Chapter 22: Cold War
"Are you ready to go, sir?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose…"
Winter could sense the frustration in General Ironwood's voice. She knew it all too well, but following orders from a ranking office was the most important protocol for anyone enlisted in the military of Atlas. It was barely a week ago that she had been asked to leave a high level meeting at the insistence of a drunk, in accordance with the wishes of her superior. In this case, she did not outrank the general, but her mission had been sanctioned by the High Council. Therefore, she was a delegation from the highest military authority in all of Atlas.
General Ironwood had taken the first few minutes in Qrow's absence to finish putting on his military attire, not to mention fix his hair, which had been in complete disarray since waking up from his impromptu slumber. He assumed that he would not be returning to this room any time in the near future, so he gathered up all of the sensitive documents that he had accrued since being marooned in Vale by the destruction of his ship. He kept his hand cannon in its holster. If a time came where Winter asked him to turn it over to her, he knew that it would be game over for him.
"Alright. Let's go then."
Winter made her way to the door first, and opened it for Ironwood. She motioned for him to exit. As he did, Winter noticed something catch the general's eye as he stepped into the hallway. When she followed him, it became clear what he saw.
A troubled young voice called out from across the hall. "Winter?"
Her eyes shifted to the source of the voice. Her head followed their lead. By the look of it, her sister had been waiting for them to leave the briefing room for some time. She had leaned herself against the wall opposite of the entry to the room. Her appearance was a bit of a surprise, but at least she looked respectable. "Weiss, you look well," she paused for a moment, "How… did you know where to find me?"
Weiss completely ignored her sister's formalities. "What's going on? Why is everyone leaving?"
Winter grumbled to begin her retort. "Qrow…" The fact that Weiss knew anything in regards to her mission pointed to Qrow shooting his mouth off. Again. Nonetheless, she then returned to a more regimented demeanor to address the rest of her sister's question, "I'm afraid that information is classified, sister. It is also highly sensitive, and not to be discussed in the middle of the hallway such as this. If you… must... know more, then I would ask you to accompany General Ironwood and I back to father's ship. We can discuss what happens next once we get there."
The younger of the two sisters was not thrilled with the prospect of going to her father's ship, but she knew that a confrontation with him was inevitable. "Fine," she said reluctantly, agreeing to her sister's terms. "But when we're done, I'm coming back here. I have no interest in returning to Atlas."
"If that's what you want… I... have no official jurisdiction over you here in Vale." Winter glanced over to General Ironwood, who waited patiently at a distance so as not to impose. "I think it would be best if we proceed. There is no need to make a scene."
General Ironwood took the lead along their walk to the exit of the building, just ahead of Weiss and Winter. In accordance with the orders she had been given, there would be no official announcement of the withdrawal of Atlas' troops from Vale. The court martial would also be kept out of the public eye until it could be properly carried out. With these things in mind, the three citizens of Atlas made their way out the front doors, and across the street, towards the private transport ship that would ferry them up to the titanic vessel belonging to the Schnee Dust Company.
Before they could board the tiny transport, they were stopped again. This time, by a stronger, more authoritative voice. "James! Where, may I ask, are you off to?" General Ironwood and both his official and unofficial escorts turned around. Before them stood Glynda Goodwitch, looking completely haggard in the dim light cast on her by the streetlamps overhead.
Unsure of exactly what he was and was not allowed to say to someone as informed as Glynda, he offered the most insubstantial response he could formulate on such short notice. "I've been... summoned aboard this ship by my superiors. They require my presence immediately and urgently."
Her hand quickly swept her tangled hair off to either side. She had suddenly become dissatisfied with her appearance, or finally acknowledged the presence of the Schnee sisters. "I'd like to join you, in that case." Glynda felt that as the person charged with establishing and upholding the integrity of the safe zone in Vale, it was part of her duty to be in the know regarding all manners of strategy and troop deployment. She could only assume that this was the purpose of their meeting.
Ironwood was not prepared to respond to Glynda's offer to come along with them. His silence created an awkward air between them. Winter entered into damage control mode, "I'm… afraid that simply isn't possible. This meeting involves the redistribution of Atlesian reinforcements, and involves Atlas personnel only."
The exclusionary response irritated Glynda, who had clearly been through a difficult day of border patrols. Her cuffs were torn, and her normally white dress shirt was covered with stains of all shapes, sizes and colors. The hair that she had attempted to restrain with a quick brush of her hand was hopelessly out of control. "Ms. Schnee. I have been given charge of the safe zone here in Vale. And while I respect the wishes of your superiors, you are currently operating within my jurisdiction."
Without responding, Winter took the five steps necessary to set foot on the transport ship. She then turned back to Glynda. "I do apologize, but I believe I have just stepped out of your jurisdiction."
The elder huntress glared at Winter for a short time before drawing her riding crop and aggressively moving towards her conversational adversary. Ironwood recognized the possible misconceptions that might result from an altercation between the two women, and stepped in front of Glynda before she could do something that she might regret.
She stopped just short of the general's position between Winter and herself. "James... It is in the best interest of your safety to avoid interfering with my actions right now."
Ironwood decided that despite giving away more information than his escort would be comfortable with, his words would be more delicate than the unending stream of barbs that usually accompanied Winter's monologues. "Glynda, listen to me. I can assure you that Winter is right. The things discussed aboard the ship will be set in motion regardless of whether or not you are present. With that said, I'm not sure how long it will be until I am able to return to Vale. If I could make a suggestion, find Qrow as quickly as possible. The last time we spoke, he… was a little upset. He made mention of taking his girls and leaving the city. You need to try to stop him."
"I can't run this city on my own, James. If Qrow leaves like you say, I don't know if I can promise that the people in this safe zone will remain… safe."
Ironwood looked at the ground, partly out of shame and partly because he hated that he couldn't be completely truthful with someone he had trusted to share his most tightly kept secrets… maidens and aura transfer machines, just to name a few. Before he began to speak, he picked his head back up, and made a point to rest a hand on her shoulder, as she had once done for him. "When this business with Atlas blows over, I'll be back, and we'll get back to fighting this thing. Together. I promise."
The gesture was of little comfort to Glynda. But she knew that James didn't make a habit out of saying something that he didn't mean, even if he was sometimes misguided in his judgement. She did not smile, but met the level of seriousness that her counterpart had established, "Well, as long as you know what you're doing… then I'll see you when you get back. Good luck." She then looked over his shoulder at Winter. "If I ever see you here again… Well, let's just hope that for your sake, I don't."
Winter made a sarcastic bow, and stepped further into the ship. Weiss, who had been watching helplessly, with no hope of saying or doing anything useful during the course of this conversation, silently and solemnly followed her sister aboard. Ironwood watched as Glynda slowly walked across the street towards the hospital. When he could feel Winter's eyes staring a hole in the back of his head, he turned around to join the Schnee sisters.
Glynda stood outside for a few minutes to watch the hatch close on the small ship. After it lifted off, she waited close to ten minutes while it completed its journey, and began to dock with the SDC ship before finally choosing to go inside. It was almost as if she expected something to go wrong. But deep down, she knew that it already had.
The interior of the massive luxury cruiser was less efficient than that of the military ships Ironwood had been used to. His own ships were stripped of anything that did not have a specific purpose for military operations. His current surroundings were garnished with beautiful, and surely valuable, metals and fixtures. For a docking bay, this seemed like unnecessary fluff that served no purpose other than to take up more space than it was worth. He considered that if this vessel even had weapons systems built into it, they would be completely compromised by the immobility created by the weight of all of the ornamental nonsense around him.
The docking bay itself was buzzing with activity. For as cramped as it was, ships were moving in and out as quickly as the small space made it possible. The transport that Ironwood was on had been waiting in the queue to land, but it was now their turn. The pilot expertly guided them to the bay floor, and opened the hatch, revealing that a welcoming party had been dispatched in anticipation of their arrival.
Before them stood a model of composure, class, and icy cold resolve. His presence was akin to that of an iceberg in the frigid waters that surrounded Atlas. He was flanked on either side by three soldiers, two enlisted men and an officer. A quick hand motion signaled the men on his right to escort the general and his two daughters off of their ship. The men on his left immediately saw to the small amount of baggage that had come with them.
No words had even been spoken before the cargo, human and otherwise, had been unloaded. The ship lifted off and set its course for Vale again, presumably to ferry more withdrawing units back to the larger vessel. Mr. Schnee had hardly even moved in the time that had passed since first meeting the arrival of his guests. His eyes were focused on the youngest of them, but not in anger or irritation. His interest in Weiss was more comparable to a mother bird watching its young struggle to return to the nest after failing to fly.
Weiss could see that there was some kind of sick satisfaction in her father's customarily smug demeanor. Despite this, she and her sister both curtsied as a show of respect for the man who had been charged with leading this expedition. General Ironwood simply remained fixated on the eyesore that resided on the man's upper lip. A mustache? Why would he grow a mustache? He looks like the monopoly guy now. He caught himself being very unprofessional in his thoughts, but indulged himself one more time. I've got to stop spending so much time with Qrow.
Almost as if he could sense that he was the target of Ironwood's bemusement, Mr. Schnee broke his gaze with his youngest daughter, and leveled his stare to meet the much taller, physically imposing general. He took a deep breath before speaking, almost as if he meant to build dramatic tension. "Lieutenant, please take your men and escort General Ironwood to his quarters. I will join you there as soon as time permits."
His request was met with a prompt "Yes Sir," and the bustle of three soldiers and their powerless general heading off toward one of the exits to the docking bay.
His next order of business was with his long lost daughter. For this request, he spoke directly to Weiss. "It is good of you to join us. If you would allow these men to take you to your room, I should like the opportunity to speak to you privately. Please, make yourself comfortable. I will join you just as soon as I speak with your sister concerning the details of her mission." He smiled, but Weiss was certain that there was no emotion attached to the gesture.
Her response was as simple as "Yes, father," accompanied by a nod. It felt strange for her to actually say it. So much time had passed since their last actual conversation that this interaction felt very contrived. Weiss had held out hope that there would be a heartfelt reunion between them, but recognized the nigh impossibility of such a reality.
She allowed the soldiers to lead her out of the busy docking bay, only turning back to see her father speaking with Winter. Their voices were drowned out by the arrival of another transport, but she could tell from the expressions on his face that he had not changed even the slightest bit, aside from his new mustache. The sight of her father was obstructed by the automated closing of the bay doors behind her. "Ms. Schnee?" Her fixation had been broken by her senior escort. The lieutenant smiled nervously. Now that she was actually paying attention to him, she estimated that he was not more than a few years older than she, probably fresh out of a junior officer training academy. "Your room is just over this way."
Weiss acknowledged the officer before her. "Thank you. I'll be right behind you." It was at this moment that she had a realization. He had a room prepared for me. Does he think- I will not go back to Atlas with him. Under any circumsta-
Her moment of mental clarity was interrupted by an alarm going off over the public address system, accompanied by a voice. "All hands on deck. Grimm attack inbound. Threat level five. Prepare for defensive action. Repeat. All hands on deck. Grimm attack inbound. Threat level five. Prepare for defensive action."