Vytal Island Town Hall
October 26th, 1530 Local Time, 2552
Richard watched with no small amount of anxiety as one of the Councillors from Atlas descended from the podium. His worry wasn't prompted by what they had just concluded discussing, but because of what topic was about to be discussed next. Chief Belladonna himself would be taking the stage to discuss Menagerie's place in the political world of Remnant, and the major reforms that he was bringing to the table. While it didn't directly relate to the position of the UNSC on Remnant, Menagerie's position in the aftermath of the SDC Crisis was certainly important.
Richard had, of course, personally suggested many of the specific reforms to Menagerie's structure of government, largely influenced by the structure of the Unified Earth Government and its individual nations. Even if the Dominion's archive of human history wasn't terribly detailed, the lessons that it carried were utterly invaluable. However, the actual legislation that was going to be proposed to the people of Menagerie had been written by Ghira and Kali Belladonna.
Richard wouldn't have felt comfortable having anyone on board the Dominion writing what was effectively a government's charter, even if they did have the authority to do so, which they didn't. Ghira and Kali had, of course, rejected quite a few of Richard's proposals. These had unfortunately included more or less everything related to having a standing military, although Menagerie's guards had expressed some interest in learning a bit more about how the UEG conducted law enforcement.
Normally, having major reformations to the founding documentation of your nation be performed by two people is a bit of a red flag. Richard thought. But for once, circumstances actually favored the rather draconian measure, since the alternative was simply worse. The simple fact was that a Chiefdom, no matter if it was representative in nature, had no place in the modern world.
Thankfully, Menagerie had been unspeakably lucky to have the leader it had somehow ended up with, as Ghira clearly had nothing but the best of intentions for his people. There really wasn't a better man for the job in Richard's opinion, and it helped that Ghira's wife was no slouch when it came to running a nation herself. Yet it wasn't the internal reforms that had Richard worried, nor Ghira's intentions. It was how the rest of Remnant would respond that had him worried.
Sadly, there was no singular set of policies and reforms that Richard could offer to the Belladonnas that would magically solve the racial dispute between the Faunus and the Humans. But after an in-depth examination of Menagerie's existing government structure, it seemed like Menagerie's diplomatic capabilities seemed like a good place to start the improvements.
A key part of the plan was for Menagerie to open diplomatic embassies in the four main Kingdoms, and to have all of the kingdoms open embassies in Menagerie. While the CCTS offered safe international communication, there were certain things that simply could not be done online. Ideally, better communication between Menagerie and the Kingdoms would help avoid misunderstandings and unfounded conflicts.
Menagerie's new representative government would give them considerably more international legitimacy, at least on paper. The embassies would only add to that. Menagerie's very first Council Elections were already being planned, but Richard was more than a little anxious about who exactly Menagerie would be electing. While the UNSC was generally well-liked by the people of Menagerie, the same goodwill did not extend to Humanity as a whole.
Richard found it hard to blame the Faunus for feeling how they did, even if he did recognize that they were wrong. Centuries of rampant racism against the biologically-separated branch of humanity had resulted in a list of crimes against humanity that Remnant's historians had not even tried to keep up with. And while at first, it seemed that any widespread violence against the Faunus had generally ended decades ago, the SDC had utterly destroyed that optimistic sentiment. Frankly, it was a wonder that Menagerie hadn't become an ultranationalist ethnostate with everything that had been levied against them.
A testament to their strength as a people, and an admirable resistance to tyranny. Richard thought.
But perhaps the most crucial topic of all was Ghira's plan to open a brand new Huntsman Academy in Menagerie, ideally with the aid of Headmaster Ozpin and his peers. Ghira however, was completely unaware of Ozpin's true nature or of his secret organization. It was quite troubling that Ozpin had not seen fit to inform the leader of a major nation about the true threat behind the Grimm, but that was a problem that Richard would have to deal with later.
While Menagerie already had two Huntsmen Academies, they were considered "secondary schooling" on Remnant, apparently in the same vein as a preparatory school back in the UEG. Richard did find it slightly funny that they treated Boot Camp like going to College, but his worries for the people of Remnant far outweighed his amusement.
Ghira's plan was to introduce a completely new Academy, one that would aim to match its international peers in not only its facilities and faculty, but also the quality of its recruits. Richard had, of course, offered the UNSC's assistance in putting together a half-decent training regime, but Ghira had quite rightly pointed out that they should secure funding for the planned Academy before they started any grand plans.
If Ozpin says no to this after all of that talk about working together, I will wring his scrawny neck out like a goddamn towel. Richard grumpily thought. His stomach still churned every time that he thought about the Wizard.
Unfortunately, there was only so much that Richard could do to help Menagerie from this point forward. He was a soldier, not a politician, and even with his incredibly influential position as the Commander of all UNSC forces, on or off-world, he simply didn't have the resources to convince the rest of Remnant to treat Menagerie like an equal. That was the real reason that he was nervous, he lacked control of the situation, and that meant that he couldn't ensure it wouldn't result in a disaster.
And so far, Remnant had proven to be rather disaster-prone.
As Ghira took the stage, Thomas leaned in towards Richard from the next seat over and whispered into his ear. "This is going to be worse than what we did to the economy, mark my words."
Richard didn't have the confidence to disagree. "In that case, we'll just have to die fighting on this hill. Fix bayonets."
Thomas chuckled softly at the historical reference. "Aye Sir."
Ghira took his position behind the pedestal and placed his pre-written speech before him. Richard was honestly impressed at just how calm the man looked, even though he must have known that all of Menagerie was counting on him at this very moment.
Ghira spoke, his booming voice amplified even further by the microphone before him. "Before I begin in earnest, I would like to reiterate how heartbroken I am by the crimes of the Schnee Dust Company. The people of Menagerie are grateful to the UNSC, as well as those Atlesian Soldiers who saw the situation for what it was, and stood in defense of the innocent when they were needed most."
The murmuring amongst the various delegates resumed as soon as Ghira finished his sentence. Somewhat ironically, it seemed like the representatives from Atlas were the quietest.
Maybe they just know they weren't the targets of that praise. Richard thought.
It had been Richard to suggest that Ghira mention the Atlesians who played a part in the downfall of the SDC.
Men like Major Garrett, the Ace Ops, and particularly Winter Schnee had all been instrumental to the UNSC's swift victory. Even if some of them had a part to play in the crisis, they had all saved some of Richard's men from what would have certainly been much bloodier battles, perhaps even war with Atlas.
"But rather than discuss past events, I have come here today to talk about the future of Menagerie." Ghira said.
Richard could see the interest of certain councillors from all four of the Kingdoms flicker away at Ghira's statement. That was to be expected, bigotry and apathy alike had played a considerable part in Menagerie's neglect over the last few decades, and neither of those factors were likely to disappear any time soon.
Oh, we'll get their attention all right. Richard thought with a sense of satisfaction, their preplanning was about to pay off.
"Menagerie is a very unique nation, and for a time, we were content to manage ourselves in a very simple way. After all, just because a system is simple, that does not mean that it does not work." Ghira continued. "But unfortunately, it has become increasingly clear to me that Menagerie must change if we are to evolve to our ever-changing world."
The murmurs died down, a small sign that Ghira's words were having some of their desired impact.
"As acting Chieftain of Menagerie, I have made the decision to adopt a number of dramatic reforms to the Government. In the coming months, the role of Chieftain will be retired entirely, and instead, we will elect a representative council much like the other Kingdoms' own governments. My hope is that the people of Menagerie will have a far more direct method of participating in the government and how they are represented."
Many of the delegates began to whisper amongst one another once more, and although Richard couldn't hear what any of them were saying, he could at least make out one repeating word amongst most of them, "Kingdom."
Remnant seemed to have a rather bizarre interpretation of what that word actually meant. Most of the Monarchs on the planet had died during the Great War, and their system of government had died along with them. It had been a legendary hero, one of the surviving Kings, who had dismantled the Monarchies and placed Councils in charge of the Kingdoms. For whatever reason, it seemed like nobody had thought to change the name of their nation during this period of transition, presumably for some cultural reason that Richard didn't understand.
A Council isn't much better than a Monarch, but it's a lot harder to corrupt five elected individuals than it is to corrupt one who's born into a position of power. Richard thought. Maybe they kept the word around out of spite? I could respect that.
In the future, Remnant would no doubt see more headache-inducing reforms to its various political institutions, it was a simple inevitability. Ideally, Richard wouldn't be needed to actually help with that, as his brief tenure into the world of politics so far had been more than enough for him.
While Richard was occupied with his thoughts, Ghira continued with his speech. Richard wasn't particularly fixated on the Chieftain's words, largely because he had personally made some minor grammatical corrections to the speech the previous day, so he already knew everything that Ghira was going to say. Instead, Richard was focused on how everybody was reacting to what the Chieftain was saying.
The Council of Atlas was, of course, Richard's greatest concern. But somewhat surprisingly, he was unable to spot any of the contemptful glares and rolling eyes that he was expecting. At one point, Councilman Sleet even nodded along with what Ghira was saying.
I don't believe for a moment that they've all had a change of heart. Richard thought. Those snakes are just afraid that their prestigious image is going to be even more besmirched than it already is.
Ozpin and Ironwood were uniquely gifted at concealing what they were actually thinking, even to someone like Richard who was expressly trained to spot that kind of body language.
It's hard to believe he's a genuine wizard. Richard thought. Then again, he was still mentally processing half of the bizarre elements of life on Remnant, he would likely never get used to it.
Headmaster Lionheart was similarly difficult to read, but to nowhere near the same extent as Ozpin and Ironwood. And the final Headmaster, Theodore, seemed to be watching Ghira's speech with great enthusiasm.
If those two are in on Ozpin's secret war, it would be a good idea to learn a bit more about them. Richard thought. He had a pretty good read on Theodore, who seemed to be pretty similar personality-wise to an old UNSC Admiral that Richard had known, Danforth Whitcomb.
Lionheart, however, was something of an enigma. He seemed to be somewhat… sheepish? It was hard to tell, but he must have had some kind of particular skill set for Ozpin to have made note of him.
Ghira meanwhile, was continuing with his statements. "In the coming years, we will begin construction of a new Huntsman Academy for any aspiring heroes to hone their talents."
While the bulk of the delegation was content to listen to Ghira and murmur amongst themselves regarding the most recent announcement from Menagerie's leader, Richard noticed a subtle, shared reaction amongst the Headmasters of the other Academies. All at once, their postures stiffened up and they subtly looked to Ozpin, who motioned for them to remain calm.
"Our hope is that Beacon, Shade, Haven, and Atlas Academies will provide some expertise on the matter moving forward." Ghira said. There was a brief pause as the other delegates were steadily given permission to speak on the matter.
"The UNSC would be happy to provide support wherever possible." Thomas stated on Richard's behalf. "Our interest is in everybody's safety, and the lack of a mainline Huntsman Academy in Menagerie is something that we must amend."
Richard felt the attention of the room suddenly shift to the four Headmasters as soon as Thomas finished speaking, as it had already been fairly obvious where the UNSC stood on the matter. Putting the Headmasters on the spot like this was a bit risky, but given that all four of the men were more politically-savvy than Richard was, he felt justified in his and Ghira's usage of the tactic. Alright you old magical coot, prove to us that you're worth trusting…
All of them were silent for a few moments before Ozpin cleared his throat and spoke up. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. As we all know, Menagerie did not exist when the Great War ended, and that was when the first Huntsmen Academies were constructed. But now seems as good a time as any to remedy that debacle."
Richard felt a good deal of tension leave his body as the rest of the Headmasters followed Ozpin's example. The Councils of the Kingdoms joined in quickly afterwards, including Atlas, although Richard sensed a bit of reluctance from them. It seemed like Ozpin's influence had been enough to get them to fall in line.
They don't need to be happy about it, they need to cooperate. Richard thought with immense satisfaction.
As the rest of the delegation began to steadily pledge their support, Richard could see a look of pleasant surprise on Ghira's face as he cleared his throat and spoke. "On behalf of the people of Menagerie, you have my sincerest gratitude."
Ghira shot Richard a silent glance of thanks, to which Richard replied with a silent thumbs-up gesture.
It's going to take a long time before Menagerie is on par with the rest of the Kingdoms… Richard thought. ...But today, we made a pretty big step.
Menagerie, White Fang Headquarters
October 26th, 1942 Local Time, 2552
Be it by radio, television, scroll, or even town criers, the news from the Second Vytal Conference spread like a tsunami through Menagerie. But far away from Kuo Kuana, and even the outlying villages, was a large building long-abandoned by its previous occupants, where an unusual group of warriors had established themselves. Being so far away from any "proper" civilization, it would be reasonable to expect the news to travel slower than normal, but thanks to a network of excellent scouts and messengers, the opposite was true.
At one point in time, the giant concrete cube had once been a prisoner of war camp for Faunus slaves that had been "reclaimed" during the Faunus Revolution. The prison earned a reputation as one of the most brutal places on Remnant, and it was said to produce so much misery and pain for its captives that the Huntsmen refused to even go near it for any reason other than to destroy it. When the war ended, the Humans from Mistral had abandoned the prison, and it had faded from the collective memory of Humanity as a whole.
But it had not stayed abandoned for long.
In truth, it made Adam more than a little uncomfortable, knowing that every inch of soil beneath his feet, each and every blade of grass, was stained with the blood of Faunus who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it was that very feeling of dread and unease that proved the White Fang had made the right decision when they established their base in the abandoned prison. Because while the bland concrete structure served as both a defensible fortress and a colossal graveyard, it was something more than that, a reminder of what the White Fang was fighting for.
After the cowardly Chieftain Belladonna had left the White Fang behind, true leaders like Sienna Khan had risen up to take his place. She had been the one to propose establishing a permanent headquarters in the prison, and that had been only one of the many decisions she had made that had earned her a place of authority. It was this same shift in power that gave Adam his own position of power, one that he would have shared with Blake, had she not decided to betray him as well.
Not just me… the Faunus. Adam thought as he gripped the hilt of his weapon even tighter as he sharpened the blade.
His blood boiled and his head would ache incessantly every time that he thought about her. He could almost understand Blake turning her back on him, as that was a personal matter. But what he couldn't understand was why she would betray the Faunus as a whole by abandoning the White Fang entirely. She had seen what the Schnee Dust Company was doing long before the UNSC arrived, so she knew what the stakes were. She had seen the graves, just as he had, and she knew what mark lay beneath the mask that he wore.
But now she was gone, and he was alone.
"Adam."
Well, maybe not alone.
He turned to see one of his sisters in arms, a teenager named Vermillion Redwood, leaning against the doorframe in the entrance to his room. He noted how the simple spear on her back was glistening from the lights in the hallway, a reminder of her lethal capabilities, some of which were better concealed than others.
"What do you want?" He snapped. He had been perfectly content to maintain his weapon in private and did not appreciate the interruption.
"Sienna wants all of the officers to gather in the Meeting Hall, she says that something big just happened at the Human's conference." Vermillion answered. She did not make any comment on Adam's aggressive tone. Then again, she was practically fearless, so it was no surprise that she wasn't intimidated by him.
He felt a certain kinship with Vermillion. He didn't know her whole story, but he knew that she hated the Humans as much as he did, and that she had the burns on her face to prove that she had suffered just as much as Adam had. But unlike the brand on Adam's eye, Vermillion's scars were far more haphazard and gruesome, she would need a much larger mask to cover them all.
"...Very well, lead the way." Adam replied. He stood up and sheathed his weapon as he began to follow her. "Any news from the Scouts?"
Vermillion shrugged as she led him down concrete corridors, passing cell blocks that had been converted into barracks, and an old sweatshop that now served as the White Fang's workshop. "I can only assume that's what this is all about. There was a whole lot of arguing when I left."
"Maybe the Humans have decided to actually put the Schnee to justice." Adam jokingly suggested. He had no such confidence in the judgement of Humans, although he wouldn't be surprised if the vengeful creatures extended their hateful habits to their own kind.
Vermillion shook her head. "Well, I know the UNSC wants him dead just as badly as we do, so maybe they'll save us the trip to Atlas."
Adam laughed. "Wouldn't that be nice of them…"
The UNSC was something of an awkward development for the White Fang. When the aliens had arrived on Remnant around a month ago, Sienna Khan had immediately recalled all of the White Fang to Menagerie. Ostensibly, this was so that they could act in defense of their homeland in the event that the alien military proved to be hostile towards the Faunus. In actuality, she had foreseen the conflict between the UNSC and the SDC and was more than content to let them kill each other.
Although Adam didn't like to admit it, she had certainly made the right decision. Letting Humans die on behalf of the White Fang was strategically ideal. As an added benefit, the UNSC was actually liberating many of the slaves that the SDC had been keeping, which had been the White Fang's primary goal all along. Getting the White Fang caught in the midst of such large-scale battles would only lead to disaster, and it went without saying that the UNSC was not to be trusted.
Not one single Faunus on their ship… it's not all that hard to guess what happened to the Faunus on their planet. Adam thought. The UNSC's Commander publicly claimed that "Earth" simply never had any Faunus, an obvious lie that the rest of Remnant seemed to eagerly accept as fact, including some members of the White Fang, much to Adam's annoyance. They could never be our allies, capable servants perhaps, but Humans are far too arrogant for any true equality.
But even if they couldn't be trusted, the UNSC had inadvertently aided the White Fang in another, far more valuable way. As the conflict had developed and the true crimes of the SDC had been revealed to the people of Remnant, the White Fang's recruiters were suddenly overwhelmed with hundreds of Faunus, all eager to do their part. Of course, it would be some time before all of them were actually fit for battle, but it was still a major boost to the morale of the White Fang's veterans.
The will of the Faunus cannot be broken. Not by the Grimm, and certainly not by Humans. Adam thought with no small amount of pride for his people.
As he and Vermillion neared the Meeting Hall, Adam could already hear an argument of some kind developing between Sienna Khan and some of the other senior members of the White Fang. Adam wasn't surprised, even though her status as leader of the White Fang was largely uncontested, that did not mean that her authority was not challenged from time to time, often by Adam himself.
He entered the Meeting Hall and saw that he and Vermillion had been the only ones not present. Practically all of the White Fang's senior staff were here, at least all of the ones who weren't working with Torchwick in Vale. But given how catastrophically their efforts to acquire munitions for the rapidly-growing White Fang was going, it wasn't too much of a loss to have them be absent.
Then again, I'm sure that they would get more done if they didn't have to lug around Torchwick like a ball and chain. Adam thought. Sadly, the crook was necessary thanks to his connections to the Black Market and his knowledge of the Vale underground. Privately, Adam had been counting the days until the wretched Human was no longer needed, whereupon Adam would be happy to free Roman's head from his body, provided Cinder had no further use for him, of course.
"-Look, all I'm saying is that we shouldn't go making any hasty decisions." Adam heard Clay suggest. He was one of the most experienced engineers in the White Fang, but in Adam's honest opinion, he was far too cowardly for the type of war that the White Fang sought to wage.
Those wolf ears cannot hide the heart of a sheep. Adam thought.
"Nonsense!" Yuma, one of the White Fang's most senior Assassins replied. "There is no better time for action than right now! We cannot allow the Chieftain to abandon our cultural roots! He must be stopped, by force if necessary!"
Adam rolled his eyes behind his mask, of course, this was about Chief Belladonna. That idiot had done more to harm the Faunus than perhaps even someone like Jacques Schnee, whether he realized it or not. The way he played along with the politics and one-sided diplomacy of the humans only proved that he did not understand the one universal truth behind Humans. They would always want control, and would stop at nothing to get it.
"What has Belladonna done this time?" Adam asked, announcing his presence and momentarily attracting everyone's attention.
"Ah, hello Adam." Clay spoke up first. "I'm sorry we didn't wait for you to begin, but as I'm sure you'll see, we didn't mean to-"
"The circumstances require that we decide upon a course of action swiftly." Sienna Khan interrupted him. "I'll give you the short version."
Sienna Khan relayed what was happening at the Vytal Conference, and immediately Adam understood exactly why there was a debate breaking out. While it was readily apparent to him and some of the wiser members of the White Fang that the Chieftain was attempting to make Menagerie more like the Kingdoms, he could also see why some of the younger members of the White Fang might believe that Ghira's plan might be for the best.
The Humans are not our greatest enemy, incompetence is. Adam thought with a hint of frustration. Although he loved his people, they could be remarkably dense sometimes.
"Needless to say, we need to make our move while Menagerie still has the attention of the Kingdoms. We have the perfect opportunity to send a message that everyone will be able to see. We may even be able to secure custody of Jacques Schnee." Sienna Khan concluded.
"I'm still not convinced that this is a good idea." Clay protested. He flinched when everybody else in the room gave him a glare. "While I can concede this is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up, we also have a lot to lose. This is the perfect time to prove to the world that our cause is just, and we will only get one chance to do this right."
Sienna relaxed her posture somewhat as she heeded his words. "Time is still of the essence. If we could gain some leverage somehow, we may be able to convince the UNSC to hand over Jacques Schnee and his ilk. And when we have them… revenge will be ours."
A chorus of enthusiastic agreements met with Sienna's statement, but Adam remained silent, as he was beginning to develop an idea.
Leverage… Adam thought as he made the connection in his mind. "I think I have the answer to our little problem. Didn't the UNSC publicly pledge itself to protect the Humans of Remnant?"
Adam's interjection earned him the attention of the rest of the room.
"Well, technically they pledged to protect 'everyone,' but yes, they did." Clay answered.
Adam grinned, once again, the Humans had handed him the strategy he would use to defeat them.
"What is your proposal, Adam?" Sienna asked. He sensed a bit of hesitation in her voice, a sign of some weakness perhaps, but he could also tell that she was willing to genuinely consider his offer. Despite all her strength, she was still a conflicted person. A leader must always know their own limitations, but if they doubt themselves or their cause then they would only weaken the people who followed them. Her reluctance was concerning, but it spoke to her ability that she was willing to listen.
"We hold them to their word. Kuo Kuana tends to attract plenty of Human tourists around this time of year… they might be exactly the leverage that we need." Adam pointed out. "All we would need to do is capture a handful of them, and demand the Schnee's handover in exchange for their freedom."
"You want to take hostages, with the whole world watching?!" Clay demanded incredulously.
"Clay, be silent." Sienna interrupted him. "Adam, please continue."
Adam looked at the Wolf Faunus, even if Clay seemed to doubt Adam's plan, he had inadvertently pointed out one of the greatest strengths to Adam's plan. "That is precisely why I want to take hostages. The UNSC will be unwilling to risk the lives of their own people with the whole world watching, especially after a pledge to protect them. And remember, they want Jacques to die just as much as we do."
"Adam is right. What does the UNSC have to lose by handing over Jacques and his ilk?" Vermillion rhetorically asked. "They have no reason to risk a rescue mission."
Yuma nodded. "We might even earn ourselves a bit of sympathy in the process, the Humans in the Kingdoms want Jacques to face justice… and they all know that we'd see it done."
Adam shared a sadistic grin with Yuma. The assassin shared many beliefs and methods with Adam, something that he saw as a great strength.
Sienna thought it over momentarily, but seeing as most of the senior members of the White Fang had already voiced their approval for Adam's plan, she didn't have much choice but to go along with it. "Fine. Adam, take Vermillion and a handful of our better recruits, hopefully, this will show them that they need to be willing to do hard things in the name of victory."
Adam chuckled. "Hard? On the contrary, I'm going to enjoy this very much."
"Adam." Sienna said sternly. "I want to remind you, just because you're taking these people hostage does not mean that you're allowed to kill them."
Adam rolled his eyes behind his mask, of course, Sienna didn't have the guts to do this mission properly. While he wasn't going to kill a bunch of random Human tourists for the sake of it, he was also able to see that if you weren't willing to kill a hostage, the enemy would certainly see through your bluff, thus negating the point of taking the hostage in the first place.
"Of course. If all goes well, we can accomplish this mission without anybody getting hurt." Adam said, hoping that his hollow promises would get Sienna off of his back.
Thankfully, Sienna relaxed her posture. "I'm glad to hear it. While we need to be willing to show our strength, we can't forget that there are alternatives to fighting. Now go, time is of the essence."
Vytal Island Town Hall
October 26th, 1701 Local Time, 2552
Even though the conference had only been going for two days, it felt like an eternity to Richard. He could tell Thomas felt much the same way, as it took an awful lot to give an ONI Agent in the prime of their life a long face. Even some of the Journalists were starting to look a little exhausted, a testament to the tension that had accompanied most of the conference. But with so much at stake for everyone involved, it was impossible not to feel the mental strain. For better or worse, the conference would soon come to a close.
Even when Richard had first proposed the idea, he had known that the diplomatic congregation was never going to take particularly long to complete, no matter how important it had been. The circumstances simply didn't allow for the various Councils and Representatives to be away from home for very long. Part of that was due to just how short-notice the conference had been, but time had been of the essence, and Richard didn't regret the decision in the slightest.
If nothing else, we've at least calmed the Grimm down a bit. Richard thought. The people of Remnant were now better informed of what was happening regarding their leaders and the UNSC, and well-informed people tended to panic less.
There was only one final matter that still needed to be discussed, and as Richard took the podium for what would likely be the final time, he prepared to make his case. His goal was to secure international authority for the UNSC to conduct their duties to Humanity, and that was much easier said than done.
Richard adjusted the collar of his uniform as he spoke into the microphone. "I believe that it goes without saying that, at least so far, this conference has been a resounding success for us all."
Some of the Councillors definitely seemed happier than the others. Ozpin and the rest of the Headmasters all seemed to be somewhat relieved, although they probably weren't all that happy about being put on the spot when it came to supporting Menagerie, they seemed more than willing to accept the outcome.
At least we know Ozpin isn't completely full of it. Richard thought.
"That being said, there is one final matter that I believe needs to be discussed before this conference is concluded." Richard continued. "As I said before, the Dominion and her crew all answer to the UNSC. However, at this time it remains unknown when we will be able to establish a line of communication with the rest of Humanity. There will be a period in which, for all intents and purposes, my crew will represent the extent of the UNSC on Remnant."
All of this was well known to everyone in the room, but Richard knew that there would be ordinary people watching the conference from home, and they needed some context as to what was going on.
"It also goes without saying that nobody born on Remnant is a citizen of the Unified Earth Government, and thus, by technicality, we do not have any authority on this planet." Richard admitted.
Richard's statement sparked more than a few confused whispers, especially amongst the various journalists who were probably thinking about the various actions the UNSC had already undertaken. While admitting that he technically had no authority on Remnant certainly weakened his position somewhat, it was ultimately for the best, as he could not secure any actual sanction from the various Nations of Remnant without the admission.
"That being said, I adamantly believe that during the SDC crisis and the Battle of Argus, we proved our commitment to you all that we intend to keep the oaths we took to protect Humanity." Richard stated. "We will not stand idly by as the citizens of Remnant are endangered, especially when we have the means to put a stop to it!"
So far, it seemed like the reactions to his speech were relatively mixed. The Council of Atlas was being stubborn as ever, Ozpin subtly nodded to show his agreement, and the Journalists recorded everything in as much detail as they could.
"Which leads me to one of the main reasons that I called for this conference to happen in the first place…" Richard continued. "...We need your help, all of you."
Richard could almost feel the sense of disbelief in not just the room, but across all of Remnant. Here was the Commander of the UNSC, a big powerful military man with a spaceship and some capable soldiers at his disposal, asking for the help of people who hadn't even put a satellite into orbit.
"Because even if my men are the very best that the UNSC has to offer, and even if our technology is leaps and bounds above even the cutting edge on Remnant… it all means nothing without the people that we fight to protect." Richard said. "If we do not have the authority to conduct operations within your Kingdoms, it's going to be nearly impossible for us to help you defeat the Grimm."
He noticed a few looks of confusion and disbelief at what Richard had said. From what he had seen, it seemed that most of Humanity were under the impression that the Grimm weren't going away, and that it was the best they could do just to try and keep everyone safe. This was something that Richard didn't believe in the slightest, as modern warfare was almost entirely dependent on properly coordinating offensives, which was one of the reasons that the UNSC had been losing so badly against the Covenant.
"This is why I have a proposal that I believe would offer a temporary, but effective solution to this debacle." Richard said. "With the permission of the Councils of Remnant, I would ask that any personnel in service to the UNSC be given the same operational clearances as Huntsmen."
Some of the Councillors immediately moved to interrupt him, but Richard kept speaking and cut them off. "There are, of course, some things that we simply cannot do. For starters, my crew and I are soldiers, we are not policemen and we will not serve any nation as Law Enforcement. We simply aren't trained for that kind of duty."
That follow-up statement seemed to ease a few minds. The duties of a policeman and a soldier were very different indeed, and Richard was honestly surprised that a system where the Huntsmen were called upon to serve in both roles had actually worked, at least so far. There had certainly been a few notable examples of Huntsmen going rogue, or becoming corrupt, but that was admittedly a fault that just about every system of organization as a whole suffered from, including the UNSC.
"In a similar vein, we are not judges, nor are we executioners. The only people that I would see in a UNSC court are those wearing a UNSC uniform who have violated our regulations. While there are some major differences between the Huntsmen and ourselves, we are more than capable of abiding by the guidelines put in place for them." Richard continued.
There was actually an alarmingly small amount of regulations and guidelines for Huntsmen to follow, they were honestly more like radically over-armed sheriffs than anything else that Richard could think of. But even the sheriff of a backwater colony in the UEG had far more regulations and restrictions on what they could or couldn't do than a Huntsmen, and yet, for the most part, the system seemed to be functioning on Remnant.
If we had Huntsmen in the UEG, it would be a disaster. I wonder if it's just this planet's history and culture that allows for such a loose system to function in the first place. Richard thought.
With his remarks complete, Richard handed the right to speak over to the delegates, and of course, Councilman Sleet of Atlas was the first to speak. The eyes of the man were narrowed with immense suspicion. "And what if we refuse this offer, Commander?"
That's… an unusually reasonable concern. Richard thought, perhaps the Councilman had a bit more integrity than he had assumed. Even so, Richard did not waver at the challenge.
"In that case, the UNSC will not conduct any operations in that Kingdom. We can still provide information on the Grimm's movements via satellites, but that will be just about all we can do." Richard answered. "It is your duty as a Councilman to represent your people, and if the people of not just Atlas, but any nation on Remnant truly do not want the UNSC's aid… Then, by all means, you are not only entitled to refuse my suggestion, but I would argue that you are obligated to. It would be your duty, after all."
He was fairly confident that he had worded that in just the right way to put some pressure on the Councilman, but not in a way that Richard's own statement could be used against him. And judging by the look of intense thought on Sleet's face, it seemed that Richard's ploy actually worked.
"It should go without saying that this is a temporary measure. In the coming months, I hope to establish a better-defined role of the UNSC on Remnant, but it will take some time to decide on what guidelines and regulations must be changed to adapt to Remnant's unique circumstances." Richard added. "Make no mistake, we are not Huntsmen, but we serve much the same purpose. I hope that my crew's deeds are enough to prove that they have nothing but your best interests in mind."
It was a bit of a risky gambit, asking so openly for not just the Councils, but for the people of Remnant themselves to entrust the UNSC with an actually established position of power, even a temporary one. That being said, it was largely just an official acknowledgement of events that had already taken place. Richard had obviously not been sanctioned to authorize the destruction of the Schnee Dust Company, and while Richard was actually fairly confident that admiralty would have supported his decision to intervene in the Battle of Argus, the fact remained that without the express permission of Remnant's governments to operate in their lands, the UNSC would inevitably run into a long list of problems.
On a more personal note, Richard also truly believed that the UNSC had done more than enough to earn the trust of the people of Remnant. Argus and the SDC aside, they had demolished a Grimm horde outside of Atlas itself, and while the UNSC admittedly had a large part in summoning that horde in the first place, they still technically did not have any obligation to help and had done so anyway. There were also all of the slaves that the UNSC had managed to return to their families, not to mention the restoration of the CCTS station on Menagerie, and the upgrades to the system as a whole.
I like to think that I'm somewhat self-aware, and I'll admit, we didn't make a good first impression. But we've worked hard to improve our image, and I think we've done a good job. Richard thought. And it's not like their first impressions weren't any better, and I still put my faith in General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin.
But his personal feelings on the matter were ultimately unimportant, what mattered now was the response that he was going to get.
And boy, what a response it was.
The debate that followed lasted for two straight hours of back and forth discussion between Richard, Thomas, the four Councils, the Headmasters, and Chieftain Belladonna. Ghira offered his support to Richard's proposal immediately and was quickly followed by General Ironwood, thus creating what had to be one of the strangest political coalitions in Remnant's history.
An Atlesian General and the Leader of the Faunus… well, this should hopefully warm up their relations a bit. Richard thought. He respected both of the men, and was glad to have their support.
The Council of Atlas put up a surprisingly short fight, as without General Ironwood's support, their dogmatism vanished quickly. Vale took a little bit more convincing and only agreed after Richard agreed to avoid deploying any weapons of mass destruction in their Kingdom. Thankfully, there wasn't much of a reason to do that in the first place, and if ever was a need to use the weapons, the situation would have to be dire enough for Richard to avoid seeking any kind of sanction at all.
Mistral's Council signed on after Richard reiterated his refusal to serve as law enforcement. Headmaster Lionheart also reiterated the UNSC's contributions towards saving Argus, which certainly helped sway the Council.
Maybe he's a bit more pragmatic than I thought. Richard thought.
Vacuo proved to be a far bigger challenge, as they were furiously independently-minded people. It also didn't help matters that since they had no real Council, Headmaster Theodore served as effectively the lone representative of the desert Kingdom. Thankfully, Ozpin must have given him some subtle signal at some point, and he quickly fell in line.
Once all of that was done, all that was left to do was put it to paper. Thomas had already prepared a rough draft, and several more hours of follow-up debates and petty bickering ensued as the various small details were argued over. There were three major issues that emerged, with the first being brought up by a fairly straightforward question from a representative of Vale, who wanted to know where the UNSC would get its funding from.
Thankfully, that issue had been unintentionally solved, at least temporarily, by the UNSC seizing the electronic currencies of the Schnee Dust Company. When that supply of money ran out, the UNSC had the advantage of being able to leave the atmosphere and collect the resource-rich asteroids in space around Remnant. As nobody else was able to actively claim these resources, and the global economy of Remnant would be boosted by the precious materials, there were few complaints.
The second major issue was deciding what kind of situations necessitated a UNSC response. In response, Richard presented the guidelines for various crises, disasters, and hostile actions that the UNSC was obligated to respond to prior to the war with the Covenant, along with a few Remnant-specific alterations that had been made by Thomas, Jorge, Captain Clark, and Lieutenant Chen. With a handful of largely unimportant minor alterations, the various Councils accepted the changes with too much incident.
The final contentious issue came when Richard made it clear he intended to recruit Remnant Natives. It was a controversial decision among even the UNSC officers but they had been forced to admit that, with their losses they had suffered from the SDC campaign and the Battle of Argus, they simply couldn't afford to rely on their current manpower. Their concerns had been over security and the legitimacy of potential recruits, but the various council members' concerns all stemmed from a more selfish desire. Recruits accepted by the UNSC were students or soldiers not going to their own nations. They were no doubt concerned that they would lose their one true advantage, overwhelming manpower, but in the end, they were forced to allow it.
The UNSC couldn't offer support without soldiers, and if they were going to continue to take losses they had to replenish those soldiers somehow. There were few initial supporters for such a decision, but once he had explained General Ironwood had reluctantly offered his support. Ozpin followed suit a moment after and the rest fell in line soon after that.
In truth, Richard was just as reluctant as the rest of them. The idea of not only recruiting, but actively having to train new troops was already starting to give him a headache before he even began to worry about the security risks. Only Atlas had any form of citizen registry to account for all of its population, the other kingdoms simply focused on the main kingdom proper and a few of the larger settlements near their walls. Vacuo and Menagerie didn't even have that. Vetting prospects was going to be a nightmare, but there just wasn't any other choice.
With those three major problems resolved, as well as countless other smaller ones, the final draft took form. With the signatures of Ghira, the Councils of the Kingdoms, and Richard, the Second Vytal Treaty was officially signed into action.
The topics that the treaty covered were vast and somewhat disjointed. Trade, customs, Menagerie's new status as a formal "Kingdom," the UNSC's new official authority to operate on Remnant, and of course, the technology that they would begin distributing. All in all, likely the most important document in the history of Remnant was a bit of a mess to actually read, but it was far from a bad outcome for the UNSC, and for Remnant.
By the time that the media began to announce all of the various segments and clauses of the finalized treaty, the sun had already set over the island of Vytal. Most of the delegation was going home under cover of darkness, save for the UNSC, who still had final security concerns to deal with, namely in regards to escorting the diplomats and Councils home.
There had been one final agreement made, not between the UNSC and the Councils, but with the Mayor of Vytal City, who agreed to allow the UNSC to keep their Forward Operating Base on the island as a permanent installation. In Richard's eyes, it was more than simple poetic symbolism for the UNSC to establish themselves on the "Island of Unity." Vytal had a somewhat centralized location between the three largest continents on Remnant, making it ideal for responding to any crisis in Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo. The island was also small enough that the UNSC could keep the Grimm utterly suppressed. They also still had the Relay Station in Menagerie, allowing them to cover that corner of Remnant as well.
As Richard returned to his quarters aboard the Dominion, he felt as if all of the energy had simply been vacuumed out of his body. There were visible bags under his eyes when he looked in the mirror, and the eyes themselves were starting to become bloodshot.
But the feeling of having so much weight off of his shoulders was well worth it. It wasn't just the problems that he had helped solve today that had left him so happy with the conference, it was all of the problems in the future that had been averted thanks to the last two days of politics.
The pen is mightier than the sword. Richard thought. He didn't personally agree with the saying, but he could certainly see that it had merit. Then again, I bet somebody on Remnant has some kind of pen-sword hybrid weapon.
Evernight Castle,
October 27th, 0022 Local Time, 2552
If there was one thing that Salem regretted about all of the choices she had made throughout her life, it was that she felt truly alone. From time to time, she still caught herself wishing for Ozpin to give up his fruitless mission in service to the Gods and take a place by her side, but sadly, he was too stubborn for his own good.
It's just a matter of time before he sees reason. Salem thought. After all, she was immortal, and to some extent he was as well, there was going to be a point in time somewhere in the future where she would finally be reunited with her love. But until that day came, she was forced to achieve her rule over Remnant the hard way.
Her subordinates and minions were all on various missions to see her goals fulfilled. She knew that Tyrian and Watts wouldn't return from Atlas until Watts had finished his work with the Black Queen Virus. Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were all still in deep cover, waiting for their chance to infiltrate Ozpin's seat of power.
Their newest inductee, Roman Torchwick, was still blissfully unaware of the greater scheme that he was a part of, although his recent failure to defeat even a small team of half-trained Huntresses demonstrated that perhaps he needed a little bit of motivation. Salem had opted to send Hazel to handle the situation, and perhaps remind Torchwick that his efforts affected far more than his own petty crime ring.
As a result, Salem was, once again, completely alone. The Grimm still milled about the Castle, but they were poor conversationalists. In her isolation, she chose to do what she considered to be an exceptionally important part of her secret war against Ozpin, gather information. But Evernight Castle was placed extremely remotely, and possessed no connection to the CCTS for security reasons.
But years ago, Salem had devised a clever workaround. By controlling a Seer and using it to operate a terminal somewhere else on Remnant that was connected to the system, usually the one that she kept in Headmaster Lionheart's office, she was able to access all of Humanity's most recent developments at her leisure.
And from what she could gather, they had been surprisingly busy.
Salem scowled as she rewound the footage and watched the Commander of the UNSC, a man that she now knew as one Richard Miller, speak before a massive diplomatic conference that had been held at Vytal Island. She had been notified that the UNSC was hosting the event by Lionheart, but she had not anticipated exactly what they intended to do, much less that they could actually accomplish anything.
But now that she was caught up with the event, it was alarmingly clear that their goal to strengthen Humanity and create a greater sense of unity amongst the people of Remnant was far more of a threat than she had first given it credit for.
Salem had greatly overestimated the stubbornness of the various Councils of Remnant, it seemed that even the loosest of promises of advanced alien technologies had been enough to convince them to play along with the UNSC's political moves. It didn't help that Ozpin and Richard, who by now were almost certainly working together, had run circles around the experienced politicians with rudimentary strategy and the all-too rare common sense.
"I will admit, it was more than a little foolish to entrust politicians to perform their duty." Salem said aloud to herself. Thousands of years of isolation had made her habit of talking to herself somewhat pronounced.
The apparent partnership between Ozpin and Richard wasn't yet confirmed, but given what she had seen, Salem would have been shocked to find out they weren't working in unison. Whatever the case, Headmaster Lionheart would soon return to Haven Academy, where he would provide her with all of the information she needed.
If they truly were working together, then it would not be long before the UNSC attempted to swiftly destroy her. While they were doomed to fail thanks to her immortality, Salem did still have much to lose, especially if the aliens found a way to destroy her Castle. Countless hours of her own efforts had gone into ensuring that the various pools of Liquid Grimm were perfectly optimized for her personal uses, and the Castle itself contained a vast amount of magical artifacts and weapons, all from the long-dead original humans of Remnant, that were quite literally irreplaceable.
But even despite the newfound risk, there would also be a unique opportunity to strike both the UNSC and Ozpin, a crippling blow. If there was anything that Salem knew, it was that Ozpin was prone to repeating his past mistakes, chief amongst them being his close-fisted nature when it came to sharing information with his allies. Whilst a certain degree of secrecy was absolutely necessary, Ozpin's paranoia led him to restrict information that was actually needed by his allies. It wouldn't be the first time that Salem had leveraged this particular weakness against him.
But even if it was possible to turn the UNSC against Ozpin, their shared motivations made the alien military a threat to her plans. Their conflict with the Schnee Dust Company had done wonders to generate distrust and paranoia across all of Humanity, but it seemed that they were done being useful. And so, they would need to be destroyed, which raised the obvious question, how was she to destroy a Starship, particularly a warship so heavily armed?
She scowled, it seemed that this was going to be quite the challenge after all.