Differing Missions, One Goal
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Adventures of Team WA! It's been a little bit of a wait, but the newest volume has started and with it come the latest chapters of this story. So I'd like to give a shout out once again to everyone who's supported this story so far with their input. Now it's of course a little too early to be expecting guest reviews, though I will answer the question for those wondering about the side stories: I don't have any plans for new side stories right off the bat as I'm writing both this and my Demon Slayer story. Moreover, I have not been given any recent story requests for the side stories. But enough of that, let's get on with the story!
Outside The City of Mantle: Nighttime
Exo had had more than a few reasons to be annoyed lately. Working with Dr. Watts was always a treat with his smug personality and it was even more joyous when Tyrian was along for the ride, acting like he'd sting his tail into something any second while laughing about it. What's more, his expected moment of peace from them in order to infiltrate the Atlas Android Command Center turned out to be short as he ran into the two people who always seemed to cause him problems, the Ursario brothers. The two of them had apparently been practicing since their arrival in Atlas because he wound up getting beat down and then arrested by the Atlas military.
Fortunately for the Wolf Faunus mercenary, he also had plenty of reasons to be content. Dr. Watts wound up getting captured after a beat down from Ironwood, which was fine as far as he was concerned, and Tyrian got wailed on a good bit by Qrow, Clover and Robyn Hill before he managed to escape the Atlas military transport, at least according to the more recent transmissions anyway. Near the top of his list, was when Salem used her influence on the tick Grimm Exo had placed on Wayne Ursario during their fight to make him go berserk via aura shadow. Now he was on the list of 'kill if capture impossible' while the rest of his friends and brother were all wanted by that paranoid General Ironwood. Which made the coup de grace of his list of reasons to be content as he was currently flying an Atlesian airship resembling a manta ray with square-shaped engines towards a massive purple cloud swarming with Grimm.
And in the center of that cloud, was a massive floating whale Grimm easily close to the size of Salem's fortress back in the shadowlands. Even if he wasn't one to keep up with current events, he knew this was a historic moment as he glanced in the rearview at the cities of Atlas and Mantle behind him, knowing full well that they were probably helpless against a Grimm horde this size. And if Exo had managed to learn anything about Salem, it was that she liked to take her time toying with her prey when she could. At least, that was one of the possible reasons she had the horde circling like sharks instead of launching an all-out assault on the currently vulnerable greatest kingdom on Remnant.
Not that he really cared what her reasons were so long as he got his share. With that in mind, the mercenary guided the stolen ship towards the side of the Grimm whale where a number of holes were located with white, arrowhead-shaped protrusions sticking out that served as landing pads. He was intrigued to see that someone else had also just landed and recently disembarked with a ship of a similar make, but paid it little mind as he stopped his own ship above the platform and carefully lowered it down until it came to rest on its extended landing gear. Exo tried not to think about the fact that he was walking around inside of a living, sort of, being which was made all the more difficult given that it's insides consisted of walls made of red and black flesh and pathways made of white bone.
On the upside, at least he could move about in here as opposed to the likely small cells he would've been held in had the Atlas military managed to keep a hold of him. His escape had been one of his more, brilliant moments, if he was being honest. Just as the ship he was loaded into was taking off, the soldiers had all received the notifications about the Ursarios and teams RWBY and ORNJ. The mercenary had used that moment of distraction to leap forward and hit the button to open the side doors with his head.
When the two soldiers guarding him, the rest had been left to deal with Wayne, tried to subdue him he kicked one out of the side of the ship while tackling the other, sending all three of them falling towards the buildings below. Even with his hands behind his back, Exo managed to hit the remote control on the soldier's waist to undo his cuffs before using half of his somewhat recharged aura to teleport back up to the ship where his weapons had been left. Needless to say, the pilot didn't stand a chance and Exo secured his ride back, save for the part where he abandoned the transport in favor of the manta ship in order to make a quicker and cleaner escape.
Still, he was gonna need some rest. Even with his aura recharging and healing his wounds, he had gotten a pretty good ass whooping from the Ursarios. That was at least the plan until he ascended the stairs and caught two familiar scents within his nostrils. 'Well, well,' he thought, 'it seems you two made it here after all.' The Wolf Faunus made his way up the surprisingly normal looking stairs before deciding to hold back in the shadows upon realizing that he would likely be interrupting a discussion between Salem and the now recently returned Cinder.
She'd updated her outfit from the red oriental dress she'd had on last time, opting instead for a black cape which covered much of her upper body, especially the part where her Grimm arm was, along with an eye patch. Her other arm was sleeveless and was currently extended with a gold and blue lamp that was apparently quite important if she was presenting it to Salem. "The Relic of Knowledge," said Cinder from her kneeling position on the floor, "I took it right from under Ironwood's nose." Exo didn't miss the annoyed huff from the third occupant in the room, Neo, who promptly crossed her arms with a look of disapproval on her face.
'Yeah, I expected just the slightest bit more out of her myself,' thought Exo before catching movement from another shadowed part of the room which made a frown form on his own face. "Outsmarting the 'great' General speaks more to his intellect than it does your own," said Tyrian as he came slinking out of the shadows with his hands clasped in front of him, "After all, you were outsmarted by those children first."
"If recent radio chatter is to be believed," said Cinder with a wry grin while maintaining her kneeling position, "that same General and his forces outsmarted you. A shame Watts never made it back." Exo smirked a bit when he noticed the smile fall from Tyrian's face.
"The doctor proved to be a necessary sacrifice," said Tyrian as his new mechanical tail pointed at Neo, "I do hope this little one doesn't become another." The Neapolitan colored girl clenched her fists somewhat at the accusation.
"I am curious," said Salem as Cinder stood up, "who is this that you've brought along with you?"
"Her name is Neapolitan, or simply Neo for short," said Exo as he finally stepped out of the shadows, "the late Roman Torchwick's trusted right hand. Skilled in numerous forms of killing, torture, infiltration, and a very good friend of mine."
"Ah Exo," said Salem as she turned to the mercenary, "I've said before there's no need for you to eavesdrop on our conversations. But since you've spoken up, I take it you vouch for this girl?"
"Wholeheartedly," replied Exo, "we've worked together on numerous occasions. The only reason I hadn't tried bringing her into the fold before now is that she's awfully hard to find when she doesn't want to be found, which should tell you something given that finding people is part of my job."
"Exo speaks the truth," said Cinder, "she has some very useful abilities and has proven to be a valuable, asset." Said Mercenary didn't miss the flicker of surprise in Neo's eyes. She seemed, a little taken aback by the statement.
"You certainly do enjoy collecting assets," mused Salem aloud as the slithering sound of one of the other chamber doors reached their ears. Three figures stepped into the throne room, all of them familiar to Exo save for some new additions to their outfits. Hazel now wore a sleeveless version of his previous outfit. Mercury had a long-sleeved grey and black jacket with his symbol on the front left side while Emerald was now wearing a marshmallow jacket over her regular outfit which still managed to leave much of her lower neck and midriff exposed.
"Cinder!" Exclaimed Emerald, the relief in her voice quite palpable as she actually broke into a jog towards her mistress. "You're here! I knew you couldn't be-."
"Quiet!" Ordered the Fall Maiden sternly, bringing Emerald to a halt with a somewhat shocked look on her face.
"So devoted to someone so incompetent," said Tyrian while clicking his tongue at the scene.
"I'm sorry, who was it that lost their tail to little red," said Exo as he crossed his arms and faced the scorpion Faunus, "and you even knew ahead of time about her little superpower too, unlike Cinder here who would've torched her otherwise."
"But you, me and the good doctor were advancing the will of our goddess," said Tyrian dramatically, "dismembering the very body of this kingdom while she, was merely atoning for past failures."
"Funny," said Exo, "I seem to recall those relic things being pretty important to advancing Salem's will. Why haven't you managed to bring her one yet, oh devoted one?" Exo received a glare from the Scorpion Faunus as Cinder spoke up.
"I would have also obtained the winter maiden's power had I not been besieged by Specialist Schnee and the Ursarios," said Cinder, "Polendina's android also interfered with the transfer."
"Wait," said Exo, "the last I saw of the Ursario brothers, Wayne was going crazy under the influence of the aura shadow."
"Ah yes," said Salem, "a minor issue occurred with my control over him. Wayne Ursario managed to master the aura shadow. It has been decades since one as young as him managed such a feat and became a Silent Fury."
"That explains the different feeling I got from his aura this time," said Cinder, "he, his brother and his parents were all there. But now that I know that and where the maiden powers are, it won't take me long to finish what I started once I return to Atlas. I promise, that power will be mine-." Cinder was stopped by a raised hand from Salem.
"I gave no such command," said Salem as she turned and walked to her throne.
"But your highness," said Cinder, "now is the perfect time too-." She was silenced again as Salem placed her hand on her throne, the magic in her body running through it and passing into the red symbols lining the throne room as the sound of the Grimm Whale groaning could be heard.
"This game is not yours to win, Cinder," reminded Salem, "it's mine." As she spoke, part of the throne room seemed to clear up, creating a window that allowed them to view Atlas. Salem spoke again while she was approaching the image. "Just because you're more valuable to me than a mere pawn, does not make you a player in the game. I have already set everything in motion. So all you need concern yourself with for now is your ability to act when I tell you too."
"Of course," said Cinder after a moment before bowing her head, "without you I am nothing." This answer seemed to please Salem as a smile crossed her face before she waved her hand without turning around, dismissing her assembled minions. 'Try and stay alive now, little children,' thought Salem, 'I have some rather special torments for a select few of you who have proven, especially annoying.' With that thought in mind, Salem turned away from the image of Atlas before heading back to her throne.
The City of Mantle: About the Same Time
The city beneath Atlas had always had a bit of a repressed feeling to it. Unsurprising given that they had a much 'greater' city floating up above them, governing whatever they did. But things were different now. The atmosphere felt oppressive with a dread hanging in the air. Also unsurprising given that the largest Grimm horde in recorded history was currently circling both Mantle and Atlas, blocking off any easy means of escape.
There was also the problem of the remaining initial Grimm that had been assaulting the city earlier, like the two Sabyrs that had just came running in through the breach in the wall before charging down the street towards the first hint of negativity they could find. The two Grimm proved successful in finding a potential source of negativity, but it proved to be their undoing as said source turned out to be a huntsman in a blue and white coat wearing a wolf helmet that quickly decapitated them with his sickle weapons. 'That's two more that won't become a problem,' thought Wayne as he continued on his way down the street, 'I just hope cutting them down like this has bought enough time for us to find everyone.'
He got his answer to that question when he sighted the airship Maria and the others had managed to nab from Atlas during their escape. The one his Mother had flown wound up crashing outside of Mantle's walls thanks to some flying Teryx Grimm, which the Ursarios had used to fly into the city before crashing them into the street. A notification on his scroll to return was further evidence that there might be good news waiting. With that in mind, Wayne hurried back to the abandoned restaurant which was being used by both them and the Happy Huntresses.
He entered the front door, being sure to avoid the flying Atlas camera drones, where he was greeted by the sight of his brother, parents and parts of teams RWBY and ORNJ scattered about the square tables which dotted the restaurant's tiled floor. Like many of the other buildings, its heating had been shutoff while the rest of the electricity had been left on. So while there was a chill present whenever he deactivated his aura, there were still working lights and holographic screens. Though the only thing which had been displayed so far was all of their wanted posters, save for Qrow's and Robyn Hill's.
About the same time that he entered, Maria, Ruby and Weiss also entered, with Oscar. "Looks like the signal Pietro picked up from Oscar's scroll was right on the money," said Wayne as he gave Weiss a hug. Nora did the same to Oscar, though this time without the usual bone-crushing intensity.
"It's good to see you're alright," said Blake to Oscar, "when we heard you went after Ironwood on your own, well, we…" She let it hang, not really wanting to finish the sentence.
"How did you end up down in the slums?" Questioned Weiss.
"It's something of a…..long story," said Oscar with a sigh as he glanced at the now Winter Maiden, Penny, "I imagine we've got more than a few of those happening tonight." He paused for a moment when he noticed something, or rather someone, wasn't present. "Where's Qrow?"
"We don't know," Ruby finally said after a few moments, "the last we heard he was with Robyn, but…"
"His and Robyn's wanted posters aren't up anymore," Wayne pointed out as he indicated one of the holoscreens, "so it's likely they've been-."
"Alright, your friend is back now," said Joanna as she entered the room from the kitchen, "you ready to work?"
"Is anybody really ready to work right now?" Questioned Aegis with a shrug.
"The largest Grimm horde ever seen is hovering over the tundra," said Joanna as she approached one of the maps, "and right now we've got a city full of people with no heat, and no military protection given what you told us. And while we're happy to give you guys a place to lie low for a bit, it's time to give those people some help."
"But Ironwood is stopping all evacuations to Atlas," said Ren, "and with Salem's forces surrounding us, we can't get them out of the city."
"I could run a good bit of interference," said Tobias, "but with so many Grimm I doubt I could attract all of them long enough for a full-scale evacuation."
"And it'd be suicide anyway," Jen added.
"But we can lead the people to the crater beneath Atlas," said Joanna, "It's not exactly safe, but it's warm and it'll be easier to protect everyone if they're in one place. Now, May can send you all where you're needed most. The main thing is, we need to get everyone down into that crater by nightfall. We might have a chance in the slums." She turned to head out the back door with the ending of that sentence.
"We're never going to sleep again," commented Weiss, "I just know it."
"Either you're helping," said Joanna as she paused at the door, "or your baggage." She exited the room then as everyone else took a moment to gather their thoughts. Yang was the first to speak up as she got off the table she was sitting on and walked to the center of the room.
"We need to get out there and do what we can for Mantle," said Yang.
"We need to do what we can for everyone," said Ruby as she also stepped forward. "What about Amity and telling the world about Salem? We can't fight this alone, we need help."
"Ruby's right," said Blake, "the Happy Huntresses are handling the evacuation pretty well so far, even better than we could. And there's a bigger picture to think about."
"But Amity's still not finished," Yang pointed out, "Ironwood only said it was finished to bait Watts."
"It was still close to completion," said Wayne, "as long as it flies and sends out messages, shouldn't that be enough?"
"Doctor," said Ruby as she turned to Pietro, "What would we need to launch Amity?"
"Well," said the Doctor, "We've made decent progress on construction and fuel collection, all of which could be managed, but, Amity was designed specifically to not be launched without first being granted clearance from General Ironwood's terminal."
"And there is no way Ironwood is gonna cooperate with us," said Yang.
"I'm doubting he's willing to cooperate with much of anyone right now," added Aegis.
"But we don't necessarily need him to," said Ruby, "We just need the clearance from his terminal."
"Which is back at the academy," said Yang, "the place we just recently escaped from."
"Actually, there is one more terminal," said Pietro, "aside from his office terminal, there's also a terminal in the main Atlesian Military Compound at the base of the city. You'd have to get in there somehow, then infiltrate the operations room and then…hoo boy….I'll need to think a bit more about what to do after that."
"And just clarifying," said Oscar, "this is the easy option?"
"What he's saying is it can't be done," said Yang, "and even if you got the message out, there's no guarantee help would come."
"There's also no guarantee that help won't come either," said Wayne, "you think the world's gonna just stand by and watch another kingdom face catastrophe after everything that's happened?"
"And Salem's not hiding anymore," said Ruby, "I don't think she's going to stop with Atlas. After she's done here she'll move on to the rest of Remnant. We need to warn them."
"Ruby," Yang said with a sigh, "we said we'd follow your lead when we came here, but, things haven't exactly worked out."
"And that's Ruby's fault how?" Questioned Wayne as he stepped forward, "Tell me, were you following Ruby's lead when you decided to go behind Ironwood's and our backs to tell Robyn Hill about Amity? Because the way I understand it, he felt more betrayed by that than us keeping what we learned from the lamp to ourselves!"
"Me," said Yang, "you had Robyn Hill cornered and disobeyed orders to bring her in!"
"So did you," said Wayne, "but unlike you we were actually trying to set up a negotiation and we didn't reveal what was deemed as sensitive information at the time."
"You still went crazy with your aura shadow out there," said Yang, "once Ironwood found out that both that and the rage mode were originally created by Salem, he put a capture/kill order on you! And I doubt he'll believe you've mastered it now!"
"At least I'm not making excuses for myself and just giving up!" Said Wayne, "Unlike you, Ruby actually has a plan right now, what have you go-BOOOOOMMM!"
"ENOUGH!" Exclaimed Tobias as he lit up a small wall of blue flame between the arguing friends for a brief moment before dissipating it. "We've all made mistakes recently, but no one among us is wholly to blame for what's happened. Salem is to blame for everything, even Ironwood's current mindset, so instead of focusing on what could've been done we focus on what we can do right now."
"I think we can actually do both," said Jaune as he stepped in between them, "there are enough of us here that we should be able to handle the evacuation and get Amity up and running at the same time."
"But we'll be dividing ourselves if we do that," said Ruby, "and Salem got this far by dividing us in the first place. We need to stick together."
"No, she didn't," said Oscar, "she got this far by turning us against each other, like we are now. Jaune has a point, just because our forces are divided it doesn't mean we aren't united."
"And moving such a large group through Atlas while it's on high alert would be incredibly difficult anyway," Jen pointed out, "a smaller team can get in and out with a bit less trouble."
"Or the third option we haven't considered," said Penny from her place in the corner, "let me take the relic to Salem. And maybe she will call off her attack on the kingdom."
"Alright I'm hard-headed," said Aegis as he crossed his arms, "but even I know that bitch won't honor her word."
"Even if she does," added Oscar, "the moment Salem uses the staff to create something else, Atlas will fall onto Mantle."
"And turning you over to anyone else is the one thing we can all agree isn't going to happen," said Yang.
"Then I guess we're going to Atlas," Ruby sighed while indicating herself, Blake, Nora, Weiss and Wayne before turning to Pietro, "can you help us get to that terminal?"
"I….suppose someone is going to need to help you bypass security-," he said before Penny spoke up.
"I'll go," said Penny suddenly as she looked at the wanted posters on the screen.
"But Penny, we can't risk-," Pietro started to protest.
"I'll go," repeated Penny as she turned around, her eyes flaring with green flames and a look that said she wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Do what you gotta do," said Yang as she headed for the door, "I'm going out there to see what I can do."
"Yang," said Pietro as he tossed the blond brawler some keys, "go by my pharmacy. I was developing some new tools for all of you before…..everything that's happened. You're going to need them."
"Nora," asked Ren as he turned to his girlfriend with a questioning look.
"I'm going with Ruby and the others," said Nora.
"But what about Mantle?" Questioned Ren.
"Oh we're saving Mantle, and as many other places as we can," said Nora, "because I actually believe we can pull this off."
"I'll be staying here," said Tobias, "my aura shadow can act as a lure to help minimize the Grimm going after civilians."
"And there's no way I'm gonna let you take on all that by yourself," said Jen as she put a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"I'm heading up to Atlas with Ruby," said Wayne, "they'll need an extra hand up there, especially with the Ace Ops still running around. And even if we don't get help here, the world still needs to know." He turned to his brother then, seeing the obvious look of conflict on his face.
"Wayne," he finally said, "you know I can't just-."
"I know," said Wayne as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "take care of her." Aegis nodded before the two exchanged a quick hug. After that, everyone exited the restaurant and proceeded to their respective missions. Though Ruby was expectedly downcast as they made their way through the streets, dodging around the other security drones as they went.
"Hey," said Blake as they stopped for a moment and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "I know it doesn't seem like it, but we're still united."
"I hope so," said Ruby with a sigh. Any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of Maria's voice over their earpieces.
"I can get Pietro up to Amity to prepare," said Maria, "but that still leaves the problem of how we're going to get all of you up to Atlas."
"I might actually have an idea for that," said Weiss. Before any could ask what it was, however, their scrolls all suddenly started beeping, or in Wayne's case playing rock and roll music. And the caller was someone they were not sure they wanted to talk too, General Ironwood. It seemed he was going for another mild desperation tactic.
Not entirely surprising given that Pietro had used all of his expertise to shut off any tracking beacons placed in Penny by Atlas, and the android girl's own stealth systems were able to run overtime now thanks to her new maiden powers. The same had been done to their scrolls to keep Ironwood from locating them, but it seems they'd overlooked the possibility that he might actually call them. Penny hesitantly pushed the answer button as the General greeted them.
"Hello Penny," said Ironwood, "I'm worried for your safety. Tell me where you are and I'll have a team pick you up right away. Atlas needs you Penny, Salem is here."
"Yeah we've been aware of that for, oh, a little while now," said Wayne as he answered over his own scroll, "with that in mind, I can't help but notice you've still got our faces on wanted posters. Seems counterproductive, especially when I've got a 'capture/kill' order on me."
"I had little choice," said Ironwood, "Salem influenced you and caused you to go berserk. Who's to say she can't do it again?"
"If she could, she would've done so while I, my family and Winter were fighting off Cinder," said Wayne, "who was probably only able to locate the winter maiden in the first place because you led her right to Fria. Why else would she have revealed her presence?"
"But it was your group who took Penny away when Atlas needed her the most," retorted Ironwood, "we can still salvage this situation and I'll pardon all of you if you help me save the lives of everyone in Atlas." Ruby answered that question by taking Penny's scroll and speaking up.
"She's not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle," said Ruby, "we might still be able to save Remna-."
"Mantle!" Repeated Ironwood as it was obvious his patience was running thin, "you're still worried about Mantle?! Don't you understand that if we don't leave, Salem will destroy Atlas and with it, any hope that humanity has left?! We need to think about the future. If she makes it through our defenses, everything that follows will be on your hands."
"Says the man who once boasted about how Atlas was going to save all of Remnant," Wayne said, "we were always going to face Salem sooner or later so if you're not ready to take her on now then when will you be? How long will the world have to wait for you to come back down, assuming you ever do?!" Ironwood didn't respond at first, but when he did it was a few simple words.
"I can see you won't be reasonable right now," said Ironwood, "my offer stands if you ever come to your senses." He hung up then as Penny looked a little downcast at his words. Ruby was quick to offer a comforting hug to her friend.
"Wayne," said Weiss as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll be alright," said the elder Ursario as he covered Weiss's hand with his, "let's do everything we can right now. Remnant is depending on it." And so events continued to be set in motion, events that would shake Mantle, Atlas and much of Remnant to its very core.
And here we are with the continuation of the Adventures of Team WA! Hope you all enjoyed the beginning of volume eight and with a little luck, the story's only gonna get better from here. In the meantime, 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 Yang's group has a nasty encounter with Salem's latest Grimm. 'Til then.
