Journal of the 106th #9

>When we had left Menagerie, few would have thought we'd be redeployed there as we were.
>Immediately following the General's rise to power, many Faunus in Atlas found themselves getting deported to Menagerie.
>What resulted was a lot of bad blood between the two factions.
>When Atlas caught wind of a rebellion spreading through the Faunus' ranks, the 106th were called in to stomp out the flames.
>When the doors on the drop ship opened, we were greeted by a crowd of Faunus.
>They chanted things and carried signs.
>It was clear from the start we weren't welcome.
>It was the first time we'd see this group of protesters, but it wouldn't be the last.
>We unloaded our gear and made our way to the makeshift barracks we'd call home during our occupation of the island.
>Every day, we left the base to be greeted by the familiar sights and sounds of the Faunus chanting for our deaths and for the fall of Atlas.
>We did our best to ignore them and get on with our patrols.
>Hunting down the leaders of this rebellion was taking time for Intelligence, so we were told to keep pressure on the locals, remind them that one wrong step could be their last.
>I walked down the streets of the village we were stationed in with my squad.
>A few years earlier, we had saved this village from the Opps, and here we were.
>The villagers seemed to avoid us, those who didn't gave us cold stared.
>We kept our heads straight and marched on, but under our helmets, we couldn't help but watch them.
>It was nerve racking.
>No one wanted to be an accidental spark that would start a race war.
>At the same time, we wouldn't let anything happen to our comrades, so we watched each other's back.
>We were nearly finished with our shift and on our way back when a group of Faunus surrounded us.
>They screamed at us, the same chants they yelled towards our base every day.
>We stood our ground and waited for them to pass.
>That was when the soldier next to me got hit with a rock.
>We looked and soon enough rocks began flying from every direction.
>We started ordering them stop, even started pointing our guns at them.
>But they didn't listen.
>The barrage of rocks didn't stop, and it was clear that the Faunus were starting to grab makeshift weapons.
>Brooms, bats, pipes, that sort of stuff.
>The flicks of safeties and the audible sound of weapons cocking seemed to make time stop.
>The rocks stopped, the Faunus froze.
>We held our weapons at them and ordered them to disperse.
>To this day, no one knows who threw the last rock.
>Or fired the first shot.
>When the fighting started, I did my best to try and stop the rest of the men.
>These were protesting civilians, not rebel forces.
>But when they started shooting back, all hell broke loose.
>We radioed command as we took cover behind a home and returned fire.
>Soon enough, the entire barracks were mobilized and marching upon the village.
>What no one had thought of, was that this is what they wanted.
>Soon enough, Faunus began appearing in the forests surrounding us.
>They picked us off from the tree line.
>Those who tried charging them were torn apart by the beasts.
>We held our ground though, and the fighting only got worse as time went on.
>No one knows exactly how the leaders of the Faunus rebellion ended up taking part of the fight.
>All I know is that it was a good thing command had us document every body we found.
>Only way that suicide mission could be called a victory.
>When the dust settled and both sides licked their wounds, we found that over 70% of the 106th had been wiped out entirely.
>Of the survivors, only about 30% were fit for combat.
>The 106th was quickly rotated out and wouldn't see combat again for quite a while.
>While command decided to call this a victory and praise every soldier we lost for their sacrifice, I knew that any further interactions with Faunus would lead to the same results.
>There was no doubt in my mind that all we did was plant new seeds of hatred for years to come.
>As we were marched towards our ride off this godforsaken island, finally leaving the hell command had thrown us into, I took one look back at the trees.
>I couldn't see them, but in my mind, I saw a dozen pairs of yellow eyes atop gleaming fanged smiles.
>Goddamn animals.