General Ironwood had always prided himself upon his ability to maintain composure and control in tense situations. No matter how dire the circumstances, people at all levels looked to him to lead them, and he was well aware of that fact. Not once had he allowed Mantle or Atlas to fall into peril, and his perfect record was not just a point of pride, but something that had to be upheld. Failing to do so would ruin not only his reputation, but the man himself. General Ironwood was open and honest about the burden placed squarely upon his shoulders, and the Ace Ops and Winter had all been informed of his feelings on the matter of protecting Solitas.
That fact is what made the large dents that had so suddenly appeared in the walls so scary to the people who had gathered in the man's office. No one quite knew what to say as they watched General Ironwood pull his metallic fist back from one of the many sudden blows that had taken place as the scroll call ended. Clover, Winter, Hope, and Pax all just watched as General Ironwood fought to control his breathing while he clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. One final, audible breath caused his shoulders to rise and level out as he approached the wall of windows looking out over the city to stare at his reflection in the glass.
"…Schnee."
"Sir?" Winter asked as she stepped forward, somewhat unnerved by the sudden calm in General Ironwood's voice.
"We can't afford to delay any longer," the man declared as he turned to face her and clasped his hands behind his back. "The situation has become too uncertain, and there are too many balls in the air to trust that we can safely catch them all. Carry out Operation Snowfall… and get it done before Harriet and Yang arrive."
Winter hesitated for only a moment, her heart pounding in her chest as reality sank in all at once.
"…Sir," Winter replied with a quick salute. She exchanged a nervous glance with Clover, whose eyes were full of sympathy. Winter forced herself to look away and close her own before she turned on her heel and began to walk. "I'll get it done."
Clover watched as the woman left the room. He contemplated reaching for his scroll to send her a message, but thought better of it as he heard the sound of footsteps behind himself. As he turned around again, he found General Ironwood seated behind his desk with his elbows atop the surface and hands neatly folded together.
"…you're doing the right thing," Clover began cautiously.
"If I had any doubts about that, I would have asked for your opinion," General Ironwood said icily. "There will be more extreme measures taken in the coming days, the severity of which depend explicitly upon how successful Sun and Ilia's efforts are tonight. The future of Mantle and Atlas rests in their hands, though they aren't aware of that fact just yet."
"In what way?" Clover asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Will you, or will you not carry out orders as you receive them?" General Ironwood asked pointedly. "Because if you will, then it's best not to think about what I may ask you to do soon. I need you focused- not questioning possible paths forward that may never arise. Your job right now is to pray that those two are successful in their efforts, and to find out where exactly things have been compromised in and around Mantle."
"…as you command," Clover acknowledged while the metal door to the office slid open once again.
A whole parade of figures dressed in battle gear appeared in the doorway before fanning out inside of the circular room. Marrow and Weiss were the first, and they stepped to the side, where they stood near each other. Harriet and Yang were next, both looking incredibly serious and worried as they moved to the opposite side of the room. Elm, Corsac, and Jaune stepped in last and occupied the center.
"What's going on?" Yang demanded as she folded her arms across her chest. The young woman's hair was tousled and streaked with grease, and she looked uncharacteristically tired. "Are Sun and Ilia okay?"
"They're fine," General Ironwood reassured. "Or at least, they're alive and mobilized. The two of them successfully made contact with Cinnamon Shoal, and she apparently brought one Emerald Sustrai along with her."
Weiss made a disgruntled noise, to which Marrow stealthily intertwined his fingers with hers. The move didn't go unnoticed.
"The crux of all of this is that we have received intel that several signal towers in and around Mantle have been compromised," General Ironwood continued as he eyed the couple. "I'm not entirely sure how, and Cinnamon claims to be unsure as to why, but we have a briefcase containing one of the devices used to do it left out in Rust for us. It needs to be procured immediately. Elm- take Arc and Hope with you to retrieve it. Hope is the only one to physically handle that case, and make sure the two of you are clear before she does. If anything goes wrong… destroy it immediately. Get moving."
"On it," Elm said confidently as she waved Jaune and Hope to follow her out the door.
Yang swallowed hard while she watched Hope pass by, though she held her tongue as General Ironwood continued.
"Weiss and Marrow- I'm waiting on information as to Sun's whereabouts. He and Cinnamon are in pursuit of Arthur Watts. The second we know their location, the two of you are to move in and support them. If you find him, bring him to me alive. I want information before we dispose of him."
"…does Sun know that you want Watts brought in for questioning?" Weiss asked. "And what about Scarlet?"
"He might not," General Ironwood admitted. "I intend to reach out, but I expect to be ignored. He's gone rogue once again."
"Seriously?" Marrow asked as he brought his free hand up to his forehead. "Of all times…"
"As for Scarlet…" General Ironwood began, his brows furrowing, "…it's unlikely that he knows anything useful and unique. He made his choice, and we need to remove every possible advantage from Salem's side of the board before our forces clash. Assuming Watts has been apprehended… kill him."
"Kill Scarlet?" Yang asked. "He's o-"
"A traitor," General Ironwood interrupted, "and of age to know what he's done. There will be no trial, no capture, and no interrogation of Salem's agents beyond what is absolutely necessary. We are not in a position to give her an inch when the lower city is compromised, especially to an extent we are unaware of. She made her first moves while we couldn't even see the board. Now, we begin to destroy her pieces outright in order to level the playing field."
"…if I may?" Corsac asked as he stepped forward, his voice ever calm. "You say this, and yet, you are taking in Cinnamon and Emerald?"
"Am I?" General Ironwood asked in return.
"…what the General means to say is that their reception is going to depend entirely on their usefulness to us tonight," Clover tried.
"Don't put words in my mouth, Ebi," General Ironwood warned. "What I mean to say is that Emerald has been under Salem's wing for years, at this point. She is a useful asset, and one that we will squeeze for whatever she can provide us. Cinnamon… her usefulness is yet to be determined. As of right now, her actions prior to tonight say more than enough about whether or not she is trustworthy and worth keeping alive."
Weiss shifted uncomfortably as she found her superior looking her way. Even so, she didn't break eye contact.
"…I would like some say in the matter."
"If we have time for deliberation, then you will have it," General Ironwood reassured. "I already have several courses of action in mind, but we'll leap off that bridge when we come to it. Xiao Long- what's the status on the rest of Dr. Polendina's androids?"
Yang heaved a labored sigh as all eyes turned to her.
"We're… hitting unexpected brick walls," Yang admitted. "I've been helping out around the lab where and when I can, and something's not quite right with the others. Hope and Pax are fine, but something in the others just won't… take. Dr. Polendina insists that it's his own personal error, not any outside interference. I trust him."
"…that's suspicious as all hell," Harriet grumbled. "The man made those two and modified me. Polendina doesn't make errors like that. Besides- he's more than capable of circumventing anything Watts could throw at him, and Watts has no way of influencing Atlas itself, even if the towers down below are compromised… right?"
General Ironwood was silent for a moment as he took in the information.
"…correct," the man agreed. "But again- the less risks we take, the better. The two of you will be coming with me to the lab. We're shutting the program down and refocusing all of the doctor's efforts on preparing Atlas itself in the case of a direct attack. Hope and Pax will have to be enough. After that, we're going to rendezvous with Winter, and we're taking the doctor to the vault."
"We're using the staff now?" Clover asked.
"We're using the staff," General Ironwood confirmed as he stood up and began to walk at a brisk pace. "Partially, anyway. You, Corsac, and Pax need to start going tower by tower down in Mantle. The second you hear from Hope about what's in that briefcase and how it works, begin scrutinizing the towers for any signs of tampering. Hopefully by that point, we'll have people to spare that can split off and cover more ground. We have a plan. Let's get going."
"Before we do, I have one other question," Corsac said. "Robyn Hill and Jacques Schnee… this upcoming election is for a seat upon the Atlesian council, is it not? Is there any obligation to inform said council before we begin making these moves?"
General Ironwood's fists clench again as he stood in the center of the room, facing down Corsac. The two men sized each other up in silence until General Ironwood cracked his neck to one side.
"If a leviathan-class grimm appears in the sea outside of Mantle after circumventing our alert systems, or Salem herself comes flying up to Atlas while we're filling out needless paperwork… the other two voices on the council will matter for nothing. They have no combat experience or ability to lead men. They should be warned, especially in regards to using the Relic, but quite frankly… in a situation like this, I don't give a damn. Jacques Schnee will be in my pocket soon, and should legal action be taken, he will serve as our tiebreaker once the dust has settled."
"…better to ask forgiveness than permission," Marrow added. "I don't like going this road either, but as of right now, everything we're doing is directly linked to the safety of Mantle. I've got family down there, and it's our duty to protect those people. Let's not waste any more time debating."
"Marrow is correct," General Ironwood said with a certain finality in his tone. "You have your assignments. Contact me directly if anything sh-"
"Harriet?" Yang interrupted. "What the fuck are you…"
The blonde trailed off and took a step back from her colleague as the woman began to physically shake. What began as a small, subtle shiver quickly escalated to rolling tremors as Harriet's eyes rolled back into her head. Marrow was quick to step forward and put his hands upon the woman's shoulders, keeping her upright as her knees buckled and she lurched forward.
"Shit!" the faunus cursed as he rushed to her side and moved a hand to Harriet's hips to keep her standing. Clover rushed in to help support Harriet as she continued to quake, and Weiss took a step back and raised a hand to cover her mouth. General Ironwood hurried back around to Harriet and took out his scroll. "She's… I think she's having a seizure!"
"Calling the med bay now!" General Ironwood said as he lifted his scroll up to the side of his head. "Clover, I'll handle this! Take your squad and move out! Hang in there, Bree!"
"Neurochemical processes elevated," Pax said in monotone from her position at the side of General Ironwood's desk. "Patterns atypical of seizure. Significant aura distortion occurring."
"Aura distortion?" Yang asked as Marrow and Clover helped Harriet to the ground. "What the hell does that even mean?"
"No…" Harriet started in a weak voice as her breathing quickened. Her eyes rolled forward again as she was guided to lay upon the ground, her shoulders still shaking. "No, no, no, I don't want it… this isn't…"
"Calm down," Marrow insisted as he clasped Harriet's hand. "Deep breaths. You n-"
"It's not supposed to be me!" Harriet insisted as she locked eyes with the faunus. "Stop her!"
"Stop who?" Clover asked as he returned to a standing position.
The only answer Clover received was in the form of a guttural scream as twin violet flames burst from the corners of Harriet's eyes.
Author's Note:
No brakes on this train. It's gonna be a long, long night.
Also, if people think this story overuses cliffhangers at the end of chapters, then you're…
-RD