The moment the first volley hit their stolen vessel, Carmine Escaldos knew that her mission was over. The shots had thankfully not blown them all to hell, instead it had fucked up one of the wings, and sent the MV Audumla steadily and smokily heading towards the Island of Vytal at a decidedly diagonal angle.

All that mattered now was getting herself out of the mess she now found herself in. There was little to no point in making a somewhat failed mission into an outright suicidal one.

Plus, it'd be most unfortunate if she were to be captured. That would no doubt mean Bertilak would need to come and rescue her, and Bertie would never let her hear the end of it if that happened.

"We need to depart."

Her statement drew the attention of the group, and half of Stirling's followers had begun to advance on her before the man waved them off before turning to question her. "..Go on."

"The MV Audumla is a loss, Draco." She told him, using his first name in a deliberate appeal to him. "There is no reason we need to go down with her. We need to get out so we can regroup with the rest of our allies."

She watched them now, as Stirling's followers began to mutter amongst themselves, and privately wondered if Stirling had even told his followers that they 'had allies'. She supposed it would be something he'd keep close to his chest, but if they were dumb enough to trust and follow him to this juncture, it would've been safe for him to do so regardless.

Not that it was going to matter either way.

"What should we do with them?" One of Stirling's men, and she didn't know or care to know his name, asked, gesturing to the faunus still on their knees and under guard.

Before Carmine answered, wicked inspiration struck her as she cast her eyes over the crew. They didn't look like soldiers. They didn't act like soldiers. They were just random support staff unlucky enough to still be aboard when Stirling took control of the Audumla.

But they all had stony defiance in their eyes, mixed in with the understandable fear, of course. It would not be right or even fair to deny them their chance to fight for their lives. To simply slaughter them on their knees without letting them earn a worthy death would be a total betrayal of her personal beliefs.

And more importantly, the beliefs of her people.

And so, with little more than a subtle wave of her hand, Carmine 'pulled' the largest of the hostages into the nearest of the guards. The faunus promptly headbutted the man…and the dominoes began to fall. The other faunus followed their comrade in trying to 'gain their freedom', or at least ensure they didn't go quietly. They would never know the reality of the first faunus' 'defiance', but that was just how she liked it,

It was unfortunate that she could not stick around to watch. Unarmed faunus often fought far more primally than humans in the same circumstances, and watching them rip their enemies apart with their bare (or bear) hands was a sight to see.

But time was against her.

Putting on an authoritative mask, she strode towards the doors to leave the bridge, and gestured for Stirling to follow without waiting to see if he actually did. She fought back a smile as she heard him and a pair of his soldiers followed her.

Precious seconds ticked by as the quartet hurriedly made their way from the bridge to the hangar-bay.

"And how exactly are we supposed to evacuate without a way out?" Stirling demanded.

"Don't worry." She answered in a reassuring tone. "I've got that covered."

Before either of his hangers-on could react, Carmine's sai was sailing out of its sheath at her belt and through their throats, their auras failing in an instant due to the wounds that would claim their lives. Her sai had left only Stirling's throat unslit, although it remained held against it by an invisible hand.

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"What is the meaning of this?!" The man spluttered. "Monkshood?"

"In my defense, this was not precisely what we Asturiaii had hoped for, but it's a result we can work with nonetheless."

Stirling had opened his mouth to respond, only to fall silent. As a Captain of the Atlesian Military and Head of Civilian Security, he was aware of all those individuals and organizations that were named enemies of Atlas. As such, he knew that the Asturias Clan ranked close to (if not at) the very top of the list.

"Don't give me that look." She chided him. "I was hoping you'd spark your war, to be honest. War breeds opportunity after all.."

"..So all that…bullshit about..putting those animals in their place..?"

"Was just that. Bullshit." She grinned. "The Asturias Clan doesn't care about the pointless feud between Humanity and Faunuskind. We care about freeing the strong from the shackles of the weak. Freeing them from the obligation to be strong for the weak. Freeing them from the great tyranny that is 'civilization'. And if a Faunus takes up our beliefs, and holds them close to their heart and soul like the rest of us…why the hell would we turn them away?"

And the Austuriaii would never be so offensively wasteful as to be needlessly discriminatory.

"Honestly." She sighed as she continued, putting on a faux-chiding tone to her voice. "How was this plan ever meant to work? The Atlesians are not stupid, yourself and your followers being obvious exceptions. The AVF were always being set up as our patsies, regardless of whether or not this plan succeeded. And now? Now the Greys will get a nice info packet with all the names of agents and locations the AVF operates out of on Solitas and beyond. The four Kingdoms will purge themselves of your influence root and stem. The Anti-Vytal Front will be wiped from the world, unmourned and unloved. All thanks to me…and you." Carmine told him with a grin, and Stirling mentally cursed both her and himself.

He had given her all the data he had. Both about the AVF and his role in their future plans, but also about Atlas itself. It had meant to be a stab at his birth nation from beyond the grave if things had gone wrong with his plot…not this.

"Was having an escape bullshit too?"

"I meant I have my escape spoken for." She told him as she strolled over to the button that would open the hangar bay doors. "Not yours. Your now former hostages will provide me with an appropriate distraction, whether or not they or your men survive wasn't actually ever a concern of mine."

When she pushed the button, and the world outside was revealed to her, the Austuriaii woman let out a breath as quick calculations ran through her head. If she was right, they had less than a minute before impact.

It really was time to go.

Before she could take her leap to freedom, Stirling's voice stopped her. "I'll tell them that you mad bastards are involved."

She didn't even bother to hide her eye-roll at that. What an arrogant bastard.

"Oh? And why in Remnant's name would they ever take a traitor's word for it? Do try not to die before your trial, Draco." Carmine gave him a mocking salute, as her sai sailed through the air again, returning to its sheath. "I hope to be watching it with my good friends, popcorn and wine."

And without another word, Carmine Esclados stepped out of the hangar-bay, and into the open air below.

Barely ten seconds later, the MV Audumla plowed into the north coast of the island of Vytal. And everything went black for the mutinous Captain of Atlesian Civilian Security.