A.N. (3/3/23) - Posted this a bit later than I intended. Yesterday was the start of many midterms, so I collapsed onto my bed the moment I went home and only woke up today once it was already afternoon.


Atlas (8) - Socialize

The dress that Rin wore to the gala was something she was unused to. It was beautiful, with flowing red fabric that complimented her frame well. Since she was expected to mingle with the upper class, there was no excuse to not arrive in style.

"You look amazing!" Terra beamed at her. She was wearing a dress as well, a modest blue one that suited the older woman. "Again, thanks for inviting me to this."

"No problem, and you look great as well."

"The others are going to make their own way to the party alone," Terra continued. "I'll keep in contact with them, but all they need is an opportunity to sneak them close to Amoncio."

So they were not going to meet up beforehand. Rin knew that this plan was put together at the last minute, but she thought that she would at least have an opportunity to hash things out with the other party first.

"If you say so, I'll leave things to you until we arrive at the gala."

"How will we get there?"

"I'm not sure," Rin answered. "Winter said that she would send someone to pick us up. I guess that means we wait in front of the school."

A few minutes later, their questions were answered when a limo drove up to a slow stop in front of them with a driver exiting to beckon for them to enter. After they both verified that this was the ride Winter sent, the vehicle began to drive away toward their destination.

The building they arrived at was large and wide, with a crowd of people gathering near the entrance. It was something neither Rin nor Terra was used to, and they tried hard to hide their nerves as they entered the building along with dozens of other guests.

Once they were in the main room, Rin realized with a start that this would be a different kind of battlefield than what she was used to. Social gatherings like this required one to be skilled in the arts of diplomacy and networking. Even as she entered the room, she noticed several people looking in their direction with calculating gazes. Without using her mystic eye, she was unable to guess what their current state of thoughts was, not that she was terribly interested in finding out.

Someone walked up and greeted them.

"It's nice to see you both," Winter said. Unlike the two, Winter was dressed in military-themed formal attire that showed her allegiance. "Thank you for coming today, Rin. And Miss Cotta, I'm glad to see that you're doing well. Doctor Polendina has high praise for your work, and I've heard that some of your projects have caught even the eye of the military. I'm surprised that we haven't run into each other sooner, especially since you managed to have caught the eye of my superior."

"Ah." Terra froze. "I only met General Ironwood once or twice before, Miss Schnee."

"Please, call me Winter. Since my family is here, it would be confusing if you were to refer to one of us later."

Rin spoke up. "Speaking of which, where is our esteemed host of this gala?"

Winter sighed. "My father is a bit delayed by several matters, but he should be arriving in a few minutes. Likewise, General Ironwood is also held up and I was sent ahead to keep things under control until they get here."

"Any particular reason?"

"One of the councilmen called a last-minute meeting. My father was invited despite not being one, and I can only speculate as to the reason why. Until then, it appears that I will have to be on babysitting duty for the rest of our guests."

"Are we in the way then?"

"Not at all. In fact, I would prefer to take a break from appeasing some of our more entitled visitors over various minor issues. Sadly, I still have to deal with them after this even if I wish otherwise."

"Sounds rough."

It took her a moment to realize that they had drawn the attention of almost everyone in the room. Most of that could be attributed to Winter's presence, and the woman herself seemed to realize this.

"How about we take this somewhere else," she suggested. "Besides, I have a few people I would like to introduce you to."

It was obvious to her who Winter was talking about. Before she could respond, Terra suddenly grew stiff and straightened her back. "Ah, sorry." She faced Winter. "Is there a room where I can get some privacy? I have to take an important Scroll call, and I don't want others to overhear."

"There's a door that leads further into the back where a few empty rooms are," Winter answered. "I can show you the way if you want."

"No, it's fine. Thank you for telling me."

As she left, Terra sent a quick glance in Rin's direction and held up her Scroll while gesturing at it. Nodding, she got the hint that Terra wanted her to keep in contact while she was away. Her excuse of needing privacy was probably meant to help her meet up with the rest of Robyn's team.

"Shall we get going?"

"Lead the way."

Following Winter, Rin couldn't help but feel like there was a pair of eyes gazing in her direction. Turning around, she was unable to determine where it was coming from. But for a moment, she thought she sensed an ill intent hidden in the crowd. Unsure if she was imagining it or not, she was forced to dismiss it and catch up to Winter walking ahead.

}-{

"What are your thoughts, General?"

General Ironwood was dealing with a complex situation as he faced the rest of the councilors present. "You want me to send more forces to escort Amity when it launches this week?" He raised a brow. "I was unaware that you were so concerned about the defenses of the arena. Did anything happen recently to prompt this reaction?"

"Other than the attacks on Atlas facilities that have been occurring this past week? The latest breach in Amity already shows that our security is lacking."

"Be careful with your words, Councilman Sleet."

Sleet smirked, and the uncharacteristic smile bothered him. His current behavior clashed with what Ironwood knew about the other man, especially with his latest decision to push for more troops to fly alongside Amity Colosseum.

"It's not just me who believes this should be done. Why I've had the opportunity to meet with your friend Will Scarlatina recently. The two of us had an enlightening discussion about what should be done for the safety of Atlas. With the reputation of our kingdom falling recently, a show of force would be a good reminder that Atlas remains strong despite its issues."

"While I wouldn't put it that way, there is some merit to Councilman Sleet's words." The other council member, Camilla, seemed deep in thought. "After all, did Mister Schnee's earlier report on the attacks of notable White Fang members not concern you? Who is to say that they will not attempt to do something during this year's Vytal Festival?"

He grimaced at the reminder of their earlier conversation with the businessman. Jacques had informed them about several threat notices that he received recently that were supposedly sent by the White Fang informing them about their intent to cause trouble. The letters were vague on exactly what that meant, but the declared time seemed to coincide with the launch of Amity.

Ironwood spoke. "We can't pull more troops to escort the arena. Our soldiers are already spread thin due to the threat of the Greem outbreaks. Transferring them would put the villages under their protection at risk, especially since it would take at least a few months before we can have our soldiers return back to their posts."

"You and I both know that the Greem outbreaks are a temporary phenomenon. Whatever Merlot did to create them did not create a constant source of change. As long as the extermination of their numbers continues at the current rate, the Greem are expected to be wiped out sometime by the end of the year."

"All the more reason we should not pull our soldiers away from their posts now while they still remain a threat."

"Then what about our forces that you sent to oversee the rebuilding efforts of Argus?" Sleet asked. "While it is imperative that we maintain our relationship with Mistal, we are still spending excessive resources to help another kingdom instead of our own."

"You cannot say that Argus is not an important trading partner of ours."

"But Councilman Sleet raises a fair point," Camilla followed up. "Even by our standards, you seem to be placing a higher importance on the development of the city. Some have even questioned whether the council has decided to turn Argus into another territory comparable to the main cities of each kingdom. When we voted to implement the restoration plans of Argus, you did not mention the number of resources that you intended to use to rebuild the city."

"You voted in favor of the plan before if I recall correctly."

"That was when I was under the impression that Headmaster Lionheart would assist with the city defenses with a number of huntsmen. Learning that not only did he not do so, but also requested that Atlas would make up the entirety of the city's protection while the rebuild efforts are undergoing, was an unpleasant piece of news. Mistral's contribution to the restoration of Argus is basically nothing since they somehow managed to force a deal out of us to fund the entire operation under the excuse that it is our fault that the city fell. Adding that to the costs of maintaining Amity, this year has been an expensive one compared to all others before."

There was nothing he could say to defend himself. Ironwood cursed the fact that Lionheart had failed to follow up on his promise to assist. Ozpin had promised that he would convince the other man to help, but the faunus seemed incapable of even giving him an excuse as to why he was unable to send aid. If he did not know any better, he would have suspected Lionheart of wanting to sabotage his efforts in repairing Argus. But more likely, it was the interference of the various crime families that held sway over the council that was the real issue.

"I'm sure he has his reasons. After all, we're not the only ones suffering due to the Greem outbreaks."

"Even so, we are the ones most affected." Camilla sighed. "I don't like it either, but the fact is that Argus does not warrant the need for full protection. The reports of Grimm attacks on the city are staggeringly low, to the point where we suspect that Grimm are outright avoiding the area. Any troops stationed there would be wasting their time since there's nothing to defend against. It's better to put them to work elsewhere and have most of them move to the city of Mistral along with the Amity escort groups."

Only Ironwood knew the real reason why the Grimm were avoiding the city. The bounded field that Rin Tohsaka had set up made it so that there were limited opportunities to attack Argus. That said, the protection was not impenetrable. Not only were there still access points where Grimm could pass through, but the entire city was also supposedly a beacon of magic to anyone with the proper senses for detecting it. It was only a matter of time before Salem or one of her men noticed, and Ironwood feared what her first response would be in hopes of discovering the source of this irregularity.

It was a shame that Rin was unable to create a similar protection for Atlas. The fact that her abilities worked better with places that were closer to the ground meant that only Mantle would be suitable to establish another bounded field. And even then, she claimed that due to SDC mining operations, mapping the area to establish a magical defense would be meaningless since any random miner could accidentally destabilize the entire thing.

"We'll have to decide this another day," Ironwood settled. "A meeting with representatives from both Atlas and Mistral to decide what to do. They deserve to know what our decisions regarding Amity are, and if possible, we can even lay down our complaints before them and hope that they respond accordingly. As it so happens, I have another event after this that I'm running late for, so how about we conclude things here."

"You're stalling for time, General."

"Right now, I'm speaking as another Councilman and not the General of Atlas Military. After this, I'll invite the Mistral council members and Headmaster Lionheart to attend a meeting tomorrow. With that said, I believe we are done here."

The others did not say anything else as he stood up from the table and walked out of the room. Exiting the building, he headed in the direction where his driver was waiting for him with the door to his vehicle open.

"Sir, you have a message."

He frowned. Ironwood had his Scroll turned off during the meeting, so he did not realize it before. Going inside the vehicle, he closed the door and pressed a button to reveal a display showing his inbox. Seeing that his driver was right, he clicked on the most recent message and read its contents.

THE BLACK SOVEREIGN HAS NO FACE

FOR HE IMPOSES HIS WILL UPON THE PEOPLE

AND STANDS ABOVE THE HEADLESS GIANTS' KING

"Hm?" Ironwood blinked. "Is this a riddle? What is this supposed to mean?"

More importantly, there was no sender listed on the message. Only authorized individuals were able to message him, so the fact that he could not find out who sent this made him suspicious.

"Something is wrong…"

He noticed it a second later. The vehicle wasn't moving, even though his driver should have known that he was going to attend an important event soon.

There was a click.

The explosion that erupted from the vehicle was powerful enough that nobody was expected to survive it. Even a huntsman with a full Aura would not be able to handle the unexpected attack. Echoing through the area, the explosion was loud enough to reach the conference room where the rest of the council members were. Running outside, all they witnessed was the burning remains of what was left of the General's vehicle.

"By the Brothers…!"

Sitting on the pavement a small distance away was a white mask reminiscent of a Grimm.


The dress that Rin wore is based on the 15th Celebration Dress that I only discovered after doing a quick google search. I intended for her to have a longer role in this chapter but eventually decided to cut it in half for the next one instead and introduce more plot from Ironwood's perspective.

Yes, somebody is trying to make it look like the White Fang has successfully assassinated the general. Whether he actually survived or not doesn't really matter as the ramifications of this incident.