The New Rose

Chapter 6- The Intelligence Unit

Sindel, Litchi and the rest of their unit walked outside the mines and proceeded to the field so the airships could pick them up. Their next order of business was to get to the work area that they would be gathering intelligence at as well as going over debriefs for whatever missions they get. Sindel also wanted to get them to the Atlas lab so they could get familiar with the identification technology for whenever they identified culprits in cases. This unit was not some half-assed one, General Ironwood was putting a lot of faith in them but Sindel knew they could handle it.

The group got outside and was surprised to see General Ironwood and a woman who resembled Ruby's partner greatly. Now that Ruby thought about it, Weiss had never really talked with her or her team about her family, she probably thought they didn't need to know about them. Well, it wasn't her problem anymore, but she did wonder what General Ironwood was doing here and how he showed up so conveniently after their mission. Ruby was snapped out of her thoughts when Sindel started speaking to the group.

"Well, it seems that we have a surprise visit. I wonder what this could be about, anyway Litchi and I will go speak with General Ironwood. You all just remain here for the time being ok?" Sindel told her team who nodded.

While Sindel and Litchi went to speak with the general, the students chatted amongst themselves. A lot of the talk had to do with them finishing their first mission and somehow, they did it with ease and without injury. It honestly surprised a lot of them, some of them had been nervous before starting but seeing how they worked so well together, there was nothing to worry about. Ruby turned her attention back to Sindel and Litchi chatting with Ironwood and was again wondering who that other woman was. Also, why were there soldiers here?

"Holy crap it's like Weiss evolved…" Ruby said looking at the woman and heard Mira laughing.

"Haha you are close, but that is Winter Schnee, Weiss' sister and the oldest of the Schnee children. She is the deputy under General Ironwood." Mira said factually and Ruby widened her eyes.

"Schnee children? Oh God, I was so foolish to think that there was only one." Ruby said in despair.

"Yeah, there is Weiss, Winter and their brother Whitley, who as you may have guessed is a spoiled brat and an annoyance." Mira groaned to which Ruby did the same.

"Doesn't surprise me one bit considering how Weiss has acted in the time I have known her. Still, I wonder why General Ironwood is here in the first place. Was he really anticipating the outcome of our mission?" Ruby wondered and the rest of the students thought the same thing.

Sindel and Litchi both walked up to General Ironwood and Winter Schnee to gain some insight as to why they were here. If Sindel was being quite honest she was not that fond of Winter Schnee, considering the woman had a very stiff personality and a high opinion of herself. Not to mention that they were in the military together early on and it was hard to work with her considering her high standards. These feelings were not allowed to come out when speaking with the general however, so she decided to get on with it.

"General Ironwood, I wasn't expecting you to be here when we walked out of the mines. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Sindel asked kindly.

"Well Agent Diamond, I wanted to come see for myself the efforts and outcome of your new unit! And considering that all the students seem to be uninjured and those two boys are carrying sacks that look like they are full of the dust we need; I would say it was a success!" Ironwood said heartily.

"You are correct General Ironwood, the mission went off without a hitch and we had no injuries, in fact these kids barely broke a sweat. Multiple Centinels were taken down and an Arma Gigas that we had no info on being in the cave is no more." Litchi said and Ironwood and Winter were shocked.