting into Shion unnoticed was a cakewalk. They'd slipped out just as easily, a little richer and with Adam scolding Yuma and Marcus to stop giggling. Admittedly, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of the absolute chaos that would erupt in the morning.

His fun was tempered by the knowledge that the lack of resistance meant things were about to get a lot more dangerous. He'd need to start preparing their defenses for the inevitable assault. Abandoning Nonemu would consolidate their defenses in one location, but the risk that the spy didn't know Reyno's location yet meant he couldn't risk it. It also meant he couldn't guard both locations, leaving one vulnerable. Obviously, Reyno was the more important one, so he'd stay there. That also meant everyone at Nonemu might be doomed. The best he could do was have a decent defense force on standby and escape plans in place for the survivors.

His report to Sienna went about as poorly as could be expected. Like him, she recognized their success as a bad omen. There was still a chance nothing would happen, but neither of them were willing to bet on that. War was coming, whether they were ready or not.

Reluctantly, Sienna gave the order, "Return to Reyno and prepare the defenses."

"What about Nonemu? Should we leave anyone here?"

"Have all of Alpha Squad pull back." Just as he feared. They couldn't risk leaving Yuma and Trifa by themselves to hold the line. Instead, all of Alpha quad would focus on protecting Reyno, leaving Nonemu virtually defenseless. Her order as good as signed the death warrant for everyone in the camp. "I want all of our airships moved to Reyno, along with our pilots."

The pilots would know Reyno's location, while the airships' navigation data could be used to locate the base just as easily. Neither could fall into enemy hands. "That won't leave any escape route for Nonemu."

"I know." Sienna sounded tired, but in reality, it was the weight of her decisions that weighed on her. As leader, she had to make decisions for all of the White Fang, even when that meant sacrificing for the greater good. Adam didn't envy her that task. "All missions are on hold for the time being. We'll continue searching for evidence of the spy, but for now, we need to focus on-"

"Adam!"

The frantic yell from outside the small room heralded a pounding on the door. Were they under attack? Already? No, it couldn't be. He would've heard gunfire by now. The small shack they'd built in the center of Nonemu didn't exactly have the thickest walls. He'd have heard the sounds of fighting outside if they were under attack. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they were still safe.

Unless they'd picked up approaching airships and Laurence was here to warn him.

Adam fumbled with the lock, then yanked the door open to reveal a very excited Laurence. That alone calmed him a bit. Laurence wouldn't be rejoicing at the approach of an extermination force. "I'm in the middle of a call with Sienna," Adam pointed out as he ushered Laurence in and shut the door.

Laurence didn't seem too put off by the situation. "Good. She needs to hear this too."

"What is it?" Sienna asked from the comms device.

"I found them." Laurence's voice echoed with pride as he slammed a few papers down on the console, nearly hanging up the call by accident. "Our spy's in Nonemu."

Adam snatched the papers and hurriedly looked them over, but he couldn't make heads or tails of any of it. "Are you sure?"

Laurence nodded as he explained, "I was looking over the trackers I installed on our comms tower. Something didn't quite add up, so I dug a little further and found a few LPWAN bursts piggybacking off our equipment."

"English, Laurence."

"Oh, right." Not everyone in the room spoke tech like him. "LPWAN is a low power-"

"Skip the lesson and get to the point." Sienna sounded just as exasperated as Adam felt. "You said there's been transmissions from Nonemu. Ones we weren't sending."

"R-right." Laurence took the papers back, flipping through until he settled on one and traced his finger down the page. "The packets were small, so I didn't notice them at first. Almost looked like noise, but I found a pattern. Someone sent a message two days ago."

"What did it say?"

"I'm still working on some of it, but it specifically mentioned Adam, Shion, and an upcoming mission." Details on their attack. Exactly what they were looking for! "The packets are a little hard to make out without a cipher, but I'm close."

Adam nearly knocked Laurence over with a pat on the back. "Excellent work, Laurence!"

"It was nothing," Laurence answered, shying away from the praise.

"It was not nothing," Sienna assured him. "We were almost ready to abandon Nonemu and shut down operations in the area."

"You were?"

"We were," Adam confirmed, "but not anymore. Now that we know they're in Nonemu, we can-"

"Actually, there's more." Adam's mouth clicked shut at Laurence's addition. "They received a coded confirmation afterwards. It didn't tell me who they were, but given the type of terrain out here and the amplitude of these signals…"

"English."

"I think I can track the other receiver."

Laurence was officially Adam's new favorite faunus. Sorry Blake.

"Wouldn't it be in Mistral?" While the exact location might be nice to have, hitting Mistral would be a little tough. Better to focus on locating the spy than storming the heart of the Kingdom.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. This sort of transmission wouldn't reach that far. They made this low enough power that I wouldn't notice unless I was really looking, but that means the signal would be useless at longer ranges, especially with the rough terrain in the area." Adam would have to take his word for that. "A signal like this couldn't reach anywhere near that far."

Not in Mistral? Argus wasn't much closer, so he had to assume that was out with how Laurence was talking. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying." Laurence's grin widened. "There's a listening post somewhere nearby, and I can find it."

Finally, a bit of progress on the spy hunt. I have to imagine counter intelligence operations like this must be infuriating when you're not seeing immediate results. I'd lose my mind trying to figure out the rationale behind every little thing.

Adam and his team are hot on the trail of Orion. Didn't bother showing winter's perspective this chapter, as I don't plan to make that a common thing (though we will see more of her next chapter). More importantly, though, Private Hopkins makes an appearance! For those that don't know him, he's a minor character from my humorous dating fic Beacons of Love (spinoff of In RWBY's Shadow) that was meant to be a throwaway character for a single chapter. Instead, he sort of took over the fic a bit, making multiple appearances and getting into all sorts of trouble with the kind of luck that would make even Qrow nervous. Couldn't resist having him show up here. Naturally, his luck continues to betray our forever Private.

Did some rapid research on LPWAN transmissions, and while I think I got things right, just know that my knowledge here is rather limited. I may have studied Electrical Engineering in college, but signals and electromagnetics weren't my strong suits. Was more of a microelectronic and digital logic kind of guy. Got really good at designing components in the nanometer range (10^-9). Now I mostly do Microsoft Office and meetings. How the mighty have fallen.

Next chapter: Laurence tracks the listening post.