[center][b][u]Esther Vanhomrigh - Aboard Skyhawk-2[/u][/b][/center] Esther sat by her lonesome on her side of the cargo bay of the gunship. Her gloved hands clasped into a tight ball in front of her lips as she stared at the five black body bags that lay on the deck before her. The fifth bag separated as far as possible from the others, biohazard markings plastered over it. Her eyes as cold and dead as the corpses that were sealed within as she painfully recalled every fond memory and moment she ever shared with their inhabitants. Emotionally numb for the time being, Esther's hollow state had her sitting quietly and motionless. Sam, or 'Samantha' as was her full first name, sat across from her. Helmet-less and nervously biting at her lips as she stared at Esther. She too, knew how the woman was feeling. All too familiar with the loss herself. It gave her an anxiety to know that she had to inform her of even worse news. She wished Tony was present, but he had to ride on the other aircraft to keep an eye on Esther's students. The information couldn't wait however. As it was time-sensitive and needed to immediately be brought up the chain of command. A report was being written as they sat, to be routed to the Abyss Walkers' intelligence division. Sam looked to the left and right of her, nothing but mercenaries that never served with Esther and would be unfamiliar to her. No support for Sam. Sighing, Sam leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Interlocking her fingers and twiddling her thumbs, she dryly swallowed and mustered up the courage to speak to the Huntress. [b]"E-..Esther."[/b] Sam waited for a response. [b]"..."[/b] She received none. Instead, having been the first person to say anything in the time that they'd been airborne en route to Beacon, she was rewarded with the attention of the other mercenaries who sat alongside her. Curious as to their 'conversation'. Much to Sam's annoyance. [b]"The recovery team discovered a...few things that you need to know about. It's...important."[/b] The mercenaries who sat alongside her were all part the very same recovery team. But, they knew it'd be best to have Sam break the news. Esther still didn't offer a response or reaction, still staring at the black body bags. Sam knew she was still among them, listening, so she continued. [b]"First and foremost, the recovery team...When they arrived on location of where the first H.K. was killed, there was no body to recover. The team scoured the town and could not recover the creature's equipment either..."[/b] Esther blinked, that was about all Sam was going to get out of her. [b]"Secondly, as the team searched the town they couldn't locate any of the townspeople or their whereabouts."[/b] Sam looked at the other mercenaries briefly before continuing. [b]"And on the flight over to evac yourself and the other Huntsmen, they did a pass over the farmlands. None of the crops or farm equipment appear to be damaged in any way or tampered with."[/b] Esther looked up at Sam, startling her. [b]"...What do you mean you can't locate the townspeople?"[/b] Sam stuttered, blinking furiously as she fought to find words. It was at this point that one of the male Abyss Walkers spoke up, continuing the impromptu 'briefing'. [b]"Ma'am, pardon my interruption but as we did our sweeps through the town, we found evidence the townspeople weren't simply evacuated before your team's arrival. Many if not all residential areas appear to have been allegedly broken into. Signs of struggle indicate that the civilians were forced from their homes."[/b] Esther's eyes turned to look at the mercenary speaking, but he didn't falter in his speech. [b]"At the end of our sweeps we infiltrated the main security office in search of more information. We searched record books, manifests, security footage, anything and everything. We found nothing. No record of any land vehicles coming in and out of the town with the civilians. No flight records of aircraft flying in or out. Nothing. All of the civilians just...vanished."[/b] Esther stared at him, absorbing his words and processing what they could possibly mean in the larger scheme of things. [b]"We...also discovered something in the main office of the security building."[/b] Esther eyes traveled from the Abyss Walker speaking and to Sam, waiting. Sam tapped at the holographic control panel located in her armor's left forearm, pulling up the recorded footage and photo stills. [b]"It's better if we show you."[/b] After pulling up the relevant information, Sam swiped at the screen to have the display enlarged and projected on the wall behind Esther's head. Esther turned her head and what she saw drove her to stand to fully take in the scene. Sam displayed a few more holographic screens as Esther watched the footage of the mercenary team entering the main office. Her eyes looking at each new display Sam brought up. In the video recording, the team came upon the grisly scene of a beheaded body. Strung up and hanging from the ceiling to allow all of the blood within the person's body to drain freely onto the floor. Upon closer inspection of the body, the head had been severed with near surgical precision as if someone just snipped it off. The mercenary who had been recording the footage searched the person's body and discovered a security badge in a pocket. Pulling it, the Walker wiped off the blood and zoomed in to snap a front-and-back image. [i]"One Security administrator. A Mr. D. Davis. Poor guy. At least he didn't feel anything."[/i] The Walker returned the ID to the hanged man. A voice off camera called over to the Walker. [i]"Hey. What do you make of this?"[/i] The view moved, panning down to look at the pool of blood collected on the ground before up at his comrade. The other Walker jabbed his thumb at a message that was painted on the wall with the very same blood. [i]"In Death we are One. In Death we are Whole. You shall make us Whole, again. This is not the end Huntsmen."[/i] The Walker recording the footage read aloud, snapping an image of the blood writing. Another Walker whistled. [i]"Hey, I think I found the rest of this guy."[/i] The camera view turned just as the third Walker spun around a swivel chair where the body's original head sat. The cameraman shook his head, [i]"Yeesh. Alright, rip out the drives of those security cameras. We're Oscar Mike to the rally point."[/i] The collective said their 'Ayes' and the footage ended. Esther sighed heavily, turning back around to plant her rear-end back in her seat. Covering her face with her hands, she remained like that for the rest of the flight. ~~~ Removing her hands from her face and looking up, Esther sat in the infirmary where the entirety of Team CODE was busy recuperating. Still in her battle dress with all of her equipment and weaponry, sans hat. Her hair a bit of a mess, she looked like Death itself. She appeared paler than she actually was, and dark circles were beginning to form underneath her eyes. The mission had drained even a lot out of her, especially after extensive usage of her Semblance. She had been piecing together the puzzle in her head for hours now, quietly thinking and planning out future courses of action. She would have to speak with Ozpin. Another mission had to be assigned.