CHAPTER 52

MILTIA MALACHITE POV

She stared at the White Fang outpost in the distance and then back at the Scroll in hand.

The girl named Ilia Amitola was still in the Outpost a day later and had yet to come out.

"Miltia. I still say that we should infiltrate the outpost in our Ninja costumes and take her before the others could react." Melanie said in the intercom from her position a few branches above her in the tree they were hiding in "You know we could do it very easily, right?"

"I know." She didn't want to say anything else to her sister. But if she didn't explain the whole situation to Melanie then the girl might do something rash, which wasn't something that Jaune needed. "If we force our way in then we might have to face the White Fang."

"So?" Melanie asked.

"If that happened then we might be forced to kill some of them." She paused "Jaune won't like it. He might be our leader and he might be willing to make hard choices but he's still unfamiliar with death. Not like us or Neo."

Melanie was silent for a moment before she spoke "You're right. But he needs to learn about this part of Hunter's life sooner or later. Neo agrees with me in this as well."

"Of course she does." She said with an eye roll, not that her sister saw it.

"But she's not wrong." Melanie protested "This one time."

"She isn't." She agreed "And I know that coddling Jaune would be harmful in the long run Melanie but I still don't want to do it."

"Yeah. Me neither."

They were silent for a while after that before she heard Melanie's voice coming from the Intercom.

"I see a Bullhead being prepared." Melanie said.

She took out her own binoculars and looked into the Outpost "Do you see her?"

"No. It's just the normal grunts… wait, I think I see her."

She adjusted her own binoculars and was able to see Ilia as well.

"She's getting into the Bullhead." Melanie said.

"I can see that." She replied. "Do you think she's going back to Vale?"

"I don't know. But if she is then we can set up an ambush for the Bullhead on the way. Put our new weapons to some good use."

She thought about it for a moment before she nodded "Affirmative. Let's get moving."

—————

ILIA AMITOLA POV

"Do we still not know why we're stealing all that Dust with that thief Roman Torchwick and that crazy girl of his?" she asked.

Banesaw grunted in response, probably as much in dark about the whole mission as her.

The whole thing wouldn't have rankled her as much as it did if they were working under the orders of Sienna Khan and not dancing in the tune of that Red Dressed bitch.

The White Fang working for a human.

That was something that everyone in the group hated. And if Adam wasn't known for his martial prowess and his great hatred for the Humans then her brethren would've already started questioning his leadership.

As it was, Adam still had to deal with the general discontent and low morale in the camps. And as much as she wanted the answers herself, she wasn't going to put even more things on his plate by asking.

She looked outside of the Bullhead at the forests passing below and her mind once again went back to her friend Blake. A person that she had considered to be her friend. Someone who had betrayed their cause.

Betrayed Adam.

Betrayed her.

She gripped the hilt of 'Lightning Lash' and wondered what she would do when she meets Blake once again.

Would she be able to kill Blake?

Because despite her betrayal, she still loved Blake as a friend.

That was why her betrayal and subsequent departure hurt so much and still continues to hurt her to this day.

She frowned and clutched the hilt more tightly.

No. Once she finds Blake, there was only one thing she would do.

She would take Lightning Lash and- BOOMM!!!

She jerked from her seat and fell on the side as the lights inside the Bullhead went out all at once.

She quickly stood up and noticed that Banesaw had already gone to check up on the pilot but the Bullhead was already tilting.

"Shit!" she said as she saw smoke come out from the side of the Bullhead. They were losing altitude quickly.

She helped her disoriented brethren up from the ground and then her eyes widened at the rapidly approaching ground.

"EVERYONE!! BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!"

CRASHHH!!!!

She woke up to the sound of battle.

She shook her head to ward off the disorientation she was feeling and looked around.

Her eyes fell on the unconscious forms of her brethren around her. Unlike her, they didn't have aura.

She hoped that they were only unconscious and not dead as she took out her weapon and went to the Bullhead door.

It was broken and jammed.

She heard the sounds of fighting die down outside and her heart sank.

Now only the sound of Banesaw's Chainsaw remained.

She kicked the door. It didn't open.

She kicked it again a few times. It didn't open.

She heard Banesaw's scream and cursed.

She pointed Lightning Lash at the door and fired a dust explosive round.

The Door was flung open and she went out to the scene of devastation.

Half a dozen of her Faunus brethren were laying down midst broken trees and Bullhead parts. She checked up on one of them and sighed in relief when she found he was still alive.

She checked on a few others and found that all of them were alive. Only unconscious.

Then it was probably not the Atlas Robots. Those Robots shot to kill.

She looked around in search of the attackers and quickly found the two likely culprits.

Two women wearing black cloth from top to bottom. Even their faces were covered in black cloth to hide their identities. In their hands were two pitch-black colored swords.

She knew who they were.

These were the people who had attacked Roman's base all those weeks ago and were the reason why so many of her brethren were currently behind the bars.

She had heard of them but didn't know their name.

She snarled "Who are you?"

The two figures looked at each other for a moment before one of them shrugged and went to sit on the trunk of a recently broken tree while the other started moving toward her.

"So that's how it's going to be huh!" she said and took on a stance, hoping that the Outpost will notice all the smoke and send some backup.

Because she had a feeling that she was not going to last very long against even one of them.

Then the figure finally reached her and she quickly went on the offensive as she stabbed at the figure.

The woman twirled around her weapon as if dancing. She heard the figure giggle and her temper boiled.

This bitch. She was playing with her.

She attacked a few more times but all her attacks were dodged as effortlessly as the first one.

This turn of events lasted long enough for her to finally realized how out of depth she was here.

At this point, she wasn't sure if even Adam would've been able to defeat the woman she was fighting.

She had sparred with Adam before. And while he was undoubtedly able to kick her ass every time, he had to work for his wins.

This woman… she was not even trying. She might as well be a worm to this bitch.

At that moment, she heard the voice of the other person who was still sitting on the tree trunk "X. Stop playing around and finish this quickly."

The voice was changed thanks to a modular so she wasn't able to recognize the voice.

The figure in front of her froze. Then it looked at her and she felt her heart drop.

"Sorry girl. It's nothing personal."

Then the person in front of her blurred and she felt pain bloom in her chest as her aura shattered with a single blow.

She dug a dozen meter-long trench on the ground before she finally came to a stop.

'These people are monsters.' Was her last thought before she lost consciousness.