A/N: Okay, first things first, terribly sorry about the massive delay since my last chapter. Like I said, I got a temporary 9-5 job, before resuming for my final year of university so I haven't had a lot of time. That's unfortunate because my initial goal was to finish this book before the end of the year, and now it's looking like that won't be possible anymore, but I'll still do my best regardless. Let's see how that goes.
The meeting continued on as Penny Polendina, Kai Blaze and Winter Schnee all returned to the dining room, though this time it was only Kai who took a seat. Penny and Winter stood on either side of the door instead, seemingly removing themselves from the meeting etirely.
Camilla: "General, since the day you were appointed headmaster, there have been Atlesians who are skeptical of one man holding two council seats"
Ironwood: "Yes, which is exactly why we have checks and balances..."
Sleet: "We're supposed to, but lately you've been running rough shot over them, making unilateral decisions without us!"
Ironwood: "Councilman, I never intended to..."
Sleet: "What people intend and what they do aren't always the same, General". As the meeting got more heated, Kai turned his gaze towards Jacques Schnee, sitting calmly at the head of the table. At this rate it seemed everything would go his way. Kai began to frown, but just then the door behind Jacques opened and a faunus servant walked in to whisper something into Jacques' ear. For what seemed like the first time all night, Jacques' composure completely faded for a moment as his expression changed into one of mild panic. As an irritated Councilman Sleet called Jacques' attention back to the meeting, he cleared his throat and desperately tried to put up a facade, "Um, yes, I um, agree with everything, everything that was just said. No uh, no further questions...". Kai narrowed his eyes slightly. Jacques' expression up until now proved that everything had gone according to plan so far, so something must have gone horribly wrong to get him so rattled.
'I should try to look into that, but how? Leaving right now might be too suspicious, and quite probably disrespectful. Can I contact Ruby and the others to check it out instead?' Just then Robyn Hill spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.
Robyn: "I'm not quite done yet. You're afraid of something General, aren't you?". The General narrowed his eyes, "I think that's pretty obvious Miss Hill. I'm trying to prevent Atlas from becoming another Beacon. Another Haven."
Robyn: "Yet you don't trust your own council to help you? Operating in secret? These are the actions of somebody who's hiding something"
Ironwood: "I'm not hiding anything". Robyn smirked. She had him right where she wanted, "Let's put it to the test then". She got to her feet and walked over to the General, avoiding eye contact with Kai as she moved past him, "You're all aware of my semblance", She held out her hand, "Let's settle it here and now, General Ironwood". All eyes in the room fell onto Ironwood, waiting for his next move. The ensuing silence was heavy, onlyr broken by Robyn moving her hand even closer to the General and saying to him again, "Here and now". At this point it looked as if the General would have no choice but to submit to Robyn's lie detector.
"WAIT! You've got the wrong man on trial." The door behind Jacques opened suddenly and Kai smiled in relief as Weiss Schnee confidently strode inside, "I know who's been framing Ironwood, who rigged the election. And my father does too..." She turned to face him with a scowl, "...He's been working with him". With that, she dropped a scroll on the table, which expanded to show a video of Jacques Schnee in his office, having a conversation with none other than...
Camilla: "Is that...Arthur Watts?". Councilman Sleet got to his feet in exclamation, "That's impossible! Doctor Watts died in the paladin incident years ago!".
Jacques: "What..W-What is this?" Kai's smile widened as he saw that Jacques was even more rattled now. They had him by the throat, thanks to Weiss the tables had been flipped completely. Ironwood's scowl deepened as he slowly rose from his seat, with Winter coming to stand by his side.
"Play it", He ordered sternly. Wiess nodded and pressed the play button, and the conversation between Jacques and Watts played out for the whole room to see, while Jacques himself squirmed in his seat.
Jacques: 'That bastard's costing me more money everyday with this embargo. I'd lay off every employee in Mantle if I wasn't trying to get their damn votes for this council seat'
Watts: 'What if I said you could have your cake, and eat it too?'
Jacques: 'What did you have in mind?'
Watts: 'James Ironwood never recognized my genius. After everything I gave him he still disgraced me. I simply wish, to return the favour'
Jacques: 'What's in it for me?'
Watts: 'A seat on the council. All I need is your login credentials to the Atlas network. You promise to make Ironwood's life a waking nightmare, and I will guarantee you victory at the polls by giving the voters down in Mantle a little...digital push, if you will'
Jacques: 'I always knew you were a good scientist Arthur, but I never knew you were such a good salesman'
Ironwood: "Enough". All the while the video was playing, the General had been making his way towards the head of the table without uttering a word. Following his order, Weiss stopped the video, and now all eyes fell on Jacques, who began to sputter as he got up from his seat, his eyes wide with panic.
Jacques: "That is...I-I can explain that..." He cleared his throat unconvincingly, "...That, isn't real". Councilman Sleet glared at him, "Jacques. Take. Your. Seat". Jacques considered the order for about two seconds, before deciding to turn and run towards the nearest door.
Kai: "I won't let you". In the blink of an eye, Kai crossed the large dining room, appearing before Jacques in front of the door, eyes glowing gold and one hand on his blade, "You don't get to just run away". Weiss walked to her father and pointed her official license at him, "Jacques Schnee, you are under arrest!".
There was a short pause before she turned to Kai, "Can I do that?". The boy simply shrugged.
"Beats me".
.
.
.
Jacques was forcibly seated onto a chair in the middle of the room, where he was surrounded menacingly by Sleet, Camilla, Robyn, the General, Winter and Clover. Kai, Penny and Team RWBY stood a little further away, watching the scene unfold. Clover's ear piece buzzed as he received a transmission, and he stepped away silently to answer it.
Ironwood: "I knew you'd stoop low to get what you wanted Jacques, but this". Jacques rolled his eyes, "This is all a great leap, James". Ironwood went on, "No. It's quite simple really. Now that I know Arthur Watts is alive, working with a madman like Tyrian Callows, it would be easy for someone like him to co-ordinate an unthinkably heinous act like the one in that warehouse. Watts designed Mantle's entire security network, he used that access to hack the surveillance system, and frame someone else for the job..." At that, all eyes turned shortly towards Penny, somewhat apologetically. The girl cast her eyes downwards without a word, and Kai and Ruby placed their hands on her shoulders.
Ironwood: "...All while stealing an election. And once you became a councilman, your newly granted clearance gave him a backdoor into Atlas' secure network...", He slammed his fists into the arm rests of the chair Jacques was in, causing the white haired man to flinch, "...But you probably hadn't even considered that, had you?"
Robyn: "The people that died that night, their blood is on your hands"
Sleet: "Jacques Schnee must be tried. Not only for treason, but as an accessory to murder"
Jacques: "These are outrageous accusations! I only intended to win the election, I had nothing to do with..."
Robyn: "ONLY!?" She grabbed a nearby chair and threw it against the wall in rage. The room went silent at her outburst. The gravity of the situation and what Jacques had done was slowly beginning to sink in.
Camilla: "What else will he be able to do with the access Jacques has given him?"
Ironwood: "With enough time...whatever he wants". Just then, all the councilmen's scrolls buzzed, including Jacques'. As Sleet put the scroll to his ear, he exclaimed, "Wait what?! What do you mean the heat has gone off in Mantle!?".
Jacques: "You have to believe me, I-I-I didn't know he was planning this". He jumped in his seat as Winter slammed her hands on his chair before speaking to him sternly, "You are going to shut your mouth, and get the heating grid up and running again"
Jacques: "I...", he let out a defeated sigh, "...I've been informed that we can't get into the system, it's...it's been blocked off."
Kai: "Without heat down in Mantle...a lot of people are going to die". Ruby stepped forward, "General Ironwood, how bad is it?". Ironwood looked away as he tapped furiously on his scroll, "He's using Jacques' credentials. We can follow that activity on the network...but what if he's found his way into the Amity system...?". At the mention of Amity, Robyn's ears perked up.
Kai: "Can he even do that?". Ironwood tapped a few more buttons and breathed a sigh of releif, "No, the secret is safe. For now. But, if he learns about Amity, she learns about Amity." He began to pace in worry, resuming the tapping on his scroll.
Weiss: "Can you block his access?"
Ironwood: "It's too late, he's already started to lock us out."
Blake: "Can we trace him somehow? Find out where he's hiding?"
Kai: "If this Watts guy is as smart as everyone says he is then he definitely won't make it that easy to just trace him"
Ironwood: "Kai's right. He's going to be mobile. We need his access point. We need to get him out in the open"
Robyn: "So let me get this straight". The group all turned to Robyn in surprise, as if just seeing her for the first time, which she took note of by waving, "Yup, still here everyone. How do a disgraced scientist and disappeared serial killer find each other, General? Why would they target you? And why are you working so hard to hide the Amity Communications Tower from them?"
Ironwood stared at Robyn in disbelief for a few seconds, "You know?"
Robyn: "I used to think you were hiding something to protect yourself. But I can tell there's something much bigger going on here. Now I think it's to protect something else. Us. Atlas, maybe even all of Remnant. And you're afraid of what might happen if you tell the truth." Kai looked over at Yang, and their eyes met. He nodded subtly to her and she smiled back. It seemed they had made the right choice by telling Robyn the truth. Just then the door slammed open, with Clover and Oscar hurrying inside.
Clover: "General, the grimm are all over Mantle! The Air Fleet's doing everything they can, but they can't easily target grimm in the city without risking casualties." Ironwood frowned again, putting his hand on his chin, "This is what I was afraid would happen". Clover called out to him as he began to pace again, "Sir, we need ground support, now"
Robyn: "What we need is to start evacuating Mantle. If it's completely overrun it's not gonna be safe anywhere. Use the fleet to..."
Ironwood: "If I move the fleet then Atlas is vulnerable!" The general sighed in frustration and rested a palm on the wall, his head hung low, "I tried to keep the kingdom safe...and now we're losing everything"
Oscar slowly walked up to Ironwood, the lamp bobbing at his side gently as he walked, "General, earlier you asked for my advice". Ironwood responded without turning to face him, "I wanted Ozpin's advice"
Oscar: "And his advice probably would have been to keep your secrets. When we first got here you already knew that wasn't the right course. You had a new plan".
Ironwood: "It's time to give up on that plan. It's all falling apart"
Oscar: "The panic you were worried about, it's already happening. The secrets you're keeping, they're about to be in the open anyway. It's time...", Ironwood finally turned slowly to face Oscar as he spoke, "...Time to tell the truth"
Ruby: "You're not alone. We can do this together"
Kai: "That's the reason we're all here, isn't it?" The general raised his head higher, a warm smile slowly creeping onto his face as he opened his mouth to say, "Thank you. Oscar, I think it's time you get back to the academy". Oscar smiled back, "I think you're right"
Ironwood: "Miss Hill, Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla, there are some things you need to know about. Let's figure out how we can help Mantle. Together."
Winter: "I've called a transport"
Yang: "What about Watts and Tyrian?"
Ironwood: "Leave them to me. Right now you're needed down below"
Ruby: "Alright everybody", she turned to her teammates and friends, "It's time to do our jobs"
Clover: "What she said. Let's make it happen huntsmen" With that, He led the team out of the doors and into the hallway. As they rushed off, Kai spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned for a second to see that it was only the dark haired waitress he had taken note of before. But something was different. Her eyes were bright green now, not black.
'Huh. Weird. Did I make a mistake?'
Shrugging it off, his focus went back to the mission at hand. The people of Mantle needed help. Right now, both Kai and Ironwood shared the same sentiment.
They can't let this be another Beacon.