(SLOW UPDATES) The Best of Atlas (Male Reader x Rwby Harem)

S2 Ch.11: Ice Cold Killer

(Y/N)'s pov

Well...

it's a start. 

Our moment was broken as I swore I could hear the faint sound of movement coming from over the hill. Instincts kicked in and I immediately dropped to a kneeling position, Raphtalia doing the same.

(Y/N): "Did you hear that?" She nodded slowly, eyes fixated on the top of the hill.

Raphtalia: "Yeah, footsteps. Multiple pairs possibly." As I focused more the sounds became clearer, the soft crunching of sand and rocks under boots came from just over the hill. 

(Y/N): "Stay low and get the others; I'm gonna start scouting ahead." I said in a barely audible whisper. 

As she made her way back to the others I slowly crept my way to the top of the hill, activating my semblance and going into a full crawl as I got closer to the summit. I began moving extremely slowly before coming to a full stop behind a rock with just enough of my head over the top to see down. The hill created a half-circle shape around the base, making it possible to maneuver from nearly all angles. 

At the base of the hill were multiple Atlesian Troops escorting faunus civilians into some kind of mine. There aren't many guards, only 5 in total, and they're pretty standardly equipped and weren't even accompanied by an officer. The biggest threat to us was the radioman sitting off my himself at a makeshift snipers nest. Three were standing near the civilians and the last guy was sitting by the transport I assume they used to get here. It'd be an easy attack, but all it takes is one emergency call to get out and our whole operation is done. 

I decide to fill in the rest of the group; so I slowly make my way back down to the others, who are waiting just behind the summit. As I get to them I get back to my feet and take a more comfortable crouching position. 

(Y/N): "It's a small Atlesian Squad escorting civilians, 5 men total, 1 radioman and no officers." The group nodded in response. 

Raphtalia: "So how're we gonna take them down?" I sighed, but before I could speak Cinder spoke for me. 

Cinder: "We're not. This isn't our mission." Raphtalia and Saber looked over at her, clearly enraged by that statement. "We are here to win a war, we can't risk that over a handful of civilians." Tifa nodded in agreement. 

Saber: "And what about the civilians stuck down there? Fuck em' huh?" Tifa seemed to start to get annoyed by the others. 

Tifa: "Yeah, fuck them. Do you not have enough foresight to see how many more people, probably including them, will die if we fail." The tension among the group was increasing by the second. "This is a high risk, LOW reward situation. You heard (Y/N), they have a radioman. One small SOS and we're screwed." 

Raphtalia: "You're a heartless merc bitch, you know that?" 

Tifa: "You're absolutely right, I'm here to get paid. I have no intentions of dying in this shithole." 

Saber: "I'm sure a washed up fighter has plenty of shitholes to die in."

Cinder: "Insults don't help your point. We can't waste our limited time and effort on every small battle, big ones are the ones that count." 

Raphtalia: "We're here to liberate Menagerie, we need people and morale to do that. Small battles will win this war."

With no choice left but to intervene so I finally spoke up as the four of them looked ready to fight.

(Y/N): "Stop it. I'm calling the shots here." This got everyone's attention on me. I don't usually put myself in charge like that but nothing's gonna get done without someone making a call. "If we go down there we risk this whole operation over a few civilians. If we don't then we risk the lives of those civilians."