A lovely collab post- MULTI and Lucius. Oswald Connolly- Convoy Escort

Making sure that he had everything Marcus had given him comfortably in his arms, Oswald followed the Faunus man into the cave, keeping his eyes carefully roaming around. "I know you probably don't understand me...but for how little it's worth, I'm sorry this was allowed to happen to you." His voice was somewhat distant, yet mournfulness was clearly present.

The faunas man ignored Oswald if only because he didn't know what he was saying. It was both too quiet and also in a language he didn't know. Soon, despite Oslwald being human, even he could see in the faint shadows other faunas. At first it were men, wounded men, armed and ready to beat him to a pulp if he showed any sign of hostility. But as they moved in deeper Oswald would find children and women, all still quite hostile, but defenceless. While there certainly wasn't 500 people stuffed into the mines, it was painfully obvious that there were far too many to be safe. Eventually it got to the point were people had to move out of the way to make sure Oswald didn't step on them, and he would have gotten a close look at them. Aside from the fear and anger in their eyes, he could smell the pain and squalor. Like the worse waste of humanity had been left to stagnant in a hole, and these faunas had been forced to live in it. 

Eventually Oswald would be stopped at the end of the mine, which hard only barely enough room for an old, one-armed woman. It was still very crowded and the only person with leg space was the old woman. Various faunas had little choice but to be pressed against Oswald, their eyes weary.

"My dni nordih irdihm dni tir yw dni piemd..."

The old woman chuckled. She was a wizen woman, likely a wolf faunas. Behind her was some sort of ramshackled generator. The device that was jamming the signal. Despite it's crude apperance it was highly effective for various reasons. But what Oswald could likely gleam is that this old woman is responsible for jamming the signal around the camp.

"You are either a fool or willing to give up your life to come here, hunter. Or have you shed your arms and armor to deliver death to us, hidden in gifts?"

The woman spoke with an odd elegence that suggested that someone taught her how to speak through flowerly texts. Or maybe it was just a personal quirk of hers. Either way the woman continued.

"I see that your leader has yet another message for me. Tis a shame that they chose communication now of all times. But healing is only for wounds I suppose."

Disturbed by the horrors he'd seen on the journey through the cave, Oswald had kept silent the entire time, only hanging his head slightly as he made his way through, making sure not to step on any of the people he was walking past. He was Team MODA's diplomat for this operation, and it would not behoove him to make such a terrible impression.

As he reached the one-armed woman, Oswald awkwardly lowered his body so that he was resting on his knees, before adjusting the food and medical supplies he'd been given by Marcus. After the woman spoke, Oswald sighed, clearly weary from what he'd witnessed.

"I'm more likely to be a fool, but if my death will be the last on this day, I'm willing to accept such a resolution. My leader has decided that the death ends now. Or, more accurately, a few minutes ago. As you can probably see, I have food and medical supplies. We brought three weeks of rations for four people. Four hunters in training, as well as medical supplies. It likely won't be enough for everybody here, but after everything we've seen today, giving you our excess supplies is the least we could do without hating ourselves for it."

Taking a deep breath before he continued, Oswald paused a moment to think on his choice of words before speaking again. "It's quite the twist of fate that I would be the one to come down here. I came from....a place few people know of. A relatively small village, of only a few thousand people, about two hundred miles from the Kingdom of Vale. I won't lie to you, it's been a hard life for us there, though we don't face anything near what you've been forced to contend with."

Calming his trembling voice for a moment, Oswald continued. "We weren't perfect. Racism, persecution and hatred against Faunus exists there, too. But seeing as we're beset on all sides by humanity's greatest enemy-and mark my words, for the Grimm are the greatest threat we shall ever face, no matter what you may have seen by the hands of man-everybody is forced to coexist, like it or not. I fall into the former category. I see all people as just that: people. You don't have to believe me, that's fine. But you will likely have to leave this place. It's not fit for anybody but Grimm to live in. This was my leader's message. Take it, and read his terms."

The old woman chuckled at Oswalds words. "You certainly are a fool. But... What was the saying you people have... A broken clock is right twice a day? There's a truth in your words that you haven't realized. A truth that even we haven't discovered until recently." The old woman motioned for one of the men to take Oswalds letter and hand it to her. As she read, she gave them orders to pass out the supplies. A big burly faunas took the supplies and went strait towards most critically injuried. A few of the men squabbled over some supplies they were suppose to pass out, but a bolt of eletricity from the old woman made them scramble to hand out what they had.

However when the old woman was done reading she burnt the note to a crisp. "I do not trust you humans, or even you hunters. How do I know that you and your leader can truly put an end to the insects? Do you even realize what controls them? I'm certain those humans have told you that we are responsible, but I know the truth."

The woman took a pickaxe near her and began to draw in the space near Oswald. First she drew a circle with three holes near it's center, than a rough, irregular round shape around that circlre. "The grimm truly is our opponent here. My people have stories about this creature, but I thought of it as nothing more than fantasy meant to make us fear our shadows. But this creature is known as the [i]Ehegori[/i], in our tongue. For you, it is only known as the Black Beast."

Letting Oswald look at the crude drawing of the Black Beast, the old woman than erased the image and started drawing a square, than marking various points on the square. "My people lived in these plains for as long as our history remembers. Grimm were always our enemies, if we did not fued amongst ourselves. The Black Beast is one such creature that challenges us as a community. A vile monster with no shape or form, and could corrupt and control the insects of our land. While on it's own the Black Beast is a threat to only a lone hunter, it's control over the vast swarms that live in these lands have made it more of a threat then any natural disaster. It is said that it challenged our people to work together as a community, as the insects do, or be eaten alive by those who can cooperate with one another. I always thought this tale was just apocryphal. But a few days ago, one of my people told me that the beast is real."

Eventually the woman stopped drawing. The square now had various holes scattered about it, connected by lines. There were other shapes as well, such as triangles and X's. It was a map. "He spotted the monster after it sent yet another swarm to harass us. We noted that it seemed to only attack the humans, so when they came we try to send a few out to gather whatever supplies we could forage. That was when one of the foragers noticed a strange figure within the grass. At first he thought it was a cloaked figure, but the way it moved... Like it had no legs, no limbs, but flowed like water. And it wore a simple mask; white and perfectly round, with three holes at it's center. It had to be the Black Beast. It was the creature who had been tormenting us so."

The old woman stopped speaking for a moment to let all the information sink in. The machine behind her began to sputter and die, but she simply struck it with her hand and it buzzed to life once more. "Even if your leader could kill the insects that come near the camp, more are made by the hour. Under the control of the Black Beast it can create swarms far faster than any mortal can kill. If you wish to stop the swarm, you must stop the Black Beast first. Take this to him. Let him understand what he needs to do."

Taking the pen and paper given to her, the old woman wrote a responds for Marcus as well as a map of where she thinks the black beast was at. Various X marks showed different areas she thinks the creature could be hiding, since she hasn't exactly be around to track the monster herself.

[hider=Note]Written much more cleanly was a curt note for Marcus. On the back was also a map, more or less a copy of the one Oswald saw the old woman draw.

[i]There are too many bugs to kill. Find the Black Beast and slay it to stop the bugs. The jammer will remain active until it is slain. It is the only thing keeping the insects away from the mine. When it is slain and we are safe, I will turn off the jammers and we may speak.[/i][/hider]

However, there was a certain... Uncertaincly from the woman. Like there were so many other things she wanted to say, but she felt she had very little time to explain it all. As much as she didn't trust the hunters, they were their only hopes in defeating the Black Beast now. Once it was dealt with, than she could tell them everything.

Oswald frowned at the descriptions of the Black Beast that the woman gave. The major takeaway was two things: this Grimm controlled the bugs, and it possessed some sort of liquid-like body. The latter fact was by far the worse of the two. If only Team MODA went against this monster, the [i]Unsubtle[/i] would be more than enough to defeat the bugs, with its loads of high-explosive and incendiary shells. 

"I am absolutely certain that we will be able to kill this creature. If what you say is true, and its greatest weapon is the bugs...we've already won. My team leader operates a heavily-armored tank that he can project his Aura around. My sword, which I left outside, is capable of firing a beam of highly-concentrated energy that can utilize the elemental properties of Dust, and my other two teammates come packaged with rather impressive area-suppression abilities. We encountered a large group of the bugs on our way here, and although they were able to heavily damage the trucks we were escorting, they had the element of surprise on their side. We know what weapons to use against them, and what to expect from them."

Standing, Oswald took the letter and turned away from her, ready to leave. "We'll kill that damned Grimm, then come back and figure out the rest from there."

Spitting onto the floor before her the old woman looked discontent. "If surprise was the only advantage you had, than you will lose. I'm certain you noticed some insects amongst the swarm which were... Unlike anything you've seen before. That is the Black Beast's doing. It can... make them stronger, in ways to best suit it's enemies. I should know. It will not take it long for the monster to adapt it's insects and strategies. And that's why you must attack it now, before it can create a new swarm suited to counter your abilities. Or worse, simply send it's whole swarm here to drown us all in corpses. Now go! There is little time left, and I will not spend it debating."

Nodding, Oswald quckly made his way out of the cave, barely avoiding a multitude of the Faunus still inside. He could sense the hostility, the trauma and the hopelessness in the air as he ran past the weakened people who'd been trapped for so long, mining for the Schnee Dust Company.

As he crossed the threshold to the outside, Oswald broke into a sprint, grabbing his equipment and hastily reattaching it to his body. "Marcus, we have to move out NOW! Found out what's controlling the bugs, and we need to hit it quick and hit it hard!" Once all his gear was more or less on his body, Oswald teleported to the top of the [i]Unsubtle[/i], which his Semblance conveniently detected as a single large living creature thanks to Marcus's own Semblance, and banged on the hatch. "Note and a map for ya, boss!"