Had to move to the new "office" this week. It's even worse than I expected, which is saying a lot since I knew I'd hate the new setup. No one in the glorified trailer is happy right . The actual move was miserable. One of the oversized boxes wasn't secured on the bottom, so the bottom started to fall out right outside the new building. Finally got everything inside, only to find the stand for my 3D printed Crescent Rose miniature (see the story pic for In RWBY's Shadow) broke and I ended up losing the piece so I can't fix it now. Gonna have to get some wall tacks to mount it in my cube. At least the actual weapon survived the journey. I think I would've lost it if that broke. The final straw on a rather crappy day.
On a brighter note, next Thursday is my birthday! Taking the day off to relax and escape the office, then going to head to my favorite restaurant that weekend (a Brazilian steakhouse). Just going to spend the day relaxing and ignoring work. Also taking off the following Monday (30 Sept) for an all-day stream to celebrate my streamer anniversary (4 years!) with a round robin of multiplayer and procedurally generated games (Hades, Binding of Isaac, etc.). A good end to a rough month.
"Anything yet?"
"I'm working on it." Laurence rolled his eyes as he continued looking over his communication logs, doing his best to ignore Adam hovering over his shoulder the entire time. "There's a lot of data to sort through, but only a small percentage of it pertains to our spy."
Adam couldn't stop himself from asking, "How small?"
"Small," came Laurence's exhausted answer. When he said he could decipher the message, he probably hadn't expected Adam to come observe in person. "I'm piecing together an unknown code from a handful of messages disguised as noise in the background of our own message traffic."
"How long does that take?"
"Not as long as it would take to explain it to you." Yikes. Laurence usually wasn't so snappy. Adam stepped back a bit to give him some space, suddenly aware of just how overbearing and obnoxious he was being.
Who could blame him? They'd been on the verge of giving up when Laurence swooped in with a miracle. Not only had he found proof of their spy being in Nonemu, but when he'd intercepted a message and claimed he could track down their contact somewhere in Anima, who could blame Adam for getting excited? The messages themselves might be enough to track down the traitor. Even if it didn't, they'd find more evidence when they took out this listening post Laurence was hunting for.
The plan was simple. Once they had a location, Adam would take a team to scout the facility. Once there, Laurence would set up shop nearby and jam any outgoing transmissions while the rest of the team hit the facility. Speed would be of the essence. The sooner they took it over, the less time the operators would have to destroy evidence. Hopefully, they'd have intel on site that the White Fang could use, even beyond hunting down their spy. Laurence seemed to think they might be able to turn the post in their favor, using the same codes and equipment to relay false information before Mistral realized they'd been compromised. It might only work once or twice, though, so Adam and Sienna would need to choose their moment wisely.
First, though, they needed to find this place.
Sensing Adam's impatience, Laurence tried to summarize what he had so far. "There isn't a lot to go on, but based on the power level of this transmission, I can give us a rough estimate on its range."
"Great!" Some good news at last. Adam detested sitting around doing nothing like this. If Laurence could give him a rough idea of where to look, maybe he could send out some scouts to scour the area. "How large of an area?"
Laurence did some quick calculations, double checked them, then dug through one of several stacks of paper on his cluttered desk until he excavated a map of Anima. A few quick measurements later, he handed over his work. "Here."
So much for finding it early. Laurence had drawn a circle around Nonemu, but the thing was almost the size of Anima itself. The border didn't reach Mistral, but it still encompassed more land than Adam could hope to search. He'd have better luck finding a needle in a haystack.
"Mind you, that's just a rough estimate." Oh great. Even this wasn't a sure thing. "I'd estimate they're actually the eighty percent mark. The farther out they are, the less signal integrity they'll get."
"That's still a lot more ground than we can cover." Especially given his extremely short supply of manpower. They still didn't know who they could trust in Nonemu, so he'd be sending Alpha Squad out to hunt. Laurence would need to stay and work. Yuma and Trifa had to stay, too. In fact, he'd only be able to dispatch a small team at a time. Anything more might arouse suspicion.
"It's not that bad," Laurence tried unconvincingly.
"It's still the size of a continent!" How was that not bad? They couldn't even use airships to scan the area, since they didn't want to alert the post early.
"It really isn't. Look." Laurence took the map back and began shading in certain parts of the circle, starting with everything southwest of Nonemu. "The outpost has to be closer to Mistral than we are. Otherwise, what's the point?" Next, he made a small circle around Nonemu itself. "They also wouldn't set up close to camp. If they did, our patrols would've found them by now." Small patches were scribbled out after that. "We've had operations in these areas. There's a friendly village here. We have a contact in this town."
Little by little, Laurence whittled down the search area until the circle had been turned into more of an amorphous blob. All in all, he'd probably cleared out around half the search area. Better, though still enough to keep a small team busy for months. Still, it was a start.
"Anything else?" Like another miracle?
Sadly, it looked like Laurence was fresh out of those. Instead, he offered the next best thing. "I've got a little more of their messages pieced together."
"Messages?" As in, plural? "How many are there?"
"Only a few." Better than one, but less than what he'd hoped for. He should've known better. If the whole point was to stay hidden, then they'd need to keep communication minimal to reduce the risk of being caught. "Just a back and forth." The printer nearby hummed to life, spitting out a single page of text. Before Adam could snatch it, Laurence made sure to warn, "Some of it's still guesswork, but I think I got most of it."
He'd take what he could get at this point. Like Laurence said, there wasn't a lot there, but it was their first real lead into tracking down the spy. Each line started with a callout. "Orion and Artemis?"
"Codenames," Laurence answered, pointing to a single excerpt. "Orion is the spy in Nonemu. Or, at least, that's what they go by."
Adam thought on the name for a moment, hoping it would spark something, but he didn't know anyone by the name Orion. He didn't know everyone in Nonemu, but it wasn't like he expected a clandestine operation to use real names. They wouldn't have made it this far being that sloppy. Adam skimmed through the printout, only to find a lack of a second name. "Artemis?"
"Heh. That's the name I came up with for the listening post. Seemed fitting." Fair enough. Adam had read enough ancient stories to get the reference. With the obvious connection, there was a very real chance his name was right on the money.
With the mystery of the names solved, Adam dove into the albeit limited communication. Some parts were still missing, by the looks of it, but Laurence had undersold how much he'd completed. A few spots had question marks or other notes in parentheses, making it clear what he held was still a work in progress.
Orion: The hunt is on.
Artemis: Who is the wanderer?
Orion: The man of many devices. (Call and answer?)
Artemis: (?)
Orion: Mission to Shion. Two days. Asset present. (asset = Adam?)
Artemis: Specific target?
Orion: Unclear. Squad only. No (support? others?). Suspect SDC office.
Artemis: Will relay to (likely reference to Mistral). Continue monitor. Asset relocation concerning. (Adam operating out of Nonemu instead of Reyno)
Orion: Possible large plan in making. Recommend (?) before occurrence. Will (report?) involving asset.
Artemis: Good hunting.
He'd like to see the missing pieces, but there was definitely enough there to make it clear their mission to Shion had been reported in advance. More than that, it looked like the focus was on him specifically. No surprise there. Were the roles reversed, he'd target the biggest threat rather than waste time and resources chasing the little fish. His capture would be a huge blow to the White Fang.
The question was, why hadn't Mistral acted on the intel? Shion had been completely undefended. Two days' notice wasn't much, but that would've been plenty of time to dispatch a team of Huntsmen or even warn the SDC so they could isolate the office's systems. Instead, Laurence had wreaked havoc with minimal effort. No additional firewalls. No extra protections in place. He'd breezed through their defenses with ease.
Did Mistral not care about the SDC? Tensions between Mistral and Atlas had cooled significantly since Euryale, at least officially. Unofficially, maybe there were still some lingering issues. Then again, Mistral might've just decided it wasn't worth risking their spy for a foreign entity. Better to save it for their own defense rather than stick their neck out for a simple office, even if it might've given them a shot at him and his team. They needed to pick their moment wisely, not rush into it unprepared. The larger plan that this Orion mentioned might be their best bet. Somewhere more exposed like Paulownia or where civilian casualties could be avoided. If something went wrong, then a town like Shion would be too risky. Better to play it safe and wait for a lower risk opportunity. Somewhere they knew they could lure Adam in, cut off his escape, and move in for the kill.
"How long until we can trace their location?" Adam asked as he thought over what fiendish plans Mistral might have in store for him.
"We can't."
Adam heard the words, but it took him a good few seconds to process them. "What do you mean we can't?"
"I can't track-"
"But you said you could!" That was sort of the whole point of following Laurence in here. The message was interesting, but there wasn't much there they didn't already know. Spy in the White Fang. Interested in Adam. Big deal. "Our whole operation hinges on you tracking down this listening post. You told Sienna you could do it, so do it!"
"Let me finish," Laurence complained. When it was clear Adam wouldn't interrupt again, he continued, "I can't track them yet. Not accurately, at least. All I can give you is a rough estimate."
"How rough?"
"Not much better than what we already know." Very rough. "I might be able to tweak the parameters a bit and get us a slightly better result, but without more data, we'll still be shooting in the dark."
Unacceptable. They needed to find this place yesterday. "So we're sunk."
"No, we're just…lacking enough information." Which still sounded an awful lot like sunk. "What we need is another transmission. A live one, if we can manage it."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning we need to leak another mission." Adam had a feeling he'd say that. They still had no idea exactly what info the spy would report on, only that they had a keen interest in Adam and his could try heading back to Reyno and seeing if they called it in, but that wasn't guaranteed and he'd just have to fly back the moment they found the listening post, which would be even more suspicious.
In other words, he had to leak another mission.
Reluctantly, Adam told Laurence, "I'll talk to Sienna and see what we can come up with."
"Keep me in the loop." Laurence was already back to work, barely even aware of his surroundings when there was a puzzle to be solved. "With any luck, I can latch onto the signal and trace it to our target."
And once they had an address, Adam would pay them a little visit.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
"New report from Orion." Agent Mimi fell in alongside Winter as she headed for her office, not wasting time with pleasantries or small talk. All business, just the way Winter preferred it. She'd have to see if she could convince Agent Mimi to transfer to Atlas after this assignment. Her talents were wasted on the likes of Mistral.
"Taurus?" A safe assumption, given Orion's marching orders. Her one and only job was to keep tabs on the White Fang's most dangerous member. Every scrap of information drew them closer to Taurus' inevitable demise.
"He's on the move again." As much as Winter despised the man, she couldn't fault his drive. He was either the most dedicated or most impatient faunus she'd ever met. Probably both. "Report indicates all of Alpha Squad, plus a small contingent of support troops." Interesting. They'd been relying on Alpha Squad almost exclusively of late, possibly in response to the increased security presence. Hearing them trending back to normal operations was a good sign. Normalcy bred complacency, which led to mistakes.
The Shion mission had caught a lot of people off guard, but not Winter. She'd known they'd have to change up their tactics sooner or later. A non-military target made sense as well. Putting out feelers before expanding operations once more. Setting an ambush in such a populated area would've been tough, especially if the White Fang had any sympathizers in Shion, which she had to assume they would. Better to let them have a small victory and hit them when they relaxed their guard. Jacques had been furious when he found out, and though she ignored his attempt to contact her, it was hard to completely avoid one of the most powerful men in Remnant forever. He'd flexed whatever contacts he had to get a message to her demanding to know why he hadn't been informed in advance.
The imbecile. He would've given away their whole operation if it meant saving a little lien. Still, she'd taken great joy in informing him of the steps she'd taken to minimize damage. Sure, he'd lost an office and had a security guard demanding hazard pay, but when he saw the reports of what could've been, he'd gone from violently abusive to distant and inhuman once more, even if the fact she'd managed to infiltrate and copy the entire local network of the Shion office without him knowing had him on edge. Still, she'd had the backups ready and in place before dawn and their network analysts had been able to look over the hack and track its path through the system, highlighting the capabilities of the White Fang hacker on Alpha Squad. He was skilled, but with their new data, she could ensure any sensitive systems were updated specifically to combat his methods and watch for potential triggers. All in all, much of the White Fang's damage had been undone while she'd gathered valuable intel that would more than offset the cost to the SDC. Winter was never one to let an opportunity go to waste.
Meanwhile, as much as the supply caravans were bait for the White Fang, only an idiot would let themselves fall into such a predictable pattern. She'd honestly started to wonder whether the White Fang had seen through her ploy and decided to return the favor, feeling them out by knowingly taking the bait. They'd bring most if not all of Alpha Squad, but only part of the team ever participated in the attack, meaning the others were either breaking off for another destination or waiting nearby as backup. She suspected the latter, especially since they should have no reason to split the party, as it were.
Laying a trap in her own trap. Clever.
Not clever enough, though. "Does it say where they plan to strike?"
"No, ma'am." Disappointing, but not something they couldn't work around. "However, I compared the expected departure from Nonemu with our convoy's itinerary. Factoring in a day's or less lead time for setup, I'd expect the strike to occur here."
Agent Mimi produced a tactical map of the area south of Kesseki. Her calculations put them further north than the last two, but changing location was a valid strategy. That would put them closer to potential reinforcements, but Kesseki didn't exactly have a standing army to deploy, nor did they have any obligation to assist an Atlas convoy beyond their own walls. Their only concern was keeping their captured criminals locked up, not going out to hunt more.
Despite how aggravating she found their shortsighted rationale, the warden of Kesseki had been helpful where he could. Routing the caravans through his facility presented an extra security risk for the prison complex, especially since they both knew the White Fang would take notice. However, not once had the warden complained, even offering food and space in their guard quarters to allow the convoy crews to rest when they stopped there. She'd expected another brute who would be more interested in throwing his weight around than actually cooperating, but it seemed she'd found yet another rare glimmer of hope among the underwhelming operations of their allied Kingdom.
She'd need to test that cooperation now. "Reach out to Kesseki. I'd like to have a team deployed there prior to the convoy's arrival. Once he agrees," Winter hesitated, knowing she'd regret the next part, "tell the Director I wish to meet with him in his office."
"When?"
"Whenever he is available," Winter answered. "However, let him know it is urgent."
"Will do." Agent Mimi peeled off, having never slowed from Winter's pace. In a flash, she was gone, eager to carry out her orders.
"I'm playing nice, General," Winter muttered as she continued toward her office. He'd received complaints from the Mistralian Director, claiming she was being disrespectful and refusing to cooperate. General Ironwood contacted her not long afterward, and while he'd been quick to understand her position, he'd still impressed on her the importance of appearances. They needed to work together and mend the divide between Atlas and Mistral. Informing the Director of her plans would be a good start, while meeting on his schedule in his office made it seem like he was the superior. She would've much preferred having him come to her, but orders were orders.
The White Fang were high on their recent success and bringing out additional troops, were they? With the raid on Shion being so recent, the sudden turnaround meant they were looking to build momentum, possibly in preparation for something bigger after a long stretch of monotony. Paulownia would've been a boost to morale, but the losses could weigh heavy in time, especially if they just went back to limited raids again. Looking at the bigger picture, they'd want to start expanding soon with their supply problem lessened. More than that, their sudden change to bringing more men along meant they wanted their forces in prime condition rather than growing fat and lazy while Alpha Squad did all the work.
A hurried mission, close to a potential reinforcement point and with so many high value targets present? How could she say no to that? Even if Taurus somehow escaped, a strike now would be seen as retaliation for Shion, minimizing any exposure risk for Orion. She'd have to bring some Mistral forces along, of course. A few Huntsman would be ideal. She could handle Taurus on her own, but overkill was underrated. Better to have an overwhelming presence and ensure victory than let pride rule the day.
The White Fang wanted to deliver an easy win to bolster their forces. Instead, she'd deal them a crushing defeat.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
"This is it?" Adam asked less for confirmation and more because of how underwhelming the place looked. Not that he'd expected a huge compound or anything. Honestly, he didn't know what he expected.
A shed with an antenna on top wasn't it.
"It's nothing more than a relay point," Laurence explained as he set up his equipment. "Their job is simply to receive messages from Orion, then forward it on to Mistral. I'd be shocked if they had more than four people on hand at any time."
"But it's so…small." Obnoxiously small. In fact, their team wouldn't even fit in there. Not when Bane took up enough space for two people. Lucky Laurence would get to stay outside while they did all the work.
"Their priority is staying hidden. The smaller, the better."
"Said no woman ever."
"Quiet down," Adam ordered, glaring at Yuma. "We need to hit them hard and fast."
"That's what he said." Adam regretted bringing so many along, but he'd expected a little more resistance than the couple of techs they'd probably find inside. How was he supposed to know it would be such a tiny target?
"Aw, man. I missed out on the supply raid for this?" Azul moaned as she eyed the tiny structure ahead. "There's nothing worth blowing up here. Freakin' Azure's gonna have all the fun."
Probably, but they weren't here to have fun. They were here for a mission. He and Blake would've easily been enough for this, even without Ilia, Bane, Yuma, Trifa, and Azul along for the ride. Laurence didn't count. They needed him on tech support to make sure they couldn't get a distress signal out.
The rest of the team would be hitting the convoy soon. Team MINA, as Marcus proudly called it despite no one agreeing to give him the lead spot, would probably beat them home with a load of supplies and a story to tell. The four of them would be enough, but just to be safe, he'd sent them with a handful of men from Nonemu as support. Each of them had been on patrol or guard duty when they'd intercepted Orion's message about the raid, meaning none of them could be the spy. While they hadn't been briefed on Adam's mission, they all knew something was up when the extra airship split off and headed further east after leaving Nonemu together.
"You really wanted to give your brother Team Anima?" Bane asked.
"Not unless the first A stood for Azul." It didn't. Azure had been rather disappointed when Adam shut down his idea and put Azul on the comms raid, but he'd expected this to be the heavier job. Now, he sort of regretted bothering with any support.
There was no time for regrets. Right now, he had a job to do, no matter how comically easy it appeared. Laurence, meanwhile, had the unenviable task of trying to rush his job while half a dozen very bored faunus watched over his shoulder, utterly devoid of better things to do.
The hours drifted by as Laurence got his ramshackle workstation up and running, hurrying through a million steps that Adam had long ago given up on trying to follow. Laurence assured him everything was ready pretty early on, likely feeling the pressure, but Adam knew better than to rush. Better to give him time to double and triple check everything, just to be safe. There was too much riding on this mission to cut any corners. They needed to shut the place down, prevent any sort of emergency signal, gather whatever intel they could, and see about flipping the station for their own means.
Only once he felt certain everything was ready did Adam wave his team forward. He'd altered the plan slightly with the revelation of their tiny target. Instead of an all-out assault to overwhelm the nonexistent defenses, Adam, Blake, and Ilia would take point while the others kept overwatch. Adam would be the first in to take down any threat inside while Blake and Ilia focused on cutting off access to any equipment. With any luck, they'd round up the whole staff before they even had a chance to react.
Adam posted up on the door with Blake and Ilia on the opposite side. Blake shook her head, letting him know she didn't hear anything suspicious inside. His hearing was good, but not compared to the extra ears Blake had been blessed with. A breaching charge was out of the question, no matter how much Azul tried to push one on him. With how small this place was, he couldn't risk damaging the equipment inside if it was too close to the entrance, which meant he had to break the door down. It didn't look that solid. A well-placed kick ought to do it. Two at most. Adam positioned himself right in front of the door and reared back.
Ilia stopped him, reaching around Blake to carefully test the door handle instead.
The door slid open a hair as Adam nearly fell, still balancing on one leg. This just kept getting easier.
Until one of the hinges squeaked.
Blake wasn't the only one to hear movement inside, accompanied by an exasperated voice. "Stupid latch is busted again." A chair screeched as it slid back, followed by the soft padding of feet.
The moment the door moved, Adam charged, driving his shoulder into the door and flinging the person on the other side back. They crashed into a second, knocking them both to the ground in a tangled heap. Blake ducked under his arm, dive-rolling across the floor to cover the far side as Ilia slid past him and hurried for the equipment. Adam took in the room, ready to take down any threats before they could react.
The room stood empty.
Well, not empty, considering the two middle-aged men still piled on the floor. The bottom one groaned, holding his head where it'd struck the floor when he fell. "What the hell was that?"
The unfortunate man who'd answered the door looked up in confusion, freezing when he noticed three very armed faunus standing over them. "Um, Rigel?" He jostled the man below him. "I-I think we have company."
Adam hauled the man to his feet. Neither of these two presented any threat. They looked like desk jockeys, not trained fighters. Adam could see a single room with two beds off to the side. He nodded to Blake, who rushed the space and scoured the area for…well, for anything. She shrugged after a brief check, evidently finding nothing of interest.
Adam brought his captive closer, hand fisted in the man's shirt. "Where are the others?"
"Others?" He looked around, confirming his partner was still there. "There's n-no others. Just me and Rigel."
"Just you?" Two men? That was it? No security? No support? Just two random idiots in a shed?
"J-just us," he confirmed in a panic, his eyes widening as he looked up a little. "Oh gods! You're him!" Adam Taurus. The dangerous, wanted faunus they'd been helping spy on all this time. It must've been a shock to finally meet the man face to face like this.
"Equipment's intact," Ilia reported needlessly. Not like these two idiots had a chance to do anything.
"Signal for Laurence," Adam answered, feeling his nerves fray at how annoyingly simple everything had been. He had to remind himself that was a good thing. "Tell the others we're clear."
"Others?" As if Adam Taurus and his two best officers weren't enough for a couple of civvies. "Oh gods. Are you gonna kill us?"
No, but he didn't need to know that. "Not if you cooperate."
"I'll do whatever you want!" the man insisted, shaking slightly. "Please don't hurt me!"
"I'm not-"
"I've got a family!" he pleaded. ""Okay, Rigel's got a family, but I'm sure there's people who would miss me too! My cat! She'd be heartbroken if I never came home. You like cats, right?" He turned to Blake, who looked very unimpressed at his question. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that. It's just…I don't want to die."
Could this guy get any more pathetic? "You're not going to-"
"I only took this job because my mom kicked me out." Apparently, yes, he could get more pathetic. "And…and we were so close to going home. Just a few more weeks and we'd be back in Mistral with AC, indoor plumbing, and a nice bonus. I should've known something like this would happen. I had a bad feeling about this, and then last week, I woke up with terrible diarrhea, even though I didn't eat anything different. I should've gone home, but Rigel said-"
"Stop it!" Adam couldn't take much more of this man's whimpering.
"Oh gods, don't kill me!" Back to this? Better than the sniveling life story, but not by much. As Ilia came back with Laurence in tow, Adam shoved the mess of a man to her. "Tie him up. If he tries to run, shoot him."
Ilia looked confused. Her victim looked mortified.
"Hey, you." Adam snapped his fingers in front of the other man's face, praying to whatever gods were out there that he'd be better than the first. "Rigel, right?"
"Are you going to kill us?"
This again? "Not if you answer my questions." When he didn't make to complain, Adam realized he didn't actually have anything to ask. Scrambling, he threw out, "What is this place?"
"Just a radio post." True, but he'd left off the specifics. A little annoying, but still loads better than the other idiot. "We just boost signals to reach the cities."
So, he wanted to play dumb, did he? In that case, Adam would lay all the cards out on the table. "Who's Orion?"
Rigel tried to stay calm, but Adam could see the momentary panic in his eyes. He wasn't supposed to know about Orion. Then again, he wasn't supposed to have found this listening post either. Adam did a lot of things he wasn't supposed to do. "Orion? No one here by that name. It's just the two of us."
Adam could admit to being a little impressed. This Rigel guy had to know he was in trouble. Adam knew their contact's codename and had ambushed their listening post. Laurence was already pouring over their equipment, but it wasn't like they would've had time to lock it down. Beyond that, the desk was littered with documents and booklets that would almost certainly provide a treasure trove of intel for the White Fang. Faced with his complete failure and staring down a dangerous terrorist - the same one he'd been helping surveil for a while now - he still managed to keep from turning into the blubbering mess that his partner had defaulted to. Even if he made it back to Mistral in one piece, the Council would probably blame him for the security failure, effectively ending his career and tarnishing his reputation for life. Someone had to take the fall, and it certainly wouldn't be those higher up. Not when they had an easy scapegoat right in front of them.
Despite all that, Rigel still kept his mouth shut, refusing to betray the same people who would throw him to the wolves the moment it helped them. Such misplaced loyalty. Adam would find the answers with or without him, either from the intel on the desk or the panicked moron in the next room. Maybe once he calmed down a little, Adam could squeeze some answers from him.
"Tie him up." Delegating the task to Blake was an easy decision. He had work to do, and she didn't. At least she'd gotten the lesser of two evils with Rigel. The man was so resigned to his fate at this point that he actually took a seat and waited for Blake to come secure him. A couple of zip ties later and their newest prisoner was taken care of.
Good timing, too, as a frantic scream sounded from the next room. Blake was already on the move, flinging the door open before nearly being bowled over by Ilia, who had a look of pure horror on her face.
"Where's the bathroom?!" she screamed, holding her hands out and away from the rest of her.
"There isn't one," Rigel answered. "No plumbing this far out. We get out water from a creek a little east of-"
Ilia didn't wait for more, sprinting out the door and away before Adam could ask what happened. Blake looked inside the room, seeking the source of Ilia's calamity. Her ears flattened a moment later as she ran, following Ilia outside as she clutched a hand over her mouth. A horrid smell slowly chased her, spreading through the room.
"Oh gods, not again!" Adam slammed the door shut a moment later, trapping as much of the foul odor as he could, along with the source of everyone's suffering. It looked like Rigel's friend was still having some tummy troubles. Really bad ones. Even through the closed door, Adam could still hear, "Can someone untie me? I need to change."
Nope. Never in a million years. Yuma could handle that mess. Better him than one of the girls. Laurence had his hands full at the moment and Adam was too busy…leading. Yeah, leading. He needed to be out here focusing on uncovering the secret of Orion's identity, not dealing with…that.
For now, the man and his mess could wait. Adam propped the exit open as best he could, desperate for the tiny bit of fresh air that tried to fight its way through the stench of the place. Poor Rigel couldn't escape, his chair being rather close to the offending room, but he somehow weathered it better than the rest of them. Adam had a feeling this wasn't his first rodeo.
"How are we looking?" Adam asked, joining Laurence at the desk to speed things along and not just because it put him a little closer to fresh air.
"Equipment's intact. Pretty basic setup. I think we can work with this."
Finally, some good news. "What about Orion? Anything here tell us who he is?"
"I'm still working on that," Laurence admitted as he tried to organize the mess of documents in front of him. He tossed aside a short, thick booklet - basic operating instructions for the equipment. A weathered novel soon followed, along with two empty cans and a handful of wrappers. Adam gathered a stack of papers and began perusing them, looking for any details that might point them in the right direction.
Most of it was garbage. A receipt of a recent food delivery. A memo from corporate about sick leave. Some half-finished sudoku puzzles. What looked like the first few pages of a very poorly written fanfic. Nothing but a mixture of everyday items and ways they kept themselves busy in this awful place. Adam almost pitied them their miserable assignment. Another wave of stench wrinkled his nose. Okay, he pitied Rigel. The other guy one hundred percent deserved this.
He stopped at one of the last pages of his bundle, unfolding a map of Anima with a few key points marked. Their outpost wasn't hard to find, though neither was Nonemu. As suspected, the enemy knew of the camp's location. He'd need to relocate the base as soon as they found Orion and dealt with him. Adam's eyes raced eastward, but Reyno's location wasn't marked. Hopefully, that meant they hadn't found it yet. Several X's marked recent White Fang activity, including Shion and Paulownia. Other than that, the rest of the map was just standard fare, showing the cities and not much else. Only local maps ever bothered to mark the smaller settlements. Why bother, when there was a good chance some of them would disappear in the next few years? Those outside the cities were expendable in the eyes of those within. They seemed to forget that their vaunted bastions of safety had started out as small settlements themselves.
Adam kept the map and tossed the rest of the useless papers on the floor. Laurence was stooped over something, fully focused on a few documents spread out in front of him as he speedread. Adam was about to ask what was so interesting when Laurence waved him closer, eyes still on his reading material. "Adam, we have a problem."
"What is it?"
"Recent communications," Laurence answered, sliding to the side a little so Adam could see.
"Anything on Orion?" Like a name and physical description? What? It never hurt to ask.
Laurence shook his head. Rats. Guess it was too much to hope they'd have an employee file on Orion with photo ID. "Here's the report on Shion," Laurence explained, pointing to a familiar line of communication. He shifted to each page as he summarized each. "Mistral's response. Orion's report on the supply raid." All stuff they knew about, though having their messages confirmed would be useful to Laurence in verifying the cipher he'd been working on. "But right here."
Laurence pointed to the last page - a few lines of communication between here and Mistral a day ago. A few key words jumped out at Adam as he snatched the printout off the table.
Command has authorized reinforcement of convoy to apprehend asset. Significant resistance expected. Atlas rep to assist local forces in detainment of asset and all hostiles. Lethal force authorized. Orion to report if additional forces dispatched. Will arrange extraction once asset is in custody and heat has died down.
The paper fell from Adam's hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. "They're walking into a trap."
"They've already walked into it," Laurence pointed out. He was right. The attack should've taken place hours ago, meaning he was already too late. His team was good, but the Atlas rep had to mean the Schnee. The four he'd sent would be no match for her, especially if she had backup.
A wave of panic hit him in the gut, twisting his stomach into knots as his feet tried to race his heart and lost. "We're leaving! Now!"
"But what about the outpost?" Laurence shouted back.
Crap. They needed this location, but he also needed all hands on deck to go after his team. Laurence could stay. He wasn't exactly a combat specialist and would do more good here, but he needed protection. Someone had to stay behind with him. Conveniently, there was someone still missing. "Keep working, Laurence. When Ilia gets back, tell her to stay here and help." He hated losing one of his best fighters like that, but she was still scrubbing the filth of this place off her and they couldn't afford to waste time tracking her down. "The rest of you, with me!"
Blake caught up as he bolted away. "Adam, what's wrong?"
"Our team's in danger," Adam answered as he sped toward their airship, the rest of the squad following behind as best they could.
Marcus. Indie. Nag. Azure. All of them were in danger. He had to reach them. They wouldn't stand a chance against the Schnee and her minions without him there. He'd sent them off to their doom, too focused on his own goals to keep his team safe.
It wasn't too late, he kept telling himself. It couldn't be. They had to hold out until he got there. "Fly!" Adam yelled at the pilot the moment he was aboard. Every second counted. He'd give directions once they were in the air. His team barely made it on before the airship lifted off. Bane had to jump aboard at the last second, hauled in by Azul and Trifa. All of them looked as nervous as he felt. Their friends were in danger, and they were about to tear their way across Anima to save them.
If there was anything left to save.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
Everything had gone according to plan. Winter and her team - a pair of local Huntsmen and a handful of Mistralian volunteers alongside four members of her security team - had joined up with the convoy in Kesseki. The White Fang had to have eyes on Argus, so reinforcing the group early was out of the question. They'd offloaded some of the supplies in Kesseki, both to make room for the extra forces and as a gift to the warden for his continued support, then packed themselves in for the short ride. Her airships were on standby in Kesseki for extraction once the job was done.
The White Fang struck almost precisely when Agent Mimi predicted - about half a day out from Kesseki. Bold of them to come so close, but the location didn't matter. The Knights were defeated as usual and the drivers surrendered. Everything went as normal, hopefully leading to the White Fang lowering their guard.
The moment the rear cover of their truck moved, Winter struck. Or rather, the Beowolf she'd summoned did, bursting through the opening and knocking over a pair of unsuspecting grunts. She'd been hoping for Taurus or one of his officers but there wasn't time to worry about that. Her summon focused on subduing the riffraff while she and the Huntsmen set their sights on eliminating the bigger threats, namely Taurus and his vaunted Alpha Squad. Within only a few minutes, she had everyone disarmed, on their knees, hands cuffed behind their backs, and ready for transport to headquarters for interrogation. They already knew about Nonemu, but she wanted the main base. One of her captives would crack and give up everything, leading to her wiping out the White Fang footholds in Anima and driving them back to Menagerie for good.
A perfectly executed mission, but with incredibly underwhelming results.
"Where is Taurus?" Winter demanded of one of the officers - Azure, as she recalled from his file.
"Not here," the useless terrorist grunted. Their training was adequate, but none of them stood a chance against her and her forces. Not a single casualty on either side, though the White Fang all sported a variety of non-life-threatening injuries. She'd have her team tend to the worst of them in transit.
"I can see that," Winter shot back. In fact, she could see a lot of absentees to her event. Only four members of Alpha Squad, plus some minor support. She'd expected the full team, not the leftovers. "Why isn't he here?"
The defeated imbecile had the nerve to laugh at her annoyance. "Adam's too smart for you. Saw right through your little plan, Atlas scum."
"So he sent you as a sacrifice? Not much of a leader." That shut him up. Had Taurus really guessed her move? No. If he knew she was coming, he would've either called off the mission or come face her himself out of some misplaced sense of superiority.
"Aw, is the princess upset?"
"Silence!" The officer at the far end toppled over, felled by a kick to his face.
"Enough!" Winter put herself between the Huntsman and the captive. Bringing along local support sounded great on paper, but dealing with their unprofessionalism was starting to wear on her.
The Huntsman sneered at her but backed off, knowing his place. His partner, on the other hand, looked like he was itching for a fight. She'd voiced concern over the two volunteers. Anyone so eager to go after the White Fang clearly had a vendetta. They should've appointed someone more trustworthy instead, but she didn't have authority over Mistral's selections. Instead, she'd wound up with Brenn and Brand, two capable fighters but with more brawn than brain. With the fighting finished, they'd become a liability. Winter nodded to her men, who had already positioned themselves near the Huntsmen with orders to fire on them if they tried anything. None of them could hope to defeat a Huntsman on their own, let alone two, but it would alert her to intervene on their behalf.
"They're just animals," Brenn complained.
"They are prisoners of war," Winter corrected, "and they will be treated accordingly." Atlas would abide by all international treaties, meaning the prisoners would receive all due care and necessities while under her supervision. In time, they would each receive a fair trial, factoring in any assistance they rendered toward the defeat of Adam Taurus and his forces in Anima. Most of them would receive hefty if not lifelong prison sentences, while those that chose to aid her would have their penalty reduced and could see freedom in a matter of years.
"Better than they deserve," Brand argued. He was right, but unlike him, Winter understood the need for such measures. The prisoners would be far less likely to cooperate if they were treated improperly, so she needed to keep the Huntsmen in check, even if she despised the White Fang even more than they did.
"The battle is over." As expected, Atlas triumphed. Maybe now Mistral would understand the value in letting Winter operate more directly. "Call in the airships for extraction. We'll be taking the prisoners back to Mistral with us for questioning." Brand caught Brenn before he could say anything back, shoving a radio into his hand. Good. Keeping them occupied would alleviate a lot of her stress. While they did that, she could handle the convoy. "Excellent work, men. You're to head back to Kesseki immediately," she ordered. "Taurus and his forces may try to retaliate. You'll be safe there. I'll send word once the coast is clear." Unlike the Mistralian forces, her men obeyed without complaint, trusting her explicitly.
The day was won, but their problems were only getting started. Taurus was still out there somewhere, along with most of Alpha Squad. She had to assume he'd look to retaliate or even mount a daring rescue, so she needed the prisoners somewhere safe. Mistral was a good start, but she'd be petitioning for their transfer to Atlas the moment they landed. The White Fang had infiltrated Mistral once before and there were just too many vulnerabilities to contend with. Argus would've been more suitable, but even then, their base was surrounded by a city full of innocents. The only truly safe place would be in Atlas itself, high above the innocents of Mantle and under the watchful eye of General Ironwood himself. He'd be able to protect the prisoners and extract the information they needed. Taurus had proven a capable foe, but even he couldn't hope to breach the security of the Floating City, much less the military compound bordering the finest Huntsman Academy in all the Kingdoms.
Winter's thoughts of home shattered in a hail of gunfire.
An attack? Already? She whirled to see her forces at the ready, but no enemy approached. It only took a second for her to notice the downed forms of her prisoners.
Her former prisoners.
"Stand down!" Winter's command was punctuated by a flock of bright Nevermore that swarmed the Mistralian forces and knocked them back. Winter flew into the fray, launched across a line of glyphs until she struck like a meteorite, knocking two men aside so forcefully that they bounced across the ground. Her saber swung, smacking a rifle away even as she kicked another treasonous fool to the ground. None of them tried to fight back, knowing just how hopeless it would be to try.
They weren't the real threat. Winter zeroed in on the two Huntsmen, just in time to see Brenn swing for the one called Marcus. Winter reached him first, knocking the faunus aside to safety and blocking the potentially fatal blow. Brand raced to his partner's side, only for both men to collapse to their knees atop a pair of black glyphs that swirled angrily beneath them.
Not as angrily as Winter, though.
"What is the meaning of this?" Winter demanded, the tip of her sword pressing against Brenn's throat and causing his aura to flare. "Those men were prisoners."
Far from being cowed by Winter's words, Brenn brazenly stated, "And now, they're casualties."
The flat of her blade struck his cheek. "This is a violation of the Vytal Peace Accords! I will see you and your men brought up on charges for this."
"Those rules don't apply to terrorists," Brand confidently replied. Like hell they didn't. "The law says terrorism is punishable by death. We're just speeding things along."
"You have no idea what you've done." Capturing Taurus' forces would force his hand, but they could handle that. The damage would be limited and predictable. With any luck, he'd make a mistake and get himself caught or killed in the attempt. Capturing him here had been the goal, but they already had backup plans in place.
None of those plans accounted for how he would react to his men being executed. Keeping this quiet would be all but impossible. Mistral would want to brag on their victory, showing strength and determination while dooming them all. The White Fang would use these deaths as proof of humanity's cruelty to rally more support. Their numbers would swell, and even the most reasonable faunus would begin to wonder if the White Fang had a point. The most dangerous thing in a war like this was a martyr, and Mistral had just handed them plenty.
"They deserved to die after what they did at Paulownia." Paulownia? What did that have to do with anything? By all accounts, the White Fang had limited casualties in that attack. They certainly hadn't gone around executing prisoners after the battle. A handful of men had died in the initial attack along with all three of the Huntsmen in charge of-
Oh hell.
"You're were Rauch's teammates." She vaguely remembered seeing a note in their files when they'd volunteered for the assignment. At the time, she'd thought nothing of it other than seeing they were part of a team back in Haven. They'd all gone their separate ways after graduation, though it seemed the bonds forged in Haven hadn't actually broken.
A critical oversight on her part. She should've recognized the risk and pushed for their exclusion, but she'd been too focused on finally defeating Taurus that she'd let important details slip through. Now, she had a pile of dead faunus, though she'd intervened before they could finish off the officers. A small mercy to an otherwise abysmal ending.
"Gather up the bodies," Winter instructed, keeping her focus on the two Huntsmen. Neither of them tried to fight, knowing they couldn't do anything more without sparking an international incident. "We'll take them with us."
And pray that Taurus never learned the truth.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
He was too late.
Adam knew it before they even landed, leaping out of the airship well before it touched down. He knew they were in the right place, even if it looked deserted. Fresh tire tracks made it clear the convoy had already come through, though it looked like they'd turned around and retreated. He could spy the glint of spent casings in the dirt, evidence of a fight taking place. The reddened patches nearby filled him with dread, but not as much as the utter lack of bodies.
The winning side had cleaned up after themselves, and while he wanted to hope his men were just being thorough, he knew better. They wouldn't have risked sticking around to collect the bodies with how close Kesseki was, let alone wasting time on the remains of the Knight units that Atlas always brought along.
Which meant the White Fang had lost. More than that, they'd taken casualties. How many, he couldn't be certain. For all he knew, everyone he'd sent had perished in the fight. If anyone survived, they were probably already on their way Mistral, where they'd face torture and unjust charges before being sent to the gallows. All because Mistral and the Schnee had come for him.
He'd make them pay. He'd make them all pay. Mistral. Atlas. The Schnee. All of them.
Even if it killed him.
Things couldn't keep going so smoothly for the White Fang. Eventually, their enemies would notch another win, and thanks to a couple of vengeful Huntsmen and their men, we now have a martyr situation on our hands on top of four captured officers. Adam doesn't know the full account yet, but you can bet he'll be trying to find out. On the bright side, they've come closer to dealing with their spy, though they still don't know who Orion is yet. So now, Adam has to choose between hunting their spy and rescuing/avenging his friends.
As always, I love sharing little things like names and such with you all, as I always found it fascinating when other authors would give little insights like that. Always curious how people come up with the little but crucial details in their stories. So to carry on the tradition, we have three new names! Rigel is the name of a star in the constellation Orion, which felt fitting. The other guy (with his terrible bowel issues that might rival MGS Johnny) would've been named Saiph (fainter start in the constellation), but I decided I didn't need it. On the other hand, Brenn and Brand are from German words for "burn" and "fire" to go along with Rauch (German for "smoke"). And as a bonus, the mention of Team MINA is just a fun plug of my dog's name, which is also German. And while we're at it, the call and answer in the communication between Orion and Artemis refers to the opening line of Homer's Odyssey, which is Orion's first appearance in Greek literature.
I also need to flex my absurd luck when writing with another hilariously apt reference that I didn't mean to make when I named the spy Orion. I just liked the idea of a famous hunter, but in doing some more research this week, I realized that the Orion constellation is next to Taurus and is believed to have been placed in the stars in constant pursuit of the bull Taurus but never able to catch him. I really wish I was clever enough to have such deep meaning behind all my names, but I'll still claim the win by accident.
Next chapter: Adam seeks the truth.