Atlas Tundra
Y/N
The golden sun sets over the Atlesian mountains. Four trucks roll in. And, in tow, was Amity Coliseum itself. Floating in its former glory. In the back of my mind, memories of the Vytal Festival played on mute.
Ahead of me, the rest of the group, still in a state of awe, staring at the Ace Ops. "You guys were incredible!" Jaune compliments Clover, running up to him. "Oh, the way you took down that Geist without needing to plan your tactics out, you know exactly what to do!" Jaune carried on.
"Well, Ace Ops are hand picked to perfectly complement one another. So we can focus on our assets and leave our liabilities behind." Clover explained.
"Some of us are all assets, zero liability." Marrow says confidently with a salute. Elm scoffs from the side. "Wha -- Yeah? Think I've got some liabilities, Elm?" He confronts her.
"Your brains, for one." She burnt. Clover, Elm, and Harriet laugh as the Faunus groans and pouts. "You did ask." Vine stated as the former three and he walks past.
Unnoticedly, Nora approaches Elm with wide eyes and a smile. Finally noticing her presence, she turns to the orange-haired soon-to-be Huntress. "Hi! Do you need a new best friend? Our pair name can be..." She pauses as she moves closer.
"THUNDER THIGHS!!!" She exclaimed, wielding Magnhild over her head enthusiastically. Harriet watches with a sigh. "Perfect complementary teamwork. Oh, yeah, I want to have my friends back just like that." Ruby runs over to Harriet.
"Friends?" Harriet queried with a raised brow. "This isn't the schoolyard, kid." Elm chuckles. "Thunder thighs..." Nora huskily uttered, to only be picked up by Ren and taken away somewhere else.
"But, I mean, when you go through so much with someone, it kind of changes things, doesn't it?" Yang intervenes with the rest of Team RWBY. "We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that's the job. We don't confuse the two." Harriet inputted before turning away from Team RWBY and walking away.
"Speaking of the job..." Clover steps in. I look behind him to see General Ironwood talking on a communicator. "Duty ever beckons. You all hang back a second." He continues as he gesture to Jaune, and Qrow.
The Ace Ops make their way towards the General as we all stood in the snow. I dragged my foot across the snow to make the time pass by faster. From a distance, Ruby talked to her teammates.
"What do you guys want to do when we get back to Atlas? Sightseeing?" She suddenly gasps. "Oh, what should we visit first?" She asks her team. "How about our beds?" Blake yawns.
"Oh, come on, guys! This is a great time to go exploring! We haven't done that in so long!" Ruby exclaimed. "Ruby, we just explored a whole continent on foot before flying to this one." Weiss walks away.
"Well, yeah, but... it was only the boring parts." Ruby defended. "We almost died." Yang says, crossing her arms. Ruby blows a raspberry. "Hey. Heads up." Qrow calls out to us.
Looking away from the scene, Qrow points at General Ironwood who dismissed the Ace Ops except for Clover. "Can I get the team leaders over here? There's something I'd like to discuss with you. You too, Qrow. Y/N." General Ironwood calls to us.
Making my way to him, I stood next to Ruby. "And Clover?" General Ironwood calls to him. "Don't take Marrow." The leader nods at the General's orders.
"New problems in Mantle?" Qrow asks. "More of the same, unfortunately." General Ironwood sighs. "Someone in Mantle is taking out public leaders who speak out against Atlas." He pulled up a small holographic screen of a familiar guy.
"Specifically, people who speak out against me. It didn't look like a pattern at first. But this is the third murder of its kind in the last week." He explained. "Wait a minute." Jaune steps forward. "Isn't that..."
"The guy that rode with us after we got arrested." I nodded. "He died?" Ruby asks with an upset tone. "Your opposition in Mantle dropping dead isn't exactly a good look for you, huh?" Qrow questioned.
"Not really worried about my public image, but it is causing unrest." General deactivates the hologram, putting his scroll away. "I think someone's trying to frame me and, by extension, Atlas. And it's working." He confessed.
"Well, if it wasn't for the embargo making everybody so mad, people probably wouldn't be so quick to blame you for everything else." Jaune stated. A noticeable frown is present on General Ironwood's face. Jaune awkwardly clears his throat and stands at attention.
"S -- sir." He replied. "No. No, you're right." General Ironwood rubs the bridge of his nose. "Things in Mantle have been... hard to manage lately. I'm not blind to its issues. In fact, that's what I want to talk to you about." He confessed.
"With the launch of this mobile communication tower and tension down in Mantle, I think there are a lot of good your teams can do here." He says, looking up at Amity Coliseum. Suddenly, his communicator beeps. Taking it out, he puts his fingers to it, listening.
"What? Already? Here? No, it's fine. Let him land. I'll deal with him myself." General Ironwood talks into the communicator. Both Ruby and I shared a questionable glance before turning back to the General.
"More Mantle problems?" Qrow questioned. "No. This one's an Atlas problem." He corrected. From a distance, an airship flies in with the Schnee Dust Company logo on its side.
'This can't be good...' I thought to myself as we walked towards the landing pad. A ramp extends from the airship's double door, which opens to reveal an angry Jacques Schnee. 'Called it...' I thought again.
"So let me get this straight, James. In addition to this nonsensical embargo of yours crippling my business, you've also decided you have the authority to commandeer private property?" Jacques ranted as he makes his way in front of the General, who stood calm, arms folded behind him. With an accusing finger, he continues. "When the Council hears about this, you will never -- "
"Actually, I've already informed them. As this is now the site of a classified military operation, it didn't even require a vote." General Ironwood calmly cut him.
"Didn't require a vote?!" Jacques let out in disbelief. "You might want to brush up on Council law before you lose this upcoming election, Jacques. Now. I've allowed you to land here once as a courtesy. The next time, it won't be a friendly reception." General Ironwood warned him, who received a glare as an answer. "Lately, you seem to forget who your friends really are. I'm going to get that Council seat, James, and maybe then, you'll -- "
Cutting himself off, his eyes widen when he notices Weiss's presence. "You..." Jacques let out with disappointment. He walks past General Ironwood.
"You ropes my missing daughter into these schemes of yours, too?" Jacque turns to the General. "How long has she been back in Atlas? Did Winter know about this?" He angrily questioned. Annoyed, Weiss steps forward.
"It was my decision to come here. Just like it was my decision to leave. Or have you forgotten all about it?" She confronted her father. "If you think I'm one to forget anything, girl, then you've misjudged the man your father is." He fought back.
"Believe me, I know exactly the kind of man you are." Weiss replied with an attitude. "How dare you speak to me that way?! I have half of a mind to -- "
"Half a mind to do what, Jacques?" General Ironwood interjects. Adjusting his cuffs, Jacques sighs angrily. "You know... your mother was devastated when you left." Jacques confessed.
"Didn't leave her room for days. You know how... she gets... when she's upset." He continued with a tone of "sadness." Furrowing my brows, I took a step forward. Qrow puts a hand in front of me, shaking his head not to intervene.
"I knew one day, you would overextend your reach. I didn't come here to beg for an abandoned mine. I came here to thank you..." Jaques stated as his second daughter looks towards her teammates. Blake grasps her hands and gives her a reassuring, comforting nod.
"...for personally handing me the noose to hang you." Jacques finishes his thought. "You'll regret this." He says turning away from her, then back. "So these are the little friends you threw everything away for?" Jacques says, eying Team RWBY.
"Not friends." She shakes her head. "Family." She corrected. "Hmm..." Jacques simply let out before turning and retreating back to his airship. It soon takes off and leaves the area.
A truck soon arrives on the platform. The passenger side door opens to reveal Winter peaking out at the ship. "Oh, now you show up, Winter. You just missed father." Weiss says in a joking manner. Jumping out of the tuck, she makes her way towards Team RWBY. "I wouldn't say I missed hi -- "
Suddenly, Penny crash-lands in between Winter and Team RWBY, sending the group of four flying. "Surprise!" She enthusiastically makes her entrance.
A small smile formed on my face from the gesture. "Uh, did we not start yet?" Penny asks, noticing Team RWBY on the ground. General Ironwood stares with a wide-eyed grimace. Winter puts her fingertips on her forehead in exasperation.
"Apparently, we haven't." Winter sighed. Jaune and Nora laugh at my side, while Ruby stands up in confusion. "Start what?" She asks out loud.