Neo didn't have all that many options to get Cinder to take action, really. Even if she knew Ruby was there, it wasn't like she could tell Cinder without making her doubt how she knew it, considering none of Red's friends showed up at the Schnee manor.
Besides, even if she did tell Cinder where Ruby was, it wasn't like they were in a position to attack them. It would only give Cinder more time to prepare a decent plan, and the more rushed she would be the more likely there would be holes within it they could use against her.
An opportunity finally arose just after the elections, as the Schnee who had just won them invited everyone over to his manor to talk about the blockade.
That was the moment Salem's minions chose to bring chaos down on Mantle, and Neo happily skipped away from the party to bring Cinder the good news.
With most of Atlas' military going down to Mantle, along with everyone but little Oz'car, who held the Relic of Knowledge, there was no better moment for Cinder to attack.
"Are you sure they're all down in Mantle ?" asked Cinder.
Neo nodded, only Oscar and Ironwood would be staying, maybe Winter too given she was Ironwood's second in command, but they really were focusing on saving as many people in Mantle from the grimm and the lack of heat.
"I still can't believe those idiots beat us here." she added, "Vacuo was supposed to be the next target."
Cinder stared out the window for a moment, grommeling something before turning towards Neo.
"You said the farm boy had the lamp ?" she asked.
Neo simply nodded.
"Find him. Take it." ordered Cinder.
Neo groaned. She really didn't like being ordered around. She used her semblance to switch to Ruby, trying to get Cinder to focus on Ruby while the girl was down in Mantle. It would be nice if she could get Cinder in a direct confrontation with the silver eyed girl, but Neo figured that Cinder wasn't worried about Ruby anymore, assuming that having Neo focused on killing her made her as good as dead.
Furthermore, pushing for Cinder to go against Ruby was about the one sure fire way to make her not do it, and that was actually better as Cinder would have a harder time running away from their trap in Atlas than in Mantle. Predictably, Cinder lashed out at her request.
"No !" she shouted, "We get what I need first ! Then we get what we want. Now go."
Neo turned away and crossed her arms, still disguised as Ruby. Making this too easy would make Cinder doubt something was wrong. Besides, Cinder's petulant child behavior was angering her anyway.
"Ironwood's been hiding the Winter maiden for years." explained Cinder, trying to manipulate Neo by soothing her down, "Tonight I'm going to find her."
She took Neo's scroll away from her, making Neo frown in annoyance and drop the illusion she was wrapped in.
"The general is as predictable as his androids." said Cinder with a smirk, "Threaten what he has, and he'll flock to protect it."
A flash of fear appeared on Neo's face, that she quickly hid away. Cinder was already monstrous enough with only one maiden power, what was going to happen if she managed to get two ?
Cinder threw Neo's scroll back at her as she left. After a moment to regain her bearings, Neo followed.
It didn't matter. All she had to do was make sure Cinder would never live to get another maiden power.
Ironwood stared at the black chess piece in front of him. What ? When ? How ? How was this here ? Did this mean all his efforts were in vain ? Again ?
He watched out the window as the grimm was attacking Mantle, as his army's bullheads were busying themselves to bring to safety as many people as possible.
He could easily make out Penny fighting, and he guessed team RWBY and JNR were down there as well. He had trapped Watts in Amity and arrested him, and he got news of Qrow and Clover arresting Tyrian as well.
The piece, however, was still there, taunting him, telling him he had yet again failed to stop the inevitable. Someone was in Atlas, they were in Atlas, even though he had worked so hard to ensure it wouldn't happen. Knowing Watts and Tyrian were down in Mantle had been bad enough, but for someone to have gotten through the security of Atlas proper...
They could be anywhere. They could be anyone. There was nobody he could trust, nobody except those he knew for sure were on his side, Oscar, Qrow, RWBY, JNR... but could he really trust them ? After all they hid from him ? After they went behind his back to warn Robyn Hill ?
Ironwood closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Should he activate Mettle ?
His semblance allowed him to take important decisions without any hesitation. It was in no small part thanks to it that he had became the general in chief as such a young age. When fighting the mindless grimm, hesitation was as good as death.
But his semblance had one issue. One glaring problem. He could only activate it in order to reach an objective, and it wouldn't deactivate until he either reached that objective, or died trying.
He had learned this the hard way, and only half of his body was still here to tell the tale.
Still, at the point they were now at... could he really afford to hesitate ? Or should he take the risk of going straight towards his objective while ignoring all other options ?
Grabbing his scroll, Ironwood called all the people he could potentially trust back.
He would give them one last chance. Either they helped him, or Mettle would take the helm.
Either way, he would save Atlas and its Relic.
Ruby looked at her scroll.
They were getting as many people as they could back onto the bullheads, taking their time to breath between two waves of grimm, when Neo had sent her a message.
Cinder is in motion. She's going for the Winter maiden.
She needed to go back to Atlas. The people were safe, for now, but if Cinder managed to get what she wanted that wouldn't last long. If she got the Winter maiden's powers and the Relic of Creation that was holding Atlas in the sky, then there would be no safe place to bring the people to anymore.
But it wasn't like she could just tell her team to go with her to Atlas without raising their suspicions... If they knew she had hidden things from them, they would definitely have an argument, and now was no time for an argument, not when everyone's lives were at stake. She needed a way to go back to Atlas without making her team doubt her.
As if answering her prayers, she just received a call from Ironwood asking them to meet him in his office.
"Is he serious ?" asked Yang, "Now's not the time for a meeting when there are still so many people we need to save."
"I think it's fine." argued Ruby, "Things are pretty much under control for now, we can afford to leave for a bit. I'm sure Ironwood wouldn't have called if it wasn't important."
"Really Ruby ?" asked Yang, "I thought you would agree with me on this."
"She's right though." pointed out Blake, "It sounded really urgent, I think we should go see what he wants."
"Still." said Weiss, "To call now..."
"Ours is not to question." said Elm, one of the Ace operatives, "Ours is to follow orders."
Ruby ignored the rest of the argument as she messaged Neo back.
We're on our way, what are you going to do ?
The reply made her frown.
I'm going to grab some insurance for now.
Why wouldn't Neo ready herself to stop Cinder ? She should know more than anyone that they couldn't let Cinder become more powerful than she already was.
We need to stop Cinder, why aren't you following her ?
The answer didn't make itself wait, but it still wasn't one Ruby could agree with.
I am not going to take unnecessary risks. I only have one chance at killing her, so I won't out myself until I'm completely sure she isn't going to survive. For now, I need insurance in case we fail. You'll just have to keep her busy until I can come help.
Ruby didn't like it, but she didn't really have the time to argue some more. Instead, she decided to focus on protecting the Winter maiden as much as she could from where she was, by calling Penny.
"Hello friend Ruby !" she heard Penny say through her scroll, "Why are you calling me ?"
"Hello Penny." replied Ruby, "Did Ironwood ask you to come back to Atlas as well ?"
"Why yes !" answered Penny, "He asked me to go help Winter with something."
"What are you going to help her with ?" asked Ruby. She wanted to be sure it wasn't too important before asking Penny to protect the Winter maiden.
"I shouldn't tell you but..." started Penny, "We're going to protect the Winter maiden."
Ruby breathed in relief. It was perfect, she didn't even need to invent a story for her friend, Ironwood was already taking the necessary steps.
Although, what did prompt Ironwood to ask both Penny and Winter to protect the maiden ?
Oscar was feeling a bit guilty that he wasn't out helping everyone. He knew that he was still weak, and that he needed to protect the Relic at all costs, but it didn't feel right to stay within the safety of his room while the world was crumbling around him.
There was even two robots in front of his door to protect him. There was hardly a safer place than where we was staying in. Especially now that the robots walked inside.
Wait... walked inside ?
Oscar instinctively jumped to the side just as one of the androids shot at him, and he grabbed his cane to prepare to fight back.
He jumped at one of the robots as they both prepared to shoot and struck, but he was hit in the stomach by the android's foot while his own strike did little damage. The other one shot him, and Oscar could feel his aura disappear in almost an instant.
Grasping every last ounce of strength he could muster, Oscar swung his cane towards one of the androids, and actually managed to bend its leg before the other hit him with the back of its gun and knocked him unconscious.
When Neo got to Oscar's room, she was surprised to see the robots had already fought him, although they hadn't gotten much luck. Oscar was pretty charred, and had a couple wounds, but was standing just fine over what was left of the androids.
Or actually, a quick observation told her it wasn't quite Oscar that she was looking at.
Name : Ozpin/Oscar Pine
Age : Unquantifiable/14
Level : 30 (100%)/0 (0%)
Class : Wizard/Farmhand
Path : Unknown/None
Title : The White King/None
HP : 8/14
AP : 0/12
STR : 16
CON : 13
DEX : 16
INT : 26/10
WIS : 20/11
CHA : 12
Semblance : Unknown/None
Status effects :
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]
Merging souls [Two souls aren't supposed to share the same body. Over time, they will merge into a single being]
Unknown
Defenses :
AC : 33/13
For : 30/15
Ref : 35/15
Will : 34/13
"You're Neo, aren't you ?" said Ozpin as he turned towards her, "What are you doing here ?"
She was disguised as one of Ironwood's soldiers, but she wasn't surprised in the slightest that Ozpin had recognized her. He was able to tell when people used Dust around him after all.
Neo smirked and pointed at the Relic hanging at Ozpin's side, making him frown.
"Why do you want it ?" he growled, "Are you working for her ?"
Neo shrugged and took out her scroll before showing Ozpin her latest discussion with Ruby. That got him thinking for a moment.
"What if I refused to give it to you ?" he asked.
Neo grinned and typed her answer on her scroll before showing him.
You're not really in a state to fight me you know Ozpin.
Ozpin frowned, he had to admit that Oscar was out of Aura and already bruised. Fighting Neo now would risk him simply dying on the spot, and would do little to nothing in stopping her from taking the Relic. It was best to let her take it and risk her cooperation, especially considering that, while she knew he was Ozpin, she didn't seem like she wanted to kill him, unlike any of Salem pawns.
"Fine." he said as he handed the Relic to her, "I'll shut down and Oscar should wake up from his unconsciousness, I'll only ask for one thing in exchange."
Neo tilted her head. He wasn't really in any position to negotiate, but she was curious.
"The robots attacked us... Which means none of the other androids are safe." he explained, "Please make sure Oscar gets out of here alive."
And without giving her a chance to answer, Ozpin fell unconscious.
Were the robots controlled by Ironwood, or were they given the mission beforehand by Watts ? You decide what option you prefer ;p
Oscar's still stuck at level 0, but he's almost out. He only has to accept his role as the Wizard to finally merge classes with Ozpin and get to leveling up x)
To be continued on October 16th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 18
Level : 18 (83%)
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