Perception and Preparation
Chapter 2:
Kingdom of Vale
City of Vale
2nd July, 2015
09:25 AM (Valean Time (-2 Hours Central Atlesian Time))
City Centre
Ruby sped down the path, leaving rose petals in her wake. She continued along with a smile spread wide across her face, zooming past the roads and buildings. She saw a flash of gold turn the corner, and her already wide smile grew larger. The gold turned, revealing a older girl with a similar smile on her own face.
"YANG" Ruby called, her arms opened wide, the golden haired girl threw her arms open too, and Ruby collided with her, wrapping her in a hug.
"Oh, I missed yo~ou!" Yang shouted happily, spinning her smaller sibling around. "How was school? Has Dad been eating well? Have you been eating well?" Yang fussed, placing Ruby on the floor, her hands on Ruby's shoulders.
"Yang. Dad and I have been eating fine. School's been going great, too. I've been getting Straight A's, other than PE and DT, I got A*s on those." Ruby told Yang, who laughed at her. "What? I'm trying…" Ruby whined, which caused to laugh harder as they started to walk along the path.
"Ruby. You don't need perfect grades. You wanna be an engineer, not a teacher." Yang chuckled, and Ruby pouted at Yang. "Come on. Let's get home, don't want Dad worrying about us." The blonde told her sister, who nodded, and they paced faster down the pathway.
Kingdom of Vale
City of Vale
2nd July, 2015
09:55 AM (Valean Time (-2 Hours Central Atlesian Time))
Xiao Long Household
Yang twisted her key in the door, and it swung open when she pushed.
"Ah, home sweet home. It's good to be back here after almost a year of being of being alone." Yang sighed, and Ruby aborted.
"Yang, you've been gone for a week on holi-" Ruby said, but was interrupted by Yang placing a hand over her mouth.
"Shush your face, Rose." Yang joked, and Ruby glared at her playfully.
"Ruby! Yang! Get in here now!" A voice called from another part of the building. "Quickly! This is important!" The voice shouted again, and the two hurried to the living room.
"What is it Dad?" The two questioned simultaneously, and their Father sighed.
"Listen." He said, and he knelt down in front of them. "This is the most important thing I'll ever have to tell you. You have to leave." He spoke, and Ruby let out a fearful screech.
"What! But Yang just got here!" Ruby said, and their father looked at her sternly.
"Ruby. This is not up for discussion. I need you to leave the Kingdom. As soon as you can, headed to the airport, take an airship, and head for Atlas. They'll protect you there." He informed them, and they looked at each other in confusion.
"Why? Why Atlas?" Ruby asked, and he sighed once more.
"Ruby. Trust me, get to Atlas. Yang, get her there safely, OK. You two, leave please. I need to know that you get there safely. If you go now. You may just make it before anyone does anything rash." He told them, slowly leading them toward the door. "They'll have all the stuff you need there. So you don't need to pack. Now get moving. Now!" He shoved them three the door frame, a sad smile on his face. "Goodbye girls. You know how that ol' song goes, right. We'll meet again, don't know where. Don't know when." He muttered, shutting the door behind him.
Kingdom of Vale
City of Vale
2nd July, 2015
10:15 AM (Valean Time (-2 Hours Central Atlesian Time))
Valean Interkingdom Airport
Ruby and Yang walked into the airport, and quickly headed over to the nearest desk.
"Hey, we need the soonest flight to Atlas please." Yang spoke kindly, but her eyes were filled with worry. The man who was sat at the desk looked up, his face gaunt and he shook his head.
"No can do, Missy. Atlas ain't takin' none more ships. Only way is 'cross border." The man slurred, and Yang raised an eyebrow. "Nah'ow scram. I ain't bein' paid to be dealin' with yoh'or shit." The man finished, and his head fell to the desk loudly, and the noise echoed throughout the room. Yang looked at Ruby, and they hastily left the airport.
Kingdom of Atlas
Azzurra
2nd July, 2015
10:25 AM (Central Atlesian Time)
Schnee Headquarters
Mr Schnee sat with his scroll next to his ear, and Weiss watched intently, waiting for him to finish. She saw him stand up, placing his scroll in his cleanly made suit's pocket, and he headed toward the door. When it opened, Weiss curtsied to him, and made her way next to him. He started up down corridor, and they proceeded around a corner.
"Father." She spoke calmly, but he didn't respond. "Miss Scarlatina mentioned to me that we've been trying to retrieve the tested individuals. She wanted me to report to you that we have successfully risen up in manpower by six in the recent two months, breaking our old record of four. Or three if you count Yatsuhashi as one person." Weiss joked, but still got no response. "And I wanted to speak to you about improving the funding to the facilities. If you do this, we can all get better training and we can round up the remaining testees quicker." She informed him, but her father still remained silent. "Father?" She finally questioned him, and he looked down at her, his ice blue eyes eerily emotionless. "Is something wrong?" The daughter asked, and he continued on down the long, seemingly endless, corridor. Weiss went to speak up, but her father silenced her.
"Weiss. Leave me. I have matters to attend to. Far more important than our mere manpower and funding, if you would believe." He replied harshly, and entered the room nearest him. Weiss sighed, and nodded slightly.
"Of course, father…" She murmured, and trudged away, her sky coloured eyes watering and her head drooped.
Disputed Territory (Atlas/Mistral)
Island of Mapingale
2nd July, 2015
05:30 AM (South Mistrial Time (-7 Hours Central Atlesian Time))
City Centre
The redhead walked onto the stage, her hair flowing behind her in the wind. The crowd cheered as she appeared from behind the curtain, and she smiled broadly at them, and stood at the edge of the stage.
"People of Mapingale." Her voice erupted, and the noise emanating from the crowd stopped suddenly. "We have come here today to show that we will not be oppressed. That we are all human, whether they think it or not. That no matter what we are to them, to us, to ourselves, we are a community. And we will hold out against any Kingdom that tries to claim us as their own. This day, is the one we have waited for. This is the day we prove to the world that we are not just miners and farmers. We prove that we are all people. And we deserve to be treated like they do. Today we fight, until only one side remains victorious. We fight for our ancestors, and their ancestors, who lived under the oppressive rules of the Kingdoms. We fight because we deserve better. We fight because we are the ones who deserve to win." The woman finished, and the crowd exploded with cheers and screams of joy and glee and happiness. The girl walked back behind the curtain, and her eyes narrowed when she heard faint bangs. She headed back onto the stage, only to see everyone looking around in confusion and fear. The bangs grew louder, until it was clear what it was. Two aircraft screeched overhead, and several troops dropped out, landing outside the stadium. Gunfire sounded, and many turned to flee in terror, whilst a small amount of others brought out the closest objects to weapons such as sickles or pickaxes. The redhead ran inside, grabbing a spear from under a desk, and its golden highlights glinted in the light.
Kingdom of Atlas
Azzurra
2nd July, 2015
16:20 PM (Central Atlesian Time)
Schnee Headquarters
"Mapingalian Public Speaker, Pyrrha Nikos' speech was interrupted earlier this morning when Atlesian and Mistrial troops broke into a firefight on the streets of the island. The current status of the fight is unknown." The TV spoke, and Weiss looked at it in alarm. She heard a cry of anger come from the nearby staircase, and her father flew from the doors, his face bright red and his scroll to his ear.
"General Ironwood, I am ordering you to withdraw your troops. They are not ready for combat yet, we have not retrieved the final testees. What do you mean I do not have the right to call off this attack. James!" The man cried out angrily, his eyes narrowed. "Oum help him when I find him, he'll need his strength." Mr Schnee muttered before he headed back the way he had came from. Weiss watched in surprise as her father stormed into and out of the room. She heard soft footsteps behind her, and an accented voice spoke.
"I wonder what I that was about." Weiss looked over her shoulder, and saw her brown haired Faunus friend stood only a few feet away.
"Probably something to do with the firefight on Mapingale Island." Weiss replied, earning a light lunch on the shoulder from Velvet.
"I was joking. I know exactly what caused it." Velvet replied, and the two laughed together.
"So. That means we'll be seeing some action soon. About time if you ask me." Another voice spoke up this time, and a blonde man swung down from the ceiling. "Popcorn?" He gestured, and Weiss looked at him as if he had just disgraced her family name.
"No thank you. I don't want your disgusting, dusty popcorn, Sun" Weiss answered, folding her arms and looking away from the boy.
"Disgusting? Dusty? This is top notch Vacuan popcorn right here." The boy replied, a blonde tail trailing behind him as he walked. "So. Mr Schnee's gonna be unhappy. Apparently he didn't think we were ready. I, for one, think we are ready, and that we're able to whoop serious butt." The Faunus replied, a grin on his face.
"No. We need to be more prepared. We've only ever fought each other, not actual soldiers. Hopefully… Hopefully this firefight is just a one off." Weiss replied, and Velvet nodded. The sounds of heeled shoes clacking along the ground echoed through the room, and the three looked behind them.
"You three. I'm calling a meeting. Now, meeting room." Winter ordered coldly, and they glanced at each other before Winter exited the room, leaving the door ajar.
"Well. Guess it's meeting time." Velvet commented jokingly, and they followed the eldest Schnee daughter out of the room.
Kingdom of Atlas
Azzurra
2nd July, 2015
16:30 PM (Central Atlesian Time)
Schnee Headquarters
The fifteen were sat around the long, ovaloid table, Winter stood at the end, her hands placed firmly on the table.
"A firefight between Atlesian and Mistrial began on the Island of Mapingale approximately four hours ago. And only two minutes after that, CCTV cameras caught this." Winter said, and the large computer screen behind her lit up. It showed a low resolution image from zoomed CCTV camera footage of a red-gold figure. "An unknown assailant attacked both military forces. Showing use of a semblance in the process. They're wearing a set of custom armour, a full body suit of titanium-alloy and advanced nano-fibres designed for both movement and protection. It appears to be a combination of Atlesian and Mistrial armour suits. She wields this, a spear that appears to also be a rifle. When, where, and how they gained this weapon is unknown." Winter informed them, and the other fourteen stayed silent. "I'm calling this 'The VIP', we get them back here and interrogate them for their unprovoked attack." Winter finished, and a snort came from the seats. All heads to turned to its owner, a bright blue haired boy.
"Unprovoked. Two kingdoms sent a large amount of military forces into their territory, I'd say that's very provoked." He replied, and Winter narrowed her eyes.
"Continue, Neptune." Winter growled, and he walked over to her, a grin on her face.
"OK OK OK, if you insist." He laughed, and stood in front of the screen. "What we see here are the well known colours of Public Speaker, and Mapingalian Independence Activist, Pyrrha Nikos. Red and gold. And trailing behind her… Here." Neptune pointed to the screen, and all eyes turned to his hand. "Is her trademark long, red hair. So by this we've identified our unknown assailant. Now, Miss Nikos here is one of the heads of the Mapingalian Independence Movement, which receives a high amount of funding from their small government. Now we've figured out where the weapon came from. Now, provocation. Their Independence Movement is just that, and they don't take kindly to militaries fighting it out on their turf. And, so suddenly, this unprovoked offensive turns into a fearful defensive. So, I suggest that we don't bring her here to interrogate her. But to get her to join us. She's been seen using a semblance, meaning her Aura is unsealed. Whatever her semblance is, some form of Telekinesis, as she is seen stopping bullets and throwing guns from soldiers hands." Neptune finished, and bowed before stepping away
"I completely take back my hostility Neptune. That was extremely intuitive." Winter told him, and he nodded as he took his seat, and Sun high-fived the blue haired boy.
"Are you sure about this? It seems a bit… Extreme." A Raven haired Faunus spoke, the cat ears on her head twitching slightly. "I mean. We can't go in guns blazing. That's not going to give off a good impression. Maybe send in… Three people, with their weapons. It's just enough people to be intimidating and stop any true unprovoked attacks, but not enough to fight off an entire city's worth of angry civilians." The girl suggested, and Winter nodded slowly.
"OK. But who do we send in." Winter hummed, and a ginger girl exclaimed whilst bouncing in her chair.
"Me! Me!" The voice shouted energetically, but was quickly silenced by another.
"No, Nora. Taking a giant battle hammer and won't make any kinds of good impression." A deeper, man's voice spoke, and the ginger let out a disappointed 'aww'. "I would suggest, Blake, Weiss and yourself, you three are easily the best fighters. So should anything go south, you can handle yourselves." The man continued, and Winter nodded slowly again.
"It's settled then. Blake, Weiss and I are heading to Mapingale at 0700 tomorrow morning. You two, prepare anything you may need. You're dismissed." Winter spoke, and the other fourteen left the room. "Things appear to be beginning a little earlier than father expected…" The eldest Schnee daughter sighed, and followed the others out.