"…what's…what's going on?" Ruby was dizzy, vision still hazy from the blast. Looking around, she saw five fuzzy blobs, two slender white figures, one lying on the ground, one kneeling by them, another large white figure standing in the back, yelling about something or other. There was one standing over her that was coming clearer and clearer into view. Ruby could make out orange hair, a pink bow, and a grey and white dress.
Oh, that's Penny Ruby realized, and that's Ironwood yelling over there. And Winter kneeling over Weiss. WEISS! Ruby shot up, and found her shoulders grabbed by Penny.
"Are you okay Ruby" Penny asked, in a calm but clearly concerned tone. Shaken, Ruby was helped to her feet by Penny, the dizziness slowly coming to a stop. She noticed that some of the Operative's clothing was torn on her right arm, revealing not skin or blood, but metal plating, tendrils, and wires. Still hazy and not taking this as seriously as she should, steadying herself as her vision became less and less faded.
"Yeeeah Penny, I'm okay now." Ruby groaned, rubbing her face to sooth her headache "What's going on, are you okay?"
She then looked at the Operative's exposed arm "YOU HAVE A METAL ARM?"
Another concern broke through again "WEISS, IS SHE OKAY?"
"Ruby, I am okay." Weiss replied as she was helped to her feet, shakily as well, by Winter, who was checking her sister for injuries, but both seemed to be more or less fine.
Ironwood continued to shout into his scroll, before crushing it with his bare hands, and tossing it into the wall.
"Damn it, now our communications are down. It could take hours for them to get us out of here, even with proper comms. But now…" He grimaced, deep in thought for a possible solution.
"Sir, you do know where we are?" Winter asked, after she ensured that Weiss was physically fine and regenerating her aura. "The weapons…"
Ironwood pinched the bridge of his nose "Yes, Winter, I'm aware. She's probably trying to get in as we speak. But with the vault door…"
"What's going on?" Ruby interrupted, annoyed with being kept in the dark.
"When the bomb went off" Ironwood stated "Winter used her glyphs to protect us, and with Penny's help was able to prevent the debris from crushing us, but it seems the thief used the explosion to sneak through our security to access the vault where we keep our experimental weapons and combat gear. Thankfully there's still a three-foot-thick solid steel door. I doubt any huntsmen or huntress could make it in there, at least not with just brute force."
"So, we would probably find them there, right?" Ruby asked "If they can't get in. Since there's five of us and only one of them, shouldn't we?"
"Absolutely not…" Winter begun but was stopped by Ironwood.
"Winter, Reaper makes a fair point. She's good, but I doubt the thief could take on two elite huntsmen and huntress's, a specialist as well as two highly skilled trainees."
Winter grimaced but couldn't deny that General Ironwood was probably right. One opponent wouldn't stand a chance, regardless of how good they were.
"Understood sir" Winter acknowledged.
"Alright" Ironwood ordered "We will need to approach the target slowly and carefully, ensuring they don't detect us before striking distance."
Everyone nodded and they begun, trekking through the underground tunnel, using Penny's night vision to lead the group through the pitch-black tunnels. Only Penny's warnings kept them from slipping and tripping on hunks of debris that were scattered throughout the path. Ruby several times wanted to question Penny regarding the metal arm, but with Ironwood right next to them, she figured it would be better to do so at a later time and place, one where they weren't trapped under a near collapsing roof.
Finally, they made it to a door, a massive circular hunk of metal, with a twenty-foot diameter, looking thick enough to survive almost anything less than a full-grown charging goliath charging at it repeatedly. However, the explosion and the near collapse of the roof seemed to disrupt the shape of the structure, with a small part of the door bent, just enough for a very small person to slip through.
Everyone grimaced at this realization. On top of this, the security system was fried, making it impossible for someone like Winter or Ironwood who had clearance, to electronically open the door. Ironwood certainly wouldn't fit through the crack, and Winter might just be too tall as well. Ruby, Weiss, and Penny could probably sneak through, but that would leave them without their two strongest fighters to face the thief, potentially armed with high calibre experimental weaponry.
"Penny, I need you to cut through that door." Ironwood ordered "No need to hide anything now" indicating to Penny's metal arm.
Penny nodded as she pulled out her swords, the eight floating weapons aimed directly above the bent part of the door. A green laser shot forth from their ends, tearing into the metal, with the others forced to look away as the energy blasts burned brighter and brighter. Slowly they began to cut through the structure, eventually carving out a small entrance that everyone could fit through. With that the swords disappeared into Penny's backpack, and Ironwood stopped to admire his operative's handy work.
"Good work Penny." Ironwood complimented the orange haired girl, who despite the situation, looked pleased at his praise. "Now, stay quiet as we enter. We don't want to give away our position before we can launch an ambush. Also do not underestimate anything here. We have weapons that can potentially level cities if in the wrong hands."
Winter, Weiss, and Penny nodded, with Ruby both terrified and intrigued at finding a weapon of that power. As the snuck through the various shelves and rooms of the vault, each containing a multitude of weapons and gods knows what else, they finally found a light, shinning dimly at the end of the corridor.
At the end of the hallway, it opened up into a massive hanger, several military vehicles parked all around, each with state-of-the-art weaponry, armour, and systems. The most impressive however was the one in the middle. A nearly fifteen-foot-tall silver mech stood tall above the rest and appeared to be where the light was coming from.
"What in the world is that?" Weiss whispered, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"The Atlesian Paladin" Penny announced "4.4 metres tall and 15 tons, it is a project in development in combination with General Ironwood, Pietro Polendina, Arthur Wa.."
"Okay, Penny ,thank you" Ironwood interrupted, again rubbing his forehead, sighing before facing the rest. "Winter if you will."
Winter nodded "The Paladin is a secret military project, a combination of some of the most brilliant minds in Atlas, developed for both grimm defense, and if necessary urban combat. It is equipped with highly advanced armor, targeting systems, two dozen rockets, high level close quarters capabilities as well as some dust weaponry that is still in development."
"Wouldn't it have limited effectiveness against grimm?" Ruby questioned still studying the robot, noticing some movement on the robot's side. "Limited ammo but high-powered weaponry would seem more effective against…"
"Huntsmen" Weiss finished, turning her attention to Winter, for once looking at her sister with a distasteful expression "Why would you need a weapon like this against human opponents?"
Winter opened her mouth to respond, but Ironwood finished for her. "Because huntsmen aren't all good, and they aren't the only ones out there."
He turned, narrowing his eyes as they all stared back "Atlas's huntsmen and huntresses are all part of our military, but the other Kingdoms huntsmen are free agents, barely accountable to the League. Regardless of what you may think, they are a threat."
Winter continued for him "There has been an increase in the rise of dangerous huntsmen level criminals in the last fifteen years. Tyrian Callows, Hazel Reinhart, Adam Taurus, and Sienna Khan of the White Fang and now…Roman Torchwick and this new girl. Huntsmen have been killed by these kinds of people in the past, and there needs to be a contingency, should their numbers become unmanageable."
"But what about…" Ruby started, but the ground shaking made them all go silent. The paladin began to move, each step sending a rumble across the floor. The metal behemoth was heading towards the entrance to the vault.
"Enough" Ironwood whispered "We have to take the paladin down before it breaks free of the vault. The destruction it could cause in her hands would be…substantial. I need ideas, and I need them now."
"Um" Ruby replied meekly as she raised her hand "I have a plan."
"WINTER SOLDIER!"
The Ice Cream Girl turned, the entire mech suit turning with her. She had little time to react as Ironwood slammed into the robot, the force of the general's fist propelled by the gravity dust in his pistol, knocking the paladin sideways. The Schnee sisters vaulted after him, both stabbing their swords into the ground, creating a pool of ice dust, preventing the mech from getting back to its feet.
Penny and Ruby were the last over the shelf, the former firing a massive green laser from her floating array, the ice evaporating into steam as it formed a shield of fog around the paladin. The silent girl flipped on the targeting systems, lasers shooting out, scanning the surroundings for any signs of movement.
However, the thick wall of steam combined with its adversaries' speed caused the system to miss it's mark entirely, rockets destroying nothing but concrete and wood. Ruby shoot forward, swinging her scythe across the glass that covered the mech's cockpit, causing the giant to stumble back once again.
"ICE QUEENS!" Ruby called out as the two sisters raced forward. In a flash of dust, glyphs and even a few summons from Winter, the Mech was forced to backstep further, the Schnee's delivering dozens of blows in less than five seconds.
Winter leapt into the air and a glyph that appeared in front of her, burst forth an Alpha Beowulf, the beast clashing with the mech, clawing, and gnashing its fangs as it continued to drive it back. Despite damage to its systems, the paladin managed to get the upper hand, grasping the arms of the Grimm, tearing and fired a rocket into its gapping maw, annihilating the beast.
To the Ice Cream Girl's horror this was nothing more than a distraction, as she now saw Ruby and Weiss, the heiress's sword shimmering with lighting dust as her clock like glyph appeared below the Red Cloaked Huntress. Weiss smirked and Ruby stuck out her tongue. Within a second Ruby vanished.
"WHITEROSE!"
Before the girl could react, a storm surged around her, a tornado formed by already formidable speed further enhanced by a lighting dust charged glyph. Hundreds of slashes of Ruby's scythe assaulted the mech suit from every angle, tearing through metal armour and circuitry like a hot knife through butter.
Frustrated, the girl let out a silent scream, and half the robot's arsenal was released at once, nearly a dozen rockets forcing Ruby to shift into petals, retreating back to avoid having her aura obliterated. The pint-sized assassin forced the paladin into a run, as it charged the two girls. It nearly faceplanted as it felt a massive force strike it's back, knocking its massive frame forward.
The source of the impact was quickly identified to be Penny, who used the Generals hands as launch pads, further projected by Winter's repulsion glyphs following her. This caused her deceptively heavy robotic body to hit like half a dozen trucks, feet slamming into the paladin's back.
In anger, the mech suit twisted around and swung a massive robotic fist, which Penny surprisingly caught with ease, the silent girl's eyes going wide.
With an earnest smile, Penny raised three of her swords and shot her trademark green lasers at the joint between the robot's arm and its shoulder, with the monstrosities now limp arm falling to the ground. With a push of the button, the paladin threw a kick, sending Penny flying back.
Ironwood leapt in, grabbing hold of the robot's other arm, immobilizing it as Weiss leapt onto its shoulder, stabbing its other shoulder joint, injecting it with dust and coating it with a thick layer of ice. A shot from Ruby's sniper rifle, shattered the ice, and causing the metal limb to fall like its brother.
Both the General and the Heiress were forced to retreat back as the paladin was rammed by a snow white manticore, the summon's massive horned skull carrying the mech as it was piloted by Winter. She jumped off the back as the beast glowed a brilliant orange before erupting in a massive explosion, the manticore being injected with all of Winter's fire dust.
The paladin lay in a pile on the floor, inactive and most demolished, with Winter approaching slowly and cautiously, halting as the hatch to the mech opened.
Her torso shot back, leaning to avoid the sharpened blade from an invisible opponent, who was made visible by Winter's counterattack, a knee to her gut.
The much smaller girl flipped back, landing as she opened her umbrella, staring Winter down with seething hatred, which the Specialist returned with equal vigor.
With a roar, Winter charged, bringing her sword down on the girl, who raised her umbrella to block the blade. As she strained to break the parasol, Winter released a smaller sword from her main weapon, catching it with her right hand and sliding past the umbrella's defences, forcing the woman to sidestep to avoid being skewered.
Winter followed up with a kick to the girl's liver, but instead of the girl flying back, her whole body shattered like glass.
Winter's eyes narrowed, as the scanned the area furiously for any signs. A small shift in the air behind her caused Winter to dive into a roll, as the woman attempted to stab her from behind.
Winter smirked, and the woman's eyes squinted in confusion. Suddenly the girl looked at her feet in horror, a black glyph forming beneath them. She was shot into the air, with Winter raising her sword to form another series of white glyphs above her, shotting half a dozen large ice shards at the woman.
The woman raised her umbrella to block the dust assault but was still sent back to the earth at a considerable velocity as the shards shattered against her umbrella. She was able to land on her feet but barely, not even able to regain her footing before she found herself shot to the side, as Ironwood fired his gravity dust pistol at her, landing a bullet square to the side of her head.
The girl went flying before crashing to the ground, her aura shattering as she lay crumpled and unconscious.
"Nice work Winter" Ironwood complimented, holstering his gun before slinging the tiny woman over his shoulder, walking towards the exit, giving a quiet comment to Ruby as he passed her.
"That was a sound plan Reaper. Your mother would be proud."
"So….what's with the robot arm?"
Penny went quiet, looking at her feet across from Ruby, directly outside the General's office. Within minutes of defeating the ice cream woman, who they had IDed as someone named Neapolitan, there was an Atlas Rescue Squadron. They came alongside a team of five top tier huntsmen, who Ironwood dubbed the Ace Ops.
Once they had been extracted from the destroyed subterranean vault, and Neapolitan was placed in custody, they prepared for a debrief on the mission. So, while Winter and Weiss were conversing in the specialist's quarters, Ruby and Penny were waiting for Ironwood to finish a conversation with an older looking man who appeared to be seated in a mixture between a wheelchair and a mech suit.
"You're my friend Ruby, right?" Penny replied quietly "You promise you're my friend?"
"Penny, we took down a giant robot together. Of course, you're my friend!" Ruby exclaimed.
Penny turned her hand over to reveal the metal plating that had not been fully covered by the synthetic skin.
"Ruby…I'm not a real girl."
Ruby stared in disbelief "What?"
"Most girls are born, but I was made." Penny continued "I'm the worlds first synthetic person capable of generating an aura."
She had a look of pride on her face before it vanished into sadness "I'm not real."
Ruby reached out and took Penny's hand in her own, looking the Android in the face "Of course you are. You think just because you have nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts you are less real than me?"
"I don't…um" Penny looked perplexed, before leaning in to examine Ruby closer "You are taking this extraordinarily well."
"Penny, you're not like that thing we fought." Ruby continued "You have a heart, and a soul. You have aura, I can feel it."
Before Ruby could react, Penny's arms wrapped her arms around Ruby's shoulders pulling her in for a tight hug, with Ruby feeling her body being crushed by the android's strength.
"Thank you…Ruby"
"Penny remember" Ruby croaked "Squishy guts."
"Oh, sorry."
Penny released her grip, allowing Ruby a moment to breath as the two looked deep into each others' eyes.
"Tell me more about your team."
Ruby giggled "Well you know Weiss, there's Yang, my sister, she's super strong, she might even be stronger than you. Blake's cool too, she's super mysterious and she's also a Faunus and has cute little kitty ears. There's Pyrrha, she's super nice…"
"Have you apologized yet?" Winter asked as her and Weiss sat in the specialist's quarters, enjoying a lovely cup of coffee together. She had noticed Weiss's silence to Ruby since they had escaped from the fallen in vault and had felt Weiss's unease as the two pairs separated.
"I…I have not." Weiss answered, still looking at her feet. "I'm not really sure how."
"I will admit that I came across a similar problem when I first became a huntress." Winter said "Due to the training I received, the prestige of our family and the blessing of our semblance I assumed my superiority over other operatives. I was…dismissive of a Faunus teammate and was rather rude when they were made squad leader. They saved my life despite that. I regret never truly apologizing to them until over a year later when we worked together yet again. As a result, we have kept in close contact since. Our upbringing has taught us that to admit that we are wrong is a sign of weakness, when in reality it is indicative of great strength. Ruby is nothing if not a forgiving soul, I'm sure any apology you give to her would be accepted."
Weiss thought on this "But what if…"
"Weiss, don't think, just do."
"I…But I…" Weiss begun "Okay, I understand."
"Good, I'm glad we had this talk." Winter said "Now, how are your glyphs coming along?"
"Excellent!" Weiss replied proudly "I've even mastered time dilation!"
"And what of your summoning?" Winter interjected.
Weiss looked down at her feet "You know I can't do that."
"Don't be ridiculous." Winter countered "Every Schnee has the ability to summon. We have for generations."
Weiss threw out her hands out in frustration "I've tried! It's just... it's the one thing I've been having trouble with!"
Winter held out her palm, with a glyph appearing in her hand "Your Semblance is like a muscle. Do you think your friend, Golden Dragon could lift a truck the first day she started training?"
Weiss shook her head as Winter continued.
"Of course, not she started small, pushing herself further and further until she developed the strength she has now. The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you only focus on one aspect of it then you'll never truly grow."
With that a tiny nevermore appeared on Winter's hand, before flying to her index finger, as she scratched under its chin.
"Now you show me the results of that training. Now think to your fallen foes! The ones who forced you to push past where you were and become who you are now. Think of them and watch as they come to your side."
Weiss stood up, sword pointed at the ground, a glyph forming a few feet in front her. She strained and tried as she might, but she couldn't draw anything from it. "I can't."
WHACK!
Winter smacked the back of her head, with Weiss rubbing the spot struck, as she turned around to face Winter's annoyed expression.
"Stop doubting yourself!"
"I'm trying!"
Winter smirked "If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of succeeding as a Huntress! Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father would give you a nice job as a receptionist."
Weiss turned around once again, gritting her teeth as she focused everything on that glyph, thinking entirely on the armoured Grimm she faced, to prove to her father she could become a huntress.
Winter placed a gentle hand on her shoulder "That looks better, more concrete. Emotions can grant you strength. But you must never let them overpower you. That is something, I'm sure you'd agree that we Schnee's tend to forget."
Weiss's frustration broke into a snicker as she turned around to face her sister.
"Continue with your training, become better, stronger, and smarter, but be sure to never neglect the relationships you value. They will give you strength far beyond what your semblance ever could."
She surprised Weiss further by pulling her into big hug, with Weiss returning it to her sister, before breaking it off.
"I'm glad to see you again Weiss. As proud as I am for you branching off and becoming your own huntress, remember to give me a call once and a while, okay?"
Weiss wiped a tear from her eye "Of course Winter."
Ruby entered the Generals office, after receiving a familiarly cheerly hello from the dark-skinned older man in a wheelchair. She walked nervously to the desk, sitting down at the desk when the General offered a seat.
"Reaper, how are you feeling about your leadership position at the moment?"
"Um, good."
Ironwood raised his eyebrows, as his pupils integrated Ruby's.
"Well, I mean it's going okay."
He continued silently, with Ruby finding sweat breaking on her head.
"I…I don't know!" She blurted out, smacking her hands on the desk "I wasn't sure when they picked me, and now with how Frost Storm was acting…"
"How did she act when you suggested those strategies down in the vault? Did she, Snow Sword, Myself and Operative Polendina not listen to those tactics and follow them exactly as you asked?"
"Yes, but…" Ruby replied
"Because you took command." Ironwood interjected "You did not ask; you saw there was a need, and you took it. As a result, even a huntsman thirty-five years your veteran listened to your orders. While I did not initially understand The Wizard's decision to put you in command, but I'm glad he did. Like your mother you are born to do this, assuming you continue to take command, rather then letting others decide if they will follow."
"You knew my mother?" Ruby questioned, completely ignoring what came before that.
"Yes" Ironwood replied "I did. She was everything you could hope to be as a huntress, and despite having command over an entire kingdom and the largest military on Remnant, I would follow her into battle anywhere. I think you have that potential too, should you live up to it."
He stood up, reaching a massive hand out to Ruby "Reaper, it was a pleasure working with you for this mission. Thank you for all of your work."
Ruby stood still, stunned for a moment, before returning the handshake to Ironwood "Of course, General. Thank you for this opportunity to prove myself."
"Promise you'll call!" Penny asked, giving Ruby a far gentler squeeze then the hug earlier as she said goodbye to Ruby and Weiss at the airfield.
"Of course, Penny, we're friends now remember." Ruby returned the hug, holding onto Penny tight but found her shoulder grabbed by Weiss.
"Um Ru…Reaper, we should be going soon." Weiss interrupted "The team expects us back at dark."
Ruby and Penny released each other, with Penny giving a massive wave to Weiss.
"It was lovely to meet you Weiss. Hopefully I can come visit you all in Vale soon."
Weiss replied in a far cooler manner "It was good working with you too, Operative Polendina."
With that Weiss turned and strolled onto the Bullhead, with Ruby following behind her waving cheerily at Penny as they entered the airship.
They sat on opposite sides once again, silent for the entirety of take off, but the tension had all but been entirely lifted from the air.
Ruby hummed as she played casually on her scroll through the Bullhead's turbulence.
"Um, Ruby…"
Ruby took her headphones off her ears "Sorry, what'd ya say Weiss."
Electing to ignore Ruby's grammar, Weiss answered "I just…I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour the last couple days. You have proven yourself to be….to be a component leader and it wasn't fair that I acted the way I did. You are my friend; I shouldn't have treated you that way."
Ruby was startled, she had never gotten anything like an apology from Weiss. "Um who are you and what have you done with Weiss?"
Weiss let out a small giggle at Ruby's joke but continued to look at her for a proper response.
Ruby simply smiled "Thank you for the apology, Weiss, I really appreciate it." She then raised her scroll and pointed to her scroll with a begging expression on her face.
Weiss rolled her eyes, but silent agreed to Ruby's request, walking to the other side of the Bullhead, and taking a seat beside her friend, and got out her scroll, playing one of the dumbest fighting games that Ruby had convinced her to play.
Neither girl realized how tired they were and how little sleep they had gotten since they arrived in Atlas. Exhaustion soon took over and both fell asleep as they headed home across the continent of Amina and the Sea that separated it from Sanus. Weiss awoke, head on Ruby's shoulder, and felt the snores of Ruby transfer to her own body. Smiling and electing not to move from her current position, she placed her head back onto Ruby's shoulder, as both continued snooze the entire ride home.
Neapolitan winked at the Atlas soldier sitting across from her, the helmet of the operative showing no emotion at her silent but obnoxious teasing, simply raising his gun to target her now auraless skull. Neo would never admit it, but she was pissed, being captured on her first mission for Torchwick's new boss was definitely not a good look.
Granted losing to the General himself and his top fighter was nothing to be ashamed of. The three brats weren't half bad either, not nearly as good as herself, but frankly few were. Now she would have to escape the Atlas prison they would be sending her to. It wouldn't be a problem, but the hassle was something she was hoping to avoid, especially with these cuffs blocking her aura flow.
A small shift in the van caused Neo to pause for a split second, before ducking and rolling, as the truck flipped onto its side, crashing onto the side of a building. The dust settled as Neo shakily got to her feet, dashed to the top of the van door, which was now on the left side, back against the wall as she prepared for the worst. Her eyes widened as she saw the guard get to his feet, yelling at her to get down.
BOOM! The door was knocked off it's hinges as a silver foot took its place. The guard was embedded with the door into the driver's seat. For his sake, Neo hoped he had aura. Neo pushed herself further against the wall as a tall and skinny grey-haired teen stepped into the van.
"Hey Cinder, I don't see…"
The boy didn't have time to finish before Neo was on top of him, wrapping her legs around his neck and bashing her cuffs down on his head. Her lack of aura enhanced strength seemed to do little to hurt the teen but the sudden change of weight on his head caused him to become monetary unstable, swinging around as he attempted to dislodge her.
With surprising speed, he spun, twisting in the air, almost like a breakdancing move, swinging Neo around like she was on a roller coaster at the carnival. She dislodged herself from him, using her bound hands she landed in a back handspring, landing swiftly on her feet, as she attempted to run into the darkness of a nearby alleyway, with nightfall to cover her escape.
She halted as a rain of green gunfire blocked her path. She turned, a ferocious snarl on her face as she turned to face another teen, a girl with mint hair and a rather revealing white and grey outfit, pointing her revolvers at Neo.
"Just give me the word Cinder." She growled, as Neo's eyes darted back between her and her grey-haired companion, who hand his hands raised in a fighter's stance.
"Mercury, Emerald, please" A sultry sweet voice interrupted the conflict, as a gorgeous black-haired woman in a short, red, off the shoulders dress strolled between them all, placing her hand gently on who Neo assumed to be Emerald's shoulder "This poor girl has been through enough today. Isn't that right Neapolitan?"
Neo held up her bound wrists, as she unfortunately recognized the voice of Cinder Fall, Roman and her employer. Neo felt a slight burning tinge, before she found the restraints melted off her wrists at the touch of Cinder's hand.
"That's better now, isn't it?" Cinder asked, as Neo signed what do you want?
To her surprise Cinder signed back, Do. You. Have. It?
Neo rolled her eyes, as she pulled a flash drive from her cleavage, figuring that when the General's white-haired bitch destroyed her mech suit, they wouldn't think to look there, especially since it appeared they had already thwarted her goals.
"Excellent" Cinder smiled, as she raised the flash drive in the air before tossing it to Mercury, who stuffed it in his pocket.
"Emerald, Mercury lets go" She ordered, pointing into the alley, where Neo assumed they came from "Neapolitan, you will accompany us as well. We will need to contact your boss so we can proceed with the next part of the plan."