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Some claim that the IL is a cowardly organization.
After all, why should it stay in the shadows and devote so much resources into remaining unseen and unheard? After all, they were powerful, weren't they? They were spread out over so many universes and could save many people from horrendous fates. So, with their power over the causation of timeline-altering events, why should they hide?
Well, here's the thing: they aren't the most powerful organization in the multiverse. Not by a long shot. There are forces that the IL cannot hope to handle, even with all of its trump cards that could cause a death of a god. Forces that the agents shiver when thinking about. Forces that, if they found out about the IL's existence, would stop at nothing to conquer them to gain access to their highly-prized portal technology.
That was why the IL chose to remain in hiding, choosing only to show itself to a few outsiders that the majority of the Foundation could trust. Even with their full power - vast military forces, superior commanders, inter-universal portal technology, hyper-advanced drone technology and integration, and a strong moral code - they simply could not compete with other, more... morally ambiguous organizations.
Take the Sirens, for example. The IL had often tussled with them, and they were one of the few factions that knew of the IL's existence. The only reason why they hadn't completely wiped away the existence of the IL yet was due to a much greater threat they were trying to face.
Another great example would be the monsters of the GL-class universes. Operation: Daylight had been an absolute nightmare for the IL agents, and a grand majority of the female agents who had participated in the Operation had to be taken into therapy, with a few unlucky ones being... quarantined in the infirmary for the next few months.
However, the last great example would be the Hammond Empire. The IL made sure that the Empire remained unaware of their existence at all costs - their numbers were just too big; their need for new technologies to spur their growth too much for the relatively-small organization to handle. The 'From Dust' incident especially caused the IL to hide from the HE as long as possible.
However, their moral code wouldn't allow them to not attempt to save as many lives as possible.
---
[Aerial Carrier ILN Zero, War Room]
Twelve had a grave look on his face as he saw the carrier fly through the open air, far away from the continent where the havoc was taking place. He turned from the cameras to the other people in the room with him. Specifically, they were a task force - a borderline SCP MTF, so to speak.
Of course, calling in a task force meant that something had gotten out of hand - a borderline humiliation scandal, as it meant that the agents assigned to that universe failed to maintain their duty. However, when it came to the Hammond Empire, it was understandable that Twelve would willingly call in the necessary people to take care of the job he needed to undertake. And for operations relating to the RWBY-verse, that meant he had to call in the task force that could solve the problems that the RWBY-verse could specifically conjure up. Matters of Dust usage, for example, could work in universes that were tailored towards the RWBY franchise, but they would not work in any universe that contained the Imperium of Man.
Yes; Twelve knew that they were fictional. All of the council members knew that they were fictional. However, it didn't interfere with their job, so they did not care at all. He could only hope that the 'gods' (read: writers) up above would take mercy on them. After all, the writers were a part of the Tridente Foundation, correct? The three-pronged Foundation - writers, protectors, and death - made up the very core of all that happened when it came to the creation of fiction. They had a series of checks and balances - the writers did not know of the protector's existence, but death claimed them all in the end. The writers created, the protectors protected, and death destroyed. It was that simple.
Of course, what wasn't so simple was how often the balance trembled. The majority of protectors did not know that they were fictional. They did not need to know that they were fictional. Similarly enough, they were also as real as could be. They breathed, they ate, they fought, they loved, and most importantly, they protected what was dear to them. Did that not mean that they were not in fact alive? That was the main dilemma the council had to deal with. If the writers came to know of their existence, would the IL be regarded as a simple organization?
But that was a story for another time. Now, however... Twelve needed to focus. He opened his mouth, and began to speak to the assembled task force: Task Force Rose-1.
"As you can see on the projector screen," he began, motioning to the screen behind him that showed various news channels covering the HE's attack on Remnant, "the war's almost over. The Empire has begun an attack on the two remaining kingdoms left fighting - Vytal and Mistral. All is lost for Remnant; that much is known."
One of the task force members bowed her head at the mention of the attacks, the news of it obviously disturbing her. Her short and choppy black-and-red hair had now been grown out to the small of her back, yet remained spiky. Her previous combat skirt was ditched in favor of something that looked similar, yet still pertained to IL combat uniform standards. However, with all of her changes to her appearance, her silver eyes still remained striking.
Ruby Rose managed finally managed to speak. "Sir... how long will they last?"
"At the current rate? Less than a couple of days. It's likely that they'll fall by tomorrow, even."
"Then why didn't we try to save them earlier?" the former Huntress asked. Her general personality had... changed, to say the least. This particular version of Ruby Rose came from a universe in which all of her friends and family had died from the Grimm. Taiyang and Yang Xiao Long had died from a surprise Grimm attack while Taiyang was trying to protect them. In fact, all of her friends had died in 'surprise Grimm attacks'. Ruby chalked it up to the Grimm somehow becoming more and more sentient - sentient enough to carry out assassinations. Twelve chalked it up to lazy writing by the writer who had written the story.
However, it didn't matter much now, anymore. This Ruby had gone all her life without any friends that she could have made - Jeanne, Nora, Sun... they had all died before she could have met them. And she suffered because of this. When the IL decided to recruit her, she had gone willingly because she had nowhere else to go.
Twelve merely sighed, taking the time to stare at the cherry wood table in the middle of the room where all of the members were sitting at. "Trust me; if the council wasn't so scared of the HE finding out about our existence, then we would have interfered as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the other council members are quite scared of being found out, and for good reason. I understand and sympathize with your motivation to act, but my hands were tied until now."
Ruby merely nodded before she fell silent, and the council member internally shivered. He had talked to other Ruby's (Rubies?) before, and all of them had been more... enthusiastic than the one sitting before him. It was awkward, and it was unsettling.
Another one of the task force members - Kate, if he recalled correctly - raised her hand. "So! What are we supposed to do? We gonna just go drop in, kill some baddies, and then leave?"
"No. You drop in, evacuate as many students and staff as possible, and wait for the drones to do their work before evacuating yourselves."
"Drones...?"
"Yes. Drones." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a spherical drone with a gigantic camera acting as its 'eye' flew into the war room, much to everyone's surprise. "This here is Cam. If you can figure out why it's called 'Cam', you get a brownie point." He motioned towards the eye. "Anyways, this drone will be recording video and audio of the HE. Your additional duty, on top of evacuating the belligerents of Beacon Academy, will be to make sure that the drone does not fall into enemy hands or is destroyed. Do you understand me?"
When the task force nodded, Twelve continued. "Good. The drone will take about an hour to finish recording what it needs to record. I'm sure that this is acceptable for you all?"
He was met with "ayes", "yes"es, and an "aye aye, captain". Hearing this, a brief smile crossed his face. "Excellent. Ruby, since you're familiar with the layout of Beacon, you'll be the task force leader. Now, suit up and meet up on the flight deck. There'll be a transport plane waiting to get you to your destination."
---
Once the transport plane took off from the flight deck, Twelve took in a deep breath, trying to make his worries go away. In truth, though, he knew that he might as well have sent them to a death trap. The HE was big, massive, and extremely overpowered. He was sending in a bunch of mice to deal with a cat.
In other words, there were low chances that the mission would go exactly the way he wanted it to go. However, he was giving it all he got - allowing them to bring weapons was a gigantic risk in itself, due to the Antebellum Order. He couldn't even authorize airstrikes to make their job easier. In short, he was a tad bit stressed.
He could only hope that the HE wouldn't catch the task force's operation.
---
Beacon.
It had been Ruby's home, once. So long ago... she couldn't remember how long it had been. Her time in the IL was immensely relative - for all she knew, it could have been a few years to a few decades ago. IL members did not age, which didn't help with tracking down how long ago had she had last been to Beacon.
But it had been long enough; that much she knew. Standing up from her seat on the transport plane, she watched as the back doors began to open up. With a small grin on her face, she pulled out her weapon - Crescent Rose - and turned it into scythe form, oddly remembering the entrance exam that inducted her into Beacon. Almost unconsciously, she let her weapon trail behind her as she stood on the very edge of the plane, ready to drop. A smile graced her pale face as she waited for the signal.
As she looked below her, she saw that they were currently flying over the forest near Beacon - coincidentally, the very same forest in which she had done her entrance exam. It felt... right, in a way, to be dropped in for a mission in the very same place where she started her life as a huntress. Even if this was in a different universe, the sentimental value was still the same.
The other members of her task force began to form up on her, with herself taking the point. They were waiting for her, now. As soon as the pilot behind her radio'd that they were clear to jump, Ruby took a deep breath.
And jumped.
And hit a bird on the way down.
"Birdie, no!"
Just like old times.
---
The Hammond grunt was just following orders. They were orders that made him uncomfortable when he was shooting down children, but they were orders regardless. And besides, he knew that the 'children' wouldn't hesitate to kill him if they had the chance. Therefore, without any hesitation, he fired with his auto-rifle, taking cover behind a wall while the rest of his squadron formed up on him. On his mark, they leapt out and began to fire, hitting some students while the others fled.
"Hmph. Could have had better aim," he muttered before he began to walk forward, the rest of his team walking behinds him. He got out a pistol this time - his intent on finishing off the students clear. "Oh, well. Time for nights out, huh?"
When his squad mates agreed, he began to follow through and walked towards one of the students - a black-haired girl with a bullet through her leg. She was groaning in pain - alive, but in immense pain. He aimed his pistol at her, but hesitated to fire. Antebellum Order or not... she was still a child. Hell, she even looked to be about her daughter's age! He was going to kill someone's daughter! Did he have the stomach to do something like that...?
"Hey! What's taking so long?" another grunt asked him. "If you're not going to kill her, then I will." She pulled out her own pistol.
He shook his head. "No, no... I got this." Aiming the pistol at her head, he fired the gun.
Or at least, attempted to. That was when he realized that he couldn't really feel his hand anymore. Perhaps it was because of a freak bout of carpal tunnel. Maybe it was God interfering with his decision. Or, most likely, it was because his entire arm was cut off.
The grunt screamed in pain as he stumbled back, clutching the bloody stump of his arm while grimacing in pain. "What the... where did it...?!"
The other grunts were similarly confused as they pulled out their rifles and aimed at random spots, looking for any students that had managed to do such a deed. In the midst of the confusion, they didn't notice the silver-eyed, black-and-red haired girl coming at them from above with a scythe poised to strike.
For you see, it was Ruby who had managed to cut off the guy's arm. With a well-placed sniper round, that is. And soon after, the grunts found that they were now outmatched by one extremely-angry IL member wielding a scythe.
Once she landed in the middle of the group, she spun her scythe around her. Slow to react, the grunts found that they suddenly couldn't feel their legs anymore. As they fell, they realized that the strange girl had managed to splice them at the waist, perfectly and clean. A distinct fear filled their helmet-covered faces. She had managed to cut through multiple peoples' flesh, muscle, and spine with a single swipe of her scythe. If she could do that, then what else could she do? They didn't want to find out.
But they didn't have a choice in the matter. They had killed, and now they had to pay.
---
While Ruby was 'distracting' the soldiers, another member of her task force had reached the students, performing emergency medical treatment on each of them. Another one had begun to run after the fleeing students. Like a well-oiled machine, they soon managed to stabilize and recover all of the students in the immediate vicinity who hadn't died. Once they were done with that, one of the members pulled out a strange-looking crystal.
"A dust crystal...?" One of the students sputtered out while sitting down on the ground, their leg in a splint. "What are you going to do with that?"
Without a word, the IL member ignored the student before tossing the crystal away. Watching the crystal, the students saw that the crystal bounced once before it... suddenly vaporized. In its place was an azure-rimmed portal that seemed to lead to a flight deck of sorts. Stretchers and more medical equipment were waiting on the other side, and teams of what seemed to be doctors wearing face masks entered through the portal with stretchers. The students who were able to walk were made to walk through the portal, and those that couldn't were put on a stretcher.
Of course, some resisted. After all, they had seen what one of the strange newcomers had done to the invaders, and they were obviously scared. It took a few words from the doctors to calm them down enough for them to willingly go through the portal. The ones who still resisted were shot with tranquilizers.
Once the portal closed up and the students evacuated, the members simply moved on to their next location. They knew that elsewhere, more agents would be performing the same task - stopping the soldiers from killing and incapacitate them, perform quick medical work to the students of Beacon who needed it, and then ship them off to the aerial carrier via portal.
Why couldn't they have done this earlier, when they had come to Beacon? Well, it was because of the crystals.
You see, the aerial carrier, ILN Zero, was unique. The Zero-class of aerial carriers carried what the IL dubbed a 'portal crystal rangefinder', or PCR. The crystals didn't actually open up portals by themselves, but were rather catalysts for a special spell. Although magic generally only worked in their own universes - being able to use Dust only on Remnant being a good example - there were still some exceptions to that rule, though the majority of them were simple. IL's portal tech and magic, however, was one exception to the magic rule. All they needed was a catalyst (the crystal), a 'beacon' or PCR (ILN Zero), and the necessary magic to open up the portal (enchantments on the crystal), and a portal to the beacon/PCR would spawn.
And the IL used this method of portal creation to evacuate as many people as they could.
Of course, the crystals were finite and could only open a portal for a minute, but that was more than enough. They had enough for an hour's worth of crystals - coincidentally, that just so happened to be the amount of time Cam needed to film footage of the atrocities of what was going on at Beacon.
Therefore, once Cam had collected the last of its footage, the task force brought it back to the carrier with a portal crystal when they brought over some more evacuees. They still didn't go back yet, though - there was still more.
Of course, everyone knew that they couldn't save all the students - the HE would have definitely taken notice if that were to happen. They could only save the students who just so happened to be in their vicinity, and the unfairness of having to restrain oneself to selectively choose who got to continue living and who had to stay behind reflected on the physical actions of the task force. As time slogged on, their mental fortitude began to diminish and their posture worsened. One task force member had to even stop another from going out of their way to kill off Hammond grunts by themselves. It was unfair, yes, but it was necessary.
For Ruby, however, it was different. Even though she couldn't claim that she was having a good time - with the reality of the situation bearing down on her the most - it didn't mean that she couldn't slip into nostalgia at times when she came upon a certain spot of Beacon that wasn't blood-soaked.
She knew that she would cry once the operation was over. Hell, she knew that everyone would cry once the operation ended. However, that was no reason to falter now, nor to at least have some pockets of good memories. She remembered having detention in Professor Port's classroom as she cleared the room out of Hammond grunts. She remembered seeing Sun for the first time as she attempted to save some civilians from the ruthless soldiers at the docks. And, when she took a quick detour to her old dorm room, she remembered how... chaotic the bunk beds were. And despite the situation - despite knowing that later on in the years, she lost the trio of friends - she still smiled softly at the old sight. It was a sight for sore eyes.
That was when she was startled by a voice behind her. "Enjoying yourself, Ruby?" It was Twelve.
Turning around, Ruby saw as Twelve walked through an azure-rimmed portal before the portal vanished. One of her own portal crystals must have fallen out when she had been reminiscing and accidentally opened up a portal, it seemed. "Ah... you know me, hehe..."
"I don't," Twelve simply responded as he walked to stand beside her, taking in the chaotic mess of the dorm room. "So this was your dorm room, correct? The one that you shared with your team?"
"Team RWBY, yeah... it was, like, so nostalgic, y'know? Brought back the good feelings and such." Her mannerisms of speech had begun to appear again after remembering the 'good ol' days', which Twelve smiled at once he realized it. "What? Why are you smiling?"
"Nothing," Twelve responded, his smile fading as he walked forwards and touched one of the bunk beds. "... surreal, isn't it? No matter which universe that held you was it, you were almost always put into a team with Weiss, Blake, and Yang."
The silver-eyed woman nodded. "Yup. Being with them were the best years of my life, and I'm happy that other mes were able to experience the same happiness." She smiled widely. It was obvious that even after so much time, she still loved them to death. Typical Ruby.
"I'm sure it was," Twelve responded. "How have you coped with it all these years, though? If I remember correctly, you were very dejected when we first recruited you."
"Well... at first, I didn't. I became something of a shell of myself, hehe..." Ruby cleared her throat. "But now, I realize that-" she was cut off when a distant boom could be heard, and her smile slowly faded. "... that must be the artillery shells..."
"Indeed. It's... unlikely that the Ruby of this universe will come back to this room before it's destroyed or she... you know what I mean. Do you wish to take something along with you?"
"You mean... I can do that?"
"Of course. It's not against official IL policy to bring something back if it holds a personal value to you. That is, of course, unless you're bringing back a weapon or something that could cause harm."
Ruby nodded as she began to wander around the room. "Hm..."
After a while, the distant booms got louder and louder. Twelve frowned. "Ruby, we don't have much time. Have you picked anything yet?"
"I... blegh, there's so many things to chose from! There's the cloak, books, and some other things that I used to own..." Ruby said, a bit exasperated. "So many choices...!"
"Mm..." Twelve took out a portal crystal. "You have thirty seconds before we leave."
"Aw, a time limit? Darn..." Ruby began to search more before she finally just stood in the middle of the room, having realized something. "... hey, sir? I'd... like to not bring anything."
This surprised the council member. "What? Why?"
"Well... I gotta hold out hope, right? Hope that the Ruby of this universe will come back and all that. Sure, there's a... low chance, I know, but we're nothing without hope, right?"
"... fair enough. So you're not bringing anything?"
Ruby clutched the rim of her combat skirt, trying to resist picking out something. "I'm sure!"
"Alright." Twelve tossed the portal crystal behind his back. "After you."
---
What to do with the refugees now, Twelve didn't exactly know. However, he was confident that the council knew what to do with them.
What he didn't expect was for the council to have no idea as to what to do with them as well. After he returned to the council room to give a report of what had happened, the council descended into heated debate. What ought they do?
They didn't want to put the refugees back where they had started, of course. Nor did they think that they would have lasted long in the Hammond Empire. Therefore, one of the things that they had settled on was that they had to be transported to another universe. But which one...?
That was a hot topic. They wanted a place where the refugees wouldn't be separated, but a place where they could live on without IL influence. Of course, the RWBY evacuees knew of IL - after all, they had been evacuated by them. But another question was, did they want to let them keep their memories or wipe the memories of IL from them? There were so many questions that began to circulate that eventually, One made an executive decision.
"The refugees, until we are able to come to the consensus onto where we ought to place them, will stay on-base. Should a consensus not be made in time, they will assist with Task Force Rose-1's operations. I hereby declare this meeting adjourned." With a fictional bang of the gavel, One made it so.
---
So, what happened to Cam?
Well, the drone was able to make it to safety. It was not captured, nor was it destroyed. It managed to get all of the raw footage to Twelve, who was currently sitting in his office to examine the footage.
He watched all of it - even the brutal killings by the Hammond grunts. It sickened him to his stomach, but he persisted. Once the footage of ended, it took all of his will to not throw up into the trash can near him.
They were just children! The Hammond grunts were massacring children! Yes, while they had been carrying weapons and were therefore subject to the Antebellum Order, they still needlessly died! Couldn't it have hurt the Hammond Empire to seek out a more humane solution? Maybe do a peace treaty after they overpowered the military? That much would have been... well, depressing, but it would have allowed for less culling of human lives. God, Twelve was so confused at what they had tried to accomplish with the killing.
But... that was another matter, for another time. For now, Twelve took one more look at the footage and pulled out a notepad and pencil. He could learn many things from watching the grunts - including tactics, weapons, and equipment.
One day, he swore, he would find a way to resist the Hammond Empire. No matter how unlikely a chance it was, he knew that the IL needed to have a competent military force. Learning from the Hammond Empire would be a... start. Not an effective start, just from watching drone footage, but it was still something.
Once he was done, he took in a shallow breath and called for his secretary. After reviewing the footage, he knew exactly what they needed. The ground, air, and naval forces were good enough. What they needed was a space force.
... somehow, it seemed weird to him. That the IL, despite having a multiversal reach and powerful military, lacked a space fleet. He needed to remedy that.
And, from the lessons learned from establishing the military force of IL, he knew how he could make it deadly.