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Chess was a game Jaune rarely played, one he barely knew the gist of even how to play at all. Cinder had visited him the next morning and asked if he would like to play a game, and when he'd told her this she looked almost offended and told him to get ready for the day. Full armor. They'd met outside and he'd followed her, this time without the 'test' of finding the way on his own, to a wide, round room.

"This is our Training Hall." She gestured at the room around them with a sweeping gesture as they reached the center of the room and she turned, "For centuries this Hall has seen warriors recruited by my Mistress train with the Grimm. To better hone their bodies, and later to command them. Tyrian and I were the first to have been raised here from a younger age, and so this Hall became a place of learning for us. And now, for you."

"And this has to do with… chess?" He asked, voice muted once more and Neo pouting behind him. She hated the helmet a large, large amoun, and he understood why. She couldn't speak with anyone but him easily at all, and the helmet took that away. "Ma'am." he aded when she raised an eyebrow.

"Chess, Jaune, has been used for centuries to train generals, officers and nobles. It is merely an entrance level item, of course. It hones one's mind into a tool able to comprehend more advanced tactics and battlefield theories." She smiled, pacing back and forth as she talked while Jaune's eyes followed her, head swivelling to keep her in view while he still adjusted to his helmet's new sight blockages. "You aren't what you were anymore, nor can you act as what you would have become. A Huntsmen, for all their might, is nothing more than a stronger pawn than normal. And you are no pawn, Jaune."

"Then what am I?" He asked quietly, tilting his head to the side slightly. He hated the idea of Huntsmen being nothing more than pawns, nameless, faceless soldiers sent off to die for bad reason or no reason with little true ability to alter the game. But… From what he'd learned so far, it seemed a rather apt comparison. "If I'm no pawn, then I have to be something else."

"Tell me what you think that answer is." She ordered quietly, crossing her arms under her bust and smiling thinly. "Consider it a test, of sorts." She added after he paused for a second too long.

"Not the King or the Queen, surely. I mean, they're too important, leaders of the entire army including its generals and officers. Right?" She nodded and he continued, arms hanging loosely at his sides in an effort to at least look relaxed. "I don't know enough about the rest of our… associates, I guess?" She chuckled and nodded again, and he continued, "I don't know enough about them to guess. I would say Rook or Knight, but those might be better filled by others I don't know just yet."

"And you won't hazard a guess until you know more information." She smiled, inclining her head slightly and shrugging, "I suppose prudence should be rewarded, or encouraged at least, so I'll accept that answer. To be fair, the question wasn't meant to have a right answer. You don't serve such a niche role as of yet, but you're too important and powerful to be a pawn."

The door opened and he turned, watching two Beringels lumber into the room with a crate the size of Jaune himself. They carried it to Cinder's side and, at her order, sat it down and began unpacking it. "Chess set?" He guessed halfway through, Cinder chuckling quietly at something he didn't quite get.

"Yes, Jaune. A chess set. After the entire conversation we've been having thus far about chess, its uses, and the analogies you can draw from it, the odd box that my Grimm are unpacking is a chess set." She rolled her eyes, easing into a seat that one of the two Beringels sat behind her elegantly.

"Uh, thanks?" Jaune said as another was placed behind him and he sat down as well, while the two Grimm started clumsily setting the table up. Cinder chuckled at him for it and he looked at Neo, who was also giggling mutely, "What? My mom taught me to be polite, and they're Grimm, so I don't know what to do when they're not trying to eat me or something. It's habit. You can stop laughing now..."

"No, no, by all means continue, Jaune." She said, forcing herself to take in a breath and shaking her head to stop from laughing, "I've yet to see someone being polite to their Grimm servants, that's all. And you got so flustered so easily as well. A far cry from how you are normally, to be sure."

"This is me normally..." he said weakly, sighing and shaking his head, "Can we just… play, please?"

They spent the rest of the evening playing games, Cinder slowly coaching him until he could last more than ten minutes without her overwhelming him, "You need to start better utilising sacrifices with your pawns, Jaune. You won't defeat me here or anyone else out there, in actual battle, until you do."

"Out there?" He asked quietly, pausing with his hand on the furthest left pawn and looking at her instead, "I… figured I'd just be following your orders, mostly."

"Oh, you will." She agreed, smiling warmly at her - for Cinder, at least - and gesturing at Neo behind him, leaning on the top of his chair boredly and drumming a finger on his helmet, "As will she and Roman. You, however, will be accorded troops of your own and expected to succeed with them, in time. Grimm and Human or Faunus alike, you will lead them into combat wherever directed."

"Oh." It made sense, he guessed, to put someone like him over people. He'd know if they were spies, or if they questioned him, and passing secret orders would be simple and easily done in the midst of the briefing itself. PLans and orders could be handed off without any chance of being given away.

Not that Jaune felt any actual comfort from that thought, something which Cinder easily picked up on, "Relax, Jaune. You changed our schedules enough due to our frankly hasty desire to get you out of the way that you won't have to worry about that." He could hear some minor contempt there, and understood it, "Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped. Infiltrating your Academy would have been nigh impossible with someone like you around. You'd have seen straight through our guise."

"Then why did she send those Grimm after me?" He asked, the woman humming in curiosity and looking up at him, waiting for him to continue. He sighed, moving the pawn forward two spaces, "Ozpin reacted because of what he saw happen. If she hadn't done that, then I wouldn't have been in that position, and you could have…"

"Dealt with you on our time and terms?" She asked, smiling in a predatory yet simultaneously satisfied way, "You want to know why she tried to take you instead of killing you outright. Don't you?"

"Well, I mean, yeah, kind of. I mean, it just makes more sense not to do that. Why do it? Or if she really wanted the, I guess convenience, of having my abilities why then?" He gestured around im, at the building around them, the Beringels and even reached up to touch his helmet, "Everything I have seen tells me that she is brilliant as a leader. But… impatient, slightly, I guess."

"I'd be careful who you say that too." She advised with an edge to her voice, eyes narrowed slightly, "Tyrian would try to kill you just for thinking such thoughts if he knew of it."

"I'm not talking to him, though." Jaune countered, watching her hand leisurely mirror his move and sliding that pawn's Rook forward behind it, "You know me at least slightly. You know me at least enough to understand curiosity isn't the same as wanting to betray her, or disrespecting her."

"Fair enough." She sighed, sliding the pawn in front of the King piece forward a tile and tapping her chin absently, "I don't confess to know, in all honesty. I never asked. You could consider asking my Mistress herself, but that isn't a very good idea. Even without your Semblance you can probably guess how you would feel about the consequences, even if she is lenient towards you as of now."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed, which is why I asked you." He sighed, scratching his chin and staring at the board in thought. He sighed when he didn't see any good moves, and within a few minutes, he'd lost another match. And Neo kept boredly drumming on his head.

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Blake's nerves were beyond shot the next morning when she woke up to Adam, pounding on the inside of her door with a fist and smiling lightly, "Blake. It's ten, time to move out."

She sat up, turning her head until her neck popped, "Where are we headed?" She asked, kicking the blankets off of her while the larger Faunus shut the door and turned his back so she could change, albeit hesitantly. Nervous over whether it was okay to do, probably.

"Vale." He chuckled, "You and I will be at a recruiting rally. The young woman, Beacon trained, who struck down the Headmistress of the Academy herself."

"That'll rally the crowds…" She drawled boredly, buttoning up her jacket, "I'm decent, by the way."

He turned, avoiding her eyes and tapping his foot lightly in a way Blake knew meant he was thinking about something very hard. "Blake, I… I know you don't like the way I am doing things under the name of the White Fang. I know you dislike it."

"Dislike it?" She asked shortly, turning to glare slightly at him. To her surprise, he actually flinched slightly under her gaze and it took him a moment to look up at her, "Adam, the people in Atlas called us monsters and animals. And your response is to directly validate everything they ever said and everything they say. And you'll claim it is all for equality. I'm sure."

"No, it isn't." He snapped quietly, soft enough and fearful enough to surprise her as his eyes met hers through the slits in his visor, "The fight for 'equality' ended a long time ago, now that I have had time to look at it. We fight for survival now, Blake."

"What does that even mean?" She asked quietly, surprised at the fear in his voice when he spoke banishing her anger. What could possibly frighten Adam Taurus? She'd never even seen him balk at a threat.

"You'll find out." He said dismissively, turning and opening the door, "For now, come with me. We have to rally the troops and get the recruits coming in."

Sighing, she decided to let it go for now and followed him, grabbing Gambol Shroud as she went, "And you're hoping to capitalize on me being there, since I attacked Goodwitch for what she did." It took a lot of Blake's focus to add the needed heat to her voice, to make it look as real as it needed to be, "That the plan?"

"Essentially." He grunted, sighing at the aggravation he heard at the start of her sentence, "As I was saying, I know you… Feel strongly about the tactics we employ. So I'm moving you to recruitment rather than combat missions."

Surprised, she blinked at his back before speaking, "Um, thanks you, Adam. I… hadn't expected that, really. I figured you'd want me as your partner again, after everything we've been through."

"I do." He admitted quietly, nodding at a passing Grunt as they walked, "But I learned from the last time, forcing my desires on you is a bad idea. I won't keep doing it to you." He smiled over his shoulder at her, "At least as much as I can, since you came back to me, love. If you hadn't… I don't know what I would of done."

Blake couldn't help the cold chill along her spine at all the things that implied. "Let's… just get moving, Adam. If we're doing this, let's get it done."

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"I don't care, Qrow. We don't need her and I don't want her here anymore. We aren't fighting the Grimm anymore, the kid is Dust knows where, and if we're settling in on garrison duty, I don't want her in the same Kingdom as Yang." Tai Yang argued hotly, Qrow standing in the middle of Ozpin's office with his arms crossed while the blonde jabbed a finger in his face and screamed. After a second, he turned to Ozpin, "This isn't part of what I agreed to do, Ozpin, and I refuse to do it."

"Tai, we have to gather our forces." Ozpin said with a tired sigh, Glynda and James flanking him with equally irritated expressions, "Within a few days, James' fleet will return to Atlas to gather reinforcements. Without his fleet's support, the Grimm will begin tearing away at our exterior defenses. We will need every single skilled combatant we can get. Raven Branwen included."

"I can send for my tribe as well, though most of them will require transport." She offered from the doorway leading to the elevator, sitting on the floor with legs crossed and leaning against the wall, "If it's that dire, they can be of service, for the right price."

"Your help would come with a price tag." Tai yang groused, shaking his head and sighing.

"I'm doing this for free, Tai Yang." She snapped hotly, glaring at him with baleful ruby eyes. "But I'm not some slave master, I can't force them to do anything against their will. I would have to incentivise them with something."

"Oh, we're all well aware that you can't control those monsters." Qrow tossed, in, before sighing and turning to look at them, "But she's got a point, unfortunately. They might be killers, thieves and other assorted trash, but they can fight. Kind of necessary for bandits, between the Grimm and the authorities, and little ladies trying to hide their kids."

"You know damn well we don't kill kids, Qrow." Raven snapped, shooting to her feet with a hand on her sword. "And you talk a big game for a traitor and a woman stealer, you son of a-"

"Enough!" Ozpin shouted, standing and slamming a fist into his desk's surface and shattering the wood. Breathing heavily, he turned hard, hot eyes on each of the trio, "Your pettiness and infighting will not destroy Vale. I'll kill each of you myself before I allow that, and wipe out that tribe of yours, Raven, as well. So shut your mouths and listen."

James stepped forward, coughing lightly into his fist, "My crews are disembarking all combat personnel, reinforcing positions, deploying as many drones as possible and our Specialists are garrisoning the fortifications." He looked at Raven with a tired, defeated expression, "I'll donate one of my carriers and its escort for your… tribe's transport. They'll be well compensated in food and supplies for their assistance, you can assure them."

"I'll leave as soon as we're done then, and get them ready. When I have them together, I'll signal. Put your fleet over the waters near southern Mistral." He nodded, and she looked to Ozpin with angry and frightened eyes, "May I go?" He nodded and she drew her sword, turning before raising it and looking to him, "And you should know, should you ever come against us…"

"You'll all fight me with everything you have?" He asked, smiling amusedly and shaking his head, "I've wiped out plenty of tribes such as yours. But I would expect no less than your best effort, of course."

She nodded and swung, the rift opening in front of her and swallowing her. Qrow waited until it vanished entirely before speaking, he knew his sister could still hear until it vanished, "I have to say, the blonde blowhard here has a point about trusting her."

Tai scoffed, and Ozpin plopped into his seat unceremoniously, "I don't have any choice, Qrow. I don't know what comes next for Vale, but with Jaune's power and the proper motivation…"

"What could motivate him to work with our enemies, Ozpin?" Glynda asked quietly, chewing her lip and shaking her head, "He's young, not too strong, but he's a good man inside. He'd never abide what they no doubt plan."

"They'd convince him that working with them will help people, likely by mitigating casualties." Ozpin said quietly, resting his chin in his hand and closing his eyes, "If Jaune believed earnestly that turning to their side would save innocent lives, he'd do it. He'd die for that goal, protecting people. What would stop him betraying himself for it?"

"I told you, Ozpin. Told you that he couldn't be trusted, left to run around so freely." James snapped, stepping to the side of the desk and trying to meet the man's gaze. He kept his eyes closed, breathing gently, and james slammed his prosthetic into the table and through it, "Damn it, Ozpin, you never listen, or even learn it seems!"

"James-"

Ozpin held up a hand, Glynda going silent at the gesture, and the old man opened his eyes to regard the irate general, "Do you know how many mistakes, I have made James?" The general didn't answer, eyes searching Ozpin's hard ones, "I have made more mistakes than every single man, woman and child in any Kingdom you have ever been to or seen. And several you haven't."

"Yes, I am well aware of them, Oz." he said quietly, leaning back and breathing out heavily, "You've told me quite a few of them, and-"

"I am responsible for Salem, the Queen of the Grimm, existing in her present state." He said quietly, watching the man and, behind him, Qrow's surprised reactions. "Long ago, long enough you wouldn't believe me if I told you, I found a young girl. Her flesh was pale, black veins spider webbing across her body."

"It was in a town named Aslem, a few weeks north of what would eventually be Vale. I walked into town with my four… daughters, I suppose. We were travelling, and we saw her running towards us." He sighed reaching for his mug and holding it to Qrow, "I could use a drink for this, now I think of it, my friend."

"Uh, sure, Oz." He said quietly, walking forward awkwardly in the tense silence and pouring much of the flask into his mug.

"Thank you, Qrow." He said quietly, sighing and taking a long drink, "She was young, barely fifteen, and saw us. She cried out to us to help her, and an arrow slammed into her leg. She screamed and we ran towards her, when her blood began pooling on the ground and turned into a Creep-"

"She summoned a Grimm by bleeding?" James interrupted, looking shocked and staggering back at the news.

"Yes." Ozpin said with a sigh, "And behind her, a dozen villagers were chasing her. A Hunter felled the weak creature easily and tried to stab her. I saved her, and we took her from there. Long later, I realized the darkness at her heart. Too late, of course, to change it. The way of things it seems."

"He tried to kill her after that, when he found her gazing at a burning village. Hers, where he'd saved her." Glynda said helpfully, stepping forward and taking his hand to convey some manner of comfort to her friend. "She escaped, and ever since… We've been waging a losing war with the Grimm, now with a leader."

They said nothing for a long moment before James turned, walking towards the elevator, and Glynda spoke quietly, "James, don't…"

"I will honor my agreements, Oz." He said lowly, voice devoid of anything other than pure shock. "But… As for everything else, I need to go."

Glynda made to follow and Ozpin held out a hand, catching her wrist, "You needed a few days too, Glyn." She flinched at the familiar name, something she hadn't heard in years, "Go to him, but don't press him. Let him come at his own pace. Remember to use the sling and bandages, we mustn't let Miss Belladonna's fate be decided by our own emotions."

She nodded, and Qrow watched her go with tired eyes, fishing his flask out with slightly trembling hands, "So, uh, you're-"

"Him. Yes." He said, chuckling quietly, "Your guess was correct, all those years ago, when I told you part of my story. You joked, and thought I was as well, but you were correct all the same."

"Son of a bitch…"

"Indeed."

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"James." She called, walking behind him as quickly as she could with her arm in a fake sling and bandages wrapped around her head, to keep the lie they'd told at least salvageable. He walked stiffly through the halls, brushing past students and soldiers on patrol. He ignored her as they rounded a corner and left the building, heading towards his borrowed office, and she sighed and reached out, using her Semblance to latch onto his clothing and freezing it in place.

He tugged his arms and legs a few times and sighed, "I hate it when you do that to me, Glynda."

She walked forward and rested her free hand on his back, freeing him, and sighed, "And I hate when you get into one of your stubborn moods. But alas, here we are."

"He could have prevented so much loss, Glynda." He argued, holding up his prosthetic arm and looking at the gloved hand, "I lost my arm to Grimm, they were acting more tactically than we had been trained to handle. Who is to say that Ozpin's failure isn't what let this happen?"

"James, you've known the Grimm had a leader for years now." She argued quietly enough none could hear, sighing and stepping around and in front of him. The huge man let his arm droop, looking around at the soldiers watching them. They began to disperse immediately, and he returned his gaze to her, "The only thing that has changed is some minor involvement on Ozpin's part."

"He saved her life."

"He saved a child, that's all he could truly know." She countered, smiling sadly at him, "I would have done the same thing. As would you have. He is a Huntsmen at heart, James, as are you. And I am a Huntress. Protecting the innocent is our duty, and we can't always know the result. A child we saved could have ended asa White Fang terrorist."

He grunted and sighed, stepping past her and resuming his walk to the borrowed office. She almost stopped him again, but noticed that the anger had dissipated a great deal. Not entirely, which meant she was in for a long night indeed, and she sighed.

Nothing was ever easy for her when men were involved. Why couldn't they just make sense like women did?

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Pyrrha spun, lashing out with her sword and beheading the training drone easily while she blocked a strike from the other on her flank, pushing the shield into its guard, a burst of fire swallowing it and letting it drop to the ground in a semi-melted heap. Spinning and shifting her blade into spear-form, she impaled the third drone as it charged in and hurled her shield, decapitating the drone behind it before embedding in another that collapsed under the force and yanking her spear free in both hands,.

Turn, she used the shaft of the spear to block yet another blade, kicking out and shattering its knee. It looked up at her, stabbing at her legs, and she held her off hand above it, fire bellowing out in a roar and swallowing it while she spun the spear on her palm, using the point to deflect a sword strike aimed for her head and stabbed in several times at its chest, each hit yanking wires free.

Spinning on the spot and twirling her free hand, she used condensed air to throw aside five more of the training dummies, slamming them into the wall across the room hard enough to compact the metal under the air.

Hearing heavy steps, she turned to regard her final opponent, standing ten feet taller than herself. Unlike the dull grey and silver training dummies from Atlas, this machine was built for war from the start. Armor able to shrug off mild explosives covered the Autonomous Atlesian Bishop, a large halberd gripped in both hands and its regal, knightly head peering down at her coldly. Taking several steps back, she stamped on the edge of her shield where it rested, embedded in the Atlesian Dummy.

Catching it in her free hand, she slid into a familiar defensive form, her shield locked in front of her and her spear resting on its upper rim.

The machine spun, faster than she'd thought possible, and swung its halberd at her. Surprised, she barely managed to get her shield in front of it, and was hurled across the room without air in her lungs. Using her power, she summoned condensed air and used it to stop her gently, letting her land and sink into a kneeling posture on the floor while she caught her breath.

Charging forward, the Bishop stabbed its halberd down,burying it in the ground where she'd been. She slammed into its chest with her shield, propelling herself with condensed air and burying her spear in its armor, sparks barking forth from the metal grinding against metal. She raised her hand, fire spewing at its head, blackening the metal slowly. Its right hand wrapped around her torso and squeezed, hard enough to drive her air from her lungs and that she felt her ribs straining even under her Aura. The fire died and her hand dropped to the fingers, trying in vain to free herself.

It hurled her into the ground and she screamed against her will, blinking and rolling out of the way as its boot slammed into the ground. She came to her feet in time to see a massive fist coming, barely catching it on her shield and sliding back to the center of the room.

In the stands, Nora's hand covered her mouth as she watched her friend's Aura spark and fail, and she turned to Ren, "We have to stop this, Ren. She could die!"

He knew that, but sighed, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "She asked us to watch. We should do as she asks, for now. The droid shouldn't be able to actually kill her, it's just a training model after all."

And besides, he thought. Why would she be smiling if she wanted or needed help?

Pyrrha's face was bright, a wide, almost insane smile splitting it as she rose. Her eyes landed on her spear, still hanging in its chest, and her smile widened further as she summoned up all the power she could manage, leaping into the air using condensed air, and slamming her shield into the spear, forcing it through the machine's body and letting it clatter to the ground a few feet behind it. The machine staggered, and she shoved her arm into the hole, jagged steel cutting into her flesh as fire roared forth, swelling in its chest in a spinning fireball as the machine slowly overheated and collapsed, slamming into the ground in a burst of sparks and fire and smoke, a confused chittering of damaged machine-speak.

Standing upright, she looked into the stands, straight at Nora and Ren, and smiled despite her bleeding arm, "This is why I accepted Ozpin's offer. This power will help Jaune."

Neither of the other two could bring themselves to enjoy it or appreciate the power as Pyrrha allowed a medical drone to wrap her arm.

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The Valean First Recon Liuetenant Andrew Tosser raised his rifle as the target exited the building, speaking into his radio quietly, "V-1 reporting. Target Tigress is confirmed alive, present and not incarcerated." He pressed a button on the side of his rifle, triggering a special camera mounted to the scope and taking a series of photos that were sent directly to his superiors, "Orders?"

"Maintain position and cover, V-1." The voice crackled in his headset, "Do not engage unless you get a clean, solid target on Bull. Eliminate him with prejudice if possible, and attempt to fire at Tigress. Do not wound her unless not doing so would compromise her. Over."

"Understood." He said quietly, ending the call and following the Tigress and Bull onto a craft before sighing and lowering the rifle as they lifted off.

Once the craft was gone completely, enough that he knew the Fang wouldn't waste supplies only to bring it back, he slid back down the small hill and turned to his partner. Both were Recon Operators, wearing full body camouflage fatigues, wrapped at the shoulders and ankles. A loose black cloak hung from their shoulders, spotted green in multiple places for camouflage. A military helmet with the same pattern rested on their heads, bandanas covering their faces. One was a man, the other a woman, though you could barely tell.

"Orders?" She asked in a whisper, handing him a canteen and reclining against the small hill so she could scarcely see over it, "Are we moving?"

"Negative. We're to hold position, in hopes of eliminating Bull and assisting Tigress. Hold fire unless you can get a confirmed kill" He relayed, handing her the rifle, "Your turn for watch."

"Understood." She said, taking it and crawling up the hill slowly, only stopping for a moment to call back, "Make sure the damn Grimm don't crawl up my back, alright?"

"Affirmative." He said, relaxing only marginally and enjoying the ration pack and rest while he watched the small cameras they'd placed in a tight perimeter around their site.

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Jaune's sword rose, barely managing to block Neos', and his shield mirrored it as Hazel's massive fist slammed into it. Unfortunately the man's strength was immense, and crushed through his block, knocking him to the ground as he and Neo straightened and back away, the gruff man crossing his arms, "You're too weak, boy. Just as I expected when I saw you."

After a few hours of chess, the massive man had arrived and Cinder had introduced him as his 'new fitness instructor', and the man had sighed. Standing, Jaune straightened his helmet and sighed in much the same way while he tried to catch, "S-Sorry. I know I'm not there, but I'll do my best, sir."

"My name's Hazel. Use it." He grunted, offering his hand. Jaune took it, and the man pulled him to his feet, "You have some skill, however. Trained by that Nikos girl while you were there?"

"Yes and no." He answered, rolling his shoulders, "I can… absorb skill from people, kind of, if I can use my power around them while they fight. I don't get the physical parts, but-"

"Then you keep that helmet on whenever and wherever we train, boy." He interrupted gruffly, staring him down heavily, "Such methods make for a weak fighter and man, even if they're accidents. I won't have a pupil of mine be either."

"I understand, Hazel." He said respectfully, smiling behind his helmet.

"Then go on. You're free for the day. I push you too hard and you'll break." He turned without another word.

Jaune watched him leave with a slightly surprised look before turning to Neo, "He's kind of weird..." She raised an eyebrow and gestured at him, then their surroundings, then shrugged. "Yeah, guess everything here is kind of weird. Wanna head back to my… room, I guess? What do I even call that?"

Sighing silently and pulling her Scroll out, she typed out for him, "Call it a room, a dorm, an apartment, or whatever. Won't really matter."

They both turned, walking towards the door and heading back to the building quietly. Eventually, Jaune swallowed nervously and spoke, "So, uh… I was wondering… Do you, uh, want to, um…"

"Yes, we can screw if you want. Also, you're adorable." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as they walked, and she laughed mutely at him.

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[Archive Entry 108974] Valean Special Forces and Frontier Defences - Valean Field Force Recon

The Valean Field Force Recon, or VFFR, is the Kingdom of Vale's answer to a series of things, including the White Fang's insurgency styled tactics which have resulted in deployment levels not seen since the Great War.

Originally, the VFFR was born out of the need to combat Vacuo's style of waging war. Vacuoan forces would often lay ambushes, bombs, traps and sabotage enemy advances. This fed a need in Vale's military for a force to counter that style of combat, resulting in mirroring it to understand it and therefore end it. As a result, the VFFR is a force of attrition for armies in any land, including their own.

Typically made of of the best Huntsmen that wish to join, highly trained soldiers with Aura, and the most lethal bandits who would do anything to survive as well as armed with specialised high power rifles tipped in a special metal that can pierce Aura, the VFFR is not a force that one fights, so to speak, even for Huntsmen. It is one that you hide from, and pray not to combat.

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