"Remus, calm down." It was Ghira that approached the navigator. "Explain what's happened."

The man took a few calming breaths. "It's the Audumla, sir. It's gone. They took it, and about a dozen of the crew!"

"Who? Who took them?"

"Ghira." Remus paused, the eyes of the whole room upon him. "They were Atlesian."

What followed the pronouncement can only be described as at least ten different kinds of chaos. A dozen voices started barking orders left and right and a hoard of people dashed out of the canteen to get to their offices.

"Archivist." Sienna Khan's voice stopped me from going to my own office. "I'm going to assume from the fact we haven't been detained yet that this isn't a problem Atlas can blame on us yet."

Before I could answer, my duty caught up with me..

"SCHWARTZ!" Glover's voice filled the room, gaining the attention of the few people that were left. When they realized they were not the ones being addressed, they all hurried off themselves. "HERE! NOW!"

"Sir?"

"Walk with me. You are being assigned to this mission." He informed me as we swiftly strode through the hallways of the base. "Along with myself."

"..Not that I am unhappy.." I began, and judging from the look on Glover's face, he knew I was unashamedly lying through my teeth, and desperately wanted to call me out on my bullshit. The man could be quite expressive when he wanted to be. "But why the hell am I the one accompanying you for this, Sir?"

"..Because you are to hand." Glover replied as we marched. "And because you hate politics with a burning passion, you will be able to keep silent and just take notes. Since the potential political shitstorm this incident could cause is frankly massive, I want it recorded exactly as it happens, not prettied up for our own sake. Consider that an order, Archivist Schwartz."

…Brothers I wish that wasn't such a good point. "Understood, Sir."

"Good, now with the greatest respect..keep your mouth shut during this meeting." Before I could respond, we arrived at the General's office. A meeting was already in progress, with General Hawthorn hurriedly throwing together a plan with Captain Ironwood, Headmistress Arnold and a few others I didn't recognise.

I took my place next to Glover, and after taking out my scroll, began to take notes.

"We'll take the Dauntless." Ironwood said, likely answering a question that was asked before our arrival. "It's faster than the Pride of Solitas and considerably less of a…statement than deploying the bloody Flagship of the Airfleet to Vytal unannounced."

"Do it." Hawthorn ordered, before turning his attention to Absinthe. "Headmistress Arnold, send word to Vytal. I'd rather cover all our bases just in case..and I'd prefer to keep the Academy out of this mess as long as I am able. But prepare your students, just in case."

"Understood General." She snapped out a salute. "It is appreciated."

Then the General looked at Ghira, and let out a heavy sigh.

"Representative Belladonna, I have no legal right to ask this." Hawthorn began. "But I will anyway. Come with us. There is a good chance we may need to shoot down your vessel. I would prefer to do so with your permission….and allow you the certainty we took all possible measures not to do so."

Ghira's face morphed into an expression of stony anger, and he merely answered by way of a single nod. Sienna didn't bother to hide her mounting fury, and thankfully did not act on it.

"...You all know the cost of failure." Hawthorn said in a tone of quiet authority. "So don't fail. Go do your duties."

So, now I've been dragged into a mission to stop rogue soldiers from bombing Vytal and sparking a race war the likes of which Remnant hasn't seen in centuries, make sure the Menagarian Representatives don't end up killed, and make sure that Atlas doesn't get blamed.

And hopefully do it all in time to eat dinner with my daughter (since there was no way in hell this was getting done before school kicked out).

….No pressure then.

______

Draco Stirling, Senior Captain of Atlesian Civilian Security and a lifelong (if private) backer of the Anti-Vytal Front, stood on the bridge of the MV Audumla as it cut a path through the skies. It was a shame, in his mind, that such a fine ship was wasted on Faunus. YAMATO Shipyards always did an incredible job. One that the Chiefdom of Menagerie, that mockery of nationhood, wasn't worthy of.

It would take weeks to get their stink out.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

His new companion was from another branch of the AVF, and it had taken considerable effort to get her into the Kingdom without anyone in authority noticing. But now? When they were surrounded by his own loyal soldiers? Now they could drop all the lies and the masks and the tolerance and do what had to be done.

They had kept some of the ship's crew and forced them at rifle point to put on the uniform of the Menagerian Outreach Bureau. They would be the scapegoats. The 'official' attackers. The ones that would be executed for this great crime. They were under guard, of course. He was grateful to his new colleague for the idea of holding them under guard on the bridge and not in a spare room. She had pointed out that stuffing them in some room or other would give them the chance to make a plan to stop their own.

The name she had given, 'Apate Monkshood' was quite blatantly fake, but if she could get him what he wanted, Draco wouldn't pursue her real one. There was little point in antagonizing his allies, after all. And should they, Brothers forbid, fail, it would be easier for her to slink away and regroup with their brothers and sisters with all the data he had given her. And given the presence of a wicked looking knife on her belt, she was perfectly capable of defending herself from anyone that would try to stop her.

If Atlas betrayed him, it wouldn't be betrayal to stab them in the back in return.

"We're so very close." She said as she gazed out the main windows.

"Just wait, Monkshood." Stirling told her. "Glory awaits us. Once we do this, we will earn our place in the history books as Heroes of Humanity! The Council's of the world might claim that Faunus are equal to us..."

Monkshood glanced at him as he continued.

"..But the moment a Menagarian ship bombs the Vytal War Memorial? The International Courts? The Central Bank?" The man smiled. "The Kingdoms would finally stop seeing those animals as our 'equals' and put them back in their rightful place under our boots."

"And, should the Atlesian fleet decide to simply shoot us from the sky, they will no doubt refuse to admit to the wider world that they got played. Easier and more politic to pin all the blame on the White Fang rather than a 'rogue member of the Captaincy'. After all, Atlas must always be right." Monkshood replied with a smug grin. "After which, we could more feasibly invade Menagerie. It would be a legitimate military target at that point, after all."

Stirling blinked. "I hadn't considered that. But it is a reasonable idea. An entire island that can be converted into a workforce for the glory and betterment of Solitas."

As he began practically salivating at the thought of invasion, and others on the bridge joined in, Monkshood quietly excused herself, and headed into the nearest empty room she could find. After ensuring that it was indeed private, she took out her scroll and made a call.

"...I don't have long." She said to the person on the other side of the call. "But I was of the belief that I should give one final update."

"...Proceed." Her handler commanded.

"We are an hour or so away from the Island of Vytal. The targets have been picked out for maximum chance at civilian casualties. If we have any agents active on Vytal, now would be the time to pull them out."

"..We are in the process of doing so, worry not." Came the reply. "What of Stirling? Does he suspect anything?"

"Stirling thinks I'm a restrained but zealous supporter of 'pro-human' doctrine. In other words, he's an idiot." She began. "But I'll acknowledge that he's a useful one. We can make use of him for now, and hang him out to..well..hang, later."

"That may need to be literal. What we are risking with this operation is incredible. Discovery, even partially, is unacceptable." Her colleague reminded her. "You have the attention of the Princess. Do not screw up. For all our sakes."

"I have it handled boss, don't worry."

Carmine Escaldos, the best solo operative of the Asturias Clan smiled to herself. It had been child's play to twist the racist fuckwit and his loyalists into enacting this piss-poor attempt at a false flag attack. Bringing down the ire of the other three Kingdoms upon Atlas, either for attacking Vytal or for allowing such an attack to happen…bringing about the next war and the collapse of the modern order..well, that was almost worth letting the Faunus have their much sought after equality if it achieved the Clan's goals.

Almost.