Chapter 12 – Setup: Recruiting the Cavalry

Soundtrack: Duchess – The Stranglers

Once Blake and Ruby descended down the stairs with the group's weapons in hand, Weiss and Jaune both moved to the phone at once.

"Chief Inspector," Weiss asked frigidly, "do you move to cut me off from my task?"

"Only because I need to go first," Jaune replied hastily.

The ambient temperature seemed to plummet as Weiss glared daggers at the policeman.

"Explain."

Jaune took the lifeline. "Well, if Ironwood's approached first, I fear he'll try to be … ostentatious about securing the dockside, and that won't help with keeping things discreet. If Branwen gets spoken to first, he'll be able to ward off civilians with a more subtle hand, thus allowing Ironwood to support us directly in the field when the legbreaking starts."

Weiss nodded slowly in concession. "That is a fair assessment, Jaune. Feel free to proceed."

"Thank you, Weiss," Jaune responded as he picked up the receiver and dialled Qrow's desk number.

Five rings later, Qrow picked up the phone after a rude awakening from his whiskey-induced siesta.

"Inspector Branwen of Special Branch speaking."

"Qrow, it's Jaune."

Qrow sat upright. "Jaune; good to hear from you! What's going on with you?"

"Something very big, as a matter of fact."

The levity abandoned Qrow's tongue instantly. "What's happening?"

"Let's put it this way; the SDC have something unusually valuable earmarked for theft by the missing three leaders of the Grimm."

The Welshman nearly fell off his chair in response to that.

"What?! When are they doing it?"

"Six in the evening, tomorrow night, at the South Greenland Docks. However, I must ask that you help me by keeping the whole thing discreet and separate from the public."

Qrow sighed. "That's going to be a bloody nightmare. You sure you don't want me in for some leg-breaking?"

"Well, maybe you could help with that personally," Jaune admitted, having seen Qrow manhandle suspects that were twice the size of the lanky Glamorgan native. "However, the SDC don't want the public getting embroiled in this, so I must ask for Special Branch's help in cordoning off the docklands that evening."

Qrow rubbed his temples in frustration. "I'm not going to be able to do this alone, you understand?"

"I know that; once I was contacted to help with the mission, I left a message with Blackford's secretary that said you needed his help to provide man power as well."

"That's a relief," Qrow confessed. "I take it that the SDC want to lull the thieves into attempting to steal it, rather than take a stab in the dark and risk the thieves fleeing?"

"Pretty much," Jaune admitted.

"This is highly irregular," Qrow replied after a pause, "but I can give my superiors the idea that I've gotten a tip-off about a hijacking in that area tomorrow night, and will need some help securing the area for a sting operation solely under my command."

"That's acceptable by me," Jaune replied calmly, "so long as you note that I helped uncover the plot and Blackford and I handled the arrests."

"Consider it done," Qrow amiably concluded.

"Splendid," Jaune enthused. "I'll ask you and your men to convene at the southern side of the Greenland docks at half past five tomorrow afternoon, by the edge of the Thames. We'll need to make sure there's no escape routes for them to use."

"Very well, Jaune. I'll be sure to make it there on time. Bye for now."

"See you soon, Qrow!"

Jaune hung up the receiver, then walked into the kitchen to pour himself a drink of water. As he went about this, Weiss picked up the phone and dialled Schnee Tower directly.

"Hello, you've reached Schnee Tower. This is the operator speaking."

"Operator, this is Weiss Schnee," the magnate enunciated clearly. "I request to be put through to General James Ironwood of the militarised security division."

There was a slight pause, as the operator tried to process this.

"V-very well, ma'am. I'm patching you through to his office right away."

The dialling tone came through the receiver, but only for a few seconds until someone on the other end picked up.

"General Ironwood's office, his secretary speaking."

"Ilia, it's Weiss Schnee here", Weiss stated.

"Oh, Miss Schnee," Ilia Amitola replied in surprise. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm in urgent need to speak to General Ironwood. Is he available at the moment?"

Ilia gulped. "I'm afraid not, ma'am. He's presently conducting a training drill for an elite team of pilots who've been hand-picked to use some experimental, one-man Landsknechts, and he won't be getting back in the office until half past three this afternoon."

"I see," Weiss replied with some resigned iciness. "Get the operator to relay to you the phone number of the place I'm in at the moment, and ask Ironwood to call me as soon as he returns from the drill. Tell him that something big emerged about the Autumn Maiden."

"Understood," Ilia averred, sheer relief colouring her tone. "I'll get right on to it."

"My thanks, Ilia," Weiss replied. "Hope the day goes well for you."

Weiss hung up, then muttered a German curse under her breath.

"Something wrong, Weiss?", Jaune enquired.

"Well, not exactly," Weiss admitted. "I'm going to need to wait until three thirty before Ironwood contacts me again."

"Ah, I understand," Jaune commiserated. At that moment, Blake emerged from the stairwell.

"Weiss," she asked quickly, "can you ask Klein or someone at the manor to drop off my motorcycle here?"

"I've got a better idea," Weiss replied. "Dr. Verhart's coming over tonight to deliver the sidecars, so I'll get him to take Ninja down for you."

Blake exhaled in sheer relief. "Thanks, Weiss. I'll continue to maintain the weapons with Little Miss Excitable down there."

Jaune and Pyrrha both chuckled at Blake's astute observation as she descended into the basement, then brewed a pot of tea while Weiss quickly called Dr. Verhart about transporting Blake's beloved bike to the safehouse.

At the stroke of three-thirty, the phone rang out. Weiss intercepted the call mid-way through the second ring.

"General Ironwood, I presume?"

"Correct as always, Miss Schnee," Ironwood replied. "What can I do for you this fine day?"

"My associates and I have made some headway to pulverising the conspiracy that tried to seize the Autumn Maiden earlier this week."

"Is that so? What did you find out?"

"That the assailants are a pirate crew, under the command of one Vernal Fausse."

Weiss jumped as the sound of Ironwood punching a hole through his desk roared into her ear.

"Sorry for startling you," the Kent native replied. "I've unsuccessfully tried to apprehend that chienne for her crimes three times. We never figured out where her base was."

"It's in Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight," Weiss responded promptly.

Ironwood facepalmed at that. "Of course; that makes so much sense! To think I scoured Jersey and Guernsey all for nothing."

"Could've been worse," Weiss noted jovially. "She literally could've been based in Penzance."

Ironwood chuckled, despite his rather gruff bearing. "Anyway, getting back to topic; what else did you discover about the conspiracy?"

"They're set to hijack the Spring Maiden when it docks tomorrow evening at the South Greenland docks, in an attempt to set up a rival Dust company in East Asia."

A pause followed, broken by a tone that matched Ironwood's surname in easiness on the ears. "Not if I can help it. Does your father already know about this?"

"He does, and he's authorised me to do everything in my power to stop the conspiracy from winning," Weiss admitted, opting to leave out the origins of the conspiracy for the sake of her father's reputation.

"That's good to hear," Ironwood admitted. "What plans have you devised?"

"It's a solid plan, I'll give you that," Ironwood said fourteen minutes later. "Are you sure you wish to use Branwen and his men to cordon off the area though?"

"Given that they're likely unused to dealing with pirates and Dust users – or at least, not as used to those sorts as you and your men – it seemed the more reasonable option."

"Very well," Ironwood acceded, despite his distaste for the upjumped gumshoe. "I'll come down there personally with a pair of my best guards to aid you and yours in securing the Maiden, and I'll have a boat of operatives on standby south of the docks to ensure the swines don't escape."

"Excellent," Weiss replied. "There's one last thing I'd like to ask about; what projects were these stolen blueprints drafted for?"

There was a pause. "I presume you fear their potential bastardisation and construction by our adversaries before they play their hand?"

"Hole in one," Weiss confessed.

Ironwood pumped his artificial fist in a sign of petty celebration. "A natural concern, and one I'm willing to provide an answer to. The designs that went missing are as follows; a draft for a portable telephone, schematics for fluorescent light fixtures, along with blueprints for a new kind of military vehicle, designed for heavy combat."

"What, you mean those modified Landsknechts you were testing earlier?", Weiss asked, having gotten suspicious about this erstwhile secret.

"Something else entirely, actually. It's like an enclosed, motorised carriage that has a large Dust-driven cannon atop it, complete with armour plating and a larger version of the SDC motorcycle's verdant/cobalt electric battery. We call it a Terrestrial, Anti-Infantry Navigated Cruiser – or for short, a tank."

A/N: Nope ... there's no foreshadowing here ...

I forgot to mention this last time, but when scoping out the plot I found myself likening chapters 11-13 to GTAV Heist Setup missions - hence why I used the Setup prefix in the titles of those chapters. Chapter 14 itself, of course, will mark the start of the heist - but I won't spoil anything after that.

And yes, Ilia was the woman who assaulted Neptune earlier. I will say that she and General Ironwood are planned to have sizable roles in the next (and possibly the last) fic I've got planned for the series; Mechanica Aurantiaco. I'm still unsure when it will come out - but not this year, I'd say.

Stay tuned for the third of our setup chapters before the heist, coming next Friday!