Chapter 48
Emerald groaned tiredly upon awakening, a head splitting headache greeting her as her eyes fluttered open. Dark skies greeted her as she attempted to get up, only to stumble back as she felt her head pulse in pain. Clutching her head, she felt bandages wrapped around it, and she lay back down.
"Are you alright?" a voice asked. With unfocused eyes, Emerald could see a boy around her age wearing black clothes and layered gray armor. In his hand was a large polearm - a halberd. The boy had long dark blue hair tied in a ponytail.
"The relic is secured," a white haired woman said nearby, and Emerald saw that she was holding the lamp in her hand. A jolt of fear passed through Emerald for a second, but considering no one else seemed to be freaking out about the fact, she tried to calm down and gather her bearings. "I want a Manta and escorts here at once." No doubt she was talking on a radio or earpiece, Emerald's vision was too blurry to tell which specifically.
Getting up, slowly this time, Emerald groaned again and wearily nodded. Looking around, she saw the tall woman with white hair in a ponytail standing next to Clover, conversing with him. She could see Blake, Qrow, and Nora sitting on nearby rubble, the three of them injured in one way or another.
"Miss Sustrai," the woman stated as she turned to approach Emerald. "I am Winter Schnee of the Atlesian Corps of Specialist Huntsmen. Are you alright? Can you tell me what's the last thing you remember?"
"I...Markus! Where's Markus-" Emerald shouted, as the memories of what happened rushed back to her.
"Cardin's group made contact several minutes ago. They found Xiao Long, Onissa, and are recovering Specialist Amin," Winter said, leaving out that Marrow was in critical condition to not worry the girl, before hearing a call. The two turned to see Jaune, Ren, and Harriet approaching them - Jaune and Harriet supporting an unconscious Elm while Ren nursed his own broken and bloodied arm.
"That's a total of twelve personnel located," Clover said to Winter as he hurried over to Harriet and helped take his knocked out hammer wielding teammate off her hands. "You alright?"
"Never better, sir," Harriet said as she breathed heavily. She sounded winded, and the flickering of her aura suggested that they had to fight their way to them. Emerald got up and reached for her weapons, grateful that Thief's Respite was still there, secure in their holsters. The current scene was making her worry more and more about Markus's safety, and the need to start wandering to search for him was growing.
She saw Nora and Ren reunite, both of them doing so tiredly, but reuniting nonetheless. Emerald winced at that, remembering how distant she'd been with Markus when they came back from that tribe of raiders. To think she might never see him again...
"Sustrai, are you alright?"
Winter's voice snapped Emerald out of her concerned and frightened thoughts, and she realized that she had been looking around without paying attention to whatever the specialist had been saying. "S-sorry, just...worried," she said quietly.
"I understand. We are focused on locating the others," Winter said as comfortingly as possible. "We won't leave until everybody is safe and sound."
"Good," Qrow said as he tried to get up, only to collapse back on his butt and cough. "My nieces got thrown out before the crash...they'd better be alright."
"We'll find them both, Qrow," Winter said reassuringly before she quickly turned to the guy with the halberd. "Lark. I need you to coordinate with the second search party and inform him of the good news."
"On it," the guy, Lark, said before taking out his scroll and rushing off while looking at it - most likely using a tracking feature for friendly forces.
"Him? Shouldn't it be them if it's a whole search party?" Jaune asked as he slowly felt his aura come back to him.
"No, the search party is just General Ironwood," Winter said. Qrow looked up at that, and Winter felt the need to explain further. "The General insisted that he go down personally to ensure your safe return."
That seemed strange to Emerald, yes they had the very important lamp, but surely the General himself was needed more in Atlas where he'd be keeping Salem at bay. So why come all the way down here?
At that moment, Winter's comms rang in. "Sir? Where?"she asked upon placing a finger to her ear, eyes narrowing as she listened. "Sir? You don't need...understood."
"What's going on?" Nora asked.
"The General located Nikos, Eyla, Zeki, and...and my sister," Winter said, having taken a moment to close her eyes and sigh a restricted breath quietly. "He is en route now."
"And a good thing too," Clover chimed in as he checked his scroll. "Looks like Cardin and his group are rendezvousing with the general."
- elsewhere -
I slammed Wilt through the maw of a Sabyr before collapsing to my knees, utterly tuckered out. "Are we...huff...there yet..." I muttered.
"Quit whining," Dove remarked as he shot down another Grimm nearby, before reloading.
"Excuse me, you're not the one with only one arm, no aura, and probably some internal bleeding over here," I snarked as I used Wilt as a cane for a moment, only for its blade to sink halfway into the dirt and topple me over.
I wasn't trying to sound whiny, but they should be able to clearly see that I was spent at this point, gasping for breath on the cold ground. Yang quickly rushed over to help me up, while shooting Dove a red eyed glare.
"Enough," Cardin ordered before things could escalate, especially since he wouldn't be able to intervene while he and Russel carried Marrow. I looked down to see Marrow on a makeshift stretcher, bloodied and unconscious. His weapon lay on his chest in rifle form, and his leg was twisted in an awkward manner.
"Look, every one of us is tired, doubly so for you two. We aren't too far away from the others now, you can catch your beauty sleep in no time," Cardin playfully grinned.
"Bitch, we can still kick your ass" I couldn't help shooting back with a grin of my own, even while Yang held me up with my arm over her shoulder.
"Prove it then when we get back to Atlas, we need to settle the score," Cardin snarked, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Please," Yang joined in as she eyed the others. "The only score that will be settled is me getting a new high score in how fast I can wipe the floor with all of you jackholes."
"Are you willing to bet on that, Xiao Long?" Dove asked.
Glancing at Yang and seeing the same challenging excitement in her lilac eyes as well, there was no question about our decision. "You're on," she snarked.
Before we could decide on the wager, a sound between a pained groan and a hacking cough came from Marrow. "Watch our backs," Cardin quickly ordered as he and Russel set Marrow down.
While Yang grumbled a bit, we kept an eye out as Cardin began questioning Marrow and checking over his condition. "We're not far from the others now sir, we'll get you fixed up in no time," the ex-bully said. I was a bit surprised, seeing him refer to a Faunus as sir was news to me.
"Sorry for being dead weight, kid," the specialist mumbled.
"Think nothing of it sir," Cardin stated. While it was shown Cardin mellowed out with the racism in the show, I don't think seeing him like this would ever not be at least a little weird from now on. And judging by Yang's half baffled half questioning expression, neither did she.
Forming up with the two members of CRDL carrying Marrow again, we got back to our walk, Dove watching our back while we watched the flanks.
"ARF ARF!"
Before I could turn around, a heavy weight slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I briefly struggled before being assaulted with licks to the face.
"Markus?!" Yang cried.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!" a familiar scream filled the air. Before said girl could come to my rescue, a body of her own collided with her in a flurry of rose petals. I was sure Cardin, Russel, and Dove were eyeing us in confusion and bemusement as I was assaulted by a dog and Yang her little sister.
And right next to them were Maria Calavera, Oscar Pine, and General Ironwood. My eyes widened upon seeing them. "General-" I croaked before Biscuit licked the inside of my mouth.
"AUUUGHHHHH!"
- a few minutes earlier -
Oscar blinked the spots out of his eyes as the bright blinding lights vanished from Ruby's own silver eyes. Biscuit whined as he lay down and placed his paws over his eyes for the likely fiftieth time in one day.
"I didn't say you could take a break! You've still got Grimm to kill, kid. Chop chop!" Maria barked unsympathetically.
Oscar could only sigh at Maria's antic's, and maybe from a bit of exhaustion. However they were making good progress, given the slowly growing number of kills he got. He got the opportunity to really make Ozpin's style his own, and while not very pleasant to look at, Ruby's silver eyes were crossing leaps and bounds in effectiveness. She's been able to consistently use her eyes the last couple times now, almost always taking out every Grimm they came across, leaving him to take out any that survived.
"Indeed," Ozpin said, chiming in on his thoughts. "The lineage of the Silver Eyes have been warriors against the Grimm. Pure hearts that dedicate themselves to the preservation of lives from the power of darkness."
"Poetic," Oscar mumbled.
"I suppose it is," Ozpin chuckled. "Much of our lives are poetic...as odd as that may seem."
"What do you mean?" Oscar asked.
"You'll figure it out," Ozpin said gently. Oscar wondered what he meant by that, before he sighed and looked over to the silver eyed girl near him.
"Good job Ruby," Oscar praised once there was a lull in the fights, as enthusiastically as he could with how hard it was to stay focused - he was tired. Then again, they were all tired.
"Thanks Oscar," Ruby managed a grin as she rubbed her sore eyes, blinking and shaking her head to get her sight back to normal.
"You both still have a long way to go, but you're making good progress. Satisfactory results," Maria stated. Oscar felt pride at the praise from the old woman, as little as it seemed to be.
Then they heard footfalls and growls, dozens of them from a distance. "Incoming," Ozpin stated casually. "Want me to take over so you can rest?"
"No, I can handle it," Oscar said. "I need to learn to handle fighting myself."
"I understand. Just make sure to know when to rest. Burnout is the last thing you need," Ozpin said. Oscar nodded absentmindedly as he turned to face the rapidly approaching Grimm.
"Break's over kiddos, we've still got plenty of ground to cover," Maria ordered while her two 'students' groaned. "If you're not working yourself into the ground you're not working hard enough."
The Grimm were getting closer and closer, and they readied themselves, Oscar with Long Memory while Ruby had Crescent Rose at the ready. Biscuit growled before his ears perked up, turning his head in confusion. "Boy, what's wrong-" Ruby began.
Before anything else could be said, multiple green lasers pierced the approaching Grimm, boring through their heads and disintegrating them before they even stopped tumbling. A few seconds later, the area was clear once again, leaving Oscar and Ruby dumbfounded at what had happened.
"Have you perhaps ever served in the Atlas military, Miss Calavera? With that kind of behavior, I'd say you were a drill instructor," a man remarked casually. Turning towards the amused voice, Oscar spotted the tin man himself, General Ironwood. He was holding up his right hand, the white glove having a black outlined cutout for the green hole in his palm. The green went away, revealing a small barrel in his palm that glowed red from the heat as the power glow vanished.
Ruby struggled to contain her squeal. The military leader of Atlas had a laser gun in his robotic hand! She vibrated on the spot, trying to not explode and attack the man with questions.
The military leader wore a dark-blue collared shirt and red tie, along with a white coat with dark blue cuffs, dark blue and red accents and silver buttons, though the tie was damaged and scuffed, and his coat was torn and dirtied. He wore a white long-sleeved double-breasted jacket over the shirt, with two dark-blue belts, one across his chest, the other around his waist. He also sported dark blue heavy duty pants tucked into a pair of dark blue calf high boots with red lining and large cuffs alongside silver steel toe and heel plating, the right boot's plating being dented from what was likely a very hard kick.
The man's hair was a mess, and his stubble and beard were growing in rather thickly. He still had the strip of metal above his right eyebrow, but he also gained a thin but still rather noticeably scar on his left eyebrow. In his lowered left hand was his customary large white revolver with the underbarrel cannon underneath the main barrel of the magnum. Judging by how well it looked compared to the rest of the general - he hadn't had to use his gun very much. Not when he had a laser cannon built into his cybernetic hand's palm.
"Bah! As if, your little military is far too restrictive for my tastes. No, my father was merely a slave driver. Understandable with our eyes, but woo! I was a free spirit who killed Grimm wherever I went!" Maria spat, waving her cane/weapon like an old lady. Let's face it, she is.
"A shame" The General smiled as he approached them. "We could have-"
General Ironwood cut himself off as Biscuit proceeded to run circles around him, barking excitedly as if they had known each other for years, despite never seeing him before.
"Easy boy, easy now," Ironwood said calmly yet firmly, holstering his pistol and petting Biscuit once he had relaxed enough. Biscuit jumped up against the general, leaning his front paws on his side as he panted and nuzzled his hand for head pats.
"It's strange, he's a friendly dog but I've never seen him behave like this before," Ruby said.
"Uhh, Ruby? You only met him a while ago," Oscar said before he holstered Long Memory and walked up to the general. "Hi, there...uhh, sir."
General Ironwood looked at the young boy before him, not recognizing him immediately but using what information Markus gave him after Ozpin's reincarnation before. Then he remembered that freckled face from when he talked to him on the train a few months ago.
"You must be Ozpin's new host, it's a pleasure to meet you in person," the General smiled at the boy and then held out his hand for a handshake. "General James Ironwood, headmaster of Atlas Academy and commander of the Atlesian Military."
A little nervous, Oscar slowly reciprocated the action, and shook the General's hand. "Oscar Pine. Uhh...farmboy and a body for a millennia old wizard currently living rent free inside my head," he feebly said, earning a laugh from the general. It was a little intimidating meeting one of the most powerful men on Remnant, and having him look at you like an old friend. "W-would you, uh...would you like to talk to Ozpin?" Oscar asked.
"Not right now. We need to focus on getting everyone regrouped and ready for evac. We had to open the shields to get down here and we can't leave them open for too long or defenses won't be able to keep the Grimm out," the general said.
"Arf arf!"
Everyone turned towards Biscuit, who was switching from trying to climb the man to trying to pull General Ironwood by the sleeve above his organic gloved hand and running in a certain direction. "Do you know what's going on?" the General asked Ruby while still keeping an eye on Biscuit.
"N-no not really" Ruby replied with her own confused frown. "The last time he acted like this was when Markus was taken for medical treatment and he was locked out. He just stayed by the door but then rushed towards me and Weiss when we got close enough. Biscuit come here boy! Stop that!"
Ruby came over and tried to pull Biscuit away, and the two ended up wrestling on the ground, kicking up quite a bit of dust around them.
Ironwood thought about the silver eyed girl's words as he continued looking at the dog currently trying to get back to the general. It didn't take a genius to tell that the dog wanted him to follow, his attempts at dragging him getting more forceful and his eyes pleading, but follow where?
"Could he possibly know where the boy is?" Maria chirped up from the rubble she had been sitting on, having done so when the general first made his appearance.
"You think so?" Oscar asked as he drew Long Memory once again.
"The dog is obviously attached to him, and if Ruby's story is accurate, then he knows who the boy's friends are. Biscuit has Aura, no?" Maria said.
"You think it could be a semblance?" Ruby asked from where she was now trying to hold Biscuit still.
"I've never met...Biscuit before, and yet he was oddly happy to see me. Miss Calavera, Miss Rose, the two of you may be onto something," the general said.
If what they were thinking was true then Biscuit was able to track Markus and anyone close to him based on something that had to be emotional. If James didn't know a certain Branwens semblance had a similar feature he wouldn't put much faith in such a thing.
Then again, he was in a world with elemental magic, immortal witches, and the ability for people to turn their souls into shield generators and body boosters. Semblances based on emotions for dogs didn't seem to be very far fetched at all...so to speak.
But they were running out of time, none of his other Ace Ops had found Markus and he was needed back in Atlas. So their only option was to follow the dog. He was about to suggest so when a Centinel erupted out of the ground in front of them.
With no hesitation- Ironwood grabbed it by the face with his right arm and fired another green beam from his palm after a few seconds of charging, killing it at once before looking at the large dog. "Go. Find him," he said.
Without any more confirmation needed from Ironwood, Biscuit took off out of Ruby's grasp and further into the destroyed city. Not wasting anymore time, everyone raced to follow, not wanting to lose sight of Biscuit. Oscar volunteered to carry Maria, much to her protests.
They would find Markus and defend Atlas.
- back to the present -
"No! Bad Biscuit!" I shouted futilely, as I tried to get up and spit out any of the…well spit. Maria couldn't help but cackle at my misfortune, slapping her knee as she did so. "You told me they were close girly, but not this close!" she commented as she watched my misery occur.
Ruby completely ignored the laughing old woman, being more focused on simultaneously checking Yang over and attempting to hug her to death, something Yang seemed to have no trouble beating her in. "Gods I was so worried about you," Yang said to Ruby, likely squeezing the life out of her if it wasn't for her Aura.
"Me?! You were the one that went flying from the ship!" Ruby cried.
Seeing that the two missing students were safe, General Ironwood went over to his own students, who were still relaxing. "Report," he stated. Standing straighter and settling into the military rest drilled into them, Cardin began to report as his team flanked them.
"During our search, we noticed the Manta's crash landing in the distance, knowing Sky was our fastest man I sent him to scout up ahead of us and to help anyone. On our way to rendezvous with him we came across Onissa and Xiao Long. We found Specialist Amin as well," Cardin said, and Ironwood turned to see Marrow in the makeshift stretcher, feebly sitting up to look at the others.
Stepping back at the end of his report, Cardin and his team patiently waited for General Ironwood's response, wanting to know if they had done well or if they'd missed anything else.
"Seems I didn't need to be so worried after all, good job gentlemen," Ironwood said.
"Of course sir, all in a day's work" Cardin calmly replied as he and his team saluted the General, and receiving one back, even if they were all enjoyed the praise from what was essentially their boss.
"Specialist Schnee was sent to investigate, she contacted me and let me know of Lark's arrival and the safety of the crew," the general continued.
"Weiss's sister?" Ruby asked, the sisters finally untangling from each other.
"Correct," General Ironwood nodded at Ruby, before turning back to Cardin's crew. "I met up with Lark halfway and had Nikos, Miss Schnee and Specialist Zeki accompany him back to the rendezvous point ahead of time. They should all be ready, so once I send the word we will be collected and flown to Atlas."
"Well, while I'm not going to complain..." I began, pushing Biscuit off of me proving harder with only the single arm. "What are you doing here James? Shouldn't you be up in Atlas giving orders?"
"The situation changed, while Salem's actions are the same for the most part, she's here far too early, earlier than when you predicted. I need my most trusted allies right now if I wish to stand a chance against her," the general explained. "Her armies appeared seemingly out of thin air when we lost the CCT connection from Haven Academy, and the rest of Remnant as a result. What happened?"
"...the White Fang attacked Haven Academy. They deployed charges on its CCT system and destroyed it," I said before looking down and scratching my chin with my one arm. "Maybe that attack was meant to synchronize with the attack here. Salem attacks Atlas the moment communications break down."
"Leaving us isolated and unable to call upon aid from others," Ironwood said, the strategist in him grinding its gears in his mind. "She plans to wipe us all out while we're alone. And without the CCT up, she can simply overwhelm us slowly but surely without worrying about calling for reinforcements."
"And once Atlas is out of the picture, the other kingdoms would practically be a cake walk..." I muttered. "This was way worse than I thought. Especially with Haven out of commission in Mistral and Vale practically wiped out."
"Indeed. It seems there are some unfortunate after effects to...changing the timeline," Ironwood said. I winced, and the general sighed. "Not your fault, not when some good has come out of it. Like the elimination of Adam Taurus."
I looked down to see Wilt and Blush, and I sighed. Adam would have died either way, the most I was able to do was speed up and save Blake and Yang a lot of trouble, and possibly Argus as well. "Do you atleast have Amity Colosseum? Or anything else that could possibly be used to make a temporary CCT tower?" I looked up from my contemplation and asked.
"Already under development," Ironwood said. "We moved the colosseum to one of the abandoned SDC mines north of the continent. We can't go anywhere with that, so Salem hasn't sent anyone after us. Still, triple guard is hard to maintain when we want to keep ourselves discreet. I had to sacrifice a few ships just to draw her attention so I could move Amity away. And I had to sacrifice more to get one of my ships to you."
The carrier airship that was now sunk thanks to the Grimm. "Sorry," I said. "Not everyone made it."
"Again, not your fault," Ironwood reassured me. "Winter has secured the Relic of Knowledge and our evacuation is en route. We'd better get going soon. Then we can find out what to do with Amity and-"
"Uhh, we're still here," Ruby said, and I turned to realize that she and Yang had heard the whole thing. Before I said anything, she sighed and brushed off her skirt. "We should probably keep moving."
We reluctantly agreed, and we got moving, heading in the direction of the others. Despite that, I couldn't help but wonder. Why was Ruby so nonchalant over what we were talking about? Come to think of it, Yang wasn't saying a thing either, just avoiding eye contact with me.
I groaned tiredly and rubbed my head, feeling the ache as we got ourselves ready to move again. It was likely from our little argument over having Adam's weapon with me. I know I should apologize for that...but it can wait for once we get up to Atlas.
"What are we waiting for then? We've wasted enough time down here, we have a kingdom to protect."
Surprisingly it was Oscar who said that, however even from just a glance I could see he was really starting to come into his own. It seems he'd begun to fully accept his lot.
"We should preferably get to a roof or a larger open area first, but yes, let's get going,'' General Ironwood replied after giving the boy a grin. He certainly reminded him of Oz in his younger years.
- elsewhere -
"It is done."
Arthur Watts stepped back as Jacquelyn Lacer rubbed the spot on her shoulder where the injection occurred. Wincing as she felt the substance creep through her bloodstream, she sighed and rolled down her sleeve. "And what did you pump into me?" she asked. It had been an hour since they arrived, she and her whole tribe being transported via dozens upon dozens of Nevermore taking them from their ruined tribe all the way to the frigid lands of Solitas.
Despite the thousands upon thousands of airborne Grimm they passed, they made it unharmed to the whale, where Salem herself had welcomed them at the hangars. Despite how politely she spoke and how kindly she smiled, she knew just how terrified her people were. They were taken to their own quarters, where they were called out one by one to Watts's lab. Jacqueline was the last one, and she now knew that her entire tribe had this mystery serum in their bodies.
"A simple stimulant. One that will boost the capabilities of your aura. And your aura alone. Don't even try using your semblance, it won't enhance it in any way," the disgraced Atlesian scientist explained with that classic tone that just told you they believed that they were superior in any and every way. They were in his laboratory, a room aboard that insanely large flying Grimm whale that was packed with tables, lab equipment, monitors, various machines, and much much more. It would've looked normal if it weren't for the living and breathing walls that seemed to ruin the whole look.
"Hmm. Any side effects I should know?" Jacqueline asked. She knew she didn't like Arthur Watts as soon as she met him. His holier than thou attitude and snide comments instantly put him on her shit list, all because he was a supposed genius and he was apparently very integral for much of Salem's plan. Despite that, Cinder - whoever she was - still remained the favorite, much to his ire. Jackie got a good laugh out of that. Still he did know his stuff, so it was best not to antagonize him.
"Tsk, I have done enough experiments to ensure that my solutions are perfect. Should you experience any side effects..." Watts drawled as he packed his equipment away, before directly facing Jacquelyn, his eyes boring into her own. "Do be sure to come to me, so I may observe and record the effects. All in the name of science, of course"
Not wanting to show any discomfort in front of the man, she immediately responded. "Then what's stopping me from using my semblance? I doubt even you have a defense against mind control," she asked.
Her answer was a deep growl that she could feel in her bones, just to her left in the corner of the fleshy room. Slowly turning to face the origin of the sound, her instincts telling her to make a break for it all the while, she spotted a quadrupedal beast.
The beast easily stood face to face with her. Its masked skull with nonexistent eyes somehow seemed to glare at her. It's oozing and bubbling, tar like flesh and the multiple spikes along the ever so constantly rippling body didn't help with the frightening image.
"How the fuck did it get in here without me noticing?!" Jacquelyn frantically thought. Watts seemed to sense her fear, as he spoke up again, smugly.
"Then our little...friend here, would be more than happy to show you the error of your ways," Watts replied. While the woman's reaction was amusing, he was always wary of the Hound and its capabilities, even if Salem said she had full control of it, so he knew not to antagonize her in front of the beast. He had observed many intelligent Grimm that survived for many years, but none really compared to the Hound.
Before she could come up with any remarks, the Grimm began to move. Slowly approaching Jacquelyn, its neck cracking and popping in different directions at the same time. Jacquelyn was frozen stiff, she had faced many Grimm and many daunting foes before, but this one was in an entirely different league.
Stopping inches before her face, the Grimm did something she would never forget.
"FoOolllloOooww...mEeeEE..." it snarled, before turning to leave the lab.
It spoke.
Jacqueline found herself obeying, out of raw fear of what would happen to her if she chose not to. She was brought from Watts's lab down several hallways, passing a few Seers and a boy with gray hair, gray clothes, and very strange looking metal boots.
When she arrived at where this intelligent Grimm was leading her, she saw it was in a large throne room, where Salem was sitting. Before them was a massive wall that curved inwards, almost like a movie theater. "Jacqueline," Salem said in that odd ethereal tone of hers. "I'm glad you could make it."
"Of course," Not like she would say no to the talking Grimm, nevermind what Salem would probably do to her and her tribe if she tried. But right now there were more important things to think about. "What did you need of me?"
"I wished to discuss what role your tribe, and more importantly you, will play" Salem said in that echoey voice of her's, as she pet the Hound as if it were any other dog.
"It's not science. You needed more footsoldiers for your little war. Aren't the Grimm armies you own enough?" the bandit leader asked, crossing her arms.
"My Grimm are more than enough, but they require constant leading if I want anything more than destruction. Even the dullest of your men should be able to think for themselves" Salem said as if she were speaking to a child.
That really annoyed the formerly proud bandit leader, she had been at the top of the food chain for so long, now all because of the Faunus brat she was stuck working under someone again.
"So you want us to carry out operations, while you continue to attack and distract the kingdom?" Jackie asked in a dull tone, hoping to mask her annoyance.
The slight narrowing of Salem's eye's and pause in her petting showed she wasn't as successful as she had hoped. "You are not wrong, but also not fully correct. You'll order your men to attack key points Watts will provide for you, " Salem said as she began to circle Jackie, who stayed rooted where she was.
"With Atlas's attention on my Grimm, they won't pay much mind to a few men running around. They may even give them a lift right into Atlas, they won't even realize they're bringing the enemy past their defenses." Salem smiled as if that were a particularly funny joke, not that Jackie could see but she certainly heard the mirth in her voice. A skill she had picked up in her years of using people.
"That's simple enough, but the boy you're looking for may recognize a few of us. There's also the fact we're taking a huge risk going up against Atlas like this. I mean, it's the strongest kingdom on Remnant," Jackie remarked.
Jackie somehow froze even further when Salem lay a hand on her shoulder from behind. If her emotions weren't obvious before they were plain as day for the Queen of the Grimm now.
"That is for me to worry about, all you need to do is ensure your men follow my orders. Once they leave you will report back to me," she said. "Now go."
Jackie almost released a sigh of relief once the hand was removed and Salem began making her way back to her throne. "Report back? Not join them?"
"No..." Salem began as she seated herself on the throne. "I will make good use of your semblance, it would be such a waste to let you die too soon."
The casual way her life was discussed unnerved Jackie, but this is what she signed up for by agreeing to join, she supposed. Not that she had a choice. "If that is all you need of me?" Jackie asked, hoping to get out of here as quickly as possible.
"Go, ensure they follow my orders," Salem said before the room seemed to darken and her red eye's glowed brighter. "Tell them of how they'll live like royalty once I win, remind them of what will happen if they disobey me, or use your semblance for their obedience. I don't care, but you will get it done."
Jackie was all too happy to leave this room and find her people, hearing the Hound growl as it led her back.
- Atlas Academy Landing Pads, 2 hours later -
The Manta airships landed, unloading the retrieval team and the survivors of the crash. One had picked up Ironwood, Marrow, Cardin, Dove, Russel, Ruby, Maria, Oscar, Biscuit, Yang, and me while the others - Vine, Winter, Sky, Blake, Qrow, Weiss, Liya, Nora, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Elm, Emerald, and Clover were picked up the other Manta.
When we landed and saw each other, the others came up to us and immediately checked on us, Blake and Weiss coming up to Ruby and Yang while JNPR came over to check on Oscar. The rest of the Ace-Ops moved to bring Marrow to emergency care, as did the Manta pilots, and Ironwood pulled CRDL, Winter, and Qrow aside to talk to them. Maria made her way towards the academy while Emerald...
Emerald rushed me in a hug, arms around me as she buried her face into my shoulder. "You're OK..." she whispered shakily. I hugged her back as well as I could with one arm, patting her back before she let go.
Liya was there with her as well, and she hugged me after Emerald let go - more gentler than the former hug was. "You get kidnapped again, you're getting handcuffed to one of us whenever we go out of the house," she remarked, the sentence probably sounding weird and remarkably kinky to anyone outside of our group listening in.
"Yes, mom," I grumbled, earning a light smack on the head as Liya broke the hug. The two of us smiled at each other for a few seconds before I heard General Ironwood call to us.
"Ah, what a shame," Maria began to chuckle as she witnessed the interaction. "It would have been hilarious if one of them kissed you."
Both Liya and Emerald blushed at the thought. I did as well but I was more focused on groaning into my hands at being forcefully reminded of the event in question. "What are you talking about?" Liya was the first to recover and question the old woman.
"Because he made out with the dog first," Cardin was the one to answer, and he and his team immediately burst out laughing along with Maria and Nora, who had belly laughs. I stammered for a second as the others gaped, with Yang and Ruby trying to hold in their own laughter, before I finally regained my voice.
"Biscuit tackled me and I was trying to talk! It wasn't like that! Blame him!" I cried, face red, pointing at the innocently panting dog that just sat there. Despite that, everyone laughed, except me, Emerald, and Ironwood. Emerald and I were just burning red, while Ironwood simply smiled with a sigh.
"I thought you just had bad breath," Liya teased me once she stopped laughing, the smile on her face plain to see through the mask.
Cardin, that son of a bitch. Eventually, everything calmed down and we were called to the infirmary to get checked over by medical professionals. As we walked, I was stopped by Blake at the doors. "Hey, is something the matter?" I asked.
Blake looked down before looking back up at me, a nervous expression on her face. "Markus, why do you have Adam's weapon?" she asked.
...
Oh. I forgot that this was coming.