Hey guys, Shade here with a new chapter for EV. Sorry it took a while, been a little busy with stuff lately.

Back to the action again with this chapter. I'll write more of the 'Behind the Scope' whenever I deem it fits with the story.

Anyway, on with the plot!

Ex Vytal – Day Ten, Mission Four

Task – Airborne Assault

Objective(s) –

Primary: Assault and seize control of a suspected enemy field headquarters.

Secondary: If found, mark enemy supply cache for demolition.

CAUTION – Target is located within dense urban sprawl; watch for civilians.

On board an UH-60M Blackhawk, inbound to a Vacuan settlement two hours south of Camp Castle...

Ruby's legs hung through the open door of the helicopter as it sped towards their objective. To their right was another helicopter carrying their sister team, Coco visible through the doors as she gave her own team a set of orders... or told them a joke, Ruby couldn't tell from this distance.

"Sergeant, we're almost five minutes away. I suggest you get your team ready." The crew chief spoke over the intercom, Ruby nodding her acknowledgement as she reached for the coiled up rope beside her. Across on the other side, Jaune did the same as the helicopter pitched up and slowed down. She felt her stomach rise a little as the aircraft dropped altitude and began to hover over the target building.

"Ropes out!" She called, tossing her rope out the door to the rooftop. She waited for a few seconds to make sure the rope held, then gripped onto it with her hands and feet and pushed off the edge. She slid down the rope and landed onto the rooftop, moving away from the rope and dropping to a knee with her rifle up at the ready. Twenty seconds was all it took for the entire team of eight to rope down from the helicopter, and Ruby led them to the doorway at the rooftops edge. Splitting into two groups of four, Ruby signalled for Blake to come forward.

When not serving as a sharpshooter, Blake took on the role of point-woman and breacher. She had swapped her standard weapon, a Mark 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, for a much smaller MP5N sub-machine gun. She also carried with her a M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System that was loaded with breaching shot. Letting her SMG hang from its sling, Blake pressed the barrel of the M26 against the lock and waited for Ruby's signal. Ruby tapped her hand against Blake's helmet, and she fired three shots into the door's lock in quick succession. The door swung outward a little and Ruby pried her hand through the gap and opened it the rest of the way. Blake surged forward with her primary weapon up and quickly let off a three-round burst of fire at a man that had turned the corner.

"Movement in twos, clear all rooms and converge on the stairwell." Ruby said sharply, the sound of her team moving to cover the various hallways of the floor. The target building was a four-level office building, the interior layout fairly straight forward and easy to follow for each floor. Ruby and Weiss started moving from room to room, clearing each room and compartment they came across. Save for the sentry at the roof access door, there hadn't been any other personnel there. To Ruby, this meant that either they had raided a decoy building with a skeleton guard, or that the rest of the defending force were holed up in the lower floors. She suppressed a groan at the thought; close-quarters fighting had a high potential to turn ugly fast, and almost always lead to high-casualties on both sides by the end of the fight.

The entirety of Ruby's team had cleared the floor in minutes, converging at the doorway to the stairwell. Once again, Ruby signalled for Blake to move up and prepare for the breach. However, instead of readying the shotgun to blow the lock, she pulled out a stun grenade from her vest and pulled the pins while keeping the spoon firmly in her grasp. Blake nodded to Ruby, who held the unlocked door handle in her hand and ready to open. Ruby nodded three times in return, silently counting down the breach. On the third nod, Ruby turned the handle and pulled the door open slightly towards her, allowing Blake to lob the grenade through the gap and down the stairwell. Ruby shut it quickly and waited a few seconds for the telltale bang of the grenade.

When the grenade detonated, Ruby once again opened the door, this time all the way for Blake to surge forwards and into the stairwell. A short and sharp burst of fire rang out in the confined space, indicating to Ruby and the rest of the team that Blake had engaged another sentry. Sure enough, as Ruby made her way down the stairs, she passed a soldier dressed in Mistralian fatigues with his Mark 16 rifle propped up against the wall. She gave him a sympathetic smile, which he returned with a nod of his head as he unclipped his helmet and shuffled out of the way. Her team stacked against the entrance to the third floor, Jaune and Blake ready to execute another breach.

"Split into squads, we'll clear the place faster. Bravo will take the third deck while Alpha takes the second, move." Blake peeled away from the doorway, letting Ren take her place as Blake, Weiss and Yang filtered down the stairs towards the second floor doorway. Pyrrha and Nora stood behind Jaune and Ren respectively, and Ruby stopped next to her assistant team leader for a quick word. "Move hard and fast but don't be careless, okay?"

"Got it Ruby, let's go kick some ass." Jaune said with a confident smile. Ruby tapped his shoulder to say 'good luck' and then moved to join her squad. Blake and Yang stood at either side of the doorway; Yang with her Minimi's stock collapsed all the way in an effort to keep it compact enough for use inside. Weiss stood behind her, looking a little nervous but determined.

"Right, same deal as before Blake. Yang, as soon as that flash goes off, I want you to slice whatever's there with your Minimi; make sure you peel sideways so we can follow you in." Yang nodded her head in acknowledgement, shifting her weapon around to make sure it was ready. Ruby tapped the top of Blake's helmet, signalling for her to start the breach. Blake reached forward for the door handle with one hand with another prepped stun grenade in the other, pulling it open enough for her to throw the grenade in.

BANG

Blake violently opened the door, allowing Yang to charge forward and let loose a three-second long burst of fire as she swept her weapon across the space. The fire was deafening, but Weiss, Blake and Ruby moved undeterred as they funnelled onto the second floor, their rifles all sighting on the few troops that hadn't been caught by Yang's fire. Wisely, they all dropped their weapons and surrendered; Yang and Weiss covering Ruby and Blake as they secured them and gathered them into a nearby room. The sounds of muffled gunfire could be heard through the ceiling as Jaune's squad moved above them.

Weiss and Ruby moved further into the floor as Yang and Blake kept guard over their prisoners, clearing the remaining rooms until they reached the last room of their floor. Ruby was about to breach but was stopped by a chirp from her radio.

"One-Alpha, this is One-Bravo. Third deck secure; no casualties, and we've captured five enemy personnel."

"Bravo, Alpha. Good job, we're about to secure the last room on deck two. We've got eight enemy personnel under guard. If you are combat effective, I want you to clear the ground deck; take Echo-Four-Lima or Echo-Three-Bravo if you need them."

"Copy that Alpha. We'll transfer our POWs to you and proceed to the ground deck, Bravo out."

With their brief chat over, Ruby looked over to Weiss and gestured for her to prepare for a breach. Receiving a nod for confirmation, Ruby readied a stun grenade as Weiss gripped the handle on the door. With another nod, Weiss slowly opened the door, and Ruby was about to throw the grenade through but was halted by a shout from the other side.

"You throw that grenade and the woman dies!" The two soldiers froze and backed a step away from the door.

"Listen up, this is the Vale Army. You have nowhere else to run, and if you execute that civilian we will not hesitate in killing you. I suggest you give yourself up and come out with your hands on your head!" Ruby shouted back, her rifle aimed towards the ajar door. She waited for half a minute before calling out again. "Come out with your hands on your head or we will enter and kill you!" Getting no response, Ruby nodded over to Weiss, who stepped forward and gripped the door. Counting down from three with her hand, Weiss swiftly pulled the door open and stepped aside; Ruby quickly stepping through with her weapon up and aimed towards the owner of the voice.

A lone Mistralian soldier stood towards the back of the room, a woman about Ruby's age clutched to his side with the soldiers sidearm aimed towards the door. The soldier got a single shot off at the same time Ruby fired a single shot. A loud set of beeps rang out after the gunshots, and both soldiers listened for the wound reports.

"Wounded: upper left leg, critical."

"Wounded: neck, fatal." Ruby sighed in relief as the Mistralian soldier's simulation gear reported that he had received a fatal wound from Ruby's shot. Though, her relief was replaced with frustration at the realisation that she herself had taken a critical wound in battle. Thankfully, Weiss was with her to administer quick treatment had that been a real-world engagement, but it was still poor form for a team leader to get wounded in combat.

Ruby nodded at Weiss, who in turn reached for her radio control.

"This is One-One-Alpha, second deck is clear. One-One-Bravo, status?"

"This is Bravo, ground deck clear, no casualties but no prisoners."

"Copy that Bravo. Echo-Four-Alpha, be advised that you now have command of the team; Echo-Four-Romeo is wounded, how copy?"

"Copy that. One-One, regroup on the second deck, prepare for MEDVAC and exfiltration. Break, Beacon-One-Actual, this is One-One. Objective secure, requesting MEDVAC on site, how copy?"

Camp Castle, Beacon One-One quarters

Later that night...

"... and I'm telling you, I much prefer having the stopping power of my Minimi over the compact size of my sidearm."

"But it's much easier to wield a sidearm when moving from room to room!"

"Well, when you get nailed by a guy whose vest stopped my nine-mils, don't come crying to me!"

Ruby frowned from her bunk as she listened to the heated discussion between Yang and Weiss, and how Weiss commented on the fact that Yang used her LMG in close-quarters.

"Besides, if it weren't for my sweeping fire after the second deck breach, you would have had to deal with a shitload more of the enemy! It's because of my gun that we were able to scare those last few guys into surrendering."

"Yeah, but you still shouldn't have used it inside!" Ruby couldn't take it any longer, but she knew better than to interrupt her older sister when she was in the midst of an argument; growing up with her had taught her the hard way. She grabbed her soft cover from behind her and made her way out of the tent and into the relatively cooler night-time air. Ruby started walking through the base, no set destination in her mind, just walking for the sake of walking and clearing her mind.

Damn it Ruby... you could have died if that was a real mission. Your father and sister have already lost two others that they loved dearly, the last thing you want to do is be the next one... Just because you're the team leader doesn't mean that you always have to be the first through the door and into the fight.

No... I won't needlessly put other lives at risk just because I don't want to risk my own.

That's not being selfish, that's being subjective. Many soldiers have died under the command of others, what makes you and your squad so different? Nothing.

Wrong... they are my friends, my famil-

Stop that thought right there. That's why you can't send others through the door. You've become too attached to your team.

And there's nothing wrong with that. If anything, it keeps morale up and brings the team close.

Until the first man or woman falls, in which case all hell breaks loose and any sense of professionalism goes out the window.

"Something troubling you Sergeant Rose?" An authorative voice snapped Ruby from her internal debate, and she looked up to find her platoon commander, Captain Ozpin, looking at her with a mildly concerned expression. Instinct kicked in and Ruby snapped to attention. Ozpin chuckled at this and raised his hand to wave her down. "Relax Sergeant, no need to get formal with me out here..."

"Sorry sir... I was just... thinking about today's mission." Ruby sighed as she relaxed.

"Ah yes, the capture of the suspected enemy headquarters. I read that your team took one casualty during the mission, is that correct?"

"Yes sir... it was me sir." The silence between the two soldiers was deafening. Ruby was dreading whatever her commander said next.

"It is an unpleasant feeling, to be conflicted in deciding whether sending someone else in place of you would have been the correct action or not."

"Sir?" Ruby asked, surprised. That was not what she was expecting from him.

"You have to realise sergeant, that while you and I are of different rank and position, the fundamentals of what we do and what we feel are the same. But while you have to choose between one soldier and another, I have to choose between two full teams. And it wounds me to know that one day in the future, I may have to choose between them knowing that they may very well not return." Ozpin turned and looked over towards the empty desert outside of the boundary wire fencing that ringed around the camp. "It is never easy, and it never will be. Whenever I make a tough call regarding our platoon, I always think back to something one of my instructors during my officer training drilled into me. He told us from day one that we have to be able to discern whether an order would be spending lives, or wasting lives. If lives are lost but the outcome positive, those lives are spent. But if the outcome was negative, then they were wasted." Ozpin looked back at the young sergeant. "Deciding whether the lives under your command were spent or wasted is only something you can conclude. It is up to you to decide whether your own 'life' was spent or wasted in today's mission."