Chapter 89

At The Edge Of The Crater

'Alright, come on.' May called, the heavy lock and chain falling mutedly to the snowy soil. Jaye raised an appreciative eyebrow at her work.

'Well, nice not to be the one doing all the breaking and entering for once.' He grinned at the woman, stepping through the gate and into the premises. Nora smiled at May.

'Thanks again for coming.' She said, and the blue-haired woman waved her away.

'Don't mention it. Once Robyn learned about Amity tower, she wouldn't shut up about it. Wherever she is, I'm sure she'd want us doing what we can to get it up in the air and get the world talking again.' She swung the gate shut with a clatter. 'Besides, Fiona's got your friends helping out in my stead.'

'Yeah.' Nora said shortly, and May missed the downcast look on the normally peppy girl's face. They entered the factory ahead of them, Jaye and May's lockpicking skills once more proving to be useful, and Jaye slid the door open inconspicuously, peering around the corner.

'Snowshoe Shipping is an SDC subsidiary, meaning all the drones here report to the company, not the General.' Weiss said. 'So you can put that gun away Jaye.'

The boy holstered his pistol, whining about them taking the fun out of everything, and followed the girl into the main loading area.

'The pneumatic tubes allow the dust refined in the crater to be sent straight up to Atlas.' She gestured to the intricate piping system ahead of them, that was definitely large enough to fit human beings, but that did little to dissuade Jaye's scepticism. 'We just need to find the one for the Military Base.'

Blake giggled. 'Are there any buildings in Atlas that your family doesn't own?'

'That… isn't relevant at the moment.' Weiss declared, and the group advanced into the centre of the room to check the consoles in turn. Jaye observed the tubes curiously, giving them his best cynical gaze, before spotting the relevant console.

'Yo, over here.' He called, failing to attract anyone's attention with his admittedly small voice, until Nora did him the favour of screaming "I FOUND IT" across the room. Letting her have this one, he leant against the tube as the girls gathered around.

'I suppose there's no turning back now.' Blake said, and May placed her hands on her hips.

'Between our secret weapon and my semblance.' May said, vanishing instantly from sight, before reappearing with a shit-eating grin plastered across her face that rivalled a certain fox boy. 'You all couldn't be in better hands.'

'Worst comes to worst I guess we could fight our way out. We beat the Ace Ops before, and Jaye was barely helping that time.' Ruby pointed out.

'So how do we use this thing?' Nora asked, and Weiss turned towards the contraption.

'It should be simple.' She said, sitting down in the mouth of the tube. 'If you lie back in the tube and press launch-!'

Her scream was cut short as the tube hatch slid abruptly shut, veritably hurling her past Jaye's arse and up the pipeline. Jaye watched the girl go, whistling in amusement as she ascended to heaven, or at least Atlas, at a breakneck pace. He glanced at Nora, her hand still on the launch button, and shook his head.

'I think you killed her.' He pointed out, and Nora burst into a bundle of smiles and excitement at the device that was surely going to be the thing that finally manages to kill Niflheim. The boy shrugged, getting into the tube anyway.

'I guess this is where I die. Good job guys, after about four hundred people have tried and failed, you'll be the first to succeed.' He lay back in the tube, sucking in a tentative breath. 'Blake, if I don't get through this, look after Yang for me. Word of advice; she really likes it when you touch her back, especially in the sack.'

'I don't really know what you expect me to do with that information but thanks I guess.' Blake said, hovering her hand over the button. 'Ready?'

'Nope but do it anyway.' The boy grimaced, clenching his fists and his teeth together, his breath catching in his throat as he abruptly accelerated into oblivion. The wind whistled in his ears furiously, and it took everything he had to keep his eyes open so he wouldn't slam his head into anything and die. He cloaked himself in aura anyway, just in case if he DID hit a wall or anything, there was the chance he might live just a few seconds longer. Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime but was probably just a few minutes, he felt himself slow down as whatever was powering the tubes alleviated and rationalised that with how volatile dust was, they weren't likely to send it slamming into walls, so he was unfortunately going to live to see another day. The doors in front of him popped open with a loud mechanical hiss, and he stumbled out of the tube like a drunken sailor hitting land for the first time in months. He dropped to his knees on the floor, coughing hard, spotting the white-haired ex-heiress clutching at her chest nearby.

'Hey.' He choked out, hugging Weiss as she crawled over to him. 'That was.' He heaved, gathering his breath into his chest and trying to keep it there. 'Horrible.'

'Don't remind me.' The blue clad girl wrapped her trembling arms around him for a moment, until the tube hissed open again and Nora stumbled out of it. She wobbled her way onto the floor, and Weiss promptly took the opportunity to drag her to her feet by an ear. The tube hissed open several more times, bearing May and Penny through it in turn. Though May had immediately fallen out of the tube, Penny's robotic body served to keep her solidly oriented as she displayed no evidence of trauma from the tube experience.

'Ow ow ow come on! That was a once in a lifetime experience!' Nora laughed, and Weiss finally released her ear with an air of absolute contempt. Nora's neck snapped back into place in a way that no human being's neck ever should, and having finally regained control of his legs, Jaye caught Blake as she stumbled out of the tube as well.

'Good, because I never want to do that again.' The faunus girl said, pushing her hair out of her face. The group quickly checked the loading area for enemy personnel, while Jaye took just an extra second to catch his breath after the tube ride, rubbing a few spots on his arms where he'd collided with the tube walls. He figured he was the only one who got banged around owing to his greater wingspan compared to the girls but decided against complaining about the size of his muscles to avoid looking like an arsehole. May turned to Penny.

'All right robo-girl, you're up.' She said. 'Which way?'

Penny's eyes widened as she started analysing the base schematics. She scanned through the walls, spotting several heat signatures that indicated enemies, calculating the most optimal route that avoided the most amount of guards in barely a second.

'We'll cross the bridge, then go left, straight, right, straight, left, up, up, right, straight, right, right, straight, left, left.' Penny declared, punctuating each completely not-helpful declaration of direction with a hand gesture in said direction. 'And my name is Penny.'

'You know what we'll just follow you.' Jaye said, waving off the girl. 'Lead the way.'

May clicked her tongue at the group, activating her semblance and cloaking the entire group effortlessly. They got through the ensuing area without incident, making sure no one was around before calling and boarding the elevator. The floors dinged by as the group stood awkwardly around each other, and Jaye was thankful that they were not supposed to make any noise just in case of cameras since her semblance could only mask most of the noise they produced. The group backed up nervously into the corner as the elevator doors opened, allowing a pair of Atlesian Military soldiers into the transportation device.

'I don't think even the squad captain knows what's going on up there.' The taller of the two said. 'They can't get close to that storm without getting shocked right out of the air.'

'It's creepy.' His partner replied, revealing that she was in fact, a woman, though her armour did nothing to give it away. 'All those grimm just… waiting. Worse than if they'd attacked.'

The man elbowed her. 'Hey don't say that, you'll jinx us.'

'I just hope the C.O. can get us some answers soon…' She trailed off as the group sidled as quietly as possible around the pair. A mischievous grin spreading across her face, Nora ran a hand quickly over the buttons in the corner, earning her a glare from Jaye who, despite his anger, could do nothing to stop her without arousing suspicion. The doors closed behind them, muffling the sound of surprise from the guards who had just noticed the fully lit control panel. Jaye seized the girl by the collar, making a face that said "so help me I will kill you", and Nora promptly ignored him while making a whistling face.

The group proceeded down the corridor, finally reaching a sealed door and terminal in the corner. Penny extended a finger, the tip popping off, and a small connection adaptor popped out of it. Jaye raised an eyebrow at it.

'I thought that was only a thing you saw in movies, dam.' He said, watching as the girl inserted her finger into the corresponding connector, and the biometric authentication panel came to life with a picture of Pietro's face plastered across it. 'Wait you didn't hijack someone else's credentials? Are you sure that's a good idea; I mean they know he's considered your father, don't they?'

'Since my father is not currently considered a fugitive, they have not flagged his credentials on the system.' Penny said. 'By the time they notice the discrepancy, we will have accomplished what we came for and be long gone.'

'I still don't like it.' Jaye muttered. 'Be prepared to run for it if need be.'

They stepped through the now newly opened doors, and May addressed the girl.

'Alright, where to next Penny?' She asked, and Penny positively beamed at the woman. Jaye was suddenly hit with a sinking feeling of dread that could only mean one thing; what she was going to say next was going to be absolutely horrible.

'Right through Central Command!' Penny said jubilantly, pointing directly down the hallway at the massive control centre veritably flooded with Atlas personnel. Weiss rolled her eyes.

'Of course.'

'Seriously?'

'Why did we leave the planning to the robot girl.'

'I can't manoeuvre us through all that.' May said, and Penny waved away her hesitation.

'Do not worry. Ruby is capable of traveling at an extreme velocity from one point to another by breaking herself down to her molecular components, thus negating her mass, and then reassembling them at the destination, theoretically making it possible for her to transport all of us in the same way as mass no longer matters.' Penny explained, and Ruby gave her a look that said, "I understood none of that". 'You can use your semblance on all of us!'

'Did Penny just figure that out before you did?' Blake sniggered.

'Blake, she knew you were a Faunus before I did.' Ruby defended, and Jaye raised a confused hand.

'Didn't you already transport Weiss before? Back on the train to Argus? And multiple other objects like your clothes and stuff with you?' He pointed out. 'And if you break yourself down into your molecular components, how come I've been able to smack you while you're using your semblance?'

'Well the point still remains that she can use her semblance to transport all of us.' May said, folding her arms over her chest. 'If that's all then we should get a move on.'

'No but like, then Penny's explanation is wrong. She doesn't break herself down into her molecular components, so how does this work? Can she even carry more than one of us at a time? I don't want to get deposited unwittingly in the middle of the Atlesian Military Command Centre. I don't want to die.' Jaye whined, and the girls bundled him into the middle of them.

'Shut up and hold on.' Weiss hissed, grabbing the boy around the waist despite his resistance. The boy took a deep breath, readying himself to be semblanced into oblivion, letting out a sigh of relief as the intercom rang.

'A security threat has been detected in the compound.' Ironwood's voice came on over the speakers, filling the group with dread. 'Status alert level 3; red. Lockdown initiated. Authorisation granted to handle any threats with lethal force.'

'Oh no, what a nightmare. How about we just kick the crap out of everyone and fight our way to that terminal instead?' Jaye muttered, glancing around the room to see if there was a way out. Penny's eyes glowed a bright green.

'The pneumatic tubes have all been closed off.' She said. 'That was our exit route.'

Blake's ears folded down onto her head. 'We're trapped.'

'We passed a hanger; I can hijack an airship and get us off this floating rock.' May suggested, and Jaye started digging through his pockets.

'Wait, we can still succeed. We are so close!' Penny urged, and Nora snapped her fingers as if she'd just come up with a plan. Jaye finally found what he was looking for, tossing it to May.

'Skeleton key; cost a fortune but worth it. You can use that to get through most of the digital doors and it should be able to start the airships as well.' He stared pointedly at the woman. 'I want that back mind you.'

'No promises.' The sassy woman smirked, dropping the device into her pocket. Blake stared at the boy.

'If you had that, why didn't we just use that in the first place?'

'Well it leaves traces of tampering in the system, so that usually tips people off to something being wrong. I figured Penny would have better luck staying incognito given her using legitimate credentials, but I suppose someone really observant has been actively poking at the authorisation records.' Jaye explained. 'Now how are we getting through that command centre?'

End of chapter 89

Can you tell I'm sort of padding my chapters a bit XD it's been a while gimme a break