AUTHOR'S NOTES: A shorter one tonight, because there's so much happening in this chapter, despite there being no real action. It's a very talky one (Salem does like to hear her own voice), but a rather important chapter. I enjoyed writing this one quite a bit, because 1) I really do enjoy writing Salem and 2) I think it proves that she's very good at being bad.

A side historical note: the Rape of Nanjing was a massacre of Chinese civilians by the Imperial Japanese Army in late 1937, in which anywhere from 40,000 to 300,000 were murdered in the cruelest fashion possible. Unit 731 was a secret IJA project during World War II where prisoners, Chinese and Allied POWs, were experimented on. There's been bad blood between China and Japan for thousands of years, but that certainly didn't help matters.

I'll admit to cribbing a little from U-571 in one of Ren's lines. It's taken from the movie, but it's also a very accurate assessment of a commander's duty.

Poznan-Krezsiny Airbase

Poznan, Republic of Poland

27 August 2001

"That's Salem?" Marrow Amin asked. "Wow. She's kind of pretty."

"Silence!" Ironwood thundered.

On the television screen, Salem folded her hands before her, almost as if she was praying. "A few days ago," she said, "my existence was revealed to the world. I admit that I have been rather secretive for so many years, and that I should have revealed myself sooner. But I was not sure how the world would accept me. After all, my appearance…" She smiled. "My appearance has a tendency to make me look like some sort of supervillain from a science fiction movie. But what you see is no suit, no special effects, no makeup." She touched her face. "This is what radiation can do. Radiation unleashed by the most destructive war in the history of the human race."

Salem returned to her former stance. "My real name no longer has any meaning, nor is my history particularly important. Suffice to say that I am as much of a victim of the Third World War as the millions who died in it. It was my misfortune to survive…and my fortune. For when I returned to the irradiated remains of the Soviet Union, it was to find a broken, leaderless, tortured people. The United States and Europe were lucky to survive with comparatively moderate damage. Russia was not. So I slowly united what was left. And just as you suffered from the predations of the GRIMM, so did we. Until, that is, I discovered the GRIMM factories in western Russia. A doomsday device, if you like: one emplaced by men already dead so that the Soviet Union would destroy its enemies even as it was destroyed. Once I was able to take those factories over only a few years ago, I was able to control much of the GRIMM."

"She's lying," Oscar snapped. Ironwood raised a hand for quiet.

"Now you are undoubtedly asking yourself," Salem continued, "if Salem controlled the GRIMM, why do people continue to die? What about the attack on Beacon in the United States, or the attack on Hokkaido in Japan, or Algiers, or the most recent one in central Poland?" She nodded and smiled. "A good question. Many of the GRIMM are still uncontrolled; I can do nothing about those. But the attack on Beacon and Poland?" She became somber. "Those were indeed ordered by me."

"No kidding," Yang whispered to Blake, below the level of Ironwood's hearing.

"Once more, you ask yourself why? Why would I do something like that?" Salem held up a finger. "Because I am tired of watching the world being lied to by corrupt and foolish politicians, more worried about their pensions than their people. I am tired of the hypocrisy. We banned nuclear weapons after the Third World War, rightfully so, because we knew then the horrors that a nuclear war could unleash. Horrors like me." She held up her pale hands. "And yet our leaders, those we elected to govern us, shed crocodile tears and made pithy speeches about how they had rid the world of the weapons that nearly destroyed it…while they built and orbited weapons platforms that could destroy it again. And in a cruel bit of misogyny, they named these weapons Maidens."

Ironwood went pale. Ruby closed her eyes. "Ohhh shit." The general didn't correct her, probably because he was thinking the same thing.

"Yes," Salem said with a nod. "Maidens. Plural. Because the United States doesn't have the only one. So does Japan. And so does Europe." Another nod. "Oh yes. While EU politicians shook their heads in mock sorrow and rightfully condemned the United States for having an orbital weapon, in violation of treaties, and even enacted an embargo in protest, they themselves already had their own. And they've all had their own for some time, since the 1980s, perhaps longer. That is how long they have lied to you, people of the world. All of us have been living with a secret Sword of Damocles over our heads for decades. Our children…" Her voice faltered, and Ruby couldn't be sure Salem was acting with that line. "Our children have lived with this, unknowingly, naively believing that they lived in a world safe from weapons of mass destruction.

"Now, when you ask your politicians and your generals, why they chose to do this, they will answer 'because of the threat of GRIMM.' And you may accept that, but you should not. After all, what GRIMM are so huge and powerful that they require such destructive power? The so-called Wyvern? The Nuckalevee? Powerful, yes, but hardly needing a weapon of such force to destroy it. And since when have humans ever developed a weapon that they did not hesitate to use on each other? Poison gas, plague, nuclear weapons? All have been unleashed in our shared history. If the GRIMM were to disappear tomorrow, would those nations armed with these Maidens then use the threat of such weapons to cow the weaker ones? History would suggest that they would.

"So, yes, I am responsible for the attack on Beacon. I knew that such a monster GRIMM would merit a monstrous response. And I was right. The man who helped design the Maidens, a US Navy Captain named Oscar Ozpin, was the commander of Joint Base Beacon. I knew that he would not hesitate to use the so-named Fall Maiden, because if a weapon is built, it will be used!" There was rage in Salem's voice now, the red eyes blazing; she was most definitely not acting now. "He paid for his excessiveness with his life, killed by his own weapon. The United States government has rightfully blamed him for the destruction that laid waste to central Wisconsin and resulted in the deaths of so many brave men and women—deaths that yes, I am indirectly responsible for, and which I regret. But it was the only way to reveal to the world the secret of these horrific devices."

"Lying bitch." Weiss' hands were curled into fists on the armrests of her chair.

Salem spread her hands. "This brings me to our current situation in Poland. General Ironwood, and others, will tell you that I am the aggressor, that my intention is to overrun Europe and kill everyone within it in some nihilistic paroxysm." Her mouth quirked into a smile. "Such paranoia. I have no such intentions. If I did, I would have killed farmers and villagers in central Poland. I have not. In fact, I would say more have died at the hands of the NATO armies and mass airstrikes than from GRIMM. Today NATO unleashed heavy bombers, B-52s, that caused much death and destruction. Ironwood, perhaps, would tell you that such an act was military necessity—but he would be using the same excuse that led the Soviets to launch their missiles in 1962, unleashing the calamity that killed so many and did this to me."

"I don't believe this!" Oscar exclaimed. "She was the one who was responsible for that!"

"Shhh!" Elm hissed.

"My intentions in Poland are simply this: I want the NATO armies out of the nation. They can withdraw to wherever they like—Germany, Britain, or back to the United States. In return, I will call off my attacks. I will grant peace to Europe. I am not a Hitler who desires lebensraum, living space; I merely want what is best for what is left of the Russian people—my people. Leave us alone. Let us rebuild our nation in peace. Let Poland no longer be the battlefield it has been for so many centuries. Nor am I a Stalin: let Poland restore its pre-1939 borders in the east. Let us end this war." Salem's gaze into the camera was steady. "To show that I am sincere, and that I indeed command the GRIMM in Poland, I propose a 72-hour ceasefire, which I will begin at midnight tonight, unilaterally. I will not attack unless provoked. Should I see NATO units withdrawing, I will in turn withdraw my forces back behind the Vistula. At that point, I would be open to a face-to-face meeting with the leaders of the European Union, as well as the United States, to negotiate a more permanent settlement."

Salem held out a hand. "I am offering a hand in friendship to the nations of the world, to human and Faunus alike. It is up to you, the people, to hold your elected leaders responsible, and to demand answers as to why you have been lied to." She bowed her head. "I await your reply." The screen went black, to be replaced by a German news anchor.

Blake was closest; she reached up and switched the TV off. Silence reigned in the room. "Good God," Pyrrha breathed. "I can't believe I just watched that."

Clover stood. "General Ironwood, sir? What now?"

"I…I don't…" Ironwood turned to look at them. He was still ashen faced, his expression confused. For a moment, it was like he didn't even see the assembled pilots. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "I don't know." He shook his head. "Dis…dismissed. I need to return to my headquarters." Without saying anything more, Ironwood left the room.

"Sir?" Clover looked lost for a moment, then set his jaw and went after the general. Ace Flight followed, except for Marrow. Pyrrha grabbed Clover's sleeve as he brushed past her. "Clover, we need to talk—"

"No time," he growled, and roughly pulled out of her grasp to leave the room. Harriet wasn't far behind. "Better luck next time, Major," she smirked as she left. Vine gave Pyrrha an apologetic look and left as well. Elm hesitated, then she followed her flight out. Marrow stood, hesitated as well, then sat back down.

"What a fucking little bitch," Yang snarled. "I can't tell if Harriet needs a stick removed from that tight ass of hers, or needs one rammed up it!"

Pyrrha was still standing, looking as if Clover had thrown ice water into her face. Marrow tugged on her sleeve. "Major Nikos, don't take it personal," he said.

She whirled on him, her expression changing from shock to rage in a second. "I'll take it any way I can!" Marrow shrank back in his seat, tail drooping. Pyrrha closed her eyes. "I'm sorry." She sat down in a chair, staring into space.

It was silent again, then Weiss stood up and went to the front of the room, leaning against the overhead. "Blake, close the doors, please." The Faunus nodded and did so, both doors. "I know I'm not in command here, but I propose we figure out just what the hell we're doing next." She nodded in Ironwood's general direction. "Because it's quite clear that the general does not know what we're doing next."

"I can't believe he said that," Ren observed. "You never say that you don't know what to do when you're in command. Even when you truly don't."

"Especially when you truly don't," Ruby added. "But in the general's defense, Salem really threw him for a loop."

"She threw us all for a loop," Blake said. She sat back down and leaned back. "If we didn't know she was lying…if JINN hadn't told us what her plans really are…"

"Assuming we can trust Ozpin." Oscar put his head in his hands. "He programmed JINN, Blake. All of that was from his point of view."

"Whoa, whoa." Ruby put up her hands defensively. "Oscar, we know she's lying. She didn't send the Wyvern to Beacon to force Captain Ozpin to use the Fall Maiden. She was trying to steal the damn thing—that's why Cinder was there."

"And why Cinder murdered Amber Tardor." Weiss remembered what Amber's brother had told her.

"And that bullshit about her not controlling the Nevermores that hit Algiers? Or the attack on Japan?" Yang slammed her metal fist into the armrest. "She's a lying fucking bitch, like Weiss said."

"But a lying fucking bitch that will probably get what she wants," Blake pointed out. "Her speech was perfect. Yes, we know she's lying. And yes, there's probably a lot of people who won't believe her either—and despite her saying that she's not like Hitler, that last bit sounded a hell of a lot like him. Hitler always claimed he wanted peace for Europe too, and that he just wanted Germany to be left alone—and we know what he pulled. But there's going to be a lot of Europeans who do believe her, because they don't know what we know, and to them, she's going to sound sincere." Blake paused. "A lot more sincere than Ironwood's sounded at times."

"At any rate, Europe's going to be divided," Ren said. "There will be those who want to take Salem's offer. On the surface, it doesn't sound like a bad one—she's offering to end the GRIMM wars."

"But she's full of crap!" Nora protested. "She doesn't care! If they had some sort of peace conference, she'd just kill anyone who showed up!"

"I know," Ren retorted. "But the average European—or American or Chinese, for that matter—doesn't know that!" Nora gave him a dirty look, and Ren softened his tone a little. "She's trying to divide her enemies. And my guess is she's just done exactly that."

It was silent for a few moments. "One thing we do know," Pyrrha spoke up. "We hurt her a lot harder today than she's letting on. Something tells me that she wouldn't have offered a three-day ceasefire if the B-52 strike hadn't been so effective. That gives her time to bring up her reserves to replace what she lost. She's willing to sacrifice that time, despite knowing that it's going to give NATO time to bring up theirs."

"Assuming they do," Weiss replied. "There's no telling what the various NATO nations are going to do tomorrow. Or how people are going to react to the news of the Maidens."

SACEUR Tactical Headquarters

Spandau, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany

28 August 2001

Ironwood stared out of the windows of Spandau castle, feeling every bit the prisoner as its former inhabitants had. More than once, in the last twelve hours since Salem had made her announcement, he had thought of simply resigning his commission, retiring from the USAF, finding a tropical island somewhere, and forgetting the rest of the world existed. He had barely slept, though not all of his insomnia was due to Salem's speech.

Enough of it was. The speech had reached all of Europe, and international news services had spread it throughout the world. Few of them showed it in its entirety, but the soundbites were bad enough. From what Ironwood had watched, the talking heads of the media, and the polls, had shown people all over the world being divided by Salem, with half thinking that the whole thing was a Hitlerian ruse, and half believing that she was genuinely offering peace. There was both fear that a human being was in control of the GRIMM, and relief that that human being seemed reasonable.

Debates were raging, but one thing was for certain: the people of the EU were in an uproar over the existence of the Winter Maiden, though once more, opinion was divided. There were protests in the streets and in the various parliaments and governing bodies of Europe, but not everyone was against the idea of the EU having its own Maiden—which, Ironwood thought ruefully, might actually be proving Salem's point about the Maidens' potential to be used against other people. In the US, there was a grim sort of satisfaction: the Europeans were every bit as guilty as Americans of violating international law. In Japan, the people were infuriated, given Japan's understandable mistrust of weapons of mass destruction. In China, there were anti-Japanese protests, 2000 years of animosity rising up again at the thought of the Japanese using the Summer Maiden on China. The fact that Japan had no intention of doing so made no difference to those whose relatives had died in the Rape of Nanjing or at the hands of Unit 731.

Ironwood sighed. He thought he was winning, but Salem had been one step ahead of him. Again.

The door opened behind him, and he turned slowly. It was Winter, looking tired but recovered from the minor wounds she had gotten the day before, along with Qrow, Penny, and Pietro Polendina. He smiled and came around the desk. "Winter. Glad you're all right."

"I'm fine, sir." Winter did not feel fine. The copilot of Red One had died during the night. The doctors had assured Winter that his wounds were mortal to begin with, internal bleeding and hemmoraging, but privately she wondered if her beating him into unconciousness with her pistol had finished him off. Then again, Winter reflected, if she felt bad, Ironwood looked worse. His eyes were bloodshot, his beard needed trimming, and his gait was slow, like that of a much older man.

"Well." Ironwood leaned against his desk. "I called you all here because, quite frankly, I'm going to need your help." Penny nodded enthusiastically—she was the only person in the room who looked fresh and ready to go—while Pietro seemed confused and Qrow said nothing at all. "I talked this over with Major Ebi last night—used him as a sounding board—and I've decided on a course of action."

"I hope it's a good one, Jimmy." Qrow had gotten a call from Ruby the night before, about Ironwood admitting that he had no idea what to do. That had bothered him. Ironwood had never acted like that, ever.

"I hope so too, Qrow." Ironwood put a hand on Qrow's shoulder. "I hope so too. But I'm going to need everyone's help. Especially yours, Dr. Polendina." He moved over to the doctor. "First of all, in your opinion, how did Salem broadcast her message? She doesn't have some sort of GRIMM Commando Solo, does she?"

"No," Pietro answered, "but she does have Arthur Watts, and I'm sure plenty of other scientists. They could've rigged up a way to break into every channel in Europe. All she needed is a transmitter." He chuckled humorlessly. "And I know of one. The old Raszyn radio mast, southwest of what's left of Warsaw. It's almost 1100 feet high."

"We can confirm that," Winter said. "It's actually been maintained by the Polish government as an emergency transmitter, just like the mast in North Dakota that Watts used to broadcast Sienna Khan's message after Penny—the first Penny—was killed. One reason why the 1st Armored's center area wasn't hit in the past 48 hours was because her forces were securing it. It's protected by GRIMM now."

"We'll have to destroy it," Ironwood said. "But not now." He picked up a piece of paper from his desk and held it up. "Orders from the President: honor the ceasefire." He shook his head. "Of course, I was going to anyway. We need the 72 hours as much as Salem does."

"For all the good it will do us," Winter groused. "I think half of NATO will vote to agree to Salem's terms. In any case, even those that won't will not risk escalating the situation by sending reinforcements." She rubbed her eyes. "I made a phone call to a friend at Bundeswehr headquarters. The 10th Panzer Division was supposed to cross into Poland today. The Bundestag has ordered them to halt. The British will still deploy their regiments, and the Danish are staying put, but for now, no one else."

"I know. I was notified. My government's not sending me anything except supplies, and that took me calling my few remaining friends in Congress. Not even any replacement B-52s. Hell, they're calling Arashikaze into a closed door session of the House right now, to verify Salem's story." Ironwood leaned against his desk again. "Dammit all to hell. Salem's gone from getting the shit kicked out of her by bombs to winning, in less than twelve hours." He looked up at them, and smiled. "But I know a way to get the initiative back."

"How so?" Pietro asked.

"We do what every government does when they get caught," Ironwood replied.

"Blame someone else?" Qrow put in.

Ironwood laughed. "Close. We admit to everything." They stared at him, and Ironwood shrugged. "I talked with Sleet and Camilla Dias this morning, among others. They're going to spin this as the Winter Maiden being necessary to defend Europe's interests and be on par with the United States and Japan. Probably declassify the entire idea behind the Maidens and how they were created." Ironwood paused, then played his trump card. "And we're going to have Fria give an interview."

"What?" Winter and Qrow exclaimed at the same time.

"Sure. Oh, she won't tell the press everything. We're going to introduce her as one of the designers of the Winter Maiden—which isn't completely a lie; she did work on it. We just won't say anything about her being one of the three people who can fire it."

"Jimmy?" Qrow said with concern. "Have you, y'know, lost your fucking mind?"

"Maybe so, Qrow," Ironwood grinned. "Maybe so."

Heringsdorf Airport

Mecklenburg State, Federal Republic of Germany

28 August 2001

Cinder Fall switched off the television. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Nor I," Watts admitted, which was unusual for him. "I thought that the EU and Ironwood would deny everything about the Maidens. Instead, they're owning up to it." He leaned back in the chair and took a drink of beer. "And they even revealed Fria Gletscher's identity—even if they are merely claiming that she worked on the project rather than being the Maiden bearer herself."

"If she's giving an interview at the hospital, we could kill her," Neo pointed out.

"My thoughts exactly," Cinder agreed. "Salem's got the world on its heels right now. Eliminating the Winter Maiden from play would guarantee victory."

"Nothing guarantees victory," Watts said. Cinder rolled her good eye. "We'll know where the hospital is, yes, but we can guarantee that they will ring Fria with security tighter than a Portsmouth sailor on holiday." Now both women were giving him nasty looks. "I'm not against killing the Winter Maiden. It was part of the plan to begin with, and that hospital will be a lot easier than wherever she's usually kept, security wise. But it will still be very bad, to prevent the very thing we're trying to attempt." It occurred to Watts that this could be another trap, though not as clumsy and obvious as the one that had snared Tyrian Callows. None had mourned the insane killer's capture; Cinder had been a little disappointed that Neo had turned and ran rather than staying and dying, but didn't blame her, either.

"If only you had someone who is really, really good at this sort of thing," Neo said with a smile.

"That is true," Watts said. "If anyone could get past that security, it would be you, Neo."

"I'll go with her." Cinder smirked at Neo's fuming. "Come on, Neo. Do you think I'd trust you with the Maiden bracelet?"

"No, you won't go with her." Cinder glared at Watts. He pointed at her. "Cinder, how exactly were you planning on hiding your identity? Your face is known…what's left of it."

"Go fuck yourself!" Cinder shouted. Her artificial fist crashed into the bar, leaving a noticeable dent.

"If I could do that, I would never leave the house," Watts quipped. "But seriously, Cinder dear. Even if we disguised you as a fugitive from the burn ward, you would get caught. You barely got to Amber Tardor in the confusion of a pitched battle. Fria Gletscher will be even more difficult, because they'll be expecting you."

"They don't even know that we know who Fria really is."

"Perhaps not, Cinder, but I am not taking that chance. I will go with Neo," Watts informed her. "That will ensure our little ice cream assassin won't wander off with the Maiden bracelet, and will also ensure that she gets past security—what with me disabling cameras and unlocking doors and the like."

"I could just kill you," Neo snickered.

"You certainly could, my dear. However, it would profit you nothing. I had nothing to do with your precious dum-dum's death, and should I die, there are certain files that will be downloaded to the authorities—files with all of your little boltholes and secret identities and contacts." The latter was a lie, but Watts was a very good liar, and from the expression on Neo's face, he knew she believed him. He opened his laptop. "It should be child's play to get a map of the hospital. So tonight then, Neo?"

Neo laughed, knowing she was outmaneuvered. "We're off to kill the Maiden," she sang, "the wonderful Maiden of Oz."