Melanie and Nina continued to follow the two guards, who they identified as the captain and the first mate, listening to their conversation. Thankfully, they were quite talkative.

"I have to say, it takes a special kind of twisted to cook up this plan." One of them muttered.

The other chuckled. "Yet here you are, carrying it out."

"Of course. Even before the White Fang went violent, Faunus were scoundrels." The captain stated.

The first mate shrugged. "I don't have a personal grudge, the logic just made sense to me. Faunus are Grimm magnets. People hate them, they hate how people treat them, all that negativity is just begging for an attack. It's really a mercy killing."

"If you ask me, they don't deserve a mercy killing." The captain retorted. "Whatever that formula does, it better hurt."

Nina's eyes shot wide open. She turned to Melanie, the request clear in her expression. Melanie nodded, and Nina bolted off. Turning her attention back to the commanding officers, she saw them enter what looked like a lounge of sorts. With a grin, she drew Violet Cross, flicked a knife into her free hand, and entered behind them.

"Are there any bagels left?" She asked casually.

The first mate responded without looking. "Yeah, they're in the-...wait, who are you?!"

They both turned, drawing their sidearms. Melanie quickly deflected their shots, stabbing the hand of the captain with her dagger and kicking the first mate's leg. Several others in the lounge bolted up, grabbing for their weapons. Nina threw an explosive dagger at a sofa where five had sat, catching three of them in the blast. She deflected more gunfire from another, closing the gap to grab the gun and slam it up into the guard's face. Violet Cross shifted to water, and lashed out like a whip, grabbing a rifle from another guard and sending it hurling at the captain's head to knock him out. The remaining guards came at her with shock batons, which she parried easily, delivering rough blows to the guts, legs, and...sensitive bits. Soon enough, everyone was groaning on the floor. Melanie hauled the first mate up and slammed him against a wall.

"What's Plan B?" She asked.

He grunted. "What?"

She threw him into a decorative coffee table, smashing it, and planted her foot on his chest. "Alabaster. He's here to carry out Plan B. Talk."

"Agh! Alright!" He shouted. "In case we were intercepted, the course was locked to Menagerae. The crew would abandon ship, and someone would stay behind to overload the core."

Melanie scowled. "The backup plan is to kamikaze the ship?"

"Right into the largest Faunus population on Remnant." The man affirmed.

She leaned down and held a dagger to his throat. "How big is the blast? How many would die?

The man started chuckling. "How many? Kid, nobody's surviving that blast. We're not talking estimates here, we're talking no more island."

Her eyes widened. "You can't be serious..."

"Can't I?" He questioned. "Think about it. Ghira Belladonna is the only positive public image the Faunus have left. With him dead, and the entire island gone, all that's left is the White Fang. Sienna Khan would have nothing holding her back anymore, and she'd strike out in rage. The public would turn against Faunus faster than ever, and any evidence linking Carl Strikz to the attack would be gone. It's all just cold simple logic."

Melanie backhanded him with a deactivated Violet Cross, knocking him out. Wordlessly, and without hesitation, she ran out...she had to find Crimson.