Guest : That is the plan in the show, sending Amity in space for global communications.
SunlitOverdrive : Sadly, the lack of global communications means there aren't many animes to watch, and the constant adds about how Ironwood is going to protect them all really gets on her nerves XD.
It was over a year after the fall of Beacon that Ironwood's fears finally came true. A stolen Atlesian bullhead forced its way through the blockade before crashing in Mantle. Whoever was in there, he couldn't let them disappear into the crowd and mount whatever kind of operation they had planned against his Kingdom.
"Penny !" called Ironwood through the coms, "There's a bullhead that just forced its way through the blockade. I need you to intercept it !"
"I see it sir !" answered Penny, "I'm on it."
"Good, I'm sending you the Ace Ops as well." added Ironwood.
"Negative sir, I'm more than enough to take care of this." said Penny, "I won't let you down!"
Ironwood shook his head. There was no arguing with Penny on this, but he knew that Salem's minions would be hard to catch. Sending the Ace Ops as a security was the safest option.
"Clover, do you read me?" he asked as he opened a com channel towards them.
"Loud and clear General." answered the leader of the Ace Ops at the end of the line.
"A bullhead just forced its way through the blockade and landed in Mantle. I need you and your team to go down there in support of Penny." explained Ironwood, "You know what to do?"
"Capture if possible and eliminate if not." readily answered Clover, "You can count on us."
"Perfect." said Ironwood, "I am awaiting the good news."
The communication ended and Ironwood relaxed for just a tiny moment in his chair. He had always been afraid that Salem's minions had somehow passed through his blockade undetected, but now it was clear his defenses were truly impenetrable.
Not even ten minutes after sending the Ace Ops, they were already calling back.
"We've got them all in custody sir." said Clover, "They claim to know you."
Ironwood was confused, how could they have caught Salem's minions so easily? He wasn't expecting any report for at least half an hour.
"Place them in front of a camera, subtly." said Ironwood, "I'll check."
"Yes sir." answered Clover.
Looking at the captives through his screen, Ironwood's mood instantly soared. It was Qrow, along with the team that did the most in defending Vale from Salem over a year ago.
Finally, new people he knew he could trust.
In the poorest parts of Mantle, inside an abandoned apartment, were two of the very minions Ironwood desperately wanted to keep out of his Kingdom.
"I'll say." noted Watts, "These codes Salem provided us with have made our passage through the blockade infinitely easier. Do you have any idea how she got them ?"
"Perhaps." said Tyrian with a chuckle.
"And... you're not going to tell me, are you ?" asked Watts.
"Definitely." agreed Tyrian.
The scientist brushed off his mad companion's antics. There was no point in trying to converse with the beast anyway.
Glancing at the tail he made him, Watts couldn't help but sigh at the favoritism Salem showed the serial killer. If he had screwed up as badly as Tyrian had, she would have never let him get out alive, yet this one had been granted a brand new tail.
Well, there wasn't much point in being jealous of Tyrian's position. The man was pretty much Salem's puppy. She'd punish him for misbehaving, sure, but in the end he was still her puppy, and she wasn't going to let him go. Watts certainly didn't want to be relegated to a simple pet, but apparently the faunus was fine with it.
Or maybe he had the mad idea that his goddess loved him, but that was ridiculous. They were nothing in Salem's eyes, he wasn't even sure if she viewed them as from the same specie as she was. He had managed to get her respect with his skills, but sometimes he felt more like he was only a particularly smart chipmunk to her.
The only things that actually got strong emotions out of her were the Relics, which were most likely linked to her past in some way, and Ozpin, who was as immortal as she was, if not in the same exact way.
Well, he shouldn't worry about a madman's ramble. He'll leave Tyrian to his delusions, and actually focus on his work.
Which would allow him to screw both Ironwood and Jacques in the same move. Now that was something he could look forward to.
Long after their meeting with Ironwood, after helping him secure the mine and after getting their Huntress licenses, Ruby wasn't entirely sure what to do.
She had chosen to hide the full truth, afraid it would break a man that seemed like he should have broken a long time ago, and that was the same exact reason as to why Ozpin had hidden it as well.
But there was more than that. There was another issue at hand.
On her scroll, a number was back in range. One that shouldn't have been.
Neo's number. Ruby was sure that the small woman had left after Cinder was killed, so why would she be here all the way in Atlas ?
She had put it off for a while, but in the end, her curiosity won over sensibility, and she sent a message to Neo, who she really didn't want to see ever again.
Why are you here ?
Realizing how stupid it was to send a message to her former enemy, Ruby shook her head and put her scroll back into her pocket, only for it to vibrate as soon as she let go of it.
She's alive.
Ruby didn't have to think to understand what Neo meant. Why did it have to be this way ? Why did Cinder had to already be chasing after them ?
She's separated from Salem, and looking for an opportunity to grab the Relic and get back into her good graces. Get ready for whenever she attacks. She's alone, but thinks she can count on me to help.
Ruby grabbed her scroll and quickly answered. If they could stop Cinder now, then it would go a long way towards stopping Salem.
I'll tell my team, we can prepare a plan to trap her.
Neo's answer didn't wait to arrive.
No. Cinder's too powerful, if she feels like something's off she'll hightail out of here and we won't be able to stop her. She needs to think she has the upper hand.
Ruby texted back just as quickly.
How do we stop her then ? Can't we find a way to make her believe she can win ?
The answer took a bit of time to show up, but it still did.
Not really. She's full of herself, and that means that she won't accept a plan that she didn't personally come up with. We're going to have to react.
Ruby sighed. She really didn't like the idea of being constantly on edge because Cinder might attack at any moment.
Can't I tell my friends then ? So we can be ready.
She was hoping she could be finally be truthful with them about Neo, Ruby didn't want to hide things from them any longer.
Can you be sure they won't try to directly go for Cinder and ruin our chances to kill her ?
Ruby looked down. She couldn't even be sure they would accept working with Neo, let alone stay put until Cinder attacked. In fact, now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure they would actually all go out to attack Cinder instead.
She sighed again, and Qrow came to sit next to her. They talked a bit, until the subject of her not saying everything to Ironwood came up.
"I'm trying to do what I think is best, but I really can't tell if what's best is what's right, or if I'm no different from Oz." she said.
"Ruby, Oz only trusted himself with the whole truth. You're trusting others, but you're making sure they prove themselves first. I think that's a pretty big difference." said Qrow.
Ruby looked back at her scroll pensively, thinking back to what Neo told her about everyone doing what they wanted, but that it was what they did that defined whether they were good or bad.
Was what she was doing truly for the best ? Was this truly a good idea ?
"I hope so."
Ironwood sighed as he looked through the window of his office.
The kids had suggested telling Robyn Hill about his plans, to tell her the truth about Salem so she would stop her raids on his resources going to Amity. Things, however, weren't so simple.
How could he trust a Huntress that didn't obey him ? How could he trust someone that was fighting him when Salem's minions could be anywhere ?
That was the main reason why he hadn't told the truth to everyone in Atlas, why he wouldn't say it until Amity was complete. No matter how good his defenses were, he couldn't be certain Salem had no idea of what was going on inside the city. If the wrong person came to know of his plans, then the entire project was in jeopardy. Salem would do anything to stop humanity from uniting against her.
He could tell Robyn, that was a possibility, but could he trust that Robyn wasn't one of Salem's agents ? Could he trust that Robyn wouldn't tell the truth to one of Salem's agents by mistake ?
This was too dangerous. The only ones he could trust with the information were the people already in the know about Ozpin and Salem.
There was no one he could trust but them, and that was the problem in the first place.
After a long time, a very long time of thinking things over, Ruby finally decided.
She was going to tell her team the truth. She couldn't keep this secret all on her own, she needed her team – her friends – there to help her prepare against Cinder's inevitable attack. She wanted someone she could trust fully with this.
She understood Neo didn't want to risk Cinder getting wind of their plans, but they had all grown up a lot in Atlas and before. With the way they were, she could be sure that at least her team would keep everything secret.
Ruby entered their dorm, where Weiss, Blake and Yang already were.
"Guys, I want to tell you something." she said cheerfully.
"We too." said Blake, looking at Yang, "Do you mind if we go first ?"
Ruby shook her head and sat on one of the bunk-beds. She could wait for a moment.
"We told Robyn the truth about Amity." said Yang.
Ruby froze. Ironwood had told them to stay silent about it, and while she didn't really disagree with them, it was supposed to stay secret.
"I think she's going to stop attacking transports for a while." added Blake, "Her semblance allows her to tell if someone's saying the truth, so she could believe us easily."
"We know Ironwood didn't want to... but we can't keep this up, if we didn't intervene then we would never have gotten Amity off the ground." said Yang.
"I'm sorry we did this without telling you two first." said Blake, "I hope you can forgive us."
"While I think you indeed should have told us first." said Weiss, "I agree with your decision."
Ruby on the other hand, was completely panicking inside, and told the opposite of what she was thinking.
"I agree." she said.
There was no way she could tell them the truth about Neo and Cinder now.
Neo may have forgotten that she could have simply checked for Ruby's scroll number to get in range instead of hiding in the Schnee manor, but oh well.
Time for a little pause just before things blow up.
To be continued on October 9th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 18
Level : 18 (82%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 10/10
AP : 95/95
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 19
INT : 22
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 27(31)
For : 20
Ref : 26
Will : 24