Weiss Schnee

"Connection secured on our end... confirm?"

"All good on this side... stand by."

"Deep breaths... it's going to be ok."

It had been only hours since she had watched one of her closest friends walk down the aisle at their wedding... and now she stood in the council room, turned war room... what a stark contrast. A long range Scrying Orb had been moved into the room, now taking up the centre of the large table which they usually held their meetings on, the device was the biggest she had ever seen. A good three metres in diameter. Every council member was present, a few different smaller Scrying Orbs sitting in front of Weiss, all connected to different channels, including direct lines to her brother and general Ironwood. The room was chaotic to put it lightly, a bunch of Artificers running around and double, triple checking the Orbs for a secure connection... not that Weiss thought they could possibly be faulty, Ruby herself had confirmed they were fine.

Speaking of which, the Queen Consort was by her side. Ruby stood tall next to her, forgoing a seat and instead choosing to assume a position of strength at a time like this... which Weiss greatly appreciated. They had both changed out of their dresses for the wedding... even Argus now donning a different outfit. Weiss had gone for her usual royal attire, an outfit reminiscent of Atlas fashion while still featuring the Vale green prominently. Ruby and Argus however were wearing much more modest clothes, different blacks and browns making up the general colour scheme, save for their cloaks.

"General. We are standing by for your command." A voice finally came from the centre Orb, the large ball glazing over as the other end of the connection finally sent a signal.

"Very well. Your Majesty, we await your command." Weiss almost rolled her eyes at the interaction, Ironwood had basically served as a middle man between the captain and the King.

"Open the portal. It's time to end this." Still, she couldn't help but smile at her brothers voice... he had become a fine man.

The Orb cleared, and it now showed a view of Atlas from above. The lovely sight came from the front of the flagship of the Atlas fleet... the large vessel enough to finish this on its own, yet most of the fleet would be joining it today anyway. Weiss had once said that the fleet could end a war only hours after it had started... in all honesty, she had thought that she herself was exaggerating... yet here they stood, about to make history with 'The war that ended in a day'.

"Has a nice ring to it..."

"Dust is priming... portal holding steady... ships, forward." The captain spoke in an almost robotic tone, like he was just a ritual meant to carry through with commands... though, Weiss imagined that would make what came next easier.

As she watched the flagship approach the large spatial breach in front of it... she turned to her right, gently pulling her son closer and whispering into his ear. "Are you prepared for this...?" His expression asked for clarification... and she unfortunately had to give it. "Vacuo's capital is a city full of fighters... every citizen is a member of their army." She hoped that would be enough for him to understand...

The fleet wasn't about to be indiscriminate with their shots.

Surprisingly, the Prince turned to her with a look of determination. His conviction was a familiar sight to her... one she had seen in both herself, and his other parent when she had been working towards a goal of her own years ago... "Mother, I-!"

She shushed him, pulling him into a hug instead. "Very well. I'm proud of you, Argus." Weiss squeezed her boy tight... and let him go slowly as the flagship passed through the portal.

It was time for it to begin...

All that was revealed on the otherside was desert beneath them. The shifting dunes and tough winds... though, in actuality, the desert was oddly... flat. She couldn't see the city, but for now Weiss just assumed it was the angle. The sound of the other ships joining them through the portal came through the Scrying Orb... and Weiss zoned out momentarily while the captain and Ironwood spoke... instead her focus shifted to a conversation between Ruby and Argus.

"How did they open a portal past the border barriers...?"

"With enough mana you can breach the barrier... but it takes a frankly ridiculous amount of Dust. The round trip for the fleet will probably cost them more Spatial Dust then they can mine in a hundred years." Weiss couldn't help but smile at Ruby's explanation... even after all these years, she never got tired of hearing her wife speak about magic.

"Confirm co-ordinates."

"We have, general."

"Do it again!" Ironwoods yells finally brought their attention back to the Orbs... the flagship had turned now, but... still no city...?

"What's going on?" Weiss's concern was thinly masked, though she doubted anyone would be focousing on that right now.

"There's no mistake, General... we keep checking but... it's the only answer...!" The captains voice did nothing to relieve Weiss of her nerves...

"Re-confirm co-ordinates!" A desperate order, one that instilled even more fear then the captions voice... Ironwood... James... he was never nervous.

"General! What's going on??" Finally, her brother spoke up. Both the captain and Ironwood were without words for a moment... neither of them sure how to say this next part... not that they needed too. Weiss had already put two and two together anyway.

But, the captain had to answer his King.

"Vacuo's capital... the city... the... entire... city... it's... it's gone."

Its probably no secret that this part of the story has been the most difficult for me to write so far, and that was reflected by a drop in quality. The next Act should hopefully be better, and the release of chapters should pick up in pace again.

As for the time skips, I'm hoping that it's understandable. This story won't take place over a short period of time, and I hope that's alright.

I would love any and all feedback about this Act in particular, or the overall pacing of the story as well.

Even if no one else noticed the drop in quality of this Act - which I doubt - I did, and I am deeply sorry for it.