Sun watched as Harriet set up her scroll upon the coffee table to allow for the best viewing angle for everyone involved. His tail writhed behind him as if it had a mind of its own, and there was a knot in his stomach that he couldn't quite explain. Somehow, without it being said aloud, he knew that this would be the last big coordinated effort before the final battle. Too much had gone on between the various parties involved for something on the scale of what was about to happen to occur again, and there was bad blood in multiple places beneath the surface.
Conflicting ideas about usage of the lamp, how to approach Salem, the apparent removal of Ozpin, and the sudden and involuntary involvement of Vacuo could all spell disaster individually. Having all of those issues on the table, along with whatever else was discussed, was a recipe for absolute disaster. If it was at all an option, he would have simply run for the bathroom and emptied his stomach into the toilet while the others dealt with the incoming fallout. Unfortunately for him, he knew that everyone in the room- and others in different locations- were relying on him to take charge.
"Hey. You okay?" Blake asked, resting her hand atop Sun's as they sat upon the couch.
"…not even slightly," Sun admitted with a weary sigh. "I just… I don't even know what to say, when to jump in… so many people are involved in this, and there's no real pecking order anymore besides… Ironwood being at the top. If he makes some kind of radical decision, no one's gonna listen to me instead…"
"Oh, bullshit," Yang said immediately. "You know we've got people in every location involved in this meeting that'll flock to your side."
"Well, yeah," the faunus admitted as he scratched his head. "But will any of them in Atlas stand up to Ironwood directly? Can they, without putting their lives in danger? I mean… let's also not forget that we're now relying pretty heavily on Cinnamon to keep him in check. I want to trust her, but… as much as I believe people can change, now is really not the time to be banking on feel-good philosophy…"
"If you truly believe it, then you are not 'banking' on anything," Corsac advised as he sat down on Blake's other side. "Do not have a change of heart simply because holding your values in this storm will be more difficult than taking another path. That is… unlike you. Be nervous. Be wary. But be yourself. I seem to remember you standing up to Ironwood after he held you at gunpoint over something far less dire. Summon up that energy now and stand your ground. We will all stand alongside you and find a way forward, regardless of the danger."
"Yeah," Sun agreed, nodding along before holding his head in his hands. "Thanks, man. I… needed to hear that. Really. I'm sorry for being all noncommittal and weird, I'm just… I think I'm just exhausted. Not from the Ozpin stuff, from everything. I want this to end. I want to just be able to live life. The fact that that isn't guaranteed anymore is…"
"Why we're fighting," Blake finished for him as she gave his hand a squeeze. "Don't lose sight of that, Sun. There's no better reason to fight tooth and nail than to protect our future, and that of our children."
"…your children?" Yang asked, raising a brow. "What exactly have you two been doing in that bedroom of yours?"
"You're asking us that?" Sun retorted with narrowed eyes.
"I…" Blake started, her cheeks turning pink. "…I mean, I'm just assuming… I meant 'our children' in a general sense. You know, the future. The next generation. It's up to us to make sure Remnant is there for them."
"Yeah, that's great and all, but how about we focus on the present?" Harriet asked as she stood up from her kneeling position next to the table. "We're ready to dial in. Is there anything we should discuss as a group before I hit the button? Anything we all need to push for as a united front?"
Sun nervously ran his hands through his hair before leaning forward and clasping them between his knees. All eyes were on him as he took a moment to think… except for Jaune's. The other blond was instead watching as Neopolitan returned from the kitchen holding a large blue plastic bowl and making quite a bit of noise.
"…where did you find popcorn?" Jaune asked, sounding almost in awe as the girl sat down beside him.
Neopolitan merely shrugged before offering the bowl sideways as she shoved a few more kernels into her mouth. Jaune hesitated only a moment before taking a handful and following suit.
"…okay, we are not eating popcorn while on a holo-call with Ironwood about the fate of the world," Harriet seethed.
"And why not, honestly?" Corsac asked, remaining neutral as always. "It does seem quite on-brand for our group of misfits. The two of them aren't even in range of the camera at present."
Harriet threw her hands up before putting them on her hips and shaking her head as Yang reached into the bowl to take her share.
"Okay," Sun finally said, choosing to ignore his companions' misadventure. "I think… I think it'd be best if we pick one issue and push it strongly together. The most important thing on the table that will affect the most facets of the overall war effort."
"And that is…?" Blake asked, though she had an idea of her own in mind.
"The Lamp," Sun answered.
"Agreed," Blake nodded.
"And what are you thinking?" Harriet asked as she gave Yang some side-eye.
"I know what you're thinking," the huntress returned, holding the bowl outward toward Harriet.
"Focus," Sun said as he rolled his eyes. "I'm thinking… we've got a few options for what to ask the lamp, and each of them leads us down a wildly different path. Salem's weakness. Why, specifically, she can't be killed. How she's related to Ozpin and what this entire war is really about. What the Relics really are and how they're used. Or… Summer Rose."
Yang turned her attention to Sun, her expression hardening. Despite the look she gave him, there was a distinct pain in her eyes. The faunus found that he couldn't blame her at all.
"…the fact that you hesitated tells me that's what you're leaning toward," Yang said solemnly. Upon feeling an odd tug on her hand, she looked over to see Harriet with her own in the bowl of popcorn and a guilty look upon her face. "Oh, fuck yeah. Get in there!"
"Shut up," the Maiden said with a scowl as she brought a handful of popcorn back to herself.
"I am, yeah," Sun replied without missing a beat. "I was thinking we should ask why Salem can't be killed specifically, but… that might not even help us. What if she just regenerates endlessly, and that's all we find out? Salem herself wanted to ask about Summer when she thought the fake lamp the other group brought to Beacon was the real deal. If she wants to know where Summer is, there's good reason… and Summer apparently knows something about the Relics, and maybe the war itself. Something bad enough to hide herself away."
"Unless…" Jaune started, faltering as Yang turned her attention to him. "Unless she's… what if Salem just wanted to waste the question in front of Ruby to twist the knife about Summer's death? She could have been messing with us…"
"But on this scale?" Blake asked. "Is she that petty and vindictive? We know that Salem needs the Relics. To get the Relics, Salem needs the Maidens. Two Relics are off the table and in our possession- the Lamp and the Staff- and we have those Maidens with us, too."
"But we're useless to Salem, now," Harriet pointed out. "Our Vaults are already unlocked, and our Relics in play… if she somehow finds a way to Atlas. Cinder can unlock the door somewhere within Beacon."
"Which means Mom is… either the Summer Maiden, or knows where the Summer Maiden is," Yang finished. "Assuming she really is alive. I'm with Sun. It's… probably our best option, despite what I said to Ruby…"
"Don't," Jaune advised as he scooted closer to Yang. "You were doing the best you could with the information you had at the time. Keeping Ruby away from the Lamp was something we had to do…"
"Yeah. Maybe…" Yang said solemnly before perking back up as best she could. "I just… no. I can't do this right now. Game face on. We're committing to using the lamp on Summer, because we sure as hell aren't going to find her without it. That's our push."
"Sounds like a plan," Sun agreed. "Anything else last-minute?"
Neopolitan raised her partially prosthetic hand and took out her scroll before shooting the rest of the group a quick text.
If Atlas is going to sit on their ass out of reach, they need to be doing something to help the overall war effort. Preferably finding Salem. If we don't know where she's striking next, we've already lost. Mantle was an absolute shitshow and we all barely made it out alive. Way too many didn't. If something like that happens again in a place that isn't prepared, we're totally fucked.
"She's right," Jaune agreed as he looked up from his scroll. "We've got to stand on two issues- the Lamp and prioritizing all of that. Especially if Salem is headed to Vacuo for the Sword…"
"What else would she be doing?" Harriet asked bluntly. "It's the best tactical move… though then again, she doesn't have the Maiden to get to the damned thing. Maybe her plan will change because of that."
"Maybe," Sun considered, "but we don't even know her original plan from here at all. Neo's right. Atlas has the tech and the people to find her. They can't just float up there and put out the local fires stemming from the evacuation while ignoring all of us on the ground. We need to make sure they're accountable for contributing to our next moves, too. Lamp first, then that. We all ready?"
"As ready as we're going to be," Blake answered for the group before giving Sun a peck on the cheek. "Don't worry. You've got this."
"We've got this," Sun corrected as Harriet set up the scroll. "Here goes… well, everything."
"Don't sound so excited," Harriet teased as she dialed in the call. "Connecting…"
Within seconds, a holographic 3D projection of General Ironwood's familiar office began to levitate above the scroll. Several panels for additional screens manifested below it, showing Glydna Goodwitch in her office at Beacon Academy, Winter, Ilia, Emerald, and Alice all gathered in an unfamiliar room, and one final screen below it.
"Mom?" Blake asked, unable to stop herself.
"Hey, kiddo," Kali answered with a wave. The woman had Lil' Miss Malachite and Amaya in frame with her, and she appeared rather sleepless. "Got an invite to this shindig last minute. Feels nice to be included."
"My apologies for that," the hologram of General Ironwood standing behind his desk offered, seemingly speaking to the group at large. "Initially, I was not planning on addressing the situation in Argus with you all, but… even while Atlas is safely out of the fight, we cannot just ignore our people down on the ground in Solitas. We're going to come up with something to take back Argus and do what we can for the people of Mantle. We have to. Otherwise… what are we even fighting for anymore?"
Sun blinked in surprise and gave Blake a skeptical look, which she returned.
"I'm not saying I disagree," Sun began, "but why the sudden change of heart?"
"It's… complicated," General Ironwood answered. "And so is our current situation. With everyone here, we have much to discuss- too much to bother with introductions for those new to all of this. I think it best to just start going issue by issue, beginning with the most pressing. Pietro?"
The chair-bound man moved to the center of the room. A mechanical arm extended from the frame and held aloft a glass chamber roughly the size of the man's torso. Inside was a green fluid, and suspended within it was an unmistakable black mass that was twisting over itself as though trying to find a way to escape.
"Before discussing anything to do with Salem or our plans," the scientist began, "we need to make a decision as to what to do with this."
"Is that…?" Ilia began, looking cautious on her screen.
"The specimen extracted from your leg," General Ironwood confirmed. "Dr. Polendina has some ideas as to how we might be able to use it…"
Author's Note:
The meeting not even really getting off the ground in this chapter where the meeting was supposed to start is the most on-brand thing for this story ever. Also, new Smut You Stole was posted this week in celebration of Chapter 300! Go smut it up!
-RD