Chapter 65
"This is outrageous! I demand to see my lawyer!" Jacques yelled, screamed really, at the closed door. The guards had all left, content in the knowledge that even with three Huntsmen they couldn't break out of the Hardlight barriers.
"Shut up, Jacques. We're in this mess because of you. And him!" Robyn growled, pointing angrily between Jacques and Watts.
"Don't forget the ancient angry witch who controls the Grimm, the Faunus serial killer and the paranoid general. They're also kind of responsible." Taiyang was only half-joking as he spoke, laying back on the slabs they had for beds.
"Woof!" Zwei barked from another cell.
"Hmph. You shouldn't blame the good General." Watts said, the smirk clear in his voice. "He was simply… outplayed." He chuckled.
"Uh-huh." Robyn rolled her eyes.
"So… bets on who's going to win?" Taiyang asked with a sigh.
"Oh? The great STRQ brawler is betting on whether or not his daughter is going to die?" Watts asked back with a sneer.
"Nah. Salem will lose. I have perfect faith in Ruby." He shrugged. "I mean Ironwood. Will he win against Salem here? Or lose."
"Pft. Salem obviously." Watts waved his hand dismissively.
"I have to agree." Robyn winced as she spoke. "He's undermined himself and he'll pay the price. Hopefully, we don't have to suffer with him."
"Ironwood will lose." Qrow said, breaking his silence. "I'll make sure of it." His naked rage silenced them all.
Not even Watts wanted to poke that amount of anger.
"So that's Atlas?" Emerald whispered to herself, swallowing. She was standing on the bridge of Monstra, next to Mercury and Hazel. They were waiting patiently for Salem to arrive while Monstra shared its vision.
"They actually abandoned Mantle huh? Cowards." Mercury spat in disgust. Hazel hummed in agreement.
A soft sound, like that of flesh parting, filled the air as one of the doors opened. Stepping through was Tyrian, a crazed smile on his face, and Salem, a cold and disinterested look on hers. They all knelt as she walked to the centre of the room and gazed at the view of Atlas.
"The stage has been set so very well. It's a shame Watts couldn't be here to see it, but Tyrian you have done magnificently."
Tyrian dramatically bowed. "Thank you, my Queen! I live to serve you!" The look on his face as he rose was one of ecstasy.
"Of course, Watts isn't our only loss." Salem continued. "Cinder arrived in Atlas some time ago, and tried to capitalise on your efforts to make up for her failure at Haven. However, that foolish, arrogant child could do nothing but get herself killed. She has empowered our foes and weakened us."
Emerald's breath caught in her throat. Cinder… is dead!? But… no! Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
"Emerald, dear child. I understand how you feel. Despite Cinder's failures, she was one of us. We shall take vengeance upon her killer. You'll help, won't you?" Her voice was filled with sympathy and kindness.
"Y-yes! I… yes."
"Good. First I will need to prepare you. To catch up you will need to become a Maiden. So we shall need to find one." Salem sat down on her throne and pondered for a moment. "But we also need to claim what we can. Those children have the Relic of Knowledge. Hm… all of you, remain on standby for now. I have a plan to take the Relic and the boy who claims to be Ozpin."
Salem's cruel smile sent chills down their spines.
"It's good to have you back." Jaune said, smiling as he pulled Oscar into the Manta.
"Good to be back. Sorry about running off. I just… I needed to try."
Jaune nodded. "I get it. Just… I'm glad you made it out."
"What did I miss?" Oscar asked, patting himself clean of dust and detritus.
"Penny's joined us, she's also the Winter Maiden. Cinder was killed and Pyrrha is the full Fall Maiden. Now we're coming up with a plan for what to do next."
"That's… quite a bit." Oscar gulped as the Manta took off, flying away from the crater and back into Mantle. "How is everyone?"
"Ruby's… managing. She did the deed to Cinder. After everything that Cinder's done to her, with the death of her team and all, it's been a lot. So much time has passed since then but… well it's been a long time coming I guess."
"Wow…" Oscar swallowed audibly.
"Yeah. Everyone else is doing okay. Penny seemed a little out of it after getting the powers but she should be fine."
"Right." Oscar took a deep breath. "And now we need to somehow beat back Salem huh?"
"Yeah. It's not just her forces, it seems she's come herself."
"How are we going to win then…" Oscar sounded lost and to be honest Jaune felt it too. An immortal almost-God had come with an army. Without Ironwood's support, how could they win?
"We'll think of something Oscar… you'll see."
"I hope so…"
"By the way… Ruby trusted you to hold onto this before so…" Jaune unclipped the Lamp at his waist and handed it back to the boy. "I trust you, Oscar."
"Thank you, Jaune. I'll keep it safe, I promise."
"I know you will."
The rest of the ride was silent as Maria piloted them down into an empty sector of the city. The ship came to a stop and they all hopped out. Jaune led Oscar into a nearby building: a bar owned by a friend of the Happy Huntresses.
Inside were the others, including Joanna, waiting in silence. Nora rushed over to hug Oscar, but the others only offered short "welcome back"s. Ruby was staring at a whiteboard, her eyes unfocused.
"Okay. Your friend is back, so make up your mind. Either get off your asses and help, or get out of our hair." Joanna ordered before leaving. Nobody responded for a moment.
"We need a plan…" Jaune quietly broached the subject. All eyes fell on Ruby, who stood up and walked to the whiteboard.
"I have one…" She whispered. "It's… not a good one. There aren't any good ones left honestly. I propose we get Amity up and call for help."
"What about Mantle?" Ren asked. "If we go focus on Amity, people will die."
"People will die no matter what we do." Ruby hissed. "But if we do this… we can call for help and then bunker down. We can't get aid from Ironwood, so this is all we can do!"
"I could give the Relic to Salem…" Penny offered, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"She'll kill you!" Ruby yelled back, not turning to face Penny.
"But it could save everyone… we could make a deal."
"No!" Ruby roared. "She'll betray it! She can't be trusted! And I!.. I won't let you throw away your life on a maybe!" The room went silent.
Jaune cleared his throat. "What if we split up? Half of us go and get Amity working, the other half stick to Mantle? Then once Amity us up we all work on Mantle together? How's that?"
"Okay…" Ruby agreed. "I'll lead the Amity team, you the Mantle team."
"Good. We've got two Maiden's now, so how about one on each team?"
"You'll - cough cough - need Penny to get Amity operational. All the materials are there, we just need time and Ironwood's codes. Those are the problem. They only come from two terminals. His office terminal, and one in the central military compound. Either way, you'll need to go to Atlas and have Penny access a terminal."
"Okay." Ruby nodded and finally turned to face them all. Her eyes were red from crying. "I'll take Penny, you take Pyrrha. Ilia, Ren, Nora, Oscar? What about you guys?"
Ilia stepped forward. "I'm with you, Ruby. We need to tell the world. If she's here attacking in person then the world needs to know. Ghira and Kali need to know…"
"I can't abandon the people we betrayed Ironwood to save." Ren stood and walked to Jaune, giving him a nod.
"But this is about more than just Atlas and Mantle! The whole world is at stake. They need to be warned." Nora said, joining Ruby. Ren's eyes went wide in shock.
"Then I'll balance things out." Oscar said, joining Jaune's team. "We'll do our best to protect Mantle, you guys warn the world."
"We will." Ruby nodded. "Keep the deaths as low as you can."
"We will." Jaune said, smiling faintly. "See you later, crater face."
Ruby smiled. It was a sad one, what with her face so marked by old tears. "You too, vomit boy."
They split into three groups. Pietro and Maria went directly to Amity, to finish up the preparations. Jaune led his team to Pietro's clinic, where the old man had left a few new toys. Ruby took her group and went towards the crater, to find a way up to Atlas.
Time was of the essence.
"And?" James asked, flexing his new hand.
"She's just… waiting, Sir." The soldier reported. "Just waiting. She's not even attempting a surround. Though the analysts expect this is a ruse to slaughter those trying to escape."
"I see." James clenched his jaw and thought. What was Salem's plan? "Damnit! If only we had the Winter Maiden!" He scowled at his scroll. He could try to call Penny back, but Ruby would just get in his way. Again. "If she won't return willingly, then I'll need a new way…"
Thankfully for him, he just so happened to have an expert hacker on Atlas right now…
Salem let out a low whistle as she entered the room. It was a small chamber, like one of the many bedrooms but without the requisite bed. Instead, it was more like a mat on the floor, and hardly comfortable.
From that mat came a monster. A beast with flesh like liquid. Salem smiled as her Hound came up to her, ready and waiting for orders.
"I need you to find the Relic of Knowledge my pet. It's in Mantle, I can feel it. Find it and return it to me. Oh and don't forget whoever carries it."
The Hound made a sound close to a woof as it agreed.
"Good boy. Now go."
A creature of death and destruction passed her and rushed to comply with her orders.
A/N: I return after a week of internet issues. So this is primarily a set-up chapter and a check-in chapter. The jailhouse bros, Emerald and Salem, Ruby and the gang with a plan, Ironwood and finally Salem again with The Hound. Not too much going on really, just the only real plan they can make without betraying their morals. But how will it be affected by the current team and Cinder's death? We shall see...
I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time.