Blake was fairly certain that Neptune was calling her name, but that wasn't what mattered. The only thing that mattered was going faster. The train tracks on her left flew by in a blur as she sped forward, merging into a vaguely metallic rectangular shape in her peripheral vision. Blake spared a quick glance at the speedometer to find the red needle ricocheting and vibrating against the right side of the circle. The entire snowmobile seemed to scream in protest, adding to the calls from Neptune that were drowned out by the wind. A sudden fist impacting the back of her right shoulder caused Blake to bristle and slam on the brakes, guiding the vehicle into a wild sideways skid as it kicked up torrents of snow.

"What, Neptune!?" Blake roared as she looked over her shoulder, ears flat to her skull.

"Qrow was calling!" Neptune said with a look of apprehension. "I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes! I can't hear him over the sound of the snowmobile!"

Blake's heart had been hammering in her chest ever since the group left Mistral, and it seemed to only speed up with the sudden development.

"Call him back. I… I'm sorry, I just…"

"It's fine," Neptune replied with an exasperated sigh as he dialed Qrow's number and held the scroll out in his palm. "Hopefully he picks up…"

Sudden noise from the engine of another vehicle followed up Neptune's sentence as Daisuke coasted to a stop just beside him.

"What's going on?" the faunus asked as he raised his goggles and rested them atop his forehead. "You two have been driving like you stole that thing…"

"We basically did," Blake reminded, never taking her eyes off the scroll. "Come on, Qrow…"

After several rings, Qrow's portrait appeared upon the screen and the call connected. The first sound over the line was the unmistakable scream of a grimm garbled by a shoddy connection, followed by what was clearly a series of high-caliber gunshots. Daisuke stiffened in the seat of his snowmobile as Blake leaned closer to the scroll, her face as pale as the snow all around them.

"Qrow!?"

"…-m… here," the man replied, the scroll crackling as if the call could disconnect at any second. "Found the… Limited. It's up ahe-… -stroyed…"

"Qrow, we can't understand you," Neptune called, a bit louder than necessary. "Your signal is breaking up. The Argus Limited is destroyed?"

"…-old on."

Even the wind seemed to fall still as the party waited. More gunshots, screams, and rushing wind came over the line, painting a picture of devastation in each of their heads. Blake dismounted the snowmobile and began to pace, dragging her feet through the ankle-deep snow as she waited.

"How about now?"

"We hear you," Blake replied immediately, stopping in her tracks. "Qrow, what the hell is going on?"

"Have you started up the mountain yet?"

"No, we're about to hit the trail that leads up," Neptune answered. "Why?"

"Don't," Qrow warned. "The bridge a few miles in is out. Half of the Argus Limited is hanging over it, and the other half is crashed at the bottom of the ravine. No survivors, and a lot of grimm."

"Shit," Daisuke cursed. "Trains like that carry hundreds…"

"That's the least of our problems," Qrow continued. "Sky up ahead is dark. Unnaturally dark. I'm still at the crash site, but I can see the edge of Argus. It's in flames, and there's… something floating over the city."

The way that Qrow said something caused Blake to experience a feeling of fear unlike any she had ever known. Even without clarification, she thought she knew what Qrow meant.

"…something?"

"It's… I think it's a grimm," Qrow explained. "If it is, it's the biggest I've ever seen, and Argus is under siege. We don't have much time. You're going to have to skirt the base of the mountain. I can get there by nightfall, but all of you? At least a day. Maybe more, if a storm kicks up."

"At least a day?" Neptune echoed. "We can't… I mean, we have supplies, but if Argus is under attack…"

"Then we have to pray that Atlas knows," Daisuke interjected. "Though… I have a feeling they might not. Those distress calls from Cordovin… Qrow, are there any warships you can see?"

"Not a one. Sky's clear, other than that… thing," the man answered ruefully. "And Cordovin's supposed warnings have been going on for a while, now. Atlas would've sent backup, unless they're unaware. Or unless... they know Argus is already lost. If it's her."

"It's… her," Blake said. "It has to be. This is all lining up too well. She already made her move, and Atlas is about to be caught with its pants down. We left too late…"

"Not too late," Daisuke insisted. "I can still reach Mistral. I'll mobilize the Fang in the area to prepare to assist any evacuees from Argus and Atlas as necessary and instruct them to get word back to Kali. If Salem beat us to the punch, then we can't afford to remain one step behind. We need to start taking preventative measures to save as many lives as we can."

"Well, make it quick," Qrow instructed. "I'm heading to Argus to save anyone I can. All of you need to keep moving as quickly as possible, but you also have to camp tonight. You can't enter a fight like the one that might be waiting for us while on your last legs. This is the beginning of the end, kids. Time to learn the difference between a hunter and a hinderance. Do what you need to do- not what you want to do."

Daisuke had already dismounted his snowmobile and had his scroll up to the side of his face, making calls while Blake and Neptune shared a solemn look.

"We'll camp," Neptune asserted, unblinking as he stared Blake down. "I'll literally force them to. We won't let you down, Qrow."

"Good on you. Listen, Argus and its defense force should be able to hold out for a while. We need to be smart about this. Speed without a plan is only going to get more people killed. Use your heads, rest when you need to… but also, be quick about it. I trust you."

"That goes for you, too," Blake replied. "Don't rush straight in without us if you're overwhelmed. We need you… and you need us."

"You're not wrong," Qrow admitted. "Signal's only going to get worse from here. Make whatever calls you need to, and… good luck. See you kids in Argus."

"You will," Neptune answered before hanging up the call.

"The Fang is mobilized," Daisuke called as he mounted his snowmobile in time with Blake. "We'll have backup and people ready for evac as soon as they can get here."

"Good," Blake replied as she cracked her neck. "Salem picked the wrong group to mess with. We've all got people important to us waiting in Atlas… and Argus is our ticket in. She isn't going to stop us."

Blake's ear twitched as she felt another punch to her shoulder. She looked behind herself to find Neptune giving her a firm nod as he lowered his goggles over his eyes.

"This time? Don't slow down for anything."

Sun continued to pace back and forth through the living room suite he shared with Jaune, well aware of the two pairs of eyes upon him. He knew that they were more hopeful than judgmental, but the added pressure didn't help as the scroll on the other end of the call continued to ring. It had already gone off ten times, and Sun was beginning to lose hope.

"…I could call," Weiss offered. "But I don't see it ending well, considering how suspicious it would be…"

"Sun's our best bet," Clover agreed. "Worst case scenario? He goes down there, and we tail him. This isn't over if she doesn't pick up."

The call finally connected as if on cue, the harsh ringing broken by a harsh, feminine voice.

"Who is this? What do you want?"

"Yeah, hey!" Sun replied, his voice brimming with forced enthusiasm. "This is Sun. Monkey tail? Working for Ironwood? I sneaked your number from Weiss' scroll."

"…why would you need to?" Robyn asked. "Isn't she your girlfriend?"

For a moment, Sun was incredibly confused. After a momentary panic, he remembered their cover story and swerved to adapt.

"Err… we're uh… things aren't great right now," Sun lied as Weiss hiked a brow at him. "We're kinda… on a break."

"Well, that's shitty," Robyn replied. "But why call me? We're not exactly close, and I don't really have time to be your shoulder to cry on."

"Well, that's just it," Sun began, feeling more sure of himself. "We're fighting because of Ironwood. I'm… not really feeling what he's up to lately, especially with Marrow siding with Jacques. The whole faunus thing? I'm feeling a little…"

"Betrayed?" Robyn tried. "Like he doesn't actually give a shit about you, and Marrow's his little lap dog?"

Sun gave Weiss an apologetic look, though he knew she couldn't hear Robyn's words.

"…yeah, basically," Sun lied. "I called because… even though Weiss and I are at odds right now over what Ironwood's doing, we'd both rather be helping you than Jacques, even if it's indirectly. Do you have any work we could do? Or anything around the bar we could take care of? With the election coming up, we figured we could make a dent in paperwork or something to help out."

There was a pause. Sun could only imagine what was running through Robyn's head as she considered the offer.

"…you want to help me?" Robyn asked. "Then bring Clover and talk him down from forcing security on my election gathering. There's nothing else I need."

Sun's face lit up, his tail flicking in surprise.

"You want us to bring Clover?"

Clover blinked once before putting on a devious smirk.

"You heard me. I guess you could man the pub while May, Fiona, and I deal with other things, if you can't get that done. Get over here with Weiss and don't have any stupid couple fights while you're on the clock. We have enough throwdowns here without you two."

"We won't, I promise," Sun reassured. "And… I'll see if I can get Clover to come with us. I think I've got a decent shot."

"Yeah, we'll see," Robyn replied, her doubt evident in her voice. "Thanks, by the way. Things are… stressful, right now."

"You have no idea," Sun agreed. "See you soon."

"…I have no idea how the hell you pulled that off," Clover said, "but you're the MVP for today. Getting all three of us into her HQ without raising suspicion? Couldn't ask for a better opportunity to see what she's really been up to."

"Well, to be honest, I don't know how I did it either," Sun admitted as he pocketed his scroll. "And… well… now Weiss and I have to act like we're a couple that just split."

"That part, I could've done without," Weiss replied with a sigh. "Especially considering Marrow and I are inevitably going to be seen very publicly at Jacques' party. Have fun explaining that afterward."

"I'll… think of something," Sun tried. "Right now, that doesn't matter. What matters is that we've got an opportunity to get close to Robyn and make Ironwood happy. That would be ideal, since tonight is most likely going to backfire horribly, and I might just be able to pull something out of my ass to keep him from coming down on me if I can give him dirt on Robyn."

"Just maybe," Weiss agreed. "But do you really have so little faith in yourself and Ilia? You two can handle Cinnamon."

"…Weiss, she almost got you killed," Sun reminded.

"She did," Weiss agreed, "but she didn't do it personally. I have faith in both of you, and she's backed into a corner. You're our leader for a reason, Sun. Today's shaping up to be your day."

"…please don't put that on me," Sun asked with a nervous grin. "I don't need that kind of pressure…"

Author's Note:

What could possibly be hanging over Argus?

Is it deez nuts?

-RD