The Soldier walked on trough the crowd as gunfire and battle sounded in the distance.
Another group of refugees had arrived per transport and he remained on the lookout, scanning the crowd for a woman with red hair and the figure of a fighter.
He had told the young huntsman he would keep an eye out and so he did.
He and Jaune had talked for while before his duty's had called the soldier off.
The young man had done most of the talking while he simply listened.
Sometimes listening was all that one could do, and while its benefits were small it was a foundation that helped to not go crazy with ones own thoughts and keep them bottled up inside until they consumed oneself.
"I am sorry, have you seen a girl with red hair? Called Pyrrha Nikos, she is a student at bacon academy..."
The girl with the broken sunglasses looked exhausted as she shook her head and murmured some kind of apology before walking of and following a group of just as exhausted huntesman.
"...she can't be dead right? I saw her fight, she just wouldn't stand down. I have never seen her defeated. That must count for something right?"
Back then the Soldier hadn't answered Jaune right away.
"There is always a chance." he had said, trying to keep things vague.
He knew well, no matter how great your skills, your power or your determination, in the end everyone could be killed.
Be it by outclassing, overpowering or simple luck.
The only hopeful thing was that this was true for both sides.
Still, hope could be a gift just as well as a devastating poison.
And he feared that Jaune was giving himeslf the last kind.
Another transport set down on the landing zone and another group of survivors of the bacon academy emerged.
For a moment his own hopes went up when he saw red hair in the crowd but soon disappeared when he saw that is was just an ordinary student that didn't fit the description of the impeccable warrior woman.
Still, the ship had at last one other person on board he was looking out for.
"Miss Goodwitch?" as the Atleasian approached the Vale Huntress and Teacher of the fallen academy he noticed her tiered and downcast eyes before he spoke her name.
Like somebody had flipped a switch her eyes turned upwards again as she noticed that somebody was calling for her.
"Miss Goodwitch, General Ironwood is awaiting your report in the fallen cruiser, I am here to bring you."
For a moment he cursed himself, the woman wasn't even under Ironwoods command, making it sound like she had to answer to him was not a smart move.
However, the way she just simply nodded and turned to face some of her students and two Vale soldiers to relay orders and make sure her children and students were cared for was sure sign that she had more pressing issues on her mind.
As she turned around again a small group of students stood behind her and the Lieutenant turned his head questioningly as he saw what looked like the daughter of the head of schnee company.
"They are searching for someone and are going to accompany me."
The teachers words were strict and left no room for arguments, just like his old drill sergeant.
So he just nodded without a sign of argue against it."Very well then, please follow me."
As they moved trough the crowd back towards the center of the safe-zone another transport ship cleared the landing zone with yet another huge group of civilians onboard.
But still a large crowd remained that could not be completely moved over one night and with each other hour the Grimm diminished their already troubled defences.
One could only pray that hey were strong enough.
"... the local hunters are performing well on the southern and northern flank, but our combined strength only narrowly managed an outflanking in the south and the east is under constant pressure."
General Ironwood didn't even look up from the Holomap on the table as the Lieutenant entered, so he stepped aside and waited for the other soldier finish his report.
"Send Red Alpha and Blue Beta to the east, Yellow Delta can assist in the south and circle Green Gamma back into the north, they should be resupplied and have gotten a short rest by now."
The soldier nodded and left, only for one of the communications officers on the desks behind Ironwood to step up and give his report, the Lieutenant waited in stoic silence.
"We managed to contact the Vale military post in the south with long range sensors and await their arrival within the next few hours. But I fear their manpower is not enough to lift the siege or free the city."
Ironwood almost didn't react as he moved the pieces on the Holomap without the iron expression on his face changing.
The officer only waited a few more seconds in case the General wanted to inquire before he moved on.
"The red Castle in the north has confirmed the arrival of a large group of refugees but reported that they wont be able to hold many more if the stream of our ships to them continues as it is now.
Castle Okasa on the other hand reports a high amount of Grimm in their perimeter and has trouble dealing with them as it is, they advise to find another place to bring the survivors."
"We cant the Castles are he only places around that can both protect the citizens of Vale and ensure that they are supplied. Any other news?"
The Generals tone was a mix of defeat and pressure, a voice that said that any other news better be good.
"We made contact with the downed cruiser blue four. They said they are far of, in a bad shape and lost crew to their
detachment of onboard robots but the cruiser is still flying, even if their escort is nearly wiped out and they are too damaged to take one the huge amount of flyers that swarm the city."
Ironwoods expression changed from relief at hearing that at last one of his cruisers that had been caught in the crossfire had survived to anger at what had them downed in the first place.
"Did the captain also tell why he went against the regulations and got so close to another cruiser that two of them could be taken down by one shot?" His face was more annoyed then angered now, what was done was done, no sense in lamenting over it.
Still his anger remained, mostly the anger at his own incompetence.
The incompetence to protect the people of Vale and all that stood with them.
"He said it was a haste full decision to get into defensive formation before even more Grimm would storm the city. A lapse in judgement probably."
Ironwood sighted, a sight that the lieutenant knew well.
Exhaustion was not only restricted to the body.
"Send three squads and a hand full of gunships to their position, tell them to resupply and repair minor damage as much as they can. I want them on their way to Castle Okasa in an hour. We need that Castle and they are going to free it for us."
"Understood." the officer saluted and stepped back to his desk to relay his messages as the Lieutenant stepped forward.
Ironwood looked up at the soldier, checked the ID on his armour and allowed himself to rest his head on in hands for a short while.
"This s a disaster..." he murmured seemingly to himself before rising back up again and blinking the tiredness out of his eyes.
"What is it?"
"Miss Goodwitch is here sir. You told me to bring her here once she returned."
A flicker of anguish passed over the Generals eyes for the shortest of moments before he nodded.
"Bring her in." he simply demanded.
The Teacher walked trough the metallic door as soon as it was opened and strode towards Ironwood without hesitation.
This time the General was smart enough to face her instead of the Holo-map.
"We found dead White Fang on this ship, they somehow go past all our security and tricked most of the cameras. They were not the problem for my men but they had some kind of huntress with them and seemed to know our security protocols.
Not only did they manage to hack our robots they also locked all other cruisers and command centres out of the loop and also managed a shot directly at the most vulnerable part of one of our cruisers...
I will chop of my other arm if they didn't get insider information from someone deep inside Atlas."
The General shook his head at the misery and for a few seconds the Lieutenant noticed how Goodwitchs stern face wavered to reveal slight worry.
It seemed like Ironwood had not lost all of his friends.
"Please tell me you got some good news that came with the destruction of the CCT-Tower."
This time she shook her head.
"The only good news is that who ever our enemy was has fled and that the giant Grimm Dragon is frozen atop the Tower. But he keeps attracting more Grimm, some of them even leave the city to get to the academy instead, but there will always be more to take their place."
"What about Ozpin?"
"Not a trace, I only found his staff."
Ironwood looked up and squinted his eyes unbelieving.
"Where is it?"
"I gave it to Qrow since he was far away from the group and had better chances of hiding it from others. We can risk a panic after we evacuated Vale."
"Agreed. But were is Qrow now?"
"He brought his nice out of there since she was unconscious, they should be in the medical camp right now together with the rest of the wounded."
Ironwood nodded and threw a look at the lieutenant before deciding to continue.
"What about the..."
He was interrupted mid sentence as the door opened anew and a the young Schnee daughter walked in.
One of the Soldiers on Guard duty tried to hold her back but Ironwood waved him off.
"Do you have something important to say Miss Schnee?" the General asked sterner then usual, angered by the breaking of customs and order.
"No sir!" the girl replied automatic before realizing and shifting under the hard gazes of both adults.
"I... We are searching for a friend. And we hoped, that maybe... we could ask for help?"
The Lieutenant thought that if had anyone else approached him this way the General might have simply called the guards on him without another thought, and if not definitely chewed them out on how many thousands of others where on the same search and that he wasn't able to do anything about it.
But he only sighted in front of a Schnee and was about to talk when Goodwitch interrupted him.
"I told you I will ask about him. Please wait outside, I will be done here soon."
The Schnees eyes squinted and she seemed to think about talking back when Ironwood noticed something.
"What is this?" he pointed at something in the girls hands, the Soldier needed to move his head to see the golden tiara in her hands.
"It is a keepsake for a friend." the young girls face that had moments before been a expression of determination had softened significantly.
The General put his hands on the table and shook his head once more.
"Please don't tell me that this is the answer to the question I was about to ask."
When he looked at Goodwitch he was nearly looking trough her.
The woman didn't answer, but the way she avoided his gaze was answer enough.
For a short moment there was silence in the command centre, the officers behind them where typing on their machines and the Holograms on the table moved haltingly whenever another squad confirmed movement.
"Please go, I will be there soon, I promise." Goodwitchs voice was surprisingly gentle when she pushed the young Schnee toward the door which the girl hesitantly stepped trough.
"She is dead. Her Tiara is the only thing Qrow brought back." Goodwitchs voice stumbled at the first sentence as she spoke while Ironwood only slightly shook his head and sighted.
"Didn't Ozpin say she was ready? That Pyrrha Nikos was the perfect candidate?" the General asked.
The Soldiers heart nearly jumped when he heard the name and grasped the meaning of it.
He was once again thankful for the Visor that obscured his face.
"She never had the Maiden Powers to begin with, Amber was killed before that, I saw her it in the Vault." Goodwitch said, which seemed to confuse the General even more.
"The why did she not..."
"Excuse me Sir." the Soldier said and stepped forward.
"What is it?" despite his discipline the Generals voice was dangerously close to be taken over by anger and for a moment the Soldier nearly relented, but he decided against it.
"There is a boy, Jaune Arc, not far from here searching for a girl called Pyrrha Nikos."
Ironwood looked back at Goodwitch with realization in his eyes.
"Just don't tell me they were in love." barely containded anger was raging in his voice.
Once again Goodwitch didn't need to say anything, the pain on her own face and the fact that she couldn't look him in the eye was more then enough.
It might be impossible for the outsider to tell what a soldier with closed visor was thinking, but the Lieutenant reacted instinctively when he averted his eyes, the way he moved his head slightly away from Ironwood was all that he needed.
The scream was loud, sudden and short. The sound that the table made when a piece of it was beaten of was as well.
When the door opened Miss Goodwitch was already walking around the table towards the General while the Lieutenant assured the guards that there was no immediate danger.
"Ozpin said she was ready. The best he could find... I knew we should have been more careful. Ozpin should have..."
The weight of his responsibility came crushing down on the General while he tried to keep himself upright with both hands on the damaged table.
Miss Goodwitch reached out towards him and put a hand on his intact shoulder.
"I am sure he did the best he could James..."
"Ozpins best is not good enough!" the anger in the man's voice nearly let the soldier take a step back, and for a moment it looked like Miss Goodwitch would do so as well, but after a moment of consideration she put her hand gently on his neck.
He sighted and closed his eyes for a moment before using his metallic hand to pinch his nose.
"I am sorry I said that." he apologized. "It is more like the best of all of us is not good enough."
"We all make mistakes James. We are only Human." she said with a soft voice.
"Yes we do. A lapse in judgement." He neraly spat the last words.
"But we can't allow ourselves that kind of mistakes."
Ironwood was still looking straight forward and didn't notice the worry and sadness on Goodwitchs face, unlike the Soldier.
"In Battle mistakes and looses are unavoidable." she said.
He turned around slowly, recognition on his face.
"Who said that?"
"You did. Years before. I called you a cynic back then."
The General was grinding his teeth and thinking, probably about telling her people could change or some other rebuttal, but in the end he simply sighted again.
"I am sorry. It is just... non of this should have happend. Kids should be free and save, they should not be trained for a war, involved in conspiracy's and get the weight of the world loaded on their shoulders.
We should be able to protect them, damn, the girl should have worried about love and make-up for all I care!
This should just not have happened Glinda."
"I know James, I know..."
For a moment they both looked at each other, came to a silent agreement, and then broke away from each other.
The soldier saw it as his sign to step forward and the General regarded him with a short node and a exhausted but recovering sigh.
"What is it soldier?"
"With your permission I would like to inform Jaune Arc of the girls demise. I think he has a right to know about it as soon as possible." he said.
"Do me a favour and keep an eye on him, would you?" the General said with a tint of sadness in his eyes.
"That order is obsolete Sir." the soldier simply answered, gave the General a reaffirming node and turned around, Miss Goodwitch followed him after a last look back.
Just as they had passed trough the door three other soldiers walked inside to give their own reports.
They walked outside were the Schnee daughter and her two friends; one a boy in green the other a small girl in pink; waited nearby, which was were the Lieutenant stopped and turned around.
"Miss Goodwitch?" the woman looked up, being suddenly torn out of her own thoughts.
"I am grateful that the General has such loyal friends mam."
She answered his respectful node and a somewhat sad smile as they walked towards the children.
The Soldier saw the golden Tiara in the white girls had and was reminded how difficult that what laid before him was going to be.
This night was going to be long.