Chapter 72

'Oh come on! You didn't even hear us out!' Yang shook the gate furiously, the metal bars rattling beneath her fingers. On the other side of the paltry fence blocking their access to Atlas, a pair of identical looking guards stood watch by the door. The splitting image of each other (or one would assume, as their hats covered most of their distinguishable features), the guards were likely twins or just weird about each other, and seemed perfectly in sync in thought and action.

'Our orders are clear! The Mistral-Atlas border is closed!' One of them practically yelled in spite of the maybe five meter distance from the group. He hoisted himself up even straighter than before, hands tucked firmly behind his body, and his twin mirrored his pose as he proceeded to complete his sentences.

'PLEASE!'

'HAVE A GOOD DAY.'

'But-!'

'A GOOD DAY!' They screamed in unison, placing their supposedly imposing figures directly in the way of their only path into the base, and Jaye eyed the surrounding walls for ways into the base without being seen. Qrow rolled his eyes.

'Hey if you don't wanna believe that I'm friends with Ironwood-!'

'GENERAL IRONWOOD!'

'-Yeah, General Ironwood, then fine.' Qrow continued, peeved at the interruption and stuffy manners. 'But look, we have Weiss Schnee with us and we're just trying to get her home safely.'

The twin/weirdabouteachother guards stared at each other for a long moment, returning to their uptight positions with a flick of their heads. 'APPROACH!'

Weiss glanced across the group skeptically, and Blake shrugged with a "I dunno just go with it I guess" look. She paced towards the gates hesitantly, stopping short as they bent over to stare into her face. Only seeing the brims of their hats, Jaye wondered how on earth they were seeing anything at all, and raised an eyebrow as they straightened up all of a sudden.

'Very well! You may speak with out commanding officer!'

'We will fetch her at once!'

Turning on their heels, the pair marched off towards the base with unrestrained vigor, quite literally bouncing across the concrete while chanting "Atlas" in time to their steps. Hands on their hips, the group continued to watch as they marched their way out of sight towards the large building directly behind them. Jaye raised an eyebrow as they went, feeling Kamina nudge him and turning his weirded-out gaze to the faunus boy. Kamina's shit eating grin spread across his face, slowly but surely, and Jaye raised a threatening fist.

'This is going up your ass if you start chanting "Atlas" at the top of your lungs.'

'ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS ATLAS!' Kamina teleported away as the boy lashed out at him, reappearing down the bridge as he laughed, continuing to scream the kingdom's name at the top of his lungs. Jaye threw several knives at the faunus, accurately targeting him as he reappeared. He swore as Kamina apparated right in his face to hand the boy back his knives, vanishing once more in a flurry of orange to appear behind the gates. He grinned widely at them, waving through the bars as Jase threw another knife at him. Ignoring the fight, Blake raised a stunned eyebrow at the base before them.

'They were kind of…'

'Super weird? Uh, yeah.' Ruby finished, glancing at Maria as she touched a finger to her chin. Oscar gave the old woman a worried look.

'What's wrong?' He asked, and Maria sighed heavily.

'Well I, may know this commanding officer.' She began, and Ruby gave the woman a look of growing concern.

'That's good isn't it? If she's your friend, then maybe she'd be more willing to help us!'

'I wouldn't exactly call us…friends.'

'Acquaintances?' Weiss suggested.

'Not quite.'

'Colleagues?' Blake gave the woman an unconvincingly hopeful smile.

'Warmer.'

'Enemies?' Yang said, and Maria's face lit up in response.

'That's the one!' She laughed, earning a "lord help us" look from Jaye. 'Oh yes, I come through here about once every ten years to get my eyes checked up in Atlas. You bring outside cashews on one flight, and suddenly you're placed on the additional screening list for life!'

'You've gotta be kidding me.' Qrow grumbled.

'Now now, let's not give up hope yet.' She said, smiling brightly at the army base before them. 'Maybe she's dead!'

As if on cue, Kamina teleported back through the gates, managing to avoid detection as the locks immediately undid themselves. Tossing the knives back to Jaye, Kamina instantly stepped behind Qrow and out of sight as the swearing boy attempted to hide his knives from the returning twin guards. Sliding open with a dramatic clash, the twins stepped out from behind the bars, sidling up to the group with an almost operatic yell.

'INTRODUCING!'

'SPECIAL OPERATIVE!'

'CAROLINE CORDOVIN!' They screamed in unison, making way as if parting the sea to allow a diminutive woman to pass between their legs. Barely coming up to their waists, she was on the same level as Maria as she stood proudly in front of her military base, and Jaye was immediately struck with a feeling of dread as he recognized the proud and without a doubt stubborn pomp of a military commander who took herself way too seriously. Ignoring everyone else, which didn't speak well about the woman's priorities management, Cordovin marched straight up into the greying woman's face with the stiffness only someone raised by the military could ever hope to achieve. The two old women stared each other down with a ferocity only old women could muster, while the younglings continued to watch with barely disguised skepticism. Cordovin sneered at the mechanical eyes of the Grim Reaper.

'Witch.' She said, which considering how Maria was dressed was a fair description.

'She-devil.'

'Hmm. I see you've chosen larger contraband to smuggle this time.' The military commander huffed, and Maria smiled widely at the old woman.

'Oh Cordo, you know they say time changes people. But I see you've still got that stick right up-!'

Ruby cut the old woman off with a yelp, laughing nervously as she approached the commander. 'H-Hello! Miss…uh…Cordovin. My name is Ruby Rose, and I was wondering if you would hear us out about-!'

'I've ALREADY heard what your other little friends had to say, Miss Rose.' She sneered.

'You're the only little one here dipshit.' Jaye said, earning himself several enraged glares from the girls. Thankfully, Cordovin seemed not to hear him as she glanced around the girl's legs at the group of three hanging far behind on the bridge.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE?! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!' Her voice rose in a sudden pitch, screaming at the three remaining members of team RNJR. The group raised skeptical eyebrows at the almost bipolar commander, and Jaye wasn't surprised in the slightest that the commander of a small, far away from home Atlas base was this much of a nutcase.

'AND I TOLD YOU WE WOULDN'T REST UNTIL YOU LET US THROUGH!' Nora screamed back with a fury, Jaye thanking the stars he was far enough away for his ears to be spared, and the two boys held her back.

'Nice to see you again as well!' Ren called back, and though applauding his attempt to defuse the situation it was clear that nothing was going to change with this woman involved. The raven-haired boy silently wondered to himself if there was even a minute chance that she would be the slightest bit reasonable, but her next statement erased any hope he had.

'You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending the importance of our mission here in Argus. So, allow me to say this slowly, with smaller words.' Cordovin sneered condescendingly.

'Any word coming out of your mouth is a small word.' Jaye muttered, earning himself an elbow from Yang, which Cordovin thankfully did not seem to hear as well. The woman continued her self-glorification, punctuating each word with an extravagant hand gesture.

'This base! That relay tower! The very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas!' She declared, the smug look spreading further and further across her face. 'And it is MY duty to uphold them, as only Ihave the wit and tenacity for such a task!'

'It's a wonder you can stay standing, what with that giant head weighing down on you.' Jaye commented, his voice drowned out by the choruses of "SUCH WIT", "SUCH TENACITY" from the twin guards.

'Or maybe Atlas just wanted to get you as far from the kingdom as possible.' Maria said, for once getting a silent assent from Jaye. Cordovin growled audibly at the woman.

'You're just like the rest of these Argus ingrates!' She screamed, jabbing a finger at the group. 'This city wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our Atlesion ancestors, and what do we get in return? The entire world is ready to put a knife to our throats!'

'I think we'd be putting it IN your throats, but at least you got SOMETHING right in the end.' Jaye muttered, crossing his arms. Ruby stepped forwards to try to appease the ageing commander.

'Please, we know your kingdom had nothing to do with the Fall of Beacon. We were there.' She said, and Weiss stepped into the conversation.

'No one's happy about the Atlas borders or embargo, but I know General Ironwood is just worried! It's why we need to talk to-!'

'THE GENERAL IS NO COWARD! ATLAS IS STRONG!' Cordovin cut the ex-heiress off with a scream. 'If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy then so be it! ATLAS WILL PREVAIL!'

'ATLAS WILL PREVAIL!' The twins repeated, snapping to attention so hard they literally vibrated into place.

'Do you guys seriously have to do that?' Yang swore, and Cordovin took a long, pompous breath.

'If Miss Schnee has truly come to her senses and wishes to return to her family, then of course the Atlas military will escort her home!' She said, the arrogance practically dripping from her voice as she gave clear sneers at Blake and Jaye. 'But the kingdom will not be responsible for her "friends" of questionable character.'

Weiss stepped in front of the cat girl, giving the base commander an undisguised glare of challenge. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It means we're done here.' Cordovin declared, and the gates slammed shut with a resounding clang. Vanishing back into the building with the twin guards, Cordovin's smug laughter reverberated through their ear canals and made Jaye want to stuff a knife down them but decided against it in favor of keeping his hearing. Nora stamped her foot in front of the closed gates.

'Oh yeah? Well your face looks… like a big dumb boot!'

'Way to show her Nora.' Jaune sighed, and Weiss cast her eyes down to the floor. Ruby turned to the white-haired girl.

'Weiss, I told you we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas. Together.' She said, and they shared a tender smile. Qrow paced quietly past them, hunched over in a position that only said one thing, and Ruby turned to the departing man. 'So… where are we going now?'

'Yeah… what's the plan?' Nora added, and Qrow scoffed at the girls.

'The plan? The plan just got shut on our face three times over. I'm going for a drink.' He said, barely pausing in his gait. Ruby ran after the man, attempting to speak to him, but the man continued past his niece as he marched for the nearest bar he could find. Jaye sighed heavily, unable to find the strength to be angry at the gruff man who'd recently found out his whole purpose in life was a lie.

Jaune crossed his arms. 'What's his problem? It's not your fault we can't go on.'

'If he's gonna be a jerk then we'll just come up with something without him.' Nora said. 'I mean we've got Ozpin with us! He usually knows what to do.'

The girls turned their gazes downcast, Blake's ears folding up against her head, and Ren gave them a concerned look.

'What is it?'