XXXXX
Chapter 37: The Latest Kingdom
XXXXX
General Ironwood paced around his office. Sirens blared loudly throughout both Mantle and Atlas. He paused for a moment and considered shutting them off; it would've been a simple task. Unfortunately, the sirens once activated, required a codeword and some kind of explanation and using the phrase 'testing' was out of the question. Ironwood had used the excuse way too many times already. He sighed and removed his hand from his already full-force facepalm.
"Vine, this isn't a cause for betrayal. Hyperion is now its own separate entity from the Kingdom of Atlas. What exactly has transpired in the last 45 minutes that now Arc has betrayed us? I don't see a death beam of sorts hitting the city. I can physically see Helios from my office and it's just slowly lumbering back to its dock in the Hyperion-owned village of Opportunity.", Ironwood rambled.
"Tassiter Arc has been murdered by his own son, Jaune Arc. Agent Carolina mentioned that she was forcibly ejected from the CEO's office. I believe that counts as some kind of law violation. Arc has assaulted a Military Commander.", Vine explained over the sounds of blaring sirens.
Ironwood sighed again, it had been less than an hour and Titania had already been overthrown. Tassiter Arc's passing was actually somewhat sad, however even Ozpin had mentioned several months ago that younger Jaune Arc had seemed a bit off. Perhaps trusting the wayward son was a bad idea, let alone teaching him how to fight properly. Jaune Arc would've been perfectly fine acting as Hyperion's spokesperson, yet Tassiter Arc had sent him off to become a 'real huntsman' against better judgement.
"Well, that's something that Jaune Arc will have to explain. However, since it's a new government perhaps we should review their laws so we don't make the same mistakes again. Agent Carolina may have overstayed her visit and that would count against her."
"It's entirely possible, General. Agent Carolina requested full-alert status. She believes that Arc is going to betray us and most likely destroy the city.", Vine argued.
"I have my doubts, Vine. Tassiter Arc was reluctant to even speak to us about his secession and did so with force. Perhaps Jaune Arc will be more willing to speak to us regarding the future of both Titania and Hyperion. "
"I have my doubts as well, General. Carolina noted that Jaune Arc is a complete psychopath. He's demanded calling himself 'Handsome Jaune' and wears a mask of some sort in the exact image of his own face. He has also brought one of the Maidens with him."
Ironwood sighed again even harder, as if his soul was leaving his body in the attempt to comprehend what was going on right now. Okay, facts: Tassiter Arc is dead, not great not terrible; Jaune Arc could be reasoned with. Jaune Arc brought a Maiden, great actually; Atlas could use more power. Jaune Arc wears a mask of his own face; strange, but he's seen stranger things. Jaune Arc wishes to be called 'Handsome' Jaune; bizarre, but Hyperion's always had odd names for everything; maybe it's a title of some sort. Ironwood mentally attempted to cheer himself up by imagining who must've had the title of 'Ugly'. He thought of Qrow… 'Ugly Qrow'.
"Codeword: Blueberry Poptarts? Really? Someone made the codeword that? Who the hell wrote this? Anyways, lower the Alert status to mid level and silence the sirens. Jaune Arc has always been a bit… off. Welcome him to Atlas as usual and pay no attention to his odd title. Jaune Arc is bound to be more willing to work with Atlas rather than against it.", Ironwood noted.
Vine silenced the alarms. The constant blaring in the background faded as Ironwood's office sank into silence. He could finally sit down and get some work done. Jaune Arc the new CEO of Hyperion, Ironwood had imagined it, just not quite like this. Jaune Arc the psychopath, Ironwood knew about this, yet everyone had their quirks. He thought of Vine for a moment and briefly reconsidered the use of a man with wacky flailing arms, he too had made some odd choices. Ozpin had always been the oddball, though. Even without Ozpin at the reigns over Beacon and Vale, the whole city had gotten into some kind of civil war with the Plumber's Union and the Constructor's Legion, had an invasion of Grimm Frogs, and then poor Oobleck had been molested by Grimm that were apparently mating. The only recent upside to that was that Glynda Goodwitch had apparently been found alive inside the wrecked tower of Beacon Academy and only due to Ozpin accidentally ordering over four thousand cans of beans.
Ironwood sighed, why couldn't Atlas be as wacky and weird as Vale? It was just military stuff and corporate wars and attempted coups and the council elections. It was boring adult stuff that people had warned him about since he was a child. 'No, James, don't join the military! Go become a Huntsmen and do whatever you want! Become a freelancer and see the world! Settle down with your girlfriend and have lots of kids and get a day job in one of the corporations!'. Ironwood briefly considered the life that would never be, himself and Glynda, elderly and surrounded by grandchildren in a cozy cottage far outside of Atlas. Ozpin would be there embellishing every story. It was too nice.
Ironwood simply turned back to his computer and got ready to begin his work for the day, he opened up his unread messages and recoiled as his entire inbox exploded. Schnee Dust and Merlot Industries were on the top of the list, asking about urgent issues in the Kingdom. Trevali Arms was three down from them, requesting their company back from absorption into the Atlas Military. LunaCross Munitions was down a little further from them asking the same thing. The Council of Atlas was requesting usage of the Amity Arena for something called 'Grifball'. He had no less than seven e-mails from the Violet Crown for some reason. His subscription to ScrollFlix was about to run out. Leonardo Lionheart was asking for assistance with the recent attack on the gourmet pancake factory in Haven. The team of Huntsmen he'd sent to Mistral had returned and each of the four members had sent him several e-mails regarding their task. The Council elections were coming up. There were a total of three hundred and sixty three unread messages. Ironwood groaned loud enough for his guards outside the door to hear, this was going to be a very long day.
X
Far below, down in the slums of Mantle, an airship finally landed and an exasperated pilot began to make his way out of the vessel. He'd had enough fun for one day; taking a bunch of unruly teenagers to Atlas, getting sidetracked by Helios and Hyperion, getting out of Helios and Hyperion and then getting sidetracked again to pick up some more Huntsmen back in Argus and then super-fast flight directly to the lower city and the sweet Atlesian bourbon that awaited him. Augustus Boye was utterly and absolutely done with piloting for the weekend. Soft snoring pulled his attention for a moment.
"Hello? Anyone there?", Boye asked. There was no response.
Upon further examination, he'd noticed that the elderly woman who had accompanied the unruly teenagers had fallen asleep in the cargo hold and had gone largely unnoticed. She had an empty tin of cookies loosely gripped in her arms.
"Come on, granny! It's time to get off the plane!"
"Whuh? Oh! Hello, there young man. Are we in Atlas already? You know I had an old friend down in Mantle, he was such a dashing young man. And he was so skilled with his hands. He also had a great big tool that he used all the time. It was great. He used to do some tune-ups on my eyes. I can't remember what his name was… Oh, what were we talking about again? Oh right, Pietro! He was the…", Maria trailed off.
Augustus Boye had gone from one ridiculous task to another. He sighed heavily as he took little old Maria's hand and carefully led her off of the airship. He'd go and find her 'old flame' given he was still alive and leave her there. She'd be in better hands with him instead of that psychopath and his harem. Perhaps afterwards, when he was done protecting the elderly, he'd finally get some of that sweet Atlesian bourbon and some rest. It could've been worse, really.
X
Earlier as sirens blared throughout the city, Team MRJJ and Team ATAK sprang into action. Alarms only meant that the worst had come, Grimm were going to attack. The city would fall. Or, as Alabaster had mentioned, a conspiracy. Had Helios returned to its dock and let loose an army of robots? They didn't know. All eight of them burst out of the Huntsmen's Lodge's front doors and into the street with their weapons ready.
"Timmy! Cue the music!", Kindel ordered.
In an instant, Timmy Rim pulled out a small boombox and activated it. Loud and obnoxious rock music began to overpower the sirens. Timmy took the boombox and attached it to the top of his helmet before taking a stance next to his teammates.
"Hap!", Timmy roared.
Over their heads, Helios hovered over the city. It was very close and they could see the mass of glowing gravity dust propelling it. It was still too far away to jump to, even if they had a running start off of a building.
"Helios! In the sky! Hyperion is back!", Kindel announced.
"We can see that. Where's it going?", Jonk asked.
"Opportunity! Hyperion owns a small town nearby. We can intercept them there!", Kindel yelled over the sirens and loud guitar solo.
"Monster. Get.", Alabaster noted.
"Monster? What the hell?", Minstrel exclaimed and he whirled around looking for the signs of Grimm. There weren't any. Just a bunch of civilians running around. Occasionally there was an odd spear of green energy in the distance.
"It's our truck! It's outside the Kingdom near the western gate. We need to get to that and then we'll drive to Opportunity. It'll be faster than walking!", Kindel explained.
Within a few moments, Team MRJJ was seated rather uncomfortably in the rear of the Monster, Timmy Rim's aforementioned monster-truck. It was hideously painted orange and purple and had huge wheels for running over people and Grimm alike. Its massive nine liter engine roared to life before it propelled the oddball Huntsmen over the tundras and towards Opportunity, the gleaming silver city in the mountains close to the flying city of Atlas itself. Team MRJJ felt uneasy.
"Rhames is on that giant thing. Helios or whatever it's called. Jaune Arc is one of his friends. If ATAK … attacks Rhames or his family, we'll be dead in minutes.", Jonk argued.
"You're right. But Rhames isn't that strong of a guy. We outnumber them pretty solidly.", Minstrel mused.
"Awk! That's not the point. What about… Arden?", Javelin noted.
"Oh shit! You're right! Let's just see if we can convince Alabaster to talk to them instead of attacking first. We don't even know if they're behind the panic. It could just be a coincidence.", Minstrel realized.
"I heard you back there, Minstrel. That's what we're doing. Talking like civilized adults. We're not fighting that thing. Apparently it has some kind of death cannon onboard and the last thing we need is to be vaporized by it. Or piss off Hyperion. Or… piss off Arden Greyblood.", Kindel interjected.
"Hap hup!", Timmy noted.
The Monster continued to bounce over the frozen wastes outside of Mantle. Opportunity was large and they could see the giant gaudy H-shaped structure beginning to dock with the city. A large spire reached upwards and appeared to tether the whole thing in place. Both teams prepared themselves for combat anyways. If they'd only turned down their music, they would've heard the sirens stop blaring and the explanation General Ironwood had broadcasted. Epic guitar solos were hard to ignore, though.
X
Back in Atlas, General Ironwood stood up to his city-wide broadcasting station. He struck a heroic pose and began to speak.
"Citizens of Mantle beneath the greatest Kingdom of Atlas. Thank you for enduring our testing of our new city-wide alarm system. It is designed to alert us if anything large encroaches on our borders. The new City-State of Titania has just proved that our system works. This was only a test. Thank you for adhering to the regulated safety protocols that we have practiced these long few months."
Ironwood shut off the broadcaster and slumped into the chair behind his desk. That was some kind of explanation. He's have to reprimand his 'Ace' Operatives whenever they got back to Atlas. He'd had to send a lot of ridiculous e-mails to his 'grateful' corporations.
First, Schnee Dust had requested the same treatment as Hyperion had, being declared its own city-state. They had wanted to sell dust freely to any and all kingdoms without having to deal with getting a 'Trade License', a license that allowed them to bypass Atlas' blockade. Ironwood had politely stated that all Dust mines were property of Atlas itself and that he could seize them by eminent domain at any time. Schnee Dust, and particularly their new heir, Whitley Schnee seemed unhappy about this.
The next issue was with Merlot Industries. Like Hyperion, Merlot was a massive weapons company. They held a patent on disposable guns for citizens. Easy to use and easier to buy. You got a gun and a ring, the ring would call the gun back to you if you dropped it. The gun also doubled as a small defense grenade and could be thrown, exploding on impact. A new gun would be credited to your account for a small fee and then the new one would simply fabricate through the ring's micro-printer. Merlot Industries guns were horrible to use, had awful sights, and could barely hit the broadside of a barn. Everyone who could afford them, bought them. They were the most popular gun in all of Mantle despite the risk of the gun just randomly exploding in your hands. Like Hyperion, Merlot had demanded to become its own city-state as well. Merlot had even threatened Ironwood himself and claimed to be working on a similar 'death ray'. Ironwood simply told Merlot to go and kick rocks, he never held his word and usually just ran his mouth a lot. Inevitably, if Merlot actually created an 'Eye of Merlot', it would just explode and take care of Merlot Industries and all Atlas' problems.
The third message was from Trevali Arms, an old and defunct company that had big dreams, but no money to use to build those dreams. Their last failure, a flying car, had done damage to the Schnee Manor and Atlas Academy when it was blatantly obvious that cars aren't meant to fly. They simply wanted to operate as a company again and begin manufacturing Trevali Arms Nanofiber Mesh armor again. Apparently, a particular cereal mascot had survived the Fall of Beacon due to their old armor alone. Ironwood considered this and approved it. The older Trevali Arms armor and swords were unusually reliable even now. He still had his great grandfather's old Trevali Arms 9mm pistol from the Great War; it still shot true and even worked underwater.
The fourth message was similar to the last one, LunaCross Munitions, formerly LunaCross Arms also wanted to operate separate from Atlas again. Their guns were old-school cool, used black powder or regular raw dust, and were very powerful albeit slow to reload. A rumor that the new CEO of Hyperion used one of their flagship guns from the last hundred years had piqued their interest in returning to the market. Ironwood was aware of the Unforgiven, but didn't think that any of them still existed, they had been created in the early ages of the Kingdom of Atlas using a certain relic. They had strange properties and all had seemingly been lost to the passage of time. Ironwood knew the he couldn't use the relic for that purpose anymore, but he would allow LunaCross to resume building their trademark guns.
The last few messages Ironwood had responded to were of less importance. The council would be allowed to hold a 'Grifball' tournament in the Amity Arena as soon as he was properly informed what the rules of the game were. It sounded dangerous, but not as bad as the Vytal Festival and the people needed some kind of entertainment right now.
The Violet Crown had sent several incredibly cryptic messages that Ironwood didn't know how to respond to, he skimmed a few of the messages. 'Beware the unkindness that follows the blind, for the blind prey upon those who feed on carrion.', one of them said. 'An impatient traveler looks to the skies for winds of change, for the birds can sense its annoyance.', another one noted. 'A man of steel shall lose his heart and his mind shall rust away.', one more mentioned. 'Those who look for the darkness shall only see the mouth of the beast before it swallows them whole.', the most recent one read. Ironwood tried to put words to paper and send a message back, but was at a loss for words. He was aware of who the 'king' of the unofficial fifth kingdom was, but honestly didn't know if it was just pure insanity or something else. The few messages seemed to stick with him.
Ironwood renewd his ScrollFlix account and then went onto replying to Leonardo Lionheart's request for aid. He'd send a few dozen of his best students from the Academy and be done with it. Why Leo was even asking for assistance regarding a bakery theft was simply ridiculous.
The council elections were coming up. Ironwood briefly skimmed the list of possible candidates. Robyn Hill and her merry Faunus, Emilion Merlot of Merlot Industries, Jacques Schnee of Schnee Dust Corporation, Jackson Trevali of Trevali Arms, David Kammecamp of LunaCross Munitions, Neptune Vasilias, and… Arden Greyblood, King of the Violet Crown. Ironwood staggered a bit after reading the final name. Why on Remnant would Arden Greyblood want to be on a City-Council of a Kingdom he's not even a part of? Ironwood pondered for a few moments and then began to carefully reread all of the messages from the Violet Crown.
"Beware the unkindness that follows the blind, for the blind prey upon those who feed on carrion.", the message read. Ironwood was lost.
"An impatient traveler looks to the skies for the winds of change, for the birds can sense its annoyance.", the next one read. Ironwood had a tickle in the back of his mind, but couldn't place it.
"Take caution of children who act like men, for the souls of both are twisted.", a new message stated. Ironwood must've skipped this one, something felt very wrong all of a sudden.
"Play your cards close to heart. The lucky follow the unlucky and they are first to drown in blood.", the next message read. Ironwood felt the need to call the Ace Ops for some reason.
"Capture or kill, those who feed on carrion care not for your morals. They shall feed for a fortnight.", another new message read. Ironwood felt very uneasy.
"A man of steel shall lose his heart and his mind shall rust away.", the message mused. Ironwood felt like this was some kind of personal attack, but it was too cryptic to place any blame. He'd just look like a raving lunatic if he told anyone.
"Those who look for the darkness shall only the see the mouth of the beast before it swallows them whole.", the final message read.
Ironwood racked his brain trying to think of the reasoning behind the messages. It made little sense, but… Something was true. A plan had formed in his mind a few months ago. Renovate the Amity Arena, tell the world about Salem. A horrible and bad idea, it would cause a mass panic and Ozpin would've never done anything like that. It was hidden in the depths of pure madness, but somehow the 'Mad King' was making sense. If he continued, things would end badly. The messages were veiled, but Ironwood read between the lines and realized that something very bad was about to happen. He needed to rethink his motivations and try to prevent whatever it was from happening. His attention was pulled by a subtle tapping outside his office window. He turned and saw a jet black vulture picking away at the carcass of some rodent. Its eyes locked with his own before the bird of prey flew off into the city.
Ironwood sighed. Vultures? Wait, vultures aren't native to Atlas! He shuddered, an omen. A very ill omen at that one. He frantically called up the Ace Operatives, breathing heavily to calm himself. They didn't need to hear his worry.
"Ace Operatives. This is General Ironwood. I'm ordering you to request aid from the Huntsmen that just arrived on board Helios, in the City-State of Titania. Please also summon the Huntsmen of Team Vermillion that have recently returned from Mistral. I am requesting a personal audience with them immediately.", Ironwood concluded.
On the other end of the line, Clover, Vine and the rest of the Ace Operatives shrugged and headed off in the direction of Helios. The large H-shaped flying structure was now firmly docked with the lower city of Mantle and Opportunity. The Ace Operatives had already been told earlier to welcome Jaune Arc to Atlas and carried several armfuls of gift baskets and welcome cards. They'd be giving the new and possibly insane ruler of Titania the warmest welcome that the frozen throne of Atlas could give. Marrow's tail wagged happily as he toted the bag of party hats and streamers behind his comrades.
Chapter End. The Latest Kingdom. A bit more setup, but now we're into the mainstay of Volume 7. I put tons of little throwbacks to older chapters in this one. I also forgot about Maria Calavera again.
Also, Borderlands expies: LunaCross Munitions is Jakobs. Merlot is Tediore. Trevali is like Borderlands' Atlas weapons. No Jaune or Pyrrha this chapter, the fun awaits the next one.
