"Keep your panties on," Kali scolded as she swiveled back and forth in her computer chair, watching the monitor as the screen displayed a simple "CONNECTING…" in large yellow font on a dark blue background. "I can't make the call go through any faster."

Lil' Miss Malachite let out a huff, rapidly cooling herself with her lacy pocket fan despite the rather chill temperature within the cockpit of Kali's flagship. The pair was joined by Amaya, who was leaning up against the wall with her arms folded across her chest while she watched the gang leader's theatrics. The bat faunus simply rolled her eyes before locking them onto the monitor.

"So, what's the deal with you and this Alice person, anyway? And why didn't you say something earlier?"

"She's…" Lil' Miss began, pausing as though considering her words very carefully. "…at the top. Of everythin' that goes on in Mistral and the trade out to Mantle. She's technically my boss, and she'd be able to get us the information we need to make a successful push on Argus."

"…again. Why didn't you say something sooner?" Kali asked as she fully spun around, giving the plump woman a hard look. "We could've been knee-deep in shit in the middle of Argus right now if not for that call with Ironwood. It's a good thing this 'Alice' was on the call, too, so we actually have a plan."

"I've been told explicitly not to involve her in things like this," Lil' Miss warned. "Her base of operations- Aurora's Cradle- it's supposed to be a safe haven for folk like us. We don't get directly involved in wars, o-"

"Oh, blow it out your ass," Amaya interrupted. "End of the world scenario. Put on your big girl pants and ask for some fucking help. I don't care how scary your boss supposedly is."

"I'm workin' on it!" Lil' Miss reminded. "Gave you her contact info, didn't I?"

"You did," Kali agreed as the call finally connected, only for the monitor to show the last person she was expecting to see. "Jacques Schnee…?"

The former president of the Schnee Dust Company sat in a chair not unlike her own, wearing his usual white pressed suit top… and a pair of khaki cargo shorts beneath. He looked exhausted and stressed as he wore a headset with a microphone and sat before a semicircle of monitors. A man that Kali didn't recognize stood behind him, a pair of black pistols strapped to his sides as he loomed over Jacques despite his diminutive stature.

"Yes, yes, what do you want?" the man asked. "And who are you, for that matter?"

Kali merely stared before taking a sharp inhale and clenching her jaw.

"…Kali fucking Belladonna, leader of the Black Claw and former White Fang. You know- that organization that gave you hell for almost two decades? You don't even recognize me?"

"I never…" Jacques began before shaking his head. "It hardly matters now, does it?"

"Oh, I think it matters a lot," the figure behind Jacques protested before he gripped the back of the computer chair and leaned closer to the camera, offering a cheery wave with his golden robotic arm. "Moss Oaks. A pleasure, Miss Belladonna. Jacques is at your service- all of his resources, and all of his knowledge about whatever you need."

"Is that so?" Kali asked, suddenly sounding incredibly amused.

"Hey," Amaya jumped in with a nod. "Before all that, what's with the shorts? They do accentuate your scrawny, pasty chicken legs well, but they don't seem like your style."

"He pissed himself when Ilia fired a warning shot next to his head," Moss explained. "Didn't get to see it myself, but I saw the aftermath."

"I didn't…" Jacques tried, only to resign himself to a heavy sigh as he shook his head. "Look, I'm being forced to play nice, so I'll ask again- what do you need?"

"Much as it pleases me to hear all this, we need to talk to Alice," Lil' Miss chimed in, snapping her fan shut. "Tell her Lil' Miss is callin'."

"…oh, great," Moss said sarcastically as he caught sight of the woman and let out a sigh. "What is it this time?"

"Don't you start," the woman snarled as she pointed her fan directly at the monitor. "I ain't gonna let you disresp-"

"Alright, alright, no one cares about your gang politics," Kali said as she threw her hands up. "Enough with the infighting and posturing. We need Alice so we can get information on Argus and Mantle. Layouts of things, specifically. We're going to liberate the port, and then see about jumping across the sea to lend a hand down in the lower city… assuming Salem herself is gone. I want to be prepared before we even consider pulling the trigger on this."

"Boss is busy," Moss said simply. "The kind of busy that I don't think she'll step away from right now, no matter who contacts her. Jacques can get it done, though… or so he claims. Fire up that S.D.C. database, nepo baby. I'm sure you've got information they can use."

"I do," Jacques said, sounding not at all enthused about the prospect. Despite his mood, he began to type while looking at another monitor "I have maps and locations of local businesses that utilize dust for both cities. They might be useful targets to stockpile resources… and I can also get you information on the power grids and places that are easily defensible."

"Perfect. Hand 'em over," Kali ordered. "Maybe this will mark the beginning of a beautiful partnership, where we all get along and sing campfire songs over Salem's corpse."

"It will if we order him to," Moss reassured. "He works for us, now. So does Robyn Hill… even though she worked for him this whole time."

"What?" Amaya asked, pushing off the wall and looking furious. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"…let's focus on the task at hand," Jacques suggested, refusing to meet the faunus' eyes. "Sending you the information now…"

"Tch. Fine. But if I see either of you out there on the field… my hand just might slip," the bat faunus threatened. "I've got no love for people who step on others to get ahead…"

Robyn Hill was mostly quiet as she followed Ilia up and out of the underground prison and into Aurora's Cradle proper. Though she had been doing business with the city for quite a while, she had never really had a chance to actually see it and its protective dome. In any other situation, it would have been absolutely beautiful… but the traitorous huntress couldn't see it as anything other than an inevitable tomb. Even with Ilia's reassurance and honesty that she thought they could win the war, Robyn herself wasn't at all convinced. The temptation to bolt for the tunnel under the ice and try to take the boat back to Mantle was strong… and in truth, the only thing stopping her was the fact that Ilia was armed, and she wasn't.

Or at least, that's what she told herself.

The two women made their way through the center of town and to the warehouse, where only one of the two regulars was waiting for them. Shiv was incredibly annoyed to see Robyn and made his displeasure known via his facial expression upon seeing her. The woman didn't blame him at all, though she was grateful that he didn't just eject her from the workshop immediately. At least, until he brought her to the locker where her gear had been stored.

"Here," the mink faunus said flatly as he unlocked one of the many standing metal containers and stepped aside. "Take your equipment and get out of my fur. I have work to do."

"Don't we all," Robyn grumbled as she reached into the locker and pulled out her arm-mounted crossbow… only to make a face as she caught sight of it. "What did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything," Shiv sneered as he returned to a nearby workstation and began laying out some tools. "Moss thought it would be an interesting side project to tune it up a bit and modify the bolt-throwing mechanism for more power. Complain to him. I'm not customer service."

Robyn turned the device over in her hand a few times, finding the proportions of the weapon all wrong. The metal eagle's wings had been painted with flame patterns in what she could only assume to be mockery, making the entire thing look incredibly tacky.

"…and I guess the paintjob makes the bolts go faster," the woman said as she strapped it to her arm. "I'll be fixing this as soon as I have a moment."

"Get over it," Ilia advised with a huff. "There's much more important shit to deal with right now, like getting ready to potentially make a move on Mantle. You're lucky we're letting you get involved at all."

"You're lucky that I'm willing, given my skillset and knowledge of the city," Robyn snapped, locking a bolt into the weapon. "Seriously. Don't act like you've saved me or something- I'm doing this for my own personal reasons. Judge me all you want, but you wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't I?" Ilia asked, looking unimpressed as she folded her arms across her chest. "Try me."

Robyn took a sobering breath and closed her eyes. She shook her head slightly before looking back to Ilia and twitching her upper lip.

"…what I was doing wasn't working. Everything was too small-scale, and… being a vigilante huntress and voice of the people, I lost a close friend. Her name was Joanna, and her death… it fucked me up. It changed me. I almost quit entirely, but then… Jacques came along, and offered to make me a sellout. He gave me everything I wanted for the price of integrity, and until this whole Salem mess, things were going fine. Even the people of Mantle were happy. What they didn't know didn't hurt them. You can't tell me that if someone in a position of power greater than yours made you an offer like that, you wouldn't take it."

"I can," Ilia said insistently. "I can tell you that, and I can tell you why. I was White Fang before Sun found me, serving under Adam Taurus. For a long time, he had principles. Fucked up principles, but… there was a goal. A mission. And there were limits to what we would and wouldn't do, even if they went beyond what most people on the streets would accept. We weren't making the kind of headway he wanted, and I know for a fact that he was getting desperate as the years drew on. Eventually… a woman named Cinder Fall came to our camp and made Adam an offer. She gave him an opportunity to join the war on Salem's side and gave him resources to bolster our ranks. Weapons. Money. Power. He took that offer immediately… and that directly led to our downfall. Most of the people in the White Fang had no idea- they just thought we were suddenly seeing success. What they didn't know did hurt them- it got the entire population of the Fang in Mantle killed. You have no idea what damage you've already done that's just on a delayed release."

"You were already spiraling before she came along," Robyn accused. "Don't use his stupid decision as some kind of moral, like accepting the offer really changed anything other than your targets being assigned by someone outside the organization. You were a bunch of terrorists… and whatever morals you think you had were just as questionable and corrupt as mine. You've got no high ground. Try again."

"You have no idea what we stood for," Ilia seethed. "Or why we fell."

"You fell because your cause put you against the entire world!" Robyn replied, throwing her hands up. "You fell because you had nothing to stand on while fighting a power greater than yourself! That's exactly the reason why I'm so hesitant to latch on to this cause. There was never any real hope of the faunus managing t-"

Ilia opened her mouth to yell a retort, but she was beaten to the punch by a far harsher, yet quieter voice.

"The White Fang fell because they compromised their vision for Remnant in exchange for making Adam Taurus a king," Shiv spat as he turned to face the arguing women. "The process had started long before this Cinder woman inflated his ego even further, and the situation was exactly like the bribes and unearned influence you stole from the people of Mantle. That is why I left the organization, and you would do well to listen to Ilia's story as a warning about what will happen if you don't return to the path of fighting for something you actually believe in. You have more in common with Adam than you know… and he was slain due to his mistakes and obsession with power."

All Ilia could do was stare for a moment, her mouth slightly agape as she tried to understand what she had just been told. She was quite certain that she had never seen the man before arriving in the Cradle, nor heard his name around the camp. The chill creeping up her spine told her that there was probably a reason for that… and one that wouldn't be easy to pry out of him.

"You… you were Fang…?" the huntress asked, unsure how to feel about the revelation.

"I was Adam's right hand," Shiv answered, sheer hatred written all over his face. "Long before you became involved, and back when the Fang still had more hope than hatred to cling to. That is why I am here… and that is why I will not abide her efforts to tear us down."

Shiv said nothing more before turning on his heel and making his way for one of the many doors to the warehouse, leaving the two women alone amid the cold, lifeless machinery. Ilia hesitated only a moment before rushing to follow him out into the snow.

Author's Note:

Next time- a check-in on Beacon, and then maybe one other thing before The Plan finally comes together and the journey to Vacuo continues.

-RD