The Vault Dweller Of Mountain Glenn: Yang Xiao Long X Male Vault-Tec Reader

Vol. 7 Ch. 38 Talking With The General

Your POV

Eventually the airship that we were on docked at a landing pad in front of Atlas Academy. It was approached by a pair of guards, who opened the ship's rear double doors to let us exit. Ruby gazed up at the towering academy while more guards lined up along the path leading to the building. Ruby said, "I guess we will be seeing the General." The we headed up to the school, then Ren spoke up and said, "So, what do we do?" We found ourselves riding a rising elevator inside the academy with our wrists still restrained, accompanied by guards. Ruby replied, "I don't know yet. But we should be careful with what we say." One of the guards looked over his shoulder at us and Blake said quietly, "We'll follow your lead, Ruby." Ruby smiled but then started to look worried again. The elevator beeps as it arrives at its destination, and the guards escorted us out into a hallway and down a flight of stairs. We arrived in a room just as Ironwood walked through, speaking to someone else, "I swear if I have to sit through one more council meeting like that…" He turned toward a small flight of stairs on his way to his office, accompanied by Winter and Penny. The latter noticed us, stopped with a gasp, and said, "Yay, you're here!" Her celebratory greeting caught both Ironwood and Winter's attention, causing them to stop and look. Weiss stepped out from behind Ruby, approached them, and said, "Winter."

Winter gasped lightly in surprise, and the sisters' reunion was quickly interrupted by Nora leaning in and holding up her bound wrists, grinning and waving her fingers, and saying, "Anyone wanna give us a hand with these?" Winter took a moment to collect herself, returning to her usual stern demeanor and addressing the guards, as she said, "You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you." The guards looked at each other in confusion and said, "Huh?" Finally understanding the situation, the guards frantically began removing the bolases from our arms, while Ironwood watched with a smile. As the guards removed the restraints, the bolases fell to the floor, giving off a purple glow and retracting the ropes before emitting a beep noise. Ironwood spoke up and said, "Please, come in." We followed Ironwood, Winter, and Penny into Ironwood's office and he added, "It is so good to see all of you." Yang spoke first while still massaging her wrist and said, "Our reception didn't really convey that." Ironwood sighed, "I sincerely regret how you were treated by my team." Qrow rolled his eyes with a small huff. Ironwood walked behind his desk to sit down, and Penny and Winter took positions standing at either side of the desk. Then Ironwood said, "When a rogue airship entered our airspace, it raised some… red flags. We assumed the ship was stolen." Ruby said, "Stolen?"

Ruby laughed awkwardly, before taking an apologetic tone and saying, "Okay, yeah, it was stolen." Ironwood's eyes widened in surprise. He then smiled, and his shoulders moved a tiny bit with a silent chuckle. Winter, meanwhile, found no humor in the situation and began scolding Weiss, saying, "You stole an Atlas airship?" Weiss watched with a frown as Winter approached her. Winter continued, "What were you thinking!? You might've been shot down! How unbelievably irresponsib─" Weiss surprised and interrupted Winter by hugging her and said, "I'm sorry I worried you. But we did what we had to do." Winter started, "I…" Then she sighed, hugged back, calming down, and said, "I suppose I understand." She then turned her head to glare at Qrow and said, "But I cannot believe that you allowed this to happen." Qrow replied, "You try stopping these kids when they have their mind set on something. Speaking of which…" He looked at Ironwood and said, "I have some important information for you that's… confidential." Winter returned to her position beside Ironwood's desk and Penny said, "Oh, is it about the Relics?" Winter added, "Or perhaps the Winter Maiden?" Qrow said surprised, "You told them?"

Ironwood replied, "Hm." Ironwood stood from his desk and retrieved the Relic of Knowledge from a drawer, making it grow to its normal size as he holds it up. Then he said, "Did you really think you were the only one who got to work on a new plan after Beacon? With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust. So yes, I told them. The Ace-Ops too. Which is why I'm so glad you're here… with this." He gestured to the Relic and added, "Until now, I believed it was impossible to truly turn the tide against Salem. Oz has pushed her back, has kept victory out of her claws, but she will keep returning stronger and stronger… unless we destroy her." He placed the Relic atop his desk, while Ruby looked deep in thought and said, "But… what about the Atlas Relic?" Ironwood said, "You mean the Staff of Creation?" Penny answered, "It's safe inside the Vault!" Qrow asked, "And the Winter Maiden?" Winter replied, "She is secure and in stable condition." Yang asked, "Stable condition? What does that─" Qrow replied, "She's, uh, not exactly a spring chicken." Ironwood said, "I know how this all looks. Recalling my military? The embargo? I probably don't seem the most trustworthy right now." Blake asked, "Then why continue it?" Nora said, "The people of Mantle are hurting!" Ironwood replied, "I needed to ensure Salem couldn't infiltrate Atlas. And I wanted my military here, protecting my people." Yang said, "But it's not protecting them! It's making everyone hate you." Ironwood replied, "It's a price I'm willing to pay." Then he turned to me and said, "Mr. L/N, it's nice to see you again. I believe there's someone outside the door waiting for you. I'll just let him in."

I looked at him confused as he pressed a button, opening the door and let a familiar person join us in the room. I smiled as ED-E hovered over to me and let out a cheerful beep. I nodded and said, "I'm glad to see you too, Eddie." Then Ironwood reached over to a glowing panel of buttons on his desk and tapped a button that resembled a table emitting light from its surface. Ironwood said, "Just as you all have been entrusted with the knowledge of Salem's existence, I need you all to trust me. I have a plan." After Ironwood told us about his plan to reestablish global communications with Amity Colosseum and tell Remnant about Salem, he said, "Trying to hide the truth from the world will eventually kill us all." Ironwood pressed a button on his remote, and the hologram disappeared, the table transformed and receded into the floor and the shutters pulled away from the windows. Qrow spoke up and said, "Oz spent his whole life, many lives, keeping this secret." Ironwood replied, "I know. But since Beacon, things have changed." He began heading back to his desk and said, "Without him here to guide us, all I can do is use my best judgment."

Behind him, Oscar shifted uncomfortably. As if sensing something, Ironwood stopped, looked back, and asked, "What is it?" Oscar replied, "Actually, Oz isn't completely gone." Qrow added, "Uh, Oscar here is… is the next Ozpin." Ironwood said, "Oz?" Smiling, Ironwood quickly and eagerly approached Oscar, who looked nervous, and said, "I'm so glad you're here. I didn't think you─" Oscar put his hands up and interrupted Ironwood, as the latter crouches to Oscar's level, "Not quite. He's kind of, um, gone... at the moment." Ironwood's smile faded, as he lowered his head and said, "That's not normal." Looking back up, he asked, "How did he─" Ruby answered, "We don't know." Ironwood, Qrow, and Oscar looked at Ruby as she continued, "We were in a train crash, and ever since, well… suddenly, Oz wasn't there anymore."

Ironwood replied and said, "That's the worst news yet. Did you learn anything from him about the Relics before…?" Ruby answered and said, "He told us the lamp can answer three questions. But all the questions were used up already." Blake, Yang, and I looked at each other as Ironwood replied and said, "Right, right." He walked back behind his desk and stared out the window as he said, "Ozpin told us that too, once upon a time." He turned to face them as he continued and said, "At least we have you, Oscar. You're safe here in Atlas. Maybe together we can figure out how to bring Ozpin back." Grinning, Oscar said, "Thank you, sir. I mean, uh, general. Uh, Ironwood?" Then Ironwood picked up the Relic of Knowledge, walked over to Ruby and offered it to her, she looked at him and said, "You're giving it back to me?" Ironwood replied, "After what happened with the Ace-Ops, I don't want you to think I'm keeping anything from you, especially something as important as this. For the time being, I think it's safest with the people who brought it here."

He hands her the Relic and she said, "Um, thank you." She shrunk the Relic and hooked it onto her belt, exchanging a look with Oscar as Ironwood said, "We must work together if we're to fight Salem and win. Now, if you're all on board…" Ruby thought it over for a few seconds, then looked at Ironwood and said, "Tell us how we can help." Ironwood responded and said, "Good, because getting the Amity Tower ready to launch won't be easy. But first, I think we need to get those weapons of yours up to our standards." A hologram screen appeared, showing footage of Blake drawing her broken katana before their fight against the Sabyrs in Mantle. Blake reacted with embarrassment as Winter said, "Remember, this is Atlas. While assisting the military, we will provide you with the best equipment our scientists can devise." Nora gasped in awe as Ren said, "Really?" Yang pumped her fist in the air and said, "Yeah!"

Upon exiting Ironwood's office, we encountered the Ace-Ops once more. As we walked down the stairs, the Ace-Ops approached us and Clover said, "I'd like to sincerely apologize for the miscommunication down in Mantle. We didn't intend to─" Suddenly, Elm pushed her way past Clover and Marrow and began frantically shaking my hand, saying, "I feel so bad, honestly! If we had known who you were, we'd be laughing over a hot meal right now and─" She let go of my hand and Weiss said, "I mean, you could have asked us some questions first." Marrow replied, "Questions are for the weak. But we're all on the same team now. Not that I'm happy about it." Marrow crossed his arms and soon realize that his tail was wagging. He reached back and grabbed it, much to Harriet's amusement. Then Clover said, "We just wanted to say we're sorry. And that we're looking forward to working with you on our next mission. You might be students, but you've been fighting just as hard as we have, if not harder." Harriet added, "Exactly why I'm looking forward to seeing what you kids can do." Vine commented, "Not everything's a competition, Hare." Penny entered the room and slid in front of Ruby, throwing her hands up in excitement, saying, "C'mon! Let me show you around campus." She enthusiastically marched away, with the rest of us following her.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm thinking about doing an Multiple Part Epilogue for this book, probably starting with the next chapter.
Master out.