Author's Note: Sadly the chapter is a bit rougher than I would like. Hopefully its nothing too noticeable. Let me know what you think in the reviews.
Fort Malik had been designed and built long before the Great War ever started, a regional base meant to help Vacuo hold back any potential army from Vale during a time when the two kingdoms were competing for everything, land, people, even easy access to drinking water. People fought over the stupidest things sometimes, forgetting that there was usually enough to go around for everyone.
History would tell you the Kingdoms were different then, and that the days of prioritizing their own interests at the expense of others were long behind them. As a man who traveled around frequently, Qrow would laugh at anyone who said that with a straight face. When he was in a good mood he would be willing to admit it was less obvious than it had been, but it was absolutely still a problem, and he'd seen more than enough examples to prove it.
The signing of the Vytal Treaty at least meant that, on paper, everyone had agreed to cooperate and be seen as equals, so the fort wasn't in regular use, and more to the point, wasn't seeing regular upkeep. With the waves battering the old stones of the fortress's foundation, it would stand to reason that the fort might not be in top-notch shape.
None of that meant that the walls didn't stand tall, and the fort was still an imposing sight to see, but it was in clear need of repairs. Repairs the White Fang seemed eagerly willing to give. They were far more alert than the ones he'd seen in Vale, but they failed to notice the bird watching them just a little too closely. Scouting out the base had been a secondary objective according to James, but it had been the first thing he had decided to do. He'd rather keep the others waiting than to realize the White Fang had back up guns covering the same area they planned to come in from.
Scouting had been the right idea as it turned out, allowing him to see that not only were there back up guns, but they were already manned and crewed by almost a dozen personnel each. Usually the weapons would only need three or four people to function at peak efficiency, so the fact they were so well manned was worrying. That worry only grew as it became clear that the White Fang were mobilizing for something.
They know. Qrow realized as a sinking weight filled his gut. Something, or someone, had tipped off the White Fang about their arrival. The element of surprise was already shot, but that didn't change much of the plan; they were too far committed to pull back now.
Despite the increased numbers, Qrow managed to take the first gun down easily enough. They might have been vaguely prepared for an attack from the sea, but they weren't prepared for the bird they had been tossing crumbs at to suddenly become a Huntsman. The first four hadn't even realized they were under attack and went down easy, the other eight were split into two groups; four personnel manning and operating the gun that had to scramble for their weapons, and four that had their backs turned and were looking out to sea. Kicking the barrel of the gun emplacement, it swiveled around just hard enough to push two of them over the walls and down to the sharp rocks below; their screams swallowed by the heavy winds, helping to quiet the attack.
That left six, two of whom rushed Qrow in an attempt to either overwhelm him or buy time. Had they realized he was a Huntsman they probably would have given it a second thought, but with the suddenness of the attack, and already being down half their fighting force, they failed to notice the important details. Those two went down with ease, a single strike to the side of one's head and a kick to the leg of another. They were better trained than the ones in Vale as it turned out. Rather than lay there limply on the ground they struggled for their weapons to continue the attack. A swift kick to one had him launched into the other, knocking both out as their heads smacked together in a stroke of bad luck.
Four were left, specifically the ones who had been manning the gun and watching in the vague direction that Winter and Pyrrha's teams would be approaching from. They were armed now, although the rifles they tried to level on him were no use in the ensuing melee. One managed to fire a shot at him, but Qrow had already ducked down as it did and so the bullet went flying past his head to hit the anti-aircraft gun behind him, pinging off and ricocheting in the direction of their comrade. The man went down with a cry, the other three being startled just long enough for him to close the distance and bodily throw the first man into the other two.
They fell in a jumble of limbs and swearing that Qrow quickly capitalized on, giving each a good strong kick or hit were necessary so that they fell silent. Not dead, at least so long as his Semblance stayed out of it, but unconscious for the next few minutes at the very least.
The fight had been short, only lasting a minute at most and, to be honest, he wouldn't call it a fight on his most generous day. The group had been ambushed by one man and lost! He took satisfaction knowing that was gonna sting come morning… which they would probably be spending in a jail cell.
Despite how quick the fight was, it wasn't silent, and although the loud winds and sheer size of the base helped to drown out the yells and sounds of combat, it did not drown out the sound of a gun firing. He could vaguely hear several people shouting and moving in his direction. But by the time that anyone arrived to investigate, he was long gone, and the explosive device he'd planted to the underside of the anti-aircraft gun went unnoticed as the group tried to aid their friends.
The second gun didn't go nearly as well, but considering he already heard the alarms blaring by the time he had flown over to it, he felt he could be forgiven for the rushed job. Ten downed terrorists later, along with another explosive planted and he was away, flying up to the top of one of the towers where he could see the southwestern court yard but remained out of line of sight. He had actually planted the second explosive on a stack of crates near the gun that looked to hold their ammo.
Now came the fun part.
Even half a mile out as they were, she heard the explosion as clear as if it were right next to their Bullhead. Winter sighed, but stood up and moved over towards the door, Pyrrha following closely behind.
The General had told him to stick to the plan, but it came as no real surprise that he didn't. That explosion was far too loud to be simply from the small detonator charges they had given Qrow before the mission.
Winter fought back the smile that threatened to bubble up, it came as no surprise that Qrow had found a more… vulnerable, target. What did surprise her was that she wasn't mad about it. He was a professional, no matter how he acted, and she trusted him to make the right call. As the Bullhead began to rush for the fort, she shook her head, focusing on the task at hand. Despite Qrow's work in removing the most dangerous anti-aircraft guns, they were still under fire. As they approached however, fire lessened as the guns lost sight of them.
Winter spared one glance back at her team, seeing that they were on their feet and ready to move as soon as the doors opened. Pyrrha was a few feet behind her, looking nervous and as if a stiff breeze might knock her over. She didn't hold it against her and, as the Bullhead rocked violently as some kind of explosive went off only a few dozen feet away from their craft, she recalled she had been much the same on her first combat operation.
Oh, Pyrrha had seen combat of course, a luxury Winter hadn't had on her first operation, but this was different. This was a battle, something from the history books that some ignorant people called obsolete. Those that did were fools of the highest order. These kinds of military strikes worked well, and so Atlas continued to use them even with the high cost they so often imposed.
"Vector two's been hit!" Their pilot called over the radio, causing a buzz of responses and status updates to be shared between the damaged dropship and their own. The Bullhead was quickly losing height, though the pilot was doing their best to keep it above the walls so that it could at least land near its assigned objective, allowing them to reinforce and help with evacuation as necessary. If they landed outside the walls there was very little they could do unless they threw the mission objectives to the wind.
As they crested the walls of Fort Malik, the damaged Bullhead managed to clear the walls before crashing into one of the many courtyards below.
Winter held a hand up to her earpiece, ordering their third and final Bullhead to change its mission and drop their team off at the crash site to secure the area.
"We aren't going to help them?" Pyrrha asked quietly, though whether that was due to uncertainty or a wish to not sound like she was questioning her orders, Winter didn't know. At any rate, she took a small comfort in knowing it was because the younger girl was worried for the soldiers who had just been shot down.
"We have our own mission." Winter explained. "If we don't secure the southern and eastern walls there won't be any reinforcements coming, and we may need medical evacuation for those in the crash."
Pyrrha nodded, gripping her sword tight as her eyes focused on the door. Distracting one's self in the mission could help combat nerves, but it could also lead to carelessness. Winter trusted her fellow Specialist but she also planned to keep an eye on her all the same. Their Bullhead lurched suddenly, the pilot lifting the front of the craft up as he roughly hovered over the walls where they would be jumping out, and the doors opened to abrupt and extreme chaos.
The fleet had started their attack the moment Qrow's explosives went off, drawing a substantial amount of the defenders away from their landing zone, but not nearly as many as she would have expected. They were under fire from the moment they landed, though thankfully it seemed to be indirect small arms fire. Her team disembarked quickly and kept their heads low, preventing any injuries, before following her as they pushed for the first tower they had to clear.
As they reached it, she could faintly hear gunfire from inside, arriving just in time to see Qrow dealing with the last of the tower's defenders.
"Little slow there, Ice Queen." Qrow smirked, but it was half hearted at best; she could tell by the way it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've already sabotaged the gun here, along with the second tower. I'm moving to the crash site, see if they need any help."
Winter shook her head. "Charlie team landed to secure the area, Specialist Ederne is handling it. We need you to scout out the eastern wall."
Qrow nodded hesitantly, before moving in the same direction they had been going. True to his word, the second tower was secured as well, the defenders there incapacitated and the gun disabled. Thats where they split up, Qrow splitting off so that he could transform without being seen while they continued along the southern wall.
The sounds of artillery fire masked their approach as they moved on the third tower. Pausing at the door for her team to position themselves, Winter waited until everyone was ready before kicking the door down. She was met with gunfire, the bullets pinging off of her Aura before the door had even fully opened. It was precisely for that reason that she and Pyrrha went in first, the latter holding up her shield to prevent the small damage to her Aura while Winter was forced to grit her teeth and push through.
Her saber came down in an arc on the first target she could reach. The man had just enough time to register her attack before it struck his arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. Pushing him aside she parried the sword of another terrorists before quickly disarming him with a swipe and knocking him back as well. Her team had entered only a second after them, securing those that Pyrrha and Winter had already downed and helping to eliminate the rest.
Pyrrha did well despite her clear panic, cutting through several terrorists with an efficiency that would make any Specialist proud. She avoided using her Magic, both to mask her presence on the mission as well as conserve it for later in the event she needed it for something more pressing.
The White Fang had known they were coming, sitting with their weapons and defenses set directly at the door with little hesitation upon their entrance. Despite that, the fight had been short and a near immediate victory for them. Her team was already moving up the tower, clearing the second floor and roof as they planted the necessary explosives. Pyrrha was silent as they did, looking out a small window that showed the battle happening outside.
The northern wall was being decimated, the small fleet they brought having more than enough firepower to eliminate its defenses while also staying out of range of any retaliation. The faunus defenders were putting up a stiff resistance though. Their shots were accurate, and the other teams in the courtyard below were hard pressed as it was. These weren't the volunteer civilians of the Vale branch that she had come to expect, they were better trained, pinning down the Atlesians where they could. More disciplined, refusing to run as their allies were wounded or as the bombardment continued. Worst of all though, they seemed prepared, far too prepared. Most fortresses were built to withstand an attack from the outside, the defenses and patrols meant to guard from such an attack, but this base seemed just as prepared for an infiltration. There were established sight lines and barricades angled inwards, rather than out.
Pushing her thoughts aside as her team returned, confirming that the gun was down, Winter made a mental note to mention it in her report later. For now, they had to continue moving forward. With one wall nearly secured, they were almost done, and then they could overwhelm the defenders through sheer numbers. Superior training aside, Atlas' best weapon was its androids, of which they had brought three entire battalions, but they would only help so long as they could land. The dropships designed to carry them weren't as maneuverable as regular Bullheads and would be particularly vulnerable to enemy fire, and so the guns had to be removed before any could be sent.
The next tower went much the same as the first, the defenders putting up a strong resistance, but being unable to deal with the two Specialists as well as their fireteam. Qrow joined them as they moved to start clearing the eastern wall.
"Should be a few less of them here." Qrow relayed what he had found. "Most were pulled to deal with the crash site or to try and shore up the northern wall."
An expected response, but one that Winter could do little to counteract. She would just have to pass along word to them of the incoming attacks. As she tried to however, she realized her radio had gone silent. Attempting communication proved impossible. Pulling out her scroll, through which her radio system was ran, she saw that it was frozen.
Winter tried not to jump to conclusions. Equipment, no matter how well maintained, often failed in the heat of battle, and so she turned towards her team, each of whom were operating with a simpler and more robust computer communications system that had been installed in their armor.
"Deadlined, ma'am." Lieutenant Meadows shook his head. "I've got nothing."
"Crap, same." Qrow replied as he looked down at his own scroll. "Jammers?"
Winter shook her head. While accomplishing the same goal, this was different. Their equipment hadn't so much been jammed as hacked. Turning towards Qrow, she could see he had come to the same conclusion. "Go warn Bravo and Charlie and see if they need help."
Qrow nodded before rushing off once more, moving through the base to warn their men of the danger. The radio blackout didn't last long however, and by the time they had cleared the final tower, their communications suddenly came back.
"-cialist Schnee, report!" She recognized the General's voice easily, along with the worry that had been building as they had seemingly failed to respond.
Keying her radio, she heard a spike of static as it struggled to get through the interference. A moment later the static was gone, and she was able to report to the General.
"Do you have any idea what might have caused the malfunction?"
"No Sir." Winter replied. "Nor do we know why they came back online."
There was a pause over the radio before he responded. "Is your objective complete?"
"Yes Sir." They had cleared the southern and eastern walls, and while the White Fang would be able to retake them, their guns were destroyed and would take days if not weeks to repair.
"I'm commencing the next stage of the operation." The General replied. "Clear your section of the wall for a landing zone, and be prepared for a drop."
Dropping the androids directly on the walls would stop the White Fang from reclaiming them, giving them the advantage in the courtyards below, but it would also be more difficult. A precise landing like that took skilled pilots, they were sure to lose a few of their androids in the process. She just hoped it would be worth it.
"Winter…" Pyrrha said hesitantly, helping to bring her back to the present. "What are they doing?"
Winter looked where Pyrrha was pointing, a section of the wall that had been designed to overlook the courtyard, a position the White Fang had been holding so that they could easily fire down on their troops by the crash site. They had given up those positions however, pulling back to the main compound located at the center of the fort; a large reinforced bunker that even their battleships would struggle to destroy.
"They're retreating." Winter whispered, surprised more than anything else. The battle, while going in Atlas' favor, was far from over. To see the White Fang pulling back already… it painted a distinctly different picture to how they normally operated. "We need to move to the General's landing zone." It was possible the White Fang was routing, that maybe they had overestimated the will of their foe, but Winter was hesitant to believe that. The General would know what to make of it
Pyrrha stood anxiously as they watched the dropships move in over the fort. Dozens of androids were dropped around them, landing with a loud crash before standing and securing the area. Atlas had brought hundreds of them for this operation, and she was more than willing to admit that the once threatening site of them had her feeling just a little bit more at ease.
The White Fang had entirely pulled back into the main bunker, though Pyrrha didn't know what that meant. She doubted it was over, if anything, the battle felt too anticlimactic. Too easy. She doubted the men and women who were currently being evacuated would agree. One of their dropships had been hit before they even made it to the walls and, while that had been the only major issue so far, it had heavily limited their numbers early on and would mean months or potentially years of recovery for those wounded.
That they had managed to secure the walls at all felt like a miracle, though Pyrrha supposed that was an exaggeration. The original plan had been to secure the walls and leave the various teams in specific locations so that they could provide support when the knights finally arrived. Instead, they had been forced to leave more of the walls empty and push through to their real goal. The fact it worked was only due to Winter's personal squad, of whom no one had been injured. They were exhausted though, that much Pyrrha could tell and certainly agree with.
She'd fought the White Fang before on numerous occasions, and thinking back, she realized how short most of those battles had felt at the time. She couldn't help but wonder if that was normal. Judging by the look on Ironwood's face, it wasn't.
"They pulled back into the bunker?" The fact that Ironwood had joined them should have surprised her, but it didn't. He had always been a man of action, and with a battle happening right in front of him, she knew he wouldn't sit it out. Not with so much on the line. As such, he had come prepared for action. His typical long coat was gone, replaced with a similarly colored and decorated but much shorter one that only went a little lower than his hips. The rest of his outfit was equally as practical, a respectable blend between standard issue Atlas gear and a Huntsman's typically eccentric style.
"The moment we secured the walls they retreated." Winter clarified. "We have teams securing all entrances but I advise repositioning the fleet to watch for possible escape routes."
"Already done." Ironwood nodded. "Have we been able to breach the doors yet?"
"They weren't locked." Qrow had been the first to the doors, positioning a squad to guard it before coming to the Generals landing zone. "Left it wide open."
Even Pyrrha felt worried by that, and once again Ironwood's face contorted in confusion.
"They didn't try and hold the main entrance?" He asked, earning a shake of the head from both Qrow and Winter before looking in the direction of the bunker. "Have we been able to get a solid scan of the interior?"
"Oh no, they held it all right, just not the main door." Qrow gestured for them to follow. "You're gonna want to see this."
Qrow led them to what seemed to be a small side entrance, but quickly opened up into a hallway she could see connected with many other entrances out towards the courtyards. They all converged on a central chamber, at the back of which sat a large metal door. A line of Soldiers were positioned to watch it, and several Specialists guarded the room, but not a single android moved past the doors they had just walked through.
"Any idea how to deal with that?" Qrow looked towards Ironwood expectantly.
"Can we open it from this side?" He asked.
"No controls that we can find." Qrow responded.
"Force it open?" Winter offered. "An explosive coul-"
"Magnetically sealed." Qrow tossed something towards the door, it landed softly on the ground, but as it rolled just a little closer it suddenly flew at the door, hitting with a soft clicking sound. "Might wanna keep those toys of yours back a bit. No telling what that might do to a bomb."
"I must say, Atlas has gotten rather dull of late." A voice called out over the base's intercom system that, until now, she hadn't realized even existed. "I remember when it only employed the brightest of the bright… clearly, standards have slipped."
Pyrrha didn't recognize the man, though she was confident it was a man. His voice was posh and carried an air of superiority that she had come to recognize in her dealings with the higher end of society. She'd always hated it, but the way he spoke, how he seemed to be almost laughing at them, only helped to reinforce that hatred.
"Arthur Watts…" The General seemed to recognize him however, judging by the sheer anger in the man's usually steady voice.
"One and the same." How he heard them, she didn't know. Looking around she spotted a few cameras along the walls, but that didn't explain it. Seeing she could understand, but hearing them from so far away? It didn't make sense.
"I was told you were dead."
"That was my goal, yes." The man continued to taunt. "Much easier to pull off than I expected, honestly. You are surprisingly easy to trick."
"So you've sided with the White Fang?" The General practically growled. "I didn't thin-"
"That's just the problem, James, isn't it? You never seem to think." Arthur Watts interrupted him before he could continue. "I don't serve the White Fang, my mistress is far more powerful."
"Cinder?" Pyrrha asked, though she wasn't fully sure where she was supposed to direct her question.
"That arrogant harlot?!" He seemed genuinely insulted by the very notion. "Don't insult me any more than you have, girl."
"Salem." Qrow said, having guessed the next likely option.
"Better." Watts continued. "I would never lower myself to work for someone like Cinder, let alone help her, but my mistress has ordered me to. So here I am, leading Atlas by the nose."
"Where's Cinder?" Pyrrha asked, her anger only building as he continued to mock them.
"I suppose you would like another go at her, wouldn't you." He laughed, a sound that was not cold but somehow still came across as cruel. "But, pray tell, why would I help you in that regard?"
"We have you surrounded!" The General yelled out. "You have nowhere left to run."
"How are your radios working?"
The question was seemingly random, but the moment he asked it Pyrrha's skin began to crawl. She was hardly the only one, Winter and Qrow sharing a look between them before turning towards the General. He simply glared at the sealed door.
"What about the radios?" Pyrrha finally asked, the silence dragging on just a little bit too long for her comfort. She would willingly admit it had been bothering her since the fighting had stopped. Some of the Soldiers had complained about the technology failing right when you needed it most, but this felt different. Though once again, she didn't know if that was simply due to her inexperience. The fact he mentioned it at all made her even more worried.
"We have engineers looking into it now." Ironwood stated. "It wasn't any kind of jamming device we're familiar with and it managed to get right past our firewalls."
"A cyberattack?" Qrow asked skeptically. "Is that even possible?" Atlas was supposed to be the most advanced kingdom on the planet. It was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest, the very idea sounded like something out of a poorly written action movie. And yet…
"Until a few minutes ago I would have said no." Ironwood sighed. "But the reason your radios failed was that the underlying systems they run on were flooded with useless code. Something you couldn't do unless you could get past our security."
"Not useless, James." The man chuckled once more. "Like I said, you never think. Why would I send useless code when I could send anything I wanted? Coming here was foolish. Launching an operation on foreign soil without the authorization of their counsel, let alone your own. You're setting a worrying trend, General."
"The facts remain." The General replied calmly, something distinct missing from his voice that made Pyrrha shiver once more. "You're surrounded. Surrender, and I will ensure you are given a fair trial."
"I'm afraid my mistress will never allow me to be captured. So I must decline your gracious offer."
"I don't think you understand, Arthur. We have you outgunned, outnumbered and surrounded-"
"You did, James. You did." He was confident, laughing once more as if he alone was privy to some joke they didn't understand. "I'm afraid that is no longer the case."
There was a long pause after the intercoms ceased, the room falling completely silent. She heard something move behind her, drawing her attention to the fact that each of the androids along the wall had moved to draw up their guns. Their usually black helmets glowing an ominous red.
Author's Note: Very scarce Pyrrha this chapter, kind of hesitant about that, but I wanted to build certain things and it felt like it worked better with Winter and Qrow rather than from Pyrrha's view. I don't know, let me know what you think.
I hope you enjoyed it and as always don't forget to review and let me know what you think.
Sincerely, SE