The Airship Heist, and Groove
Argus: Atlas Military Base
'Well, here we are again,' thought Wayne as he, Aegis, Weiss and Saphron, who was carrying little Adrian in her arms, walked across the tarmac where the base's airships were stored.
"Words cannot express the relief I feel right now that you've decided to return to Atlas Miss Schnee," said Cordovin as she led them to one of the ships, "You know a number of us were quite devastated when we heard of your decision to attend Beacon Academy. But knowing that you've decided to return to your home has brought warmth to this old heart." 'If only you knew,' thought Aegis. As it turned out, getting onto the airfield proved relatively easy once they'd convinced Cordovin that Weiss wanted to head back to Atlas. She'd been so thrilled she even allowed a few friends to accompany her to the airship to 'say good bye.'
Though Wayne could tell the act was wearing on their friend a bit. "I just finally decided that I needed to get my act together and embrace my roots as a citizen of Atlas," said Weiss.
"And I can't wait for the day when you'll be a special agent in our fine military, just like your sister," said Cordovin happily.
"That sounds like a splendid idea," said Weiss, trying her best to maintain her smile.
"I'll be sending my two best guards as an escort for you," said Cordovin before moving closer to whisper to Weiss, "Be sure to mention that to General Ironwood when you arrive." Wayne could only roll his eyes as the commander winked before turning on her heel and walking back towards the base.
"Allow us to assist you with your luggage," said one of the soldiers as he tried to pick up the large, white rolling suitcase the heiress had brought with her. "My, it is quite a heavy bag!"
"Allow me to assist as well," said the other soldier as the two of them tried to wrestle the bag away from Weiss.
"That's very kind," said Weiss, trying to keep a straight face while trying to pull the suitcase towards the ship, "But I can handle it." Aegis could only shake his head at the display as Wayne nodded towards Saphron.
"Okay Adrian, remember what we practiced," whispered Saphron. The baby boy nodded in understanding before letting out the loudest wail any of them had heard since they'd arrived in Argus. 'Since when does a baby need practice wailing,' thought Aegis, rubbing his ear as they watched Adrian throw a sort of temper tantrum in his mother's arms. "Oh there he goes," said Saphron, who's acting needed a little work in Wayne's opinion, "He's just so upset to see you leave, you'd best get going before it gets worse."
"This is unprecedented," said one of the soldiers as he let go of Weiss's luggage, "We cannot allow this child's sadness to continue!"
"Agreed, we must console the little one immediately!" declared the other soldier as he also let go of Weiss's luggage. The two then began a series of what they must've perceived as entertaining poses in an attempt to calm Adrian down.
"Lovely performance boys," said Aegis as he was covering one of his ears, "But I've seen the kid when he gets like this and there's only one way to calm him down when that happens." Aegis set down the radio he'd carried in with them and selected one of the songs, a rather upbeat dance tune. "You wanna console the little munchkin then start dancing!" 'And here comes my least favorite part of this plan,' thought Wayne as he and Aegis began going through a completely improvised dance routine.
Flash Back: Saphron's Apartment the Night Before
"So assuming they let us onto the field with Weiss," said Wayne, "And assuming they're not all total jerks who'd ignore a crying child, how long can little Adrian there keep up the loud wailing?"
"You don't have to worry about him," replied the older Arc sister as she bounced the little infant on her knee, "He can carry on for a good while."
"Though that will likely only distract a few of the soldiers," Ren pointed out, "And we'll need a way to disable their fighters without anyone noticing in the case that something does go wrong."
"I might have an answer to both of those problems," said Aegis as he held up one of his famous stink bombs, "We throw a few of these bad boys into the cockpits or air circulation units, and at the very least it'll delay them launching any of their fighters."
"Aegis and I spent a fair bit of time making them today," said Yang as she held up one of her own, "So we've got plenty to spare."
"That still doesn't solve the problem of distracting the soldiers though," Blake pointed out.
"I was just getting to that," said Aegis as he held up a radio, "Terra tells me you guys like to use music to calm the little tike down. But the soldiers don't know that music is all that's needed, so what goes along with a good soundtrack?"
"Oh, oh, oh," squealed Nora in excitement, "Are we gonna dance circles around them?"
"Sorry to say Nora but you won't be the one dancing," said Aegis, "This is something that's better handled by the guys who have danced their way out of at least a dozen situations this year alone." Nora crossed her arms in disappointment, grumbling about wanting to dance.
"And who do you guys know that can dance their way out of bad situations?" Questioned Terra Cotta as she entered the room with some schematics to show Blake. Everyone's heads turned to Aegis and also to Wayne.
"Oh no," said Wayne as he held his hands up in a pleading manner, "There are definitely better ways to go about this. No, no, no, absolutely-."
Argus: Atlas Base
"Incredible, now y'all are getting' it!" exclaimed Wayne as he, Aegis, and a number of the other soldiers had formed a dancing block in an attempt to 'cheer up' little Adrian.
"Okay," yelled Aegis, "now side to side, back it up, slide on back, turn and slide again!"
"Come on guys, let's show 'em that Atlas knows how to dance too!" yelled Wayne, "Burn this pad up!"
"Yes sir!" yelled the group of soldiers which had grown surprisingly large.
"Captain," said Cordovin on her earpiece, "Be sure to shut off the security cameras for a bit, I'd rather this 'not' be seen by General Ironwood." She got an affirmative over her earpiece before turning and heading back inside. 'I'm more happy than ever that miss Schnne is going back to Atlas, it's a wonder she was able to put up with an act like this for so long.'
"Now, front to the back, front to the back and keep on movin'!" Ordered Aegis as they split off from the block and moved to the back. But they didn't stay their long as the block kept rearranging itself. The soldiers were so engrossed in the dance now that they didn't notice the Ursario brothers depart.
"I still can't believe this is working," whispered Wayne as he and Aegis watched Weiss's airship take off before getting to work on throwing a few little surprises into the Atlas fighters.
"These guys take everything so freakin' seriously," said Aegis, "If you convince 'em it's for the betterment of Atlas, they'd probably do this whole routine in in grass skirts without a second thought."
"Hence the danger of too much brainwashing," said Wayne as he threw another surprise into the next fighter. "Now let's finish up here and go rejoin Saph. We'll need to hightail it to the pickup point before these guys get suspicious."
"I just hope they appreciate the little gifts we're leaving behind," said Aegis as he tossed another present into the last fighter on the row. "I've never tested these things against a well-disciplined military force."
"Then it's a good thing we're only using them as a precaution," said Wayne as he used up his last present in the final fighter, "Now let's get out of here." The two brothers then moved to rejoin the block, which was somehow still going, as they signaled the Arc sister that everything was ready. With a nod, Saphron let Adrian know that he could stop, but that didn't stop the infant from being disappointed that they had to leave the dancing soldiers behind.
After making a few apologies, they were escorted out of the base by the soldiers and told to once again have a good day. Aegis had to exercise a great amount of effort not to laugh his head off until they had hopped on their bikes and sped away, with Adrian and his mother on the front part of Aegis's bike. "Hahahaha, oh man that was priceless," said Aegis between laughing fits as they stopped at the other end of the bridge, "The pride of the Atlas military dancing their sorry tails off. Oh I wish I could've recorded that!"
"One step ahead of you," said Saphron as she held up her scroll after dismounting from the younger Ursario's bike. Someway, somehow, she'd managed to discreetly record the entire exchange on her scroll. "I'll send you the video after you head on."
"Please don't," said Wayne, "We've already got one embarrassing dance video circulating among our friends."
"Oh but you guys improvise so well," she teased as she played the video back, "Adrian loved every bit of it." Wayne was going to protest about that until he got word from Ruby on his earpiece.
"Have you guys managed to make it out of the base?" Questioned Ruby over their earpieces.
"Out of the base, across the bridge and laughing our heads off the whole ride down," replied Aegis, "Just dropping off Saphron and the toddler and we'll be on our way."
"Good, Weiss should be out of scroll range soon and then Blake and Yang will take out the radar while leaving the tower's comms up. You guys had best hurry back over."
"On our way," said Wayne as he and Aegis gave a final wave to the older Arc sister and her son before driving off. They bobbed and weaved through the streets before heading out of the main part of the city and onto a forest trail. Wayne had his scroll set up on his right handle bar so that he could track the progress of Weiss's signal. As expected, her signal had dropped off within the first couple minutes of their ride and now, a few minutes later, a single bar had reappeared. This indicated that she and Maria had taken care of the pilots, likely tossing them out with a parachute, and were now circling back to pick everyone up.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan, until the frantic voices of their friends suddenly sounded in their earpieces. "Guys," said Weiss, "What's going on? The radar's still up, Cordovin is onto us, and Maria is definitely not helping things!" The Ursario brothers couldn't agree more if the sound of the old woman's maniacal laughter in the background was anything to go by.
"We're not sure," replied Ruby over their radios, "Blake's not responding for some reason."
"I'll check it out," said Yang, who'd used her bike to drive Blake over to the tower, "Keep the ship from getting shot down, okay." 'This is not good,' thought Wayne as he increased the speed on his bike and weaved through the trees.
"Aegis," said Wayne as they both stopped at the top of a rocky hill, "You'd best go make sure Yang and Blake are okay over there. If they manage to figure out our pick up point, we're toast."
"I guess that secondary measure was worth it after all," said Aegis, smirking a bit despite the situation.
Atlas Base: At about the same time
"What do you mean the fighters are inoperable?!" Questioned Cordovin angrily as she yelled into the microphone.
"The fighters themselves are fine," replied one of the Atlas pilots, "But something in them stinks so horribly that it's making our pilot's eyes water while they're gagging on the smell. In fact one of them just passed out from the fumes. We'll need a few minutes to air them all out."
"It must've been those blasted boys that came in with Miss Schnee," Cordovin said through gritted teeth, "That's it! I'll show them the might of Atlas and remind the rest of this pitiful city why you do not cross our kingdom! Ready our ultimate weapon!"
The Forest Outside of Argus
"Hey, I don't think fighters is what they're planning to send after us," said Weiss over their earpieces.
"What in the heck else could they have on that base to send after an airship," Questioned Aegis. He got his answer when the entire front of the base that was built into the rock retracted and pulled back, revealing a massive, brown and red machine with two massive legs, a cannon for its right arm and a rectangular shaped body with a sloping visor where the cockpit likely was situated.
"It is time to remind the people that it is only through Atlas's awesome might that they can live in peace!" Declared Cordovin over the robots powerful loud speakers which could likely be heard throughout the whole city.
"Cordovin's piloting that monstrosity," said Weiss, a hint of disbelief in her voice.
"I didn't think Atlas had anything the size of her ego," Wayne couldn't help but say before putting his helmet on and turning to Aegis. "Go, find Blake and Yang then hurry back. No more time for subtlety."
"Have fun going all out," said Aegis as they pointed their bikes in opposite directions and drove off. 'I just hope we can both make it to where we're going in time,' thought Wayne as he heard the sound of the machine's giant cannon discharging in the distance.
Near the Relay Tower: A few Minutes Later
'Well this is where they stopped,' Aegis thought as he sniffed the area, 'then Yang went off in the same direction, but then she turned down another path.' It was then that Aegis discovered why when he caught a whiff of a person whose arms he wanted to tear off. 'Adam Taurus!' The younger Ursario brother hopped back on his bike and gunned the motor as he raced down the path, following Yang's tire treads, which were now leading away from the relay and towards an area with a naturally occurring waterfall. 'I don't know how long that piece of $$ # excuse for a Faunus has been following us, but if he hurts either of them again-!' The half bear Faunus was already feeling his rage mode creeping in as he raced down the trail.
Near the Cliffside Pick-up Point.
The sound of battle, and Cordovin's irritated voice over loudspeakers, could easily be heard as Wayne rounded a bend on his motorcycle. Thanks to the massive machine's height giving it the ability to easily walk along the shoreline, it didn't take it long to reach the spot where they'd planned to pick everyone up with the airship. This also meant his friends had been fighting desperately against the metal monstrosity for a few minutes now. 'Just hold on for a little bit longer,' thought Wayne as he caught glimpses of the airship flying through the air as well as a massive metal hand swatting at it.
The older Ursario brother had been listening for any bits of information he could get about what was happening on his earpiece. The situation wasn't dire yet, in fact it might've been improving. His suspicions were confirmed when he finally came within view, where it looked like they'd managed to get the upper hand against Cordovin's mech. The machine's hard-light-dust shield was flickering as smoke rose from its backside, and if Wayne looked hard enough, he could see one of Weiss's summons flying around with most of their friends on its back. Nora was also bombarding the mech with Magnhild's grenades, and if Wayne wasn't mistaken at this distance as he dismounted his bike, she was yelling something about Cordovin needing to bring her man back. Their good fortune didn't last, however, as the situation changed drastically. Cordovin's mech angrily swatted at Nora, who only survived the blow because Jaune managed to reach her and reinforce her aura with his semblance in time.
They were both still knocked into a nearby rock, temporarily putting them out of the fight. The mech then whirled around and fired at Weiss's lancer summon with a lightning blast, causing it to disappear and throw off Weiss and the others. Qrow, Ren, and Weiss managed to land safely on the Cliffside, but Ruby, even using her semblance to speed through the air, wasn't able to reach the cliff's edge and fell towards the ocean. 'NO!' thought Wayne as he ran forward through the trees, charging his semblance in both hands.
"This is the price you pay for thinking you know better than the rightful ones in charge!" Declared Calavera as she pointed her mech's arm a little lower at the Cliffside, where Wayne surmised Ruby must've been hanging.
"Will you shut up already!" yelled Wayne as he leapt out of the tree line, unleashing a javelin shaped blast from each hand. One slammed into the mech's cannon arm, causing it to move far off target and discharge a lightning blast into the ocean. The other blast impacted against the edge of the cockpit's viewing window, causing a good bit of it to shatter as the mech stepped back to steady itself. Wayne wasted no time in drawing his weapons and joining them into blade staff form as the mech reached out with its left hand in an attempt to crush this latest pest.
Wayne then spun and unleashed his semblance from his staff in the form of a spinning blade, shearing off an entire plate from one of the mech's three fingers and knocking the rest of the hand back. "We'll decide for ourselves how great Atlas is when we get there." Even without seeing her, Wayne was fairly certain the Atlas commander was glaring at him as he shifted his stance, ready to strike against this latest gigantic foe.
At long last the legendary Ursario dance returns! I hope it was worth the wait for everyone because finding a good spot for it has been difficult. On a side note, I may have mistakenly put down Sapphire instead of Saphron a few times for the name of Jaune's sister. My bad on that one in case anyone was getting confused. And for those of you wondering, this chapter not only covers chapter 10 but a good bit of 11 as well. That's how short the last two chapters have been in the actual show and how tricky it was to get Wayne and Aegis in the story. But fear not, the next chapter will have a bit more Ursario action as the two brothers fight alongside their friends against the two looming threats that seek to stop them from getting to Atlas. As always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got a neat idea for a future chapter. 'Til next time.
