The Atlas Attitude

Argus: Atlesian Military Base

Atlas's military base was located along the coast of Argus. To get there, one had to go down a road which led onto a bridge that connected the base to the mainland. The base itself was a large, metallic structure that had been built into a massive rock overlooking the sea. A large perimeter wall surrounded it with the usual compliments of searchlights, sirens and a large metal gate with two sliding doors. As it turned out, these doors could slide closed very quickly, which is something teams WA, RWBY, Qrow, Maria and Oscar found out the hard way.

"Are you guys serious right now," said Yang as she gripped the bars of the gate, "Can't you at least here us out first?"

"We have been given clear orders," said the Atlesian soldier on the other side of the gate, a tall man in a blue and white uniform with rounded shoulders and a navy-style hat that for some reason had a tall point on the bill. "The borders of Atlas and Mistral are closed."

"Please," said the other soldier, an exact twin of the one on his left.

"Have a pleasant day," finished the first soldier, who Wayne had decided to dub simply as A1.

"C'mon, this is-," Yang started to say before she was cut off by both soldiers.

"A very pleasant day!" Exclaimed both soldiers A1 and A2, whipping their heads around to attention.

"Hey if you're really not gonna believe that I'm friends with Ironwood," Qrow started to say before the soldiers interrupted him.

"General' Ironwood sir!" exclaimed A1 and A2. Qrow simply shook his head at that before continuing.

"General Ironwood, then it's whatever. But you should know that we've brought Weiss Schnee with us and we're trying to get her home safely." The two soldiers shared a look for a moment before asking the heiress to approach. Weiss herself looked uneasy for a moment as she glanced at Blake, who merely shrugged at the ridiculous situation, and then at Wayne who simply nodded his head. She then proceeded to take a deep breath and step forward.

The soldiers leaned forward to examine her from their side of the gate for a moment. "This is acceptable," said both soldiers at the same time, "We shall allow you to speak with our commanding officer. Remain here and we shall fetch her!" The two soldiers turned and jogged away, sounding off as they went.

"Did those two seem a little-," Blake started to voice the thought on everyone's mind.

"Kinda super weird, yeah," affirmed Ruby with a nod of her head.

"I just wonder how in the world they can see with those hats over their eyes," said Wayne as he adjusted the cloth mask over his mouth.

"Maybe they can't see that well. The only way I'd wear a hat like that is if I couldn't see myself in a mirror while wearing it," said Aegis.

"Fair point," replied Wayne with a nod as he chuckled just a bit.

"I'm still wondering why you insisted on wearing that cloth mask and sunglasses," said Yang as she turned to Wayne, "I doubt anyone in Argus would have even heard that Weiss wasn't in Atlas, let alone her possible kidnapper."

"I figured it's just best to be safe," replied Wayne, "No telling how the rest of her family has even spun her escape. For all we know they could be saying I kidnapped her, or I tricked her, or maybe they've got a story going about how Weiss ran away from home with some weirdo."

"I might actually read the paper for once if they've got a story like that going," said Yang.

"Let's just hope this officer of theirs is a bit more reasonable," commented Weiss.

"I'm not so sure," said Calavera as she put a hand to her chin.

"What's the problem," questioned Oscar, curious as to what would have the old woman worried.

"Well it's possible that I know the officer that runs this base," explained Maria.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing," said Ruby, "If a friend of yours is in charge, maybe they'd be more willing to help us."

"That would be true," said Calavera, "except we're not quite what one would call 'friends.'"

"So are you two acquaintances then," asked Weiss, hoping this wasn't going the direction she thought it was going.

"No that's not the one," replied Calavera with a hand on her chin.

"Are you two colleagues," guessed Blake, also not liking where this was going.

"You're getting warmer I know it," said Maria.

"Uh, enemies then," Yang finally said, hoping she was wrong.

"Yes, that's the word I was looking for," said Maria happily, resulting in a dumbfounded look from Oscar.

"I'm sorry, what now?" said Oscar, fairly certain their situation had just gotten worse.

"I actually come right through this area about once every ten years to get maintenance on my eyes in Atlas," explained Calavera, "But customs is obnoxiously tight. You sneak in one sack of outside cashews and they think it's necessary to place you on an additional screening list for life!"

"You can't be serious right now," groaned Qrow, wondering if it was his semblance or just their regular bad luck that led to these circumstances.

"Oh we should try to think positively about this whole thing," Said Maria, "Maybe she finally died." It was at that moment that the gates quickly rolled open to reveal the return of soldiers A1 and A2.

"Introducing-Special Operative-Caroline Cordovin!" Exclaimed the two soldiers. It was then that an old woman whose head only reached just above the waists of the two soldiers stepped forward, adorned in a white, Atlas military uniform with black gloves and boots.

"It looks like she hopped out of her grave just for you," whispered Wayne to Calavera as Cordovin stopped in front of her.

"Blind witch," said Cordovin, clearly familiar with Calavera.

"She-demon," replied Calavera, using her own nickname for the Atlesian commander.

"It seems you've secured larger contraband for smuggling this time around," said Cordovin.

"And after all this time it seems you still have that stick of yours lodged securely up your-," Calavera was stopped by Ruby before she could finish the quip.

"Ah, hello there Miss Cordovin," said Ruby awkwardly, "My name is Ruby Rose and we were hoping you could simply hear us out-."

"I've heard your little story once already," stated Cordovin with a good hint of impatience in here voice, "It was relayed to me by those silly friends of-hey what are you still doing here?! I told you all to leave!"

"I told you we wouldn't stop until you let us through!" Exclaimed Nora as she was restrained several feet back by Jaune and Ren.

"It's very nice to see you again," said Ren, trying to keep things friendly. Cordovin sighed before turning back to Ruby and the others.

"It seems you're just as incapable of understanding the importance of our mission in Argus as the rest of the civilians here. So to insure you understand, I'll speak slowly with small words. The very safety of Argus is insured by this base and that relay, both gifts from the glorious kingdom known as Atlas. My mission here is to uphold that, as Atlas has determined that only I possess the wit and tenacity for such a task."

"Incredible wit," declared soldier A1 as he chimed in.

"And such tenacity," added A2, clearly having practiced this little song and dance before.

"Or maybe they just like having you as far from the kingdom as they could get you," pointed out Calavera.

"Oh you're as ignorant as all the other ingrates in this city," seethed Cordovin as she pointed an accusing finger, "ready to hold a knife to our throats with the rest of the world while conveniently forgetting that there wouldn't even be an Argus without our Atlesian ancestors!"

"But we know that's not true," said Ruby, "We were at Beacon when it was attacked and Atlas wasn't to blame."

"Not to mention that no one is happy about the embargo or the closing of the border," said Weiss, "But we understand that General Ironwood is only worried. Which is why it's all the more important that we talk-."

"Are you accusing the general of being a coward?!" Cordovin questioned angrily, "Atlas's strength is unmatched! If the world wishes to declare us their enemy then so be it, our kingdom shall prevail!"

"Atlas shall prevail!" declared soldiers A1 and A2 as they stood at attention by their commander's side once again.

"Is it really necessary for you guys to do that?" questioned an annoyed Yang.

"If we're really being honest here," Wayne stepped in, "It seems more like Atlas is trying to make an enemy of the world rather than prove its own innocence. If you're tired of everyone giving you the stink eye then maybe you should try a few gestures of goodwill once in a while." The commander gave an annoyed sigh before answering.

"If Miss Schnee truly wishes to return to her home kingdom and family, then the Atlas military will be more than happy to escort one of its citizens back to the kingdom. However, we will only escort her, meaning your friends, especially the ones of 'questionable' character will not be allowed to accompany you."

"And just what are you implying?" questioned Weiss, knowing that the comment was directed at Blake and Aegis, the latter of which was growling slightly.

"Either you come alone, or we have no more to discuss here," replied Cordovin as she turned to walk away. But as the gate closed, a suddenly appearing ramp of glass shot up, derailing one of the gates. Needless to say, Cordovin let out a frustrated yell at the sudden predicament.

"Let's get out of here," said Aegis as he turned and started walking, "Atlas is just concerned with doing what they do best right now, helping themselves." No one voiced any other opinions as they also turned to walk away. Weiss looked especially downcast until Ruby put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Weiss," said Ruby, "We told you we wouldn't leave your side. We'll find a way to Atlas, together."

"We could always storm the place," suggested Wayne as they heard the sound of irritated yelling coming from the base, "Aegis already broke one side of the gate."

"Wayne Ursario," said Weiss in an amused tone, "I thought you'd be one of the last people to suggest something like that."

"I mean I technically broke a number of rules when I got into Atlas the first time," said Wayne with a shrug, "At this point we may just have to break a few more if it at least gets us to Ironwood."

"I'm sure we can come up with a plan that doesn't involve that," said Ruby, "Right Uncle Qrow?"

"If you think of one, let me know," said Qrow, "That base was the plan and it just got shut in our faces. Right now I need a drink somewhere."

"But don't you think it would be better if we all tried to come up with a plan together?" Questioned Ruby. Qrow's answer was to simply pick up the pace of his walk, leaving the rest of them behind.

"What's his issue?" questioned Jaune, "So this plan didn't work out, it's not your fault."

"Well I think if he's gonna be a jerk, we should just come up with something on our own," suggested Nora, "I mean we could probably just ask Ozpin anyway. He's got to have a plan for this, right?" An uncomfortable silence fell on the group then as RWBY and WA realized something they'd forgotten to mention.

"Is something the matter?" Questioned Ren, surprisingly speaking first.

"Well," said Aegis as he rubbed the back of his head, "Ozpin's not exactly answering calls right now."

"What do you mean he's not answering calls," questioned Jaune with a bit of confusion.

"I think its best if we head back first," said Wayne, "there's a story or two you guys need to hear."

Sapphire's Apartment

Wayne was now regretting not telling JNR on the way, given that as soon as they were done relaying the story of Ozpin and Salem's origins as well as the history of the world, Jaune immediately punched the nearest wall in frustration. "So you're saying that everything we've been doing has been for nothing?!" Exclaimed Jaune as he removed his fist from the busted section of the wall.

"No we're not saying that," said Blake, trying to calm the situation.

"Are you sure," questioned Nora with her head in her hands, "Because everything I just heard says 'yes Nora it was all for nothing!'" Blake tried to think of a response to that, but Ren beat her to it.

"Since Salem is immortal," said Ren, "How exactly can we win against her?"

"Killing and defeating don't always go hand in hand," said Wayne, "in spite of all we learned, there still might be a way we haven't discovered yet to stop her."

"And just how should we go about finding something like that?" Questioned Jaune. His question was met with silence by everyone else in the room. "Wonderful, it seems like we're well on our way."

"I know none of this is good news," said Oscar, "But the bad guys are out there, we're not the enemy here."

"Are you really sure about that?" Questioned Jaune, causing Oscar to stop short.

"I don't catch your meaning," said Oscar in a confused tone.

"You're the one with him in your head aren't you," said Jaune as he turned around and advanced on Oscar, "Come to think of it, how much of this did you already know?!"

"Jaune he was just as much in the dark as we-," Weiss started to say as Jaune brushed past her and grabbed Oscar by the collar.

"How can we even trust you right now," said Jaune as he shoved Oscar into the wall, "Are we even sure it's him?!"

"Jaune just wait a moment," said Yang from her position by the couch.

"For all we know we could be talking to the liar right now," Jaune said, growing more unreasonable by the second.

"And what are you gonna do if it is?!" Wayne cut in with a strong grip on Jaune's shoulder, "You gonna beat an innocent kid to death for it, huh, are you going to hurt Oscar for something that wasn't even his choice in the first place?!" Wayne wasn't sure if it was what he said or the near snarling way in which he said it, but Jaune finally seemed to realize what he was doing as he let go of Oscar. Taking a quick look around the room, Jaune hung his head low as his angry expression disappeared.

Then, without another word, the leader of team JNR headed upstairs. A moment of silence passed where the only audible sound was the slamming of a door upstairs before Blake spoke. "Do you guys think he'll be alright?" Questioned Blake.

"Who the heck knows," said Nora as she got off the couch and headed upstairs as well, "My day was only slightly bad until just now."

"I believe some time to ourselves would be the best thing for right now," said Ren sounding angry for the first time since Wayne had met him at Beacon. The normally stoic Beacon student then proceeded to head upstairs after Nora.

"Maybe some space is what we all need right now," suggested Blake, noting the sour atmosphere that had fallen over the room. Oscar looked especially down until Aegis put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't blame yourself for any of this," Aegis said, "with luck they'll come around just like we did." Oscar simply nodded as everyone went their separate ways in or out of the house. Aegis decided to follow Yang out onto the steps of the front porch as the two of them sat down to watch the crowd go by. Aegis had never really been one for deep conversation, so he simply waited a bit to see if Yang would say anything first.

"Aegis," Yang finally spoke, "It just occurred to me that I never said thanks."

"What would you need to be thanking me for," said Aegis as his ears pricked up.

"For stopping me from stomping Oscar back in the woods," said Yang, "I was so angry at that moment, I forgot that Oscar really has no control over the fact that a whole other person's soul is in his body. Seeing Jaune just now, I realized I never even considered it until you said something."

"Oh that," said Aegis, "If I'm being perfectly honest, I was just following my instincts on that one. Traveling through Mistral over the last few months and then being forced to adopt a political approach to help build a Faunus militia in Menagerie did teach me a thing or two about thinking twice. That and Wayne repeating over and over again the lessons we've learned about patience and clear thinking."

"Well however you managed to keep a mostly cool head at that moment," said Yang, "I'm glad you did."

"Any time," said Aegis with a slight smile, "though it does get kind of annoying for a guy like me. Used to be I could punch a problem in the face and it would go away, at least for a while. Now everything's gotten so convoluted that I actually have to think about whether or not punching something will solve the problem or make it worse."

"Believe me I know the feeling," said Yang as she glanced at her mechanical arm. "I still see him sometimes ya know, that Adam guy."

"Grandpa Ursario used to have a problem like that," said Aegis, "at least according to Mom he did."

"Used' to have that problem," repeated Yang with a questioning look.

"Wayne and I never really caught on to it before he passed away," explained Aegis, "Apparently he used to suffer from nightmares and occasionally jump at shadows. Some days we'd go visit and he'd be staring at the clock that grandmother had taken from Tock. If I really think about it now, maybe he was just reassuring himself that the person that hurt him and some of his family and friends was gone for good. As the years went by, he checked on it less and less until he completely moved it out of the room one day. When we asked about it, he just said it was something he finally put behind him."

"His own personal battle, huh," said Yang, "though in a way I guess he got it worse than I do right now, losing control of two of his limbs. I mean, how many people can say they have a combat grade prosthetic?"

"Maybe more than you think," Said Aegis, "but I think we all have our own personal battles. Wayne doesn't want to worry us but I know he's still struggling with the aura shadow. Weiss is coming along with us to Atlas, despite the fact that it's the absolute last place she wants to go. Oscar's stuck with a person inside him that everyone hates now, and your sister, gosh, she probably feels like she's carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders."

"When you put it like that it makes my problem seem small in comparison," said Yang as she noticed her hand trembling again. But before she could stop it Aegis grabbed her trembling hand.

"It's not small to me," said Aegis, "And don't think for a second that any of your friends and family here would call it small either. What happened was a big deal and it's not something you're gonna get over in one day. It could take weeks, months, even years before you're able to accept what happened, but if anyone can do it, you can." For some reason, Yang laughed a little at this.

"Aegis, you sound like your brother right now, ya know," said Yang.

"I can be a sensitive, smart sounding person too," said Aegis as he crossed his arms, "Wayne's just better at it than me. My favorite form of therapy was always hitting something or making a little mischief, so that's what I do."

"And what sort of mischief would you get into while in Argus," Questioned Yang with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Now that you mention it," said Aegis as he stood up, "I've been planning on browsing for some stink bomb ingredients. Wanna learn how to make one?"

"We're trying to figure out a plan to get to Atlas, and you're idea is to make stink bombs to work off your anger for a bit," said Yang.

"It's just one of those things that always helped clear my head," said Aegis as he held out his hand, "You'd be surprised what comes to mind when you're doing simple random #$ ." Yang seemed to consider his words for a bit before taking his hand and allowing him to help her up.

"Why not," said Yang, "With all the crap we've been dealing with lately, it'd be nice to laugh at something for a change."

Random Argus Office Building: A Little Later in the Evening

'Say what you will about Atlas,' thought Wayne as he peered through his set of binoculars, 'at least they know how to strategically position a base. If one wanted to get in to this one without being seen, they'd have a difficult time.' He really had been joking about storming the base earlier, but given that Qrow hadn't returned in well over a couple of hours and no one else seemed like doing a lot of talking, he'd decided to scout out the base from a distance. The way he saw it, at this point any ideas for getting into Atlas, even illegal ones, were welcome in his opinion.

'I think I about got when their shift changes are at least,' noted Wayne as he watched some of the guards leaving their posts to be replaced by other guards. 'The biggest blind spot, though, seems to be right underneath the bridge. With a bit of skilled jumping and the correct use of my wrist wires and Weiss's glyphs, maybe we could-.' His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his scroll going off.

"Hey, what's going on," asked Wayne as he saw who was calling him?

"Wayne where are you right now?" Questioned Blake over his scroll.

"On a random building near the coast," replied Wayne, "I've been taking notes on our little base."

"You need to get back here right away," said Blake with a hint of worry in her voice.

"What's happened," questioned Wayne as he pocketed his binoculars in his bag.

"It's Oscar, he's nowhere in the apartment," explained Blake, "He's gone missing."

Is Oscar running away from the three teams or is something else going on? Either way, our heroes need to locate the wandering boy fast before any other problems overtake them. Hello everyone, glad to be back with chapters for this story and I hope this one was worth the wait. As always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as Wayne and Aegis once again put their tracking skills, and people skills, to the test. 'Til then.