Chapter 58

"Has she said anything yet?" Qrow, accompanied by Clover, asked the guard standing outside the interrogation room that was holding their prisoner.

It hadn't taken long for the woman to wake up, a few hours after the incident. She must have been more resilient than most, even if her semblance and aura had taken the brunt of the shot. Shots that Qrow had seen kill Grimm that would give a full team of huntsmen trouble. The point was, she was mostly uninjured, and yet she refused to talk the entire time she's been here.

That was a few hours ago, at least. Qrow and Clover had gone to report to General Ironwood before being sent to the infirmary in order to get looked at. "Well, we got her speaking, sir," The soldier said, raising Qrow's spirits. "But all she does is hurl insults at everyone".

'Ah disappointment, how I've missed you old friend,' Qrow thought sarcastically as those hopes were immediately dashed. Still, talking was better than nothing.

"Anything interesting that she said?" Qrow asked as he eyed the door where their prisoner was waiting.

"Just her name. Stella," the soldier replied with a light shrug. "Other than that, everything else she has said doesn't make a lot of sense, or it isn't very useful."

"Perhaps we should take a crack at her, now that she's been loosened up a bit?" Clover suggested.

"What, like a good cop, bad cop scenario?" Qrow remarked.

"My semblance has been useful in similar situations before," Clover nodded. "Even if I'm not the one doing the interrogating, I can usually…make them slip up."

Qrow gave a crooked grin in response, but couldn't help but worry about his own presence. "This ain't my first rodeo, but you sure you want me in there? I could mess this whole thing up with my semblance," he said.

"Not with mine around," Clover said, once again exemplifying his semblance. "You'll just balance me out if anything. You're not getting out of work that easily." He finished with a playful smile.

"Heh," Qrow chuckled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You calling me lazy?"

"Of course not." Clover replied with a wink.

"Tch, like I'd let you have all the fun anyways," Qrow grumbled.

"Seems like you two are having fun already," a voice said from behind the two, further down the hallway. The two turned to see who was approaching, and they grinned.

"And things will just get even better with you around." Qrow said as Robyn Hill walked up to them.

"I'm assuming you're here to make use of your semblance?" Clover questioned Robyn.

"Correct. Though I also seem to have been sent to save that poor guard from you two." Robyn said. Qrow and Clover turned to the mentioned guard, who looked decidedly uncomfortable even with all that armor on. "Seriously, tone down the flirting."

Qrow spluttered as Clover just rolled his eyes before the three walked into the room, closing the door. "So, Stella?" Clover asked the prisoner. The room was moderately small, with a stainless steel table and a single large ceiling light illuminating the interior of the room. The woman - Stella - sat in a chair at the table, facing the doorway and the three huntsmen.

"Hmmm? Oh, is Atlas finally trying to bring out the big gun's?" Stella asked sardonically. She was still cuffed - but she was leaning back in her chair - legs kicked up on the table.

"I'm Specialist Ebi. This is Huntress Hill and Huntsman Branwen," Clover said as he sat across from Stella at the table. "We're here to ask a few questions."

"And all of you must be hard of hearing, cuz I ain't answering a single one of them," Stella said before she eyed Robyn, a salacious grin slowly forming over the scowl aimed at the two men. "Now you...I don't mind you asking me anything you want."

Qrow and Clover turned to face Robyn, who suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Well, I suppose that shouldn't be a difficult request to fill. Why are you here?" she asked.

"I'm just exploring the sights, mainly," Stella replied as she eyed Robyn up and down. "I've always wanted to go to Atlas."

"And knocking out several guards all over the complex? What about the Grimm attack? What about the others you came here with?" Clover listed off his questions.

Stella ignored Clover entirely, focusing completely on Robyn. "You don't look like one of those Atlas pricks," she commented. "You from somewhere else? Mistral, maybe?"

"Nope. I'm Mantle born, through and through. Why do you wanna know?" Robyn asked, deciding to play along with the prisoner. It was probably the only way they could get anything useful.

"Eh. Just wondering, is all," Stella remarked as she sat up properly, leaning back on her chair as she lowered her legs from the table with a thud. "You didn't look like those Atlesian asses. Though, I bet you have a mighty fine ass."

"Charming," Robyn mumbled before sighing. "Look, this doesn't need to be difficult. Answer our questions and we can be done."

"Aww, but what about all the fun we could have?" Stella whined - an infuriating grin on her face. "If you'd just ditch these two, we could help each other in all sorts of ways. Just the two of us..."

If Stella was attempting to flirt, she was doing a shit job at it - but it did succeed in annoying the other three occupants in the room.

"She's clearly not cooperating," Qrow said, slipping into the 'bad cop' role, pacing along the side of the room toward Stella. "Can I start trying to get her motivated?.."

"Oh? Gonna try your hand at torture?" Stella asked, amused, turning her attention away from Robyn. "I always knew Atlas was never as good as they said."

"Look, just cooperate with us. It doesn't have to be this way." Clover pleaded, hoping he was convincing enough.

"Aw, the little boy scout care's." Stella mocked, turning away from Qrow, as if he wasn't a threat. "Try your worst, seriously go ahead. I want to see how you compare".

"Compared to who?" Qrow asked, but when Stella refused to speak, he just shook his head and put a large smile on his face, and leaned in close. "Ohhhh that's fine," he purred. "More fun for me, it would be boring if it ended too quickly."

Stella just gave him an unimpressed stare, before turning back to Robyn. Seriously, she experienced worse in her tribe, this was so weak she was almost bored to tears.

"So, before they bore me to sleep, mind if I-" Stella began.

"Oh trust me, I'll be sure to keep you awake all night." Qrows purr cut her off, a knowing grin on his face.

The room went silent, as everyone's shocked gazes were on Qrow.

"What." Stella's dumbfounded question summed up exactly what the other two were thinking at that exact moment. Did he seriously just?..

"What, you thought I was gonna break your finger? Pull some nails?" Qrow continued, his smile widening even further. "Oh no, we're going to be doing something much better, my little princess. After all, you're in the mood, no?"

Princess?

What the hell was this?

Clover and Robyn shared a worried and somewhat disturbed glance as Stella tried to pull away from Qrow in disgust. Robyn didn't blame her. This was just an act, right?

"You creepy motherfucker," Stella hissed as she tried to pull on her restraints. "I'll kill everyone you care about-" She tried to say before she was cut off again, this time with her face being slammed into the table, courtesy of Robyn.

"Now I think we can all agree we'd rather not have that happen," Robyn said quietly into Stella's ear, after pulling her head back up and keeping her hand there, using her semblance without Stella's notice.

Qrow pulled back, a victorious grin on his face. Clover fought a sigh of relief, as well as the urge to gag when he replayed what the man had said.

"So just answer my little questions. For me?" Robyn asked, betting on Clover's absolutely broken semblance that Stella's obvious attraction to her would work in their favor. "I promise I'll play much nicer."

Stella had frozen and went rigid the moment Robyn had spoken to her. The creep had actually gotten under her skin, surprisingly enough given that she was a bandit and had heard way worse before.

Her head was pulled again slightly and she froze up again, the dull ache reminding her of what was going on. "Now that's more like it," Stella chuckled, having forgotten about Qrow. "How'd you know I liked it rough?"

Robyn just stared deadpanned at the woman, her green lit hand telling her that Stella was being completely honest. She had definitely wanted to know about the woman's kinks. "Uh huh," she said.

"Come on gorgeous, loosen up a little. You probably taste as sweet as Jackie," Stella goaded. "I know you'll love her...in more ways than one."

Qrow raised an eyebrow, and Clover got up from the table and stepped forward. "Jackie. Is that your leader's name?" he asked.

Stella growled. "Yeah. What's it to you - want me to set something up for you? Your loss, she ain't into men like you," she snapped. "Though she could probably whip you into shape, that'll be fun."

"Jackie, huh?" Qrow mumbled to himself. "Oz did tell me something about this. It was something the kid told him first when he got to Argus..." He looked at Stella, a serious expression now on his face. "Jacquelin Lacer?"

Stella went rigid once again. "N-no," she said. Robyn eyed the red glow out of Stella's line of sight before grinning.

"She's lying," Robyn said before looking at Qrow. "So you do know her."

"Yeah, I do remember her, somewhat. She and I went to Beacon, we had one or two classes with her," Qrow said, sighing as he remembered the old days. "She was a second year when team STRQ started. I remember trying to hook up with her in the first month of the semester." He chuckled as Clover shook his head. "She was so nervous. Cute too. Tall, though."

"Bullshit!" Stella barked, immediately on the defensive. "She wouldn't fall for some sick bastard like you!"

"Hah, she said no. But she was so apologetic about it," Qrow said before frowning. "I don't blame her for how she ended up, however."

"What happened to her?" Clover asked.

"Her team hated her," Qrow explained. "By our second year and her third, she was one of the most picked on girls in school. Even Raven had a few licks at her. Her semblance was something to fear, even if she never used it if she didn't need to. She got stronger, trained harder, but that only made them fear her fighting abilities too."

"How strong was she in Beacon?" Robyn asked.

"Pretty damn strong. Her aura alone could probably outlast her own team's, combined," Qrow said, crossing his arms as he remembered. "Still, no one wanted to like her. She ditched her team during a training exercise. They almost died, made it out alright, but she vanished."

"Of course she did," Stella snarled at Qrow. "Nobody strong wants to be around you petty fucks."

"Ugh, you're like a Vernal 2.0," Qrow mumbled, causing Stella to bristle even if she didn't know who this Vernal was supposed to be. It sounded insulting, so she felt insulted.

"For your information, I was the strongest huntsman in Vale for years. Petty I could be, but there's no way she could be stronger than me," Qrow goaded Stella, grinning.

"Tsk, after I was able to give you trouble?" Stella said in amusement. "Either Vale's huntsmen are weak as shit, which would be surprising, or you've gotten way weaker, old man."

"And yet our little bandit drop-out is somehow stronger?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She definitely is," Stella replied with a confident smirk. "She threw around that dust addict like it was nothing, and if it wasn't for that damn scorpion's poison, she would've had both their asses."

"Still telling the truth," Robyn said, her hand once again lighting up green. They were fortunate that Stella seemed to love talking about her leader, likely because of said leader's semblance they'd later speculate once Qrow delivered more details.

Right now they had her where they wanted, they just needed to keep her talking without being obvious in what they wanted to know.

"Heh course I am, Jackie's amazing," Stella said confidently, before she tried to lean back as far as she could, to get an eye on Robyn. Once she had her head leaned back, looking up at her, she sent another flirty smile. "Do I get a reward later for good behavior?"

Robyn wanted to leave. They'd got the name of the leader, Atlas could work something out from that alone. But she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she left things here, especially since there was so much more to uncover. "UUUUUGH!" Robyn thought - wanting ever so much to vocalize her frustration and discomfort. This was going to suck, why couldn't she have taken an interest in Qrow, or hell even Clover instead?

Robyn cupped the woman's face with both hands, and tried to send her own sultry smile back, but she could already feel it failing. She didn't care though as long as it worked on Stella.

"You've earned yourself one," Robyn said, Stella enjoying every second of this. "but you know...if you just tell those guys a little bit more, I can promise you something even better."

As Robyn said that, to help emphasize it, she leaned closer to Stella but just out of reach if she tried anything. Her fingers on her left hand, trailing down the other woman's face, and down her neck. If Stella was hoping for anything more than that, she'd be disappointed - Robyn felt uncomfortable enough as is.

That caused Stella to freeze again, a shiver running down her spine. A better reward she said? No doubt she was thinking about that offer. Still, seduction wasn't something Clover thought would work. "Heh, like I need any convincing to tell you how great Jacquelin is."

"If she's as strong as you say, why work under someone like Salem?" Clover asked, trying to keep the interrogation on track.

"Yeah," Qrow snorted out a laugh. "You said she could kick Tyrian's and Hazel's asses, so why lower herself to be Salem's lapdog?"

Stella's flirty demeanor almost immediately disappeared when Clover asked the question, causing the man to suddenly lean back as Stella straightened back out and leveled a straight, but frigid stare.

"Jackie is no one's lapdog," She said, her tone equally as frigid, but otherwise, she remained silent. Qrow winced as Stella practically clammed up, and he almost gave up right then and there.

Clover was beginning to worry as well. Things had been going well, he'd gotten sloppy and probably cost them their old lead. He needed to correct this, and fast.

"Then we have a common enemy, you and I. If you can help us we can free all your fellow tribesmen and you won't have to worry about Salem," Clover attempted to bargain. He had no guarantee that General Ironwood would actually agree to something like this, but they were running out of options.

It wasn't as if Stella didn't know where the man was coming from. She'd love nothing more than to get rid of that bitch and go back to being the strongest tribe in Mistral - maybe Atlas if they couldn't get a way back. But Jackie was still stuck with that thing, as were the rest of their people. If it found out she talked, in any way, there was no guarantee that they would make it out. At least this way they only had to worry about other people.

"Come on, you can't possibly think joining her would do you any good," Qrow remarked, intentionally implying that they chose to join her, though having a decent idea on why they did so in the first place. "What did she promise you anyway? Glory, money, all the kills you want?"

Robyn couldn't help but notice Stella's anger - practically feeling the anger coursing through herself. "Is this how it's going to be? Joining the Grimm because you didn't give a damn about how you got what you wanted?" Robyn hissed. "You know she won't honor any promises she made you, because she's Grimm."

"Salem wants to destroy everything," Qrow said. "She wants everything gone, all life wiped off the face of Remnant. Is that what you want? Or did you just no longer give a damn?"

"She didn't offer us anything! That bitch gave us no choice...if we said no, we would've gotten buried in Grimm! Jackie only let this happen because she wanted to save us!" Stella decided to snap, caring too much to leave Jackie like that any longer. She never trusted the monster to keep its word anyway, if it planned on destroying the world, why would it spare them. At least this way Atlas could hopefully distract it long enough for them to escape.

"So this ex-huntress student turned bandit leader does care," Qrow thought with interest before frowning. "Then what were you sent here to do? Blow up Atlas?"

"I dunno, other than causing chaos? All I know is that I'm supposed to look for that kid who led the Grimm bitch's lapdogs to our village!" Stella snapped before grumbling to herself. "At least, that's what that smarmy fuck said."

"Markus?" Qrow said. "Why would Salem want him?"

"Why else? She wants what he knows," Clover muttered back, though not quietly enough as Stella perked up.

"What do you mean 'what he knows?' That brat knows something?" she said before her eyes widened. "Shit, he knows how to kill that Grimm looking slut, doesn't he?" Her tone was beginning to sound giddy.

Clover and Qrow eyed each other before looking at Robyn, who grinned out of view from Stella's vision. Clover grinned back while Qrow crossed his arms once again and smirked at their newfound leverage.

Their little victory didn't last long, however. The entire interrogation room went dark - as did the hallways outside. Everything was silent before a small series of booms was barely heard in the distance. "What was that?" Qrow muttered, before the power went back on seconds later, the lights flickering momentarily before brightening back to normal.

Clover's scroll went off just a few seconds later, and he pulled it out - ignoring the grimace Stella gave to the small handheld piece of technology. "Huh," he said as he read the message his scroll had received.

"What is it?" Robyn asked in concern, as Clover's expression darkened at once, an incredibly rare expression of actual anger on his face. "Ebi? Is everything alright?"

Clover shook his head. "Continue the interrogation without me, I need to make a call," he said, opening the door and leaving the room at once as he raised his scroll to his ear.

- Schnee Manor: POV Markus -

General Ironwood grunted as he did the math in his head once again. "So we're at an impasse," he said, crossing his arms as he leaned back, staring at the monitor.

It was a few hours since I first arrived, and we were trying to work out the best solution to our dust problem. In the end, it kept amounting to the same disappointing conclusion - we couldn't save the shields and the power grid at the same time: it has to be one or the other.

"Yeah," I mumbled in exhaustion as I rubbed my eyes. Despite it only being a few hours, I fet like we had debated for days on end. "Honestly, I don't know which outcome is better or worse. Are there emergency power reserves for the shields and the city's power grid?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure that'll help - much of our own Dust stockpiles have been redirected preparing against the inevitable Grimm invasion, and we're still not ready," General Ironwood explained before sighing. "We can use the unrefined Dust to boost our production of our more volatile projects, but those won't help this issue."

"This is actual bullshit. I swear the gods are screwing with us," I said. "How long till those...things...are ready?" I had almost forgotten the Titan weapons were classified.

"I'm not sure. The process for such experimental technology is still very slow to manage. But as far as I'm aware, it might take several more months," the General said. "Even then, it's a very rough estimate."

"Can we defend ourselves without the shields?" I asked.

"It's kind of hard to say. We can bog the Grimm down in a grueling ground war with our defenses and knights supporting our troops and mechs, and our air fleet and Manta forces are powerful, but they aren't invulnerable against a literal spawn pit of Grimm," the General replied, thinking hard about this. "In the end, our forces - powerful as they are, won't be able to stop Salem, they can only slow her and her armies down."

"And we still need a backup plan if Atlas falls," I said. "It's still very likely...do you think we could still move Atlas?"

"I doubt it," General Ironwood said. "We'd planned on facing Salem here, stopping her in her tracks and wiping out her armada. If we don't kill her, we probably would have at least set her plans back months, maybe even years. But the infiltrations have thrown that out the window. We raise Atlas and lose the maiden and the relic-"

"Then Atlas comes crashing down and wipes out everyone here, and probably the entire continent," I mumbled as I wiped my forehead tiredly. "We need more contingency plans."

"I know. It's partially why I have the carrier ships on standby, away from the front lines." General Ironwood said as he leaned back in his seat, in an attempt to loosen up and not appear so stiff. "They'll serve as the primary mode of transport for the civilian populace."

"What about using the relic for that?" I asked as I stretched ny arms. "Like before - a portal system that leads to Vacuo. Preferably one that's more instantaneous or something."

"Funneling the people of Atlas into Vacuo comes with several problems. I'm fairly certain you told me most of them already. Desert weather, sandstorms, Grimm, and the lack of a precise location to send the people. Plus, there's very few populated centers in Vacuo, there are very few large cities in general."

"Right," I mumbled. "With the ships, they can at least go somewhere they need to go instead of getting dropped off in the desert."

"There's still not enough ships to carry the people, even if we risk everything and pack them in like sardines," Ironwood sighed.

"We'll figure something out," I said. "We'll have to. And for now, that means figuring out what to do with the Dust."

General Ironwood sighed before his scroll chimed - indicating a message received. Taking it out, he read through it before he looked at me. "This is something I can complete on my own," he said, his tone suddenly very serious. "Head back to the base. There's something else that needs your attention."

I blinked at the sudden change of tone. Earlier, he seemed stressed - but now he looked rather grave. "What do you mean?" I inquired, suddenly feeling concerned.

"There's been an attack. Don't worry, I can handle this. When you get back, look for your partner. She might need you," the General said. "Dismissed."

I left the Schnee Manor, confused at what was happening. Has something gone wrong? Who attacked the base? What's wrong with Liya? Was Liya alright? My questions were interrupted when I heard a car approaching. At least, it sounded like a car.

I was proven wrong when I saw that it was a hoverbike, much like the ones that Doctor Polendina had in his office in Mantle in Volume 8 - the HVB Rhinos. But this one was black and yellow, and the exposed wiring and mechanical parts were covered by angled metal plating. Overall, this seemed much more sleek and futuristic - something that would fit the universe of Cyberpunk much better than the RWBY universe.

The bike slowed to a stop right in front of me, and I saw who was driving it - a young woman wearing black pants, brown heavy duty boots, and a brown belt with that pleated skirt piece so similar to her outfit in Beacon. She wore a yellow top that stopped right above her belly button, and a cropped black jacket with yellow trim, alongside an orange scarf.

"Hey, Yang," I said as I leaned on the metal fence near me. I was guessing that this was going to be her new normal outfit in Atlas - and I realized that I hadn't seen if Ruby, Weiss, Blake, or the rest of team JNPR would be changing their aesthetics as well.

Yang grinned as she pulled off her helmet - which looked like a generic motorcycle helmet with a black and yellow trim. "Guess what I got done earlier today," she said.

"The bike and the helmet," I guessed as I eyed the outfit. It really was a nice look, a bit better than her look in Volumes 7 and 8. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to check on Weiss. Though, I'm not too sure why you're here," Yang said as she looked up at the Schnee manor, whistling as she admired its view.

"Helping with Schnee Dust Company assets. General Ironwood's here for that. Klein - Weiss's butler - is helping. There's a few complications but...well, I'm hoping things will work out," I explained. "As far as I know, Weiss, Winter, Whitley, and Willow are still together." Sighing, I rubbed a hand against my forehead. "Though, maybe you'll help them out."

"That's what I was planning," Yang remarked as she set her helmet on the bike's handles. "Huh, why is the Schnee family mostly Ws? Weiss? Willow? Whitley? Winter? Then there's Jacques."

"As far as I know, that just means he doesn't belong," I said. "But yeah, all the Ws in the family are kind of weird. No offense to them."

"Hah, I doubt they'd take any offense," Yang said before smiling as she climbed off her bike, leaning on it and crossing her arms. "So how was the party anyway?"

"Oh, it was amazing," I said, grinning. "Seeing Jacques get hauled away while yelling for his lawyer was gorgeous. Pretty sure it's on the news."

"Pffft, you know I don't watch the news," Yang scoffed before sighing. "I gotta get going. See you around?"

"Yeah," I said. "I have to get to the base. Do you know if anything's wrong over there?"

Yang frowned. "No. At least, I don't think so. I spent half an hour going through the city just trying to get here. Traffic is still a pain even in Atlas," she said, as she pondered. "Why?"

"No reason. Sorry, just...I'll see you later," I said before I left, leaving a befuddled Yang behind. The moment I could, I took a taxi all the way to Atlas Academy.

After making my way to the heart of Atlas's military complex - I cut through the hallways to look for Liya or Penny, unsure of where to look. As I walked, I realized there was a bigger commotion than usual. A few soldiers ran here and there, and I heard alarms in the distance. When I passed central command, I saw that the entire room was in controlled chaos - operators typing frantically on their computers while talking harshly into their headsets.

A holographic map of the complex was brought up in the middle of the room, with areas highlighted red and others highlighted yellow. I couldn't hear what was going on, due to almost everyone talking and drowning each other out. Was there an emergency going on? Some sort of combat drill? Or was it something worse?

I felt my stomach clench in anxiety as I began to imagine the worst. Quickly turning the corner, I left the main room down another large hallway as I continued to search for someone I knew.

Eventually, I didn't have to keep looking when Cardin ran into me. "Cardin? What're you doing here? What's going on?" I asked immediately.

"Hey...uhh," Cardin said awkwardly. "Are you looking for Liya?"

I frowned. "Why? How do you know that?" I asked, growing more suspicious. Cardin didn't say anything, only looking around before gesturing for me to follow him. I did so, fear and concern growing in my gut all the while.

He led me to the infirmary - where Penny was waiting. She looked very distraught, and she ran over and hugged me the moment she saw me, catching me by surprise. "Penny, what's going on?" I asked, still very confused at what was happening. I was too lost to even hug back, and she was hugging very tightly, but still taking care not to hurt me.

Penny slowly shook her head and looked inside the room. I did so too, and what I saw made my blood freeze. "W-what the hell?" I gulped, before rushing inside - feeling my skin go pale as my heart skipped a beat.

Liya was in bed - hooked up to several machines and mostly covered in a blanket. Her face was shrouded by an oxygen mask - and the rise and fall of her chest was the only thing keeping me from freaking out. Still, I suddenly had so many questions.

"W-what happened?!" I cried. "How?! How did she-"

"The Winter Maiden is dead," Penny whispered. I froze, and I turned to face her.

"What do you mean, dead? What happened-" I was about to ask when Penny spoke up again.

"The entire complex went under a temporary blackout. Everything went offline for about half a minute, and we were sent to investigate," Penny explained. "We found one of the main power conduits in the maintenance area ripped apart. We arrested someone who was still there, one of the infiltrators."

"Then we received an alert from the Winter Maiden's room when the power was rerouted. The guards were dead, and there was a lot of noise in the room. Your partner rushed inside, and it nearly got destroyed. I don't know what happened, but she's in a coma, the old lady's dead, and the vents in the ceiling were wide open. We couldn't give chase," he explained.

A coma. Liya was in a coma. At the very least that meant she was alive, but that also meant Liya could be out for who knows how long. Her injuries didn't look too bad, save for the bandages around her torso. Her mask was off as well, revealing the long scar on her face. As peaceful as she looked, I couldn't help but see the image of her deceased in front of me. Dammit, this was Amber all over again.

"Well, are you at least searching for whoever did it?" I asked. "Are the vents being searched?"

"Yeah, but no luck so far," Cardin muttered. "Dammit, we were supposed to watch her back..."

"Where were you guys?!" I croaked. "Why didn't you-"

"They tried. Russel got injured and Dove and Sky were rerouted somewhere else," Penny interjected, trying her best to reassure and calm his down. "But we had to fight off two others who held us back. One is in custody and the other is dead, but...we weren't able to catch up to Liya in time. When we got in..."

I growled. This was Salem's doing, no doubt. No wonder why they focused on staying hidden for most of this time: they were going after what was most important! This was probably a contingency plan in case the people didn't revolt.

Or maybe this was their plan all along.

I felt my head hurt as I collapsed against Penny, who held me up. How could I miss something like this? Liya's down and out because I didn't prepare enough - because I wasn't able to think of something to protect her. I wasn't sure what else I could do now...

Am I really helping here? Or am I only setting Atlas up for failure? How could I truly stop Salem if she had so many plans set up ahead of time? I couldn't let everyone down - not when there's so much at stake-

"Markus," Penny whispered, and I felt my breath hitch. I realized how much I had been hyperventilating before Penny wrapped her arms around me. "Your breathing patterns are irregular. Please, breathe. Don't panic, we need you to stay calm..."

"How can I stay calm? How the hell did all this go wrong?! At least...did we lose the maiden?" I asked, pushing myself out of Penny's grasp. While she could pull me in tighter, she let me go without any more resistance.

"No," Penny said. "Liya passed out when...when...I saw her glow when I got to the room. Her eyes...something happened to them. Her entire body glowed, but her eyes looked like-"

"They were on fire?" I asked. Penny nodded slowly, and I sighed in relief. That was about the only good news I had in all this, and I wasn't about to leave it unappreciated. "She needs to be protected at all times. I'll call the General. Cardin, can you and the rest of CRDL protect her? I need to call Winter too."

Said leader of team CRDL blinked in surprise. "Y-yeah," he finally said, his surprise giving way to a hardened tone of voice. "Nobody's getting in this room."

I sighed, attempting to keep my hand from shaking. "I'll see if I can call Clover, maybe get a squad of Atlas troops on standby here. Penny, you don't leave Liya's side, got it?" I ordered.

Penny smiled. "I wouldn't dream of it," she said, a determined fire in her eyes as she declared this. "I'll protect her."

I looked back to Cardin, who nodded. I nodded before turning to face my unconscious and bedridden friend. Once again stifling down the image of seeing Liya dead in front of me, I whipped out my scroll and called General Ironwood. "Hey...yeah, you might need to get back here," I said. "What happened at home base was a lot more complicated than you told me."

- Schnee Manor -

Yang knocked lightly on the door before she stepped back. A moment later, she heard a whisper and a shuffle before the door opened. Weiss stood at the open doorway, blinking in surprise at the visitor. "Yang? Uhh, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Yang noticed that Weiss was dressed rather casually - a loose pair of knee high pants and a T-shirt. Her hair was down, and she looked rather relaxed. Looking away from her sister's partner, Yang peered into the room and eyed the interior with appreciation, a low whistle escaping her lips.

The interior of the room was large and spacious, with large amounts of natural and somewhat bright sunlight illuminating the room thanks to an entire wall of ornate and decorated windows across from the doorway. The other walls had paintings all over, mostly of people presumed to be of the Schnee family.

Inside the room were several couches and a few large coffee tables. Winter sat at one end while Willow sat next to her. A young boy with white hair - which Yang assumed to be Weiss's little brother - sat across from them, nursing a larger cup than them. He was also the only one sitting away from the light as much as possible, actually wincing as he looked over at them. The bloodshot eyes were what clued her in, but she thought Weiss said her mother was the only one that drank?

All of them looked very casual, the table between them holding teapots, teacups, and plates of various kinds of fancy foods. "So, this is what you do?" Yang asked as she leaned on the edge of the doorway, lips twisted in a half smirk of amusement. "Chill in a room and do nothing while eating? Think of your figure."

Weiss punched Yang's shoulder with half fueled annoyance. "No, we spend our hours together, talking and making up for lost time," she replied. "Who knows when I'll have the next chance to do this."

Yang's smirk turned into a gentle smile, and she pulled Weiss into a half hug, chuckling at the ex-heiress's light yelp of surprise. "I know, I totally understand. Just don't spend too long, alright? We need you too," she said.

Weiss hugged Yang back, smiling. "I will, don't worry," she said. Once the hug was broken, Weiss led Yang inside. "This is my friend and teammate of team RWBY, Yang Xiao Long," she introduced to her family.

Willow Schnee lowered her head, providing a slight nod in greeting while Whitley Schnee waved shyly. Yang clicked her tongue and waved two fingers in a mock salute. "Yo. So, how's family getaway time?" she asked.

"It has been...effective. Time still works against us, but we are handling it rather well," Winter said as she reached over and picked up a teacup - presumably hers - before sipping it elegantly, despite wearing sweatpants and a loose shirt. It seemed that even when cutting loose, Schnees didn't lose that...professional stuck up behavior that made them seem so stiff.

Despite that, they really seemed to be relaxed. Yang decided not to question it and plopped herself down in a chair facing the others. "So, what's been going on?" she asked.

"Weiss was telling us of how her time at Beacon has been. I didn't know she made so many friends," Willow said. Her smile faltered for a split second, and Yang could practically feel the guilt she had before the smile steadied itself again. Almost immediately, Yang could see why things were slow.

"Yeah, funny stuff. Did you know Weiss nearly got sneezed off the cliff?" Yang asked. Weiss immediately tensed up while Whitley's eyebrows shot up in interest. "I'm serious, you know? Ruby, my sister, apparently sneezed and set some Dust off in an explosion."

"How big was that explosion?" Whitley asked, his tone rather amused. Weiss's face had burned up in embarrassment - her cheeks red as she spluttered in protest.

"Oh, I didn't see it. But my sister was definitely there, and so were two of her new friends at the time. I think," Yang said, scratching her chin as Whitley snorted. "You should've seen how stuck up she was during Beacon."

"Yang, please-" Weiss began to plead as Yang began to explain everything that had happened in Beacon - the good and the bad.

"Up bup bup!" Yang interrupted. "Don't you know how this goes? When one friend meets the parents of the other friend, it's customary to embarrass the living crap out of their friend with stories of all the dumb shit you used to do."

"Weiss, is there anything you happened to omit in the letters you wrote me?" Winter asked curiously. Her tone was icy, but her facial expression was warm.

Weiss paled and she coughed. "Well...I may have...been quite unsavory during the first few weeks of attending Beacon Academy," she meekly whispered.

"She insulted Markus cuz of his ears," Yang said, and Weiss began to panic, spluttering that she wasn't that person anymore and that she felt terrible for ever profiling him that way. Despite that, Yang just laughed and hugged Weiss, much to her annoyance. "We know you aren't like that anymore, we just like to poke fun."

"Oh dear," Willow said, somewhat concerned. Winter, however, just smiled.

"It's fine, she apologized," Yang waved off. "She was a bit of a snob before her icy little heart melted. She wanted to become leader of team RWBY so badly, and she was always lecturing us on everything we apparently did wrong."

"A lot of what you do is still wrong," Weiss remarked. "I just got used to it."

"And look at you, you're my baby sister's best friend," Yang chuckled.

"Tell me more about your team," Willow said kindly as she picked up her teacup. "I'd like to know who are the boys and girls who helped bring my daughter out of the shell my ex-husband built around her."

"Oh, yeah!" Yang chirped as she reached in her pocket and pulled out her scroll, turning it on. "I have lots and lots of pictures to show-"

Weiss exhaled in relief when the scroll lit up unexpectedly - flashing a message before Yang could click on the photo album. "Huh? What's this..." she muttered as she read, before her lilac eyes widened in surprise. Weiss could almost swear they had flickered red for a moment.

"Yang, what's wrong?" Weiss asked, a little bit worried.

Yang immediately got up. "Weiss, we have to go back, now," she whispered. Turning to Weiss's mother and siblings, she bowed her head. "I'm really sorry, but there's been an emergency back in Atlas Academy - er, military base."

Winter blinked and stood up at once, setting her teacup down quickly. "Emergency? I'm going too," she said, her light and casual demeanor dropping immediately for the cold and professional tone that many were so accustomed to.

"Yang, what's happening?!" Weiss cried as her blonde teammate made to turn for the door.

"Markus's partner got attacked," Yang finally said. "And..." She turned to see Whitley and Willow watching in worry, and she leaned in to whisper in Weiss's ear. "The Winter Maiden is dead," she hissed.

Weiss recoiled in shock. "W-what now, then? What can we do?" she asked as she and Winter followed Yang out of the room. She would've remembered to say goodbye to her mother and brother, had she not been so fraught with worry.

How could she not be? In a situation like this, there was very little they could do. And the feeling of helplessness was one of the worst things someone can feel.

"I don't know," Yang said quietly as she continued to march on, thinking about Markus, and how much he probably needed a hug right about now. "Whatever we can, I suppose. But for now, Markus needs us."

(AN: Chapter summary - so Stella gets interrogated, and we reveal more and more about Jacquelin, while Clover, Qrow, and Robyn start to uncover what's going on. Liya and the Winter Maiden get attacked, with the Winter Maiden: Fria, dying and Liya receiving her power. She remains in a coma, leaving her vulnerable as Markus tries to come up with a new strategy to deal with the intruders while the dilemma between saving the shields and dooming the city's power, or saving the city's power and dooming the shields.

Next chapter: Markus receives help from his friends as he falls deeper and deeper into paranoia, and the interrogation of Stella continues.)