AN: I don´t really got anything to say, so I guess we just get on with the chapter, so here is Chapter 38 of Cash and Dust. Enjoy!

Chapter 38

The night seemed to pass quickly and to everyone in the cave´s relief, the storm just as well. The bear family was the first to leave the cave, as the mother pushed her cubs out back into the snow. As they left, Nora, who have had the guard until morning, waved them goodbye.

"Goodbye! So long! Have a nice trip! Arrivederci! I don´t know what that means, but it sounds like goodbye!" She yelled, rapidly waving her hand back and forth. The cubs immediately went behind their mother for protection from the fearsome orange haired snuggling machine. The mother growled a goodbye back, as they disappeared into the wilderness once more. Nora giggled at the action and walked back into the cave. She entered the main room and saw her friends laying around the almost died out camp fire. She first walked over to Velvet. She stopped next to her and looked down. Velvet was sleeping quietly on her side, having placed her hands underneath her head for better comfort. She was breathing softly and her snoring was almost nonexistent. Nora bent down and slowly shook the sleeping bunny-girl.

"Wake up Velvet. It´s morning." Nora sang. After intensifying her shaking of the Faunus shoulder, Velvet finally started to came to. The Faunus mumbled something in her half-asleep state, before fluttering her eyes open. She raised herself off from the ground and stretched her arms with a yawn.

"Morning Velvet." Nora said. Velvet finally noticed the first year student standing next to her and turned to look at her.

"Good morning Nora." She said back. Nora helped her up from the ground, by grabbing her hand. After helping the Faunus to her feet, Nora walked over to Yang. She stopped right next to the brawler and looked down on her. Compared to Velvet, Yang´s way of sleeping was less gracious. She was sprawled out on her back and snoring loudly, her hair being a mess, but it was mostly like that when she went to sleep. She hadn´t been able to fix it during their escape. She had said something before she went to sleep about taking a `weekly long shower` and `buying all the hair products in Vale` before finally succumbing to sleep. Nora tapped her foot on the side of her friend.

"Ya-ng, time to wake up." Nora sang. Yang simply frowned in her sleep and rolled to her side.

"Five more minutes." She mumbled. This is what Nora had hoped for. She bent down and carefully picked up the sleeping girl from the ground and started to walk towards the exit. She walked through the tunnel, until they reached the edge of the cave entrance. Nora stopped just before the snow started outside. She grinned once more and threw Yang right into the snow. The effects were immediate, as the moment Yang made contact with the snow, her eyes shot open and she gave off a loud squeak of surprise. She fumbled around in the snow, getting more and more of it on her, only making her fumble even more. Nora meanwhile, had fallen over in laughter and was now rolling on the cave floor, holding her sides. Yang finally managed to stand up from the snow and ran inside of the cave. She bent down and held her knees, panting. Her panting then stopped and she turned around to glare towards the still laughing girl that was still rolling on the floor.

"HA HA, you should have seen your face Yang. You was all like "Oh no, it's so cold!". It was hilarious" She said, trying to mimic both Yang's voice and face at the moment of impact with the snow. The brawler glared down towards the energetic girl. Yang then pounced on top of Nora.

Velvet simply rolled her eyes with a smile when she heard the two of them starting to brawl with each other. They were both very good friends, but they could both be very childish at times. Velvet walked over to Viktor, who was laying on his side with his back at her. She stopped next to him and bent down, slowly and carefully shaking him.

"Viktor, it´s morning and the storm is over. We can finally leave." Velvet said softly. She retracted her hand and waited for a reaction. After a short while of not getting any, she tried again. "Viktor, it´s time to wake up." She said, shaking him a little more roughly. Still no reaction. Velvet was now starting to worry a little. Perhaps it was just that Viktor was a heavy sleeper, she hoped. She used both her hands to grab on to Viktor´s shoulder and slowly rolled him onto his back. What she then saw made her gasp, covering her mouth in shock.

Viktor´s skin had turned almost stone grey, with his veins being visible and in a dark blue color. His face was twisting in pain and sweat was dripping down from his forehead. His fists was clenched and he was breathing hard. Velvet instinctively checked his forehead with the back of her hand and gasped once more.

"You´re burning up!" She said alarmed. She turned towards the entrance, where the two others were still having their brawl. "Guys! Stop fooling around, something is wrong with Viktor!" The bunny Faunus yelled. The sound of the brawl immediately stopped and the two first year students came running towards her. They stopped with gasps of their own the moment they laid eyes on Viktor.

"What happened to him!?" Yang asked, just as alarmed as Velvet.

"I don´t know, he was like this when I tried to wake him up." Velvet said. A raspy cough grabbed their attention, as they saw Viktor spasm as he coughed. Velvet looked back towards Yang.

"Yang, can you go and melt some snow to make water, he clearly needs it!" Velvet asked. The blonde brawler didn´t even bother to nod, before she was sprinting towards the exit. Nora placed herself opposite of Velvet and placed her head on Viktor´s chest.

"His heart is beating fast, but weak, is it supposed to do that?" She asked the older girl. Velvet shook her head. Yang quickly came back with a large batch of snow and placed it down next to them. She took a scoop of snow and activated her flames. The snow immediately started to melt and quickly became a small pool of water in her hands. She pushed passed Nora and placed her hands at Viktor´s mouth. Nora moved up behind Viktor´s head and opened his mouth. Yang tilted her hands, allowing the water to flow down into Viktor´s mouth. She was careful to not suffocate him. When that batch was done, she grabbed some more snow, melted it and repeated the process. Ever so slowly, water flowed down through Viktor´s throat and into him. They continued to give him water, until more coughing stopped them. Viktor lashed around some more, before shooting up from the floor, eyes wide open. He continued to cough with his back towards the others. The coughing then slowly died down, before finally stopping. Viktor then sat there with his back to the others, breathing slowly. He then laid back down onto the floor, not seeming to care that it was harden bedrock underneath him. He laid there in front of the others, breathing slowly. His skin had turned slightly less grey, but the dark blue veins still covered his body. He was still sweating, but not as much as before. He continued to lay there in silence, breathing slowly, his chest moving up and down in a rhythm.

"…blyat" Viktor finally said. The others looked at each other in concern, before looking down at him.

"Okay, care telling us what all of that was about?" Yang was the first to ask the obvious question. Viktor laid there, continuing to breathe slowly, his eyes slowly moving to look at Yang.

"…Something that concerns me and only me. Now let me get up." He said, slowly getting up. Before he even got halfway, a strong hand stopped him and pushed him down. Viktor was about to protest, before both Yang and Nora grabbed his hands and continued to hold him down. Viktor struggled, trying to get free. Both Yang and Nora were ready to be thrown around, but to their surprise and concern, and to some degree relief, Viktor´s struggle felt extremely weak. It was nowhere near as powerful he had been when they had been training.

"There is clearly something wrong, Viktor. We only want to help you. Please, trust us." Velvet said. Viktor stopped his struggling and looked the Faunus deep into her eyes. For a moment, Viktor stayed silent. He then exhaled deeply from his mouth.

"The serum that changed me is flawed." He began. The others looked at each other in concern once more. "While it has given me super strength, speed, durability and stamina, it has as well cursed me." He continued.

"It all started almost thirty years ago and back then, it was only once a year, when I would start to feel sick. When I brought this issue up, my former…"colleagues" deduced that my body was slowly breaking down from the serum. The human body wasn´t built to take the strain and press the serum constantly put its host through. The serum causes the molecular and cellular breakdown of the human body, like that of an advanced form of aggressive cancer, but no cancer can be compared to this. They however manufactured a treatment for me. Once a year, I would receive a stabilizer dose in the form of a counter-serum. It couldn´t cure me, but it would allow me to continue doing my missions and the tasks given to me. When I…left, I managed to bring with me the recipe. I tried to make it myself, but to no avail. I simply lacked the facilities and knowledge to fully replicate it. I however managed to contact someone that could help me. In exchange for helping me, I would help him. This mutual agreement would then later on evolve into a lifelong friendship." Viktor said.

"Who was it?" Nora asked.

"His name is Joakim Winchester and is someone I trust with my life." Viktor answered. "He made a perfect replica of the serum and even improved upon it. While it didn´t cure me, it made me feel healthier and more energetic than ever before." Viktor continued, but then he frowned. "But it would not last. As I continued to take the treatment, my condition only got worse. I soon had to take it once every six months, then three months, then one month." He breathed out weakly.

"Now it is down to once a week." He said, looking at the others. "And the week is up." The others looked at each other, before looking back at him.

"Do you have any more of that serum?" Velvet asked.

"I have some, but it is in my room back at Beacon. I however only have enough doses for three more weeks. After that…" Viktor looked away from their gazes, not wanting to say it. He didn´t have to, they all knew what he meant. The students looked at each other once more, before looking down at Viktor in determination.

"We have to get you to Beacon, quickly!" Yang said, reaching underneath Viktor´s arm and lifted him up. "Can you stand?" She asked with concern. Viktor motioned her to let go. She did so and Viktor wobbled on his feet for a moment, before standing straight. He breathed in deeply, before exhaling.

"Let's go." He said, walking towards the exit of the cave. The others looked at him go with confident towards the exit, but only a blind fool wouldn´t see that he was struggling to walk. They lifted themselves off from the ground and followed Viktor out into the frozen wasteland that was Atlas.

A couple of miles away, at the edge of a frozen lake, stood something large covered in snow. The tank had remained unmoving throughout the storm, and even though most of it was now covered in snow, once could still see what it was. Which is why there were movement around it. A figure walked up to the side of the war machine and scanned it with his eyes. The figure wore a combat suit, just as white as the snow around him. He had an equally white combat vest and ballistic helmet, and his face was covered in a white baklava with black goggles covering his eyes. In his gloved hands, he held a SCAR assault rifle. The all familiar patch of a phoenix adored his shoulders. There were more of him, as more similarly dressed and equipped figures walked around the perimeter and on the large war machine, looking through it. The trooper reached for the side of his head and pressed down on something.

"Sir, we have found the tank." The trooper said through his microphone. "It is disabled and covered in snow, but there is sign that it must have…driven out of the lake after impact. No sign of the crew. They must have continued on foot." The trooper said. For a moment, there was silence, before a muffled voice told him something over the radio.

"Yes sir, we will continue with the search." The trooper said, reaching away from the radio on his head. "Alright, we have our orders to search the mountain area for the escapees. That is the most likely spot they made it to, to avoid yesterday's snowstorm. We have our orders, move out!" The officer barked. The others nodded their conformation and started to pack up to leave the area. They all massed around a couple of parked vehicles nearby. The vehicles were both snowmobiles and Humvees painted in white, but instead of tires, they had tracks to better traverse the frozen wasteland. Some soldiers mounted the snowmobiles and started their engines. The rest of the solders mounted up and manned their seats in the cars, one soldier in each Humvee manning a machine gun mounted on top. The vehicles engines then roared to life, as they started to make their way through the snow. There were six snowmobiles and three Humvees in total. They moved quickly through the snow, just as quickly they would have done on a normal route. The vehicles then started heading straight for the mountains.

"Seriously Viktor, you need to slow down. You look almost as bad as before." Yang argued. Viktor ignored her and continued to keep up a brisk pace when walking. The group had since long left the cave and was making their way through the mountain range south, following the direction of their compass. They had no time to lose. Getting back to Beacon as quickly as possible was top priority, no matter the inconveniences along the way. The pain in his chest was just that, an inconvenience. Yang rolled her eyes. "I swear, you can be really stubborn sometimes. Why don´t you slow down and rest, me and Nora can carry you." Yang offered, earning a nod from Nora.

"Viktor Kirillov does not get "carried" around." Viktor referred to himself in third person. Nora leaned in close to Yang´s ear.

"He has an equal ego to boot as well." She whispered, earning a smirk from Yang.

"I heard that." Viktor said, earning a gulp from Nora. Viktor shifted his focus back to the compass and continued to walk once more. The moment he took another step, he fell down face first into the snow.

"Viktor!" The others said alarmed, sprinting up to him. For a moment, Viktor simply laid there in the snow.

"…blyat." Viktor´s voice muffled through the snow. Viktor slowly tried to stand up, dusting of the snow from his face. Nora and Yang grabbed each of his arms and helped him back up on to his feet.

"That´s it! You are not taking another step mister. Me and Nora will carry you for now on, until we can found some suitable transportation." Yang ordered. Viktor gave the blonde brawler a glare, but Yang stood her ground. Viktor then gave one more sick cough, before sighing in defeat and nodded his head.

"Very well." He said. Yang smiled in victory. She was never going to let him live this down. Both she and Nora then shuffled their handling on Viktor. Nora grabbed underneath his arms and Yang grabbed his legs. It wasn´t long until they were on their way once more. Velvet had taken over as compass reader and was following the same route Viktor had led them on. Viktor continued to scowl all the way, giving each of his carriers a glare every now and them. This only made Yang´s smirk grow larger. As soon as he was cured, for now, she would tease him about this for days to come. They exited the mountains and wandered out into the open once more. They had walked for what felt like a couple of miles, when a soft humming noise was then heard. The group immediately stopped and looked around.

"What´s that sound?" Yang asked. No one knew the answer.

"Hey guys?" Nora then spoke. The two others looked at her and saw that she was looking behind them. They followed her gaze with their own and saw what she saw. A large amount of objects were approaching towards their direction, fast.

Vehicles

"Maybe they´re friendly?" Nora said. That notion was immediately shut down, when bullets started to fly around them. "Or not!" Nora corrected herself. The three of them threw themselves towards the ground to avoid the incoming gunfire.

"We need cover!" Velvet yelled. Yang, thinking quickly, stood up and slammed her hands together. The shockwave caused the soft snow around them to fly up, creating a large smoke cloud of white that was covering a large part of the area. The group of vehicles stopped at the edge of the cloud, their occupants looking at it with uncertainty.

"Nice going Yang." Nora said.

"Viktor taught me that one. Can´t believe that it worked." Yang said. Back with the vehicles, the officer grabbed the driver of the Humvee by the collar of his uniform.

"What are you waiting for, it's just snow! Get in there!" The officer ordered.

"But sir, we can´t see anything." The driver said.

"Then switch to thermal vision." The officer said, pressing a button on the side of his goggles, making the visor blue. The other soldiers did the same and the vehicles once again roared into life and drove into the cloud. The convoy of vehicles scanned the area for the group of hostiles. For the short moment between visual and the appearance of the cloud, the hostiles seemed to have disappeared.

"Split up! Find them!" The officer ordered. The large convoy split up onto different groups. The vehicles moved slowly through the snow cloud, lingering behind longer than any of them would have wanted. Each soldier on and in their respective vehicles scanned the area, weapons at the ready. As one of the Humvees drove past, thee three huntresses and their friend were hugging the cold ground, having covered themselves in snow to hide themselves. Another snowmobile drove past them, before making a U-turn and drove past them once more.

"What do we do? As soon as the cloud disperse, they´ll find us." Nora whispered. Yang shrugged her shoulders in panic, having no backup plan. Velvet looked to the side and saw the headlight of two snowmobiles approaching.

"I got an idea." She whispered. The convoy continued to drive around, the cloud now slowly starting to dissipate, making it easier to see, to the gratefulness of the soldiers.

POW

BANG

Ratatata

POFF

Wrooom

Each soldier immediately turned their attention towards the series of sounds and saw, through the thermal vision, two snowmobiles driving away at full speed, with two bodies lying in the snow.

"There they are, they are trying to get away, after them!" The officer ordered. The engines roared once more, taking off across the snow in full speed. One of the Humvees stopped at the two fallen soldiers and allowed them to grab on to the railing on the side, riding on the vehicle on each side.

Yang cranked the handle hard, increasing the speed pf the snowmobile further. Viktor was riding behind her, holding on to her. On the other snowmobile, Velvet was driving with Nora riding shotgun. They had waited for the two snowmobiles to get close enough for them to hijack the vehicles. There had been a quick shuffle that had given away their position. Viktor looked over his shoulder and saw the other vehicles turn towards them and started to approach rapidly towards them.

"It looks like they have caught on to our intentions." Viktor said.

"That only makes this all the much funnier." Yang said, cranking the handle further. The snowmobile for a moment rose up on its rear track, forcing Viktor to hold on to Yang tighter in surprise, before falling down and sped off. Velvets bike stayed closely behind, making sure to keep a check on their pursuers as well.

"They are gaining on us!" The bunny Faunus yelled, before bullets started to fly around them. One of the pursuing snowmobiles came ever closer and its driver was currently firing a submachine with one hand towards them. Velvet veered hard to the right, driving away from Yang´s bike. Their pursuers split up, with three snowmobiles and one Humvee following Velvet and Nora, the rest continued to follow Yang and Viktor. Viktor looked behind and saw their pursuer slowly shorten the distance between them. Viktor looked to the side and saw a submachine gun hanging in a holster on the side of the bike. He grabbed it and aimed behind him and pulled the trigger. The two pursuing snowmobiles quickly moved out of the way to avoid the incoming fire. Having driven the snowmobiles further back, Viktor then aimed towards the driver's seat of one of the Humvees. He pulled the trigger, but was disappointed when seeing the bullets fail to pierce the front window, only causing some white impact zones to erupt.

"Yebat, bulletproof glass." Viktor swore, switching out the now empty magazine with a new one.

"How are you holding out back there?!" Yang asked. Viktor finished the reload and took aim towards one of the snowmobiles.

"Never been better! You won´t believe how one forget about their sickness when they are being shot upon." He said, before resuming fire. Yang grinned at that remark and turned the bike sharply to the left. The pursing snowmobiles had no trouble following them, but the two Humvees was forced to slow down, making them lag behind. Viktor made his best in trying to take their pursuers out, but it proved difficult to aim, both from Yang´s reckless driving and from his lingering sickness. Viktor was soon forced to reload once more. The driver of one of the snowmobiles looked towards his comrade and gave a nod. The other driver nodded as well, and the two bikes sped up on each side of Yang´s bike. The two bikes then opened fire with their submachine guns. Viktor had just finished reloading, when the bullets started coming. Viktor instinctively wrapped himself around Yang, shielding her. She wanted to protest at first for this sudden touch, but as the bullets impacted him instead, she kept herself silent. The bullets failed to pierce his skin, but in his weakened state, it hurt like hell. Viktor gave a growl and returned fire. The two pursuing bikes split up once more and sped up, coming up on each side of their own bike. They aimed their guns straight towards them. Viktor saw this and immediately reached over the blonde brawler for the steering handle, catching Yang by surprise again.

"Viktor, what are you-!" Yang said, as Viktor pulled the brake. Their bike immediately stopped, just as the two other bikes opened fire. This caused what some would call a humorous outcome, as the two Order troops hit their comrade's respective bike. Sparks flew from the engines, before they erupted in flames. The bikes veered out of control, as the drivers was taken by surprise by this. They then jumped off them, just as each bike exploded in a fiery fury. Yang and Viktor´s bike drove past the two smoldering remains of their pursuers vehicles.

"It would seem that the Order needs to implement an intelligence test when hiring new recruits." Viktor commented with a smirk, making Yang chuckle. Their joy was short lived, as high caliber bullets flew past them. Both gave a quick look behind them and saw the two Humvees having caught up with them and was now firing at them with their machine guns.

Meanwhile with Velvet and Nora. They were forced to zigzag back and forth, to avoid the incoming gunfire. As soon as one pursuing vehicle came close, Velvet veered either left or right to lose them. This momentarily slowed their pursuers down, forcing them to take sharp turns, before they were hot on their trails once more.

"This is awesome! It´s just like a spy movie or something, except it´s all real!" Nora cheered. Velvet was always baffled on how Nora could always stay so cheery in moments like these. More bullets flew past them. They were forced to take another sharp turn to avoid being hit. One of the snowmobiles started to gain on them. The enemy driver pushed the bike to the limit, until he was not more than ten meters behind them. He raised his gun and took aim. Nora looked behind them and saw the vehicle.

"Well, this is going to be fun." Nora then said, slowly standing up in her seat. Velvet raised one of her eyebrows in confusion at what she was doing, before Nora leaped off the bike. Velvet almost veered out of control in shock, before regaining control. She looked backwards and watched as Nora soared through the sky. Nora corrected herself in midair and landed straight on the passenger seat on the pursuing snowmobile. The driver looked backwards in surprise and his new passenger.

"Hi" Nora said with a wave and a smile, before punching the driver in the face. Immediately after, Nora grabbed the stunned driver and threw in off. The driver flew through the air with a yell, before crashing straight onto the windshield on the pursuing Humvee. The soldiers inside the Humvee looked at the now unconscious soldier, before he slid off to the side. The soldiers inside then looked at each other, their masks covering their shocks at what they just saw. Nora meanwhile, had jumped into the driver seat of the snowmobile. There where however one problem with her plan.

She didn´t know how to drive.

"Let´s see. I think you turn this." She said, turning the throttle to full stop. Immediately, her snowmobile stopped in its tracks. The two pursuing soldiers on the snowmobiles looked on in surprise as she suddenly passed them in the opposite direction. They then looked at each other, their masks covering the expression of surprise. Before either of them could turn around to follow her, Nora cranked the throttle once more. This time, to full speed. The sudden surge of speed almost throwing her off, as she held on for dear life on the handlebars. This made her unable to steer properly, making her snowmobile flail around. Her snowmobiles caught up to the others and she was heading straight towards one of them.

"No no no no no wait wait!" The soldier on the snowmobile yelled while waving one of his arms, before Nora crashed straight into him. The soldier flew off the bike and landed in the snow, while his bikes spiraled out of control, before crashing. Nora was still unable to control her bike and the crash had only caused her to flail around even more, as she headed for the second snowmobile. The other soldier had seen what had happen to his comrade, so he didn´t waste any time to grab his gun and started to fire towards the out of control snowmobile. Thanks to Nora´s prone position on the snowmobile, as she continued to hold on for dear life, the bullets missed her. The soldier gave one last yell of terror, before the bike crashed into him as well, giving him the same fate as his comrade, as he landed in the snow head first. Nora´s bike then lost speed. She had finally been able to turn the throttle, reducing the bikes speed. She corrected herself in her seat.

"See, that wasn´t so hard." She said, oblivious to what she had done to the two others. Even more oblivious was she, as she didn´t notice the Humvee closing the distance between it and her. "And now to get to the others. The pulled the throttle once more.

And her bike started going backwards.

The occupants of the Humvee was taken by surprise, when suddenly a snowmobile crashed through the front window of the car. Nora was even more surprised, when she suddenly found herself surrounded by five Order soldiers, who looked at her with shock and surprise behind their masks.

"Whoops, didn´t mean to do that" She said sheepishly, when five guns aimed straight at her. Her cheery demeanor instantly disappeared, as she cranked the throttle once more and the snowmobile roared to life. Nora barely speed of the wrecked Humvee, as the bullets started flying behind her. The bullets hit the rear track of the snowmobile, and the moment she hit the ground with the vehicle, the track broke off. Nora once again found it impossible to control the bike, but this time, there were nothing she could do. The bike veered back and forth, before starting to roll on the side. Nora was thrown off, screaming with excitement and worry at the same time. The bike then rolled out of control, and headed straight towards the pursuing Humvee. It occupants yelled in terror, as the bike collided with the front and cut into the tracks of the car. The tracks broke and it was now the Humvee that started to spiral out of control, before rolling over. Nora landed in the deep snow head first. She stayed under the snow for a moment, before popping her head out, spitting out snow in the process. She then heard a commotion behind her and turned around. She gave a squeak of surprise, before diving into the snow once more, as the Humvee passed inches above her, with its Order occupants flying out everywhere, before landing in the snow as well. The Humvee continued to roll a couple of more times, before coming to a stop further away. Nora popped out of the snow once more and looked at the crashed vehicle.

Just as it exploded.

Nora covered her eyes, as pieces of the vehicle landed around her. One the other side of the tundra, the crew of the two other Humvees saw the explosion in the distance. Their crews looked at each other, before cutting off the chase and turned towards the explosion. Both Viktor and Yang looked behind each other in confusion, before looking towards the explosion as well. Without even something being said, Yang turned around and started to head towards the source as well. Nora continued to look at the burning wreckage, when she then heard a vehicle coming to a stop behind her. She turned around once more and saw Velvet sitting there on her bike, looking at the burning vehicle in disbelief, before looking at Nora.

"I meant to do that." Nora said with an unconvincing tone. Velvet didn´t answer, but turned back to look at the burning wreckage of the car, still in disbelief at what she had just seen. Then something moved in the snow next to them. They both turned around and saw one of the soldiers lifting himself off from the snow.

"The hell with this! I´m not getting paid enough for all of this! Three years in Iraq, two years in Africa and one tour to Korea was nowhere near as crazy as this single mission! The leader can do his own dirty work!" The soldier shouted while dusting snow off from himself, before starting to sprint into the opposite direction. His comrades must have thought the same, as they also started to lift themselves up from the snow, before joining him in running away. The two Humvees then stopped next to the fleeing soldiers. One of the soldiers looked out of the door.

"Grab on! We will fall back to regroup, before planning a new attack." The soldier ordered. All of the soldiers grabbed on to the railing on the side of the cars, before the vehicles sped off. Nora then decided to boast about their victory.

"Yeah, that´s right! Run away from our might! You are all helpless before the might on Nora!" Nora shouted with glee. Velvet had finally shook herself out of her shock and couldn´t help but roll her eyes slightly, before giving a slight giggle. Another vehicle could then be heard behind them. They turned around, expecting enemy reinforcements, before relaxing. The snowmobile belonging to Yang and Viktor came up to a stop in front of them. Nothing was said for the first moments, as Viktor surveyed the battle scene. He looked at the destroyed snowmobiles, then at the burning wreckage of the Humvee, then at the fleeing enemy forces in the distance. His eyes then finally settled at the two huntresses in training responsible for all of this. He stayed silent for a few moments more.

"I have no idea how you two managed to do all of this without any weapons while facing enemies that make your aura useless…" He began, giving another survey across the scene with his hand. "But I cannot argue with the results. Bloody fine job you two." He finished with a smile. Velvets face lit up and Nora pumped a hand in the air.

"WHOOHOO! We are the best! All badies who wish to mess with us will receive the beat down of the century!" Nora cheered.

"Yeah!" Yang shouted as well, pumping her own hand in the air. Viktor rolled his eyes while Velvet gave another giggle.

"Alright, if we are all done here, let´s get moviGAAHH!" Viktor yelled as he froze up. The others jumped in surprise at the sudden yell, before Viktor collapsed off the bike and face first into the snow.

"Viktor!" Yang yelled, getting of the back and ran up to Viktor. She lifted him out of the snow and turned him around. Viktor´s skin was once more stone grey, as he was breathing hard. But what was most alarming was that his figure seemed to thin up. He started to look like he hadn´t eaten well in years, as his flesh and muscles seemed to fade away right before their eyes. The sickness was slowly eating him away. The others sat down on their knees next to him as well. Velvet put the back of her hand against his forehead.

"He´s burning up!" She said alarmed.

"We need water!" Yang yelled. Nora was about to take a fist full of snow for Yang to melt.

"No…" A weak voice then said. They turned around and looked down at Viktor. "Don´t bother…I´m out of time." Viktor said in a raspy, weak voice, nowhere near the same tone as his usual voice.

"Like hell you are, Viktor! We´ll carry you all the way back to Beacon if we have to!" Yang said, making the other two nod in agreement. Viktor then grabbed on to Yang´s shirt and pulled her down to his level.

"Listen!" He began, his voice filled with both seriousness, but also pain. "This is bigger than any of us. The Order is planning something big. And by big, I mean global." He said, before coughing up some blood. He stopped coughing for a moment, so he could continue. "You three need to get back to Beacon and warn them. You need to tell the world about their presence here on Remnant." He finished, looking straight into Yang´s eyes, before his grip loosened. He let go of her shirt and fell back to the ground.

"Go…" He said weakly, closing his eyes. "I have had this coming to me for a long time anyway." He said, coughing up some more blood. They all looked down on him, each of their faces displaying different kinds of emotion. Velvet´s eyes started to tear up, while Nora´s usually happy demeanor was replaced with sadness. Yang´s face however, was filled with determination.

"You are coming with us and that is final!" She shouted, grabbing Viktor and threw him over her shoulders.

"Put…me…down…Yang…I will…only…slow…you…down." Said between breaths.

"La la la, I´m not hearing you." Yang said while carrying him towards the snowmobile.

Then something large passed above them.

Yang, and the others, instinctively jumped to the ground to avoid whatever had passed over them. Yang lifted her face up from the snow and looked up. Her face filled with dread, as she saw a helicopter fly a short distance away from them, wearing the Order insignia on the side.

"Those troops must have called for backup!" Velvet shouted, looking at the chopper with just as much dread as Yang. Nora grabbed one of the guns from the snowmobiles and checked the magazine on it.

"And we are out of ammo." She said.

"We could perhaps outrun it?" Velvet suggested.

"We would be to easy targets." Yang said, lifting herself off from the ground, still carrying Viktor on her shoulders. None knew what else they could do, as they continued to watch the bird of prey circle above them. They expected it to fire at them any minute now, but to their surprise, nothing happened. It just continued to circle them from above.

"What is it doing?" Nora asked, pointing towards the chopper. None of the others had any answers to that question. The chopper then started to descend, before landing a short distance away from them. The chopped then started to power down.

"I think they are going to take us on on the ground." Velvet said.

"Then let them try." Yang said, anger filling her voice. She walked over to the snowmobile and put Viktor down next to it with his back against the vehicles side. "Give me a second Viktor." She said. Viktor didn´t answer, he continued to breathe weakly with his eyes shut. Yang walked towards the chopper, her fists clenched in rage. Nora and Velvet looked at each other, before giving each other a nod. They sprinted up to the blonde brawler and flanked her, their faces filled with just as much determination as Yang. The side of the chopper then opened up and the three off them prepared for a fight.

Then a red blur tackled Yang straight in the chest, sending her and it flying to the ground.

"YANG!" Ruby shouted in happiness, her eyes filled with tears, as she hugged her bigger sister tightly around her chest. Yang had to gather her wits for a moment, as she looked down towards the crying form of her sister hugging her.

"R-RUBY!?" She shouted in disbelief. Ruby responded simply with a nod, before tightening her hug. Yang´s brain finally started to work again, as she returned the hug, her eyes also filled with tears. Velvet and Nora looked at the scene in disbelief, before a pair of arms wrapped around Nora and squeezed her into a hug as well. Nora turned around to look at who at hugged her and her face lit up in happiness.

"RENY!" She shouted, wrapping her arms around her life time friend. Ren didn´t say something, but simply continued hug his friend, who was crying in happiness of being reunited.

"Velvet!" Another voice shouted, grabbing the bunny Faunus attention, She had barely any time to turn around, as someone tackled her in a hug, sending both of them to the ground. Velvet looked at who had tackled her and saw the familiar face of Coco looking at her.

"COCO!" Velvet shouted, hugging her friend back. Ren and Nora continued to embrace each other, as Jaune and Pyrrha ran up to them. Nora looked up from her hug and noticed the other two.

"Jaune! Pyrrha!" She shouted, letting go off one arm to grab the others. They complied with smiles and joined in on the hug. Their team was finally reunited. Yang lifted herself and Ruby off from the ground, still wrapped in the hug, when she noticed the forms of Weiss and Blake approaching.

"Blake! Weiss!" She shouted, loosening her grip around Ruby to greet the others. Blake didn´t say something, as she simply engulfed Yang in a hug as well. Yang was taken back at the sudden sign of affection from the cat Faunus, but gladly returned the hug. Weiss joined in as well and soon, all four of them was hugging each other. Their team was finally reunited.

"Ah tear-filled reunions. The most cliché, but most beautiful, moments in the movies." A male voice then said. Team RWBY looked up from their hug towards the smirking face of Hannes.

"Must you ruining everything?!" Weiss said irritated. Hannes shrugged his shoulders, still smirking.

"Yup, it is kinda my specialty." He responded, earning some groans and giggles from the group of girls. "Anyway, where is my happy reunion? I see that we are missing one person." Hannes said, his eyes moving back and forth with a suspicious look. Almost immediately, the happy demeanor of Yang, Nora and Velvet vanished. They slowly broke away from their embraces and looked towards the Swedish merc.

"Viktor…" Yang began, trying to find the right words.

"What?" Hannes asked. Yang didn´t answer, but simply pointed towards the snowmobile. Hannes looked at it, before looking back at her with a raised eyebrow. Yang lowered her finger and nodded. Hannes continued to look at her for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and started to walk towards the bike. The others were now more than just confused, as they looked at their friends changed demeanor. Hannes reached the bike and looked past it, and then he saw what Yang was referring to.

"Oh… I see." Hannes. The others joined him and everyone apart from Yang, Nora and Velvet gasped in shock. They all looked at the body of Viktor, who sat there with his back against the bike with his head lowered. His condition looked even worse, as black spots had erupted across his body and his hair seemed to be falling off.

"VIKTOR!" Ruby yelled alarmed and ran up to him. At the sound of her voice, Viktor managed to open his eyes and looked into Ruby´s own.

"R-Ruby?" He said. Ruby wanted to hug Viktor, but chose not to, since she didn´t want to hurt him. "You managed to…escape." Viktor said, before coughing. Ruby smiled and rapidly nodded her head. Viktor looked to the side and saw all of the others staring at him. "Glad to see that all…of you are safe… and sound." He said.

"Same thing can´t be said about you hombre." Hannes voice said from Viktor said. Viktor slowly turned his head around and saw Hannes standing next to him, opposite from Ruby.

"Always with…the comments…right Hannes." Viktor said with a chuckle, which only made him cough some more. Hannes shrugged his shoulders.

"Its what makes we the one I am." Hannes said. Viktor managed a roll of his eyes.

"Please don´t…make it so…that your voice…is the last thing…I hear." Viktor said through gritted teeth and pants.

"Why, what´s wrong with my beautiful and perfect voice that makes angels weep?" Hannes asked mockingly.

"Weep in terror, that is." Yang commented, earning a glare from Hannes and a chuckle from the rest. Viktor´s chuckle was cut short, as he coughed some more.

"You are…enjoying seeing…me like this…aren´t you?" Viktor remarked.

"Seeing the indestructible and invincible Viktor being all weak and vulnerable, totally." Hannes said with a smirk. Hannes then looked up and saw the glares being given to him by everyone else. "Uh oh"

"What is wrong with you?! Can´t you see that your friend is dying!? And you make the time to make jokes!?" Weiss shot out. Hannes raised his hands in defense, his face still smirking.

"Relax Snow White, ain´t nobody dying. As long as I got this." Hannes said, whipping out a syringe from somewhere on him, filled with a strange, purple liquid. Before anyone could ask what that was, Hannes jabbed the syringe into the side of Viktor´s throat and pushed its content into him. At the impact, Viktor gasped, before slowly shutting his eyes, before his head dropped down. The other flinched as the needle of the syringe entered through the throat. Ruby flinched most, as she was the closest and she hated needles. Hannes then took out the syringe and threw it away behind him. They all then looked at Viktor, as he laid there unmoving.

"Wait for it…" Hannes said. Nothing happened. The others now started to worry.

"Is he…?" Nora began. Viktor then gave another gasp, making everyone, but Hannes, jump in surprise. Then right before their eyes, they watched as Viktor´s fragile body grew right before them, as muscles grew to their original size around him. His skin turned back to its Caucasian tone. His hair however, didn´t grow back, giving him a bald appearance. His circle beard was still there though.

Then he spoke.

"YEEEEEBAAAAAAAT THAT HURT!" Viktor yelled on top of his lungs. Before anyone could celebrate that Viktor seemed to be healed, he grabbed Hannes by the throat and dragged him down to level with his face. Viktor gave Hannes an intimidating glare, filled with rage.

"You had that on you all this time?" Viktor yelled out.

"Uhhhh, yeeeeeaaaah." Hannes said sheepishly. Viktor wanted to pummel Hannes into paste, but simply growled.

"Next time, don´t jab it so hard into my neck!" Viktor said angrily, rubbing the back of his neck and tighten his grip around Hannes neck.

"Shopry…" Hannes managed to say. Viktor rolled his eyes, before then enveloping a stunned Hannes in a crushing hug. Literally crushing, as Hannes yelled out in pain. The others flinched at the hug, as Viktor then let go of the Swedish merc, dropping him to the ground.

"Thanks for the save Hannes." Viktor said with a smirk.

"Don´t mention it." The mangled form of Hannes said, before managing to stand up, snapping some of his bones back together. The sound once again made the students flinch uncomfortable.

"Now…" Hannes began. "Why are you dressed as an Über and Yang is dressed as a Nazi officer?" Hannes asked, referring to the clothes both Viktor and Yang was wearing.

"Long story. Why are you dressed as a Nazi officer and the others are dressed as Order troops?" Viktor asked.

"Also a long story, which I hope that I don´t need to tell you here." Hannes responded.

"Couldn't agree more." Viktor said.

"Yeah, let's get out of here. Before those who chased us decide to come back." Yang said.

"Wait, you guys where chased?" Hannes said, before looking around. "That would explain all the burning wreckages around us." He said, waving a hand over the battlefield. "Wait a minute? Didn´t you guys escape in a cargo plane? What are you doing down here? And where is the plane?" Hannes asked.

"Also a long story. Let us get moving." Viktor said, pushing past Hannes towards the parked chopper. Yang ran up to him.

"Don´t forget Viktor, you owe me a tank for the one I lost." Yang said.

"Yes yes Yang, I will get you one of those soon." Viktor said with a smirk.

"Wait, what tank?" Hannes commented from behind, looking at the others, who shrugged their shoulders, just as confused as him. Nora then ran up to Viktor.

"And could I get a pet bear? I promise to feed it, groom it and bathe it, and you could teach me to talk to it. Could we perhaps find those bears that we found in the cave? I promise to take care of them. Pleeeaaase." Nora begged of Viktor, making the Russian mercenary laugh at her suggestion.

"What bears? What cave? What´s this about a tank? Where is your plane? What the hell did we miss!? Why won´t you give us context!?" Hannes yelled, more confused than ever. The others were just as equally confused by everything. This only caused Viktor, Yang, Nora and Velvet to laugh, confusing the others even more.

A few moments later, the former battlefield was quiet. The helicopter was gone from where it landed. The fire on the wreckages had now started to fade, as snow started to fall. Within short, there wouldn´t be any evidence of a battle here, as the snow would cover every trace. In the snow, laid the empty syringe Hannes had used. I single drop of purple liquid hanged from the tip of the needle, before dropping down into the snow. The sound of footsteps then approached the syringe, before a pair of gloved hands grabbed it and lifted it off from the ground. A masked soldier looked at the syringe in his hand, his face unreadable. The pursuing soldiers from before had returned to where they had last engaged Viktor and his allies, only to find no one there. Even more strange, the snowmobiles they had stolen were still there. Had they continued on foot, or where there something else?

"Sir!" A voice on the soldier's side yelled. The man looked in the direction of the voice and saw another soldier, who pointed down towards the ground. The officer walked over to the soldier and looked over the area. "It seems like a helicopter landed over here." The soldier said. The officer didn´t say anything, his mask making his face unreadable. He then reached up to his ear.

"Command, we believe that Viktor and his allies have joined up with Hannes and his team. We have found evidence of a helicopter that have landed here, and a multitude of footprints walking from and to it." The officer said through the radio. He then stayed quiet, as he listened in on the response. "No sir, we have no idea where it has gone. We where force to retreat and regroup after our first skirmish." The officer said. He then stayed quiet once more. "We also found something else. An empty syringe that was filled with a purple liquid." The officer added. He stayed quiet once more. "Yes sir, understood sir. Out!" The officer lowered his hand from the radio and looked at the others.

"We have orders to withdraw and return to the outpost. We are to let the border team's deal with it now." The officer said.

"Understood sir." The driver of one of the Humvees said.

"Finally, I can´t wait to get out of the snow." A soldier complained, as he sat inside the vehicle. Within short, two tracked Humvees left the scene of the battle, leaving it to rest in peace.

Friedrich leaned back in his chair and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I had hoped that that in his weakened state, that patrol would have been able to deal with Viktor and his friends. But from what they had told me, it was those friends of his that did most of the damage this time, not Viktor." He said to a group of officers.

"Yes sir, the patrol suffered heavy damage, but amazingly, zero casualties, from their engagement with the escapees." The officer said. Friedrich looked over his own hand with one eye at the officer in slight surprise.

"Zero casualties? That is not like Viktor. He usually slaughters as many as he can in his engagements. Those new friends of his must be getting to him." Friedrich said. None of the officers responded, since they didn´t know how to respond. They all admit that their leader acted…strange all of a sudden. He would usually threaten or yell when something failed. He would sometimes kill the one responsible. But now, he took these news rather well and instead, simply sat there quiet in his chair in his office. That strange Grimm looking lady had since long simply disappeared. None of the officers fully knew who she was, but they reckoned that she was one of these new allies that their leader had procured. Friedrich stroked his chin, thinking.

"Are we still jamming all communications except our own?" Friedrich asked.

"Yes sir." One of the officers said. "All communications within the Kingdom of Atlas are at the moment being jammed. No communication in, out or within the kingdom. We are blaming it maintenance at the main tower in the capital. All forms of communications except those approved are offline. This also include our runaway helicopter." The officer answered. Friedrich remained silent, giving a single nod of approval.

"There are perks being the ones who built the towers in the first place." Another officer said with a smirk. Friedrich leaned back and smirked as well.

"Indeed there is." He said, but then his face turned sour. "And if the natives would find out about that, all of our plans would be ruined. If they manage to warn Vale and the rest of Remnant before we initiate our plans, things will get all too complicated." He growled, making the officers nervous. He then raised an eyebrow.

"Natives?" He then repeated, his face locked in a state of thought. A smirk then started to slowly creep up on his face. "Of course." He added.

"What is it my leader?" An officer asked. Friedrich looked at the officer, still smirking.

"Why waste our own manpower and resources hunting them down, when we can let the natives do it instead." Friedrich said. He leaned back in his chair, his hands together. The officers at first were confused at his statement, before finally coming to the realization as well and started to smirk too. "Tell me gentlemen, how much do you think Viktor, Hannes and their allies are worth per head?"

"Hello, Ironwood, come in! (Static) Ironwood, I swear on my next beer, if you don´t answer soon…" Hannes said through the mic, once again receiving only static. He threw the mic back onto the console in frustration and mumbled to himself.

"It is no use Hannes. The Order is jamming all communications. They aren´t taking any chances." Viktor said from the pilot seat, steering the chopper.

"No kidding, none of our Scrolls get any signal. We have tried numerous times to get it working, but we just can´t get a signal." Ruby said, putting away her Scroll in defeat. The rest of the students did the same, also realizing the futility in their attempts. Yang, Nora and Velvet had also been reunited with their respective weapons, much to their delight. No one, except for Velvet and Coco, still knew what kind of weapon Velvet had. Hannes was one of those who was most skeptical about a camera as a weapon, especially after she had taken photos of his and Viktor´s own weapons. Hannes, who sat next to Viktor in the co-pilot seat, crossed his arms after the failed communication.

"Well, so much for the rescue and a quick ride back to Vale." Hannes mumbled.

"We´ll just have to get to Vale the old fashioned way. We fly to the closest city, jump aboard an airship and fly out of Atlas." Viktor said.

"And how much do you want to bet that the airports are being guarded?" Hannes asked.

"And the only long range airport in Atlas is located in the capital." Weiss said. Hannes pressed down on the GPS on the dashboard and looked up the distance between them and the capital.

"No way are we making there with the fuel reserves we currently have. Besides, we will have to take a massive detour to get to it if we are to jump on one of the smaller airports first." Hannes said. Viktor frowned at the news, this was getting complicated and time was of the essence.

"Then what about boat?" Pyrrha asked. Everyone in the chopper looked at her.

"Boat?" Viktor asked. Pyrrha nodded.

"Yes. There is a cruise line between Vale, Atlas and the other kingdoms, going often. I used to take it when I was on tour. If we can make it to a large costal town, we can jump aboard and make it to Vale within days." Pyrrha said.

"She is right. The ferry is our best choice. The ships may not be as fast as an airship, but it would be our best option, considering our current ones." Weiss added.

"And I bet that it is cheaper." Yang added, making some of the others roll their eyes. Viktor and Hannes looked at each other. Hannes then looked at the GPS.

"We are close to a coastal town and with our current fuel status, we should make the distance." Hannes began.

"The Order will be monitoring the airports more closely than the harbors" Viktor said.

"It is also a lot easier to sneak into a harbor rather than an airport." Hannes added.

"And even easier to smuggle aboard twelve people onto a boat instead of an aircraft." Viktor finished.

"Large, grounded vehicle with less security means easier access. Unless you guys have a version of the TSA?" Hannes asked the students.

"Uhhh, what is the "TSA"?" Jaune asked.

"Perfect!" Hannes clapped his hands together. "By ship it is." He said. Everyone else in the chopper agreed to this notion. Hannes put down the fastest route towards the nearest costal town and as soon at the coordinates were set, Viktor turned the chopper around in that direction. The Stealth Hawk transport chopper raced over the snow of Atlas as fast as it could. But no helicopter could match the speed of a radio signal and unbeknownst to the occupants in the helicopter, an anonymous message had just been sent out to every Scroll, news and media outlet in Atlas and beyond, and the message would soon concern all of them, as their trip back to Vale, was just only beginning.

AN: And that is that, another chapter done. What have our heroes gotten themselves into now and what did Friedrich mean with his last statement. All will be revealed in the next chapter. As always, please review and click follow if you like the story and I´ll see you all in the next chapter.