"Headmaster!" Yang slammed her fist on the desk. The coffee mug jumped and would have fallen to the floor if Ozpin hadn't managed to catch it. "What kind of bullshit is this?! What criminals? What infiltration? Just give us Blake back!"
Standing behind the Headmaster's desk, Miss Goodwitch strictly flashed her glasses.
"Miss Xiao Long, control your temper. It is not least because of it that things have only gotten worse."
"What was I supposed to do? That meathead started accusing Blake of some bullshit and refused to leave!"
Weiss and Ruby nodded vigorously, signing off on her every word. Like Yang, they both looked battered, because they had tried with all their might to fight their teammate back. Unfortunately, they had failed, and therefore they were left with only one option - to tattle on everything to Ozpin. However, they absolutely did not expect him to take Atlas's side.
Goodwitch was just about to say something else, but was stopped by the Headmaster. He raised his hand, asking for silence, and even the enraged Yang instantly quieted down.
"Let us keep this dialogue constructive. First of all: I sincerely admire your bravery, Team RWBY. For the sake of your friend, you were not afraid to launch a hopeless attack on James and trash your own dorm wing, and that speaks volumes."
A crack of a riding crop was heard.
"For example, that they will spend the next month doing detention as janitors," Miss Goodwitch clearly didn't share Ozpin's sentiments on the matter. "Just like practically their entire dormitory building."
"That too," a diplomatic reply followed. "However, I doubt that even a year of detentions could shake their belief that they did the right thing. It shows how strong their team bonds are."
Ruby scuffed her foot and smiled, while Yang ostentatiously cracked her knuckles, as if showing she was ready to punch the Atlas general in the face one more time. Weiss maintained complete calm and hadn't uttered a single word so far. No one had managed to read her thoughts yet, though she had fought with just as much zeal as the rest. A few bullet holes in her skirt and her disheveled hair, which she hadn't had time to pull back into a ponytail, served as proof. None of them had any intention of repenting.
"However, the facts say that it was Miss Belladonna who infiltrated the tower that night," the Headmaster sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Whether she is guilty or not, the further investigation will show."
He calmed the students, who were about to object, by raising his hand.
"I ask you not to interrupt. It just so happens that the composite sketch of the criminal is very similar to Miss Belladonna in figure, as well as in hair length and color. Furthermore, the forensic analysis of the only piece of evidence left behind revealed hair and dandruff particles belonging to Blake. Moreover, she was absent from the ball, and the crime took place exactly at that time."
"The criminal's Semblance is something akin to glass manipulation," Weiss pointed out, speaking up for the first time. "Blake's Semblance is clones. That alone is enough to understand that Blake was framed. There is no way her hair could have ended up on that mask."
"Most likely," Ozpin nodded. "However, simply ignoring so many facts against Miss Belladonna would be negligent on my part. Personally, I believe she is innocent, but everything must be thoroughly checked. No one has ever suffered from excessive precaution."
"Except Blake," Yang noted caustically. "So, is that why you kidnapped her?"
"Initially, no one wanted to take her into custody, however, the aggression from your side only exacerbated the suspicions towards Miss Belladonna."
"That night she was in Vale with Sun," Weiss noted again. "Ask the pilot who took them there, or Sun himself."
A reasonable suggestion, but even it was incapable of helping them. Miss Goodwitch looked at her Scroll and shook her head.
"As far as I know, Miss Belladonna so far refuses to say what she was doing in the city to confirm her alibi. And their testimonies alone will not be enough."
"Who knows, maybe she and Sun rented a room in a love hotel there!" Yang yelled again. "So she's too embarrassed to admit it."
"In that case, she should still say so," Ozpin replied without blinking an eye. "The main fact against Miss Belladonna is that she refuses to cooperate with the investigation. Be it distrust of Atlas, an attempt to keep some secrets of her own, or a banal bout of paranoia brought on by nerves, but she refuses to say anything."
"Well of course she does, they literally kidnapped her!"
"I am also not pleased with this outcome," the Headmaster admitted honestly. "She should have voluntarily accompanied them to the Atlas flagship. It would have saved us all a lot of unnecessary trouble."
Ruby awkwardly raised her hand. She was the most terrified for Blake, because she was afraid their team would fall apart again. The main nightmare of their first months of study had returned to her again, but this time it filled her with determination, not despair.
"Blake's gonna be okay, right? Promise me that Blake's gonna be okay."
Ozpin silently looked into her eyes for a while, not wanting to make promises he might not be able to keep. Glynda Goodwitch, seeing this, decided to take matters into her own hands.
"If Miss Belladonna is innocent, then neither you nor she has anything to fear. However, if it goes to court, this case will fall under the jurisdiction of the Vale legal system and the respective Councilor. Ozpin can convince him to hand down a more lenient or even an acquittal verdict."
"You can?" Ruby asked hopefully, looking at the Headmaster.
"Yes. I can."
"Thank you."
It was unlikely to be legal, but if Blake returned to them, they were all ready to not just turn a blind eye to it, but to actively encourage it in every possible way. The method wasn't so important, be it bribery, threats, or writing off a debt, because otherwise they would test out their own methods: an armed assault, stealth infiltration, or something else that would clearly add gray hairs to Ozpin's already snow-white head of hair.
Everyone considered this a pretty big step toward resolving the conflict. The tension with which they had arrived here began to slowly melt in the air. The only one dissatisfied was Yang, whose hot-headed and proactive nature demanded decisive action immediately, right now, this very second.
"And how long do we have to wait for them to give Blake back? And what will they do to her if they find out she's a Faunus? Atlas has never been particularly kind to them."
"You are exaggerating," Weiss said, not entirely sure of her own words. "They might start treating her with more suspicion, but they certainly will not do anything bad. At most, they will put her in a stricter cell."
"Why so sure?" No answer followed. Weiss just shrugged her shoulders uncertainly.
"I think so."
"Figures. Headmaster, can't you just set Blake free? Go up to that Grimm-damned ship," Yang waved her hand toward the window, beyond which the Atlas flagship still hung over the first-year dorm, "and restore some order there!"
He shook his head and sighed heavily.
"It is much more complicated than it seems. Atlas is engaged in ensuring the security of the festival, and if its representative in Vale considers someone a threat, then he has the right to deal with it."
"The General is within his rights," Miss Goodwitch added, frowning displeasedly, "even though I do not approve of, essentially, military actions on the territory of my academy directed at my students. No one approves of it."
"See!" Yang seemed to latch onto something. "Blake is your student, so do something. Headmaster, can't you just smack the general on the head and take her back?"
"No," Ozpin replied firmly. "James will dig his heels in, and that is a conflict. A conflict will lead to a waste of resources on both sides, and that is absolutely the last thing we need on the eve of such a major event as the Vytal Tournament. Even though our suspicions are well-founded, they do have a few inconsistencies, which is why James decided to first personally ask Miss Belladonna to come with him. It is the fight you started, Miss Xiao Long, that exacerbated the situation."
Yang was about to say something else, but the Headmaster interrupted her again. But this time not with a tactfully raised palm, but with a raised voice.
"Enough. Your proposals will lead to nothing but an escalation of the conflict between Vale and Atlas. The Vytal Festival is upon us - a celebration of unity and peace~"
"During which Atlas kidnaps a citizen of another kingdom," Yang interrupted, looking at him defiantly. "Doesn't look much like unity and peace."
Ruby tried to calm her sister, but she didn't want to hear it. She was unshakeable, and if the result wasn't achieved momentarily, she would go and do whatever it took herself. Even if she had to face the entire Atlas army and General Ironwood personally, all alone.
"I know," Ozpin said, pressing a button on his desk. A second later, the elevator doors opened. "And do not think I will just let this slide. Miss Belladonna will be returned to you safe and sound, especially if you DO NOT do anything rash. And now, go."
Yang bared her teeth, but Ruby took her firmly by the hand and pulled her back. Right now, all they could do was take the Headmaster's word for it.
Suddenly, disgruntled shouts began to echo from the street. They were getting closer, as if an angry mob was heading for the tower. Ozpin exchanged a bewildered look with Miss Goodwitch, and she took a few steps toward the window. As soon as she looked down, her face drew out in surprise.
"Is this... a riot?"
Soon the voices got close enough to make out individual words.
"FREEDOM FOR BLAKE! WE DON'T ABANDON OUR OWN! DOWN WITH THE WARDENS! LET THEM LOCK UP THEIR OWN!"
Suddenly everything fell silent. Only for a single, but incredibly loud voice to hit everyone's ears a couple of seconds later. And the more he spoke, the wider the eyes of those present became.
When the voice fell silent, having finished its fiery speech with a threat of imminent retribution against the Beacon teaching staff, the Headmaster sighed deeply and took a sip of coffee. He was clearly very displeased with this turn of events.
"Miss Schnee," Glynda Goodwitch sighed. "Please, pacify your beau."[1]
***
Today Egrer woke up to gunshots, explosions, profanity-laced battle cries, and the panicking wails of Illmond, who was hiding under the bed. In their dorm, right on the floor above, someone had started a firefight. Overall, it was far from a rare occurrence; in the neighboring upperclassmen building, such skirmishes happened regularly. Yort even used them to figure out what day of the week it was.
Yort himself was snoring quietly, not intending to get up before his alarm no matter what, while Magenta simply paid no attention to the noise, preferring to wrap herself head-to-toe in her blanket and keep sleeping. Perhaps Egrer would have followed their example, if a humanoid shadow hadn't appeared on the closed curtains. As if someone had blocked out the sun from the outside. Out of curiosity, Egrer slightly pulled back the curtain and saw an Atlas soldier climbing up a rope.
He held an assault rifle in his hands, and his face was hidden by a closed helmet, but neither of those things helped against the brick wall of the third floor falling right onto his face. Yang yelled something profane after him and tossed another soldier down.
Egrer watched with an uncomprehending gaze as pebbles and brick dust continued to fall a couple of centimeters from the window for a while longer. After which he rubbed his eyes and pinched his cheek, trying to figure out if he was dreaming or not.
"Why the Grimm is Atlas storming our dorm?" Egrer asked himself, roughly grasping what was going on. "And only the third floor at that..."
He got up in just his pajamas and boldly threw open the curtains, and then the window behind them. Magenta immediately started grumbling something in her sleep, hiding from the rays of the morning sun, while Yort was protected from the light by the TV. Illmond continued to shake under the bed.
First of all, Egrer noticed about a dozen similar curious heads sticking out onto the street, and only then the Atlesians, who were climbing up ropes into the third-floor windows. But usually they didn't stay there long and soon flew back out, knocking holes in the walls in the process. His ears started ringing from the ceaseless bursts of automatic gunfire.
"They're beating our guys!" someone yelled, after which a massive slaughter began.
First-years started jumping out of windows right onto the soldiers who hadn't yet managed to climb up the ropes. Some climbed up to the third floor and fought right there. Some were in their underwear, some with towels on their heads after a morning shower, some in pajamas or wrapped in blankets. Unlike the Atlesians, none of them had weapons, but even so, the soldiers got more than they bargained for.
Egrer slowly closed the window, drawing the curtains again just in case. Magenta stopped tossing and turning and fell fast asleep once more.
"What kind of circus is this?" he asked himself.
An explosion echoed. Judging by the sound, a grenade had gone off right above them. If you recalled that Team JNPR's room was located right above Team Majesty's room, then most likely they had also joined the fight and gotten caught in the crossfire. Plaster rained down from the ceiling, as well as a couple of chunks of the ceiling itself.
Egrer sleepily brushed the dirt off his pajamas and took a step back. When the dust settled, he dazedly peered into the hole in the ceiling.
"They took Blake!" Ruby's voice rang out from there. "After them!"
The stomping of multiple feet could be heard, as well as a dozen battle cries. Egrer could only make out Nora's call to break all the Atlesians' legs and Weiss's barely decipherable indignation. Nora quickly corrected herself and made a little addendum just for her.
"What the motherfucking hell is going on here?!" Egrer yelled.
"Eg, go back to sleep," Magenta mumbled, sleepily rubbing her eyes. She propped herself up on her elbows, lazily looked around, and collapsed back onto her pillow. A small cloud of multi-colored pollen floated into the air. "Who knows, maybe they couldn't share the bathroom again..."
"We're at war with Atlas!" he yelled again. "Combat readiness, on the double! Move it, I said!"
Egrer shook Yort and Magenta awake and slapped Illmond upside the head to bring him to his senses. Soon it dawned on everyone that this wasn't just a skirmish between students, but a motherfucking military special operation. It took a minute to get dressed, and another minute for the forced march to the armory.
They didn't encounter a single soldier on the way, although they usually patrolled every square meter of Beacon in groups of several people. Perhaps they had all been recalled to the flagship, since it was clearly dangerous to remain on the ground right now. Even the airships were trying to stay higher up. The only ones left below were those who, during the storming of the dorms, had been knocked too far away from the Atlas Bullheads. They simply hadn't been picked up in time during the retreat.
Practically every Beacon student was in the armory. Everyone was pushing and shoving, rushing to grab their weapons or put on their armor as quickly as possible. The area was filled with a din, the general gist of which could be boiled down to one question: "Did Atlas declare war on Beacon?" Fuel was added to the fire by some particularly aggressive individuals who were itching to bring judgment day to the Atlesians and were trying to instigate the rest into doing the same.
"Eg!" Jaune approached them, accompanied by his team. Nora was rubbing her cheek against her hammer in anticipation, Ren maintained complete stoicism, and Pyrrha held her sword and shield at the ready. "The Atlesians took Blake! Dragged her onto a Bullhead and took off for their flagship."
Egrer glanced out the window. The massive Atlesian ship hovered directly over the first-year dorm, even though it usually flew in the distance, circling Beacon.
"But why?" he asked into the void, still unable to grasp the full absurdity of the situation. "I mean, there has to be some explanation for this. Atlas couldn't have just arrested her for no reason!"
"Weiss mentioned in passing," Pyrrha said, "that the soldiers accused her of recently breaking into the Headmaster's tower."
Everything immediately fell into place. Most likely, the Puppeteer had begun to guess that She was about to be exposed, and decided to get rid of Blake this way. There was no doubt that Sun, Weiss, and Egrer himself would be next.
The question wasn't how She did it right now, the focus was on getting Blake out, and fast.
"We need a ton of Dust," Nora said in her most serious tone, pulling away from cuddling her weapon. "We'll build a rocket and launch it straight into that behemoth."
Ren diplomatically cleared his throat.
"Nora, but Blake will get hurt too."
"Ah... right..." But before she could get downcast, another crazy idea popped into her head. "Then let's storm it! Everyone, to the Beacon hangar, let's borrow a couple of Bullheads from the Headmaster! We'll board this Atlesian schooner! Yo-ho-ho!"
A solid portion of those present supported her impulse. Blake might have practically no acquaintances outside her own team, but Beacon would stand up for its own to the bitter end.
Well, or they just liked the idea of such a massive brawl...
"Are you out of your mind?" Yort asked Nora. The battle cries in the room quieted down. "Even their basic flyers are packed with weapons right up to the pilots' tonsils, and the flagship will just blast you with EMPs and you'll drop straight back to the dirt. You're completely crazy."
And he was right. Atlas is famous for its technological achievements and total air superiority. While Beacon only has Bullheads for transporting Huntsmen into the thick of battle. Yes, they are fast, but they often don't even have basic weapons, since the Huntsmen themselves usually shoot back at flying Grimm.
Egrer looked out the window again. The angular contours of the flagship's long hull involuntarily evoked associations with a predatory beast crouched for a jump. The air around the snow-white armor plates vibrated from the invisible energy of Gravity Dust, which the engines devoured on an industrial scale. The main caliber gun was of such impressive length and width that a joke had long circulated in Beacon that Ironwood was trying to compensate for something with it. And of course, the Atlas emblem depicted on the side - a white shield and a torch in a circle.
Trying to storm such a behemoth was the height of madness. Yort understood this perfectly, however, he didn't make that remark to talk Nora out of her dubious venture.
"You're out of your mind, and I respect that! And now that you're all in the loop, let's kick their asses!" he yelled to the thunderous roar of the crowd. "An eight percent chance of success, we're gonna wreck 'em! Ooh, my momma would be proud of me right now, rest her soul."
"Forward!" Nora commanded, and the most combat-ready students headed to storm the hangar. The rest of her team followed her to keep an eye on things and supervise, although they clearly didn't like this idea. Especially a pale-looking Jaune.
All he could do was pray that no one would end up getting hurt in the end. And right now, Egrer wasn't worried about his fellow students...
The armory emptied by half. The remaining ones either didn't like such a low chance of success, or the prospect of getting their asses kicked by Atlas. The soldiers themselves might not pose much of a danger to Beacon students (at least in small numbers), but military hardware or advanced guns definitely did.
So as soon as the most aggressive and combative ones left, the rest froze in indecision. They didn't know what to do or where to go, and some even rushed to put their weapons back and simply bail.
Egrer grabbed Illmond by the scruff of the neck.
"Execution for desertion. Put your gloves back on quickly and get in formation."
"I've never even spoken to this Blake of yours."
"That is not an excuse."
Boarding the Atlas flagship is obviously a stupid idea, but one could act less straightforwardly. It wasn't for nothing that Egrer was the General Secretary of the union, right? So it was Enversion's duty to stand up for all the oppressed. Two birds with one stone. Save Blake and generate PR for the union. The Puppeteer clearly underestimated their capabilities; Blake would return to Beacon today.
"Madge, hold Ill for a sec." Magenta obediently grabbed their cowardly shut-in by the scruff instead of him. Egrer himself climbed onto a weapons locker and now towered over everyone by a whole two meters. "Folks! Friends, comrades."
The whole room turned to his voice. Many knew Egrer from his campaigns and public speeches, and therefore listened with interest.
"Has the era of kings returned to us? Are we to endure the tyranny and self-will of those in power again?" A disgruntled hum swept through the armory. They clearly didn't like this prospect. "And from whom? From Atlas. N-o-o-o, we cannot tolerate this. Vale is a free kingdom! Let them lock up whoever they want in their homeland, but we will not stay silent!"
"We won't!" someone from the crowd yelled, and the rest joined in. When the din died down, Egrer quietly continued.
"But their flagship is so far away, and we can't shout loud enough to reach it, no matter how hard we try... Therefore, we'll express all our grievances to the Headmaster! He's the one who let the soldiers into Beacon, he's the one who allowed Blake's kidnapping. So let him eat the mess he's made!"
Ozpin simply had to do something; Blake was his student, after all, so she was under his care. And what happened here was, essentially, a kidnapping. Egrer hoped that he would take their side.
"I heard the soldiers just burst into her room and immediately started tying her up," a female voice was heard. "They didn't even let her change clothes!"
"I heard that too!" a male voice said now. "And the Atlesians were also yelling something about her being some kind of criminal."
"They're just framing future competitors in the tournament to get them disqualified!" a third one said. "Soon they'll get to Nikos too!"
A synchronized battle cry rang out through the armory. Even the most cowardly or uncertain ones grabbed their guns again and started heading outside to move as a single crowd toward the Headmaster's tower. Everyone except Illmond, of course, but he was being dragged behind the others by Magenta.
She herself was imbued with the idea of justice and the fight of all that is good against all that is bad. A naive nature, easily convinced to pick up her trusty flamethrower if told it was for the Greater Good.
Although Nora took the most radically minded fighters with her, everyone in Beacon knows how and loves to use weapons for their intended purpose. These conditional "Pacifists" might be calmer, but even they would support an event like a massive riot. If only so they'd have something to remember and smile about in their old age. And besides, at the end of the day, organizing a rally is much safer and easier than throwing oneself onto the barricades.
Egrer, walking at the very front, raised his fist to the sky.
"Freedom for Blake!"
"FREEDOM FOR BLAKE!" the crowd repeated behind him. Egrer didn't see it, but he was sure the others mirrored his gesture.
"We don't abandon our own!"
"WE DON'T ABANDON OUR OWN!"
It was very pleasant to wield such power. It seemed that every one of them would carry out his every order, if it ensured they achieved their goals. Or if they thought it would ensure the achievement of their goals.
"Down with the wardens!"
"DOWN WITH THE WARDENS!"
"Let them lock up their own!"
"LET THEM LOCK UP THEIR OWN!"
They got closer and closer to the Headmaster's tower. Many sleepyheads and gawkers looked in surprise at their protest action, and almost everyone ultimately joined their cause. The crowd grew with every minute, and only foreigners, especially visitors from Atlas, kept away from them. Only Sun joined the ranks of the strikers.
And so they reached their goal. The spire of the Headmaster's tower reached far into the sky, blocking the rising sun and casting a long, long shadow over them. From such a height, their gathering surely looked like a huge stain on the ground. A heavily armed and disgruntled stain.
Before Egrer could figure out what to do next, a megaphone was shoved into his hand. The hint was clear, and he cranked the volume to the max. The crowd behind him quieted down instantly as he brought it to his mouth.
"I ADDRESS HEADMASTER OZPIN AND THE ENTIRE TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF OF BEACON!!! WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF BLAKE BELLADONNA AND AN EXPLANATION FROM THE ATLAS REPRESENTATIVE - GENERAL JAMES IRONWOOD!!!" Egrer paused for a second and lowered the volume slightly. He had almost gone deaf from his own voice. "We won't tolerate the kidnapping of our friends and just stand idly by! We declare a strike!"
"STRIKE!" yelled the crowd behind him.
"We refuse to study!"
"WE REFUSE!"
"We won't obey the teachers!"
"WE WON'T!"
"Tell 'em to get the soldiers out of Beacon too!" someone yelled from the crowd.
"Yeah, if our Councilors or the Headmaster need those meatheads so badly, then let them live in Vale!"
"If they don't leave, this could happen again!"
Egrer became confused. He knew perfectly well that Atlas was here not only to ensure the security of the festival, but also to catch the Puppeteer. Any help would be useful; after all, Atlas isn't just military might, but also specialists of all stripes. The soldiers were absolutely necessary here... even if they sometimes made mistakes.
So kicking them out was out of the question. Egrer simply pretended he had gone deaf from his own voice and heard nothing.
"Atlas will get more than it bargained for!" After these words, the Beacon students showed their resolve in the most obvious way - they started firing into the air. Rockets, grenades, and bullets flew; the roar was so loud it was surely heard even in Vale.
A minute later, the shooting stopped. Gray smog could be seen in the sky, as if fireworks had been exploding there for twenty-four hours straight, and the smell of spent Dust was distinctly felt in the air. Egrer decided to slightly satisfy the bloodlust of these madmen, who hadn't followed Nora due to some mistake. Otherwise, he felt in his heart, they'd lynch him instead.
"To prove our resolve, every ten minutes we will string up a couple of captive Atlas soldiers upside down on lampposts! And then strip them to their underwear, draw on them with permanent marker, and pelt them with eggs!"
Egrer whispered toward the nearest student:
"Have someone run to the dorms, I think there's still some soldier boys lying around there. Oh, and grab the eggs and markers too."
The guy nodded and instantly darted off to fulfill the errand, dragging a couple more of his friends along with him.
"Ahem, you heard everything..." Egrer summarized. But suddenly he wanted to end his speech with something epic. He cranked the volume to the max again. "IF YOU DO NOT MEET OUR DEMANDS, THEN THE GUNS WILL DO THE TALKING INSTEAD OF ME!!! THOSE OF YOU LEFT ALIVE WILL ENVY THE DEAD!!!"
A screech of the megaphone filled the area.
That was definitely it: the thought was expressed, the demands voiced, the consequences explained. The speech was over. Egrer turned to the militia.
"There will be a result, but not right away. I ask you to be patient and not go to extremes, like our pirates." At that exact moment, Nora's small fleet flew out of the Beacon hangar. "I think it's clear to everyone that they won't win."
The Bullheads were overcrowded, and the students who couldn't fit were hanging on the engines or sitting on the windshields. Almost all of them were firing their weapons into the air, genuinely acting like pirates anticipating an imminent haul.
But as soon as the Bullheads lifted off the ground, cannons emerged from the Atlas flagship. They didn't fire rockets or massive shells, but instead unleashed bright orbs of energy. Upon impact, all electronics instantly shut down, and the target began to fall. Fortunately, no one had flown very high yet, so no one was hurt. Even the Bullheads got off with just some dents and fried electronics.
The assault choked before it even began. The massive Atlesian airship simply continued to cruise through Beacon's airspace, with Blake locked in its depths. Then again, practically everyone here expected to see exactly this.
"Look! One's flying!"
Egrer peered closely. One Bullhead had somehow managed to avoid getting hit by an EMP projectile and was continuing to gain altitude. The Atlas flagship fired once more, and everyone on the ground watched with bated breath as the blue energy orbs shattered harmlessly against an invisible shield. Apparently, someone on board possessed a Semblance suitable for the situation.
Atlas didn't dare use anything serious. Meeting no further resistance, the Bullhead accelerated to the limit. The engines spewed jets of fire and were clearly malfunctioning, and entire chunks began to tear off the hull. At full speed, the boarding party smashed right into the belly of the Atlas flagship, burying itself so deep only the tail stuck out.
A joyous roar went up on the ground; they had managed to get inside. It was unlikely that a couple dozen students could capture the pride of the Atlas military fleet, but freeing Blake and escaping was very possible.
"Egrer Peleni."
Egrer flinched. Usually, when Weiss called him by his first and last name, it didn't mean anything good. Doubly so if her voice was deceptively calm.
"Y-yes?" He turned around. Weiss looked rough. And it wasn't just her tired appearance and the couple of bullet holes in her clothes; her mood right now was far from good in its own right. He felt that perfectly well. "Y-you look really good with your hair down, did you know that?"
Practically everyone was watching the flagship right now, so no one paid any attention to their little conversation.
"You idiot, you do realize you only made things worse, right?"
"Did I?" he asked in surprise. "Just look at the crowd I gathered. If not today, then tomorrow Blake will be back with us. The Puppeteer might have managed to fray our nerves a bit, but in the end, we'll still outsmart Her. She underestimated us."
"Your stunt is practically a declaration of war by the Beacon students against the forces of Atlas. You forced the issue, leaving the Headmaster with no choice but to start a conflict with the General or his own students! Not only that, you turned the students against the Headmaster with your speeches! There are three sides to this misunderstanding, and now they are all pitted against each other. Excellent work! Are you absolutely sure you are not the Puppeteer's secret agent?"
"I... I..." Egrer didn't even know what to say. "Okay, I admit, I got a little carried away playing revolution. But they kidnapped Blake right out of her room~"
"No, this morning James Ironwood personally knocked on our door and politely asked Blake to come with him. The only inconvenience he caused us was showing up militarily early."
"But I heard others say she was beaten, kidnapped, and almost got her ears cut off."
"O-o-oh, well, that changes everything! Since rumors and gossip are such a reliable source of information!"
Had her causticity been a weapon, his head would have already exploded from the rush of blood to his face. He felt like such a terrible idiot that even that general who attacked the Faunus at night during the Faunus Rights Revolution seemed like a beacon of reason and high intellect in comparison. A heat of such terrifying force filled Egrer's body that he even started to sweat.
"Then how did the fight start?" he asked desperately.
"Blake refused to go, Ironwood insisted and tried to convince her that it would be better for her not to resist, and then Yang simply punched him in the face. What happened is entirely the fault of Blake's paranoia and Yang's overprotectiveness. We started this conflict, not them."
"I'm so stu-u-upid..."
Now he was beginning to understand how all sorts of revolutions and uprisings are provoked and exploited by people completely uninvolved in them. This whole situation had clearly played right into the Puppeteer's hands.
"And now that you have realized how thoughtless and destructive your actions were, let me thank you."
Weiss grabbed him by the collar and dragged him aside, away from prying eyes. Making sure no one was looking in their direction, she nodded decisively and briskly pulled him toward her. The sensation of her lips was too fleeting to get a good taste of it. Weiss pulled away just as quickly as she had approached.
"You might have saved Blake. Not by the best method, but you saved her."
"Well..." Egrer didn't know what to answer; his mind still hadn't fully grasped what had happened. He licked his lips. "The General obviously went too far..."
"Saved her not from Ironwood, but from Ozpin," Weiss flabbergasted him. All other thoughts instantly vanished from his head. "I think... the Headmaster entertained the possibility that it was Blake who infiltrated the tower that night. He was not going to let her go. The Puppeteer somehow managed to doctor the evidence and frame her, which means She has access to Atlas's databases or other methods to manipulate the investigation however She wants. If Blake stays locked up, the Puppeteer could plant a couple more pieces of evidence against her. And then all is lost."
"So what do we do?"
"I see two options. First - get Blake out against the will of the Headmaster and the General. Your army of anarchists will help us with that. And second... tell Ozpin everything and clear up all the misunderstandings between us. Personally, I lean towards the second option."
"No," Egrer replied firmly. But then he caught Weiss's gaze and immediately looked away. "Maybe..."
On the one hand, he felt an irrational fear at the prospect of losing his former foster parents. On the other hand, he didn't want to risk those who were currently in Beacon. Weiss herself, for example. This duality tore him into two perfectly equal halves. And Egrer already knew that this would end in nothing good.
Where did his uncertainty lead him during the times when he actively fought Magenta for the position of leader, while utterly hesitating to resort to genuinely effective methods? It was only out of pure luck that he had made the right choice. Although, was it even a choice? He spent all his time running between two chairs, and was simply lucky enough to fall exhausted next to the one that ultimately led to positive changes.
Where did his uncertainty lead him in the matchmaking issue? He couldn't decide whether to help Jaune win Weiss over or to help Weiss brush off the annoying Jaune, and in the end, the choice was made for him. And it was just as great a stroke of luck that everything turned out well in the end; it could have been much worse.
He tried to make sure everyone was happy, stubbornly ignoring one important detail - the success of one side inevitably leads to the defeat of the other. Sometimes it is simply physically impossible to sit on two chairs; they stand too far apart from each other. And running from one to the other, there can only be one outcome.
And the same thing was happening now. Help his friends from Beacon - and he'd doom Roman and Neo to death; help those two - and those same friends would be forced to live next to a dangerous criminal, and who knows what She planned to do next. Previously, this issue hadn't been so glaring for one simple reason - everyone Egrer truly cared about knew nothing about the Puppeteer and stayed far away from Her.
But even so, making a final choice was impossible. His doubts only sharpened, but he had to make some kind of choice. Yes, he had gotten lucky twice already, but the third time, Egrer felt, luck would not smile upon him. The limit was exhausted. The third time, the consequences of his uncertainty would be much more serious. This wasn't scheming for a leadership badge, nor teenage romantic angst. These were adult problems with adult consequences.
Looking at Weiss, Egrer was no longer sure he would be able to make a choice in favor of his foster parents again.
"We..." Egrer gulped, "still aren't gonna tell anyone anything."
"Fine."
"Really?" he asked in surprise. "I thought I'd have to talk you into it for over an hour."
"Your problems are my problems too," Weiss smiled. "If you want your foster parents to get away with it so badly, then I will help. You shouldn't be the only one helping me with my coup, right?"
"Thank you."
"But I have one condition." Egrer, who had already relaxed, grew nervous again. "If, despite all our efforts, Blake remains in custody... we tell the Headmaster everything. Understood? I do not want to choose between you, but if your resentment is on one side of the scale, and Blake's imprisonment is on the other... the latter clearly outweighs the former."
"Fair enough. So be it."
He could only hope that it was the right decision. Although Egrer could no longer remember the last time his decision had been unequivocally correct. He had been hopelessly tangled up for a long time now.
"I brought the eggs and markers!" a voice rang out. "Commence the public execution!"
With cackles, several students took a rope and tied its opposite ends to the legs of two soldiers with broken Auras. Then they tossed one of them over a lamppost, causing the second one to fly up after him. When the unfortunate souls hung suspended at the same height, the students started tearing their clothes off and drawing on them with markers.
There were profanities and lewd drawings, the worst possible wishes for Atlas, and phrases like "This asshole got beat up by D.G." Animal features were drawn on their faces, like mouse whiskers or tiger stripes, which was supposed to exert additional psychological pressure. The markers were multi-colored, so if someone wanted to, they could even turn someone into a parrot by drawing colorful feathers all over their skin.
Cardin stood out the most, as the most skilled specialist in humiliation and inflicting moral pain. Without a hint of shame, he drew genitalia on his victim's face and colorfully described to him just how cool and harmonious it all looked.
Even Magenta decided to participate in the execution. She was copying the Vale legal code onto the back of one of the prisoners.
Only those Beacon students who originally came from Atlas themselves stayed on the sidelines. They supported the cause of freeing Blake, but didn't want to mock their compatriots. They basically stepped further away so that, Twins forbid, no one would remember them and decide to punish them as well by association.
When there was practically no free space left on the skin of the unfortunate men, the eggs started flying. One of the soldiers began to cry, and the second begged for mercy.
Egrer doubted that at the Atlas military academy future soldiers were prepared for such severe torture. Surely not even the White Fang had executioners so completely off their rockers that they left their victims with a lifelong list of psychological traumas. He even started to feel guilty, since he himself had doomed these poor bastards to such a fate.
Weiss watched this with clear sympathy for her countrymen, although even she felt the triumph of revenge.
"I will not be surprised if Atlas declares you a terrorist on the level of Sienna Khan after this."
"Yeah..." Egrer scratched the back of his head. He wouldn't be surprised either. "Though you know, Nora fits that role better."
As if echoing his words, something exploded on the Atlas flagship. Pieces of hull plating rained down to the ground, and clouds of black smoke billowed from a hole in the back of the ship. The vessel began to slowly descend, setting a course for the former Emerald Forest.
"Indeed," Weiss replied in that deceptively calm voice. "It fits."
[1] old-fashioned term for "boyfriend."