"Man, you know what, I normally hate flying," Nix said, resting an arm on the bar counter. "But shit, you guys have better booze than most bars in Vale. And I don't even have to pay for it!"
"Sir, do you think it would be wise to drink before a mission? My employer has cautioned--" Nix shot a look so sharp it cut the bartender's sentence short.
"Whiskey. Neat. Now."
The bartender sighed and turned around, grabbing a very expensive bottle of alcohol and pouring a conservative amount into a lowball glass. He then slid it across the counter to Nix. Nix caught the glass, stirred the liquid with a couple quick flicks of the wrist, then downed the shot. A satisfied sound, somewhere between a sigh and a shout, escaped his lips.
"That's the stuff! Damn, I need to requisition a bottle. Maybe I can get one as mission pay, eh? What do you think?"
He made a motion for the bartender to pour another.
---
Making his way from the luxury area to the bridge, Nix met back up with Ozpin. Nix fought better after a little alcohol; something to loosen him up, some fire for his blood. He looked to Ozpin. The guy was basically an old man already. He always turned Nix down when he invited him out to drink. Ol' Ozzy here preferred coffee. And hey, nothing wrong with a little bean juice, but it just didn't have the same kick.
"Construction is complete," Ozpin pointed, "and is already registered to the Schnee Dust Company. Intel has discovered that it is being used as a hideout for a terrorist cell. According to reports, several Faunus have taken residence within Mountain Glenn. Continued observations, however, have noted that they are often spotted in this area....here." Nix peered into the display, a grin stretching across his cheeks.
"Right where we want em'," Nix said. He then made his way to the back of the bridge, patting Ozpin on the shoulder as he passed. "Well then Ozzy, I'm gonna go give my team a lil' pep talk. I'll signal when I want the hatch opened."
---
Nix made his way back through the ship. The Angelo was an impressive vessel, no doubt about that. Humanity had invested in machines like these to prove their class, their superiority: 'We'll infiltrate your hideout and we'll do it with a fully-stocked bar.' Nix liked that. While the vessel was by no means small, Nix was able to weave his way though the masterpiece of metalwork relatively quickly. He soon reached a door, to which he pulled out a keycard and touched it to the reading pad. The light flicked from red to green and with a whoosh the door shot open. Before him was the area where all the corrupted cadets were waiting for their mission. Nix looked around, eyeing each and every one of them. He'd seen them all during experimentation of course, but this was his first time actually getting to work with them. His first impression was good. They looked strong- a little unstable, but strong. That was good. The Shades didn't need stability, they needed raw power, and that's just what this group seemed to promise.
The Huntsmen were split into two groups, each sitting on a different side of the hold. On the left was group Depth Strife.
My group, Nix thought. He liked the sound of that. He approached his team.
"Welcome to the fray," Nix said, tucking his hands behind his back. "I trust you've all seen me around the experimentation facility, but in case any of you were too focused on being tortured to pay attention, my name is Phoenix Valentine. You will address me as Commander. Now, as you may or may not know, our job today is to make a lot of noise. We need to cause a good distraction for Voidance's team so they can get into this facility and retrieve some vital documents. So, when I was looking through your paperwork, I separated the files into two sections, based on one factor-"
"Who could fuck shit up."
"If you didn't guess by now, you are the ones who COULD, in fact, fuck shit up. Your combat abilities are best used where you have no restrictions. Far as I'm concerned, you're all a bunch of rabid hounds and I'm about to set you loose. Now, when we get down there, we're going to be engaged in full-on combat. Not some cushy simulation the likes of which you might get at Beacon. We're not playing around with toys. This is the real deal. They're terrorists, and we're going to neutralize them." Nix paused for a moment.
"These Faunas hate humans. If you think that they're going to respond peacefully to a raid like this, you're wrong. You know what they're gonna do? they're gonna take all those weapons they stole from us and they're gonna try to gut you. Now the boss might not want to see 'innocents' die. But for this mission I'm your boss. When you leave this airship, you do so with the intent to kill. Or they will kill you first." Nix paused again, giving the group a long, hard stare. Then he chuckled a bit and smiled.
"But hey, enough of that serious shit, right? Let's go hunt some Faunas!" Nix gave a thumbs up to an operator standing near the back of the hold, who then relayed to the pilot to open the doors. The floor began to lower as the airship approached the ground, landing softly and letting the moonlight flood the cabin. In the same instant, the airship dropped its cloaking device, revealing itself in the thick of the terrorists' hideout. Immediately Fauna all around were driven into a panic. Alarms sounded and the terrorists quickly began arming themselves to deal with this unexpected threat.
As soon as all of Nix's team left the ship, it cloaked itself again and took off, just narrowly avoiding a shot from an anti-aircraft weapon attempting to bring it down. The ship carried Voidance's team to a safer location to drop them more covertly.
Before they knew it, team Depth Strife was put into the thick of battle. Fauna all around them were arming themselves and firing rounds at the small group.
"Alright kiddies, it's recess time! Don't show your damn face around me until you have at least three Fauna ears!"
With that, Nix pulled out Worldrender with a mighty swing, flicking it into its transformation and having it take its greatsword form. He then flung himself forward, using his Gravity Semblance to launch himself at alarming speeds to a nearby group of three Fauna. The unfortunate animal folk were still scrambling around in crates trying to arm themselves when the Commander happened upon them. Nix stopped is dash with a massive, overhead swing with his blade, bringing its weight down directly on top of a horned Fauna. The impact of the strike caused Nix to flip forward toward a second, female Fauna with bunny ears. Still in motion, the Commander performed a spinning slash, slicing the animal girl's torso. Nix then caught the ground, landing on his knees and using his hand to skid to a halt. The last of the three Fauna had finally managed to pull a sword out of the crate and ran toward Nix. With an amused smile, Nix threw a hand forward, sending a tether of aura that wrapped itself around the Fauna's ankle. Nix then grabbed the tether, turned, and threw the Fauna, manipulating his Semblance to cause the animal to fly much farther and faster than would have been possible with Nix's strength alone. The Fauna hit the wall of the facility. He didn't get back up.
Nix let out a raucous laugh.
"Now that's what the hell I'm talking about!"
---
A large group of Fauna began circling Team Depth strike. A circle of gunners backed up a circle of Fauna wielding melee weapons. Someone who appeared to have more clout than the others called out to the group.
"Drop your weapons and surrender now!"
"Sir, do you think it would be wise to drink before a mission? My employer has cautioned--" Nix shot a look so sharp it cut the bartender's sentence short.
"Whiskey. Neat. Now."
The bartender sighed and turned around, grabbing a very expensive bottle of alcohol and pouring a conservative amount into a lowball glass. He then slid it across the counter to Nix. Nix caught the glass, stirred the liquid with a couple quick flicks of the wrist, then downed the shot. A satisfied sound, somewhere between a sigh and a shout, escaped his lips.
"That's the stuff! Damn, I need to requisition a bottle. Maybe I can get one as mission pay, eh? What do you think?"
He made a motion for the bartender to pour another.
---
Making his way from the luxury area to the bridge, Nix met back up with Ozpin. Nix fought better after a little alcohol; something to loosen him up, some fire for his blood. He looked to Ozpin. The guy was basically an old man already. He always turned Nix down when he invited him out to drink. Ol' Ozzy here preferred coffee. And hey, nothing wrong with a little bean juice, but it just didn't have the same kick.
"Construction is complete," Ozpin pointed, "and is already registered to the Schnee Dust Company. Intel has discovered that it is being used as a hideout for a terrorist cell. According to reports, several Faunus have taken residence within Mountain Glenn. Continued observations, however, have noted that they are often spotted in this area....here." Nix peered into the display, a grin stretching across his cheeks.
"Right where we want em'," Nix said. He then made his way to the back of the bridge, patting Ozpin on the shoulder as he passed. "Well then Ozzy, I'm gonna go give my team a lil' pep talk. I'll signal when I want the hatch opened."
---
Nix made his way back through the ship. The Angelo was an impressive vessel, no doubt about that. Humanity had invested in machines like these to prove their class, their superiority: 'We'll infiltrate your hideout and we'll do it with a fully-stocked bar.' Nix liked that. While the vessel was by no means small, Nix was able to weave his way though the masterpiece of metalwork relatively quickly. He soon reached a door, to which he pulled out a keycard and touched it to the reading pad. The light flicked from red to green and with a whoosh the door shot open. Before him was the area where all the corrupted cadets were waiting for their mission. Nix looked around, eyeing each and every one of them. He'd seen them all during experimentation of course, but this was his first time actually getting to work with them. His first impression was good. They looked strong- a little unstable, but strong. That was good. The Shades didn't need stability, they needed raw power, and that's just what this group seemed to promise.
The Huntsmen were split into two groups, each sitting on a different side of the hold. On the left was group Depth Strife.
My group, Nix thought. He liked the sound of that. He approached his team.
"Welcome to the fray," Nix said, tucking his hands behind his back. "I trust you've all seen me around the experimentation facility, but in case any of you were too focused on being tortured to pay attention, my name is Phoenix Valentine. You will address me as Commander. Now, as you may or may not know, our job today is to make a lot of noise. We need to cause a good distraction for Voidance's team so they can get into this facility and retrieve some vital documents. So, when I was looking through your paperwork, I separated the files into two sections, based on one factor-"
"Who could fuck shit up."
"If you didn't guess by now, you are the ones who COULD, in fact, fuck shit up. Your combat abilities are best used where you have no restrictions. Far as I'm concerned, you're all a bunch of rabid hounds and I'm about to set you loose. Now, when we get down there, we're going to be engaged in full-on combat. Not some cushy simulation the likes of which you might get at Beacon. We're not playing around with toys. This is the real deal. They're terrorists, and we're going to neutralize them." Nix paused for a moment.
"These Faunas hate humans. If you think that they're going to respond peacefully to a raid like this, you're wrong. You know what they're gonna do? they're gonna take all those weapons they stole from us and they're gonna try to gut you. Now the boss might not want to see 'innocents' die. But for this mission I'm your boss. When you leave this airship, you do so with the intent to kill. Or they will kill you first." Nix paused again, giving the group a long, hard stare. Then he chuckled a bit and smiled.
"But hey, enough of that serious shit, right? Let's go hunt some Faunas!" Nix gave a thumbs up to an operator standing near the back of the hold, who then relayed to the pilot to open the doors. The floor began to lower as the airship approached the ground, landing softly and letting the moonlight flood the cabin. In the same instant, the airship dropped its cloaking device, revealing itself in the thick of the terrorists' hideout. Immediately Fauna all around were driven into a panic. Alarms sounded and the terrorists quickly began arming themselves to deal with this unexpected threat.
As soon as all of Nix's team left the ship, it cloaked itself again and took off, just narrowly avoiding a shot from an anti-aircraft weapon attempting to bring it down. The ship carried Voidance's team to a safer location to drop them more covertly.
Before they knew it, team Depth Strife was put into the thick of battle. Fauna all around them were arming themselves and firing rounds at the small group.
"Alright kiddies, it's recess time! Don't show your damn face around me until you have at least three Fauna ears!"
With that, Nix pulled out Worldrender with a mighty swing, flicking it into its transformation and having it take its greatsword form. He then flung himself forward, using his Gravity Semblance to launch himself at alarming speeds to a nearby group of three Fauna. The unfortunate animal folk were still scrambling around in crates trying to arm themselves when the Commander happened upon them. Nix stopped is dash with a massive, overhead swing with his blade, bringing its weight down directly on top of a horned Fauna. The impact of the strike caused Nix to flip forward toward a second, female Fauna with bunny ears. Still in motion, the Commander performed a spinning slash, slicing the animal girl's torso. Nix then caught the ground, landing on his knees and using his hand to skid to a halt. The last of the three Fauna had finally managed to pull a sword out of the crate and ran toward Nix. With an amused smile, Nix threw a hand forward, sending a tether of aura that wrapped itself around the Fauna's ankle. Nix then grabbed the tether, turned, and threw the Fauna, manipulating his Semblance to cause the animal to fly much farther and faster than would have been possible with Nix's strength alone. The Fauna hit the wall of the facility. He didn't get back up.
Nix let out a raucous laugh.
"Now that's what the hell I'm talking about!"
---
A large group of Fauna began circling Team Depth strike. A circle of gunners backed up a circle of Fauna wielding melee weapons. Someone who appeared to have more clout than the others called out to the group.
"Drop your weapons and surrender now!"